Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ibrahim Hewitt
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Get the obituary ready for international laws and conventions
The ongoing genocide in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank, including Jerusalem, is throwing up evidence on a daily basis that the rule of law is breaking down in the international arena. At the same time, laws in nation states are being used and abused in order to...
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It’s true, Netanyahu has never been a partner for peace
Full marks to the former prime minister of Qatar for pointing out that Benjamin Netanyahu has never been interested in peace with the Palestinians. This is no real surprise. Think about it. The infamous Oslo Accords were signed in September 1993; almost exactly 31 years ago. Netanyahu has been prime...
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Israeli threats should be treated with the contempt they deserve
It was no surprise to see that Israel has reportedly threatened Ireland, Spain and Norway with “consequences” for planning to recognise the State of Palestine. Such a threat is straight from the classic Zionist playbook, as anyone who has been attacked physically or verbally for telling the truth about...
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Palestine in the Victorian Age: Colonial Encounters in the Holy Land by Gabriel Polley
Have you ever wondered why Evangelical Christians in the West have such disregard for Palestinian Christians? And why they are so keen to see the State of Israel thrive? Neither of these questions is new. The roots go back to Victorian times, and even earlier, as Gabriel Polley tells...
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Britain places the onus on the occupied people for peace, rather than the occupation state
It is hardly surprising that the pro-Israel British government has suggested that the formation of a new administration in Palestine is one of its prerequisites for a permanent ceasefire. That the Conservative government could also insist that Hamas leaders must leave Gaza and thus, presumably, have no role to...
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Israel wrote the State Terrorism Handbook, and follows it to the letter
I have been re-reading Gaza in Crisis, written in 2010 by Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe, because what is being played out in Gaza looks and feels all too sickeningly familiar. “Inflicting pain on civilians,” wrote Pappe, “is another long-standing political doctrine of state terror, in fact its guiding...
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Turning terrorists into ‘heroes’
Celebrations took place in Israel a few years ago to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Haganah, the Jewish paramilitary organisation which prepared the ground for the establishment of the state of Israel and the Israel Defence Forces. A headline in the Jewish Chronicle referred to...
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The OIC is wasting its time calling on the international community to curb Israeli excesses
It was both heartening and disappointing to read the latest statement from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Heartening because it focused on the “escalations of violations by Israel, the occupying power, and its attempts to prejudice Al-Aqsa’s legal and historical status”. Israeli incursions at the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa...
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Helping Palestinians in need is not ‘terrorism’; they are the victims of Israeli terrorism
I know none of the details of the arrest of Palestinian Amin Abu Rashid and his daughter Israa in Holland recently. I do know, however, that the track record of European governments in levelling allegations of “funding terrorism” against Palestinian-European organisations over the past twenty years or so has...
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Where have the defenders of Israeli democracy been hiding?
It is heartening to see so many Israelis taking to the streets to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned judicial reforms which will basically give politicians the final say on many judicial issues. It is being seen by his opponents as a way for him and other politicians...
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Why are we surprised that Netanyahu courts right-wing extremists?
Why is anyone surprised that Israeli Prime Minister-in-waiting Benjamin Netanyahu has been courting right-wing extremists in his bid to cobble together a coalition government? His track record in this respect is both long and infamous. In January 1998, for example, the Guardian carried the headline, “Netanyahu meets US far right”...
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Forget Passover and Ramadan, Israel’s violence is all about its brutal military occupation
Much is being made of the fact that the ongoing violence in occupied Palestine coincides with both the Jewish Passover and the Muslim month of Ramadan, emphasised by the horrific images of Israeli paramilitary police firing tear gas and rubber bullets inside Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Palestinian worshippers trussed up...
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Being designated as ‘terrorists’ by Israel reflects the good work that NGOs do in Palestine
I am following with interest the reaction to Israel’s designation of six Palestinian human rights organisations as “terrorist” groups. The small British charity of which I was chair for almost 25 years was thus designated by Israel in 1996 and by the US administration of George W Bush in...
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‘Shared values’ allow Israel to act with impunity
European and American politicians and bureaucrats refer frequently to “shared values” when they seek to justify their support for the state of Israel. This is usually taken to mean a shared commitment to democracy and other media-friendly facades. Don’t believe them. Democratic values do not include institutionalised discrimination against citizens...
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Normalisation with Israel means RIP international law, it’s been nice knowing you
The news that Bahrain has followed the UAE, Jordan and Egypt into Israel’s criminal embrace was no surprise; nor will it be shocking to hear that Saudi Arabia is following suit, as it almost certainly will. The raising of the Israeli flag in Riyadh will happen sooner rather than...
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Netanyahu condenses Israel’s history into one sentence
A few days ago, Benjamin Netanyahu condensed the history of the Zionist state of Israel into one sentence: “These European countries should be ashamed of themselves. Have they learned nothing from history? … They are enabling a fanatic terrorist state to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, thereby bringing...
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Big Ride for Palestine takes the message to Manchester and beyond
The second leg of the 2019 Big Ride for Palestine started and ended in Manchester on Saturday, and saw more than 200 cyclists show the flag and raise awareness of the plight of the Palestinians. The route took the riders past the home of Manchester United FC, Old Trafford,...
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The fifth annual Big Ride takes the Palestine issue onto the streets of London
The Big Ride for Palestine came to Britain’s capital city on Saturday to fly the flag and raise awareness across London of the Israeli occupation. Almost 150 cyclists braved a downpour to gather in North Kensington before setting off on a meandering 36-mile route which took in Cricklewood, Kilburn,...
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Britain’s ‘response to violence in Gaza’ is woefully inadequate
As I write this, at least 52 Palestinians, including children, have been shot and killed by Israeli troops today, Monday 14 May 2018; well over a thousand more have been wounded. If the evidence of the past few weeks is anything to go by, many of their wounds will...
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There is more to Trump’s Palestinian aid threat than meets the eye
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) looks to be facing the brunt of Donald Trump’s threat to cut aid to the Palestinians. The most obvious target for an aid cut if the intention is to force the Palestinian leadership back to...
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An illegitimate capital for a state without legitimacy
It should come as no surprise that Donald Trump has declared that the US is recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. For seasoned US-Israel watchers, it merely confirms what we have been saying for decades: Washington is no honest broker in negotiations to end the Palestine-Israel conflict. Quite...
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Gaza under Hamas: From Islamic Democracy to Islamist Governance
It is inevitable that attempts to establish democracy in the Muslim world will be judged according to Western standards. That this is also applied to the democratically-elected government of Hamas in the Gaza Strip is regrettable, given that it has had to operate — or try to operate —...
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The Palestinian response to Israeli violence is remarkably restrained
I read something last week which looked very familiar; Myanmar state violence against the Rohingya people was said to be a “response” to an attack on police officers by a small group of “renegades”. This “response” has been completely disproportionate, involving armed security forces against unarmed men, women and...
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If Netanyahu rejects peace, what does he really want?
Despite Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim during that shallow press conference with Donald Trump that he wants to focus on “substance” not “labels”, we now know that he actually rejected a peace deal (and what can be more substantial than that?) put forward by ex-Secretary of State John Kerry last year....