Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ramona Wadi
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The PA shapes facts on the ground, for Israel’s benefit
Since US President Donald Trump’s declaration regarding Jerusalem it has become clear that the Palestinian Authority (PA) remains committed to reacting to, rather than acting on, political developments which in the long run could contribute to additional forced displacement and colonial expansion. If it were not for the genuine reaction...
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Israel, the US and the PA are complicit in normalising colonialism
Two recent news reports about Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and his role in the diplomatic negotiations have conveyed the absence of leadership in reclaiming Palestinian rights. The White House statement blaming Abbas for wasting decades of negotiations is accurate up to a point, although the context given by...
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Israeli security interests dominate EU diplomacy
The EU Foreign Policy Chief has told Benjamin Netanyahu that there will be no mass relocation of embassies to Jerusalem. Federica Mogherini insisted that this will be the case in response to the Israeli Prime Minister’s comment that most European countries would follow Donald Trump’s unilateral decision to move...
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Trump’s declaration is a reflection of the UN’s earlier colonial impositions on Palestine
Since 1967, the UN regularly adopted resolutions concerning the status of Jerusalem, most of them dealing with withdrawing military forces, condemnation of land confiscation and settlement expansion, as well as requesting that Israel refrains from holding military activities in the city. A recurring warning was that no action should...
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Palestinian leaders should stop discussing Jerusalem within the context of negotiations
US President Donald Trump has embarked upon a strategy that incorporates even more delays for Palestinians than those of his predecessors. Previous presidencies were marked by obvious support for Israel’s security narrative which in turn led to increased dispossession and violence against Palestinians. Trump has projected ambiguity in the...
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Cuba’s historical opposition to the UN Partition Plan for Palestine
Instead of commemorating the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People as designated by the UN decades after the organisation bolstered Israel’s colonialism in Palestine, a better alternative is to revisit Cuba’s reasons for opposing and voting against the 1947 UN Partition Plan. Cuban opposition to the Plan was...
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The international community’s emulation of Moshe Dayan’s strategy
The recently released transcripts of Israeli cabinet meetings following the 1967 war contain important information regarding the colonial state’s approach to negotiations. Israel does favour negotiations, or the concept of negotiations, which plays into the diplomatic tangles preferred by the international community. However, for Israel, negotiations are a means...
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Gaza – preparing for dawn
Against a modified backdrop of Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”, altered to evoke symbolism of the political differences between Hamas and Fatah, journalist Donald Macintyre notes the absence of reconciliation. The prologue to “Gaza – preparing for dawn” (OneWorld Publications, 2017) is deftly constructed to give the reader insights...
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The UN’s Peace Process Coordinator is misleading us on Palestine
If in the past there were attempts to disguise political collusion against Palestine, it is no longer the case. Whether the topic is reconciliation or the two-state compromise, Israel blatantly stands out as the prime concern for the UN. A reading of UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East...
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The consequences of symbolic recognition of Palestine
Seeking recognition of Palestine has been one of the Palestinian Authority’s diplomatic strategies which lose significance when juxtaposed against Mahmoud Abbas’s collaboration with the Israeli occupation. Behind statements of recognition lies silence and the tacit acceptance of Israel’s colonisation of Palestinian land and forced displacement of the indigenous people....
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The international community should prioritise Palestine’s security
The reconciliation agreement between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas increasingly resembles other political miscalculations which the international community still upholds as significant reference points. As long as Israel and the PA stand to benefit, accolades from the international community will continue, despite the fact that such prominence usually does...
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The resumption of PA security coordination with Israel is no surprise
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas is not one to miss an opportunity to collaborate with Israel. At sporadic intervals, the suspension of security coordination with Israel was implemented temporarily only when Palestinians were protesting over Israeli violence or, for example, surveillance at Al-Aqsa Mosque. Despite congratulatory statements regarding Abbas’s...
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The latest EU and UNRWA campaign again falls short of guaranteeing Palestinian freedom
On Monday, the European Union and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) launched a joint campaign; “Healthy Living, Healthy Spaces” seeks to improve education and health facilities administered by the UN body. In order to do this, it looks to improve a total of...
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Israeli manipulation mirrors Balfour’s endeavours
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to London for the centenary commemoration of the Balfour Declaration included an interview with the BBC. It was made clear that both the one-state and the two-state scenarios are not what Netanyahu envisages as an outcome. The statements given during the interview should...
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The normalisation of colonial violence is in tune with Balfour’s infamous letter
A century down the line from the Balfour Declaration, the obliteration of Palestine remains the aim of the Israeli colonial entity built on stolen land. On Wednesday, Israeli forces violently dispersed a protest in Bethlehem marking the anniversary of the infamous letter. The protestors marched to the Apartheid Wall,...
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Despite his talk of ‘reconciliation’, Abbas continues to act in Israel’s interests
The gradual release of the details of the proposed Palestinian unity government has reached its inevitable outcome. According to Israeli media, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas will not include any Hamas ministers in the government unless they openly assert their recognition of Israel. According to Aljazeera, Abbas denied making such...
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Edward Said's Concept of Exile: Identity and Cultural Migration in the Middle East
Unravelling the definition of exile presents one immediate question as to whether the concept is a burden, a transcendent state or a sliver of fate that opens up a new dimension of thought. Rehnuma Sazzad’s book “Edward Said and the concept of exile. Identity and cultural migration in the...
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Drawing the Kafr Qasem Massacre
An important contribution to the preservation of Palestinian memory, Drawing the Kafr Qasem Massacre confronts Israel’s efforts to consign it to oblivion through the dimensions of textual narrative and art. Palestinian artist Samia Halaby describes her work in this book as “documentary drawing”; she has produced a work of...
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Palestinians stand alone in defending their land
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah has relished the spotlight so far this year. In February, the PA launched the five-year National Policy Agenda which prioritised national unity and economic independence, among other plans. Meanwhile, Hamdallah was pushing for PA control over Gaza as the enclave succumbed to unprecedented humanitarian...
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Changing the prevailing colonial equation
In his opening remarks to the Knesset last Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarified the stance taken by the government with regard to the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah – Israel will not negotiate with a unity government that incorporates Hamas. According to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu declared:...
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What protection will the unity government offer Palestinian journalists?
Far from exercising their right to reporting, Israel and the Palestinian Authority have ensured that Palestinian journalists continue to face restrictions, violations and punitive measures from both ends. On Wednesday, Ma’an news agency reported that another two Palestinian journalists were arrested by Israel during dawn raids upon several Palestinian...
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‘Palestine, the reality. The inside story of the Balfour Declaration’
Broken promises, political ambiguity and illegality characterise the unfolding narrative of the 1917 Balfour Declaration and its incorporation into the British League of Nations Mandate for Palestine. J. M. N. Jeffries, a war, foreign and political correspondent based in the Middle East from 1914 until the 1930s, was prompted...
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Israel and the PA demand unity without resistance
It cannot be denied that, despite signing a reconciliation agreement with Hamas, the Palestinian Authority shares common aims with Israel. Coercion of Palestinians in Gaza is one such aspect. Imposing restrictive conditions upon Hamas, particularly that the movement abandons all resistance and disarms, is another mutual requirement. Since communicating its...
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The backdrop of Palestinian reconciliation
With a deal for political reconciliation having been reached by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, attention should shift to the humanitarian impact of Mahmoud Abbas’s collective punishment of the people in the Gaza Strip. The punitive measures, blatantly visible, were primarily an exercise in deprivation for political gain. On Wednesday,...
