Ramona Wadi
Ramona Wadi is an independent researcher, freelance journalist, book reviewer and blogger. Her writing covers a range of themes in relation to Palestine, Chile and Latin America.
Items by Ramona Wadi
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- July 11, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Preventing the sabotage of Palestinian rights
Israeli antics at UNESCO over the vote which recognised the old city of Hebron as a Palestinian World Heritage Site were accompanied by other tirades against the international institution. US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, declared the decision “an affront to history” and a discredit to “an already...
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- July 8, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Palestinians fear fragmentation
A recent poll carried out by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research has seen Palestinians reject the current political developments. A majority of respondents rejected the PA’s measure of cutting public sector employees’ salaries and power-sharing between Hamas and Mohammad Dahlan. The divide between the political statements...
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- July 4, 2017 Ramona Wadi
When Abbas lauds Trump, he is trying to deflect his own accountability
In his address to the African Union’s 29th Summit in Addis Ababa, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gave an example of how to engage in double standards that are mostly ignored. He was thus allowed to have a negative impact on Palestinian prospects for autonomy. Wafa news agency reported that,...
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- June 29, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Blocking Palestine and Palestinians at the UN
US Ambassador Nikki Haley is on another mission to block Palestinian visibility at the UN. In February, the US opposed the appointment of former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as UN envoy to Libya. On Tuesday, Haley explained that the US position was based on the fact that...
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- June 27, 2017 Ramona Wadi
The disappearing Palestinian right of return
Although the mainstream impression regarding Palestine and Israel is one of conflict, there is silent complicity with an agreement between Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the international community to eliminate the possibility of the Palestinian right of return ever being implemented. Despite the right – enshrined in UN Resolution...
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- June 22, 2017 Ramona Wadi
PA participation in Israel’s security conference is an obscene celebration of Palestine’s isolation
Despite last year’s outrage at its attendance, the Palestinian Authority is once again participating in the Herzliya Conference in Tel Aviv. In the current climate of Mahmoud Abbas aligning himself overtly with the oppressor, the move should not come as a surprise. The 17th annual “security” conference — which is...
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- June 20, 2017 Ramona Wadi
The PA is trying to enforce a political blackout on Gaza
Prior to the extreme electricity cuts in Gaza, the ongoing violation was treated as a daily tribulation. Now that Israel and the Palestinian Authority have collaborated in plunging the enclave into near total blackout, cautious reports have reached the media in such a way that they echo the preferred...
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- June 17, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Warnings from international organisations are failing Gaza
Amnesty International’s latest warning about a “humanitarian catastrophe” if Israel’s illegal blockade on the enclave is not lifted is the latest in a series about the Gaza Strip. As the electricity supply is restricted even further, Palestinians in Gaza face not only domestic disruption, but also huge gaps in...
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- June 14, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Neoliberal Apartheid: Palestine/Israel and South Africa after 1994
In “Neoliberal Apartheid: Palestine/Israel and South Africa after 1994” (University of Chicago Press, 2017), Andy Clarno presents a different perspective on settler colonialism and how this plays into the inequalities experienced by Palestine and South Africa at different ends of the political spectrum. The Palestinian struggle for liberation is...
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- June 13, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Minister’s UN demand should prompt reference to Israel as a settler-colonial state
The UN is fast becoming a playground for Israel’s outrageous antics. The international organisation has normalised settler-colonialism and the ensuing violence, and bequeathed Palestinians with a jeopardised visibility due to its collaboration with Israel. Now, it faces yet another demand made by Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, who...
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- June 10, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Dismissing the PA’s tactics of collaboration
The Palestinian Authority has made it clear this week that Palestine and Palestinians are commodities for exploitation when it comes to rights and legitimacy. Since US President Donald Trump’s visit which, despite feeble attempts to portray it otherwise, was another exercise in belligerent bullying and wilful acquiescence, the PA...
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- June 8, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Bolivia can challenge the two-state paradigm at the UN
As Bolivia assumes the presidency of the UN Security Council this month, President Evo Morales has used Twitter to promote his country’s priorities: the Middle East conflict on the 50th anniversary of the complete occupation of Palestine, and the non-proliferation of chemical and nuclear weapons. The presidency will be...
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- June 6, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Israel expands its presence at the UN, a body it treats with contempt
Exerting additional influence at the UN is proving to be easy for Israel. With the US putting pressure on the UN Human Rights Council for its criticism of Israeli human rights violations, the Western European and Others Group’s (WEOG) lobbying, as well as the UN’s commitment to upholding colonialism,...
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- June 1, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Imposed fragmentation of Palestinians exacerbated by misleading concepts
“Fragmented Lives” is the title chosen by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory (OCHAoPt) for its annual report on the ramifications suffered by Palestinian civilians as a result of Israel’s human rights violations. The foreword, however, makes it clear that...
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- June 1, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Palestine in EU and Russian Foreign Policy
Expectations of clarity with regard to the establishment of a purportedly “independent and viable Palestinian state” seem to have absconded permanently as the diplomatic catchphrase has become the only convenient reference to the two-state paradigm. Malath Alagha’s book, “Palestine in EU and Russian Foreign Policy,” rests on the opposite...
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- May 30, 2017 Ramona Wadi
The PA continues to reap humiliation from Trump’s visit
Following reports that US President Donald Trump has prioritised the normalisation of relations between Israel and Arab countries prior to restarting diplomatic negotiations for the two-state compromise, misplaced accusations of “incitement” have resurfaced, allegedly during Trump’s meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. According to Israeli media, Trump “yelled” at...
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- May 27, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Normalisation plans to marginalise Palestine
The well-publicised anticipation of US President Donald Trump’s meetings with Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas was followed swiftly by mainstream media reports that the normalisation of relations between Arab countries and Israel is imperative prior to embarking on another round of “peace” negotiations. Israel will undoubtedly favour this and...
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- May 24, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Collective mobilisation indicates possibilities for Palestinian resistance
The organised collective hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners headed by imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti has evolved into a fast spreading mobilisation of the Palestinians. Outside the prison walls, Palestinians have put the Palestinian Authority and its lone calls for a day of rage to shame. From sit ins,...
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- May 22, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Netanyahu aims for international complicity against Palestinian legitimacy
US President Donald Trump has landed in Tel Aviv, bringing with him precarious baggage of previous presidencies alongside his own belligerence. Since his vague utterance implying a departure from the two-state compromise, media speculation has missed some important points. The “ultimate deal” which Trump occasionally refers to, may end...
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- May 18, 2017 Ramona Wadi
The Cuban Five’s René González on history, revolution and solidarity with Palestine
The international community is not without outstanding examples of people to emulate, if it ever decides to prioritise Palestinian anti-colonial struggle over legitimising Israel and its violations of international laws and conventions. Although mostly ignored by mainstream media outlets, the Third International Arab Forum on Justice for Palestine welcomed...
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- May 17, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Palestinian leaders distort the significance of the Nakba, with serious consequences
Speaking about the Nakba requires more than a methodical approach that is confined to history. In a statement released on the eve of the annual commemoration, Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) secretary general Saeb Erekat demanded both an apology from Israel, as well as access to the 1948 archives. “This,”...
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- May 13, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Young Palestinians Speak: living under occupation
What do young Palestinians do while living under occupation? Dream, like other children. The circumstances, however, are not only different but unique in terms of isolation, the brutality of Israel’s military occupation and international diplomatic silence. Young Palestinians Speak: living under occupation (Interlink Books, 2017) is a collection of testimonies...
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- May 11, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Chile’s solidarity with Palestinian prisoners must not be contaminated by the PA
Activists in Chile have again demonstrated how national struggle can extend to international solidarity with the oppressed. A vigil held outside San Miguel Prison in Santiago to commemorate the 81 prisoners who lost their lives in a fire there seven years ago, was expanded to affirm solidarity with the...
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- May 9, 2017 Ramona Wadi
Dismissing the concept of a Palestinian state is a priority for Israel’s education minister
Israel’s Education Minister Naftali Bennett has on several occasions exhibited his penchant for pointing out purported divergences in opinion and policy when it comes to Benjamin Netanyahu’s convenient references to the two-state imposition. Another opportunity arose during the Jerusalem Post Conference in New York last Sunday, during which Bennett...