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Middle East Monitor
 

Ramona Wadi

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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

  • Added dependency under the guise of economic dialogue

    Last Sunday, meetings to renew economic dialogue between the US and the Palestinian Authority were held in Ramallah – a move that will be hailed as a progressive initiative by the PA in order to disguise the dependency that characterises such necessity. During the meeting, the possibility of enhancing...

  • Collusion between international law and Israel’s colonial existence

    According to a press release by independent human rights organisation Adalah, the United Nations Committee Against Torture issued an extremely detailed report regarding Israel’s human rights violations, leading to over 50 recommendations for Israel regarding its use of torture. Not only restricted to the conventional forms of torture, the report...

  • Dissecting the forthcoming French spectacle

    France has remained at the helm of twisting rhetoric regarding the forthcoming conference, which is now also serving Israeli interests by furthering the terror narrative espoused by Daesh and appending it unscrupulously to Palestine. Playing his role in the diplomatic endeavour that is sure to harm Palestinian interests further, French...

  • Hamas, Jihad and Popular Legitimacy

    Veering away from the disparaging rhetoric that characterises the West’s intentional misrepresentation of Hamas, Tristan Dunning’s informative treatise Hamas, jihad and popular legitimacy (Routledge 2016) employs a rigorous dissection of how resistance has shaped recognition of the movement in Palestine. He looks at this both as an alternative to...

  • Israel can commit crimes with impunity; condemn them at your peril

    Israel’s latest display of misplaced ire at the UN Security Council has provided a succinct illustration of how criticism of settler colonialism, even by Israeli NGOs, remains a cloistered subject. Following a presentation by Yesh Din, in which the NGO’s legal adviser Michael Sfard presented statistical information regarding Israeli...

  • It will be business as usual for Israel despite the rhetoric of the Quartet’s upcoming report

    A report to be issued by the moribund Middle East Quartet on 25 May is being touted as employing a harsher tone with regard to Israel’s colonial expansion. It has, as a result, ushered-in a period of renewed lobbying by Israel. The report’s publication was announced in February during...

  • Horizon2020 endorses Israeli colonial violence and EU complicity

    For all its glorification of human rights and dignity, the European Union has not bothered to even conceal its involvement in funding Israeli research for atrocities under the Horizon2020 framework. The trend is to persist in the manipulation of legal loopholes which provide the continuation of funding state-sanctioned terror...

  • Despite contradictions, Germany proves its accountability to Israel

    Seemingly contradictory reports have appeared in the media regarding diplomatic relations between Israel and Germany. Conveniently for Israel, the timing for such reports a couple of weeks prior to the Palestinian commemoration of the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe) provides space for the usual equation of selective historical remembrance as dictated...

  • Israel’s penchant for bloodshed finds a willing partner

    The US has continued to offer proof that no correlation is necessary between a massive outlay on military technology and security when it comes to Israel. All it requires as prerequisites are human rights violations and a commitment to colonial expansion in order to propagate a security narrative that...

  • The illusion of freedom

    The first moments following the release of Dima Al-Wawi, considered to have been the youngest Palestinian incarcerated by Israel, were disseminated for the whole world to observe, along with perfunctory reports that should have had the entire world seething with outrage. Al-Wawi had been accused of a stabbing attempt and...

  • Popular Protest in Palestine: the uncertain future of unarmed resistance

    A comprehensive and detailed work, “Popular Protest in Palestine: the uncertain future of unarmed resistance” (Pluto Press 2015) provides a historical overview of Palestinian activism and popular resistance. It weaves the narrative up to the present and portrays the cycle which has contributed to the spasmodic visibility which, unfortunately,...

  • Facilitating Israel’s widespread practice of targeting journalists

    Israel’s targeting of Palestinian journalists has veered into selective collective punishment against the profession. According to the Ma’an news agency, Israel has now banned Arab and international organisations from importing bulletproof vests for journalists in Gaza, in an attempt to render Palestinian press even more vulnerable to attack. Given Israel’s...

  • Colonialism’s input on reinvention

    The claims in the Israeli media that another tunnel has been discovered has provided yet another opportunity to flaunt both belligerence and aggressive rhetoric against Palestinian resistance. Replete with both time frames and warnings, the latest Israeli rhetoric is a recapitulation of the previous occasions when Israel required a...

  • The synchronised outlook of Israel and the PA

    While Mahmoud Abbas has once again resorted to France as the “supporter” of Palestine and willing collaborator in drafting further futile resolutions, former Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Benny Gantz added his opinion recently regarding the two-state paradigm. He shed light upon how the incessant rhetoric and,...

  • Thwarting Israel’s selective narrative

    Almost simultaneously, Israeli and Palestinian media have issued news reports regarding the current status of the Jerusalem Intifada. While the motivations behind such information are diverging, both have reiterated common issues – Israeli belligerence and security coordination. Israel’s Ynet News has quoted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as attributing a...

  • The PA’s contradictory statements

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest gimmick is an invitation to Mahmoud Abbas to discuss a resumption of negotiations following the latter’s grovelling for the two-state compromise. It is still being given priority within Palestinian Authority circles, despite the obvious ridicule implied. Furthermore, another attempt at denouncing Israel came from...

  • The deadly condescension game

    Last week, Mahmoud Abbas regaled the world with insight into security coordination with Israel vis-à-vis attempts to curb the ongoing Palestinian resistance. Apart from revealing that the PA security agencies are searching students’ bags for knives, thus seeking to credit himself with the occupation authorities through collaboration, Abbas also...

  • Collective hunger strikes and Palestinian narratives

    Individual hunger strikes of Palestinian prisoners have garnered much attention in the media, which dissipates after an agreement is reached, only to be resurrected again once Israel reneges on its word, as is common occurrence. The activism associated with highlighting hunger strikes as a form of protest has unwittingly...

  • The dangers of activism and the EU finding common ground

    While BDS can claim various gains, including the recent announcement by security firm G4S that it would be terminating its business deals with Israel, there are several points that need to be considered if activism is to conquer the prevailing political limitations. In a recent anti-BDS conference organised by Yedioth...

  • Israel’s opportunistic exploitation

    Capitalising upon atrocious acts of terrorism remains a priority for the Israeli government. Following the terror attacks in Brussels, shifting the focus towards Israel was an easily-accomplished feat that included a recapitulation of rhetoric about affront, grievances and opportunity. In the aftermath of the attacks, Israeli Minister of Science, Technology...

  • Palestinians support coordinated armed resistance to achieve national rights

    The Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research has published the findings of a poll conducted between 17 and 19 March. The survey sought to discover current political trends among Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with regard to the reconciliation efforts between the Fatah-led Palestinian...

  • The PA and France are undermining what little Palestinian autonomy there is

    As evidenced by recent news reports, France plays its duplicitous role with ease, pressing forward with the proposed international peace conference and garnering further support from the Palestinian Authority. If not for the fact that the rhetoric of PLO Secretary General Saeb Erekat conceals other issues, we could assume...

  • The manipulation of non-violent resistance

    It is indeed opportune for the Palestinian Authority that Palestinians excel in academia and pedagogy. The 2016 Global Teachers Award won by Hanan Al-Hroub provided the perfect opportunity for Palestinian leaders to engage in generic rhetoric and, as a result, impose their defunct politics upon the victory and the...

  • France affirms its support for colonial endeavours in Palestine

    Perhaps the most lauded clause pertaining to France’s proposal of launching an international conference with the aim of reviving diplomatic negotiations between Palestine and Israel was the purported automatic recognition of a Palestinian state should the initiative fail. Yesterday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault clarified his country’s hypocrisy, dispelling...