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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- May 26, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Venezuela strengthens diplomatic ties with Palestine
Anadolu Agency has reported that Venezuela’s diplomatic representation in Palestine will be elevated to full embassy status. The news was revealed in the wake of a visit to Venezuela by PA Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki, which resulted in the signing of 18 cooperation agreements related to trade, energy, agriculture,...
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- May 21, 2015 Ramona Wadi
US, Israel duplicity over the Iran nuclear deal
As the US intensifies its efforts to conclude a nuclear deal with Iran, it is also seeking to appease Israel by promising further military assistance to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in return for a retreat from the vociferous opposition to the framework. According to the Times of Israel,...
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- May 19, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Increasing pressure on Palestine to adhere to the two-state compromise
The Vatican has added its voice to the symbolic diplomatic gestures recognising Palestine as a state. A process that was reignited last October by Sweden and encouraged by the Palestinian Authority as a means of detracting from the colonising process accelerated by Israel, the latest move has once again...
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- May 15, 2015 Ramona Wadi
The Nakba, the ICC and international complicity
As Palestinians commemorate the 67th anniversary of the Nakba and the atrocities upon which Israel’s settler-colonial state was established, the International Criminal Court is urging Israel to “cooperate” in preliminary investigations regarding war crimes committed against Palestinians last summer. Palestine’s belated accession to the ICC was met with intense displeasure...
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- May 12, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Does solidarity activism prioritise symbolism over resistance?
The military court at Israel’s Ofer Prison in Betunia has reinstated the prison sentences of five political detainees released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange in 2011. The five detainees are Mahdi Assi from Nablus, Khaled Makhamreh and Nayef Shawamreh from Hebron, Wa’el Abu Jalboush from Jenin,...
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- May 9, 2015 Ramona Wadi
New Israeli government entrenches colonial violence and exploitation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, announced close to the deadline on Wednesday night, has resulted in Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked being entrusted with the ministerial posts crucial to expanding Israel’s colonial framework. Intense discussions between Likud and the Jewish Home Party have resulted in Bennett serving as...
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- May 5, 2015 Ramona Wadi
'Human shields' rhetoric still not exhausted by Israeli officials
Departing from an allegation presented as fact, Israeli General Benny Gantz reverted to accusations of Hamas using civilians as human shields. The context for this perpetual narrative this time was Gantz’s visit to Nahal Oz, where a four-year-old settler child was killed allegedly by a mortar shell fired from...
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- April 30, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Israel’s rhetoric and deliberate deprivation of Palestinians prepare for another military offensive
Reports in the Times of Israel have not yet exhausted their Iran-Hamas rhetoric. Coinciding with affirmations that Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif survived an Israeli assassination attempt during Operation Protective Edge last summer, Israel’s media has focused on the cross-border tunnel network, as well as Iran’s military and financial...
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- April 28, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Latin America Summit on Israel highlights duplicitous stance in the region
Besides providing a safe haven for thousands of Cuban dissidents, as well as counter revolutionaries who attempted to overthrow the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro, Miami is currently hosting the Latin America Summit on Israel organised by the Israel Allies Foundation. The press release publicising the conference is a regurgitation...
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- April 24, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Ya'alon tries to absolve Israel of its role in regional violence
Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon has availed himself of yet another opportunity to embellish the already distorted history that has alienated the international community from reality in occupied Palestine. At a ceremony commemorating Israel’s Memorial Day, Ya’alon’s rhetoric combined loss, peace and security, framed against a backdrop of Operation...
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- April 22, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Venezuela hosts 1st Latin American Congress on Palestinian Right of Return
Last Friday, Venezuela hosted the first Latin American Congress of the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine. The initiative brought together Palestinian solidarity activists from various countries across Latin America, including Chile, Cuba, Ecuador and Argentina. According to Palestinian ambassador Linda Sobeh Ali, the event strengthened Venezuela’s stance as...
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- April 16, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Human trafficking and the scramble for political influence
Part of the political rhetoric regurgitated repeatedly since 2011 has been the expectation that the surge of African migrants heading towards Europe would decrease in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. Four years later, the human trafficking industry is still producing tragic tales, the most recent being the drowning...
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- April 15, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Egypt's adaptation of the 'War on Terror'
Egypt’s penal code has been updated to reflect Zionist terror and impositions. Following collaboration with Israel in destroying the tunnel network, the alleged “War on Terror” has now been extended by Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi to Gaza. Individuals found guilty of tunnel construction or usage as regards the...
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- April 9, 2015 Ramona Wadi
FIFA’s collaboration with colonialism
Two corrupt entities – FIFA and Israel, have teamed up to ensure another request from Palestine to an international organisation is ridiculed and rejected. As the Palestine FA stated its intention to submit a draft resolution to the FIFA congress in May calling for Israel’s suspension from the international...
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- April 7, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Iranian support forHamas highlights legitimacy of armed resistance against colonisation
Citing the Telegraph, Israeli media is once again fuelling speculation about the network of tunnels created by Hamas in Gaza – this time within the context of Iranian aid to the resistance movement. “Intelligence sources” have alleged that Iran has sent “tens of millions of dollars to help rebuild...
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- April 2, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Palestine, the ICC and international complicity
‘As Palestine formally becomes a State Party to the Rome Statute today, the world is also a step closer to ending a long era of impunity and injustice’ is Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riyad al-Maliki’s triumphant statement. However, he fails to reflect the reality behind the ceremonial accession that...
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- April 1, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Israel's nuclear arsenal highlights Western paranoia over Iran
The Israeli media has publicised a declassified Pentagon document detailing Israel’s covert nuclear programme. The report, dated 1987 and titled “Critical Technological Assessment in Israel and NATO Nations”, describes Israel’s nuclear infrastructure development and research throughout the 1970s and 1980s. According to Israel National News, the state had refrained...
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- March 27, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Manipulating security narratives and the two-state paradigm
The US obsession with manipulating security narratives for political purposes has recently been manifested in Obama’s Executive Order dated 9 March, 2015 in which he declared Venezuela to be “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States”. Alleged threats by socialist...
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- March 25, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Palestinian subjugation at an international level
A recent interview with Palestine’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations Riyad Mansour once again exhibited the Palestinian Authority’s trend of compromising Palestinian independence at the international level. The brief interview on NBC News’ Meet the Press highlighted the contradictions which the PA embarks upon relentlessly, notably in its...
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- March 20, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Endorsing Netanyahu's narrative at the Arab League
Israeli media has reported extensively about comments by Arab League Chief Nabil Al-Arabi with regard to Netanyahu’s refuting the existence of a Palestinian state. According to a quote obtained by AFP and disseminated widely in news reports, Al-Arabi stated that: “I believe, personally, that he made that statement about…...
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- March 17, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Ensuing contradictions about Yasser Arafat’s death and the rupture of memory
In November 2013, Swiss scientists determined the presence of polonium in the exhumed remains of PLO leader Yasser Arafat, prompting Palestinian factions to react in unison and condemn Arafat’s death as a crime perpetrated by Israel. The results validated Al-Jazeera’s earlier investigations which revealed high levels of polonium in...
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- March 12, 2015 Ramona Wadi
The EU’s reliance on selective remembrance
The EU representative in Jerusalem has issued a mild condemnation of Israel’s destruction of two shelters intended to alleviate hardships for displaced Bedouin. The shelters were located in Area C in the vicinities of the Apartheid Wall. “We condemn the demolition of two shelters funded by the European Union...
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- March 10, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Two-state compromise relevant only in terms of facilitating Israel’s colonisation process
Over the weekend, seemingly contradictory statements have emerged from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud Party with regard to the two-state compromise – including the contradiction between allegedly not wanting to rule over Palestinians and enforcing the concept of a demilitarised hypothetical Palestinian state. These statements departed...
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- March 5, 2015 Ramona Wadi
Avaaz - imperialism's willing collaborator
PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ endeavours to obtain symbolic recognition of Palestinian statehood from European countries had, as intended, eclipsed the necessity of developing awareness of the importance of Palestine’s anti-colonial struggle. With each assertion garnered, mainstream media hype created an additional illusion out of futile gestures. Meanwhile, seemingly on...