Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ramona Wadi
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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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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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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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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...
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UNESCO report on education in Gaza avoids question of responsibility
A UNESCO report issued in late January looked specifically at Gaza’s educational system. Already rendered precarious with schools operating double shifts due to a shortage of premises, it was damaged further by Israel during Operation Protective Edge last summer. Israel’s direct attacks on educational premises by drones, anti-tank missiles and...
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UNICEF recommendations enforce Israel’s colonial policies
UNICEF’s latest bulletin has confirmed the systematic violation of children’s rights while they are in Israeli detention. The findings of “Children in Israeli Military Detention” support evidence collected in 2014 by Defence for Children International Palestine (DCIP). Accountability Programme Director Ayed Abu Eqtaish said that, “Despite an ongoing dialogue...
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Manipulating EU rules on funding for Israel’s benefit
Stop The Wall has published a detailed summary of the funds that Europe’s research programme Horizon 2020 will be granting to Israel for 205 projects approved by the EU. Among the companies benefiting from EU funding is Elbit Systems, the drone manufacturing company which has played a major role...
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Indyk's duplicitous comments and the two-state compromise
Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies recently hosted its 8th annual international conference themed “Israel in a Turbulent Region”. Subjects discussed ranged from BDS, Iran, the Oslo Accords as an alleged “incubator for terrorist organisations” according to speaker Gilad Erdan, demilitarisation of Gaza, anti-Semitism, and former US special envoy...
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Blair’s concern is to protect Israeli colonialism
Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair has made a series of spurious comments on Gaza following his visit to the besieged enclave. “The last conflict left Gaza devastated and its people worn down and impoverished,” he wrote on his website. “Twenty years after Oslo we need a new approach...
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Hamas training camps and the continuity of resistance
Israeli and other mainstream media have ignited a furore over 17,000 young Palestinians who participated in Hamas-run military training camps during a two-week school holiday in January. Although it’s a common phenomenon that has happened in previous years, especially within the context of the Palestinians’ anti-colonial struggle, the news...
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Middle East Quartet calls for resumption of negotiations between Israel and Palestine
During the 51st Munich Security Conference last Sunday, the Middle East Quartet urged for a resumption of negotiations between Israel and Palestine and expressed concern about the impediments that have delayed Gaza’s reconstruction; thus creating another arena through which to repeat a diplomatic discourse that has ultimately aided Israel’s...
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Impartiality, irrelevance and accountability
Israel’s recent complaint against Canadian lawyer and international law expert William Schabas has led to his resignation from the UN Human Rights Council’s fact finding commission on Gaza. Schabas was accused of having a conflict of interest – the reason for this being his having provided consultation to the...
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The IMF contributes to the oppression of the Palestinians
The International Monetary Fund has issued a press release following its latest visit to East Jerusalem and Ramallah, during which the economic decline in both Gaza and the West Bank were assessed. Since Israel’s Operation Protective Edge, both areas have suffered through massive destruction and punitive measures, as well...
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Israeli products in Gaza hinder resistance
One of the repercussions, probably intended, of Operation Protective Edge last summer was to destroy Gaza’s autonomy in a manner that would entail a compromise between resistance to the occupation and the necessity of addressing humanitarian needs. With most of Gaza in ruins following the Israeli bombardment of the enclave,...
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What do these demands for apologies actually mean?
Apology rhetoric, this time from Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird and Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Sa’eb Erekat, has shed light upon the ongoing efforts to undermine the Palestinian narrative. Baird’s five day visit to Palestine and Israel occurred within the same timeframe that the settler-colonial state embarked upon its...
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Accession to the ICC may well be meaningless
“It is a tragic irony that Israel, which has withstood thousands of terrorist rockets fired at its civilians and its neighbourhoods, is now being scrutinised by the ICC.” So said the US State Department’s Jeff Rathke, who seems to have exhausted all creativity when it comes to finding reasons...
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Reconstruction delays prompting Hamas into assertiveness
PLO factions have reportedly criticised Hamas, holding the movement responsible for the reconstruction delays in Gaza, as well as hindering the unity government’s political progress in the enclave. Despite the obvious attempts at marginalising Hamas throughout Operation Protective Edge and its aftermath, which led to agreements being brokered without...
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Collective efforts in undermining resistance and internationalism
The decline of internationalism, with the exception of few countries whose experience of revolutionary process has altered political vision, has rendered the same countries isolated from the rest of the world governed by acquiescence or adherence to imperialist dictates. The crimes committed against Palestinians during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge...
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Abbas upholds symbolism over anti-colonial struggle
PA President Mahmoud Abbas seems intent on pursuing further symbolism for Palestine. Following the perfunctory recognition of Palestinian statehood by some European countries last year, which was essentially an affirmation of support for the further deterioration of Palestine through negotiations and the two-state compromise, Abbas is seeking to resubmit...
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What good is 'balance' if it is only of benefit to the occupying power?
President Mahmoud Abbas’s signing of the Rome Statute after months of hesitation, has given rise to an increased wave of hostility against the Palestinians. According to the Times of Israel, for example, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “retaliated” to the PA leader’s move by freezing $127 million of Palestinian...
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Normalisation and exploitation efforts are thwarted by Hamas
Mainstream media has created a furore out of Hamas’ decision to prevent Palestinian children bereaved in Israel’s colonial massacre from visiting Israel and the West Bank. The trip which is said to have been organised by a Fatah-affiliated group in Gaza, the Kibbutz Movement as well as the charity...
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PA's draft resolution provokes criticism from Palestinian factions
In what is evidently further proof of acquiescence to imperialist oppression, the US has once again rejected the Palestinian draft resolution proposing Palestinian statehood and an end to the Israeli “occupation”. The diplomatic endeavours which have led to condemnations from Hamas, as well as the Popular Front for the...
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Israel’s maintenance of conditions to prevent Gaza’s reconstruction
At a conference organised by the financial publication Calcalist, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz made a series of statements indicating further possible aggression against Palestinians. The “significant trend of instability” – deemed a threat to Israel’s security despite the imperialist agenda that creates turmoil to safeguard its base,...
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Palestinian workers in Israel protest dehumanising conditions at checkpoints
A protest by Palestinians over deteriorating work conditions has been manipulated into a construction delay by Israel. On Sunday, Palestinians working inside Israel decided to go on strike indefinitely, protesting the daily humiliations inflicted upon them at checkpoints and border crossings in Tulkarem by the Israeli authorities. The language used...
