Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ramona Wadi
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US criticism of settlements is empty rhetoric
In keeping with typical imperialist swagger, the US has criticised Israeli settlement expansion while continuing to give the Zionist state political and military support at all levels. This apparent contradiction demonstrates that even when it attempts to differentiate between forms of colonial violence, America employs empty rhetoric which amounts...
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Alleged UN bias against Israel and the extension of imperialism
Speaking with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated alleged claims of bias harboured by the imperialist organisation against the settler-colonial state. Claiming application of different standards by the UN with regard to Israel, Netanyahu utilised the meeting to extend incitement against Palestine on an...
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Condemnation and collaboration on genocide
Recent statements by PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat evoked the continuous contradictions reflected both in changes to Palestinian territory and demography. Despite invoking statistics of Palestinian civilians murdered in Gaza during Israel’s latest colonial massacre, the tone of complacency was evident in the remarks uttered,...
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The UN General Assembly and imperialist dictates
Remarks uttered by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and US President Barack Obama at the UN General Assembly are of paramount significance to the constant oppression faced by Palestinians. Once again, discourse has been dominated by humanitarian concerns divested of political ramifications, while upholding the duplicitous role of the...
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UN and US promotion of surveillance and abuse under the guise of humanitarian aid
Palestinians in Gaza are to encounter further imperialist interference during the already compromised reconstruction process of the enclave. Following his discourse at the UN Security Council in which Israelis were erroneously declared “civilians” on an equal level with Palestinians, UN envoy Robert Serry has now announced the plan to...
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Serry's address to the UNSC and the promotion of Israel's narrative
In his briefing to the UN Security Council, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) Robert Serry was careful to uphold Israel’s dominating narrative while attempting to convey a compromised appeal on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza. Departing from a statistical observation of the death toll...
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Abbas' manipulation of resistance in favour of compromised European recognition
According to reports by the Ma’an News Agency, PA President Mahmoud Abbas is seeking official European recognition of a Palestinian State prior to the UN General Assembly’s debate commencing on September 24. Departing from a very vague reference to “Protective Edge” and its aftermath with regards to settlement expansion,...
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The EU's commitment to oppressive complicity
Returning to pre-war conditions in Gaza might prove counterproductive, according to the EU’s ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen. Citing the possibility of recurring violence without venturing into or mentioning the obvious dynamics of Israel’s colonial aggression, Faaborg-Andersen embarked upon disseminating Israel’s demilitarisation rhetoric while remaining within parameters that have...
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Lieberman's renewed demilitarisation demands
The aftermath of Israel’s colonial massacre has resulted in a stronger Palestinian resistance. Only a few weeks after Iran’s declaration to accelerate the process of armed resistance among Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has reverted back to demilitarisation rhetoric, albeit within a...
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PA plans further incarceration for Palestinians
As predicted, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s diplomatic framework, intended to serve as the initiation to further negotiations with Israel, is a regurgitation of previous compromises. The renewed insistence upon the two-state solution is particularly repulsive, reinstated adamantly and with absolute contempt, as if Palestinian resistance were an imaginary...
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Abbas plans to resume negotiations and marginalise the Palestinian resistance
As the Palestinian armed resistance persevered against Israel’s latest colonial massacre, the two state solution has become part of the diplomatic discourse. The atrocities committed have created a diverse political framework that has united the people behind the resistance, however Mahmoud Abbas has reverted to the collapsed negotiations which...
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Iran’s struggle against Israel’s colonial expansion
In keeping with previous assertions, Iranian discourse is inclusive of historical liberation and is committed to non-recognition of Israel. Gaza’s resistance against the latest massacre generated renewed conviction for resistance against settler-colonialism, as well as a commitment to aid Palestinians in their struggle for liberation. On July 17, the Popular...
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Rebuilding Gaza and the politics of subjugation
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated the continuation of “Operation Protective Edge”, discussions about the rebuilding of Gaza resurface once more within a brief period since the collapse of the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire, this time from UNICEF official Pernille Ironside. With Israel surpassing all estimates in...
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Urbicide in Palestine – spaces of oppression and resilience
Author: Nurhan Abujid Paperback: 274 pages Publisher: Routledge ISBN-10: 0745334261 Review by Ramona Wadi “The contemporary military urbanisation is about spatial engineering and reorganisation via complex surveillance and control and in many cases via the lethal devastation of cities.” Nurhan Abujidi’s defining introduction to “Urbicide in Palestine: spaces of oppression and resilience” (Routledge, 2014)...
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Palestinian memory, Protective Edge and the Nakba
Since the commencement of Operation Protective Edge, various Israeli leaders have regurgitated the rhetoric of blame, imposition and the appropriation of memory. Justifying settler-colonial violence is linked directly to the promulgation of a false narrative based upon partial historical facts embedded within the framework upholding the UN-sanctioned state. Victimisation,...
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Serry's remarks on conflict, concessions and compliance
Despite the destruction wrought by Israel in Gaza during “Operation Protective Edge”, Israel’s demands remain a high priority for the international community. Speaking to the UN Security Council, UN Middle East peace envoy Robert Serry hinted at the importance of the ceasefire addressing Israel’s perpetual security concerns – an...
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The UN Charter and its condoning of imperialists aggression
The almost incessantly-evoked juxtaposition of Israel and Iraq has forcefully returned to the helm of indignation following the massacres committed by the settler-colonial state during Operation Protective Edge. Posters circulating on social media ask why Iraq was invaded for less than what Israel has committed since its inception. The...
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Israel's opposition to UNHRC investigations and complementary concessions
Israel has, predictably, voiced opposition to the proposed United Nations Human Rights Council’s investigation into the atrocities committed in Gaza. Quoting Channel 2, the Times of Israel stated that 14 of the 22 ministers “believe Israel should not cooperate with the fact-finding mission, which is led by academic William...
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Blog: Condoning Israel's premeditated massacre
Just as we try to do in the United States and be as careful as possible in going after targets to avoid civilians, mistakes are made. We’ve made them. I don’t know a nation, no matter what its values are – and I think that democratic nations have demonstrably...
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Castro’s comments on Israel’s “macabre genocide” of the Palestinians should be heeded
Of all the comments penned about Israel’s atrocities inflicted on the people of Gaza, Fidel Castro’s reflection published in Granma, the newsletter of the Cuban Communist Party, is of utmost significance. Weaving an account of imperial violence as a force necessitating resistance, the legendary Castro’s discussion of Palestine and...
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The UN is useless in preventing genocide and protecting the Palestinians
Two Special Advisors to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Adama Dieng and Jennifer Welsh, have added their voices to the insignificant, lamentable chorus of concern. Speaking in relation to the Prevention of Genocide and the Responsibility to Protect respectively, Dieng and Welsh meticulously stressed the necessity of upholding...
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'Protective Edge' and the re-evaluation of humanitarian concerns
Within a day following the commencement of Operation Protective Edge, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement replete with rhetoric embraced by Israeli allies. The statement’s title, “Indiscriminate Palestinian rocket attacks”, is followed by a brief speculation in the form of an inconspicuous subtitle, about the possibility of considering...
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The disgraced world and its insatiability for human tragedies
The fragmentation of history and continuous international complicity remain Israel’s greatest assets. As the Israeli Defence Forces continue to spread ruthless, manipulative propaganda about Hamas utilizing civilians and premises as human shields and weapons storage facilities, the world is updated on reality with more horrific images of dismembered bodies...
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Israel's false hopes on demilitarisation
Former Army Commander and Defence Minister, MK Shaul Kofaz, has submitted a proposal advocating for the demilitarisation of Gaza. The paper, titled “The Demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip: The Proper Endpoint for Israel of Operation Protective Edge”, calls for Hamas’s acquiescence to Israel and the international community in return...
