Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Romana Rubeo
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On keffiyehs and watermelons: the meaning of Palestinian symbols
Those who criticise Palestinian resistance to Israel’s military occupation, whether resistance is armed or otherwise, have little understanding of its psychological ramifications, such as a sense of collective empowerment, honour and hope. However, resistance does not simply mean a rifle or a rocket launcher. They are but two of...
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As a struggle for indigenous people’s rights, Gaza has united the world
For decades, the struggle for national liberation in Palestine was rightly understood to be part and parcel of the worldwide struggle for liberation, mainly in the Global South. And since national liberation movements were, by definition, the struggle for indigenous people to assert their collective rights for freedom, equality...
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Rape, Daesh, Mein Kampf and other lies: How Israel lost all credibility
On Saturday, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari claimed in a press conference that Israel had killed a “terrorist” who had prevented 1,000 civilians from escaping the Shifa Hospital. The allegations made little sense. Even by the standards of Israeli propaganda, falsifying such a piece of information while providing no context...
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Epidemic or revolution: the other side of the West Africa upheaval
What if the “epidemic of coups” in West and Central Africa is not that at all, but a direct outcome of outright revolutionary movements, similar to the anti-colonial movements that liberated most African nations from the yoke of Western colonialism throughout the 20th century? Whether this is the case or...
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When the torturer is the ‘saviour’, can BRICS and the Global South help us to escape Western hegemony?
At the zenith of the mass protests in Egypt on 25 January 2011, Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms based in the West appeared to be the most essential tools for the Egyptian Revolution. Although some observers later contested the descriptions “Twitter Revolution” or “Social Media Revolution”, one...
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Why Karim Khan froze the Palestine file: The ICC and Israeli war crimes in Gaza
Israel’s latest war on Gaza, starting on 9 May , killed 33 Palestinians, including six children, and wounded hundreds more. Most of those killed and wounded were civilians. On the first day of the war, Maurice Hirsh, former head of IDF Military Prosecution, made a ‘legal’ case for the Israeli...
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Algeria’s gas vs. rightwing ideology: Will Italy change its position on Jerusalem?
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left Tel Aviv for Rome on 9 March, he was flown to Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv by a helicopter because anti-government protesters blocked all the roads around it. Netanyahu’s visit was not met with much enthusiasm in Italy, either. A sit-in was...
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Palestinians are not liars: confronting the violence of media delegitimisation
During one of its frequent raids in the occupied West Bank on 19 January, the Israeli military arrested Palestinian journalist Abdul Muhsen Shalaldeh near the town of Al-Khalil (Hebron). This was just the latest of a staggering number of violations against Palestinian journalists and freedom of expression. A few days...
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The ‘principal threat’: Time to talk about the Palestinian class struggle
On Monday, 31 October, Palestinians in the town of Al-Eizariya, east of occupied East Jerusalem, observed a general strike. The strike was declared part of the community’s mourning of 49-year-old Barakat Moussa Odeh, who was killed by Israeli forces in Jericho a day earlier. This is not an isolated case....
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Fassino vs Albanese: Is Italy on the wrong side of history when it comes to Palestine?
The new United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese, is faced with a colossal task. She is expected to champion Palestinian human rights in a political institution that, for now, is largely dominated by the US and...
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Chomsky on Israeli apartheid, celebrity activists, BDS and the one-state solution
This is, said Italian socialist Antonio Gramsci, the “interregnum”; the rare and seismic moment in history when great transitions occur, when empires collapse and others rise, and when new conflicts and struggles ensue. The Gramscian interregnum, however, “is not a smooth transition”, for these profound changes often embody a...
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Will Israel be held accountable? In conversation with the new UN Special Rapporteur in Palestine
The position of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, has never been occupied by a woman. Until 1 May, 2022, that is. Francesca Albanese, an international lawyer and respected academic, was selected for this important role at a particularly...
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The Russians are coming: Are Beijing and Moscow at the cusp of a formal alliance?
It should matter little to the Chinese that American diplomats and a handful of their western allies will not be attending the Beijing Winter Olympics in February. What truly matters is that the Russians are coming. The above is not an arbitrary statement. It is supported with facts. According to...
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Denying the Inevitable: Why the West Refuses to Accept China’s Superpower Status
An article by Gideon Rachman in the Financial Times last July is a prime example of western intelligentsia’s limited understanding of China’s unhindered rise as a superpower. “Becoming a superpower is a complicated business. It poses a series of connected questions about capabilities, intentions and will,” Rachman wrote. To help us...
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Raids, Arrests and Death Threats: Israel’s Strategy of Silencing Human Rights Defenders
On 21 October, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz announced the issuance of a military order designating six prominent Palestinian human rights groups as ‘terrorist organizations’. Gantz claimed that they are secretly linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a socialist political group that Israel considers,...
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Award-winning Italian artist Eduardo Castaldo speaks about Palestine
On 1 April, a mural appeared in the Italian city of Naples. It depicts Palestinian workers lining up at an Israeli military checkpoint near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. The mural is called “Welcome to Bethlehem” and quickly became popular in the city and on social media. It...
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As Israel rejects the ICC investigation, what are the possible scenarios?
The Israeli government’s position regarding an impending investigation by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes committed in occupied Palestine has finally been declared by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “It will be made clear that Israel is a country with rule of law that knows how to...
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Engaging the World: The Making of Hamas’s Foreign Policy
A review of a ‘fascinating’ political evolution...
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‘One state is a game changer’: A conversation with Ilan Pappe and Awad Abdelfattah on the one democratic state campaign
As the US ruling elites have fully succumbed to Israel’s political discourse on Palestine, the Israeli government of right-wing Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, may feel that it, alone, is capable of determining the future of the Palestinian people. This conclusion is, perhaps, gleaned from Israel’s behavior in recent years and...
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Zionist War on Palestinian Festival in Rome is Ominous Sign of Things to Come
A Zionist-led war on a Palestinian cultural festival in Rome has exposed the fragility of the Italian political system when it comes to the conversation on Palestine and Israel. The sad truth is that, although Italy is not often associated with a ‘powerful’ pro-Israel lobby as is the case...
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‘Palestine is still the issue’: UN vote exposes, isolates Canada
The notion that ‘Canada is better’, especially when compared with US foreign policy, has persisted for many years. Recent events at the United Nations have, however, exposed the true nature of Canada’s global position, particularly in the matter of its blind and unconditional support for Israel. On June 17, Canada...
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Will the ICC Investigation Bring Justice for Palestine?
In the past, there have been many attempts at holding accused Israeli war criminals accountable. Particularly memorable is the case of the late Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, (known, among other nicknames, as the ‘Butcher of Sabra and Shatila’) whose victims attempted to try him in a Belgian Court...
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What is Next for Palestinian Popular Resistance in Gaza? Speaking to Journalist Wafaa Aludaini
Wafaa Aludaini is a witness to many of Gaza’s recent tragedies and also never-ending resistance. She experienced the violent Israeli occupation, the subsequent blockade on the impoverished Strip, and several wars that resulted in the death and wounding of tens of thousands of Palestinians. But none of Israel’s wars impacted...
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My Beit Daras, my Nakba: Two Palestinian intellectuals reminiscing about their destroyed village
Starting on March 27, 1948, a small Palestinian village, called Beit Daras, came under Zionist militias’ attacks. With little means, the Badrasawis fought back...
