Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ramona Wadi
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The Palestinian Authority’s privilege and freedom of movement
The Israeli government’s new sanctions against Palestinians include punitive measures for Palestinian Authority officials related to their freedom of movement. In response to the UN General Assembly resolution titled “Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories,” which seeks…
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How the EU constructs Israel impunity
The EU could have availed itself of an opportunity to hold Israel accountable for its violations but, instead. it opted for the lesser value of requesting financial reparation for the structures funded by the bloc in the Occupied West Bank and destroyed by the settler-colonial enterprise. Neither is the EU’s…
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The PA upholds the international community’s double standards
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is building upon the international community’s strong support for the apartheid state’s colonial expansion, as well as the international indifference to the legitimate political rights of the Palestinian people. The Palestinian Authority, on the other hand, is only prepared to continue sounding a death knell…
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Away from the rhetoric, where is European support for Palestine?
In keeping with his new government’s policy statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the UN General Assembly vote on a resolution about “Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories”. According to Netanyahu, “The Jewish nation is…
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Netanyahu returns to the suspended annexation plans
When former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman insisted that annexation of the occupied West Bank was merely suspended, not cancelled, much emphasis was made on how the Abraham Accords would usher in a new chapter with benefits for Palestinians. The diversion from the looming annexation provided the international community…
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Palestinians’ peaceful resistance should not be conflated with the PA’s diplomatic failures
The Palestinian Authority has often intruded into the Palestinian anti-colonial resistance for the sole purpose of garnering some media visibility, as it does with Khan al-Ahmar and the Palestinian political prisoners collective hunger strikes, for example. Christmas and New Year have proved to be no exception for the PA to…
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Zionism During the Holocaust: The Weaponisation of Memory in the Service of the State and Nation
Tony Greenstein’s well researched book, Zionism During the Holocaust: The Weaponisation of Memory in the Service of the State and Nation will not sit well with proponents of the propaganda that sustains Israeli colonisation of Palestine. While several Israeli authors have touched upon the links between Zionism and Nazism, Greenstein’s…
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The PA and UN invalidate the Palestinians’ legitimate resistance
The Palestinian Authority is reluctant to move away from the narrative which the international community constructed for Palestinians through the humanitarian paradigm which serves Israeli interests first and foremost. As Israeli state and settler violence against Palestinian civilians increased, with several instances of extrajudicial killings of Palestinians including minors, the PA’s Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called upon the…
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Does anyone actually believe what Mahmoud Abbas says?
In a recent interview with Al-Arabiya.net, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas gave further proof of his fluctuating thought patterns and lack of credibility when it comes to Palestinian political rights. While attempting a harsher tone, as in his UN General Assembly speech this year, Abbas has nothing to offer other…
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Israel’s opposition to criticism exposes its colonial violence
The Times of Israel ran a lengthy article this week pinpointing the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese’s criticisms of Israel, notably her use of the term “Jewish lobby” – a reference from 2014, years prior to her appointment by the UN. Yet, what stands out in the article…
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The UN tramples over human rights for Israel’s benefit
Rhetoric about alleged anti-Israel bias at the UN, despite how unfounded the allegations are, will never cease to reverberate. The US recently reignited its disapproval of the possibility of updating the UN’s Israeli settlement business blacklist, which it said could be detrimental to businesses. That, of course, is the point,…
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The PA’s official news agency works against Palestinian interests
If a reader has to rely on the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, the best one can hope for is distortion. A recent news brief published by Wafa, summarised from Agence France-Presse, selected a sliver of US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken’s speech to J Street – the liberal pro-Israel…
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The IDF’s violent origins and Israel impunity
Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister, Yair Lapid’s assessment of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) completely eliminated its paramilitary origins and violence prior to the establishment of Israel’s colonial enterprise. Israel needs a “strong, disciplined military with a clear chain-of-command that operates only by the law,” Lapid declared, after the situational assessment…
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Lapid exploits UN resolutions to further Israel’s security narrative
The Israeli government is portraying itself as being worried about international delegitimisation at the UN. As the UN General Assembly Fourth Committee on Decolonisation passed the resolution “Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories including East Jerusalem” on…
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Observations invalidate the two-state compromise
The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process continues to speak from a vacuum that denies Israel’s colonial existence as the main violation Palestinians encounter daily. In his latest monthly briefing to the UN Security Council, Wennesland gratified his audience by maintaining the international consensus over the two-state…
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US concessions to Palestine always work in Israel’s favour
Further proof of US President Joe Biden reneging on his electoral promises with regard to Palestine is the ongoing refusal to reopen the US Consulate in occupied Jerusalem for use by Palestinians, and opting instead for creating a new role of Special Representative for Palestinian Affairs, which has been given…
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The PA’s failure in protecting Palestinians
The Palestinian anti-colonial resistance has provided ample proof it will no longer take its cues from political factions, leaving both the Palestinian Authority and Israel facing a changing political dynamic among the people. The PA has been rendered irrelevant both by its own collaboration with Israel and acquiescence to the…
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Only Abu Akleh’s US citizenship is of concern to Washington
Israel is once again, albeit temporarily, under the spotlight for the targeted killing in May of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. This follows the revelation that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is conducting an investigation into the crime. In September, after many denials, Israel conceded there was…
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Abbas is already submitting quietly to Netanyahu
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas continues to demonstrate that he has no political standing. In a recent interview, for example, he described Israeli Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu as “not a man who believes in peace.” Given that Netanyahu will once again be at the helm of a decades-old colonial enterprise,…
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US complicity with Israel will enhance any future annexation plans
The US will push back against annexation, according to US Ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, as the Abraham Accords are set to feature as a continuation of an internationally approved US policy. “Our position is quite clear: We do not support annexation. We will fight any attempt to do so,”…
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Palestinians need more than Blinken’s empty words
With Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu set to return as Israeli prime minister, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, spouting yet another round of futile rhetoric about improving the quality of life for Palestinians and, of course, reaffirming Washington’s adherence to the — surely defunct…
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The UN’s ‘shared goal’ excludes the Palestinians
What the Palestinian people want is far removed from what is being decided by governments and UN officials. As the Arab League held its first summit, in Algiers, since the signing of the Abraham Accords, Arab leaders reaffirmed their “commitment” to the Palestinian “cause”. Such vague language was necessary, because…
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The Palestinian narrative is eliminated at the UN Security Council
The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, extended the illusion of equivalence in speaking about the coloniser and the colonised. It is incumbent upon Israel and the international community to stop the violations against Palestinians, yet Wennesland called “on both leaderships to recognise what is…
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The UN wastes Palestinian lives and time
Israel’s colonial expansion has taken almost all of Palestine, and yet the UN is still wasting time on telling everyone what should be, and really is, blindingly obvious. Israel’s occupation of Palestine, says a recent report by the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry established in May 2021 and mandated by…