Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ramona Wadi
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The international community has normalised Israel’s colonial violence
Israel’s dependence on being able to act with absolute impunity through its military and other institutions, as well as its illegal settlers, continues to leave a trail of oppressive destruction for the people of occupied Palestine. Indeed, nobody is safe from Israeli belligerence. Towards the end of July, for example,…
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The status quo is being reinforced for Israel’s benefit
Palestine has been lost through decades of waiting, while the UN sets the scene to aid Israel’s colonial plunder. Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, now dissociated from his tenure, penned an op-ed for the Financial Times which was published in the aftermath of Israel’s most recent bombing of Gaza. “It…
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The international community’s tacit complicity in Sheikh Jarrah
So brief is the international community’s attention span when it comes to Palestinian rights, that the forced evictions planned by Israel for the residents of Sheikh Jarrah have become a dissociated event of the past few months. As the furore over Israel’s bombing of Gaza abated, so too did the…
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The UN’s approach to democracy in Palestine includes only Mahmoud Abbas
UN independent experts have urged the Palestinian Authority to reschedule the parliamentary and presidential elections, which PA leader Mahmoud Abbas cancelled under the pretext of Palestinians in Jerusalem not being allowed to vote. Israel’s refusal to grant electoral rights for Palestinians in Jerusalem was what the PA knew all along would form the basis…
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The two-state compromise normalises Israeli colonialism
Following the signing of last year’s Abraham Accords brokered by the Trump administration, the international community woke up to the normalisation of Israel’s colonisation of Palestine; nobody seemed to be particularly averse to this. It is telling that while normalising relations between Israel and Arab states created a bit of…
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Israel’s colonial expansion does not happen in a political vacuum
When European diplomats visit the occupied Palestinian territories to observe the damage wrought by Israel’s home demolitions and forced displacement, the only response is generally to “urge the Israeli authorities to cease such actions.” As a settler-colonial state based on the ideology of Zionism, Israel was built upon and maintains…
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‘Neutrality’ and humanitarian aid for Palestinian refugees
US President Joe Biden has transferred $135.8 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), following the signing of the 2021-2022 Framework for Cooperation and with additional conditions for the agency’s commitment to “neutrality”. “The signing of the US-UNRWA Framework and additional support demonstrates we once again have…
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Will the US challenge Israel’s claims to the ‘unification’ of Jerusalem?
Jerusalem is once again in the diplomatic crosshairs over US President Joe Biden’s intention to reopen the American Consulate in Jerusalem, which was closed by the Trump Administration in 2019. According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, reopening the consulate is “an important way for our country to engage…
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Determined to Stay: Palestinian Youth Fight For Their Village
So many stories of Palestine and Palestinians remain untold. The brevity associated with news reports barely scratches the surface of the ramifications of Israeli settler-colonialism, let alone allow non-Palestinians to ponder the intricate web of politics that sustains colonial violence. Unless Israel unleashes its military power against Gaza, the world…
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The EU backs the unfeasible, in favour of Israel’s colonial expansion
Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid stressed the importance of a “new start” in relations with the EU, during a meeting of the European Foreign Affairs Council yesterday. The EU’s Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell echoed the sentiment, describing the meeting as “a great chance to restart relations with Israel.” Yet…
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Palestinians are not merely the PA’s political appendages
The Palestinian Authority has two ways of dealing with detainees and demonstrators. When the occasion arises, particularly if coordinated hunger strikes by Palestinian prisoners in Israel jails make international headlines, the PA has no qualms about appearing at demonstrations and calling for their release. These PR stunts by PA officials…
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Israel’s colonial violence and international humanitarian aid
Whenever Israel bombs Gaza, donor countries are expected to raid their treasuries and manage the resultant humanitarian crisis. The aftermath of the latest colonial aggression against the enclave is no different. On one hand, the reconstruction of Gaza will probably follow previous mechanisms in which the UN plays a role…
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As Palestinians demand answers, the PA has nothing left but tyranny
The Palestinian Authority might not have envisaged that the killing of Nizar Banat by its security services would have unleashed such a response from the Palestinian people. Ongoing demonstrations and calls for PA leader Mahmoud Abbas to step down have been met with further violence by the security forces, and…
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Complicity and accountability in Banat’s killing
In the international community’s narrative of illusory state-building in Palestine, the Palestinian Authority’s security services are dissociated from violence. Whether such violence is meted out according to PA Leader Mahmoud Abbas’s directives, or in terms of security coordination with Israel, the EU and the US prefer to retain a distant…
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Palestine: A Socialist Introduction
At a time when Palestine is becoming increasingly isolated, and the Palestinian struggle for liberation is being smothered under the normalisation agreements, the importance of internationalist solidarity cannot be overstated. Edited by Sumaya Awad and Brian Bean, Palestine: A Socialist Introduction places the Palestinian anti-colonial struggle within a regional and…
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Israel’s demands for Gaza’s reconstruction must be opposed
The international community speaks of mechanisms, while Israel is preoccupied with exploiting the need for Gaza to be reconstructed to free the Israelis held by Hamas in the enclave. Meanwhile, displaced Palestinians face yet another round of humanitarian deprivation, even as the dissociation between the experience of displaced Palestinians and…
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‘There is no Plan B,’ but accolades from Abbas are still forthcoming
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been sworn in for a second term – another extension in which Palestinians will acquaint themselves with “There is no Plan B,” now bolstered by the Abraham Accords which the UN so promptly acknowledged and praised. For Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, another tenure of Guterres…
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In joining the coalition, Mansour Abbas fragments the Palestinian political struggle
When Palestinians face the prospect of the colonisation of the last remaining shards of their land by Israel, the answer is surely not collaboration with the right-wing apartheid state. And yet this is what Mansour Abbas has done by joining Israel’s new coalition government. A recent lengthy interview with Abbas…
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EU officials find common ground with Naftali Bennett
In July last year, the EU’s High Representative Josep Borrell penned a brief blog warning against Israel’s annexation of the occupied West Bank. “As someone with a personal connection to the region, I have emphasised, both in my private conversations with Israeli leaders and in public, that annexation would put…
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Israel’s arrogance demands more than political subservience
A single, perceived omission, according to Israel’s colonial agenda, was enough to turn down requests for the EU’s Middle East Peace Envoy Sven Koopmans to visit Israel. This was, apparently, payback for EU High Representative Josep Borrell’s alleged lack of support for the latest colonial aggression against the Palestinians in…
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Israeli settler-colonialism protects US interests, hence the unconditional support
The US will not get involved in the current government turbulence in Israel, but remains committed to the security of the settler-colonial state, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has declared. Her words are a far cry from the impositions which Palestinians faced from the US and the international community…
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Israel is more important than the lives of those forced to live in it
Two weeks ago, while the international community was busying itself with statements condemning Hamas rockets in an attempt to steer the narrative away from Israel’s colonial expansionism, Palestinians were also protesting the forthcoming construction of 350 settlement dwellings in Beit El, which were approved by the Israeli government late last…
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The PA seeks international assurances while continuing to fail the Palestinians
During each major Israeli offensive against Gaza, the Palestinian Authority is careful not to antagonise the settler-colonial state with its rhetoric. Its sights are perpetually set on the aftermath, particularly rebuilding Gaza and how much of a prominent role — and aid money — it can take in the process.…
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Ireland shows the way over Israel’s de-facto annexation of Palestine
When it comes to Palestine, the Republic of Ireland continues to lead the way over Israel’s violations of international law. A recent motion by Sinn Fein calling out Israel’s de-facto annexation of Palestinian territory won unanimous approval in the Oireachtas, the Irish parliament. This made Ireland the first European state…