Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ramona Wadi
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Palestinian welfare must not be argued by the likes of Greenblatt and Erekat
At the UN Security Council last Friday, US Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt failed to garner support for Israel’s decision to deduct $11 million from the tax revenues to be transferred to the Palestinian Authority. The PA has repeatedly asserted it will not accept any deductions and the…
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Delaying publication of the settlement blacklist exposes the UN’s false narratives on human rights
The UN is openly flaunting its priorities and, sadly, human rights are far from a major concern for the international organisation. Since its creation post-World War Two, and having established itself as the platform which determines what constitutes a human rights violation and which countries can be considered as perpetrators,…
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Israel exports violence and human rights rhetoric to Africa
As part of Tel Aviv’s diplomatic strategy in Africa, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) are providing military training to local troops in several countries. The Times of Israel has described this venture as “a dramatic upsurge of military cooperation.” Israel’s military attaché to Africa, Colonel Aviezer Segal, has said that…
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Humanitarian aid and the loss of Palestinian rights
After the US withdrew financial support from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), it is the EU which became the largest donor to the organisation. Yesterday, EU representative Ralph Tarraf and UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbühl signed a contribution agreement of $93 million for the…
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Looking outwardly for solutions affirms the PA’s loss of its ‘authority’
Recourse to the international community for solutions has yet to reap any justice whatsoever for the people of Palestine. The lengthy processes and bureaucratic delays, not to mention the collusion of international organisations and systems with human rights violations, is not conducive to the Palestinians’ needs and requirements. However, this…
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Plan B for Palestine may exist, but the UN’s role is to eliminate its possibilities
What UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in his remarks to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People affirmed the inherent hypocrisy of international institutions towards Palestine and Palestinians. “As I have said repeatedly,” he insisted, “there is no Plan B.” Guterres could have…
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The PA refusal to participate in the Warsaw Summit doesn’t change its penchant for compromise
The Palestinian Authority described last week’s Warsaw Summit as a US-Israeli conspiracy; US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed that the Palestinians are “worse off” because of their absence. This prompted the Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organisation to ask if anyone could explain how the people of Palestine…
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Electrical Palestine. Capital and Technology from Empire to Nation
Review rating: 4/5 Fredrik Meiton approaches the Zionist colonisation of Palestine from an industrialisation angle in his book “Electrical Palestine. Capital and technology from Empire to Nation” (University of California Press, 2019). The study traces the plans of Pinhas Rutenberg to electrify Palestine and how the implementation of these plans…
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Prevailing reactions to Khan Al-Ahmar are harming Palestinians
The silence generated over the Bedouin village of Khan Al-Ahmar should be provoking an outrage of different proportions. Last year, the village was a focal point to the exclusion of all other ongoing demolitions. Ahead of the Israeli elections on 9 April, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly delaying…
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Palestine doesn’t need an ‘international peace conference’ which will reject liberation strategies
Palestinian media are reporting that Mahmoud Abbas has appealed to the African Union to support, and participate in, a possible international conference “to take care of the peace process.” As always, the Palestinian Authority leader’s rhetoric shifts between the similarities in the Palestinian and African struggle against colonialism, while asking…
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Gantz and Ya’alon: two sides of the same coin
Former Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon has aligned himself politically with Benny Gantz, the former Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff and chairman of the Israel Resilience party. The Israeli election propaganda is generating considerable speculation and reactions. Yetserday, considerable attention was given to the fact that Gantz indicated support…
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A single Latuff cartoon has provoked Israel into exposing its own duplicity
Overseas humanitarian missions are relished by Israel, for they provide an excellent façade and distraction from its most definitely non-humanitarian agenda against the Palestinians. The latest Israel Defence Forces (IDF) search and rescue mission in Brazil following the collapse of a dam was no exception. Upon completion of the mission,…
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The UN persists with obsolete frameworks for Israel’s political benefit
Years after the two-state paradigm was declared obsolete, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process has informed the Security Council that, “The possibility of establishing a viable, contiguous Palestinian state has been systematically eroded by facts on the ground.” The statement is an attempt to transform what…
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The History and Politics of the Bedouin. Reimagining Nomadism in Modern Palestine
Review Rating 4/5 Seraj Assi’s study on nomadism sheds light on previously obscured understandings which have contributed to the Bedouin being discussed from a colonial context. The History and Politics of the Bedouin –Reimagining nomadism in Modern Palestine (Routledge, 2019) explores the history behind the external impositions on the population.…
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Humanitarian aid and strategic interests … for the EU
Palestinians are in dire need of humanitarian aid. So dire, in fact, that the EU has no qualms about conditioning financial aid in terms of acquiescence to the two-state paradigm. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is not an exception to this type of political…
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Have USAID’s intentions ever been truly humanitarian?
The decision to stop funding USAID projects in Palestine is another tactic by the Trump administration to block all humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, even when such assistance is inherently compromised to suit US interests. It follows hard on the heels of cuts to US donations to the UN Relief and…
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The Gaza protest casualties are not just statistics; where is the colonial context, UN?
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories (OCHA) released statistics on Monday showing that 254 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Great March of Return protests in March last year. A total of 23,603 Palestinian women, children and…
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Abbas’ trip to Latin America helps to marginalise Palestinian aspirations
As Guatemala prepares to open its embassy in Jerusalem next week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has embarked on a trip to three Latin America countries: Venezuela, Chile and Cuba. Landing in the Venezuelan capital Caracas yesterday, Abbas met President Nicolas Maduro at the presidential palace Miraflores. He thanked him…
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Despite his talk of ‘reconciliation’, Abbas continues to act in Israel’s interests
The gradual release of the details of the proposed Palestinian unity government has reached its inevitable outcome. According to Israeli media, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas will not include any Hamas ministers in the government unless they openly assert their recognition of Israel. According to Aljazeera, Abbas denied making such…
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Thwarting Israel’s selective narrative
Almost simultaneously, Israeli and Palestinian media have issued news reports regarding the current status of the Jerusalem Intifada. While the motivations behind such information are diverging, both have reiterated common issues – Israeli belligerence and security coordination. Israel’s Ynet News has quoted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as attributing a…
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The PA’s contradictory statements
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest gimmick is an invitation to Mahmoud Abbas to discuss a resumption of negotiations following the latter’s grovelling for the two-state compromise. It is still being given priority within Palestinian Authority circles, despite the obvious ridicule implied. Furthermore, another attempt at denouncing Israel came from…
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The deadly condescension game
Last week, Mahmoud Abbas regaled the world with insight into security coordination with Israel vis-à-vis attempts to curb the ongoing Palestinian resistance. Apart from revealing that the PA security agencies are searching students’ bags for knives, thus seeking to credit himself with the occupation authorities through collaboration, Abbas also embarked…
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Collective hunger strikes and Palestinian narratives
Individual hunger strikes of Palestinian prisoners have garnered much attention in the media, which dissipates after an agreement is reached, only to be resurrected again once Israel reneges on its word, as is common occurrence. The activism associated with highlighting hunger strikes as a form of protest has unwittingly fallen…
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The dangers of activism and the EU finding common ground
While BDS can claim various gains, including the recent announcement by security firm G4S that it would be terminating its business deals with Israel, there are several points that need to be considered if activism is to conquer the prevailing political limitations. In a recent anti-BDS conference organised by Yedioth…