Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ramona Wadi
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Expect more delusional rhetoric from Abbas at the UN
A lot of speculation has gripped the media with regard to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s forthcoming speech at the UN General Assembly on 29 September. Reports in the Times of Israel have cited contradicting claims, with European diplomats insisting that he will not dismantle the PA or annul the…
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Focus activism on individuals as part of the wider struggle to be really effective
Triumphs for Palestinian political prisoners placed under administrative detention by Israel are generally short-lived. Operation Brother’s Keeper last year provided the Zionist state with an excuse to re-arrest former hunger striker Samer Issawi under the pretext of maintaining security following the deaths of three Israeli-settler teenagers. On Wednesday, the Israeli…
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The Israeli ambassador, the UN and intentional deception
The outgoing Israeli ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, is utilising the final days of his posting to regurgitate an abbreviated appeal of his earlier speeches. From selective statistics to contemptuous tirades against the United Nations, Prosor’s agenda throughout an interview with Ynet news is to convey the erroneous depiction…
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Palestinian education remains compromised by UNRWA
UNRWA has long propagated the slogan that education is the only hope for Palestinians in Gaza. Undergoing various forms of paraphrasing, the emphasis placed by the agency upon education, however, remains hampered by the fact that compromise is still an integral component of what’s on offer. Prior to the commencement…
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The EU takes the opportunity to encourage further bloodshed
The European Union is employing the same dissociation tactics utilised by governments and media to speak about the ramifications of violence while negating the role of foreign intervention. The intentional manipulation of the UN resolution that justified NATO’s destruction of Libya is no longer an issue for the EU. Instead,…
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The EU takes the opportunity to encourage further bloodshed
The European Union is employing the same dissociation tactics utilised by governments and media to speak about the ramifications of violence while negating the role of foreign intervention. The intentional manipulation of the UN resolution that justified NATO’s destruction of Libya is no longer an issue for the EU. Instead,…
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Ensuring the precedence of symbolism over Palestinian rights
Instead of focusing upon international organisations as a platform through which the Palestinian struggle can be articulated and disseminated, the Palestinian Authority has once again prioritised symbolism over rights. The latest initiative consisted of a draft resolution to be presented at the UN General Assembly meeting on 25 September, asking…
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Herzog demands the suppression of Palestinian resistance
A meeting between Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog and PA President Mahmoud Abbas last Tuesday elicited further demands with regard to security coordination with Israel, despite the increase in Jewish settlers’ terror attacks against Palestinian civilians. Reportedly initiated by Abbas, according to Haaretz, the meeting was a recapitulation of Israeli…
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Allan’s hunger-strike reveals UN complacency with human rights violations
International solidarity with Mohammed Allan, whose hunger strike has garnered significant attention due to the recently approved law requiring medical personnel to force-feed prisoners embarking upon this form of protest, has obscured other factors in the wider framework of human rights violations carried out by Israel. Emphasis upon freeing Allan,…
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Post-Duma arson, Ya’alon promotes further incitement against Palestinians
Last Tuesday, Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon gave an example of his twisted logic as he discussed security, intelligence and “Palestinian terror groups” during a tour of the occupied West Bank. Despite increasing numbers of Jewish settler attacks upon Palestinian civilians, some resulting in murder, Ya’alon urged the colonial population…
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Repressing Palestinian prisoners’ anti-colonial struggle
Benjamin Netanyahu’s emulation of Guantanamo torture – the force-feeding of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails — has resurfaced once again, occupying the usual hype which detracts from the real issues at hand. At the same time it reinforces the reality of the link between the state, medical…
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Hamas opposition to unity government needs stronger resistance
The Palestinian unity government is keeping up with the trend of fomenting further discord, ridiculing its existence and proving its role as collaborator against the Palestinian cause. Since its inception, the unity government flourished as an extension of the Palestinian Authority’s repressive and exploitative policies, ensuring its existence through wilful…
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Reaping the consequences of unrivalled impunity
Following the Israeli settler atrocity involving the burning of 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha the PA is once again indulging in its favourite past times – resorting to international organisations, pondering the possibility of halting security coordination with Israel and seeking “international protection” for Palestinians – the latter aided by Jordan.…
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Erekat, Israel and the international agenda
Following his usual hyperbole accusing the international community of aiding Israel’s impunity, PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat displayed the PA’s synchronisation with the prevailing international agenda by participating in a series of secret meetings with Israeli law makers. The most recent was reported to have taken place in Amman, Jordan, and…
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Attaining ‘unity’ away from the PA is vital for Hamas
Turmoil and discord continue to characterise the Palestinian unity government as it persists in adhering to the imperialist agenda concocted during “Operation Protective Edge” last summer. Last June, PA President Mahmoud Abbas sought to alleviate Israel’s alleged fears during French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius’s visit to Jerusalem, stating that internationally-recognised…
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Increasing efforts in support of Israeli impunity
News that Israel has approved the construction of over 900 new housing units in the occupied West Bank has elicited comments from PLO Executive Committee Chairman Saeb Erekat, who embarked upon the usual selective criteria utilised for criticism of Israel’s settlement expansion. The new dwellings are expected to accommodate an…
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Israel sets limits to negotiations with Palestinians
Not content with permanently extending and rupturing negotiations over the two-state compromise, Israel has announced a new twist to the internationally accepted framework. According to Haaretz, a senior Israeli official declared that it would only engage in talks with the EU as long as settlement construction would remain off the…
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UNRWA’s oversimplification of Israel’s colonial massacre
Using the hashtag #Gaza1YearOn, Palestinians in Gaza have once again been subjected to exploitative oversimplification. In keeping with its neutral agenda, UNRWA has embarked upon another propaganda spectacle under the heading, “Fifty voices for fifty days of conflict: Gaza in its own words”. In its introduction, UNRWA summarises colonial aggression…
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Renewed threats against Gaza under the guise of Israeli patriotism
European mediators have attempted to convince Hamas to release the bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed during Operation Protective Edge last summer. Netanyahu’s government is utilising the circumstances to further the settler-colonial state’s patriotic drivel. Within Israel, demands for the release of the soldiers will continue the distortion of Gaza’s…
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Israel’s patronising manipulation of Gaza’s narrative
Not content with inscribing the renewed attempts at colonising Gaza through Operation Protective Edge last summer, the Israeli media has since filled up column space by churning out its deceitful narrative on the beleaguered territory. The result is a series of patronising articles that depart from a sliver of the…
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Erekat’s unabashed subjugation
The distortion of “logic and law” forms the premise of Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat’s recent article which was published in the Guardian. The article entitled “What Palestine needs is for Europe to honour its own agreements,” is another exhibition of subjugation to higher authorities, achieved through the usual tactic…
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The complementary tactics of Israel and the UNHRC
It seems as if Israel is about to regurgitate the script which reads that it is debating whether or not to retain its membership in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Following the publication of the council’s inquiry report on last year’s Operation Protective Edge, which deemed that both…
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In rejecting PA overtures, Hamas defines its commitment to the anti-colonial struggle
Just as Hamas outlined its conditions for participating in the forthcoming Palestinian unity government, France is escalating its interference by seeking assurances from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that the preconditions outlined by the international community and, notably, the Middle East Quartet, will remain in place. Thus, once again, we…
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UNHRC report restricts Palestinian anti-colonial struggle
Following its insensitive and macabre efforts to downplay the repercussions and atrocities of Operation Protective Edge, Israel has now attempted to ridicule the UN Human Rights Council report on last summer’s aggression. The report, which Israel pronounced as “morally flawed”, has accused both Israel and Palestinian resistance groups of war…