Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ramona Wadi
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The Afterlife of Palestinian Images: Visual Remains and Time
Israel’s erasure of Palestine is tackled through the looting of Palestinian archives and what remains of the colonial plunder in Azza El Hassan’s book The Afterlife of Palestinian Images: Visual Remains and Time (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024). The author introduces the subject with her encounter of a film reel that survived…
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The façades of Israel’s ‘humanitarian’ paradigms in South Sudan and Gaza
While the entire international community is futilely discussing humanitarian aid in Gaza and allowing Israel to continue with its macabre spectacle, the settler colonial enterprise is once again embarking on flaunting its hypocritical so-called humanitarian stance in South Sudan which is facing a crisis caused by a cholera outbreak in…
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Palestine Mapped: From the River to the Sea in Early Cartographic Thought
There is no neutrality in maps. Thomas Suarez makes that point early in Palestine Mapped: From the River to the Sea in Early Cartographic Thought (Interlink Books, 2025) “All maps are products of their makers’ worldview, their assumptions, culture, and what, even subliminally, they want the map to do,” Suarez…
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Who enabled the process of “Greater Israel”?
In a recent interview with i24, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated he is “on a mission of generations” for “Greater Israel”. Meanwhile, the international community is still bleating about the two-state paradigm. The Arab League spoke out against Israel’s “aggressive and expansionist tendencies”. But in the midst of all…
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Preconditions, symbolic recognition and the ongoing erasure of Palestine
September seems to be the month several Western countries have chosen to symbolically recognise the State of Palestine. The countdown to the hypothetical recognition, if it happens, will likely generate more attention than recognition itself. This is what Western diplomacy is all about, after all, when it comes to Palestine.…
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Opposing military occupation in Gaza is not opposition to the structure of military occupation
There is no particular enthusiasm for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to force a military occupation upon Gaza as part of the colonial genocidal plan. From across the Israeli political spectrum, Netanyahu has faced backlash over the “take over” – Israel’s euphemism for military occupation. The plan is based…
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Israel’s military occupation of Gaza will further weaponise humanitarian aid
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to present plans for the full occupation of Gaza, US President Donald Trump is allegedly concerned with humanitarian aid, saying that his main focus is to feed Palestinians in Gaza “who are obviously not doing too well with food.” Military occupation? Not…
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Perpetuating genocide in Gaza
Europe’s reaction to the video released by Hamas showing two Israeli hostages also under the effects of starvation – Israel’s own policy – was the most contradictory so far. Expressing horror at the footage, EU diplomats then stated that they have not yet agreed on a partial suspension of Israel’s…
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The EU’s colonial approach to human rights
The EU’s failure to even partially stop Israel’s participation in the Horizon Europe programme speaks volumes about the bloc’s commitment to Israel’s security narrative and complicity in genocide. Germany and Italy stated they needed more time to review the proposal which would see Israel lose around €200 million in funds…
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After Savagery: Gaza, Genocide and the Illusion of Western Civilisation
Drawing upon philosophy and literature, Hamid Dabashi exposes the roots of Western colonial savagery and its entire manifestation in Israel as a Western colonial project currently engaged in exterminating Palestinians through genocide. The genocide in Gaza is not happening in a vacuum. After Savagery: Gaza, Genocide and the Illusion of…
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The international community turns to the humanitarian paradigm to save itself, not Gaza
Had the international community decided to take a unified stance against the initial implemented plans to starve Gaza’s population, by now Israel would have nowhere to turn to. It took the atrocities committed at the distribution sites coordinated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), Palestinians dying of starvation and, more…
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Israel’s alternative to colonisation is still colonisation
Whether Israel decides to go ahead with its so-called humanitarian cities or occupy further territory in Gaza, the end result is still colonisation. The international community is too busy trying to navigate the dynamics of the new humanitarian and rescue its diplomatic relevance to bother with the slightest remaining vestiges…
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Voices of Resistance: Diaries of Genocide
Voices of Resistance: Diaries of Genocide (Comma Press, 2025), presents the diary entries of four Palestinian women living through the genocide in Gaza. Spanning a time frame from October 2003 to March 2025, Batool Abu Akleen, Sondos Sabra, Nahil Mohama and Ala’a Obaid narrate their experiences, intertwined with those of…
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Saving the humanitarian paradigm does not save Palestinians from Israeli colonialism
Earlier this month, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres outlined four options that the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) currently faces. A potential collapse of the agency, reducing services and transferring some functions to other actors, creating an executive board to secure accountability, funding and services, and…
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Without punitive measures, the EU rewards Israeli colonialism, genocide and violence
Israel and the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) have turned aid distribution into macabre spectacles. The statistics should hold more weight than the GHF’s justifications – out of 875 Palestinians killed since the distribution sites started operating, 674 happened “in the vicinity of GHF sites”. Yesterday 21 Palestinian people were killed…
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Israel controls the narrative on ethnic cleansing
Israel’s former prime minister Ehud Olmert made headline news upon calling the planned humanitarian transit areas “concentration camps”. No disputing Olmert’s statement: “If [the Palestinians] are to be exiled to the new ‘humanitarian aid city’, you can say this is part of ethnic cleansing.” Part of ethnic cleansing as a…
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Killing Palestinians, by genocide and formalities
Israel used no formality in genocide. The EU, on the other hand, treats Israel with the utmost formality designed to help the settler-colonial entity achieve its genocidal aims. Following a report on the EU-Israel Association Agreement, details of which show hesitant language: “There are indications that Israel would be in…
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The UN’s colonial fabrication of human rights
The UN has repeatedly and uselessly declared itself against the forced transfer of the Palestinian people. Yet under its watch, the Zionist paramilitaries, precursors to the Israeli military, carried out the first large scale ethnic cleansing in 1948. Israel continued to expel Palestinians from their homes and villages, leading to…
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The genocide is still far from being condemned in the West’s rhetoric
While more rhetoric but barely any pressure is raised against the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) and Israel using the distribution hubs as kill zones, the genocide in Gaza reflects an earlier trend of pinpointing violations into manageable disturbances. That way, Israel’s violence can remain unchecked and the genocide in Gaza…
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Humanitarian aid and colonial violence
As scrutiny of the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) increases, the Israeli military has tried to rally support for the agency’s operations, saying it provides “Palestinians with an opportunity to eat from another hand that isn’t the terrorist group,” with reference to Hamas. The military also stated it does not intentionally…
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Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal
“It is not only grief that makes writing in the time of genocide a tortuous task; it is, more so, one’s recognition of the written word as shamefully insufficient in the face of 2,000-pound bombs,” Mohammed El-Kurd writes in the introduction to his book Perfect Victims and the Politics of…
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Merz’s blurred division between reasoning and questioning
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spouted several contradictions in his speech on Tuesday to the Bundestag, ahead of the NATO summit which was held at The Hague this week. Germany’s “reason of state,” he said, “is to defend the state of Israel in its existence.” But, he added, “the moment has…
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The EU makes Gaza fodder for its delayed diplomacy
Leaked excerpts of the European External Action Service’s (EEAS) review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement exhibits more cautiousness than determination to condemn Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza. “There are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israeli Association Agreement.” If…
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The EU-Israel Association Agreement is not fit for purpose
It is now possible that the EU-Israel Association Agreement will not be suspended, in light of Israel’s attacks on Iran. No mater how much the EU tries to frame this outcome on Iran, the fact remains that Israel extended its warfare. And for extending its warfare, Israel will likely be…