Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Rebecca Stead
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‘Not talking about Israel’s occupation is like ignoring US history of segregation’
Last week, eight young American Jews walked off their Birthright tour, a programme which has been running trips to Israel for young people of Jewish heritage, free of charge, since 1999. The group was due to visit an archaeological park in Jerusalem, known as the City of David. The...
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‘Netanyahu and Trump are in a race over who can implement more racist, repressive laws’
Jewish-American activist and supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Ariel Gold, who was barred from entering Israel earlier this month, speaks to MEMO about her experience. On 1 July, Ariel Gold attempted to enter Israel through Ben Gurion airport. Despite holding a student visa which she...
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Remembering Israel’s move to install metal detectors at Al-Aqsa
What: Israel installed metal detectors at the entrance to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound Where: Jerusalem When: 16-25 July 2017 What happened? On 16 July 2017 Israel installed metal detectors at the entrance to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Two days earlier, three Palestinians and two Israeli occupation security personnel were...
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‘Jordan has a duty to defend Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa’
In July last year, Israel closed Al-Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayers for the first time in 17 years. The move followed increased tensions in Jerusalem, after two Israeli policemen and three Palestinians were killed. Two days later, Israel installed metal detectors at the entrance to the compound, sparking waves...
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Return to the ghetto: Israel’s Nation State Law would make early Zionists turn in their graves
This week, Israel’s “Nation State” law has caused outrage. In his usual way, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has steamrolled the bill forwards saying he hopes to see it pass before the Knesset enters its summer recess next week. A final version of the bill was discussed by Knesset...
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Remembering Israel’s 2006 war on Lebanon
What: Israel waged aerial, ground and naval war on Lebanon’s Hezbollah Where: Southern Lebanon and northern Israel When: 12 July – 14 August 2006 What happened? Between 12 July and 14 August 2006, Israel waged war on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon and the Lebanese capital Beirut, by land,...
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The aid model has been shunned internationally. It won’t work for Palestine either
Last week, prospects for Palestinian development took a step backwards. On Monday, Australia announced that it would stop direct aid to Palestine, citing concerns by Australian MPs over whether the money was being used for so-called “martyr payments”. The move was slammed by the Palestinian Authority (PA) which accused...
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‘We want you to see our reality,’ Palestine journalists tell British Parliament
In a meeting held at the British Parliament yesterday, Palestinian journalists told parliamentarians, journalists and the general public that “we want you to see our reality”. They called on the international community to “take responsibility” for the protection of Palestinian journalists, for discussions to be “translated into reality” and...
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Aram Rawf, the first asylum seeker to join St. John Ambulance
Aram Rawf, a Kurdish refugee who fled Iraq in 1999, became the first asylum seeker to join St. John Ambulance in a bid to “say thank you to my community”. When Aram arrived in the UK as a 17-year-old minor seeking asylum, he didn’t know what to expect from...
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Remote control repression: Israel tested its latest weapons against the Great March of Return
Over the course of the Great March of Return protests which started on 30 March, 115 Palestinians were killed and a further 13,000 were injured. Many were shot by live ammunition fired from Israeli positions behind the nominal Gaza-Israel border. Tear gas rained down on protesters from unmanned drones...
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MEMO hosts launch of The Last Earth by Ramzy Baroud
Last night MEMO hosted Ramzy Baroud as he launched his new book The Last Earth in front of a packed lecture theatre at Imperial College, London. Chaired by Dr Dina Matar of the Centre for Palestine Studies at SOAS, University of London, Baroud shared his thoughts on some of...
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The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story
“On the first day of their journey, they walked for twenty long hours. On the second, they walked from eight in the morning until three the next morning. No matter how carefully they tried to ration their water supplies, they were running out quickly, and the food was completely...
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Samir Awad is another victim of Israel’s biased judicial system
Just 200 metres from the village of Budrus, north west of Ramallah, lies the Separation Barrier. On 15 January 2013, 16-year-old Samir Awad and his friends loitered nearby, revelling in the last day of the school semester. Climbing over a low iron fence Awad found himself trapped between this...
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This International Women’s Day, Palestinian women face more challenges than most
Living under a 50-year-long Israeli military occupation, Palestinian women in the West Bank and Gaza face more challenges than most. Their husbands, brothers and sons frequently imprisoned, their homes demolished, their residency permits revoked and daily restrictions imposed upon their movement, you could be forgiven for thinking life had...
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Remembering the First Gulf War
What: US-led ‘Operation Desert Sabre’ and the Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait Where: Iraq and Kuwait When: 24 – 26 February 1991 What happened? On 24 February 1991, the United States of America and its coalition partners began “Operation Desert Sabre”, the ground invasion of southern Iraq and Iraqi-occupied Kuwait....
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3000 Nights
A radio babbles unintelligibly in the background, the helmet of a soldier outlined against the grill of a military vehicle. The light flickers across nameless faces, bloodied and blindfolded as they wrestle futilely with their handcuffs. This is Nablus, 1980. When Layal Asfour, a young Palestinian schoolteacher, finds herself...
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Gaza: Preparing for Dawn
Weaving personal stories intricately with unique insights from the world of international diplomacy, Donald Macintyre’s book Gaza: Preparing for Dawn paints a vivid picture of this small strip of land which, despite being known as the world’s largest open-air prison, never fails to surprise with its entrepreneurial and enduring...
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Remembering the Egyptian Revolution
What: Egyptian Revolution Where: Egypt When: 25 January 2011 What happened? On 25 January 2011 protests erupted in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. The 25 January was a longstanding national holiday in Egypt, yet in 2011 thousands of people gathered in downtown Cairo calling for a “day of rage”. Protesters marched...
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Israel’s policy on African asylum seekers reflects its internal divisions
Yesterday, the BBC reported that, “The Israeli government has issued a notice for thousands of African migrants to leave the country or face imprisonment.” Other British news outlets followed in reporting the story, with the Guardian and the Independent weighing-in on the topic. Ordering migrants to leave within 90...
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The Commander: Fawzi al Qawuqji, the accidental hero of Palestine
Painting a vivid picture of the Middle East in the early 20th century, Parsons’ book The Commander intricately narrates the life and career of Fawzi al-Qawuqji. Lauded by some as the Arab Garibaldi for his career as a transnational war volunteer, yet simultaneously derided for his cooperation with an...
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Banksy and Boyle’s Bethlehem Alternativity
Dubbed as bringing a little festive cheer to Bethlehem, the place where Christmas was invented, Banksy’s much anticipated documentary film, “Alternativity”, was aired on BBC2 last night. Charting the journey of film director Danny Boyle and his local project partners as they set about realising Banky’s version of a...
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Beyond the Frontlines: Tales of Resistance and Resilience in Palestine
Seamlessly weaving personal anecdotes with detailed analysis of the psychological impact of life in Palestine, psychiatrist, psychotherapist and prolific writer Dr Samah Jabr narrates her insights into what resistance and resilience means in the context of the ongoing Palestinian reality. The film begins with Dr Jabr relating the story...
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Today They Took My Son
The heart wrenching story of a mother’s loss is laid bare in “Today They Took My Son”. Released online yesterday to coincide with International Human Rights Day, Farah Nabulsi’s short film beams the pain and suffering of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank into the home of every viewer....
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UK debates Israel demolitions of Palestinian properties
Israel has long demolished the homes of Palestinians as a way of collective punishment. While internationally Israel has been condemned, it still continues to threaten, destroy and often make Palestinians choose between demolishing their own home or be forced to pay the fines. Stayed tuned as MEMO unravels what...