Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ramona Wadi
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Despite assertions, Abbas has created a political vacuum
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has echoed Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah’s calls for Hamas to relinquish control over the Gaza Strip. As convenient timeframes go, Abbas is scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington next week, making this regurgitated demand a priority issue even as the PA...
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The EU’s toleration of Israel despite 'unprecedented' rate of demolitions
A report issued this month by the Office of the European Union Representative (West Bank and Gaza Strip, UNRWA) has described the increase in Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes and buildings in East Jerusalem and Area C as unprecedented. Covering a six month period, the report focuses on demolitions...
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Solitary confinement of Palestinian minors reflects plight of adults in Israeli jails
As solitary confinement for Palestinian prisoners makes headlines once again within the context of the “Freedom and Dignity” mass hunger strike, Defence for Children International – Palestine (DCIP) released a report on Wednesday which revealed that Israeli forces in 2016 increased solitary confinement periods for Palestinian children under interrogation....
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Let Palestinian prisoners assert their political aims
The mass hunger strike organised by Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti has elicited various responses, each according to its intended purpose. Prisoners participating in the protest — an estimated 1,000 of them — have affirmed the importance of collective resistance against Israeli violations of their rights. The Israeli Prison Services...
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Hamdallah’s political opportunism is contemptuous of the people of Palestine
Salary cuts imposed by the Palestinian Authority upon civil servants in Gaza have been attributed to a financial crisis experienced by the internationally-recognised representative body. While the PA was swift in placing blame upon Hamas for the cuts, employees have united in protest against the Ramallah-based authority — controlled...
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Israel has taken hypocrisy to a new level
At first glance, it might seem as if Israel has caught up with the consistent warnings regarding the dire situation faced by Palestinians in Gaza. Almost three years since Operation Protective Edge and following numerous disturbing reports, Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) coordinator Major General Yoav Mordechai advised the UN...
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The EU’s aversion to supporting Palestinian rights
Mild, inconsequential rhetoric by EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg Andersen prompted another spat between the EU and Israel, following a routine meeting with diplomats in which criticism of the slated demolitions of Khan Al-Ahmar topped the agenda. In a puerile manner, Israel dismissed the EU as “obsessive” in...
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Prisoners’ collective resistance against Israel is central to the anti-colonial struggle
Last month, Ma’an news agency reported that Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti will be leading a mass hunger strike in which Fatah-affiliated prisoners would be participating. The hunger strike aims to operate on two main fronts: collective resistance instead of individual negotiation by prisoners with the Israeli Prison Service (IPS);...
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Countering the Palestinian Nakba: one state for all
Criticism of US and Israeli ideology, as well as emphasis upon a one-state possibility, form the foundations of “Countering the Palestinian Nakba: one state for all” (Noor Publishing, 2017). Edited by Haidar Eid, the book brings together relevant analytical essays by several authors whose diverse viewpoints regarding Palestinian rights...
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Palestinian options dwindle without reinforcement of collective memory
President Donald Trump generated considerable discussion earlier this year with his vague suggestion that the US may no longer abide by the two-state “solution”, albeit while offering no alternative in the process. In 2016, international institutions started voicing the very obvious observation that the two-state imposition is obsolete, yet...
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Incitement and oblivion in Netanyahu’s AIPAC speech
The Times of Israel has published the full transcript of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the annual AIPAC conference. Only genuine ignorance could be forgiven for assuming any benevolence on Israel’s behalf. For those who understand the dynamics of colonial violence, Netanyahu’s televised speech from Jerusalem combined...
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Israeli army tactics imply that Gaza can expect more premeditated aggression
The Israel army have embarked upon simultaneous exercises which imply its commanders’ intention to launch yet more premeditated aggression against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. On Sunday, for example, 2,000 army reserves participated in a surprise drill simulating “war in Gaza”, reported the Times of Israel. IDF Chief...
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Despite their allegedly different priorities, the PA is fuelling Israel’s ambitions
The diplomatic meetings and visits of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have coincided with the Israeli Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Yoav Horowitz visiting Washington to discuss settlement expansion. The stated objectives of both the PA and Israel differ in dissemination, yet follow an impeccable collaboration which should infuriate...
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Gaza under Hamas: From Islamist democracy to Islamic government
One of this year winner of the Palestine Book Awards, Bjorn Brenner talks about his book 'Gaza Under Hamas'...
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The concept of ‘irrelevance’ in Moshe Ya’alon’s rhetoric
In a meeting with journalists this week, former Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon adopted a candidly hypocritical attitude with regard to the various forms of colonial violence inflicted upon the Palestinian people. The “irrelevance” of Palestine in the international arena as well as the inflicted Palestinian dependency upon Israel...
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The aftermath of an activist’s murder reveals possibilities for Palestinian resistance to thrive
Israel’s murder of Palestinian activist and intellectual Basel Al-Araj has unleashed further evidence of how the Palestinian Authority deals with dissenting views and protests. Following the news that the PA is still going to put Al-Araj’s comrades on trial for alleged possession of weapons — as well as the...
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Futile options and PA complicity in Israeli colonialism
Two recent reports in the Times of Israel can be read as confirmation that US President Donald Trump’s policy towards Palestine may be perceived as more belligerent than that of Barack Obama. However, if proof was ever needed of the seamless manner in which an incoming president emulates and...
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Security coordination renders Palestinian activists targets for murder
One glance at the PA’s political record reveals a grotesque sliver of competence in one particular area – that of ensuring Israel is supplied with targets for murder. In the early hours of Monday morning, Basel Al-Araj was murdered in Qaddura by Israeli forces during a raid which escalated...
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It is time that the PA served the Palestinians, not the international community
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gave a speech to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) this week which provided another example of inflated rhetoric which serves to derail any possibility of liberation. At a time when the two-state imposition is being refuted collectively, Abbas is distancing himself from collective...
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The PA is torturing Palestinians; why is this not a major scandal?
The Palestinian Centre for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) seeks to defend press freedom and freedom of expression. It has recently called for a commission of inquiry into the case of Palestinian journalist Sami Al-Sa’ee who works for Al-Fajr Al-Jadeed and reportedly gave testimony to MADA regarding his torture...
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Palestine’s horizon towards a just peace
With constant pragmatism and impeccable analysis derived from decades of experience, former UN Special Rapporteur Professor Richard Falk has compiled a detailed analysis of how illusion and compromise have enforced the deterioration of Palestine with severe consequences for Palestinians.opylytl In “Palestine’s horizon towards a just peace” (Pluto Press, 2017),...
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The Palestinian National Policy Agenda is mired in dependency
According to Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, the Palestinian National Policy Agenda (NPA) for 2017 – 2022 is an endeavour that “puts the Palestinian citizen first”. The program, which was launched in Ramallah yesterday, served as another public relations opportunity in which UN and EU representatives were present, for...
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The international silence over the Khan Al-Ahmar demolitions is appalling
Last Sunday’s demolition orders distributed by the Israel Defence Forces’ Civil Administration to the Bedouin village of Khan Al-Ahmar should prompt the international community to reconsider its silence when it comes to Israel’s ethnic cleansing and displacement of the indigenous Palestinians. It also appears that Israel schedules such blatant...
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Israel and the UN are allies in colonial endeavours
News that Tzipi Livni could be nominated for the post of UN under-secretary-general was overshadowed swiftly by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Donald Trump. It is safe to say that even the most elementary norms have long been shunned by the international institution, despite the unabashed pontificating...