Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ramona Wadi
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Palestinian hunger strikers in the face of oblivion
Convenience and contempt continue to serve Israel well. As news resurfaces regarding the probability of force-feeding two prisoners who are on hunger strike in protest at their administrative detention with neither charge nor trial, it is clear that a degree of sensationalism and the cultivation of a public persona...
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Facilitating torture and impunity
A new Israeli bill exempts interrogators from recording interrogations of “suspected terrorists”...
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The dangers of dissociation
The latest Israeli legislation seeking to ban the Muslim call to prayer in Jerusalem has united Palestinians — Muslims and Christians alike — in overtly collective resistance. Over the past few days, there has been gradual defiance in protest against the discriminatory bill; this has included churches reciting the...
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Neither Israel nor the PA want education to succeed in Gaza
For Palestinians whose concept of education remains an integral part of both intellectual development and anti-colonial struggle, the news that 15 new schools are set to open in Gaza next year is most welcome. According to Ma’an news agency, Gaza’s deputy education minister Ziab Thabet has announced that the...
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Comments by the PA ambassador to the UN flaunt the authority’s ulterior motives
It is a pity that the Palestinian Authority’s international antics do not harvest the ensuing humiliation selectively for the leadership and its representatives. An automatic disclaimer clarifying misrepresentation ought by now to become an imperative, in order to assert Palestinian independence away from the rhetorical farce which has impacted...
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Knowledge, memory and the imposed deterioration of Palestine
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas clearly has no qualms about adding speculation to the narratives surrounding the probable murder of former PLO leader Yasser Arafat. On the 12th anniversary of Arafat’s death, Abbas gave a provocative speech similar to those allegedly revelatory discourses reserved for UN meetings whenever it...
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EU and Israeli reciprocity works to a formula
Within the space of a couple of weeks, two contrasting news items have yet again portrayed how Israel and the EU have not veered away from the convenience of impositions and subjugation respectively. Construction of illegal settlements and demolitions of Palestinian homes have long provided a source of...
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Colonialism as a concoction of France, Israel and the PA
There has been a misplaced media emphasis upon Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s repeated refusal to participate in the international peace conference proposed by France. Three distinct but interlinked narratives are being isolated for one purpose; to portray the international community as a benevolent entity attempting to appease a...
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Misplacing priorities and freedom of expression
It would be slightly premature to consider the statement by the EU Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, regarding the right of EU citizens to boycott Israel as some sort of victory. At first glance, it might look as if activism has overcome a significant hurdle,...
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Spelling out ambiguities to a complicit international community
The address given by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT) to the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee provided a more comprehensive approach than the usual repetitious rhetoric associated with the international institution. While the few blatant truths uttered by...
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Palestinian liberation is being thwarted by dependency and deprivation
Last Sunday, The Arab Weekly published an interview with Fatah’s International Relations Commissioner Nabil Shaath, in which a stereotyped expression of freedom was announced, along with calls for a consumer boycott against Israel and unity among Palestinian factions. It is not that the ideas put forth are unimportant, but...
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The Arab World and Latin America: economic and political relations in the 21st century
Complexity and contrasts form the premise of “The Arab World and Latin America: economic and political relations in the 21st century” (I B Tauris, 2016). Both regions have been subjected to forms of colonial domination, yet different trajectories have been pursued, outlining discrepancies particularly in relation to economics as...
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EU studying platitudes on human rights
It is inconceivable that EU diplomats necessitate any more awareness regarding the immense restrictions and human rights violations inflicted upon Palestinians by Israel. Yet, the Palestine News Network has reported that EU diplomats based in Ramallah and Jerusalem visited Palestinian communities living in Abu Nuwar and Khan Al-Ahmar. Both...
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Israeli torture
Recent reports continue to confirm Israel’s rampant use of torture when dealing with Palestinians, including minors. While not particularly revealing – after all, a lot of footage and photography depicting the Israeli military’s violence against Palestinian children has been widely shared on social media – it is even more...
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UNRWA statement points towards Gaza’s isolation
The prevailing scenario in Gaza is that the UN’s prediction of the besieged territory being rendered unlivable by 2020 is becoming reality. According to the UN Relief and Works Agency’s Director of Operations in the Gaza Strip, responsibility for the delays in reconstructing the devastated territory lies with Israel....
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Palestinian memory is being wiped out by fabricating history
Fabricating history has become imperative across Israeli society to enforce the colonial narrative. The death of Shimon Peres has served as fuel for a debate that shouldn’t exist, given that Palestinian narratives about displacement and massacres are supported by historical evidence. Departing from MK Ayman Odeh’s reaction to Peres’s...
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Palestinians should expect another UN Security Council charade
An informal meeting of the UN Security Council is expected to take place on Friday, with the objective of addressing the issue of Israeli settlement expansion. The initiative proposed by Palestinians and themed “the settlements as the obstacle to peace and a two-state solution” is said to have the...
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A preference for bureaucracy over humanity
Further evidence that justice has been relegated behind political manipulation can be found in the current visit to Israel and the West Bank by a delegation from the International Criminal Court, under the pretext of “raising awareness”. As an official statement by the court’s Chief Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, points...
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Abbas’s betrayal of Palestine
Moving from one dangerous blunder to another, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has exceeded his usual level of absurdity, which hovers within the spectrum of allegedly speaking for Palestinian rights while capitulating to every Israeli and international demand. Following his attendance at Shimon Peres’s funeral which, according to the...
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Colonial benevolence: technology for Africans, death for Palestinians
A few years ago, enticing South America to do business with Israel was one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s priorities, justified, among other things, by an urge to improve relations with the region before Iran “infiltrated”. The focus has now shifted to Africa, with both Netanyahu and Israel’s Ambassador...
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As Israel creates conditions for another offensive against Gaza, it still acts with impunity
Gaza’s implosion is publicly coveted by Israel. Two years after the carnage and destruction wrought upon the enclave by “Operation Protective Edge”, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) officers have imparted their analysis of the aftermath and current consequences. The language used reeks of incitement and hints of a prelude to...
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Obama’s contradictions at the UN General Assembly
As the end of Obama’s presidency draws near, there is no doubt that his legacy of furthering Israeli colonisation is, unfortunately, substantial...
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Humanitarian pleas occupy an immense political vacuum
Palestinian prisoner Malik Al-Qadi, who has been on hunger strike for 66 days......
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Hamas and the Media – politics and strategy
Wael Abdelal’s informative treatise, “Hamas and the Media: politics and strategy” draws upon the issue of counter-hegemony to portray the relevance and importance of resistance media, in this case, the role which the media has played to further the politics of Hamas. The counter-hegemonic narrative is paramount in this...