When Israel created itself in 1948—and even before this date—the “Jewish State” worked to take control of archaeology, and thus, of the region’s history. It toiled to erase footprints of the numerous civilizations that had preceded the Jewish presence, as well as the peoples that have come afterward. Kathryn Shihadah gives us the past and present details….
As Congress tackles urgent issues of reopening government and setting the budget for the country, it takes the time to prioritize a foreign country: H.R.648 contains assurances that Israel will receive $3.8 billion for arms, and funding for refugee resettlement; the bill also includes threats to de-fund the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and any future state of Palestine–if US demands (dictated by the Israel lobby) are not met.
This 16-year-old child did not grow up or die in a vacuum. We need to examine the reportage, the context of her life, and own our own complicity in her death.
As more and more young American Jews recognize Israel’s unethical policies, Birthright Israel is becoming a moment of truth. Those who speak up and/or walk away are prioritizing the value of justice. These are future leaders in the struggle for justice for Palestinians.
Intellectual honesty is about confronting those things that make us uncomfortable, not ignoring them. Israel arrests Palestinian children; see 7 of the many videos of these actions. The US gives Israel over $10 million per day and Congress is currently considering legislation to give Israel even more. That makes it obligatory for Americans to learn the facts, and act on them.
A study of 50 years of headlines in 5 top newspapers finds that media coverage of Israel-Palestine favors Israel by providing more overall coverage, more positive coverage, and greater access to Israeli voices than to Palestinian ones. Much of this can be attributed to pressure from the pro-Israel lobby.
Elderly women, families, children, and of course young men in the occupied Palestinian territories are regularly treated with brutality by Israeli forces. International laws are in place to protect vulnerable populations, but Israel ignores such laws – and gets away with it. Simple, common decency ought to elicit restraint on the part of the occupier, but does not.
These very brief stories are snapshots of Israeli cruelty between December 15 and 17, 3 days out of the 50+ years of violent occupation which the United States endorses and supports to the tune of over $10 million a day.
The illegal Israeli occupation continues its illegal collective punishment by demolishing the home of an alleged terrorist’s family and terrorizing the entire neighborhood.
An arms deal between Israel and Croatia highlights the US overindulgent military aid policy toward Israel. Today, thanks to our generosity, Israel has developed advanced military products, and is winning arms export contracts out from under us
Marc Lamont Hill, in Nazareth 2014. screenshot from Vimeo video. As is often the case with proponents of justice for Palestinians, Marc Lamont Hill was watched closely by Israel partisans as he spoke before the UN last week. They took a phrase – one phrase – from the speech and threw the rest aside, hoping…
The lawsuit against Airbnb’s de-listing of Israeli settlement properties sounds pretty flimsy: religious discrimination (illegal settlements are by definition all-Jewish); failure to provide equal access (Palestinians are barred completely – and it’s their land); Airbnb is siding with Palestinians against the occupation (everything about the occupation and settlements is illegal, so, yeah).
Airbnb is doing the right thing by de-listing properties in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The Anti-Defamation League is pushing back – but its arguments fail to hold up to even the mildest scrutiny.
A United Nations committee is directed to facilitate self-determination among colonized and suppressed people groups. The committee is poised to pass 9 resolutions against Israel. Predictably, the charge of anti-Semitism arises.
It is not hard to dismantle the accusation – using context, fact-checking, and a bit of logic.
The past week has seen the promise of peace shattered, first by an Israeli incursion into Gaza (7 Palestinian, 1 Israeli dead), then Gaza’s rocket retaliation (1 Israeli Palestinian dead), then Israel’s retaliation (7 Palestinians dead). Israel’s defense minister has resigned, and a new, fragile ceasefire is in effect.
As Israel considers adopting the death sentence for Palestinians, it is worth recalling that under occupation, Palestinians already face harsh injustice and that such a law would be illegal according to international law. The examples of Elor Azaria’s 9-month prison term for killing an unarmed, injured Palestinian at point-blank range, and Ahed Tamimi’s 8-month sentence for slapping an IDF soldier, indicate that the Israeli “justice” system is already severely lopsided.
Gaza is running out of medicine. The US, which has for decades supported the United Nations agency tasked to help Palestinian refugees, has cut off all funding. We need to step in and pressure our leaders to reverse this decision.