Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ramona Wadi
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Changing the prevailing colonial equation
In his opening remarks to the Knesset last Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarified the stance taken by the government with regard to the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah – Israel will not negotiate with a unity government that incorporates Hamas. According to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu declared:...
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What protection will the unity government offer Palestinian journalists?
Far from exercising their right to reporting, Israel and the Palestinian Authority have ensured that Palestinian journalists continue to face restrictions, violations and punitive measures from both ends. On Wednesday, Ma’an news agency reported that another two Palestinian journalists were arrested by Israel during dawn raids upon several Palestinian...
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‘Palestine, the reality. The inside story of the Balfour Declaration’
Broken promises, political ambiguity and illegality characterise the unfolding narrative of the 1917 Balfour Declaration and its incorporation into the British League of Nations Mandate for Palestine. J. M. N. Jeffries, a war, foreign and political correspondent based in the Middle East from 1914 until the 1930s, was prompted...
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Israel and the PA demand unity without resistance
It cannot be denied that, despite signing a reconciliation agreement with Hamas, the Palestinian Authority shares common aims with Israel. Coercion of Palestinians in Gaza is one such aspect. Imposing restrictive conditions upon Hamas, particularly that the movement abandons all resistance and disarms, is another mutual requirement. Since communicating its...
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The backdrop of Palestinian reconciliation
With a deal for political reconciliation having been reached by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, attention should shift to the humanitarian impact of Mahmoud Abbas’s collective punishment of the people in the Gaza Strip. The punitive measures, blatantly visible, were primarily an exercise in deprivation for political gain. On Wednesday,...
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The EU context for increasing financial aid to Palestine
We might be excused for assuming that the only party involved in the reconciliation talks is the Palestinian Authority. Since Hamas announced its willingness to commit to political unity, PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and President Mahmoud Abbas have been hailed by international institutions as beacons of progress and...
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Erekat’s ‘historic compromise’ has cost the Palestinians land and lives
Just days after Hamas welcomed Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah to Gaza in the name of internal reconciliation, PLO Secretary General Saeb Erekat expounded upon the political commitment to fulfil “all of its obligations under signed agreements with Israel.” If Palestine continues to be defined through such blunders,...
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Criticism of the EU’s trade relations with Israel
Last month, members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Palestine (DPAL) called upon the EU to suspend its association agreement with Israel after visiting the occupied West Bank and witnessing the human rights violations inflicted upon Palestinians. One minor yet influential departure from the usual generic statements...
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The Naqab Bedouins: a century of politics and resistance
Evoking the politics of the subaltern, “The Naqab Bedouins: a century of politics and resistance” (Columbia University Press, 2017) seeks to address previous gaps in the available literature regarding the Bedouin role in their struggle for land and as an integral part of Palestinian resistance. There is a seemingly...
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What lies behind the PA’s latest bid for full UN membership
Soon after the Palestinian Authority’s membership bid for inclusion in Interpol was accepted, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas declared that another UN draft resolution will be submitted to the UN Security Council seeking full membership. Speaking during a meeting in Ramallah last Monday, Abbas stated that the forthcoming resolution will...
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The EU boycott of Israel’s 1967 celebration does not change its perception of the Zionist state
Israel’s plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its military occupation of Palestine seem to have been shunned by the EU Ambassador to the Zionist state, Emanuele Giaufret. The decision, communicated by the ambassador’s office, unleashed the usual barrage of pompous complaints which is synonymous with Israel and its...
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Living Memories — Testimonies of Palestinians’ Displacement in 1948
This slim volume of testimonies from Palestinians who experienced the Nakba emphasises several factors which are vital to the preservation of Palestinian memory. It counters Zionist myths about Palestine being barren before Israel came along; a deep nostalgia for the homeland is sensed immediately. Palestine was thriving, abundant and...
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Living with the negative consequences of the Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords have resulted in a series of compromises, each one exacerbating the harm done to the Palestinians and undermining seriously important matters, such as the refugees’ right of return. Instead of advocating for decolonisation, the accords have produced decades of futile rhetoric about a “two-state solution” and...
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Netanyahu’s UN speech is replete with oblivion
The near-absence of Palestine contrasted sharply with the promotion of Israel’s international positioning in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the UN General Assembly. This is not the first time that Palestine was side-lined in Israeli ministers’ speeches – the spectrum ranges from incessant incitement of ethnic cleansing...
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UN report exposes the internationally-supported dependency cycle
Yet another report by the UN, in this case the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), has outlined the causes of Palestine’s economic decline, attributing it directly to Israel’s military occupation and settlement expansion. However, the executive summary of the report contains the first indications of safeguarding Israel’s...
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Israel uses bureaucracy as a weapon, and Palestinians are dying as a result
The World Health Organisation’s latest report — “Health Access for referral patients from the Gaza Strip” — provides details of the hardships experienced by Palestinians living in Gaza and in need of medical treatment outside the enclave. With Israel creating labyrinthine exit procedures due to its alleged “security” concerns,...
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The PA crackdown on Palestinian journalists and activists shows contempt for international law
The Palestinian Authority’s bizarre crackdown on Palestinian journalists and human rights activists continues, with the security forces exhibiting a preference for a steady supply of detainees. Following the three-day detention and release of Ayman Qawasmeh, the director of Manbar Al-Hurriya radio station who called for the resignation of PA...
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Israel paralysed a Palestinian child. Now they’re exploiting her
In 2006 the Israeli assassination of Islamic Jihad leader Muhammad Dahdouh while he was driving through Gaza City also killed and injured other civilians. Maria Aman, who was travelling with her family when the missile struck Dahdouh’s car, was left paralysed, while four of her family members were also...
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Substituting political necessity for compromise
One wonders how the UN can continue to masquerade in a role that it has ridiculed beyond redemption this week. Antonio Guterres’s statements eliminating Palestinian options, the enforcing of the two-state compromise as a purported solution and affirming Israel’s permanence are all contrary to international law. During his visit to...
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This is not a border: reportage and reflection from the Palestinian festival of literature
In this impeccable collection of writings, perceptions and understandings about Palestine and Palestinians reinforce the importance of authentic trajectories. “This is not a border: reportage and reflections from the Palestine festival of literature” (Bloomsbury Academic, 2017) brings together diverse voices which reminisce and, at times, force remembrance upon the...
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On his first visit to Israel, Guterres cast aside any possibility of decolonisation
While exhibiting contempt for international laws and conventions through its existence and policies, Israel also reserves the right to dictate to others with regard to its violations of the said laws, all in the name of “security concerns”. The institution bearing the brunt of such diktats is the UN,...
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PA rhetoric encourages colonial rule
The permanently belated affirmations by the Palestinian Authority make a mockery of its leadership. In a meeting with British Minister of State at the Foreign Office Alistair Burt in Ramallah, PA Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki flaunted the typical grovelling and feeble attempts at assertions, stating that the international community...
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Combating the PA’s manipulation of humanitarian aid
The Palestinian Authority’s penchant for divisive politics plumbed to new lows after Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki announced the delivery of three truckloads of medical supplies to Venezuela. Social media reacted harshly as the PA exploited the suffering of the people in Venezuela and Gaza, pointing out — rightly so...
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The possibilities of challenging Netanyahu’s claims about Latin America
Latin America is once again Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s diplomatic target, at a time when violence in the region fomented by US imperialism is once again rising to the fore. Coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the UN Partition Plan, Netanyahu is planning to visit Mexico and Argentina...