Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ramona Wadi
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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 study....
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Securing Israeli colonial violence and expansion
Rewarding human rights violations is a speciality of the US. History has recorded many precedents of aid flowing to countries in which dictatorships bludgeoned and disappeared their opposition. Israel, however, remains an exception precisely due to the fact that, unlike other scenarios, international law is not a detriment to...
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Ruling normalises Israeli violence against hunger striking prisoners
In another example of how Israel remains in contempt of human rights, morality and international law, the Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that force-feeding hunger striking Palestinian prisoners is “constitutional”. Since the initial massacres committed by Zionist paramilitary groups, the colonial entity in Palestine has refined its methods and normalised...
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Palestinian demands should triumph over Israeli and international scheming
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s state visit to the Netherlands was an exercise in complete psychological and political manipulation. Not only did Netanyahu fail to distinguish between the aims of the Palestinian people and those of the Palestinian Authority; Israeli hegemony was also discussed in relation to Europe and...
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Abbas’s oscillations glorify the betrayal of Palestinian collective memory
Following news of renewed attempts at diplomatic negotiations with Israel, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sought to impart a purportedly different stance that is laden with evident contradictions. According to the Times of Israel, Abbas aired his views on Palestine TV, invoking the right to autonomous decision-making as “Palestinians”. Both...
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Israel’s distortion of history and international law
In Israel’s narrative, every entity and individual who doesn’t toe the colonial line is considered to be contributing towards “pushing peace further away”. This claim has now been made against the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, after he criticised Israel’s ongoing expansion of...
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Erekat’s contribution to Israeli and international impunity
Two years have passed since Israel’s brutal military offensive – “Operation Protective Edge” – and justice for Palestinians remains elusive. This is due in large part to the fact that Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the international community have synchronised their efforts to ensure that Palestinian narratives remain smothered...
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The PA’s extension of Israeli colonial violence
The echelons of the power structure derived from the coloniser manifested itself in the brutal extrajudicial killing of Ahmed Halawa, who was beaten to death by PA security forces. A photo which circulating on social media showing Halawa’s bruised and swollen body has ignited much furore, however it was...
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UN rhetoric, international law and alienation
In the wake of Israel’s acceleration of home demolitions and forced displacement, segments of the international community issued their repetitive rhetoric of condemnation and appeasement. However, the issue of Israel destroying EU-funded structures gained more attention than the violation of maintaining Palestinians as perpetual refugees. An additional statement on forced...