Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ramona Wadi
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The UN promotes international law as well as those who treat it with contempt
The Western European and Others Group (WEOG) has nominated Israel to assume chairmanship of the United Nations General Assembly’s Sixth Committee. According to the UN, this is considered to be “the primary forum for the consideration of legal questions in the General Assembly.” If one had to refute evidence of...
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Why is Europe so reluctant to challenge Israel’s destruction of EU-funded projects?
A new report issued this month by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med Monitor) is called, “Squandered Aid: Israel’s repetitive destruction of EU-funded projects in Palestine”. The report imparts the obvious dissonance which characterises such violent cycles towards the end of its analysis. It is unfortunate that the tone...
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Abbas’s explicit calls for oblivion
The Palestinian Authority has surpassed itself with ludicrous statements revealing the extent to which it will subjugate itself to the occupation authorities. Speaking during a meeting with Israeli mayors after the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as defence minister was made public, President Mahmoud Abbas asserted that the PA judged...
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Defeating colonial permanence should be a priority
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is clearly showing that there are alternatives to the manipulative colonial framework that is being promoted by France, the international community and the Palestinian Authority. In a statement published on its website, the PFLP juxtaposed the prevailing strategy of promoting...
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‘Legitimate questions’ about Israel’s new coalition
Typically, the US has expressed reservations about the Israeli coalition government but has reserved judgment. Rather than flaunt knowledge and direct approval of Israel’s increasingly violent policies, the US has resorted to a brief interlude in which it assumes the role of a concerned spectator rather than an eager...
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Added dependency under the guise of economic dialogue
Last Sunday, meetings to renew economic dialogue between the US and the Palestinian Authority were held in Ramallah – a move that will be hailed as a progressive initiative by the PA in order to disguise the dependency that characterises such necessity. During the meeting, the possibility of enhancing...
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Collusion between international law and Israel’s colonial existence
According to a press release by independent human rights organisation Adalah, the United Nations Committee Against Torture issued an extremely detailed report regarding Israel’s human rights violations, leading to over 50 recommendations for Israel regarding its use of torture. Not only restricted to the conventional forms of torture, the report...
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Dissecting the forthcoming French spectacle
France has remained at the helm of twisting rhetoric regarding the forthcoming conference, which is now also serving Israeli interests by furthering the terror narrative espoused by Daesh and appending it unscrupulously to Palestine. Playing his role in the diplomatic endeavour that is sure to harm Palestinian interests further, French...
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Hamas, Jihad and Popular Legitimacy
Veering away from the disparaging rhetoric that characterises the West’s intentional misrepresentation of Hamas, Tristan Dunning’s informative treatise Hamas, jihad and popular legitimacy (Routledge 2016) employs a rigorous dissection of how resistance has shaped recognition of the movement in Palestine. He looks at this both as an alternative to...
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Israel can commit crimes with impunity; condemn them at your peril
Israel’s latest display of misplaced ire at the UN Security Council has provided a succinct illustration of how criticism of settler colonialism, even by Israeli NGOs, remains a cloistered subject. Following a presentation by Yesh Din, in which the NGO’s legal adviser Michael Sfard presented statistical information regarding Israeli...
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It will be business as usual for Israel despite the rhetoric of the Quartet’s upcoming report
A report to be issued by the moribund Middle East Quartet on 25 May is being touted as employing a harsher tone with regard to Israel’s colonial expansion. It has, as a result, ushered-in a period of renewed lobbying by Israel. The report’s publication was announced in February during...
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Horizon2020 endorses Israeli colonial violence and EU complicity
For all its glorification of human rights and dignity, the European Union has not bothered to even conceal its involvement in funding Israeli research for atrocities under the Horizon2020 framework. The trend is to persist in the manipulation of legal loopholes which provide the continuation of funding state-sanctioned terror...
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Despite contradictions, Germany proves its accountability to Israel
Seemingly contradictory reports have appeared in the media regarding diplomatic relations between Israel and Germany. Conveniently for Israel, the timing for such reports a couple of weeks prior to the Palestinian commemoration of the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe) provides space for the usual equation of selective historical remembrance as dictated...
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Israel’s penchant for bloodshed finds a willing partner
The US has continued to offer proof that no correlation is necessary between a massive outlay on military technology and security when it comes to Israel. All it requires as prerequisites are human rights violations and a commitment to colonial expansion in order to propagate a security narrative that...
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The illusion of freedom
The first moments following the release of Dima Al-Wawi, considered to have been the youngest Palestinian incarcerated by Israel, were disseminated for the whole world to observe, along with perfunctory reports that should have had the entire world seething with outrage. Al-Wawi had been accused of a stabbing attempt and...
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Popular Protest in Palestine: the uncertain future of unarmed resistance
A comprehensive and detailed work, “Popular Protest in Palestine: the uncertain future of unarmed resistance” (Pluto Press 2015) provides a historical overview of Palestinian activism and popular resistance. It weaves the narrative up to the present and portrays the cycle which has contributed to the spasmodic visibility which, unfortunately,...
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Facilitating Israel’s widespread practice of targeting journalists
Israel’s targeting of Palestinian journalists has veered into selective collective punishment against the profession. According to the Ma’an news agency, Israel has now banned Arab and international organisations from importing bulletproof vests for journalists in Gaza, in an attempt to render Palestinian press even more vulnerable to attack. Given Israel’s...
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Colonialism’s input on reinvention
The claims in the Israeli media that another tunnel has been discovered has provided yet another opportunity to flaunt both belligerence and aggressive rhetoric against Palestinian resistance. Replete with both time frames and warnings, the latest Israeli rhetoric is a recapitulation of the previous occasions when Israel required a...
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The synchronised outlook of Israel and the PA
While Mahmoud Abbas has once again resorted to France as the “supporter” of Palestine and willing collaborator in drafting further futile resolutions, former Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Benny Gantz added his opinion recently regarding the two-state paradigm. He shed light upon how the incessant rhetoric and,...
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Thwarting Israel’s selective narrative
Almost simultaneously, Israeli and Palestinian media have issued news reports regarding the current status of the Jerusalem Intifada. While the motivations behind such information are diverging, both have reiterated common issues – Israeli belligerence and security coordination. Israel’s Ynet News has quoted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as attributing a...
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The PA’s contradictory statements
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest gimmick is an invitation to Mahmoud Abbas to discuss a resumption of negotiations following the latter’s grovelling for the two-state compromise. It is still being given priority within Palestinian Authority circles, despite the obvious ridicule implied. Furthermore, another attempt at denouncing Israel came from...
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The deadly condescension game
Last week, Mahmoud Abbas regaled the world with insight into security coordination with Israel vis-à-vis attempts to curb the ongoing Palestinian resistance. Apart from revealing that the PA security agencies are searching students’ bags for knives, thus seeking to credit himself with the occupation authorities through collaboration, Abbas also...
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Collective hunger strikes and Palestinian narratives
Individual hunger strikes of Palestinian prisoners have garnered much attention in the media, which dissipates after an agreement is reached, only to be resurrected again once Israel reneges on its word, as is common occurrence. The activism associated with highlighting hunger strikes as a form of protest has unwittingly...
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The dangers of activism and the EU finding common ground
While BDS can claim various gains, including the recent announcement by security firm G4S that it would be terminating its business deals with Israel, there are several points that need to be considered if activism is to conquer the prevailing political limitations. In a recent anti-BDS conference organised by Yedioth...