Baltimore, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem
From the U.S. to Israel, legal systems are being exposed for harsh, rights-violating police actions. American politicians should be more alert to the discrimination and dispossession Palestinians face in Jerusalem and throughout Israel’s illegally occupied Palestinian territory, particularly at a time when racial injustices are receiving heightened attention from Ferguson to Baltimore to Tel Aviv.
Palestinian options after the Israeli election
Six ways Palestinians can change the rules of the game after Netayanhu’s comments during the election made a just and equal peace even more elusive.
Israel Devastated Gaza, But ‘Aid’ Helps It Stay That Way
Marking six months since the ceasefire in Gaza, 30 international aid agencies joined together to issue a statement titled, “We must not fail in Gaza.” At face value, this warning is a responsible step by credible international humanitarian and development actors. Yet, a deeper reading reveals that the statement is neither candid nor wholly truthful.
At a Jewish Voice For Peace Conference: This Is What Solidarity Looks Like
When a Palestinian woman went to this Jewish group’s annual conference, she found a growing movement of Jews and other allies.
Surviving Without the Palestinian Authority
In the wake of the Israeli elections and the financial crisis of the Palestinian Authority (PA), observers wonder about the dangers of a new Palestinian Intifada and the detrimental consequences for Israeli security and regional stability of dismantling the PA. Furthermore, observers struggle to understand and imagine how a termination or suspension of security collaboration between the PA and Israel, or a potential collapse or dismantling of the PA would have any benefit for the Palestinian people.
Will Gaza Gas Serve as Israel’s Trojan Horse?
In a perplexing about-face, there has been a revival of efforts to permit the exploration of Gaza Marine, the gas reserves located off the coast of Gaza. The development of this gas field is inarguably advantageous, as it could allow Palestinians to create an independent and competitive energy sector. Yet this push for exploration must be seen within its wider context, as part of a quid pro quo arrangement which reinforces Israel’s continuing colonization of Palestinian resources.
Resetting Palestine’s political system
Today, Palestinian political strategy is being driven in the total absence of a functioning political system. Israel’s forced fragmentation of our geographic reality mixed with internal political party divisions, disgust, despair and incompetence, the status quo tears apart Palestine’s societal fabric. If it remains on its current course, the train of national liberation is bound to derail, resulting in serious, if not permanent, damage to our bid for freedom and independence.
Abbas, Who’s Tried to Keep the Peace, Now Must Pay for Violence
The jury’s verdict comes at one of the weakest points for the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority. Israel is yet again withholding $127 million in tax revenues it collects on “behalf” of the authority to punish the P.L.O. for joining the International Criminal Court. Israel’s electricity company just cut power to two West Bank districts over an alleged $490 million debt.
Abbas persists with doomed negotiations
Buttu writes, “Abbas’s term has taught Palestinians that liberation will never come through backroom channels or by appealing to the oppressor. One can only hope that the damage caused by his term will not be irreparable.”
