2/3/2012

Anti-Semitism and Israel’s inherent contradictions
Ramzy Baroud, Ma’an News Agency 2/3/2012
In a recent article, columnist Yaniv Halili described British author Ben White as 'anti-Semitic'. He also denounced Arab Knesset member Hanin Zoabi for writing a forward to White's latest book, Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy.Those of us who can see through such distorted thinking know that White is a principled writer who has never displayed a shred of racism in his work. Zoabi is very well-known civil rights leader with a long-standing reputation of courage and poise.How could anti-racist endeavors themselves become the subject of accusation by Halili and others like him?It goes without saying there should be no room for any racist discourse -- Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, or any other -- in the Palestine solidarity movement, which aims at achieving long-denied justice and rights for the Palestinian people.A racist discourse is predicated on racial supremacy, which is exactly what Palestinians are resisting in Israel and the occupied territories.But the "Jewish and democratic state" of Israel is riddled with so many contradictions, the kind that no straightforward narrative can possibly capture.Many scholars and rights groups have discussed the way in which irreconcilable values defined the very character of Israel from the onset.

Who says Palestinian resistance is dead?
Nour Joudah, Electronic Intifada 2/3/2012
For decades, Palestine was the focus of nearly every protest in the Arab world. It was the acceptable outlet of frustration for almost every regime in the region, the bone they would throw their frustrated masses. But it was also the vehicle for mobilization and a training ground for political organizing that became useful for activists later on.To be clear, none of this is to say that much of the emotion and solidarity was not genuine; most often, it was very much so. However, protests for Palestine or against Israel were also instances of populations of Arab countries projecting their own dissatisfaction in a politically “safe” way in light of the repressive nature of the regimes under which they lived.Recently, while trading stories with a Syrian friend about protests, she recalled that her first protest as a child had been one for Palestine — in fact most of the protests she had participated in or witnessed growing up as an Arab living in the West were about Palestine. I nodded and smiled, not at all surprised. The reality is that Palestine, for better or worse, was the issue that most Arabs — both living in the Arab world or in their respective diaspora communities — spent a majority of their lives protesting.Adding to the sparkToday in the region, a new culture and spirit of protest is thriving — and it is not one cloaked in one issue projecting onto another. It’s direct, it’s forceful, and it’s brave. These uprisings have been as much, if not more, about people exerting ownership over their own lives and communities as it has been about toppling dictators. It is a myth, and quite frankly disrespectful, to the hundreds and thousands of dissenting leaders and youth who helped build the foundation to these uprisings to discuss them as if they were born out of thin air.

NYT Hypes Israeli Attack on Iran
Ira Chernus, Common Dreams 1/30/2012
It’s an impressive piece of art: the cover of this week’s New York Times Magazine. “ISRAEL VS. IRAN,” spelled out in charred black lettering, with flame and smoke still rising from “IRAN,” as if the great war were already over. Below those large lurid letters is the little subtitle: “When Will It Erupt?” -- not “if,” but “when,” as if it were inevitable. Though the article itself is titled “Will Israel Attack Iran?”, author Ronen Bergman, military analyst for Israel’s largest newspaper, leaves no doubt of his answer: “Israel will indeed strike Iran in 2012.”Bergman does cite some compelling arguments against an Israeli strike from former heads of Mossad (Israel’s CIA). And he makes it clear that no attack can prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons if it wants them. Everyone agrees on that. The argument is only about whether an attack would delay the Iranian program by a few years or just a few months.Nevertheless, his article stacks the deck in favor of supposedly persuasive reasons for Israel to act. It’s almost a hymn of praise to what one Jewish Israeli scholar has called Iranophobia, an irrational fear promoted by the Jewish state because "Israel needs an existential threat." Why? To sustain the myth that shapes its national identity: the myth of Israel’s insecurity.That myth comes out clearly in Bergman’s conclusion: Israel will attack Iran because of a “peculiar Israeli mixture of fear -- rooted in the sense that Israel is dependent on the tacit support of other nations to survive -- and tenacity, the fierce conviction, right or wrong, that only the Israelis can ultimately defend themselves.Fear of what? Defend against whom? It doesn’t really matter. Israeli political life has always been built on the premise that Israel’s very existence is threatened by some new Hitler bent on destroying the Jewish people. How can Israel prove that Jews can defend themselves if there’s no anti-semitic “evildoer” to fight against?

"We will rebuild": Hebron family resists unrelenting settler violence

Electronic Intifada: 2 Feb 2012 - Emily Lawrence Hebron 3 February 2012 Despite chronic attacks on their homes and property by settlers, while Israeli forces continue to confiscate more and more land to serve the nearby settlement, the Jaber family hold fast to both their heritage and their future.

Why is the BBC so afraid of the word "Palestine"?

Electronic Intifada: 2 Feb 2012 - Amena Saleem 2 February 2012 This week, the BBC issued its final ruling on a controversy which has been raging for nearly a year after the words “Free Palestine” were censored from a freestyle rap played on Radio 1Xtra.

New documentary presents shallow view of Arafat

Electronic Intifada: 1 Feb 2012 - Sarah Irving 1 February 2012 A new documentary on Yasser Arafat accesses big-name Palestinian figures but wastes an opportunity to provide an in-depth look at the late leader.

Who says Palestinian resistance is dead?

Electronic Intifada: 3 Feb 2012 - Nour Joudah 3 February 2012 The Arab uprisings are serving Palestinian youth in much the same way solidarity with Palestinian intifadas historically served activists in other Arab countries.

antiquties down a dusty lane

In Gaza: 4 Feb 2012 - Two years ago I wrote about Gaza’s antiquities , many of which were destroyed in the 2008-2009 Israeli war on Gaza. But until a few months ago, I hadn’t had the privilege of seeing one of them.  Unexpectedly one day, while interviewing the Ministry of Agriculture on their many projects, I was taken by Tel Umm Amer,  an archaeological site preserving fantastic mosaics and the monastery of St. Hilarion (which I wrote about here , thanks to Abeer Jamal’s information): Few outside of Gaza would consider its history much beyond the decades of Israeli occupation. But Gaza is a historical treasure house. Many of those treasures are now in Israeli museums, and...

Haditha: Another Small Massacre – No One Guilty

Palestine Chronicle: 4 Feb 2012 - By Felicity Arbuthnot 'We gather tonight knowing that this generation of heroes has made the United States safer and more respected round the world.' (President Barack Obama, State of the Union address, 24th January 2012.) On the 24th January, the day President Obama delivered his last State of the Union...more

Yeshayahu Leibowitz: Reluctant Prophet

Palestine Chronicle: 3 Feb 2012 - By Uri Avnery (On Monday, I was honored to receive the Leibowitz Prize for 'life's work', the prize established by the Yesh Gvul soldiers' peace organization. I was unable to prepare a speech, so I spoke off the cuff and have to reconstruct my remarks from memory .) First, I wish...more

Oil Ahoy: Malvinas in Britain's Imperialist Claws

Palestine Chronicle: 3 Feb 2012 - By Ismail Salami The simmering tensions over the Malvinas Islands or Falkland Islands (off the coast of Argentina in the South Atlantic) have become a matter of great concern as the UK decided to deploy destroyer HMS Dauntless to the islands. The British Royal Navy is planning to send the...more

Israel Lobby on Campus in Illinois: A Challenge for BDS

Palestine Chronicle: 3 Feb 2012 - By David Green I only recently learned of Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's trip to Israel this past summer (2011) for a 'week-long educational mission where he sealed two important agreements and received briefings from high-ranking Israeli officials, academic experts and business leaders on topics ranging from high-tech development (read Motorola),...more