Colonialism

“Title reads: “Defence of Damascus. French troops – barricades – and armed posts – now circle the town of view of threatened attack by Rebels”. Having invaded and occupied Syria, French troops who brutally suppress an uprising against them in 1925 were described in British newsreels as “defending” Damascus against “rebels.” british Pathe: Damascus Revolt […]

Colonialism

Columbus Day: How is it Still a Thing? (John Oliver)

contributors

John Oliver, “Last Week Tonight” “Christopher Columbus did a lot of stuff that was way more terrible than “sailing the ocean blue,” but we don’t learn about that. Columbus Day: How is it still a thing?” Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Columbus Day – How Is That Still A Thing (HBO)

Colonialism

Lessons from French Morocco: “Fanaticism Anxiety” about Muslims has been with us since the Colonial Era

Juan Cole

By Edmund Burke III Today we hear a great deal about the question of what went wrong in Middle Eastern societies. For an historian of the early twentieth century world, it’s déjà vu all over again. Similar questions and similar anxieties were being voiced a century ago. Very much like fin de siècle Europeans, we […]

Colonialism

In 1948, Jewish Forces in Palestine outnumbered Palestinian and Arab Fighters

contributors

By William R. Polk The General Assembly had issued its verdict [in late 1947 suggesting a partition of Palestine] but it left open the question of how to actually carry out the resolution when no UN-controlled military or police forces were available. Britain’s 84,000 troops were leaving. And they had proved insufficient to maintain law […]

Colonialism

History and Betrayal: UNSCOP and Palestine, 1947

contributors

By William Polk The British Foreign Secretary told Parliament on February 18, 1947 that “there is no prospect of resolving this conflict by any settlement negotiated between the parties.” Further, he said, according to the League of Nations mandate, the legal basis for Britain’s rule over Palestine, Britain did not have the authority to partition […]

Colonialism

Gaza and the Palestine Crisis in History: World War II

contributors

By William R. Polk At the outbreak of World War II, both Palestinians and Zionists enlisted in large numbers — 21,000 Jews and 8,000 Palestinians — to help the British in their hour of need. But both kept their long term objectives firmly in mind: both continued to regard British imperialism as the long-term enemy […]

Colonialism

Gaza and the struggle for Palestine: the 1930s

contributors

By William R. Polk Annoyed but not deterred, the British Colonial Office decided in the 1930s, as it was then also doing in India, to crack down hard on the “troublemakers.” It put Palestine under martial law and brought in 20,000 regular soldiers to be quartered on rebel villages, blew up houses of suspected insurgents […]

Apartheid

The Battered People of Gaza: “We’re not Abandoning the Resistance & No Peace until the Blockade is Lifted”

contributors

Paul Mason, Channel 4 News (Gaza City) “In the destroyed suburb of Zeitoun in Gaza City Paul Mason finds local support for Hamas still strong.” They look you in the eye and say we are not giving up our support for the Resistance (Hamas) and there will be no peace until the Israeli siege on […]

Colonialism

Where is Palestine?

contributors

AJ+ You can’t find it on a map. But millions call it home. Where is Palestine? It’s complicated. But give us a little over 90 seconds, and we’ll give you the gist. AJ+ Labs: Where Is Palestine?