Israel/ Palestine

(By Shalom Goldman) Shalom Goldman Just before Christmas, GOP Reps. Michele Bachmann (Minn.), Steve King (Iowa) and Louie Gohmert (Texas) wrapped up a largely secretive week-long congressional delegation or CODEL trip that included stops in Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, and Israel. While there didn’t appear to be any public announcements about December’s trip out of Egypt, […]

Human Rights

Israel plans 1400 New Squatter Homes in Palestinian West Bank

Juan Cole

(AFP reports) Israel plans new settler homes while freeing Palestinians (via AFP) Israel will reveal plans to build 1,400 settler homes in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem to coincide with the weekend release of Palestinian prisoners, military radio said Friday. A third batch of Palestinian prisoners is due to be released on Sunday… […]

Human Rights

The other Victim of Israeli settler vigilantism is Israeli Society Itself

contributors

(By Shirin Rubin) Israeli society will pay the ‘price’ for settler vigilantism, rights group warns (via The Christian Science Monitor) When Ahmad Milhem heard earlier this month that Jewish extremists had scrawled “Mohammad is a pig” on the walls of his local mosque, he feared for both his Arab and Jewish neighbors. “If our young […]

Christianity

Wounded by Apartheid Wall, Occupied Bethlehem Hopes for Pilgrimage Revival

Juan Cole

(Agence France Presse) Bethlehem eyes tourist boom after dark decade (via AFP) After a decade of unrest, Bethlehem has seen a surge in visits to Christ’s traditional birthplace, raising hopes of a tourism bonanza in the West Bank town despite Israel’s separation barrier. The Palestinian territories’ top tourist destination is… —- Related Video AFP: […]

Human Rights

UN: A Million Palestinians will Need Food aid in Israel-blockaded Gaza Next Year

Juan Cole

PressTv reports, “The UN says nearly a million Palestinians are expected to need food aid in the Gaza Strip next year” Their blurb: “About 800-thousand Palestinian refugees are currently receiving food aid from the U-N Relief and Works Agency– UNRWA– but the organization expects a 10 to 20 percent rise in demand in 2014. The […]

Human Rights

American Studies Association to Boycott Israeli Institutions in Historic Vote

contributors

(By Sarah Lazare) An association of 5,000 academics on Monday became the largest U.S. scholarly organization ever to join the boycott of Israeli academic institutions. The American Studies Association, which calls itself "the nation’s oldest and largest association devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture and history," announced Monday that its membership passed a […]

Featured

Gaza: 5000 Palestinians evacuated from Flooded Homes, Israeli Blockade Hampers Rescue

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Several days of unseasonably cold weather and torrential rains have increased the misery in the already miserable Gaza Strip, where 1.7 million Palestinians are besieged and blockaded by the Israeli Occupation authorities. The government estimates that 7,000 families have been harmed (likely meaning 35,000 persons, most of them children). Because of flooding, […]

European Union

Has a European Boycott of Israeli Colonies in the Palestinian West Bank Begun?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole First, the European Union decided last summer to exclude Israeli Occupation institutions from Israel-EU cooperation initiatives. That is, Israeli institutions are routinely invited to European scientific conferences and projects as though they were members of the EU, but those based in the Palestinian West Bank are no longer welcome. Nor will the […]

Africa

Can Mandela’s Truth and Reconciliation Heal the Middle East?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Every transition from an authoritarian government to democracy is different. Some go relatively smoothly (Poland, South Korea). Others are rocky (Taiwan, Bosnia, Tunisia). In some instances, authoritarianism reasserts itself to a lesser (Russia) or greater (Ukraine, Egypt) extent. In some cases, the country falls into chaos (Iraq, Yugoslavia). What to do with […]