Israel/ Palestine

(By Alan M. Wald) In Memory of Edward Said (1935-2003) “You cannot continue to victimize someone else just because you yourself were a victim once—there has to be a limit.” –Edward W. Said, “The Myth of ‘The Clash of Civilizations,’” 1998 “A man once jumped from the top floor of a burning house in which […]

Human Rights

“In the Seam”: Israel Strangles Palestinian Town

Juan Cole

(By Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch) (Jerusalem) – The Israeli military is severely harming livelihoods in a Palestinian village in the West Bank that it plans to turn into an archaeological tourist site. The military should drop the project and lift excessive restrictions that keep residents from building or farming on their land and […]

Featured

Camel Bones and Jerusalem: Archeology Shows Bible written Late, Full of Errors

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) A new paper by Israeli archeologists Lidar Sapir-Hen and Erez Ben-Yosef, [pdf] posted at the University of Tel Aviv web site , is bad news for biblical literalists and far right wing Israeli nationalists who use the Bible for support. The Hebrew Bible’s oldest chapters– Genesis, Exodus, and even Judges purport to […]

Israel

Israeli Pols attack Sec. Kerry over Boycott Remarks: “Can’t negotiate with a gun to our Heads”

Juan Cole

(Via AFP) Israel, US locked in spat over Kerry boycott remark (via AFP) Israel and Washington were at loggerheads on Sunday after senior Israeli figures attacked US Secretary of State John Kerry for warning of a growing boycott threat if peace talks fail. The latest spat erupted a day after Kerry warned of the potential… […]

European Union

Now Peace Talks, John Kerry, are “Anti-Semitic” in Eyes of Israeli Far Right

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The Likud-led Israeli government doesn’t like US Secretary of State John Kerry at all. Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon ridiculed him as “obsessive” and “messianic.” Economy Minister Naftali Bennett earlier this week slammed Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu as being under Kerry’s influence, when Netanyahu was said to be considering leaving Israeli squatters […]

European Union

Israeli Business Leaders, Fearing Boycotts, Pressure Israeli Gov’t to make Peace

Juan Cole

(Via AFP) Israel concerned at growing boycott threat (via AFP) Israeli government and business leaders are alarmed by a growing international boycott movement and the likely effect of EU measures against exports from Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Cabinet ministers are to meet next week to hammer… ——— Related video: Press TV […]

Economy

Gaza Photo Blog: Palestinian Fishermen Idled by Israeli Policies

contributors

(By Muhamad Sabah via B’Tselem) Following are images of the fishing docks in Gaza as captured by B’Tselem field researcher Muhammad Sabah. There is no denying the colorful sight of so many boats moored in the harbor. Yet in point of fact, the picturesque sight is evidence of a grim reality, with the boats out […]

European Union

Bad for the Jews: Israeli Annexation of Palestinian West Bank, Scarlett Johansson and BDS

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The determination of the Likud Party to annex the Palestinian West Bank is damaging the interests of world Jewry. This harm is clearly visible in the controversy that has engulfed movie star Scarlett Johansson, who was a global ambassador for the Oxfam charity and who also agreed to become a spokesperson for […]

Human Rights

Israel’s KKK: Violent Squatters increasingly Attacking Palestinians

contributors

(By César Chelala) Increasing acts of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories have been repeatedly denounced. Together with the increasing number of settlements being built on Palestinian land, those acts of violence betray justice and seriously undermine the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. In 2007, Israeli prosecutors established that […]