Israel/ Palestine

Gaza’s Oldest Mosque, Destroyed in Israeli Airstrike, was once a Pagan Temple, a Church and had Jewish Engravings

Stephennie Mulder, The University of Texas at Austin The Omari Mosque in Gaza was largely destroyed by Israeli bombardment on Dec. 8, 2023. It was one of the most ancient mosques in the region and a beloved Gazan landmark. The mosque was first built in the early seventh century and named after Islam’s second caliph, […]

Anti-intellectualism

Zionism, Anti-Palestinianism, and the Fall of Harvard’s Claudine Gay

Charles Hirschkind

Berkeley, CA (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Much of the media conversation about the recent resignation of Harvard’s president, Claudine Gay, has (rightfully) framed her abrupt removal in the context of the current right-wing assault on liberal education and, particularly, its targeting of the policies and practices designed to promote racial equality on US […]

Featured

Food as a Weapon of War: The Crime of Starvation in Gaza

Hilal Elver

Istanbul (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – On October 7, 2023, the day after Hamas’ attack on Israeli civilians, the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, announced a “complete siege” on already besieged Gaza that often described as the “largest open-air prison” with 2.2 million people squeezed into a small tract of land that had been […]

art and photography

Artists Bring Human Richness at Times of Strife – and must be allowed to Speak about the Israel and Gaza

The Conversation

By Lowell Gasoi, Carleton University | – The current Israel-Hamas war has dominated the news for the past few months. As reports of military machinations and diplomatic efforts have gained attention, the art world has struggled with responses to the horrors of this war. For example, controversy and calls for transparency and accountability followed the […]

Children

Israeli-Made Famine: Denial of Food Aid could Kill 22,000 Palestinians this Month, Half of them Children

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that Israeli airstrikes and ground operations continued over the weekend in Gaza and says, “Between the afternoons of 12 and 14 January, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 260 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and another 577 people […]

censorship

Setting the Record Straight: Weaponizing Antisemitism to Cancel Academic Free Speech

Ted Swedenburg

( Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette) – As someone who believes deeply in human rights for all, who has spent a great deal of time in Palestine and Israel and cares a great deal about the people there, and who is very concerned and grieved about the loss of life in Israel on Oct. 7 and […]

Dissent

Gaza: 400K Rally in DC against “Genocide Joe;” Massive Protests in Johannesburg, London, other Capitals

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Millions of protesters came out around the world on Saturday, answering the call of Palestinian activists to rally against the ongoing Israeli attack on Gaza on a “Global Day of Action for Palestine.” Close to home, an estimated 400,000 demonstrated in Washington, D.C., and scattered what looked like bloodied dolls […]

International Court of Justice

What enforcement power does the International Court of Justice have in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel?

The Conversation

By Victor Peskin, Arizona State University | – South Africa says that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and has asked the International Court of Justice to intervene and stop Israeli military action in Gaza. Israel issued its initial defense to South Africa’s charges on Jan. 12, 2024, at the International Court of […]

Israel/ Palestine

Civilian Casualties in Gaza Are No Accident

OtherWords

( Otherwords.org ) – By Mitchell Zimmerman | An old legal adage states: “Men are presumed to intend the natural consequences of their acts.” The natural, indeed inescapable, consequence of Israel’s cutting off life-sustaining supplies of food and water to over 2 million people in Gaza is famine and mass death by starvation and dehydration. […]