Boycott committee rejects French PM’s smearing of movement
1 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee is deeply disturbed by the inaccurate and inflammatory insinuations made by French Prime Minister Francois Fillon during his speech at the annual dinner of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions, 3 February 2010. Fillon’s remarks came in the context of expressing commitment to fighting anti-Semitism, implying that the boycott against Israeli products may somehow be anti-Semitic.

Building international solidarity during Israeli Apartheid Week
1 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rSix years since its launch at the University of Toronto, Israeli Apartheid Week is taking place in more than 40 cities in five continents, and is a key event in the yearly calendar of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, launched by more than 170 Palestinian civil society organizations on 9 July 2005. Outside its North American and European centers, IAW is also taking place in South Africa, Palestine, Lebanon and Australia. Ilaria Giglioli comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Russell Tribunal aims to hold the international community to account
1 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rToday, the first session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RTP) will be held in Barcelona. The RTP is a peoples’ tribunal focusing not on Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law such as the Fourth Geneva Convention, but on the obligations of the international community of signatory states which sustain and enable Israel’s continuous violations of international law. Frank Barat comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Five hundred Montreal artists speak out against Israeli apartheid
26 Feb 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rA broad spectrum of Montreal artists are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and supporting the growing international campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against the Israeli state.

Canada’s neoconservative turn
26 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rConservatives have launched a more extreme phase of Israel advocacy. Groups in any way associated with the Palestinian cause have been openly attacked and Ottawa has taken a more belligerent tone towards Iran. In the beginning of February, Ottawa delighted Israeli hawks by canceling $15 million in funding for the UN agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The money has been reallocated to Palestinian Authority judicial and security reforms in the West Bank. At the same time, Canada doubled the number of troops involved in US Lt. General Keith Dayton’s mission to train a Palestinian force to strengthen Fatah against Hamas and to serve as an arm of Israel’s occupation. Yves Engler comments.

“The ground is shifting”: An interview with comedian Ivor Dembina
26 Feb 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rIvor Dembina’s one-man show This is Not a Subject for Comedy has been running, growing and developing for more than five year, dealing with Dembina’s upbringing in a 1960s “mainstream Jewish household” broadly supporting the Zionist cause. Set to perform before the British House of Commons, Dembina was recently interviewed by The Electronic Intifada contributor Sarah Irving.

The Mossad hit and Israel’s path of self-destruction
25 Feb 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a Hamas official in Dubai, almost certainly by a death squad dispatched by Israel’s Mossad, is by no means the first such aggression against the sovereignty of another state. While Israel has literally gotten away with murder thousands of times, was this one killing too far? Hasan Abu Nimah comments.

Four decades of occupation in Hebron
25 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rI have been to Hebron three times, but each visit was like entering a different city. In May of 1967, the entire West Bank including Hebron was under Jordanian rule. On the occasion of the anniversary of the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, Iris Keltz recalls her three visits to Hebron since the days before Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967.

Geographers and academics protest union’s Tel Aviv conference
25 Feb 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rAs geographers, faculty, students and people of conscience, we are profoundly dismayed by the International Geographical Union’s decision to hold its July 2010 regional conference in Tel Aviv, in violation of the widely endorsed Palestinian civil society call for Boycott, Divestments, and Sanctions against Israel.

Egyptian opposition grows against government’s Gaza barrier
24 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rCAIRO (IPS) – Activists and opposition groups are stepping up pressure on the Egyptian government to stop constructing a barrier along the border with the Gaza Strip. Officials say the barrier will prevent cross-border smuggling, but critics say it will seal the fate of the people on the Gaza Strip. On 13 February, hundreds of activists from across the political spectrum convened in downtown Cairo to protest construction of the barrier.

Up against the wall: challenging Israel’s impunity
24 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rNeither foreign governments nor the UN have joined the Palestinian communities who have been destroyed by Israel’s wall in their efforts to dismantle it. Still, Palestinian villages show incredible perseverance and creativity in protesting the theft of their land and tearing down pieces of the cement blocks or iron fencing. They do so in the face of overwhelming repression. Jamal Juma’ comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Harvard center condemns, then defends, fellow’s pro-genocide statements
23 Feb 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rLeaders of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University have condemned and then defended statements by Martin Kramer, one of the center’s fellows, which endorsed a cut off of UN food and other humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugee children besieged in the Gaza Strip as a means to reduce the Palestinian birthrate and thus the Palestinian population.

Book review: Joe Sacco draws life into history’s “footnotes”
23 Feb 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rIn his new book-length work of serial art journalism, Footnotes in Gaza, Joe Sacco seeks out the recollections of the remaining Palestinian witnesses and survivors of the November 1956 massacres at the Gaza refugee camps of Rafah and Khan Younis. The result is a powerful oral history—his research as detailed and meticulous as his crosshatched drawings, its 386 pages of sequential comic strip-style narration emotionally devastating. Maureen Clare Murphy reviews for The Electronic Intifada.

Behind Brand Israel: Israel’s recent propaganda efforts
23 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr r”The Delegitimization Challenge” report from the influential Israeli think tank the Reut Institute has put the spotlight on efforts by Israel and the Zionist lobby to counter the growing movement for justice in Palestine, and specifically, the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign. The work done by Reut has rightly attracted attention, but it is only one (particularly prominent) example of a wider trend, as the Israeli government and global Zionist groups mobilize to fight the threat to the apartheid system. Ben White analyzes for The Electronic Intifada.

Hebron’s living hell
23 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rOur sobering taste of life in Hebron included other devastating stories and the presence of Israeli guard towers, camouflage netting, checkpoints, a wall spray painted with graffiti that included a tribute to the Golani brigade, one of the Israeli army’s most aggressively violent units, and to Betar, a right-wing youth organization. I passed a concrete block obstructing the road, spray painted with an arrow and the words “This is apartheid.” Alice Rothchild writes from Hebron.

Israel subjecting rights groups to “McCarthy techniques”
22 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe Israeli government and its right-wing supporters have been waging a “McCarthyite” campaign against human rights groups by blaming them for the barrage of international criticism that has followed Israel’s attack on Gaza a year ago, critics say. Jonathan Cook reports.

Harvard Fellow calls for genocidal measure to curb Palestinian births
22 Feb 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rA fellow at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Martin Kramer, has called for “the West” to take measures to curb the births of Palestinians, a proposal that appears to meet the international legal definition of a call for genocide. Kramer, who is also a fellow at the influential Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), made the call early this month in a speech at Israel’s Herzliya conference, a video of which is posted on his blog.

Israel’s contemptuous response to Goldstone findings
22 Feb 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rSubmitted to the UN on 29 January, the Israeli government’s response to the UN-commissioned Goldstone fact-finding report falls far short of a credible investigation and continues Israel’s long-standing policy of refusal to investigate and convict those responsible for crimes committed during its military campaigns. Sayed Dhansay comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Scattered in death as in life
22 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rMamilla cemetery is estimated to be over 800 years old and was in continuous use until 1948 when the Western part of Jerusalem was conquered as Israel was created. The battle over Mamilla cemetery encapsulates many aspects of Israel’s approach to Palestinian rights since the conflict began, and it is worth considering five here. Nadia Hijab comments.

PACBI issues clarification concerning intellectual responsibility statement
19 Feb 2010
PACBI’s recent statement entitled “Intellectual Responsibility and the Voice of the Colonized,” which criticizes the research project that led to the publication of the book, The Power of Inclusive Exclusion: Anatomy of Israeli Rule in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, has stirred a healthy debate and mostly constructive discussion among various scholars.

Jerusalem families come out against museum built on ancestors’ graves
19 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rMembers of prominent Palestinian families from Jerusalem came out last week in protest against plans by the Simon Wiesenthal Center to build a Museum of Tolerance on top of part of the ancient Mamilla Cemetery where their ancestors are buried. One family member behind the initiative said it is not just symbolic, but instead a full-blown campaign. Marian Houk reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Israeli media first to report Haitian organ theft rumor
19 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThere is considerable speculation following the removal of Lady Jenny Tonge on 14 February from her position as health critic for the Liberal Democratic Party in the UK’s House of Lords following her statement calling for an inquiry into claims that the Israeli military stole organs during its relief work in Haiti last month. Jillian York reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Scandinavian financial institutions drop Elbit due to BDS pressure
19 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rDespite Israel’s oppressive tactics against it, the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement has marked additional victories with many institutional investors divesting from or blacklisting Israeli military contractor Elbit Systems. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada.

PACBI: Intellectual responsibility and the voice of the colonized
17 Feb 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) has recently encountered a number of projects that while intending to empower the colonized Palestinians, in essence end up undermining their will and choice of method of struggle for freedom, justice and self-determination. The publication of a new book entitled The Power of Inclusive Exclusion: Anatomy of Israeli Rule in the Occupied Palestinian Territories belongs to this category.

Review: A (happily) partial memoir of the second intifada
17 Feb 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rEmma Williams is a doctor who worked in Britain, Pakistan, Afghanistan, New York and South Africa before accompanying her husband, a UN official, to Jerusalem in October 2000. This account of their three years in Palestine, It’s easier to reach heaven than the end of the street – a Jerusalem memoir, was originally published in the UK in 2006 and now appears in a revised and updated US edition. Raymond Deane reviews for The Electronic Intifada