On 18 October 2014, a self-professed “racist” pro-Israel counter-protester at a Block the Boat action in Los Angeles told black Palestinian solidarity activist and radio personality Margaret Prescod to “take your Ebola a*s and get out.” The racism of these California-based Zionist counter-protesters is symptomatic of a much larger culture of bigotry and hate in Israel and among some pro-Israel supporters internationally.
On September 19, the administration of Loyola University Chicago temporarily suspended Loyola Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and opened an investigation of the organization. The actions, which will culminate in a disciplinary hearing on Thursday evening, came after a diverse group of students gathered at a table hosted by Taglit-Birthright Israel, which provides trips to Israel exclusively for Jewish students, to register and ask questions about the program. Loyola’s investigation is part of a broader censorship of political speech on university campuses around the US over issues related to Israel and Palestine.
While Steven Salaita has received massive support from colleagues, students, community groups, and others in the US, what has received less attention is the support he has received from outside the US. This is extremely important, for as protests against Israel continue and in fact grow across the globe, one should understand that such acts of silencing resonate with those beyond US borders. Today it is clear that criticism of Israel is the issue, and that the significance of Salaita’s case is not limited to the US.
Imagine a leading Jewish organization attacking a citizen of another country for complaining about discrimination in that country against people of color there. Rula Jebreal’s op-ed on Israeli “hate policies” hit a nerve
Two victories on the BDS front that show the Israeli settlements in the West Bank are increasingly considered beyond the pale in the U.S. and international community. Online shopping site GILT has dropped Ahava cosmetics and the government of Kuwait has announced “it will not deal with 50 companies due to their role in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has clearly been stung by a senior Obama administration official saying that he’s “chickenshit”. The White House is trying to repair the (intentional) damage.
The NYT tries to make the occupation seem normal. That’s why it’s devoting 16 paragraphs to a story about the time difference between Israel and Palestine when it could be covering the crisis in US-Israeli diplomacy over illegal settlement building and the detention of Palestinian children
Former Israeli president Shimon Peres was interviewed by Bob Woodruff at Colgate University last Saturday night, and when Pat Carmeli interrupted a standing ovation to ask about illegal settlements, Colgate edited it out of its video of the event
Are there any in more active complicity in the destruction of Palestine than Palestine’s well-wishers? J Street’s October 28 statement is the latest example of a “pro-peace” organization that is doing nothing to advance an end to the conflict in Israel/Palestine.
Ten weeks after his death during dawn prayers in Gaza, the body of a 20-year-old father of one was found under the rubble of a mosque destroyed by Israel in August