What is happening in Masafer Yatta is not only the largest ethnic cleansing scheme to be carried out by Israel since 1967, but the move should be considered a first step in a much larger scheme of illegal land appropriation, ethnic cleansing and official mass annexation.
For nearly three decades, Palestinians were told, even by their leaders, that the Nakba is a thing of the past. However, with Palestinian reality worsening under the deepening system of Israeli settler colonialism and apartheid, Palestinians now understand that they have no possible alternative but their unity, their resistance and the return to the fundamentals of their struggle.
There are troubling signs that UNRWA’s mandate might be coming to an end. Any attempts at canceling or redefining UNRWA’s mission will pose a serious, if not an unprecedented challenge for Palestinians.
The PA has refused to condemn Russia following its invasion of Ukraine despite pressure from the Biden Administration. One reason for this is that joining the anti-Russia western chorus would further isolate an already isolated Palestine.
What took the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa decades to achieve was carried out against Russia in a matter of hours and days– including FIFA adopting measures to punish Russian teams and athletes. Palestinians are baffled, since they have been informed by FIFA, time and again, that “sports and politics don’t mix”. Not only are Israeli athletes welcomed in all international sports events, the mere attempt by individual athletes to register a moral stance in support of Palestinians, by refusing to compete against Israelis, can be very costly.
Hisham Abu Hawash’s hunger strike will go down in the history of Palestinian resistance as one of the longest and, arguably, most consequential.
Though the timing of the Israeli military decision to amend its open-fire policy may appear sudden and without much context, the decision is still ominous, nonetheless. When a country’s military decides that shooting a child in the back without any proof that the alleged ‘criminal’ posed any danger whatsoever is a legal act, the international community must take notice.
On the sidelines of COP26, Israel’s Prime Minister met with Bill Gates to discuss forming working group to study potential cooperation around combating climate change. Gates’ obsession with ‘innovation’, however, might have blinded him from addressing other issues that Israel is also ‘known for’ – namely, being the world’s leading human rights violator and the destruction of the Palestinian environment.
Rashida Tlaib speaking out against Iron Dome funding reveals opposing Israel’s occupation is no longer taboo among elected American politicians.