President Obama’s historic opening to Cuba made many of us think about the long cold war against the Palestinian people. In both cases, a policy of isolating a people because they have political views our government disagrees with has gone on for decades without changing that society. Imagine the president ignoring the Israel lobby, as Obama ignored the Cuba lobby, and declaring; “Today, the United States of America is changing its relationship with the people of Israel and Palestine.”
Early this morning Jordan submitted to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) a draft resolution on behalf of the Palestinians to end Israel’s occupation of territory occupied in June 1967 through a negotiations process. The resolution would be the first to call for a third-party security presence to “guarantee and respect the sovereignty of a State of Palestine,” but it puts no deadline on Israel’s withdrawal.
On behalf of Palestinian rights activists here at Harvard, including members of the Progressive Jewish Alliance who helped us tremendously in this effort, the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee would like to thank Harvard University Dining Services and the Harvard administration for their decision to stand on the side of international justice as well as sensitivity to their own students by refusing to make future purchases of SodaStream machines. The discussion surrounding this move was enlightening, and we hope these events will only spur further discussion on the issues of Palestinian human rights and a lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians.
The United States is creating momentum for the French to forestall, or all together abandon, presenting a resolution to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on behalf of the Palestinians. France has been informed of an American alternative offer to the Palestinian pursuit of a draft resolution to negotiate an end Israel’s occupation of territories gained in June 1967, a French diplomatic source tells Mondoweiss.
Harvard University’s dining services has ended purchases of SodaStream seltzer makers after students in solidarity with Palestinians say they were offended by the company, which has an operation in the occupied West Bank.
The International Middle East Media Center reports: “Israeli police, on Tuesday, attempted to arrest two preschoolers during a raid on two homes in the occupied East Jerusalem town of Silwan, according to witnesses. WAFA correspondence reports that police raided the home of Mr. Mohammad Abd al-Raziq, in the Bir Ayoub neighborhood of Silwan, in search of two children aged three and five, for allegedly throwing rocks at them.”
PLO official Dr. Mohammed Shtayyeh says the current Palestinian push at the UN Security Council comes “a serious junction in the history of Palestine.” Allison Deger reports that the proposed UN resolution marks a change in Palestinian strategy for the PLO. According to Dr. Shtayyeh the resolution is “not simply as part of a routine diplomatic issue. We are going to the Security Council because this is part of a strategic shift in the way that we are dealing with the struggle with the Israelis.” Although details of the resolution are not yet public, it appears this shift includes taking a harder line on Israeli settlement construction and looking toward Europe for leadership over the peace process instead of the United States.
Israeli PM Netanyahu’s clueless tweet of himself with muzzled attack dogs and soldiers in balaclavas carrying automatic rifles on Hanukkah shows that the Israeli brand has curdled and Israel will lose American Jews
Omar Barghouti writes the latest message in our series What Mondoweiss Means To Me: “Every year, I contribute to Mondoweiss, and I’m writing now to urge you to do the same. Here’s why: Mondoweiss is a rare beacon of free speech and insightful analysis. But more than that, the site is a vital tool for raising awareness in the US about the struggle for Palestinian rights. And given the central role that the US establishment plays in enabling Israel’s regime of oppression against the Palestinian people, shifting US public opinion towards freedom, justice and equal rights for Palestinians, as well as for all oppressed communities around the world, becomes absolutely necessary.” We are asking Mondoweiss readers to help to raise $60,000 by December 31. Please donate and tell us what Mondoweiss means to you.
Recent disclosures over CIA torture practices may be a relief to some who feared they had no place in respectable society.