Yesterday, tens of thousands protested Israel’s ‘Nation-State’ law in Tel Aviv, and the rare sight was the many Palestinian flags being waved. They are in clear opposition to the Israeli Nation-State of the Jewish People law, which states: “The flag of the state is white, two blue stripes near the edges, and a blue Star of David in the center”.
Israeli forces have shot more than 4000 Palestinians during the 4-1/2 months of protests on the Gaza border, killing 124, but the New York Times has run a barrage of op-eds by regular columnists justifying the massacre. It is impossible to imagine Tom Friedman, Bret Stephens, Shmuel Rosner and Matti Friedman doing that for any other country smashing non-violent protest.
“It was the first time that the Palestinian community moved in buses from our towns and villages to the middle of a Jewish center, Tel Aviv, to challenge the public discourse in Israel,” Jafir Farah of Mossawa center says of massive demonstration on August 11 that united Jews and Palestinians in solidarity against the new nation state of the Jewish people law.
Palestinians held funerals for three killed by Israel in recent day, including pregnant mother Enas Mohammad Abu Khammash, buried along with her 18-month-old daughter Bayan. Meantime, Israelis reported that a “huge” 13-foot long incendiary kite from Gaza landed on a kibbutz’s electrical wires, causing great concern.
Bret Stephens says there’s nothing alarming in new law giving Jews the exclusive right of self determination in Israel. But as David Bromwich points out, the law is very much like Stephen Douglas’s argument in debating Lincoln, that “this Government was made. . .by white men for the benefit of white men and their posterity forever.”
Abdullah al-Qatati, 22, was shot in the chest during a Great March of Return protest near Rafah in southern Gaza as he treated Ali al-Alloul, 55, who was also killed at the same time. The Gaza Health Ministry reported that more than 200 protesters were injured during the 20th weekly protest of the Great March of Return. Al-Qatati’s death takes place 10 weeks after Israeli forces killed 20-year-old paramedic Razan al-Najjar during a similar protest.
Jimmy Wales the founder of Wikipedia has disappointed a lot of folks in the last day by siding with Israel over the latest exchange of fire between Israel and Gaza, and by essentially accusing British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn of anti-semitism.
Just a few weeks ago, Mondoweiss launched a $60,000 summer fund drive to prepare for the upcoming challenges facing accurate, responsible journalism about Palestine and the movement for its liberation. Thanks to hundreds of generous supporters, we have met and surpassed our goal for this campaign. As we enter our new fiscal year September 1, we have enough resources to tackle the mission that drives us: reporting the truth from Palestine and Israel with as much detail, scope and context as possible to as many people as possible around the world.
We seem to be hearing a lot these days about an “antisemitism problem” on the Left – and accusations of “antisemitism” are almost sure to arise whenever Israel is criticized. Peter Cohen writes that what we really should be concerned about is racism in all of its forms – including, but by no means limited to – anti-Jewish racism. “Keeping our focus on racism rather than only antisemitism also makes it easier to see the shocking prevalence of racism in the discourse of Zionists themselves,” Cohen says.
Israel is seeking to remove the Bedouin village of Jabal al-Baba from the E-1 corridor connecting Jerusalem to West Bank Jewish settlements, using expulsion orders and raids that have destroyed community buildings. The village is resisting by building a school on Vatican-owned land, hoping to gain the Pope’s protection.