After Beto O’Rourke said yesterday he wouldn’t rule out a presidential run in 2020, many progressives revived his pro-Israel, pro-AIPAC tweet of September and announced they’re out of love with the rising Democratic star.
On occasion of a conference of the Austrian government in the context of its Presidency of the European Union entitled “Europe Beyond Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism – Securing Jewish Life in Europe”, some of Israel’s leading Intellectuals have written an open letter titled “To Europe We Say: Don’t conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism” to the European public.
As the polls came to a close and the midterm results began rolling in this November, Palestinians at home and across the diaspora celebrated the election of one of their own, Democrat Rashida Tlaib of Michigan’s 13th Congressional District. Mondoweiss spoke to young Palestinian American women from across the country on what Rashida Tlaib’s win means to them, their hopes for her in congress, and the lasting impact of her election.
Nada Elia binge watches all four parts of the Al Jazeera documentary “The Lobby” that was leaked online earlier this month. While there were no bombshells, the series shows astroturfed pro-Israel groups on campus, but Elia notes, “the lack of conviction is painful, almost pathetic, when the fakes come face to face with the real grassroots, the student organizers with SJP.”
On November 16th-18th, National Students for Justice in Palestine hosted its annual conference at UCLA. This year’s theme was “Radical Hope: Resistance in the Face of Adversity.” Unfortunately, while the theme is certainly fitting for an event exploring the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice, many organizers, presenters and attendees came to realize that it was also unexpectedly fitting for the simple attempt to hold the conference itself at an institution of higher learning. The “adversity” against which we needed to shoulder forward just to be able to hold a convening came from all levels, from the political to the administrative as well as in the form of intense, militant harassment and intimidation from off-campus, Zionist vigilante groups.
After British Quakers took the deliberate step of divesting from the occupation, in a tradition of boycotting slave goods and supporting black struggle for civil rights, Marie van de Zyl of the British Board of Deputies accused Quakers of anti-Semitism for obsessing on “the only Jewish state – despite everything else going on around the globe.”
Airbnb’s decision to pull listings in Israeli settlements has shed light on another service that offers listing in illegal colonies in the West Bank – Booking.com, which does not seem inclined to act similarly. It seeks to avoid a storm, which is surely coming anyway.
Donald Trump sought to defuse criticism of the Khashoggi murder by saying that Israel has an interest in the US and Saudi Arabia remaining friends, and Russia will be hurt. If Russia and Sheldon Adelson both bought Trump in 2016, Adelson came away with the prize. Not that the U.S. media is noticing.
A Palestinian teenage boy died, Tuesday, from serious wounds he suffered on last Wednesday November 14, allegedly after attempting to stab Israeli officers at a police station in occupied East Jerusalem. Abdul-Rahman Ali Abu Jamal, 17, allegedly climbed the fence of a police station and attacked officers there when he was shot.
On November 17, the British anti-Zionist Tony Greenstein was informed by Twitter that his account was suspended permanently. No reason was given. It turns out that according to Twitter, comparing the siege of Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto is a breach of rules whereas wishing Jewish anti-Zionists had died in Auschwitz is not.