Jonathan Ofir is a tourist in Portugal, contemplating how colonialism can become the past– and how it’s still a present-day reality in Israel.
This year, Ha’aretz columnist Amira Hass described Mondoweiss as one of the essential websites “you must visit to understand Israel’s policy toward Palestinians.” She wrote, “One can’t help but envy the site for its network of writers and reporters from the field.” We’re proud to be recognized, but Mondoweiss can’t accomplish all that is necessary without your help. We have all sorts of plans for 2019, including new site design that will make it easier to find what you need; new editors and specialty content sections; and continuing expansion of the topics and regions we report on. And all this will be possible, thanks to the extraordinary community of readers and supporters like you. Where do you fit in? No one person needs to give more than they can — but each of us has our part to play in spreading the news from Palestine to all who need to hear it, worldwide.
Three young Jews were reportedly kicked off their free trip to Israel sponsored by the pro-Israel Birthright program today because they asked questions about the separation wall Israel has erected on occupied Palestinian territory.
Palestinian activists of the First Intifada believed they would succeed in achieving their national rights. “Our leadership was aligned with our demands and suffered alongside us,” Nadia Naser-Najjab recalls. “There was no elite class benefiting from the colonial power.” She says Palestinian leadership must challenge colonialism, not cooperate with it.
Gaza photographer Mohammed Asad has just turned away from the fence protest Friday when he felt a sting on his cheek and his camera strap jerk and saw Mohammed al Jahjuh, 16, writhing on the ground Al Jahjuh had been killed by an Israeli sniper. Asad narrowly escaped death, but his $2500 Canon camera was destroyed. He will borrow equipment, he vowed, to return to the protests. Israelis don’t understand “the Palestinian’s stubborn brain.”
Trump’s decision to pull troops from Syria is “foreign policy malpractice,” says Michele Flournoy, Hillary Clinton’s would-be defense secretary, echoing the D.C. establishment’s horror at Trump’s fulfillment of a campaign promise. Sadly, the realists and leftwingers who have an alternative vision for US foreign policy in the wake of the Iraq disaster and the Syrian civil war have been exiled by the media.
To those who lead Mondoweiss—and you who support the work—freedom is not merely a call or a word said, but a reality. Every day I feel that in working with Mondoweiss, I hold an immense responsibility to contribute to the continuation of this site. Please join me in supporting Mondoweiss — an institution that supports Palestinian writers like me both morally and practically.
IMEMC reports: “An Israeli court sentenced the mother of a Palestinian who was killed by the army last year to eleven months in prison for what the military prosecution described as ‘incitement on social media.'”
Many Jews have kept their silence about Israel, knowing that a critique of Israeli policies (not to mention Zionism) can get you labeled as a “self-hater” and have detrimental consequences to reputation and career. I know such people, and I don’t blame them. But it appears that this climate is beginning to change.
Israel and the United States take turns following in each other’s footsteps in many unpleasant ways, ranging from the treatment of hunger-striking prisoners to the militarization of domestic police forces. Another recent example came to light Nov. 11, when Israeli special forces were caught deep inside the Gaza Strip, impersonating employees of a respected local NGO that assists the burgeoning number of Palestinians with disabilities in the wake of three military offensives and ongoing border protests.