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.
On Wednesday afternoon Israeli authorities from the Jerusalem Municipality, accompanied by police, entered into the Shufat refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem and demolished Palestinian storefronts, 18 structures in all. The move is an effort by the Israeli government to lessen the authority of the UN refugee agency and strip Palestinian refugees of their status.
Echoing the Israeli government talking points, the ADL said that the Airbnb decision to end listings in the occupied West Bank was a capitulation to the anti-Semitic BDS campaign. Peter Beinart challenges the ADL to do its job and bear witness to the 51-year-old occupation that denies millions of Palestinians any freedom.
This year’s DC Palestinian Film & Arts Festival was a reminder of the worsening conditions for migrants and refugees as a result of the Trump administration’s policies. Syrian Palestinian filmmaker Samer Salameh was denied a visa to the U.S., a victim of the so-called Muslim ban preventing travel to the U.S. for Syrian nationals.