Larry Commodore, a First Nations activist aboard the al-Awda boat to Gaza, speaks to Kim Jensen about the sing-a-longs on the Freedom Flotilla, his treatment once detained in Israel, and how he fell into activism to support Palestinians.

VS Naipaul left Trinidad so as to find a wider field for his literary imagination, and in doing so left the joyful material of his first few books. He was a travel writer chronicling human viciousness, and gained influence as the world’s writer because of his brilliant style. Till his prejudices became predictable.

Adalah’s General Director, Attorney Hassan Jabareen offers a probing analysis of the “Basic Law: The Jewish Nation-State,” which, he argues, calls for a shift in how one conceptualizes the Israeli regime on both sides of the Green Line. He contends the Israeli regime faces questions about its legitimacy following the enactment of this racist legislation.

Dareen Tatour will spend the next five months in an Israeli prison after being convicted of incitement over posting a poem online. Her close friend, Israeli artist Danielle Alma Ravitzki, writes about the “worst day of her life,” the ride to the prison last Wednesday where she dropped off Dareen.

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.