Anti-BDS politicians want to boycott, divest, and sanction Russia over the Ukraine invasion.

Witnessing a wave of public calls for action, western governments and institutions have enacted sweeping boycotts and cancellations of Russian artists and Russian products over the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. But for many years the Palestinian BDS call has been rejected by European governments and U.S. states despite public support and the reports of human rights groups. If supermarkets removed Israeli products and theaters canceled performances by those who vocally support Israeli actions, we would hear the actions denounced as antisemitic for “singling out the Jewish state.”

The European and American media now celebrating Ukrainian civilians building Molotov cocktails is the same that condemns Palestinians for even picking up a stone to resist military occupation.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer tweets about the Ukraine while a photo shows him to be in Israel on the tab of the Israel lobby group AIPAC. Bill Keating is Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, so he’s been tweeting a lot about Ukraine, but not a word about being in Israel on the AIPAC trip. Other Reps also seem bashful about the junket, including Kathleen Rice who gave AIPAC a video testimonial from the occupied Golan Heights.

We, Palestinians, know the feelings of those who stand helpless today in the face of missiles in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and all the cities of Ukraine. 

Leaders of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) issued a Pastoral Letter this week opposing Christian Zionism and saying “Israeli policies and practices that discriminate against Palestinians—Christians and Muslims alike—are consistent with the international definition of the crime of apartheid.”

Moving without borders and traveling without restrictions is part of the nomads’ identity and way of life. During the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the semi-arid region of the an-Naqab was inhabited mostly by semi-nomadic Bedouin tribes, but this life was destroyed by Israeli colonialism. Still, a strong Bedouin identity lives on in Gaza and across the region.

Whitworth Art Gallery director Alistair Hudson has been asked to step down from his position after being targeted by a pro-Israel legal group, The Guardian reports. The campaign to remove him was sparked by a 2021 art exhibition that contained a statement expressing solidarity with Palestinians. The gallery is run by the University of Manchester. Art Forum reports that Hudson was “ousted.”

This newsletter is usually devoted to how Israel and Palestine intersect with U.S. policy, but it feels like a mistake if we don’t begin with the horrible situation in Ukraine. I’ve

Photographer Morgan Ashcom’s portfolio “OPEN” captures the dynamism and dignity of Palestinian life while simultaneously highlighting the conditions of Israeli oppression.