On Tuesday, November 1, Israelis will go to the polls for yet another round of national elections. While there is some drama around whether Benjamin Netanyahu will return to the Prime Minister’s office, the real story here is that there is no story. As Jonathan Ofir made very clear this week there’s no hope, and no future, in Israeli Apartheid politics. As Ofir writes:
Some try to make the best of it, and vote anyway, in an attempt to change things from within. I will not lecture them not to, but I will certainly not say that voting just for the sake of it in an Apartheid reality is a noble deed – the only ones who think that are those who seek to enshrine the fake laurel of democracy in such a situation. But for everyone else, particularly those who are not Israeli and who do not vote there, the priority must be to end the Apartheid.
Apartheid is not on the ballot, only which party will become the standard-bearer. And in many cases, even the sharpest political rivals on the Israeli political spectrum are but two sides of the same coin.
But this doesn’t mean that some people aren’t watching the results closely. Mitchell Plitnick had a great story for us this week about how it is not Palestinians but liberal supporters of Israel in the United States who seem the most concerned about Netanyahu winning. Why? Because his victory, which will bring the fascist Itamar Ben Gvir in tow, will continue to erode liberal support for Israel.
And moving to the U.S., there was some very important news to cover there as well this week. While Palestine is usually discussed as a foreign policy issue it is also clear that the U.S. is intimately involved in events on the ground. We covered one shocking example in this must-see video featuring Palestinian professor Ali Qleibo whose family owns the plot of land in Jerusalem the Biden administration is planning to build a new U.S. embassy on. We often cover Israeli land grabs in the occupied territory, but here is a case where the United States government itself is the thief. Please watch and share that video when you have a chance.
Also Michael Arria covered a very important First Amendment case that may be headed to the Supreme Court over nothing more than American citizens’ right to free speech. The issue at hand? The “right to boycott or not boycott anyone we please and it is none of the government’s business,” Arkansas Times Publisher Alan Leveritt told Mondoweiss.
Finally, there continues to be much news from the West Bank as Palestinian resistance, and the brutal Israeli crackdown, continues unabated. One very important story that we ran this week was a report by Mariam Barghouti from Nablus where she talked to friends, family, and comrades of the deceased Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi who had gathered to commemorate what would have been his 19th birthday. In addition to learning more about Al-Nabulsi, the fighters Mariam talked to also shared some raw and vulnerable realities about what it means to stand up to the Israeli occupation. It is a moving and eye opening story, please be sure to check it out.
