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Annie Robbins

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Annie Robbins comments on “First they came for the Palestinians”, a political cartoon by renowned cartoonist and political-cultural commentator Michael Leunig: “My initial response to the cartoon was that the conversation surrounding events in Palestine and Israel require and demand public engagement. The onus is on all of us and this is not primarily a Jewish conversation, nor should it be. We cannot be silent. This is a global conversation as well as an American conversation. Be part of it.”

A recent headline in Haaretz claimed the Israeli government withholding of corpses, Said Abu Jamal and Uday Abu Jamal the two Palestinians cousins responsible for carrying out the synagogue attack in Jerusalem last Monday, was an “unprecedented move”. How odd, for there’s nothing unprecedented in the least about Israel refusing to release the bodies of deceased Palestinian militants to their families for burial. How short are our memories?

It appears Israel’s ongoing incitement of Palestinian children has taken a particularly macabre turn. Videos have surfaced of Jerusalem police driving calmly through quiet empty East Jerusalem neighborhoods drenching elementary schools and residences with a putrid liquid with the stench of feces and rotting animal carcass, commonly referenced as “skunk spray”.

British mega pop star Robbie Williams, a UK Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) since 2001 , signed on last month to front a new campaign launched by UNICEF UK Children in Danger, which “aims to protect children from violence, disease, hunger and the chaos of war and disaster.” Less than a week later Williams announced on his website he’s booked a gig at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv on May 2, 2015, as part of his Let Me Entertain You Tour.

The New Israel Fund (NIF) has partnered with The Israel Football Association (IFA) to form a new campaign called “Kick Racism Out of Israeli Football”. However, during the initial stages of this new partnership the IFA chose to segregate the Israeli children’s national football league in Israel’s Triangle area which is home to the majority of Israel’s Palestinian citizens.

Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino magnate and his co-horts at the Israeli American Council (IAC), launched off their first ever inagural “Israeli-American Conference” in D.C. over the weekend. The talk of the town is the “spirited public discussion” between Adelson and Haim Saban, the billionaire democrat fundraiser and media mogul. Adelson challenged Haim Saban to team up and purchase The New York Times because the Times is so mean to Israel. It sounds like they’re jealous Amazon’s Jeff Bezos swept in and bought the Washington Post right out from under their noses.