The German government’s campaign against BDS has taken its next step – an outright labelling of BDS as anti-Semitic, and association of it with Nazi boycotts of Jews. Palestinian civil society has now responded to the assault.
After a weekend of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and rocket fire into Israel, Palestinians began the holy month of Ramadan amid clearing rubble from destroyed buildings and holding funerals.
Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh was banned from speaking at an event marking International Women’s Day in Berlin and faces the imminent threat of deportation. Gilad Erdan, Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs, claimed credit for the decision taken by German authorities to revoke Odeh’s visa. The Rasmea Spricht campaign says, “Once again, Israeli officials have exerted their influence on Germany in order to prevent public criticism of its human rights abuses.”
Prominent Jews, including Molly Crabapple, Dave Zirin, Tzvia Thier, Naomi Klein, Ilan Pappe, Rebecca Vilkomerson, Shir Hever, and Moshe Machover sign a statement standing by Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar for her criticism of AIPAC. As long as the US gov’t stands behind Israeli crimes, the 229 signatories and counting will point to the outsize role of the Israel lobby.
We are pleased and proud to announce that the team here at Mondoweiss will be growing this spring. From a one-man operation in 2006, we’ve grown to a core team of eight today, plus hundreds of freelance contributors each year. The two positions we are looking to fill now are 1) a U.S.-based News Reporter and 2) an Individual Giving Manager. Both openings require, above all, a passion and dedication to the mission of sharing the facts about Palestine with a global audience, in order to strengthen the struggle against systematic oppression.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been working hard to make sure a racist, xenophobic, homophobic Ultra-Right wing party called “Jewish Power” that has roots in the banned “Kach” party gets into the next Knesset in the April 9 election so that he can maintain a right-wing coalition and stay in office, Barak Ravid reports.
Ilhan Omar was right to point out the impact of AIPAC’s money. AIPAC is seeking now to silence criticism of the inhumane occupation by screaming about anti-semitism and claiming that nobody may ever talk about how the Israel lobby uses money — Activist Ady Barkan relates a story from the campaign trail.
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute has now gone full circle: It announced today that it has voted to give a human rights award to Angela Davis after all! The institute rescinded the award to Davis on Jan. 4 due in part to her support for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) targeting Israel.
Perceiving Michelle Alexander’s opinion piece on Palestine and Martin Luther King in the New York Times as a huge blow to Israel’s reputation among elites, and to the traditional alliance of blacks and Jews, Israel’s cheerleaders leaped to denounce Alexander. Michael Oren says the article is a “strategic threat” to Israel, David Harris says MLK would be “appalled” that Alexander “hijacked” his legacy!
Happy new year from Mondoweiss! Here are our ten most read articles in 2018. This year we published more than 2,250,000 words across 1,254 articles which sparked more than 28,000 comments. If you appreciate what we do please considering becoming a supporter today to help us continue to grow our coverage of these critical issues. If you donate before the end of 2018 your donation will be MATCHED, doubling your impact.