Liberal Zionists say there are 2 regimes in Israel and West Bank, and apartheid in the West Bank doesn’t undermine democracy in Israel. It’s a fiction, Nathan Thrall shows in London Review of Books. Israel’s discriminations against Palestinians demonstrate there has been an apartheid policy in Israeli government since 1948.
New York Times obit for an Israeli spy, Isaac Shoshan, is a list of grievous acts of violence for Israel, mythologized, typically, by Israeli reporter Ronen Bergman. There is absolutely no discussion of Why Shoshan’s targets would be upset with Israel. And Bergman insists that Shoshan was not an Arab but pretended to be one, when he was from Syria and spoke Arabic, which means he was Arab.
Last week, Israel’s leading human rights group, B’Tselem, declared for the first time that Israel is an apartheid regime, a move that sent shock waves around the globe. But so far neither the New York Times or Washington Post have reported on it.
Israel watchers are predicting a government openly committed to one “Jewish” state between river and sea, with no interest in allowing even a shadow of Palestinian sovereignty in the occupied territories. Indeed, the Israeli “center” and “left” are shattered, and the possibility exists that the Labor party that founded the state will disappear from the parliament in the next election.
Sec’y of State Mike Pompeo tries to incite a conflict with Iran in last days of Trump administration. He claims a link between al-Qaeda and Iran so as to poison possibility of Biden returning to Iran deal, and grease his own run for White House in 2024.
The Israel lobby expects that Joe Biden will name a Zionist Jew as ambassador to Israel, continuing a tradition that Bill Clinton began 25 years ago. But as Dems call for greater diversity in ambassadorial appointments, this is one post that would benefit from a nod that does not seem loaded on one side of a conflict.
One of Trump administration’s last acts is promoting terrible famine in Yemen by designating rebel Houthis as a “terrorist” group because they are Iran-backed. The rightwing Israel lobby group Foundation for Defense of Democracies applauds the move.
The comments in the mainstream media after the Capitol insurrection — that political violence is somehow un-American but worthy of Arab countries or “banana republics” — show an ignorance of U.S. history. The U.S. has regularly visited violence on other societies and has a rich history of domestic violence too.
The Capitol riot is a liability to Israel’s Trump lovers. “Netanyahu’s complete identification with Trump will return like a boomerang,” says Ahmad Tibi. But Netanyahu hasn’t woken to the new reality and apparently plans to take on Joe Biden from Day 1.
The CBC’s censorship of the word “Palestine” had the unintended result of shining a spotlight on this decades-old erasure of Palestinian national identity in both the Canadian media and government.