It is Israel and its supporters — not liberal celebrities, dissenting members of Congress, leftist and/or Muslim protesters, and student activist groups — that are responsible for not only carrying out a racial war of aggression against stateless refugees who are locked under its brutal and illegal rule, but of attempting to involve Jewish Diaspora communities in that racial war through lobbying efforts and crushing internal Jewish community dissent.
Israel lobbyists have opened a new front in their effort to characterize Palestinian solidarity as “antisemitic.” Now that two House members and leading human rights groups have said Israel practices “apartheid,” Israel’s friends want to shut down the discussion. It’s a good battle to have, as even mainstream groups say the shoe fits Israel.
Apartheid in South Africa ended in part due to sanctions and pressure from the international community. It is once again on the international community to ensure that international law is upheld and apartheid sees its demise — this time in Palestine.
Israeli forces are rounding up Palestinians en masse inside Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory as part of what Israeli police are calling “Operation Law & Order”, following two weeks of Palestinian uprisings over Israeli aggressions in Jerusalem, Sheikh Jarrah, and Gaza.
The “apartheid” accusation against Israel from leading human rights groups had a very serious intention: to change the western understanding of what is taking place in Israel. There is only one state between the river and the sea, the occupation is 54 years old and Israeli leaders have no intention of reversing it, so Israel must grant equal rights to all under its governance. But western media and liberal Zionists are determined to make the charge disappear, as they cling to the fantasy that there can still be a Palestinian state in the land east of the green line, and a “Jewish democracy” to the west.
An update from Palestine as Israeli attacks continue and Norman Finkelstein talks about Human Rights Watch’s new apartheid report.
Following a night of racist attacks by far-right Israeli extremists, Palestinians living in Lydda (Lod) are calling for immediate international intervention to defend them before it is too late.
After B’Tselem’s ground-breaking reporting accusing Israel of practicing apartheid, Human Rights Watch follows suit. But have either credited the Palestinians who made the claim first?
The experience of other colonized and oppressed people shows us that Palestinian women are most able to imagine a more just vision of our future, with a single democratic state for all its citizens in historical Palestine as its goal.
Studying literature expands our understanding of the possible. Studying (post)colonial literature shows how Palestinian state building has failed to achieve the liberatory promises of contemporary Palestinian nationalism.