As the World Cup enters its final 10 days, many can only guess at who might take home the whole thing. What can be said for certain, however, is that Palestine has won people’s hearts, and captivated the world’s attention like no other — and their team isn’t even playing.
December 17 marked ten years since Mohammed Bouazizi, a street vendor in Tunis, set himself on fire in an act of defiance and desperation that triggered what would become known as the Arab Spring. Over the course of the last decade we have witnessed revolutions sweep the Middle East and North Africa, but we have also witnessed the sheer might and terror of counter-revolution as well. What are the lessons from the Arab Spring?
Tunisian leaders have ignored popular demands and secretly normalized relations with Israel. Palestinian solidarity activists can counter these moves by targeting Israeli companies that sell Tunisia spyware and irrigation technology.
Jeremy Corbyn’s appearance at the Tunis cemetery, remembering 72 killed by Israel in 1985 terrorist attack, was quite consistent with his decades-long condemnation of all bigotry and violence, and was one of his many unforgivable humanizations of Palestinians. He refused to adopt the mandatory fictions that Israel only kills civilians accidentally and only kills at all in self-defense