From your account of the film it appears to promote “normalization” as in we can just get young Israeli and Palestinians to talk to each other…. I would argue that unless these Israelis recognize that not only is there an occupation but they are directly supporting it with their tax dollars there is no dialogue.
“Why do our politicians threaten to “obliterate” Iran, a country with trade relationships across Europe; and meantime pariah North Korea takes far more belligerent actions toward its neighbors, South Korea and Japan, and there’s a watchful-waiting policy? Because of the Israel lobby, because of the centrality of Israel to our politics and our foreign policy.” MAybe it has something to do with Saudi Arabia because their oil is better than Iranian oil.
The Western wall By the Grace of the Occupation (by the grace of G-d ) under Israel’s sovereignty.
Well Phil as usual you like to promote debate which is a good thing. But your picking and choosing which topics you like Obama about is the same logic folks use for me to vote for Ms. Clinton which will never happen. To me the problem with your argument is that it puts way too much emphasis on leaders. For me , M. Smith wins the day by pointing out, “Three: social change comes from below. Proof of this are the victories of the civil rights movement, the women’s movement, and the movement against the war in Vietnam. They all came from the self -organized activity of masses of people. Look at what BDS and Black Lives Matter have accomplished “
Good description of why I refuse to go through Israel and Ben Gurion to get to Palestine.
I think for the average Palestinian it will not make much difference who becomes Prime Minster. The Occupation will continue as usual. There will probably be another attack on Gaza no matter who is in power; more settlers, house demolitions etc. I think it will be much harder (much more work for Mondoweiss) to engage the liberal Zionist as they will say , “see democracy works.” You also never mention other factors in this election -the economy.
And , as Annie Robbins says about no-conservatives not going anywhere is right on.
So, Phil, thanks for stimulating us to think a bit.
This “shift in the elite American understanding of the conflict occurring before our eyes” is in part because of all the work that many have done in Palestine and in the US. Since 2006, Mondoweiss has been an integral part of the conscious raising movement.
The reason the Israeli Occupying Soldiers were disciplined was to maintain and keep the Israelis scared of all Palestinians all the time.
Ms. Robbins, Thank you for covering this important issue and person. I have know Mohammad since 2006 when when he was a member of the board of the Freedom Theatre in Jenin. Mohammad is a cartoonist for Al-Hayat al-Jadida, the official newspaper of the Palestinian Authority, and works in the public relations department at the Arab American University in Jenin on the West Bank. His active participation in the global cartooning community has meant that cartoonists from around the world are following his plight closely.
The IOF (Israel Occupying Forces) have lately been targeting, shooting at and imprisoning press and cartoonist. This is to be expected as the past and assassinated director of the Freedom Theatre, Juliano Mer Khamis, said, the third intifada will be a cultural one.
For a comment check out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/opinion/the-one-secular-state-solution.htmlI found “The futility of a two-state solution” (Views, July 26) by Dani Dayan beyond the pale.
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In his opening sentence he repeats the oft-disproved canard that the “Arabs called for the annihilation of Israel in May and early June 1967, and Israel legitimately seized the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria in an act of self-defense.” But no one in the international community accepts the legitimacy of Israel’s occupation, and it has no moral claim on those territories.
Mr. Dayan then goes on to claim that the possibility of a two-state solution is dead. With that, I agree. But not for the reasons the author gives — that the Palestinians have repeatedly refused to implement a negotiated two-state solution — when it is well known that it is the Israelis who have rejected that solution.
Mr. Dayan seems to believe that Israel can continue on this path, and ultimately ethnically cleanse the Arabs from all of Judea and Samaria. I am afraid that, if he lives long enough, he will be in for a surprise, when the only possible solution to this conflict is one secular state for all its people, Palestinians, Jews and Christians alike.
Eugene Schulman, Geneva