Repeal the Exclusionary Nation-state Law, for the Sake of All Israelis

Carolina Landsmann Amid the emotional storm Israelis have been living through since the Hamas attack, the distinction between Israelis and Jews has completely collapsed. On television, there are no Israeli victims; the murdered are “Jews” and the hostages are “Jews.” And that’s despite the fact that Hamas demonstratively made no distinction among its Israeli victims… Read More Repeal the Exclusionary Nation-state Law, for the Sake of All Israelis

Manifesto of the One Democratic State Campaign for Israel-Palestine

PreambleIn recent years, the idea of a one democratic state in all of historic Palestine as the best solution to the conflict has re-emerged. It started gaining increased support in the public domain. It is not a new idea. The Palestinian liberation movement, before the catastrophe of 1948 (the Nakba) and after it, had adopted… Read More Manifesto of the One Democratic State Campaign for Israel-Palestine

The Harvard Law Review Refused to Run This Piece About Genocide in Gaza

NB: So much for Ivy League education. Some life is more precious than other life. Some people have the right to defend themselves; while others, especially if backed by Uncle Sam, must not even protest whilst being slaughtered. After all, they’re just ‘human animals’. Your racist prejudice shines through the ivy. The statement of the… Read More The Harvard Law Review Refused to Run This Piece About Genocide in Gaza

More Nights than Days

A Survey of Writings of Child Genocide Survivors. By Yudit Kiss Publisher’s Blurb: This is a unique exploration of the experience of children who survived the Holocaust—including Roma and Sinti victims—and the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, and Bosnia. Children are among the principal victims of armed conflicts and slaughters; nonetheless, they perceive events through the… Read More More Nights than Days

The Revolutionary Temper by Robert Darnton review – a nation at breaking point

The ancien regime”, as applied to 18th-century France, always sounds like such a solid proposition. It speaks of arbitrary power, stiffened with protocol, girded by gold, topped by a dusting of icing sugar (you could always spot a noble by their terrible teeth) and utterly stuck in its ways. Until, that is, revolution arrived in 1789… Read More The Revolutionary Temper by Robert Darnton review – a nation at breaking point

Israel has long wanted Palestinians out of Gaza: my father saw it first-hand

Events point to Israel’s strategy of emptying the north of Gaza of its Palestinian population, with both the massive bombardment that has damaged at least 222,000 residential units, and the refusal to accept a ceasefire so essential life-saving provisions cannot enter. All this shows the massive pressure on the Palestinian population to move south, thus ethnically… Read More Israel has long wanted Palestinians out of Gaza: my father saw it first-hand

Unit 731 Museum Harbin, China: the Japanese Army site for ‘medical experimentation’ on prisoners of war

First posted May 04, 2020 Unit 731 Museum: UNIT 731 was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development wing of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and World War II. Commanded by General Shiro Ishii, an officer in the Kwantung Army, the exact number… Read More Unit 731 Museum Harbin, China: the Japanese Army site for ‘medical experimentation’ on prisoners of war

Debora MacKenzie: End of nations – is there an alternative to countries?

First posted October 01, 2016 Try, for a moment, to envisage a world without countries. Imagine a map not divided into neat, coloured patches, each with clear borders, governments, laws. Try to describe anything our society does – trade, travel, science, sport, maintaining peace and security – without mentioning countries. Try to describe yourself: you have… Read More Debora MacKenzie: End of nations – is there an alternative to countries?

Diana Muir Appelbaum: Rootless Roma: The benefits of nationalism, as illustrated by its absence

First posted July 04, 2017 At the core of the Roma’s troubles is the fact that they are a people without a land – but with a twist. To say that a people is without a land can mean at least three things. It can mean that, for one reason or another, a people does… Read More Diana Muir Appelbaum: Rootless Roma: The benefits of nationalism, as illustrated by its absence