Hedges: Alice Walker and the Price of Conscience

Should I be banned because I admire Louis-Ferdinand Céline’s masterpieces Journey to the End of the Night, Death on the Installment Plan, and Castle to Castle, despite his virulent anti-Semitism…? Should I be banned for liking Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, which is rabidly misogynistic? Should I be banned for loving William Butler Yeats, who, like Ezra Pound… was a fascist collaborator? Should… Read More Hedges: Alice Walker and the Price of Conscience

The latest UN report blasts Israeli apartheid re: Palestinians, Demands Countries Take Action

UN Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk has issued one of his strongest condemnations yet of Israeli apartheid in a report to the 49th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council for Agenda Item 7; the session which, claims Israel, singles it out unfairly. Referring to various statements, including those of former Israeli ministers and officials in state… Read More The latest UN report blasts Israeli apartheid re: Palestinians, Demands Countries Take Action

Roy Cohen – ‘In our teens, we dreamed of making peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Then my friend was shot’

NB: This is a beautifully written account of a terrible human tragedy. Thank you Roy. You did your best for peace and friendship. And you are keeping alive the memory of Aseel, your dead Palestinian friend. You do what is right because it is right. We can only hope that one day the Phoenix of… Read More Roy Cohen – ‘In our teens, we dreamed of making peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Then my friend was shot’

Why is Popular Resistance in the Occupied West Bank Increasing?

Middle East Monitor: Recent weeks rank among the most turbulent in the West Bank, with massive protests taking place in different parts of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. From tension in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah that led to a bloody escalation last May, to the weekly protests being held since June in the… Read More Why is Popular Resistance in the Occupied West Bank Increasing?

RAMONA WADI: Why does the US turn a blind eye to Israel’s expansion of Squatter-Settlements on Palestinian Land?

(Middle East Monitor) – Israeli media have been pointing out that the Biden administration in Washington is not too bothered about the occupation state’s illegal settlement expansion. There is little reason to doubt the veracity of the claim. So far, US President Joe Biden has managed to maintain a fine balance between his agenda in favour of… Read More RAMONA WADI: Why does the US turn a blind eye to Israel’s expansion of Squatter-Settlements on Palestinian Land?

Aya Al-Ghazzawi: After the nightmare of the Gaza massacre, what comes next?

We were all so excited. Ramadan was coming to an end, and preparations for the Eid al-Fitr holiday were underway. As the eldest daughter in my family, my parents sent me shopping with my sisters for new clothes for Eid, while my father went out to bring ingredients for  sumaqiyya and feseekh. Meanwhile, Israel was undergoing its… Read More Aya Al-Ghazzawi: After the nightmare of the Gaza massacre, what comes next?

Nesrine Malik: Abandoned by governments, Palestinians rely on the kindness of strangers

Until Camp David in 1978, Egypt had been Palestine’s main ally and the strongest military power in the region after Israel. The peace treaty returned Sinai to Egypt in exchange for recognition of Israel. With that normalisation, Egypt closed the door to any sort of Arab military assistance to the Palestinians for ever. We inherited… Read More Nesrine Malik: Abandoned by governments, Palestinians rely on the kindness of strangers

Akbar S. Ahmed: Gaza Tests Biden Foreign Policy Team’s Promise To Learn From past Mistakes / Chomsky: Without US Aid, Israel Wouldn’t Be Killing Palestinians En Masse / Photo essay on the suffering of children

NB: The word ‘mistake’ is so ugly in the midst of corpses of children and piles of rubble. Led by the US, the western powers have an unofficial and flexible algebra for the numbers of Palestinian civilians killed, hospitals and schools in Gaza destroyed, before they call for a cease-fire. This is not a mistake… Read More Akbar S. Ahmed: Gaza Tests Biden Foreign Policy Team’s Promise To Learn From past Mistakes / Chomsky: Without US Aid, Israel Wouldn’t Be Killing Palestinians En Masse / Photo essay on the suffering of children