Palestine – Features

By Jonathan Cook

(source: Electronic Intifada)

A group of Jews and Arabs are fighting in the Israeli courts to be recognized as "Israelis," a nationality currently denied them, in a case that officials fear may threaten the country’s self-declared status as a Jewish state.

Israel refused to recognize an Israeli nationality at the country’s establishment in 1948, making an unusual distinction between "citizenship" and "nationality." Although all Israelis qualify as "citizens of Israel," the state is defined as belonging to the "Jewish nation," meaning not only the 5.6 million Israeli Jews but also more than seven million Jews in the diaspora.

Read More »Lawsuit challenges Isaraels discriminatory citizenship definition

(source: Press TV)

Michel Collon, a Belgian journalist and author, in his book "Israel, let’s talk about it," has slammed European media over decades of "lying" to people in order to support Israel.

Collon, in his book, has recounted "10 big lies" spread by Western media in order to "justify the existence and actions of Israel", which are concisely presented below:

1. The first lie is that Israel was established in reaction to the massacre of Jews during the World War II.
This notion is completely wrong. Israel is in fact a domineering project which was approved in the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897, when nationalist Jews decided to occupy Palestine.

2. The second justification for establishing and legitimizing Israel is that the Jews are returning to their forefathers’ land, from where they had been driven away in 70 A.D. This is a tale. I have spoken to the famous Israeli historian Shlomo Sand and other historians and they all believe that there has been no "exodus," so "return" is meaningless. The people living in Palestine have not left their land in the ancient era.

Read More »Ten big media lies about Isarael

By Joanne Mariner

(source: CounterPunch)

Last week I participated in the launch conference of the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague (ICCT-The Hague), a newly-established think tank that will be carrying out research and analysis relating to counterterrorism.

The conference, which took place in the Hague, brought together more than 150 participants from a range of countries to review legal and policy developments in the field of counterterrorism since September 11, 2001. On the assumption that the year 2011 will mark a natural moment for assessing the past decade’s intensified efforts to combat terrorism — analyzing what has worked and what hasn’t — the conference was meant to set these debates in motion by posing some fundamental questions.

After a plenary session in the morning, four workshops were held in the afternoon, addressing such issues as the international law framework for countering terrorism and the role of civil society in preventing terrorism.

I chaired the latter workshop, whose goal was to examine the ways in which non-governmental organizations, community groups, faith-based institutions, and other civil society actors might play a useful role in countering terrorism. While participants raised a couple of examples that were directly related to the fight against terrorism — for example, efforts in the UK to dissuade alienated Muslim youth from joining violent groups — the main focus of the workshop was on work that would not naturally be labeled counterterrorism, but that might nonetheless support the goal of preventing terrorism.

Among the examples raised were civil society efforts to resolve potentially violent conflicts, remedy underdevelopment, calm religious tensions, or address other conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism.

Read More »Civil society counter terror

While workers vote ANC at home, Israel detains and deport a South African academic to enforce apartheid in Palestine

COSATU condemns detention, interrogation and ultimate deportation of South African academic by Israeli police on eve of local government elections in South Africa

On the 17th May, a Day before millions of workers and people of our country flocked to the polls to defend our hard won gains, defend democracy and affirm their dignity by voting the ANC, one of our own, Naeem Jena, a South African academic on Middle East affairs based in Johannesburg was detained, interrogated and ultimately deported by Israeli police in that country.

Naeem is not only a researcher and academic, but also an ardent activist involved in solidarity work with all oppressed peoples of the world, from Swaziland to Zimbabwe, from Western Sahara to Cuba and in bold, Palestine. He is also one of the leading voices on the issue of a Global boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against the colonial and apartheid state of Israel for it continued occupation of Palestine.

According to a statement by the Coalition for a Free Palestine (CFP), “Na’eem was subjected to a harsh ten hour interrogation, had his passport and private belongings impounded, and was then deported under guard, like a common criminal to Instanbul, Turkey.”

The statement went on to say, “The fact that he has been treated like a common criminal, and subjected to treatment normally reserved for terrorist suspects is all the more worrying. It is very hard not to draw the conclusion that the Israeli State, fearful of both the democratic developments in the Middle East as a whole, the rising opposition to its disastrous apartheid policies at home, and the gathering momentum of the BDS campaign, is now frantically trying to suppress all those it deems to be its enemies. The irony of course is not missed, these actions of the Israeli State have immeasurably strengthened comparisons with the Apartheid South African state who also tried (and failed) to contain and suppress dissent.”  

Read More »Cosatu statement on detention of naeem jeenah