NEWS: News Update

 

Step by step Fatah and Hamas make space for each other

January 5th, 2013

Steps to change, from bottom to top. (5) the PA allows Hamas to hold an anniversary rally in Nablus, Dec. 14; (4) Hamas goes back on an agreement to allow Fatah to hold its celebration in Gaza, Dec.16; (3) Fatah announces it will hold the celebration in Gaza City's al-Saraya square Dec 28, the venue offered by Hamas. (2) Dec. 31, Fatah celebration begins. (1) Fatah flags fly in Gaza.

‘The day will come when all the world will say: This is Israel’s land –Israel’s!’

January 3rd, 2013

In the triumphalist setting of the Women in Green annual conference, Likud politicians this week urged the government to annex the West Bank, thus ending the ambiguity which allowed the 'international community' to act. Arabs could be paid to leave the country. Women in Green was started by two Belgian women immigrants. The name is as delusional as their politics.

So who did God the estate agent give the land to?

January 3rd, 2013

Faysal Mikdadi, a Palestinian refugee living in Dorset, UK, who is weary of the meaningless or lying talk about rights and peace, a man who has stood outside his once-home watching the new European 'owners' inside it, here begins his two-part essay on where hope for peace lies. Part 2 next week.

Reform Jews take issue with AIPAC on punishing Palestinians

January 3rd, 2013

The apparent clout of AIPAC - in an otherwise leaderless space in American political life - has been challenged by the Union for Reform Judaism. AIPAC is urging Congress to take retaliatory measures against Palestinian bodies for the temerity of gaining UN observer status; the URJ has made a public appeal to Obama to do no such thing.

Palestinian children bear brunt of the Occupation

January 2nd, 2013

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics has published its annual report on Child Statistics. We post here the PIC's take on the report 1st, and then a mix of extracts and summaries from the whole report. Differences between the West Bank (higher poverty) and Gaza (higher parental violence) are notable. Some measures of a child's life, such as education, show progress.

Israel’s critics should get themselves organised

January 2nd, 2013

Israel's propaganda (hasbara) industry is centrally controlled and renowned for its productive intensity. Materials, speeches, rapid-responses flow out, visits offered, young people groomed as ambassadors. But sometimes it doesn't work. Settlements can't be sold. Meanwhile those deemed 'anti-Israel' (rather than anti-Occupation) should, says think-tank Molad, unify their efforts.

Movement across the Israel Hamas divide

January 1st, 2013

With little fanfare representatives of Israel and Hamas have been dealing with each other through Cairo intermediaries since the November ceasefire. The first public result - with the help of the Emir of Qatar (2) - is now visible as 20 truckloads of building materials enter Gaza (2 and 3). A report from Ma'an (1) says more extensive talks are going on, which is denied by both sides.

Violent attacks increase as fear and loathing of Muslims cross USA

January 1st, 2013

Although not strictly to do with JfJfP, and perhaps saying most about fantasy politics and violence in the US, this chilling report of murderous attacks on random Muslim-looking (West Asian) people suggests how US policies may be affected by popular moods. A senator is cheered for claiming Muslims in the US are trying to kill Americans every day.

When the answer lies in the soil: politics of archaeology

January 1st, 2013

Archaeology has been a highly political subject since Israel's foundation; competing civilisations' claim to the land is 'proved' by the artefacts and ruins of what lies below the surface. The involvement of Tel Aviv University in such digs - not to mention military R&D - has alarmed academics who fear it will lead to calls for boycott. Ben White reports.

‘Learning to kill is just a habit’: IDF bans soldiers’ protest song

January 1st, 2013

Since its beginnings in 2004, Breaking the Silence has become an established body for hearing and publishing the testimonies of Israeli soldiers who have served in the occupying force. Writer Alona Kimhi was so shocked by what she saw on a BTS tour to Hebron that she turned soldiers' words about atrocities into a song. That song is now banned from IDF radio.