Posts Tagged ‘ Palestine ’

Highs and lows in debates on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

July 28, 2012
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Two recent debates on Democracy Now (here and here) regarding the BDS movement really stand out as remarkable in the history of debates on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In both of these debates, opposition to the BDS movement comes from Rabbi Arthur Waskow.  While he is opposed to a BDS movement against Israel, he clearly acknowledges Israel’s flagrant violations of international law and insists that the brutal occupation of Palestinian territory must be brought to an end. For him the only question is how best to do it. Because of this common ground, there is a level of civility and mutual respect…

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Dear Germany: It’s okay to criticise Israel (by Mark Levine)

April 18, 2012
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Irvine, CA – My parents would never buy a Mercedes. Period. They couldn’t understand Jews who would (legitimate adults didn’t buy Volkswagons either back in the 1970s, at least where I lived). In fact, aside from long-dead German composers and pastries from the local German-American bakery – whose owners were probably Jewish – Jewish-Americans wanted nothing to do with Germany. For obvious reasons. Even today, it’s very hard for non-Jews to understand the trauma Jews born in the post-Holocaust generation experienced related to Germany. Our family lived in a strange zone between the past and present. At regular moments throughout the…

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The bid for Palestinian statehood

December 28, 2011
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John Quigley (professor of law at Ohio State University) and Gabi Fahel (international lawyer) have written an excellent article outlining the rationale for the Palestinian request for UN membership. Well worth reading.

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Remaining committed to obstructionism and doublespeak

November 1, 2011
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UNESCO finally voted to admit Palestine as a member state: 107 countries supported the motion, 52 abstained, and the US and Israel managed to pressure only another 12 countries to vote against it.  The US responded to this small but significant exercise in global democracy by immediately announcing that it would cut off all funding to UNESCO, an educational, scientific, and cultural organization. This announcement was yet another crystal clear example of US obstructionism on the Palestinian issue, its utter disregard for world public opinion, and its unwavering and irrational support for Israel. But listen to the announcement itself, in…

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