( Middle East Monitor ) – When former US President Barack Obama used an old cliché to denigrate his political opponent, the late US Senator John McCain, he triggered a political controversy lasting several days. “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig,” said Obama at a campaign event in 2008. […]
On ‘conflict’, ‘peace’ and ‘genocide’: Time for new language on Palestine and Israel
( Middle East Monitor ) – On 25 May, famous US actor Mark Ruffalo tweeted an apology for suggesting that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza. “I have reflected and wanted to apologise for posts during the recent Israel/Hamas fighting that suggested Israel is committing ‘genocide’,” Ruffalo wrote, adding: “It’s not accurate, it’s inflammatory, disrespectful […]
Did Palestinians help Bring down Israel’s Netanyahu, who ensured their Statelessness?
( Middle East Monitor) – How has Benjamin Netanyahu managed to serve as Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister? With a total of 15 years in office, he has surpassed the 12-year mandate of Israel’s founding father, David Ben Gurion. The answer to this question will become particularly critical for future Israeli leaders who hope to emulate […]
Despite massive losses, the Palestinians have altered the course of history
( Middle East Monitor) – The “Palestinian Revolt of 2021” will go down in history as one of the most influential events to have shaped collective thinking irreversibly in and around Palestine. Only two other events can be compared with what has just transpired: the revolt of 1936 and the 1987 First Intifada. The general […]
Netanyahu thought Ethnically Cleansing Sheikh Jarrah would Unite Israeli Right; Instead it United Palestinians
(Middle East Monitor) – From the outset, some clarification regarding the language used to depict the ongoing violence in occupied Palestine, and also throughout Israel. This is not a ‘conflict’. Neither is it a ‘dispute’ nor ‘sectarian violence’ nor even a war in the traditional sense. It is not a conflict, because Israel is an […]
“Much Worse than Apartheid”: Israel’s Discourse on Palestine is Crumbling
On April 27, one of the world’s largest and most credible rights groups, Human Rights Watch (HRW), concluded, in a comprehensive 213-pages report, that Israel is an apartheid state. “Across these areas and in most aspects of life, Israeli authorities methodically privilege Jewish Israelis and discriminate against Palestinians. Laws, policies, and statements by leading Israeli […]
Is Grassroots American Activism Shifting Public Opinion toward the Palestinians?
( Middle East Monitor) – At a recent J Street Conference online, US Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren broke yet another political taboo when they expressed willingness to leverage US military aid as a way of putting pressure on Israel to respect Palestinian human rights. Sanders believes that the US “must be willing to […]
Israel’s Latest Election produces no Clear Winner, except the far Right and the Occupation
( Middle East Monitor ) – A “major setback” was the recurring theme in many news headlines reporting on the outcome of Israel’s General Election last week. While this referred specifically to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failure to secure a decisive victory in the country’s fourth election in two years, it is only part of […]
Law of the Occupier: Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians of East Jerusalem
( Middle East Monitor) – A Palestinian man, Atef Yousef Hanaysha, was killed by Israeli occupation forces on 19 March during a weekly protest against illegal Israeli settlement expansion in Beit Dajan, near Nablus, in the northern West Bank. Although tragic, this news reads like a routine item from occupied Palestine, where the shooting and […]