The Only Democracy? » Archive
Another Palestinian Protest Leader Jailed But Not Silenced
From Friends of Freedom and Justice – Bil’in. Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 Iyad Burnat, a leader in the popular struggle against the Israeli wall, was banned by Israel’s military from crossing the West Bank borders into Jordan on Saturday. Burnat is head of the local committee against the wall and settlement in the central West Bank village of Bil’in. The villagers of Bil’in have been organizing weekly anti wall protest for five years. “This is just another episode … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
Rethink This Veto! Ibrahim Shikaki at Berkeley Divestment Vote
Please note: corrections and amendments to this post are in italics below. Our apologies for the errors! By Ibrahim Shikaki Speech of Ibrahim Shikaki, the last speaker at the hearing on the Berkeley divestment bill on March 28th. Ibrahim is a resident of Ramallah and an visiting scholar at Berkeley. The speech as it was delivered was previously published by USACBI. Dear Senators, my name is Ibrahim Shikaki. I’m a visiting student from Palestine. I want to talk to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured
Israeli Democracy: Bubble about to Burst?
By Inna Michaeli, Coalition of Women for Peace (Israel) “Uh-oh, we’re in trouble Something’s come along and it’s burst our bubble” – Shampoo, “Trouble” Just last Wednesday a new poll was published, solicited by the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research, indicating that a vast majority of Jewish Israelis think that human rights organizations that expose immoral conduct by Israel should not be allowed to operate freely. Most of the respondents also stated that Israeli citizens who support international … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
Gil Scott-Heron boycotts Tel Aviv, sends powerful message to Israelis
By Noam Sheizaf, reprinted from his Promised Land blog This is a translation of my article regarding the cancellation of spoken words artist Gil-Scott Heron’s gig in Tel Aviv. His show was scheduled for late May, but it was later removed from Scot-Heron’s site and though there was no official statement yet, it seems to have been canceled for political reasons. The original Hebrew version of the article was posted Wednesday on the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Victories for Democracy
Demonstrators Stop the Wall, Teenager Pepper-sprayed and Arrested.
from the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee Demonstrators managed to disrupt the construction of the Wall in al-Walaje for the second time in a week . A 15 year old demonstrator was beaten, pepper-sprayed and arrested. Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators managed to stop the construction of the Wall in the village of al-Walaje, south of Jerusalem, for the second time this week. If completed, the path of the Wall in the area will surround the village completely, … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
Democracy Comes To Chicago
by Yotam Amit The Chicago Hearing was a success judging by the reactions from the audience and I am proud to have been one of the organizers. Afterwards, I had the rare opportunity of listening to the impressions of an acquaintance who had been previously uninvolved in Israel/Palestine issues. According to him, the event was excellently moderated by Ms. Helena Cobban, which helped make the fourth hour seem as relevant and engaging as the first. But it … Read entire article »
Filed under: Victories for Democracy
Villages Imprisoned, Protesters Arrested, and Trees Uprooted for Wall
From the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee Soldiers and Border Police officers imposed curfew this on the village of al-Walaja this morning as olive tree uprooting for the construction of the Wall resumed there and in the adjacent town of Beit Jala, where two demonstrators were injured and two were arrested. Israeli forces stormed the village of alWalaja this morning, imposing curfew, as bulldozers resumed leveling terrain on the village’s lands for the path of the Wall. Soldiers are patrolling the streets of the village by foot, as well as on horses and all-terrain vehicles, and preventing residents from leaving their houses or being in the streets despite the fact that curfew was not officially announced. Press-card holding cameramen who tried entering the … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
Israel Transferring Goods, Fashionably Late
From Gisha’s Gaza Gateway When the closure was imposed on the Gaza Strip in June 2007, clothes and footwear importers in Gaza found themselves unable to bring goods into the Strip that they had ordered from abroad. For almost three years now, these goods have been sitting in storage containers at Israel’s port in Ashdod or in the West Bank. Each month of storage costs an importer between $300-$500 per container. Recently, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Israeli Activist On Trial For Supporting Bedouin
A thank you from Yeela Raanan of the RCUV (Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages.) I was taken to court yesterday for sitting in a home in an unrecognized Bedouin village, as the bulldozer was at the wall – ready to demolish the house. The police carried me out of the home and arrested me, and a couple of years later – I was put on trial for “disrupting a policeman”. We gathered – about 40 of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
Interactive Video
“You have a choice! Israeli Anti-Militarists Speak”
Four Israelis—Dorothy Naor, Sergeiy Sander and Eli Fabrikant, and Ofer Golani—talking about their personal histories, political views and activism in 132 short films.