The Only Democracy? » Discrimination
Nation of Misguided Teenagers
by Eitan Isaacson, crossposted at his Monotonous.org blog. “I still don’t understand what I did wrong. Seriously, I don’t understand!” Eden said during a morning radio interview after pictures of her posing next to blindfolded Palestinian detainees were found on her Facebook page. Of course she doesn’t understand, she spent “the best years” of her life serving in an army of occupation, immersed in a culture that is blind to the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Palestinian on Hunger Strike in Berlin for Family Rights in East Jerusalem
From the Palestinian rights group Al Haq. (Ed’s note: As many of us celebrate the ruling supporting marriage equality in the case of California, it bears remembering how Palestinians still face discrimination based on who they choose to wed.) 12 August 2010 As a Palestinian NGO committed to the promotion and protection of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Al-Haq is deeply concerned about Firas Al-Maraghi’s hunger strike that he has been holding since 26 July 2010 opposite the Israeli embassy in Berlin, Germany. Firas, a Palestinian resident of occupied East Jerusalem who is married to a German national, is protesting a decision which was taken by the Israeli embassy to ban the couple’s … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Israeli and Palestinian Women Find New Way to Challenge The Occupation
I will forgo my tendency for long introductions, and start with the actual news. We Do Not Obey More women follow Ilana Hammerman`s footsteps: we shall not obey illegal and immoral laws. (posted as a paid advertisement in Hebrew on Haaretz, August 6) On Friday, July 23, we went on a trip – a dozen Jewish-Israeli women with a dozen West-Bank Palestinian women and four of their children, one of them a baby. We drove through the interior hill … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination, Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
Travel Warning: Israel Offended
Reading Ha’aretz this morning, my eyes were diverted to an article about the indignation of the Israeli Tourism Ministry about – guess what? Anti-Israel bias, of course. Apparently, in the wake of the rocket attacks earlier this week, the US government issued a travel warning to Israel (particularly Eilat and the rest of Southern Israel), the West Bank, and Gaza without mentioning the Jordanian city of Aqaba, the only place with an actual fatality in … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination, Talkback
Israeli Knesset completes step 1 of 3 in criminalizing nonviolent economic pressure against the Occupation
by Cecilie Surasky, crossposted from our sisterblog Muzzlewatch.com Real News Network, a professional online alternative to US corporate media, has this comprehensive report about a Knesset bill to criminalize Palestinian, international and Israeli efforts to promote and enact boycotts against Israel. Last week, it passed its “preliminary reading” in the Knesset, with two more rounds to go to become law. If passed, this stunning bill will mark the most severe and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Helen Thomas response, hypocrisy here and there
By Cecilie Surasky, crossposted from Muzzlewatch.com It’s impossible to defend White House Grande Dame of journalism Helen Thomas’ recent off the cuff statement that Israeli Jews should go back to Germany…..or Poland. (She said Israel should get out of Palestine, but it wasn’t clear if she meant the Occupied Territories, which Israelis should get out of, or Israel behind the green line.) It was deeply offensive and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Gourmet in Gaza
By Jesse Bacon As a food snob, I immediately think what restaurants are nearby when planning any excursion. Even if its to a beseiged war zone that Israel forbids from rebuilding. So it’s good to hear from the Israeli government that if by some chance they let me into Gaza there would be a gourmet restaurant waiting for me! No coriander allowed, but I am sure that leads the creative cooks into all sorts of Iron … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Biggest Boycotter of them All?
Everyone is at least a little hypocritical — that’s human nature. But fundamental contradictions are hard to let slide, especially when they are ostensibly made in the name of some moral superiority. And this is exactly what Gideon Levy so eloquently pointed out in his opinion piece in Haaretz, “Boycotting the Boycotters,” from May 16th. While Israel and its supporters become wildly hysterical over calls by Jews and non-Jews alike to boycott, divest and impose sanctions … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Gaza Border Opened after 72 days
From Gisha’s Gaza Gateway Amid rumors of tension between the Hamas government and Egypt, on Saturday, May 15, 2010, the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt was opened to the passage of people wishing to enter and exit the Gaza Strip. The border had been closed for 72 days prior to this latest opening. The border crossing, which is due to be open for just a few days, has been closed on a regular basis since … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Israeli Govt. Criminalizes Its Arab-Citizen Leaders: May 14 Update
(crossposted on Daily Kos) On Monday I reported here the arrest of two prominent Palestinian citizens of Israel – Dr. Omar Saeed and Ameer Makhoul – at a time when these news still banned from publication in Israel. The ban was partially lifted a few hours later, crumbling under the pressure of both the Israeli-Palestinian public openly protesting the arrests, and the Israeli blogosphere ignoring the gag. I suggested that the arrests signify a step up in the ongoing government campaign to criminalize politically legitimate activities of Israeli-Palestinians. Shin Bet secret-police chief Yuval Diskin has repeatedly expressed his eagerness to do this, with respect to leaders supporting the one-state concept (such as the above two). Since Monday, Palestinian and Israeli commentators voiced concerns similar to mine; most prominently perhaps Gideon Levy, whose … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination, 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.