January 2012

EI's Ali Abunimah vs former CIA chief Woolsey on Penn BDS conference, in dueling Inquirer op-eds

Ali Abunimah 29 January 2012

The Phildelphia Inquirer today publishes opposing op-eds on the upcoming boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) conference one by Ali Abunimah and the other by former CIA chief James Woolsey and Jonathan Schanzer of the pro-Israel neocon group Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. 

Billionaire Gingrich backer Adelson regrets he served in US instead of Israeli military

Ali Abunimah 27 January 2012

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who along with his wife, has donated $10 million dollars in recent weeks to Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, has said that he wishes he had served in the Israeli army instead of the US military and that he wants his son to grow up to “be a sniper for the IDF.” 

Israel's interrogation of Islam Dar Ayyoub Tamimi, age 14: video reveals rights abuses

Linah Alsaafin 25 January 2012

A year ago on January 23, 14-year-old Islam Dar Ayoub Tamimi was arrested at gunpoint after the Israeli army surrounded his house at around 1:30am. A few days before, on January 17, Islam’s house was one of many in the village of Nabi Saleh that were raided by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), where the soldiers then proceeded to take pictures of all males over the age of 12. 

US alleges "terrorism" convict plotted to have FBI informants murdered

Maureen Clare Murphy 25 January 2012

A domestic terrorism case in the US state of North Carolina that I have scrutinized because of the vague nature of the conspiracy charges, and the use of paid undercover FBI informants, has taken a new twist as the government now alleges one of those convicted attempted to hire someone to kill those who testified against him. 

A salute to the revolution

Jalal Abukhater 24 January 2012

I cannot believe it has been a year already, a year since the light of justice shined and revolution swept throughout the Arab world all the way from the Maghreb through the Fertile Crescent to the Arabian Peninsula. Tomorrow marks the first anniversary for the start of the Egyptian uprising which succeeded in toppling Hosni Mubarak’s 30 years rule on February 11th the same year, yet the revolution is not done. The streets of the Arab world haven’t settled down, and not for one minute. The people are holding on to their demand for justice and dignified living. 

Open letter to Moldovan punk band Zdob si Zdub: Stand in solidarity with Palestinians!

Nora Barrows-Friedman 24 January 2012

Punks Against Apartheid, the punk rock collective working to educate and mobilize musicians and fans in support of the BDS movement, has posted an open letter to Moldovan hardcore band Zdob si Zdub encouraging them to cancel their show in Tel Aviv and respect the global boycott call. 

Does this look like "incitement" to you? Zionist fabrications, smears intensify ahead of Penn BDS conference

Ali Abunimah 24 January 2012

In the run-up to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) conference at the University of Pennsylvania in early February, at which I will be speaking, the defamation and fabrication machines of anti-Palestinian groups have gone into over-drive. In December, StandWithUS attempted to smear me as an “anti-Semite” with fabricated quotes. 

Palestinian student councils condemn UK Labour Students for breaking BDS picket line

Asa Winstanley 24 January 2012

A open letter from a huge coalition of Palestinian student groups published today, condemns the UK Labour party student officers who went on a recent propaganda tour of Israel and illegal Israeli settlements, for crossing “a picket line established by the entirety of the Palestinian civil society”. 

New Sabra hummus ad uses images of Arabs, Africans to cover up Israel army connection

Ali Abunimah 24 January 2012

The Strauss Group, the company that openly supports the Israeli army and makes Sabra brand hummus, is trying a new advertising strategy to hide its Israeli connections and combat a growing boycott movement. It is to depict Arabs and Muslims in its ads as a form of cover. Should we call this “Arabwashing?” 

Veolia must stop assisting the occupier and leave Jerusalem, says Hamas spokesperson

Adri Nieuwhof 24 January 2012

Hamas spokesperson Mushir al-Masri condems the Jerusalem Light Rail project and calls on French companies Veolia and Alstom to stop assisting the occupier and leave Jerusalem. Meanwhile Veolia Israel’s CEO says the company “won’t stop the train” if Israeli authorities do not approve Veolia’s deal with Egged to sell its shares in the light rail. 

Follow Up Protest for #No2Negotiations

Linah Alsaafin 19 January 2012

In a blatant demonstration of the Palestinian Authority’s colossal gap between the interests of itself and the people it claims to represent, unelected chief negotiator Saeb Erekat will meet up with his Israeli counterpart Yitzhak Molcho for the fourth round of talks in Amman, Jordan on January 25th. The announcement came barely  a day after Palestinians protested against the farcical negotiations in front of the PA compound of al-Muqata’a in Ramallah. 

Israeli "hacker" threatens to "harm" people "regardless of religion, creed or gender"

Ali Abunimah 18 January 2012

Israel’s Ynet website has published an article supposedly by an Israeli hacker named “Yoni” (last name not given) which threatens a “war” in response to a Saudi hacker who disrupted several Israeli websites in recent weeks in what is has been described “as a tit-for-tat exchange of posturing, threats of mass credit card exposures, and denial-of-service attacks.” 

Israeli courts impose $5,200 "guarantee," blocking cases by victims of Gaza massacre

Ali Abunimah 18 January 2012

Israeli courts have begun to impose a NIS 20,000 ($5,200) “guarantee” on Palestinian victims who have brought cases related to “Operation Cast Lead,” Israel’s 27 December 2008 - 18 January 2009 offensive on the Gaza Strip which killed 1,400 people and injured and displaced thousands of others. 

Israeli propaganda officer boasted of taking UK Labour Students partying in Tel Aviv, deletes Tweet

Asa Winstanley 18 January 2012

Since the story of the Labour party students officers who took an all-expenses-paid trip to Israel and its illegal West Bank settlements broke last week, they have been coming under increasing pressure from student activists. But strong evidence has now emerged the delegation spent a night clubbing in Tel Aviv with a spokesperson for the the Israeli occupation army in the West Bank. 

Two Belgians file war crimes complaint against Israeli leaders over "flytilla" abuse

Ali Abunimah 18 January 2012

Two activists have filed a war crimes complaint with federal prosecutors in Belgium, against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials. Hajar Moumni and Muhammad Najar allege they were detained, mistreated, beaten and harshly interrogated when they took part in the “Welcome to Palestine” solidarity fly-in last summer, Belgian media have reported. 

Pro-Israel University of California president denies Jewish students face "hostility" as Zionist complaints allege

Ali Abunimah 17 January 2012

University of California (UC) President Mark Yudof, an avowed supporter of Israel, has denied claims that Jewish students on several UC campuses face a climate of hostility that amounts to a violation of their civil rights, due to Palestine solidarity activism. 

Hummus and falafel are already "Israeli." Now they're coming for Palestine's olive oil too

Ali Abunimah 16 January 2012

Zionism’s cultural appropriation of indigenous Palestinian folklore and cuisine – such as hummus, falafel and maftoul – as “Israeli” has long irked Palestinians. Now, Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank are attempting to steal perhaps the most important symbol and source of economic sustenance for rural Palestinians: olive oil and olive culture. 

UK Labour Party student officials face backlash over free tour of Israel, settlements

Asa Winstanley London 16 January 2012

A member of the UK’s National Union of Students Executive Council has denounced several youth and student officers from the opposition Labour Party for taking part in an all-expenses-paid tour of Israel and its illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. The Labour students delegation met with Captain Barak Raz, an Israeli army spokesperson and other Israeli officials. 

Why hasn't NGO Monitor's US fundraiser filed legally required public disclosures with Internal Revenue Service?

Ali Abunimah 15 January 2012

NGO Monitor, the far-right Israeli group that fashions itself as a transparency watchdog, suffers from a mysterious lack of transparency itself. The legally-mandated public disclosures required of US nonprofits are nowhere to be found for NGO Monitor’s US-based fundraising arm known as REPORT. Indeed, The Electronic Intifada has obtained an Internal Revenue Service document that shows REPORT was warned of the consequences of failing to file its public disclosures. 

US Department of Education throws out Zionist group's "civil rights" complaint against Barnard College

Ali Abunimah 14 January 2012

The US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has dismissed a complaint against Barnard College – which is a partner of Columbia University – that a student was “steered” away from taking a class by Professor Joseph Massad because the student is Jewish. 

Badil center for residency and refugee rights' response to Israel's racist "citizenship law"

Nora Barrows-Friedman 13 January 2012

Badil center responds to the Israeli high court’s rejection of a challenge to the racist “citizenship law”: “This illustrates once more the Israeli self portrait as an exclusively Jewish state with a different set of rights for its Jewish and non-Jewish (mainly Palestinian) inhabitants.” 

Israeli journalist with intel ties hints at Mossad role in Iran scientist murders

Ali Abunimah 13 January 2012

Ron Ben-Yishai, an Israeli journalist with close ties to the military-intelligence establishment, hints strongly that Israel’s Mossad is behind the spate of murders of Iranian nuclear scientists. Earlier this week Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan was killed in Tehran when assassins on motorcycles attached a bomb to his car. The campaign of murders, Ben-Yishai writes on Ynet, is aimed at “killing the brains” behind Iran’s nuclear program. He adds: 

Turkey denies Israeli report that Mavi Marmara lawsuits dropped

Ali Abunimah 13 January 2012

Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) today denied a report in the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronot, carried also on its English website Ynet, that Turkey was to drop its legal actions and lawsuits against Israelis it holds responsible for the attack on the Gaza-bound ship Mavi Marmara on 31 May 2010 which killed 9 people and injured dozens. 

The Veritas Papers: Makers of 2010 Palestine activist handbook release 15 eye-catching pamphlets

Abraham Greenhouse 13 January 2012

In the summer of 2010, a small group of activists from across North America released The Veritas Handbook: A Guide to Understanding the Struggle for Palestinian Human Rights. The 347-page document combined a “crash course” on key political and humanitarian issues with an extensive survey of resources for emerging activists and advocacy veterans alike. 

Young US Muslims face sentencing for material support conspiracy so vague, government can't even say what terrorists they intended to support

Maureen Clare Murphy 11 January 2012

The case of Ziyad Yaghi and Omar Aly Hassan of North Carolina raises questions about the use of preemptive prosecution to get convictions in the vast majority of domestic terrorism cases. 

Video: "Think of the crimes you are doing to the people" - protestors challenge Israeli road apartheid

Ali Abunimah 10 January 2012

Today Palestinians attempted to drive on the road from Jericho in the Jordan Valley in the Israeli occupied West Bank, up to Ramallah. As many of the roads in the occupied West Bank are reserved for the exclusive use of Jewish settlers, Palestinians found themselves violently blocked, and then arrested by Israeli occupation forces. 

Are Obama supporters playing up Jewish religion of new White House chief to appease pro-Israel groups?

Ali Abunimah 9 January 2012

Under attack from Republicans for supposedly not being pro-Israel enough, US President Barack Obama has been doing all he can to prove that he is indeed the most pro-Israel president in history. His surrogates have been boasting, for example, that on his watch, US military aid to Israel has reached “unprecedented levels.” 

Israeli propaganda group HonestReporting denies encouraging employee to smear UK professor

Asa Winstanley 6 January 2012

My recent article exposing a smear by an Israeli pressure group worker seems to have touched a nerve. Israeli masters student Smadar Bakovic claimed in the Jewish Chronicle last month that Warwick University professor Nicola Pratt had given her a lower grade for her dissertation than she deserved because of anti-Israeli bias. But Warwick university strongly denied her story, saying that the new higher mark given was in fact for a revised version of her dissertation. A university spokesperson told me that Bakovic’s story was untrue, and has subsequently issued a press release with further details. The Jewish Chronicle’s reporter Marcus Dysch didn’t seem to think it relevant to mention that Bakovic works for MediaCentral  — a “free or low-cost” pro-Israel fixer agency in Jerusalem. But now her employer has defended her actions. 

Popular Palestine activism outreach tool reappears: "Loss of Land" map cards available again

Abraham Greenhouse 5 January 2012

I first saw these cards at a Palestine activism conference around 2002, when they were still quite new, being distributed by the Ann Arbor Friends Meeting’s Palestine Israel Action Group (PIAG). With the front side featuring a set of maps depicting Palestinian loss of land from pre-Nakba times to present, and the back featuring a contemporary map showing the fragmentation of the West Bank (alongside various statistics and quotes), these cards are simple, convenient, and effective tools which remain popular a decade after their introduction. 

Israel's "pretty face": How National Union of Israeli Students does government's propaganda dirty work

Ali Abunimah 5 January 2012

Yesterday I wrote about a program run by the National Union of Israeli Students (NUIS) to pay Israeli college students $2,000 to spread hasbara – propaganda favorable to Israel – on social networking sites. This raised a further question: who pays for this and what role do Israel’s government and other organizations play in this use of students to deliver propaganda? 

It's Never Too Late to Boycott Israel: The Proper Disposal of Already-Purchased Goods

Abraham Greenhouse 4 January 2012

It’s difficult to avoid, especially in the frenzy of consumerism and gift-giving which washes over the West at the end of every year: “I meant to boycott that company,” I’ve had friends tell me, “but it was a gift.” Or, “I bought it before I knew.” But like it or not, our unwitting purchases, or receipt thereof as gifts, play a role in preventing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns against Israel from achieving their full potential. 

"Sometimes I feel my stomach will explode": Israel subjects teen prisoner to medical negligence

Emily Lawrence Beit Ommar 5 January 2012

A Palestinian teenager describes the physical and psychological torture he endured while imprisoned in an Israeli jail for throwing stones, and how his chronic illness went untreated in what his family say was a deliberate attempt by the prison authorities as further punishment.