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Statewide Academic Union Calls for University of Wisconsin Israel Divestment

27 April 2005


The Association of University of Wisconsin Professionals (TAUWP) has adopted a resolution that calls on the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents to divest from companies that provide the Israeli Army with weapons, equipment, and supporting systems. TAUWP is a statewide local of the American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin representing faculty and academic staff from 25 University of Wisconsin campuses. The resolution was passed at the TAUWP delegate assembly on April 23rd by a vote of 24 to 2, with four abstentions. 

Israeli apologia in the Sunday New York Times

Dane Baker 27 April 2005


“Daniel Okrent’s attempt at further Israeli apologia in the Sunday NY Times (“The Hottest Button: How the Times Covers Israel and Palestine”, April 24, 2005), in which he pretends to summarize the ‘criticisms’ of the paper of record, conveniently ignoring the crucial aspect of anti-Arabism visible throughout regular Times reports.” Dane Baker submitted this response to the article in New York Times. 

Film review: "Land of '48"

Jenny Gheith 28 April 2005


A map abstractly records places, borders, and distance through line and shape. However, as a group of Palestinian refugees gather around a map that depicts Palestine before the Nakba, or the expulsion of 750,000 people from their lands and homes, these dots and letters do much more than just describe a location. They trigger memories of a land they once called home. Barrack Rima’s aptly titled documentary Land of ‘48 (2003) explores this deep connection to place through interviews conducted with refugees living in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. 

Hebron: Terror in the Shadow of Peace

Anna Buren Hebron 26 April 2005


Mufida, not yet 16 years old, was studying for an exam one Saturday afternoon in April when her window was smashed by stones. Scared, she moved to the sitting room in order to try to continue studying, but Israeli settlers would smash eight windows in her house on this afternoon. It is all part of living with the Occupation in Hebron. Mufida’s mother was hit in the head by a stone during the attack and started bleeding. Her father and mother had to go to the hospital to have the wound stitched. Mufida was forced to take care of her five younger brothers and sisters, further interrupting her studies. 

Film Review: "Soraida, A Woman of Palestine"

Jenny Gheith 26 April 2005


Soraida, A Woman of Palestine (2004) is an outstanding documentary by Egyptian-born Tahani Rached. Rached, who has directed many documentaries that focus on the condition of women in the Middle East, compellingly turns her camera on Soraida Abed Hussein and her close circle of friends and family who live in Ramallah. Throughout, we casually observe the lives of these close-knit neighbors while they recall memories (at times even re-enacting them for the camera), discuss current events, and openly expose their fears and hopes, all while going about their daily activities. 

Film review: "Another Road Home"

Jenny Gheith 2 May 2005


At some point in our lives, we grapple with understanding our childhood relationships and seek to find answers to unresolved familial ambiguities. This is exactly what Israeli-born Danae Elon chooses to document in her honest film Another Road Home (2004). While Elon’s search focuses on finding one man, Mahmoud “Musa” Obeidallah, the Palestinian caretaker who helped raise her for twenty years of her life in East Jerusalem, her subsequent film openly exposes a unique side of Palestinian-Israeli relations. 

When the New York Times' distortion gets up close and personal

Alison Weir 25 April 2005


A little over a week ago, some members of our organization, If Americans Knew, met with New York Times Public Editor Daniel Okrent to discuss the findings of a detailed study we had completed of two years worth of Times news stories on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Okrent was going to be writing a column discussing the paper’s coverage of Israel/Palestine, and we felt our study would be an important resource. We presented our findings, complete with charts, spread-sheets, clear sourcing, and extensive additional documentation, to Okrent and his assistant. His subsequent column was perplexing. 

The Israel on Campus Coalition and the David Project: Sponsored by US oil and Israeli bank profits?

Bob Feldman 25 April 2005


The surplus oil industry wealth of the now-deceased former Samson Investment Company CEO is apparently being used to help subsidize the activity of the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC) and its affiliated David Project. In 2004, for instance, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation — with assets of $100 million — gave a $1,050,000 grant to Hillel to support the Israel on Campus Coalition [ICC] project, according to its website. 

AIPAC Finally Fires Two Employees

22 April 2005


After a month of speculation, the New York Times and the Washington Post ran stories on 21 April 2005 that the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee had finally seen the light and fired two of its top officials as a result of an FBI espionage investigation into its activities.� Though their lawyers were reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency declaring that the men had “not violated any U.S. law or AIPAC policy,” Steve Rosen, AIPAC’s policy director, and Keith Weissman, senior analyst on Iran, were let go.� Ha’aretz’s reporter compared the firings to removing a cancer and expected AIPAC to emerge healthy and intact.� 

My First Settler Attack

As-Sawiya 25 April 2005


21 April 2005 — Last week, I witnessed my first settler attack. “It was nothing,” my friend Arafat told me afterwards, and I know that he was speaking in comparison to other attacks when people have been injured and even killed. Here, the Palestinian farmers were simply forced off their land. Too simply. Too easily. But what can they do? They don’t have any weapons, unless you count their farming tools, as one woman joked to me. Only the Israeli settlers and soldiers have real weapons.