On 10 May, Udi Aloni spoke at a public debate on the Palestinians and Israel in Bern, Switzerland about his support for the Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS). The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof spoke with Aloni about his work and views. Read more about Art, theory and action: Udi Aloni interviewed
Israeli new mandarins have to try to sell settler-colonialism to Western states with populations that increasingly regard Zionism’s spiritual core and physical reality as somewhere on the spectrum between mildly embarrassing and overtly revolting. It is those mandarins that anti-Zionist Israeli poet Yitzhak Laor meticulously vivisects in The Myths of Liberal Zionism. Read more about The return of the colonial: Laor's "The Myths of Liberal Zionism" reviewed
GAZACITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - Mohammed Omer, 28, is one of five teachers at the Gaza Music School in Tel al-Howa, Gaza City. Formerly in the al-Quds hospital Red Crescent complex, the school moved to its current location not far from the hospital after the complex was bombed and burned during the 23-day Israeli assault on Gaza. Eva Bartlett reports. Read more about Gaza youth learn music and challenge the occupation
The Houston Palestine Film Festival is proud to bring Houston another year of great films and thoughtful discussion with its fourth annual film festival. This year’s program encompasses a wide range of films that highlight the unique strength and struggle of the Palestinian people. Read more about Fourth annual Houston Palestine film fest opens this week
On Sunday, Booker Prize-winning author Margaret Atwood will accept the Dan David Prize at Tel Aviv University and her portion of the $1 million payout that goes with it. Meanwhile, a mere 40 miles away, students in the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip will still be struggling to find the ways and means to continue their educations. Kristin Szremski reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Defying appeal from Gaza students, Atwood set to accept Israeli prize
GAZACITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - Football is the world’s most popular sport, boasting more than an estimated 2 billion fans. And despite its isolation from the world through Israel’s four-year-old blockade, the Gaza Strip is no exception. When a football match is on, tea and shisha cafes are packed with people gathered around the TV sets. Read more about Under siege, Gaza organizes its own World Cup
From the very first page it is evident Palestinian author Adania Shibli’s new book Touch will be a different sort of journey, one that cannot be immediately defined, if at all. Patricia Sarrafian Ward reviews for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Book review: a different sort of journey in "Touch"
The new book The Pen and the Sword — a collection of five interviews with Said conducted between 1987 and 1994 by David Barsamian, the founder of Alternative Radio — serves partly as a memoriam for Said himself and for the generation he represented. Robin Yassin-Kassab reviews for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Book review: Edward Said's commitment in conversation
Despite Israel’s attempts to spin its 2008 Gaza invasion, global public opinion of Israel has sunk to an all-time low. In his latest book, “This Time We Went Too Far,” Norman Finkelstein argues that Gaza marked a turning point in public opinion reminiscent of the international reaction to the 1960 Sharpeville massacre in South Africa. Ziyaad Lunat reviews for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Book Review: Norman Finkelstein's "This time we went too far"
One of a filmmaker’s primary roles in any inquiry is to illuminate the topic of the narrative through entertainment, information, posing challenges or any other kind of engagement. Simone Bitton’s Rachel, a new documentary about the death of International Solidarity Movement activist Rachel Corrie, struggles to do this. Jimmy Johnson reviews for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Film Review: Simone Bitton's investigative documentary, "Rachel"