A law forbidding Israeli citizenship for Palestinians from the Occupied Territories who marry Israelis passed its first reading in the Knesset on June 18. This is another milestone on Israel’s road to open, institutionalized apartheid, explains EI’s Ali Abunimah. Read more about Israel takes another leap towards institutionalized apartheid
“The operation to evacuate the West Bank outposts undertaken by Ariel Sharon’s government is a farce that is bad for the peace process. It would be better to stop this charade as soon as possible, because its damage is immeasurably greater than any good it might be doing. The only ones gaining from this absurd eviction performance is the prime minister, the right wing and the settlers. The losers are the Palestinians and mainly, the peace process. The Americans, who are full partners to this deceit, should also pull themselves together and realize that this absurdity is no good for peace.” Gideon Levy writes in Ha’aretz.Read more about End the fake evacuations
The right of return of Palestinian refugees is a legal and a political right. But it is also a moral one, explains Raja Halwani, associate professor of philosophy at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, in this essay for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about On the right of return
A week after the ship of peace was solemnly launched on its perilous voyage from Aqaba harbor, it was hit by a torpedo. It is not yet clear whether it is wrecked or can continue on its way in spite of the damage. Veteran Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery comments. Read more about Children of death
British Labour MP Oona King visited the occupied Palestinian territories last week. She came to the conclusion that, given the scale of the atrocities and collective punishment waged by the Israelis against Palestinians, she has no choice but to boycott Israeli products. Read more about Israel can halt this now
One week after the Aqaba summit, the Israeli-Palestinian death toll climbed into the dozens with no sign of the violence slowing. EI’s Ali Abunimah says that Sharon and Hamas have formed a strategic partnership against peace, but blame for the disaster does not stop with them. Read more about Enough blame to go around
Israel is doing everything possible to derail the road map, and the Palestinians’ Mahmoud Abbas is powerless to stop them. Regular EI contributor Hasan Abu Nimah argues that more concessions from a leader who already made too many will neither halt the bloodshed nore bring peace with justice. Read more about As the Road Map unravels...
The occupation of Palestine has festered for thirty-six years too long. Despite Canada’s official position that Israel must withdraw from all the land it occupied in 1967, the Canadian government has done nothing as Israel illegally installed entire cities on the territory it stole by force. Now, under the guise of security, the Israeli government is building a multi-billion dollar prison wall that will effectively annex up to 40 per cent of the West Bank, yet Canada remains silent. Gordon Murray from ISM Canada comments. Read more about Thirty-six years of silence
President Bush’s summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas in Aqaba, Jordan, ended this week on an upbeat note. But Sharon’s announcement that Israel will dismantle “unauthorized” settler outposts as its contribution to implementing Phase 1 of the “road map,” and his failure to announce a construction freeze in other settlements, is a sign that the initiative will quickly run aground unless Bush forcefully upholds his peace plan, says EI founder Ali Abunimah in a Chicago Tribune commentary. Read more about Violence, settlements and peace