“The Delegitimization Challenge” report from the influential Israeli think tank the Reut Institute has put the spotlight on efforts by Israel and the Zionist lobby to counter the growing movement for justice in Palestine, and specifically, the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign. The work done by Reut has rightly attracted attention, but it is only one (particularly prominent) example of a wider trend, as the Israeli government and global Zionist groups mobilize to fight the threat to the apartheid system. Ben White analyzes for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Behind Brand Israel: Israel's recent propaganda efforts 

Submitted to the UN on 29 January, the Israeli government’s response to the UN-commissioned Goldstone fact-finding report falls far short of a credible investigation and continues Israel’s long-standing policy of refusal to investigate and convict those responsible for crimes committed during its military campaigns. Sayed Dhansay comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Israel's contemptuous response to Goldstone findings 

Mamilla cemetery is estimated to be over 800 years old and was in continuous use until 1948 when the Western part of Jerusalem was conquered as Israel was created. The battle over Mamilla cemetery encapsulates many aspects of Israel’s approach to Palestinian rights since the conflict began, and it is worth considering five here. Nadia Hijab comments. Read more about Scattered in death as in life 

Israel’s influential Reut Institute has identified the global movement for justice and peace as an “existential threat” and called on the Israeli government to “attack” and possibly engage in criminal “sabotage” of this movement in what Reut believes are its various international “hubs” in London, Madrid, Toronto, the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Ali Abunimah comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Israel's new strategy: "sabotage" and "attack" the global justice movement 

Fifteen years of civil war followed by 20 years of civil strife have cemented the role of Lebanon’s leaders as bulwarks of their communities. If any serious sectarian reform begins to occur, hereditary inheritance and the defense of the tribe will cease to be sufficient reasons for these figures to retain their statuses. That is a prospect Lebanon’s politicians can hardly be expected to accept. Sami Halabi comments for Electronic Lebanon. Read more about The end of sectarianism?  

The results of the first year of Netanyahu’s economic peace are visible. While there has been no progress on the political front, security and economic cooperation with the PA has never been better. The American-trained security forces have kept a tight grip over West Bank towns squashing dissent and keeping “order.” Ziyaad Lunat comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about The Netanyahu-Fayyad "economic peace" one year on 

The Palestinian submission to US pressure that Israel’s large West Bank settlement blocs be annexed to Israel against a fictitious land swap is another vindication of the Israeli belief that facts created are facts accepted. But if West Bank land east of the 1967 border is still contested, so is Israeli land to the west. Hasan Abu Nimah comments. Read more about The false sacredness of the 1967 border 

Once the Gaza Freedom March arrived in Cairo I repeatedly heard justification that organizers did not want to put Egyptian protesters at risk. Yet, Egyptians regularly protest in Egypt despite the risks. For a group of outsiders to justify the exclusion of our involvement without asking our opinion — in spite of the good intentions of “protecting” us — felt paternalistic and demeaning. Philip Rizk comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about United solidarity with Gaza 

The 1993 Oslo agreement did not only usher in a new era of Palestinian-Israeli relations but has had a much more lasting effect in transforming the very language through which these relations have been governed internationally and the way the Palestinian leadership viewed them. Joseph Massad comments. Read more about How surrendering Palestinian rights became the language of "peace"