Hugh Harkin

Argentina case threatens to criminalize criticism of Israel



In what Nobel Peace laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel has termed “a witch hunt and an attack on democratic freedoms,” nine pro-Palestinian protesters in Argentina have been detained following a demonstration at an event celebrating Israel’s 61st anniversary. The activists have been vilified as violent anti-Semites by politicians and the television and print media, and now face up to 12 years in prison for “ideological arrogance,” under revived Juan Peron-era anti-terrorism legislation of dubious constitutionality. Hugh Harkin reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Dublin "Die-in" in support of Lebanon and Palestine



The Israeli Embassy in Dublin was confronted on Tuesday with the death and destruction that it has wrought in Gaza and Lebanon in recent weeks. During its all-day vigil at the Israeli embassy, the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) held a symbolic “die-in”, in which Irish, Lebanese and Palestinian volunteers donned “blood”-stained clothes and lay down on the street in front of the embassy. All Irish local and national media were present and gave the protest prominent coverage across the day and in Wednesday’s newspapers. The demonstration was a prelude to a major march taking place in Dublin this coming Saturday 29th.