I am often struck by the stark contrast between the endless amounts of advice and wisdom proffered by the ubiquitous international actors and “experts” to help Palestinians ameliorate their condition and the lack of action, comment or consequence from these same quarters toward the naked brutality of Israel’s colonial policies. Sami Aburoza comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about The deceptive logic of Peaceonomics 

While boycott and divestment campaigns in the West become more sophisticated and widespread, the Arab world’s longstanding boycott of Israel is being undermined by Arab governments, companies and businessmen. This attempt at no-concession normalization with Israel must be countered by all those working for justice in Palestine. Wassim Al-Adel comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about How Arab normalization is undermining the boycott movement 

BAGHDAD (IRIN) - The Iraqi government has launched a registration process for Palestinian refugees who arrived between 1948 and 1967 — and their descendants — to help ensure they benefit from government aid programs. Those registered will be issued with ID cards which identify them as refugees, the Ministry of Displacement and Migration said on 26 August. Read more about Some Palestinian refugees in Iraq to get special IDs 

Dr. Sami greeted the journalist at the ticket office. “Welcome,” he said. “Please come this way.” He began a tour of the zoo, first heading north up the zoo’s main avenue, past the dry fountain, the restaurant, and a dusty playground. At the top, he introduced Ruti, his prize giraffe. Read more of an excerpt from Amelia Thomas’ new book, The Zoo on the Road to Nablus Read more about The zoo on the road to Nablus 

On Saturday, after 32 hours on the high seas, I sailed into the port of Gaza City with 45 other citizens from around the world in defiance of Israel’s blockade. We traveled from Cyprus with humanitarian provisions for Palestinians living under siege. My family in Michigan was worried sick. They are not naive. Huwaida Arraf comments. Read more about Sailing into Gaza 

CAIRO (IPS) - Following renewed fighting between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, Egypt has stepped up calls for dialogue and reconciliation. But critics say Cairo’s partiality to Fatah — which is backed, like the Egyptian regime itself, by the US — prevents it from mediating fairly in the crisis. Read more about Egyptian kinship with Fatah hampers mediation 

CAIRO (IPS) - Recent weeks have seen the worst fighting between rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas since the latter’s takeover of the Gaza Strip last summer. Hamas accuses the “treasonous faction” within Fatah — which worked with US military intelligence in last year’s failed bid to destroy the resistance group — of instigating the violence. Read more about A civil war in the making 

Yehudit Genud hardly feels she is on the frontier of Israel’s settlement project, although the huddle of mobile homes on a wind-swept West Bank hilltop she calls home is controversial even by Israeli standards. Jonathan Cook reports from Migron settlement in the occupied West Bank. Read more about Creating a fact on the ground