Middle East
Iran, Hamas and the Palestinian Problem: A Public Service Announcement
Published March 11, 2009 @ 04:21AM PT
Public Service Announcement:
Did you know that the conflict between Jews and Arabs in Israel/Palestine has been going on for more than 100 years? That may strike some as a surprise. After all, Iran has only been hostile to Israel since 1979. Hamas has only existed since 1988. Iran and Hamas have only been close for a few years. So why do some people claim that Iran is responsible for Israel's security dilemma?
It's simple! They want an excuse to crush the Palestinians while portraying them as mere agents of a foreign power. They want to take the violence of today and rip it apart from the long-term political context. They want to make it more difficult for those with a casual, short-term interest in the region to really understand what is going on.
International Women's day - Arab Women Marching in Tel Aviv
Published March 10, 2009 @ 08:36PM PT
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This is a serious topic for a serious day - one that I knew about, but didn't write about in a timely manner. And yet, I'm also a feeling a little bit snarky. Here's why:
Nir Nader, the coordinator of the workers center's Tel Aviv branch, accused the government and employers of giving preference to foreign workers instead of Israeli citizens.
"In Arab society, the unemployment issue is very central," said Nader. "Eighty-three percent of female Arab citizens of Israel don't work. There are 30,000 jobs in agriculture, and Arab women are willing to take them. All that's needed as an initial condition is to give them minimum wage and transportation to work, which would be eight hours a day, in accordance with the law. Instead, the government and the employers prefer foreign workers. Two weeks ago, they brought another 3,000 foreign workers into the industry."
Barak: Ceasefire with Hamas Could Have Worked
Published March 10, 2009 @ 05:15AM PT
This is coming straight from Tikkun Olam:
Every so often in Israeli politics there are brief flashes of clarity when the clouds of obfuscation clear, allowing you to see what you knew all along was true. Sol Salbe brings word of a news report from Israel’s Galey Tzahal (Army Radio) about a fractious Israel cabinet meeting at which Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak went at each other hammer and tong about the current Palestinian rocket attacks. Here is Sol’s translation of the key excerpt:
A sharp confrontation has taken place around the table at the full Ministry meeting. Discussing the subject of the continual firing of rockets from Gaza,…Defence Minister [Barak] explained to his colleagues that negotiations are being conducted to ensure an arrangement with Hamas with Egypt acting as the intermediary. He was interrupted by the prime minister who said: “There are no negotiations. Israel does not intend to arrange a “calm” with that organisation.”
The Defence Minister responded that the firing of the rockets would have stopped had Israel accepted the calm.
“What the Defence Minister proposes proves that there was no value to the whole Cast Lead Operation. You are suggesting that now that we have smashed Hamas, we should accept the conditions that they offered to us before the operation,” said the prime minister.
Stay tuned for even more evidence that the war on Gaza was another in a long succession of Israel "wars of choice" conducted when peaceful alternatives existed. Or rather, conducted precisely because peaceful alternatives that Israel did not want needed to be pre-empted with massive violence.
Video: Egyptian Police Organize Assault on Gaza Aid Convoy
Published March 09, 2009 @ 04:31AM PT
Yesterday, a convoy of 200 vehicles travelling over land from London to Gaza, reached the Egyptian city of al-Arish. The convoy is an avowedly pro-Palestinian, humanitarian mission. One of the participants in the British MP from Respect, George Galloway. Those following the route of the convoy over the past 3 weeks have been wondering, what will the Egyptians do?
Diane Rehm Interviews Rashid Khalidi on His New Book: Sowing Crisis
Published March 08, 2009 @ 09:12AM PT
Professor Rashid Khalidi become even more famous last year because of this connection to President Obama. But those of us in the movement for justice in the Middle East know him as an excellent scholar-activist.
You can listen to the show here.
I heard the repeat today, and was impressed with his expertise covering many countries and time periods. Consider this to be an installment in the long running series called 'why do they hate us?'
"Waltz With Bashir" Animator Takes on Gaza
Published March 07, 2009 @ 02:00PM PT
Yoni Goodman is the director of animation for the Academy Award-nominated film, Waltz with Bashir. His latest project is a short animation on the closure of Gaza together with Israeli human rights group Gisha. It's quite good.
Visit the sitelet of the project here: www.closedzone.com.
Amira Hass Reporting from Gaza
Published March 07, 2009 @ 03:41AM PT
As soon as it was possible, Israel journalist Amira Hass return to Gaza. She is the one Israeli journalist with the deepest connection there. She has actually lived there, the only Israeli journalist to do so. This experience has given her amazing access within the Strip, as well as credibility.
Her last report is heartbreaking. This is what awaited residents returning to homes that had been used as temporary bases by Israeli soldiers:
