Max Blumenthal, Electronic Intifada, 22 July 2010

Photo Oren Ziv ActiveStills Haneen Zoabi speaking in Tel Aviv, July 2010.

On 13 July, the Israeli Knesset voted by a large margin to strip the parliamentary privileges of Haneen Zoabi, a member of the Palestinian Israeli party Balad. The measure was a punishment for Zoabi’s participation in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. As described in the Israeli daily Haaretz, during the raging debate, Member of Knesset (MK) Anasatassia Michaeli rushed toward Zoabi and handed her a mock Iranian passport with Zoabi’s photo on it.

“Ms. Zoabi, I take your loyalty to Iran seriously and I suggest you contact Ahmadinejad and ask him to give you an Iranian diplomatic passport that will assist you with all your diplomatic incitement tours, because your Israeli passport will be revoked this evening,” said Michaeli, who is a member of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s explicitly anti-Arab Yisrael Beiteinu party (”Knesset revokes Arab MK Zuabi’s privileges over Gaza flotilla,” 13 July 2010).

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July 2010 by Mohannad El-Khairy download pdf

Photo Palestinian worker at stone quarry in Gaza Strip.

Charles C. Boycott seems to have become a household word because of his strong sense of duty to his employer. An Englishman and former British soldier, Boycott was the estate agent of the Earl of Erne in County Mayo, Ireland. The earl was one of the absentee landowners who as a group held most of the land in Ireland. Boycott was chosen in the fall of 1880 to be the test case for a new policy advocated by Charles Parnell, an Irish politician who wanted land reform.

Any landlord who would not charge lower rents or any tenant who took over the farm of an evicted tenant would be given the complete cold shoulder by Parnell’s supporters. Boycott refused to charge lower rents and ejected his tenants. At this point members of Parnell’s Irish Land League stepped in, and Boycott and his family found themselves isolated without servants, farmhands, service in stores, or mail delivery.

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download report by Richard Lightbown June 2010

Photo Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to an Israeli navy base.

An international flotilla comprising the cruise ship Mavi Marmara, a cargo ship and four smaller craft sailing to Gaza with humanitarian aid was attacked in international waters by a large Israeli naval force on 31 May 2010. Nine passengers were killed and many injured by live fire. The legality of the raid is considered according the San Remo Manual and the Fourth Geneva Convention. The report concludes that the International Committee of the Red Cross declaration of a ‘dire situation’ in the Gaza Strip renders the raid unlawful.

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Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem, guardian.co.uk Thursday 1 July 2010

Photo Dome of the Rock at Al Aqsa mosque compound under open sky in Palestine.

A 29-year-old lawyer from Gaza has launched a legal challenge against Israel’s refusal to allow her to travel to the West Bank to study human rights and democracy.

Fatima Sharif must register for her masters degree at Birzeit University near Ramallah in two weeks’ time or she will lose her place.

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Ben White guardian.co.uk Thursday 1 July 2010

Photo Birds fly over occupied Palestine.

Ten years ago this month, Israelis and Palestinians gathered at Camp David, under the guidance of President Bill Clinton, for negotiations aimed at reaching a final agreement. The talks ended in failure, and by the end of September, the second intifada had begun.

The Camp David talks have largely been remembered in the context of apportioning blame. This was particularly true in the first months and years of the Palestinian uprising, as Israel spun the narrative of a rejectionist Palestinian leadership that had turned down an incredibly “generous offer” and instead opted for a campaign of violence.

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Letter to Polish Prime Minister from Polish Palestine Solidarity Campaign June 2010

Photo: Palestinian woman lamenting in Gaza.

Do not exploit our history – one cannot redeem the injustices of history with new and ongoing injustices

We observe the developments and comments from the Polish government on the arrest of the suspected Mossad agent Uri Brodsky with great dismay and concern.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said he does not want the arrest of an individual suspected of being involved in an extra judicial killing to damage relations between Poland and Israel.

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May 23, 2010 statement from Queers Against Israeli Apartheid

Photo: Israeli apartheid wall cutting through Palestinian territories.

For the first time in its 30-year history, Pride Toronto has banned an LGBT community group from the parade. The board of directors voted on Friday to ban the words ‘Israeli Apartheid’ from any Pride events, including the Pride parade, dyke march, and trans march – directly targeting the group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid.

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May 2010 by Gideon Levy Haaretz

Photo Sarah Van den Elsken Palestinian home in Gaza destroyed in Israeli bombings.

Most people here are appalled at the notion that anybody beyond Israel’s borders would think to boycott their country, products or universities. Boycotts, after all, are viewed in Israel as illegitimate. Anyone who calls for such a step is perceived as an anti-Semite and Israel-hater who is undermining the state’s very right to exist. In Israel itself, those who call for a boycott are branded as traitors and heretics. The notion that a boycott, limited as it may be, is likely to convince Israel to change its ways – and for its own benefit – is not tolerated here.

Even an obvious, logical step – like the Palestinian Authority’s boycott of products made in the settlements – is viewed by hypocritical Israeli eyes as provocative. Moreover, while the international boycott against apartheid South Africa is credited with leading to the regime’s downfall, here it is considered irrelevant and unworthy of comparison.

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United Nations Development Program May 9th, 2010

Photo: Palestinian farmers prepare harvest materials under Israeli occupation.

Until Palestinians are afforded economic and environmental control, specifically control over macro-economic policy, trade, livelihoods, water resources and borders, sustained development will remain elusive, according to the latest Palestinian Human Development Report, released today by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Special Representative of the Administrator, Mr. Jens Toyberg-Frandzen.

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Haaretz by Amira Hass. 15/02/2010

Photo Palestinian child next to fruit stall in the streets of Jerusalem.

Something about 12-year-old Bassam caused two Israelis to smile. Two Palestinians noticed, but did not remember their smiles as being disparaging or arrogant. On the contrary. The Palestinians regarded the smiles as a rare moment in which two Israelis – and not just any Israelis, but military judges – realized how ridiculous the situation was.

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