| Palestinian Authority, without any evidence, accuses Israel of manufacturing biological weapons in secret labs in the settlementsnoreply@blogger.com | | The Palestinian Authority loves to join international conventions. Not to abide by them, of course. As we saw with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and others, the Palestinian Authority signs on all these conventions just so they will look more like a real nation and and can join the International Criminal Court, but there is no or little intent to actually fulfill the obligations in those conventions. The other major reason the PA joins every UN committee it can find is so that its envoys can make anti-Israel speeches, claiming that Israel is violating whatever the committee or convention is about. It tries to hijack every cause to make wild accusations against Israel. It happened again this week, at the Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological Weapons, currently being held in Geneva, Switzerland. Omar Awadallah, the PA's assistant foreign minister, demanded the United Nations send an international biological investigation team to the settlements, to inspect their supposed biological weapons labs. In his speech, he said that the...Read More |
From Ian: Alan Johnson: 'Can't You See He's Fooled You All?': An Open Letter to Peter Gabriel et al explaining why Israel is not a 'Settler Colonial' society So the 'settler colonialism' paradigm is not just analytically useless. It is also politically reactionary. Activists in thrall to the paradigm are not constructive. They are destructive. They think it is their role to rewind the film of history, 'smash the settler colonial Jewish state!', and put in its place a new 'de-Zionised' 'one state'. The Jews – who would soon be a minority in that state – and the Arabs, they tell us, will then live together in peace and harmony. (In today's Middle East, no less.) The 'settler colonialism' paradigm treats a tragic, and as yet unresolved, national question as if it is a Hollywood movie, with much cheering and booing, sanctifying and anathematising. That's why, despite your intentions, the 'settler colonialism' paradigm is an obstacle to the Palestinian National Movement. As President Biden recently pointed out, the Palestinians must say unequivocally that they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as an independent Jewish state. The 'settler colonialism' paradigm pushes the Palestinians and their allies in the opposite direction, egging them on to take maximalist positions that make a final status agreement impossible...Read More |
I always see BDSers say that they boycott Israel out of "solidarity" with Palestinians. So, I wondered what that means, exactly... When I posted this on Twitter, some people were upset at stereotyping Palestinians. Of course, not every Palestinian is guilty of every one of the things on the list, but surveys and Palestinian laws as well as reading mainstream Palestinian publications shows that either a majority of Palestinians fiteach of these descriptions, or that they never disagree (in the case of animal abuse or burning Israeli forests, for example.) * * * * * *
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The Middle East Quartet envoys issued a press release last week:
The Envoys of the Middle East Quartet from the European Union, the Russian Federation, the United States, and the United Nations met in person in Oslo, Norway following an important meeting of the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee addressing the Palestinian economic situation. The Envoys welcome steps announced by Israel to reach out to the Palestinian Authority and to assist with the fiscal crisis. The Envoys remain deeply concerned by developments in the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, including ongoing acts of violence in the West Bank, the advancement of new settlement units, the untenable fiscal crisis within the Palestinian Authority and threats of violence from the Gaza Strip. In this context, the Quartet highlights the urgent need for all parties to take additional steps to address these challenges directly through fiscal and other reforms, as well as to avoid unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions and undermine the prospects for peace. The Envoys noted the pressing need to address the fragile situation in Gaza -- with the support of all relevant stakeholders, including in the region -- by ensuring continued humanitarian efforts and an easing of access and movement restrictions for people and goods. The Quartet Envoys highlighted the urgency of the situation...Read More |
From Ian: David Singer: UN anti-Jewish bias blocks the road to peace The United Nations (UN) needs to end its ongoing deceptive misrepresentation of the Arab-Jewish conflict in former Palestine - as it once again prepares to celebrate its self-proclaimed International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People – but not the Jewish People - on 29 November. The UN trumpets this date in the following terms:
"Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 32/40 B of 2 December 1977, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed annually on or around 29 November, solemnly commemorating the adoption by the Assembly, on 29 November 1947, of resolution 181 (II), which provided for the partition of Palestine into two States." This statement fails to mention that the Jews accepted Resolution 181(II) - whilst the Arabs rejected it and went to war to try and wipe out the nascent Jewish State of Israel that was subsequently declared on 14 May 1948. 1. Arab acceptance of Resolution 181 (II) would have ended the Arab-Jewish conflict.
2. This statement is also false and misleading: Resolution 181(II) only dealt with the partition of 22% of the territory of Palestine located west of the Jordan River.
3.The remaining 78% of the territory of Palestine located east of the Jordan River (today called Jordan) had already caused it to become a sovereign Palestinian Arab State 18 months earlier - on 25...Read More |
On October 1, the winner of the Miss Greece pageant, Rafaela Plastira, gave a vague statement that she was withdrawing from competing in Miss Universe because, mumble mumble, Israel. Her exact words were: I will not be attending "Miss universe" this year. The reason for that is the country. I am absolutely not disrespecting the country. I love all countries from all over the world but my heart goes to all the people fighting for there lives in Israel & Palestina. I can't go up that stage and act like nothing is happening when people are fighting for there [sic] lives out there. This was over six weeks ago. Greek news sites ignored the story. I can barely find any stories about this in Greek media. The runner up Katerina Kouvoutsaki was quickly set up as the new Miss Greece, and then two weeks ago she withdrew for health reasons and now Miss Greece is Sofia Arapogianni, a stunning beauty, who is preparing to go to Israel. But now, the BDSers finally found out about Plastira, and is starting to tweet about her and make her into a heroine. Greek fans will still have someone to cheer at the contest. The only thing that seems to have been accomplished is that a more qualified contestant will be in Eilat...Read More |
While there has been much condemnation in Arab media and from individuals on the British decision to label all of Hamas a terrorist group, the reaction from Arab governments has been muted. An op-ed in Arabi21 decries the silence of the Arab nations, seeing it as part of a larger issue of Arab nations not even bothering to condemn Israel: Officially, no Arab political position has been issued condemning the British designation of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) as terrorist and the prohibition of its activity on British soil. The positions of the Arab foreign ministers and the positions of the Arab League and its leaders have been dead for a long time, not only towards the British and Western classification of the Palestinian people's resistance to the Zionist colonial force, but from all the terrorism practiced by the occupying power on land and people. Middle East Eye lists Arab political leaders who have condemned the move, and the list is pretty short: Hamas itself, Hezbollah, the Palestinian Authority, and...Read More |
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