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Thu, 23/02/2012 - 12:52

How the European Union subsidises the Israeli occupation

An internal report by the European Union, authored in last July, was leaked to the press recently, causing a minor scandal. The report focused on the division of the West Bank into the so-called areas A, B, and C under the Oslo Accords – which, it claims, is now preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.Israel divides the Palestinian area it occupies into five parts: the Gaza Strip (which is under siege, but Israel denies that it...
Mon, 16/01/2012 - 19:43

The Israeli Supreme Court and the de-liberalisation of Israel

Last week, Judge Noam Sohlberg was appointed to the Israeli Supreme Court, which, in Israel, is also the High Court of Justice, a court of judicial review carrying important constitutional functions. Sohlberg will become the first settler judge in Israel’s history.Being a settler, Sohlberg has a clear conflict of interests, since he will have the authority to rule on appeals against government policies violating International Law,...
Thu, 22/12/2011 - 11:41

Maccabees, Miracles and Zionists...

 What the early Zionists conveniently forgot when they began to promote the hero-worship of the Maccabees and their Jewish nationalist uprising against the Assyrian Greeks in 169 BCE, was why the rabbis had been so keen to down-play the rebels' story in the first place. Why did second century CE rabbinic Judaism want to ignore the muscular Maccabees and shift our focus to the miracle of the Temple oil instead? Why was lighting candles in menorahs...
Wed, 21/12/2011 - 18:54

Netanyahu’s African quest

In the hectic Israeli political environment, anything not perceived as an “existential threat” to the state of Israel is barely worth a mention. But then, “existential threats” abound. In addition to the Palestinian insurrection, the brewing war with Iran, the Arab Spring and the “de-legitimization campaign” against Israel in the world, the Israeli government now faces a new threat to its existence: “African ...
Sat, 17/12/2011 - 11:24

The demographic threat

The Netanyahu government on December 2nd ordered the removal of several government ads displayed in various American cities. The Ministry of Immigrant Absorption's (MIA) 'Returning Home Project' had placed several video ads and billboards warning Israeli expatriates of the dangers of marrying American Jews. The ads all finished with the line, “They will always remain Israelis, their children will not.”U.S....
Tue, 29/11/2011 - 14:17

Emerging Superpowers: India, China, and Brazil - New Realities for the Middle East

As the population of Europe and the US ages and their economies slow down, economic miracles half a world away begin to assert their dominance. History has been said to jump, not crawl, and recent international developments are paving the way for what may be the next leap.The rise of the ‘BRIC’ nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), as predicted by a Goldman Sachs report in 2001, has become the new reality. Israel is keeping a...
Mon, 21/11/2011 - 11:01

If foreign aid is OK for Israel’s government, why not for its NGOs?

Israel has been dependent on international support from the day of its founding. It received donations from Jewish communities, massive aid from the U.S (to the tune (PDF) of US$ 3 billion annually in weapon subsidies), reparations from Germany for the Holocaust (which rarely find their way to the actual Holocaust survivors), and other forms of donations.Today the Palestinians are following a similar path – with a highly aid-dependent economy....
Sun, 13/11/2011 - 22:04

The Yesha Council Disengagement Plan

 A. Is the annexation of the West Bank imminent?“Yesha Council”[i] and "My Israel"[ii] have recently circulated a propaganda video clip  as part of a campaign addressing the old Israeli-left argument, that "if a two-state solution is not established soon, Israel will lose its Jewish demographic superiority".  In the clip they demonstrate how by deducting the estimated Gaza Strip population from their...
Thu, 03/11/2011 - 13:23

Israel, apartheid, and the Hasbara machine

 It is not common for the Hasbara machine, disseminating Israeli state propaganda, to be exposed in such a way. As if by coincidence, two expatriate South African Jews, with a bit of a liberal reputation, came out of retirement to produce almost identical pieces for the press, rejecting the analogy between Israel and apartheid. That both have chosen to do that at the same time, using the same arguments and examples, raises an obvious suspicion that...
Thu, 03/11/2011 - 11:54

The Real EUMC Definition of Antisemitism

The EUMC report is a substantial document, providing a comprehensive overview of antisemitism in the 15 member-states of the EU at that time, based on an “overview of incidents of antisemitism, the political, academic and media reactions to it, information from public opinion polls and attitude surveys, and examples of good practice to combat antisemitism, from information available in the years 2002 – 2003” (p.3). On the basis of all...