Author: Kairos Puget Sound Coalition

Five foundational criteria that could shape a viable and principled strategy by the international community to end the Israeli occupation and enable Palestinian self-determination.

By Michael Lynk | JustSecurity | Jan 7, 2022

Beyond tut-tutting about settlement expansion and ensuring that the Palestinian Authority’s head is kept above water, the international community has no coherent strategy to actually end the 54-year-old Israeli occupation.

On Nov. 17, 2021, the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) gathered in Oslo for its semi-annual meeting. Created in 1993 shortly after the famous handshake on the White House lawn, the AHLC is the semi-formal organization of international donors to the Palestinian Authority (PA). It promotes a two-State solution through the development of the Palestinian economy and civil institutions. Its membership of 15 leading States and institutions includes the United States, the European Union, Russia, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Palestinian Authority, Israel, and four Arab countries (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia). Norway acts as the chair.

At the Oslo meeting, the AHLC reviewed the progress towards a Palestinian State, assessed the debilitated Palestinian economy, and encouraged donors to provide a new round of funding pledges for the Palestinian Authority. It also received reports from the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) and the World Bank on the current economic and political landscape of the 54 year-old Israeli occupation.

Continue reading “The International Community and Israel: Giving permission to a permanent occupation”

Fallout continues for non-profit groups that Israel has outlawed.

By Mustafa Abu Sneineh | Middle East Eye | Jan 6, 2022

“From the onset, this investigation was politically motivated and responded to pressure of the Israeli government and malign organizations affiliated with it,”
— Union of Agricultural Work Committees

The Dutch government has ended its funding for Palestine’s Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), one of six non-profit groups recently outlawed by Israel.

In October, Israel designated the Palestinian human rights groups “terrorist organizations,” saying that they acted as “part of a network of organisations operating under cover in the international arena” on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

On Wednesday, UAWC said it was “shocked and saddened” by the Netherlands’ decision to stop its funding.

Continue reading “Netherlands ends funding to Palestinian agricultural NGO outlawed by Israel”

A listing of the many efforts that the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) Movement managed to score victories on this past year.

By Nora Barrows-Friedman | The Electronic Intifada | Dec 30, 2021

“We’re going to continue to take direct action in order to shut down and undermine Israel’s arms trade,”
—Huda Ammori, Palestine Action co-founder

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 was a year of accelerated boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigning, successful grassroots actions and significant legal victories for Palestinian rights.

Pension funds dumped Israeli firms, cultural figures refused to cross the picket line and a major ice cream maker pulled its products from illegal Israeli settlements.

Sustained direct actions in Oakland, California successfully exacted a price on Israel after it carried out a lethal 11-day attack on Gaza during May.

In early June, as part of an international wave of protests under the banner of #BlockTheBoat, activists and longshore workers prevented an Israeli cargo ship from docking at the city’s port for more than two weeks after its scheduled arrival date.

Continue reading “What were the top BDS victories of 2021?”

Noor Agha was forced to leave Gaza for life saving surgery on a brain tumor. But before Israel let her leave the besieged territory they made her throw out her toothpaste at the Erez checkpoint.

By Noor Agha | Mondoweiss | Jan 5, 2022

I didn’t want to die on my own.
— Noor Agha

We were aware of the “security” issues the Israelis impose on Palestinians crossing Erez. No food. No water. Lipstick? No. Eyeliner? No. Sunblock? No. And no luggage with wheels. We didn’t want to be sent back after all.

In 2019 doctors had finally figured out the cause behind my migraines, and decided I should immediately undergo an operation which Gaza’s hospitals couldn’t handle. Little did anyone know this “immediately” would take forever. Five whole months!

My mother and I applied for the Israeli permits to travel to the West Bank to seek medication. A few months later, a message was received. Noor, me, yes. Ibtisam, my mom, no.

Continue reading “The hurdles to leaving Gaza for medical care (Or, what can you really hide inside a tube of toothpaste?)”

South Africa’s moral leader frequently clashed with Israel and the American Jewish establishment.

By Alex Kane | Jewish Currents | Dec 29, 2021

…Tutu’s repeated denunciations of Israel’s rule over Palestinians and his comparisons between the South African and Israeli versions of apartheid earned him the ire of Jewish leaders in both countries, as well as the United States.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who crusaded against apartheid and helped lead South Africa into a new democratic era, died at the age of 90. Leaders around the world, from the Dalai Lama to the mayor of New York, issued tributes to Tutu after news of his death broke.

By contrast, Israeli officials and the American Jewish establishment generally stayed silent. But they weren’t so quiet over the past two decades, as Tutu’s repeated denunciations of Israel’s rule over Palestinians and his comparisons between the South African and Israeli versions of apartheid earned him the ire of Jewish leaders in both countries, as well as the United States. Tutu’s pronouncements sparked a particularly intense reaction; criticism hurts more when it comes from someone widely lionized as a moral beacon.

Continue reading “Desmond Tutu’s lifelong struggle against apartheid”

A new collection of essays explores how the Israeli army justifies its violence against Palestinians — and why Israeli society so readily accepts its abuses.

By Noam Sheizaf | +972 Magazine | Dec 29, 2021

Technically, Israel views the West Bank as “disputed” rather than occupied, and, since the 2005 disengagement, Israelis no longer believe Gaza to be under Israeli occupation. Yet in practice, the Israeli military controls both.

In late August, on the eve of Naftali Bennett’s White House meeting with President Biden, the Israeli prime minister gave an interview to the New York Times in which he outlined his government’s agenda. “This government will neither annex nor form a Palestinian state, everyone gets that,” Bennett said. “I’m prime minister of all Israelis, and what I’m doing now is finding the middle ground — how we can focus on what we agree upon.”

Continue reading “A most moral violence”

Reaction to the threat of new surveillance technologies being used on Palestinians and the potential for use in a global context.

By Janna Aladdin | Washington Report on Middle East Affairs | Dec 17, 2021

The Palestinian Policy Network, both emphasized that such surveillance not only entails political and security threats for Palestinians, but also works to hinder their free expression.

Waging Peace

HOW DOES the Israeli government’s reliance on cyber spyware and surveillance technologies pose a risk not only to Palestinians and their supporters, but also the global community? This question underscored much of the discussion surrounding the webinar, “Welcome to the Panopticon: Israel’s Systematic Surveillance of Palestinians and the Implications for the World,” hosted by the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) on Nov. 18.

A recent Washington Post investigation, which demonstrated that Israel has been systematically increasing surveillance on Palestinians in the West Bank by building a database that integrates facial recognition, set the stage for much of the talk.

Continue reading “Israel’s Systematic Surveillance of Palestinians”

Instead of holding perpetrators accountable, Israel is criminalizing the work that organizations like mine are doing to protect Palestinian children’s rights.

By Khaled Quzmar | +972 Magazine | Dec 14, 2021

Based on our findings, a total of 67 Palestinian children were killed during the 11-day military escalation between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups in May.

This year was unlike any other I can remember from my decades of defending Palestinian children’s rights. Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip in May, amidst a mass youth-led uprising across historic Palestine, sparked an outcry around the world, with more people than ever demanding Israel be held accountable for its violence toward Palestinians and calling for an end to its apartheid regime. It felt like our movement for justice, accountability, and liberation was finally in the world’s spotlight.

And yet, that attention has not resulted in any meaningful change for Palestinian children living under Israeli military occupation. In fact, 2021 has been the deadliest year for Palestinian children since 2014, a year which included Israel’s devastating military assault in the Gaza Strip codenamed “Operation Protective Edge.”

Continue reading “This was the deadliest year for Palestinian children since 2014”

Haaretz publisher acknowledged for significant role in Israel news coverage and commentary.

By James North |  Mondoweiss  | Dec 12, 2021

“The product of Zionism, the State of Israel, is not a Jewish and democratic state, but has instead become an apartheid state, plain and simple.”
— Amos Schocken, Haaretz publisher

Amos Schocken is Israel’s equivalent of the latest Sulzberger to inherit control of the New York Times. Schocken, in his mid-70s, is the third generation of his family to run Haaretz, the most respected newspaper in Israel, and he speaks out regularly in columns and on social media.

Just the other day, Schocken called Israel “an apartheid state.” He was indignantly responding to a right-wing member of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament. Here’s the full quotation:

The product of Zionism, the State of Israel, is not a Jewish and democratic state, but has instead become an apartheid state, plain and simple.

Continue reading “‘Haaretz’ publisher says Israel is ‘an apartheid state’ — as his paper continues to warn against an Israel-Iran war”