Author: Kairos Puget Sound Coalition

Cancel culture has been around for decades, but the effort to silence pro-Palestinian voices is escalating.

By James Zogby | Responsible Statecraft  | Dec 7, 2020

…when we rightly welcome a discussion of the injustices done to the indigenous peoples of America or the crimes of slavery and Jim Crow, how can we deny Palestinians the right to protest their expulsion and dispossession?

In the very month in which I read articles condemning the “cancel culture” – which some apply exclusively to the “left’s efforts to silence or shame views with which they disagree” –​ several disturbing incidents caught my attention.

A Palestinian American Congresswoman was called an anti-Semite because she greeted the announcement of President-elect Biden’s pick for Secretary of State with the hope that her right to support the movement to Boycott, Divest, or Sanction Israel (BDS) would be recognized. An accomplished Arab American woman, of Palestinian descent, appointed to a position in Biden’s White House was condemned for an observation she made as a student, two decades ago, in which she pointed out how it must have been despair that drove young Palestinians to become suicide bombers. The California Board of Education removed Arab American studies from a model ethnic studies curriculum and eliminated any mention of Palestine. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the State Department will adopt a definition of anti-Semitism that conflates criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. As a result, he will ​designate the BDS movement as an anti-Semitic “cancer” and may also ​sanction respected human rights organizations because of their criticism of Israeli policies.

Continue reading “Palestinians: Victims of ‘cancel culture’”

When Pompeo conflates Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) with anti-Semitism, Palestinians, as well as national and international civil rights advocates object.

By Sanya Mansoor  | Time  |  Dec 4, 2020

‘Every other form of Palestinian resistance has been criminalized and made unavailable…It’s not that BDS is integral. What do we have besides it?’
— Noura Erakat, a human rights attorney and assistant professor at Rutgers University

On the same day that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the first high-ranking American diplomat to visit an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, he also doubled down on the Trump administration’s opposition to a global pro-Palestinian movement to boycott Israel.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement relies on putting political and economic pressure on Israel. The goal is to push Israel to recognize the rights of Palestinian citizens currently living in Israel; allow Palestinian refugees, who were driven out of the country as early as 1948 when Israel was created, to return to their homes; and withdraw from all land that it seized after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, including the the occupied West Bank—which is claimed by the Palestinians.

Continue reading “The Trump administration is cracking down against a global movement to boycott Israel. Here’s what you need to know about BDS.”

Ali Abu Alia is the fifth Palestinian minor from occupied West Bank killed by Israeli forces with live ammunition this year, rights group says.

By Anas Jnena,  Mersiha Gadzo  | Al Jazeera  |  Dec 6, 2020

‘Like nearly every other case involving Israeli forces’ unlawful killing of Palestinian children, systemic impunity as the norm ensures that the perpetrator responsible will never be held accountable by Israeli authorities,’
— Ayed Abu Eqtaish, director at the Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP)

Ali Abu Alia had just turned 15 on Friday when Israeli forces shot and killed him using live ammunition at a protest in al-Mughayyir village in the occupied West Bank.

He was excited to have a birthday party later in the evening, especially since the Abu Alia family is religious and did not usually celebrate.

But Ali’s father, Ayman, had let his wife know that this time they were going to throw him a party.

“Ali got excited and asked his mother to prepare the cake for the evening. But it’s his fate to eat the cake somewhere else [in heaven],” Ayman, 40, told Al Jazeera from al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah.

According to information obtained by the Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP), Israeli occupying forces shot Ali in the abdomen while he was observing clashes between Palestinian youth and Israeli forces at the entrance to the village.

Read the full article here →

Rather than addressing the roots of crime and violence among Palestinian citizens, Israel is advancing plans to depoliticize the community.

By Shahrazad Odeh |  +972 Magazine  | Dec 4, 2020

Rather than investing in social services and offering original solutions that center rehabilitation in Palestinian society, it lists outdated recommendations that are merely tools by which the state can tighten its grip on Palestinian citizens under its colonial rule.

Four years ago, in early September, I woke up in the middle of the night in Umm al-Fahem to the sound of machine guns. Afraid and baffled, not knowing where the shots were coming from or who they were being fired at, I called the police to report a crime. It took the officers two hours to make their way from the police station, which is a 15-minute drive away. When they finally arrived, they collected the ammunition in a clear plastic bag, and waved it in front of children looking on at the scene.

These kinds of incidents have persisted despite the Israeli government introducing several programs over the years to help eradicate crime across the country. In many Palestinian cities and towns in Israel, citizens still go to sleep to the sound of gun shots.

Continue reading “How crime became a cover for Israel to tighten control of Palestinian citizens”

A chance to make your voice heard and let them know you support restoring aid to Palestinians.

By Churches for Middle East Peace | Dec 3, 2020

Today, UNRWA is left without the funds to pay its November and December salaries for all of its 28,000 staff, including health care workers and teachers.

In 2018, the Trump administration announced its decision to cut all US aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). This agency helps administer critical services and resources such as health care, education, and emergency food assistance to Palestinian refugees throughout the Middle East. UNRWA’s work is even more important now as COVID-19 greatly exacerbates the difficult conditions that Palestinian refugees endure. Without US funding, UNRWA is unable to execute its important activities that serve millions of Palestinians. Before the $360 million dollars in US funding was cut, it accounted for nearly 30 percent of UNRWA’s budget. Today, UNRWA is left without the funds to pay its November and December salaries for all of its 28,000 staff, including health care workers and teachers. US funding is critical to help relieve the financial crisis UNRWA currently faces and to help provide humanitarian aid to vulnerable Palestinian refugees.

Continue reading “Tell your Senators: Restore US aid to UNRWA now!”

The group Palestine Action in Britain trying to bring attention to Israeli arms maker Elbit Systems and weapons industry.

By David Cronin  | The Electronic Intifada  | Dec 2, 2020

The app would allow a commander to type details about a target on a small electronic device and then troops would open fire on that target swiftly.

Killing a Palestinian will soon be as easy as ordering a pizza.

That repugnant message – albeit couched in less explicit terms – was delivered through a recent article published by the website IsraelDefense.

It quotes Oren Matzliach, a colonel who is overseeing the use of a new app by the Israeli military. The app would allow a commander to type details about a target on a small electronic device and then troops would open fire on that target swiftly.

Ordering an attack will be “like ordering a book on Amazon or a pizza in a pizzeria using your smartphone,” Matzliach said.

Continue reading “App makes killing Palestinians as easy as ordering pizzas”

 A call to join One Democratic State Campaign and help build an anti-colonial, liberation movement.

By The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions |  Nov 25, 2020

 …the fact that more than 200 Palestinian and Israeli intellectuals and activists have participated in the process and endorsed our program, sets it on firm political footing. We must still work hard to get a broad Palestinian buy-in.
— The Palestinian-led One Democratic State Campaign (ODSC)

Our One Democratic State Campaign (ODSC) has just issued a Call for people to support our initiative for establishing a single democracy between the River and the Sea — the only just and practical way to resolve the Israeli/Palestinian “conflict.” It’s a project we have been working on for several years and we’ve made some meaningful progress. Although a lot of work remains to flesh out, the outline of our program, the fact that more than 200 Palestinian and Israeli intellectuals and activists have participated in the process and endorsed our program, sets it on firm political footing. We must still work hard to get a broad Palestinian buy-in.

Continue reading “Jeff Halper introduces Call for One Democratic State Campaign (ODSC) supporters”

Beyond The Two-State Solution, by Jonathan Kuttab, is a short introduction to the current crisis in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Zionism and Palestinian Nationalism have been at loggerheads for over a century.

By Jonathan Kuttab  |    Nov 20, 2020 (email communication)

The Palestinian / Israeli conflict has had many ups and downs with hopes for peace, times of war, and relentless subjugation of Palestinians.  Many people including myself and Jonathan Kuttab supported the peace initiative of a 2 state-solution even though many Palestinian leaders were initially reluctant to settle for 22% of original Palestine.
— Mubarak Awad, Founder on Nonviolence International

After decades of work promoting creative nonviolence, I am about to publish a book which I hope, with your help can address the current impasse, and perhaps change the conversation around Palestine / Israel. Many activists are frustrated, despondent, and floundering with no clear vision or direction. We need some fresh out-of-the-box thinking. This is true for Palestinians, Israelis, and our friends in the international community. I’ve asked Nonviolence International, a group I co-founded and value deeply, to lead the effort to get this book into the hands of people across the political spectrum and across the world. Even with everything else already in their established plans, the team is going above and beyond to ensure this book gets the attention we believe it deserves.

Continue reading “Book Now Available: Beyond The Two-State Solution by Jonathan Kuttab”

The president-elect has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reorient US foreign policy so this country truly means what it says.

By Representative Ilhan Omar  | The Nation |  Nov 20, 2020

In truth, these aren’t peace deals as much as they’re arms sale deals to human rights abusers. And they’re less about normalizing relations with Israel than they are about forming military alliances against Iran.

his month, we begin the transition away from a Trump era and toward a new presidency based on peace and cooperation. There is no area where this renewed vision is needed more than foreign policy. Trump has taunted, mocked, and burned bridges with our allies, while simultaneously cozying up to some of the most brutal dictatorial regimes around the world—especially those in the oil-rich Middle East. The damage done by the Trump administration runs deep, and it will take hard work and a clear understanding of the extent of the damage to fix it. With foreign policy primarily driven by the Executive Branch, President Biden has a tremendous opportunity to reorient our foreign policy in the region.

Trump began his presidency by backing out of the Iran nuclear deal, which had been a major feat in diplomacy with buy-in from all five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States—plus Germany and Iran. The deal was not only notable for the countries that it brought to the table, but for what it prevented: a nuclear-armed Iran that could threaten the United States and risk a global nuclear war.

Continue reading “Representative Ilhan Omar: ‘I Hope President Biden Seizes This Opportunity.’”