On Nelson Mandela Day Ronan Burtenshaw examines the anti-apartheid hero’s connections with Palestine and asks what his legacy would demand of us as Israel steps up its assault on Gaza. The sight of world leaders whose governments had enthusiastically supported apartheid South Africa at December’s funeral services should caution us to prepare for a day evacuated of any real meaning. In death Mandela was recuperated by the powerful – stripped … Read More
Chile Cuts Tie With Israel.
This week the Chilean government suspended free trade agreement negotiations with Israel over its continuing massacres in Gaza. Ronan Burtenshaw has a look behind the headline and finds historic and ethnic ties between Chile and Palestine. It isn’t the first Latin American state to take a strong stance on the issue. In 2009, Venezuela severed diplomatic ties with Israel altogether and Bolivia limited them in the wake of Operation … Read More
Gaza Livestreams.
As the death toll in Gaza rises to 77 this morning, including at least 18 children, two live feeds show airstrikes while the audio picks up jets and explosions as tanks mass on the borders. A short article entitled ‘A Palestinian Mother’s Fear In East Jerusalem’ appeared in yesterday’s New York Times (a notoriously pro-Israel sheet) which gave a cutting insight into the apartheid that affects every part of Palestinian life … Read More
American Child Severely Beaten By Israeli Soldiers.
The 15 year old American cousin of Mohammed Abu Khdeir was taken by Israeli soldiers and severely beaten. Tariq Khdeir survived, unlike his cousin who was tortured then burned alive by his captors. The video above shows some of the beating plus an interview with his family given to the Telegraph. The Telegraph reports: The boy, Tariq Abu Khdeir, is an American citizen, Tariq’s father said he witnessed his son’s arrest and … Read More
#meEjit: Baseball Cats And Dead Palestinians
On Thursday 15th two Palestinian teenagers were shot dead by Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank. Kevin Squires reports what the Irish media shamefully ignores. Nadeem Nawara (17) and Mohammad Abu Daher (16) were shot, from a distance, with live ammunition following a demonstration outside the notorious Ofer prison, an Israeli detention centre located near Ramallah. Inside Palestinian prisoners, interned without trial are currently on hunger strike. Neither were armed, … Read More
From Jaffa to Balata: Searching For The Displaced.
Why the relationship between the ancient city of Jaffa and Balata refugee camp in Nablus is a chapter in the Palestinian tragedy.
Palestine’s Thin Bedouin Line.
In small corrugated-iron huts, amidst their camels and goats, surrounded by violent settlements in the desert 5,000 Bedouin are making a defining stand against Israel’s colonisation of the West Bank.
Ireland’s Phelps Family And NUIG
The referenda in NUIG on Choice and the Academic Boycott of Apartheid Israel are being opposed by a disturbing family from Castlebar. The Burkes are seasoned campaigners outside the Dáil, opposing gay rights with placards quoting Leviticus and conflating medical statistics on HIV to ‘prove’ homosexuals invented AIDS. Kathy Sheridan in the Irish Times of July 10th 2010 (behind paywall) featured the Burkes and their kids in a story … Read More
Pity The Children
[su_youtube_advanced url=”http://youtu.be/uz8_qzdDdM4″] A joint investigation by Four Corners and The Australian newspaper reveals evidence that shows the army is targeting Palestinian boys for arrest and detention. The program focuses on the stories of three boys. In two cases the army came for the children in the middle of the night, before taking them to unknown locations where they are questioned. A mother of one of the boys described the scene: “Every soldier … Read More
#meEjit: Did UTV Really Report An Incorrect 10 Year Old News Story?
Yesterday, UTV published a report of a suspected Real IRA man being arrested and held by Israeli forces in the West Bank. The report drew reaction from DUP MLAs. Only problem was it was an incorrect news story from 2003! The real story (as it emerged) was an embarrassment at the time as Israeli security services had arrested a man who shared a surname with a ‘known’ man from south … Read More