Ari Shavit, Haaretz, January 29: At its core, the Israeli majority is what it was before: realistic and pragmatic. It recognizes that the occupation is futile, but is looking for a safe way to end it. It recognizes that the Greater Israel vision is finished, but fears having a Hamas state on the outskirts of…
Showing all posts tagged settlements
Pass me my Zionist crack
Jewish settlements and outposts in the West Bank expanded more rapidly in 2008 than the previous year, Peace now reported on Wednesday. The timing of the report is no coincidence, and it was released on the day US Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell was scheduled to arrive in Israel. Mitchell has spoken out…
Colonial addiction sounds like banana republic to me
How will the next Israeli government view the Obama administration, more likely to pressure the Jewish state over its settlement addiction? Will they go the route of former prime minister Menachem Begin, who more than 25 years ago lashed out at the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Samuel Lewis, telling him Israel was not a banana…
The occupation matters
Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman, a right-wing fascist likely to increase support in upcoming Israeli elections, lies through his teeth: There is no connection between settlers and the conflict through which we have been living for so many years.
Gaza: where to from here?
My latest column for New Matilda is about the likely future for Gaza and the conflict: Now that the shelling is (mostly) over, it’s clear that Israel has achieved the exact opposite of its objectives in Gaza, writes Antony Loewenstein Palestinians are slowly emerging from the rubble of their lives in Gaza. Credible stories have…
The colonies are only one of the major problems
Stephen Walt, Foreign Affairs blog, January 26: Although it was the official policy of every President since Lyndon Johnson to oppose the construction of settlements, none of them put any serious pressure on Israel to stop. The first President Bush briefly withheld some loan guarantees in 1992 over this issue, but the guarantees were authorized…
Get Up! takes on Israel/Palestine
Get Up! is Australia’s biggest progressive organisation, modelled on US MoveOn.org. Get Up! has shied away from tackling the Israel/Palestine issue, preferring to focus on more domestic concerns. Its success in Australia is undeniable, though I know a number of members have been frustrated with its silence over the Middle East. But maybe that is…
It’s not bigotry when we say it
Why will so few Israelis and Diaspora Jews unequivocally condemn the growing tide of racist remarks and intent sweeping the Jewish state? The answer is clear; deep down, they have no real issue with the Arab minority in Israel and Palestinians in the occupied territories being treated as second-class citizens: In Non-Jews in a Jewish…
The numbers speak for themselves
60 Minutes featured last night a remarkable story about the Israel/Palestine conflict. The message? The Jewish state’s addiction to colonial expansion has made the two-state solution impossible and apartheid is coming (if not already present in the West Bank). For one of America’s leading current affairs shows to say this, something any realist has known…
“Natural growth” is wrong
The next likely Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, tells Tony Blair that the illegal settlements in the West Bank are going nowhere: I have no intention of building new settlements in the West Bank. But like all the governments there have been until now, I will have to meet the needs of natural growth…