Monday 8 June 2009 We are a group of Iranian academic and antiwar activists in Europe and the United States who, in the past few years, have consistently defended Iran’s national interests in all areas including its right to develop peaceful nuclear technology. Our varied activities in the face of anti-Iran propaganda by the neoconservatives […]
Geography Archives: Israel
Obama’s Doublespeak on Iran
On the US-Iran relationship, President Obama seems to be talking from both sides of his mouth. From one side we hear promising messages of dialogue and a “new beginning” with Iran; from the other side provocative words that seems to be coming right out of the mouth of his predecessor, George W. Bush. For example, […]
Victory! Veolia Abandons Jerusalem Light Rail Project under Political Pressure
VICTORY! In the first smashing and convincing victory of the global BDS movement in the field of corporate responsibility and ethical compliance, Veolia is reportedly abandoning the Jerusalem Light Rail project, an illegal project that aims at connecting Israeli colonies built on occupied Palestinian territory to the city of Jerusalem. As the Haaretz article below* […]
Feeling the Hate in Jerusalem
This video was brought online on 4 June 2009, to conincide with Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo on the same day. According to Max Blumenthal, the video was censored by the Huffington Post: “Censored by the Huffington Post and Imprisoned by the Past: Why I Made ‘Feeling the Hate in Jerusalem’” (Mondoweiss, 6 June […]
Israel: Manof’s Local “Loyalty Oath,” Designed to Bar Arabs
A community in northern Israel has changed its bylaws to demand that new residents pledge support for “Zionism, Jewish heritage and settlement of the land” in a thinly veiled attempt to block Arab applicants from gaining admission. Critics are calling the bylaw, adopted by Manof, home to 170 Jewish families in Galilee, a local “loyalty […]
The Constantly Widening Gap between Words and Deeds
There are political circles and commentators who live from minute to minute. For them, every squeak from a world leader is a virtual earthquake, a real revolution. This is especially true now that we are dealing with a US president, who is handsome, articulate, and even eloquent. The present level of manipulated excitement stems from […]
Resistance in Gaza: Young Palestinians Find Their Voice through Hip-Hop
The Maqusi Towers in Gaza City look a bit like US housing projects. The neighborhood consists of several tall apartment buildings grouped together in the northern part of town. It is also ground zero for Gaza’s growing Hip-Hop community. On a recent evening in one small but well-decorated apartment, a dozen rappers and their friends […]
Chomsky on Obama Speech
June 4, 2009 Chomsky, whose recent books include Interventions and The Essential Chomsky, sent the following to the Institute for Public Accuracy this morning: “A CNN headline, reporting Obama’s plans for his June 4 Cairo address, reads ‘Obama looks to reach the soul of the Muslim world.’ Perhaps that captures his intent, but more […]
Caterpillar under Fire for Human Rights Abuses for Sixth Year in a Row
Chicago, IL (June 3) — For the sixth year in a row, members of Jewish, Christian, and human rights organizations will be present at Caterpillar, Inc.’s annual shareholder meeting to demand that Caterpillar end its complicity with violations of human rights and international law in the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. Concerned […]
An Open Letter from the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies to President Barack Obama on the Occasion of His Cairo Speech to the “Blacks” of the Twenty-first Century
June 2, 2009 Mr. President, The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) hopes that your speech to the Arab and Muslim worlds will contain practical steps to uphold your administration’s stated intention to seriously deal with the problems that have inflamed resentment and fostered a sense of humiliation among peoples, individuals, and ethnic and […]
MK Afo Agbaria’s Letter to UN Secretary General on War Crimes in Gaza
Member of the Knesset, Dr. Afo Agbaria (Hadash fraction) on Wednesday (June 3, 2009) wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, asking that he be allowed to assist the UN investigation on war crimes during the Israeli military’s Operation “Cast Lead” in the Gaza Strip. International prosecutor Richard Goldstone and his team of investigators arrived […]
Life In Gaza: As President Obama Visits Cairo, Gaza Remains Devastated
More than four months after Gaza was devastated by a massive Israeli military bombardment, rebuilding has been slow to come. The problem is not a lack of funding or will. However, an Israeli-led blockade has kept all rebuilding materials, including concrete or any tools that could be used to rebuild the hundreds of homes and […]
How the Media Annexed East Jerusalem to Israel
Talks between Barack Obama and the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships over the past fortnight have unleashed a flood of media interest in the settlements Israel has been constructing on Palestinian territory for more than four decades. The US president’s message is unambiguous: the continuing growth of the settlements makes impossible the establishment of a Palestinian […]
Second Issue of Jafa Now Available!
Labour for Palestine is pleased to announce the second issue of Jafa – Labour Bulletin in Solidarity with Palestine. This second issue has a special focus on Israel’s war on Gaza. We publish here a range of solidarity resolutions that were passed by unions around the world, analysis of the aftermath, and discussion around […]
Samieh Jabbarin Still under House Arrest
Dear friends, The solidarity struggle with Palestinian theatre-artist and activist Samieh Jabbarin, who is still under house arrest in Um Al Fahm, has gained significant resonance in the past two weeks thanks to the publication of journalist Aviva Lori’s extensive coverage of the affair in Haaretz weekend supplement in Hebrew (22.5.09) and English (28.5.09). […]
Mr. Abbas Goes to Washington
May 28, 2009 If the Oval Office guest list is an indicator, President Obama is making good on his commitment to try to revive the long-dead Arab-Israeli peace process. On May 18 President Obama received Israel’s new prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu; today he met with Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. As […]
Interview with Farian Sabahi
Here we publish an interview with Farian Sabahi, an Italian-Iranian professor at Sapienza University of Rome and the University of Turin. A professional journalist, Sabahi has been writing for Corriere della Sera for several months. She was a guest of LibrInTerra on the 26th of March, presenting her two books Storia dell’Iran [A History […]
Israel: Democratic Rights in Peril
The Israeli government took this week a new measure in its attempt to suppress democratic rights in Israel. The government has approved a bill banning all commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba of 1948, under penalty of Imprisonment. The bill is yet to pass in the Israeli parliament, subject, for now, to heavy criticism from many […]
Netanyahu Chooses Warehousing
Would Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu say the magic words “two states” after his meeting with President Obama? All Israel held its breath. (He didn’t). The gap between the two is wider than those words could ever have bridged, however. Obama, I believe, sincerely — perhaps urgently — seeks a resolution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, a […]
Israeli Cabinet Wants to Ban Nakba Commemoration
The Israeli cabinet has voted yesterday (Sunday, May 24, 2009) in favor of a racist proposal to ban Nakba commemorations. Many Arab-Palestinians commemorate the proclamation of the state of Israel as Nakba, the Arabic word for disaster. In the proposal, anyone participating in the commemoration of 15 May 1948 could face a three-year prison sentence. […]
