The holy month of Ramadan is among us and as an early gift, the Israeli government has loosened some of its restrictions and even invited Palestinians to send Facebook friend requests to President Shimon Peres.
In an announcement made today, Israel has chosen to ease a number of travel restrictions for Palestinians in the West Bank. Palestinian men over the age of 40 will finally be allowed into Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, for example, while Palestinians between 35 and 40 will require special permits.
Israel has also ordered its soldiers to refrain from eating, smoking, or drinking in front of Palestinians “to demonstrate a high level of respect”.
If Israel’s motive is to seize the month of Ramadan as an “opportunity to extend the hands to each other for peace,” as Peres says in a newly filmed Ramadan greeting, it is already standing on shaky ground. One does not respect the holiness of Ramadan by making it slightly less challenging to partake in its spiritual and religious revival. Easing restrictions that normally keep the vast majority of Palestinians from praying in Al-Aqsa is about as respectful as throwing them a bone. Eliminating the restrictions and safeguarding the rights of Palestinians is the only justified way of demonstrating respect and extending a peaceful hand. [Read more...]
The right to self-defense is reserved for Israel only. After all, Obama’s administration, with a stamp of approval from Israel’s government, has gone to great lengths to avoid recognizing the Palestinian right to self-defense. It is a twisted world when the occupier is seen as the defenseless victim and the occupied is sanctioned for simply refusing to accept inequity.
Excellent sentence by The Guardian on Stephen Hawking’s boycott of Israel (with bonus at the end)
World-renouned theoretical physicist Professor Stephen Hawking joined the boycott of Israel on Tuesday by withdrawing from a conference hosted by Israeli president Shimon Peres in Jerusalem.
The announcement was met with ferocious (and nonsensical) pressure from backers of Israel’s occupation. In one case, an Israeli law firm, Shurat HaDin, condemned Hawking’s decision to join the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement as “hypocritical”, arguing that the computers he uses contain technology designed by Israeli tech engineers.
Rather than addressing Hawking’s concern about the rights of Palestinians as well as Israel’s frequent and disproportionate use of force against Palestinian civilians, the critics chose instead to bring attention to Israeli technological or scientific contributions. It is as if these advancements grant Israel free reign to violate international law (via settlement building, occupation, etc.), civil rights (via minority rights, race-based deportations, etc.), and human rights (via movement restrictions, incarceration of children, etc.).
Luckily, Hawking isn’t bending. Whitewashing and rebranding Israeli human rights and international law violations, and attempting to guilt BDS advocates by skewing the focus of the boycott call is wholly unsuccessful. [Read more...]