As tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims converge on the Holy Land this week to celebrate the birth of Jesus, senior Israeli rabbis have announced a war on the Christmas tree. In Jerusalem, the rabbinate has issued a letter warning dozens of hotels in the city that it is "forbidden" by Jewish religious law to erect a tree or stage new year's parties.
The chauvinism implicit in a new Israeli foreign ministry video portraying Jacob and Rachel as the only normal folk, stoicly enduring barbarians butchering each other in their living room, is ugly enough. But it is harder still to take seriously an account in which the Palestinians suddenly appear out of nowhere in 1948, as Britain departs.
Hillary Clinton at an opulent dinner with Israeli billionaire Haim Saban (center) and Israeli politician Tzipi Livni (left) CREDIT: Reuters
Last week a friend of mine was excited to celebrate “The Independence Day of Palestine” in Ramallah as the central and official celebration happens yearly. I felt indifferent and didn’t join the some who even mocked him. At the day of Independence Nov.15th he went early and came late exhausted:
-“How was it?” asking, almost knowing how it felt like when you walk a long way with a big hope and come back with nothing.
-“It was OK, but the zionist bastards spoiled it.” he replied dejected.
-“Why? How?”
by Iman Najjar-Annab
Dear on-the-fence-about-the-Occupation, two-state-solution Israeli,
Please stop posting warm fuzzy photos and articles that show moments of kindness between Israelis and “Arabs”. Please, do not post that Belgian postage stamp showing the beginning of a bad joke, a priest a rabbi and an imam. Please stop pontificating about Arab/Muslim extremism being the root of the Arab-Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Two recent reports suggest that Israel could face catastrophic consequences if it fails to end the mistreatment of Palestinians under its rule, whether in the occupied territories or in Israel itself.
by Jonathan Cook
The National – 15 June 2015
Over 700,000 terrified Palestinians stripped of belongings, money, homes, orchards, livestock, land, fleeing massacres by the merciless Jewish militia were forcibly expelled and rendered, for 67 years, stateless refugees packed into 59 ghettos in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza: refugees who hold fast to the love of and the keys of their family homes rooted in the ancient genealogical soil of their Palestine.
A new poll from Bloomberg Politics contains a finding that, if you really think about it, is quite remarkable:
