Liam Fox, former British Defence Secretary, gave the keynote address to this year’s prestigious Herzliya conference, the principle forum for discussing Israel’s military and security interests. His views on Iran and Palestine were contentious though in line with Conservative party policy. Whether he stayed within the Ministry of Defence’s remit is less clear

Regular visitors to this website may have noticed the regular appearances of BICOM – and of Liam Fox at their We Believe in Israel conference last June. Why Liam Fox and his side-kick Werritty should have needed extra funding to promote the interests of Israel and military effectiveness is mysterious – except that (item 6) Mr. Fox supported a 2-state solution and criticised the settlements and supported peace with the Palestinians, see post above

The announcement on Tuesday that Netanyahu had done a deal with Hamas in which Gilad Shalit, held for 5 years by Hamas, would be exchanged for 1000 of the Palestinians held by Israel led to rejoicing in Israel and mixed feelings in Palestine. Doing the calculations are Maan News (1 ,2) Dimi Reider (3) Larry Derfner (4) Ebaa Rezeq (5) and BICOM (6)

Obama is condemned by the tea party and Israel for appeasing Palestinians – and by everyone else for doing Israel’s bidding. The shift of Israel from left-leaning to right-wing ethnic nationalist has made it the darling of the US right – and ‘Islamo-fascist’ the name of all its critics. Ian Buruma, Erasmus prize winner, pinpoints the realignment

Uri Avnery, familiar with accusations of treachery in his own life, looks back to the founding myths of Israel and finds that many accused as traitors are the peace-makers who build societies while the heroes may have been crazy zealots

There is no intrinsic connection between Jews and the occupywallstreet movement But the large Jewish presence sparked Occupy Yom Kippur, drawing 1000 in which atonement for failing to act on the occupation of Palestine played a large part.. 2 pieces on this, and Ezra Klein/David Graeber and Naomi Klein on the character and aims of this protest

The two assaults by Anatot settlers on protesters last Friday (see ‘Phone record’ this page) have had wide repercussions because these settlers had been seen as peaceful, non-ideological types. 4 reports of the attack, from eye-witnesses and journalists, and an account of how those just wanting a home end up at Atantot – with an aggressive attitude. Link to the revealing video in item 5.

Asa Winstanley attends Salah’s appeal against his banning order, hearing that the evidence for Theresa May’s actions relied on the Community Security Trust, the CST standing for ‘the Jewish Community’ and Israel’s critics for anti-semites. 2, A letter of support for Salah to the Home Office from JfJfP gives the lie to both those assumptions. 3, Tony Greenstein, quoted at the hearing, on why he finds the CST disreputable, 4, the CST rebuts the charge that it either doctored, or passed on doctored, quotations

Britain’s Foreign Office has stepped in at the last moment, to declare Kadima leader Tzipi Livni is on a ‘special mission’ to London and immune from prosecution (1). Ms Livni, a former member of Mossad, has been accused of war crimes for her hard-line role in Operation Cast Lead. Palestine Solidarity Campaign leads protest at her visit and another act supporting Netanyahu’s government by the UK coalition (2 and 3). 4) Richard Irvine on the change in UK law on war criminals. (see also http://jfjfp.com/?p=25557)

The Arab Awakening has broken all the rigidities of regimes round the southern and esstern Mediterannean. In this (abbreviated) essay, Tony Klug clesely examines the options now facing Israel and the Palestininans – including Hamas which must, he says, ‘openly purge its Covenant of its virulently anti-Semitic content’

Sari Nusseibeh, professor of philosophy, president of the Al-Quds University and former PLO representative in Jerusalem, examines the political and religious traditions which a ‘Jewish state’ of Israel would either flout – or not wish to be part of

To collect and store water in the occupied West Bank there is a planning process. Israel has changed the laws to limit representation of local Palestinians in the process. Settler representation is guaranteed by military order. A disturbing document from the Swedish NGO Diakonia, http://www.diakonia.se/about.

The Knesset has passed the first stage of a bill bringing eemergency regulations into permanent law. State powers of detention , secret evidence, the burden of proof amongst other judicial procedures wil be changed in favour of state prosecutors and against the ‘suspect’ if the bill proceeds. Report from electronic intifada, followed by a ;position paper on the new bill from ACRI

Edward Said, born in Jerusalem in 1935, Palestinians’ “most powerful political voice” and ‘”the great intellectual of the twentieth century”‘ died on September 25th, 2003. Anthony Alessandrini takes this anniversary to examine the actions and rigorous ideas of this great Palestinian-American, especially on the necessary transformation from national to political consciousness in colonised countries

Using extensive public records Yaman Salahi set out to find out how the Israeli lobby works on campuses. Their wining and whining and dining with the Admin was no surprise, nor was the pro-Israeli lobby’s reliance on fallacies about anti-semitism. The lack of any effective opposition or pro-Palestinian lobbying was, however, a revelation.

A split has opened on Palestine at the UN between J Street, founded 2008 to press for American diplomatic leadership in resolving the Israel/Palestine conflict (3), and less-establishment peace groups, represented here by Tikkun, founded 1986 as a new voice for the Jewish left. (1) and their petition of support for the bid, (2)

If Obama has been ineffectual in forcing Israel to respect international law, he is stil the centre of hope for Americans wanting peace in the region and for Palestinians who remember the idea of becoming a member of the UN came from him Analyses from Robert Grenier, first and Daoud Kuttab second

Richard Silverstein weaves his way between those who hope or fear the BDS campaign will bring about the destruction of Israel to look at what long-term polling shows about the attitudes of Israeli Palestinians to Jews and to Israeliness

Deaths by terror weapons in Israel appear to cause far more outrage and news coverage than death by terror weapons in Gaza . Amena Saleem complained to the BBC. Follow their justification (you may lose the will to live). Below, a PSC report on the BBC’s averting of its attention to the 49 Palestinians killed in Gaza by the IDF in the first 110 days of this year. And scroll down to a report on the closure of Just Journalism, an organisation set up to expose supposed bias against Israel in the media

There are many good reasons for Israelis to support a sovereign Palestinian state; the Israeli Peace NGO Forum published 50 of them. Below, Gideon Levy argues that if Israel continues to say no, no, no to every Palestinian initiative for peace and justice in the land, it will stand speechless and nakedly alone in world opinion