Former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband observes the stunted children, overcrowded schools, power cuts and wrecked buildings in Gaza, and deplores the irrationality of the inertia of all political agencies

A visitor from Abahlali, the Durban shack-dwellers’ movement,, witnesses a house demolition in Palestine, and makes connections with what oppresion means, from Palestine to South Africa and on….

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

Yet another lively political event at an American synagogue when a large audience came to discuss – and oppose – BDS (see post below). For the Israelis on the panel, the idea and practice of BDS made Palestinians both their leaders and their brothers in the struggle for Palestinian liberation

From being an idealistic admirer of Israel, Rae Ablieh, a Code Pink activist, visited the land she loved after Operation Cast Lead. Shock at the destruction she saw set her on a new path – disrupting Netanyahu in his visit to Congress , trying to break the siege of Gaza bearing witness. This is her synagogue address at a Rosh Hashanah service

At a conference in Tehran, Hamas leaders restate their view that Palestinian statehood can only follow Palestinian liberation, 1. Showing great consistency over the years, Khalid Mishaal, in a long interview in Palestine Studies in 2008, describes his tutelage in radical politics and Islam and his beliefs now. His views on violence were not mentioned

To the surprise of many, Monday’s news carried pictures of the occupation of Wall Street, with some banners calling for an end to military aid to Israel and deploring the oppression of Gazans. Blogger Max Ajl reports from the scene, and below, an interview with him . 3rd, a report links J14 with occupy wall street (http://occupywallst.org)

Last week we posted a Washington Post opinion piece by Robert Bernstein attacking the UN and Human Rights groups for their attitude to Israel and Palestine, and a rejoinder by the Economist: http://jfjfp.com/?p=25704. Here Mouin Rabbani of Jadaliyya adds his voice to the outrage. Wikipedia’s entry on Palestine Media Watch is at the bottom

On 30 August 24 professional musicians, several of them Jewish, published a letter calling on the BBC to cancel the Proms concert to be given by the Israeli Philharmonic (item 3). The four signatories in the LPO have been suspended for a year (news report, item 4) on the grounds politics and music don’t mix. !. Two Guardian music writers (1 and 2) point out the absurdity of this view

Three of many anniversary postings: in 1982 a camp in Lebanon for Palestinian and other refugees, surrounded by the IDF, was entered by a Phalangist militia who killed 800-3500 refugees. The horror of the event has been a potent factor for Palestinians demanding the right of return.

In this week of 9/11 commemorations, Antony Lerman looks at the conflation of Islamic terrorism, muslims, multi-culturalism, left-wing critiques of Israel (and its US backers)under the name ‘the new anti-semitism’ while actual, traditional anti-semitism is being white-washed from the Right’s public face

A month before Tony Judt’s death last year, Merav Michaeli interviewed the British Jewish historian about Israel (he tried living there but found it parochial, self-obsessed and always using violence as a first resort). His thoughts, centring on Jews and on the actions of states, are pessimistic, angry, invigorating

Palestinians do not want for themselves what Europeans want for them Polls (from 2010 and 2007) show a clear majority for a single democratic state, writes Mahmoud Musa, a critic of the PA. A second poll report shows nearly all Palestinians think Obama is biassed in favour of Israel

A 4-year-old child born in Israel has been expelled, with her mother, to Manila, despite ACRI’s best efforts. This report by ‘vatican insider’ claims the issue is a ‘hidden’ story. Haaretz has carried several reports on it, and this website posted a story from the (Jewish) Tablet on 4.6.11

A quiet court case reveals FBI wiretaps in the Israeli embassy – as Israel ranks just below China and Russia in its US spying operations, as NY Times reports, 1. Richard Silverstein of Tikun Olam was a bit player in the drama and his blogs on the US/Israel espionage world are 2nd and 3rd in this posting.

In Jerusalem, Dr. Elliott Colla is invited to see a prestigious film on the Israel/Palestine conflict – an embarrassment. A famous philosopher speaks – about national styles of toilets. The guests are invited for wine and pastries – full of broken glass. And the boycott? A comic-serious article.

Caught between hysteria at the prospect of ‘September’ and inertia as history moves on, Netanyahu’s government – and settlers – prepare for violence after the UN vote Thus they destroy hopes of reform writes Uvi Avnery

There are six articles in this post: 1) Larry Derfner’s account of his sacking by Jerusalem Post; 2) the apology he wrote for his post on Palestinian terrorism, 3) Mondoweiss’s republication of that post; 4) a defence of Derfner by Dimi Reider in +972 mag; 5) an attack on Derfner’s argument but defence of his right to post it, by Barry Rubin; 6) an attack on Derfner and his leftist supporters (obscene, abomination, satanic, new shoah) by Donald Douglas, American Power blog

Gary Wexler, marketing expert, asks why companies conceal the origin of Israeli products in the USA and concludes that they know what Israelis won’t face: Israel’s name reflects practices that consumers won’t buy. A selection of comments is included at the end