Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not my cup of tea, to say the least. I look at him and see an Iranian version of one of our Shas politicians, and I don’t like them, or their political-religious fundamentalism either. His human rights record isn’t great; he is a lousy president; the Iranian people would do well to get rid of him.

So I am not going to defend him or make apologies for him – even though he has never threatened to destroy Israelis, and, needless to say, he has never threatened to wipe Israel off the map.

Tony Lerman writes in Comment is Free, 2 April 2009

The control Israel exerts on Gaza and the West Bank suggests time is running out for proponents of a two-state solution

Critics of the one-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict see it, at best, as utopian and unachievable, and at worst, as the dismantling of Israel, the denial of the right of Jewish self-determination and the ultimate expression of the new antisemitism… There’s something surreal about all of this, about both the fulminations of the critics and the theoretical scenarios of the advocates. And that’s because we’re already there: one state exists.

A list of Israeli Press Contacts for ‘Letters to the Editor’

A useful list of useful email, phone, fax nos and addresses compiled by New Profile, April 2009

A research paper prepared for the Sir Joseph Hotung Programme for Law, Human Rights and Peace Building in the Middle East, SOAS, University of London, by Profundo economic research. Published February 2009

“The UK Foreign Office will no longer rent from Lev Leviev. Now other states must also boycott this builder of illegal settlements” Abe Hayeem of Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine writes in Comment is Free, 26 April 2009.

THE CASE FOR A NEW JFJFP BOYCOTT STRATEGY

By Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi and Deborah Fink

THE CASE AGAINST A NEW JFJFP BOYCOTT STRATEGY

The first of two background papers, by Richard Kuper.

Here we present a summary of two papers advocating opposing positions with regard to JfJfP’s BDS strategy.

House demolitions in East Jerusalem continue to make the news and below you can find a small selection, bringing you up to date. We suggest a response, including writing to Tony Blair, who said that the Palestinians should have a capital in East Jerusalem. Our fear is that these are yet more words, but without action. Also find a link to Jennie Stoller’s reading of Seven Jewish Children on The Guardian website.

A JfJfP website exclusive! Durban 1 The controversial UN World Conference against Racism, held from 31 August to 8 September 2001 in Durban, took place in the shadow of the ‘second intifada’ which had begun almost a year earlier following the collapse of the Oslo process. No one disputes that it provided a platform for […]

April 23, 2009 (Jerusalem) – The Israeli military’s findings about the conduct of its forces in Gaza, announced on April 22, lack credibility and confirm the need for an impartial international inquiry into alleged violations by both Israel and Hamas, Human Rights Watch said today.
See also: Statement by Israeli Human Rights organizations in response to IDF exonerating itself (posted 22 April)

His name was Basem

April 20, 2009

His name was Basem, which means smile, and that is how he greeted everyone. But we all called him ‘Pheel’, which means elephant because he had the body the size of an elephant. But Basem had the heart of a child.

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights Press Conference Announces Publication of 2008 Annual Report; Details Human Rights Violations Committed by Palestinians and Israelis

Gush Shalom Press Release April 27, 2009 (and Jewish Peace News update, same day)

Uri Avnery: Police offensive against New Profile activists – a violation of the Freedom of Speech. This assault on the adherents of peace and democracy follows after Lieberman took over the police and state prosecution.

Read the full Gush Shlom press release and add your voice to the protest organised by Jewish Voice for Peace now

Farid Esack, a muslim scholar, was a United Democratic Movment activist in the Cape in the struggle against apartheid in the eighties. In a long Open Letter he draws comparison between the experiences in South Africa and those of the Palestinians and writes: “We as South Africans resisting Apartheid understood the invaluable role of international […]

I AM not saying that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is an agent of the Mossad.

Absolutely not. I don’t want to be sued for libel.

I am only saying that were he an agent of the Mossad, he would not behave any differently.

And also: If he did not exist, the Mossad would have had to invent him.

Either way, the assistance he is giving to the government of Israel is invaluable.

“IDF entertainment group singing Israel’s favourite songs” is to perfartsdepot_logoorm at artsdepot this Tuesday, 28 April at 8 pm. More info below.

This propaganda stunt for the Israeli army, so close after the Israeli military offensive in Gaza, is unacceptable. While Palestinians are dying in Gaza because of the siege imposed by the Israeli army, the planned Israel 61 celebrations is like dancing on their graves.

Prog Stephen Zunes tries to make sense of the US decision to boycott Durban II, despite an agreed declaration in advance of the conference that had dropped a call to ban “defamation of religion,” which raised concerns regarding restricting free speech, as well as any references to Israel and Palestine.

From Middle East Online, the EU have responded to the invasion of Gaza and the formation of  government whose commitment to the peace process is in doubt in a way that allows the EU to talk tough on the issue – will they follow through with action?