Ken Livingstone, candidate to be London Mayor, has decided that the better course is apology and thus sought to defuse the row – energetically stirred by the Jewish Chronicle and taken up by Jonathan Freedland – over his remark about rich Jews. Antony Lerman considers what this means about who we vote for and why.

Marwan Barghouti, in prison since 2002 for terrorist offences after what was widely regarded as a show trial, has issued a call for a mass popular uprising and an end to all co-operation with Israel. As the most popular unofficial leader, he may provide the political programme for Palestinian resistance suggests Uri Avnery.

At J Street’s annual conference this week, Amos Oz spoke of the need for compromise given the diversity of views on Israel and Zionism and warned against the demand to unite behind AIPAC’s aggressive banner (Ynet, 1). J Street’s members emphasised that their opposition to war with Iran and support for a peace agreement put them more in touch with the majority of American Jews (NY Times, 2).

A group of leading theatre people have renewed the protest at the invitation to Habima by Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to perform in the London Globe to Globe festival in May. Their letter to the Guardian points out that by putting on shows for the settlements, Habima is practising a policy of exclusion and complicity with human rights violations.

Often wrongly referred to as ‘the Jewish lobby’, the popular pro-Israel lobby in the US is largely made up of Christian evangelicals. Like some Orthodox Jews, they say this is because it is biblical prophesy that Jews are destined to occupy the whole land from Jordan to the sea. Charting the shift from suspicion to embrace, Shmuel Rosner wonders if Israelis should continue to look this gift-horse in the mouth.

US officials believe that ‘a series of quiet political and military understandings’ has given Israel access to Azerbaijan’s airfields. It is assumed this would allow Israeli aircraft to land after a bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities without having to refuel in the air. Mark Perry reports. Pictures from Ynet news. The governments of Iran and Azerbaijan have both denied the story.

After Toulouse: French antisemitism in the 1880s gave birth to Zonism and the passion for a safe homeland; continued antisemitism can only strengthen support for Israel and damage support for Palestinians write Charles Glass (1). Jytte Klausen dispels the idea that Mohamed Merah was an unknown loner. He was, in fact, a member of a functioning jihadist network doing everythng by the Al Qaeda textbook (2).

Three of the young Israelis who have most recently refused to do military service because they will not enforce the occupation. They all believe that military service bears no connection to the idealised image of the IDF as the people’s servant and protector. They all expect to be sent to prison.

Now widely seen as the ideology of Jewish domination in Israel/Palestine, Zionism has not been in such bad odour since the term was coined in the 1880s. Does the qualification of ‘Liberal’ make Zionism an acceptable aspiration for Jews seeking a safe, self-determining, homeland? Or are the conflicts between Jewish supremacy and democracy too great? Rebecca Steinfeld and Hannah Weisfeld debate.

A new philosemitism is being spoken across Europe by those who admire Israel’s power and hate Muslims writes Anne Karpf. They are as dependent on racial caricatures and as hostile to multi-ethnic societies as the old antisemites.

The ‘independent’ Jewish Agency, whose job was once to help Jews move to Israel, has changed its role to become ‘first responder to crises in Israel’ amongst other things (2). This means, says Richard Silverstein (1), prowling the social media to find enemies whom they can ‘skewer’. They found one in the UN’s Khulood Badawi – until their rebuttal was rebutted with some facts.

Friday, 30th March, is Land Day, commemorating protests in 1976 at the Israeli government’s announcement of the expropriation of much Palestinian land for “security and settlement purposes”. A Global March on Jerusalem aims to arrive in Jerusalem on that day (1). Mustafa Barghouti explains why he supports it (3) The IDF plans to repel it (2).

On 4 April last year, a masked gunman killed Juliano Mer-Khamis, the charismatic founder of the Freedom Theatre in Jenin. The assassin has not been found, despite the investigations of four different agencies. His work aroused opposition from both Palestinians and Israelis. But it created an experience of liberation for the young Palestinians who joined the drama school. Killian Fox investigates the theatre’s past and future.

Now in her sixth week of a hunger strike in protest against being imprisoned without trial, Hana Shalabi is extremely weak. An appeal was lodged against her continued detention but the military court in charge of her fate rejected it on Sunday, the day after a large rally in her support in Gaza City. Plus, Tel Aviv lecturer to be investigated for support for Shalabi

There has been extensive commentary and interpretation of the Toulouse killings carried out in the name of avenging Palestinian children. Inevitably each of the articles reposted here reflects the writer’s existing views about violence, hatred and/or Muslim Jewish relationships.

Accused by the McCarthyite Im Tirzu group of being an enemy of the state, Dr. Anat Matar is now to be investigated by Tel Aviv university, where she is a senior lecturer in the philosophy department. She took part in a demonstration of solidarity with Hana Shalabi (see post below).

Last Monday hundreds of fans of Beitar football team launched a violent attack on Arab cleaners in a shopping mall, screaming and yelling ‘death to Arabs’. Police say no-one arrested because no-one complained. The shocking incident passed almost unremarked as media and politicians had more important things to notice – see posting below. Video link to incident – turn your volume control down.

At a United Nations Relief and Works Agency conference on March 19 on Palestine Refugees in the Changing Middle East, Catherine Ashton spoke of the tragic deaths of children in the last week. Her remarks were motherly if not anodyne. But by referring to Gaza she found herself accused of using her power to isolate Israel. Many reports, harshest first, make up your own mind.

The Palestinian Authority has asked the UN Human Rights Council to conduct a formal inquiry into the impact of the settlements on Palestinians. Egypt has added its voice to this request. Israel has dismissed it as a move by the PA to avoid negotiations.

Different reasons have been given for the Israeli attack on Gaza on March 9th, which left 23 Palestinians dead but no Israelis from the return rocket barrage. Here Neve Gordon suggests the most likely is that the Israeli government used it to send a message to Iran: we can attack you with impunity as any return assault from you will wither in the air.