ICAHD UK
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Diane Abbott misspoke. It’s not a hanging offence
So, she misspoke herself. Made a mistake, one she acknowledged. Not enough, though. Diane Abbott has also to be excoriated, accused of making antisemitic remarks in her letter to the Guardian responding to Tomiwa Owolade’s Observer article, ‘Racism in Britain is not a black and white issue’. Thus, Abbott acknowledged that Irish, Jewish and Travellers… Continue reading
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They too also weep
The pain is excruciating. Beyond bearing. You could see it in their faces. Their hands… Their hands touching… Touching their lifeless child, or the coffin that encloses them. The tears falling… A barren moisture, presaging no hope of future growth. Surely, it’s universal, a parent’s anguish in the face of their child’s life cut short. … Continue reading
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Normalcy in an abnormal world
Below I share a short article prompted by my recent (November 2022), relatively short trip, to Palestine/Israel. In this article I purposely resist too much comment, trusting that the incidents recorded speak for themselves. What I do emphasise – you could say the clue is in the title – is the events set out below… Continue reading
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Gaza
What might be the justification for denying children, or indeed adults, access to vital medical treatment? ‘Denied’ here meaning what it says: a decision, a calculated act, an expression of policy, a rule formulated, then enacted. The purpose? What could that be? How come that the rationally impossible task of squaring a circle is here… Continue reading
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As if their finger was on the trigger – its more than ‘complicity’
There are occasions when the power of words runs out. When the meanings we need them to carry, constitute too heavy a burden for them to bear. I was reminded of this when reading what is, to me, a richly evocative, deeply depressing, article by Mariam Barghouti in Mondoweiss. She is writing about a now… Continue reading
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Magical thinking: The two state solution
I was going to begin this article with a recitation of funeral rites – funeral rights for the Two State Solution, the notional way forward to resolving the Palestine/Israel impasse. That ‘solution’, at base, proposes there should be two states – a State of Israel alongside a newly minted State of Palestine – on… Continue reading
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Pro-Palestinian and Israel-critical voices silenced at the behest of a fragile ‘may’
It’s that word ‘may’ that tells you something fishy is going on. Something not quite right. Where the need is for certainty, for assurance that an idea, definition or policy can stand on its own two feet, ‘may’ suggests uncertainty, even evasiveness. A ‘may’ in a sentence prompts the thought, ‘well, maybe not’. Odd, then,… Continue reading
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‘We don’t need your tears – we have a lot of that from tear gas’. Israel and the role of International Civil Society
This article first appeared in 2021, but I thought it still relevant and worth republishing. The article now begins – in its title – and ends with a quote from Bassem Tamini. It’s in three parts. Some readers already familiar with the reports I cite in Part two and may wish to leapfrog to Part… Continue reading
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Freeing Palestine. Current strategies necessary. But sufficient?
Part one, in summary, looks at the nature of some of the threats that Israel-critical/Pro-Palestinian advocates confront. It then asks whether there is a need for more joined-up, durable approaches in responding to key threats, ones that so negatively affect the Palestinian cause. (3 minute read) Part two looks at some examples of the threats… Continue reading
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How shall we harm you? Let us count the ways. A partial inventory of Israel’s oppression against Palestinians
Shoot your children bullet-dead – no tear to our eyes ‘On average, Israeli forces and settlers killed 6 Palestinian children per month this [2021] year. ‘Israeli forces and armed Israeli civilians have killed 78 Palestinian minors in the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza, making 2021 the deadliest year on record for Palestinian children since… Continue reading
About Me
My name is Bernard Spiegal, I write mainly about Palestine/Israel and related issues; sometimes other stuff too
Bernard Spiegal 