Occupied Palestinian Territory
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From October, Israel will be able to kill vaccinated children
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, reports that hundreds of thousands of Gaza’s children – 90% coverage – have received the first of two required polio vaccinations. The second round should take place at the end of September. So, come, say October/November, Israel will find comfort in the knowledge that the Gazan children it will continue… Continue reading
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Israel’s PR problem: Itself
The problem for proponents of Israel as a ‘normal’ state, is Israel itself. Over the past eleven months, Israel’s murderous, ethnic cleansing in Gaza, and now escalating in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, have been displayed on our screens for all to see. It is not a good look to destroy hospitals, kill and… Continue reading
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Cry Justice! A trashed international rules-based system
If ever there were an international rules-based system, it is trashed now. Drained of authority and meaning, it is singularly unable to do what it is supposed to do. The Geneva Conventions, upon which the rule of law is supposedly based, their high-principled intent now made mockery. Even as their courts pass judgment on Israel’s… Continue reading
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It’s Hezbollah. Or is it? Caution required
It hits you first: the grotesque hypocrisy of Prime Minister Netanyahu, responsible for the deaths and maiming of thousands of Palestinian children, expressing sympathy for the twelve Druze children killed at Majdal Shams, a Druze village in the Israel annexed Golan Heights. His heart, apparently, is broken. He emoted: Among the victims were young children… Continue reading
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What we see should not be possible to do
You’ll have noticed. It’s slipping away. Barely a news item now. A brief clip of the devastation, then reversion to ‘informed’ interviews and comment. Will there, won’t there, be a ceasefire? Who rejects a ceasefire? Who accepts a ceasefire? Like a tennis match, back and forth, the ball soaked in blood and viscera, spraying the… Continue reading
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Diaspora Jews and moral schizophrenia
It surely is paradoxical – ‘Paradox’ a person, thing, or situation that has two opposite features and therefore seems strange – that Jews in the UK live, prosper, and have the same civil, religious, and political rights as any other UK citizen. Yet, so many UK Jews support, often vehemently, a state – Israel –… Continue reading
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Palestine and the strategic indifference of the West
We are witnessing a process of strategic indifference to the fate of the Palestinians, in Gaza, of course, but also not to be forgotten in the escalation of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. By strategic indifference, I mean that the USA, the UK and the West in general, have demonstrated, only… Continue reading
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Israel does not have a right to exist – nor does any other state
People have the right to exist – not states. States are political formations, born out of the interaction of any number of factors – economic, ethnic, topographical, military, form of governance, and so forth. They are not sentient beings in any meaningful way. It is, therefore, simply a category mistake to assimilate the concept of… Continue reading
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Palestinian citizens of Israel and the politics of fragmentation
Little attention has been given to the position – the plight – of Palestinian citizens of Israel. This was always generally true. Since the 7th October, however, their position, always precarious and constrained, has worsened considerably. The Palestinian citizens of Israel, as those in the OPT, are also the victims of an Apartheid regime. In an… Continue reading
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Besottedness with Israel: It’s over
It’s over. The besottedness with Israel is drawing to a close. Among the general UK population, but particularly among younger generations, sympathy and support for Israel is plummeting, and the trajectory of disdain is heading ever downward. Thus, a poll conducted by YouGov and commissioned by Action For Humanity International reported on the 4 April… Continue reading
About Me
This is Bernard Spiegal’s blog.
I write mainly about Palestine/Israel and related issues; sometimes other stuff too
Recent Posts
- Sanctioning the settlements: A bullet bitten. A space opened up.
- Chief Rabbi Mirvis: Moral purpose shattered
- A charade and a reflection on relative time: Jewish Establishment meets with Foreign Secretary Miliband
- You don’t have to succumb to…
- Synod begins loosening the shackles that tied it to the pro-Israel Jewish Establishment
