Occupied Territory
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A willed desire not to know
At various points over the years of this blog, I’ve asked whether Israel has the internal resources – psychological, ethical, social, spiritual – to take a critical view of itself, and its founding ideology, Zionism. Thus far, it has not developed such a capacity. In a way, this is not surprising, for so pervasive is Continue reading
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Archbishop Welby and the Chief Rabbi : Conjoined in error
I’m a Jewish member of the Lambeth Witness Group (LWG), which is part of the wider organisation the Campaign against Misrepresentation in Public Affairs, Information and the News. Otherwise known as CAMPAIN (without a ‘g’). On the 25 June, the LWG congregated outside Westminster Abbey to give voice, though a series of speeches, to our Continue reading
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State policy: dispossession, displacement, demolition
A state founded on an oxymoron – that Israel can be both democratic and yet in the exclusive control of one ethnonationalist group, in this case Israeli Jews – is unlikely to have a developed sense of irony. Irony, after all, requires, at a bare minimum, a capacity to notice a contradiction when it’s staring Continue reading
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Playing with death – Palestinian childhoods
Traditionally, this site has been concerned with children and their freedoms. More recently, it has also focused on the conflict in Palestine/Israel. The two subjects distressingly combine in todays’s Daily Telegraph report. Something hidden, obscured or ignored now starkly highlighted: More children than Palestinian fighters are being killed in the offensive on Gaza. The name, Continue reading
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2019 Eurovision Song Contest – Songwashing occupation, discrimination, apartheid
Tel Aviv is to host the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest What’s Tel Aviv like? This from Business Insider: ‘From the Mediterranean shores of Tel Aviv, Israel’s fraught geopolitical position is almost non-existent. Tourists and locals alike sip Goldstar, Israel’s ubiquitous dark lager, as the waves roll in and out. Children laugh and splash in the Continue reading
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Palestine/Israel: Reflections on a visit
Extract: War on Want Briefing to MPs Israel’s use of military force against Palestinian civilians is a prominent feature of its occupation regime. This militarised repression of the Palestinian people extends beyond the scenes of checkpoints and bombings we have unfortunately become accustomed to; Israel’s military and security services maintain an intense regime of surveillance, Continue reading
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Palestine/Israel: What oppression looks like
I have just returned from a trip to Palestine/Israel. My purpose: to understand more; to interview/have conversations with people; to report back to those who might already be interested and, fond hope, to encourage more widespread interest – and action. The bulk of my time was spent in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), taking the Continue reading
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So what’s new? Israel’s Nationality Law
Israel’s parliament (Knesset) has this July passed its Nationality Law by sixty two votes to fifty five. In brief, it enshrines, and in effect crows about, Israel’s status as an apartheid state. The law confirms that ‘Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and they have an exclusive right to national self-determination in Continue reading
About Me
This is Bernard Spiegal’s blog.
I write mainly about Palestine/Israel and related issues; sometimes other stuff too
Bernard Spiegal 