Palestine/Israel
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Israel: confronting its dreamscape
The ground is shifting, the habitual reference points obscured. What seemed entrenched, is now dislodged. Israel is in flux, somehow lost to itself, as countervailing forces and tendencies rise to the surface to vie with each other. Things are falling apart, there is at present no centre to hold. The spark that lit the… Continue reading
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Israel’s democracy: strange fruit
Israel is a country in denial. That is to say, it is a country which has obscured from itself its own nature; and until now, it has been adept at that. But the protective carapace of self-delusion is now under considerable strain. Shattered. Perhaps beyond repair. But not admitted, faced-up to. Purportedly liberal, primarily Ashkenazi,… Continue reading
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Two-state solution: Not a policy, more a futile prayer
A couple of blog articles ago, I wished the two-state solution, the two-state notional solution, good riddance. And, in summary, I adduced some of the reasons why, ethically and practically, it could no longer even masquerade as a feasible approach to ‘solving’ the Palestinian/Israel situation. Yet, like a family unwilling to withdraw treatment from a… Continue reading
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Just numbers?
Some numbers: 17, 15, 16, 14, 17, 17, 17, 16, 10, 16, 16, 14, 17, 16, 17, 15, 14, 14, 17, 15, 17,11, 8, 5, 17,10, 5, 16, 2. Twenty-nine numbers. Added together, they come to 401. Those numbers can be expressed as an average. Do that, and the answer is 13.8. In addition, when… Continue reading
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Good riddance: two state ‘solution’ is dead
The two-state solution is dead, notwithstanding that various governments, the EU, the Palestinian Authority, along with sundry organisations, Jewish and not, tenaciously cling to what was always an ill-conceived, unjust idea. For many, the reasons for now proclaiming the ‘solution’ dead beyond the possibility of resurrection, tend to focus on what might be characterised as… Continue reading
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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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Israel: Trapped in an oxymoron
Readers may need to be reminded: There are Palestinians living in the state of Israel. One could be forgiven for not appreciating this given the way UK mainstream media reports the so-called ‘democratic’ protests within Israel. But the truth needs to be told: Palestinians comprise around 20% of the population of the state, rising to… Continue reading
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Israelis protest – for some, not all
So, Israelis know how to protest. They can be roused. Generally quiescent and indifferent to burning injustices – the murderous iniquities – that their state daily perpetrates against Palestinians, when their own interests are pricked, they know how to yelp. And yelp they do, furious at the impending curtailment of their freedoms, the potential diluting… 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
About Me
This is Bernard Spiegal’s blog.
I write mainly about Palestine/Israel and related issues; sometimes other stuff too
Bernard Spiegal 