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December 4, 2021. Tuba, South Hebron Hills (David Shulman)
A richly evocative article in words and pictures. It connects readers, as much as any medium can, to the lived experience of the villagers, and Israeli activists supporting them, as they suffer and resist the brutalities of the agents of the Israeli state. Touching Photographs Tuba in 2018. credit: Margaret Olin It’s 8:00 on a… Continue reading
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Palestine, Israel and the Labour Party: Is it racism that I see?
Labour Party leader, Keir Starmer, struck the right tone in his tribute to Archbishop Desmond Tutu who died on the 26 December 2021. He described Tutu as: ‘a tower of a man and a leader of moral activism’ who ‘dedicated his life to tackling injustice and standing up for the oppressed…’His impact on the world… Continue reading
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Hamas and the politics of silencing
It is not to be supposed the British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, in announcing her ban on the political wing of Hamas, that she based her proposed policy on a dispassionate, objective consideration of Palestine/Israel issues. Rather, her motivations are in part domestic, the proposed ban pandering to the strong UK Zionist lobby, not least… Continue reading
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As Olive Harvest Begins, Israeli Soldiers Prevent Palestinians From Reaching Their Groves
I reproduce without comment an article in Haaretz by Amira Hass, dated 17 October 2021 When it isn’t the settlers who try to directly disrupt Palestinians’ olive picking, it’s the Israeli army that prevents it from taking place Mohammed al-Khatib from the village of Bil’in uses every opportunity he has to talk to soldiers, in… Continue reading
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Towards a Greater Israel
This blog is about a seven minute read. Snapshots Yesterday dozens of Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian community in the south Hebron hills. Accompanied by Israeli soldiers they invaded homes, smashing windows & causing massive damage. One of those injured was a 3 yr old Palestinian boy. This is what a pogrom looks like. … Continue reading
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As you sow, so shall you reap
Israel is a militaristic state. For many years[1] now, it has ranked first in the Global Militarisation Index (GMI). By way of contrast, the USA ranks twenty-seventh, the UK seventy-seventh. The GMI bases its rankings on a set of quantifiable indicators, for example, GMI compares a country’s military expenditure with its Gross Domestic Product, and… Continue reading
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August 20, 2021. Dir Jarir. Text and Photographs: David Shulman
‘Can a handful of adolescent criminals destroy an entire village? Yes, easily. Sadiq and Faris tell us the stories of the last few days…To put things simply: these shepherds and farmers are being relentlessly pushed farther and farther westward, away from their lands. We are talking about privately owned Palestinian land, with documents of ownership… Continue reading
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Israel’s voracious appetite
An inherent, defining feature of Zionism, and therefore of the Israeli state, is its appetite. An unrelenting, voracious appetite for that which is not theirs to consume: Palestinian land. Zionism is this appetite, an appetite not capable of satiation until all – or practically all – Palestinian land has been consumed and digested by the… Continue reading
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June 11, 2021: Taybeh Junction. Texts and Photographs: David Shulman
‘I don’t know if you have seen a family living in terror.’ A haunting evocation of the evil Israel daily visits upon Palestinian Bedouins counterpoised by the quiet courage and persistence of those that resist it. Touching Photographs I don’t know if you have seen a family living in terror. View original post 1,582 more… 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
About Me
This is Bernard Spiegal’s blog.
I write mainly about Palestine/Israel and related issues; sometimes other stuff too
Bernard Spiegal 