Richard Falk: People must shame UN for quashing ‘apartheid Israel’ report

First published by the Middle East Monitor on 20/3/2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=fX1ESZYQ8Cc Professor Richard Falk, former UN special rapporteur for Palestine, was hosted in London by the Middle East Monitor yesterday as part of his book launch tour. He introduced his book “Palestine’s Horizon Toward a Just Peace” eloquently to a packed hall. He had earlier been …

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Could the Palestine-Israel conflict destroy the UN?

First published by the Arab Weekly on 15/1/2017 The vote on UN Security Council Resolution 2334 on the illegality of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestin­ian territories brought relations among the international body, Israel and the future US administration to a head. The United States unusually abstained on the resolution that criticised Israel while all other …

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Expecting more of the same for Palestinians

First published by the Arab Weekly on 25/12/2016 London - Palestinian Christians and Palestinian Muslims are looking back with deep concern at a year in which they saw their struggle for freedom and independence bat­tered. The Palestinians end the year with no sign of reconciliation be­tween the main political factions Hamas, which rules the Gaza …

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The UK’s new anti-Semitism definition is more about protecting Israel than British Jews

First published by the Middle East Eye on 13/12/2016 The definition makes anti-Semitism less about problems an individual or group has with Jews and more a refusal to accept Israeli policies _________________________________________________________________ Britain’s pro-Israel lobby has won a battle, but its win won’t help bring about the peace that Palestinians and Israelis crave. This week, …

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The Palestinians too should take back control of their destiny

First published by the Middle East Monitor on 12/12/2016 From the Middle East Monitor 2016 will be remembered for a new phrase that came to characterise popular uprisings against “the establishment” in the West. From the UK to the USA, “taking back control” struck a chord with the voters when it was adopted by Donald …

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Redefining anti-Semitism will not silence Palestinians’ struggle for justice

First published in the Middle East Eye on 19/10/2016 The UK home affairs select committee has fallen for the Israeli lobby's attempt to conflate criticising Israel with anti-Semitism I would not be writing this column in this way if the UK Parliament’s home affairs select committee had not dragged my homeland, Palestine, into the controversy surrounding …

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Israel trumps Arab and Muslim world’s influence on US presidential candidates

First published by the Middle East Monitor on 10 October 2016 image from the Middle East Monitor showing Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, the two US presidential candidates. As the United States’ presidential race enters its final stage, with elections due on 8 November, the two candidates have been making their final pitches to woo …

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Netanyahu turns to ‘ethnic cleansing’ and sophistry to justify Israel’s criminal acts

First published by the Middle East Monitor on 23/9/2016 Having failed to convince most of the world to accept its colonisation of Palestine, Israel has been busy redefining the long standing meaning of words and phrases in the hope that their new definition becomes the accepted norm. Words and phrases such as terror, anti-Semitism, security, …

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Britain should apologise for the Balfour Declaration, not ‘celebrate’ it

Published by the Middle East Monitor  6/8/2016 Image from Middle East Monitor The Balfour Declaration is a letter from the then British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Walter Rothschild, for transmission to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. The critical part of this short letter said: “His Majesty’s government view with favour the …

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Who singles out Israel, its critics or its apologists?

First published by the Middle East Eye 25/7/2016 Israel and its supporters often accuse supporters of Palestinian rights for unfairly singling Israel out for criticism. They suggest that with so many abusers of human rights around the world, the focus should be on them, with some suggesting that once all the other abusers have been …

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