It may sound like an ironic joke, but it isn鈥檛. Less than a week after the huge rallies in defence of 鈥渇ree expression鈥 after the murders of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, French authorities have jailed a youth for irony. The arrest is part of a harsh crackdown on free speech in the country that has prompted criticism from national and international human rights groups.
Ali Abunimah
If military victory and strength are measured by the number of civilians, , that an army can and slaughter with sophisticated machines, then there is no doubt that Israel is winning in Gaza 鈥 and has always been the winner in Palestine.
Since the bodies of three missing Israeli youths were discovered in the occupied West Bank on Monday, Israeli politicians have whipped the public up with for 鈥渞evenge.鈥
The US government has reaffirmed its 鈥渄eep respect for the Israeli army鈥檚 moral code鈥 days after video emerged of a cold-blooded Israeli sniper killings two Palestinian boys.
The tributes and praise from various world leaders, including US President Barack Obama and Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, for Israeli war criminal Ariel Sharon who died on January 11, are vile but sadly predictable.
But probably the most distasteful of all comes from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who 鈥渟addened by the death of Ariel Sharon鈥.
I was introduced to Gazan hip-hop act Revolution Makers when I saw them perform in Gaza City during PalFest in May.
The 鈥減eace process鈥 between Israel and the Palestinians that began with the signing of accords in Oslo, Norway, 20 years ago last month was widely celebrated at the time as an important step toward establishing a 鈥渧iable Palestinian state鈥.
But in the two decades since, the Palestinian economy has been further decimated. Israel has expanded its Jewish-only settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza has been subjected to a suffocating siege and regular military strikes.
In short, conditions for Palestinians have worsened, and Israel's colonial domination has been enhanced.
For the first time ever, the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party in South Africa, today made the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) on Israel part of its official policy.
Mbuyiseni Ndlozi of BDS South Africa said the decision 鈥渂y the ANC鈥檚 National Conference, its highest decision making body, is by far the most authoritative endorsement of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel campaign鈥.
A call by 62 top football players, many from English Premier League and first division teams in Europe, condemned Israel鈥檚 recent attack on Gaza and the decision by UEFA, the European football federation, to hold its 2013 Under 21 tournament in Israel.
The call has received wide and favourable coverage. This takes the Palestinian campaign for the boycott of Israel, especially the sporting boycott, to new levels of international mainstream prominence and legitimacy.
In a clear indication of Israel鈥檚 shocking callousness and disregard for civilian lives, that most of those killed and injured in 鈥渄eserved it.鈥
The that suggested UN-run schools in Gaza were used as rocket launching bases after the (UNRWA) strongly denied the allegations.
US Republican presidential nominee with his claims in Jerusalem that the vast (20:1) disparity in income between Israelis and Palestinians can be explained by a superior Jewish Israeli culture and 鈥渢he hand of providence鈥 鈥 rather than by the systematic depradations of Israeli occupation on the economy of Palestinians.
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