Skip to main content

That Israeli Occuption. A call for action and the means for doing so....



Palestinian woman looks at member of Israeli security forces at Qalandia checkpoint. Palestinians wait to cross from West Bank to Jerusalem for Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, July 3, 2015.Abbas Momani, AFP Photo
More than an "interesting" op-ed piece "Amos Oz, to the Barricades: How to Bring Down the Occupation" in Haaretz - and, in reality, a challenge - on some constructive ways in which to bring about the end of what is now 50 years of occupation by Israel of Palestinian lands and its people.

"This is a proposal for action. It is based on three principles: One, what’s needed is a mass movement with the active involvement of Israeli VIPs. Two, law-abiding marches and petitions by themselves aren’t enough; the peace camp has to start raising some non-violent hell, and keep it up. Three, the goal is to rattle the Israeli political establishment, fire up anti-occupation sentiment abroad that will translate into pressure on Israel, and ultimately lead an Israeli government to sign off on a genuine two-state solution – one in which Palestine enjoys the same independence and sovereignty as that enjoyed by Israel and every other state worth the name.

The public figures mentioned above weren’t picked out of the air; they’re among the nearly 500 Israeli notables who endorsed a new NGO called “Save Israel, Stop Occupation.” SISO has the right goal and the right names, but what’s missing is ideas for action that could generate some heat. The organization suggests that supporters organize film screenings, art/photography exhibits, meetings with Israeli diplomats, campus and synagogue events, rallies. I’m sorry, but that alone won’t do it. Something much, much stronger is required."








Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Robert Fisk's predictions for the Middle East in 2013

There is no gain-saying that Robert Fisk, fiercely independent and feisty to boot, is the veteran journalist and author covering the Middle East. Who doesn't he know or hasn't he met over the years in reporting from Beirut - where he lives?  In his latest op-ed piece for The Independent he lays out his predictions for the Middle East for 2013. Read the piece in full, here - well worthwhile - but an extract... "Never make predictions in the Middle East. My crystal ball broke long ago. But predicting the region has an honourable pedigree. “An Arab movement, newly-risen, is looming in the distance,” a French traveller to the Gulf and Baghdad wrote in 1883, “and a race hitherto downtrodden will presently claim its due place in the destinies of Islam.” A year earlier, a British diplomat in Jeddah confided that “it is within my knowledge... that the idea of freedom does at present agitate some minds even in Mecca...” So let’s say this for 2013: the “Arab Awakening” (the t...

The NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) goes on hold.....because of one non-Treaty member (Israel)

Isn't there something radically wrong here?    Israel, a non-signatory to the NPT has, evidently, been the cause for those countries that are Treaty members, notably Canada, the US and the UK, after 4 weeks of negotiation, effectively blocking off any meaningful progress in ensuring the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.    IPS reports ..... "After nearly four weeks of negotiations, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference ended in a predictable outcome: a text overwhelmingly reflecting the views and interests of the nuclear-armed states and some of their nuclear-dependent allies. “The process to develop the draft Review Conference outcome document was anti-democratic and nontransparent,” Ray Acheson, director, Reaching Critical Will, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), told IPS. “This Review Conference has demonstrated beyond any doubt that continuing to rely on the nuclear-armed states or their nuclear-de...

#1 Prize for a bizarre story.....and lying!

No comment called for in this piece from CommonDreams: Another young black man: The strange sad case of 21-year-old Chavis Carter. Police in Jonesboro, Arkansas  stopped  him and two friends, found some marijuana, searched put Carter, then put him handcuffed  behind his back  into their patrol car, where they say he  shot himself  in the head with a gun they failed to find. The FBI is investigating. Police Chief Michael Yates, who stands behind his officers' story,  says in an interview  that the death is "definitely bizarre and defies logic at first glance." You think?