So why aren’t there any Arabs in the Israel Philharmonic?
ONE out of every five people that live in Israeli is an Arab. Yet the same surely cannot be said of the 230 or more musicians and managers that work for the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Not only are we talking basic lack of proportionality here, but I have even read claims that not one single [...]
What the Palestine Papers say about Netanyahu
I AM not sure whether Benjamin Netanyahu coined the phrase ‘a partner for peace’ himself, but certainly he used the term about the administration he formed when taking up office as Israel’s prime minister in 2009. It has since then been widely bandied about by participants in Middle East politics, with both camps employing it [...]
WikiLeaks: new light on Operation Cast Lead
ISRAEL gave Egypt and the Palestinian Authority advance notice of Operation Cast Lead, asking both of them to run the show in the Gaza Strip once Hamas was deposed, according to one of the diplomatic cables published in Sunday by WikiLeaks. We all know what happened next. Some 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed during [...]
The legality of Israel’s attack on Mavi Marmaris
ISRAEL attack on humanitarian aid vessel Mavi Marmaris was ‘perfectly legal, perfectly humane and very responsible’, the country’s ambassador to the US has insisted. Michael Oren even adds: ‘Israel acted in accord with international law. Any state has the right to protect itself, certainly from a terrorist threat such as Hamas, including on the open [...]
After the Gaza convoy killings: the roadblock to the roadmap
ISRAEL seemingly revels in brutality to a degree without current parallel among democratic nations. Time after time, its actions underline a determination to ignore the standard strictures that constrain states to use only the minimum degree of force rightly or wrongly considered consistent with legitimate national interests. Instead, it seems willfully to rejoice in exceeding [...]
Israel/Palestine: the settlements are unsustainable, and Netanyahu knows it
ISRAEL’S announcement of plans for 1,600 new settler housing units in illegally occupied Palestinian territory has triggered both stern condemnation from Washington and rioting on the streets of East Jerusalem. And just to highlight their heartfelt regret over these adverse reactions, the Israeli authorities have today confirmed their desire to build 300 more. It is [...]
1985 JSoc ban: update
UNSURPRISINGLY, the debate over the 1985 JSoc ban campaign and my walk-on part in the affair continues to rumble on, even a week after the original post. The article has been reproduced by Jews for Justice for Palestinians here, while Mira Vogel gives her gloss on the topic on the Engage website. For those that [...]
Jewish student groups: the 1985 banning campaign
A MOMENT from my past has just caught up with me. Last week I received an email from Dave Rich of the Community Security Trust, the Jewish-led charity that monitors anti-semitism in Britain. Rich informed me that the CST is currently researching the campaign conducted 25 years ago - with the involvement of at least some Socialist Worker Student [...]
Should unions boycott Israel?
Decisions by the National Union of Journalists and the University and College Union to boycott Israel have generated media coverage worldwide. Unison will shortly vote on the issue too. David Cameron is in no doubt who the prime movers are, according to the Jerusalem Post. Speaking at a recent Conservative Friends of Israel meeting, the [...]
