Right of Conquest: A Racist Doctrine
After the most recent Gaza war, I was asked to make a presentation to a local service club concerning events in Israel and the Middle East. The presentation started with an introduction of the current […]
Colonialism
On Memory, Justice, and the Bones of Indigenous Children
In the Jewish faith, there is a saying when someone dies: “May their memory be a blessing.” When many people die, as in the case of settler-colonial regimes, fascist dictatorships, mass shootings, and so on, […]
War: How Conflict Shaped Us – Book Review
(War: How Conflict Shaped Us. Margaret MacMillan. Random House, New York. 2020.) I almost did not finish reading “War: How Conflict Shaped Us”. It is not worth reading, but I worked through it anyway. Which […]
In Joining the Coalition, Mansour Abbas Fragments the Palestinian Political Struggle
When Palestinians face the prospect of the colonization of the last remaining shards of their land by Israel, the answer is surely not collaboration with the right-wing apartheid state. And yet this is what Mansour […]
Israeli Settler-Colonialism Protects US Interests, Hence the Unconditional Support
The US will not get involved in the current government turbulence in Israel, but remains committed to the security of the settler-colonial state, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has declared. Her words are a […]
From Boarding Schools to Child Detention: The Lives of Children Matter
“Yes, I am thinking of Palestinian children and undocumented children as well,” mused Diné activist Melissa Tso. “They are literally being killed daily by these settler governments.” As “an essential part of [her] culture,” running […]
The Sad Saga Continues: Occupation and Oppression of Palestinians
Here we go again with yet another deadly and devastating Israeli military attack on Gaza that has captured the world’s attention. However, this current crisis is notably different in scope from the numerous previous major […]
Israel’s Celebration of Destruction, Dispossession and Desecration
On May 10 this year the state of Israel … but wait a moment … before we go any further … in talking about this state, its ‘independence’ was announced in 1948 by a colonial […]
Abbas Statements are Complicit with Israeli Settler-Colonialism
Known for belatedly spouting known truths, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas was true to form in his address to the J Street conference recently, which revealed the extent of his collaboration with the international community over Palestine’s […]
Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery – Book Review
(Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery. Mark Charles, and Soon-Chan Rah. InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois. 2019.) The Doctrine of Discovery, created in a series of Papal Bulls in the […]
The Clandestine War on Africa: France’s Endgame in Mali
In a recent report, the United Nations Mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, concluded that, on January 3, French warplanes had struck a crowd attending a wedding in the remote village of Bounti, killing 22 […]
The Lion and the Eagle: The Interaction of the British and American Empires, 1783-1972 – Book Review
(The Lion and the Eagle – The Interaction of the British and American Empires 1783-1972. Kathleen Burk. Bloomsbury, London/New York, 2018) The 200-year historical span of Kathleen Burk’s “The Lion and the Eagle” shows the […]
Black Radical Politics, Palestine and Zionism: An Online Event with Prof. Rabab Abdulhadi
On March 25, 2021, at 10 AM MDT, the Amsterdam Centre for Middle Eastern Studies will present an online Facebook event entitled Black Radical Politics, Palestine and Zionism with Prof. Rabab Abdulhadi, Director and Senior […]
Palestine Solidarity Delivers Blow to JNF Colonialism
Score a small, but symbolically significant, victory for pro-Palestinian and anti-racist forces. The Jewish National Fund of Canada has been forced to rebrand and distance itself from its Israeli parent organization. Under pressure from Independent […]
Bible and Sword: England and Palestine from the Bronze Age to Balfour – Book Review
(Bible and Sword: England and Palestine from the Bronze Age to Balfour. Barbara Tuchmann. NYU Press, 1956; Preface, 1984; Random House, 2014) Part of history is reading historical documents, and it is in this […]
Short-term Financial Measures for Palestinians Will not Address Decades of Deprivation
Short-term funding initiatives for Palestinians provided without addressing Israel’s colonialism and military occupation have been proven to be a recipe for long-term failure. They simply do not address the decades of deprivation imposed upon the […]
Re-Marketing ‘Racist-Zionism’ and Manufacturing Double White Privilege-Plus
Zionist Colonialism Vs The Post-War Consensus. At just over the 52nd minute of the 1967 film thriller Funeral in Berlin’, a female character who’d been seducing British agent Harry Palmer (played by Michael Caine) confesses […]
American Empire: A Global History – Book Review
(American Empire: A Global History. A. G. Hopkins. Princeton University Press. Princeton & Oxford, 2018.) Most recent works on the United States accept that it is an empire, perhaps not in the traditional landholding sense, […]
On B’tselem’s Declaration: Israeli Apartheid from the River to the Sea
B’Tselem’s description of Israel as an apartheid state is valuable because B’Tselem, Israel’s leading human rights organization, is saying it. Otherwise, the reaction should of course it is. B’Tselem applies the word to all of […]
Fearing the Palestinian Narrative: Why Israel Banned ‘Jenin Jenin’
On January 11, the Israeli Lod District Court ruled against a Palestinian film-maker, Mohammad Bakri, ordering him to pay hefty compensation to an Israeli soldier who was accused, along with the Israeli military, of carrying […]
Abbas is Exploiting Palestinian Reconciliation and Unity Efforts
After returning to security coordination with Israel just days after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the US presidential election, the Palestinian Authority wasted no time in reassuring the international community that it was […]
‘Public Lands are Stolen Lands’: On the Necessity of Networking in 2021
“Anti-imperialist politics also have to speak to the conditions of people in the US,” writes Onyesonwu Chatoyer, “if you want to win people in the US to anti-imperialism.” A cadre with the All-African People’s Revolutionary […]
‘What Binds Us Together’: On What It Means to Support Indigenous Liberation
In a recent interview with Michael Arria, Sumaya Awad and Brian Bean discuss their book Palestine: A Socialist Introduction (2020). The collection argues that socialism should be viewed as an important element in the struggle […]
‘No Thanks, No Giving’ in the Time of the Coronavirus
In November 2018 Nick Estes of The Red Nation—Albuquerque invited friends to a pot-luck and teach-in that was to be an alternative to the “genocidal” holiday of Thanksgiving. Modeled on the National Day of Mourning, […]
Palestinian Court Holds First Session in Lawsuit against UK over Balfour Declaration
A Palestinian court yesterday held the first session to review a lawsuit filed against the British government over its crimes in Palestine during the British Mandate between 1917- 1948 and the Balfour Declaration which promised […]
Palestinians Don’t Need a ‘Victim Status’ They Have a Right to an Anti-colonial Struggle
The US-Israeli narrative on Palestine goes a step further than the designated humanitarian label which the international community imposed upon the Palestinian people. As US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman predicted that up to ten […]
Wealth and Power (PART I): Understanding Colonialism
(Wealth and Power: Global Transformation and Destruction 1492 to 2020 Part 1: Understanding Colonialism and the impoverishment of the world and the enrichment of Western Europe) This is a history blog… Unlike any history you […]
German Hypocrisy: The Left and Israel
Oxford Dictionary defines “hypocrisy” as a “behavior that does not meet the moral standards or match the opinions that somebody claims to have.” Transposed to the concrete issue of Palestine within political discourse in Germany, […]
Wealth and Power: Global Transformation and Destruction 1492 to 2020 (Preface)
(Wealth and Power: Global Transformation and Destruction 1492 to 2020. Roger Van Zwanenberg.) The global relations of power were altered fundamentally after these 30 turbulent years. In 1914 Britain was the world’s leading industrial state. […]
Hands off Lebanon: Macron’s Self-serving ‘New Pact’ Must Be Shunned
French President, Emmanuel Macron, is in no position to pontificate to Lebanon about the need for political and economic reforms. Just as thousands of Lebanese took to the streets of Beirut demanding “revenge” against the […]
