Tag Archives: gaza

The International Criminal Court (the ICC) reminds me of a movie monster that, despite being killed, simply won’t stay dead. After repeated efforts to investigate Israel’s purported “war crimes” and “human rights abuses”, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda declared that she will not be rushed into investigating Israel. Yet here we …

Life is not simple for Israel, and we delude ourselves when we imagine it is. Always there is the unexpected, the undertow, the splash in the face. ~~~ Particularly is this the case with political issues. Today I want to look at Israeli sovereignty, a very political issue. All of …

Making sense of a world that seems more convoluted day by day is impossible.  None-the-less, I’m going to give it my best shot.  Be sure to read to the end for two good news items that will provide a badly needed smile and a bit of uplift. ~~~~~~~~~~ We look first …

In May 2016 I spoke at a panel event on the possibility of a two state solution.  My talk focused on the key issue of the entire conflict – the reason the ‘Palestinian refugee’ situation can never end.  At the time I called for the ridiculous definition of a Palestinian …

Some individuals serve as terrorist entrepreneurs or enablers, working with multiple militant organizations of different backgrounds. Mohammed al-Zawari, an engineer who contributed to drone arsenals for both Hamas and Hizballah, was a notable example of a cross-group terrorist enabler until 2016, when Israel allegedly killed him in Tunisia. On Wednesday, …

On March 30, 2020, the Toronto Star wrote an article “Fearing Gaza coronavirus spread, Hamas preps for mass quarantines” which painted Hamas as a reasonable and responsible government caring for its citizens. The article opened with a woman returning to Gaza from Egypt who was surprised that Hamas had set …

The Times ran an exclusive in May 2018 about a young child, an aspiring footballer in Gaza being shot whilst playing football with his friends. A few months later the World Health Organisation (WHO) published an embellished version on their website -having the Israeli soldier deliberately shoot the child after …

  Seize the day!!  Do not let it pass. The poll numbers are shifting in favor of the right wing bloc.  It appears that this bloc may require only three additional mandates in order to win the election. The votes for winning are there: but they must be registered at …

Perhaps we truly are on the verge of significant positive changes.  But then again, we may be facing only frustration and stagnation.  It’s difficult to call on several counts. I am speaking, first, about the election which is now – yikes! – less than two weeks away. It’s difficult to …

The background to this post is the “Deal of the Century” peace deal from President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner and several other Administration officials.  Their hearts were in the right place, and the initial reaction of most Israelis was that this is practically Mashiachzeit – the days of the Messiah. …

Hamas and pro-Hamas outlets are conducting an online campaign to help Jeremy Corbyn win the election. A Hamas propaganda outfit deploys armies of trolls to attack Jewish campaigners fighting antisemitism, they support Corbyn online, help to create pro-Corbyn trends and vote for him in online polls. Take the account, KhamakarPress. …

Indictments, political logjams, intensifying drum beats of potential conflicts on multiple borders: we are awash in confusion, uncertainty and the potential for paralysis. It is exactly because we are in unprecedented, uncharted and therefore frightening waters that we need to take a collective deep breath, step back and employ the …

This post is not going to be a regular Good News post though it will contain what I consider several good news items.  In any event the news keeps overtaking me before I can get around to writing a post.  The one thing I am not going to write about …

“Such a missile would pulverize a house to dust. It blasted a crater that is impossible to describe… There is no protection that defend us in the case of missiles like this.” – Gaza-border resident    I have written on Gaza in my last two columns—one just before the latest …

Delaying the inevitable does not make it less inevitable—only more costly   The targeted assassination of the senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist, Bahaa Abu al-Ata, strikingly underscored two—curiously contrary—things. The paradox of Israel: Techno-tactical genius; strategic imbecility. The one is Israel’s remarkable expertise and aptitude at the techno-tactical level that …

I had not planned to post again so soon, but when a crisis arises, there is no time to delay. I write now to inform my readers of the realities on the ground. I ask that you, in turn, share this in order to inform others. The situation that I …

  Since the early 1990s, and certainly since the Oslo process (1993), the ‘Land for peace’ principle  has been Israel’s dominant policy paradigm, particularly, but not exclusively, with regard to the “Palestinian problem”.  This is something that is difficult to comprehend.  After all, not only was it a formula that …

The first day of school was a wonderful opportunity for the 70 year-old temporary United Nations agency to show pictures of children and ask for money. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) wrote about the 532,000 UNRWA students who went back to school, part of the “5.4 million …

Of all the policy paradigms for the resolution of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian-Arabs, incentivized Arab emigration is the most humane if it succeeds and least inhumane if it does not.  “Past attempts to encourage Palestinians to voluntary emigrate have always failed, so time and effort would be …

FACT. For many centuries, Palestine was a sparsely populated, poorly cultivated, and widely neglected expanse of eroded hills, sandy deserts, and malarial marshes.  This was Mark Twain’s description when he visited in 1867: A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds—a silent mournful …