"Israel Is Meant to Be Jewish and Democratic; It Cannot Be Both"

"Israel Is Meant to Be Jewish and Democratic; It Cannot Be Both"

    Monday, January 27, 2025   No comments

There is no enduring end to cyclical violence without a political solution to the fate of the Palestinians. No one is seriously talking about the day after another Gaza war, unless they talk about political settlement, not security arrangement. The New York Times borrowed a line from John Kerry  who argued that "Israel Is Meant to Be Jewish and Democratic. It Cannot Be Both." The NYT article  interpreted that statement by invoking another maxim: "States Don’t Have a Right to Exist. People Do." Here are some excerpts from the article, referenced by similar views published in global media outlets.

  

Nika Soon-Shiong said LA Times endorsement was blocked over Gaza war support

Nika Soon-Shiong said LA Times endorsement was blocked over Gaza war support

    Sunday, October 27, 2024   No comments

CNN and other media outlets reported that "the daughter of Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong suggested on Saturday that herfather’s decision to block the...

Media review: What does CBS's handling of Ta-Nehisi Coates' interview tell us about US media when it comes to telling the story of Palestininas?

Media review: What does CBS's handling of Ta-Nehisi Coates' interview tell us about US media when it comes to telling the story of Palestininas?

    Wednesday, October 09, 2024   No comments

News stories about Palestine cannot be covered by news media like any other news subject. That is the main point of the recent controversy surrounding...

The Problem is not Netanyahu, it is Israel's next generation of leaders like Bezalel Smotrich

The Problem is not Netanyahu, it is Israel's next generation of leaders like Bezalel Smotrich

    Monday, September 09, 2024   No comments

Hundreds of thousands protest weekly in Israel these days, wanting to bring down Netanyahu and his government, accusing the former of being an obstacle to...

Should European nation-states be praised for their willingness to now recognize a Palestinian state?

Should European nation-states be praised for their willingness to now recognize a Palestinian state?

    Wednesday, May 29, 2024   No comments

 Considering that 147 out of 193 countries in the United Nations General Assembly already recognize Palestine, European governments should not be praised for just now...

Norman Finkelstein: Israel is facing an existential crisis and South Africa offers a model for a one-state

Norman Finkelstein: Israel is facing an existential crisis and South Africa offers a model for a one-state

    Sunday, March 31, 2024   No comments

The American Jewish historian, Norman Finkelstein, argues that “Israel” is facing an existential crisis for the first time since its establishment, and suggests that South...

Netanyahu: We will not stop the war nor will we withdraw our forces from Gaza, Oslo Accords were a grave mistake that must not be repeated

Netanyahu: We will not stop the war nor will we withdraw our forces from Gaza, Oslo Accords were a grave mistake that must not be repeated

    Sunday, December 17, 2023   No comments

Netanyahu restates Israel's rejection of the two state solution and sets course for a long war.We will not stop the war, nor will we withdraw...

But We Must Speak: Ta-Nehisi Coates and Rashid Khalidi on Israeli Occupation, Apartheid & the 100-Year War on Palestine

But We Must Speak: Ta-Nehisi Coates and Rashid Khalidi on Israeli Occupation, Apartheid & the 100-Year War on Palestine

    Thursday, December 07, 2023   No comments

ISR WEEKLY connects you to a timely and informative program hosted by Democracy Now!:In this special broadcast, we air excerpts from a recent event organized...

The statements of a Belgian minister about the occupation's violations against the Palestinians and the killing of children raise a diplomatic crisis with Israel.. and Guinness confirms that she does not regret her statements

The statements of a Belgian minister about the occupation's violations against the Palestinians and the killing of children raise a diplomatic crisis with Israel.. and Guinness confirms that she does not regret her statements

    Saturday, September 02, 2023   No comments

The statements of the Belgian Minister of Cooperation and Development, Caroline Guenez, about Israel's violations against the Palestinians, sparked a diplomatic crisis with Tel Aviv,...

Zionist settlers intimidating, beating Palestinians in Jerusalem ahead of their Flad Day event

Zionist settlers intimidating, beating Palestinians in Jerusalem ahead of their Flad Day event

    Thursday, May 18, 2023   No comments

The settlers arrived at Bab al-Amoud, one of the entrances to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, in order to participate in the march...

"Arab passengers being removed from the buses even if they had blue ID cards" is not a new, isolated event

"Arab passengers being removed from the buses even if they had blue ID cards" is not a new, isolated event

    Tuesday, March 14, 2023   No comments

 Arab passengers being removed from the buses even if they had blue ID cards is not a new, isolated event taking place now under the most extremist regime. Bus segregation is just a sample of what apartheid systems do.

The government of Israel has been discriminating against Palestinians since it was founded. Segregation in busses and public transportation has been done for more than a decade at least, as these sample references show. What is new is who is carrying out these politicies now.

The head of an Israeli settlement in the West Bank said that he directed that Arab passengers be disembarked from buses even if they hold a blue identity card (a permanent residency identity given to Palestinians from East Jerusalem).

This came in statements made by “Meir Rubinstein,” head of the “Beitar Illit” settlement, 10 km south of Jerusalem, to the ultra-Orthodox “Scobim” website, which was reported by the Hebrew “Wala” website.

"I ordered Arab passengers to be removed from the buses even if they had blue ID cards," Rubinstein said.

He added that he insisted on his decision despite the request of the Israeli police and the Ministry of Defense to retract the decision.

And "Rubinstein" went on: "We stopped the buses at the entrance to the city (the settlement) and dropped off dozens of Palestinians with blue ID cards."

On Thursday, residents of Beitar Illit were instructed to stay in their homes for fear of a Palestinian infiltration into the city, after an explosive device was found in a bag left inside a bus in the settlement.

Last year, Rubinstein was arrested on suspicion of being involved in a murder in Jerusalem in 1990, but he was later released due to lack of evidence, according to the same source.

Recently, the racist approach of the Israeli right towards the Palestinians in the West Bank has escalated dramatically, which was evident, including in at least two attacks launched by settlers last February on the town of Hawara in the northern West Bank, which resulted in the death of a Palestinian and the injury of dozens, as well as the burning of homes, cars and property. , amid Arab and international condemnation.

  

Sherine Abu Aqleh, Al-Jazeera correspondent in occupied Palestine, was shot dead by the Israeli occupation forces in Jenin camp

Sherine Abu Aqleh, Al-Jazeera correspondent in occupied Palestine, was shot dead by the Israeli occupation forces in Jenin camp

    Wednesday, May 11, 2022   No comments

 This morning, Wednesday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the death of Al-Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Aqleh, as a result of being hit in the...

Adding to at least 3 other indepedent reports with the same conclusion, aUN Human Rights Report Says Israel Guilty of ‘Apartheid’

Adding to at least 3 other indepedent reports with the same conclusion, aUN Human Rights Report Says Israel Guilty of ‘Apartheid’

    Thursday, March 24, 2022   No comments

The UN’s human rights body has accused Israel of the “crime of apartheid,” saying it has established a “regime of systematic racial oppression and discrimination”...