These past several weeks have elicited within me a feeling of pity for those who feel that they are forced to fabricate arguments defending the human rights violations associated with the illegal and immoral occupation of Palestine. This pity was extended to Israeli Ambassador, Dr. Michael Oren, as I listened to his speech at the Clarence Smith Performing Arts Center last Thursday. As I listened to easily-digestible facts about the State of Israel, I expected no less from a man who is paid to regurgitate the predictable talking points and rhetoric of the acting Israeli Government. I found his arguments to be pathetic, if not desperate to say the least. For instance, in his talk, Oren justified the US support for Israel’s occupation of Palestine through a combination of cute quotes by famous American historical figures, and the citing of job and technology creations from the $3.2 billion Israel receives in foreign US military aid, as if these were valid points. As a politician, O...
Why is Israel scared of accusations of apartheid? By: Nathan Feldman Recently, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) released a human rights report on Israeli practices that concluded, from Reuters, that “Israel has established an apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian people as a whole”. This report, published by Richard Falk, is the first of its kind originating from the UN. Soon after, the Israeli government, the Trump administration, and the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres pressured Rima Khalaf, the head of ESCWA, to rescind the report. She refused and instead resigned in protest through a series of actions thoroughly outlined by Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept (article linked at bottom). Now, my personal view is that this report is both accurate and long overdue, and it was a pleasant surprise that a UN age...
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