Palestine: a journal of everyday occupation

Last Saturday night (May 23rd) we went to see the final night’s performance of The Siege, a Jenin Freedom Theatre production based on the siege of Bethlehem’s Nativity Church in 2002. The company is touring the UK and we went to the wonderful Battersea Arts Centre, part of which was recently devastated by fire. Despite [...]

Palestinians don’t need endless rounds of talks, or talks about talks: they want action. Regardless of the ‘symbolic’ nature of the UK parliament’s vote to recognise Palestine, it is still a significant step in the political establishment’s attitude towards Palestine. Now, more than ever, individuals and organisations need to work hard at the political level [...]

Also published by Palestine Chronicle here Unfree in Palestine: Registration, Documentation and Movement Restriction – Nadia Abu-Zahra Adah Kay, Pluto Press, 2013 The opening lines of Mahmoud Darwish’s poem Bitaqat Hawiyyah (identity card) are a poignant reminder of reality for Palestinians throughout the world: “Register me! I am an Arab And my identity card number [...]

This article is also published on Palestine Chronicle Over the past few days, the talk of a third Intifada breaking out in the occupied Palestinian territories has increased. But it isn’t Palestinians living under the occupation who are talking up the chances of a third uprising against Israel’s continued oppression in the territories.

In his latest piece written for the New York Times, Avraham Burg asks: “Where is the good old Israel?” Assuming he is not being tongue-in-cheek, and there is no suggestion in the rest of the article that he is, he continues to peddle the same old clichés that liberal Zionists are so fond of. Propaganda [...]

I cried this morning. I am a mother. I am a human being. Today, after more than five years held by Hamas, Gilad Shalit was released. I have no doubt of the joy his family must feel. To see the son they thought they’d lost. To hold him close, to finally feel him alive again [...]

The prisoners released today.

On Sunday night, the mosque in the small village of Tuba suffered an arson attack. Unknown agitators entered the building and set the fire, causing damage to carpets and the structure itself. Before leaving, they sprayed messages on the walls outside: “price tag” and “revenge”, in Hebrew. Until this weekend, these attacks seemed to be [...]

The internet is awash with opinions about the looming Palestinian Authority bid for statehood at the United Nations in a few weeks. There are some interesting and well-argued articles supporting both the pro- and anti-statehood position.

Published in Labour Briefing, May 2011 Al Nakba was not the random result of the chaos of war but the deliberately planned ethnic cleansing of Palestine. OVER THE past week, Israel celebrated its 63rd birthday. On May 14th 1948, David Ben Gurion announced the creation of the Israel. And while Zionists laud their colonialist success, [...]