Episode 019: Tale of two occupations
We sit down this week to cover news stories from the ground. Lara and Michael discuss the murder of Nizar Banat, a fierce defender of freedom of speech and Palestinian human rights by the Palestinian Authority. We cover the story of Palestinian political prisoner and administrative detainee, held without charge for no crime, Ghandafar Abu Atwan who successfully secured his release after 65 days on a hunger strike. We cover the continued torture and medical experimentation on political prisoner Iyad Hraibat, as well as the occupation's unwillingness to let the Jarrar family grieve the sudden death of Suha Jarrar in peace. We shout out the successful resistance in Beita and recall the continued demolitions in occupied Silwan. We wrap up by noting that even Evangelicals and Jews in the US are falling out of love with the occupation leading the Zionists to desperately recruit new settlers from Brazil and other South American countries for the settler-colonial project known as Israel.
To consult the sources used in the preparation of this episode, please see:
Books
Articles/Videos
What is the "Palestinian Authority"? (Institute for Middle East Understanding)
Why the Palestinian Authority Should Be Shuttered (New York Times). Established in 1994 under the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority was intended to be a temporary body that would become a fully functioning government once statehood was granted, which was promised for 1999. The authority’s jurisdiction has, therefore, always been limited. It is in charge of a mere 18 percent of the West Bank (divided into eight areas). Compared with Israel’s overall control of the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority’s powers are paltry.
Facts About Jewish Settlements in the West Bank (Jewish Virtual Library). "The estimate for the Jewish population in 128 West Bank settlements at the beginning of 2021 was 475,481, roughly 5 percent of Israel’s total population. Critics suggest these figures imply territorial compromise with the Palestinians is impossible. This may now be true as the number and distribution of the Jewish population is such that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to remove the number of settlers in the area genuinely envisioned (prior to the Trump plan) for a Palestinian.
Nizar Banat: Palestinians turn on leaders after activist's death (BBC). "Assaults on demonstrators in Ramallah, the seat of the governing Palestinian Authority (PA) by plainclothes men - some armed with sticks and rocks - provoked further outrage and deepened concerns about the repression of dissent. . . The calling off of the elections, which were to be the first in 15 years, deepened a sense among Palestinians that Mr Abbas, 85, was clinging to power."
Activist Nizar Banat’s death ‘unnatural’: Palestinian Authority (Al Jazeera)
"Who is the Palestinian Authority protecting? Not us." by Mariam Barghouti (Washington Post).
Israel’s Gaza strikes may constitute ‘war crimes’: UN’s Bachelet (Al Jazeera)
Abbas Says Security Cooperation Will End, Raising Stakes for Israeli Annexation (New York Times)
Palestinian Authority Announces It Will Resume Cooperation With Israel (Haaretz)
U.S. Sponsorship of International Terrorism: An Overview (Crime and Social Justice)
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are mostly children (Index Mundi)
Poll finds dramatic rise in Palestinian support for Hamas (Associated Press)
Palestinians cancel deal for near-expired COVID vaccines from Israel (Reuters)
Israel's administrative detention is "incarceration without trial or charge, alleging that a person plans to commit a future offense. It has no time limit, and the evidence on which it is based is not disclosed. Israel employs this measure extensively and routinely, and has used it to hold thousands of Palestinians for lengthy periods of time." (B'Tselem)
Hunger Strikes Highlight Isolation of Palestinian Prisoners (Human Rights Watch)
Palestinian prisoner ends 65-day hunger strike after release (Al Jazeera)
Palestinian prisoner now refusing water, 62 days into hunger strike (Mondoweiss). Ghadanfar Abu Atwan writes a letter to declare his water strike after a renewal of his detention. He had also lost his ability to walk, after finally receiving medical care after the Israeli Supreme Court "suspended" his administrative detention.
Race and Gender in the Selection of Patients for Lobotomy (Wonders and Marvels)
Israel bars jailed senior PFLP member from attending her daughter’s funeral (Times of Israel)
Facebook Blocks Account That Posted Letter by Jailed Palestinian ex-MP (Haaretz)
Was the Killing of Ahmad Erekat an Extrajudicial Execution? (The Nation)
Washington Post correction on Israeli ban of Palestinian flag.
A documentary guide to ‘Brand Israel’ and the art of pinkwashing (Mondoweiss)
Censored film reveals The Israel Project’s secret Facebook campaign (The Electronic Intifada)
The Palestinian News That Escapes Our Attention (Haaretz). Israeli forces wound hundreds in Beita and Silwan.
Drop In Evangelical Christian Support for Israel, Study Shows (The Media Line)
Israel ‘Is an Apartheid State,' a Quarter of U.S. Jews Say in New Poll (Haaretz)
This Country Ranks No. 1 for ‘Aliyah Potential’ – and It’s Not the U.S., France or Russia (Haaretz)
Recent Sephardic Converts Revive Jewish Life in Northern Brazil (Haaretz)
