International attention is focused on Gaza thanks to the brutal Israeli offensive, but the real problem has always been daily life under occupation.
A call for political leadership.
There are abundant signs of the weakening of Palestinian and Israeli willingness to engage with one another. The temptation to resort only to violence must not be allowed to take hold on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides. This conflict will only be resolved when each sees the other and is wil
Chile's diplomatic outcry against Israel has been welcomed by supporters of the Palestinian cause, but its indigenous Mapuche communities continue to face discrimination, brutality and repression at the hands of the state.
Desistance from violence can be to withdraw from a stance of violence through an act of violence, to leave off one form of violence by taking on another. Each Israeli attack on Gaza is simultaneously and implicitly recast by state subtext as a desistance from genocide.
These options distract people from the real priority: to find (or strengthen) practical forms of pressure in support of international consensus.
Behind the Arab rhetoric of unity over Gaza - and Syria or Iraq - lie deep and dangerous fractures.
A review of Omar (2014), the most recent offering from the Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad, which portrays the reality of life under occupation.
If one of the motives of Israel's war on Gaza was to crush the nascent Palestinian unity government, it may have failed. For the sake of whatever peace process is still possible, Palestinians need to stay the course.
After its four-week bombardment, a three-day ceasefire reveals that the ground has shifted under Israel.
If the political will to bring about justice and peace is lacking, the answer lies in international law. Ending state trade with Israeli settlements is not an economic sanction, but a legal obligation.
