DOCSLIB.ORG

WAR CRIMES in GAZA Written by Arwa Aburawa

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

WAR CRIMES IN GAZA Written by Arwa Aburawa Edited by Rajnaara Akhtar Forward Ismail Patel Design and Layout Shoayb Adam Friends of Al-Aqsa P.O Box 5127 Leicester LE2 0WU 0116 212 5441 www.aqsa.org.uk [email protected] Gaza cannot be forgotten CONTENTS Preface 5 Forward 9 1. A Historic Overview 10 a. A Brief History of Gaza Before 1948 b. Gaza During the Nakba c. The 1967 War d. Gaza and the Intifada e. Oslo and the Al-Aqsa Intifada f. Gaza and the ‘Disengagement Plan’ 2005 g. Growing Popularity of Hamas 2. The Hamas Election Victory and its Impact on the Gaza Strip 15 a. Background on Hamas b. Hamas in the Gaza Strip c. Election Victory d. Sanctions Imposed in Response to Hamas’ Victory e. Violence Between Hamas and Fatah f. US-backed Palestinian Civil War 3. Summer/Autumn 2006 20 a. Attacks from April to Early June 2006 b. Sonic Booms Terrorize Gazan Skies c. Gaza Food Crisis d. The Kidnap of Gilad Shalit e. Operation ‘Summer Rain’ f. Operation ‘Autumn Clouds’ and the Massacre in Beit Hanoun g. Kidnapped: Alan Johnston 4. The Gaza Siege 24 a. Food and Water b. Fuel and Electricity c. Medical Treatment d. January 2008: Gaza’s Border Breached e. The Ceasefire f. The Future for Gaza’s Economy 5. International Complicity and Protest 29 a. States Accused of Complicity in the Crisis b. International Organisations Condemning the Siege c. International Protest Against the Siege d. Free Gaza Boats 6. Preparation for War in 2008 34 a. Israel Rejects Hamas’ Ceasefire Offer b. Pre-planned Military Invasion c. The Israeli elections Gaza Report 3 7. The War on Gaza 37 a. Week 1: Launch of Operation ‘Cast Lead’ b. Week 2: The Ground Assault c. Week 3: End of the War d. Media Blackout e. Reaction to the War 8. A Record of Israel’s War Crimes 42 a. Civilian Death b. Children c. Phosphorous Bombs d. United Nations’ Buildings Bombed e. Destruction of Homes and Hospitals f. Medical Staff Under Fire g. Israel’s Investigations 9. Justice for War Crimes 48 a. War Crimes Assessment b. Universal Jurisdiction and Spain c. The United Nations and International Criminal Court d. Action in the UK 10. Gaza, The Aftermath 52 a. Food Aid Dependency b. Health and the Rise of Disabilities c. Water and Sewage d. Rebuilding Gaza e. Aid with a Political Agenda f. Conclusion 4 Gaza Report Preface The election of President Obama heralded a welcome change in US policy on Israel and Palestine. For the first time the US administration is applying real pressure on the Israeli government to ful- fill its obligations under the long-stalled road map and make the concessions necessary to restart credible negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. But while international and media attention has been focused on the small improvements delivered in the West Bank, the continued siege of Gaza and ostracizing of Hamas have slipped from view. It is an intolerable affront to civilized values that the people of Gaza, already traumatised by the sustained firepower directed at them during Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead”, should still be suffering under a siege which prevents the replacement of damaged and destroyed homes, stops the repair of water and sewage systems and keeps the supply of fuel, food and medicines at a trickle. As well as perpetuating a humanitarian crisis, the siege maintains the isolation of Hamas and weakens moves to create a unity government to reunite Gaza with the West Bank. The international community, despite condemning Israel’s blockade, seems unable to end it. This report helps to remind all of us why action must be taken to lift the siege and permit the people of Gaza to rebuild their lives and participate in the democratic process to renew Palestinian institutions. Dr Phyllis Starkey, MP Chair of the Select Committee for Communities and Local Government Last November, the Israelis breached the ceasefire Hamas had agreed nearly 6 months before, by killing 6 people in a raid across the border from Southern Israel. Hamas responded with rockets towards Sderot. Israel then had the excuse to launch a ferocious and totally disproportionate attack on the hapless people of Gaza who were unable to escape or protect their families. The horrors of that attack are well known and were witnessed by those of us who watched Al Jazeera TV; all other media having been carefully prevented from going into Israel by its government. That way, they thought, the world would not know what really happened. However, we all know and have read or heard from eye witnesses, of the wanton destruction, kill- ings, burnings with white phosphorous shells and the use of civilians as human shields. The suffer- ing of the people of Gaza was immense. 1,400 people, many of whom were children, were killed. Reports have come in from the UN, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and from Israeli soldiers themselves, who were horrified by the orders they received. All confirmed the breaches of International Law and Geneva Conventions by Israel. Judge Goldstone is currently trying to do the most authoritative inquiry of all, at the request of the UN, but is being obstructed by the Israeli government. The blockade of Gaza goes on, the suffering continues and the International Community has moved its spotlight to Afghanistan and the Swine Flu. We should all be shamed of ourselves. This is the most important problem for the world to solve and once again Israel is getting away without any censure from the international community. Baroness Jenny Tonge Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Health The human needs of the people of Gaza are urgent. Some thousands are living in tents and make- shift dwellings. Crude sewage is being discharged into the sea, affecting both Gaza and Israel. Gaza Report 5 Malnutrition is quite common especially among children. Hospitals work under great difficulties. It is clear that access for supplies etc has been limited and manipulated for political reasons. It is tragic that so far not one truck-load of essential materials for reconstruction has been allowed in. The best hope may lie in the Egyptian proposal for a joint committee of HAMAS and the PA, with perhaps some independent foreigners, to oversee incoming supplies. Alas, this proposal does not seem to be acted on. Lord Hylton In February this year, in the aftermath of the Israeli assault I visited the Gaza Strip as part of the Britain-Palestine All-Party Parliamentary Group. What we saw was shocking even to those of us that had witnessed the effects of the blockade on Gaza. What happened was no war. It was an attack on a weak and captive population at the mercy of the most modern and devastating weapons available to nations. The result was reckless killing and wanton destruction on a scale not seen for many years, compounded by a cruel and officious siege. I have pressed the UK Government to support an independent inquiry into allegations of war crimes and tabled Early Day Motion 1235 to this effect. Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East has a clear policy on this issue: An independent inquiry is essential. Anything less means leaving it to the Israelis to identify and prosecute their own war criminals and who will believe that? The hope now is that the world will wake up and see the situation for what it is – to do this we are competing against a media that is often reluctant to expose Israel’s occupation. This is precisely why it is important that we have a factual record. This is what the Friends of al-Aqsa are doing and I applaud this thorough document and their continuing work in the name of peace in Palestine. Martin Linton MP Chair, Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East “Where is the Ummah? Where is this Arab world they tell us about in school?” Those words will forever remain etched in my mind. They were spoken by a 10-year-old girl in a bombed-out ruin in Gaza in March. She had lost almost her entire family in the 22-day Israeli bombardment earlier this year. I had to turn away. What answer could I give her? During those murderous weeks in December and January, the leaders of the Arab League - with a handful of exceptions - scarcely summoned even the synthetic indignation that has so often at- tended previous bloody episodes in the Palestinian tragedy. But public opinion was united in out- rage not only in the Muslim world but in the West too. In Britain, over 100,000 people took to the streets and the Israeli embassy was blockaded night after night. Above all, the Gaza onslaught produced an unprecedented outpouring in the US. There have been protests before, but this has turned out to be more than an ephemeral release of im- potent rage. Something is changing. The success of the Viva Palestina convoy from the US to Gaza in July is further confirmation of that. Some 200 US citizens entered Gaza, bearing a quarter of a million dollars of aid in the biggest such mission ever to leave America for Palestine. 6 Gaza Report There were difficulties: the convoy was allowed in by the Egyptian authorities for only 24 hours and its vehicles prevented from entering at all. But they are difficulties we are determined to over- come in December, when a mega-convoy heads off from London, with US support, across Europe to Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Egypt aiming to enter Gaza around 27 December – a year to the day from the beginning of the Israeli onslaught.
Recommended publications
  • Hamas: Background and Issues for Congress

    Hamas: Background and Issues for Congress

    Hamas: Background and Issues for Congress December 2, 2010 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R41514 Hamas: Background and Issues for Congress Summary This report and its appendixes provide background information on Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, and U.S. policy towards it. It also includes information and analysis on (1) the threats Hamas currently poses to U.S. interests, (2) how Hamas compares with other Middle East terrorist groups, (3) Hamas’s ideology and policies (both generally and on discrete issues), (4) its leadership and organization, and (5) its sources of assistance. Finally, the report raises and discusses various legislative and oversight options related to foreign aid strategies, financial sanctions, and regional and international political approaches. In evaluating these options, Congress can assess how Hamas has emerged and adapted over time, and also scrutinize the track record of U.S., Israeli, and international policy to counter Hamas. Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist military and sociopolitical movement that grew out of the Muslim Brotherhood. The United States, Israel, the European Union, and Canada consider Hamas a terrorist organization because of (1) its violent resistance to what it deems Israeli occupation of historic Palestine (constituting present-day Israel, West Bank, and Gaza Strip), and (2) its rejection of the off-and-on peace process involving Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) since the early 1990s. Since Hamas’s inception in 1987, it has maintained its primary base of political support and its military command in the Gaza Strip—a territory it has controlled since June 2007—while also having a significant presence in the West Bank.
  • News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

    News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

    The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center News of Terrorism and the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict (September 1-6, 2010) Hamas spokesman Musheir al-Masri extols the terrorist shooting attack in Judea and Samaria (Al-Jazeera TV, August 31, 2010). Overview This past week events focused on the relaunching of the direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in Washington. According to media reports, both sides agreed their objective was to formulate a "framework agreement" within a year which would define the principles of a resolution for the conflict and the establishment of a Palestinian state. George Mitchell, the American envoy to the Middle East, said that Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had also agreed to meet in the Middle East on September 14 and 15, and that they would continue meeting every two weeks. The opening session was accompanied by shootin g attacks carried out by Hamas and targeting Israeli vehicles in Judea and Samaria: An attack southeast of Hebron killed four Israeli civilians. In another shooting attack in eastern Samaria two Israeli civilians were wounded. A shooting attack northeast of Ramallah did not result in casualties. Responsibility for the attacks, which were intended to disrupt 248-10 the relaunching of the talks, was claimed by Hamas, which also threatened to maintain a dialogue with Israel "with guns." 2 Important Terrorist Events Shooting Attacks in Judea and Samaria On the evening of August 31 an Israeli vehicle was shot at near the Bani Naim junction southeast of Kiryat Arba in Judea. The four Israeli civilians in the car were killed.
  • Working Against Racism from White Subject Positions: White Anti-Racism, New Abolitionism & Intersectional Anti-White Irish Diasporic Nationalism

    Working Against Racism from White Subject Positions: White Anti-Racism, New Abolitionism & Intersectional Anti-White Irish Diasporic Nationalism

    Working Against Racism from White Subject Positions: White Anti-Racism, New Abolitionism & Intersectional Anti-White Irish Diasporic Nationalism By Matthew W. Horton A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education and the Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Dr. Na’ilah Nasir, Chair Dr. Daniel Perlstein Dr. Keith Feldman Summer 2019 Working Against Racism from White Subject Positions Matthew W. Horton 2019 ABSTRACT Working Against Racism from White Subject Positions: White Anti-Racism, New Abolitionism & Intersectional Anti-White Irish Diasporic Nationalism by Matthew W. Horton Doctor of Philosophy in Education and the Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory University of California, Berkeley Professor Na’ilah Nasir, Chair This dissertation is an intervention into Critical Whiteness Studies, an ‘additional movement’ to Ethnic Studies and Critical Race Theory. It systematically analyzes key contradictions in working against racism from a white subject positions under post-Civil Rights Movement liberal color-blind white hegemony and "Black Power" counter-hegemony through a critical assessment of two major competing projects in theory and practice: white anti-racism [Part 1] and New Abolitionism [Part 2]. I argue that while white anti-racism is eminently practical, its efforts to hegemonically rearticulate white are overly optimistic, tend toward renaturalizing whiteness, and are problematically dependent on collaboration with people of color. I further argue that while New Abolitionism has popularized and advanced an alternative approach to whiteness which understands whiteness as ‘nothing but oppressive and false’ and seeks to ‘abolish the white race’, its ultimately class-centered conceptualization of race and idealization of militant nonconformity has failed to realize effective practice.
  • © CROWN COPYRIGHT 2008 WD (Lebanon – Palestinian – ANO

    © CROWN COPYRIGHT 2008 WD (Lebanon – Palestinian – ANO

    WD (Lebanon – Palestinian – ANO – risk) Lebanon CG [2008] UKAIT 00047 Asylum and Immigration Tribunal THE IMMIGRATION ACTS Heard at Field House On 6 & 7 March 2008 Before Senior Immigration Judge Allen Senior Immigration Judge Eshun Mrs G Greenwood Between WD Appellant and SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT Respondent Representation : For the Appellant: Mr D Blum, Counsel, instructed by Knights Solicitors For the Respondent: Mr G Saunders, Home Office Presenting Officer DETERMINATION AND REASONS The Abu Nidal Organisation (“ANO”) exists now as no more than separate cells and individuals operating on their own, and hence is very unlikely to pose a real threat to an individual who has in the past been the object of its hostility. 1. The appellant is a Palestinian, a former resident in Lebanon. He appealed to an Adjudicator against the Secretary of State's decision of 11 August 2004 to remove him as an illegal entrant from the United Kingdom. In a determination promulgated on 16 December 2004 the Adjudicator dismissed his appeal. The appellant subsequently sought permission to appeal to the Immigration Appeal Tribunal. A Vice President refused permission on 22 February 2005. The appellant thereafter sought statutory review, and on 7 April 2005 Silber J reversed the decision of the Tribunal refusing leave. The appeal then came before a panel of the AIT on 9 May 2006 as a reconsideration of the Adjudicator's decision. The Tribunal did not find © CROWN COPYRIGHT 2008 1 there to be a material error of law in the Adjudicator's decision and accordingly ordered that his decision dismissing the appeal was to stand.
  • Europe and the Vanishing Two-State Solution

    Europe and the Vanishing Two-State Solution

    EUROPE AND THE VANISHING TWO-STATE SOLUTION Nick Witney ABOUT ECFR The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is the first pan-European think-tank. Launched in October 2007, its objective is to conduct research and promote informed debate across Europe on the development of coherent, effective and values-based European foreign policy. ECFR has developed a strategy with three distinctive elements that define its activities: •A pan-European Council. ECFR has brought together a distinguished Council of over two hundred Members – politicians, decision makers, thinkers and business people from the EU’s member states and candidate countries – which meets once a year as a full body. Through geographical and thematic task forces, members provide ECFR staff with advice and feedback on policy ideas and help with ECFR’s activities within their own countries. The Council is chaired by Martti Ahtisaari, Joschka Fischer and Mabel van Oranje. • A physical presence in the main EU member states. ECFR, uniquely among European think-tanks, has offices in Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Sofia and Warsaw. In the future ECFR plans to open an office in Brussels. Our offices are platforms for research, debate, advocacy and communications. • A distinctive research and policy development process. ECFR has brought together a team of distinguished researchers and practitioners from all over Europe to advance its objectives through innovative projects with a pan-European focus. ECFR’s activities include primary research, publication of policy reports, private meetings and public debates, ‘friends of ECFR’ gatherings in EU capitals and outreach to strategic media outlets. ECFR is a registered charity funded by the Open Society Foundations and other generous foundations, individuals and corporate entities.
  • ENGAGE Briefing Note for Mps

    ENGAGE Briefing Note for Mps

    ENGAGE Briefing note for MPs ‘The Gaza blockade, Israel and the storming of the Mavi Marmara and Gaza aid flotilla’ June 2010 For further information on this briefing note please contact ENGAGE on [email protected] This briefing document lays forth the destructive impact of the blockade on Gaza, the many recommendations of international aid agencies and the House’s select committee on Foreign Affairs on a reassessment of the UK’s Middle East policy as well as the policies of the Quartet (US, EU, UN and Russia), and in line with the EU’s European Neighbourhood Policy and the Union of the Mediterranean and the EU-Israel Association Agreement which forms the basis of developing bilateral relations between the EU and Israel. Since the raid on the Mavi Marmara on 31 st May 2010 by Israeli commandos who killed up to 19 aid activists as their vessel sailed in international waters carrying 10,000 tonnes of food and reconstruction aid to the people of Gaza, the international community and the UN have decried the ongoing blockade as ‘unsustainable’ and ‘inhumane’. As the UK government awaits the outcome of an independent inquiry into the catastrophic events of Monday 31 st May 2010, consistent with the UN’s calls for a ‘full, credible, impartial and independent investigation’, attention must duly turn to the impact the blockade has had on Gazans these past three years, and its contribution to the thwarting of long term prospects for peace in the Middle East. Background - Timeline of events: Jan 2005 Hamas wins local elections gaining 75 seats out of 118 seats against Fatah's 26 seats in 10 districts across the Palestinian territories.
  • Viva Palestina Convoy Hits the Road Image: Therespectpaper the Viva Palestinia Convoy Has Captured February 14

    Viva Palestina Convoy Hits the Road Image: Therespectpaper the Viva Palestinia Convoy Has Captured February 14

    Jerry Hicks putting workers’ interests Salma Yaqoob at the top of the agenda. argues we need to step George Galloway up the boycott on Israel. explains the purpose of the convoy to Gaza. Equality Peace Justice TheRespectPaper THE MONTHLY NEWSPAPER OF RESPECT ISSUE 10 FEBRUARY 2009 80p Gaza A lifeline from Britain to Viva Palestina convoy hits the road Image: TheRespectPaper Image: The campaign, involving Respect members and thousands more, February 14. They will travel has lifted o , and changed the face of solidarity through Europe and across campaigning on Palestine. The Viva Palestinia convoy has captured North Africa and will enter Gaza from Egypt. For more details on the convoy, the marches, the imagination of thousands of people The convoy has two purposes. First to contribute the student occupations and campaigning across who are determined to ght for justice to the aid e ort that the BBC among others is trying the country, see our coverage on pages 6,7,8 & 9. for the people of Palestine. All their to block. centre pages support, both material and political has Secondly, it is to smash the propaganda blockade Route of the convoy centre pages B BC Biased Broadcasting Instead the BBC obediently allowed Gaza Humanitarian disaster faming land, wells, water sources and I s r a e l What was their On November 4 Israel broke the Israelis the last word in almost The carnage wreaked by 22 days of greenhouses. objective? the truce in a raid that killed six The BBC decision in January not every radio and TV report, using the relentless Israeli assault on Gaza is Of the 1360 dead, Palestinian human Palestinians.
  • Free Gaza in the Media

    Free Gaza in the Media

    FREE GAZA IN THE MEDIA The following list is a collection of media responses to the Free Gaza Movement's boat trips from Cyprus to Gaza available on the internet. The list is steadily updated. It is not comprehensive, but covers most of the relevant articles and some audios and videos, also for non-English coverage. Not every item can be posted to the Free Gaza website, so here you have access to the bulk of the coverage. The Free Gaza Movement is not responsible for the content of external websites. www.freegaza.org/uploads/media/free_gaza_in_the_media.pdf 15.04.09 Cork Gig for Gaza alice http://corkgreenmap.org/blog/news-and-events/gig-for-gaza/ engl Greenmap Weblog 13.04.09 Arutz Sheva Gaza Terror Boat Explodes Near Coast Tzvi Ben www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/130853 engl Gedalyahu 13.04.09 Free Gaza ¡Nos vemos en Gaza! Apoya la flota Hope y www.freegaza.org/es/portada/798-rendezvous-gaza-support-the-free-gaza-hope-fleet-and-help-shatter- span ayuda a romper el asedio israelí the-israeli-siege 13.04.09 Free Gaza Rendez-vous à Gaza! Soutenez la FLOTTE DE www.freegaza.org/fr/accueil/798-rendezvous-gaza-support-the-free-gaza-hope-fleet-and-help-shatter-the- fr L'ESPOIR de Free Gaza et aidez à BRISER le israeli-siege siège israélien! 13.04.09 Free Gaza Rendezvous Gaza! Sostieni la HOPE FLEET www.freegaza.org/it/home/798-rendezvous-gaza-support-the-free-gaza-hope-fleet-and-help-shatter-the- it (FLOTTA DELLA SPERANZA) e aiuta a israeli-siege INFRANGERE l’assedio Israeliano 13.04.09 Free Gaza Rendezvous Gaza! Support the Free
  • Holocaust Revisionism

    Holocaust Revisionism

    Holocaust Revisionism by Mark R. Elsis This article is dedicated to everyone before me who has been ostracized, vilified, reticulated, set up, threatened, lost their jobs, bankrupted, beaten up, fire bombed, imprisoned and killed for standing up and telling the truth on this historical subject. This is also dedicated to a true humanitarian for the people of Palestine who was savagely beaten and hung by the cowardly agents of the Mossad. Vittorio Arrigoni (February 4, 1975 - April 15, 2011) Holocaust Revisionism has two main parts. The first is an overview of information to help explain whom the Jews are and the death and carnage that they have inflicted on the Gentiles throughout history. The second part consists of 50 in-depth sections of evidence dealing with and repudiating every major facet of the Jewish "Holocaust " myth. History Of The Jews 50 Sections Of Evidence "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Jesus Christ (assassinated after calling the Jews money changers) Speaking to the Jews in the Gospel of St. John, 8:44 I well know that this is the third rail of all third rail topics to discuss or write about, so before anyone takes this piece the wrong way, please fully hear me out. Thank you very much for reading this article and for keeping an open mind on this most taboo issue.
  • The Second Palestinian Intifada a Chronicle of a People’S Struggle

    The Second Palestinian Intifada a Chronicle of a People’S Struggle

    The Second Palestinian Intifada A Chronicle of a People’s Struggle RAMZY BAROUD Foreword by Kathleen and Bill Christison Introduction by Jennifer Loewenstein Photographs by Mahfouz Abu Turk and Matthew Cassel Pluto P Press LONDON • ANN ARBOR, MI BBaroudaroud 0000 pprere iiiiii 226/4/066/4/06 008:05:128:05:12 First published 2006 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 839 Greene Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 www.plutobooks.com Copyright © Ramzy Baroud 2006 The right of Ramzy Baroud to be identifi ed as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 7453 2548 3 hardback ISBN 0 7453 2547 5 paperback Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Chase Publishing Services Ltd, Fortescue, Sidmouth, EX10 9QG, England Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England Printed and bound in the United States of America by Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group BBaroudaroud 0000 pprere iivv 226/4/066/4/06 008:05:128:05:12 To Zarefah, Iman, and Sammy, my life’s inspiration BBaroudaroud 0000 pprere v 226/4/066/4/06 008:05:128:05:12 Contents Foreword by Kathleen and Bill Christison viii Preface xiii Acknowledgements xvii Introduction by Jennifer Loewenstein 1 1 The Intifada Takes Off (2000–01) 16 2 Intifada International (2002) 36 3 Calls for Reform (2003) 53 4 Profound
  • Palestinian Resistance and International Solidarity: the BDS Campaign ABIGAIL B

    Palestinian Resistance and International Solidarity: the BDS Campaign ABIGAIL B

    SAGE Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC Palestinian resistance and international solidarity: the BDS campaign ABIGAIL B. BAKAN and YASMEEN ABU-LABAN Abstract: Israel’s recent war in Gaza (‘Operation Cast Lead’) has both exposed Israel’s defiance of international law and provided the occasion for increasing support for an organised transnational boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. The BDS movement is aimed at challenging the Israeli state’s ille- gal military occupation and a host of corresponding repressive policies directed at Palestinians. However, the BDS campaign, and in particular the call for an academic boycott, has been controversial. It has generated a counter-response emphasising, variously, the goals of the movement as ineffective, counter- productive to peace and/or security, contrary to norms of academic freedom and even tied to anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism. Utilising a Gramscian approach, and drawing from Charles Mills’ concept of ‘racial contract’, we examine the history of the divestment campaign and the debates it has engendered. We argue that the effectiveness of BDS as a strategy of resistance and cross-border solidarity is intimately connected with a challenge to the hegemonic place of Zionism in western ideology. This campaign has challenged an international Abigail Bakan is Professor of Political Studies at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Her publications include Negotiating Citizenship: migrant women in Canada and the global system (with Daiva K. Stasiulis), winner of the 2007 Canadian Women’s Studies Association annual book award, and Critical Political Studies: debates and dialogues from the Left (co-editor with Eleanor MacDonald).
  • The Discursive Representation of Social Groups Through Lexical

    The Discursive Representation of Social Groups Through Lexical

    Hanan Mohamed Ahmed Sharaf Eldin The Discursive Representation of Social Groups through Lexical Choices in Headlines: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Western and Arab Online Reporting on Gaza War Hanan Mohamed Ahmed Sharaf Eldin Abstract This study offers a critical analysis of the representation of Israelis and Palestinians in headlines of the selected articles from Cable News Network (CNN), New York Times (NYT), Al-Ahram Weekly Online and Al Jazeera English online (AJE) coverage of the 2008 War on Gaza (Appendix 1). This analysis examines the way language is used to represent social actors involved in this conflict, and attempts to reveal the way lexical choices are politically and ideologically employed to affect the ideological stance of the reader. Headline analysis will be guided by Fairclough’s (2003) three – dimensional Critical Discourse analysis (CDA) framework, and van Leeuwen’s (2008) Social Actor Approach. In order to have a better understanding of media manipulation of its readers, certain aspects of the headline need to be addressed by trying to answer some questions such as: Which words are chosen to appear in the headline and what is the purpose of such choices? How are social actors represented through lexical choices? This analysis aims to compare the representation of Israeli and Palestinian actors in selected headlines of the four websites under study to show how political and ideological orientations of media organizations are reflected in discourse and the ideological construction of social actors. Key words: CDA, headline, identity, ideology, lexical choices. 1. Introduction On the 27th of December 2008 a new cycle of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict irrupted with Israeli air attacks followed by a massive ground offensive against Gaza, under the pretext that Israel is defending itself against Hamas rocket attacks.