The Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz famously said “War is merely the continuation of policy with other means.” A state sets a definable list of objectives, and when diplomatic or conventional political means do not suffice, it turns to military means to achieve its goal. War may be accompanied by violence, destruction, and chaos. However, […]
Tag: Palestine
South Africa Takes on Israel: A New Front in the Gaza Conflict
In a landmark move on December 29th of 2023, South Africa initiated legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), alleging violations of the 1948 Genocide Convention due to Israel’s actions in Gaza. This unprecedented case raises not only complex legal questions but also shines a spotlight on ongoing humanitarian crises and […]
South Africa Claims Genocide
Under the United Nations Convention on Genocide, “genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: On January 26th, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) released an interim ruling on South Africa’s case against Israel. In bringing […]
The Dehumanization of Palestinian Men by Western Media
On the 7th of December 2023, images of IDF soldiers conducting mass detentions in Northern Gaza emerged on social media platforms. These depicted dozens of Palestinian men in the town of Beit Lahia kneeling on the ground, stripped naked, with their hands tied behind their backs. Similar episodes of mass incarcerations were repeated throughout Northern […]
Holy War: Blood for God in Israel-Palestine
Examining the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an exercise in déjà vu. The deaths of an old man, a young child, and nine others in the recent West Bank flare-up are tragically unremarkable. So is the ensuing cascade of violence, punctuated by the brazen murder of two Jewish brothers and a retaliatory settler rampage of a nearby […]
Unravelling the Israel-Palestine Conflict – Can We Collapse the Dialectic in This Generation?
Conflict stemming in the land of Israel and Palestine regurgitates toxic attitudes towards Zionists, Israelis, Arabs and Jews, with one group painting another as the oppressor or terrorist in the extreme cases. The picture shifts based on where in the various timelines an analysis begins. In Israeli and Palestinian governments, the question of how to […]
The Two State Solution Is Dead.
The holy grail of conflict management has always been between Israel and Palestine; it is the most shining accomplishment for any individual or state mediator. Since the establishment of the state of Israel, the most preferred solution to the Israel/Palestine problem has been the “Two State Solution,” which essentially proposes two sovereign states for two […]
Homeland: Life in the Disputed West Bank
Israeli-Arab diplomatic breakthroughs mean little for West Bank residents August 2020 —A crowd of hundreds marches towards the outskirts of the Palestinian town of Turmus’ayya. They are headed in the direction of an Israeli military checkpoint, located just 500 meters from the edge of their town. The goal of the Palestinian marchers: to pray on […]
Lockdown within a Lockdown: COVID-19 in the Gaza Strip
On August 25, the Gaza Strip went into lockdown after a family of four that had recently returned from the West Bank tested positive for COVID-19, the first case of the virus in this densely populated territory outside of isolation centers. Since then 2,613 cases have been reported, although a shortage of testing kits means […]
Saudi Prince Signals Frustration With Palestinian Leadership
Saudi Arabia has been a crucial ally to the Palestinian struggle for statehood, supporting with diplomacy and finance essentially since the cause commenced in the early twentieth century. It comes as some surprise then that it might weaken its commitment with such a long standing cause for justice. Saudi Arabia has yet to enter “normalization” […]