In Palestine, the Victim Must Apologize to the Killers

“A nation that hasn’t stopped occupying, destroying and killing, and has never considered apologizing for anything – anything – gets its victims to apologize for one measly sentence by their leader.”

Helmi Al Asmar
By Helmi Al Asmar
Relatives of a Palestinian Iman who was shot and killed Friday by Israeli troops during the ongoing protest along the Gaza Strip border with Israel, carry his body to the family house during his funeral in Gaza City, April 14, 2018. (AP/Khalil Hamra)

Gideon Levy has written in Haaretz about the “absurd” situation whereby, in his words: “The leader of the Palestinian people is forced to apologize to the Jewish people” for saying something “anti-Semitic” about the Holocaust. According to Levy, “The one who was robbed apologizes to the robbers, the victim apologizes to the rapist, the dead to the

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The Trump, Netanyahu Alliance Means the End for Mahmoud Abbas

Mahmoud Abbas feels beleaguered, disowned by Washington and a victim of an elaborate US-Israeli plot that has cost Palestinians precious time and much land, while leaving Abbas with nothing but an embarrassing political legacy.

Ramzy Baroud
By Ramzy Baroud
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, is accompanied by Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, right, and Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt's Orthodox Christians, left, as he attends a conference on Jerusalem at the Al-Azhar Conference Center, in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 17, 2018. Abbas blasted Trump again over Jerusalem, saying the U.S. leader's decision to recognize contested Jerusalem as Israel's capital was "sinful." (AP/Amr Nabil)

The “deal of the century” is a farce. We suspected that, of course, but, upon his return from Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed in more detail why the long-anticipated plan of the administration of US President Donald Trump has no basis in reality. Netanyahu told his Cabinet that there are “no concrete details” to

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Mahmoud Abbas’s Strategy of Patience

“Arabs have a long, unbroken history, with many ups and downs. They are used to waiting. Patience is a mighty instrument.”

Uri Avnery
By Uri Avnery
occupation of Palestine

When I first met Yasser Arafat in besieged Beirut, in the summer of 1982, Abu Mazen was not present. But when I met him again in Tunis, a few months later, he asked me to meet Abu Mazen, too. Abu Mazen, it transpired, was the Fatah leader in charge of Israeli matters. My first impression of Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) was that he was the exact

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Palestinians Voice Concern Over Saudi Peace Plan’s Biased Toward Israel

According to the Palestinians, the proposal, which U.S. and Saudi officials have since disavowed, Israel would keep effectively everything, including full border control, all settlements, and permanent rule over all of Jerusalem

Jason Ditz
By Jason Ditz
Donald Trump and Saudi Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrive for lunch in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, March 14, 2017. (AP/Evan Vcci)

Palestinian officials are voicing major concern following a recent meeting between President Mahmoud Abbas and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, during which the prince set out a shockingly bad set of terms for a new peace proposal being pushed, supposedly with the support of the U.S. government. According to the Palestinians this

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The Consequences of the Symbolic Recognition of Palestine

Other than the obsolete two-state paradigm, there has been little discussion of what such recognition actually means in practice, or whether it could generate a tangible outcome for Palestinians.

Ramona Wadi
By Ramona Wadi
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrives to address the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Sept. 20, 2017. (AP/Jason DeCrow)

Seeking recognition of Palestine has been one of the Palestinian Authority’s diplomatic strategies which lose significance when juxtaposed against Mahmoud Abbas’s collaboration with the Israeli occupation. Behind statements of recognition lies silence and the tacit acceptance of Israel’s colonization of Palestinian land and forced displacement of

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Abbas’ Cybercrime Law Chills and Silences Palestinian Journalists and Dissenters

“The majority of causes of repression and intimidation, from both the PA and Hamas, has been in regard to speaking out in favor or against one of these two bodies. If an election is to really take place, we see a free and fair press as being an essential part of that process.”

Ramona Wadi
By Ramona Wadi
Palestinian journalists protest in occupied Ramallah in the West Bank. March 13, 2017. (Mohammad Asad/Middle East Monitor/CC)

PALESTINE -- Five months after Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas issued the Cybercrime Law by Presidential Decree, the Palestinian Centre for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) has launched an online campaign against the legislation, in a bid to raise awareness and mobilize against the injustices enshrined in the law. The

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