Newsletter

A resounding message from Bethlehem: End the occupation

Sami Abu Shehadeh

26 December 2020

Palestinians have the right to enjoy a future of peace based upon justice, tolerance and respect

The political developments that have taken place in 2020 should be carefully understood and grasped in order to make 2021 a better year for all.

The Trump administration is leaving behind a legacy of hateful incitement and the use of religion as a weapon against the rights of the Palestinian people.

The Israeli government will soon be disbanded and a fourth election in less than two years will take place in the spring, yet there is no indication that its annexation policies in the occupied territories, its incitement and the institutionalised discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel are going to end any time soon.

This is the context in which we should understand this year’s Christmas in the occupied Holy Land: Bethlehem, Jesus’s birthplace, had a “silent night” with very few pilgrims and hardly any tourist activities, due to Covid-19. The city is besieged by thousands of new illegal Israeli settlement units being built on its land. (more…)

O Little Town Of Bethlehem

By Francis A. Boyle

03 December, 2010

 It was December of 1991 and I was serving as Legal Advisor to the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East Peace Negotiations in Washington DC. The Israelis were stalling, not even negotiating in bad faith, and the Americans under Baker and Ross were doing nothing to get the negotiations started.

This had been going on for 3 weeks and Christmas was fast approaching. Those of us on the Palestinian Team who were Christian were wondering if we were going to be able to get home for Christmas–many Palestinians are Christian, the original Christians, going back to Jesus Christ and the Apostles themselves. I would periodically check in with my wife and 2 sons at the time–little boys. My poor, sweet wife had to do all the Christmas preparations by herself without me. (more…)

Occupiers of the World Unite!

By Michael Sfard

Occupation. Thousands of members of the occupied nation are refugees in the countries of the region. The organization that represents the occupied is illegal, and many of its activists are under arrest. For decades international human rights organizations have been reporting that the freedom of expression of regime opponents in the occupied territory is limited, and that attempting to achieve independence is considered sabotage.

The occupier built settlements in the occupied territory and transferred hundreds of thousands of its citizens to them. Demonstrations against the occupation and the settlements and in favor of independence encounter tremendous force, including the use of rubber-tipped bullets, and their organizers are arrested. Even human rights activists from the occupied nation, who are working for the benefit of the occupied, are a target of incitement and delegitimization. (more…)

A Reply to Michael Mostyn, and Canada’s UN Vote

By David Kattenberg

In response to 17 “anti-Israel” resolutions routinely presented at the United Nations this time of year, the B’nai Brith Canada CEO laments that Canada only voted against 16 of them. Michael Mostyn’s commentary in the Dec. 3 edition of the CJR is both factually incorrect and disingenuous.

Pretty solidly pro-Israel, were it not for that one “yes” vote affirming the Palestinian right to self-determination. That vote was “all the more galling,” writes Mostyn, given Canada’s traditional commitment to the “cause of peace.”

But Mostyn quickly dismisses the idea. Israel has long recognized the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, he said, and has pitched numerous “generous” offers. (more…)