Utopia or Bust

Posts Tagged ‘Israel-Palestine

Jerusalem’s new “Beautification” Project

Posted by: lettrist on: May 6, 2009

Al Jazeera for the win with investigative journalism.

All of this is in the background while a UN press briefing stated that as few as 60,000 Palestinians are now at risk of house demolition because
“excessive delays, high fees and the uncertainty associated with the application process push many Palestinians to build without [...]

Why Israel targets the kids

Posted by: lettrist on: February 13, 2009

The direct and witnessed experiences of children in Palestine:

There is a famous photo of a young boy strapped to the hood of an Israeli jeep, to protect the soldiers from Palestinian stones, and hundreds of photos documenting Israeli soldiers’ deliberate targeting of children in street attacks. A popular punishment for Palestinian kids who throw rocks [...]

My Snacktivism with the ISM

Posted by: lettrist on: February 13, 2008

On Monday I had the pleasure to eat lunch with Rachel Corrie’s parents and Paul Larudee from the ISM and Free Gaza project. Rachel Corrie was killed in Rafah, Gaza while trying to prevent an Israeli bulldozer from destroying a house, and since then her death has gained widespread notoriety. Rachel’s father had gone to [...]

Taxation + Terror + Blockade = Gaza

Posted by: lettrist on: February 6, 2008

We can understand why Israel would like Fatah to lead Gaza instead of Hamas, but this preference has turned into a policy of terror. The walled border between Egypt and Gaza explodes every time Mubarak builds a barrier to prevent fleeing Palestinians from escaping Israeli attacks and economic warfare.
Though Israel claims to have pulled out [...]

Banksy’s West Bank

Posted by: lettrist on: December 26, 2007

The 400+ mile concrete wall separating Palestine from Palestine has at least one purpose–the public display of art. Banksy, the UK-based guerrilla artist, recently stenciled several images on the wall, now making it reminiscent of the art the appeared on Berlin’s “anti-fascist” Wall shortly after its fall. One of his new pieces is of a [...]

The Denial of Political Teleology

Posted by: lettrist on: November 25, 2007

A political teleology would seek to understand and establish an issue’s underlying political causes. A denial of the causes would leave only the effects for discussion. Whether that denial is a strategy or an ideology I have not decided yet. In this blog I explore the issue in more detail regarding the debate on the [...]

Now A Three-State Solution to Palestine

Posted by: lettrist on: June 19, 2007

This year a Jewish study found that 46% of Palestinians prefer a two-state solution, and only 26% prefer a bi-national solution to the Palestinian Question. But the two-state solution, which has been integrated into Bush’s Road Map for Peace in Palestine, never envisioned a completely divided Palestinian Authority.
Hamas, the militant Sunni Islamist party elected to [...]

The 40-Year Occupation

Posted by: lettrist on: May 28, 2007

Americans believed they won the War in Iraq just months after the invasion, but it is losing and perhaps has already lost the occupation. Israelis were in a similar state of mind after the Six Day War of 1967. Our occupation has lasted 4 years. But Israel’s has lasted 40. The speed and scope of [...]

Lebanese Politics

Posted by: lettrist on: May 28, 2007

Lebanese police invaded a flat in Tripoli 7 days ago tied to the Fatah al-Islam called Nahr al-Bared. It’s a Palestinian Refugee camp on the coast, where about 30,000 displaced refugees live. I can easily see how radical jihadism could spread within the walls of such a large camp, and this is a lesson for [...]