Category: Palestine

Reply to Ruth Dudley-Edwards

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Ronit Lentin

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/ruth-dudley-edwards/ruth-dudley-edwards-gazabound-vessel-really-a-ship-of-fools-2806080.html

Godwin’s Law. That’s what it’s called – the tendency for internet debates to degenerate into arguments where one side labels the other a Nazi. And so we have a contribution to the Israel/Palestine issue akin to an angrily typed hatemail at the fag end of one of these online brawls –Ruth Dudley Edwards saying that the people on the Irish Ship to Gaza supporting Palestinian rights are antisemites, like the Nazi-loving Irish of her youth. Continue reading “Reply to Ruth Dudley-Edwards”

Dear Mr Obama, before your visit to Ireland

Ronit Lentin

obama-and-palestine-2Dear Mr Obama

I supported you when you ran against Clinton for the Democratic nomination and when you ran against McCain for president, not merely because it was refreshing to have an African American president, but also because you struck me as bright, progressive, and intent on making the US and the world a better place. I was impressed with your promises to close Guantanamo Bay Cuba, end American involvement in Iraq, and with your apparent determination to bring about a solution to the question of Palestine. Continue reading “Dear Mr Obama, before your visit to Ireland”

Awful start to 2011 – remembering Jawaher Abu Rahma

Ronit Lentin

abu-rahmahOn Friday 31 December 2010 Jawaher Abu Rahmah, 36, was evacuated to the Ramallah hospital after inhaling massive amounts of tear-gas during the weekly protest against the separation wall in Bil’in , and died of poisoning on New Year’s Day 2011. Abu Rahmah suffered from severe asphyxiation caused by tear-gas inhalation, and was evacuated to the Ramallah hospital unconscious. She was diagnosed as suffering from poisoning caused by the active ingredient in the tear-gas, that was shot by IDF soldiers to disperse the crowd of demonstrators against the separation wall in the village. Doctors at the Ramallah Hospital fought for her life all night, but were unable to save her.

Weekly demonstrations against the wall have been held in Bil’in for the past five years; villagers say the barrier unjustly separates them from their lands. In 2007, the Supreme Court accepted these arguments and ruled that the route of the fence should be move, and some 170 acres of land be returned to the villagers. The IDF has yet to implement the court’s decision. Continue reading “Awful start to 2011 – remembering Jawaher Abu Rahma”