West Bank: Checkpoints, teargas and other daily oppressions

 Global justice movement, Human rights, Israel and Palestine  No Responses »
Aug 232007
 

Here’s a riveting account of what life is like in the West Bank. Making a guest appearance today is political scientist John Hilley, who has just returned to Scotland from a trip to Palestine with the Glasgow Palestine Human Rights Campaign. He describes his time there “between getting tear-gassed and shot at in Bil’in to being around our wonderful projects and friends in the West Bank refugee camps”. I thought it was particularly courageous of John to engage with the IDF soldiers manning checkpoints and to point out their role in the crushing Occupation. In doing this, he puts into practice the powerful moral force of non-violent resistance. This piece deserves a wider audience; so here it is, reproduced in full with kind permission from John. It’s a longish piece, but it’s worth the read to catch a glimpse of life beyond the checkpoints. Checkpoints, tear gas and other daily [Read more]

Misguided Christian Zionists

 Christianity, Israel and Palestine  1 Response »
Mar 032007
 

I sometimes come across Christians with a distorted view of the Middle East. Blindly supporting Israel, they fail to see that oppressive and expansionist Zionist policies have led to much misery and suffering among Palestinians, who live in dehumanising conditions whether in Gaza or the West Bank or as refugees in neighbouring countries. This is an excerpt from a piece I wrote last August for the Herald in Malaysia: To be anti-Semitic (anti-Jew) is to be bigoted and racist. To be anti-Zionist, on the other hand, is to legitimately oppose a political and ideological movement that reflects a sense of Western European ethnic supremacy and domination in the Middle East. Unfortunately, some people – including Christians who misguidedly support the Zionist movement – sometimes accuse critics of Zionist ideology of being anti-Semitic. These Christians invariably subscribe to ‘Christian Zionism’, a modern theological and political movement that embraces the most extreme [Read more]

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