Combatants For Peace Israel-Palestine: The Missing Headlines Palestine Remembered, al-Nakba 1948- פלשתינה-فلسطين في الذاكرة On Palestine, the US is a rogue state | John Whitbeck On 17 December, Bolivia extended diplomatic recognition to the state of Palestine within its full pre-1967 borders (all of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem). Coming soon after the similar recognitions by Brazil and Argentina, Bolivia's recognition brought to 106 the number of UN member states recognising the state of Palestine, whose independence was proclaimed on 15 November, 1988. While still under foreign belligerent occupation, the state of Palestine possesses all the customary international law criteria for sovereign statehood. In this context, it may be enlightening to consider the quality as well as the quantity of the states extending diplomatic recognition. Of the world's nine most populous states, eight (all except the US) recognise the state of Palestine. As in most aspects of international relations, it is not the nature of the act (or crime) that matters but, rather, who is doing it to whom.
Israel Civil Marriage Ban Blocks Those Not Considered Jewish From Wedding By Linda Gradstein/The Media Line A month ago, Rita Margulis and her fiancé Amit (as a career army officer he asked not to use his last name) got married at the Safari in Tel Aviv. There was a Reform rabbi and 450 guests. But according to the state of Israel, the wedding never happened. That is because Margulis, who immigrated to Israel from Ukraine at age 4, is not Jewish according to Jewish law, because her mother is not Jewish. Until her wedding, Margulis says it didn’t bother her much. “Getting married is a basic right that every citizen should have,” she told The Media Line. Israel is both a Jewish and democratic state. Thousands of couples have taken advantage of a loophole in the law, in which they fly abroad, often to Cyprus, and have a wedding there. Hiddush, an Israeli-American partnership for religious equality in Israel, has launched a campaign for civil marriage in Israel. Only Orthodox Rabbis may perform wedding ceremonies in Israel. Read more at The Media Line.
American-Israeli bluffs and the success of Palestinian unilateralism (UPDATED) Mahmoud Abbas has told Newsweek he is disappointed with Obama, but the US President has actually done a nice job of revealing the American double-standards with regards to Israel. Meanwhile, Jerusalem’s hawks are suggesting that in response to a Palestinian declaration of independence, Israel should annex the West Bank. Not such a bad idea UPDATE: See my comments on the Fatah-Hamas agreement at the end of the post First Lady Michelle Obama, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas & President Barack Obama (photo: Lawrence Jackson/United States Government Work) Newsweek has an interesting interview with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. The US has vetoed a Security Council resolution demanding Israel would stop all settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and in recent weeks the administration has stepped up his rhetoric against the attempt to get UN recognition for a Palestinian state. There is zero chance that the Israeli Prime Minister will deliver any kind of solution.
Civil Marriage in Israel For a large number of Israelis, religious politics and identity issues disrupt the pursuit of holy matrimony. Diana Mirtsin and Alexander Skudalo, Israeli citizens who immigrated from the former Soviet Union, live together, with their baby, in Tel Aviv. We Also Recommend Very much in love, they would like to marry--but they cannot make it official in Israel. According to the country’s law, marriages in Israel are performed by sanctioned religious authorities--be they Muslim, Jewish, Druze, or Christian. Within Israel, only the Israeli rabbinate can marry Jewish couples. Because of this policy, a significant portion of the Israeli population, like Alexander Skudalo, cannot marry in Israel. As a result, thousands of immigrants admitted to Israel under the Law of Return cannot marry in Israel, because the Israeli rabbinate does not recognize them as Jewish. The Israeli rabbinate will also not perform marriages prohibited by Jewish law. Did you like this article?
Palestine, Bahrain and US Hyprocrisy Brazen hypocrisy most often deeply damages the reputation, whether of a person or of a country. President Barack Obama appears to have thought that he could go to the UN with a liberation of Libya and a further postponement of Palestinian rights to boast of, and that these stances would make him popular in the global south. But in fact he just looked inconsistent and hypocritical and self-interested. The United States was not at the forefront of the changes sweeping the Middle East in the past year, and its instinct as a Great Power is to support the status quo. Thus, the Obama administration had almost nothing to say about Tunisia until after the populace had forced their president out. It was Saudi Arabia, France and Britain who decided that Muammar Qaddafi would have to go. In the meantime, the US has done little but say tsk, tsk over the crushing of the street movement for reform in Bahrain. The Palestinians are stateless. Foreign policy victories are rare.