Articles

Taking steps towards full sovereignty By Ruth Tenne Following a recent meeting with Binyamin Netanyahu, President Barack Obama clearly expressed his frustration with the failure of the talks between Israel and the Palestinians, stating with the breakdown of talks, simmering tension in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, last summer’s conflict in Gaza, and serious questions about overall commitment to a two-state outcome, it’s no secret that we now have a very difficult path forward. As a result, the United States is taking a hard look at our approach to the conflict. Obama added that it was ultimately down to the two parties “to address not just Gaza’s immediate humanitarian and reconstruction needs, but also core challenges to Gaza’s future within a two-state context, ...

By Jamal Kanj At a 19 March UN Security Council discussion, US Ambassador Samantha Powers was quoted as saying: “A thief can steal property, but that does not confer the right of ownership on the thief.” Listening to her powerful condemnation of the Russian action in the Crimea, I couldn’t help but wonder if that was a conviction or an ex-talented writer’s rhetorical speech. A thief should be condemned – irrespective of whether the thief is a friend or foe. I would add to the otherwise accurate statement that a thief-enabler should be castigated too. Let’s for the sake of argument agree with Ms Powers’ assessment, which described as “theft” Russian support for the “overwhelming” wishes of 96 per cent of voters. Queen of thieves Using the same parallels, how about I...

Peter Gregson, who is currently campaigning to get Edinburgh twinned with Gaza City, was recently the victim of a lie in the Jewish Telegraph. It is made more serious in light of Israel’s attack on Gaza on 5 August. The lies were originally promulgated in the Herald and the Guardian. The Jewish Telegraph article (see above) states Gregson “was suspended from the Labour Party in 2019 for claiming that the holocaust was exaggerated”. Gregson says this is untrue and that the publication knows this. What Gregson actually said was “Israel exaggerates the holocaust for political ends”. He made the statement to the GMB union’s Scottish secretary because he sought to intentionally the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition...