Perspectives
3 Questions for an Expert: The ICC Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu & Gallant
Featured expert: Diana Buttu, Human rights attorney and political analyst, former advisor to Palestinian Authority President and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian negotiators, and Palestinian citizen of Israel. Question: On Thursday, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense…
I Survived Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine in 1948. I Fear My Family Might Not Survive Its Genocide in Gaza
Seventy-six years ago this week, I was forced to flee my home village in Palestine during the establishment of the state of Israel, taking refuge in Gaza, never to return. Now, at 96-years-old, I and hundreds of thousands of other Palestinians who have been driven from their homes by Israel in recent months face the possibility of being expelled from Gaza altogether as a full-scale invasion of the…
Israel Killed More than 100 Members of My Family. President Biden Must Demand a Ceasefire To End Israel’s Genocide in Gaza
On January 26, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark ruling in favor of the government of South Africa, which had filed a petition accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. I was gratified as I read the decision, calling on Israel to take all measures to avoid killing civilians in Gaza and to prevent and punish incitement to commit genocide by Israeli…
Expert Q&A: South Africa’s Genocide Case Against Israel at the International Court of Justice
Expert: Diana Buttu, Human rights attorney and political analyst, former advisor to Palestinian Authority President and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian negotiators, and Palestinian citizen of Israel. Q&A Question: What is the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and how does it differ from the International Criminal Court (ICC)? Diana Buttu: The…
Israel’s War on Gaza Undermines the Human Rights Agenda in the Arab Region
As a human rights defender and someone who has worked in this field for many years, I, like many others, especially in the Arab region, feel a great frustration due to the incapacity and failure of the human rights system, the international humanitarian law framework, and also the international relief system to offer anything to the residents of the Gaza Strip. However, my greatest fear is that…
Palestinian Journalists in Gaza Struggle to Do Their Jobs as Israel’s Military Targets Them and Shuts Off Communications
The Israeli war on Gaza entered its 23rd day amid Israeli attempts to impose censorship and media blackout. As the all-out war intensified amid anticipated ground invasion the unexpected happened. The unprecedented move isolated Gaza from the rest of the outside world, with locals unable to contact ambulances, not knowing what’s going on around them. Emergency phone lines stopped working.…
Stop Praying for Gaza!
It is late evening on Thursday, October 19, 2023. I am sitting in our living room following the news about Israel’s war on Gaza. For the last 12 days I have been following the news, switching between Aljazeera, CNN, BBC, RT, and others to try to understand what is happening and how the world is reacting. Yet, my real concern has been about the people in Gaza; people I know, people I came to…
By Allowing Israel into the Visa Waiver Program, President Biden is Endorsing Israel’s Discrimination Against Palestinian-Americans
Last week, officials in the Biden administration confirmed that Israel will be granted entry into the U.S. Visa Waiver program after years of campaigning by the Israeli government. The decision was made even though Israel continues to discriminate against Palestinian-Americans such as myself when attempting to visit our homeland, which should render it ineligible. By allowing Israel into the…
New Biopic Starring Helen Mirren Whitewashes Golda Meir’s Racism & Israel’s Apartheid
When I heard Golda — the new biopic about Israel’s fourth Prime Minister Golda Meir — would be entering theaters recently, my stomach dropped. Heralded as a feminist icon for her rule spanning from 1969–1974, I know Meir as someone else: a former occupier of my family’s stolen Jerusalem home and denier of my people’s very existence. The film, from Israeli director Guy Nattiv, traces a…
Pro-Israel Groups That Tried to Cancel Palestine Writes Festival Incite Hatred Against Palestinians
On the eve of the historic Palestine Writes literature festival this past weekend, the Philadelphia air felt heavy with the pollution of vitriol and hatred. Attacks on the festival’s organizers, speakers, and supporters were expected, because there’s almost never a time or place in the United States when Palestinians can speak freely and without fear about their own life experience and dreams…