"Next Wednesday it is expected that the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague will find against Israel for ending all cooperation with UN aid agencies including the main Palestinian agency, Unrwa...."

"Next Wednesday it is expected that the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague will find against Israel for ending all cooperation with UN aid agencies including the main Palestinian agency, Unrwa. 

The request for an ICJ advisory opinion initially brought by Norway and backed by a UN security council resolution will give the ICJ judges an opportunity once again to clarify that Israel as an occupying force had a legal duty to provide aid to the people of Gaza, and it has utterly failed to comply with that duty.

The PA foreign minister, Varsen Aghabekian, said the PA had learned from its mistakes and was now a state in the making. Speaking to a conference in Naples organised by IPSI the Italian thinktank, she said one of the most important changes the PA was undertaking involved the school curriculum.

But she said: “If we develop that curriculum to the best standards of the world but children that are taught that curriculum continue to live under dire occupation will that give them a narrative of peace? No. What will bring them a narrative of peace, and internalise it, is when children do not experience, on a daily basis, checkpoints, a humiliation, trees being uprooted, the farms being burned and the fathers killed.”"

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/18/egypt-expected-to-lead-global-stabilisation-force-in-gaza-say-diplomats?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other 

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The UK believes the scale of the required funds in excess of $67bn (£50bn) is so vast that private finance will have to be used as well as Gulf donors.     The scale of destruction in Gaza City poses an urgent challenge for its population. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

"The UN agency entrusted with the protection and welfare of Palestine refugees for three-quarters of a century, Unrwa, which I lead, was always meant to be temporary. The conclusion of its mandate was foreseen at its establishment. The choice before us today is whether to jettison a decades-long investment in human development and human rights by chaotically dismantling the agency overnight, or pursue an orderly political process in which Unrwa continues to provide millions of Palestine refugees with education and healthcare until empowered Palestinian institutions take over these services." Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of Unrwa* 

This Week in Palestine December 2024: The War of the Narratives by Sani P. Meo

"... TWiP was initially intended to be a guide for tourists and pilgrims, offering them information on where to go and what to do while visiting the Holy Land. That was back in late 1998 and 1999. By the year 2000, TWiP had started to emerge as a voice for Palestine, promoting it in the best way possible, advocating for its rights and cause, and bringing out the best in Palestine.

The history of This Week in Palestine was published in an article in the June 2022 issue themed “Palestinian Archives” – in my opinion, one of the most powerful editions. The article, “TWiP: An Inadvertent Archive,” offers an in-depth exploration of the wonderful journey of This Week in Palestine that has included every single human emotion one can imagine.

However harsh this year has been on the Palestinian people, it has also been an excellent one for This Week in Palestine, at least from the standpoint of popularity and credibility. During the past year there has been a surge of around 350 percent in TWiP’s readership, which is understandable because of the grace of Gaza and the fact that people around the world want to know more about Palestine. Thanks to the young generation who by using social media have brought the question of Palestine to the international stage. It’s worth noting that this keen interest in Palestine, translated through millions of pro-Palestine posts on various social platforms, has come with a price. It has irked mainstream media and sent it on a frantic journey to debunk the Palestinian narrative. As TWiP turns 26, the war between the Palestinian narrative or story and that of the Zionists is reaching a peak.

In her article “Working with the British Media on Gaza,” published in the May 2024 issue of TWiP, Leila Sansour lists a few tactics that the Western political establishments use against the Palestinian narrative: “…from the willful choice of always starting history on October 7 and disregarding all the voices that have painstakingly pointed out the flaws in this approach, to denying Palestinians the right to comment on just about anything that concerns their plight.”..... "  READ MORE  https://thisweekinpalestine.com/twip-turns-26/ 

TWiP Turns 26

The War of the Narratives

By Sani P. Meo

Sani Meo is co-founder of the English-language print and online magazine This Week in Palestine and has been its publisher since TWiP’s inception in December 1998. Since January 2007, he has also been the publisher of the Arabic online magazine Filistin Ashabab, which targets Palestinian youth.

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Palestinian Refugees and International Law

Palestine: The Litmus Test of Our Shared Humanity

The Betrayal of International Law

Israel’s UNRWA Ban

The Campus, the Courts, and Chickpeas

Christmas Is Palestine

Follow the Star

Despite Our Justified Skepticism

December 2024 issue of This Week in Palestine https://thisweekinpalestine.com/320-dec-2024/

DECOLONIZE THE NARRATIVE #FREE PALESTINE

Together, we have the power to shift the narrative on Palestine and build a future of collective liberation- Visualizing Palestine NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

Visualizing Palestine

@visualizingpal

As 2023 closes, we vow stronger resolve to continue to expose Israeli oppression of Palestinians. Together, we have the power to shift the narrative on Palestine and build a future of collective liberation. Join us: use our visuals, subscribe, become a member.

 

My letter to the NYTimes RE Overreacting to Terrorism? by Nicholas Kristof

A red rose, symbol of love-  Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository

RE: Overreacting to Terrorism?
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/24/opinion/terrorists-bathtubs-and-snakes.html?ref=international

Dear Editor,

Nicholas Kristof astutely asks if we are "Overreacting to Terrorism?"... YES- I totally agree!  But while his point about climate change is indeed quite important, I am more concerned about the current social and political ramifications of overreacting to terrorism.  A crime is not more criminal based on the perpetrator's worldview or religion. Paraphrasing Gertrude Stein's 1913 poem: A crime is a crime is a crime!

Kristoff pulls up cogent statistics verifying Obama's belief that "Americans more likely to die from falls in tubs than from attacks by terrorists",  but Kristoff does not look at equally telling statistics showing escalating insults and hate crimes against Muslims here in America.  Nor does Kristoff look at statistics concerning domestic violence, or child abuse, or rape which he is much more aware of than most people... Fact is good people do good things, and horrible people do horrible things. A crime is a crime is a crime, a hate crime is a hate crime is a hate crime, and murder is murder is murder.

The Middle East scourge ISIS/Daesh is quite happy to take credit for, and be empowered by violent crimes perpetrated in the West by lone wolf copy cat criminals.  Don't hand criminals, thugs, murderers, and religious tyrants an ego trip narrative to recruit more lone wolf copy cat criminals.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
Cruz wants to patrol Muslim neighborhoods. What happened when N.Y. tried it? (+video) http://fw.to/y71PWFd

AIPAC Brings Donald Trump’s Anti-Semitic Fans Out of the Woodwork @Deanofcomedy http://thebea.st/1LCOllZ  via @thedailybeast

Nicholas Kristof ‏@NickKristof 13h13 hours ago

New Islamic State video celebrates Brussels attacks by quoting Donald Trump http://wpo.st/ka4P1 

Chris Doyle ‏@Doylech Mar 23

People thought 21% of UK were Muslims actual figure just 5% - fear-mongers succeeding

The Jordan Times ‏@jordantimes 16m16 minutes ago

More media training required to prevent spread of rumours, experts say http://ow.ly/ZV3qP

UN Foundation ‏@unfoundation 31m31 minutes ago

On #ShareHumanity trip Ban Ki-moon visits Lebanon where 1/3 of population are #refugees from Syria or Palestine.

United Nations ‏@UN 43m43 minutes ago

"Let us renew our resolve to #fightracism" - Ban Ki-moon on @RememberSlavery Day http://j.mp/1RBU2TH 

Palestine PLO - NAD ‏@nadplo 4m4 minutes ago

From our occupied capital #Jerusalem, we send our best wishes to everyone celebrating #GoodFriday #Palestine

EcoPeace Middle East ‏@EcoPeaceME 3h3 hours ago

Environment and Climate in the Middle East - Gaza pollution flows to Israel due to power... http://fb.me/7jjCiunkp "  ... "Gaza’s water treatment facility not yet online due to electricity shortages, causing wastewater to flow north into Israel; major desalinization plant in Ashkelon shut down as result."

 

Arab American Inst. ‏@AAIUSA 5h5 hours ago

Clinton attacked #BDS: http://buff.ly/1q4fJ2r  Stand 4 free speech w @jvplive & #AAI http://buff.ly/1q4fHrl  ..."“Clinton is unashamedly showing that she has embraced Israel advocacy groups’ talking points wholeheartedly,” Dima Khalidi, the director of Palestine Legal, told Shadowproof. “She is broadcasting her opposition to a broad popular nonviolent movement for Palestinian human rights, and promising to throw her weight behind the concerted suppression of First Amendment-protected human rights advocacy in the U.S.”"

The IMEU ‏@theIMEU 7h7 hours ago

University of California Adopts Policy Linking Anti-Zionism to Anti-Semitism http://bit.ly/1PtwxnX  [Robert Mackey]  ... "As Omar Zahzah, a Palestinian-American graduate student at UCLA who spoke against the proposed policy before the regents voted on Wednesday, observed later:

We all agree that anti-Semitism and racism must be combated on campus. Where we disagree is in the claim that anti-Zionism is bigotry. Palestinian and Jewish students alike should have the right to say that the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 was morally wrong and that Palestinian refugees should have the right to return home to a state where Palestinians and Jews live in equality rather than in a discriminatory Jewish state.  '

Palestine Studies ‏@PalStudies 14h14 hours ago

UN database will list businesses operating in settlements in occupied territories https://goo.gl/qYpZKK 

The IMEU ‏@theIMEU 8h8 hours ago

The Palestinian ‘Arab Idol’ winner, now a megastar, has a life story worthy of a biopic http://on.ft.com/1XQj53B  ... "Assaf’s family remain in Gaza and he regularly returns to visit them. I suggest that he is now a Palestinian icon but he firmly rejects this. “I don’t consider myself an icon. There are more deserving people among the Palestinians who merit that. Hanan Al Hroub, the Palestinian teacher who recently won the Global Teacher Prize, is an icon."

J Street ‏@jstreetdotorg 14h14 hours ago

.@NPR lifts up the story of how Bassam Aramin became a voice for peace in the Middle East http://n.pr/1UMIOL1 

The IMEU ‏@theIMEU 10h10 hours ago

Israeli settlers use Ibrahimi Mosque loudspeaker to sing racist songs and call for expulsion of ‘Arabs’ from Hebron http://bit.ly/1Udbkqs

The IMEU ‏@theIMEU 8h8 hours ago

Survey: 85% of Palestinian citizens of Israel fear rising levels of racism http://bit.ly/1T7Seks

Side by Side: Parallel Histories of Israel-Palestine... "An eye-opening—and inspiring—new approach to thinking about one of the world’s most deeply entrenched conflicts"

Paperback – March 6, 2012

by Sami Adwan (Editor), Dan Bar-On (Editor), Eyal Naveh (Editor), Peace Research Institute in the Middle East (Editor)

In 2000, a group of Israeli and Palestinian teachers gathered to address what to many people seemed an unbridgeable gulf between the two societies. Struck by how different the standard Israeli and Palestinian textbook histories of the same events were from one another, they began to explore how to “disarm” the teaching of the history of the Middle East in Israeli and Palestinian classrooms.

The result is a riveting “dual narrative” of Israeli and Palestinian history. Side by Side comprises the history of two peoples, in separate narratives set literally side-by-side, so that readers can track each against the other, noting both where they differ as well as where they correspond. The unique and fascinating presentation has been translated into English and is now available to American audiences for the first time.

An eye-opening—and inspiring—new approach to thinking about one of the world’s most deeply entrenched conflicts, Side by Side is a breakthrough book that will spark a new public discussion about the bridge to peace in the Middle East.
 

Self-fulfilling prophecies are a danger to Iraq and Syria... Let’s not wish ourselves into cataclysm before it’s too late.

"...The Middle East is not divided between government and mosque, failed national states and implausible nonstate parties. Nor is it in the grip of a broader sectarian confrontation. And for everyone’s sake, it had better stay that way. Let’s not wish ourselves into cataclysm before it’s too late." Hussein Ibish

 ***

C-Span Video of ATFP Panel on Iraq...  discussing the security, political and economic dimensions of the crisis

 http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/selffulfilling-prophecies-are-a-danger-to-iraq-and-syria

Self-fulfilling prophecies are a danger to Iraq and Syria 

Hussein Ibish

June 29, 2014

With both Iraq and Syria in the throes of seemingly total meltdown, and much of the Middle East apparently on the brink of a potential broad regional conflagration, the temptation to think in sweeping but simplistic terms becomes greater than ever. This is because the situation is so difficult to read, and even the parties involved in each manifestation of chaos are often not completely clear or entirely settled. But this is an impulse that needs to be resisted if a proper evaluation is to be made and an appropriate policy response formulated.

It would be too easy under such dramatic and unreadable conditions to view the situation as a kind of binary of neat polar opposites that are contending for mastery. But such thinking is dangerous, because the power of narratives and self-fulfilling prophecies is such that embracing the idea of a binary division could contribute to producing one at the political level.

In politics, there is no clear distinction between perception and reality. The constant repetition of an idea can often imbue that perspective with undue power. Sometimes the ardently-stated belief in them is sufficient to give monsters of the imagination a foothold in reality...READ MORE

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Hussein Ibish is a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine and blogs at 

www. ibishblog.com

On Twitter: @ibishblog

"We Palestinians are a society, with a culture and language. We have our cause and the right to our land. Freedom of movement, speech, and press are the basics. If you’re in solidarity and you believe that, put your investment in the right place." Manar Harb

This Week in Palestine archived cover

What Are Fifteen Years?
By Manar Harb

I started my editorial career at This Week in Palestine (TWIP), and I am very proud of this fact. TWIP is a national magazine, made for the people, by the people! It may have started as a publication for tourists, but throughout the fifteen years of its existence, TWIP has acquired quite a unique archive of the Palestinian narrative. During my own experience, I was absolutely fascinated by the amount of material we received for each issue. The entire process was like soaring above the clouds with readers and writers. I was connecting with Palestinian authors from all around the world. I remember so many who reached out to us to express their thoughts and share their stories. I felt exposed to the entire Palestinian community that I was trying to connect with. Suddenly, TWIP was the only place that somewhat represented a “collective.”

The collective is an important part of the Palestinian struggle; no collective, no victory. And Palestinians everywhere need to think about a collective vision if we wish to have a future with a place called Palestine. Don’t kid yourself, we Palestinians are close to extinction. Perhaps I exaggerate, perhaps not; either way, without a complete understanding of the entire picture - the documentation and narration of what happened, and of what is taking place - there will be no justice!

Local organisations and businesses in solidarity with the Palestinians should support such a constructive medium. We Palestinians are a society, with a culture and language. We have our cause and the right to our land. Freedom of movement, speech, and press are the basics. If you’re in solidarity and you believe that, put your investment in the right place.

Finance and marketing are two important factors in the life of a magazine, and they also influence the content and final output. These are areas that we should also think about and examine. The overhead involved in printing 12,000 copies of each issue is not cheap! And yes, to sustain a magazine, resources are required.

TWIP has the capacity to reflect a part of the Palestinian narrative to an English-speaking audience, which is a pretty powerful tool. And the English-speaking audience is a broad audience. We Palestinians have not been very good at presenting ourselves in public. I mean the public media. We haven’t been very successful at presenting ourselves to each other. I find that TWIP is a healthy space for us to have these exchanges and conversations between ourselves, and yes, in English, because the world needs to know.

Palestinians will always be weak if we remain divided; we will be strong only if we are united with our Arab neighbours and allies. It is true that borders disconnect us, and that if it weren’t for the Israeli occupation, there’s no reason why I wouldn’t be speaking Farsi or Turkish. There was a point in time, not long ago, when those borders were wide open and people travelled freely from village to village, and town to town. We won’t forget what once was, but we will also look very closely at the present.

The present is the most exciting time! Some say that the present is a gift.

The best gifts are those that come unexpected. We’ve got some presents to give! With the young and the old, our voices, our energy, our fathers and sons, our mothers and daughters, we’ve got to tell our stories; that’s the only way to justice.

The magazine has survived fifteen years of wars and conflict, issue after issue, curfew or not, TWIP was published! The clarity of the vision behind TWIP is what drives this success.

I am grateful for TWIP as a model of success for Palestinians, an experience that reflects how persistence and faith go a long way. For the future of this humble magazine, I only hope for further growth. And thank you, TWIP, for capturing some of the brighter moments. (:

I am really proud of you, Sani Meo and Taisir Masrieh!
Manar A. Harb is an aspiring writer and previous content editor of This Week in Palestine.

http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=4157&ed=225&edid=225

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The Telegraph: Good-and-evil caricatures of the Israel-Palestine conflict are costing lives...

Both sides in the Middle East conflict are fighting to sell their own narrative: us good, them evil.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9907661/Good-and-evil-caricatures-of-the-Israel-Palestine-conflict-are-costing-lives.html

But it's far more complicated 

By Matt Hill
04 Mar 2013

Is there another issue that generates as much sound and fury as the Israel-Palestine conflict? Last month George Galloway attracted derision for storming out of an Oxford University debate when he discovered one of his opponents was an Israeli. The fallout continued into last week, with students at the university voting on whether to join a blanket boycott of Israeli companies and institutions.

The motion was defeated, but not before causing a storm of outrage that included hate mail, accusations of racism in both directions, and headlines in the national press.

As portrayed by diehard supporters of both Israel and the Palestinians, the conflict is set in a land that bears less resemblance to the modern Middle East than the Wild West of early Hollywood, with its good-versus-evil tales of cowboys and Indians. Certain of the justice of their cause, both sides shut their ears to the other’s views, resulting in a vicious circle of solipsism. Instead of a debate, there are two echo chambers, airlocked against doubt and nuance.

This is because the argument is an extension of the conflict itself. The Israel-Palestine struggle has always been as much a war of narratives as of tanks and missiles. Did the Palestinian refugees of 1948 leave their homes voluntarily or at Israeli gunpoint? ...READ MORE

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