Dundee council set to vote on pro-Palestine motion as Israeli Embassy objects

An Israeli Embassy spokesman today criticised the local council in Dundee, Scotland, for not siding "with the one country in the region where Arabs do have a vote". He is of course referring to the second-class citizens Israel likes to refer to as 'Arab Israelis', but who see their representatives branded as terrorists and refused the right to travel, while in the settler state itself they suffer institutional racism and attacks on a constant basis. Apartheid would be a far better description of the so-called democracy experienced by Palestinians in what was their own country - Palestine before the catastrophe (Nabka) of 1948.

The Israeli Embassy in London has criticised a pro-Palestinian motion due to be debated by councillors in Dundee.

The motion has been proposed by Liberal Democrat group leader Fraser Macpherson. It was due to be discussed at a meeting of the city council's policy and resources committee on Monday evening, but has been rescheduled for mid-June.

It attacks the Israeli government, comparing its treatment of the Palestinians to South Africa under apartheid, and notes the council's pride in its links with the people of Palestine.

One of Dundee's twin towns is Nablus in the West Bank. In October the Palestinian flag was raised, along with flags from the nations of the other twin towns, atop Caird Hall.

Last year also saw activist Ali El-Awaisi, who was on the Gaza-bound aid ship stormed by Israeli commandos, invited to speak to councillors.

An Israeli embassy spokesman said, "We are surprised that at a time when all in the west should be standing behind those literally dying for democracy during the Arab spring, Dundee City Council have chosen to criticise the one country in the entire region where Arabs do have the vote"

more

Comments

'Coronavirus-free' Gaza prepares for the worst

Until now, the besieged Gaza Strip has stayed free of the novel coronavirus spreading across the world. As the Gaza Strip has been under a stringent Israeli-led blockade for nearly 13 years, the spread of the coronavirus - officially known as COVID-19 - has become the topic of discussion for many Palestinians, with some joking that the blockade was preventing them from being exposed.But as authorities in the coastal Palestinian enclave gear up to contain any potential outbreak, serious questions have arisen about the risks and implications of such a scenario. But given its already difficult humanitarian situation and high population density, an outbreak in the Gaza Strip could prove to be catastrophic, health officials have warned. "If the virus enters Gaza and spreads, it will get out of hand," Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Majdi Thuhair told Middle East Eye, as he explained that a severe shortage of resources and personnel would make it near impossible

Boycott of New York diamond dealer launched to protest settlement construction

Members of Adalah NY call for boycott of Leviev for its crimes against Palestinians and South Africans New York, NY, May 9 – On the day before Mother’s Day, 40 New York human rights advocates gathered at the Leviev jewelry store on Madison Avenue and called on throngs of weekend Madison Avenue shoppers to boycott Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev over his companies’ construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in West Bank villages including Bil’in and Jayyous. Mother’s Day is one of the biggest jewelry shopping periods in the US annually. The New York protest came as controversy is growing in Norway over Norwegian government investments in Leviev’s company Africa-Israel . The New York protesters also commemorated Bassem Abu Rahma from Bil’in who was shot to death by Israeli soldiers last month during a peaceful protest against the construction on Bil’in’s land of Israel’s wall and of the Mattityahu East settlement by a Leviev company. Thanks to vivapalestina.us (not co

Support striking Palestinian quarry workers demanding their rights from Israeli employer

On 16 June, 35 Palestinian workers at Salit Quarries in Mishor Adumim (in area C, east of Jerusalem, in the Occupied West Bank) began a strike. The workers, organized with the independent union WAC-Ma'an, are demanding an end to exploitation and humiliation, and insist on signing a first collective agreement. Salit Quarries’ main customer is Readymix Industries (Israel). The total reliance of Salit Quarry on Readymix as their biggest and by far the most important customer puts responsibility on Readymix to make sure that their clients abides by labour laws and safeguards elementary rights for the workers of Salit. We call upon Readymix to urge the Salit management to terminate this unnecessary strike by signing the collective agreement with the workers and WAC-Ma’an. Click this protest link to send your message. The text of the message is as follows: I write to you to express my grave concern about the failure of Salit management to sign a collective agreement with the workers of

Search iGaza