Today we take another look at the fallout from the recent reports by international human rights organizations which have issued concurring exhaustive reports documenting that Israel indeed meets the protocols of apartheid under international law. The United States Congress and the White House have condemned the reports by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem without commentary as to why…without any critical analysis of the actual reports, but by putting down the reports with the usual name-calling of anti-semitism.
We feature a conversation among Paul O’Brien (Amnesty International), Dr. Maha Nassar (University of Arizona), Peter Beinart (CUNY), and Lara Friedman, President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace discussing the Amnesty report which provide a detailed and thorough examination of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and concluding that it meets the legal definition of the crime of apartheid. This conversation explores another aspect of this issue: the dynamics and tactics (some new, some old) on display in the responses from defenders of the status quo to the growing use and acceptance of the apartheid framing — including deflection and misdirection aimed at shifting focus away from factual findings and delegitimization and demonization of human rights defenders and Palestinian rights activists.
This Week In Palestine (a weekly part of Truth and Justice Radio) is an award-winning three-quarter-hour segment of news from Palestine and discussion of issues relevant to the Palestinians' struggle for freedom from Israel's brutal military occupation and colonization of their homeland. It speaks from the point of view of Palestinians and those who care about them. It's a regular part of Truth and Justice Radio, aired Sundays 6-10am ET on WZBC 90.3FM, Newton, MA, streaming live and archived for two weeks at wzbc.org; Truthandjusticeradio.org has a link to This Week In Palestine archives back thru 1-6-2008. (TJR airs occasional Palestine coverage IN ADDITION to that provided by This Week In Palestine.) We hope you'll write to us at tjradio@fastmail.com if you rebroadcast our work, or have questions or comments.