NOVANEWS
When I was arguing with AIPAC attendees in Washington D.C., the one thing they didn’t seem to have an answer for was if the occupation of Gaza was supposedly over, why was Israel controlling all its borders?
Well, with the seemingly heartening news that Egypt’s military government was opening the Rafah crossing, Israel’s defenders could briefly claim that even the Siege was over! This was absurd on the face of it, as Larry Derfner points out, because these same defneders had been claiming for years that the Siege was necessary to deprive terrorists of their coriander.
Well, the opening was pretty narrow from the beginning, according to Gaza Mom blogger Laila El-Haddad back on May 31 in Mondoweiss. And now, courtesy of Democracy Now! the crossing was officially closed.
and here’s Gisha’s animated video on the crossing:
Why do protesters only count in Syria?
Mitchell Plitnick has an argument here about why Syria should stay out of Palestinian protests. It’s an interesting case though I am happy to see the larger issue of the Palestinian refugee diaspora raised, I agree that Syria is a deeply flawed messenger, given its current brutal crackdown on its own demonstrators.
The New York Times coverage of the “Naksa” (a word I am embarrassed to admit I just learned this year” seems to support Plitnick’s point, as it claims that “only Syrians” protested after Lebanon cracked down on protests at its border. This ignores the protests accross Palestinian land, the list I received included Gaza, Qalandia (video below) , and a Lebanese refugee camp, but CNN did not mention them. The Winnipeg Free Press’s Israel correspondent called it “Syria confronts Israel alone.” This certainly makes it sound like Syria’s actions are overshadowing the daily
Even Juan Cole mentioned only the Israelis protesting for a two state solution.
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