Palestine

There is something incredibly frustrating about the fact that the Red Hot Chili Peppers played a concert in Israel, ignoring international pleas for them to cancel and observe the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS).

Admittedly, I wasn’t even quite aware of just how much their decision stung until the day after their appearance at the Pic.Nic festival in Tel Aviv.

Independent journalist, political activist and author Antony Loewenstein discusses his new book After Zionism, at Sydney's Gleebooks on October 2. In discussion with Peter Manning and the audience, Loewenstein covers questions of zionism, one or two state solutions, the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, Israel as an apartheid state, debates in Palestine, Israel and beyond, the Gaza flotillas, and much more.

The third Australia-wide gathering of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigners took place in Adelaide from September 21 to 23. The Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA) hosted the weekend of events.

A highlight of the three days was the appearance by London-based Israeli academic Ilan Pappe, who spoke twice. He spoke to 600 people at the annual Edward Said Memorial lecture, which is named for the late Palestinian academic.

Phil Monsour sings a pro-Palestine version of "Which side are you on" at the Adelaide Seacret protest prior to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions national workshop weekend on September 21.

Celebrated Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe who wrote "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine" that documented the 1948 removal of 700,000 Palestinians from their lands, has now written about "The Forgotten Palestinians".

In the book, and at this September 16 community meeting at Sydney University, Pappe reveals the situation for the Palestinians who still live within Israel's borders.

Celebrated Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe whose landmark publication, "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine" documented the planned removal of 700,000 Palestinians from their lands in 1948, has written a new book "The Forgotten Palestinians".

In the book, and at this September 16 community meeting at Sydney University, Pappe reveals the situation for the Palestinians who still live within Israel's borders.

The Palestine Action Group Sydney released the statement below on September 20.

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One hundred and fifty supporters of Palestine staged a rally in Parramatta in support of the global campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israeli apartheid today. The protest was timed to also commemorate the massacres at the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon 30 years ago.

After five years of besieging Gaza, Israel announced on September 20 the first significant easing of its near-total export ban. The ban was imposed on the Palestinian territory in 2007 after Hamas won elections.

This turnaround amounts to an admission that Israel’s blockade of Gaza is facing defeat, leaving Tel Aviv casting around for an alternative mechanism of control over the battered enclave.

Khatib Mansour, director of the Israeli army’s Coordination and Liaison Administration for Gaza, said Israel would allow:

* furniture and clothes to be exported from Gaza to the West Bank;