Our Wednesday News Analysis | Palestinians outraged as Ursula von der Leyen invokes Zionist myths to wish Israel on its 75th foundation day

Palestinians march to commemorate the Nakba on April 26. Photo: Wafa

Ali Abunimah, director of Electronic Intifada, pointed out that, by “supporting Israel is how Europeans can relieve their most fascist and racist colonial dreams not only without guilt, but even feeling virtuous, as if their support for this blood-soaked horror show makes them Good People who learned from History.”

Editor’s note | My message to Ursula: "More than often, silence is golden, too much light blinds, too much salt stings. Try not to add fuel to fires"

A statement by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen congratulating Israel on its 75th formation day on April 26th and calling it “a vibrant democracy” which “literally made the desert bloom” has been widely criticized and condemned by Palestinians and other human rights groups. They have termed the statement racist and a defense of colonialism and apartheid.

Von der Leyen, in her video statement, also invoked other phrases such as Israel being a “promised land,” and equating its creation with “freedom.” These phrases are usually associated with Zionism, the political and ideological campaign that originated in the late 19th century and mobilized people for the occupation of Palestine.

Reacting to the statement, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates called it “inappropriate, false, and discriminatory.” It further said that “such propagandist discourse dehumanizes and erases the Palestinian people and falsifies their rich history and civilization.”...

Read more: Palestinians outraged as Ursula von der Leyen invokes Zionist myths to wish Israel on its 75th foundation day

WHY I WON'T BE CELEBRATING ISRAEL'S 75TH ANNIVERSARY (OPINION)

Supporters of Palestine demonstrate near the intersection of Weslayan and the Southwest Freeway, near the Israeli consulate, as they show their support to the Palestinian resistance to the ongoing violence in the Middle East Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in Houston. Hundreds of protestors chanted slogans of "Free, free Palestine." throughout the demonstration.
Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Source; Houston Chronicle
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/palestine-zionism-jews-israel-rice-policy-foreign-17917372.php

By Michael S. Kardoush
Published April 26, 2023

“Oh my God! How could it be that our people, who never attacked anyone, nor did any harm to anyone, how and why in one day, have all the nations of all the world suddenly turned against us?”

On April 27, a large number of representatives from the U.S. State Department, former U.S. ambassadors to Israel, Middle East experts, notable Zionist individuals and heads of powerful Zionist organizations devoted to Israel advocacy will hold a conference at Rice’s Baker Institute of Public Policy to mark the 75th year of Israel’s existence.

For many people, including me, the anniversary is nothing to celebrate. During the 1948 Palestine War, Zionist and Israeli forces expelled or forced the flight of between 700,000 and 800,000 Palestinians, grabbing their land, turning them into homeless refugees, and thereby decimating the economic, political and social fabric of Palestine. The American people, politicians and compassionate people everywhere deserve to know the truth about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and about its origin, present and future.

I am one of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians forced from our homeland. We confronted oppression, marginalization and historical erasure to make room for a new Jewish state to be erected on our land, a humanitarian calamity beyond imagination. In Arabic, “Al Nakba”: the Catastrophe.

In November 1947, the Anglo-Zionist colonial project to deny the Palestinian past and destroy its present and future was realized by UN Resolution 181, which recognized the state of Israel...

Read more: Why I won't be celebrating Israel's 75th anniversary (Opinion)

HYPOCRITICAL OUTRAGE: WHAT’S WRONG WITH BURNING THE FLAG OF AN APARTHEID STATE?

A 16-year-old teenager was arrested for burning an Israeli flag in Montreal. (Photo: video grab)

Source: Palestine Chronicle
https://www.palestinechronicle.com/hypocritical-outrage-whats-wrong-with-burning-flag-of-an-apartheid-state/

By Yves Engler
Published May 1, 2023

"It is outrageous that taxpayers are subsidizing private schools indoctrinating kids into celebrating a state, human rights groups, say is
committing the crime of apartheid.
A 16-year-old challenging that makes me think that at least
some of the kids are all right."

We are supposed to be outraged by a teenager burning Israeli flags but ignore a publicly funded school indoctrinating six and seven-year-olds to worship a faraway apartheid state.

On Wednesday a Montréal teenager filmed himself taking five Israeli flags attached to the outside fence of Hebrew Foundation School in the borough of Dollard-des-Ormeaux (DDO). With Arabic music playing in the background, he subsequently burned them.

The Israel lobby cried bloody murder and the Montréal Gazette, CBC, CTV, Global and others reported on the incident.

The Liberal MP in the riding, Sameer Zuberi, tweeted, “Images of a young person removing Israeli flags from Dollard’s Hebrew Foundation School, and later burning them, are shocking and abhorrent. Hate, intolerance, and antisemitism have absolutely no place in our community or country. Everyone must be and feel safe in Canada.”

For his part, the executive director of Hebrew Foundation School, Glenn Eisenberg, called it an “act of overt Jew-hate” and “there is no doubt this was motivated by antisemitism.”

The Montreal police’s hate crimes unit later arrested a 16-year-old.

Read more: Hypocritical Outrage: What’s Wrong with Burning the Flag of an Apartheid State?