Portside

In meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Spain’s Pedro Sanchez proposes international peace talks

Amid an economic crisis caused by Israeli policies and PA corruption, teachers are bringing schools and streets to a standstill until their demands are met.

The UN statement in question is just that: a statement, with no tangible value and no legal repercussions.

Elections in Bolivia, Uprising in Thailand, Palestine on the defensive. Reports, remembrances and reminders from the international left.

Faced with the looming threat of Israeli annexation, on Tuesday Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared an end to all Palestinian agreements with Israel and the US. Analysts, however, are skeptical Abbas will follow through on his pledge.

And it is a critical juncture for Palestinians generally, failed by their leaders, divided among themselves, dismissed by the Israelis and forgotten internationally.

Shir Hever’s "The Privatization of Israeli Security" is a study of the emergence of private military-security companies that began in Israel in the 1990s and continues today.

The Oslo Accords have been a disaster for Palestinians and a boon to those who wish to maintain Israel’s nearly half-century-old occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. In his U.N. speech, Abbas, one of Oslo’s architects, declared that he would no longer abide by its terms unless Israel stopped running roughshod over them. This declaration won’t mean much unless it’s translated into concrete action.

The international aid agency Oxfam warned last week that money pledged at the global donor conference “will languish in bank accounts for decades before it reaches people, unless long-standing Israeli restrictions on imports are lifted,” adding that “under current restrictions and rate of imports it could take more than 50 years to build the 89,000 new homes, 226 new schools, as well as the health facilities, factories and water and sanitation infrastructure people need.

Good luck predicting how the new set of Israel-Palestine peace talks will unfold.