This year's National Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) conference took place at Bethlehem University where we witnessed a strong dose of Palestinian realism when a dispute occurred between the Palestinian Minister of Economy Jawad Al-Naji, and BDS participant, Nizar Banat, resulting in Al-Naji storming out of the room. The argument was triggered when Banat questioned Mahmoud Abbas and his...

  On September 30, 2000, the French channel, France 2, broadcast a televised report which claimed to show the cruel murder of the twelve- year old Palestinian boy, Mohammad al-Dura, at the hands of Israeli soldiers.  This powerful visual purportedly portrayed the merciless death of this young man sheltered in the arms of his father at the Netzarim junction near Gaza.  France 2,...

  The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement's biggest success is rooted in its ‘soft power.' The ability to influence behavior through values, policies, institutions and culture, as opposed to 'hard' or coercive power exercised through military or economic pressures, plays a tremendous role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Using soft power pro-Palestinian groups have been...

  "A monologue is one person talking to himself.  A dialog is  two persons talking to theirself. (sic)'"                                        ...

  When we think of Israel, we usually think of the Middle East (its neighborhood), North America (its close ally the United States) and Europe (the long history of Ashkenazi Jews). Rarely do we think about Israel and Asia, even less about Asia as Israel's new frontier. We don't think of Asia as playing any significant role in Israel's evolution given the tiny Asian Jewish population, the...