Independent news and analysis on Israeli oppression, US complicity and the Palestinian liberation struggle

A large part information battle is the fact that US commercial news media tends to adopt and repeat back the US Government’s position on Israel and Palestine. 

The national media watchdog group, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), has been documenting this dynamic since they were founded in the early 1980s. For example, last week FAIR posted an article entitled, In Hours of Israel/Gaza Crisis Coverage, a Word You’ll Seldom Hear: ‘Ceasefire’, which documented how little the word ceasefire has been used in the major commercial news sources in the US.

In August, FAIR also published an excellent article that can work as a guide for US news consumers, entitled, Six Tropes to Look Out for That Distort Israel/Palestine Coverage. I highly recommend using this as a guide when consuming US commercial news. 

In 2016, the Media Education Foundation produced a powerful documentary, The Occupation of the American Mind: Israel’s Public Relations War in the United States. This documentary, which you can watch online, also provides a detailed analysis of how US commercial media is deeply influenced by Israeli PR, adopting the language and talking points that the Israeli government presents. 

Independent News & Analysis

When it comes to independent sources of information, there are numerous. One of the best regular sources of news and analysis is the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.  Another excellent resource is Electronic Intifada, which was founded by the Palestinian-American journalist, Ali Abunimah.

A few other daily independent news sources are:

• Palestine Chronicle https://www.palestinechronicle.com/
• The Intercept https://theintercept.com/ 
• CounterPunch https://www.counterpunch.org/
• Truthout https://truthout.org/
• The Jacobin https://jacobin.com/ 
• Dissident Voice https://dissidentvoice.org/
• Common Dreams https://www.commondreams.org/ 
• Democracy Now! https://www.democracynow.org/
• Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting www.fair.org 

Then there is the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. This site has great information on US Military Aid to Israel, a Palestine 101 section, and a Grassroots Advocacy Toolkit. 

Another excellent resource is the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions page https://bdsmovement.net/. I see lots of lists of products to boycott as it relates to Israel, but the BDS campaign has very focused boycott campaigns that move us from individual choices to collective action. 

There are also really good human rights monitoring groups, like:

• Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association 
• The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories

This Wednesday, there will be an excellent online event, Abolition Means No More War: Free Palestine Now! Aiming to contribute to fighting against war-making more broadly, this event will examine the relationship of the PIC with Israel’s apartheid and occupation of Palestine, and why abolitionists must strongly mobilize in this time, by bringing together experts on PIC abolition, solidarity, liberation movements, war and militarism to:

• Unpack the relationship of racist and imperialist structures that support the ongoing Israeli occupation in Palestine
• Expose the Israeli imprisonment system including Gaza’s forced configuration into an open air prison
• Disrupt Israel’s role in worldwide repression of marginalized peoples and revolutionary struggle
• And interrupt the media’s role in criminalization, inciting more violence, and maintaining systems of oppression by empowering colonial ideology through Islamaphobia, Anti-Arab racism, and anti-semitism

To register for this event go to this link.  

Right now, Verso Books is providing free e-books on Solidarity with Palestine.

Lastly, stay plugged in to the local Palestinian Solidarity Movement, which has a rally at the Federal Building this Thursday from 4 – 6pm.