A South Africa moment for Palestine?
Watch Ghada Karmi and Andrew Feinstein in discussion with Omar Karmi.
Trying out something new for The Electronic Intifada podcast, we decided to take the plunge and film our first ever in-person episode!
I filmed my colleague Omar Karmi in conversation with veteran Palestinian academic and activist Ghada Karmi (who, incidentally, is Omar’s paternal aunt) and former ANC member of South African parliament Andrew Feinstein.
Watch the full conversation in the video above, or listen to the audio version on your favourite podcast platform or over at the EI website.
Omar writes:
Over the past six months, millions of people worldwide have taken to the streets to demonstrate in solidarity with Palestine and to demand that their governments call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza …
Nevertheless, Israel has continued its genocide in Gaza, seemingly unconcerned. And crucially, Israel’s most important allies, the US and the UK, have remained largely unmoved and continue to support Israel diplomatically and militarily, with little to no regard for popular feeling.
This prompts the question of whether we have reached the limits of what Palestine activism can achieve or whether the current popular momentum can turn into an Apartheid South Africa moment, a moment of global solidarity that led inexorably to the collapse of South Africa’s racist regime.
Read the rest of Omar’s introduction to this special episode over at the EI website.
What do you think of this new format for the podcast? Do you prefer it to online? Let me know in the comments. If there’s demand we’ll try and do more like this.
This was stunning. Wonderful, encouraging, and a huge high for those who want decency, education, justice to be known shared widely on our planet. This format was perfect. So rivetingly lovely I could not do my housework while listening, watching. More talks in socks please. Bless you-all so very much. Would that I could pay my entire (paltry) income to each of you monthly! Heroic love!
Thank you!
Re. Pressure on Biden. There are folk on social media who fervently defend Biden, rail against critics, and tell voters they have to vote Biden, because the alternative is Trump and fascism.
But if demonstrations and public disdain for US support for Israel has caused the recent faltering of that support, then the change in Biden's stance came because of people refusing to vote for him, despite the danger of a Trump victory, and not from those who will support Biden no matter what
So, regardless of how rigged and inadequate western electoral systems may be, it is clear drawing a line and standing against politicians who support the indefensible, does have an impact.