GUEST EDITOR’S LETTER
ZOE HOLMAN for the New Internationalist Co-operative newint.org
Cover: A portrait of Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, now 22 , painted on Israel’s Separation barrier near Bethlehem by three Italian and Palestinian street artists, who were arrested by the Israelis after making the work in 2018. MICHAEL THOMAS/ALAMY
A friend from Gaza – now living in Europe after three attempts to leave the Strip – tells me how he only entered the territory of Israel, where his ancestral home lies, once in his life.
He was a child, on a bus going to visit his uncle in indefinite political incarceration in an Israeli prison. All the windows of the vehicle were blacked out so that its Palestinian passengers could see nothing of their journey; just the prison facility at their destination, and the open-air prison of Gaza they had travelled from.
The anecdote seems to capture all the mechanisms of erasure, displacement, coercion and collective punishment that have come to characterize the system of apartheid now enacted against Palestinians by Israel. But Palestine has many other faces. Palestinian culture endured for centuries before Israel’s foundation and under occupation, and has evolved in diverse forms of daily life, resistance and political consciousness.
Alongside the violent tools of Israeli domination, it is these myriad Palestinian experiences that this issue aims to reflect. Through voices from Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and the Palestinian diaspora, we consider how land, culture, geopolitics and the rising tide of Israeli extremism are shaping Palestinian lives and their continued struggle for justice.
Also in this edition, Richard Matoušek writes on how housing activists in São Paulo are taking back empty buildings, Amy Hall reports from Kenya on a landmark reparations case for Indigenous people and Subi Shah reflects with much-loved author Michael Rosen.
THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE:
Alice McCool is a journalist based between the UK and East Africa. She covers issues of social justice, disinformation and politics for outlets such as The Guardian and CNN. Issam Adwan is a Gazabased journalist and human-rights activist who works as Media Officer at the Palestinian Centre for Democracy and Conflict Resolution and is a lecturer at Al-Azhar University, Gaza. Marta Vidal is an independent journalist focusing on social justice and environmental issues across the Mediterranean. Toufic Haddad is a Palestinian academic and author of Palestine Ltd: Neoliberalism and Nationalism in the Occupied Territories. He lives in East Jerusalem where he is director of The Kenyon Institute.
THE NEW INTERNATIONALIST multistakeholder co-operative exists to report on the issues of world poverty and inequality; to focus attention on the unjust relationship between the powerful and powerless worldwide; to debate and campaign for the radical changes necessary to meet the basic needs of all ; and to bring to life the people, the ideas and the action in the fight for global justice. The New Internationalist magazine was founded by Peter and Lesley Adamson in 1970. Together with a range of other publications it is published by New Internationalist Publications Ltd which is wholly owned by the New Internationalist Co-operative Ltd and its co-owners.
Accounts: Katalin Szombati Subscriptions and administration: Louise Waters Advertising: Michael York Design: Andrew Kokotka Editorial (Magazine and Website): Amy Hall , Conrad Landin, Husna Ara, Nick Dowson, Bethany Rielly Contributing editors: Vanessa Baird , Chris Brazier, Jamie Kelsey-Fry, Dinyar Godrej Funding and engagement: Laura Veitch Mail Order: Emma Blunt, James Rowland Marketing (Magazine): Rob Norman Production: Fran Harvey Web and IT: Charlie Harvey
SUBSCRIPTIONS UK Website: newint.org/subscribe Email: subscriptions@newint.org Phone: +44 (0) 20 3868 4646 Phone (from Ireland): CallSave 1850 924 331 Post: New Internationalist, The Old Music Hall , 106 -108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JE , UK. NORTH AMERICA To update your subscription with address changes etc or to contact us with any other subscription queries: newint.org/subscriptions You will need your subscriber reference number which is on the magazine address label. Email: newint@kckglobal.com Phone: 1-800-661-8700 Canada: PO Box 819, Markham, ON L3P 8A2 US: PO Box 1062, Niagara Falls , NY 14304-1062
SUBSCRIPTION PRICES UK: Standard – £42.85; Institutions – from £120 Canada: Standard – $44 (plus GST or HST) US: Standard – $44; Foreign (by air) – $70 Rest of World: Standard – £50.85/�59.85. UK OFFICE New Internationalist, The Old Music Hall , 106-108 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JE. Tel: +44 (0)1865 403345 Email: ni@newint.org
ADVERTISING (MAGAZINE & WEB) Michael York +44 (0)1865 403339 michaely@newint.org Contract enquiries: ni_cg@newint.org Web queries: tech@newint.org Permissions & general enquiries: +44 (0)1865 403345 office.manager@newint.org
UK NEWS TRADE DISTRIBUTOR Intermedia Brand Marketing Ltd, Unit 6, The Enterprise Centre, Kelvin Lane, Manor Royal, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 9PE. Tel: +44 (0)1293 312001
NORTH AMERICA NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTOR Natalie Dalton, Disticor Direct, ndalton@ disticor.com Publications Mail Agreement number 40063336. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Circulation Department, NI Magazine, PO Box 819, Markham, ON L3P 8A2.
All monetary values are expressed in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
US postmaster: send address changes to NI Magazine, PO Box 1062, Niagara Falls , NY 14304. Indexing: Indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index Quarterly (CPI.Q), Canadian Business and Current Affairs and the Alternative Press Index. Available in full-text electronic format from EBSCO and Proquest. The New Internationalist is published bimonthly.
Regulated by IMPRESS: the independent monitor for the press – impress.press For Complaints Scheme see: newint.org/about/complaints
@newint facebook.com/newint
© New Internationalist Co-operative Ltd 2023 ISSN 0305-9529 ISO accreditation 9001-2008
JULY-AUGUST 2023
3
