An international campaign to boycott diamonds polished in Israel coincides with the Valentine's day season, Moyiga Nduru writes from Johannesburg, South Africa, for IPS Jan. 26:

Avocados, Diamonds at Core of Anti-Israel Trade Campaign
A call from a South African trade unionist for national supermarket chains to stop importing avocado from Israel could ultimately lead to the banning of all imports from the Jewish state, if unions and human rights activists have their way.

It's a sign of the times that this fringe sect is on the front page of the New York Times Metro section Jan. 15. This story makes clear that Neturei Karta is distinct from the Satmars, an Hasidic sect which likewise rejects Zionism as apostasy but wisely keeps its distance from the likes of Ahmadinejad. This is a point many are confused on—including ourselves before we were set straight. The group Jews Not Zionists seems to be a sort of ecumenical clearing-house for all Orthodox anti-Zionist tendencies. On the subject of the radical fringe, the ubiquitous Jewish Defense Organization referenced here is, for all its relentless noise, not an "organization" at all. It is one guy called Mordechai Levy. Writes Fernanda Santos:

Shulamit Aloni writes for Ynet (English translation via Kibush), Jan. 4:

Indeed there is Apartheid in Israel
A new order issued by the GOC Central command bans the conveyance of Palestinians in Israeli vehicles. Such a blatant violation of the right to travel joins the long list of humans rights violations carried out by Israel in the [Occupied] Territories.

Zachary Goelman writes for the Jerusalem Report, Dec. 22:

Army Directive lashed as "crime of apartheid"
Israeli human rights organization has charged that an army ban on Israel drivers carrying Palestinian passengers in the west bank falls into the category of the "crime of apartheid", as defined by international law.

The lobby prevents Rachel Corrie's voice from being heard—again. From Variety, Dec. 22:

'Corrie' canceled in Canada
Play has potential to offend Jewish community

It's curtains for My Name Is Rachel Corrie in Canada.

CanStage, the country's largest not-for-profit theater, has changed its opinion and decided not to present the show as part of its 2007-2008 season.

This short piece exposes an interesting phenomenon at the Washington Post: citizen-soldier-book reviewers. Received via e-mail from our correspondent Brian Hennessey, Dec. 11:

To review Jimmy Carter's book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, the Washington Post [Dec. 10] chose a Jewish Israeli citizen who willingly moved from his American birthplace to volunteer to become a soldier in Israel, working as a prison guard at one of Israel's worst prisons, where International and Israeli human rights organizations have documented a lack of process, inhumane conditions and torture for the hundreds of Palestinians (many women and children) who are held there indefinitely and without charge.

Jimmy Carter describes how the separation wall, 80% of which Israel is building inside the occupied West Bank in contravention of international law, makes life terrible for the Palestinians who live in its destructive path. From Palestine: Peace not Apartheid:

The area between the segregation barrier and the Israeli border has been designated a closed military region for an indefinite period of time. Israeli directives state that every Palestinian over the age of twelve living in the closed area has to obtain a "permanent resident permit" from the civil administration to enable them to continue to live in their own homes. They are considered to be aliens, without the rights of Israeli citizens. To summarize: whatever territory Israel decides to confiscate will be on its side of the wall, but Israelis will still retain control of the Palestinians who will be on the other side of the barrier, enclosed between it and Israel's forces in the Jordan River valley. (pp. 192-3)

From CNN's Larry King Live, Nov. 28:

Larry King: Back to Mr. [Alan] Dershowitz on your book. He deals with the tone of your book. He says "it's obvious that Carter doesn't like Israel or Israelis. He lectured Golda Meir on Israel's secular nature, he admits he didn't like Menachem Begin. He has little good to say about any Israelis except those few who agree with him. He apparently got along swimmingly with secular Syrian mass murderer Hafiz al-Assad. He and his wife Rosalynn had a fine time fine with equally secular Yasser Arafat, a man with the blood of hundreds of Americans and Israelis on his hands."