On March 30, 2012, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) opened fire on marchers as they headed towards Jerusalem marking Palestinian Land Day.

The Global March to Jerusalem is an initiative taking place across the world, with hundreds of thousands of people involved. Marches were organized within Palestine, 1948 territories and Gaza, as well as all surrounding countries and parts of Asia, North America, and Europe. Among other things, the march was calling for an end to the ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem and Palestine at large, the right of return for all refugees, and the protection of Jerusalem's non-Jewish holy sites, which are currently at risk. At least 200 people were injured by the IOF in protests across Palestine, and one young man was killed in Gaza.

Contrary to the announcements emanating from the governments of Israel and Canada, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) believes there is no evidence that Iran is on the verge of producing nuclear weapons. By way of contrast, it is widely known that Israel has been building such weapons since the late 1960s and is now estimated to possess hundreds of them in its arsenal, which is far and away the largest in the Middle East.

LONDON, ONTARIO -- "Caterpillar equipment is used to destroy homes in Palestine. Kind of like what Caterpillar is trying to do to our homes here in London," a locked-out worker commented outside the Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) plant last week on their picket line.

Home losses are a likely outcome of the aggressive concessions the locked-out workers' employer (owned by Caterpillar since 2010) is demanding. Wage cuts of more than 50 per cent plus loss of benefits would mean families not being able to make mortgage or rent payments. I spoke to one welder, a father of five, whose spouse also worked at EMD. With both breadwinners hit by drastic compensation cuts or job loss, what sort of future would a family like theirs face?

Controversial Jewish American scholar Norman Finkelstein does not feel like a pariah anymore.

Visiting Canada again this week on a tour of campuses to deliver lectures and answer questions about the seemingly intractable situation in the Middle East, he reports receiving more invitations to speak than ever these days.

"It is much more difficult in public life to defend Israel than to criticize it," Finkelstein explains in a telephone interview with rabble.ca. "I've gotten more invitations from more mainstream places."

The dynamics of the Israel-Palestine conflict are increasingly being defined by the 700-km wall encircling Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza. The Wall has fundamentally altered and reshaped the possibilities and challenges of both the armed struggle and the popular resistance to Israel's occupation.

Writer and photojournalist Jon Elmer, based in Bethlehem, speaks about Palestine, the Wall, political prisoners (particularly in light of the recent prisoner exchange), and the future for Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation.

Gaza Freedom Flotilla: Global Day of Action

Rally and march!

On Saturday, June 5, human rights and community organizations will mobilize to join an emergency Global BDS Day of Action called by the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC). In Toronto, join us to protest the fatal attacks by apartheid Israel on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip.