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Second annual Ann Arbor Palestine film fest opens with "Pomegranates and Myrrh"

11 March 2010



The second annual Ann Arbor Palestine Film Festival opened on 10 March 2010 at the Michigan Theater with hundreds of attendees for Najwa Najjar’s Pomegranates and Myrrh. The film festival showcases films about Palestine and by Palestinian directors. Educating through the screen arts, the film festival amplifies the voice of the Palestinian people as a nation and diaspora by bringing films to the fore that would not otherwise be seen. 

Sending a laptop to Gaza

Ahmed Moor al-Arish, Egypt 12 March 2010



I sat outdoors at a cafe on the Mediterranean Sea in al-Arish, a dusty seaside town in Egypt’s northern Sinai. I drank a tea and smoked a water pipe; it gave me something to do while I waited for Ismail — that’s not his real name — an Egyptian Bedouin tunnel smuggler who was going to deliver a package for me into Gaza. Ahmed Moor writes from al-Arish. 

PLO paper reveals leadership bereft of strategy, legitimacy

Ali Abunimah 11 March 2010



As US-brokered “indirect” peace talks are set to resume, a paper authored by PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat reveals a Palestinian leadership ready to re-enter negotiations with Israel having already conceded fundamental Palestinian rights and demands. EI’s Ali Abunimah analyzes a document he says provides insight into the thought processes of a leadership bereft of strategy and legitimacy. 

Homes and livelihoods gone in an instant

Eva Bartlett Gaza Strip 11 March 2010



Radia Abu Sbaih, 47, lives with her sister and one niece on family land roughly 700 meters from the “green line” boundary between Israel and Gaza. Until 18 February 2010, they had nearly 600 olive, fruit, date and nut trees, an agricultural cistern, a water well, various vegetables and a house. Theirs was one of three homes demolished by Israeli military bulldozers that day in al-Mossadar, eastern Gaza. Eva Bartlett reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Rachel Corrie's family takes Israel to court

Jonathan Cook 10 March 2010



Seven years after Rachel Corrie, a US peace activist, was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza, her family was to put the Israeli government in the dock today. A judge in the northern Israeli city of Haifa was due to be presented with evidence that 23-year-old Corrie was killed unlawfully as she stood in the path of the bulldozer, trying to prevent it from demolishing Palestinian homes in Rafah. Jonathan Cook reports. 

Truth in labeling: EU court challenges "Made in Israel"

Phon van den Biesen and Adri Nieuwhof 10 March 2010



On 25 February, the European Court of Justice ruled that imports manufactured in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank shouldn’t benefit from a trade agreement between Israel and the European Union. The ruling follows protests of Israel’s export of products from the illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) to the EU and Switzerland labeled as “Made in Israel.” Products labeled as such benefit from favorable import taxes under the EU-Israel Association Agreement of 2000. Phon van den Biesen and Adri Nieuwhof comment for The Electronic Intifada. 

Interview: "Anything you want, we can bring to the Gaza Strip"

Jody McIntyre Gaza Strip 9 March 2010



The siege on Gaza is tightening as the Egyptian government continues construction of an underground steel wall at the Rafah border with Gaza to block the tunnel trade. The Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre spoke with Abu Hanin, a Palestinian laborer from Gaza who works in one of the tunnels at the border with Egypt. 

Interview with Gaza rights defender: "Siege began in 1967"

David Cronin 9 March 2010



BRUSSELS (IPS) - For the first time since September 2006, Mahmoud Abu Rahma, a leading figure in the Palestinian human rights group Al Mezan, has been granted permission to travel outside Gaza. More than 30 applications to leave the Strip had previously been turned down by the Israeli authorities and it was not until German diplomats made representations on his behalf that he was finally allowed to visit Europe. 

Amir, ten years old, abducted by Israeli soldiers from his bed

Nora Barrows-Friedman Hebron, West Bank 8 March 2010



Amir smiled when I asked him to tell me his favorite color. Sitting in his family’s living room last Thursday afternoon in the Old City of Hebron, the ten-year-old softly replied, “green.” Hours after our interview Israeli soldiers would break into the house and snatch Amir from his bed. The Electronic Intifada contributor Nora Barrows-Friedman writes from the occupied West Bank. 

"Palestinian cinema is a cause": an interview with Hany Abu-Assad

Sabah Haider 7 March 2010



Nazareth-born filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad is best known internationally for his 2005 film Paradise Now about two young, attractive Palestinian men from Nablus in the occupied West Bank who are drawn into a suicide bombing mission in Tel Aviv. It was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The Electronic Intifada contributor Sabah Haider spoke with Hany Abu Assad about how his films are received, Palestinian cinema and the challenges of filmmaking.