From the Editors

Highlighting important stories on and off The Electronic Intifada.

EI's Ali Abunimah discusses "One Country" on C-SPAN2's "Book TV"

Book TV
18 December 2006

On 17 December 2006, EI co-founder and One Country author Ali Abunimah appeared on C-Span2’s Book TV. In his book, One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli - Palestinian Impasse, author Ali Abunimah puts forth a proposal to end conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. He believes that the only hope for peace is to move from calls for partitioning toward a one-state solution. Mr. Abunimah discusses the book with Ron Kampeas, Washington bureau chief for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Gaza journalist Mohammed Omer: His life and words

Christian Avard
8 December 2006

Award-winning journalist and photographer Mohammed Omer, on a speaking tour of the United States, spoke before a large audience at the Center Congregational Church in Brattleboro on Nov. 29. Omer shared his experiences in Gaza and why journalism was his calling. At 18, he began writing regularly for the international media and Omer’s works can now be found in dozens of newspapers and magazines worldwide such as the Vermont Guardian, The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, ArtVoice Weekly, the online magazine Electronic Intifada, and Norwegian and Swedish dailies. He was honored by New American Media as the “Best Youth Voice” for 2006.

Ali Abunimah speaks about 'One Country' on CounterSpin

1 December 2006

This week on CounterSpin: Politicians and pundits tend to agree that solving the Israel-Palestine conflict would go a long way towards achieving peace in the broader Middle East. But that’s more or less where the agreement ends. A new book by activist and frequent CounterSpin guest Ali Abunimah suggests a new path, one that is almost never discussed in the mainstream media. He will join us to talk about his new book One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse.

The Palestinians: Who's their Mandela?

25 November 2006

An escape from these prisons, to something other than semi-free statelets, is suggested by Ali Abunimah. But it is an escape to Utopia: a single state of Israel/Palestine where lion and lamb nuzzle down together. Impossible, probably. On the other hand, argues Mr Abunimah, if South Africa could break out of seemingly impossible conflict to find peace and reconciliation, why not Israel? Some 5m Jews and some 5m Arabs, including Israel’s sizeable Arab minority, confront each other in land that is controlled, directly or indirectly, by Israel. Splitting the land between them (albeit on a 78% to 22% ratio) seemed a good idea at the time, but its time may have run out.

One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse

15 October 2006

Peace does not require that both sides share an “agreed narrative” of what happened in 1948, as some commentators have suggested. But, Abunimah urges, “It is unacceptable for a Palestinian to draw on his history of oppression and suffering to justify harming innocent Israeli civilians,” just as it is for an Israeli to use the idea of a covenant between God and Abraham to force Palestinians out of their ancestral home. Indeed, he adds, the success of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland and of Belgian federalism has not hinged on agreed narrative; “changing society,” he writes, “does not require us to forget or revise the past.”

Ali Abunimah on One State in Israel/Palestine

Philip Weiss
21 November 2006

I caught Ali Abunimah, the Palestinian/American activist and author of a new book calling for a single Arab and Jewish state in Palestine, at Columbia the other night. Myself, I’m sympathetic to Abunimah’s vision, but I don’t know enough to be sure. One thing I am sure about is his presence: he’s idealistic. He may be a naive and deluded dreamer, fine, but his vibe is, he’s a dreamer, and visionary. Embracing Zionism these days isn’t any fun. Of course it’s true that Zionism was a place of dreams in decades past, but it seems like a lot of the dream has collapsed into a colonialist blind alley.

Israel's New Arsenal

Ethan Heitner
1 November 2006

What bizarre science-fiction horrors have to occur before the American media wakes up to the strange war that Israel is prosecuting against Palestinian and Lebanese civilians, asks Ethan Heitner of Tompaine.com? People are still being maimed or killed every day in Lebanon thanks to unexploded cluster ordinance dropped massively by Israel in the 48 hours after a cease-fire had been negotiated but before it went into effect. Over 30 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in October alone. As usual, however, Lebanon and Palestine have vanished from the newscycle (where Israel is currently represented by a president who refuses to step down despite an all-but-indictment for multiple rape charges and an openly fascist party joining the government ).

Analysis: The wait for Al-Jazeera's international channel

Steve Metcalf
31 October 2006

It is still not known when Al-Jazeera’s long-awaited English-language news channel will launch. First mooted in 2004, Al-Jazeera International (AJI) initially had a target launch date of late 2005. But despite regularly announcing the signing up of star names such as David Frost and Rageh Omaar, the launch date kept slipping. It is now thought that it may go on air sometime during November. One of the reasons cited for the delay is the ambitious technical nature of the project. During a 24-hour cycle the channel plans to broadcast for four hours from its Kuala Lumpur bureau, 11 hours from its base in Doha, five hours from London and four hours from Washington.

EI's Ali Abunimah discusses "One Country" on Flashpoints

23 October 2006

On October 20, EI co-founder Ali Abunimah appeared on Flashpoints Radio to discuss his new book: One Country, a Bold Proposal to the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse. The program also features excerpts from his recent speech in Oakland, California. Listen to Ali discuss the need to break through the current impasse of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and hear his proposal for a better future for all concerned parties. “Flashpoints” is KPFA’s newsmagazine, regularly featuring voices of resistance, education and information from around the world. It airs every weekday at 5 PM PST on KPFK.

News updates over the past year

Jim Ashling
1 September 2006

Electronic Lebanon, however, is more of an electronic newspaper/magazine that combines editorial pieces, blog entries, news, and analysis. It is a project from the Electronic Intifada (EI), a nonprofit electronic publication devoted to the topic of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. EI was created 5 years ago by two Palestinians, an American, and a Scot, each with their own biases. But if you need a better analysis of the situation (other than comments from President George W. Bush when he was unknowingly recorded at the recent G8 Summit), they make much better reading.

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