Ramallah

Ida Audeh interviews grassroots activist Jamal Juma’ about the dearth of popular resistance in areas of the West Bank under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction, the UN statehood bid and the role of the Palestinian diaspora in national liberation.

The number of Palestinian children with post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders including depression has increased, according to Médecins Sans Frontières and Palestinian organizations specializing in mental health.

Suspended Lives, a photography exhibition that profiles ten women and their incarceration in Israeli prisons, is part of the UN Women’s project “Palestinian Female Prisoners in Israeli Prison,” which aims to uphold and advocate for the rights of Palestinian female prisoners.

The leader of Israel’s most right-wing government since the establishment of the state 63 years ago, has returned to Israel with his popularity surging since talks with US President Barack Obama in Washington.

In the occupied West Bank, dissident voices questioning the Palestinian Authority’s increasingly authoritarian rule have become rare. But a young musician in Ramallah refuses to hold his tongue.

RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IRIN) - The delivery of humanitarian aid to the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip has been hampered by severe restrictions on staff movements, hurting the quality, scope and sustainability of operations, say the UN and international nongovernmental organizations.

Hamas supporters took the streets of Ramallah last week for the first time in four years to celebrate the recently-signed national reconciliation agreement. Not everyone is unreservedly euphoric over the pact, however.

Despite the euphoria surrounding the recent signing in Cairo of the groundbreaking unity accord between Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas, ending their four-year feud, numerous obstacles remain which could impinge on the implementation of a unity government.

Last week, on 21 April, Israeli soldiers invaded my home in Ramallah, held hostage all those present, and forced me at gunpoint to call my father, a writer and human rights advocate, in order to demand his surrender. This is common operating procedure for Israeli occupation forces.

RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - In an exclusive interview, Huwaida Arraf, the chairwoman of the Free Gaza (FG) movement, which tried to break Israel’s crippling blockade on Gaza, explains what happened on 31 May when Israeli commandos raided the “Freedom Flotilla,” shooting nine people dead and injuring dozens more.