RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Israel’s bid to keep occupied East Jerusalem under its sovereignty and prevent its incorporation into a future Palestinian state has been boosted over the years with the acquiescence of the Greek Orthodox Church. The church’s sale of politically sensitive land in East Jerusalem under dubious circumstances and amidst charges of political blackmail have caused outrage amongst Greek Orthodox Palestinians and threatened to split the church. Read more about Church in hot water over Jerusalem land sales
Despite the expanding and momentous student-led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, open dialogue around the reality of the situation in occupied Palestine continues to be an uphill battle for many professors inside the classrooms. Nora Barrows-Friedman reports on recent cases of academic freedom infringement for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Uphill battle for academic freedom in US universities
A subterranean wall being built by Egypt along its border with Gaza is meant to hack the tunnel structures, which extend from the Egyptian side of the border to the Gaza’s side for distances that range between 400 meters and 1,700 meters. With many prohibitions on the ground, the tunnels have become a lucrative underground alternative. The wall construction portrays the depth of this underground urbanism, bringing the conflict between smugglers and the security to the forefront. Lina Attalah reports. Read more about Will Egypt's underground wall end the Gaza tunnel trade?
One of the travesties of living in a colonized environment is that the inferior, or oppressed, aspire to win admittance to the Western world. There seems to be an emerging trend of this type of appeasement, where submission has replaced the revolution. The introduction to spectacles, like the breaking of a Guinness record for the largest plate of kanafeh and the search for a national beauty queen, are just two examples of absurd practices are coming to be seen as normal in Palestinian cities. Sousan Hammad comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Miss Palestine's mistaken rebellion
I mark the beginning of the new decade imprisoned in a military detention camp. Nevertheless, from within the occupation′s holding cell I meet the New Year with determination and hope. I know that Israel’s military campaign to imprison the leadership of the Palestinian popular struggle shows that our nonviolent struggle is effective. Abdallah Abu Rahmah writes from the Ofer Military Detention Camp. Read more about "No army, no prison and no wall can stop us"
On International Human Rights Day in 2008, my husband Abdallah Abu Rahmah was in Berlin receiving a medal from the World Association for Human Rights. Last year on the same day, 10 December, Abdallah was taken away at 2am by Israeli soldiers who broke into our West Bank home. Abdallah was arrested for the same reasons he received the prize — his nonviolent struggle for justice, equality and peace in Palestine/Israel. Majida Abu Rahmah comments. Read more about My husband: jailed for protesting Israel's wall
The international delegation of the Gaza Freedom March originally planned to arrive in Gaza on 29 December 2009 to join a march against the Israeli blockade together with residents of Gaza two days later. Instead, most of its delegates remained in Cairo, having been blocked from going to the Rafah border by the Egyptian government, and instead marched against the Egyptian blockade on Gaza. Sharat G. Lin gives an account of the Gaza Freedom March from Cairo for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Gaza Freedom March marches in Cairo against blockade
The Palestinian nongovernmental organization Addameer was founded in 1992 to promote and protect the rights of political prisoners. The Electronic Intifada interviewed Sahar Francis, a human rights lawyer and the director of Addameer, about the recent repression wave targeting Palestinian human rights activists protesting Israel’s wall in the occupied West Bank. Read more about Imprisonment as political pressure: Addameer's Sahar Francis interviewed
Approximately one year ago, Israel unleashed its assault on the Gaza Strip — amidst its ongoing siege and occupation — killing more than 1,400 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians. Thirteen Israelis were killed during the attacks, most of them soldiers. The attacks sparked mass demonstrations around the world in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The following images are from around the one year anniversary, when many groups around the world again led demonstrations to show their continued solidarity with Palestine. Read more about Photostory: Commemorating the assault on Gaza
The US, UK and Canadian governments are all embroiled in attempts to immunize themselves from accountability under international law for their own actions in the so-called War on Terror. Protecting Israel from international law has therefore acquired an added urgency, not only in the interests of the Zionist regime, but also in the interests of the US and its two staunchest allies in the War on Terror, Britain and Canada, to remain beyond the reach of international law. Sunera Thobani comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Gaza and the path to accountability
