The Electronic Intifada

An American President and the outposts of Zion



This week US President George W. Bush embarks on a tour of some of the US’ Middle East allies, including his first visit while in office to Israel. The trip has been presaged by a lot of media guesswork about what exactly Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will discuss, and one of the likely topics will apparently be the so-called “illegal outposts.” EI contributor Ben White finds that the recent focus on so-called “illegal outposts” risks clouding far more crucial issues that go to the heart of the conflict. 

Crossing the Line features a speech by Michel Shehadeh



This week on Crossing The Line: host Christopher Brown airs a speech given by Palestinian activist Michel Shehadeh. Shehadeh was a member of what the media dubbed, the Los Angeles Eight (LA8), who were a group of individuals accused of aiding a member group of the Palestinian Liberation Organization which the US government considers a terrorist organization. Shehadeh spoke on 29 November 2007 — the international day of solidarity with Palestine — in San Francisco about the Palestinian struggle for liberation. 

"Injustice every day": An interview with Leila Khaled



One of the most legendary figures of the Palestinian struggle for national liberation, Leila Khaled was recently in the Palestinian refugee camps of northern Lebanon. Visiting for the first time since last summer’s battle between the non-Palestinian Islamist group Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese army, during which the Nahr al-Bared camp was destroyed, Khaled sat down with EI editor Matthew Cassel to discuss Annapolis, Nahr al-Bared, and how the Palestinian movement must move forward. 

Christian Zionists gain Israel's inner sanctum



OAKLAND, California, 3 Jan (IPS) - After raising more than two hundred million dollars for various projects in Israel, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), the organization he founded and is president of, has hit pay-dirt. In late December, the Jewish Agency for Israel, which helped found the state of Israel, announced that the IFCJ “will be declared a funding partner of the Jewish Agency … [and] Eckstein will … receive new voting powers that will include spots on the committees that oversee the agency’s budget and that meet with the prime minister and his Cabinet,” the Jewish daily Forward reported. 

Two Palestinian villages ask Susan Sarandon to repudiate Leviev



Dear Ms. Sarandon, We felt sorrow when we learned that you accepted Lev Leviev’s invitation to attend the opening night event for his new jewelry store in New York City on 13 November while our friends protested outside, because we respect you for your support for human rights, your courage in speaking since 2002 against the US war on Iraq, and for your many other honorable public positions. Lev Leviev is building Israeli settlements on Bil’in and Jayyous’ land. Mohammed Khatib and Sharif Omar write to the famed actress. 

Border politics leaves Palestinians stranded



CAIRO, 2 January (IPS) - Hundreds of Palestinians still remain stranded on the Egyptian side of the border following last summer’s closure of the Rafah crossing between Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. Their uncertain circumstances have come to reflect the complex politics between Cairo, Tel Aviv, the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and Palestinian resistance faction Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

Aida camp residents say wall harming their livelihoods



AIDA REFUGEE CAMP, BETHLEHEM, 31 December (IRIN) - Behind a luxurious five-star hotel and close to Bethlehem, yet unknown to most visitors who converged on nearby Manger Square for the recent Christmas mass, residents of Aida refugee camp — home to nearly 5,000 people — say their lives have been adversely affected by the Israeli restrictions on movement, in particular the barrier built around the city. 

Hajj pilgrims stranded in Egypt



“We are in a prison. Our situation is so miserable in the arena the Egyptian authorities have placed us in. Yesterday a 45-year-old woman pilgrim died in front of us,” says Nayef al-Khaldi. The 55-year-old al-Khaldi is stuck at an arena turned into a shelter at the Egyptian border town at al-Arish along with more than 1,100 other Palestinians following the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. EI correspondent Rami Almeghari reports from Gaza. 

Pollution without borders



BEER SHEBA/RAMALLAH, 30 December (IRIN) - In what should be a dry river bed at this time of year, grey water flows, revealing the extent to which the River Hebron, which runs from the West Bank into Israel, is polluted. The stench underlines the problem. “Most transboundary streams in the region are contaminated and characterized by widespread pollution from Palestinian sources [typically raw sewage], as well as a variety of … sources from within Israel.”