The photographers of the group Activestills have documented Volvo equipment being used for the illegal construction of the wall and the settlements, and the demolition of Palestinian houses in Israel and occupied Palestine. Activestills gave special permission to publish some of the images on The Electronic Intifada to inform a wider audience about the systematic use of Volvo equipment in house demolitions in East Jerusalem. Read more about Photostory: Volvo equipment used in house demolitions
Ever since his sentencing on 21 November, I have been ruminating on the extreme injustice perpetrated on Dr. Abdelhaleem Ashqar by the US government and the federal court in Chicago culminating in a draconian sentence of 135 months for nonviolent acts of civil disobedience. Michael E. Deutsch, who was one of the counsel for Dr. Ashqar’s co-defendant Mohammad Salah, comments on the punishing of a man motivated by love for his people and their right to resist an illegal occupation of their land. Read more about The Grand Jury and the persecution of Dr. Abdelhaleem Ashqar
GAZACITY, 10 January (IPS) - As US President George W. Bush began talks Thursday with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas supporters in Gaza were determined to make their absence count. Leaders from the Palestinian party Hamas that won the elections in Gaza two years back have inevitably not been invited to meet Bush. The US considers Hamas a terrorist organization. Hamas took control of Gaza by force from the Fatah party headed by Abbas in June last year, about a year and a half after it swept the polls in January 2006. Read more about In exclusion, Hamas counts
Although it is a small stretch of land, Palestine has many faces, from tiny country villages to bustling cities. Perhaps one of the most impressive places is the city of Nablus. Coming from Ramallah, passage into the city is through the huge, overcrowded Huwwara checkpoint. Having crossed this reversed city gate, set up by the Israeli military in October 2000, the first impression is that of a vivid Arab city, albeit with a sense of tension in the air. In a recent visit, Toon Lambrechts traces Nablus’ five millennia of history. Read more about Nablus, wounded in the war on history
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani9 January 2008
CAIRO, 9 January (IPS) - More than 2,000 pilgrims have finally returned to the Gaza Strip via Egypt’s Rafah crossing after being stuck on the border for five days. The repatriation followed their staunch refusal to return home via alternate, Israeli-controlled border crossings. “The pilgrims’ insistence to cross via Rafah forced the Egyptian government to bring a quick resolution to the problem,” Magdi Hussein, secretary-general of Egypt’s frozen Socialist Labour Party and leader of the unofficial Committee to Break the Gaza Siege, told IPS. Read more about Pilgrims' progress breaks Gaza siege
I am writing in response to Adri Nieuwhof’s various articles on Veolia Transport, and in particular her article on Institut Veolia Environment of 8 December 2006, in which she urges all international experts collaborating with the Institut to end their relationship with it. In the article, Nieuwhof comments: “It is likely that the international experts are not aware of Veolia’s involvement in the illegal tramline project in East Jerusalem. A number of them have a track record of respect for international law and human rights, for instance … Bernard Kouchner … founder of Medecins Sans Frontieres.” Read more about On Veolia, Bernard Kouchner and humanitarian action
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. Read more about An American President and the outposts of Zion
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. Read more about Crossing the Line features a speech by Michel Shehadeh
This slideshow is a selection of images from the month of December 2007. The month in pictures is an ongoing feature of the Electronic Intifada. If you have images documenting Palestine, Palestinian life, politics and culture, or of solidarity with Palestine, please email images and captions to photos AT electronicintifada DOT net. Read more about Photostory: The month in pictures, December 2007
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. Read more about "Injustice every day": An interview with Leila Khaled
