Isabelle Humphries

The Durban Review Conference held last week was initially intended to be a forum to evaluate the progress towards goals set eight years ago. But bullying tactics by certain European/North American states ensured that the draft Durban Review Conference declaration excluded any criticism of Israel. In the planning process original “offensive” statements such as those referring to “unlawful collective punishment” and “torture” were removed. Isabelle Humphries comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Using what they call the “simplest language,” the Eltiqa Group for Contemporary Art seeks to challenge the harsh obstacles of life in their native Gaza: “we color life for the others.” In the past month some of their work has reached London as part of a new exhibition organized by the UK Palestine Solidarity Campaign in association with the A.M. Qattan Foundation. Occupied Space 2008: Art for Palestine brought together over 100 works not only from Palestinian artists, but from those across the globe from Algeria, Tunisia and Jordan to the UK to China. Isabelle Humphries reviews for The Electronic Intifada.

Unlike the majority of Palestinian refugees dispersed across the Middle East and beyond, Wagih Semaan can drive a few kilometers from his house, cross a ditch and a fence and sit in the stones of the village he was driven out of at the age of 11. But despite his Israeli “citizenship,” he is no more able to return to live on his land than the Palestinian sitting in Ein al-Hilwe camp across the Lebanese border. Isabelle Humphries writes from Suhmata.

“The wall is no secret. Even if people have not visited Qalqilya and Jayyous, the story is there in the newspapers. Or here, on this website. The people of Qalqilya are locked in a prison. There is only one way out, and few have permits to leave so as to find work elsewhere. Half the farmland is now gone and vital water supplies have been cut off. Palestinians do not have the permission to dig for more water. Israel is unilaterally setting boundaries, with no negotiation, no court of appeal. ” Isabelle Humphries revisits the concrete embodiment of Israeli impunity near Qalqilya and reports on the abuses suffered by farmers and merchants for The Electronic Intifada.

A recent human rights award given by an international cosmetics company, The Body Shop, has focused attention on the struggles of an oft-ignored group of Palestinian refugees: those who are living as exiles inside Israel, where they are officially classified as “Present Absentees.” Isabelle Humphries reports from Nazareth.