Jillian Kestler-D’Amours

After spending nearly six months in jail, Palestinian political prisoner Ameer Makhoul signed a plea agreement with Israeli state prosecutors on 27 October. The deal involves a reduced list of charges, including contact with a foreign agent and spying for the Lebanese resistance movement Hizballah. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of seven to ten years.

As a boycott, divestment and sanctions conference was convened in Montreal last week, activists launched a boycott campaign at two city universities.

The Electronic Intifada contributor Jillian Kestler-D’Amours spoke with Hassan Jabareen, the founder and director general of Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, about Israel’s new loyalty oath and what it means for Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Ten years since 13 Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed by the Israeli police force during nonviolent demonstrations at the outset of the second Palestinian intifada, Palestinians in Israel fear the worst is yet to come. Jillian Kestler-D’Amours reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Jillian Kestler-D’Amours interviews Ismael Abu Saad, Associate Professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the founder of the university’s Center for Bedouin Studies and Development, about the history of Bedouin communities and Israeli policy in the region, and the strength of resistance in al-Araqib.

Al-Quds University is maintaining a joint Israeli-Palestinian master’s degree program with Haifa, Hebrew and Tel Aviv universities, despite a decision taken by its own University Council in February 2009 to distance itself from Israeli academic institutions. Jillian Kestler-D’Amours reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Comprised of four women and three men between the ages of 18 and 27, a Palestinian football team was organized to participate in the Anti-Racism World Cup in Belfast, Ireland. Jillian Kestler-D’Amours reports for The Electronic Intifada.

The villagers of Bilin are pushing forward in their nonviolent struggle against the Israeli occupation by appealing a Quebec Superior Court ruling in their case against two Canadian companies. The residents of Bilin are suing Green Park International and Green Mount International, two companies that, they argue, should be held legally accountable for illegally building residential homes and settlement infrastructure on the village’s land. Jillian Kestler-D’Amours reports for The Electronic Intifada.