All Content

French comedian urged not to entertain Israeli army veterans

21 February 2009


The following is an open letter to French Comedian Anne Roumanof sent on 19 February 2009 by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel: We know that your stand-up comedy brings laughter and joy to many French-speaking people around the world. As such we are shocked and disappointed to learn that you are going to perform in support of handicapped Israeli veterans and victims of terrorist attacks in Geneva on 2 March 2009. 

Celebrities asked to boycott diamonds from settlement builder

20 February 2009


Adalah-NY and Jews Against the Occupation-NYC (JATO-NYC) have called on 16 Hollywood PR firms and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to ensure that no stars wear Leviev diamonds at this Sunday’s Academy Awards. In a two week campaign involving letters and dozens of phone discussions with PR firms, the groups drew attention to Leviev’s violations of human rights and international law in the occupied West Bank where his companies build Israeli settlements, and in the diamond industry in Angola and Namibia. Leviev reportedly controls one-third of the world’s diamond mines. 

Long road to rehabilitation for Gaza's amputees

Rami Almeghari Gaza Strip 20 February 2009


As the only facility of its kind in Gaza, al-Wafa hospital is set to receive more people who have lost limbs to begin a rehabilitation process that can take weeks, months and even years. Patients receive physical, functional, psychological and clinical support. The number and severity of injuries as a result of the Israeli attack were unprecedented and unfamiliar to Gaza’s doctors.The Electronic Intifada contributor Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip. 

Lives buried under the rubble in Gaza

19 February 2009


Three weeks after the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, 16-year-old Maysa al-Louh sits stoically on the pile of sand that consumes half her home in Beit Lahiya. Under the sand, churned up by Israeli bulldozers during incursions into the area on 4 January 2009 lie all her report cards and school awards that were testament to her excellent academic record. 

Ramattan's war: The world's eyes into Gaza

Toufic Haddad 20 February 2009


If there is controversy about who won the recent war in Gaza, there is no question that Ramattan News Agency of Gaza City won the war to broadcast it. It was Ramattan’s images that beamed Israel’s 22-day “Operation Cast Lead” into millions of households across the globe, capturing the indelible visual moments of the war. Ramattan’s images were broadcast uncensored around the clock and only stopped on the few occasions the staff had to evacuate the studios fearing the 11-story building was about to be bombed. Toufic Haddad reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Columbia U. faculty: support academic freedom in Palestine

19 February 2009


The following is an open letter to Columbia University President Lee Bolinger signed by a number of faculty members at Columbia and Barnard universities: On a number of occasions since becoming president of Columbia University you have expressed your views in public on questions of academic freedom in the Middle East. Yet you have remained silent on the actions by Israel that deny that freedom to Palestinians. 

Film review: "Waltz with Bashir"

Naira Antoun 19 February 2009


To say that Palestinians are absent in Waltz with Bashir, to say that it is a film that deals not with Palestinians but with Israelis who served in Lebanon, only barely begins to describe the violence that this film commits against Palestinians. There is nothing interesting or new in the depiction of Palestinians — they have no names, they don’t speak, they are anonymous. But they are not simply faceless victims. Instead, the victims in the story that Waltz with Bashir tells are Israeli soldiers. Naira Antoun reviews the film for The Electronic Intifada. 

Thousands of Gazans remain homeless

18 February 2009


GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - Thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip remain homeless after their houses were badly damaged or destroyed during Israel’s recent military offensive there. The Israeli army began with aerial bombardments of the enclave on 27 December and added a ground assault from 3 January. Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire on 18 January while Hamas, the de facto ruling authority in the Strip, declared its own ceasefire later that day. 

Israel braces for wave of lawsuits

Mel Frykberg 18 February 2009


RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Israel is bracing for a wave of lawsuits accusing the state of substantial human rights violations during its 22-day military assault on Gaza which left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead and nearly 5,000 wounded, more than half of them civilian. The International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have confirmed that phosphorous bombs were used over Gaza. It is against international law to use phosphorous in densely crowded civilian areas. 

Global boycott movement marks its successes

Jeff Handmaker 20 February 2009


Responding to the many calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel, solidarity movements around the world have marked many successes. It is important for human rights advocates to build on this momentum and seize the opportunity to do what is within their power to try and hold Israel accountable for its abuses of human rights and other international laws. Jeff Handmaker comments for The Electronic Intifada.