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Israeli gunboats kidnap Gaza fisherman, peaceworkers

Eva Bartlett 21 November 2008


On the evening of Tuesday 18 November Khalid al-Habeel sat surrounded by his wife, family, and other concerned fishermen. Until the early hours of the following day, they had no idea what charges were being laid against 15 fishermen, including two of al-Habeel’s sons, Adham (21) and Mohammed (20), after they were nabbed from Gaza’s territorial waters earlier that morning and taken to an Israeli interrogation center at Ashdod port. Nor did they know when or if their boats — their livelihoods — would be returned. Eva Bartlett reports. 

Gaza's hospitals struggle to save lives amid Israeli siege

Rami Almeghari Gaza Strip 21 November 2008


Over the past two weeks, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have faced a sharply deteriorating humanitarian situation as Israel further tightened its closure of the border crossings. Virtually no food, medicine or other vital supplies have been allowed in to the territory that is home to 1.5 million people. Despite desperately needed medication, equipment, supplies, and spare parts, doctors continue to try to save lives and look after their patients at the European Gaza Hospital. Rami Almeghari reports from Gaza. 

"Shimon Peres, you're a war criminal!" say Oxford students

Abigail Humphries 20 November 2008


Text messages came from student protestors who had managed to get inside the lecture hall. They let the their fellow demonstrators outside know that their chanting could be heard inside over the voice of Israeli President Shimon Peres. There was clapping and stamping of feet and placards banged on the railings to make as much noise as possible, along with the constant “Free, free Palestine” which did not stop for a moment of the hour-long lecture. Abigail Humphries reports from Oxford. 

Protest fundraiser for agency that abets Israeli land confiscation

20 November 2008


Canada’s Museum of Civilization is part of Canadians’ acknowledgement and atonement for the colonial ethnic cleansing of First Peoples. By providing space for the Jewish National Funds’s Negev Dinner, however, the museum is aiding and abetting ethnic cleansing in Palestine and facilitating the celebration of these actions next to the exhibit of aboriginal culture in the Museum’s Great Hall. This discredits our nation’s understanding of its own egregious colonial past and raises questions about the sincerity of our apologies to aboriginal peoples in Canada. 

Rebuilding a General Union of Palestinian Students

Raja Abdulhaq 30 November 2008


From the very beginning, students have played an active role in the Palestinian national movement. Their enthusiasm, motivation, and hard work help them to overcome even the most daunting tasks. Organizing rallies, academic events, political debates, fundraising, cultural programs, students demonstrate the great influence they are able to assert on societies divided by war, engrossed by political strife, and weakened by economic turmoil. The Electronic Intifada contributor Raja Abdulhaq argues that the General Union of Palestinian Students must be rebuilt. 

Settlement financier to sell jewelry at Dubai hotel despite ban

20 November 2008


Adalah-NY has learned that the jewelry of Israeli billionaire and settlement-builder Lev Leviev will be on sale at this week’s gala opening of the luxury hotel Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai. Despite Leviev’s ongoing construction of Israeli settlements and claims by United Arab Emirates officials that Leviev would receive no license to sell his jewelry there, the New York-based human rights coalition Adalah-NY has confirmed that Leviev’s jewelry will be on sale at the Atlantis branch of the Levant Jewelry chain on the fabled Palm Jumeirah island. 

Einab junction: inside Israel's new terminals

Anna Baltzer Einab junction, West Bank 1 December 2008


When I first visited the West Bank in 2003, checkpoints were controlled by young Israeli soldiers, nervously clutching their weapons and yelling at Palestinians to stay in line. When I returned in 2005, I found many checkpoints replaced by metal turnstiles into which Palestinians were herded to wait for soldiers to push a button, letting them through one by one or sometimes not at all. Anna Baltzer writes of her experience at one of those terminals. 

Only feeble protest over family's eviction

Jonathan Cook 20 November 2008


The middle-of-the-night eviction last week of an elderly Palestinian couple from their home in East Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers is a demonstration of Israeli intent towards a future peace deal with the Palestinians. Mohammed and Fawziya Khurd are now on the street, living in a tent, after Israeli police enforced a court order issued in July to expel them. Jonathan Cook analyzes. 

Gaza bakeries, mills forced to close

19 November 2008


Humanitarian conditions have continued to deteriorate due to the acute shortages in food and medical supplies needed by approximately 1.5 million Palestinian civilians living in the Gaza Strip. Three out of five mills operating in the Gaza Strip have stopped operation, and the remaining two are expected to join them by tomorrow due to the lack of wheat. 

Hamas-Fatah split deepens

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 19 November 2008


CAIRO (IPS) - Palestinian resistance factions were roundly blamed in the mainstream media for their last-minute decision to boycott last week’s Egypt-sponsored “comprehensive dialogue” summit, ostensibly aimed at Palestinian national reconciliation. But some independent commentators say the move, led by Gaza-based resistance faction Hamas, was justified.