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Woman dies after being denied passage through Israeli checkpoint

18 February 2008


On Thursday, 13 February, Fawzia Abd al-Fattah al-Darak (59) from Deir al-Ghosoun north of Tulkarm died when Israeli forces prevented an ambulance from taking her to a hospital in Tulkarm. Mohammad al-Darak, her husband, testified that his wife started to experience severe chest pain. They called the emergency department of the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Tulkarm in order to transport her to a hospital. 

YMCA headquarters attacked in Gaza City

15 February 2008


The undersigned civil society organizations utterly condemn an attack on the YMCA headquarters in Gaza City in the early hours of the morning of 15 February 2008. Unidentified militants broke into the YMCA headquarters, planted explosive devices and subsequently completely destroyed the library. The undersigned organizations ask the dismissed government to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into this crime, which is a continuation of a number of similar attacks targeting national, cultural and civil society organizations in the Gaza Strip. 

Living with the certainty of war

Rania Masri Beirut, Lebanon 18 February 2008


For a while now, we’ve been talking about it. For a while now, I’ve been talking about it. Yes, there will be another war. I have said so during radio interviews, during dinner conversations, during phone calls with my family in the US. Yes, there will be another war of Israeli aggression on Lebanon. It is just a question of time, this summer or next summer, this year or next year, but, yes, there will be another war. Rania Masri writes from Beirut. 

Nahr al-Bared and the right of return

Hannah Mermelstein Ramallah, West Bank 19 February 2008


I left Lebanon more than a week ago and am only now starting to find words. I have never before been in a place that has seen so much war. Occupation, yes. Injustice, yes. Death and destruction and uncertainty, perhaps. But something felt different about Lebanon. I have not wrapped my mind around it enough to feel confident that what I write will accurately represent my own thoughts, let alone the actual situation. But I do want to tell you about Nahr al-Bared. Hannah Mermelstein writes. 

Gaza civilians die along with assassinated leader

Mohammed Omer 18 February 2008



GAZA CITY, 16 February (IPS) - Human remains mix with debris following the latest Israeli assault Friday on Bureij camp in Gaza Strip. Early reports listed nine dead and more than 50 injured. A targeted leader was killed, but many others were killed too. “It’s very hard for us to rescue, or even locate bodies beneath the building,” said a medical relief worker from the local Bureij hospital. Israel has not confirmed responsibility for the missile attack by F-16 aircraft. 

Meet the Lebanese Press: A cold civil war

Hicham Safieddine 18 February 2008


Commentary in the Lebanese press affirms that the regional dimension has become more important following the assassination of Hizballah figure Imad Mughniyeh, which could translate into a change in the rules of engagement of all parties to Lebanon’s brewing internal conflict. And in this new framework, the international tribunal’s inquiry into the 2005 assassination of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri will become more significant as a tool of international pressure and as a stage on which Syria is battling its rivals. 

Boycott group to UNESCO: Protect heritage of all cultures

17 February 2008


The following is an open letter sent to Director-General of UNESCO Koichiro Matsuura on 14 February 2008: On behalf of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, we are writing to express our deep concern about your statements, quoted in The Jerusalem Post, during your recent visit to Israel. These statements were one-sided, completely ignoring Israel’s continuous crimes against Palestinian history and heritage. 

Open letter: "Award for tolerance" hides story of discrimination

15 February 2008


The following letter was sent by Montreal filmmaker Malclom Guy to the Rendez-Vous du Cinéma Québecois on 12 February: I accepted the invitation from the Rendez-Vous du Cinéma Québecois to join this year’s jury in good faith. But after examining in more detail the political and financial basis of the prize I must refuse to have my name associated with it. Behind this noble sounding “award for tolerance” hides a story of intolerance, division and discrimination. 

"Shocking" rate of malnutrition in donor-dependent Gaza

15 February 2008


“We receive 20-25 new referrals every day, and we see approximately 350 children a week here at the centre. Last year we treated more than 8,400 children here in Gaza city, plus another 8,000 children at our centre in Khan Younis. All of them were under five years old, and all of them were malnourished.” Najah Zohod is the Nutritional Director of the Ard al-Insan Child Nutrition Center in Gaza City. 

British commentary pages ignore Gaza's plight

15 February 2008


Arab Media Watch expresses concern at the lack of critical commentary in the British press on Israel’s recent decision to intensify its siege of the Gaza Strip by withholding vital fuel supplies and increasing military attacks. Israel’s actions have resulted in civilian deaths, a worsening humanitarian crisis, the breach of Gaza’s border with Egypt, and bleaker prospects for the resumption of peace talks. Nonetheless, there has been no comment whatsoever in The Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Daily Star and Evening Standard.