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Anatomy of a Home Demolition

Am Johal 1 July 2004


Arriving in al-Bea’neh the next day, I saw the old man whose home had been torn down beginning to replant new olive trees. Despite the beatings, there was this sense of optimism, regeneration and a sense of the community coming together to respond in a productive way. In the village council office, they discussed the brutal Israeli policy of home demolitions over Arabic coffee and Gauloise cigarettes before setting off on a 2,000 person demonstration with the residents. On the table were tear gas canisters used by the police the day before which were clearly marked that they had been manufactured in the United States. 

UN expert: Occupation, rights violations main source of violence against Palestinian women

24 June 2004


Yakin Ertuerk, the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on violence against women has found: “While the persistent situation of conflict has an adverse impact on the daily lives of Palestinians and Israelis alike, the burden by far falls on the Palestinian people, who have been living under occupation for too long. This has generated an atmosphere of legitimized violence as a method of conflict resolution. As a consequence, an integrated system of violence which disproportionately singles out women in both the public and private spheres has emerged.” 

Vanessa Redgrave makes humanitarian appeal for Gaza and the West Bank

7 July 2004


The actress and human rights activist Vanessa Redgrave has made an appeal to the international community to increase its emergency humanitarian assistance to Palestinians suffering in the occupied Palestinian territory and to the Government of Israel to ease its movement restrictions on UN agencies. Ms Redgrave is making her first ever visit to Palestine, after nearly 30 years of campaigning for peace and justice in the Middle East, as a guest of UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, and as a Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF, the UN’s children’s agency. 

CPJ concerned about Gaza missile attack

30 June 2004


The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned by the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF’s) missile attack in the Gaza Strip on a building that houses several media outlets. According to journalists in Gaza, an Israeli helicopter gunship fired three missiles at the Al-Shawwa Wil Hossary building on Al-Wihda Street just after midnight on June 29. The building contains the offices of several local and international media organizations, including those of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the Qatar-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera, and German television ARD. 

Embarrassing America

Hasan Abu Nimah and Ali Abunimah 30 June 2004


This week, Senator Kerry sent Florida Congressman Robert Wexler to Israel on his behalf. Wexler, a member of the House International Relations Committee and a close ally of the pro-Israel lobby, has been asked by Kerry to formulate the Middle East policy for the Democratic Party platform. During his visit, Wexler is due to meet with Israeli officials, including prime minister Sharon, Benjamin Netanyahu and Shimon Peres, and, bizarrely, the Turkish Ambassador to Israel, but with not a single Palestinian. A June 25 press release from Kerry’s envoy expresses “unequivocal support” for Sharon’s policies. 

World Bank paper urges major easing of Israeli closure measures and stepped-up Palestinian reform efforts

World Bank 24 June 2004


At the request of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Government of Israel (GOI) and the international community, the World Bank has released a paper - Disengagement, the Palestinian Economy and the Settlements - which looks at the potential impact of Israel’s Disengagement Plan on the Palestinian economy. Of itself, Israel’s Disengagement Plan of June 6 will have very little impact on the Palestinian economy, since it proposes only a limited easing of closure. “Disengagement alone,” says James D. Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, “will not alter this dangerous, unsustainable situation. If disengagement is implemented with wisdom and foresight, however, it could make a real difference.” 

The Spiderman-Palestine Connection!

Maureen Clare Murphy 7 July 2004


As soon as he’s done saving New York, perhaps Spiderman can take his act to Palestine, where his uncanny ability to scale high walls will be welcomed by those imprisoned by the concrete barrier walls that enclose Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. After all, Spiderman’s connection to the Middle East is pretty close, considering that Palestinian-born cult-animator Ralph Bakshi, was executive producer of the animated Spiderman series in the late ’60s. Bakshi’s other claims to fame include animating America’s first X-rated animated film Fritz the Cat, directing The Rolling Stone’s video “The Harlem Shuffle,” and inspiring the Comic Book Guy character on the Simpsons. 

UN launches major immunization campaign

28 June 2004


Ramallah/Gaza City, 28 June 2004 - UNICEF launched a major measles immunization campaign in the West Bank and Gaza Strip today, aimed at providing more than 540,000 children aged 9-59 months with a safe injection of measles vaccine and a doses of Vitamin A. The three-week long campaign is led by the Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Palestinian Authority, UNICEF and UNRWA - with financial support from the Japanese Government, USAID and a contribution from the Micronutrient Initiative. 

PCHR gets Temporary Injunction Stopping Seizure of Land in al-Qarara

29 June 2004


On Monday evening, 28 June 2004, the Israeli High Court issued a temporary injunction stopping seizure of large areas of Palestinian land near a settler road in al-Qarara village, northeast of Khan Yunis, leading to Kissufim crossing on the eastern border of the Gaza Strip. According to preliminary PCHR’s investigations, on 16 and 17 June 2004, a number of Palestinians living on the northern and southern sides of the aforementioned road received notices that their lands would be seized for military purposes according to a military order issued by the Israeli military commander in the Gaza Strip. These notices gave these Palestinians 7 days to appeal against the order. 

PCHR Condemns Israeli Aerial Attack on a Press Office in Gaza

29 June 2004


PCHR strongly condemns an Israeli aerial attack on a press office in the center of Gaza City on Tuesday morning. This latest attack comes in the context of a series of systematic attacks launched by Israeli occupying forces against journalists and media institutions in an attempt to silence the press and prevent it from reporting on violations of human rights perpetrated by these forces against Palestinian civilians and their properties in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs)