September 2002

Ali Abunimah debates Daniel Pipes on Australian TV's "Lateline"

Lateline 13 October 2000

Ali Abunimah debates Daniel Pipes on Australian televisions “Lateline” programme, just two weeks into the second Palestini5{ dismisses the violence as “a lot of attention being paid to very few deaths,” even as Abunimah points out that over one hundred Palestinians had already been killed and three thousand injured by the Israeli army, mostly unarmed demonstrators. 

Health situation of Palestinian people living in the occupied Palestinian Territory

World Health Organization 26 September 2002


Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, WHO Director-General, announced today that the health situation of people in the occupied Palestinian territory is deteriorating as a result of the escalation of the conflict compounded by further border closures and curfews throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip since March 2002. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

Palestinian Center for Human Rights 26 September 2002

This week, human rights violations perpetrated against Palestinian civilians have included willful killings, shelling of, and incursion into Palestinian areas, house demolition, and agricultural land leveling. This week, 20 Palestinians, 19 civilians and a security man, including 6 children, a handicapped man and a journalist, were killed and dozens were wounded by Israeli occupying forces. 

Update: New Israeli map highlights Palestinian concerns about "security fence"

Arjan El Fassed 28 September 2002

Media reports about the construction of Israel’s so-called ‘security fence’ barely touch on the details of the venture and its implications for Palestinians. EI’s Arjan El Fassed writes about a recently released Israeli map that raises new concerns about Israel’s so-called ‘security fence’. 

Why did they demonstrate?

Awatef Sheikh Dahiye al-Barid 25 September 2002

Last week, Palestinians went out in the streets, defying the curfew, to protest Israeli actions against the Palestinian president and the demolition of his compound. Some asked why did they demonstrate? Was it in order to show their support for Yasser Arafat? Or did they protest against something else? Awatef Sheikh explains. 

Short memory, history repeats itself

Arjan El Fassed Ram, Palestine 23 September 2002

Will this be just another deal? Remember the previous Israeli siege of Arafat’s compound? Remember Bethlehem and the deportation? Remember the hostage taking of Ahmad Sa’adat by British and American agents in Jericho? What about the old city of Nablus and Jenin refugee camp? It seems that people have a short memory. Arjan El Fassed writes from Ram, occupied Palestine. 

Prominent Dutch citizens: 'End the occupation'

Arjan El Fassed 23 September 2002


‘Israel must unconditionally withdraw from the territories it occupied since 1967 and implement all relevant UN resolutions’. This petition has been signed by two hundred prominent Dutch citizens, including politicians, writers, and artists and will be published in an advertisement in the Dutch daily newspaper De Volkskrant. EI’s Arjan El Fassed reports. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

Palestinian Center for Human Rights 19 September 2002

This week, Israeli occupying forces carried out a series of limited incursions into Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip, while continuing to invade Palestinian areas in the West Bank. The human rights violations against Palestinian civilians have included willful killings, shelling of, and incursion into Palestinian areas, house demolition, and agricultural land leveling. This week, three Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded by Israeli occupying forces. 

Killings of dozens once again called "period of calm" by US media

Michael F. Brown and Ali Abunimah 20 September 2002

US media outlets were quick to declare two suicide bombs which killed Israelis an end to a period of “relative calm.” Michael Brown and Ali Abunimah note that the past six weeks have been anything but calm for the dozens of Palestinians killed and injured as Israeli occupation forces continue their destructive rampage away from the media’s attention. 

Defining Apartheid: Israel's Record

Uri Strauss 19 September 2002

The following document was compiled by Uri Strauss for the Electronic Intifada, from a UN document and from a report by Palestinian human rights organisations LAW and Al-Haq. The document presents the internationally-accepted definition of ‘Apartheid’ alongside relevant examples of Israel’s human rights record in the occupied territories. 

How the US Media Forget and Remember an Anniversary

Ali Abunimah 18 September 2002

September 2002 marked the 30th anniversary of the murder of eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and the 20th anniversary of the murder of thousands of Palestinian refugees in Beirut’s Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. The US media remembered only one of these anniversaries. Guess which one? The Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah investigates. 

Arafat & Co. celebrate 'VIP' status

Hasan Abu Nimah 18 September 2002

When the PLO moved its leadership and cadres from exile to the Occupied Territories, they did not come as liberators, but merely to join their people as fellow prisoners of the Israelis. From the first days of the Oslo accords, even Palestinian leaders were subjected to the most humiliating controls by the occupier, except when “VIP” passes were granted as a favor and privilege to be withdrawn at any time. Today, “VIP” stands only for “Very Important Prisoner.” 

Spat upon, threatened, we stood for Palestine

Ali Abunimah Chicago 6 May 2001

“ ‘Arafat is filthy swine, there is no Palestine,’ and ‘Thank you for killing my cousins in Israel,’ were some of the more polite slogans shouted at Al-Awda activist Benjamin Doherty and me as we protested silently at the annual “Walk With Israel” on Chicago’s lakefront,” writes Ali Abunimah after a not so pleasant walk in Chicago’s beautiful lakefront park. 

Notes on a Visit to Palestine

Ali Abunimah Amman 13 June 2000

“I had resolved to be as meek as necessary to ensure that the Israeli officials did not stamp my passport. But I could not and did not try to hide my grim face as I stood in line to be greeted by the Israeli security officials, after coming off the bus that brought me across the Allenby Bridge from Jordan,” writes Ali Abunimah 

A Visit to Shatila

Ali Abunimah Beirut, Amman 17 July 2000

As much as I may tell you about Shatila, I lack the ability to put in words what I saw and felt the day I visited that place. The name “Shatila” has lived in my consciousness as a Palestinian, since 1982, when along with “Sabra,” it came to represent unspeakable evil, the place where up to two thousand Palestinians were massacred by far-right Lebanese militias in 1982, as the Israeli army watched and covered them from positions outside the camp. 

The massacring of the truth

Amnon Rubinstein 11 September 2002

This article by former Israeli cabinet minister Amnon Rubinstein, appearing in the usually respectable Israeli Ha’aretz newspaper, contained a hysterical attack on the Electronic Intifada made possible only by badly distorting the contents of a recent letter we wrote to The Economist magazine. 

Days of Darkness, Days of Awe: Yom Kippur in Palestine

Jennifer Loewenstein Madison 15 September 2002

“I was afraid you’d gone to Rafah”, I say to Ahmad over the wires to Gaza City. More families in Rafah lost their homes to Israeli bulldozers this past week and a young man died for objecting to the zillionth incursion onto his land. I worried that Ahmad had gone to investigate. His extended family lives there. “No one is going anywhere”, Ahmad responds cynically. “It’s Yom Kippur”. 

Nablus: 'I want to go to school'

Arjan El Fassed Ram, Palestine 12 September 2002

‘Does anyone listen? Is there anyone who cares?’ reads an appeal of Laith. He wants to go to school. Laith is 9 years old and lives in Nablus. Like all residents of Nablus, Laith is in prison, not behind bars, but under collective house arrest, curfew. Together with his friends, he made an appeal to the world. 

9/12

Nigel Parry New York City 11 September 2002

The Electronic Intifada’s Nigel Parry was in New York City for the first anniversary of the September 11th tragedy. 

Letter to Jerusalem

Cynthia Cruz Tulkarem, Palestine 8 September 2002

During my stay in the West Bank, it was rare for me to come across a Palestinian man who had not been arrested or detained at some point. As a volunteer with the Red Crescent, I learned of the frequency with which the Israeli military soldiers harassed and threatened the ambulance drivers. 

Palestinian Rights in the Document Shredder: The Nusseibeh-Ayalon Agreement

Ali Abunimah 6 September 2002

An Israeli newspaper has revealed the contents of an agreement between PLO Jerusalem spokesman Sari Nusseibeh, and former chief of the Israeli secret police, Ami Ayalon, for a final Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. EI’s Ali Abunimah says that this document is full of deceptive language concealing disasterous concessions which liquidate basic Palestinian human rights. 

Leveling Gaza

Arjan El Fassed Rafah, Palestine 11 February 2002

Two little girls, Manar and Sabine are showing us around blocks O and J of Rafah refugee camp, the site of Israel’s largest home demolition operation since the start of the uprising in September 2000. “What’s your name?”, I asked a little guy walking around the rubble of demolished homes in Rafah’s refugee camp. “I am Mahmoud,” he said. The boy, perhaps 10-years-old, looks disturbed. 

Moving across checkpoints

Arjan El Fassed Qalandia, Palestine 1 March 2002

When we reached Kalandia, four Israeli soldiers on each side of the checkpoint were facing in the direction of the entrance, blocking anyone who dared even to go near. We heard shots at the end of the checkpoint, the direction of Ramallah, as Israeli soldiers shot at Palestinian cars that were approaching the checkpoint to see whether they could get through. 

They want total quiet while they continue to make our lives miserable

Arjan El Fassed Ram, Palestine 29 June 2001

“After nine months of killings, great suffering, excessive force, liquidation, collective punishments, detentions and torture, destruction and demolition and on top of that shelling and bombings, Palestinians are expected to remain silent. After 53 years of dispossession, expulsion and discrimination, 34 years of military occupation, colonialism and another form of Apartheid, the international community, run by the United States, expects total quiet.” 

Waking up the European governments

Arjan El Fassed Ram, Palestine 24 June 2001

“Ending the occupation and demanding an end to Israel’s gross human rights violations that are an unavoidable byproduct of military regimes will also end the current humanitarian crisis, defuse the situation and thereby prevent any escalation of violence. The governments of Europe need to wake up and recognise that nothing else will make a difference.” 

Bethlehem and Beit Sahour

Arjan El Fassed Ram, Palestine 16 June 2001

“Since the Intifada erupted on 29 September 2000, Israeli shells and heavy gunfire have completely destroyed a total of 3,669 residential buildings. In the past few months alone, more than 200 residential homes have been damaged to various degrees.” 

The 'cease-fire'

Arjan El Fassed Ram, Palestine 12 June 2001

“The current “ceasefire” does not include the cessation of devastating violations of human rights in all aspects of daily life, including deaths resulting from denial of access to humanitarian aid and services…Since Israel “unilaterally imposed a ceasefire” thirteen Palestinians have been killed.” 

Feeling the closure

Arjan El Fassed Ram, Palestine 8 June 2001

“It’s not just that roads are cut off by military checkpoints — entire villages have been cut off. The worst situation is in the rural areas, where villages are completely isolated and beseiged in spite of the announcements in the media that ‘Israel is easing the closure’.” 

The effects of Israel's Operation Defensive Shield on Palestinian children living in the West Bank

Samia Halileh 29 June 2002

The outlook for Palestinian children under Israeli occupation is grim as children’s rights continue to be violated and there is no hope in the near future for a political solution. For children who are old enough to remember the time when they were able to travel from one city to another without hassle, attend school without fear of shelling, and travel without facing a checkpoint, they understand that their life has changed. 

Forcible transfers of Palestinians to Gaza constitutes a war crime

Amnesty International 3 September 2002

The Israeli High Court of Justice issued a ruling allowing the forcible transfer of two Palestinians from their home town of Nablus to the Gaza Strip. Amnesty International said: ‘The unlawful forcible transfer of protected persons constitutes a war crime under both the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court’. 

EI V2.0 LAUNCHED

United States, Palestine, Jordan, Canada 3 September 2002

Launch announcement press release for The Electronic Intifada’s new website, switched from Intranet to Internet mode on 4 September 2002. 

The Violence of Curfew

Sam Bahour al-Bireh 28 August 2002

‘Oh God, please tell Sharon to end the curfew by this Saturday so I can go to school.’ This is how my secular, eight year old daughter, Areen, has put herself to sleep for the last two weeks. Areen, like so many others here, have turned to the divine powers to intervene in ending the five-month Israeli military curfew that is imposed on Palestinian cities, villages and refugee camps in the West Bank. 

Survey finds high rates of malnutrition and anemia in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

CARE International 5 August 2002

CARE International today released preliminary findings from two surveys focusing on the health and nutritional status of the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and found that the number of malnourished Palestinian children has increased with 22.5 percent of children under 5 suffering from acute (9.3 percent) or chronic (13.2 percent) malnutrition. The preliminary rates are particularly high in Gaza with the survey showing 13.2 percent of children suffering from acute malnutrition, putting them on par with children in countries such as Nigeria and Chad. 

UN: New economic figures for West Bank and Gaza show rapid deterioration leading to human catastrophe

United Nations Special Coordinator Office for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) 29 August 2002

The Palestinian economy is mired in a deep crisis, with unemployment levels rising significantly over the first half of 2002, according to preliminary figures released today by the Office of the United Nations Special Co-ordinator (UNSCO). 

Breaking the complicity: 'Developing Palestine means ending the occupation'

Yasmine Awad and Robert E. Foxsohn 11 August 2002

As international and local organizations now decry the advent of a ‘humanitarian crisis’- placing Palestine within the disaster status of tornadoes or earthquakes- we are witnessing a renewed surge in the presence of foreign organizations and initiatives. In theory aimed at abetting the impending ‘humanitarian crisis’- clearly the result of Israeli military occupation and assault- this shift is but part of a larger system of development which finds sustenance in the Israeli occupation, while further contributing to the de-development of Palestine. 

Follow up: Will NPR come clean about Gradstein's unethical cash payments?

Nigel Parry and Ali Abunimah 25 February 2002

Following our publication of “Special Report: NPR’s Linda Gradstein takes cash payments from pro-Israeli groups” (19 February 2002) and Follow-up: NPR replies to concerns about cash payments to reporter, conflict of interest (20 February 2002), National Public Radio’s Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin’s Media Matters column of February 22nd discussed “NPR’s Middle East ‘Problem’ ”. The following open letter to Jeffrey Dvorkin is our response.