December 2007

When is it the Palestinians' turn?

Christopher Brown Shatila refugee camp, Lebanon 1 January 2008


The four of us sat in the tight confines of a shop nestled in the curving alleyways of Shatila, a Palestinian refugee camp established to house those whose families fled historical Palestine in 1948. Twenty-five years ago this then little-known camp — along with a nearby area called Sabra — was also the site of a bloody massacre that left more than 2,000 Palestinians dead at the hands of Phalangist militias backed by the Israeli army. EI contributor Christopher Brown writes from the Shatila refugee camp. 

B'Tselem: 373 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in 2007

30 December 2007


B’Tselem today releases its year-end report. According to B’Tselem data, the number of Israelis and Palestinians killed in clashes in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip dropped. However, there has been deterioration in many other measures of the human rights situation in the occupied territories. The primary one is the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, which has declined to an all time low, following Israel’s siege on the area. 

Democracy: An existential threat?

Ali Abunimah and Omar Barghouti 30 December 2007


As two of the authors of a recent document advocating a one-state solution to the Arab-Israeli colonial conflict we emphatically intended to generate debate. Predictably, Zionists decried the proclamation as yet another proof of the unwavering devotion of Palestinian — and some radical Israeli — intellectuals to the “destruction of Israel.” Some pro-Palestinian activists accused us of forsaking immediate and critical Palestinian rights in the quest of a “utopian” dream. Ali Abunimah and Omar Barghouti comment. 

Palestinian dies in Israeli detention

30 December 2007


Palestinian prisoner Fadi Abd al-Latif Abu al-Rob (21) from the town of Qabatia near Jenin died in the Israeli prison of Jalbou’ on the evening of 28 December 2007. The prisoner was a member of Islamic Jihad detained on 29 June 2007. According to information gathered by PCHR, Fadi suffered an illness on the morning of the day he died. He was transferred to the prison clinic. However, his condition deteriorated and the Israeli Prisons Authority announced his death in the evening without specifying the cause. 

Israeli military clears itself of cluster bomb misuse in Lebanon

30 December 2007


JERUSALEM, 28 December (IRIN) - Israel’s military advocate-general, Brig-Gen Avihai Mendelblit, has said the military’s use of cluster munitions during the conflict in Lebanon in 2006 was in accordance with international humanitarian law. Human rights groups and the UN had previously condemned the use of the bombs. In a statement issued on 24 December, the Israeli military said it used cluster munitions to fight Hizballah, the Lebanese Shia militant group, which had “heavily camouflaged” its launching sites for firing rockets at Israel. 

Beware of Barak

Ran HaCohen 27 December 2007


The person who destroyed the Oslo process and initiated the second intifada, the person who demolished the Israeli peace camp from within, by spreading legends about a “generous offer” rejected by the Palestinians, by persuading the Israelis that he “unmasked” Arafat and that there was no Palestinian partner — this person still calls himself “the leader of the Israeli peace camp.” That’s one of Israeli “Defense” Minister Ehud Barak’s most dangerous traits: his inherent untruthfulness, his presenting himself as the very opposite of what he actually is. 

Egypt aid conditioned on enforcing Gaza siege

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 27 December 2007


CAIRO, December 27 (IPS) - Last week, both houses of US Congress agreed to withhold 100 million dollars in financial assistance to Egypt following Israeli claims that Egyptian authorities were failing to prevent weapons smuggling to the Gaza Strip. Cairo, for its part, denounced the decision, while local political analysts saw the move as a heavy-handed pressure tactic on the part of Washington’s pro-Israel lobby. 

A Palestinian love story

Ghassan Abdullah Ramallah, West Bank 27 December 2007


A few months ago, a European professional in Ramallah threw a farewell party after completing part of the project for which he was recruited. The European himself, a Belgian, spent many years previously in the Palestinian territories and was very well liked locally, not least because he married a Palestinian woman, but that’s another story. A friend and old colleague of mine came up to me at the party and asked me discretely about A., a good-looking and outgoing woman who works with us. 

Ungenerous occupier: Israel's Camp David exposed

Jonathan Cook 1 January 2008


After seven years of rumors and self-serving memoirs, the Israeli media has finally published extracts from an official source about the Camp David negotiations in summer 2000. For the first time it is possible to gauge with some certainty the extent of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s “generous offer” to the Palestinians and Yasser Arafat’s reasons for rejecting it. In addition, the document provides valuable insights into what larger goals Israel hoped to achieve at Camp David and how similar ambitions are driving its policies to this day. Jonathan Cook analyzes the document for EI. 

Blair's misguided economic optimism

Adri Nieuwhof 26 December 2007


The Quartet’s Middle East envoy, Tony Blair, wanted to raise $5.6 billion US at the donor conference in Paris in December 2007. Since 1999 the per capita gross domestic product in occupied Palestine has declined by 40 percent. As a result Palestinians are getting poorer and 65 percent live below the poverty line. To give the hard hit economy a boost, Blair came up with a cure of ten “quick impact projects.” The World Bank has another opinion: pouring money into the occupied Palestinian territory will do little to revive the economy unless the occupation is ended. Instead, some of Blair’s proposed projects are firmly rooted in the structure of the occupation. 

Israeli forces kill 20 in Gaza during Eid attacks

23 December 2007


Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have escalated their aggression on the Gaza Strip since the Eid al-Adha eve, killing twenty Palestinians and injuring 27 others, including four critically. The casualties resulted from acts of assassination and bombardment, and an incursion in central Gaza during which eight were killed on 20 December 2007. IOF also leveled sixty dunums (one dunam equals 1,000 square meters) of agricultural land and partially destroyed twelve homes in the area. 

In Gaza, Santa is insolvent

Mohammed Omer 25 December 2007


GAZA CITY, December 24 (IPS) - “Santa Claus is empty handed this year … insolvent,” says Father Manuel Musallam, head of the Holy Family School in Gaza City. “All forms of celebration are absent,” he says, raising his empty palms skywards. “We Christians and Muslims all live in fear and instability. The Israeli tanks, bulldozers and warplanes have laid siege on us all.” His school, which has both Muslim and Christian students, likes to celebrate including all; this year few celebrations were planned, for fewer children. 

Israel denies entry to Christian clergy

25 December 2007


Israeli authorities are arbitrarily denying entry to clergy and volunteers belonging to or working for Christian institutions and service providers. The clergy being harassed and denied entry to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory join tens of thousands of ordinary foreign passport holders of Palestinian and non-Palestinian origin who wish to be with their families, work or study, as well as tourists and pilgrims. 

In the same prison together

Sonja Karkar 24 December 2007


The tranquil Christmas nativity scene so familiar to us is not at all evident in Bethlehem today. Bethlehem does not lie still, and peace on earth and goodwill towards all is as elusive as ever. The tyranny of Israel’s occupation and its colonial expansionism is crippling the lives of both Palestinian Christians and Muslims alike. Yet, many Christians will again ignore the misery suffered by the Palestinians in the Holy Land and will celebrate Christmas without remembering that it was amongst this people and in their land that Jesus was born. Sonja Karkar comments for EI. 

Refusing to accept apartheid in Beit Jala

Adri Nieuwhof and Amer Madi Beit Jala, West Bank 21 December 2007


Last night the rains finally arrived in Beit Jala, a small town in the West Bank, one kilometer west of Bethlehem and about eight kilometers south of Jerusalem. Its alluring hills are covered with olive trees, vineyards and apricots. In 1967 Israel confiscated 22 percent of Beit Jala’s land. Now, the construction of Israel’s separation wall is in full swing and will cut off another 45 per cent of Beit Jala’s land. We went to visit the area to feel the impact of the wall and listen to the stories of the farmers who didn’t sell their land and choose to resist the its confiscation. Adri Nieuwhof and Amer Madi report from Beit Jala. 

Palestinian shepherds forced to move on

21 December 2007


IDHNA, SOUTHERN WEST BANK, 19 December 2007 (IRIN) - “The best thing about Khirbet Qassa was the grazing land. We had open spaces. Now we’ve become dependent on other people and their land,” said Abdel Halim Nattah, a shepherd in the southern West Bank. Several weeks earlier he and all his fellow villagers, 37 families numbering 272 people, were evacuated by the Israeli military from Qassa and told to find a new home somewhere else. The Israel Civil Administration said the land the Palestinians were living on was an archaeological site under state auspices, and the villagers had been given warnings about the impending evacuation. 

Egyptian government, not people, recognize Israel

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 20 December 2007


CAIRO, 19 December (IPS) - Thirty years after late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat’s historic trip to Israel, Egyptian diplomatic relations with the Hebrew state remain cordial. On a popular level, however, the relationship — buttressed by the 1979 Camp David peace agreement — still represents a major source of contention. “The so-called peace between Egypt and Israel continues to lack popular approval,” Ahmed Thabet, professor of political science at Cairo University told IPS. “Meanwhile, Israel has exploited the situation to maintain racist, expansionist policies.” 

Gazans say this Eid is the worst ever

Rami Almeghari Gaza Strip 20 December 2007


A 500-meter-long street in the heart of Gaza City is empty of cars and vehicles, but full of men, women and children. Omar al-Mokhtar Street is considered the largest commercial area in Gaza where people from all over the coastal region have always come to shop, especially during the holiday season. In recent days, Gaza, like other Islamic communities around the world, prepared to celebrate Eid al-Adha, a major holiday marking the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, the Hajj. Normally a time of joy, this year’s Eid is different from past years because Gaza suffers from the tight Israeli closures on all travel and commercial crossings. EI correspondent Rami Almeghari reports from Gaza. 

Palestinians brave a hazardous profession

Rebecca Murray 18 December 2007


TYRE, Lebanon, 18 December (IPS) - Kamel Mohammed was pruning lemon trees last winter when his red electric saw detonated an unexploded cluster bomb, blasting shrapnel all over his body. After an operation to remove the metal shards from his chest, Mohammed, a 44-year-old father from the nearby Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidieh in south Lebanon, went straight back to work cultivating fields and chopping wood for coal. Not so lucky was his neighbor and fellow family man, Ahmad Huwaidi, 36, killed instantly when the remaining explosives in an old metal rocket he was cutting to sell ignited from the heat. 

Palestine's universities: partners or prisoners?

Rima Merriman 18 December 2007


At a workshop conducted at Birzeit University (BZU) on December 13 by AMIDEAST (American-MidEast Educational and Training Services) for Palestinian universities through its Faculty Development Program, the talk turned from the announced topic of the workshop (Palestinian-American University Partnerships) to the question of Palestinian-Palestinian university partnerships or the lack thereof. The occasion had brought together important representatives (at the level of Deans and VPs) from every Palestinian West Bank University. Gaza was unrepresented, however. Rima Merriman reports. 

The end of Israel?

Hannah Mermelstein 18 December 2007


I am feeling optimistic about Palestine. I know it sounds crazy. How can I use “optimistic” and “Palestine” in the same sentence when conditions on the ground only seem to get worse? Israeli settlements continue to expand on a daily basis, the checkpoints and segregated road system are becoming more and more institutionalized, more than 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners are being held in Israeli jails, Gaza is under heavy attack and the borders are entirely controlled by Israel. We can never forget these things and the daily suffering of the people, and yet I dare to say that I am optimistic. Hannah Mermelstein comments. 

Building hope from rubble

Sarah Price Gaza Strip 17 December 2007


In the dirty streets of the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, the sparse fruit stands carry only rotten fruit, because it is all the market’s vendors can afford to sell, and all the refugees can afford to buy. “It will still be gone in an hour,” says Dr. Mona El-Farra, “because they have to eat something.” Of Gaza’s 1.5 million residents more than 60 percent are under 18. The effects of malnutrition are seen not only in the kids’ hunger, but also in their brain function. They are unable to focus in school, and have become violent. Sarah Price reports from Gaza. 

EI Reader Appeal: You count on us, can we count on you?

17 December 2007


For 365 days each year, the Electronic Intifada (EI) team works hard to tell the stories of the people of Palestine and to provide a forum for them to speak for themselves. We are determined to ensure that they are not silenced, nor are their lives and struggles forgotten. As the year draws to a close, we count on many of our readers to make a donation to allow us to continue our educational work for another year. Without that support EI simply could not exist. As the leading online publication in English on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, EI receives over sixty thousand visits each month from readers in virtually every country in the world. 

Nahr al-Bared treated outside of the law

Sari Hanafi 16 December 2007


Many actors play a role in alleviating the plight of the Nahr al-Bared displaced Palestinian refugees. The most important actor has been the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. In spite of its slowness, as some interviewees complain, it has done a great job. Donors and international and local nongovernmental organizations have provided financial support and have assisted the population and ensured the basic needs of the displaced population and the returnees. In addition to these institutions, the Saudi Arabia paid seed money ($1200) to each family through the Lebanese government, and some Lebanese political parties, especially the Future Movement, provided food for the families. Sari Hanafi comments. 

Prerequisites for peace

Mustafa Barghouthi 16 December 2007


As one who for decades has supported a two-state solution and the nonviolent struggle for Palestinian rights, I view the recent conference in Annapolis with a great deal of skepticism — and a glimmer of hope. Seven years with no negotiations — and increasing numbers of Israeli settlers, an economic blockade in Gaza and an intricate network of roadblocks and checkpoints stifling movement in the West Bank — have led us to despair and distrust. Any commitment must be made not only to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008 but also to end Israel’s occupation. Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi comments. 

Palestinian NGOs pull plug on Madrid forum

15 December 2007


A major meeting of non-governmental organizations and activists fell into disarray when the Palestinian delegation announced its withdrawal just days before the event. “The Palestinian civil society delegation to the forum for a Just Peace in the Middle East, planned for 14-16 December in Madrid, has decided not to participate in the forum due to serious last-minute violations,” a December 13 statement issued by the Palestinian NGO network (PNGO) read. 

Concern rises regarding Gaza health care access

13 December 2007


JERUSALEM, 13 December (IRIN) - The isolation of the Gaza Strip is “intolerable” said a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official on 10 December, urging better access for Gazans to medical care outside the boxed-off enclave. Ambrogio Manenti, head of the WHO in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, urged medical professionals to take a stand against the current situation which, he said, was having a negative impact on the health of residents. Manenti was speaking at a WHO symposium with the Physicians for Human Rights-Israel organization and the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. 

Audio: Crossing the Line focuses on Annapolis

13 December 2007


This week on Crossing The Line: The cameras are gone and the dignitaries have gone back home, but what if anything did Annapolis really accomplish for either Palestinians or Israelis? Host Christopher Brown speaks with Bill and Kathleen Christison, both formerly of the CIA. Bill was a senior official of the CIA and served as a National Intelligence Officer and as Director of the CIA’s Office of Regional and Political Analysis. Kathleen is a former CIA political analyst and has worked on Middle East issues for thirty years. The couple joins Brown to sort out the summit and its chances — if any — of advancing a peaceful solution to the conflict. 

More than 600 Palestinians killed in extrajudicial killings since 2000

13 December 2007


Between the eruption of the second Palestinian intifada on 28 September 2000 and June 2006, Israeli forces attempted 252 extrajudicial killing operations. According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Israeli forces killed 603 Palestinians during these crimes. Statistically, the victims of this policy constitute 20 percent of the entire intifada’s Palestinian fatalities. Of these, 212 were bystanders killed during such operations. 

Photostory: A pervasive occupation

12 December 2007


Occupation has a way of making its presence experienced beyond its immediate manifestations — war machines and walls and checkpoints — and wounding everything it comes in contact with. The Israeli occupation has left scars on nearly all aspects of Palestinian society — both literal, physical tears in the earth and edifice. Where a million olive trees used to be rooted or tens of thousands of homes that used to be places to live and now are little more than a painful memory. However, in the midst of occupation is the energy to resist, a veiled hope for peace and justice, even at impossible odds. Adam Beach’s photographs document life in occupied Palestine. 

US Jews tilt rightwards on Israel

Jim Lobe 13 December 2007


WASHINGTON, December 12 (IPS) - US Jews appear to have become more opposed both to Israel’s making key concessions in renewed peace talks with Palestinians and to the US carrying out a military attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to the latest in an annual series of surveys of Jewish opinion released here this week by the American Jewish Committee (AJC). The poll, which was carried out during November before the formal resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in Annapolis late last month, also found continued skepticism in the Jewish community over both the war in Iraq and the “war on terror” as conducted by the administration of President George W. Bush. 

Israel's Palestinians speak out

Nadim Rouhana 12 December 2007


The Annapolis peace talks regard me as an interloper in my own land. Israel’s deputy prime minister, Avigdor Lieberman, argues that I should “take [my] bundles and get lost.” Henry Kissinger thinks I ought to be summarily swapped from inside Israel to the would-be Palestinian state. I am a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship — one of 1.4 million. We are Palestinian Arabs — Christian, Muslim and Druze — not Jewish. More than twenty Israeli laws explicitly privilege Jews over non-Jews. Nadim Rouhana comments. 

Report: Israeli military installations near Arab villages harmed civilians

12 December 2007


A new report from the Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA) focuses on one claim — one that was also raised during the war, particularly by Arab public figures in Israel, but which has not been the subject of detailed attention. This claim is that military installations were positioned by the Israeli army in proximity to Arab civilian locales. The report is based on the testimonies of 80 Arab residents interviewed by the HRA, documenting 20 Arab communities that were hit by an estimated total of some 660 rockets, killing 14 civilians directly. 

The first intifada 20 years later

Sonja Karkar 10 December 2007


The first Palestinian intifada (uprising or shaking off) erupted dramatically on 9 December 1987 after twenty long years of brutal Israeli military occupation. The Palestinians had had enough. Not only had they been dispossessed of their homeland and expelled from their homes in 1948 to make way for the boatloads of European Jewish immigrants flooding into Palestine on a promise of a Jewish state, they had been made to suffer the indignities of a people despised and rejected by the whole world. Sonja Karkar comments for EI on the anniversary of the beginning of the first intifada. 

Towards first-rate university instruction

Rima Merriman 10 December 2007


The Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research produced a report in August 2002 with financial and technical assistance provided by the World Bank. The paper has two objectives. The first is to provide an analytic rationale for donors wishing to finance higher education in Palestine, and the other, thornier one, is to “build stakeholders consensus on the rationale and mechanism for financing reform.” Given the nature of the document, it is taken for granted that the answer to the challenges higher education faces in Palestine is “a compelling financial strategy” and that’s what the document provides. Rima Merriman comments. 

Dershowitz jewelry purchase booed by Leviev protesters

9 December 2007


Wealthy Madison Avenue holiday shoppers were greeted the afternoon of 8 December 2007 by boisterous music and dancing, as 60 New Yorkers protested in a growing campaign to boycott Israeli diamond magnate Lev Leviev over his settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Participants performed a joyous dabke, a traditional Palestinian dance, and chanted to music from the eight-piece Rude Mechanical Orchestra. During the protest, Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz entered LEVIEV New York and emerged to jeers as he displayed a LEVIEV shopping bag to the crowd. 

Funds dry up for hospital in Ain al-Hilweh camp

9 December 2007


AIN AL-HILWEH, 9 December (IRIN) - A desperately needed hospital in Lebanon’s largest and most violent Palestinian refugee camp has been unable to open on time because funds to buy beds and other basic medical equipment have dried up. The US$5m al-Quds hospital in Ain al-Hilweh, just outside the southern port city of Sidon, is the single largest investment in the camp’s 60-year history and aims to treat a range of chronic diseases, heart problems, cancers and nervous disorders suffered by Ain al-Hilweh residents. It also aims to have a children’s wing and an intensive care unit. 

Only 41 percent of Gaza's food import needs being met

7 December 2007


JERUSALEM, 6 December (IRIN) - Food imports into the Gaza Strip are only enough to meet 41 percent of demand, the World Food Program (WFP) has said, though critical UN humanitarian food supplies are being allowed in. The cost of many basic items, such as beef, wheat and some dairy products have increased significantly, while locally grown produce is fetching extremely low prices on the local market, as exports are banned, threatening the livelihood of farmers. Since the Hamas takeover of Gaza in June, the commercial crossing points with Israel have been all but shut, except for the import of basic humanitarian goods. 

Testimony: Israel delays treatment of two Gaza toddlers

6 December 2007


I was born in Jordan to a father from the Gaza Strip. In 1994, I came to Gaza on a visitor’s permit that my uncle obtained for me. In 1995, my fiancee also entered Gaza on a visitor’s permit and we got married. At the time, we thought we would be able to obtain Palestinian identity cards. I worked in the office of the Palestinian Naval Police. In 1996, our first child was born, a daughter, whom we named Ghaida’, and in 1998, our daughter Maysa’ was born. In 2000, our first son, Muhammad, was born. Ten days after he was born, we noticed that his skin was yellow, so we took him to al-Shifa’a Hospital, in Gaza, for an examination. 

Largest Dutch trade union will increase pressure on Israel

Adri Nieuwhof 6 December 2007


Since 1994 Palestine has been part of the largest Dutch trade union, FNV ABVAKABO’s international solidarity policy. In a letter to Palestinian unions it refers to a resolution of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions which was adopted in December 2004. The ICFTU has 241 affiliated organizations in 156 countries with a membership of 155 million. The resolution calls for the immediate ending of the occupation of 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza, including the existence of the wall and Jewish settlements. 

Gaza's medical sector suffers Israeli sanctions, restrictions

5 December 2007


JERUSALEM/GAZA, 5 December (IRIN) - Health officials in the Gaza Strip say they are concerned about hundreds of patients unable to travel to Israel or other countries for vital treatment, and that local hospitals lack essential medical equipment, drugs and fuel. Only about one in seven patients who used to travel through the Rafah terminal to Egypt for treatment are now able to access medical care in Israel, according to World Health Organization statistics. 

Audio: Crossing the Line interviews Norman Finkelstein

5 December 2007


This week on Crossing The Line: The international conference in Annapolis, Maryland recently came to an end. During the talks US President George W. Bush stated that the time is right for peace in the Middle East, but what does that mean in terms of a solution to the decades-long conflict? Host Christopher Brown speaks with Dr. Norman G. Finkelstein, a noted scholar on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the author of several books including his latest, Beyond Chutzpah: On The Misuse of Anti-Semitism and The Abuse of History, about Annapolis’ chances for success. 

Prisoner release clouded by thousands still in custody

Jesse Rosenfeld Ramallah, West Bank 5 December 2007


Thousands gathered at the presidential compound in Ramallah on 3 December 2007 to welcome 429 Palestinian prisoners just released from Israeli jails as part of what Israel has called a “goodwill” gesture. Nonetheless, behind the cheering and flag waving, the feeling was bittersweet as the families of the released were overjoyed to have their loved ones returned, while there remained an atmosphere of cynicism towards Israel’s “gesture.” Jesse Rosenfeld writes from Ramallah. 

"No fuel, no gasoline, no benzene"

Rami Almeghari Gaza City, Gaza Strip 6 December 2007


With the majority of gas stations closed in Gaza due to the escalating fuel crisis, a group of local Gaza taxi drivers shared the fuel in their cars’ tanks, for the sake of going back home, rather than earning a living under already dire economic conditions. Majed Abu Sam’an, a driver of a Hyundai taxi minibus, was parked along with other drivers in mid-day Tuesday, 4 December 2007, siphoning gasoline from his car’s tank into that of another. “We are helping him so he can go back home, as he has been stuck here in Gaza City since the early hours of morning. We went to all the gas stations but they were closed, no fuel to buy,” says Abu Sama’an. Rami Almeghari reports for EI. 

Solidarity in Tubas

Alice Cutler 5 December 2007


“The clinic is modern, light, open and clean. Coming from a dark, dirty hospital with MRSA [the superbug] stalking the wards I almost felt we should send our managers to learn from the people here,” reflected Lucy Collins, a midwife from the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton. She had spent two days in the Red Crescent primary health care center in Tubas. Such positive reflections on the grinding reality of life under occupation in the West Bank are rare. But there are many stories of a resilient people who still have the energy to welcome visitors and reassure them when things become particularly heavy. Alice Cutler reports. 

The next "generous offer"?

Neta Golan 6 December 2007


The refugee solution Olmert suggests is “an international effort, in which we [Israel] will participate, to assist these Palestinians in finding a proper framework for their future, in the Palestinian state that will be established in the territories agreed upon between us.” The suggestion that the refugees do not have the choice to return to the lands from which they were expelled is contrary to international humanitarian law, and to UN Resolution 194 that “Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date.” Neta Golan comments for EI. 

Film review: "USA vs Al-Arian"

4 December 2007


In February 2003, the FBI raided the home of University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian. Arrested in front of his wife and children, Al-Arian was charged with 17 counts related to terrorism. Through an artfully edited array of talking heads, archival and news footage, court transcripts and family interviews director Line Halvorsen, in the documentary film USA vs Al-Arian, tells not just the story of Sami Al-Arian, but of plight of the Palestinians and of the erosion of civil liberties in the post-9/11 United States. 

Will peace cost me my home?

Ghada Ageel 5 December 2007


Sixty years ago, my grandparents lived in the beautiful village of Beit Daras, a few kilometers north of Gaza. They were farmers and owned hundreds of acres of land. But in 1948, in the first Arab-Israeli war, many people lost their lives defending our village from the Zionist militias. In the end, with their crops and homes burning, the villagers fled. My family eventually made its way to what became the refugee camp of Khan Younis in Gaza. Some people may tire of hearing such stories from the past. “Don’t cry over spilled milk” is one of the first sayings I learned in English. But for me, the line between past and present is not so easily broken. Ghada Ageel comments. 

Palestine: Moving beyond collective denial

Arjan El Fassed 4 December 2007


It was shocking to see Mahmoud Abbas, the designated head of the US-sponsored Palestinian Authority, warmly applaud the acknowledgement of Israel as a “Jewish state” and “homeland for the Jewish people” in Bush’s inaugural speech at Annapolis. With his clapping hands, Abbas supported the denial of his people’s history, in particular the 1948 mass expulsion that included the destruction of 531 villages and has been followed by the forced removal of Palestinians ever since. EI co-founder Arjan El Fassed comments on the need to object to this denial of Palestinian history. 

Red Cross training Gaza fighters in international humanitarian law

Rami Almeghari 3 December 2007


The International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza has recently begun training Palestinian resistance fighters to respect international humanitarian law. For the past several years various Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza have fired crude homemade rockets at nearby Israeli towns, killing about a dozen Israeli civilians and recently injuring 69 soldiers in one such attack. The rockets usually land in open spaces but cause panic amongst Israeli civilians. EI correspondent Rami Almeghari reports on the training designed to minimize civilian casualties on both sides of the conflict. 

Meet the Lebanese Press: In the shadow of Annapolis

Hicham Safieddine 3 December 2007


It seemingly took a stillborn conference like Annapolis to break the deadlock in the Lebanese presidential crisis. In a surprise move this past week, the March 14 camp nominated Lebanese army chief Michel Suleiman for the presidency. Suleiman had been considered a preferred candidate for the opposition camp. His long-standing support of the resistance against Israel and his amicable relations with Damascus made him agreeable to the opposition camp. But the army’s recent assault on Nahr al-Bared refugee camp endeared him to the Americans as well. Now, he is emerging as the man of consensus. 

Audio: Crossing the Line interviews Ramallah activist Sam Bahour

2 December 2007


This week on Crossing The Line: Over recent years it has been increasingly difficult for foreign passport-holding Palestinians and internationals visiting Palestine to obtain visas and renew them from the governing Israeli occupation. Palestinian-American activist Sam Bahour joins us from Ramallah to discuss Israel’s control of people who wish to visit Palestine. 

Palestinian shepherds' livelihoods in jeopardy

2 December 2007


DHAHARIYA, WEST BANK, 2 December (IRIN) - Palestinian herders in the southern part of the West Bank are facing increased poverty due to rising costs of fodder and water, as well as limitations on their access to grazing land, the herders and UN officials said. “Due to global droughts and the rising demand internationally for corn and barley bio-fuels, the prices of corn and barley fodder products have risen dramatically,” said Santiago Ripoll, a food security analyst with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization working in the Hebron area in the southern West Bank. 

The Palestine that we struggle for

Jamal Juma' 1 December 2007


The gulf between the PA and the Palestinian people is becoming increasingly obvious. Indeed the whole range of Palestinian political and social forces joined in condemning the repression on Tuesday. The choice for the PA is clear: either to go along with the dictates of the US and the occupation; or to radically alter their course, to return to the people and remember that they are leaders of the Palestinian national struggle. The grassroots movement against normalization with the occupiers will continue to grow. Resistance will continue as the Palestinian people assert their fundamental rights. Jamal Juma’ comments.