GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - In Gaza’s main hospital, the director’s office is under virtual siege, according to an IRIN journalist in Gaza. Relatives of the injured are desperate to get their kin transferred to Egypt for emergency treatment. There is a fear here that the already overstretched healthcare system will collapse if Israel mounts a ground offensive into the tiny coastal strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians. Read more about "If there is an Israeli invasion hospitals will collapse" 

CAIRO (IPS) - Formally, the Israeli-Palestinian “peace process” appears set to continue, in line with the last United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution. But the chances of finding a resolution are virtually nil in light of Israel’s new campaign against the Gaza Strip. “Even before Israel’s latest bombardment of Gaza, the so-called peace process was dead,” Magdi Hussein, secretary-general of Egypt’s Islamist-leaning Labor Party (officially frozen since 2000), told IPS. On Saturday, 27 December, Israel began a series of punishing air strikes throughout the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip, whose interior is controlled by Hamas. Read more about "Peace process" blown to bits 

“There is a complete blackout in Gaza now. The streets are as still as death.” I am speaking to my father, Moussa el-Haddad, a retired physician who lives in Gaza City, on Skype, from Durham, North Carolina in the United States, where I have been since mid 2006 — the month Gaza’s borders were hermetically sealed by Israel, and the blockade of the occupied territory further enforced. Laila El-Haddad writes from the US. Read more about Bloodied in Gaza as the world silently watches 

It does Israelis no more good to control Palestinian land, exploit its resources, and inflict misery on its people than it did the US any good to do the same to Iraqis. Most of us know that the crimes our country committed in Iraq were detrimental to our future, so why would we support the Israeli government when it engages in the same self-destructive behavior. My question to Israel’s “friends” in US Congress would be, “is that what friends are for?” Titus North comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Falling into the moral abyss 

Last night, during the second night of Israel’s unprecedented attack on Gaza, I was awakened by the deafening sound of intensive bombardment on the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG). Of course Israeli politicians and generals would claim that IUG is a Hamas stronghold and that it preaches terrorism. As an independent professor, not affiliated with any political party, I can say that IUG is an academic institution which embraces a wide spectrum of political affinities. Dr. Akram Habeeb writes from the besieged Gaza Strip. Read more about Why would Israel bomb a university? 

Saturday was supposed to be a normal day — at least as close to normal as we are allowed to enjoy in Gaza. Where else but in Gaza are students killed in air strikes on their classrooms? From my desk in my university classroom we could see the smoke from Israel’s bombing and hear the most terrifying sound of non-stop explosions. Eman Mohammed writes from the besieged Gaza Strip. Read more about "They are wrong to think we are the terrorists" 

Here’s an update on what’s happening here from where I am, the second night of Israeli air (and sea) raids on Gaza. It’s 1:30am but it feels like the sun should be up already. For the past few hours there’s been simultaneous, heavy aerial bombardment of Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip. It feels like the longest night of my life. Safa Joudeh writes from the besieged Gaza Strip. Read more about The longest night of my life 

Majid Salim, stood beside his comatose mother, Fatima. Earlier today she had been sitting at her desk at work at the Khadija Arafat Charity, located near the headquarters of Hamas’ security forces in Gaza City. Israel’s attack had left her with multiple internal and head injuries, a tube down her throat and a ventilator keeping her alive. Majid gestured to her, “We didn’t attack Israel, my mother didn’t fire rockets at Israel. This is the biggest terrorism, to have our mother bombarded at work.” Ewa Jasiewicz reports from the besieged Gaza Strip. Read more about Gaza: "This is only the beginning" 

It was just before noon when I heard the first explosion. I rushed to my window and barely did I get there and look out when I was pushed back by the force and air pressure of another explosion. For a few moments I didn’t understand but then I realized that Israeli promises of a wide-scale offensive against the Gaza Strip had materialized. Safa Joudeh writes from the besieged Gaza Strip. Read more about "The amount of death and destruction is inconceivable" 

“I will play music and celebrate what the Israeli air force is doing.” Those were the words, spoken on Al Jazeera today by Ofer Shmerling, an Israeli civil defense official in the Sderot area adjacent to Gaza, as images of Israel’s latest massacres were broadcast around the world. A short time earlier, US-supplied Israeli F-16 warplanes and Apache helicopters dropped over 100 bombs on dozens of locations in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip killing at least 195 persons and injuring hundreds more. Many of these locations were police stations located, like police stations the world over, in the middle of civilian areas. The Electronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abunimah comments. Read more about Gaza massacres must spur us to action 

Israeli politicians, in the run-up to elections, are promising to deal a severe blow to Gaza as this is how Israeli policy is made. However, every household in Gaza is already under siege. In Gaza you can only find pale, angry and frustrated faces. If you visit my house you won’t find power, while my neighbor is out of gas. Another neighbor seeks potable water as power outages have left him without for four days. A third neighbor desparately looks for milk for his child but does so in vain. Sameh A. Habeeb writes from the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about Hunger before the storm 

Earlier this month, Israeli authorities deported Professor Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, who had arrived in the country to conduct his duties to investigate rights abuses in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Electronic Intifada contributor Victor Kattan interviews Falk about the motivation behind his deportation. Read more about Championing global human rights: interview with Richard Falk 

The United Nations Security Council passed its first resolution on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in almost five years, on 16 December. But far from marking a break with the Council’s abdication of responsibility for the fate of the Palestinian people, United States- and Russian-sponsored resolution 1850 is the final nail in the coffin for even the pretense that international law and institutions will play any serious role in ending 60 years of dispossession and occupation, and bringing about a just peace. Hasan Abu Nimah and Ali Abunimah comment. Read more about Security Council undermines justice and UN Charter 

Jewish peace groups have accused the Israeli police of fueling racism by canceling a “Jewish Pride” march by a far-right group that was to have taken place through one of the largest Arab towns in Israel. The police postponed the march, due last Monday, claiming they had evidence extremist residents of Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel would open fire on the marchers and police. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Arab town blamed for Jewish Pride march's cancellation 

RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli jails in a “goodwill gesture” Monday. This followed the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha and was an attempt to boost the waning popularity of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Several prisoners spoke to the assembled local and international media about their time in detention. They accused the Israelis of maltreating and physically abusing detainees. Read more about Israelis continue to abuse Palestinian prisoners 

RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Ten days of intensive fighting broke out between Israel and the Islamic resistance organization Hamas last month despite a ceasefire. Israel carried out a cross-border incursion into Gaza, sparking a cycle of tit-for-tat violence which claimed the lives of dozens of Palestinian fighters and lightly injured two Israelis. This serious breach of a six-month ceasefire between the two raises questions whether the current truce, which formally ends in several days will be renewed, or whether Israel will embark on a major military incursion into the Gaza Strip as it has been threatening. Read more about Gaza truce set to expire 

On 13 November Palestinian conceptual artist Emily Jacir was awarded the prestigious Biennial Hugo Boss Prize. Established in 1996 in conjunction with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation to “recognize significant achievement in contemporary art,” the prize includes a $100,000 award and a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum New York in 2009. The award is the latest honor for the celebrated artist. Maymanah Farhat reports. Read more about Palestinian artist Emily Jacir awarded top prize  

Leila pointed towards a lone tree and small house on a ridge above what appeared to be a vacant lot. “This was a great field,” she said, “filled with lime, guava and orange trees. They destroyed them, killed the trees,” she explained, referring to Israeli invasions over the years. “A few days after he learned his trees had been destroyed, the man who owned and tended to the trees passed away.” Eva Bartlett reports from the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about "I was afraid they would destroy our trees" 

For almost eight years, The Electronic Intifada (EI) has worked to break the silence, expose the complicity, and give voice to those working for a different world. Every day, educators, activists, journalists, diplomats, students and thousands of others turn to us knowing they will find independent and original news, comment and analysis from leading reporters and writers. Read more about Help EI keep the light shining on Palestine in 2009 

In September 2008, the European Union decided that meetings with Russia about a new partnership agreement would be postponed until the latter ended its military occupation of Georgia. In contrast, in June 2008 the 27-member EU decided to “upgrade” its relations with Israel. Was this in recognition of Israeli adherence to previous agreements with the EU, or progress in the peace process with the Palestinians? On the contrary, it appears to have been a reward for Israel’s military occupation of the territory of several countries, and gross violations of human rights and international law, as well as specific commitments made to the EU. David Morrison comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about The EU's blind eye to Israel 

On 27 October, a group of young Palestinians, none of them over the age of 25, organized the first music concert of its kind in the Gaza Strip, called Gaza Concert ‘08. Regardless of the awful conditions in the Gaza Strip brought on by the 19-month Israeli siege, the youth sang for freedom, peace and ending the unjust siege. Thousands of people came from all over Gaza while several international and local media outlets covered the event that was sponsored by Action for Peace Italia. A mixture of traditional Palestinian debka dance, rap, and nationalist anthems were performed calling for lifting the siege and ending Israeli occupation. Sameh Habeeb reports from Gaza. Read more about Musical resistance against the siege 

UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - People in seven majority Muslim countries favor a more active United Nations with broader powers, while simultaneously viewing the world body as dominated by the US and failing to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a new poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org, a global network of research centers. The survey was conducted in Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Iran, Indonesia, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Azerbaijan. Nigeria, which has a 50 percent Muslim population, was also polled. Read more about UN recieves low score on Palestine 

GAZA (IRIN) - Gaza’s sole power station supplies about 30 percent of Gaza’s electricity; 10 lines from Israel supply about 62 percent; and two lines from Egypt about eight percent. The station supplies about 65MW of electricity, and is functioning at half capacity after its transformers were bombed by Israel in June 2006, according to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs field officer Hamada al-Bayari in Gaza. Read more about How Gaza gets power 

Israel has further tightened the screw on Gaza, where some areas have been completely plunged into darkness as fuel shortages shut down Gaza’s sole power plant 25 days ago. The power cuts affect all activities dependent on electrical power as the remaining power sources provided by Israel and Egypt cannot serve the needs of the whole of the Gaza Strip. Access to drinking and irrigation water is affected, as well as sewage treatment, risking disease. Sameh A. Habeeb reports from the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about "We are slowly dying" 

A broad coalition of Jewish lobby groups has made a series of breakthroughs this year in its campaign to link the question of justice for millions of Palestinian refugees with justice for Jews who left Arab states in the wake of Israel’s establishment 60 years ago. Referring to these Jews as the “forgotten refugees” and claiming that their plight is worse than that of exiled Palestinians, the campaign has scored political successes in recent months in Washington, London and Brussels. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Jewish "refugee" lobby seeks to eclipse Palestinian losses 

It is difficult to recall a US secretary of state who embodied the ideals of the position: the promotion of dialogue and privileging of diplomacy. Unfortunately, US President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee, Hillary Clinton, is not likely to restore these ideals to the office. Clinton has long championed military action against the former Yugoslavia, Iraq and has promised to “obliterate” Iran if the state launched a nuclear strike against Israel. Dr. Marcy Newman comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Will Palestinians hit Hillary's glass ceiling?