March 2009

New York kicks off boycott campaign against Motorola

31 March 2009


More than 50 New Yorkers protested outside the Motorola office in downtown Brooklyn this morning. The protest launched a new city-wide campaign to boycott Motorola over the company’s complicity in the Israeli government’s apartheid practices against Palestinians. In a heavy wind, human rights campaigners from the newly formed group The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel (NYCBI) chanted, sang and passed out a thousand flyers to passersby. 

Belgian campaign targets bank financing Israeli settlements

Adri Nieuwhof 1 April 2009


In a remarkably short period of time, activists in Belgium have built a strong basis for the campaign “Israel colonizes — Dexia funds,” asking the bank to divest from its subsidiary Dexia Israel because of its financing of the expansion of illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Israel may have deliberately attacked sewage infrastructure

Marian Houk 30 March 2009


During the Israeli attack in January, there was a breach in one of the earthen embankment walls of a sewage containment lagoon in Gaza due to some form of Israeli military activity resulting in a large sewage flood. The breach is likely to mean long-term environmental damage, with dangerous consequences for human health. Marian Houk reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

BMW garage among the targets of Israel's attacks

30 March 2009


Nasser al-Amoudi, with his biker’s jacket and sunglasses, embodies the essence of a car enthusiast. For years he has been the proud owner of the only BMW spare parts shop in the Gaza Strip. People would travel from every corner to purchase second hand parts from his shop. Now Nasser’s workshop and garage, which were worth $300,000 before the Israeli army destroyed them during its latest offensive, lie in tatters, and his financial security has gone. 

Palestinians remember Land Day

Jonathan Cook Arrabeh 30 March 2009


Palestinians across the Middle East were due to commemorate Land Day today, marking the anniversary of clashes in 1976 in which six unarmed Palestinians were shot dead by the Israeli army as it tried to break up a general strike. Although Land Day is one of the most important anniversaries in the Palestinian calendar, sometimes referred to as the Palestinians’ national day, the historical event it marks is little spoken of and rarely studied. Jonathan Cook reports. 

Rights orgs: Infighting jeopardizes our cause and our rights

27 March 2009


Based on our faith in our national, moral, and legal responsibility and recognizing our duty to work towards building and strengthening the democratic edifice of the prospective Palestinian state, we, the undersigned Palestinian human rights organizations, hereby and articulate our demands of the Palestinian political authorities for measures to be taken in order to overcome the pains and agonies of the crisis generated by internal fragmentation and conflict. 

Demand Israel release child held without charge or trial

26 March 2009


Hamdi al-Ta’mari was arrested for the first time from the family home in Bethlehem at 4:00am, on 25 July 2008. He was woken by the sound of Israeli soldiers banging on the front door. Hamdi’s hands and feet were immediately tied and he was ordered to lie on the floor, as soldiers pointed their assault rifles and flashlights at him. While on the ground, a number of soldiers slapped, kicked and beat him with their assault rifles. His hands were tied so tightly that they began to swell. After 15 minutes, Hamdi was blindfolded and placed on the floor of a military vehicle. 

Rights orgs withdraw petition in protest of Israeli court decision

25 March 2009


Today [24 March 2009], three human rights organizations, The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel withdrew a principle petition that they submitted to the [Israeli] High Court of Justice. This was done in protest of the court’s decision on the constitutionality of a law on secret evidence and heard in the absence of the petitioners. 

Rights org: Medical patients are not political pawns

24 March 2009


On the afternoon of 22 March 2009, the Ministry of Health in Gaza took control of the Department of External Medical Treatment. Officials from the Gaza Ministry of Health demanded that the director of the Department relinquish control of all offices in the Gaza Strip. The director, Dr. Bassam al-Badri, had been appointed by the government in Ramallah with the approval of the Gaza government. 

Waiting to enter Gaza

Kris Petersen Ramallah, West Bank 25 March 2009


If there is a single act that characterizes the plight of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation, it is waiting: waiting in lines to pass through the hundreds of checkpoints scattered across the West Bank, waiting for Israel to issue an identification card, waiting for permission to travel to the next village or out of the country, waiting for loved ones languishing in Israeli prisons to be released. And for nearly two months, Kris Petersen shared the experience of waiting for Israel to give permission to travel to Gaza. 

Lieberman is no abnormality

Nimer Sultany 24 March 2009


It would be mistaken to think of the rise of Avigdor Lieberman and his party, Yisrael Beiteinu, as a major development or as the main source of concern for the Palestinians. Focusing on Lieberman (charitably called by the Guardian a “hardliner”) distracts the discussion from the real issues to the person of one unpleasant politician who says ignominious things others are generally unwilling to say. Nimer Sultany comments for The Electronic Intifada. 

Gaza rubble is forensic evidence

Don Duncan 24 March 2009


With the $4.5 billion in pledges made by international donors at the Sharm al-Sheikh conference this month, the humanitarian focus in Gaza will begin to shift, looking forward at clearing rubble and rebuilding anew. But before any reconstruction can start, much emergency relief work still needs to be done and humanitarian workers and medics won’t be the only ones trawling through the rubble. Don Duncan reports. 

Divestment campaign gains momentum in Europe

Adri Nieuwhof 24 March 2009


The Swedish national pension fund AP7 is the latest institution to follow the socially responsible investment example of Dutch ASN Bank by excluding the French transportation giant Alstom from its portfolio. Alstom was excluded because of the company’s involvement in Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Euros do not buy the Palestinians political rights

Pepijn van Houwelingen 23 March 2009


The EU has always strived to appear impartial and even-handed in its dealings with Israel and the Palestinians. Certainly, it does not openly favor one party over the other and it has proved more willing than the US to grant the Palestinians a degree of sympathy. However, a closer inspection of where the donated euros really go reveals that European policy has only contributed to the ongoing politicide of the Palestinians. Pepijn van Houwelingen comments for The Electronic Intifada. 

Israeli forces arrest West Bank political leaders

22 March 2009


Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association strongly condemns the arrests of 10 Palestinian political leaders which were carried out by the Israeli Occupying Forces in a West Bank raid in the early hours of Thursday, 19 March 2009. Addameer views these arrests as a form of collective punishment in direct response to the failure of prisoner exchange talks between the Israeli government and Hamas which collapsed in Cairo on 18 March 2009. 

Israeli authorities ban Palestinian Cultural Festival

22 March 2009


As an organization dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Al-Haq condemns the repressive actions taken today [Saturday 21 March 2009] by the Israeli authorities in banning peaceful cultural activities organized as part of the Palestinian Cultural Festival marking the declaration of Jerusalem as the “Capital of Arab Culture 2009.” 

From Guangzhou to Gaza -- underground

20 March 2009


GAZA CITY (IRIN) - The main kitchenware supplier in Gaza, al-Dahshan Company, last received a shipment from Israel over two years ago through the Karni crossing. Karni, the only commercial crossing with the facilities to allow large numbers of trucks to enter Gaza, has been closed since June 2007 except for the conveyor belt that operates for grain deliveries. 

Israel using excessive force against protesters

Mel Frykberg 22 March 2009


RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - The critical wounding of a US activist has highlighted the excessive use of force by Israeli forces. The activist, Tristan Anderson, 38, was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers during a protest against Israel’s separation barrier in the occupied Palestinian West Bank last week. He remains in intensive care in Tel Hashomer Hospital in Tel Aviv. 

Israeli siege kills another child patient in Gaza

20 March 2009


Seventeen-year-old Maher Mohammed al-Sheikh died in Gaza on Sunday 25 January 2009 waiting for the Israeli government to give him clearance to receive treatment for his leukemia in Israel. On 8 May 2008 Maher was diagnosed with leukemia at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. He was granted a referral to Israel and after waiting for 40 days he was able to travel with his father to Tel Hashomer Hospital outside Tel Aviv on 17 June 2008. 

The crimes we witnessed in Gaza

Radhika Sainath Los Angeles, United States 20 March 2009


We crossed into Gaza through the Rafah land crossing on 2 February 2009. Minutes after Palestinian officials stamped our passports, we were startled by a loud explosion. “Don’t worry,” said one of the officials, unflinching. “They’re only bombing the tunnels. It’s normal here.” Radhika Sainath writes from the US. 

Palestinian unity talks failing

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 19 March 2009


CAIRO (IPS) - Reconciliation talks between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah in Cairo this week yielded an agreement to hold national elections early next year. The two sides, however, remain deadlocked over the proposed terms of a national unity government. “Talks are at a standstill on the issue of the government,” a member of the Palestinian delegation was quoted as saying Sunday on 15 March. 

Travel bans violate freedom of movement

Adri Nieuwhof and Jeff Handmaker 19 March 2009


Despite international media attention and considerable diplomatic pressure from the Netherlands, Israel did not allow the general director of the Palestinian organization Al-Haq, Shawan Jabarin, to travel to the Netherlands to receive the prestigious Dutch Geuzenpenning award for human rights defenders on 13 March 2009. Israel’s travel ban on Jabarin and other human rights defenders on the basis of secret evidence violates principles for a fair trial and the basic human right of free movement, resembling the behavior of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Adri Nieuwhof and Jeff Handmaker comment for The Electronic Intifada. 

Bedouin baby's power struggle with Israel

Jonathan Cook 18 March 2009


Little Ashimah Abu Sbieh’s life hangs by a thread — or more specifically, an electricity cable that runs from a noisy diesel-powered generator in the family’s backyard. Should the generator’s engine fail, she could die within minutes. Ashimah suffers from a rare genetic condition that means her brain fails to tell her lungs to work. Without the assistance of an electric inhalator, she would simply stop breathing. Jonathan Cook reports. 

Gazans struggle for clean drinking water

Mel Frykberg 18 March 2009


RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - As environmental experts, non-governmental organizations and government officials gather in Istanbul this week to attend the Fifth World Water Forum, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has drawn attention to the critical water situation in Gaza. “ICRC teams are repairing water and sewage systems in Gaza that were badly damaged during the three-week Israeli military operation in January,” the ICRC says in a media release. 

Report: UK economic links with Israeli settlements

18 March 2009


The purpose of this report is to document economic links between UK companies and those based in settlements. The research has identified 68 British companies which have direct or indirect relationships with Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory; 49 of which have their head office in the United Kingdom and 19 of which are British subsidiaries of companies based in Israel or other countries. 

Justice for Rachel, justice for the Palestinians

Cindy Corrie and Craig Corrie 16 March 2009


In Rachel’s case, though a thorough, credible and transparent investigation was promised by the Israeli government, after six years, the position of the US government remains that such an investigation has not taken place. Now, the attacks on all the people of Gaza and the recent one on Tristan Anderson in Nilin cry out for investigation and accountability. Cindy and Craig Corrie comment on the sixth anniversary of their daughter’s killing by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. 

West Bank villagers pushed away from their valley

Marcy Newman 17 March 2009


The West Bank village of Aqraba sits nested in the Jordan Valley, approximately 20 kilometers southeast of Nablus and around 50 kilometers east of Israel’s wall that separates Palestinians in what is now considered Israel from those who reside in the West Bank. It is close enough to the Jordanian border that Palestinian cell phones roam here as if one were in Jordan. Dr. Marcy Newman reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Ensuring maximum casualties in Gaza

Eva Bartlett 16 March 2009


“We were still young and in love. We had all of our dreams,” Muhammad Abu Jerrad said, holding a photo of his wife by the sea. Wafa Abu Jerrad was one of at least six killed by three flechette bombs fired by Israeli tanks in the Ezbet Beit Hanoun area, northern Gaza, on 5 January. Eva Bartlett reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Durban II: no-show is slap in face of victims of apartheid

Arjan El Fassed 16 March 2009


More and more Western countries are either announcing their boycott or are threatening to boycott Durban II, a United Nations conference scheduled for April to review progress made since the World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa in 2001. Earlier this month, Italy became the first EU member to withdraw from the event, stating that it could not endorse a draft agenda that criticizes Israel. The Electronic Intifada co-founder Arjan El Fassed comments. 

Palestinian mother's solidarity with 40 adopted prisoners

Eman Mohammed Gaza Strip 17 March 2009


Adopting more children seemed to be an unusual thing to do for Handoma Wishah, known as Umm Jaber, as she had already raised six children of her own and got most of them into college. Yet she says it was easy to make what could have been a tough decision. Umm Jaber “adopted” about 40 adult men of several Arab nationalities without hesitation. Eman Mohammed reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Broad nonviolent resistance to Zionism

Ahmad Hijazi 17 March 2009


Amid the escalating violence, and the 60-year-long status quo, there are certain fundamental questions that need to be asked. Are there certain values and absolute foundations that make resistance in general, and against Zionism specifically, a moral and humane necessity? What is the framework for nonviolent resistance, and how is it connected to these values? What is the ultimate end goal of the struggle? Ahmad Hijazi comments for The Electronic Intifada. 

Gaza fishing industry reeling

13 March 2009


GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - A combination of damage to fishing resources caused by the Israeli offensive, and a restriction on the zone in which Gazans are allowed to fish is reducing catches and adversely affecting people’s diets in Gaza, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 

Border areas bombed again

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 13 March 2009


CAIRO (IPS) - Almost two months after the attacks on the Gaza Strip, the border area between the battered coastal enclave and Egypt continues to come under frequent Israeli aerial bombardment. Israeli officials say the strikes target cross-border tunnels used to smuggle weapons to Palestinian resistance factions. 

Experts to Obama: Political Islam not the enemy

Ali Gharib 12 March 2009


WASHINGTON (IPS) - Scores of Middle East and democracy experts released an open letter to US President Barack Obama Tuesday asking him to focus more of his foreign policy efforts at making reforms in the region, including boosting human rights. Signed by more than 120 academics, scholars, experts and others, the letter said that previous US policy had been “misguided” and “produced a region increasingly tormented by rampant corruption, extremism, and instability.” 

Activists confront AIPAC donors with checkpoint outside fundriaser

11 March 2009


Dozens of Los Angeles-area Jews, Palestinians and other allies erected a mock checkpoint at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) annual Valley Fundraiser in protest of AIPAC’s attempt to steer US policy makers to ignore recent Israeli war crimes in Gaza and the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. 

Israeli settlers terrorize Palestinian villagers

Mel Frykberg 11 March 2009


AL-TUWANI, occupied West Bank (IPS) - “I couldn’t run. My pregnancy was too far advanced and there was nowhere to hide,” said Amna Salman Rabaye, 31, as she recalled the terrifying incident several months ago. Rabaye from the Palestinian Bedouin village of al-Tuwani in the southern West Bank was grazing her sheep when she was assaulted by a security guard from the adjacent illegal Israeli settlement of Ma’on. 

French company runs Israeli bus services to settlements

Adri Nieuwhof and Daniel Machover 11 March 2009


The international Derail Veolia and Alstom campaign is gaining momentum by coordinating efforts to pressure French transportation giants Veolia and Alstom to withdraw from the Israeli tramway project in Jerusalem that runs illegally on Palestinian land. With its involvement in this project, Veolia is directly implicated in maintaining illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. 

Canada Park and Israeli "memoricide"

Jonathan Cook 10 March 2009


As spring sets in early, Israelis have been pouring into one of the country’s most popular leisure spots. Visitors to Canada Park, a few kilometers northwest of Jerusalem, enjoy its spectacular panoramas, woodland paths, mountain-bike trails, caves and idyllic picnic areas. Few, if any, visitors take notice of the stone blocks that litter sections of the park. Jonathan Cook reports. 

UNICEF head: Gaza children need more support

10 March 2009


GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Ann M. Veneman recently paid a visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) to assess the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with special focus on children. As of 5 February, 431 Palestinian children had died and 1,872 had been wounded in the 22-day Israeli offensive which ended on 18 January, according to the Gaza health ministry. 

East Jerusalem settlements ratchet up tensions

Helena Cobban 10 March 2009


OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM (IPS) - As the fires of human misery continue to smolder in Gaza, the situation in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem is emerging as another potentially explosive issue in, and far beyond, the Middle East. The future of the city is considered an issue of prime importance to both Palestinians and Israelis, as well as to their supporters around the world. 

Ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem

Marcy Newman East Jerusalem 10 March 2009


I recently visited the al-Bustan neighborhood of Silwan, one of the many slated for demolition any day now. The roads into the valley where al-Bustan lies were all closed to Palestinian cars with border police blocking off almost every street. The Electronic Intifada contributor Dr. Marcy Newman writes from occupied East Jerusalem. 

Where every day is a woman's day

Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler 9 March 2009


BEIT SAHOUR, occupied West Bank (IPS) - We’ve been warned she’s a “harsh case.” Hesitantly she enters, a withdrawn smile hidden behind glasses and a canopy of thick black hair. Impassively, she tells her life story — as if it’s about someone else entirely: she’s 19. Since seven, she’s been sexually assaulted by “an influential family relative.” He used to tell her what they were doing was “normal between a man and a woman.” She felt secluded from her own family by a vow forced upon her not to reveal their “little secret.” 

Histadrut: Israel's racist "trade union"

Tony Greenstein 9 March 2009


Histadrut has always been a strange creature. In most countries one joins a trade union which is affiliated to a national trade union federation. In Israel one first joins Histadrut and then one is allocated to a union. It is only outside Israel that Histadrut is seen as a normal trade union, the Israeli equivalent of the British Trade Union Congress or the American union movement AFL/CIO. Less well known is the fact that Histadrut, an organization of the settler Jewish working class, was the key Zionist organization responsible for the formation of the Israeli state. Tony Greenstein looks at Histadrut’s role in the oppression of the Palestinian people. 

Suddenly, home was gone

Eva Bartlett 9 March 2009


BEIT HANOUN, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - Dates in the calendar to mark the rights of women mean little to Manwa Tarrabin, 56, and her two daughters. They have lost home, and any rights to it. Until 17 January, they were living in a small bungalow in the al-Amal quarter of Beit Hanoun, within 200 meters of Gaza’s eastern border, in a region declared by the Israeli authorities a “closed military zone.” 

Gaza reconstruction aid fettered by political motives

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 8 March 2009


CAIRO (IPS) - A conference held this week in Cairo devoted to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip succeeded in raising more than 5 billion dollars from international donors. But some critics say the issue is being used as a means of isolating Gaza-based resistance faction Hamas. “Reconstruction efforts are being exploited to further weaken Hamas and coerce it into changing its position vis-a-vis the Zionist occupation,” Essam al-Arian, leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition movement, told IPS. 

A public stoning in Germany

Raymond Deane 6 March 2009


It appears that freedom of speech, supposedly one of the proudest acquisitions of post-Fascist Germany, is readily suppressed when exercised to advocate positive action against the racist, politicidal institutions and actions of the Zionist state. Raymond Deane comments for The Electronic Intifada. 

Lessons from the I-97 Seattle divestment initiative

Dave Jette 5 March 2009


No two campaigns are the same, and no experience can be fully replicated from one city to the next. However, the experience of I-97 in Seattle has shown that it is possible to use the ballot initiative process to educate the public, keep their attention focused on issues of war and occupation in the Middle East, and mount a serious challenge, at the local level, to the foreign policies of the US government. Dave Jette comments for The Electronic Intifada. 

Family grieves killing of 13-year-old

5 March 2009


On 14 February 2009, almost a month after Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza, 13-year-old Hammad Silmiya was grazing his sheep and goats in northeast Gaza, about 500 meters from the border with Israel. An Israeli military jeep patrolling the border opened fire on him and his teenage friends. Hammad was shot in the head and he died almost instantly. 

Iraq's Palestinian refugees back at square one

Anaheed Al-Hardan Syria 5 March 2009


When images and news of the new border tent-camps that the Palestinian refugees from Iraq fled to after the US invasion began to spread through Arabic-language media, a concurrent anecdote began to circulate: “Word is that the Palestinians will even be hosted in tent-camps in the afterlife.” The nightmare of the approximately 25,000 to 30,000 Palestinians whose families sought refuge in Iraq in 1948 is but the latest manifestation of the ongoing tragedy of Palestinian stateless refugeehood. Anaheed Al-Hardan writes from Syria. 

Washington ends its diplomatic embargo on Syria

Jim Lobe 4 March 2009


WASHINGTON (IPS) - Ending a four-year diplomatic embargo on Damascus, the administration of United States President Barack Obama Tuesday confirmed that it is sending two high-level officials to Syria this week for “preliminary conversations,” presumably on improving relations. The trip, which will be undertaken by Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and Daniel Shapiro, a senior staffer on the National Security Council who also served as one of Obama’s top Middle East advisers during his presidential campaign, was announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Jerusalem. 

UK gov't boycotts settlement financier Leviev

4 March 2009


The government of the United Kingdom has decided to boycott Israeli diamond and real estate mogul Lev Leviev over his companies’ construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported today. The decision by the UK government followed a coordinated advocacy campaign by human rights advocates in New York, the UK, Palestine and Israel demanding that the UK government end plans to rent the new UK Embassy in Tel Aviv from Leviev’s company Africa-Israel. 

Solidarity with Gaza brings jail

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 8 March 2009


CAIRO (IPS) - Magdi Hussein, secretary-general of Egypt’s suspended Socialist Labor Party, has been sentenced to two years in prison by a military tribunal. Hussein, along with two others, was charged with “infiltrating” into the Gaza Strip following Israel’s recent campaign against the coastal enclave. Protests against his arrest continue to be ineffective. 

Israel boycott movement gains momentum

Mel Frykberg 4 March 2009


RAMALLAH (IPS) - “Standing United with the People of Gaza” is the theme of this week’s Israel Apartheid Week, which kicked off in Toronto and another 39 cities across the globe Sunday. A movement to boycott Israeli goods, culture and academic institutions is gaining momentum as Geneva prepares to host the UN’s Anti-Racism Conference, Durban II next month amidst swirling controversy. 

Did Clinton sabotage a Palestinian reconciliation?

Hasan Abu Nimah and Ali Abunimah 4 March 2009


On her first visit to the Middle East as US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has made the same demands of Palestinians as the Bush administration. But it is ludicrous to insist that the stateless Palestinian people unconditionally recognize the legitimacy of the entity that dispossessed them and occupies them, that itself has no declared borders and that continues to violently expand its territory at their expense. Hasan Abu Nimah and Ali Abunimah comment. 

Gaza solid waste management in dire straits

3 March 2009


GAZA CITY (IRIN) - The lack of technical means to transport and process solid waste in Gaza is posing a severe risk to people’s health in the enclave, experts say. Many Gazans, especially children, have developed breathing problems as a result of the stench emanating from rubbish dumps and the indiscriminate burning of waste; insects attracted to the rubbish tips and ground pollution pose further health risks. 

Month in pictures: February 2009

3 March 2009


The below photographs are a selection of images from the month of February 2009. “The month in pictures” is an ongoing feature by The Electronic Intifada. If you have images documenting Palestine, Palestinian life, politics and culture, or of solidarity with Palestine, please email images and captions to photos A T electronicintifada D O T net. 

Sustaining global solidarity after Gaza

Jamal Juma' 3 March 2009


The Israeli invasion of Gaza, which has now claimed more than 1,400 lives, generated serious popular backlash the world over. The overwhelmingly weak official positions and statements, especially in the Arab world, stood in stark contrast to the outpouring of rage that was witnessed in the streets of capitals, cities, and towns across the globe. However, this recent wave of protests has a particular quality that differentiates it from past mobilizations: the initial flare-up of energy is being channeled into effective grassroots political action, primarily in the form of an ongoing campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions. Jamal Juma’ comments. 

Fatah and Hamas on an uphill road to rapprochement

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 2 March 2009


CAIRO (IPS) - Representatives of rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas met in Cairo this week for talks aimed at national reconciliation and the formation of a unity government. “Egypt hopes this meeting is the real start of a new period ending the state of division which has gone on too long,” Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s point-man on Palestinian affairs, was quoted as saying. 

Rice is aid, pasta not

Mel Frykberg 2 March 2009


RAMALLAH (IPS) - Red-faced and unusually tongue-tied Israeli officials were forced to try and explain to United States Senator John Kerry during his visit to Israel last week why truckloads of pasta waiting to enter the besieged Gaza Strip were not considered humanitarian aid while rice was. Kerry, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, visited the coastal territory on a fact-finding mission. 

Jayyus, a village trapped

Mel Frykberg 1 March 2009


RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - “They started smashing down doors at 2am last Wednesday before moving through homes and destroying property,” says the mayor of Jayyus, Muhammed Taher Shamasni. “Residents were assaulted, money was stolen, computers confiscated, over 60 young men arrested and the village placed under curfew. The Israeli soldiers came into my home and threw the contents of cupboards and closets on to the floor,” Shamasni told IPS. 

Israel's crimes in Gaza

Reem Salahi United States 2 March 2009


Having returned from Gaza, I am trying to come to terms with what I saw, what I heard and honestly, what I don’t think I will ever understand — the justification. While Israel’s recent offensive has been the most egregious of any historical attack upon the Palestinians in Gaza, it is just that, one of many. Gaza has been under Israeli bombardment and sanctions for decades. Reem Salahi writes.