July 2010

Activists work to stop tax-exempt donations to Israeli settlements


As Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise in the occupied West Bank continues to be a strain on US-Israel relations, an unflattering light is being shone on US private donations towards the development of the settlements that are increasingly encroaching on Palestinian land. Alice Speri reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Don't deny our rights: open letter to Mahmoud Abbas


No Palestinian institution or leader has ever accepted an exclusive Jewish claim to Palestine, which is irreconcilable with the internationally recognized rights of the Palestinian people. Our rights inhere in us as a people; they are not yours to do with as you please. 

What's in a name? In a racist society, everything


A young Jewish Israeli woman and a young Palestinian Jerusalemite had consensual sex. Afterwards, the Jewish woman discovered that her partner was in fact not Jewish at all, but horror of horror, a Palestinian. But there was more, the Palestinian had called himself “Dudu,” his nickname, but one most often used by Israeli Jews, and from this the young woman concluded she had been deliberately deceived and in fact raped. Richard Irvine comments for The Electronic Intifada. 

Groups urge Clinton to intervene in case of jailed rights defender


Madame Secretary, we respectfully request that your office investigate the arrest, unlawful treatment, and detention of Mr. Makhoul and use its considerable diplomatic influence to bring an end to his arbitrary detention and to ensure that Israel, a leading recipient of US military and economic aid, comply with its commitment under US law and international legal norms. 

Egypt remains complicit in Gaza siege


CAIRO (IPS) - Almost two months since Egypt announced it would reopen its Rafah border terminal with the Gaza Strip, operation of the crossing remains sorely limited. “Rafah has only been opened to passengers and some medical supplies,” Hatem el-Buluk, journalist and resident of al-Arish, located some 40 kilometers west of Rafah, told IPS

No words to console Gaza child after mother is killed by Israeli shelling


Around 8:45pm on 13 July, 2010, a few of the women of the Abu Said family in the northern Gaza Strip were enjoying the cool of the evening in the courtyard in front of their house. They heard a muffled shooting sound, followed soon after by another, and then by a loud buzzing noise, as if a swarm of insects was approaching at full speed. Vittorio Arrigoni reports from the occupied Gaza Strip. 

Women prepared to break the siege of Gaza


BEIRUT (IPS) - The Maryam, an all-female Lebanese aid ship, currently docked in the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli, is getting ready to set sail for Gaza in the next few days. The ship, which aims to break Israel’s siege on the Palestinian territory, will carry about fifty aid workers, including some US nuns keen to deliver aid to the long-suffering women and children of Gaza. 

Palestinians break records to reclaim culture


RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) — Nasser Abdulhadi is a mild-mannered man who runs a restaurant. He was always known as the jovial sort. One day, his friends say, he stopped being jovial. He chose instead to fight for a world title for one of his country’s national dishes, and through that to gain worldwide recognition for Palestine. 

International labor report's omissions reveal pro-Israel bias


The International Trade Union Confederation’s annual survey released in June describes repression meted out to Palestinian workers and trade unionists by both the Israeli authorities and the Palestinian factions. But ITUC’s omissions and brevity both disguise the complexity of life for Palestinian workers, and reveal some of the union confederation’s own biases. Sarah Irving analyzes for The Electronic Intifada. 

Israelis embrace one-state solution from unexpected direction


There has been a strong revival in recent years of support among Palestinians for a one-state solution in historic Palestine. One might expect that any support for a single state among Israeli Jews would come from the far left. Recently, proposals to grant Israeli citizenship to Palestinians in the West Bank have emerged from a surprising direction: right-wing stalwarts. Ali Abunimah comments. 

Liberate all ghettos


The action that we recently undertook on the terrain of the old Warsaw Ghetto — to spray the words “Liberate all ghettos” in Hebrew and “Free Gaza and Palestine” in English — has been used by some commentators in Israel and the Jewish community in Poland to accuse us of anti-Semitism. Ewa Jasiewicz and Yonatan Shapira comment for The Electronic Intifada. 

US voters can demand Palestine's freedom


It is only a matter of time before voters of conscience make it clear that elected policy-makers who collaborate in America’s unconditional partnership with Israel will be exposed as shameful; and make it clear to policy-makers that such shameful behavior is unsustainable because collaborators in injustice will be ejected from office by the people. Cynthia McKinney comments on the growing grassroots boycott, divestment and sanctions movement for The Electronic Intifada. 

Israel imprisoned my father for nonviolently resisting the occupation


On 12 January 2010 my father Ibrahim was arrested by the Israeli army and sentenced to two years in prison for organizing and participating in nonviolent protests against the Israel’s wall in the occupied West Bank. The wall cuts us off from our land and our olive groves, robbing our family of its livelihood. Saeed Amireh writes from Nilin, occupied West Bank. 

Israel's economic warfare still keenly felt in Gaza


RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) — Israel has received international praise for its decision to ease its crippling blockade on Gaza following the country’s deadly assault on a humanitarian flotilla trying to bring desperately needed humanitarian aid to the coastal territory. But according to the UN and human rights organizations, the easing of the blockade is insufficient in meeting Gaza’s needs. 

"They want us to be loyal to the occupation": Muhammad Totah interviewed


Muhammad Totah is one of three Palestinian legislators staging a sit-in to protest Israel’s decision to expel them from Jerusalem. In an interview with The Electronic Intifada contributor Max Blumenthal, he details the Israeli government’s plan for mass deportations of Palestinian citizens of Israel. 

Tough times for Gaza travel agent


“Shurafa Tourist and Travel Company has been operating in Gaza since 1952,” Nabil Shurafa, general manager of the company, says proudly. This historical background is significant, as much for understanding the many and various forms of movement restrictions with which Shurafa Travel has had to deal during Gaza’s 43 year occupation as for providing a rationale for how and why Shurafa remains open under the current restrictions. 

Pride through solidarity


Though I’ve never felt compelled to take the streets for Pride, I did this past month, on several occasions, walk alongside folks that I resonated with in important ways, in vocalizing my outrage against the illegal and inhumane acts of the Israeli state. Amita Kumari writes from Toronto. 

Why doesn't Clinton care about my jailed husband?

I used to tell my husband, Ameer Makhoul, “One day, they’ll come for you.” As chairman of the Public Committee for the Protection of Political Freedoms he’d begun to organize an awareness-raising campaign to push back against the security services’ harassment of our community, the Palestinian citizens of Israel. Come for Ameer they did, late one night this May, pounding at our door, ransacking our house and terrifying our two teenage daughters. Janan Abdu comments. 

Unwelcome guests: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon


For over 60 years, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have been denied their basic rights. Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Dalal Yassine examines the legal status of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and the “Right to Work” Campaign. She argues that greater coordination between Palestinian and Lebanese civil society organizations and solidarity groups in the Palestinian Diaspora is required in order to change the country’s laws. 

Architectural planning for a different future


If you live under a colonial regime, the first thing you are prevented from doing is thinking about a future,” proclaims Sandi Hilal, one of the founders of Decolonizing Architecture. “This is the first thing that the occupation imposes on you. And to propose in Palestine right now a future where you can plan, imagine, is something which is very important.” 

Despite Israeli blockade, innovation thrives in Gaza


The relentless Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip has squeezed many things, but it hasn’t robbed people of their ability and desire to innovate and invent. At the Rashad al-Shawa cultural center in heart of Gaza City, dozens of local companies and individuals recently demonstrated hi-tech products and inventions at an exhibition sponsored by government and nongovernmental bodies. Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip. 

California dockworkers reject meeting with Israeli consul


Two weeks after the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in the San Francisco Bay Area joined with activists at the Port of Oakland to block the unloading of an Israeli Zim Lines cargo ship, the union reaffirmed its support of Palestinian rights despite pressure from the Israeli consulate and the Zionist-Israeli organization Stand With Us. 

"Beware of Small States": journalist David Hirst interviewed


Veteran Middle East correspondent David Hirst, author of the seminal work on the Palestinian plight The Gun and the Olive Branch, has a new release: Beware of Small States, an equally important book on Lebanon’s complex tragedy. The Electronic Intifada contributor Robin Yassin-Kassab interviews Hirst on his work and views. 

Boycott, divestment and sanctions in Australia, five years on


In Australia, with a supine government and a media unwilling to investigate Israel’s criminal acts, getting the Palestine message out to the public has been a real challenge. However, Australian unions look like they might be changing that. Sonja Karkar comments on the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement in Australia on the anniversary of the historic Palestinian call for such tactics. 

Palestinian students, teachers condemn Italian university's normalization project


The Italian Development Cooperation (DGCS), with the support of UNESCO, has engineered the partnership of three Israeli universities with that of Al-Quds University in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in a masters program that allows 20 Israeli and Palestinian students to participate in learning about “cooperation, humanitarianism, peace and cultural preservation.” This act of normalization aims to blur the boundaries between oppressor and oppressed, colonizer and colonized, occupier and occupied, executioner and victim, and ultimately aims at whitewashing Israel’s war crimes. 

Protesters greet Netanyahu in Washington as Israel expands settlements


Hundreds of activists in Washington, DC demonstrated outside the White House to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit on Tuesday, 6 July. As protesters held signs calling on the US government to end military aid to Israel, Netanhayu met with US President Barack Obama in a meeting characterized by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as “empty theatrics.” 

In Gaza, dialysis in paralysis


Now under siege for more than three years and thus unable to provide necessary medication, plagued with equipment in perpetual disrepair, and confronted with an acute shortage of electricity, al-Shifa’s dialysis unit is unable to properly treat its patients. 

Boycott the International Geographical Union's regional conference in Tel Aviv!


Today, a month after the massacre of nine human rights activists in international waters aboard a flotilla carrying aid and supplies sailing to break the four-year closure of the Gaza Strip, we call once again upon the International Geographical Union to take a courageous and principled stand and cancel its Tel Aviv conference. 

UC Irvine administrators call to Muslim student group for Palestine protest


In response to intense political pressure by multiple pro-Zionist organizations, administrators at the University of California, Irvine have recommended suspending Muslim students’ right to assemble and practice their faith together on campus. Brian Napoletano reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

The Last Queen of the Night


The Last Queen of the Night is not the name of a mythical character, or even an ancient Oriental queen or goddess. It is not the name of a Parisian perfume or chocolate like “After 8.” It is the name of a flower, one that blooms only during the night. Yasmeen El Khoudary writes from the occupied Gaza Strip. 

Home demolitions, arrest raids as Israel implements Jerusalem "Master Plan"


Israeli police detained residents of Silwan as bulldozers demolished a horse stable in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood on 29 June, while other construction vehicles razed a small warehouse to the ground in nearby Abu Tur. These demolitions came after Israeli courts decided that both of the buildings were built “illegally” and against “building codes.” 

Queers Against Israeli Apartheid refuse to be silenced


On the morning of 25 May, the Board of Pride Toronto held a press conference on the lawn outside its offices to announce that the phrase “Israeli Apartheid” would be censored from the upcoming 2010 Pride Parade. The decision, aimed at banning the Toronto-based activist group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid from the parade, set off a firestorm in the community. Savannah Garmon comments for The Electronic Intifada. 

Activists found not guilty for decommissioning weapons factory


Seven anti-war activists on trial for entering a Brighton weapons factory and “decommissioning” it were found unanimously “not guilty” last week. On 16 January 2009 six of the defendants broke into the premises of EDO MBM, a supplier of weapons components. According to one of the defendants, Elijah Smith, they “set out to smash it up to the best of our abilities.” Chloe Marsh writes for The Electronic Intifada. 

EU-Israel talks skirt around Jerusalem police headquarters


BRUSSELS (IPS) - Talks aimed at reaching an intelligence-sharing agreement between the European Union and Israel have skirted around the location of Israel’s national police headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem. In 2005, the EU decided that Europol, its law enforcement office, should negotiate a formal cooperation agreement with Israel.