1 February 2011
With the 18-year-long Middle East peace process finally pronounced dead, is the Palestinian Authority finished too? That is the question being asked by Palestinians in the wake of a week of damaging revelations that Palestinian negotiators secretly made major concessions to Israel in talks on Jerusalem, refugees and borders. Jonathan Cook analyzes. Read more about After the Palestine Papers, can the PA survive?
Cairo 31 January 2011
CAIRO (IPS) - The city squares where protesters battled riot police for four consecutive days were unexpectedly quiet late Sunday night, as Egyptians fighting to topple the Mubarak regime returned home to defend their neighborhoods from looters and thugs. Read more about Egypt protesters: "Security vacuum serves Mubarak's interest"
31 January 2011
An international day of mobilization has been called for Saturday, 5 February in solidarity with the Egyptian and Tunisian people as they continue their popular uprisings. Thousands around the world have already taken to the streets to stand in solidarity with the people of Egypt. Read more about Global mobilization in support of Egyptian uprising
31 January 2011
In the last several days, Tunisia and Egypt have shown us what is possible when people are no longer afraid of those in power who deny them their rights and rob them of a life of freedom and dignity. But government repression of peoples’ struggles is not endured only in the Middle East. Read more about As Arabs rise up, US activists must too persevere
Cairo 29 January 2011
Following Friday prayers on January 28 we joined protesters marching through the streets of Imbaba in Cairo, Egypt. The crowd of 100 that we joined kept increasing and continuously joined with other marches in the same quarter North West of downtown Cairo. Read more about Video: Mass uprising in Cairo's Imbaba neighborhood
29 January 2011
We are in the middle of a political earthquake in the Arab world and the ground has still not stopped shaking. To make predictions when events are so fluid is risky, but there is no doubt that the uprising in Egypt — however it ends — will have a dramatic impact across the region and within Palestine. Read more about Egypt's uprising and its implications for Palestine
Gaza Strip 29 January 2011
As news of the uprisings in a growing number of Arab countries spread like wildfire around the world, residents of other countries struggling under their own oppressive governments and soaring unemployment were celebrating on the streets, on Twitter and on Facebook. The occupied Gaza Strip was no exception. Read more about Palestinians in Gaza react to Egypt, Tunisia uprisings
5 February 2011
An advertisement from the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism which ran in National Geographic’s Traveller magazine has resulted in more than sixty complaints being lodged with the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and is now under investigation. Read more about Visit Palestine
28 January 2011
CAIRO (IPS) - Twitter was an early casualty. Then Facebook access became spotty. But when the Internet itself went down, Egyptian pro-democracy activists knew their protests were having an effect. Read more about Mubarak regime shuts down Internet in futile attempt to stop protests
28 January 2011
CAIRO (IPS) - Tear gas and smoke wafted through the air of the Egyptian capital on Friday as police moved swiftly to disperse anti-government demonstrations throughout the city. Read more about Egypt protesters defy curfew despite brutal repression
27 January 2011
Among some of the latest Palestine Papers revelations are agreements to push the United Nations Human Rights Council to delay a vote on the Goldstone report, the fact-finding probe of alleged war crimes committed during Israel’s winter 2008-09 attacks on the Gaza Strip. Read more about PA undermined accountability for Gaza victims, papers reveal
27 January 2011
An initial reading of the Palestine Papers provides details of hitherto unknown secret, high-level “Quadripartite” meetings among Israeli, American, Egyptian and Palestinian officials whose explicit goal appears to have been to undermine the Palestinian national unity government. Read more about The Palestine Papers and the "Gaza coup"
2 February 2011
“This is what it means to be Palestinian, to care, because if you stop caring, then you let go. We cannot let go” explains Jerusalemite Samia Nasser Khoury in Dina Matar’s landmark new book, What it Means to be Palestinian. Read more about Book review: Rich definition of "What it Means to be Palestinian"
27 January 2011
We are at the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization delegation to the United Kingdom in order to reassert our inalienable rights, and today we claim our right to democratically participate in the shaping of our destiny. Read more about Palestinian students claim right "to participate in shaping of our destiny"
27 January 2011
CAIRO (IPS) - Demonstrations calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt continued for the second day in several Egyptian cities with police cracking down violently, a development that many analysts here say reflects the nervousness of the regime. Read more about Demonstrators call for Mubarak's ouster
26 January 2011
Details on the growing security cooperation between the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, the United States and the United Kingdom were revealed yesterday, the third day of Al Jazeera network’s release of more than 1,600 internal documents and secret correspondence from the last decade of negotiations between the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority and the United States. Read more about Documents reveal PA-Israel collaboration to target resistance
26 January 2011
Ronit Lentin is an Israeli-born academic and novelist now based in Ireland, where she teaches sociology at Trinity College, Dublin. She describes her latest book, Co-memory and Melancholia: Israelis Memorialising the Palestinian Nakba, as “a reflection on the contested relations between commemoration and appropriation from the standpoint of a member of the perpetrators’ collectivity, whose politics align her with the colonized.” Read more about Book review: From mourning to mobilization
Bilin 25 January 2011
Jawaher was not the only member of the Abu Rahmah family whose life was taken by Israeli military violence. In April 2009, during a similar protest against the wall, an Israeli soldier fired a tear gas canister directly at Bassem Abu Rahmah, Jawaher’s brother, which hit him in the chest and killed him. The Electronic Intifada contributor Alex Kane interviews Soubhiya Abu Rahmah, the mother of Bassem and Jawaher, in Bilin. Read more about Mother of Bilin martyrs: we will not be stopped
25 January 2011
For more than a decade, since the collapse of the Camp David talks in 2000, the mantra of Israeli politics has been the same: “There is no Palestinian partner for peace.” This week, the first of hundreds of leaked confidential Palestinian documents confirmed the suspicions of a growing number of observers that the rejectionists in the peace process are to be found on the Israeli, not Palestinian, side. Read more about Palestine Papers confirm Israeli rejectionism
25 January 2011
Al Jazeera has released more leaked documents related to several “core issues,” including the Palestinian refugees’ right of return, as part of the Palestine Papers exposé. Read more about Refugee rights of little concern to PA, documents reveal
28 January 2011
Since the Syrian Golan Heights were occupied during the June 1967 War, the indigenous Arab population has resisted Israeli control. The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof interviews Taiseer Maray, general director of the non-profit organization Golan for Development, about the situation in the occupied Golan Heights. Read more about Golan Heights activist: "We dream of freedom"
24 January 2011
Foreign Minister of the Netherlands Uri Rosenthal has threatened to punish the Dutch foundation ICCO for its continued funding of The Electronic Intifada. However, ICCO is standing its ground and Dutch civil society organizations are condemning the minister’s tactics. Read more about Democracy under threat over EI funding, Dutch groups say
23 January 2011
The Al Jazeera network has begun to release documents it secretly obtained that expose dramatic concessions made by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority to the Israeli government and US officials. Read more about Documents reveal PA offered Israel "biggest Yerushalayim" in history
24 January 2011
On 15 December 2010, the councilors of a suburb of Sydney, Australia voted to support the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions. They have since become the subjects of vilification in the press death threats from Australia’s lunatic fringe. Read more about Boycott vote in Sydney suburb sparks media furor, death threats
21 January 2011
Israeli forces swept through the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan today, firing rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas at Palestinians during public prayer near the al-Bustan protest tent. Read more about Activism roundup: Israeli forces fire at demonstrators
Gaza Strip 21 January 2011
Shaban Qarmout got up early on Monday, 10 January and headed out to his farmland as he usually did. Despite there being no clashes or military activity in the area, he was killed on his land by Israeli soldiers in a nearby watchtower. Read more about Gaza family remembers grandfather killed by Israeli bullet
20 January 2011
CAIRO (IPS) - “Break my heart but don’t come near my bread” goes an old Arabic proverb. Failure to observe it has often come at a high political price. Just ask Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who has now fled. Read more about It's not just Tunisians who are hungry
20 January 2011
Canadian and United Kingdom solidarity activists have scored recent victories towards deshelving cosmetics made in an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank Read more about Boycott roundup: Ahava products off the shelves, for now
20 January 2011
Occupied East Jerusalem (IRIN) - Evictions and house demolitions are a growing humanitarian concern for Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, says the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Read more about Jerusalem evictions, demolitions leave lasting trauma
19 January 2011
Sixty-seven members of the Abu Eid family were displaced when Israeli forces destroyed their seven homes on 14 December 2010. Alex Kane reports from Lydd. Read more about No place to sleep for Lydd family
19 January 2011
Ehud Barak, Israel’s defense minister, appears to have driven the final nail in the coffin of the Zionist left with his decision to split from the Labor party and create a new “centrist, Zionist” faction in the Israeli parliament. So far four Members of Parliament, out of a total of 12, have announced they are following him. Jonathan Cook analyzes. Read more about Israel's Labor party not to be mourned
18 January 2011
Following the demolition of the historic Shepherd Hotel and the increase of home demolitions across occupied East Jerusalem, United Nations agencies and European Union officials called for observers and the implementation of international law in Jerusalem. Read more about Bedouin village razed once again as historic Jerusalem hotel demolished
18 January 2011
Finland’s ministry of defense has narrowed the field in its competition to provide the Finnish army with mini unmanned aerial vehicles. Of the five remaining bidders, four are Israeli firms with deep ties to the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights. Read more about Finland shopping for "battle-tested" Israeli weaponry
17 January 2011
Five members of the Gaza Youth Breaks Out group gathered in Gaza City for an interview with The Electronic Intifada. Their “Manifesto for Change” published on Facebook circulated widely on the Internet and was covered by international publications such as The Guardian and The New York Times. Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Authors of Gaza youth manifesto speak to EI
14 January 2011
The Netherlands-based foundation ICCO issued the following press release on 13 January 2011 reaffirming its support for The Electronic Intifada, after a meeting between ICCO and Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal. In November, Rosenthal had publicly criticized and promised to investigate ICCO’s support for The Electronic Intifada after NGO Monitor — an Israeli organization with close links to the Israeli government, military and the West Bank settler movement — published a series of false allegations against the publication, as The Electronic Intifada previously reported. Read more about ICCO reaffirms support for EI after meeting Dutch minister
13 January 2011
Although As’ad Ghanem’s new book Palestinian Politics after Arafat: A Failed National Movement focuses on the post-Arafat era, the dead leader permeates the pages and his legacy hangs like a specter over the Palestinian body politic. Read more about Book review: Arafat's ghost and the Palestinian national movement
13 January 2011
Canada’s tax system currently subsidizes Israeli settlements that Ottawa deems illegal, however, the Conservative government says there’s nothing that can be done about it. The exact amount is not known but it’s safe to assume that millions of Canadian dollars make their way to Israeli settlements every year. Yves Engler comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Canada's double standards
12 January 2011
GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - Despite the lingering trauma of living under siege, regular Israeli military attacks and the consequences of a bloody war several years ago, Gaza’s children still dream of happiness and of normal lives. Read more about Gaza's children cope through art
11 January 2011
Israeli forces bombed two buildings south of Gaza City late tonight in an air strike targeting Hamas national security service buildings. Hours earlier, a Palestinian man was extrajudicially assassinated in an Israeli air strike as he rode a motorcycle near the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis. Read more about Deadly Gaza bombings as orgs. decry collective punishment
11 January 2011
Humanitarian organizations, including the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, say the Egypt-Gaza border is still effectively closed. Read more about Egypt keeps Gaza's gates locked
Bilin 11 January 2011
Hundreds of Palestinians, Israelis and international supporters converged in the occupied West Bank village of Bilin last week to commemorate the death of villager Jawaher Abu Rahmah and to stand up for their rights. Read more about Bilin marches for Jawaher Abu Rahmah
11 January 2011
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - Calls are growing for a swift international response to the situation in the Middle East, as Israel continues to build new settlements in the occupied West Bank with increased military actions against civilians. Read more about UN Security Council continues to stymie pressure on Israel
11 January 2011
The Palestinian Return Centre, a London-based advocacy organization, has become the latest target of defamation and attempted sabotage in Israel’s ongoing campaign against groups and individuals active in promoting the issue of Palestine and Palestinian human rights. Matthew Cassel reports. Read more about Palestinian Return Centre vows to carry on despite Israeli attack
10 January 2011
Four activist groups in the US are calling on a tear gas manufacturer to stop providing its products to the Israeli military following the death of Jawaher Abu Rahmah from severe respiratory distress on 1 January 2011 after inhaling tear gas fired by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank. Read more about Boycott roundup: US tear gas-maker CSI urged to cancel Israel sales
10 January 2011
More than seven years after the US- and UK-led invasion of their country, Iraqis continue to endure an occupation that has systematically violated their basic rights. In particular, the role and situation of women and girls has declined precipitously. Read more about Occupation of Iraq destroys women's lives
10 January 2011
The Electronic Intifada contributor Arwa Aburawa interviews Gilbert Achcar about his latest book, The Arabs and the Holocaust. Read more about The Holocaust, Palestine and the Arab World: Gilbert Achcar interviewed
7 January 2011
Act now by emailing executives at Combined Systems Inc., and at the companies that invest in CSI — the Carlyle Group and Point Lookout Capital — and tell them to stop providing their tear gas to the Israeli military, before more protesters are killed and maimed. Read more about Tell Combined Systems Inc. to stop selling tear gas to Israel
7 January 2011
Activists and concerned citizens around the United States are preparing for a national day of action on 25 January, the date that several Palestine solidarity activists and Palestinian American community organizers have been summoned to appear before a federal grand jury in Chicago. Read more about US activists facing grand jury garner broad support
7 January 2011
GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - “We try to be happy and celebrate with our families during Christmas, but the atmosphere is not cheery as in other parts of the world,” says Hossam Tawwil. Read more about Christmas in Bethlehem off limits for Gaza's Christians
6 January 2011
The Danish-British security firm G4S recently confirmed in a letter its involvement in the Israeli occupation and violations of international law — reported on last month by The Electronic Intifada. Adri Nieuwhof reports. Read more about Security firm G4S confirms involvement in Israel's occupation
6 January 2011
Bashar Masri, the Palestinian businessman and CEO of the company that is developing the Rawabi luxury real estate project in the occupied West Bank, appears to be actively helping Israel deepen its hold on the Palestinian economy despite his earlier claims that he is trying to help end this relationship. Ali Abunimah reports. Read more about Rawabi developer Masri helps deepen Israel's grip on West Bank
6 January 2011
On 13 December 2010, Israeli bulldozers, flanked by hundreds of municipal, riot squad and border police forces, demolished seven homes belonging to the Abu Eid family in Lydd, a city a few miles east of Tel Aviv. Photographer Oren Ziv documented the demolition. Read more about Photostory: home demolitions in Lydd
6 January 2011
Young men moved up and down the rows of plastic seats with brass coffee pots and tiny ceramic cups and platters of dates in the mourning tent as Ahmed Qudaih spoke about how the Israeli military had just murdered his 19-year-old brother Hassan in the village’s borderlands. Read more about Israel's killing zone in Gaza
Gaza City 5 January 2011
On New Year’s Eve, my family and I planned to escape the immense pressure we and everyone else in Gaza continue to endure. We ended up at a party that contradicted the notion that conservative Gaza is being ruled by freedom-curtailing Islamists. Read more about A New Year's song of hope for Gaza
Istanbul 4 January 2011
Faiz Ahmed witnessed the Mavi Marmara’s return to a hero’s welcome at Istanbul’s Sarayburnu port late last month. Read more about The return of the Mavi Marmara
4 January 2011
The facts of the circumstances of Jawaher Abu Rahmah’s death — which are supported by the testimony of eyewitnesses, as well as by the ambulance driver who evacuated her to the hospital — contradict completely the Israeli army’s version Read more about Facts contradict Israel's assertions in Bilin death
2 January 2011
RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - A number of recent incidents discriminating against Israel’s Palestinian minority has prompted Israeli Knesset members to debate whether Israel is becoming increasingly racist. Read more about Israel further institutionalizes racism toward Palestinian citizens
Bilin 3 January 2011
“I am in shock, we are in shock,” Hamde Abu Rahmah told me as we stood outside the small cemetery in Bilin where 36-year-old Jawaher Abu Rahmah was buried on Saturday. One day earlier, on 31 December, Jawaher was killed after inhaling US-made tear-gas fired by Israeli soldiers at demonstrators in the occupied West Bank village. Joseph Dana reports from Bilin. Read more about From Bilin to Tel Aviv, outrage at killing of Jawaher Abu Rahmah