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Gaza's Father Manuel

Bill Dienst Gaza, Palestine 6 January 2007


Father Manuel runs a school here and is the head of the Christian Affairs Department for the Palestinian Authority. He was born in Birzeit near Ramallah, and lived his entire childhood in the West Bank of Palestine, which was considered under the control of Transjordan prior to 1967. Father Immanuel happened to be on the East Bank of the Jordan River training to be a Roman Catholic priest when Israel conquered the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights and Sinai in June 1967. As a result of being on the wrong side of the river at the wrong time, he became a refugee. 

The IDF and my daughter's hamburger

Sam Bahour Ramallah 6 January 2007


I wanted to write this two nights ago but was exhausted from playing umpteen hands of the card game UNO with my six-year-old daughter, Nadine. Why this card frenzy, especially given that I hate playing cards? Well, we were in the center of Ramallah Thursday afternoon, at 3:40 pm when the almighty Israeli military decided, again, that it was time to wreak havoc on our city. I should not really complain since what happened in Ramallah yesterday happens across the West Bank and Gaza regularly. Nevertheless, I will make an issue about it and urge every Palestinian, in every city, to make an issue about every Israeli infraction on our lives. 

Journalist wounded by Israeli gunfire during raid on Ramallah

5 January 2007


Palestinian journalist Fadi Arouri, who works for the privately-owned local news agency Maan and the daily newspaper “Al Ayyam”, was meanwhile wounded by Israeli gunfire on 4 January during an Israeli military incursion into the West Bank city of Ramallah. Aroury was shot in the abdomen but his injuries were reportedly not considered life-threatening. An RSF delegation visited Israel and the Gaza Strip from 3 to 7 December 2006 to meet with the authorities and discuss the plight of journalists, who are exposed to both Israeli gunfire and violence between the various Palestinian factions. RSF has published a report on this visit that includes recommendations for improving the security of journalists. 

Living the New Year's Raid on Ramallah

Dana Shalash Ramallah, Palestine 5 January 2007


I never thought I would be so happy to come back home. I am still disoriented and traumatized, and though I had taken pain killers, and coffee after coffee, I just can’t bring myself to sleep. Early this morning while walking in Ramallah, I took a road that brought awful memories into my head. Last year, I witnessed one of the Israeli forces’ raids in Ramallah. Though it was from a distance, it was a chilling experience to be totally surrounded by bullets and blood. I have just come back from Ramallah where together with my sister I was locked inside a building at Al Manara, Ramallah’s city center, for four hours. 

Israeli troops kill four in Ramallah raid

4 January 2007


Ma’an news agency photojournalist, Fadi Arouri, has been shot in the flank by Israeli military forces during an Israeli invasion of Ramallah. Fadi was photographing the incursion for Ma’an news. Two Palestinians were killed [editor’s note: later reports indicated four Palestinians were killed] during the incursion. Ma’an’s correspondent reports that one of those killed has been identified as Yousif Abdul-Qadir, 23, while the other remains anonymous. Israeli military vehicles invaded the central West Bank city of Ramallah shooting heavily. 

Federation of Journalists and Palestinians Join Forces in Call for Release of Kidnapped Photographer

4 January 2007


The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and journalists across the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip today demanded the immediate release of Peruvian photographer Jaime Razuri, kidnapped in Gaza on Monday. “Free him now and stop this cat-and-mouse intimidation of journalists and media staff,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. The IFJ says kidnapping of journalists, which has been a feature of tactics used by political extremists, only damages the Palestinian cause. Razuri, a 50-year-old Peruvian national working for Agence France-Presse (AFP), was abducted by gunmen on 1 January as he was about to enter his office in Gaza. 

Two Civil Wars with Brakes On

Roni Ben Efrat 4 January 2007


The Israeli-Palestinian conflict was once the mother of all problems in the Middle East. Today it is one among many. For this demotion we may largely thank US President George W. Bush and his war in Iraq. Apart from splitting that unhappy country into Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish sectors, Bush’s war has changed the geopolitics of the region. The Iraq of Saddam Hussein used to be the area’s major power, but today it is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Iran. Saddam was a secular dictator who represented Arab nationalism; Ahmadinejad represents Shiite fundamentalism — and his country, of course, isn’t Arab. 

Israeli Soldiers who Shot Unarmed Palestinian in Back not Indicted by Chief Military Prosecutor

3 January 2007


On the night of 13-14 October 2003, a unit of Israeli army soldiers opened fire near the Jewish settlement of Negohot in the West Bank (Hebron Region), killing Mr. Meteb al-Nebari, a 31-year-old Palestinian Bedouin citizen of Israel from Tel el-Sabe (Tel Sheva). Mr. al-Nebari was unarmed and did not constitute any threat to the soldiers, and, according to the General Security Services (GSS), had no record of prior security offenses. 

Why an academic boycott of Israel is necessary

Lawrence Davidson 3 January 2007


Let me begin by stating that any successful academic boycott imposed upon Israeli institutions of higher education will assuredly have an impact on the academic freedom of Israeli scholars and teachers, at least in terms of its expression beyond their national borders. Is this acceptable? After all, other teachers and scholars who obviously have a stake in academic freedom, will have to cooperate with the boycott if it is to have an impact. As one of those academics, my answer to this question is that it is not only acceptable but absolutely necessary. 

Support a Palestinian Civil Rights Movement

Rima Merriman 3 January 2007


Sometime in 2003, Condoleezza Rice declared to Reuters: “One of the really bad actors in the Middle East has just been deposed, and the president is not going to miss this opportunity” - meaning the opportunity to broker peace between the Palestinians and Israelis. But, as it turned out, not only did this promise remain unfulfilled, the “opportunity” of which Rice spoke did not even exist. The really bad actor has now been hanged and hastily buried in what appears like Wild West justice to many in the Arab world. All that was missing from the spectacle was the picnicking rabble come to watch the hanging for entertainment.