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Israelis Keep a Fishy Watch

Jon Elmer 15 February 2007


GAZA CITY, Feb 14 (IPS) - In the driving rain, Suhail el-Amoudi stands on the wharf of the Gaza City port looking out over the aged and weathered fishing boats as they bob perilously amid the swells of a Mediterranean winter storm. But for el-Amoudi, a 30-year veteran fisher of Gaza’s waters, it is not the waves or the wind that concerns him. Rather, it is the Israeli naval vessel on the horizon, clearly visible despite the storm. Throughout the last three decades at sea, El-Amoudi has seen many changes — but there is always one constant of life in Gaza: “The Israelis are the key to the experience,” he said. “Their presence is always felt.” 

Amnesty condemns Bikfaya bus bombing

14 February 2007


Amnesty International condemns in the strongest terms yesterday’s bomb attacks on two buses near the town of Bikfaya, a Christian area of Lebanon, north east of Beirut. At least three civilians are reported to have been killed and some 20 injured. Deliberate attacks on civilians can never be justified and those responsible show complete disregard for the most fundamental principles of humanity. These deadly attacks on civilians represent a further deterioration of the security situation in Lebanon, which has become increasingly polarised, prompting fears of a possible slide towards a new conflict following the civil war which wracked the country from 1975 to 1990. 

Subcommittee hosts anti-Palestinian threesome

Michael F. Brown 14 February 2007


Hubris leads directly to disrespect. Back in power for just a handful of weeks, Rep. Gary Ackerman, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, is already displaying his disregard for the Peace Movement, Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, the unfairly maligned progressive Jewish community, and, well, generally anyone who favors a fair debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. No such debate will occur on Valentine’s Day when Ackerman’s Subcommittee hosts a stacked and biased witness list. None of the three witnesses who will be present can be described as a vigorous advocate on behalf of Palestinian rights and freedom. 

The geography of dissent: New Orleans and Palestine

Lora Gordon New Orleans, United States 14 February 2007


“I’m still in New Orleans. It’s so much like Palestine it’s eerie. It’s a different kind of devastation than right after the storm. Some of the worst wreckage has been cleaned up — there are no longer throngs of people camping out on the I-10 Causeway or waterlogged bodies lining the streets. Now it’s the emptiness that is most striking. Some parts of the city are like a ghost town.” Writing from New Orleans, EI contributor Lora Gordan finds parallels between the struggle for justice in New Orleans and that in Palestine. 

Pro-government group urges peace after deadly bombing

13 February 2007


BEIRUT, 13 Feb 2007 (IRIN) - Leaders of the Lebanese pro-government ‘March 14’ group warned that the country was sliding towards Iraq-style sectarian violence after at least three people were killed in explosions that hit two buses travelling through a Christian-majority mountain town outside Beirut. “This was a new form of terrorism for Lebanon. We are all afraid that it will push Lebanon towards the kind of violence that we see in Iraq,” Michel Khoury, a member of the Christian Phalangist Party and of the March 14 committee, told IRIN. 

Razor wire and soldiers keep factions apart

14 February 2007


BEIRUT, 14 Feb 2007 (IRIN) - The girl was a veiled Sunni Muslim but waved the flag of the Lebanese Forces, once one of the country’s most powerful Christian militias. She was marking the second anniversary of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination with a call for the downfall of the Shia-led opposition, camping out less than 100 metres away. “We are not afraid of Hassan Nasrallah,” said Elena Karaman, referring to the leader of the Islamist movement Hezbollah, which fought Israel in a month-long war last summer and has been demanding the resignation of the Western-backed Lebanese government. 

Media fall for pro-Israel hate group's "Terror Free Oil"

Ali Abunimah 13 February 2007


National Public Radio and the BBC have been among the countless media outlets to give prominent publicity to an organization calling itself “Terror Free Oil,” (TFO) which has established gasoline filling stations in several US cities. Much of the coverage has read like a press release for the organization, or treated it as a cute feature story. The fundamentally racist nature of the claims the company makes, and the long history of anti-Muslim statements and activities of its founder have been ignored. EI co-founder Ali Abunimah investigates. 

Lebanon Bloggers Roundup: Sectarianism and Peace Groups

Moussa Bashir 13 February 2007


The fears of sectarian strife may be the reason why a good number of bloggers wrote about sectarianism this week. However, as one may expect, bloggers do not agree on how to define or confront this issue. While some see that it is blown out of proportion, or that ignoring it may bring calamity, others think that it is a blessing and a Lebanese exceptionality. Nevertheless, many anti-sectarian youth peace groups have popped-up in Beirut in an attempt to save Lebanon from the seemingly inevitable future of a civil war or violence such as those occurring in neighboring countries in the region. 

More than a walkway

Daoud Kuttab 13 February 2007


If Israeli officials felt that the protest against work near Al-Aqsa mosque was a local problem that would soon go away, they were not watching Lebanese television. Some might think that the Arab world’s most popular TV program, Star Academy, is all about singing youth and half-dressed presenters. But on Friday, February 9, the students at Star Academy joined together in singing the song of Lebanese superstar Fairuz about Jerusalem. Dressed in chic black outfits, the entire class of Star Academy 4 joined hands in front of sets depicting Jerusalem’s Old City walls as they sang “Zahrat al Madain” (The flower of cities). Without making a single reference to the latest controversy over the Mughrabi Gate walkway, the directors of this musical program made a huge political sensation. 

The Experience of Mohammad, 11-year-old in US Prison

Greg Moses 13 February 2007


During the day Friday, the words of 11-year-old Mohammad Hazahza have filled him up and weighed him down. On Friday night, he pours the words back out, as if wanting to be lifted back up. “Mohammad is so protective of his mother,” says Ralph Isenberg in a weary and reverent voice, recalling the day’s visits to Dallas reporters. “I watched as he got her chair and made her comfortable. And that’s what he did in jail. He protected her from forced labor. When she was ordered to clean the common area, he did that work for her. He really understands family and duty.”