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Doha meeting explores socio-economic, humanitarian crisis in Palestinian territory

6 February 2007


The unrelenting Israeli imperatives to accommodate its territorial design gave rise to a noticeable shift in the way the international community framed Israeli-Palestinian relations, Sara Roy of the Harvard Center for Middle East Studies said this afternoon at the first plenary session of the United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People in Doha, Qatar. The international community now emphasized humanitarian issues over political issues, she said. It was not surprising that Israel transferred revenues with conditions that the money be only used for humanitarian purposes. 

UN SG calls for revival of "peace process"

5 February 2007


United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on Israel to lift all restrictions on moving goods and people in the occupied Palestinian territory and on Palestinians to take firm measures to cease rocket fire and other indiscriminate attacks against Israeli civilians as necessary steps to revive the peace process. “Without bold steps to guarantee security of the Palestinian and Israeli civilian populations, and without tangible measures that will enable the Palestinians to lead a normal economic and social life, the political process will not succeed,” he said in a message delivered by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Angela Kane. 

Immigration Court Terminates "L.A. 8" Case

31 January 2007


Today, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) called on the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to drop the 20-year old “L.A. 8” case following yet another defeat on the part of the Government in court. This comes as a result of a ruling made public on January 30, by Judge Einhorn, of the Los Angeles Immigration Court, executing an order to terminate the deportation proceedings against Khader Hamide and Michel Shehadeh. ADC is requesting that the DOJ and DHS no longer pursue this 20-year attempt that has repeatedly proven a failure when challenged in court. 

Silencing critics not way to Middle East peace

Joel Beinin 5 February 2007


Last Sunday in San Francisco, the Anti-Defamation League sponsored “Finding Our Voice,” a conference designed to help Jews recognize and confront the “new anti-Semitism.” For me, it was ironic. Ten days before, my own voice was silenced by fellow Jews. I was to give a talk about our Middle East policy to high school students at the Harker School in San Jose. With one day to go, my contact there called to say my appearance had been canceled. He was apologetic and upset. He expected the talk would be intellectually stimulating and intriguing for students. But, he said, “a certain community of parents” complained to the headmaster. He added, without divulging details, that the Jewish Community Relations Council of Silicon Valley had played a role. 

HRW calls on Syria to open border to Palestinian refugees fleeing Iraq

2 February 2007


Syria should immediately reopen its border to Iraqi Palestinian refugees fleeing deadly attacks against their community, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on the international community, and the United States in particular, to provide financial assistance to Syria to help it host the Palestinian refugees, and to share the burden of this refugee problem by offering third-country resettlement opportunities to Palestinian refugees in Syria.
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government, Palestinian refugees in Iraq have increasingly become targets of violence and persecution, with abductions of scores of Palestinian men in the past week. 

Tale of Two Visits: The Warrior and the Peacemaker

Susan Kerin Washington, DC 5 February 2007


Last October, I traveled to Palestine on a peace delegation with the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPTs), a faith-based group committed to using nonviolent alternatives to war and conflict. Instinctively, whenever our group met with one of the many peacemakers of that region, be it Israeli, Palestinian or International we would ask, “What can we do to help?” Surprisingly, the most common response was not to donate money nor “sell all your belongings and follow me.” It was simply to go back home and tell our communities what we saw. To tell them about the suffering, of course, but also about the opportunities…the glimmers of hope. 

Three representations of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in children's literature (Part 2)

Fouad Moughrabi 5 February 2007


“Back in Tennessee, my son who had lived for three years in Ramallah, was sometimes asked to sing songs in Hebrew to celebrate Yom Kippur; he was given assignments dealing with the Holocaust; and he was told by one teacher that his impressions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are simply in his head. It was, therefore, not surprising at all for him to come home one day with a copy of Lynne Reid Banks’ novel Broken Bridge.” Alarmed by the racist portrayal of Arabs in the book assigned to his 12-year-old son, EI contributor Fouad Moughrabi analyzes some portrayals of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in popular children’s literature. 

Three representations of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in children's literature (Part 1)

Fouad Moughrabi 5 February 2007


“Back in Tennessee, my son who had lived for three years in Ramallah, was sometimes asked to sing songs in Hebrew to celebrate Yom Kippur; he was given assignments dealing with the Holocaust; and he was told by one teacher that his impressions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are simply in his head. It was, therefore, not surprising at all for him to come home one day with a copy of Lynne Reid Banks’ novel Broken Bridge.” Alarmed by the racist portrayal of Arabs in the book assigned to his 12-year-old son, EI contributor Fouad Moughrabi analyzes some portrayals of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in popular children’s literature. 

UN Agencies in occupied Palestinian territory "extremely alarmed" by security situation in Gaza

5 February 2007


We the United Nations Agencies working in the occupied Palestinian territory are extremely alarmed by the deteriorating security situation in Gaza. The upsurge of violence, which has taken the lives of innocent civilians, is also putting our workers on the ground at serious risk. It is becoming extremely difficult for us to fulfill our humanitarian mandates to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. The implications of this for a population already facing extreme hardship are grave. We remain determined to continue with our humanitarian work. 

Gaza fighting threatening aid, says UN

5 February 2007


Six United Nations agencies have warned that bloody street battles between rival Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip are blocking the delivery of vital humanitarian aid to a vulnerable population. Fierce fighting between Hamas, the party of government, and Fatah, the party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, forced the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which looks after Palestinian refugees, to shut schools for some 35,000 children on Saturday and suspend food delivery from its Gaza city warehouse. UNRWA provides food to 1.1 million of the 1.4 million people who live in the Strip.