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Tensions Run High After Sunni Killings

Dahr Jamail 28 April 2007


BEIRUT, 27 April (IPS) - The killings of two pro-government Sunni Muslims has raised tensions across Lebanon. Rival political leaders have called for calm amidst fear that the killings could spark civil strife. The Lebanese police found the bodies Thursday of a pro-government supporter and a 12- year-old boy abducted earlier this week. The abduction was believed to be in retaliation for the killing earlier this year of a Shia Muslim opposition activist. 

Why Isn't Israel Talking to Hamas?

Terry Walz 27 April 2007


The blinkered government of Israel continues to undermine normalcy in Palestine and the peace process as the world is slowly but surely reaching out to initiate a dialogue with a new unity government of Palestine still dominated by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). It is painfully obvious that Israel is no longer interested in a peace process leading to a two-state solution, and in any event won’t make a move in that direction without a push from the US. Meanwhile, the blurring of lines between legal and illegal foreign aid has been made clear for several years. 

Damaging Congressional Silence on Israeli Violations in Lebanon

Michael F. Brown 27 April 2007


In late January the State Department delivered a potentially explosive report to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The classified report asserts that Israel may have violated the Arms Export Control Act with its use of American-made cluster munitions this past summer in Lebanon. Multiple contacts to both offices indicate neither Biden nor Pelosi has any intention of pursuing the matter. In contrast, a congressional investigation 25 years ago helped persuade President Ronald Reagan to suspend cluster munitions to Israel for six years. 

One Unexploded Bomb Per Person

Dahr Jamail 27 April 2007


SRIFA, Southern Lebanon, 27 April (IPS) - Close to a million unexploded bombs are estimated to litter southern Lebanon, according to UN forces engaged in the hazardous task of removing them. The United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) was created by the Security Council in 1978 to confirm an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and restore international peace and security. After the war last year it has a new job on its hands. 

U.S. State Department Pushes for Palestinian Resettlement

Khody Akhavi 27 April 2007


WASHINGTON, 24 April (IPS) - U.S. State Department officials confirmed this week that they have been in discussions with Israel and the Kurdish regional government about possible resettlement solutions for the estimated 15,000 Palestinian refugees currently stranded in Iraq.”At this point, we have had no positive response, but we continue to work on this,” said Ellen Sauerbrey, Assistant Secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, during a press briefing. 

Palestinian leaders confirm BBC correspondent is alive

25 April 2007


NEW YORK, 25 April 2007 - Despite encouraging statements from Palestinian leaders, the Committee to Protect Journalists remains deeply concerned about the safety of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, abducted in Gaza six weeks ago. Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Azzam al-Ahmad said in a statement that Johnston was alive and “in good health,” the BBC reported Tuesday. “The government is fully coordinating with the presidency and all security services to pursue the extensive efforts to release Johnston and bring him back safely to his home, family, and his work.” 

Families of missing detainees in Syrian prisons demand action

26 April 2007


BEIRUT, 24 April 2007 (IRIN) - Lebanese activists are calling on the United Nations and the Lebanese government to increase pressure on Damascus to release final details of the whereabouts and fate of more than 600 Lebanese missing in Syrian jails since the 1970s. As a sit-in protest in front of UN House in Beirut by the families of the missing detainees enters its third year, activists are calling on the UN to consider the missing prisoner cases as part of the implementation of a series of Security Council resolutions. 

Weekly Report on Human Rights Violations

26 April 2007


During the reporting period nine Palestinians, including two children, were killed by the IOF in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Four of the victims were extrajudicially executed by the IOF. Eighteen civilians were wounded by IOF gunfire in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Thirteen of these civilians, including a journalist, four women and four international human rights defenders, were wounded when IOF used force to disperse a peaceful demonstration against the Annexation Wall in Bal’ein. 

Book Review: The Scar of David

Sanna Nimtz Towns and Joseph F. Towns 27 April 2007


Susan Abulhawa’s first novel, The Scar of David, is an intricately woven tapestry of historical fiction chronicling the Palestinian Abulheja family over four generations. The novel begins in Ein Hod, the village where patriarch Yehya Abulheja, a peasant olive farmer, and his family, wife Basima and sons Hasan and Darweesh, live. This land of olive trees has been nurtured by Yehya’s relatives and ancestors for over forty generations. We witness the simple and charming life of these peasants when son Hasan, on errands for his father to the Old City in Jerusalem, meets with his best friend Ari Perlstein; both boys share their lives, families and dreams with each other. 

Audio: Interview with "Angry Arab" As'ad AbuKhalil

26 April 2007


Last week, As’ad AbuKhalil, creater of the Angry Arab News Service blog, was in Chicago to speak at the Sixth Annual Chicago Palestine Film Festival. The Electronic Intifada’s Maureen Clare Murphy and Ali Abunimah sat down to talk with him about the film festival selection Summer 2006, Palestine, as well as the role Palestinian culture has had in the Palestinian national movement and its influence in the wider Arab world. AbuKhalil also touched upon current events unfolding in the Middle East, including his home country of Lebanon. Also, he recommends where one can find a good felafel sandwich in the Windy City.