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Israel doesn't want to know Carter any more

Peter Hirschberg 17 April 2008


JERUSALEM, 17 April (IPS) - Three decades after he brokered the first-ever peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country, former US president Jimmy Carter has become persona non grata in the Jewish state. Both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak refused to meet with him during his four-day visit here. So did former prime minister and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who accused Carter of holding “anti-Israel views in recent years.” 

My Nakba

Najwa Sheikh Gaza Strip 17 April 2008


As a third-generation Palestinian refugee, the Nabka is more than fleeing the homeland, and losing your identity. It is not having a single memory of the homeland that once was for your grandparents, and your parents. It is not having anything to tell your children, like the taste of your land’s fruits, the smell of its sand, about stories and experiences with your people. Najwa Sheikh writes from Gaza. 

New Jewish lobby seeks to redefine "pro-Israel"

Jim Lobe 16 April 2008


WASHINGTON, 15 April (IPS) - A new group of prominent US Jews who believe that the so-called “Israel Lobby” has been dominated for too long by neo-conservatives and other Likud-oriented hawks has launched a new organization to help fund political candidates who favor a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a stronger US role in achieving it. 

Carter's visit with Hamas' Meshal

Hasan Abu Nimah 16 April 2008


“Carter seems more comfortable with terrorists than with friends like Israel.” So said a newsflash on the Israeli daily Haaretz’s website last Sunday. The statement was attributed to the American pro-Israel group, the Anti-Defamation League, and was obviously a reaction to news that former US president Jimmy Carter was planning to meet with Hamas leader Khaled Meshal during an upcoming visit to Damascus. EI contributor Hasan Abu Nimah comments. 

Former intelligence officer tortured, killed in Gaza

16 April 2008


On 15 April 2008, the family of former Palestinian Authority General Intelligence captain Sami Khatab was informed by the police that his body was found on the ground about 700 meters north of Palestinian International University and about 200 meters east of the coastal road in Gaza City. Paramedics from Shuhda’a al-Aqsa Hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah were summoned to the area by the police after the body was found. 

In Gaza, fueling cars with cooking oil

Rami Almeghari Gaza Strip 16 April 2008


Amna Abu Sido was waiting for a ride at the so-called Universities Junction in the heart of Gaza City on Tuesday afternoon when she explained how difficult her commute has become: “I take at least two taxis to go back home to the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood from the school I teach at in Talatini street. Taxis are scarce nowadays and this is really adding to our difficulties.” EI correspondent Rami Almeghari reports on how Palestinians in Gaza are coping with the latest Israeli measure of collective punishment. 

Morrissey: celebrating apartheid in Tel Aviv?

15 April 2008


Today the Palestinian boycott campaign organization PACBI wrote to celebrated singer Morrissey: “On 3 December 2007, you said: ‘I abhor racism and oppression or cruelty of any kind and will not let this pass without being absolutely clear and emphatic with regard to what my position is. Racism is beyond common sense and I believe it has no place in our society.’ It is ‘absolutely clear’ that your performance in Israel would betray a regrettable double standard, if not a categorical negation of those noble ideals.” 

How Palestinian children really learn

Carol Scheller 14 April 2008


On 22 March, The Miami Herald published an article entitled “Dreaming of a peaceful Mideast.” The initial reaction to such a headline is naturally one of pleased interest. Reporter Frida Ghitis praises the Israel/Palestine Centre for Research and Information for “working to create” a “culture of peace” in order to “put a stop to incitement and hatred.” Carol Scheller comments for EI.