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Bethlehem land destroyed as settlers anchor in

Nora Barrows-Friedman 17 August 2007


BETHLEHEM, 16 August (IPS) - Israeli forces began Wednesday to bulldoze hundreds of trees on land owned by a Catholic convent near the city of Beit Jala near Bethlehem. This section of forest is being razed, according to Israeli plans, to complete a section of the separation wall, which continues to carve the West Bank into pieces. Near the convent, the Israeli settlement colonies of Gilo and Har Gilo, behind the wall on Palestinian lands, continue to expand over the rocky hillsides. When this section of the wall is completed, several villages will be separated from each other and the greater Bethlehem area. 

Revisiting the summer war

Jonathan Cook 16 August 2007


This week marks a year since the end of hostilities now officially called the Second Lebanon War by Israelis. A month of fighting — mostly Israeli aerial bombardment of Lebanon, and rocket attacks from the Shia militia Hizballah on northern Israel in response — ended with more than 1,000 Lebanese civilians and a small but unknown number of Hizballah fighters dead, as well as 119 Israeli soldiers and 43 civilians. EI contributor Jonathan Cook finds that many significant developments since the war have gone unnoticed, including several that seriously put in question Israel’s account of what happened last summer. 

A just boycott

George Bisharat 16 August 2007


When does a citizen-led boycott of a state become morally justified? That question is raised by an expanding academic, cultural and economic boycott of Israel. The movement joins churches, unions, professional societies and other groups based in the United States, Canada, Europe and South Africa. It has elicited dramatic reactions from Israel’s supporters. US labor leaders have condemned British unions, representing millions of workers, for supporting the Israel boycott. George Bisharat comments. 

Israeli forces kill four, arrest dozens in ongoing Gaza operation

14 August 2007


Since the pre-dawn hours today, 14 August 2007, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) has been waging a large-scale incursion into the town of New Abasan to the east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Up to the publication of this press release, IOF killed four Palestinians: two civilians, one of them an elderly woman, and two resistance activists who attempted to resist the incursion. In addition, IOF injured 14 Palestinians. It is noted that IOF continue to prevent ambulances from reaching the injured. In addition, IOF are carrying out a major arrests campaign in the area. 

The ongoing Nakba: Sickness and health among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

Rosemary Sayigh 27 August 2007


Public health expert Michael Marmot underlines the relation between health and two fundamental human needs: autonomy and full social participation, adding that “deprived of a clean safe neighborhood, meaningful work, freedom from police harassment and arrest, and freedoms from violence and aggression, it is harder to have control over one’s life or be a full social participant.” [1] The values Marmot describes are ones that camp refugees in Lebanon — like Palestinians in many other places — do not have. Rosemary Sayigh analyzes the impact of the political situation on the health rights of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. 

Audio: Crossing the Line interviews author Ramzy Baroud

14 August 2007


This week on Crossing the Line: Independent journalist Ben White joins host Christopher Brown to discuss the Israeli Ministry of Education’s “inclusion” of the Palestinian Nakba into students’ textbooks. White points out a number of concerns regarding the supposed enlightenment of the Israeli school system and its broader implications. Next Brown speaks with author, editor and activist Ramzy Baroud on the notion of “peace talks” between Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas, the continued exclusion of Hamas from talks with Israel and Fatah, and the neo-cons and AIPAC’s attempts to get Bush to go to war with Iran. 

"Army torturing Palestinian refugees"

Anand Gopal and Saseen Kawzally 14 August 2007


BADDAWI REFUGEE CAMP, Northern Lebanon, 13 August (IPS) - Palestinians displaced by the fighting at the northern Lebanese refugee camp Nahr al-Bared have accused the Lebanese army of torturing and abusing civilians. As the fighting between the Sunni Islamist group Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese army enters its 12th week, thousands of Nahr al-Bared residents have sought refuge in the nearby Baddawi camp. Many give detailed descriptions of days spent in detention under harsh interrogation. 

A village makes its own protest

Nora Barrows-Friedman 15 August 2007


BIL’IN, West Bank, 13 August (IPS) - Amidst acres of twisting olive trees in front of the Israeli apartheid wall, eight protesters in a weekly nonviolent demonstration were injured and three arrested on Friday when Israeli occupation soldiers fired rounds of tear gas, smoke bombs, sound grenades and rubber bullets at the crowd in the West Bank village of Bil’in. Five Palestinian children and a paramedic were also wounded as over one hundred protesters, including village residents, Israeli activists and international campaigners took part in a weekly demonstration that has been planned every Friday for more than two years. 

Hamas force condemned for political arrests, press restrictions

13 August 2007


On Friday 10 August 2007, the Hamas-affiliated Executive Force (EF) attacked two wedding parties and a civilian demonstration. It also arrested several Fatah members and a cameraman in Beit Hanoun town, northern Gaza Strip. According to investigations by Al Mezan, at approximately 5pm on Friday members of the EF arrested four of Fatah’s high ranking members in Beit Hanoun. They were identified as 41-year-old Faris Nai’m, 45-year-old Maher Abu Harbid, 40-year-old Issa Al Mughrabi, and Shihdeh Abu Zreiq. The latter is the headmaster of Hail Abdul Hamid Secondary School. 

Refugees, again

Dina Awad and Matthew Cassel Lebanon, Baddawi Refugee Camp 13 August 2007


In June 2006, Dr. Tawfiq Assad stepped out of the seaside Rafiq Hariri airport in Beirut and took a deep breath of the Mediterranean air. It wasn’t home but it was as close to it as he had ever been. Dr. Assad returned to Lebanon to visit family and friends for what he thought would only be a few weeks’ stay. A Palestinian refugee himself, Dr. Assad’s story is not uncommon. His family was forced from their home in Nazareth during the Nakba in 1948 when the Zionist armies invaded to make way for the Jewish state.