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Report: The impact of the economic strangulation on human rights in the OPT

23 October 2006


A mission of FIDH visited Israel and the OPT between 25 June and 2 July 2006. The mission was in close coordination with Medecins du Monde, which in parallel conducted an evaluation of the evolution of the health situation in the Gaza Strip on the basis of a large inquiry among the medical and health care personnel of hospitals and clinics. The mission was set up in order to examine the situation of economic and social rights in Gaza and the West Bank almost a year after Israel ‘disengaged’ from the Gaza strip and three months after Israel and the international community decided to suspend all contact with the Palestinian Authority government and to interrupt all aid channelled to and via that government. 

Boycotting Myself?

Juliano Mer Khamis 22 October 2006


This is an open letter to my colleague Elia Suleiman who has withdrawn his signature from a petition by Palestinian film-makers calling for a boycott of Israeli cultural events and of artists supported by Israeli government institutions. I myself am one of the signatories of this petition. Elia defines his act as a protest against what he considers as a total boycott of Israeli artists, regardless of their views or political activities; a boycott that does not distinguish between one Israeli and another “all of which is tainted by chauvinism and other heresies that stem from the dark side of nationalism”. 

World silent as fascists join Israel government

Ali Abunimah 24 October 2006


Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has brought Yisrael Beitenu into his coalition, a party that has openly advocated the “transfer” — ethnic cleansing —of Palestinians, and has made clear that a Jewish supremacist state is more important than a democratic one. Yet spokesperson for European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana affirmed that the EU would take no action against Israel. In contrast, the EU has imposed crippling sanctions on the Palestinian Authority, starving ordinary Palestinians for having elected a government of the which the European Union disapproves. EI co-founder investigates a new low in western double standards and appeasement of Israeli extremism. 

UNHCR alarmed by increased violence against Palestinians in Iraq

20 October 2006


A mortar attack last night in Baghdad’s Palestinian neighbourhood of Al Baladiya which left four Palestinians dead, a dozen wounded and many displaced is an alarming escalation of the violence engulfing this vulnerable community and may force others to flee, according to the UN refugee agency. Initial reports received by UNHCR said shelling began in the Baladiyat Palestinian area about 8:30 p.m. and lasted for about half an hour. UNHCR Baghdad staff began receiving phone calls from the terrified Palestinians almost immediately. They said at least a dozen were wounded, some of them children and women and some of them seriously. 

An uncertain Ramadan in Beirut

Mayssoun Sukarieh Beirut 21 October 2006


“I told my wife, you just buy clothes for our son. I do not need any new clothes for myself and if you postpone getting a new outfit for yourself too, it will be good. Who knows what will happen in the next few months. Whatever we have saved, we spent during this summer, and now we need to save so we can eat during the next war.” This is what the taxi driver tells me in response to my remarks that Beirut does not feel as it did during previous Ramadan seasons. He was trying to explain to me why there is no movement in the city, why the city is dead despite the holiday season. 

Twenty-eight Palestinians killed this week in OPT

21 October 2006


This week, 28 Palestinians, 17 of whom, including two children and a woman, are civilians, were killed by IOF. Each of the two children was killed together with the father of each. Six of the victims were extra-judicially executed by IOF in three separate attacks. Forty-five Palestinians, including 14 children, IOF have continued to launch air strikes on houses and civilian facilities in the Gaza Strip; five houses were destroyed and a number of others were severely damaged. IOF conducted 30 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and six others into the Gaza Strip. IOF arrested 48 Palestinian civilians, including seven children, in the West Bank, and eight others in the Gaza Strip. 

Death waits for no one in Balata refugee camp

Mohamed Farraj Balata refugee camp 21 October 2006


Skipper, the son of an electrician, grew up with his three brothers on the outskirts of the camp. Though his given name was Osama, most people in the camp called him “Skipper” and his close friends called him “Disco Skipper.” “Skipper” was a nickname given to him in school, and “Disco” came from his love for dancing. Skipper would be the first one dancing at all the wedding parties in the camp. Like many of his peers, in tenth grade Skipper left school to work for his father. However, he couldn’t stand working while the situation around him was worsening and his friends were being killed or arrested. His friend Ramzy says that Skipper would hang out with young men who were “wanted” by the Israeli army. Skipper was considered guilty by association and he too became “wanted.” 

"Nafas Beirut": A platform for artists bearing witness

19 October 2006


Espace SD and xanadu* present Nafas Beirut, a multimedia venue for artists bearing witness. The aim is to create a platform for artists, poets, writers and filmmakers to share their work produced during or in reaction to the Israeli siege of Lebanon of Summer 2006. Believing it crucial to highlight these works, Nafas Beirut documents the emotions and experiences, and brings artists and viewers together, historicizing the moment. Nafas Beirut is a platform for these immediate responses through a multimedia exhibition and a month long series of events including, video screenings curated by various organizations and collectives, concerts, an open mike poetry jam, and a lecture on the oil spill. 

Your Thoughts: Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East

19 October 2006


BNN’s Your Thoughts is brought to you by the BNN Under Department of Tahta Maintenance, the department that exists to recycle graphics in a low maintenance kind of way, in order that we have to struggle less on our budget to come up with original content. Partially original content is what cable news is all about, so we’re definitely making big strides on the road to media professionalism here in our corner of the truth-telling universe, or as Stephen Colbert might have put it — if he’d thought of it first — the “Truthiverse”. 

Most blue helmets now in place in southern Lebanon, says UN force chief

19 October 2006


Considerable progress has been achieved in southern Lebanon since the Security Council resolution ending the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah, and most of the expected force of blue helmets to monitor the cessation of hostilities has now been deployed, the senior United Nations commander in Lebanon said today. Briefing reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, Maj.-Gen. Alain Pellegrini said the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has 7,200 soldiers on the ground, including a contingent of 1,500 Germans that is part of the taskforce designated to protect Lebanon’s maritime boundary.