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Call for submissions: "Poets for Palestine"

9 October 2006


Al Jisser is accepting submissions for its upcoming book: Poets for Palestine. Our goal is to bring together poets, spoken word artists, hip hop artists, Palestinians, Arabs, Jews, Americans and all those who choose to raise their voice for humanity and justice. In addition to its written works, Poets for Palestine will feature art created by Palestinians artists from the Occupied Territories and throughout the world. The book will primarily focus on issues pertaining to Palestine. We are, however, accepting poems on related subjects (i.e. Lebanon and Iraq). 

EI's Ali Abunimah releases new book "One Country"

9 October 2006


As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict rages on with relatively new leadership on both sides, we are led to ask what has become a perennial yet only more urgent question — will this conflict ever be resolved in a way that will finally bring peace to the region? The son of Palestinians who fled the country in 1948, Electronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abunimah makes the radical argument that what is needed is one state shared by Palestinians and Israelis in his new book, ONE COUNTRY: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse. Ali will also be speaking throughout the country to coincide with the launch of his new book. 

Join Jenin childrens' struggle to break the Walls of Hatred through art

9 October 2006


The Freedom Theatre in Jenin Refugee Camp and The Freedom Theatre Foundation of Sweden therefore call upon artists around the world to join the children of Jenin in their struggle to Break the Walls of Hatred through Art. We invite artists to join the children of Jenin in an art exhibition titled: “Do not forget - Lebanon, July 2006!” The exhibition will reflect on the war in Lebanon and its relations and implications on the Palestinian cause. Artists are invited to send their works (paintings, animations, video-art, sound-installations, poems, letters, songs) to The Freedom Theatre, by e-mail or by post, no later then the 15th November. 

Can War Be Over When Battles Remain?

Iqbal Jassat South Africa 8 October 2006


Less than a month after the guns fell silent - despite the ear-splitting roar of Israeli jet fighters regularly searing through Lebanese air space in violation of a UN brokered “ceasefire” - my recent trip to Beirut and the war-ravaged southern Lebanon brought home the brutal reality of Israeli savagery. In scores of places where we stood knee-high deep in debris and rubble of towns and villages, the signs of life are steadily becoming more and more visible. Noises emanating from the engines of front-end loaders, tipper trucks and bulldozers clearly signal the intent of the million plus displaced Lebanese not to allow Israel to succeed in turning their homes in picturesque southern landscape into no-go “ghost” areas. 

The King of the Jungle

Rima Merriman 8 October 2006


When it comes to imposing law and order on the Palestinians, what applies is not international humanitarian law, but the law of the jungle. And, of course, it is quite clear who the king of the jungle is. The Palestinian Israeli conflict is about survival, about the right of one strong party backed by a superpower to “exist” as a Jewish state at the expense of the indigenous non-Jewish population of historic Palestine and their descendants who are not allowed to “exist” in a separate but unequal state of their own. It is about the right of the weak party to negotiate for its own autonomous survival on bits and pieces of leftover “territories”, but only if it first concedes its dispossession, if it ensures the security of the strong party and remains its “client”. 

"You never know what's next": An interview with activist Barbara Lubin

Chris Brown 7 October 2006


Education plays a big part in Barbara Lubin’s life. In fact it was a broad-based education that made her realize that she was getting a distorted view of what went on in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Lubin was born into a conservative Zionist family. She had been taught that the Jews needed to establish a state of their own; that what had happened to her relatives during WWII; when their land was occupied, and family members murdered in camps, should never happen again. For much of her life Barbara Lubin felt that the Zionist ideal was the right thing. However, in 1982 her eyes were open to a new horror. 

Hazardous Intent: US Brokers in Palestine

Remi Kanazi 7 October 2006


Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is back in the Middle East and she is in a “very concerned” state. For someone who has played Israeli ambassador to the Middle East since her tenure began, her on again, off again concern for the plight of the Palestinian people has become more predictable than orange alerts during election season. In her newest stint, providing false promises and pernicious rhetoric, Rice vowed to “redouble” US efforts to “improve conditions for the Palestinian people.” Rice, however, came to the table empty handed, with photographers trailing closely behind to capture images of hope, concern, and heartfelt declarations. 

Mideast chaos, grief resound in the air

Alice Rothchild 7 October 2006


The “Solidarity with Israel” and “Free Lebanon” rallies have quieted, and a combustible mixture of grief, fear, and anger hangs like an ugly cloud over the rubble and ruin. As Israelis emerge from their bomb shelters and their shattered sense of security, they count 154 dead, 422 wounded, and a military embroiled in controversy. As the Lebanese survey their crumpled bridges, airports, and apartment blocks, they too grieve for thousands dead and injured and hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes. In Gaza, 228 Palestinians were killed, 720 injured. The main power station was bombed; homes and businesses have no electricity or water; the medical system has collapsed; children are starving. 

Bleak Ramadan in Palestine

Khalid Amayreh West Bank 7 October 2006


Normally, the holy month of Ramadan is a festive season of heightened spirituality and good will. It is also an occasion where family members share the usually exquisite Iftar meals immediately after sunset at the end of the day-long fast. However, for many Palestinian families, hard-hit by extremely harsh Israeli-western sanctions, this Ramadan has the smell of real penury. Abject poverty is also becoming increasingly apparent among the traditionally weak sectors of society, such as day-laborers. Yousuf M. Suleiman is a school teacher of 30 years from the southern West Bank town of Hebron. He has a family of eight but can hardly get things “under control” when it comes to securing the basic needs such as flour, sugar and rice. 

The struggle for Palestine's soul

Jonathan Cook 7 October 2006


The message delivered to Condoleezza Rice this week by Israeli officials is that the humanitarian and economic disaster befalling Gaza has a single, reversible cause: the capture by Palestinian fighters of an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, in late June from a perimeter artillery position that had been shelling Gaza. When Shalit is returned, negotiations can start, or so Rice was told by Israel’s defence minister, Amir Peretz. If Peretz and others are to be believed, the gunmen could have done themselves and the 1.4 million people of Gaza a favour and simply executed Shalit weeks ago.