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Palestine Through the Arts: A nation defined by culture not politics

Maureen Clare Murphy 20 February 2005


The exporting of Palestinian art is particularly important because while the U.S., which can be considered a third party to the conflict, shares a sense of cultural identity with Israel, it holds very violent perceptions of Palestinians. When Americans see headlines and pictures of suicide bombings, they all too often make no distinction between Palestinians who blow themselves up at bus stops, Iraqi resistance fighters, and Al-Qaeda lunatics who fly planes into skyscrapers. Furthermore, it is only violent pictures that make the news — after all, if it bleeds it leads. 

A small but welcome step

19 February 2005


The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) welcomes the decision of the Israeli Army to halt its policy of demolishing Palestinian houses either as punishment for acts of violence or as a deterrent measure. This policy constituted a clear violation of international law, both because it by-passed due process of law in cases where perpetrators were punished before being tried and because it constitutes collective punishment against the families of perpetrators who are innocent of any crime. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

17 February 2005


4 Palestinians, including 2 children, were killed by IOF; IOF conducted a series of incursions into Palestinian areas; Houses were raided and at least 10 Palestinian civilians were arrested; Continued shelling of residential areas, and a Palestinian child was injured in Khan Yunis; Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property in the West Bank; Construction of the “annexation wall” in the West Bank has continued and more areas of Palestinian land were confiscated for this purpose in Jerusalem and Jenin; IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; IOF have continued to close a number of roads since the beginning of the current Intifada and Palestinians aged 16-35 have been prevented from traveling through Rafah International Crossing Point, and a number of Palestinian civilians were arrested at checkpoints. 

USAID proposes Palestinian company 'caretaker' for Gush Katif lands

Charmaine Seitz 17 February 2005


One of the major questions facing Palestinians as the time nears for Israel to evacuate 17 Gaza Strip settlements and four more in the northern West Bank is the manner in which they will be transferred to Palestinians. Israel has so far refused to transfer the properties directly to the Palestinian Authority, and has not finalized which assets - houses, infrastructure and greenhouses - will remain. Palestinians have requested that Israel demolish all assets that do not fit into their planning needs, but Ministry of Planning officials admit that the Palestinian Authority itself is lagging terribly behind in developing scenarios for the withdrawal. 

Looking towards Palestine: Photographic projects in Madrid

John Collins 16 February 2005


“The work included in the photographic exhibit, ‘Looking towards Palestine,’ represented an impressive diversity of styles and subject matter, but the common denominator — appropriately, given the reality on the ground in Palestine — was the rubble. This is not to say that the photographers failed to explore other themes. On the contrary, the show was full of images of funerals, children’s games, Israeli tanks and bulldozers, living rooms, violent confrontations — in short, the stuff of daily life under occupation and in the diaspora. The rubble, however, was never far from view.” John Collins reports from Madrid. 

State Department to be Questioned on Silence regarding American Detainees in Israel

16 February 2005


The Council for the National Interest and other concerned organizations will participate Thursday in a meeting at the Department of State regarding Israeli mistreatment of Palestinian American prisoners. Also on the agenda is the ongoing silence of the State Department in regard to Israeli detention and deportation of nonviolent American citizens seized in the occupied West Bank by Israeli security forces. The delegation Thursday will call for the release of some of the American prisoners being held by Israel. 

Israel provokes Palestinian resistance groups in Nablus, kills two

Ray Smith Nablus, Palestine 16 February 2005


Since the announcement of the hudna (“cease-fire”), Nablus hasn’t seen anything like a hudna. Almost every night IOF troops enter the city, especially the refugee camps and the old city. Ray Smith reports from occupied Nablus. Last night the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) again showed their committment to what’s currently celebrated as a cease-fire: Mayoub Mureb Al-Qanni and Issam Hamsa Mansour were killed by IOF troops near the village of Kufr Qalil, right outside the West Bank city of Nablus. 

The Ultimate Barrier: Impact of the Wall on the Palestinian health care system

14 February 2005


Since June 2002, the construction of the Wall has steadily added another layer of obstacles isolating, fragmenting and thus deteriorating the Palestinian health care system. In order to address some of the health impacts of the Wall, Medecins du Monde (MDM)-France started the Wall response program in May 2004. The organization has supported emergency medical transport services in Aizaria (East Jerusalem), Women and Children mobile health clinics in 11 villages in the West Bank, and monitors the health impact of the Wall, in close collaboration with local partners. 

Palestinian women experience major poverty induced by loss of spouses, UN says

15 February 2005


Palestinian women are suffering massively from malnutrition, especially when they are pregnant and nursing, and have high rates of poverty as widowed heads of household, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a new report to a UN women’s rights panel. The UN World Health Organization (WHO) says that during a home visit programme in the period under review, October 2003 to September 2004, “69.7 per cent of 1,768 expectant women, within one month of delivery, were found to be anaemic,” Mr. Annan’s report to the Economic and Social Council’s (ECOSOC) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) says. 

Star Tribune praises President Bush's commitment to a human rights violation

Nigel Parry 15 February 2005


The Star Tribune’s editorial (“Aiding Abbas”, Feb 12th) lauded President Bush’s “remarkable new initiative, a $350 million fund for Palestinian humanitarian and security projects, which would give the peace process important new momentum.” The problem is that part of the money is earmarked for human rights violations. Glenn Kessler noted in the Feb 6th Washington Post, that “A White House official said $50 million of the $350 million that Bush announced in his State of the Union address to ‘support Palestinian political, economic, and security reforms’ could be given to Israel for [checkpoint] terminals because faster passage through Israeli checkpoints is presumed to be a help to the Palestinian economy.” EI’s Nigel Parry challenged the Star Tribune in this unpublished letter.