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A West Bank Story: New Year's in a Garden on the Moon

Pamela Olson Jericho, Palestine 15 February 2005


3 February 2005 — The Jericho Intercontinental is a very posh hotel built next to a casino, both of which were finished just as the Second Intifada started and thus never really opened. But they dusted themselves off and offered a New Year’s Eve party, a night in a big lavish room, and two meals for $90 each. Several Palestinians and internationals jumped at the chance, eager for a change in scenery and atmosphere. I loaded up with some Palestinian officemates and friends into a service taxi on New Year’s Eve, and we made the long journey bypassing the Qalandia checkpoint. 

Blocking Out the Sun

Mike Odetalla Beit Hanina, Palestine 14 February 2005


My Palestinian mother has a favorite expression that she likes to use. Whenever she wants the curtains pulled back, a window or door opened to the outside world, or just wants to get out of the house, to be outdoors, she would always say that she wants to ashoof wijih rabie (roughly translated: “to see the face of my God”). Last summer, while my family and I were in Palestine, we got to see and experience, first hand, the magnificence of God’s face and the ugly face of occupation and oppression, the Apartheid Wall that is being built by Israel. Mike Odetalla writes from Beit Hanina. 

The False Promise of Western Democracy

Nora Bassiouni and David Reznik 14 February 2005


The recent election of Mahmoud Abbas in the Occupied Territories was hailed by the Western press as a milestone in the democratization of the Palestinian people. However, recent reports coming out of that region have questioned the legitimacy of this supposed triumph in democracy. These elections have added to a growing worldwide skepticism about Western notions of democracy (i.e. institutionalized suffrage, parliamentary procedures, etc.). It seems Western democratic practices, here in the form of an internationally-supervised day of voting, do not, in and of themselves, guarantee a truly democratic society. 

From Aqaba to Sharm: Fake Peace Festivals

Tanya Reinhart 11 February 2005


The Sharm El-Sheikh summit of Sharon and Abbas is hailed in the Western media as the opening of a new era. This is the climax of a wave of optimism that has been generated since the death of Arafat. In the last four years, the Israeli leadership singled Arafat out as the main obstacle for peace. Adopting the Israeli perspective, the media world believes that his departure would enable a renewal of the peace process. This, in the media world, is coupled with the faith that Israel is finally led by a man of peace. Sharon, who might have had some problems in the past, so the story goes, has changed his skin, and now he is leading Israel to painful concessions. Tanya Reinhart comments. 

The Sharm El-Sheikh Summit: An interview with Saleh Abdel Jawad

11 February 2005


“Abbas is serious, he is committed to what he says, and I think the ball is now mainly in the Israeli court. Abbas is still obliged to do certain things on the Palestinian side: he has to apply the ceasefire fully and control the situation. The Israelis have to get to, at least, the pre-September 28, 2000 situation. Then we can maybe move on the roadmap.” This week Palestine Report Online interviews Saleh Abdel Jawad, professor of political science at Birzeit University, on the Sharm Al Sheikh summit. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

10 February 2005


Despite ongoing understandings between the Israeli and Palestinian sides on a ceasefire, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have launched more attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).  This week, 4 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were killed by IOF.  Human rights violations perpetrated by IOF included incursions into Palestinian areas, indiscriminate shelling and total closure imposed on Palestinian communities. IOF have also continued to construct the annexation wall inside the West Bank territory. 

Prison experience as a normal part of life

Ray Smith 10 February 2005


According to the International Red Cross (ICRC), approximately 8,500 inhabitants of the occupied Palestinian territories — among them more than a hundred women and almost 500 children — sit for “security reasons” in Israeli jails. ICRC found in a 1999 survey that almost half of all men below 40 years have been in Israeli prisons, many of them several times. Prison experience is no exception out here, it’s the norm. In the following interview, a recently released prisoner from Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus — the largest camp in the occupied West Bank — talks about his experiences and the difficulties that one faces during and after imprisonment. 

Jewish Voice for Peace welcomes cease fire, calls for more action to end all forms of violence

9 February 2005


Jewish Voice for Peace, one of the country’s largest and oldest grassroots Jewish peace organizations, applauds the announcement of a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians. At the same time, the group says that such quiet can not be sustained without substantial moves toward ending Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  Mitchell Plitnick, JVP’s Director of Education and Policy, said, “It’s wonderful that both sides have pledged to stop bombings and shootings. But as long as other forms of violence continue, the cease-fire will be short-lived.”