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"Summer Rains are a Good Blessing"

Rami Almeghari Palestine 10 July 2006


“Summer rains are a good blessing” — this is the title for a lesson in the second-grade grammar book of Palestinian children in Gaza. And while it is true that rains are a good blessing, the current “Operation Summer Rains” being carried out by Israel is anything but a blessing. Now, with summer rains being dropped artificially by humans from war planes and tanks, these school children have learned the hard lesson that ‘summer rains’ are neither good, nor a blessing. 2006’s unique summer rains in Gaza have shown themselves to be a curse, not a blessing — not because they have fallen in summer, but rather because they are human-made. 

International Federation of Human Rights slams sanctions against Palestinians

7 July 2006


The International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) on Friday condemned the scale of sanctions imposed on the Palestinians through the suspension of direct international aid. “In effect the Palestinian people have been subjected to economic sanctions — the first time that an occupied people have been so treated,” the FIDH said in a preliminary report following a two-week mission to the Palestinian territories. “Inevitably this economic strangulation has had a severe impact on the economic life of Palestinians and their human rights.” 

Foreign media scramble to win over Arab viewers

Alistair Lyon 9 July 2006


A powerful tool [television] may be, but the challenge for any foreign news organization will be to gain credibility in an area where distrust for Western policies is deep-rooted and flourishing — and where the airwaves are already brimming with alternatives. “There’s a real cacophony of media in the region. Even poor neighborhoods in Damascus have satellite dishes,” said Ali Abunimah, who runs Electronic Intifada (electronicintifada.net) to promote Palestinian views on the Middle East conflict. “Even in a country as restricted as Syria, there is enormous access to media from elsewhere,” said the 34-year-old Jordanian based in Chicago. “That challenges the U.S. stereotype of a controlled media where people don’t know any better.” 

Two years after the ICJ's decision on the Separation Barrier

9 July 2006


Two years ago today [9 July 2004], the International Court of Justice, in The Hague, gave its advisory opinion on the Separation Barrier. The judges held that building the barrier in the West Bank violates international law. Thus, the court held, Israel must tear down the sections that stray from the Green Line, cancel the accompanying permit regime, and compensate Palestinians whose rights were violated by the barrier. The court also urged the UN General Assembly and the Security Council to consider actions to end the illegal situation created following construction of the barrier in the West Bank. 

Listen to the children on Israel's Wall

7 July 2006


Two years after the International Court of Justice advised that Israel’s separation Wall should be taken down, two members of the international Save the Children alliance, UK and Sweden, working in the occupied Palestinian territory report that Palestinian children still fear the Wall and talk forcefully about its negative impacts on their lives. The Israeli government began construction of the Wall five years ago. Built almost entirely on West Bank lands, the Wall is over twice as long as the 1967 border with Israel. 

ICRC: "Continuing violence in Gaza increases hardship"

7 July 2006


The situation in the Gaza strip remains tense with the escalation of violence having a serious impact on the population there. The number of casualties, including civilians, is increasing by the day. The ongoing military operation in the north of the Gaza Strip has had a very serious impact on the population living there in terms of access to basic goods and services, including food. In particular, restrictions of movement and the shortage of electricity following the destruction of Gaza’s only power plant are having serious consequences. The ICRC’s head of sub-delegation in Gaza, Giorgios Georgantas, gave this interview. 

UK court rules IDF shooting of filmmaker in Gaza was murder

10 April 2006


The Committee to Protect Journalists today renewed its call for Israel to properly investigate the killing of a British cameraman in the Gaza Strip after a London court found that his shooting by an Israeli officer was murder. James Miller, an award-winning filmmaker, was filming a documentary about Palestinian children caught up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict when he was hit by a single shot in the neck three years ago. London’s St Pancras Coroner’s Court concluded today that Miller was shot deliberately. 

Journalists attacked in Nablus by Israeli soldiers

26 April 2006


The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that Israeli soldiers have attacked Palestinian journalists covering unrest in the West Bank city of Nablus on at least two occasions this month. On April 17, soldiers fired at a group of cameramen and photographers covering an Israeli army raid on a house in the Old City of Nablus. The journalists said they were filming the raid, and clashes between soldiers and stone-throwing youths, from a distance of about 500 yards (meters), beside an AP vehicle that was clearly marked “Press.” They were wearing phosphorus green vests labeled “Press.” 

Al-Jazeera web reporter freed for lack of evidence after six months

26 May 2006


Palestinian journalist Awad Rajoub, a reporter for the Arabic-language website of the satellite TV station Al Jazeera, was freed on 24 May 2006 after being held by the Israeli authorities for six months. He was arrested on 30 November 2005 at his home in Doura, 10 km outside the West Bank city of Hebron, and accused by the Israeli military of “threatening state security.” The Al-Jazeera bureau in Paris told Reporters Without Borders the Israeli court that was supposed to try him ruled there was insufficient evidence and ordered his release. 

Palestinian PM urged to punish gunmen who attacked TV bureau

5 June 2006


Reporters Without Borders condemned a 5 June 2006 attack on Palestinian national TV installations in the south of the Gaza Strip and urged Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to put a stop to violence against journalists in the Palestinian territories. Witnesses blamed the attack on gunmen of the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. “It is essential that effective measures are taken to ensure the physical safety of journalists,” Reporters Without Borders said.