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Statement about kidnapped CPT members by Palestinian political parties (Arabic & English)

Hamas, Palestine People's Party, Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Democratic Union of Palestine/FIDA, Fatah, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Palestinian Liberation Front and Palestinian Popular Struggle Front 30 November 2005


Following the abduction of four members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq, Palestinian political factions gathered in Hebron to issue a statement in Arabic about their experiences of seeing the CPT working in Palestine, and their personal knowledge of the three kidnapped members and their important work on behalf of the Palestinian people. Original Arabic version provided by CPT Hebron. English translation by the Electronic Intifada, posted for informational purposes. 

Palestinian Solidarity Activists Amongst Four Peace Activist Hostages in Iraq

30 November 2005


Three of the four Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) hostages in Iraq of whom a video was released today have been in Palestine working as Palestinian Solidarity activists. Palestinians in Ramallah will hold a demonstration tomorrow at 3pm in solidarity with all four kidnapped peace activists and to appeal for their release. The demonstration will be attended by notable Palestinian religious and resistance figures. 

URGENT: Update on Four Missing CPT Members in Iraq

29 November 2005


CPT Hebron contacted EI about the four members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams who were abducted in Iraq last Saturday. The four men are two CPTers and two delegates, one American, one British, and two Canadian. One, a CPT staff member, was to have come to work with CPT Hebron after his time in Iraq. Another worked in Palestine last year, and was active in demonstrating against Israel’s West Bank Barrier in Jayyous. The four men were en route to a meeting with members of the Islamic Scholars Association when they were abducted just 100 yards from the mosque where their meeting was scheduled. The full text of CPT’s official press release follows. 

The Coming EI DVD: Call for Content Submission and Financial Support

Nigel Parry 29 November 2005


The Electronic Intifada is currently working on the production of a multimedia DVD for distribution to journalists, editors, producers, politicians, entertainment industry contacts, activists, and others interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The EI DVD will include introductions to the history of the conflict and to key aspects of the current situation on the ground, as well as an extensive Arts, Music & Culture section, will offer features, videos, and MP3s showcasing a range of material from Palestinian and Palestine-related artists. EI appeals for content submissions and financial support for the project. 

Marking solidarity with Palestinians, Kofi Annan reiterates call for action

29 November 2005


“A solution to the question of Palestine remains elusive. Palestinians have yet to see the beginnings of the establishment of their own State. Israelis as well are yet to feel secure in their own State. Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip and the Palestinians’ success in ensuring calm during that period had raised hopes for a renewal of the political process. However, the ensuing upsurge in violence seriously undermined the fledgling coordination between the parties, bringing back feelings of frustration and disappointment. Palestinians need to be assured that the future viability of a Palestinian State will not be eroded by settlement expansion and barrier construction.” 

Caritas supports international day of solidarity with Palestinian people

29 November 2005


In partnership with the global community in its annual expression of solidarity with the Palestinian people, the Caritas network of 162 member organisations working in 200 countries and territories worldwide supports the UN-hosted international day of observance on 29 November. Based on our own Caritas campaign that “Peace is Possible” in the Holy Land, we stand in solidarity with all peace-seeking people of good will who recognise and publicly support the basic and inalienable rights of the Palestinian community. We stand in solidarity with all Moslems, Jews, and Christians who sacrifice and work together to build up, restore, and heal the deep wounds that still scar this Middle East society. 

The Choice to be Struck?

Farid Esack 29 November 2005


Palestine/Israel is a strange place; here separateness is valorized by many decent people and presented as the ‘peace option’ and the not-so-nice-ones openly preach ethnic cleansing. Yet those who preach ethnic cleansing are often viewed as persons that ‘we can do business with’. In South Africa, apartheid was regarded by the world as the problem; here in Israel they, and much of the rest of the world, present it as the solution. For many otherwise decent people who do not experience dispossession and discrimination on a daily basis, stability in its preferred and somehow morally elevated package as ‘peace’ becomes the single most important objective that one must yearn for. 

EI EXCLUSIVE: Did UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw help sell out Jerusalem?

Ali Abunimah 28 November 2005


New documents obtained by EI under the UK’s Freedom of Information Act (2000) indicate that Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was asked to personally lobby Israeli officials on behalf of a UK company whose work helps extend Israel’s administrative and legal structures into Occupied East Jerusalem in violation of international law and long-standing UK policy. The new documents indicate not only the high importance the British government attached to the contract, but that British officials dismissed concerns that the company’s work could violate British policy on the status of Jerusalem. EI co-founder Ali Abunimah reports this exclusive. 

Palestinians cross Rafah border

26 November 2005


President Mahmoud Abbas formally reopened the Gaza Strip’s border crossing with Egypt today, giving Palestinians control over one of their frontiers for the first time. Rafah is the territory’s only outlet that doesn’t lead to Israel. Palestinians in Gaza can now come and go to Egypt and the wider world without passing through Israeli security. The European Union is supplying monitors to help at the crossing. Israel will have access to video camera images of the crossing, and can object if it sees someone whose entry into Gaza it opposes. 

Podcast: Debating the Gaza "Disengagement" at North Park University

26 November 2005


Listen to a podcast of EI co-founder Ali Abunimah and Tel Aviv University Professor of Philosophy Ilai Alon discussing the Gaza “disengagement” and what it means for the prospects for Palestinian-Israeli peace. The November 1, 2005 event was held at North Park University in Chicago as part of the 10th Anniversary Lecture Series of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.