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In at the deep end for Abu Mazen

Ghazi Hamad 19 January 2005


Only hours after Mahmoud Abbas was sworn in as president of the Palestinian Authority, he found himself in the middle of a crisis. The Israeli government announced it would freeze all contacts with him, prompting negotiations affairs minister Saeb Erekat to accuse Israel of planning to do to Abu Mazen what it had done to the late President Yasser Arafat, who ended up besieged in his headquarters and almost completely frozen out of the diplomatic loop. Events had snowballed for the new president after a joint operation by three armed factions on the Mintar (Karni) Crossing on January 14 claimed the lives of six Israelis. 

Parents petition Israeli High Court over daughter killed by Israeli army

23 January 2005


The parents of 13-year-old Iman al-Hams, who was shot to death by Israeli forces in early October, petitioned the High Court of Justice on Sunday to order an investigation of the shooting. Iman was shot on her way to school, as she approached the Girit military outpost in the south Gaza area of Rafah. The lawyers maintain that there is evidence that the soldiers were given blatantly illegal orders stating that they must shoot to kill anyone, including civilians who do not endanger anyone’s life, without even resorting to the procedure regulating the arrest of suspects. They also demand that the supervision of the investigation be taken out of the hands of the Military Attorney’s office because of its involvement in the drafting of the open fire regulations. 

Rafah border closed for 39 consecutive days

19 January 2005


Rafah Terminal, located on the Egyptian/Gaza Strip border, has been closed by the Israel armed forces since 12 December 2004. The terminal is effectively the only access point for Gaza Strip residents to areas outside the Gaza Strip. It has now been closed for 39 consecutive days, by far the longest period of uninterrupted closure in the last four years of the Intifada. Between 18 July and 5 August 2004, Rafah Terminal was closed for 19 consecutive days. This closure attracted widespread international attention because of the deteriorating humanitarian situation faced by as many as 2,500 people stuck south of the border. 

Sharon coalition on borrowed time

Khalid Amayreh 21 January 2005


There are serious concerns in Israel that the new Likud-Labour coalition government may not survive intense pressure from the extreme right within Likud, Ariel Sharon’s own party. On Monday, 13 Likud lawmakers in the Knesset voted against the new coalition government, forcing the Israeli prime minister to rely on the centre-left Yahad and the Arab parties to bail him out from certain government collapse. According to an Israeli commentator, the split in Likud places the Sharon-Peres government in real jeopardy and might very well spell its end. 

No rest for Nablus during Eid celebrations

Ray Smith Nablus 21 January 2005


Optimism for a period of peace following the elections has been misguided. In Nablus, Israeli military aggression continues as usual. The army made a special effort for Eid celebrations. On 18 January at 9pm a large number of troops entered Nablus in unmarked vehicles and took up positions in the area. Soon after, a group of medics and internationals reached Old Najah Street near the Old City. More army also arrived, in about twenty military vehicles. If anyone approached the soldiers, the result was “access denied” at gunpoint. Israeli occupation forces blew up a house. Many neighbours had not been evacuated and found themselves amidst bursting windows. The explosion flattened the house completely, also causing severe damage to several of his neighbour’s homes. 

What "Peace" Really Means to Israelis

Avigail Abarbanel 20 January 2005


Two months ago I returned from a two-week family visit to Israel. Although I am an activist for Palestinian rights, I decided that this visit would be entirely private. Living for two weeks with my brother, his wife and their two little girls in their tiny apartment in a North Tel-Aviv suburb, gave me an opportunity to observe and see what daily life is like for Israelis at the moment. Israelis have always talked about peace, sung about it, made art and poetry about it as if it is something almost supernatural, some kind of a paradise that they yearn for but that has nothing to do with their everyday reality, and that they have no idea how to create. 

US must act to stop ethnic cleansing in Palestine

Priscilla Read 21 January 2005


The average American finds unfathomable the desperation that drives suicide bombers. Yet Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is a recipe for producing violence. It robs Palestinians of their livelihood, their dignity, and their faith in the future. U.S. acquiescence in Israeli policies that render Palestinians’ lives untenable in order to force them off their land makes a mockery of Washington’s pretense at being an honest broker in this conflict. Across the Arab and Muslim world, suffering in the Occupied Territories provokes bitter hostility. 

Daily disruption in Balata: A four day overview

Ray Smith Balata refugee camp, Nablus 19 January 2005


The time of relative quiet that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) initiated during the Palestinian Authority elections, in order to please international observers and media, is now definitely over. While before the army kept coming at night, the IOF now also causes trouble during the day. The main target of these daily IOF attacks on Nablus is, once more, the Balata Refugee Camp. With almost 30,000 inhabitants — the largest camp in the occupied West Bank — it is situated on the outskirts of the city. 

Behind Israel's official version of the news

Anna Weekes 20 January 2005


Two innocent Palestinians were killed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on 12 January 2005. Although they were the latest in a long line of Palestinian victims, and from a tiny village near Ramallah, they made headlines all over the world. They were the first Palestinians to be assassinated by the IOF since the election of Mahmoud Abbas, which had taken place just three days before. The so-called ‘period of restraint’ had come to an abrupt end with the killings. For this reason, the assassinations were portrayed by the commercial media as a necessary response to two violent militants who had opened fire at Israeli soldiers. However, eyewitnesses on the ground report an entirely different story. 

Israeli Judge Silences Jewish American Activist

16 January 2005


January 16, 2005 — An Israeli judge today refused to hear US Jewish lesbian activist Kate Raphael Bender’s appeal of her deportation. Judge Tal of the District Court, Tel Aviv, said he could not hear Raphael Bender’s case because her visa was no longer valid. Her visa expired yesterday, after five weeks in detention. Consulting an attorney friend present in the courtroom Raphael Bender accepted the judge’s deal to drop the appeal in exchange for the possibility to apply for her reentry into Israel to the Ministry of Interior. The Israeli law that prohibits reentry after deportation from five to ten years will not apply but this rule is very arbitrarily applied.