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Style or substance following Riyadh summit?

Michael F. Brown 2 April 2007


The Arab League peace initiative is back in play after an Israeli and American-imposed five-year hiatus. The return to the previously shunted aside proposal comes only because the Bush administration has utterly fouled the region — from the bloody sectarian turmoil of Baghdad to the tsunami of human waste that recently swept through part of northern Gaza — and has evidently concluded there is now a better hope of “fixing” Israel and Palestine than Iraq. In an ironic twist, the Bush administration claim that the road to Middle East peace runs through Baghdad has been inverted by the total collapse in Iraq. 

Weekly Report on Human Rights Violations

1 April 2007


Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law continued in the OPT during the reporting period (22 - 28 March 2007): Four Palestinians killed by IOF and settlers in the OPT; including a sheep herder in Bethlehem and three Palestinian resistance activists killed in Nablus and Jenin. Ten Palestinian civilians, including five children were wounded by IOF, including four wounded in Bal’ein village, west of Ramallah, and three children wounded by IOF bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip. 

Testimony: A father and ill son from Gaza stranded in Egypt

2 April 2007


“I live with my wife and children in the al-Shabura refugee camp in the center of Rafah. I have two sons and two daughters, the eldest child is six and the youngest is one year old. I work as a traffic policeman in the Rafah Police Department and make NIS 1,940 a month. In January 2003, when my son ‘Ali was six months old, I noticed that he had problems hearing and that he was slow in his movements. I took him to the clinic of Dr. Nabil al-Barqoni, a private pediatrician. He conducted some tests and found that ‘Ali had an enlarged spleen and liver and a hearing deficiency.” 

Irish artists' academy debates boycott motion

1 April 2007


At its Annual General Assembly in the Irish Museum of Modern Art (28 March 2007) the Irish state-sponsored academy of artists Aosdána debated two motions concerning Palestine presented by Margaretta D’Arcy, playwright and veteran political activist, and the composer Raymond Deane — who was a founding-member and former chairperson of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. 

Alleged POW Killings Spark Egypt-Israel Diplomatic Row

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 31 March 2007


CAIRO, Mar 30 (IPS) - Another diplomatic row has erupted between Cairo and Tel Aviv after a documentary film aired on Israeli television in February claimed that Israeli forces had executed hundreds of unarmed Egyptian prisoners of war (POWs) in the wake of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The foreign ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador to express “Egypt’s anger” over the revelations, but critics from across the political spectrum decried the step as inadequate. 

In South Lebanon, Ban Ki-moon stresses need for eventual permanent ceasefire

31 March 2007


United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today visited South Lebanon, where he voiced hope that a cessation of hostilities in place since the end of last year’s 34-day war between Israel and Hizbollah could be transformed into a permanent ceasefire. Responding to questions at a press conference in Naqoura, Mr. Ban said both Israel and Lebanon showed interested in this goal. “It is important that the current cessation of hostilities could be transferred and developed into a permanent ceasefire. I know that Lebanese Government is very much interested. 

Suzi Hazahza and the Pirates of Homeland Security

Greg Moses 31 March 2007


One by one, all the helium-inflated excuses for arresting and imprisoning Suzi Hazahza have been popped and now lie on the ground. And the single memory humanizing the government that still holds her unlawfully behind bars is the look on one Federal Magistrate’s face Thursday in Dallas when he was told by a US Attorney that Congress has stripped the federal bench of any right to order Suzi Hazahza freed until a full six months of illegal detention have passed. 

Film on "Radical Islam" Tied to Pro-Israel Groups

Khody Akhavi 30 March 2007


WASHINGTON, Mar 26 (IPS) - A controversial documentary on the threat of radical Islam, promoted by the two most-watched U.S. cable news networks, was marketed and supported in part by self-described “pro-Israel” groups, according to an IPS investigation. Abbreviated versions and segments of Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West ran on FOX News and CNN, but neither station disclosed the film’s connection to HonestReporting, a watchdog group that monitors the media for allegedly negative portrayals of Israel. 

The Jordan Valley, Land and Self-Determination

30 March 2007


In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Annexation Wall encroaches deep into occupied territory, confiscating land and exacerbating movement restrictions. When completed, the Wall will effectively annex 10 percent of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In parallel to the construction of the Annexation Wall, Israel has severely restricted Palestinian access to the Jordan Valley, which comprises some 25 percent of the West Bank. While no wall has been constructed, a near impenetrable system of permits, checkpoints and closures restrict the movement of goods and people into and out of the Jordan Valley. 

Economic developments in 2006: A First Assessment

28 March 2007


After having experienced a modest recovery in 2003-05, the Palestinian economy suffered another decline in 2006, as a result of the domestic and international political difficulties. Although hard data are scarce, real GDP is estimated to have fallen within a range of 5 to 10 percent in 2006, less than initially had been feared, but still leaving average real per capita GDP at almost 40 percent below its 1999 level. Stronger-than-expected official and private inflows have helped prevent a much sharper decline in incomes and consumption in 2006, thus cushioning the overall contraction. But with a larger decline in investment, from an already low level, this also signals a further hollowing out of the Palestinian economy.