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The Jordan Valley and Israel's Invisible Wall

Anna Baltzer Jordan Valley 4 June 2007


15 May 2007 — A few weeks ago I attended an event commemorating Palestinian Prisoner’s Day at Al Far’a Refugee Camp in the Tubas area. To enter the theatrical and cultural spectacle we had to pass through a makeshift checkpoint with soldiers pointing their guns in our faces and screaming in Hebrew for us to get back. Although I knew these were Palestinian actors role-playing the harassment they experience daily, it was very frightening to have men with guns yell at me in a foreign language and stick killing machines in my face. 

Jordan blocks newspaper edition over story on 'secret' Abbas plan

30 April 2007


Jordanian authorities should lift their ban on today’s edition of an independent paper, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. Fahd al-Rimawi, editor of the weekly Al-Majd, told CPJ that security agents moved Sunday to prevent printing of the edition because of a front-page story about a “secret plan” to oust the Hamas-led Palestinian government. Al-Rimawi said security officials told him they would ban the April 30 edition if he did not remove the article, The Associated Press reported. 

38 Killed in Week of Gaza Infighting

17 May 2007


Violence escalated to the peak in the past two days, especially in Gaza City, as 32 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others wounded. Thus, the number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of this latest wave of violence on Sunday, 13 May 2007, has mounted to 38, in addition to dozens of others who have been wounded. The casualties have included several civilians, including women and children. Armed clashes erupted between militants from both movements in various areas in Gaza City. 

Father of Christian Zionism Leaves the Building

Bill Berkowitz 17 May 2007


OAKLAND, United States, May 16 (IPS) - The right-wing U.S. Christian evangelist Jerry Falwell, who died Tuesday at the age of 73, is perhaps best known for his fundamentalist social positions and tirades against lesbians, gays and feminists, not to mention “pagans”, “abortionists” and assorted other miscreants. But Falwell also had a significant impact on U.S. foreign policy over the last 30 years, and was one of the founding fathers here of so-called Christian Zionism — the belief that the modern state of Israel is the fulfillment of Biblical “End Times” prophecy and thus deserving of political, financial and religious support. 

As Gaza Burns

Laila El-Haddad Gaza City, Palestine 16 May 2007


Things have been crazy in Gaza over the past two days. Very crazy. In between working and actually trying to keep our wits about us as we’ve been holed up indoors for two days no, I’ve had little time to blog. Things are tenusouly calm at the moment with on-again-off-again gunfire, which is better than it was only a few hours ago. But things in Gaza have a way of changing very quickly-for better or for worse. Volatility is its defining characteristic. We happen to be sort of be in the eye of the storm as it were. 

Situation Report: Rising death toll in Gaza

16 May 2007


Internal fighting in Gaza is now entering its fourth day with at least 37 dead and 114 injured since Sunday. This is the third round of intense factional fighting seen in Gaza this year leaving at least 128 Palestinians dead and 692 injured since 1 January 2007. Following the killing of a senior Fatah leader on Sunday 13 May in Jabalia in northern Gaza, violence erupted throughout the Gaza Strip and particularly in Gaza City. Two attempted ceasefires collapsed within hours and fighting continued between Fatah forces and Hamas and its affiliated Executive Support Force (ESF). 

A double Nakba in Gaza

Rami Almeghari Gaza Strip, Palestine 15 May 2007


My pen is bleeding, my hand is shaking, my heart is sighing and my mind is stuffed with the bitter experiences of the past 14 months. The latest is today’s anniversary of the Palestinian catastrophe (Nakba); today is a double Nakba. My ideas are scrambled; however, I must rein them all in and allow my words to flow, with the hope of reaching hearts, minds and souls. “I prefer death to these days; death is much better than these moments when a brother kills his brother”, said Yousef Almadhoun, also known as Abu Mohammad, a 77-year-old man from the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya. 

Journalist, media worker killed in Gaza City

14 May 2007


The Committee to Protect Journalist is outraged by the killings of a journalist and a media worker, who were shot on Sunday in Gaza City. Gunmen wearing presidential guard uniforms stopped a taxi carrying Suleiman Abdul-Rahim al-Ashi, 25, an economics editor for the Hamas-affiliated daily Palestine, and Mohammad Matar Abdo, 25, a manager responsible for distribution and civic relations, Editor-in-Chief Mustafa al-Sawaf told CPJ today. The taxi was stopped at 2:30 p.m. in a high-security area southwest of Gaza City that is controlled by Fatah, al-Sawaf and other journalists told CPJ. 

The Nakba has Never Ended

Julia Pitner 15 May 2007


The sad truth is that while the Palestinians commemorate the Nakba of 1948, the disaster is ongoing up until today. Now, however, the oppression is subtler than the forced marches of the citizens of Ramla, the forced exodus of hundreds of thousands, or those who fled from violence or from the fear and confusion about what the Jewish militias were threatening or the Arab governments promising. It is a slow, forced exodus that is not exciting enough to warrant any airtime or column space. 

Eighteen killed in two days of Gaza fighting

15 May 2007


Armed clashes have seriously spread and escalated between Fatah and Hamas in Gaza. Eighteen Palestinians have been killed and 80 admitted at hospitals [with] wounds (many of the wounded are cared for by their factions) since Sunday 13 May 2007. Dozens have also been abducted, of whom Al Mezan documented 21 cases, including Gaza’s Police Director and two university professors. Severe tension prevails around the Gaza Strip as factions build on militants and erect checkpoints and barracks.