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Cairo meeting addresses economic, humanitarian crisis in Palestinian Territory

26 April 2006


In his keynote address to the United Nations Seminar of Assistance to the Palestinian People this afternoon, Member of Palestinian Legislative Council Nabil Sha’ath said the new cabinet was willing to accept financial oversights or to have money transferred through President Abbas, but it could not accept the attempt to bypass the Palestinian Authority. This afternoon’s session, part of a two-day meeting sponsored by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, heard presentations by experts on the scope of the economic and humanitarian crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. 

United Nations Seminar on Assistance to Palestinian People concludes

27 April 2006


United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Economic Affairs Officer Mahmoud ElKhafif said conflict, political instability, an elusive sovereignty and a policy of asymmetric containment had hampered the Palestinian Authority’s ability to ensure any governance, much less a corruption-free, best practice model. Speaking at the last panel discussion of the United Nations Cairo Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People, he said humanitarian relief and budget support were inadequate to reduce poverty and economic vulnerability under current conditions. Sustained economic recovery required either dismantling the politics of asymmetric containment or dealing with it as an external constraint in the short term while working towards its eventual elimination. 

Aid and the Palestine Financial Crisis: A viewpoint on an ongoing debate

Mohammed El-Samhouri 27 April 2006


The sudden ascent of Hamas to power after the January 25 parliamentary elections in the Palestinian Authority (PA) areas has put at risk two vital sources of Palestinian finance: an aid package by Western donors of about $1 billion a year in humanitarian, developmental and budgetary support; and a monthly transfer by Israel of about $55 million in customs and tax revenues that it collects on behalf of the PA. Preserving the status quo, where international aid and customs revenues transfers are maintained at their 2005 levels, would not prevent Palestinian economic conditions from deteriorating. 

I Complain, Therefore I Am

Laila El-Haddad Gaza City, Palestine 27 April 2006


I’m fairly certain I exist. Descartes tells me so, and before him, Ibn Sina. And when my son drags me out of bed to play with him in the pre-dawn hours, I really know I do. So you can imagine how distraught I was when my existence was cast into serious doubt by a major airline. sure enough, in the drop-down menu of countries, I found the British Indian Ocean Territory, the Isle of Man and even Tuvalu - but no Palestine. I was confused. Where in the world is Laila El-Haddad if not in Palestine, I thought? 

Gaza Strip Situation Report

26 April 2006


At just before 1pm today a suspect vehicle reportedly carrying explosives was apprehended by Palestinian security forces in close proximity to Karni terminal. Karni has now been closed and staff ordered to leave the crossing as investigations take place. As of 26 April, Karni crossing has been closed 55 days in 2006 (47% of the year). The crossing has been subject to periodic closure by the Israeli authorities since January 2006 on the grounds of security concerns. The extent of the recent closures is unprecedented when compared to a closure of 18% of the year in 2005 and 19% in 2004. 

Irish MP slams EU "hypocrisy," calls for suspension of EU-Israel agreement

26 April 2006


Commenting on a parliamentary question reply that he received from the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs in relation to the decision by the EU to block funding to the Palestinian National Authority, Irish MP and Sinn Féin Spokesperson on International Affairs Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh slammed the “on-going hypocrisy that characterises the positions taken by the EU in relation to the illegal occupation of Palestine,” and called on the European Union to “suspend preferential trade with Israel until such time as it renounces violence, recognises Palestine’s right to exist and accepts previous agreements and obligations.” 

Israeli attack: Extrajudicial killing of two Palestinians in Bethlehem

24 April 2006


On Sunday evening, 23 April 2006, Israeli armed forces extra-judicially executed two members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, in Bethlehem. Israeli forces also wounded and arrested a third member. Israel later claimed that one of the victims had died from his wounds following his evacuation to Hadasa Hospital in Jerusalem, but investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights refute this claim and prove that IOF executed the victim after his arrest. This latest attack comes after decisions taken by the Israeli political and military establishment to continue to target Palestinian activists. 

Abbas' Dangerous Game

Hasan Abu Nimah 26 April 2006


Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is playing a dangerous game, working at every level to undermine the democratically-elected Hamas administration in the Palestinian Authority. Hamas’ landslide election victory shocked the world and the Palestinian political establishment. Because Hamas won fair and square it has been hard for those unhappy with the result to overturn it outright. So a broad-based coalition of election result rejectionists presented Hamas with a long list of demands. That such a hostile siege and boycott should come from the usual suspects of Israel and its American and EU allies, as well as Kofi Annan’s discredited UN is no surprise in our unjust world. 

FAST Conference: Reconstruction of Memory

25 April 2006


Preservation projects can be as emblematic as the destruction that induces them. Construction can be used both to reinforce a violent separation of the built environment and destroy the fabric of a former life. The FAST conference on May 14 in Amsterdam will form an inquiry into the ways preservation projects are being appropriated by official institutions in order to promote ideological and political agendas. Some torn threads of antiquity include the destruction of Muslim history, religious monuments and buildings in Bosnia; the destruction of black history and heritage in South Africa under the apartheid regime; and the destruction and distortion of Palestinian past after the creation of the State of Israel. A poignant example of this eradication of local memory is the village of Lifta. 

Yes Mr. Solana, the EU has abandoned the Palestinian people

Ali Abunimah 25 April 2006


“Europe has always been at the forefront in defending Palestinian national aspirations.” So says Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief. This used to be true, but Europe’s past record is now too threadbare to serve as a cloak for the scandalous bankruptcy of its present policies. The Palestinians are not in their predicament because of insufficient “technical assistance ” from EU bureaucrats, but because they live under a brutal foreign military occupation which they have few means to resist. True EU solidarity with the Palestinians, writes EI co-founder Ali Abunimah, would involve a total reversal of its current pro-Israeli approach.