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Checkpoint of No Return

Kasper Lundberg Hebron, Palestine 11 May 2005


In a time of empty talk of peace and celebrating Ariel Sharon as a man of moderate politics, because of extremists’ protest against evacuation from Gaza, the situation on the ground in Palestine sees remarkably little change. Everyday life in the occupied territories is as always a continuous chaos of military interference. One of the most obvious and constantly present exponents is the Israeli grip on Palestinian freedom of movement, suffocating the fragile infrastructure. “I’m here to protect my country against terrorists,” the young man tells me shrugging as if he is not completely confident with his answer. 

57th Anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba

10 May 2005


On 15 May, Palestinians commemorate their forced displacement and dispossession resulting from the establishment of the state of Israel. Commemorations of this year’s 57th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) aim to draw attention to the need to halt Israel’s ongoing expropriation of Palestinian land and the necessity to recognize and implement Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their homes and properties in accordance with international law and UN General Assembly Resolution 194. Until mid-May, numerous events will be organized by local organizations in West Bank and Gaza Strip to be followed by a national memorial ceremony in Ramallah on 15 May. 

Study Reveals TV News Vastly Underreports Palestinian Children's Deaths

10 May 2005


On Capitol Hill yesterday, a two-year study of network news coverage of Israel/Palestine revealed extensive underreporting of Palestinian deaths, particularly of children’s deaths. In reporting on this situation, the organization found that the networks reported on Israeli children’s deaths at rates up to 13 times greater than Palestinian children’s deaths. In reality, 22 times more Palestinian children were being killed than Israeli children. “Since American taxpayers give Israel over $10 million per day, it is essential that we be accurately informed on this issue,” says executive director Alison Weir 

Middle East diplomatic Quartet meets in Moscow

9 May 2005


The Quartet working to restore peace in the Middle East – the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russian Federation – today reiterated its willingness to help Israelis and Palestinians with the hard work and difficult decisions needed to make positive use of what it called a “hopeful and promising moment” for both sides. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan summarized the Quartet’s conclusions at a news conference following the group’s meeting in Moscow. The Quartet said a new Palestinian State must be truly viable, with contiguity in the West Bank. No party should take unilateral actions that would prejudge the final status issues. “The Quartet urges both parties to fulfil their obligations under the Road Map,” Mr. Annan said. 

Democracy and Rights are also for Palestinian Refugees

Karma Nabulsi 10 May 2005


The Palestinian body politic is alive and united on a variety of central concerns, and has not been fragmented or destroyed in spite of more than 10 years of concerted attempts to do so. At this very moment Palestinians from all walks of life have been gathering together in large and small meetings to discuss the issues that concern them, in open debate. They choose the things they wish to speak about, and raise the issues that concern them. They discuss how to advance their rights - and there are certainly a multitude of them - legal, economic, civic, political, and social. 

Voting with their feet

Jeff Handmaker and Adri Nieuwhof 9 May 2005


The official role of Israel as sole protector of the Jewish people through the so-called Israeli right of return (or Aliyah) is increasingly tested. The law of return is an exclusive law benefiting only Jews and allows any Jew to emigrate to Israel. This role of Israel, as sole protector of the Jewish people, is being increasingly tested by a large and growing number of émigrés from Israel to other countries around the world, matched by a diminishing number of new immigrants. Jeff Handmaker and Adri Nieuwhof argue that this creates serious problems for Israel in seeking to maintain the exclusively Jewish character of the Israeli state. 

Health in Palestine: Access is the key

8 May 2005


The Red Crescent deploys mobile teams to provide primary health care to 25,000 vulnerable people affected by movement restrictions in the southern West Bank. Suheila Al-Hureibat, also known as Um Mohammad, is a 38-year-old mother of seven children, aged from two to 13. Still, she hopes for more. “We want another two, preferably boys,” she laughs, before adding more seriously: “It will be easier for them to make their living.” Um Mohammad is a resident of Beit Al-Rush, near Hebron. The southern West Bank is considered by many aid agencies as one of the areas with the worst humanitarian situations in Palestine. 

Palestinian poll shows Hamas strength

Khalid Amayreh 8 May 2005


The outcome of Thursday’s local elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has underscored the competition between Fatah, the quasi-secular and ruling party of the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas, the Islamic resistance group. According to initial unofficial results, Fatah did well in many villages in the West Bank, wining as many as 50 of the 84 contested councils. However, Hamas emerged the winner in large towns such as Rafah, Qalqilya, and Bethlehem, and seems to have won as many as 32 local councils in the West Bank. Hamas leaders have argued, justifiably, that while Fatah won significantly more council seats than Hamas, the Islamist movement actually surpassed Fatah in terms of the number of votes it received. 

Alvaro de Soto of Peru named new UN envoy to Middle East

6 May 2005


Veteran United Nations negotiator Alvaro de Soto will begin work immediately as the top UN envoy in the Middle East after Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appointed the Peruvian national to the post. On Monday, Mr. de Soto will accompany Mr. Annan to a working meeting of the Middle East Quartet — which comprises the UN, the European Union, the Russian Federation and the United States — in Moscow. De Soto succeeds Terje Roed-Larsen as UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and the Secretary-General’s Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority. He will also act as Mr. Annan’s envoy to the Quartet. 

Video testimonies: One big prison

7 May 2005


For the past four and a half years, Israel has severely restricted freedom of movement to and from the Gaza Strip. These restrictions further strangled the Gaza Strip, so much so that the area resembles one gigantic prison. One Big Prison documents the ongoing violations of human rights and international law resulting from Israel’s restrictions on the movement of people and goods between Gaza and the West Bank, Israel, and the rest of the world. The report also warns against Israel’s attempt to avoid its responsibility toward residents of the Gaza Strip following disengagement. B’Tselem portrays affected people.