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The hour before dawn

Nick Pretzlik East Jerusalem 28 January 2004


“A successful military career in Israel is a stepping-stone to success in the political arena and it is not unreasonable to suppose that ex-soldiers carry army-inspired prejudices with them when they enter the Knesset. Therein, perhaps, lies a partial explanation for the construction of the apartheid wall. Maybe the idea wouldn’t have taken root had those involved not been conditioned during their formative years in uniform, and maybe it also explains why the wider Israeli public fails to oppose the project in larger numbers.” Nick Pretzlik muses on the psychological roots of Israeli violations of Palestinian rights. 

Top Israeli historian analyzes Benny Morris's shocking interview

Baruch Kimmerling 27 January 2004


Dr. Baruch Kimmerling is George S. Wise Professor of Sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Writing for the History News Network, he says: “Benny Morris has abandoned his historian’s mantle and donned the armor of a Jewish chauvinist who wants the Land of Israel completely cleansed from Arabs. And in order to be completely lucid on this point he drew an analogy between Israel and North America: ‘Even the great American democracy could not have been created without the annihilation of the Indians. There are cases in which the overall, final good justifies harsh and cruel acts that are committed in the course of history.’ I do not know today any American historian or social scientist who agrees that the annihilation of the indigenous population of the continent was a necessary condition for the constitution of American democracy.” 

Diagnosing Benny Morris: the mind of a European settler

Gabriel Ash 27 January 2004


Israeli historian Benny Morris crossed a new line of shame when he put his academic credentials and respectability in the service of outlining the “moral” justification for a future genocide against Palestinians. How can one explain Morris’ knowledge that the ethnic Darwinism that was used to justify the murder of millions of non-whites, including Black African slaves, Native Americans, Arabs, and others, was also used to justify the attempt to exterminate Jews? Gabriel Ash takes a closer look at Morris’ thinking and the tradition to which it belongs. 

If it's against Jewish law, then why is Israel doing it?

Ali Abunimah 28 January 2004


The Israeli army has destroyed hundreds of thousands of Palestinian olive and citrus trees throughout the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in recent years. Yet in a startling admission, a staffer at the Jewish National Fund for Israel (JNF) has written that, “it is against Jewish halachic law to uproot fruit bearing trees.” EI’s Ali Abunimah explains how the JNF has been essential to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, and the destruction of its landscape. 

Supreme Court Holds Second Hearing on Petitions Against New Law Banning Family Unification

20 January 2004


On Sunday, 18 January 2004, an enlarged panel of 13 justices of the Supreme Court of Israel held a second hearing on petitions challenging the constitutionality of a new law that prohibits the granting of any residency or citizenship status to Palestinians from the Occupied Territories who are married to Israeli citizens. The new law affects thousands of families, comprised of tens of thousands of individuals. Seven petitions are currently pending before the Court against the “Nationality and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) – 2003,” enacted by theKnesset on 31 July 2003. 

Film Review: Like Twenty Impossibles (2003)

Tina Dybvik 27 January 2004


“Like Twenty Impossibles” is the work of Annemarie Jacir, co-written with Kamran Rastegar. Jacir is a Palestinian filmmaker, activist, and poet living between New York City and Palestine. The 17-minute short mockumentary tells the story of a journey in a country where checkpoints and a sinister patchwork of controlled areas make freedom of movement itself impossible, aptly portraying the complexities of oppression with a cast and crew that understand it. It is shot on location in Palestine, and the images of guns and power overwhelm the viewer as well as the waylaid film crew. 

Too late for two states?

Seumas Milne 24 January 2004


More than three years into the intifada, the Palestinian situation seems worse than ever: the weekly death toll, the poverty and now the wall. So has the uprising failed? Seumas Milne had exclusive access to leaders across the political spectrum - from president Yasser Arafat to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. He found an unprecedented willingness to compromise - but a growing belief that the wall will scupper the best ever hope for peace. 

Violent invasions, extrajudicial killings, and suicide bombings

Mika Minio-Paluello Nablus, Palestine 25 January 2004


The Israeli invasion and siege of Nablus city ended two weeks ago now (Wed Jan 7), with a return to the nightly machine gun fire from the mountains, daily mini-incursions, and deadly proddings by jeeps and the occasional tank. With the invasion competing with the horrific Iranian earthquake, aircrashes, Sharon’s speeches and the Christmas holiday, media coverage was minimal, in Israeli, international, Arab and even Palestinian media, adding to the Nablus perception of abandonment by the world. Mika Minio-Paluello writes from occupied Nablus. 

International Court authorizes participation of OIC to 'Wall-Case'

22 January 2004


The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has authorized the Organization of the Islamic Conference, at its request, to participate in the proceedings in the case concerning Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. By a letter dated 14 January 2004, the General Secretariat of the Organization of the Islamic Conference requested that the Organization be authorized to furnish information on the question submitted to the Court. 

International Court authorizes Arab League participation in 'Wall-case'

15 January 2004


The International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has authorized the League of Arab States, at its request, to participate in the proceedings in the case concerning Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (request for advisory opinion). By a letter dated 29 December 2003, the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, Mr. Amre Moussa, requested that the League be invited to furnish information, in writing and orally, on the question submitted to the Court.