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Artist John Keane revisits Palestine’s obliterated past and present

Nina Malmsten 5 March 2004


Painter John Keane, who was has travelled to the occupied Palestinian territories, juxtaposes historical and current concerns through traditional and contemporary techniques in his work. Deeply impacted by what he saw, Keane’s paintings in his current exhibition The Inconvenience of History - Paintings from the West Bank and Palestine reflect the despair, humiliation, and the brutality Palestinians suffer under Israeli military occupation. His exhibition has been met with controversy, but will still travel Belfast and Ramallah after concluding in London. Nina Malmsten reports for EI. 

Israel's West Bank Barrier: Semantics on the Internet

Nigel Parry 4 March 2004


In a presentation on the Jewish Agency for Israel’s website, entitled “The Security Fence - Hopes and Fears: A Drama in Six Episodes”, the report’s author, Steven Klein, conducted a Google survey into the frequency of terminology used to describe Israel’s Wall, typing in different terms and logging the number of Google hits returned for each. Klein’s stated methodology for discovering “the most deserving term” for Israel’s Wall is which term “enjoys the most common use” as evidenced by Google. EI’s Nigel Parry explores Wall semantics on the Internet. 

Gaza Striptease

4 March 2004


When Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced his decision to withdraw unilaterally from the Gaza Strip and dismantle 17 settlements, there was reason, one might think, for celebration in certain quarters. Yet few rejoiced. There is the uneasy feeling that his words do not bode an end to the 37-year-old Occupation, rather further entanglement. Some call the would-be withdrawal an escape, some call it a threat against the Palestinians, and some call it a means to strengthen Israel’s hold on the West Bank. One thing it is not: a step toward resolving the conflict. An editorial from Challenge magazine explains why. 

Israeli forces kill three Palestinians in extra-judicial execution

Palestinian Center for Human Rights 3 March 2004


Today, Israeli forces launched an attack on a car traveling south of Gaza City. Israeli jets fired a missile that hit the car, killing three and wounding two civilians who were walking in the street near the car as the missile struck. All three traveling in the car were reportedly members of the military wing of Hamas. Today’s extra-judicial execution is the third in five days. Four Palestinians have been killed in these three attacks. These assassinations are a grave breach of international humanitarian law. Israel’s policy of assassinations is widely condemned and these assassinations are considered war crimes. 

Jewish and Israeli groups demand immediate resignation of Israeli officials

3 March 2004


SAN FRANCISCO, March 2, 2004 — A coalition of Jewish and Israeli groups- including Jewish Voice for Peace, The Tikkun Community and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions -has issued the following statement demanding the resignation of Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ze’ev Boim and Likud Knesset Member Yehiel Hazan in response to racist remarks made last week. As Jews conscious of the history of anti-Semitism and the ideas and rhetoric that have fueled it over the centuries, we deplore the recent racist public statements by Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ze’ev Boim and Likud Knesset Member Yehiel Hazan and call for their immediate resignations. 

Expelled Palestinian woman allowed to return to West Bank

Palestinian Center for Human Rights 3 March 2004


In a conclusion of a session held at the Israeli military court in the Erez area on 24 February 2004, the Israeli Military Appeal Committee reached a decision to allow Intissar �Ajouri to return to her home in the West Bank city of Nablus after she had been transferred to the Gaza Strip. According to the decision, which was issued in written form on 1 March 2004 and received by PCHR on 2 March 2004, the committee specified 3 March 2004 as the date for �Ajouri�s return to her home in �Askar refugee camp in Nablus. ‘Ajouri will travel back home six homes before the end of her transfer period. 

Media watchdog expresses distress over killing of Arafat's media advisor

Reporters Without Borders 2 March 2004


Media watchdog RSF has expressed its “distress and indignation” to Palestinian president Yasser Arafat, following the assassination of Khalil Al-Zebin, one of his key advisors and publisher of “An-Nashra” magazine, in Gaza on 2 March 2004. Al-Zebin, publisher of the twice-monthly “An-Nashra” and a media advisor to Arafat, was assassinated by a group of armed men as he was leaving his office in central Gaza City on the night of 1 to 2 March. It is not yet known who was responsible for the killing. Since September 2003, media watchdogs have voiced growing alarm over a rising toll of attacks on journalists. 

ICJ/The Wall: Replacing Politics With Law

Al-Haq 22 February 2004


As the International Court of Justice started oral hearings in The Hague, al-Haq published its legal research on Israel’s Annexation Wall. According to al-Haq, Palestine’s oldest human rights organisation, the primary purpose of the Wall is to annex large amounts of the West Bank, ensuring that most of the illegal settlements will be on the Israeli side. Al-Haq urges the international community to uphold its obligation to ensure respect for the Geneva Conventions and support the International Court. 

Israeli High Court orders suspension of work on the Wall near Biddu and Beit Sourik

Alternative Information Center 29 February 2004


Israel’s Supreme Court has ordered a temporary halt of the construction of a security barrier in and around the West Bank. The court imposed a week-long suspension on a complex of fences northeast of Jerusalem where two Palestinians were killed last week, an elderly man died of a heart attack caused by tear gas inhalation and a fourth Palestinian is in intensive care with a bullet wound in his head. The hearing took place this morning and the Court will again hear the matter next Sunday. The judges issued an order to the IDF to cease work for seven days on all sites where bulldozers worked last week. 

Israeli forces kill 3 Palestinians in extra-judicial execution

Palestinian Center for Human Rights 28 February 2004


An Israeli helicopter gunship launched a missile at a car with three Palestinians near al-Saftawi junction, north of Gaza city. The missile hit the car and destroyed it, killing three passengers and wounding 11 bystanders, including 3 children. A 7-year-old, was described as in critical condition.  A number of neighboring homes and shops were damaged. The three passengers were identified as Mohammed Jouda, Amin al-Dahdouh and Ayman al-Dahdouh. Extra-judicial killings cannot be reconciled with the Fourth Geneva Convention, which seek to protect the lives of protected person.