All Content

UN nuclear inspector El Baradei to visit Israel in July

International Atomic Energy Agency 29 April 2004


IAEA Director General ElBaradei will be visiting Israel sometime in the summer, though details have not been finalized. Israel, which has refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and is believed to have up to 200 nuclear weapons, is a Member State of the IAEA and it is six years since he was last there. He would intend to use such a trip to promote non-proliferation and a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East, as well as to discuss bilateral cooperation in nuclear sciences and applications. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

Palestinian Center for Human Rights 29 April 2004


This week Israeli forces killed 18 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 5 children. Ten of the victims were killed in four extrajudicial assassinations. Israeli forces conducted a series of invasions into Palestinian areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In Rafah, Israeli forces demolished 27 homes, more than 300 Palestinians have become homeless. Israeli forces raided homes and arrested dozens of Palestinians. Israel continues to impose the total siege on the occupied Palestinian territories. 

Israel's High Court overturns government ban on press accreditation of Palestinian journalists

Committee to Protect Journalists 26 April 2004


Israel’s High court overturned a sweeping government ban on press accreditation for Palestinian journalists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The court ruled on Sunday, April 25, that Israel’s Government Press Office (GPO) could not impose a blanket restriction on accreditation for Palestinian journalists, and that Palestinian journalists should receive press credentials provided they are given security clearance. The court ruled in response to separate law suits brought by Reuters news agency and the Qatar-based Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera regarding the accreditation of their reporters. 

World Bank launches multi-donor trust fund to support reform program

World Bank 27 April 2004


With the aim of supporting the Palestinian Authority in sustaining public services in the face of a severe fiscal crisis, the World Bank announced today the Public Financial Management Reform Trust Fund. The Reform Fund builds on the successful budget support mechanisms implemented by the European Commission since September 2000 and seeks to mobilize additional donor resources to support the PA’s budget. Per capita income dropped by half since September 2000 and is now approaching $900, nearly half of the Palestinian population is currently living below the poverty line of $2 per day. 

Press conference: Rumsfeld announces new Iraqi leader

28 April 2004


Faced with increasing violence and chaos across Iraq as the June 30 deadline for handing over to an Iraqi government, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld today announced the new Iraqi leader to “help Iraqis make the transition to self-rule and democracy.” The shock move follows the decision last week by the head of the US occupation authority in Iraq, Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, to lift the ban on former members of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath party holding government jobs. BNN Foreign Correspondent Avraham Avinunu reports. 

No Need To Embrace Israel

Iqbal Jassat 28 April 2004


As South Africa celebrates its 10th year of freedom from the repressive policies of apartheid, Israel has intensified its brutal repression of a just cause - now entering 56 years of dispossession and dismemberment. It is strange therefore that a disgruntled former Israeli diplomat in South Africa, has made a desperate effort to ridicule SA’s pro-Palestinian leanings. It is lamentable that Tova Herzl’s term as Israeli ambassador in Pretoria did not teach her any lessons about the stark differences which exist between her country and a post-1994 South Africa. MRN’s Iqbal Jassat comments. 

Can Sharon Win By Force?

Mitchell Plitnick 28 April 2004


For the past decade, political leaders — Israeli, Palestinian, American, European and Arab alike, have had one point of agreement with peace activists around the Israel-Palestine conflict. That was the axiom that “neither side would triumph by force.” But now, the dangerous duo of George Bush in the White House and Ariel Sharon in the Prime Minister’s office has embarked on their attempt to prove this false. Mitchell Plitnick from Jewish Voice for Peace argues that the potential for change remains where it has always been-in the hands of those who need only organize themselves and force their governments to change course, the hands of ordinary Israelis and Americans. 

Ariel Sharon, George W. Bush, "Unilateral Declarations" and International Law

Victor Kattan 28 April 2004


The endorsement of Ariel Sharon’s unilateral plan of disengagement from the Gaza Strip and from parts of the West Bank by US President George W. Bush has angered many Palestinians and inflamed tensions throughout the Arab world. It has also surprised policy makers, diplomats and politicians from the European Union - including Britain, America’s closest ally - who have sought to distance themselves from Bush’s remarks. It prompted a rebuttal from French President Jacques Chirac in Algiers, who described it as a “dangerous and troubling precedent”. Victor Kattan looks at Sharon’s plan in light of international law. 

Drawing Caterpillar Out Of Its Corporate Cocoon: Company Should Examine Its Role in Mideast Violence

Liat Weingart, Valerie Heinonen and Mary Ann McGivern 28 April 2004


On April 14, an American corporation was confronted with the choice of whether or not to examine their role in perpetuating the cycle of violence in the Mideast. An alliance of Catholic nuns and Jewish peace activists teamed up to introduce a shareholder resolution asking Caterpillar, Inc. to conduct an internal investigation to determine if the use of their bulldozers to violate human rights laws goes against corporate policies. In fact, it was the first time ever that a shareholder resolution relating to human rights violations in the occupied territories has been brought before a US corporation. Though the odds against the resolution were tremendous, it still garnered 4% of the vote, enough to be re-introduced next year. 

Rerouting Palestinian transit trade could cut costs, boost savings, says new UNCTAD study

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 22 April 2004


Even with the long seacoast of the Gaza Strip, the occupied Palestinian territory is effectively landlocked and almost completely dependent on Israeli transport facilities for participation in international trade. In addition, Israeli closure policy, security measures and control of the main borders and transport routes render Palestinian trade totally dependent on political and security developments. In a new study, UNCTAD shows that this situation will have to be overcome if the extremely high transport costs of Palestinian trade are to be brought down.