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Portraits of Palestinian Resistance: Aysar Kamal Abu 'Arra

Rima Merriman Ramallah, Palestine 7 June 2006


With Aysar’s death during the May 24 Israeli raid in Ramallah, Kamal Jamil Qasem (49) of Aqqaba near Jenin buried his second child. The first to die was Fadi, who, at 19, fought with Abu Jandal of Islamic Jihad during the nine-day Israeli attack on Jenin Refugee Camp in April of 2002. He fought against bulldozers, apache helicopters, tanks and heavy machine guns. Aysar, a member of the PA national security forces, was stationed in Ramallah, because he was having trouble getting to Hebron, his original post, as a result of the Israeli check points. 

Portraits of Palestinian Resistance: Ghaleb Rabah 'Allan

Rima Merriman Ramallah, Palestine 7 June 2006


Ghaleb’s father, Rabah (48) worked in Israel as a laborer from 1977 until 2000, when he was no longer allowed to work there. He now has a job in a factory that manufactures solar heating tanks. He has provided well for his large family, his wife Mayada, his two oldest married sons, both waiters in Ramallah and living with him in the family compound. He has one married daughter who lives in Safa. Another is a sophomore at Birzeit University studying psychology. His five youngest children are all in school. 

Portraits of Palestinian Resistance: Ja'far Khaled Betillo

Rima Merriman Ramallah, Palestine 7 June 2006


Ja’far’s father, Khaled, a truck driver and the father of four other sons and two daughters, was in a village called Naleen west of Ramallah when he got the frantic call from one of his neighbors. Ja’far, who had been taking driving lessons in Ramallah in the past few weeks, was there on the afternoon of May 24th for his driving test. To pay the fess of the test, he had just borrowed 350 NIS from his younger brother Hussein (20), a waiter at a restaurant in downtown Ramallah. 

Portraits of Palestinian Resistance: Milad Attallah Abu Al-Arayes

Rima Merriman Ramallah, Palestine 8 June 2006


Refugee Camps all over the West Bank and Gaza are targets of frequent Israeli attacks. Al-Am’ari Refugee Camp, where Milad was born and where he lived with his family (refugees from Jaffa) until he was killed by the Israelis at the age of 19, is no exception. The Camp is on the outskirts of Ramallah and has seen its share of tragedies. Its approximately 6000 refugees are under siege, increasingly unable to provide for themselves. Al-Am’ari camp boasts of its share of Israeli air and land raids, home demolitions, bombs, as well as “wanted”, imprisoned and martyred men, women and children. 

Portraits of Palestinian Resistance: Introduction

Rima Merriman Ramallah, Palestine 8 June 2006


Palestinian resistance to the occupation comes in many shapes and forms, some of which involves armed resistance undertaken by organized groups with various ideologies. These groups are composed of barely trained young men who pit their meager and crude resources against one of the best trained and best equipped military body in the world, the Israeli Occupation Forces. Of the 76 Israeli soldiers who died in 2005, only six were killed as a result of Palestinian attacks. 

Palestine's Defeat?

Sousan Hammad East Jerusalem 7 June 2006


In his book Memory for Forgetfulness, Mahmud Darwish, the eloquent Palestinian poet says, “I bring my search for meaning to a complete stop because the essence of war is to degrade symbols and bring human relations, space, time and the elements back to a state of nature, making us rejoice over water gushing on the road from a broken pipe”. This was written during the Israeli invasion of Beirut in 1982, a time that was very similar to the current situation in Palestine. 

The Right to Live Without Fear

Am Johal 7 June 2006


Lost in the discussion of peace processes, military raids, Qassam rocket fire and unilateralism carried out by the Israeli government for ‘security purposes,’ is the climate of fear that is the defining feature of Israeli and Palestinian life. It does more damage than anything else. The threat of coercion, of bureaucratic reprimand, the hold up of paperwork, the threat of home demolitions and a myriad of other policies force normal people in to silence even when their rights are violated. 

EI speaks about Internal Palestinian Strife on Flashpoints Radio

7 June 2006


Flashpoints Radio hosts Ali Abunimah of electronicIntifada.net for a discussion of “Internal Strife and Continued Attacks in Occupied Palestine.” The referendum called by Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas is supposedly meant to gain public endorsement for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel in all the territories occupied in 1967, as set out in a plan agreed by senior Hamas and Fatah leaders held in Israeli prisons. 

Arab and Jewish Organizations Call on Knesset to Impose Fair Budget

6 June 2006


Today over 30 Arab and Jewish organizations called on all Knesset members to impose a fair budget for Arab Citizens in Israel. The demands included requisitions of 3.5 billion NIS for the Arab Community to be included in 2006 budget. The Mossawa Center for the Rights of Arab Citizens prepared the stipulations of this request, which were also included in a report presented to the Knesset describing the social, financial, and economic realities of the Arab community. 

Nine Injured in Attacks Targeting the Preventive Security Compound and Preventive Security Personnel in the Gaza Strip

6 June 2006


Over the past 24 hours, nine people were injured, including three members of the Preventive Security Apparatus and six civilians, in two separate armed attacks in Khan Yunis and Gaza. At approximately 12:00 on Tuesday, 6 June 2006, unknown assailants fired three rockets at the headquarters of the Preventive Security in the Tal El-Hawa area of Gaza City. Six members of the Preventive Security were injured and were taken to Shifa Hospital for treatment. Information released by the Preventive Security about the incident stated that a number of gunmen fired three 60 millimeter mortars at the headquarters from the east, injuring two Preventive Security personnel and four maintenance workers in the compound.