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"What kind of army does this?"

Zachary Wales Birzeit 14 July 2005


On Wednesday night, the relative tranquillity of Birzeit came to an end when two unmarked armoured jeeps rolled lazily into the town center. Three Israeli commandos emerged from one of the vehicles and entered a corner store. “What are you people doing in Birzeit?” the shopkeeper asked. “We’ve come to fight for Israel,” a soldier responded. Although Birzeit is a peaceful village of approximately 5,000 farmers, storekeepers and university students in the hills north of Ramallah, the arrival of the Israeli convoy wasn’t a complete surprise. 

From Montreal to Ein el-Hilweh: Deportation, Destitution & Dignity

Stefan Christoff 13 July 2005


In November 2003 Ahmed Abdel Majeed, a stateless Palestinian born and raised in Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp in southern Lebanon, was deported from Canada. The distance between Montreal and Lebanon stretches thousands of kilometers over oceans and continents, but is only a short distance in Ahmed’s eyes and living memory of an existence shaped by the daily struggle of statelessness. Today Ahmed resides in Ein el-Hilweh, with an estimated 80 000 other stateless Palestinians in the country’s largest refugee camp located on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese city of Saida. 

Kofi Annan speaks with civil society representatives in support of Middle East peace

12 July 2005


“We count on you to remain committed until the Palestinian people realize their aspirations for an independent state, and until Israel and all States in the region can live side by side in a peaceful and prosperous Middle East”, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan told civil society representatives today at the opening of the United Nations International Conference of Civil Society in Support of Middle East Peace. Speaking on Annan’s behalf, Sergei Ordzhonikidze told the meeting that despite some progress on the ground, however, the world community remained concerned about the continuing expansion of settlements, construction of the barrier in the West Bank, and acts of violence, the Secretary-General said. 

Second child from Balata refugee camp dies

12 July 2005


On Monday Balata residents endured their second child martyr’s funeral in five days. Fourteen year old Noor Faris Njem was shot in the head late last Wednesday evening when the Israeli army came to Balata Refugee Camp and, without warning, opened fire on unarmed civilians. Noor (meaning light) was peering round a wall to see if the jeep was still there when a soldier shot him in the top of his head. After the best efforts of medics, he died on Sunday afternoon, the second child to die from injuries inflicted by the Israeli army that night. In retaliation for Noor’s shooting, two sixteen year old fighters lay in wait to fire at the army when they entered the camp. Khalid Mohammed Msyme was shot dead and the other boy is critically injured. 

One year after ICJ ruling, Israel OKs Wall in Jerusalem

Arjan El Fassed 10 July 2005


One year after the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in which it made clear that the construction of the Wall and the settlements were illegal, the Israeli cabinet called for “the immediate completion of the security fence [sic] in the Jerusalem area”. With this decision, Israel, once again, defies international law and the advisory of opinion of the ICJ, backed by the General Assembly of the United Nations, which ruled that Israel should not only immediately stop with its construction, but also begin dismantling them and to pay reparations to those who had lost their property as the result of the Wall’s construction. 

One year on: We are No Longer Able to see the Sun Set

Andrew N. Rubin 9 July 2005


Last year the International Court of Justice issued its opinion on the Wall Israel is constructing in the West Bank. The opinion, argues Andrew Rubin, should open up other arenas of resistance. Whatever the wall signifies for the precarious political and existential future of Palestinians, one thing is certain: it is part of Israel’s wilful repudiation of Palestinian existence. It is an attempt to make Palestinians physically invisible from the experience of Israeli daily life. New political and legal strategies of resistance may take the forms of various instruments of financial, political and diplomatic pressure, including boycotts, embargoes, human rights taxes, sanctions, and other restrictions on the flow of Israeli capital. 

One year on: Protest against the Wall in Bil'in

Marcy Newman Bilin, Palestine 9 July 2005


Yesterday I woke up early and headed for a small village in the West Bank, outside of Ramallah, called Bil’in. I arrived earlier than I had expected so I wandered around trying to see where the new portion of the Apartheid Wall will be built to encircle this town and imprison its inhabitants. The people in the community created an enormous justice scale with a coffin beneath stating “Rest in Peace.” When we arrived at the bottom of this hill we were met by the Israeli army who were in full riot gear in a line in front of us. They had their weapons pointed at us and there were also quite a few filming us and photographing us. This protest in Bil’in is a weekly occurrence. 

French journalist turned back while trying to enter West Bank

8 July 2005


Reporters Without Borders has condemned the action of the Israeli authorities in turning back French journalist Houda Ibrahim, of Radio France Internationale (RFI), as she tried to cross into the West Bank from Jordan on 3 July 2005. “It is completely unacceptable that a French journalist, who is moreover representing the French government, should be prevented from doing her job, and we call on the Israeli government to explain this arbitrary measure,” the organisation said. Ibrahim flew from Paris to the Jordanian capital of Amman and went overland in a French consulate vehicle to the West Bank border, where she was refused entry into the occupied Palestinian territories. 

Tearing down illegal wall only way to achieve peace

Marcy Newman 9 July 2005


Imagine that you live in the North End, but your grandparents live in the West End of Boise. Imagine that in order to visit them you must confront a 26-foot concrete wall that surrounds each neighborhood and separates you. Imagine that to cross a small break in this wall along Broadway you will be met by soldiers, who will ask to see your passport and who will interrogate you about why you want to visit your family while pointing guns in your face. Imagine that to go to work every day you must pass similar checkpoints, all of which are a cross between airport security and a military zone. This is what life is like for me right now living in the Palestinian Occupied Territories. 

One year on: Palestinian civil society calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions

9 July 2005


One year after the ICJ ruling on the Wall, Palestinian civil society calls upon international civil society organisations and individuals to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era. Palestinian civil society organisations appeal to them to pressure their respective governments to impose embargoes and sanctions against Israel. These non-violent punitive measures should be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law.