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Gaza civil society to UN chief: siege more than "unacceptable"

22 March 2010


UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the blockade of Gaza “unacceptable” on 27 December 2009. Palestinian civil society organizations in Gaza assert that this “constitutes a gross understatement of the actual situation which amounts to slow genocide. Such an understatement suggests that you are trimming your language to accommodate US pro-Israeli policy.” 

The trials of making a film in Gaza

Susan Youssef the Netherlands, Amsterdam 22 March 2010


I am on a plane, on the way back from Palestine to my apartment — a quiet, private place set in rainy Amsterdam. It is there where I will edit my film, a love story set in the Gaza Strip. I have just finished shooting it, the first dramatic feature to be made about Gaza in more than ten years. And it took me seven years of continuous development and fundraising to shoot it. Susan Youssef recounts her experience for The Electronic Intifada. 

Book review: Higher education under occupation

Marcy Newman 19 March 2010


Gabi Baramki’s Peaceful Resistance: Building a Palestinian University under Occupation (Pluto Press, 2009) is a memoir of Palestine’s flagship university, Birzeit, by its former acting president. The memoir is an indispensable tool for teaching Westerners about the ways in which Palestinian education exists and flourishes under a constant state of siege and the barriers to academic freedom that Palestinians experience on a daily basis. Marcy Newman reviews for The Electronic Intifada. 

Storm over Israeli settlements as unreal as the peace process

Hasan Abu Nimah 18 March 2010


Since Israel announced yet another new settlement in occupied East Jerusalem during the visit of US Vice President Joe Biden last week, Israel has been subjected to a storm of criticism from friend and foe alike. Biden was in Jerusalem to show US support for Israel and to launch “proximity talks” between Israel and the Palestinian Authority of Ramallah. Instead the Israeli announcement caused him and the US administration deep embarrassment, prompting several officials to term it an “insult” and an “affront” and to stir talk of the worst crisis in US-Israeli relations in decades. Hasan Abu Nimah comments. 

DFLP's Saleh Zeidan: Obama's speech should become action

Rami Almeghari 18 March 2010


Saleh Zeidan, Gaza-based leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), spoke to The Electronic Intifada correspondent Rami Almeghari about chances for peace in the region following the latest failures and setbacks in United States peace initiatives. This is part of an occasional series of interviews with various political figures and factions in Palestine. 

Time to bury dead ideas about Palestine

Martha Reese 19 March 2010


There is a growing recognition that the Israeli settlement enterprise in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is, in practical terms, irreversible. The two-state solution, which for decades has been characterized as the preferred solution of an amorphous “international consensus” has generally been understood to involve a return to the pre-1967 occupation boundaries (referred to as the green line) with minor territorial adjustments by the parties. By now, even optimists refer to this solution as “unlikely” and “virtually impossible,” while realists recognize that the concept has outlived its usefulness as a political aspiration. Martha Reese comments for The Electronic Intifada.