17 March 2010
GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - Nahla (not her real name), aged 30, from Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, said she was physically and mentally abused for more than ten years by her husband before being granted a divorce three months ago. Fear and cultural factors prevented her from seeking help from women’s organizations. Read more about Why violence against Palestinian women is widespread
17 March 2010
Silwan, Occupied East Jerusalem (IPS) - Three thousand heavily armed Israeli security service forces locked down large parts of the Old City of Jerusalem on Tuesday, as battalions of police fired rounds of tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinian protesters in the occupied eastern part of the city. Nearly 40 Palestinians were wounded and treated at nearby hospitals, as 25 were arrested during intense clashes. Read more about Israeli raids targeting children
17 March 2010
Pomegranates and Myrrh is a solid exploration of the walls — internal and external — built up under conditions of extraordinary stress. It’s also about struggle and liberation, both on the personal and political levels. Jimmy Johnson reviews for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Film review: Choreographed struggle in "Pomegranates and Myrrh"
17 March 2010
On 28 January 2010 the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) issued a statement to the Qatari government calling for a boycott of Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (WEDO) and condemning the Qatari Ministry of Culture for hosting the orchestra in Doha. The statement goes so far as to accuse Daniel Barenboim of being an ardent Zionist. Mariam Said comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Barenboim-Said Foundation does not promote normalization
16 March 2010
Nahr al-Bared refugee camp has still not recovered from the devastating war in 2007 during which it was destroyed. The Lebanese army has been keeping a tight grip on the camp and the 20,000 displaced Palestinians who have returned so far. This 30-minute film documents various consequences of the siege on Nahr al-Bared. Merchants and artisans explain their specific problems and a UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) project manager, a project coordinator of the Palestinian-Arab Women League, the president of Nahr al-Bared’s Merchants’ Committee and a researcher provide their views and thoughts on the issue. Read more about Documentary: "Nahr al-Bared: Checkpoints and more"
16 March 2010
JERSUSALEM (IPS) - Israeli riot police and soldiers have, since Friday, sealed off the al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine, restricting entry to women and Palestinian men over 50. Outside the walled Old City, where the al-Aqsa mosque is situated, and in several West Bank villages, clashes were reported. Read more about Israel's actions on the ground proving difficult to spin
15 March 2010
The first session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RTP) was heard in Barcelona, Spain earlier this month. The RTP is a peoples’ legal initiative designed to systematically try key actors responsible for the perpetuation of human rights violations in Palestine. In the frame this time was the European Union (EU). Two days and 21 expert witness testimonies later, the RTP found individual states and the EU as a whole guilty of persistent violations and misconduct with regards to international and internal EU law. Ewa Jasiewicz and Frank Barat comment for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about European Union found guilty at first session of Russell Tribunal
15 March 2010
With unfettered access to Norman Finkelstein during the most dramatic stage of his career, American Radical: the trials of Norman Finkelstein directors David Ridgen and Nicolas Rossier provide a compelling look at one of the most roundly vilified academics in recent American history. Max Blumenthal reviews the new documentary for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Review: Finkelstein's transformation to victim hero in "American Radical"
14 March 2010
They hail from opposite parts of the globe, but they have much in common: Jewish; experts on and passionate defenders of international law; and pummeling bags for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. And the future of the law of war lies at the heart of the campaigns against them. Nadia Hijab comments how the undermining of Richard Goldstone and Richard Falk. Read more about PA's betrayal of human rights defenders the unkindest cut
12 March 2010
We students at Harvard University are disturbed by the racist and inhumane comments of Martin Kramer, Visiting Scholar at the National Security Studies Program at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. We have become even more alarmed that rather than taking a dissociating or even strictly neutral stance against such extremist and hateful statements, the Weatherhead Center issued a defensive response. Read more about Harvard students condemn center's defense of fellow's racist statements