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UN refugee report: Most protracted and largest of all refugee problems in the world remains unresolved

Arjan El Fassed and Laurie King 26 April 2006


As people return to former war zones, global numbers of refugees are falling. The most protracted and largest of all refugee problems in the world, however, remains unresolved, says UNHCR in a major report on refugees published on Wednesday. UNHCR’s report, “The State of the World’s Refugees: Human Displacement in the New Millennium,” examines the changing dynamics of displacement over the past half decade. In 2001, former UNHCR Commissioner Ruud Lubbers stated that it is neither morallly acceptable nor politically sustainable to ignore the plight of refugees who have been confined to small areas and a legacy of poverty for nearly four generations. 

Ehud Olmert's government accused of cynical maneuvering over "affirmative action" measures

21 April 2006


A fortnight before the elections, the Israeli government announced an “affirmative action” program to reverse discrimination against three groups - Arabs, Ethiopians and disabled people - in recruitment to the civil service.
The measures, announced on March 12 at the weekly cabinet meeting, will include creating 37 and a half jobs a year for the next three years in government ministries to be offered to Arab candidates “whenever possible”. A similar number of existing jobs in the various ministries will be made available to Arab candidates if vacancies arise. 

Land Day protests highlight Israel's continuing attempts at ethnic cleansing

21 April 2006


On 30 March, Palestinians across the Middle East staged demonstrations marking the 30th Land Day. Protests inside Israel have especial poignancy as the tragic event that Land Day commemorates occurred inside Israel, in the Galilee. In March 1976, the Israeli government under Yitzhak Rabin prepared to confiscate a swath of Arab farming land, following decades of similar expropriations, as part of renewed attempts at Judaising the Galilee (making it “more Jewish”). 

Extent of planned attack on Nazareth's Basilica of the Annunciation emerges weeks later

21 April 2006


Some weeks after the event was downplayed by the Israeli media, it was confirmed by police investigations that an attempt by an Israeli family to set off a large explosion in one of the Holy Land’s most sacred Christian sites, the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, had only narrowly been averted. After entering the church, the couple took up position in one corner while their daughter, Odelia, poured petrol on and around them. They then let off the sound bombs to terrify the congregation inside. When a church official tried to approach them, they doused him too in petrol and tried to set him on fire. 

The real meaning of deporting Hamas members of parliament

Jonathan Cook 21 April 2006


The policy of “hitnatkut”, or unilateral disengagement, developed by Ariel Sharon needed a swift facelift following the withdrawal of settlers from Gaza last year. And Israel’s prime minister-designate, Ehud Olmert, has found it in the related concept of “hitkansut”, variously translated as “convergence”, “consolidation” and “ingathering”. So convergence is usefully, and misleadingly, supplanting disengagement. Olmert’s consolidation, it is becoming clear, will embrace Palestinians too. 

Empty Pockets, Growling Stomachs in Gaza

Rami Almeghari 21 April 2006


Food for everybody in the world is a means to survive, to stay alive and maintain a normal, healthy life. But in Palestine, food has become increasingly hard to buy, as groceries and supermarkets have been unable to sustain the debts owed by their local customers. Because of a forced delay of more than 140,000 government employees’ salaries in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the customers have been unable to pay their supermarket tabs. Both grocers and customers have begun to complain about an increasing financial crisis due to such a delay. 

Terror and Occupation in Nablus

Linda Spence Nablus, Palestine 21 April 2006


17 April 2006 — This is just one personal account of a shocking situation I witnessed in in Nablus. In the week I have been here, Nablus and Balata refugee camp have been under regular daily and nightly attack from the IDF. All of the incursions have involved live ammunition, demonstrating little care for the hundreds of civilians in these highly populated areas. We recieved a call at 10 AM to say that a house in the center of Nablus has been occupied by the army, with the family held prisoner inside. 

The Little Mermaid on Highway Six: Rooting for ordinary Israelis to wake up

Deb Reich Palestine 21 April 2006


These are the thoughts that give me no rest, so that when a holiday comes around, as Passover did recently, I am unable to celebrate lightheartedly in the ordinary way. Occasionally, as I did this time, I go through the motions, but it seems obscene, somehow. I haven’t had a normal sort of holiday feeling in years. Lately, I finally figured out why. Going about your business as usual, insofar as possible, is an act of defiance when you’re being oppressed; but when you’re the oppressor, it’s an act of indifference. 

The West's strategy in Palestine will weaken civil society

Iain Guest 20 April 2006


The Palestinian group Hamas lost no time in approving Monday’s terrible suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, thus confirming the worst suspicions of the international community. But Western governments have still taken a huge gamble in withholding aid from the Hamas-controlled Palestinian National Authority. If past experience is any guide, the decision will fuel extremism, create a humanitarian crisis and also undermine Palestinian civil society, which has long been a voice for the rule of law in the Middle East. 

Punishing the Victim: Donors cutting aid to the PA

20 April 2006


Canada and the US, followed by the EU and Japan, have suspended their financial aid to the Palestinian Authority. This came in the wake of the Palestinian legislative council elections that were held last January, the resulting victory of Hamas that secured the movement a parliamentary majority, and the subsequent formation of the Palestinian government. These parties, in an attempt to compensate for their decision to cut aid to the PA, have decided to continue to provide humanitarian assistance through the United Nations and through NGO’s. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights outlines its position.