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Spanish aid worker kidnapped in Gaza

30 October 2006


Unknown gunmen have on Monday afternoon, kidnapped a Spanish aid worker named Roberto Vila Xesto in the central Gaza Strip. Eyewitnesses told Ma’an’s reporter that the Spanish citizen was accompanying another aid worker, Celine Gagne, and an interpreter in a car travelling on Salahaddin Street, in Deir al-Balah in the middle of the Gaza Strip, when a number of gunmen blocked the way and kidnapped him, taking him from the car. Vila Xesto, 34, from Ourense in Galicia, is in Gaza working for the institution “Cooperacion por la Paz” [Cooperation for Peace], which works closely with the International Committee of the Red Cross. 

Gaza's medical lifeline cut by border closures

30 October 2006


Hopes that the single border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt would reopen and bring relief to hundreds of Gazan medical patients have been dashed after reports of an imminent Israeli attack on the border were met by the deployment of thousands of Egyptian troops to the area. Maariv, an Israeli daily newspaper, reported on 27 October that the Israeli government had discovered tunnels allegedly used by Palestinian militants to smuggle weapons from Egypt to the Gaza Strip. It said the Israeli government planned to attack the border region with precision-guided rockets. 

Destruction and displacement hamper vaccination campaign

30 October 2006


The destruction in villages and displacement of residents in southern Lebanon from the recent war posed problems for medical volunteers on the first day of a national emergency polio immunisation campaign for children on Monday. “Usually, we would know exactly where to go to immunise the children,” said nurse Nawal Saab, a member of one of the teams carrying out door-to-door immunisations in Bint Jbeil, 110 km south of Beirut. “This year, because so many houses have been destroyed and so many families have had to move in with relatives, outreach has been rendered more complicated.” 

Photostory: Each Friday in Bil'in

Bill Dienst Bilin, West Bank 29 October 2006


I travel from Ramallah in a group taxi with several activists affiliated with the International Solidarity Movement to the agricultural village of Bil’in. We are here with Israeli activists as well. All of the major Israeli peace and justice groups are with us today, along with prominent members of their leadership. Peace Now (Gush Shalom), Rabbis for Human Rights, Israeli Anarchists against the Wall, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Ta’ayush and There is a Law (Yesh-Din). This latter group was formed to document violence that settlers commit against Palestinians so that they can be prosecuted. 

Is Al-Jazeera International losing its Arab identity?

Khalid Amayreh 29 October 2006


As al-Jazeera Arab satellite television channel is celebrating its tenth anniversary, with achievements unprecedented in the history of Arab media, al-Jazeera International (AJI) which encompasses al-Jazeera.net/English plus the yet-to-be launched al-Jazeera English TV, is slowly but definitely losing its original Arab identity. Indeed, a fleeting look at AJI’s English website these days would be sufficient to make one realize how far and deep the Qatari-based media outlet has departed from its original defining character. 

UN lays out function of office for Palestinians to claim damages from Israeli barrier

27 October 2006


The United Nations has established the institutional framework for a registry of damages incurred by Palestinians to their homes, business and agricultural holdings as result of Israel’s construction of a barrier in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report released today. The purpose of the “Register of Damage” is to document damages for possible future international adjudication, not to settle claims, he said in the report to the UN General Assembly. 

Refusenik Omri Evron: "Why I can't become a soldier in the IDF"

Amir Tibon 28 October 2006


Omri Evron, a 19-year-old from Tel-Aviv, is weeks away from earning his B.A. in ethical philosophy from the Tel-Aviv University. Omri is considered a criminal by Israeli authorities because he refused to enlist to the Israeli military, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). National military service is compulsory for all Jewish citizens of Israel, which means every Jewish Israeli must enlist in the IDF at the age of 18. But Omri Evron decided early on at the age of 16 that he would not become “a soldier in the forces of the occupation”. He reached this decision after many visits to the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT). 

West Bank under lockdown

28 October 2006


The number of roadblocks and checkpoints in the West Bank has risen by 40 per cent since the start of 2006, with 528 permanent and temporary checkpoints and physical roadblocks disrupting all aspects of Palestinian life, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Jerusalem. In addition to stifling Palestinians’ ability to work, these obstacles are causing increasing desperation among the population. “My city is nothing more than a big prison,” said Tamer Mohammed, a 26-year-old Nablus Municipality employee. 

Settlers attack Palestinian olive harvesters, soldiers stand by

26 October 2006


Today (Thursday, October 26), Hashem Abu-Akel from the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron went to harvest his olive trees. Usually settlers prevent him from reaching these trees, so Abu-Akel coordinated his arrival in advance with Israeli security forces. Some 20 minutes before Abu-Akel was to begin work, the soldiers had yet to arrive. B’Tselem called the Israeli DCO in Hebron to warn them that Abu-Akel had no escort. The Deputy Head of the DCO promised that representatives of the Israeli Civil Administration would come to the grove. 

Why I came to Nablus, despite my family's pleas to stay away

Michael Phillips Nablus, West Bank 26 October 2006


When I finished teaching my English class in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Nablus a week ago, the most pressing thing on my mind was getting to an Internet cafe to check my e-mail. It’s impossible to walk the streets of this crowded city without running into someone you know. Had I realized what was in store for me that night, I might have lingered with the friends who insisted I join them for a cup of coffee. Instead, I hurried on my way. But before I could get to the cafe, I was grabbed by two men, forced into a car and driven off.