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Power shortages threaten sewage treatment

22 August 2007


JERUSALEM, 21 August 2007 (IRIN) - If power and fuel shortages continue, a major sewage treatment plant in the Gaza Strip will be unable to operate, causing public health risks, a water and sanitation official said. “Without electricity, we will face a real environmental and humanitarian disaster,” said Munzer Shublak, the head of Coastal Municipalities Water Utilities. He raised concerns that sewage would either end up flowing onto the streets or there might be another overflow of the plant, as occurred in April. 

Israel driving southern Lebanese into Hizballah's arms

Anand Gopal 23 August 2007


MAROUN AL-RAS, Southern Lebanon, 22 August (IPS) - It has been especially difficult for Ali Nasrallah to tend to his garden this time of year. Nasrallah, a 40-year-old construction worker from Taybeh in southern Lebanon, lost his mother, father, brother and sister during last year’s war between Hizballah and Israel. “Every time I water my garden, I remember the atrocity that happened to my family,” he says. “It is a deep wound on my soul.” Almost exactly a year ago, Israeli soldiers arrived at the Nasrallahs’ modest two-floor home. As Ali’s sister stood near the small garden that marks the home’s entrance, the soldiers tossed a grenade at the house, killing her instantly, Nasrallah says. 

Israel kills 12 Gazans, including two children, in 24 hours

22 August 2007


The Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) has escalated its aggression in the Gaza Strip. Twelve Palestinians, including two minors, were killed in Gaza in the past 24 hours. In addition, the Israel’s Naval Forces opened fire at fishermen and arrested eight of them in the town of Rafah today. According to Al Mezan’s field investigations, at approximately 5pm on Monday 20 August 2007, an Israeli air raid targeted a car near the entrance of a former national security site in middle Gaza, killing six. 

In Gaza's darkness, life goes on

Rami Almeghari Gaza Strip 22 August 2007


On Tuesday, Gaza was plunged into complete isolation and darkness as the electricity was cut off. It was like being in the stone age; movement was paralyzed during the day and there was total blackout at night. When there is no power, there is also no water: most houses use electricity to pump water up to their roof tanks. Muhammad, six, and his little sister had to carry water bottles home because they had no household supply. EI’s correspondent in Gaza, Rami Almegari reports. 

Bush could have given Fatah that kiss of death

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 22 August 2007


CAIRO, 21 August (IPS) - Ever since the takeover of Gaza two months ago by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas, Washington and its allies have steadfastly supported the rival Fatah movement headed by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. But public support for Fatah, which has come to be seen by many as a stooge of Washington and Tel Aviv, has dropped off markedly. “Popular support for Abbas and his Fatah party has fallen for several reasons,” Essam al-Arian, a leading member of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood movement told IPS. “For one, Abbas seems prepared to give Israel all the concessions it wants without getting anything in return.” 

The king's pardon

Joe DeVoir Ramallah 21 August 2007


Throughout history there has been a misconception concerning the true nature and influence of power. Many of us recognize correctly that power comes from strength, but where we fail to capture it is in the recognition of its ultimate use. To most of us, power — especially within the context of occupation — is determined by one’s ability to inflict violence unilaterally and with impunity. However, this is wrong. Power, in its ultimate and perhaps most abusive form, is the ability to pardon. Anyone can kill but only the king can pardon — the acceptance of which by the pardoned is the recognition of the king and his power. 

Electricity cuts exacerbate dire situation in Gaza

20 August 2007


Gaza’s only power plant has completely ceased providing power after Israel’s four-day closure of the border crossing through which fuel supplies enter the Strip and the European Union’s freezing of funds. Gazans’ already hard living conditions are expected to rapidly aggravate without proper power supplies. Israel, which has full control of Gaza’s border crossings, has continued its policy of closure, a serious measure of collective punishment against Gaza. Since 2000, it tightened the closures, but completely sealed off the Strip in June and imposed unprecedented restrictions on the movement of people and goods. 

Bedouins demand improved access to health care

20 August 2007


BEERSHEBA, 20 August 2007 (IRIN) - A new legal petition to Israel’s High Court demands the state connect 11 primary health care clinics in the unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev desert to the main power grid in order to provide better health services. The clinics, which were established as a result of previous petitions, use generators, but only during opening hours. Afterwards, the electricity shuts off. 

Audio: Crossing the Line interviews journalist Nora Barrows-Friedman

21 August 2007


This week on Crossing The Line: Host Christopher Brown speaks with Crossing the Line correspondent Nora Barrows-Friedman about the ongoing lack of fair coverage concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Barrows-Friedman, a senior producer with Flashpoints Radio, also speaks about her work with Palestinian youth aiming to “become the media” and tell their own stories of struggle in occupied Palestine. 

Watching Gaza collapse

Yassmin Moor Rafah, Gaza Strip 20 August 2007


Today I went with my cousin’s wife and her children to Gaza’s social welfare office to pick up her monthly paycheck from the government. My cousin was killed last September by an Israeli sniper while he stood in front of his house. Overnight his children and wife became eligible to receive 375 NIS (a little less than $100) a month from the Palestinian government because their father was now a martyr. Yassmin Moor in Gaza writes that this is their third time coming to the office in the last month, because every time they go it’s closed.