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Syria is a convenient fallguy for Gemayel's death

Jonathan Cook 26 November 2006


Commentators and columnists are agreed. Pierre Gemayel’s assassination must have been the handiwork of Syria because his Christian Phalangists have been long-time allies of Israel and because, as industry minister, he was one of the leading figures in the Lebanese government’s anti-Syria faction. President Bush thinks so too. Case, apparently, settled. Unlike my colleagues, I do not claim to know who killed Gemayel. Maybe Syria was behind the shooting. Maybe, in Lebanon’s notoriously intrigue-ridden and fractious political system, someone with a grudge against Gemayel — even from within his own party — pulled the trigger. Or maybe, Israel once again flexed the muscles of its long arm in Lebanon. 

The Palestinians: Who's their Mandela?

25 November 2006


An escape from these prisons, to something other than semi-free statelets, is suggested by Ali Abunimah. But it is an escape to Utopia: a single state of Israel/Palestine where lion and lamb nuzzle down together. Impossible, probably. On the other hand, argues Mr Abunimah, if South Africa could break out of seemingly impossible conflict to find peace and reconciliation, why not Israel? Some 5m Jews and some 5m Arabs, including Israel’s sizeable Arab minority, confront each other in land that is controlled, directly or indirectly, by Israel. Splitting the land between them (albeit on a 78% to 22% ratio) seemed a good idea at the time, but its time may have run out. 

Aftermath of the Beit Hanoun Siege and Massacre

Bill Dienst Beit Hanoun, Palestine 26 November 2006


Between the 2nd and 8th of November 2006, the town of Beit Hanoun (population 28,000) was under a siege and blockade by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). Beit Hanoun is located in the Northern Gaza Strip, immediately south of the Apartheid Wall around Gaza and Erez Crossing with Israel. The besieged residents of Beit Hanoun suffered widespread collective punishment, such as a cut off of electricity and water. House to house searches were conducted, and males over the age of 16 years were summarily rounded up, imprisoned and interrogated. Many families were forced to huddle into rooms away from windows because Israeli snipers were on the rooftops killing people. 

One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse

15 October 2006


Peace does not require that both sides share an “agreed narrative” of what happened in 1948, as some commentators have suggested. But, Abunimah urges, “It is unacceptable for a Palestinian to draw on his history of oppression and suffering to justify harming innocent Israeli civilians,” just as it is for an Israeli to use the idea of a covenant between God and Abraham to force Palestinians out of their ancestral home. Indeed, he adds, the success of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland and of Belgian federalism has not hinged on agreed narrative; “changing society,” he writes, “does not require us to forget or revise the past.” 

Carmel Agrexco's UK headquarters in Hayes blockaded

25 November 2006


Early this morning, Palestine solidarity activists blockaded the Israeli Company Carmel Agrexco’s UK headquarters. This was part of a non-violent protest against recurrent breaches of human rights and international law in the occupied territories of Palestine. Carmel is complicit in war crimes under the International Criminal Court Act 2001 (ICC Act). They import fresh produce originating from illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories. The purpose of the protest is to highlight Agrexco’s illegal activity in court. The action follows a legal warning letter to Carmel stating clearly why they are in breach of the law. 

Financial boycott sends Palestinian poverty numbers soaring, finds UN report

24 November 2006


More than 1 million Palestinians, or one in four inhabitants of the occupied territories, are now mired in deep poverty as living standards deteriorate dramatically following the economic boycott of the Palestinian Authority this year, according to a United Nations report released today. The report from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) found that the number of people living in “deep poverty” - defined as an inability to meet basic human consumption needs - soared by 64 per cent during the first half of 2006. An average of 1,069,200 Palestinians now live in deep poverty, up from 650,800 in the second half of last year. 

Arab village of Kammaneh subjected to apartheid policies in Jewish town of Kamoun's master plan

24 November 2006


On 12 November 2006, Adalah submitted a response to a petition filed to the Supreme Court of Israel by residents of the Jewish community town of Kamoun, located in the Galilee in the north of Israel. Adalah filed the response on behalf of residents of the Arab village of Kammaneh (the Kammaneh Local Committee), one of the three named respondents. The residents of Kamoun requested in the petition the cancellation of the master plan for the neighboring village of Kammaneh, unless three demands are met. In its response to the petition, Adalah argued that these demands are racist, and reminiscent of the former apartheid regime in South Africa. 

Security Council, Annan condemn assassination of Lebanese Government minister

21 November 2006


Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council expressed shock and condemnation today at the assassination of Lebanon’s Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, calling for restraint from all sides and urging national unity. In a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr. Annan decried the murder of Mr. Gemayel, “who believed strongly in an independent, democratic and united Lebanon,” and offered his deepest sympathies to the late minister’s family and to the Lebanese Government. Mr. Gemayel died after being shot in his car while travelling through the capital, Beirut. 

Ali Abunimah on One State in Israel/Palestine

Philip Weiss 21 November 2006


I caught Ali Abunimah, the Palestinian/American activist and author of a new book calling for a single Arab and Jewish state in Palestine, at Columbia the other night. Myself, I’m sympathetic to Abunimah’s vision, but I don’t know enough to be sure. One thing I am sure about is his presence: he’s idealistic. He may be a naive and deluded dreamer, fine, but his vibe is, he’s a dreamer, and visionary. Embracing Zionism these days isn’t any fun. Of course it’s true that Zionism was a place of dreams in decades past, but it seems like a lot of the dream has collapsed into a colonialist blind alley. 

Civilians bear brunt of abuses, UN rights chief says

23 November 2006


Wrapping up a visit to the Middle East, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said today that Palestinian and Israeli civilians were the primary victims of the alarming deprivation of human rights in the region. Speaking at the end of a five-day visit to the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel, the High Commissioner said her talks with both civilians on both sides affected by the violence made apparent “their profound sense of frustration and abandonment, including a perception that the international community is not doing enough to protect them.”