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Palestinian filmmakers respond in support of cultural boycott

24 October 2006


I have left the Israeli stage, television and cinema as a clear move towards disengaging myself from a society which has narrowed its cultural, political, economic and social activity down to means of oppression, discrimination and humiliation of the Palestinian people. Through my letter I was hoping to call for an open debate to clarify our strategy and tactics, which this Intifada lacks the most - not to gain sympathy and support for myself or for my film. At this point I would like to take the opportunity to call upon my fellow artists and filmmakers to join us in the boycott against those Israeli cultural events and institutions which are supported by the government and which do not take a clear stand against the occupation. I would like to call upon you to join this boycott, which will hopefully expand from the purely artistic and cultural to the academic and financial levels. 

The state of public health in the occupied Palestinian territory

Nadeem Muaddi 17 November 2006


On the morning of 2 November 2006, Israeli military forces seized Palestinian airwaves to declare the Gazan village of Beit Hanoun a closed military zone and order all Palestinians residing in the area to remain indoors. Still recovering from the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s June offensive, “Operation Summer Rain,” residents braced themselves for what appeared to be another looming attack on Palestinian civil society. What they didn’t expect, however, was the week-long siege of brutal force and “reckless disregard” for human life that would eventually claim the lives of nearly 100 Palestinians and injure hundreds more - half of whom were women, children, and other unarmed bystanders. 

"Siddiquine's Harvest": New short film from Southern Lebanon

17 November 2006


A-Films announces a new short film by independent media activists published under the name “Siddiqine’s Harvest”. This video deals with the longterm consequences the Israeli ‘war against Hezbullah’ has for the people and the agriculture of South Lebanon. The short movie “Siddiqine’s Harvest” was produced in the end of September in the southern Lebanese village of Siddiqine. It is the result of a 10-day video-workshop done by indymedia-activists in this hard-hit community. Four young people from the village deal with some major problems Siddiqine is facing after the war. To a large extent, this concerns tobacco agriculture. On one hand, many people were displaced during the war and therefore missed the tobacco harvest, on which a majority of the inhabitants depend. 

Governments at General Assembly must now put civilians before politics

16 November 2006


On the eve of the UN General Assembly’s resumed special session to discuss the deteriorating situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Amnesty International urges all UN member states to put human rights at the top of the agenda and agree concrete action to protect the human rights of all people living in the areas affected by the ongoing crisis. Such concrete action should include independent monitoring of abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law throughout the Occupied Territories and Israel. 

Israeli Lottery offering 1,000 Scholarships Conditioned on Military Service Discriminates against Arab Students

15 November 2006


On 8 November 2006, Adalah wrote, for the second time, to “Mifal Hapayis,” the Israeli Lottery, demanding the cancellation of a plan to award 1,000 scholarships to students who serve in the Israeli army, on the grounds that it discriminates against Arab students, who are exempt from serving in the army, and generally do not do so. Adalah sent the letter after receiving a response from Mifal Hapayis, in which it claimed that placing the criterion of military service in the given context does not constitute discrimination against Arab students. 

A project of dispossession can never be a noble cause

Ahdaf Soueif 17 November 2006


Perhaps because the stakes are now so high, people are once again speaking of the visionary solution: the secular democratic state, a homeland for both Israelis and Palestinians. The Palestinian social scientist Ali Abunimah and the Israeli historian Ilan Pappé’s recent books are the latest to make the case for this. They find hope, as Pappé puts it, in “those sections of Jewish society in Israel that have chosen to let themselves be shaped by human considerations rather than Zionist social engineering.” 

WHO concerned about lack of access to healthcare in occupied Palestine

17 November 2006


WHO is concerned about the rapid deterioration of Palestinians’ equitable access to adequate and effective medical services. This is mainly the result of the Palestinian Ministry of Health’s financial crisis which has followed the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January 2006. The Government of Israel has stopped handing over the tax and customs revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and international donors have suspended direct aid to the Ministry of Health. As a consequence of these measures, the PA has been unable to pay regular salaries since March 2006. 

Nine Israeli human rights organizations speak out about Gaza

17 November 2006


Nine Israeli human rights organizations issued an unprecedented joint call to the international community to ensure human rights in the Gaza Strip. The statement comes in light of the dire humanitarian situation there: Some 80% of the population is extremely poor, living on less than $2 a day. A majority of the population is dependant on food aid from international donors. In the past four months, the Israeli military has killed over 300 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Over half of those killed were unarmed civilians who did not participate in the fighting. Among the dead, 61 were children. About 70% of Gaza’s potential workforce is out of work or without pay. 

Slaughter in the Town of Al Yamoun

Bill Dienst Yamun, Palestine 17 November 2006


Today we are taking direct testimony from victims and witnesses of two separate killing incidents by Israeli Occupation Forces which have recently occurred here in Al Yamoun during the past 16 days. The first one was on 27 October 2006 and the second one was on 7 November 2006. We are in the home of the Hasan Abu Hasan family. On 27 October 2006, during the period of Eid Al Fitr, the celebratory period at the end of Ramadan, Mohammed, age 38, was up on the roof here at his home. He was with his brother, Ra-ef, age 19 hanging laundry to dry before sunrise at approximately 3:30 am. He and his brothers were preparing to go to the mosque for Al Fajr, which is the first Morning Prayer, and a very important occasion during the Eid. 

Impact of the international embargo and the attacks by the Israeli army on Gaza's health status

16 November 2006


Since February 2006, Palestinians have suffered the effects of the international economic embargo ordered by the main western donors after Hamas’s victory in the parli amentary elections of 25 January 2006. The suspension of aid causes extra problems for the Palestinian civilian population, whose living conditions have continued to deteriorate ever more sharply since 2000. In this context, operation “Summer Rain”, launched by the Israeli army on 28 June as a reaction to the kidnapping of a soldier by Palestinian militants, is an additional aggravating factor which increases the risk of destabilising the area and driving the Palestinian Territories into a major humanitaria n crisis.