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Handicapped Gaza woman beats the odds

Rami Almeghari Gaza City, Gaza Strip 29 September 2007


At the age of 24, Saeda Alkhaldi, a woman from Gaza City who suffers from polio, restarted her education starting from elementary school until she had her bachelor of arts six years later. Her will made her strong enough to make her way into academic life, despite her disability. Now Saeda is a board and staff member at the Gaza Strip Society for the Disabled, where she is in charge of the women’s activities department. Rami Almeghari reports for EI. 

Why did Israel attack Syria?

Jonathan Cook 27 September 2007


Israel’s air strike on northern Syria should be understood in the context of events unfolding since its assault last summer on Lebanon. Although little more than rumors have been offered about what took place, one strategic forecasting group, Stratfor, still concluded: “Something important happened.” From the leaks so far, it seems that more than half a dozen Israeli warplanes violated Syrian airspace to drop munitions on a site close to the border with Turkey. We also know from the US media that the “something” occurred in close coordination with the White House. But, EI contributor Jonathan Cook asks, what was the purpose and significance of the attack? 

Israel kills 11 Palestinians in Gaza in nine hours

27 September 2007


Israeli Occupation Forces committed several crimes in the Gaza Strip over the past few hours, which left 11 Palestinians dead, including a child, and injured 33 others, five of them seriously. Some of the injured suffered amputation of limbs. Five of the victims were killed in an extra-judicial execution in Gaza City. The remaining six victims were killed in Beit Hanoun by aerial and land bombardment during an incursion into the town. 

West Bank camp incursion causes destruction, fear

26 September 2007


EIN BEIT ALMA, 26 September (IRIN) - Residents of the Ein Beit Alma refugee camp began to pick up the pieces after an intense Israeli military incursion last week left dozens homeless, and many very frightened, especially children. The fighting with Palestinian militants also caused damage to sewer systems, residents said. Muhammed Msaimi, aged 26, hid for over a day with his wife and three children in the bathroom because of gunfights which took place outside their apartment. 

Audio: Crossing the Line interviews author Joel Kovel

25 September 2007


This week on Crossing The Line: In part one of a two part series, host Christopher Brown speaks with Joel Kovel, scholar, lecturer and author of the book Overcoming Zionism: Creating a Democratic State In Israel/Palestine. Kovel discusses the misconception of Zionism as a socially just movement to create a Jewish utopia in Palestine, which in reality has proven itself as a racist construct designed so that one group of people can rule over another. Kovel adds that Zionism has polluted its own people and its allies, mainly the United States, into believing that the land of Palestine was pre-ordained for the Jews by God. 

Arab poetry's sometimes subversive answer to "American Idol"

Saifedean Ammous 24 September 2007


Imagine an American TV network deciding to take the American Idol format and apply it to poetry: lining up poets to read their poems in front of temperamental judges while the nation gets out its mobile phones to vote for its favorite poet. One can be sure the show would not survive the first commercial break before the chastened executives pull the plug on it and replace it with yet another series on the Life and Times of Nicole Ritchie. Yet, that was exactly the formula for the latest TV sensation to take Arab countries by storm. 

Border impasse arises again

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 24 September 2007


CAIRO, 24 September (IPS) - The border crisis that had appeared to subside last month is back, with an estimated 2,000 Palestinians marooned on Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip. A new security arrangement between Cairo, Tel Aviv and the Palestinian Authority (PA) has effectively sealed the last sovereign transit point in or out of the troubled territory, which has been governed by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas since mid-June. 

Bush peace confab a swan dive or belly flop?

Khody Akhavi 24 September 2007


WASHINGTON, 21 September (IPS) - This past summer, President George W. Bush extended a hand where he never has before, calling for a Middle East conference to find a solution to the long-moribund Palestinian-Israeli peace process. This time, says US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, her boss expects results. Yet as with most of Washington’s diplomatic overtures to the region over the last seven years, Bush’s recent demands for a “viable Palestinian state” — which critics argue simply aim to spit-shine an already tarnished presidential legacy — may crumble under the weight of stark realities on the ground. 

Israel declares Gaza "enemy entity"

23 September 2007


Al-Haq is deeply concerned by the Israeli security cabinet’s unanimous decision on Wednesday, 19 September to declare the Gaza Strip an “enemy entity,” ostensibly paving the way for the imposition of collective penalties on the 1.5 million Palestinian civilians living in the Gaza Strip. These include intensifying the already severe border closures, limiting the provision of essential supplies, and dramatically reducing the supply of electricity, all of which will exacerbate the existing dire humanitarian crisis. 

The tide is turning

Angela Godfrey-Goldstein 23 September 2007


For the sake of both Israel and the Palestinians, we must save Israel from itself. Living in South Africa under apartheid, I saw boycott efforts encourage public awareness, apply pressure and state disapproval for the government’s racist policies. Israeli historian Ilan Pappe has said boycotts “will not change positions in a day, but they will send a clear message to the Israeli public that these positions are racist and unacceptable … They would have to choose.” Angela Goldfrey-Goldstein comments.