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Film review: Door to the Sun

Jenny Gheith 17 April 2005


Bab el Shams (Door to the Sun) is the most recent cinematic achievement from Egyptian director Yousri Nasrallah. Adapted from the novel by Lebanese writer Elias Khoury, this ambitious film takes on the weighty goal of covering roughly fifty years of Palestinian history, from 1943 to 1994, and centers around the lives of a group of Palestinian refugees. EI film critic Jenny Gheith writes that Nasrallah succeeds in his large-scale recreations of demanding passages in Palestinian history while infusing intimate scenes with a nuanced tenderness. 

Gauging conflict

7 April 2005


Two scholars of the ongoing Israel-Palestine tension visited Ithaca College this week. Israeli educator and journalist Jeremy Maissel gave a public lecture Monday sponsored by Hillel titled. Maissel, who is associated with the Zionist educational organization Melitz, argued points of the conflict from an Israeli perspective. Ali Abunimah, a journalist and commentator on issues in the Middle East, gave a speech on Tuesday sponsored by Students For A Just Peace titled, “Israel and Palestine: Is Peace About to Break Out?” Abunimah, the founder of the Israel-Palestine news site ElectronicIntifada.net, discussed the conflict from a Palestinian perspective. 

Human Rights Commission adopts resolution on Israeli settlements and Israeli practices in occupied territories

15 April 2005


Under its agenda item on the question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine, the Commission adopted a resolution on Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan by a roll-call vote of 39 in favour to two opposed, with 12 abstentions. In the text, the Commission expressed grave concern at the continuing Israeli settlements and related activities, in violation of international law; and demanded that Israel, the occupying power, comply fully with its legal obligations. 

Outgoing World Bank President to serve as special envoy Gaza plan

14 April 2005


Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the appointment of outgoing World Bank President James Wolfensohn to serve as special envoy on behalf of the Middle East Quartet to help coordinate Israel�s disengagement from Gaza and several West Bank settlements. “As Special Envoy for Gaza Disengagement, Mr. Wolfensohn will focus his efforts on two areas: first, Palestinian-Israeli coordination concerning the non-military aspects of the withdrawal, including the disposition of the assets that will be left behind; and second, the revival of the Palestinian economy in the wake of the withdrawal,” Rice said upon announcing Wolfensohn�s appointment April 14. 

Israeli Occupation Forces Invade Nablus

Ray Smith Nablus, Palestine 11 April 2005


Nablus, 11 April 2005 — Early this morning, about two dozen jeeps from the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) assisted by a helicopter entered Nablus and surrounded a house on the Jabal Shamaliya, the northern mountain of the town. During the military operation 15 people were arrested, of whom two remain in custody. Six people were injured and taken to Rafidia Hospital, one of them in serious condition. Although today’s military operation was the largest launched by the IOF during the day for the last few months, it might seem that Nablus is “pacified”. Reality looks different. 

Press sides with Caterpillar's 'right' to sell tools of destruction to human rights violators

Dane Baker 16 April 2005


With activists increasing pressure on Caterpillar to stop supplying the Israeli military with equipment it uses to demolish Palestinian homes and businesses in violation of international law, press accounts surfaced in support of ‘poor’ Caterpillar, ranked #57 in the Fortune 1,000 corporate index with 2004 revenues of some $30 billion. Support for CAT is primarily limited to the second-tier intellectual press, mainly the Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe. Dane Baker reports. 

Israeli army to take no action against officer in journalist's death

14 April 2005


The Israel Defense Forces said today that it would not take disciplinary action against an officer thought responsible for the May 2003 shooting death of British freelance cameraman and film director James Miller in the Gaza Strip. The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disturbed by the decision, which comes one month after the army declined to press criminal charges against the officer. “We are appalled that nearly two years after the death of James Miller, no one has been held accountable,” CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said. “The failure to assign any responsibility for this shocking and unnecessary death reflects an official disregard for the safety of journalists.” 

Lock down in Gaza

Eóin Murray Gaza, Palestine 16 April 2005


We are preparing now for lock down. I have this sense that perhaps a prison guard has in an American high security prison. I’ve seen it in the movies. The prisoners are causing too much trouble and you hear the heavy black boots of the guards stomp down the iron corridors. Then one of them shouts “lock down!” or some other phrase that hides the brutality of what is about to happen. Someone else pulls a huge switch and the sound of metal clanking metal is awesome. That’s the preparation now. The Israeli occupation army is building everywhere. I thought they were mean to be disengaging? Eóin Murray reports from Gaza. 

Academic Boycott and the Israeli Left

Omar Barghouti and Lisa Taraki 15 April 2005


Some of the most committed Israeli opponents of their state’s illegal military occupation of the Palestinian territories have recently expressed serious reservations about, if not strident opposition to, the Palestinian call for boycott of Israel’s academic and cultural institutions. We think that their concerns are worth addressing. Almost all of the publicized reservations we have seen are prefaced with moral support for the right of Palestinians to resist the occupation – nonviolently, most would write – even by calling for boycotts to achieve that goal. 

NYC Activists Call for End of CAT's Support for Israeli Human Rights Abuses

15 April 2005


April 14, 2005, New York, NY - In Manhattan yesterday, sixty human rights activists marked the International Day of Action Against Caterpillar by protesting outside of the Manhattan office of Caterpillar Board member Gail Fosler. Chanting and holding large photos of CAT bulldozers demolishing Palestinian homes and of Rachel Corrie who was killed by a CAT bulldozer in Rafah, activists handed out hundreds of flyers to passersby and individuals leaving Fosler’s office building at 845 3rd Avenue. Fosler, who was attending the CAT shareholder meeting in Chicago, works as a Senior Vice President for The Conference Board in Manhattan.