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The Myth of Unilateralism and Convergence

Am Johal 2 June 2006


What Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is attempting to pull off through unilateralism is historically unprecedented – to take a disputed territory and mark its own borders without taking in to account historical aspirations or negotiations. Convergence is a public relations term rather than something to be taken as seriously as diplomacy. It will more than likely perpetuate the vicious circle which has gone on since 1993 and could stoke the fires of a third intifada. 

How Olmert conned Washington over convergence

Jonathan Cook 1 June 2006


Israelis have a word for it: “hasbara”. It is often misleadingly translated as “advocacy for Israel”. But what the word signifies more deeply for Israel’s supporters is the duty, when the truth would be damaging, to dissemble or to disseminate misinformation to protect the interests of Israel as a Jewish state — that is, a state with an unassailable Jewish majority. If hasbara is expected of the lowliest members of Israel’s international fan club, it is a duty of the first order for the country’s prime minister. 

The Hamas Government Should be Recognized

Tanya Reinhart 31 May 2006


The U.S. and Europe decided, despite Israel’s opposition, to permit the Palestinian people to hold democratic elections. According to Jimmy Carter’s report in the “Herald Tribune”, the elections were “honest, fair, strongly contested, without violence and with the results accepted by winners and losers. Among the 62 elections that have been monitored by… the Carter Center, these are among the best in portraying the will of the people.” In a just and well-ordered world, it would be unthinkable for a government that was elected in this way to be disqualified because Israel does not like the choice of the electorate in question. 

"Three Arab Painters in New York" to open in New York City

Maymanah Farhat 31 May 2006


Three Arab Painters in New York is an art exhibition that features the work of three leading New York-based Arab painters. Samia Halaby, Sumayyah Samaha and Athir Shayota have been contributing to contemporary American art for decades and have exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the United States. Varied in style, technique, medium, scale and artistic influence, the three present a glimpse into the diverse and complex nature of the Arab World’s art and visual culture. 

2 Citizens Killed by Gunmen in Nablus

31 May 2006


Yesterday evening, Jefal Mahmoud Ayesh (25) and Wedad Ghazi Abu Mustafa (28), from Balata refugee camp near Nablus, were extra-judicially executed in two separate crimes perpetrated by armed Palestinian groups. The perpetrators claimed that the victims had been informants for the Israeli security services. PCHR’s preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 15:30 on Tuesday, 30 May 2006, a number of gunmen from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, shot Jefal Ayesh near the northwestern entrance of Balata refugee camp. 

Gaza artist opens "Fathers" exhibition

Sami Abu Salem 31 May 2006


Mr. Alain Rémy, the French Consul General in Jerusalem, and Moein Sadeq, the deputy general of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquity (MTA) joined many people, including children, to gather under fluttering Palestinian and French flags at the door of the little museum of Qasr Albasha in the old city of Gaza. They gathered not for politics, but to celebrate the new exhibition, “Fathers,” by the Gazan artist Taysir Batniji, hosted at the museum under the patronage of the French Cultural Centre (CCF) and the MTA. 

Israeli Authorities Deport Al-Haq Human Rights Defender

31 May 2006


In the late afternoon of 28 May 2005, Al-Haq human rights defender and American citizen Maureen Murphy arrived at Ben Gurion airport in Israel, on her way back from the USA to Ramallah in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). She was questioned, denied entry into Israel, declared persona non grata and deported on a plane at 00:55 am on 29 May. Maureen’s case is emblematic of an increasing pattern of international human rights defenders being denied access to the OPT. EI Note: Maureen Clare Murphy is arts editor of the Electronic Intifada. 

Academic Boycott: Shin Bet training program highlights academic complicity with occupation

Jonathan Cook 31 May 2006


The Shin Bet is possibly best known for its interrogation methods when extracting confessions from detainees. As Kimmerling notes, the most likely result will be a “professional studies” programme relating to the Shin Bet’s work. Such arrangements are nothing new in Israeli academia, Kimmerling points out. There are strong ties between the universities and the defence industry because “some university staff join academia after [military] service and careers in the defense establishment, and not all of them manage to ‘go civilian’.” 

Ehud Olmert's "convergence plan"

Angela Godfrey-Goldstein 29 May 2006


Of the 250,000 Israeli citizens living in over a hundred West Bank settlements, (not counting 200,000 settlers in occupied East Jerusalem), only one-third will face evacuation, says Leggett. “Many may be offered relocation to the large settlement blocs Israel plans to retain. … Perhaps the most sensitive issue will be the question of Jerusalem. Palestinians claim the city as their future capital and say that must be reflected in any resolution to the Mideast’s core conflict. The U.S. has generally supported the Palestinian position during previous peace negotiations.” 

Hamas's militant arm turns to fighting internal chaos

Yasser Abu Moailek 29 May 2006


20 May 2006- For many months now, people assumed that the militant arm of the Islamist movement Hamas, the Ezzeddin Al Qassam Brigades, had stopped its operations by orders of the political echelons of the movement. But recent events in Gaza City demonstrate that, in fact, this militant group is more active than ever. Its agenda, however, has changed. On 23 April, several Brigade members intervened to protect Palestinian Health Minister Basem Naim, from the Hamas-led government, when he was assaulted by several gunmen at his office in Gaza City.