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Ramattan reporter reaches Gaza on board the Liberty

Sami Abu Salem Gaza Strip 26 August 2008


Tears filled the eyes of Ramattan News Agency’s Head of African Operations Hayyan Jubeh when he caught his first glimpse of the skyline on the coast of Gaza along the horizon of the Mediterranean Sea after a 37-hour voyage launched from Cyprus. Jubeh, 48, a Palestinian filmmaker from Jerusalem, is one of 44 international peace activists on board the ships. Sami Abu Salem writes from the Gaza Strip. 

Palestinian political tensions impacting education sector

25 August 2008


The General Secretariat of General Union of Palestinian Teachers, which is aligned with the Fatah movement, declared a five-day strike at public schools throughout the Gaza Strip to be launched on 24 August, the first day of the new school year, in protest to what it described as “arbitrary decisions” taken by the Ministry of Education of the Gaza government. 

No justice for murdered journalist

Rami Almeghari Gaza Strip 25 August 2008


In Gaza City, scores of journalists participated in a rally condemning an official Israeli statement clearing Israeli soldiers of wrongdoing in the killing of Palestinian journalist Fadel Shana’a. Protesters demanded an international probe and chanted slogans such as “we are keeping up on your path Fadel, as you lay in rest.” EI correspondent Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip. 

A civil war in the making

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 25 August 2008


CAIRO (IPS) - Recent weeks have seen the worst fighting between rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas since the latter’s takeover of the Gaza Strip last summer. Hamas accuses the “treasonous faction” within Fatah — which worked with US military intelligence in last year’s failed bid to destroy the resistance group — of instigating the violence. 

Creating a fact on the ground

Jonathan Cook 25 August 2008


Yehudit Genud hardly feels she is on the frontier of Israel’s settlement project, although the huddle of mobile homes on a wind-swept West Bank hilltop she calls home is controversial even by Israeli standards. Jonathan Cook reports from Migron settlement in the occupied West Bank. 

Israel's weapon of house demolitions

Jill Shaw Beit Hanina, West Bank 25 August 2008


The four-story building in Beit Hanina, a Palestinian neighborhood a few miles north of East Jerusalem, was clearly home to wealth. As our carload of internationals pulled up the small street leading to Abu Majed Eisha’s house at around midnight I noticed several BMWs parked along the way. From what I had learned during my brief time in the West Bank, Palestine, I knew already that this was not going to be an ordinary house demolition. Jill Shaw writes from Beit Hanina. 

Gaza patients continue painful wait for urgent medical treatment

21 August 2008


“I have been sick for more than a year now. Five months ago I was finally diagnosed with cancer of my bladder. I was working at the Islamic University here in Gaza city, but now I am stuck at home, and taking a diet of painkillers.” Ahmed Hisham Abu Shawish is 46 years old, but he looks older. His skin is tinged with grey and he sits slumped forward in his chair. 

Standing up for justice in the Middle East

Ramzi Kysia 20 August 2008


The Free Gaza Movement, a diverse group of international human rights activists from 17 different countries, will soon set sail from Cyprus to Gaza in order to challenge the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. I’m proud to stand with them. Over 170 prominent individuals and organizations have endorsed our efforts, including the Carter Center, former British Cabinet member Clare Short, and Nobel Peace Prize laureates Mairead Maguire and Desmond Tutu. Ramzi Kysia comments. 

Swiss bank excludes company involved with illegal tramway

Adri Nieuwhof 19 August 2008


Palestine solidarity activists based in Basel, Switzerland demanded Bank Sarasin to divest from Veolia Environnement in early June, because of its involvement in the illegal tramway being built by Israel that runs through occupied East Jerusalem. Within a month Bank Sarasin replied with a five-page response, to explain its longstanding practice of assessing its sustainable investments. Adri Nieuwhof reports. 

Failing Darwish's legacy

Sumia Ibrahim 19 August 2008


Last Wednesday’s state funeral in Ramallah for the revered Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, with its excessive military pomp, revealed how far the Palestinian people are from realizing the justice imagined in Darwish’s writing, and was a sad reminder of how the Palestinian Authority helps undermine his people’s struggle. EI contributor Sumia Ibrahim comments from Ramallah.