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Kerry Campaign releases Middle East policy seemingly drafted in Tel Aviv

1 July 2004


The Forward, a Jewish weekly newspaper published in New York, reported on June 25th that: Kerry’s campaign is building national and state Jewish leadership teams “comprised of prominent national and local leaders in our communities,” Kerry’s senior adviser on Middle East and Jewish affairs, Jay Footlik, writes in a letter to supporters. The groups will act as surrogates for the campaign at local events and debates. Attached to Footlik’s letter is a document titled “John Kerry: Strengthening Israel’s Security and Bolstering the U.S.-Israel Special Relationship,” which Footlik asks recipients to e-mail “to friends and neighbors, to synagogues, federations, youth groups, sisterhood and brotherhood groups, study groups, to your personal and professional networks.” Read the text of the position paper here. 

81 British Members of Parliament Expresss Human Rights Concerns With Israel's Citizenship and Family Unification Law

1 July 2004


81 British Members of Parliament representing all the major parties have supported an Early Day Motion expressing grave human rights concerns with Israel’s possible decision to renew Israel’s Citizenship and Family Unification Law. The British MP’s wrote “That this House expresses grave concerns that the Israeli Government is due to renew the Citizenship and Family Unification Law in July; notes that the law clearly discriminates against Israeli citizens of Palestinian origin and their spouses by denying Israeli citizenship or residency status to spouses of Israeli citizens who are residents of the West Bank or Gaza”. 

Israeli soldiers shoot at Christian Aid observers

25 June 2004


A Christian Aid delegation has been fired upon by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip. The fact-finding team was visiting Rafah in the south to see the extent of the destruction from last month’s military incursions. The fact-finding team was visiting Rafah in the south to see the extent of the destruction from last month’s military incursions. Sarah Malian, communications officer for the Middle East, says she saw the impact of bullets three meters from where she was standing. ‘We were all very shaken,’ she said. ‘I can’t believe they fired at us. We were clearly civilians. We were surrounded by children at the time.’ 

Anatomy of a Home Demolition

Am Johal 1 July 2004


Arriving in al-Bea’neh the next day, I saw the old man whose home had been torn down beginning to replant new olive trees. Despite the beatings, there was this sense of optimism, regeneration and a sense of the community coming together to respond in a productive way. In the village council office, they discussed the brutal Israeli policy of home demolitions over Arabic coffee and Gauloise cigarettes before setting off on a 2,000 person demonstration with the residents. On the table were tear gas canisters used by the police the day before which were clearly marked that they had been manufactured in the United States. 

UN expert: Occupation, rights violations main source of violence against Palestinian women

24 June 2004


Yakin Ertuerk, the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on violence against women has found: “While the persistent situation of conflict has an adverse impact on the daily lives of Palestinians and Israelis alike, the burden by far falls on the Palestinian people, who have been living under occupation for too long. This has generated an atmosphere of legitimized violence as a method of conflict resolution. As a consequence, an integrated system of violence which disproportionately singles out women in both the public and private spheres has emerged.” 

Vanessa Redgrave makes humanitarian appeal for Gaza and the West Bank

7 July 2004


The actress and human rights activist Vanessa Redgrave has made an appeal to the international community to increase its emergency humanitarian assistance to Palestinians suffering in the occupied Palestinian territory and to the Government of Israel to ease its movement restrictions on UN agencies. Ms Redgrave is making her first ever visit to Palestine, after nearly 30 years of campaigning for peace and justice in the Middle East, as a guest of UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, and as a Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF, the UN’s children’s agency. 

CPJ concerned about Gaza missile attack

30 June 2004


The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned by the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF’s) missile attack in the Gaza Strip on a building that houses several media outlets. According to journalists in Gaza, an Israeli helicopter gunship fired three missiles at the Al-Shawwa Wil Hossary building on Al-Wihda Street just after midnight on June 29. The building contains the offices of several local and international media organizations, including those of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the Qatar-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera, and German television ARD. 

Embarrassing America

Hasan Abu Nimah and Ali Abunimah 30 June 2004


This week, Senator Kerry sent Florida Congressman Robert Wexler to Israel on his behalf. Wexler, a member of the House International Relations Committee and a close ally of the pro-Israel lobby, has been asked by Kerry to formulate the Middle East policy for the Democratic Party platform. During his visit, Wexler is due to meet with Israeli officials, including prime minister Sharon, Benjamin Netanyahu and Shimon Peres, and, bizarrely, the Turkish Ambassador to Israel, but with not a single Palestinian. A June 25 press release from Kerry’s envoy expresses “unequivocal support” for Sharon’s policies. 

World Bank paper urges major easing of Israeli closure measures and stepped-up Palestinian reform efforts

World Bank 24 June 2004


At the request of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Government of Israel (GOI) and the international community, the World Bank has released a paper - Disengagement, the Palestinian Economy and the Settlements - which looks at the potential impact of Israel’s Disengagement Plan on the Palestinian economy. Of itself, Israel’s Disengagement Plan of June 6 will have very little impact on the Palestinian economy, since it proposes only a limited easing of closure. “Disengagement alone,” says James D. Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, “will not alter this dangerous, unsustainable situation. If disengagement is implemented with wisdom and foresight, however, it could make a real difference.” 

The Spiderman-Palestine Connection!

Maureen Clare Murphy 7 July 2004


As soon as he’s done saving New York, perhaps Spiderman can take his act to Palestine, where his uncanny ability to scale high walls will be welcomed by those imprisoned by the concrete barrier walls that enclose Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. After all, Spiderman’s connection to the Middle East is pretty close, considering that Palestinian-born cult-animator Ralph Bakshi, was executive producer of the animated Spiderman series in the late ’60s. Bakshi’s other claims to fame include animating America’s first X-rated animated film Fritz the Cat, directing The Rolling Stone’s video “The Harlem Shuffle,” and inspiring the Comic Book Guy character on the Simpsons.