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Ireland and UNDP assist communities affected by Apartheid Wall

29 December 2003


While a great deal has been said and written about Israel’s Apartheid Wall and its horrendous effects on the lives of many Palestinians, Ireland has formed a partnership with UNDP’s Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People to ease the isolation of small villages and create micro regional planning committees. A total of 238.3 sq km are being isolated between the Green Line and the Apartheid Wall, 57 percent of which is cultivated, mostly with olive trees and field crops. UNDP proposed emergency assistance that aims to address their needs. 

Photostory: Dancing towards freedom

Maureen Clare Murphy 29 December 2003


Comprised of teenagers from the Dheisheh Refugee Camp in the West Bank, the Ibdaa dance troupe performs internationally, has been featured in documentaries, and are no strangers to the press. And while to some this may seem like a glamorous lifestyle, it seems to the performers it’s anything but. Having to repeatedly communicate to American audiences the every day struggles that come with life under military occupation is disheartening when they return to the West Bank to find that the status quo of curfews and human losses continues unabated while the whole world watches. 

Farmers in Gaza struggle to rebuild their lives

22 December 2003


Ahmed Said stands on the rubble of his demolished house, looking out over the wasteland that used to be his farm. He is one of many farmers in Gaza whose land has been bulldozed by Israeli forces since violence between Palestinians and Israelis escalated three years ago. Until August 2002, Ahmed made a living for his wife and eight children by cultivating olive and date trees on his three-acre plot in the central region of the Gaza Strip. But one night, his house and fields were bulldozed by Israeli forces. Since then, he has been living in his brother’s house. 

Child Prisoners Briefing

14 December 2003


While politicians continued to search for a way out of the deadlock of occupation and violence in November, the Israeli army persisted with its strategy of mass detention. Many children were among the Palestinians arrested during the month, and still more are languishing without charges or trial in prisons and detention centres throughout Israel and the occupied territories. Tactics employed by the Israeli army during arrests continue to breach international human rights norms, many children are later tricked or intimidated into confessing to false charges. 

The day after the shooting of peace activists: A lot of fury, a lot of attention

27 December 2003


We just come back from a fiery demonstration — in protest at yesterday’s shooting at peace activists. The story of the seriously-wounded Gil Na’amati continues to make headlines. The 22-year-old kibbutznik had to be raced to hospital after he lost consciousness because of his heavy bleeding. Bothlegs were operated on to remove bullets. Two weeks ago Gil finished his three years of military service. His father reported on TV that what he had seen and had to participate in at the roadblocks in the West Bank had led him to protest. A Gush Shalom press release. 

An account of the shooting of Israeli protestor Gil Na'amati

Dan Shohet 26 December 2003


In the early afternoon today, in the middle of a direct, nonviolent action against the Apartheid system of walls and fences in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli citizen was shot in his leg by soldiers of the Israeli army. Gil Na’amati, whom I hadn’t met until today, was on the front line of Israeli activists who went to the fence to cut it or break it down. I was a few meters behind him, watching the soldiers and helping to take care of the barrier of the road just behind the fence. Israeli student peace activist Dan Shohet recounts what happened. Photos by IWPS. 

Palestine's neglected treasure trove

Laila El-Haddad 27 December 2003


As home to the earliest known human settlements and the world’s holiest cities, historical Palestine is literally a treasure chest of antiquities.  Remnants of Canaanite temples and towns, Byzantine mosaics and monasteries and Mamluk and Ottoman mosques all stand witness to the region’s long and colourful past. Many of the most important archaeological and historical sites are located in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. But years of conflict have left Palestinian antiquities in a sad state and in many cases out of Palestinian control. Al Jazeera reports how archaeology in the occupied territories has become a political matter. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

25 December 2003


This week Israeli forces killed 17 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including a child and an old man. Nine Palestinians were killed during an Israeli invasion of Rafah refugee camp. More than 46 homes were demolished, leaving 800 Palestinians homeless. This week Israeli forces razed more agricultural land and homes were raided. Israel continued the construction of the wall and continued with indiscriminate shelling of residential areas. Israel continued its tight siege on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Two newly-born twins died at an Israeli military checkpoint. 

Israeli forces kill 5 and wound 15 Palestinians in Gaza

25 December 2003


On December 25, Israeli helicopter gunships fired two missiles at a civilian car in northern Gaza city, killing 5 Palestinians and wounding 15 others. Three of the victims in this attack were civilian bystanders. The white Subara was moving on Saftawi street in a busy part of Gaza city. As the car moved down the street, two missiles were fired. The missiles hit the car directly, killing two of three passengers immediately. The third passenger sustained severe injuries. It was the second assassination attempt on one of the passengers. 

Reducing the Palestinians

Joseph Massad 27 December 2003


One of the most important changes that the Oslo process brought about was the de facto transformation, indeed the ultimate corruption, of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, from a liberation movement representing the entire Palestinian people, into a vassal regime called the Palestinian Authority (PA), representing only one third of the Palestinian people, writes EI contributor, Joseph Massad. This has had an immensely deleterious effect on refugees and exiles, and Palestinians living inside Israel’s racial “democracy.”