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Audio: EI's Abunimah discusses Amman bombings

10 November 2005


Fifty-seven people were killed when bombs exploded at three hotels in Amman, Jordan on 9 November. EI’s Ali Abunimah discussed the attacks on Chicago Public Radio’s Worldview program with Jerome McDonnell. The interview examined possible motives and perpetrators, and their potential impact on Jordan and the region. Abunimah said that no matter who carried out the attacks, whether it was Al-Qa’ida or someone else, many Jordanians are likely to lay at least some of the blame at the doors of US-led invasion of Iraq. 

Givers and Takers: The case of international aid to Palestine

Stuart Reigeluth 10 November 2005


The greatest cause of contemporary Palestinian poverty is, without a doubt, the overwhelming Israeli occupation. International aid has played a pivotal role in attempting to alleviate this recent phenomenon, but many questions persist. Who gives such large amounts of financial assistance to the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT) and who takes from the Palestinian people? What are the donors’ motivations for these monetary injections and how effective has the implementation of these funds been? And why does foreign aid continue to increase while the Palestinian economy continues to stagnate? Such questions are tackled in the new book Aid, Diplomacy and Facts on the Ground; the Case of Palestine. 

WaPSR Delegation Diary 2: The Israeli Peace Movement in Jerusalem

Bill Dienst Palestine 9 November 2005


In March 2005, Dr. Bill Dienst traveled to Palestine and Israel as part of a delegation sponsored by Washington State Physicians for Social Responsibility (WaPSR). The delegation met with prominent Palestinians as well as members of the Israeli peace movement. They also traveled inside the Kiryat Arba’a settlement to hear a prominent member of the settler movement. In the second of a series of articles for EI’s Live from Palestine diaries section, Dr. Dienst describes these meetings. 

The hudna no one wants

Hasan Abu Nimah 11 November 2005


The second hudna (truce) between the Palestinians and their occupiers underlines the staggering and ridiculous state of the so-called “peace process”. Every time an incident occurs, the chorus from all directions can be heard that it “may endanger the peace process.” Nothing much has changed recently, except that the “hudna” has taken the place of the “peace process” in this sterile game. But dealing with them as if they were real has served an important political purpose for those who certainly know better. EI contributor Hasan Abu Nimah says that all the diplo-babble about the truce may be soothing, but blinds us from seeing the cancer grow beyond cure. 

General Assembly continues debate on human rights situation in Palestine

9 November 2005


As the Committee continued its debate on the Special Committee’s work, Israel’s delegate reacted to that body’s report by saying every year, it submitted draft resolutions and reports that were discussed at great length in the Fourth Committee, and every year, the Israeli delegation drew attention to such waste and redundancy for a United Nations budget that was woefully overtaxed. “The only effect of this absurd, indeed shameful, waste of resources is to further undermine the credibility of the United Nations as a relevant, serious and balanced player in the global arena.” Citing recent Israeli “practices”, he said his country had withdrawn its military forces from the Gaza Strip, and evacuated 24 Jewish communities amounting to more than 8,000 people. 

AIPAC Defense Attorneys Strike Back

Eugene Bird 8 November 2005


The presiding judge in the AIPAC espionage case has ruled in a hearing on pre-trial motions that the prosecution can withold certain evidence from defense attorneys because it is in the national interest to do so. The evidence is reported to include hundreds of hours of wiretaps taken over the course of the six year investigation of the Israel lobby. U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis said that he will decide which prosecution evidence the defense should be given access to, and since that is likely to be a lengthy process, he has delayed the trial’s start date from January 2nd to April 25th. U.S. foreign policy on the Middle East has become a revolving door between the lobby and the three major policymakers, the Pentagon, the Department of State, and the national security council. 

Ex-car thief aims to revive business in Gaza

Yasser Abu Moailek 8 November 2005


Abdel Rahman sat on a sand dune near the northern borders of the Gaza Strip, looking around the vast expanses of land that was once the Jewish settlement Eli Sinai. He moved his sight northwards over to the distant Israeli city of Ashkelon, and released a sigh. “This area was my main base of operations. We were very rich, but the fighting brought our business to its knees,” he said. Abdel Rahman once headed a large car theft ring in Gaza. He said he was not afraid of Palestinian and Israeli law enforcements. He said his “business” brought benefits to both sides and supported many families along the way. Stealing Israeli cars and smuggling them to Gaza emerged notably after the signing of the Oslo peace accords in 1993. 

You Are Not Entering Free Gaza

Tom Hill Ramallah, Palestine 25 September 2005


On Sunday I meant to leave the Gaza Strip. This has exactly two exits. The first, the Rafah border crossing to Egypt, was, by Egyptian agreement with Israel, closed for six months when the Israeli army left Gaza - nominally for phantom ‘repairs’, a euphemism for Israeli-Egyptian collusion to forestall be it even the illusion of Palestinian sovereignty over Gaza’s borders. On Sunday morning I received a call: the second exit, the Erez checkpoint into Israel, was also closed, indefinitely, for no stated reason, not only to Palestinians - that would not be news - but to foreigners, too. That Gaza is a prison is a metaphor that suffers from overuse, because it is too literally true to function as metaphors usually do. 

Human rights situation of Palestinians still "dire", General Assembly told

7 November 2005


Despite some positive developments this year in the aftermath of the Sharm el Sheikh summit and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, witness testimony pointed to a dire human rights situation in the Occupied Territories, said the Chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, as the General Assembly’s Fourth Committee met this morning to begin its consideration of the Special Committee’s report. After 37 years of denying access for the Special Committee to the Occupied Territories, Israel should revisit the reasons behind such a refusal. 

The Wall - an obstacle to educating Palestinian youth

Adri Nieuwhof and Jeff Handmaker 7 November 2005


The United Nations Human Rights Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, John Dugard, wrote in a report in August this year, with respect to human rights in the Palestinian territories, that “the quality of education has deteriorated because schools have been obliged to shorten teaching hours as a result of wall gate-opening times. Furthermore, children are forced to drop out of school either to help supplement diminishing family incomes or because their parents can no longer afford to send them to school.” The wall blocks free access to schools on both sides of the wall. Traversing checkpoints on the way to school or university is a burden to both students and teachers.