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International Court orders proceedings in wall case

18 December 2003


Further to the request by the General Assembly of the United Nations to the International Court of Justice “to urgently render an advisory opinion” on the question of the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the International Court of Justice today made an Order organizing the proceedings. The Court takes all necesssary steps to accelerate the procedure. It fixed 30 January 2004 as deadline before the United Nations and its Member States could submit to the Court written statements. 

Children in Bethlehem under siege

Rifat Odeh Kassis Bethlehem, Palestine 22 December 2003


When his alarm clock goes off every day at 6am, Saif, my 11-year-old son, barely moves his body out of his bed. His mother and I must go to extraordinary lengths to get him up and ready to go to school. This was never the case before. Saif studies in the Lutheran Church School in Beit Sahour, which is also known as the “Shepherds Field” according to the Bible. Located east of Bethlehem, Beit Sahour is the last Christian majority town in Palestine and used to enjoy the reputation of having the smallest percentage of immigration. This is also not the case any more. 

Sharon's Speech: The Decoded Version

Uri Avnery 22 December 2003


He read out the written text of his speech, word for word, without raising his eyes from the page. It was vital for him to stick to the exact wording, since it was an encoded text. It is impossible to decipher it without breaking the code. And it is impossible to break the code without knowing Ariel Sharon very well indeed. So it is no surprise that the flood of interpretations in Israel and abroad was ridiculous. The commentators just did not understand what they had heard. Veteran Israeli peace activist Uri Avery comments. 

Picking Up the Pieces

Melissa Rafah, Gaza Strip 16 December 2003


Where the rubble once filled the streets it has now been pushed to the side, clearing the way for cars and people trying to go on with their daily lives. Everywhere twisted remnants belie their attempts to continue on life as normal. Twisted pieces of metal, once the support of houses, puncture the piles of crumbled, sterile, grey concrete that line the streets. Children play in the bombed out remains of houses where families once lived. Everywhere skeletons of houses remain, here and there one or two walls standing in a pile of debris. Melissa writes from Rafah. 

Who can say 'yes' to the Geneva Accord?

Maher Mughrabi 22 December 2003


A thousand accounts of the accord have preceded it from every point in the political spectrum, not to mention the elaborate sound-and-light show in Geneva itself, with a cast including Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, Lech Walesa and even Richard Dreyfuss. We have learnt to be wary of stage-managed productions, from Clinton, Rabin and Arafat on the White House lawn in 1993 to Bush, Sharon and Abu Mazen in Aqaba in 2003. In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinians are being killed and maimed every day. Time is of the essence. Maher Mughrabi comments from Australia. 

The Geneva Accord and the Right of Return as seen from Al-Baqa'a Refugee Camp

Stefan Christoff 22 December 2003


Al-Baqa’a is Jordan’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, located on the outskirts of Amman and home to more than 100,000 refugees. Many of Al-Baqa’a’s youth are becoming increasingly disenchanted with life at the camp. When you ask about the Geneva Accord on the streets of Al-Baqa’a, people answer with disgusted looks as they see it as nothing but the further dismissal of the history of the Palestinian struggle in its failure to recognize that the right of return for Palestinian refugees. Stefan Christoff reports from Jordan. 

Song of the Land

Toine van Teeffelen Bethlehem, Palestine 18 December 2003


Our house is located close to the mosque of ‘Azza refugee camp and so we hear the muezzin or call to prayer five times a day. Even though the sound is loud, you get used to it and we usually sleep through it in the early morning. During the day Tamer enthusiastically shouts “Akka, Akka,” after hearing the sound of “Allahu Akbar!” He then listens to his own echo. Here in Bethlehem, the prayer calls somewhat differ in time from mosque to mosque. This has the effect that the songs “wave” across the land. Toine van Teeffelen writes about the song of the land. 

When boredom feels like slow death, what is left to lose?

Lora Gordon Rafah, Gaza Strip 20 December 2003


Young men and women out of high school have one of two options: pursue their degree, or get married. For men there is a third option — be lucky enough to connect your way to someone who is high up enough in one of the Palestinian factions to be bribed to find you one of the few jobs that exist, and magically you will be transported into the 15% of people who have found work here. This is the zahag. “Zahag”, an Arabic word for this long, heavy boredom that feels like a slow death. Laura Gordon writes from Rafah. 

Report: Restriction of movement harming Palestinians' health

22 December 2003


According to a new report released today by B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, the IDF violates the right of residents of the Occupied Territories to obtain medical treatment. Dozens of staffed checkpoints and some 600 physical roadblocks have been set up within the West Bank in the framework of Israel’s siege policy. These obstacles to movement restricts the access of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to medical treatment. In 70% of calls to the Red Crescent, the ambulances are unable to reach the patient’s house. 

13 Israeli reservists from elite unit refuse to serve the occupation

21 December 2003


Today 13 Israeli reservists from the Israeli army’s top commando unit, “Sayeret Matkal” announced they would no longer serve in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, reflecting growing unease with Israel’s occupation of Palestine. The reservists, including three officers, made their announcement in a letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. “Sayeret Matkal” is the top commando unit in the Israeli army. In September, Israeli pilots wrote a similar letter, refusing to take part in air strikes on Palestinians living in the occupied territories.