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Oslo's baleful legacy

Nimer Sultany 16 June 2007


The Oslo endless fruitless negotiations peace process has created an ambiguous situation: the Palestinians are caught somewhere between state-building and liberation struggle without being or having either. As a result they bear the responsibilities of freedom without actually enjoying freedom. The world looks at them as if they were in a postcolonial stage while the colonialists are still around. Additionally, the Oslo process has transformed the Palestinian revolutionary project into a corrupted comprador class that enjoys some benefits from the occupier. 

Audio/Transcript: Ali Abunimah and Laila El-Haddad on the situation in Gaza

15 June 2007


EI’s Ali Abunimah appeared on Democracy Now!, interviewed by host Amy Goodman, on Friday, 15 June 2007. He was joined by journalist and mother living in Gaza, Laila El-Haddad. Abunimah and El-Haddad discuss the current situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as Hamas takes control over the Gaza Strip. The two discuss US and Israel’s involvement in the recent fighting between Fatah and Hamas which has been commonly referred to as a civil war. 

Forty years of displacement: Interview with Mourid Barghouti

Bill Parry 15 June 2007


Mourid Barghouti was literally completing his final exams for his BA at Cairo University when the 1967 War broke out, an event that marked his exile from Palestine. He wrote the critically acclaimed and award-winning book, I Saw Ramallah, about this period of displacement and his feelings on finally being able to return temporarily to Palestine, visiting the places and homes of people who were part of his first 20 years of life. EI contributor Bill Parry interviews Barghouti on the anniversary of 40 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 

Awaking to a different Gaza

Philip Rizk Gaza City, Palestine 15 June 2007


In Gaza people awake today to a new reality. Last night, my host Isa told me military coups were the sort of thing he heard and read about, he never thought he would experience one. Yesterday Gazans did. Although the final Fatah stronghold was still standing by the evening Hamas fighters were already making the rounds in the streets, three and four jeeps at a time, loaded with armed men wearing all black, their faces covered with masks, holding their guns in the air, a few, rather uncomfortably, waving to the people. Philip Rizk writes from Gaza City. 

The case for Norman Finkelstein

Matthew Abraham 15 June 2007


On Friday, 8 June, DePaul University President Dennis Holtschneider announced that he had decided to uphold the university’s tenure and promotion board’s ruling denying outspoken political science professor Norman Finkelstein tenure. In a press release, the president is quoted as saying that academic freedom “is alive and well at DePaul University.” Not surprisingly, the announcement of Finkelstein’s tenure denial has spawned a national discussion. DePaul University Assistant Professor Matthew Abraham comments. 

'EU Placing Palestinians in Debt'

David Cronin 14 June 2007


BRUSSELS, Jun 13 (IPS) - The European Union’s freeze on direct aid to the Palestinian Authority has led to sharp increases in debts owed by families in the West Bank and Gaza, the relief agency Oxfam has alleged. Next week (Jun 18), the EU’s foreign ministers are to discuss the security situation in the Middle East, with particular focus on the recent clashes between the rival Palestinian organisations Fatah and Hamas. Oxfam is calling on the Union’s 27 governments to use the occasion to reverse their 2006 decision to suspend direct aid to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas swept to victory in parliamentary elections. 

36 killed, 250 wounded in 24 hours of Gaza fighting

14 June 2007


Tuesday, 12 June 2007, witnessed the fiercest and bloodiest clashes since the beginning of this latest wave of fighting nearly one week ago. In the past 24 hours, 36 Palestinians have been killed and 250 others have been wounded. The victims include some civilians. Thus, the number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of this latest wave of fighting have increased to 60, and the number of the wounded have mounted to at least 400. These figures include some civilians, including women and children. 

Rights group: End abuse of Palestinians fleeing refugee camp

13 June 2007


The Lebanese army and internal security forces have arbitrarily detained and physically abused some Palestinian men fleeing the fighting in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, Human Rights Watch said today. Since Sunday, more than 340 civilians have fled the camp in northern Lebanon, where fighting between the Lebanese army and the armed group Fatah al-Islam has entered its fourth week. The Lebanese army is interrogating many of the men as they leave the camp, and detaining those suspected of supporting or having information about Fatah al-Islam. 

One-state solution "gaining ground" UN envoy admits

Ali Abunimah 13 June 2007


The one-state solution for Palestine-Israel is “gaining ground,” a senior UN diplomat has admitted in a leaked confidential report. Recently retired UN special envoy Alvaro de Soto wrote “that the combination of [Palestinian Authority] institutional decline and Israeli settlement expansion is creating a growing conviction among Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, as well as some Jews on the far left in Israel that the two State solutiuon’s best days are behind it.” EI cofounder Ali Abunimah analyzes an unreported aspect of De Soto’s leaked end of mission report.