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West Bank maze of movement restrictions

21 November 2007


JERUSALEM, 21 November (IRIN) - Traffic news on the radio in the West Bank is more likely to be about checkpoints and barriers than jams and accidents, as a complex system of controls and permits can make a short journey for work, family or medical reasons into a time-consuming marathon, according to a new UN report. A joint Special Focus by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, released in November, said that only about 18 percent of the people who worked the land are now able to obtain Israeli-issued permits, required to access the zone between the Barrier and the Green Line, Israel’s pre-1967 border. 

"A matter of revenge": Israel denying medical treatment to Gaza

Rami Almeghari Gaza Strip, Palestine 21 November 2007


“We had been waiting for an urgent referral to an outside hospital for the past six days, until he died today,” said Dr. Ismail Yassin Monday, in response to the death of one more patient at the Gaza Children’s Hospital. Tamer al-Yazji, a 12-year-old chicken pox patient, died on Monday on his hospital bed after his referral to an Israeli hospital had been delayed. EI correspondent Rami Almeghari talks to Gaza health care workers and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel about Israel denying Gazans access to health care and the reports of Shabak pressuring patients to inform in exchange for permission to travel. 

Photostory: The month in pictures

21 November 2007


This slideshow is a selection of images from the month of October 2007. The month in pictures is an ongoing feature of the Electronic Intifada. If you have images documenting Palestine, Palestinian life, politics and culture, or of solidarity with Palestine, please email images and captions to photos@electronicintifada.net. 

New Middle East scholars group seen as close to White House

Khody Akhavi 20 November 2007


WASHINGTON, 12 November (IPS) - A small group of Middle East and African studies scholars in the United States has announced the creation of a new professional association to change the direction of scholarship in the field. And it boasts several big name albeit controversial scholars, among them Bernard Lewis and Fouad Ajami, two academics who advised the George W. Bush administration’s policy towards the Middle East. 

Palestinian police using torture in Gaza Strip

Palestinian Center for Human Rights 20 November 2007


The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has received more affidavits from Palestinians who were subjected to beating, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment while in detention by the Palestinian police in the Gaza Strip. PCHR condemns such illegal practices and calls for prosecuting the perpetrators and ensuring that laws that regulate procedures of detention are applied. 

Israel to heart patient: "Go die in Gaza"

20 November 2007


Y.A.H is a 37-year-old heart patient in need of open heart surgery. He was referred to a hospital in Nablus, the West Bank, for surgery. He previously received a permit but was asked by the Israeli General Security Services (Shabak) to provide information on friends of his brother. When he failed to he was returned to Gaza and told “go die in Gaza.” Since then he has no permit. His condition is deteriorating and he is very weak, with breathing difficulties, and is in danger of sudden death at any moment. 

Audio: Crossing the Line focuses on Palestinian political prisoners

19 November 2007


This week on Crossing the Line: There are more than 10,000 Palestinian prisoners currently being held in Israeli jails. Amongst them are 750 administrative detainees who have never been charged or tried for any crime. Israel was the only country in the world where torture was still lawful before it was made illegal by the Israeli high court in 1999. But since the start of the second intifada in 2000, it has been reported that torture is regularly practiced in Israeli detention centers. Host Christopher Brown examines the issue of torture and political prisoners in Israel. 

Israeli closure claims cancer victim

18 November 2007


On the morning of Saturday, 17 November 2007, Na’el Abd al-Rahman Khamis al-Kordi (21), from Sheikh Radwan Quarter in Gaza City, died when his health condition deteriorated after IOF banned him from obtaining a permit for treatment in an Israeli hospital. The victim’s brother, Rami, stated that his brother was diagnosed with cancer about a year and half ago. At the time, the family applied for a permit to treat Na’el in an Israeli hospital. However, the request was denied. 

Meet the Lebanese Press: Eleventh hour politics and social malaise

Hicham Safieddine 18 November 2007


Confused last ditch efforts to “elect” a president by local, regional, and international consensus has thrown Lebanon into new uncertainty with only a few days left before the current president’s term expires. International brokers and kingpins are busy making the rounds domestically and regionally to resolve the deadlock. Following futile attempts to reach a deal amongst the different political leaders, an uneasy consensus relegated the duty of choosing a list of candidates to the Maronite Christian Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir. 

Israel, free speech, and the Oxford Union

Avi Shlaim 19 November 2007


The Oxford Union is one of the world’s most illustrious debating chambers and a bastion of free speech. It was founded in the nineteenth century to uphold the principle of free speech and debate in England at a time when they were being severely curtailed. Recently, however, the Union failed to live up to its lofty ideals. Professor Avi Shlaim recounts how the Union crumbled under pressure from Israel’s kneejerk supporters.