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Exiles within: Palestinian internal refugees get organized

Isabelle Humphries 6 November 2002

A recent human rights award given by an international cosmetics company, The Body Shop, has focused attention on the struggles of an oft-ignored group of Palestinian refugees: those who are living as exiles inside Israel, where they are officially classified as “Present Absentees.” Isabelle Humphries reports from Nazareth. 

A smaller space each day

Kristen Ess Rafah, Gaza Strip 5 November 2002


A pile of gray cement, once a family’s home, sits next to the street. Directly in front is a small white tent. This is where the family now lives. There is no furniture, no clothes, no family pictures. They are all somewhere under the rubble. Each day at least 6 Palestinian homes are demolished, except Saturday which is a holiday for Israelis. Kristen Ess writes from Rafah, Gaza. 

Deported!

Kathleen Kern 5 November 2002


Peace activist Kathy Kern was recently deported from Ben Gurion airport after arriving for her 11th term of service with the Hebron-based Christian Peacemaker Teams. In this article about the experience, Kathy asks why the Israeli government is afraid of people reporting what it is doing in the Occupied Territories? 

Settlers and Trash

Walid Hamad al-Bireh 5 November 2002


Just as the Israeli occupation to suppress the entire Palestinian population has taken on new shapes and forms in the absence of any international considerations, Israeli settlers are camouflaging this latest round of land confiscation with a facade of environmental issues, namely a solid waste landfill site on the eastern front of the Palestinian West Bank town of Al-Bireh. Walid Hamad, Mayor of Al-Bireh writes about the problem. 

The farmers of Qaffin

Rachel Engler-Stringer Tulkarem, Palestine 4 November 2002

Just after we came home for the evening we received a call informing us that the army was attacking the Tulkarem refugee camp. We also learned that people in the camp had been shot, and there were helicopters circling overhead. Rachel Engler-Stringer reports from Tulkarem. 

AI: Israeli Defence Forces' war crimes must be investigated

Amnesty International 4 November 2002


Israel committed war crimes, including unlawful killings, in Jenin and Nablus during a military offensive in those and other West Bank cities earlier this year, the human rights group Amnesty International said today. In its report, Amnesty said there is “clear evidence that some of the acts committed by the Israel Defense Forces during Operation Defense Shield were war crimes.” 

Israeli general linked to Jenin atrocities named defence chief

Justin Huggler 1 November 2002

A former Israeli army chief who presided over the controversial invasion of Jenin this year, and who is being investigated by Scotland Yard over allegations of war crimes, was named as Israel’s new Defence Minister yesterday, an aide to Ariel Sharon said. Lieutenant-General Shaul Mofaz, who has flown back to Israel after Scotland Yard started investigating him during a fund-raising tour of Britain, had been Chief of Staff for most of the current Palestinian intifada until he retired in July. Justin Huggler writes in The Independent, 

Canadian Foreign Ministry issues warning to naturalized camel jockeys

Laurie King 31 October 2002


Following up on warnings issued yesterday to naturalized Canadian citizens born in Syria, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Pakistan concerning their possible harassment, arrest, detention or deportation should they enter the United States of America, the Canadian Foreign Ministry today issued the following helpful checklist. Officials strongly urge that all Canadians unfortunate enough to have begun their lives as towel heads or camel jockeys consult this list before finalizing travel plans to or through the United States of America.