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Displaced Allawis find little relief in impoverished north

6 August 2008


HISA, AKKAR (IRIN) - They may have been uprooted “more than 40 times” over the years since Lebanon’s Civil War began in 1975, but Hussein Mohammed and his family say they have rarely felt as threatened as they do today. “When Israel did air strikes [in 2006] they dropped leaflets warning us to leave the village. These Salafis are trying to drive us out of the country,” said Mohammed, a member of the Allawi sect. 

Crossing the Line focuses on Obama's trip to the Middle East

6 August 2008


This week on Crossing The Line: Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama recently wrapped up a tour of the Middle East during which he assured Israelis that the United States will always be their friend and reaffirmed the “special relationship” between the two countries. But as Obama made visits to Jerusalem, the southern Israeli town of Sderot and a brief stop in Ramallah, he neglected to mention Israel’s ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories. Host Naji Ali speaks with Bruce Dixon, investigative journalist and managing editor of Black Agenda Report, about Obama’s tour and his blindness to Israeli apartheid. 

Book review: "Thinking Palestine"

Raymond Deane 6 August 2008


Because its contributors — sociologists, historians, legal experts and cultural critics — work from within an activist perspective, the new volume Thinking Palestine should be read closely by serious pro-Palestinian activists wishing to sharpen their conceptual tools in the ceaseless battle against Zionist propaganda. Raymond Deane reviews for The Electronic Intifada. 

Truth and consequences under the Israeli occupation

Mohammed Omer 5 August 2008


I am a Palestinian journalist from Gaza. At the age of 17, I armed myself with a camera and a pen, committed to report accurately on events in Gaza. I have filed reports as Israeli fighter jets bombed Gaza City. I have been recognized for my reporting, even in the United States and United Kingdom, where I have won two international awards. I have also been beaten and tortured by Israeli soldiers. Mohammed Omer comments. 

Olmert's departure: The perfect alibi

Hasan Abu Nimah 6 August 2008


The conventional wisdom quickly developed among peace process industry analysts that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s departure would be a “setback” for ongoing negotiations with the Ramallah Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, endangering the much-touted goal announced at last November’s Annapolis summit of reaching a final agreement by the end of this year. However, Hasan Abu Nimah comments, there is not a peace process to mourn. 

In Israel, married but without rights

5 August 2008


BEERSHEBA/JAFFA (IRIN) - Some 15,000 Palestinians who married Israeli citizens in the past decade are illegal or temporary residents. Their lives and those of their families have become “unstable,” according to non-governmental organizations. “Many families are being forced to live underground,” said Orna Cohen, an attorney from Adalah, an Israeli rights group fighting the ban on “family unifications” (mixed marriages involving Palestinians or some other Arabs) in Israel. 

Environmentalists concerned over Dead Sea canal plans

4 August 2008


HERZELIYA (IRIN) - Environmental groups have expressed concern about plans to build a canal between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea — transferring water from the former to save the latter. They say not enough research has been done and alternative options have not been checked. “We are concerned about what will happen to the Dead Sea when this amount of marine water is pumped into it,” said Gidon Bromberg of Friends of the Earth Middle East, at a 30 July public hearing organized by the World Bank in Herziliya, which followed two others in Ramallah and Amman. 

Gaza organizations caught in the crossfire

Rami Almeghari Gaza Strip 4 August 2008


In the past two weeks, the Hamas-dominated interior ministry in Gaza has closed scores of Gaza-based non-governmental organizations. According to Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza City, the Hamas-dominated government has closed 179 institutions in Gaza, including those providing services to women, children and people with disabilities. The Electronic Intifada correspondent Rami Almeghari reports.