30 May 2008
The matrix of vulnerabilities that attend this state of statelessness raises an obvious question: if the Nakba is still in progress, then how will it end? Few people believe Annapolis holds the answer. As Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently admitted, “Nothing has been achieved in the negotiations with Israel yet.” Sharif Hamadeh comments. Read more about From the Nakba to Absurdistan
30 May 2008
Palestinian-American journalist and EI co-founder, Ali Abunimah joins host Antony Funnell on Australian Radio, ABC, and discusses visibility in the media and the preconceptions and stereotyping that tag some people as less than desirable and see others ignored altogether. Read more about Australian national radio discusses Palestine coverage in the media
30 May 2008
From the veranda of his home up on the hillside, Hassan Abed Hassan Jermeh looks out over his village, fertile green fields, and all the way over to the mountains across the border in Jordan. Village elder since 1995, he is intimately familiar with the challenges facing Palestinians in the Jordan Valley. Ben White writes for EI about the continued ethnic cleansing happening in this crucial area of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Read more about The Jordan Valley's forgotten Palestinians
28 May 2008
“They came at four in the morning with two bulldozers, and they left before 8:00am. I own this chicken farm with my three brothers, and we worked day and night for 18 years to build up our business. The Israelis destroyed everything in less than four hours.” Nasser Jaber’s chicken farm was bulldozed by the Israeli Occupation Forces 10 days ago, in the early morning hours of 16 May, while he was sleeping at home in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Read more about "Now we have nothing left"
28 May 2008
As US President George W. Bush sang his messianic “happy birthday” speech to the Israeli Knesset, 50,000 or so demonstrators calling for the rightful return of the Palestinian refugees crammed into Ramallah’s Manara Square. Just a few meters away from the mass demonstration, the Baladna Cultural Center opened its contribution to the Nakba commemoration events: a three-day exhibit entitled From the Scent of Bil’in’s Wall. The exhibit closed on 17 May, and we were the first guests that day. Read more about Ramallah commemorates the ongoing Nakba
27 May 2008
The following is a 25 May 2008 open letter to filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard endorsed by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and a list of Palestinian and Arab filmmakers: Palestinian artists were devastated to learn that you shall visit Israel soon to participate in a film festival in Tel Aviv, despite Israel’s decades-old colonial and racist policies against the indigenous people of Palestine. Read more about "Le petit soldat" dancing on Palestinian graves?
26 May 2008
The Lebanese are deal-struck: in one day, their parliamentarians were to ratify decisions agreed upon in Doha, Qatar that will lead to the installment of a new president, the formation of a national partnership government, and the holding of parliamentary elections in one year’s time under a resurrected electoral law of the 1960s with some amendments. The speed and suddenness of the deal were a direct consequence of the change in the balance of power on the ground in the wake of the Hizballah military operation that exposed the weakness of the loyalist camp. Read more about Meet the Lebanese Press: Deal struck in Doha
26 May 2008
The Palestine Investment Conference held from 21 until 23 May in Bethlehem has incited broad resistance from Palestinian popular organizations. In his invitation to investors appointed Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad wrote, “We are throwing a party and the whole world is invited.” EI contributor Adri Nieuwhof writes. Read more about Salam Fayyad's cynical party
25 May 2008
Since Israel’s foundational belief is that Jewish people can only be safe in an exclusively Jewish state, Israel’s charter is simple. Israel is required to maintain itself as a safe haven for all Jewish people. Based on their past experience and national and religious narratives Jewish people deeply believe that it’s only a matter of time before the tide once again turns against them. Read more about A change needs to come
23 May 2008
CAIRO, 23 May (IPS) - On his trip to the region this week, US President George W. Bush dismayed even his staunchest Arab allies by expressing unprecedented levels of US support for Israel. In a rare sign of Egyptian displeasure with Washington, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak left a major economic summit before Bush had a chance to deliver a scheduled address. Read more about Egypt takes a step back from Bush embrace