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Pariah State: Meeting with the Prime Minister of Palestine

Scott Kennedy Gaza, Palestine 18 December 2006


I first visited Gaza in 1968 and have returned more two dozen times, most recently in April 2002. Since then, Israeli authorities have prevented our visiting Gaza. I was eager to return, to renew friendships and see for myself the changes that have taken place. I also wanted to convey my support for those courageous people who continue to work for human rights, democracy and a political resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They persist despite formidable obstacles and being cut off from visitors. It is imperative, for them as well as for us, that those suffering such extreme isolation not be forgotten and that their voices still be heard. 

EI's Ali Abunimah discusses "One Country" on C-SPAN2's "Book TV"

Book TV 18 December 2006


On 17 December 2006, EI co-founder and One Country author Ali Abunimah appeared on C-Span2’s Book TV. In his book, One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli - Palestinian Impasse, author Ali Abunimah puts forth a proposal to end conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. He believes that the only hope for peace is to move from calls for partitioning toward a one-state solution. Mr. Abunimah discusses the book with Ron Kampeas, Washington bureau chief for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 

Book review: "The Attack: A Novel"

Amal Awad 18 December 2006


Yasmina Khadra is the pseudonym for Mohamed Moulessehoul, a former Algerian army officer who decided to write under his wife’s name to avoid army censorship. He was in Sydney last year for the Writers’ Festival, at which he spoke about his novel The Swallows of Kabul. It was set in Afghanistan, but he confessed that he had never been there before, and I couldn’t help but wonder how he described the land and the atmosphere of oppression. Reading The Attack, I wondered the same thing. While there is little description of surroundings, and Khadra is a very capable writer, I doubted he had ever been there. This doesn’t weaken the book so much as emphasise that his narration is an outsider’s voice. 

Weblogs on Current Effects of Israeli Military on Lebanon

Tadamon! 18 December 2006


Tadamon! Montreal has launched two Weblogs focused on Israeli violations of the U.N. ceasefire and incidents involving cluster bombs, as a contribution to the growing international challenge to Israeli’s ability to defy international law with impunity. In the media-induced amnesia that defines North American political culture, these virtual memories will help track important historical facts, even as political leaders manipulate the public’s weak grasp of history in pursuit of their political agendas. 

Associated Press refuses to explain its low Lebanese death toll

18 December 2006


After a two-month investigation, Arab Media Watch expresses its grave concern at the persistent failure and refusal of the Associated Press to explain how it came up with its curiously low Lebanese death toll from this summer’s Israeli invasion. AP’s figure of 850 is around 30% less than most other sources - including the Lebanese authorities, the UN, human rights groups such as Amnesty International and the International Medical Centre, and much of the media and other newswire services such as Reuters and Agence France Presse - which oscillate around 1,200. This discrepancy of around 350 lives is more than double the total Israeli deaths from the war. 

Imaginary Hugs In Palestine

Rami Almeghari Gaza, Palestine 18 December 2006


Today I am crying alone. My friends Saed from Beit Sahour and Jenka (a very good American woman) are leaving for the States, where Jenka is living. The young couple have decided to leave Palestine, seeking a new life with no military occupation, no Apartheid Wall, no checkpoints, no bypass routes, no restrictions on roads. Saed, Jenka and myself have never seen or met each other in person since we began working together for the past couple of years, even though we all live in the same country, Palestine. But unfortunately for our friendship, the young couple is based in the West Bank and I am in the Gaza Strip. 

Palestinians standing tall

Rima Merriman 18 December 2006


Palestinians of all factions have so far, to their credit, withstood Israeli oppression. They have not given in, nor have they accepted to negotiate Palestinian rights away (“sumood” in Arabic), including the right of return of Palestinian refugees. Their violent outbursts, even those against one another other, have managed to make clear to both the US and Israel that basic Palestinian rights and basic territorial needs will not be cavalierly waived away. The uprising is meant to stand up to the power of Israel to dictate to the Palestinians. Thousands of Palestinian men, women and children are dead or in prison for this cause. 

Palestinian civil war or renewed national aspirations?

Michael F. Brown 18 December 2006


The international community inflicted new suffering on the Palestinians this week. Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu commented on the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza just days before the international community sank to new depths in efforts that seemingly seek to ensure further wretchedness in Gaza. His economic concerns were expressed while noting that Israeli officials have foiled the entry of the fact-finding mission he was leading on behalf of the UN Human Rights Council (a story ignored by both The New York Times and the Washington Post) into the 8 November deaths of 19 Palestinian civilians in Beit Hanoun. 

UN forum on Palestinian rights adopts declaration urging new system to protect civilians

17 December 2006


A United Nations forum on Palestinian rights meeting in Malaysia has adopted a Declaration decrying recent deaths in the Middle East and calling for a new system to protect civilians there. Convened under the auspices of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the meeting adopted the Kuala Lumpur Declaration, which urged the UN to establish in cooperation with the parties a general mechanism for the protection of civilians on the ground. It also called upon the international community, including the members of the Quartet — made up of the UN, United States, Russia and the European Union — to establish a credible and effective third-party monitoring mechanism. 

"I can't believe I'm still alive"

18 December 2006


Twelve-year-old Huda Mohammed al-Awadi is recovering on the fourth floor of Gaza City’s Shifa hospital, after being shot by gunmen on 11 December. Huda, who lives in Gaza City’s Omar Al-Mukhtar Street, was hit in the left leg and right foot by gunfire as she was walking to the Cairo Elementary School in the west of the city during an attack that left three children of a senior member of the Palestinian Fatah movement, Baha Balousheh, and their driver dead. She told IRIN of her fear that she could be killed at any instant in a place where security has virtually disappeared.