24 May 2003
After one day of curfew in Ramallah on May 18 and the two following days of complete siege, Israeli occupying forces suddenly opened the checkpoint on Wednesday. However, Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint closed the checkpoint just as suddenly at around 2 pm, trapping hundreds of ordinary citizens, Birzeit faculty staff and students. Read more about Trapped at Surda checkpoint
21 May 2003
This week Israeli forces killed 13 Palestinians, including a woman and three children, two mentally disabled, and two during the raid on Beit Hanoun. Israeli forces demolished 15 homes in Beit Hanoun and razed large areas of agricultural land. In Khan Yunis Israeli forces razed 272 dunums of agricultural land and in Rafah demolished 33 homes. Israeli forces continued indiscriminately shelling Palestinian residential areas, wounding a number of civilians. Israel continued to impose its siege on Palestinian villages and towns and denied movement to civilians, including internationals. Read more about Weekly report on human rights violations
22 May 2003
Silvan Shalom
In a statement published in an Israeli newspaper, the Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs, Silvan Shalom, alleged that Palestinian NGOs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip harbor terrorists. PCHR believes that these comments represent a threat to the work of Palestinian human rights NGOs and contends that the comments are particularly disturbing coming from a senior politician, indicating that they may reflect the official government position. Read more about Israeli Foreign Minister's incitement against Palestinian NGOs
23 May 2003
The long series of Israeli military incursions into the town of Beit Hanoun in the Gaza strip continues and intensifies. The latest gives rise to violent offensive against civilians and their property. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), present in Gaza since the beginning of the Al Aqsa Intifada, deplores the wanton destruction of people’s lives and is alarmed at the medical, psychological and material consequences on local families affected by this disaster. Read more about Beit Hanoun - Attacks against civilians and their property
23 May 2003
“in failing to focus on the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, about to enter its thirty-seventh year, and on Israeli settlements, which underpin that occupation, the road map misses an opportunity to end this conflict. Instead, it concentrates on Palestinian violence and how to combat it—as if it came out of nowhere, and as if, were it to be halted, the situation of occupation and settlement would be normal. This is a reflection of the preponderant US role in the drafting of this document. It is also a sign of why it will probably fail, for official Washington is obsessively fixated on Palestinian violence as the root cause of all the problems between Palestinians and Israelis.” Noted Palestinian-American academic Rashid I. Khalidi takes a jaundiced accounting of the Road Map in the pages of The Nation Read more about Road Map or Road Kill?
17 April 2002
Have you been dissatisfied with the coverage of the Middle-Eastern crisis? Here’s a site that offers views and stories you won’t find in the mainstream press. The site calls itself “A resource for countering myth, distortion, and spin from the Israeli media war machine.” Read more about Website review: Electronic Intifada, Live from Palestine
21 May 2003
On 20 May 2003, RSF voiced its outrage over the violent beating which two clearly identified Palestinian journalists received from Israeli soldiers in Bethlehem. The incident took place during the night of 19 to 20 May. One of the journalists sustained an injury to his right hand that will prevent him from working for some time. Read more about Two Palestinian journalists beaten up by Israeli soldiers
22 May 2003
The Israel Democracy Institute presents its 2003 “Democracy Index” at a conference today. The Index concludes that “Israel is not a substantive democracy” and notes that “more than half (53%) of the Jews in Israel state out loud that they are against full equality for the Arabs; 77% say there should be a Jewish majority on crucial political decisions; less than a third (31%) support having Arab political parties in the government; and the majority (57%) think that the Arabs should be encouraged to emigrate”. EI founders Arjan El Fassed and Nigel Parry report. Read more about Israel discovers that democracy is not an Israeli value
21 May 2003
“Private Jessica Lynch went to Iraq as a soldier loyal to her government. Ms. Corrie went to Gaza to oppose the actions of her government. As a U.S. citizen, she believed she had a special responsibility to defend Palestinians against U.S.-built weapons, purchased with U.S. aid to Israel. In letters home, she described how fresh water was being diverted from Gaza to Israeli settlements, and how death was more normal than life.” Naomi Klein examines the different fates of two young American women who went to war zones in the Middle East, and wonders what it says about the US that one is viewed as a hero while the other is not. Read more about Why two women went to war: Private Lynch and Rachel Corrie
21 May 2003
Ibdaa Dance Troupe, youth performers from Dheisheh refugee camp in Palestine, will be touring the United States this summer. The last time Ibdaa toured the U.S. was in 1999. The tour is sponsered by the Middle East Children’s Alliance. Read more about IBDAA, youth Palestinian dance troup will perform this summer in eight major U.S. cities