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The Sabra and Shatila Case in Belgium: A Guide for the Perplexed

Laurie King 16 June 2003

“Reports announcing the death of the case lodged by survivors of the Sabra and Shatila massacre in Belgium have been greatly exaggerated and persistent, but to date, categorically false. For supporters of the growing global campaign against impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity, the good news is that this case is still very much alive, although it has been affected by rulings of the International Court of Justice, wear and tear on Belgium’s bi-lateral ties with the US and Israel, and a global political context that has sharpened debate about war crimes, impunity, and the limitations and requirements of international criminal prosecution.” Laurie King-Irani, North American Coordinator for the International Campaign for Justice for the Victims of Sabra and Shatila, explains recent political and legal twists and turns in the landmark war crimes case in Belgium. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

Palestinian Center for Human Rights 5 June 2003

This week, Israeli forces killed 6 Palestinians, including a child and one killed in another extra-judicial execution in Khan Yunis. Israeli forces conducted a number of raids on Palestinian areas, demolished 17 Palestinian homes and razed more than 80 dunums of agricultural land in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces continued to shell indiscriminately at residential areas and destroyed four homes in its retaliatory campaign against Palestinian families of wanted persons. Israeli forces continued to arbitrarily detain Palestinians and continued its siege on Palestinian towns, villages and refugee camps. 

This is the Israeli 'cease fire,' the Israeli 'goodwill'

Kristen Ess Bethlehem 6 June 2003


I ask him why the Israelis are building more checkpoints at a time when they should be dismantling them. He replies, “When they want to show the would that they are implementing the Road Map, they will show pictures of themselves on the news removing these new checkpoints and the regular ones will remain. They want to trick the world as usual.” Kristen Ess writes from Bethlehem. 

Rafah, home of the strongest people in the world

Lora Gordon Rafah, Gaza 6 June 2003


“It’s past midnight and the only sound is the ceiling fan pushing the muggy summer air around and around, while no matter how hard I wash my skin still retains a faint layer of dirt, dust, and sweat. The fan drowns out the sound of bullets, mostly, so you can sleep in our apartment now cloaked is some illusion of normalcy. We got the fans a couple of weeks ago, when the heat became unbearable and we were feeling rich.” ISM activist Laura Gordon writes from Rafah. 

Thirty-six years of silence

Gordon Murray 6 June 2003


The occupation of Palestine has festered for thirty-six years too long. Despite Canada’s official position that Israel must withdraw from all the land it occupied in 1967, the Canadian government has done nothing as Israel illegally installed entire cities on the territory it stole by force. Now, under the guise of security, the Israeli government is building a multi-billion dollar prison wall that will effectively annex up to 40 per cent of the West Bank, yet Canada remains silent. Gordon Murray from ISM Canada comments. 

Violence, settlements and peace

Ali Abunimah 6 June 2003


President Bush’s summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas in Aqaba, Jordan, ended this week on an upbeat note. But Sharon’s announcement that Israel will dismantle “unauthorized” settler outposts as its contribution to implementing Phase 1 of the “road map,” and his failure to announce a construction freeze in other settlements, is a sign that the initiative will quickly run aground unless Bush forcefully upholds his peace plan, says EI founder Ali Abunimah in a Chicago Tribune commentary. 

Israel teargasses peaceful demonstrators in Nablus

5 June 2003

Israeli Occupation Forces threw tear gas at peaceful demonstrators today at the Huwarra checkpoint outside Nablus. The demonstation primarily comprised of representatives from the medical, educational, legal, journalist, civil and human rights organizations from Nablus along with internationals from the International Solidarity Movement. Several local and international peaceful demonstrators were taken away for medical treatment. 

Appeal from the residents of Qalqiliya

Lands Defense Committees in the District of Qalqiliya, Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, The Palestinian Environment NGO Network (PENGON), Palestinian Farmers Union, Palestinian Farmers Union and The Local and Popular Organizations in the District of Qalqiliya 5 June 2003

“This is an appeal for help and an honor sent from the hearts of thousands of children, women and elders whose trees are being uprooted, whose lands are being razed, whose elders and children are being beaten daily.” The people of Qalqiliya, the Land Defense Committees and the Apartheid Wall Campaign - PENGON, the Farmers Union, and popular and local organizations in Qalqiliya ask for help. 

Doctor Earle's diagnosis

Robert Everett-Green 4 June 2003

“American singer Steve Earle, no stranger to rehab himself, has a few prescriptions for an ailing America,” Robert Everett-Green writes in the Toronto Globe and Mail. “I’m not anti-Semitic, but I am anti-Zionist,” says Earle. “Why do we expect the Palestinians who have lived there for a couple of thousand years to accept that they should be second-class citizens in their own homeland?”