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Economist: Main reason for UN inaction against Israel glossed over

Nigel Parry and Ali Abunimah 12 December 2002

The Reuters article “Double standards” that appeared in the Oct 10th edition of the Economist was been widely circulated and lauded by pro-Israeli media monitoring groups as “seminal” (Honest Reporting, Oct 17) and “highly informative and balanced” (CAMERA alert, Oct 16). This dubious praise was only garnered because the article avoided a rather important fact… 

A Day in the Life of Jenin Refugee Camp

Annie Higgins Jenin 12 December 2002

This was the third and final day of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday concluding Ramadan. I awoke at the home of a family where twin sons had been killed on separate occasions in the last two months. The rest of the children make the home boisterous. I heard the cries of Allahu Akbar, the funeral parade for a boy from the neighbouring village of Sili who had been killed the night before. Annie Higgins writes from Jenin Refugee Camp. 

NPR confuses irresponsible speculation for hard news

Ali Abunimah 12 December 2002

NPR demonstrated a complete lack of skepticism about a report in the Washington Post citing shadowy and anonymous government sources claiming that Lebanon-based Al-Qaida-lined extremists obtained a deadly chemical weapon from Iraq. By failing to ask any hard questions, NPR served essentially as a transcription service for the government, rather than as an independent source of news and analysis. EI’s Ali Abunimah explains. 

Anonymous sources fueling push for war

Douglas Turner 12 December 2002

Journalists and media organizations have abdicated their role of providing an independent alternative source of information and have too often slumped toward over-reliance on anonymous government sources. Almost every reporter uses anonymous sources. But it is a rare reporter or editor who will repeatedly use this device to convey information that might help start a war. Writing in The Buffalo News, Douglas Turner is alarmed by increasing examples of careless use of anonymous sources, with the result that the public is often grossly misled about fundamental issues of life and death. 

Oscars' double standard turns Palestinian film into refugee

Benjamin J Doherty and Ali Abunimah 10 December 2002


Above: Elia Suleiman in the director’s chair. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences operates a double standard that may have kept Elia Suleiman’s award-winning feature film “Divine Intervention” out of the competition for the Oscars, EI has learned. The film, a dark comedy about a love affair between two people on opposite sides of an Israeli military checkpoint, won a prestigious jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and the European Film Award. EI’s Ali Abunimah and Benjamin Doherty investigate. 

Human Rights Day: Addameer on Palestinian detainees

Addameer 10 December 2002


On this year’s Human Rights Day, over 6000 Palestinians languish in Israeli prisons, detained under arbitrary and unjust military regulations, interrogated through torture, and living in subhuman conditions of detention in the various military detention camps both in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as those located illegally within Israel. 

UN's top human rights official urges probe into Israeli raid on Gaza

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) 6 December 2002


Following the killing in Gaza today of ten Palestinians, including two United Nations relief workers, the top UN human rights official, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello, called for an Israeli probe into the recent pattern of serious incidents in the Middle East. 

UN Staff Union again calls for full investigation of recent killings of UNRWA staff

United Nations Staff Union 8 December 2002


In light of the recent attacks, the United Nations Staff Union and its Standing Committee on the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service once again call for a full investigation surrounding the events that led to the killings of three staff member of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).