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One killed, 21 injured in Gaza clashes

2 September 2007


The Gaza Strip saw much tension during the past two days. One Palestinian was killed, 21 were injured and about 60 others arrested in the towns of Rafah and Gaza City. Mass Friday prayers on 31 August 2007 ended with clashes between the Executive Force (EF) and a group of the worshippers, who prayed outside mosques in response to a call from Fatah. In addition, a minor was killed on Saturday, 1 September 2007 as the EF dispersed a vigil that was organized in protest of the prolonged closure of the Rafah Crossing. 

Call to halt EU trade with Israel

David Cronin 3 September 2007


BRUSSELS, Sep 1 (IPS) - Trade between the European Union and Israel should be halted in protest at human rights violations in the Palestinian territories, a United Nations conference has heard. Under a so-called association agreement, Israel currently enjoys free trade in industrial goods, and preferential treatment of farm produce entering the European Union. Luisa Morgantini, a vice-president of the European Parliament, said that her institution has called for this agreement to be suspended. 

UN body: Palestinians under "economic siege"

David Cronin 31 August 2007


BRUSSELS, 31 August (IPS) - Poverty in the Palestinian territories has reached “unprecedented levels” because they have been held under an “economic siege” for almost seven years, a United Nations body has found. During 2006 the number of Palestinians living in “deep poverty” almost doubled to more than 1 million. Some 46 percent of public sector employees do not have enough food to meet their basic needs, with 53 percent of households in Gaza reporting that their incomes declined in the last year by more than half. 

Open door to boycott debate and uphold academic freedom

2 September 2007


While British colleagues prepare to discuss the Palestinian boycott call and consider the implications of normal academic links with the Israeli academy during the coming academic year, a disturbing development has been noted in the United States and Canada. No sooner had the UK’s University and College Union motion deploring the denial of educaitonal rights for Palestinans been passed than dozens of American and Canadian university presidents and rectors rushed to condemn the Union, basing their attacks on mostly false or inaccurate data. 

"How will I care for my children?"

Rami Almeghari Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip 3 September 2007


“May God close the eyes of anyone who attempts to shut down the al-Salah charitable society that provides us our living.” So said Halima Abu ‘Isa, a 45-year-old widow and mother of two in reaction to the decision of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah to close down 103 Palestinian charities. The monthly allowance of 900 shekels (US $230) that Abu ‘Isa receives from al-Salah, an Islamic charity with links to Hamas, is the only thing that stands between her and destitution. EI correspondent Rami Almeghari reports on how the decision will affect her and thousands of other charity-dependant Palestinians. 

Heritage uprooted

Sonja Karkar 3 September 2007


Universally regarded as the symbol of peace, the olive tree has become the object of violence. For more than forty years, Israel has uprooted over one million olive trees and hundreds of thousands of fruit trees in Palestine with terrible economic and ecological consequences for the Palestinian people. Their willful destruction has so threatened Palestinian culture, heritage and identity that the olive tree has now become the symbol of Palestinian steadfastness because of its own rootedness and ability to survive in a land where water is perennially scarce. Sonja Karkar comments for EI. 

Shameless

Osamah Khalil 31 August 2007


Over the past two months a coalition has formed around Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in an attempt to bolster his rule. Desperate to maintain his hold on power, Abbas has chosen to forgo national unity and rely on support from the US and Israel to tighten his hold on the West Bank and target Gaza. Abbas and his benefactors have made it clear to the residents of Gaza that only by abandoning Hamas will the siege be lifted. In the interim, any deaths or starvation, while regrettable, are the requisite price to maintain Abbas’ presidency and the position of his cronies. Osamah Khalil comments for EI. 

PA set to close 103 Palestinian NGOs

29 August 2007


The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) is extremely concerned by the decision taken by the Interior Minister in the Palestinian Government in Ramallah to dissolve 103 benevolent associations and non-governmental organizations alleging administrative, financial, or legal violations. PCHR fears that this step is taken within the context of recent restrictions placed on civil society to undermine its role and restrict its work under the “State of Emergency” declared on 14 June 2007 in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. 

Not another international force

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 29 August 2007


CAIRO, 27 August (IPS) - Since the Gaza Strip was taken over by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas in June, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has twice appealed for the deployment of an “international force” to the troubled territory. But with international contingents already deployed in hotspots from Lebanon to Afghanistan, some observers see the trend as a challenge to principles of national sovereignty. “The phenomenon represents a return of the region to the foreign colonialism of days past, albeit in a new, internationalized form,” Abdel-Halim Kandil, political analyst and former editor-in-chief of opposition weekly al-Karama told IPS. 

Audio: Crossing the Line interviews ARIJ director Jad Isaac

29 August 2007


This week on Crossing The Line: Host Christopher Brown speaks to Jad Isaac the director of the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ), a Palestinian environmental non-governmental organization based in Bethlehem, about the crucial issue of water and how the Israelis have continually denied Palestinians access to a life source that they desperately need. Next, Brown speaks with Nachy Kanfer a Canadian-American environmental activist about the need for Palestinians to determine their own destiny with regards to Palestine’s natural resources.