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Third Committee adopts resolution on Palestinian children

17 November 2004


Returning to its consideration of promotion and protection of the rights of the child, the Third Committee took up the draft on the Situation of and Assistance to Palestinian Children by which it would have the General Assembly express deep concern about the negative consequences, including psychological consequences, of the Israeli military actions for the present and future well-being of Palestinian children. The text has the Assembly demand that Israel respect relevant provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and comply fully with the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.  It also calls upon the international community to provide urgently needed assistance. 

A few locust swarms could cross Gulf of Suez and Red Sea, FAO warns

19 November 2004


The UN Food and Agriculture Agency has alerted Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Saudi Arabia and Sudan of the possibility of a few desert locust swarms arriving from northern Egypt. “It is possible that a small number of locust swarms could arrive in these countries,” said Mahmoud Solh, Director, Plant Production and Protection Division. “Countries should not expect successive waves of swarms like in the Maghreb countries; there is definitely no reason to panic,” he said. FAO called upon countries to look out for any locust swarms and undertake control operations as early as possible. Swarms have now moved further east towards the Sinai, the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea. Locusts have already arrived on the Mediterranean coast of northern Sinai, 100 kilometres west of Gaza. 

Documentary film review: "Mur" (Wall)

Arjan El Fassed 21 November 2004


Winner at festivals in Marseille and Jerusalem, Simone Bitton’s Franco-Israeli “Mur” (Wall), is about Israel’s Apartheid Wall. EI’s Arjan El Fassed saw this documentary during the seventeenth international documentary filmfestival in Amsterdam (Netherlands) which opened on 18 November. Mur (“Wall”) is nominated for the Amnesty International-DOEN Award, one of the awards presented at the festival. After the screening the audience got to ask Bitton some questions. “The moment I heard about the barrier going up, June 2002, I had to make this film,” she said in Cinerama 2 in Amsterdam. 

UN refugee agency appeals for $186 million in emergency relief for Palestine

19 November 2004


The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) today launched a $185.8 million emergency appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). The funding will allow the Agency to carry out crucial relief operations to the 1.6 million refugees in the West Bank and Gaza throughout 2005. This year has seen the worst levels of destruction of the four year intifada, as Israel has employed drastic measures against Palestinian militants firing rockets from Gaza and other security threats. The accelerating levels of demolitions, increasing deaths and injuries, and strict movement restrictions have contributed to ever-growing hardship for the refugee population. Over 2.2 million people in the oPt are now surviving on less than $2 per person per day. 

Acting on four draft resolutions, Palestinian Rights Committee urges action to end Israel's settlement activities

19 November 2004


Meeting formally this morning for the first time since President Yasser Arafat’s death, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People approved four draft resolutions, including one by which the General Assembly would demand the immediate cessation of all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory as well as Israel’s withdrawal from Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. The Committee also considered recent developments in the Middle East. 

Olive oil harvest continues to face challenges for Palestinian farmers

20 November 2004


What petroleum is to Saudi Arabia, olive oil is to Palestine. Olives are a staple crop to the rural Palestinian communities traditionally dependent on agriculture. Olive groves represent over 40% of the cultivated area in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and represent almost 80% of the cultivated fruit trees. Each day during the olive harvesting season here in Palestine the media is full of stories of olive oil farmers and olive pickers being harassed, detained, robbed, violently attacked, critically wounded and in some cases even being shot and killed while attempting to harvest their olives on their own land. In the last four years, Israeli forces have uprooted almost 400,000 olive trees with a value of over US$ 60 million. 

Protest Biased Media Coverage of Palestine and Palestinians

12 November 2004


The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee expresses deep concerned by the alarming hostility expressed by media commentators towards the Palestinian people in the wake of the death of Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat. These comments, with exceptions, contain a surprising array of dehumanizing and overtly racist comments against the Palestinian people.  Comments such as the ones listed below can only be regarded as an incitement to ethnic hatred of the Palestinians. Surely the denigration of an ethnic group, a people who have been living under an ongoing 37-year Israeli military occupation, constitutes a violation of any system of journalistic standards. 

Limited number of child soldiers, all sides implicated

Catherine Hunter 18 November 2004


The volume of children recruited in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains a small fracton of the problem in other conflict zones such as in Africa. A new report stated that both Israeli and Palestinian government forces have been implicated in the misuse of Palestinian children. While the Palestinian Authority has recruited some under-18s for its security forces, the Israeli army and intelligence services have sought to recruit children as informers, often putting pressure on them to collaborate. Israel detaines at least 350 Palestinian children a year. Some of these children have reported torture and are often treated in ways which fall short of standards on juvenile justice. 

EI speaks about Arafat on CounterSpin

19 November 2004


The death of Yaser Arafat was seen by many in the media as a new opportunity for peace in the Middle East. But many outlets took the news as a chance to recycle some very old and discredited charges. What else was notable about the coverage of Arafat’s death? CounterSpin spoke to Ali Abunimah of the website Electronic Intifada. CounterSpin is FAIR’s weekly radio show, hosted by Janine Jackson, Steve Rendall and Peter Hart. It’s heard on more than 125 noncommercial stations across the United States and Canada. MP3 format. 

On the Palestinian Road to Elections: The System

Arjan El Fassed 24 November 2004


The Palestinian Legislative Council has begun making changes in the electoral system. One should expect that those members of the Legislative Council would have learned from mistakes made during the 1996 elections. Again, party politics has driven politicians change the rules to benefit the ruling party. Reviewing the 1996 electoral system, one must expect that people learn from their mistakes. Between 1996 and 1998 EI’s Arjan El Fassed was doing research on institutional design and the choices made by Palestinian officials. Today he looks back at the 1996 elections to draw conclusions for the coming elections.