All Content

Flags in Palestine

Toine van Teeffelen Bethlehem, Palestine 18 November 2004


“I suddenly remember that some twenty years ago, in the 1980s, the Israelis forbade the Palestinians to even color the Palestinian flag, let alone to hoist it in the streets. The flag was considered a danger to public order. During the first Intifada Israeli soldiers forced Palestinian citizens to paint over Palestinian flags that covered the walls of the streets. Mary still remembers those days very well. Painters sometimes circumvented the prohibition by showing a Palestinian salad containing the colors of the flag: black and green in the olives, red in the tomatoes, and white in the cheese. Or women’s embroidery containing those colors.” Toine van Teeffelen reports from Bethlehem. 

A cultural protest against the wall

19 November 2004


The wall Israel is building on Palestinian land is not only violating Palestinians’ right to freedom of movement and obstructing them from their source of income, but it is also blocking their view of natural sunrise and sunset. It is blocking the hope of a bright future and a just peace. History shows that building walls rarely solves conflicts or guarantees security. As a creative and non-violent protest against the Segregation Wall, the International Center of Bethlehem organized for three muralists from Mexico to join with locals to deface the wall. The three artists, Alberto Aragon Reyes, Gustavo Chavez Pavon and Erasto Molina Urbina arrived in Palestine Oct. 19 to begin work and stayed in Bethlehem. 

The Case of Ariel Sharon and the Fate of Universal Jurisdiction

18 November 2004


In June 2001 a criminal complaint on behalf of twenty-eight survivors of the 1982 massacre at the the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut was brought before a Belgian court. For their roles in the massacre, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, Army Major General Amos Yaron, and several members of the the Lebanese Christian militia were charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The entire proceeding immediately became known as the “case of Ariel Sharon.” This book is a series of essays about the case of Ariel Sharon, its meaning and consequences for the fate of universal jurisdiction. 

EU delays action on nine draft resolutions on Palestine

17 November 2004


The UN Committee on Special Political and Decolonization (also known as the Fourth Committee) decided this afternoon to defer action on nine draft resolutions — four relating to the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and five on Israeli practices in Arab territories occupied since 1967. It made that decision at the request of the representative of the Netherlands, acting on behalf of the European Union and associated States, and the observer for Palestine. The introduction of the texts followed in-depth consideration of the report by UNRWA’s Commissioner-General as well as that of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices. 

Arafat's face appears on grilled cheese sandwich

18 November 2004


A local man in Louisville, Kentucky, was surprised, after making a grilled cheese sandwich and taking a bite out of it, to see the face of Yasser Arafat staring at him. “I made the sandwich just before sitting down to watch Fox News on November 10th,” Ben Larper told BNN. “After I took the first bite, the news about Arafat’s death came on. I stopped eating and put the sandwich down to watch the report. When I reached down for the sandwich, there it was, the same face as on the television!” 

Dear Friend, This mail may not be surprising to you...

18 November 2004


The perpetrators of Advance Fee Fraud (AFF), known internationally as “4-1-9” fraud after the section of the Nigerian penal code which addresses fraud schemes, are often very creative and innovative. The following e-mail is a genuine 419 scam letter, puporting to be from Suha Arafat, published by www.theregister.co.uk and reprinted here with permission. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

18 November 2004


This week Israeli forces killed 7 Palestinians, including a woman. Israeli forces killed also an Egyptian citizen. Israeli forces conducted a number of incursions into Palestinian areas and razed at least 370 donums of agricultural land in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces raided homes and arrested dozens of Palestinians in the West Bank. Israel continued shelling of residential areas and the construction of the Apartheid Wall. Israeli forces have continued to impose a total siege on the occupied Palestinian territories. Israel imposed a comprehensive closure on the West Bank and arrested a number of Palestinians at various military checkpoints. 

What Palestinians should do now

Ali Abunimah 18 November 2004


The first priority for Palestinian leaders now must be to defend their people against Israel’s relentless colonization and violence and not to negotiate with Israeli guns to Palestinian heads. They must formulate a national strategy to regain Palestinian rights enshrined in UN Resolutions, clearly explain this strategy, and organize Palestinians and allies everywhere to struggle for it. Palestinians should seek to emulate the success of the African National Congress that freed South Africans from apartheid by confronting and defeating injustice, not seeking to accommodate it, writes EI co-founder Ali Abunimah. 

Connecting Refugees: An interview with Karma Nabulsi

Victor Kattan 18 November 2004


It is 11 November 2004, Abu Ammar is sick, and the phones have been ringing all day. Karma Nabulsi, a Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford University and a former P.L.O. representative, and advisory member of the delegation to the peace process in Washington D.C. 1991-1993, is in demand. The BBC wants her opinion on the latest developments concerning Yasser Arafat, who is lying sick in a hospital bed in Paris. Although Nabulsi keeps abreast of the latest international developments, and does her best to speak up for the Palestinian cause, her P.L.O. days are long over. Instead she is currently embarking on one of the biggest projects of her life called Civitas. 

Journalists accuse Israel of "disgraceful abuse" over arrest of Vanunu

12 November 2004


The International Federation of Journalists today accused the Israeli authorities of “a disgraceful abuse of democracy” over the intimidation of Mordechai Vanunu, the whistle-blower arrested yesterday by Israeli police just six months after his release from jail, where he served 18 years for telling the world about Israel’s nuclear arsenal. “It is extraordinary that a country calling itself the only democracy in the Middle East is itself guilty of this disgraceful and grotesque abuse of democracy,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “Vanunu has served his time but continues to be persecuted.”