All Content

Restrictions on defense sales to Israel deal hard blow to UK exporters

29 July 2003


Defense industry exporters in the UK have reported significant losses due to a government policy to restrict the sale of military equipment to Israel. British defense exports to the Jewish state dropped from 22 million British pounds ($35.7 million) to GBP10 million over the past year, reported Guardian. Britain imposed a de facto arms embargo on Israel last year, applying to military equipment that could be used in Israel’s continuing operations in the Palestinian territories. Each application must be examined on a case-by-case basis. 

Member of faculty peace group calls Israel's settlement policy the main obstacle to peace, believes Israeli security depends on ending occupation

6 July 2003

Portland peace activist William Seaman has just returned from a family reunion in the Negev Desert of Southern Israel at Kibbutz Nir Oz. “I left never dreaming that it would be almost exactly twenty-five years before I’d return,” said Seaman. “And I certainly never thought I’d be traveling from the desperate poverty and desolation of occupied Gaza to a reunion on a kibbutz just a few kilometers on the other side of the border.” 

Road Map diplomacy conceals 'politicide' of the Palestinian people

Steve Niva 11 August 2003


With media coverage so tightly focused on the diplomatic maneuvering surrounding President Bush’s Road Map peace initiative, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that Israel continues to implement a devastating set of policies that are endangering the social and national existence of the Palestinian people. In fact, Israel’s grudging participation in the Road Map process is little more than an effort to buy time for these policies to achieve this outcome. Professor Steve Niva reports after returning from Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories as part of a trip organized by Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

7 August 2003

This week Israeli forces killed three Palestinians, including a child. One Palestinian died from injuries he previously sustained by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian civilians, wounding five, including a woman. Israeli forces continue to impose a siege on Palestinian communities and deny Palestinian farmers access to their lands. 

Addition and long division

Ian Mayes 9 August 2003


The Guardian’s coverage of the Middle East has been questioned this week. One is the name used for the structure being erected by the Israelis across Israeli and Palestinian territory and called by Israel the “security fence”. Finding terminology that favours neither one view nor the other is not easy. The fact is, it is a wall in some sections and a fence in others. The headline on a long discussion of the terminology by the pro-Palestinin ian website Electronic Intifada seems to state the reality fairly: “Is it a fence? Is it a wall? No, it’s a separation barrier.”