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The Road Map: Where next after Aqaba?

Ali Abunimah 4 June 2003


President Bush’s two days of Middle East summitry are being hailed in the United States as a diplomatic and political triumph. And indeed even by bringing Arab and Israeli leaders to Sharm al-Sheikh and Aqaba, Bush did more than many people thought was possible. But, writes EI founder Ali Abunimah, the elation is likely to be short lived as the carefully crafted final statements by Bush, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, and the Palestinians’ Mahmoud Abbas paper over the lop-sided concessions made by each side. 

The Road Map -- a matter of time

Hasan Abu Nimah 4 June 2003


With the twin summits in Sharm Al Sheikh and Aqaba underway, many believe that the likelihood of a major breakthrough in the efforts to break the cycle of Israeli-Palestinian violence and resuming serious talks towards a settlement are realistic. Yet while optimism may be justified in the short run, regular EI contributor Hasan Abu Nimah argues that it is only a matter of time before the whole scheme falls apart right in front of everybody’s wide open eyes. 

Dynamic husband-wife team fight Israeli occupation

Kristel Halter 1 June 2003

With the advent of the intifada in September 2000, Adam Shapiro witnessed the unprovoked killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli Army. ‘One of my friends, Aseel Asleh, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was killed in civilian protests against the occupation,’ he remembers. ‘I realized that I could not stand by and watch. As someone who was an American but understood and experienced life in the Arab world, I could not be silent, especially as American-made weapons and the American government gave such overwhelming support to the Israelis’.” Kristel Halter of Beirut’s Daily Star interviews Adam Shapiro and Huweida Arraf, husband and wife, Jew and Arab, about their struggle to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine. 

Holy fire

Elizabeth Sanders and Marthame Sanders Zababdeh, Palestine 1 June 2003

“The Easter tradition among the churches of Palestine and Israel is unique. On Holy Saturday, the day before Orthodox Easter, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem enters the tomb of the Holy Sepulchre. After a moment of prayer, he emerges with the Holy Fire, passing it on by candle to the gathered faithful. From there, with shouts of Christos Anesti! (‘Christ is risen!’), it is spread to the churches of this land, a symbol of the miracle of resurrection spread throughout the world. In past years, someone would go down from Zababdeh to Jerusalem to bring the light back. It has been three years since that has happened because of travel restrictions on Palestinians in the occupied territories.” Elizabeth and Marthame Sanders, Americans living in a Christian Palestinian village in the West Bank, describe the twists and turns of an amazing journey under occupation. 

The new anti-Semitism?

Jonathan Cook 3 June 2003


Anti-Semitism, like some plague-inducing virus, is “evolving” — or so warns Holocaust scholar Daniel J. Goldhagen in the American Jewish weekly The Forward. According to the author, the lessons of the Holocaust are slowly being forgotten and a “free-floating” globalised hatred of Jews is being spread via the Internet and television. EI contributor Jonathan Cook looks at the realities. 

Arrest and detention: A measure of first resort for Palestinian children

Defence for Children International-Palestine Section 31 May 2003

This international children’s day, DCI draws the world’s attention to the plight of the Palestinian child, particularly those deprived of their liberty and locked away in Israeli prisons, which comprises an increasing number of under-18’s in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. 

"No pride in war, no pride in occupation!"

31 May 2003

“As Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Two-Spirit, Trans and Intersex and Queer people we understand what it means to be silenced, used as scapegoats, and targeted with violence for being who we are. This is experienced more intensely for those of us who are also people of color and trans experience. For these reasons, we feel it is crucial in the current political climate to make anti-war organizing and the fight against racism — at home and abroad — a priority for our movement. ” More Americans come out against occupation and injustice. 

PBS documentary "In the Line of Fire" to re-air on June 5th

The Electronic Intifada 31 May 2003


While working as a journalist in Israel, Patricia Naylor, a Canadian TV producer, met a number of Palestinian video cameramen and still photographers who cover the frequent clashes in Hebron. These journalists work for Western media companies. Cameramen Mazen Dana and Nael Shyouki of the British news agency, Reuters, and their colleagues are accustomed to the risks of photographing street protests and riots. But displaying their wounds, they all told Naylor they had become targets of Israeli soldiers firing rubber bullets and even live ammunition. The excellent Frontline documentary is being rebroadcast on 5 June 2003 on PBS.