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Israeli forces kill Gaza civilians in botched execution attempt

16 January 2008


On Wednesday at noon, 16 January 2008, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) launched an air strike against a civilian vehicle in Gaza City. Three Palestinian civilians (a man, his son and his brother) were killed in the strike. According to preliminary investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, at approximately 12:30pm on Wednesday, an IOF aircraft fired a missile at a civilian vehicle, in which three members of the al-Yazji family, including a child, were traveling, in al-Nafaq Street in the al-Daraj neighborhood of east Gaza City. 

Mr. Bush's trip to Ramallah

Anne Paq Ramallah, West Bank 16 January 2008


So US President George W. Bush came to Ramallah, and of course the city was turned upside down. The Palestinian Authority (PA) wanted to show that they were up to the task of handling the security. I managed to get a press pass and I was cynical but curious to see how the big show would go down. All the photographers and journalists were told to come at 6am at a certain location so that they could be taken all together to the Muqata’a, the PA’s headquarters. Anne Paq reports from Ramallah. 

Life and wildlife in the Jordan Valley

Henry Martin Jordan Valley 22 January 2008


The Palestine Wildlife Society has recently installed 64 nesting boxes for barn owls and kestrels in the Jordan Valley, in the area around Atuf village. Imad F. Atrash, director of the society, arranged for a public event on 2 January 2008, to celebrate the completion of this project at Atuf school. Accompanying the event was live fire by the Israeli army, who were conducting military exercises less than a mile away. As the volunteers rigged up the sound system and displays, an Israeli army jeep drove past, no doubt attracted by the gathering. 

Citizenship, Zionism and separation of religion from the state

Michael Warschawski 15 January 2008


It is customary to say that the Israeli daily Haaretz is a progressive newspaper. However, its progressive character is generally nowhere to be seen when Israel initiates a war against one of its neighbors — its opposition to the previous two wars came only after the newspaper provided support to the policies of the government and the military — or abuses against the Palestinian people. However, when dealing with matters of religion, and particularly hatred of the religious, the progressiveness of Haaretz, its editors and community of readers, is endless. Michael Warschawski comments. 

"It felt like a kind of resistance to celebrate"

IRIN Nahr al-Bared refugee camp 15 January 2008


Ahmed and Liliane Hassan, who are 25 and 17, were supposed to marry in August, but instead were driven from their homes in Nahr al-Bared camp, along with up to 40,000 other people, by 106 days of fighting between the Lebanese army and militant group Fatah al-Islam. They were among several thousand Palestinians allowed to return from 10 October, and soon after tied the knot. Ahmed explained: “When we celebrated our engagement during the 2006 July War, the Israelis bombed Abdeh, on the edge of Nahr al-Bared and we ended up in the shelters. Then the fighting delayed our wedding.” 

Israeli forces kill 17 Gazans in less than four hours

15 January 2008


On Tuesday morning, 15 January 2008, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed 17 Palestinians, including five civilians, and wounded at least 30 others, five of whom are in a serious condition, during an incursion into the al-Shojaeya and al-Zaytoun neighborhoods of east Gaza City. The incursion continued until noon. Preliminary investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights indicate that most of the victims were killed by tank shells, and that IOF troops used excessive lethal force without regard for the lives of Palestinian civilians living in the affected areas. 

Gaza's fate left to the whim of an Israeli court

Rami Almeghari Gaza Strip 14 January 2008


It’s almost midnight. I rushed to my laptop when I saw the glow of the lamp after almost 12 hours darkness following one of the electricity cuts that hundreds of thousands of Gazans like myself have been subjected to over the past week or so. As a journalist in Gaza, I was keen to file to my editors a story on the electricity cuts. I did the job, I talked with the people, I collected the material but when I went to my office and sat down in front of my PC, there was no electricity. EI correspondent Rami Almeghari reports from Gaza. 

Meet the Lebanese Press: The Arabs to the rescue?

Hicham Safieddine 14 January 2008


Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa has been spending more time in Lebanon recently than any other Arab country outside his home base of Egypt. But the time he spends seems to be inversely proportional to number of issues he resolves. His latest trip this week was expected to bring the Lebanese factions to implement the latest Arab initiative launched in Cairo. Lip-service endorsements were all he got. 

US seen in policy retreat

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 13 January 2008


CAIRO, 10 January (IPS) - Recent months have witnessed several notable political reorientations in the Middle East, involving Iran, the Gulf states, Egypt and Lebanon. Several experts say the changes reflect a shift in Washington’s regional strategy following recent US policy setbacks. “US policies in the region are either in retreat or undergoing re-examination,” Ayman Abelaziz Salaama, international law professor at Cairo University told IPS. “Washington’s project for a new Middle East — launched in 2001 with the aim of redrawing the region to suit US interests — has failed.” 

Photostory: Volvo equipment used in house demolitions

Adri Nieuwhof 14 January 2008


The photographers of the group Activestills have documented Volvo equipment being used for the illegal construction of the wall and the settlements, and the demolition of Palestinian houses in Israel and occupied Palestine. Activestills gave special permission to publish some of the images on The Electronic Intifada to inform a wider audience about the systematic use of Volvo equipment in house demolitions in East Jerusalem.