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Egypt bends on Israel gas deal

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 18 June 2008


CAIRO (IPS) - In the last two months, popular and parliamentary opposition to the sale of Egyptian natural gas to Israel has mounted. As a result, in a rare nod to public opinion, the government recently announced it was “revising” the terms of the sale agreement. “The government was finally embarrassed into partially addressing our concerns,” Mohammed Anwar al-Sadat, former MP and spokesman for the recently founded Popular Campaign against Gas Exports told IPS. 

Israeli forces extrajudicially execute six in Gaza

18 June 2008


The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) escalated their aggression against the Gaza Strip by launching several attacks yesterday, 17 June 2008, which killed six Palestinians in separate attacks in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah. According to data collected and compiled by Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, the number of Palestinians killed by IOF since the start of 2008 has reached 357. Since 1 June 2008 25 Palestinians have been killed by IOF. 

Israeli forces terrorize Deheisheh refugee camp

Marcy Newman Dheisheh refugee camp, West Bank 20 June 2008


It started out as a normal Saturday morning. We were hanging out in Ibdaa Cultural Center in Deheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem. We were all sitting in the cafe at Ibdaa, which is on the fourth floor and has windows around three sides of the building. We were drinking coffee, chatting, watching television and all of a sudden there was a loud sound like a grenade or a bomb. Marcy Newman writes from Deheisheh. 

Book review: Philosophical essays on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Raymond Deane 18 June 2008


Cumbersome though it already is, the subtitle of the new book The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Philosophical Essays on Self-Determination, Terrorism, and the One-State Solution could have been expanded to include “The Right of Return,” the title of the second of its four long chapters, thus doing fuller justice to its impressive sweep. Raymond Deane reviews Raja Halwani and Tomis Kapitan’s new book for The Electronic Intifada. 

Jazz musician Branford Marsalis urged to cancel Israel concert

18 June 2008


The following is an open letter to jazz musician Branford Marsalis, sent by the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine: “We are writing to ask you to reconsider your decision to play in Israel. We are wondering how a musician with your sensitivity will be able to stand on a stage and play reflective, subtle jazz while less than an hour’s drive away, a million-and-a-half people in Gaza — two-thirds of them refugees — endure yet another night of hunger, darkness and fear because of the iron-clad siege the Israeli government has enforced against them for years.” 

"We could not even bury our daughter"

19 June 2008


On 11 June, eight-year-old Hadeel al-Sumairi was killed when her home in southeastern Gaza was shelled by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). Less than a week earlier, eight-year-old Aya Hamdan al-Najjar was killed by a rocket fired from an IOF helicopter. Their violent deaths highlight both the continual dangers facing families who live anywhere near the Israeli border. 

Crossing the Line interviews professor Nasser Aruri about AIPAC conference

17 June 2008


This week on Crossing The Line: Lawmakers made their annual pilgrimage to the the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference to show their unyielding support of Israel. US presidential candidates McCain and Obama claim to both want a change, but how will this apply to foreign policy, and more specifically the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Noted author and professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, Naseer Aruri, speaks with host Naji Ali about the importance of AIPAC in the US presidential elections. 

A life trapped

Najwa Sheikh Gaza Strip 19 June 2008


In 2000 the UN General Assembly declared 20 June “World Refugee Day,” a day during which the world can focus on the experience and plight of refugees. It is a day that not only recognizes Palestinian refugees but also other unfortunate people whose lives have been disrupted by war and injustice. Najwa Sheikh in Gaza comments on the particular experience of being a Palestinian refugee. 

Israel has won the European cup: a special relationship

Arjan El Fassed 17 June 2008


Israel has now been granted the highest level of European Union relations available to a non-member state, despite the EU’s own finding that “little concrete progress” has been made on issues raised between Israel and the EU, namely Israel’s human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. EI co-founder Arjan El Fassed comments on the efforts towards a “more intense, more fruitful, more influential cooperation” between the EU and Israel. 

Keep Israel out of elite economic club

Ran HaCohen 17 June 2008


Israel’s ruling elite now has a major aspiration: to join the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as a member country. For the sake of the Israelis and of their neighbors, this aspiration should be thwarted by an international campaign of all supporters of peace; and, in fact, by supporters of the free market as well. EI contributor Ran HaCohen comments.