All Content

A woman's centre takes on domestic violence in the Gaza Strip

13 September 2005


Sameera, sister to eight girls and mother to three daughters, suffered from domestic violence for years. Her husband, Adel, accused her of having a genetic defect since she had not given birth to a boy, and he routinely beat and neglected her and their daughters. Adel’s violent temper flared after the birth of their second daughter, while the family was living in dire circumstances in the midst of Al-Bureij Refugee Camp. He accused his wife of depriving him of an heir who would carry his name. He claimed she was incapable of bearing boys, “just like her mother who gave birth to eight girls.” Since there are more boys than girls on his family’s side, it seemed clear to him that she was at fault. 

Gaza and the children who did not visit the sea for 5 years

Mona El-Farra Gaza, Palestine 15 September 2005


At 3am on September 12th, the last Israeli soldier left Gaza and, at the same minute, crowds of Palestinian left their homes in the towns and villages of Gaza from north to south and vice versa, and towards the Israeli settlements. Curious, excited, and sensing the taste of freedom they have been denied for the last 38 years, the Gaza roads were jammed with cars, carts, and people. 

Across the killing field

Laila El-Haddad Gaza, Palestine 15 September 2005


Yesterday, I joined thousands of Palestinians who streamed across the once impermeable and deadly wall that divided this battered border town into two, to visit family and friends they had not seen in decades, to shop, or simply to see Egypt for the first time. It was yet another journey into the surreal. There I was, after all, standing in the Dead Zone known as Philadelphi corridor by Israelis, the killing field by Palestinians, the very location where Israeli tanks once nested awaiting orders to pound this refugee camp, their tracks still imprinted in the sand, the Palestinian homes they destroyed spread out like carcasses in the background. The once deadly frontline of the Israeli army had become a porous free-for-all. 

They were finally gone

Laila El-Haddad Gaza, Palestine 15 September 2005


After 38 years and 67 days, they were finally gone. They being the Israeli soldiers and settlers of course, that for so long made our lives miserable here in Gaza. I went to tour the vacated colonies-as a journalist, but also as an ordinary Palestinian. Like thousands of other Palestinians, I was simply curious, and, in the end, giddy, awe-struck, and in absolute disbelief. I got up early, wasting no time after the last of the soldiers left to take a peak at what lay beyond the once fortified colonies, that although only metres away, for Palestinians, may as well have been on a different planet. 

Gaza disengagement update

12 September 2005


The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) completed their withdrawal from Gaza at 7 am this morning. Operation Last Watch ended with a brief ceremony at Qissufim road crossing when the national flag was re-raised by Gaza Division troops on the Israeli side of the crossing. Palestinian National Security Forces progressively moved into the former settlements throughout Sunday night and into the early hours of this morning. In spite of their presence, synagogues were set ablaze in Netzarim, Kfar Darom and Morag by groups of Palestinians who followed behind the security forces. 

Anyone Responsible for Perverting the Court of Justice Must also Face Prosecution

13 September 2005


One day after Doron Almog escaped arrest by British Anti-Terrorist Police, details have emerged about an apparent leak which allowed him to return to Israel without facing the allegations brought against him. The clients of PCHR and Hickman & Rose, who are the victims of Doron Almog’s alleged war crimes, believe that anyone responsible for facilitating the escape of this war crimes suspect must also be brought to justice. This action is essential to protect the integrity of the British criminal justice system. 

Disengaging from Zionism

Issa Mikel 13 September 2005


“As the so-called ‘disengagement’ from Gaza has come to an end and the Israeli government turns its hawkish eye towards consolidation in the West Bank, the lines of debate over the motives and value of the pull-out have been drawn. But whatever the future may hold, the redeployment has contributed to a pernicious vein of thinking about the colonial settlers and their relation both to the Israeli state and to Zionism itself.” Issa Mikel is a Palestinian-American lawyer currently freelance writing and engaging in non-profit work in Palestine. 

One Palestinian killed an another injured as Israeli forces 'disengage'

11 September 2005


Today as Israeli forces completed their redployment to the border areas of the Gaza Strip on Monday the 12th of September, 2005 one Palestinian youth was killed and another was injured while they were standing beside their home in the al Salam quarter of south-east of Rafah town, adjacent to the border with Egypt. PCHR calls for an immediate investigation into the killing and injury of two Palestinian civilians on the border between the Gaza strip and Egypt. 

Palestinian Refugees Donate to Survivors of Hurricane Katrina

13 September 2005


Palestinian refugees, moved by the plight of survivors of Hurricane Katrina will present US Consul-General, Jake Wallace, with a $10,000 donation to the American Red Cross. The donation will be given today at 12 noon at the President’s Office in Ramallah. Rafiq Husseini will offer the donation on behalf of the President and Palestinian refugees. The donation will be earmarked to those survivors most affected by the Hurricane – the displaced poor, elderly and disabled. Money was recently collected by Palestinian refugees in the refugee camps of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 

"A Prayer Band": Palestinian poet Suheir Hammad on Hurricane Katrina

Suheir Hammad 13 September 2005


A Palestinian-American from Brooklyn, Suheir Hammad has appeared on the HBO show “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry,” hosted by Mos Def. Her poems have been featured in numerous publications, on the BBC World Service, and National Public Radio. Hammad recently wrote two poems about Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath. The first reprinted here, “A Prayer Band”, was performed at an event organised by Hammad called “Refugees for Refugees” in New York City on September 9th, which raised $5,000 for hurricane relief. Suheir Hammad arrived in Jackson, Mississippi yesterday, to deliver the money personally and help with direct relief efforts.