All Content

Photostory: Burj el-Shemali Refugee Camp - Lebanon

Stefan Christoff 14 August 2005


Burj el-Shemali is a Palestinian refugee camp, located in Southern Lebanon on the outskirts of the city of Tyre. Upwards of 20 000 refugees reside in Burj el-Shemali, which is one of Lebanon’s most impoverished camps. Similar to other refugee camps in the south of Lebanon, Burj el-Shemali is home to cases of extreme poverty, thousands of camp residents are essentially homeless, residing in make-shift shelters with zinc roofing, without basic plumbing, water supply and little income. 

'With' or 'Against' the Gaza Disengagement Plan

Tamar Amir 13 August 2005


As we waited at the Modi’in junction for the traffic light to turn green, Jewish settlement youth were distributing ribbons in two colors, orange and blue/white. The orange ribbons represent those ‘against’ the Gaza disengagement plan. The white/blue on the other hand represent those ‘with’ the Gaza disengagement plan. As these dedicated youth approached our car I contemplated for a moment which ribbon I would choose. I decided not to disappoint either team and took one of each. However, the main question is, which of these ribbons would I display on my car antenna to publicly reflect my political opinion? 

Gaza town to be closed during pullout

Laila El-Haddad 12 August 2005


Israeli forces have notified Palestinians living near a Gaza settlement of a month-long closure of their community, just days prior to the upcoming withdrawal from the area. Abdullah Maani, a local leader of the al-Ma’ani area in the Central Gaza Strip town of Dair al-Balah, told Aljazeera.net that Israeli forces notified him on Friday of a closure that would seal off his community from the rest of the Gaza Strip for three to four weeks, starting this coming Wednesday. “The soldier told us there will be a complete closure, and that he is giving us advance notification so we can stockpile water and food, adding that no one will be allowed in or out, except in extreme cases and with prior coordination,” Maani said. 

Gaza Smokescreen: An interview with Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Hind Khoury

13 August 2005


“The Gaza disengagement has been used by the Israeli government as a smokescreen to cover for what it is doing in East Jerusalem. These measures include the continued construction of the wall, and, as per their decision this July, to practically close off East Jerusalem from the West Bank starting September 1. People will then have to pass what they call crossings but are in reality de facto borders.” Palestine Report Online interviews Hind Khoury on Israel’s unilateral actions in East Jerusalem. 

Fire unextinguished

Issa Mikel Nablus, Palestine 17 August 2005


Once a lively city, the Nablus of today is the victim both of geography and racist geopolitics. With its back to the range of hills and few channels of intercourse with the rest of the country, the Israeli military has had little difficulty in isolating the town. A series of checkpoints choke Nablus economically and culturally, stifling what has traditionally been one of Palestine’s most important urban centers. As one of the centers of resistance, both violent and nonviolent, as well as a bastion of Islamist support in the West Bank, Nablus has earned pride of place near the top of the Israeli government’s hit list and has been targeted with great resentment and vitriol. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

10 August 2005


This week, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including a child. Israeli forces conducted a number of incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli forces raided homes and arrested at least 45 Palestinians. Israeli forces turned ten Palestinian homes into military posts. Israeli forces continue to use Palestinian civilians as human shields during military operations. Israel continues to impose a total siege on the occupied Palestinian territories. Israel closed al-Mawasi in the southern Gaza Strip and Israeli forces prevent Palestinians aged 16-35 from traveling through the Rafah border. Israeli forces arrested at least 8 Palestinians at military checkpoints in the West Bank and Israel continues to construct the Wall in the West Bank. 

UNICEF: "Children must be safe during Gaza withdrawal"

12 August 2005


UNICEF today urged that children be kept out of harm’s way during the planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts of the northern West Bank. “Palestinian and Israeli children have suffered terribly over recent years as a result of this conflict,” UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman said Friday. “Next week’s events offer new hope for peace, and it’s critical to ensure the safety of the children in the region.” Along with the entire UN system, UNICEF expressed a hope that the withdrawal that is set to begin next week would occur smoothly and peacefully. If the disengagement does not proceed peacefully, children could be in particular danger, said Veneman, noting that children under 18 make up about half of the Palestinian population. 

Video: Al-Rowwad theatre group visits Louisville, KY

11 August 2005


Al-Rowwad Center is an Independent Center for artistic, cultural, and theatre training for children in Aida Camp trying to provide a “safe” and healthy environment to help children discover their creativity and discharge stress in the war conditions they are forced to live in. In July 2005, Al-Rowwad’s theatre group performed in Louisville, Kentucky. Multimedia producers Patrick Yen and Andrew Sturgill produced the profile on Al-Rowwad for EI. 

Palestine Red Crescent Society prepares for Gaza disengagement

10 August 2005


Israeli measures such as closures of Palestinian transportation routes near Gaza settlements and the planned relocation routes, dividing the Gaza Strip into four parts have the potentioal to directly and indirectly affect the Palestinian population through restriction of access to health care. Accessibility to sources of nutrition and safe drinking water may also be disrupted. Additionally, these closures may prevent the PRCS staff and volunteers from accessing the effected areas, the maintenance of an open supply line between headquarters store house and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) stations and PRCS sub-stores, in addition to the deployment of logistics and supplies to effected areas. 

UN to adopt pathbreaking new global standard which demands return of confiscated refugee land and housing

11 August 2005


The United Nations is expected to adopt a sweeping series of principles today that urge governments everywhere to ensure all refugees and persons displaced due to conflict and natural disasters are entitled to return to, recover and reside in their original homes, lands and properties. Prepared by the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Housing and Property Restitution, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro of Brazil, the ‘Pinheiro Principles’ will provide the first consolidated global standard on the housing, land and property rights of the displaced. “The best solution to the plight of millions of refugees and displaced persons around the world is to ensure they attain the right to return freely to their countries and to have restored to them housing and property of which they were deprived,” said Pinheiro.