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Growing Grassroots in Beirut

Stefan Christoff Beirut, Lebanon 8 August 2005


Beirut is a city that vibrates with political culture and is defined by a history of social justice struggles. Currently, Lebanon is undergoing massive political changes, sparked by street protests following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February and the subsequent withdrawal of approximately 15,000 Syrian troops and intelligence officials last April. The future for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in refugee camps throughout Lebanon is also central to current political discussions in the region, as refugees continue to demand their right to return to occupied Palestine. 

Breathing life into Nablus

Maureen Clare Murphy and Zachary Wales 8 August 2005


Nablusi architect Naseer Arafat’s current project, “a ten year dream,” as he calls it, is the restoration of an estate that was once owned by an influential sheikh and housed a residence, soap factory and reception hall. The compound, which Arafat describes as having a “unique composition,” is nestled in Nablus’ Old City, home to 20,000 Palestinians and some 2,560 historic buildings, mostly constructed during the Ottoman period, as well as some from the Mameluke, Crusader, Byzantine and Roman eras. 

Photostory: Wavel Refugee Camp

Stefan Christoff 8 August 2005


Wavel is a Palestinian refugee camp located in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, on the outskirts of Baalbek. Originally a French military base during the colonial era, Palestinian refugees inhabited 12 military barracks shortly after the Palestinian el-Nakba (the Catastrophe) in 1948, as hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees were forced from Palestine through the creation of the state of Israel. Today Wavel is home to approximately 8000 refugees, a significant segment of which continue to reside in the now dilapidated French barracks. 

How to cover disengagement?

Jonathan Cook 7 August 2005


Journalist Jonathan Cook writing the letter one reporter in Israel wishes he could send news editors who ask him to cover Israel’s Gaza disengagement. Israel is not giving foreign journalists free access to the Gaza Strip, or even the settlements, during the disengagement. Apparently, the only way to “witness” the disengagement will be by applying to the Israeli press office for a place on a number of army coaches transporting reporters to individual settlements. I am opposed in principle to the idea of being shepherded around by the army while covering this event. How is this not just another form of “embedding”? But in any case I am told seats on the coaches will be extremely limited, maybe only a few dozen, and are bound to be snapped up by the media big-hitters. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

4 August 2005


This week Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in an extra-judicial killing. Israeli forces wounded eight Palestinians, including five children and two women. Israeli forces conducted a number of incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and one incursion into the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces raided Palestinian homes and arrested 36 civilians. Israel continues to impose a total siege on the occupied Palestinian territories. Israel has prevented Palestinian civilians aged 16-35 from traveling through Rafah International Crossing Point. Israel continues to construct the Annexation Wall in the West Bank and confiscated at least 800 donums of Palestinian land in Hebron and Qalqilya for this purpose. 

Tear gas injures Palestinian protesters

Laila El-Haddad 2 August 2005


Israeli soldiers have injured five Palestinian villagers after firing tear gas at the group protesting against a settlement road project threatening their land. Palestinians from the village of Kfar Harrs, along with foreign and Israeli activists, were marching towards a roadblock that cuts off traffic to the entrance of their village, when they were approached by Israeli forces on Monday. Soldiers then fired tear gas canisters directly at the crowd, according to Nasfat Khofash, coordinator of the Palestinian Committee Against the Wall in the Salfit area. Four adults and one child were injured, said Khofash. An Austrian peace activist was also arrested and detained in the nearby settlement. 

Gaza fishermen's livelihood on the line

Laila El-Haddad 2 August 2005


Though one of Gaza’s oldest active fishermen, Suheil Sa’dallah spends most of his time loitering around Gaza’s makeshift fisherman’s port, where dozens of docked boats, including his own, bob gently in the sea. In the face of stringent Israeli restrictions on Palestinian fishing zones, and the absence of a modern industrial port, many fishermen there, like Sa’dallah, can no longer make a living. He talks about the days their catches exceeded 700kg a day “of every fish your heart desires”, when the only limit on fishing zones were as far as the eye could see. A new port would mean better equipment, modern storage facilities for importing and exporting fish, and assuming Israeli restrictions are lifted, improved catches. 

Israeli soldier kills four in bus attack

Khalid Amayreh 5 August 2005


An Israeli soldier has been stoned to death by an angry crowd after he killed four Israeli Arabs and injured 13 others on board a bus. The shooting on Thursday took place on bus 165, which shuttles between a Druze neighbourhood of the northern Israeli Arab town of Shafa Amr and nearby communities. Four people were killed, including the driver. Police said the four apparently were all Shafa Amr residents. Israel Radio said the gunman - who police said wore a skullcap, identifying him as an Orthodox Jew - was later bludgeoned to death by an angry crowd. Medical sources said three of the wounded were listed in critical condition. Two policemen were among the wounded. 

UN Experts mark anniversary of ICJ "Wall Opinion"

4 August 2005


Eight Special Procedures mandate holders of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights issues an appeal shortly after the one-year anniversary of the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion (“Wall opinion”), concerning the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In August 2004, the General Assembly called upon Israel and other parties to comply with their legal obligations as mentioned in the Opinion. Further to that resolution, the Secretary-General is taking steps to compile a register of the persons who have suffered as a result of the construction of the wall. However, neither the General Assembly nor the Security Council have considered the Opinion since. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

28 July 2005


This week, Israeli forces killed four Palestinians, including a child who was run down by an Israeli settler vehicle. Israeli forces wounded 19 Palestinians among them a mother and child and seven other children. Israeli forces conducted various incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces raided Palestinian homes and arrested 33 Palestinian civilians. Israel imposed a total siege on the occupied Palestinian territories and isolated the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Israel prevents Palestinians aged 16-35 from traveling through the Rafah crossing. Israel arrested twelve Palestinians, including two women and a child at military checkpoints in the West Bank.