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Apartheid targets Palestinian home-owners inside Israel

Jonathan Cook 10 March 2005


You won’t hear about the story of my Palestinian friend Ali Zbeidat and the threatened demolition of his “illegal” home, either from the hundreds of international correspondents in Jerusalem or from the Hebrew media. None of them will tell you about the story of Ali’s family and the imminent physical and financial ruin of their lives by Israel, even though Ali’s plight is far from unique. There are tens of thousands of other Palestinians in the same desperate situation as Ali, living in homes Israel defines as illegal. The problem for Ali is not just that he is Palestinian; if he were, you might learn of his story. Ali’s problem is that he is also a citizen of Israel. 

Two members of the Management Board of the Palestine Investment Fund resign

10 March 2005


GAZA — Two members of the management board of the Palestine Investment Fund have submitted their resignations from the management board, an informed Palestinian source has confirmed to al-Quds (newspaper). The source added that businessman Samir Said Khouri and businessman Engineer Jawdat al-Khudari submitted their resignations effective this month from the Fund’s management board due to disagreements within the board over the mechanism for managing the Fund’s investments in Arab countries. 

UN Meeting on Question of Palestine discusses responsibility of governments in upholding international law

9 March 2005


The United Nations International Meeting on the Question of Palestine this morning heard a number of panellists discuss the responsibility of governments and intergovernmental organizations in upholding international law in relation to the implementation of the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the construction of a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory. Georges Abi-Saab, Honorary Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, said States had an obligation to do something to deter a violation such as the building of the wall by cutting off the funds used for that construction. 

Defusing Israel's "demographic bomb"

Hasan Abu Nimah 8 March 2005


Israel has long lived in fear of the so-called “demographic bomb” — the fact that the Palestinian population in Israel and the occupied territories is increasing much faster than the Israeli Jewish population. While Israeli Jews thought the day they would become a minority was perhaps still twenty years away, a new US government report says that Palestinians are already a majority in historic Palestine, as they were until Israel was created. EI contributor Hasan Abu Nimah looks at the numbers and examines their implications for a just resolution to the Palestine/Israel conflict. 

Spanish perspectives II: an interview with Teresa Aranguren (Part 2)

John Collins 11 March 2005


“Our Western culture is radically ethnocentric. This makes it difficult to widen one’s view. To use a phrase from Juan Rulfo, ‘The world is wide and belongs to no one.’ We have think tanks full of experts who tell us that the economy requires this or that, all of these things that are just assumed. This is a very narrow vision of reality. The problem is that if this reality doesn’t count — that is, if it doesn’t matter what people of color think, what Africans think, what Asians think — then we can just go on living in ignorance of them, constructing our everyday world and believing that we are the only thing that matters in the world.” Part 2 of an interview with award-winning Spanish journalist Teresa Aranguren. 

Spanish perspectives II: an interview with Teresa Aranguren (Part 1)

John Collins 11 March 2005


“I’m very conscious of the fact that everything having to do with the Arab world, viewed from the West, is shrouded in stereotypes. And virtually all of the stereotypes the West has of the Arab world are negative, because it’s our neighbor. The Chinese are far away, but the Arabs, we Europeans talk about them as if we knew them perfectly. We have this perception of a violent, intolerant, fanatic world, and we project all of this onto the Arab world. So I think it’s important for people who have been there, who have lived other experiences, to try to make clear that stereotypes can kill, that they end up killing, or justifying the killing.” John Collins asks award-winning Spanish journalist Teresa Aranguren about the meaning of solidarity in an age of fear. (Part 1) 

AIPAC Losing this Fight

7 March 2005


AIPAC has been taken aback by new Mideast resolutions. Last month the House and the Senate each passed their own resolutions expressing support for the Palestinian Authority in the wake of their successful presidential elections. The Washington Jewish Week reported that many on the Hill feel the Israel lobby was caught asleep on this one. The problem for the lobby was simple: popular support and optimism after the Palestinian presidential elections took the wind out of any possible grounds for raising opposition to the resolutions. 

Call for US investigation into lethal Israeli assault against Palestinian-American family

Genevieve Cora Fraser 7 March 2005


Amr Salah, a United States citizen living in Massachusetts asks for your help in demanding a formal investigation into the deaths of his father and brother at the hands of 1,000 Israeli troops. Dr. Khalid Salah, age 51, and his 16 year old son, Mohammed were shot and killed by Israeli Defense Forces on July 6, 2004 in their home in the city of Nablus in the Israeli Occupied West Bank. Throughout the hours of assault the Salahs were huddled together in a corner of the apartment, contacting relatives on a mobile phone for help. Despite an urgent call to the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, Consul General David Pearce nor anyone else at the consulate intervened. 

The Vision of a Blind Woman

Sami Abu Salem Gaza Strip 7 March 2005


Amani Al-Hissi, a 25-year-old Palestinian blind woman from the poor refugee camp of Al-Shati (“The Beach”) in Gaza, studies Arabic literature, plays music, works as a radio presenter and depends on “help your self” as her strategy for managing the details of her own life. Ms. Al-Hissi, was shot by an Israeli soldier while she was six years old. One week after the shooting, she lost sight in one eye. Four years later, she completely lost her eyesight. WAFA reporter Sami Abu Salem writes from Gaza on the occasion of International Women’s Day. 

Debut US tour of "Made in Palestine" exhibition

7 March 2005


Made In Palestine, makes its first national tour stop in San Francisco, after opening in Houston. This unique exhibit is on view from April 7 through April 21, 2005 at SomArts Cultural Center, 934 Brannan Street in San Francisco and will include an event series. “This is a momentous occasion because people rarely get to see the rich culture and creativity of the Palestinian people,” says Rayan El Amin of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. “This will be a unique opportunity to not only experience art but also to learn about the history and current struggle of the Palestinians.”