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Former minister lashes out at PA

Khalid Amayreh 29 November 2004


A former Palestinian official, who survived an assassination attempt earlier this year, has attacked the Palestinian Authority, charging it with widespread mismanagement. Nabil Amr, the former Palestinian information minister, warned that Palestinians have to choose either genuine democracy based on the rule of law or national demise. He said the Palestinian Authority (PA) suffered from “rampant misgovernance, lawlessness and a lack of accountability”. Amr returned this week to his home town of Dura, southwest of Hebron, after a lengthy recuperation in Germany, where he had his right leg amputated. He survived an attempt on his life in the West Bank town of Ramallah a few months ago. 

Palestine poll contender withdraws

Khalid Amayreh 28 November 2004


A contender for the forthcoming Palestinian presidential election has withdrawn from the race, citing serious flaws undermining the legality and legitimacy of the vote. Talal Sidr, who was the first candidate to nominate himself as successor to the late Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat, said on Sunday that voter registration will deprive hundreds of thousands of Palestinians of their right to vote. According to the Palestinian Authority (PA) election committee, up to 72% of eligible voters have registered for the 9 January elections. “The right thing to do is to allow every Palestinian man and woman bearing an identity card to take part,” said Sidr during a press conference in Hebron. 

Israelis shoot 4-year-old child in Gaza

Khalid Amayreh 1 December 2004


Israeli forces have shot and seriously wounded a four-year-old Palestinian child in Rafah, in southern Gaza, witnesses and medical sources said. Palestinian medical sources listed Shayma Hasan Abu Shammala in critical condition after she was hit by several bullets fired by an Israeli soldier manning a military tower near the Egyptian-Gaza borders on Sunday. Muawiya Hasanayn, head of the emergency department at the Palestinian health ministry, said the child was transferred to the European Hospital in Gaza due to the gravity of her condition. Witnesses said the child was playing in the backyard of her home when the soldier opened fire on her. 

Break up of Palestinian "death squad" is not enough

28 November 2004


In a press conference he held in his office on Saturday, 27 November 2004, Brigadier Rashid Abu Shebak, the head of the Palestinian Authority Preventive Security Service in the Gaza Strip, announced the disbandment of the Security and Protection Department, known locally as the “Death Squad,” and stated that its members would be reassigned to various departments of the security service.  PCHR welcomes this announcement, but believes it is not enough to restore order, ensure the safety and security of people and enforce the rule of law. The Palestinian Authority should take other measures to end the state of security chaos. 

Why they love Mahmoud Abbas

Hasan Abu Nimah 1 December 2004


Mahmoud Abbas was recently selected chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation. As the sole candidate of Fatah, the faction that dominates the PLO and the Palestinian Authority (PA), he is almost certain to be elected on 9 January as president of the PA, replacing Yasir Arafat in both key positions. This “smooth transition” will be a great relief to many Western peace process professionals because Abbas has been ready to compromise basic Palestinian rights. But, says EI contributor Hasan Abu Nimah, Abbas will not be able to end the resistance to the occupation and deliver the Palestinians to Israel as his Western backers hope. 

General Assembly debates question of Palestine (2/2)

29 November 2004


The General Assembly this afternoon began its consideration of the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East. Before the Assembly is the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the report of the Secretary-General on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine, the report of the Secretary-General on the situation in the Middle East, a draft resolution entitled Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, a draft resolution on the division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat, and a text, entitled Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine. 

General Assembly debates question of Palestine (1/2)

29 November 2004


The General Assembly this afternoon began its consideration of the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East. Before the Assembly is the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the report of the Secretary-General on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine, the report of the Secretary-General on the situation in the Middle East, a draft resolution entitled Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, a draft resolution on the division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat, and a text, entitled Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine. 

"The Pianist" of Palestine: Reflections on Israel's ubiquitous abuse

Omar Barghouti 1 December 2004


When I watched the Oscar-winning film The Pianist I had three distinct, uneasy reactions. I was not particularly impressed by the film, from a purely artistic angle; I was horrified by the film’s depiction of the dehumanization of Polish Jews and the impunity of the German occupiers; and I could not help but compare the Warsaw ghetto wall with Israel’s much more ominous wall caging 3.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza in fragmented, sprawling prisons. Many of the methods of collective and individual “punishment” meted out to Palestinian civilians at the hands of young, racist, often sadistic and ever impervious Israeli soldiers at the hundreds of checkpoints littering the occupied Palestinian territories are reminiscent of common Nazi practices against the Jews. 

The Wrath of the Jews

Liat Weingart 1 December 2004


I’m in the living room of a family friend. The subject changes from yoga to Israel-Palestine, and I tell her that I think Americans need to change their foreign policy towards Israel. She says, “in what way, so that the Arabs will throw the Jews into the sea?” It takes four minutes of back and forth for the conversation to degenerate. She finally says, “Look, what I have to say isn’t pretty, but I’m not afraid. I’m going to say it anyways. The Palestinians are nothing but vermin. They make trouble in every country they live in. Even the other Arab countries don’t want them.” 

Arafat's memory should strengthen Palestinian efforts to realize statehood, UN SG says at observance of international day of solidarity

29 November 2004


Yasser Arafat’s memory should serve as an inspiration to unite and strengthen the Palestinian people in their efforts to realize their national aspirations to statehood and self-determination through peaceful means, Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the Palestinian Rights Committee this morning as it observed the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. As the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People- began its observance with a moment of silence in memory of the late President of the Palestinian Authority, the Secretary-General noted that the Palestinian people had endured a dismal existence of grinding poverty and dispossession.