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U.S. funds development of IT sector in Palestine

Najwa Saad 8 November 2004


The United States is channeling nearly $4 million through 2006 to promote the development of information and communication technology in the Palestinian Territories. Funded through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Palestine Information and Communications Technology Incubator (PICTI) opened in the Al-Sheikh Commercial Tower in the West Bank city of Ramallah in May and is seeking Palestinian entrepreneurs to partner with. “This state-of-the-art office space offers technology innovators an environment that encourages creativity while meeting their specialized needs for advanced technical support,” said PICTI’s first Chief Executive Officer David Bailey. 

Humanitarian agencies appeal for $302 million to maintain their assistance to Palestinians

11 November 2004


Humanitarian agencies are appealing for US$ 302,601,889 to maintain their assistance to Palestinians. The continued provision of food aid in 2004 has helped to limit the rise in malnutrition, and emergency relief has served to lower the proportion of those living in deep poverty. Humanitarian agencies will keep on supporting Palestinian livelihoods and help to prevent further depletion of their assets. Humanitarian agencies released their consolidated appeal today. They expect that humanitarian needs will continue gradually to increase during 2005. Given current levels of violence and stalled negotiations, there is limited hope that closure will be lifted. 

Interview: Challenging Camp David mythology, four years on

10 November 2004


On November 5th, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s “As It Happens” program, rebroadcast in the US on National Public Radio, featured former Middle East Envoy Dennis Ross being interviewed about Yasser Arafat, who is currently seriously ill in a French hospital. Ross had much to say about Arafat and Camp David. Clayton E. Swisher, a former Marine reservist and federal criminal investigator, was a VIP security guard at the Camp David talks. Nation Books recently published Swisher’s The Truth About Camp David, which provides a devastating counternarrative to the commonly held myths about Arafat’s intransigence and Barak’s “generous offer” at the summit. EI’s Nigel Parry interviewed Swisher about Dennis Ross’ comments on the CBC program. 

Supreme Court: Azmi Bishara's Parliamentary Immunity Must be Resolved Pre-Trial

8 November 2004


Today, 8 November 2004, the Supreme Court of Israel held a first hearing on a petition filed by Adalah on behalf of Member of Knesset (MK) Dr. Azmi Bishara, head of the National Democratic Assembly party (NDA), in the political speeches case. The petition was filed on 24 December 2003 against the Knesset, the Attorney General (AG) and the Nazareth Magistrate Court following the Magistrate Court’s decision of November 2003 not to dismiss the indictment against MK Bishara. 

A letter from Palestine to my fellow Americans

Ryan Borgen Ramallah, West Bank 10 November 2004


Catching a taxi to my apartment near Arafat’s compound in Ramallah the other night, the Palestinian driver’s immediate question concerned my nationality. “Germany?” he asked. No. “France?” No. “Switzerland?” No. “Italy?” No … Before he covered the rest of Europe, I somewhat sheepishly admitted, “America.” He cut to the chase: “Do you support Bush?” With an almost desperate note of pain in his voice, different from that of the jaded drivers I usually have, he asked me about occupied Palestine, about occupied Iraq. “Why does your country do this to us?” he asked me. “Are we bad?” “Am I no good?” 

Hamas prepares for post-Arafat era

Khalid Amayreh 2 November 2004


Hamas has joined other Palestinian political factions in wishing the ailing Yasir Arafat a speedy recovery, but it is also readying for life after Arafat. The ailing Palestinian leader, though disliked by many Palestinians for a variety of reasons, still enjoys widespread respect among the wider public, including the powerful Islamist camp. Hamas realises, as, indeed, does the rest of the Palestinian political class, that the political diminution of Arafat and certainly his death would signal the end of an era and the beginning of a new one whose features and borders are difficult to determine now. Khalid Amayreh reports. 

Palestinians to continue struggle

Khalid Amayreh 9 November 2004


Palestinian Authority officials and opposition leaders have vowed to safeguard national unity in the wake of leader Yasir Arafat’s death. Seeking to cope with the absence of the man who was at the helm of the Palestinian national struggle for nearly 40 years,  leaders of the mainstream Fatah movement, which Arafat founded and led until his death, undertook not to allow his passing to impact the movement’s ability to keep up the struggle against Israeli occupation. Other Palestinians intellectuals are not so optimistic about the post-Arafat era. Some believe that the passing of Arafat will turn out to be “an earth-shaking event”. 

Controversy over Suha Arafat comments rages in media

8 November 2004


As Yasser Arafat lies gravely ill in a French military hospital, a bitter dispute between Arafat’s estranged wife, Suha, and his top advisors has broken out into the international media. “I appeal to you to be aware of the scope of the conspiracy,” Suha Arafat�told the Al-Jazeera satellite channel in a telephone interview, “They are trying to bury Abu Ammar alive.” Not so Suha herself. Hospital officials report that Suha has been behaving exactly as family members of seriously ill patients typically do, spending late nights with Arafat in his hospital room and only emerging for brief periods looking tired and upset. 

Fourth Committee takes up report on Israeli practices in occupied territories

8 November 2004


During the past year not a single minute had passed during which Israel had not deliberately engaged in the violation of international law, including humanitarian law and human rights law, the Permanent Observer of Palestine told the Fourth Committee this morning, as it began consideration of the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories. She said the violations included the killing and injuring of Palestinian civilians, destruction of homes, confiscation of land, construction of the wall, settlements, and restrictions on movement. 

Photostory: Olive harvest in Lower Yanoun

Maureen Clare Murphy Lower Yanoun, West Bank 9 November 2004


Olive harvesting, an ancient practice that holds great spiritual and economic significance to Palestinians, is threatened by Israel’s colonization of West Bank lands. In areas such as the village of Jayyous, farmers have been cut off from their olive orchards by the apartheid wall Israel is illegally building on Palestinian land with the intention of annexing precious natural resources to the Israeli side while preventing the rightful Palestinian owners access to their land. But here in Yanoun, it is the Israeli settlers themselves who harass and shoot at the Palestinian harvesters, whose only crime is their desire to work the land that their ancestors have tended for generations.