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"Remember These Children" website commemorates murdered Palestinian and Israeli children

1 May 2003

“From September 29, 2000 through March 27, 2003, the violence in occupied Palestine and Israel claimed the lives of at least 419 Palestinian and 93 Israeli children under the age of 18. Remember These Children lists these 512 children side by side. The documentation, though painful, conveys the personal reality of these terrible statistics. Arranged chronologically by date of death, each entry includes the child’s name, hometown, how the child was killed, and, where available, the location of the fatal injury. ” A new website provides searing and powerful reminders of the urgent need for increased activism and educational outreach on the question of Palestine. 

Rachel Corrie Died In Palestine Rubble, But Her Issue Lives

Philip Weiss 1 May 2003

“Rachel Corrie represented the finest tradition of nonviolent peacemaking,” said Rachael Kamel of the Jewish Mobilization for a Just Peace, in Philadelphia. “An investigation is needed not only to clarify the circumstances of her death, but also to help Congress and the American public understand more fully the violence carried out every day in the occupied territories. “Rachel Corrie is a hero,” said Washington-based Charles Lenchner, president of Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel. “These international volunteers represent the best of what American values are all about—Martin Luther King-style action.” Philip Weiss of the New York Observer examines growing sympathies among American Jewish groups with the goals of Americans like Rachel Corrie. 

"I was a human shield": An Israeli visits ISM in Rafah

Billie Moskona-Lerman Rafah, Gaza Strip 1 May 2003


“Rains of ammunition, bullets came down on us on that one single night. A single night, for me. The shooting went on continuously from 1.30 to 4.15, near the first light…’So they never hit your house itself?’ I ask him with an enormous burst of hope. ‘Oh, sometimes they do. Look at the bullet holes’. I raise my head and look to the sides. The ceiling is fool of holes, the side walls are cut up. So is the kitchen wall near the tap, near the table, in the toilet, one centimetre from the children’s beds. Some of the holes have been filled up. Every night, once the shooting ends, Jamil closes the bullet holes with white cement. The walls are patchwork, and if you dare approach the window you can see that Jamil and Nora’s home is surrounded by ruins on all sides.” Israeli peace activist Billie Moskona-Lerman writes about a night spent in Rafah, southern Gaza. 

Where will this road map really lead?

Nick Pretzlik 30 April 2003

“We now witness the publication of the Middle East Road Map, the latest attempt to resolve the Israeli/Palestinian impasse. Cynics will expect Israel to prevaricate and demand amendments and President Bush to lack conviction in the face of a US election in 2004. Cynics will no doubt recall Sharon’s oft-stated belief that it is necessary to inflict a devastating defeat on the Palestinians before peace can be agreed to. They will also remember the words of General Moshe Ya’alon, the IDF chief of staff, when he said that the aim is to lead the Palestinians to internalise “in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people”. Is this the appropriate mindset for an equitable peace?” Nick Pretzlik views events in Palestine and Iraq from London and asks some difficult questions. 

Excerpts of Palestinian PM Mahmoud Abbas Speech Before Palestinian Legislative Council

PLO Negotiations Affairs Department 29 April 2003

On 29 April 2003, the new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) gave an inaugral speech to the Palestinian Legislative Council. Following are excerpts and a link to his full speech. The excerpts are a fair representation of the speech in its entirety. The main difference between the texts is the removal of extensive salutations. 

Text of proposed "road map"

PLO Negotiations Affairs Department 30 April 2003

The following is the text of the performance-based and goal driven roadmap, with clear phases, timelines, target dates, and benchmarks aiming at progress through reciprocal steps by the two parties in the political, security, economic, humanitarian, and institution-building fields, under the auspices of the Quartet. The destination is a final and comprehensive settlement of the Israel-Palestinian conflict by 2005, as presented in President Bush’s speech of 24 June, and welcomed by the EU, Russia, and the UN in the 16 July and 17 September Quartet Ministerial statements.