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West Bank farmers face ruin after trees uprooted

27 April 2008


JEET, WEST BANK, 27 April (IRIN) - It was difficult for 87-year-old Jamil Khader to discover that nearly all of the 1,400 olive trees his extended family planted in February had suddenly gone missing, having been uprooted and stolen. “He became very ill when I told him. He was hospitalized and was in bed for a week,” his son Khalil, from the small town of Jeet in the northern West Bank, told IRIN. 

Canadian college cancels workshop critical of Israel

21 April 2008


ASSE, a Quebec-wide student union representing 42,000 members, CALEB, a local student group and Tadamon, a Montreal-based social justice group, denounce the decision of a Montreal college to cancel a presentation critical of Canadian support for Israel. The workshop, scheduled to have taken place today, was canceled after the administration of College Bois-de-Boulogne came under pressure from supporters of Israel. This attack on basic freedom of expression is all the more disturbing because it occurs on a campus. 

Nadine Gordimer: Stand against Israel's apartheid too

Haidar Eid 25 April 2008


The following is an edited open letter from Gaza lecturer Dr. Haider Eid to Nobel Prize-winning South African author Nadine Gordimer: The news of your conscious decision to take part in the “Israel at 60” celebrations has reached us, students and citizens of Gaza, as both a painful surprise, and a glaring example of a hypocritical intellectual double standard. My students, psychologically and emotionally traumatized and already showing early signs of malnutrition as a result of the genocidal policy of the country whose birth you will be celebrating, demand an explanation. 

Gaza fuel supplies on a knife edge

23 April 2008


JERUSALEM/GAZA, 23 April (IRIN) - Israel once again pumped industrial diesel to the Gaza Strip’s sole power plant on 23 April, just hours before it was scheduled to stop operations due to a lack of fuel. An Israeli official told IRIN about one million liters would be sent in, provided no “security incidents” took place. The plant said it needed about 3.5 million liters a week, though Israel has committed to transferring only 2.2 million. The amount sent in on 23 April could only be spun out for a few days. 

Crossing the Line interviews Dr. Eyad al-Sarraj

24 April 2008


This week on Crossing the Line: Haaretz recently reported that Egypt and Israel have agreed in principle that Egypt will assume responsibility for supplying electricity to the Gaza Strip’s 1.4 million residents. But will Israel, who had previously supplied Gaza with most of its electricity, allow for this to continue in the context of their ongoing siege on Gaza? Host Naji Ali speaks with Dr. Eyad al-Sarraj, founder and director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme about the ongoing siege and humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. 

Film review: "Driving to Zigzigland"

Ali Abunimah 24 April 2008


It is a familiar dilemma. You are on a plane, or at a social gathering, and a stranger asks you where you are from. Your mind races to come up with an answer. If you say “Palestine,” you know that it’s not likely to be a short conversation. Bashar (Bashar Da’as), the main protagonist of Driving to Zigzigland, Nicole Ballivan’s 2006 feature film, uses a strategy to give him a measure of control with his taxi fares that support him while he looks for the perfect acting role. EI co-founder Ali Abunimah reviews. 

This land was theirs

Hannah Mermelstein 24 April 2008


In my name, and in the name of Jewish people throughout the world, an indigenous population was almost completely expelled. Village names have been removed from the map, houses blown up, and new forests planted. In Arabic, this is called the Nakba, or catastrophe. In Israel, this is called “independence.” Hannah Mermelstein comments. 

Israel suspends family visits to prisoners

24 April 2008


JERUSALEM/GAZA, 22 April (IRIN) - For families in the Gaza Strip with sons or daughters in Israeli jails, the past 11 months have been especially hard, as they could no longer visit their imprisoned relatives and have only had contact through brief written messages. “This issue is a humanitarian concern for us, for the families and the prisoners,” said Katharina Ritz, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Jerusalem. 

US playwright Sarah Jones urged to cancel Israel performance

22 April 2008


Upon news of her upcoming performance in Israel, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel tells playwright Sarah Jones: If you perform in Jerusalem you will be taking part in a feast for war crimes, ethnic cleansing, dispossession, and continued oppression of a people. We urge you not to turn your back to the needs and rights of the Palestinian people and not to collude in Israel’s persistent human rights abuse, which is, after all, the worst enemy of art and culture. 

Palestinian education delegation to UK gets special treatment

Rumy Hasan 22 April 2008


Following a motion passed at the inaugural Congress of the University and College Union (UCU) in the UK last May, a tour of British universities by Palestinian trade union academics was authorized. However, the UCU has taken a strong line that only its members will be allowed to attend tour meetings and attendees are required to bring identification. Rumy Hasan comments.