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A third way

Haidar Eid 20 February 2008


The “third way” that secular intellectuals defend, condemns terrorism and supports the fight against it. However, the criterion it follows is a universal one. That is, support comes only if the US is prepared to censure Israel for its illegal occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and all the crimes that come with it, and stops its support for imposed, corrupt dictators in the Arab world. Haider Eid comments for The Electronic Intifada. 

UN humanitarian chief says Gaza situation "grim"

20 February 2008


JERUSALEM, 19 February (IRIN) - John Holmes, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, has said he is shocked by the “grim and miserable” situation in the Gaza Strip, and he called for the opening of crossing points into the enclave and for Palestinian militants to stop rocket fire into Israel. Wrapping up a five-day trip on 18 February, he said he had come to visit Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) to see the situation on the ground and do what he could to increase movement into and out of Gaza. 

A state of war and peace

Hasan Abu Nimah 20 February 2008


The car bomb assassination in Damascus of Imad Mughniyeh has created a heightened state of tension in the region. Almost every commentator, no matter what perspective he/she comes from, expects the killing to spark a fresh round of deadly violence; as if the region had room for more. It is hard to speculate on the outcome of this serious development, but it is very unlikely that it will pass without dire consequences, for Lebanon and the region. Hasan Abu Nimah comments. 

House demolitions force Palestinians from village

19 February 2008


BEQAA, WEST BANK, 19 February (IRIN) - A small, overcrowded Palestinian village in the southern West Bank, under threat from Israeli-conducted house demolitions and land confiscations, is rapidly becoming poorer. “Every house here has one child at least who left because we can’t build new homes. Some went to Hebron, but others left for Amman [Jordan] and places abroad” said Ghassan, a young man from Beqaa village, who is a refugee registered with the UN. 

London School of Economics student union votes for divestment

19 February 2008


The London School of Economics Students’ Union (LSESU) on 14 February voted overwhelmingly to call on its university and the National Union of Students (NUS) to divest from companies that provide military and commercial support for the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, condemning the decades of human rights abuses and systematic oppression that has occurred as a result. 

Woman dies after being denied passage through Israeli checkpoint

18 February 2008


On Thursday, 13 February, Fawzia Abd al-Fattah al-Darak (59) from Deir al-Ghosoun north of Tulkarm died when Israeli forces prevented an ambulance from taking her to a hospital in Tulkarm. Mohammad al-Darak, her husband, testified that his wife started to experience severe chest pain. They called the emergency department of the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Tulkarm in order to transport her to a hospital. 

YMCA headquarters attacked in Gaza City

15 February 2008


The undersigned civil society organizations utterly condemn an attack on the YMCA headquarters in Gaza City in the early hours of the morning of 15 February 2008. Unidentified militants broke into the YMCA headquarters, planted explosive devices and subsequently completely destroyed the library. The undersigned organizations ask the dismissed government to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into this crime, which is a continuation of a number of similar attacks targeting national, cultural and civil society organizations in the Gaza Strip. 

Living with the certainty of war

Rania Masri Beirut, Lebanon 18 February 2008


For a while now, we’ve been talking about it. For a while now, I’ve been talking about it. Yes, there will be another war. I have said so during radio interviews, during dinner conversations, during phone calls with my family in the US. Yes, there will be another war of Israeli aggression on Lebanon. It is just a question of time, this summer or next summer, this year or next year, but, yes, there will be another war. Rania Masri writes from Beirut. 

Nahr al-Bared and the right of return

Hannah Mermelstein Ramallah, West Bank 19 February 2008


I left Lebanon more than a week ago and am only now starting to find words. I have never before been in a place that has seen so much war. Occupation, yes. Injustice, yes. Death and destruction and uncertainty, perhaps. But something felt different about Lebanon. I have not wrapped my mind around it enough to feel confident that what I write will accurately represent my own thoughts, let alone the actual situation. But I do want to tell you about Nahr al-Bared. Hannah Mermelstein writes.