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When Olmert and Abbas shake hands

Nora Barrows-Friedman Dheisheh refugee camp, Palestine 10 August 2007


On Monday, Israeli occupation authority Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and occupied Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas once again met and shook hands, each promising respective constituents that a so-called “peaceful solution” is near. Olmert “agreed” that cooperation between Israel and the PA will expand, something that is not lost on the millions of occupied Palestinians who continue to suffer each day as many other things expand beneath their feet — the settlement colonies, the apartheid wall, the egregious acts of violence and oppression enacted by the Israeli occupation military. 

Deconstructing the Jordan option

Osamah Khalil 13 August 2007


Last month the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the US and Israel were considering a revival of the “Jordan option.” In spite of the fervent denials emanating from Amman, the report caused a rash of speculation and concern among Palestinians. Many fear that if implemented it would mark the end of hopes for an independent Palestinian state. Resurrecting the Jordan option, in which the West Bank and possibly Gaza would be united in a political and economic confederation with Jordan, demonstrates not just the poverty of ideas in Washington and Israel, but their desperation as well. Osamah Khalil comments for EI. 

Radio Tadamon! reflects on Lebanon war

11 August 2007


This special edition of Radio Tadamon!, a monthly hour-long radio program broadcasted in Montreal and uploaded to the Internet, focuses on commemorating the July 2006 Israeli military assault on Lebanon. The 34-day war left over 1,300 Lebanese civilians dead, large parts of the national infrastructure destroyed and southern Lebanon littered with over a million unexploded cluster bombs. The program features multiple testimonies and reflections on the 2006 war on Lebanon recorded at a Montreal community commemoration event that attracted hundreds of participants from the Montreal region. 

European hypocrisy

Saifedean Ammous 9 August 2007


While in Paris a few weeks ago, whenever the Middle East came up EI contributor Saifedean Ammous would be met with the traditional refrains of classical anti-Americanism: “they have no culture and deal with the world as if it had no culture,” “they have no morality in their foreign policy,” “they go to war for oil and money” and so on with inane over-simplified stereotypes. Soon after would come the cackle of self-righteous pride: “we Europeans are different,” “we want our foreign policy based on a concept of morality,” “we attempt to promote justice in the world and fix up the mess left behind by the Americans.” 

Villagers face evacuation orders, movement restrictions

8 August 2007


AL-HADIDIYA, 8 August 2007 (IRIN) - Palestinian residents of al-Hadidiya village in Jordan Valley (in the West Bank), live without electricity or running water and most importantly, they say, face demolition and evacuation orders. “Five families tried to fight the orders in an Israeli court,” said Ali Bsharat, an al-Hadidiya resident. “They lost.” The five then had to sign documents and commit to leave the area. “We don’t want to leave,” Bsharat said, but implied that it may just be a matter of time before all the residents are forced to do so. 

Rights group: Journalist's killers must be prosecuted

6 August 2007


Legal deliberations on the murder of UK citizen James Miller have continued since he was killed on 2 May 2003 at the border line between Gaza and Egypt. Miller and a small crew were filming in the area for a documentary on children’s lives. According to investigations by Al Mezan, then-47-year-old Miller was killed by Israeli troops at approximately 11 pm on 2 May 2003 in the al-Shair neighborhood in Rafah. He was with three other persons, including his colleagues Saira Shah and Daniel Edge, and a Palestinian interpreter, Abedul Rahman Abdullah. 

Internally displaced Palestinians struggle for recognition

6 August 2007


EIN HOUD, 5 August 2007 (IRIN) - Residents of Ein Houd village have been without electricity for almost 60 years but now Muhammed Abu al-Haija’s house has been connected to Israel’s electric grid. “So far, I’m the only one with electricity,” said Al-Haija, who, like the other 250 residents, is an Israeli citizen. “But I hope the whole village will get it soon.” Al-Haija said the villagers had been campaigning to be connected to the electricity grid for almost 30 years. 

Rival Islamist groups vie for control of refugee camp

6 August 2007


EIN AL-HILWEH, 5 August 2007 (IRIN) - Ein al-Hilweh, Lebanon’s largest and most lawless refugee camp, has a street called Sharia Bustan Yahoudi (Jewish Park Street); the irony is a small instance among a litany of indignities suffered by the Palestinian refugees living there. “It’s named after the Jews who used to live around Sidon,” Khoder Abdel Aziz, a 24-year-old resident of the street, tells us, referring to the neighboring port city, 45 kilometers south of Beirut. 

Audio: Crossing the Line interviews journalist Glen Ford

6 August 2007


This week on Crossing The Line: Host Christopher Brown speaks with Glen Ford of the Blackagendareport.com about the ever-growing complicity of Black lawmakers with regards to the Israel/Palestine issue. The Congressional Black Caucus — at one time the conscious of the Congress — now does nothing to question Israel’s injustice against Palestinians. 

Israel's Jewish problem in Tehran

Jonathan Cook 6 August 2007


There is an interesting problem with selling the “Iran as Nazi Germany” line. If President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad really is Hitler, ready to commit genocide against Israel’s Jews as soon as he can get his hands on a nuclear weapon, why are some 25,000 Jews living peacefully in Iran and more than reluctant to leave despite repeated enticements from Israel and American Jews? EI contributor Jonathan Cook asks, what is the basis for Israel’s dire forecasts — the ideological scaffolding being erected, presumably, to justify an attack on Iran?