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Gaza: Calm before the storm

Philip Rizk Gaza City, Palestine 13 May 2007


This must be what they call the calm before the storm. By 7pm all the main street intersections in Gaza City were filled with guards wearing face masks. It seems every time a new security plan is declared in Gaza the situation gets worse. This morning my friend Jamal greeted his neighbor Baha’ Abu Jarad as he left his home for a days work; ten minutes later Baha’ was dead. Jamal, shaken up, informed me of the incident over the phone, while trying to hold back tears. 

Memory as a blueprint for the future

George Bisharat 13 May 2007


Why do some people have the power to remember, while others are asked to forget? That question is especially poignant at this time of year, as we move from Holocaust Remembrance day in early spring to Monday’s anniversary of Israel’s declaration of independence on May 14, 1948. In the months surrounding that date, Jewish forces expelled, or intimidated into flight, an estimated 750,000 Palestinians. A living, breathing, society that had existed in Palestine for centuries was smashed and fragmented, and a new society built on its ruins. 

Book Review: "Overcoming Zionism"

Raymond Deane 13 May 2007


Overcoming Zionism, Joel Kovel’s first book on the question of Israel, is a contribution to the growing body of literature advocating “a single democratic state in Israel/Palestine.” However, while Kovel’s subtitle is longer than his title, it is the devastating critique of Zionism that occupies eight of the book’s ten chapters. What is unique about Kovel’s project is its multi-perspectival nature: he demolishes Zionism from historical, political, cultural, environmental, ethical, and psychological perspectives, and still has space left for elegant invective and stimulating digression. 

Gaza's fish break the blockade

Yousef Alhelou Gaza Strip, Palestine 11 May 2007


Joy has filled the hearts of hundreds of Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip this week as they expressed their happiness over the most plentiful fishing season in 40 years. The news is all the more sweet considering the Israeli navy’s restrictions on fishing off of Gaza’s coast. There are some 433 boats registered at Gaza’s port, but only a few of them are seaworthy; fewer still risk the Israeli-imposed ban on Gaza’s fishermen. Collectively, Palestinian fishermen have seen their monthly catch drop from 823 tones in June 2000 to as low as 50 in late 2006. 

Investigation: Israel executed 8 Palestinians in Jenin in past 3 months

10 May 2007


Over the course of the last three months, Al-Haq has documented four incidents, the facts of which are summarised below, involving the extrajudicial executions of eight Palestinians in the Jenin area. The number of incidents, all of which involved disturbingly similar facts, indicates that, far from being isolated acts, the extrajudicial execution of Palestinians continues to be a widespread practice. Indeed, during the last year, Al-Haq has documented numerous other deaths attributable to Israeli extrajudicial executions. 

Weekly Report on Human Rights Violations

10 May 2007


During the reporting period, three Palestinians were extra-judicially executed by IOF in the West Bank. Thirteen civilians, including six children and a girl, were wounded by IOF gunfire in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. IOF conducted 37 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and arrested four Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT and at various checkpoints and border crossings in the West Bank arrested six Palestinian civilians. 

Suppressing critics of Israel: The campaign against Norman Finkelstein

Bitta Mostofi 10 May 2007


In recent weeks a considerable amount has been written and said about Norman Finkelstein’s bid for tenure at DePaul University. As most academics are aware, it is unique for a tenure decision, something that is an inherently internal process, to be subject to external discussion. Unfortunately, Finkelstein’s case is important because of the way in which is not unique. Forces outside DePaul have attempted to interfere with the University’s process in an effort to sway its decision towards denial of Finkelstein’s tenure. 

Iraqi Journalists Issue new Appeal for Release of BBC Journalist

10 May 2007


Journalists’ leaders and media chiefs meeting in Iraq today issued a new appeal for the release of kidnapped BBC journalist who has been missing for eight weeks in Palestine. The Iraqi journalism community was meeting in Irbil in the north of the country to put together a national safety and security strategy to combat the threats to media and reporters in a conflict that has already claimed the lives of more than 200 media staff since the United States invasion in 2003. 

In Gaza, chaos versus democracy and democracy versus chaos

Rami Almeghari Gaza Strip, Palestine 9 May 2007


“Perhaps some youth are trying to imitate what’s going in the outside world; we don’t have solid information on the existence of such groups,” said Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Helal in response to the recent attack on a UN-operated school in Rafah City. Early this week, a group of militants opened fire on a celebration at a UN-operated elementary school in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, having warned ahead of time that the event was “indecent.” 

Review: Palestinian Revolution Cinema

Maureen Clare Murphy 9 May 2007


Hamid Dabashi, founder of the Dreams of a Nation: A Palestinian Film Project, has said that one of the distinguishing qualities of Palestinian national cinema is that it has and continues to be produced during the throes of trauma. This stands apart from other national cinema (German, Italian, and Iranian, to name a few) which came to maturity through dealing with past national trauma. However, there has never been a Palestinian-produced feature film focusing on the Nakba. Yet, the Nakba is at the core of Palestinian cinema, as exemplified by the Palestinian Revolution Cinema series curated by Palestinian artist Emily Jacir.