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BBC reporter still held two weeks after kidnapping

26 March 2007


In an alarming resumption of the abduction and detention of foreign journalists in the Gaza Strip, BBC journalist Alan Johnston was abducted on 12 March 2007 in the Al Rimal neighbourhood in the west of Gaza City. So far, Johnston’s whereabouts, the identity of his captors and the reason behind his abduction have not been explicitly confirmed. The targeting of foreign journalists constitutes a bewildering and dangerous phenomenon that threatens the very notion of personal security and public order in the Gaza Strip. This crime is a flagrant attack on the rule of law, and further constitutes an attack against individual freedoms. 

The crime of being born Palestinian

Anna Baltzer West Bank 25 March 2007


Almost two weeks ago, my friend Dawud, a high school English teacher from Kufr ‘Ain, called me nearly in tears to report the checkpoint hold-up that had cost him his six-month-old son. Shortly after midnight on March 8th, my friend’s baby began having trouble breathing. His parents quickly got a taxi to take him to the nearest hospital in Ramallah, where they hoped to secure an oxygen tent, which had helped him recover from difficult respiratory episodes in the past. As the family was rushing from their Palestinian town in the West Bank to their Palestinian hospital in the West Bank, they were stopped at Atara checkpoint, where an Israeli soldier asked for the father’s, mother’s, and driver’s IDs. 

The legacy of Martin Luther King: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere

Adri Nieuwhof 25 March 2007


On 4 April 1968, Martin Luther King was shot dead in Memphis, Tennessee, where he planned to lead a protest march. The powerful voice of King was silenced, but almost fifty years later, his ideas are still a source of inspiration for people who seek peace and justice. Israel claims to have a special relation with the legacy of King. Every year it marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a United States holiday, with a special session in parliament. 

Palestine Mozart Festival begins March 31 in Jerusalem

24 March 2007


Between March 31st and April 14th, the Occupied Palestinian Territories will host a major collaborative Arts Festival featuring over 200 local and visiting musicians. One of the largest performing arts projects ever staged in the Occupied Territories, the Palestine Mozart Festival (www.palestinemusicfestivals.org) will feature over 25 events staged in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Nablus and East Jerusalem. 

Tentative moves toward new Palestine government

Jim Lobe 24 March 2007


WASHINGTON, D.C., 23 March 2007 (IPS) - How seriously and to what ends is the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush willing to engage the new Palestinian government of national unity? As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes her seventh visit to the Middle East in the last eight months, that is the question that foreign policy analysts and diplomats here are asking, and the answers are as yet far from clear.Is the administration committed to resuming a genuine peace process designed to fill out the “political horizon” of a final settlement to which both Israel and the Palestinians, including Hamas, will be willing to commit? 

To Ban Ki-Moon: 40 years of occupation

24 March 2007


Dear Secretary-General Ban,
As Palestinian organisations dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights, we welcome your decision to visit the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) at this early stage in your tenure as UN Secretary-General. After 40 years of belligerent occupation, the current reality in the OPT is one of systematic violations of international human rights law, as well as serious breaches of international humanitarian law, which in many instances amount to war crimes. 

Weekly Report on Human Rights Violations

23 March 2007


During the reporting period two Palestinians, including a child were killed by the IOF in the West Bank. Thirteen Palestinian civilians, including seven children, were wounded by IOF. Eight of these civilians were wounded in Bal’ein village, west of Ramallah; four were injured by IOF gunfire at checkpoints. The IOF also conducted 31 incursions into Palestinian communities in the OPT, including a minor incursion into the Central Gaza Strip. 

ADC calls for congressional inquiry into Bolton remarks

23 March 2007


The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) today calls on the United States Congress to conduct an investigation into remarks made by former US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton stating that the US deliberately resisted calls for an immediate ceasefire during the summer 2006 war in Lebanon. Bolton was quoted in an interview with BBC saying he was, “damned proud of what we did” to prevent an early ceasefire. 

Knesset extends racist entry law for another year

22 March 2007


Today the Knesset extended for fifteen months the validity of the racist Nationality and Entry into Israel (Temporary Order) Law, which prevents family unification of residents of East Jerusalem and citizens of Israel married to Palestinians who are residents of the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. The extension follows the High Court of Justice’s rejection last year of the petition filed by Adalah and the Association for Civil Rights to invalidate the statute. In addition, the Knesset expanded the application of the law to include a category “dangerous countries,” containing Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran, whose citizens are denied family unification under the provisions of the statute. 

Right to family life denied

23 March 2007


Enaya Samara is a 56-year-old US national of Palestinian origin. For 31 years she lived in Ramallah with her husband, Adel Samara, who is a resident of the OPT, and their two children. For three decades she had to travel abroad every three months to renew her tourist visa. The family’s repeated attempts to obtain family unification and establish Enaya Samara’s right to reside in the OPT were unsuccessful. On 26 May 2006, after more than 120 trips, she was denied entry when she tried to return home to the OPT.