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Anxiety and Cautious Optimism

Moussa Bashir Beirut 5 March 2007


Most of the posts in the Lebanese blogosphere reflect the atmosphere of anxiety, pessimism and mistrust that is the general mood of the Lebanese nowadays. Here is a summary of some of the posts. An attempt has been made to include one or two light posts with brighter outlooks, but they did not drown the overall disposition mentioned above. Let’s begin by mentioning Lebanon’s loss of Joseph Samaha, a very prominent columnist and political analyst, last week. Many bloggers posted about the man and his works. Jamal Ghosn wrote a post about Samaha which he began with: “Life Goes On, but it must not go on dumber, less informed, mentally poorer.” 

Open Letter to the People of Six Nations

Jamal Juma' 5 March 2007


On the anniversary of the Six Nations Land Reclamation we express our solidarity to you and to all those that are defending today their land and livelihoods against theft and colonization. On February 28th, 2006, after the Canadian government gave a construction company the permission to build a settlement on their land, the people of Six Nations took it back, demanding an end to the theft and destruction of their land and to settler encroachment on their territory. Many of them now face charges in Canadian courts for defending their land. This sounds tragically familiar to us in Palestine and to many others around the world. 

Gaza's fishing industry under siege

Rami Almeghari Gaza Strip, Palestine 5 March 2007


Since the abduction by Palestinian resistance groups of Israeli soldier Gila’d Shalit on 25 June 2006, Israeli gunships have prevented Palestinians from fishing off the Gaza coast. This has severely affected both fishermen and food security for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Thirty-thousand people are dependant on Gaza’s fishing industry, but since last June, the Israeli naval forces have harassed those Palestinian fishing boats that dare leave the dock. In the main fishing site of Gaza City, called Almina, there are dozens of fishermen trying to feed their children under harsh economic conditions. 

One Killed and Ten Wounded in Gaza Due to Weapons Mishandling

4 March 2007


In the past three days, a person was killed and two others, including two children, were wounded in the Gaza Strip in the context of the state of lawlessness and proliferation of weapons prevailing in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 19:30 on Thursday, 1 March 2007, Yasser Fathi Zannoun, 17, from al-Shaboura refugee camp in Rafah, was wounded by a bullet to the left foot when he was checking a gun inside his house. 

Palestinian youth in Bethlehem area fully support non-violent resistance

Adri Nieuwhof 4 March 2007


The Joint Advocacy Initiative (JAI), an initiative of YWCA of Palestine and East Jerusalem YMCA, carried out research among young people from the Bethlehem area, to examine the attitude of Palestinian youth towards non-violent struggle against the occupation and oppressive practices. The results published in a report recently show that almost sixty percent of the youth are affiliated to a political party and they fully support non-violent means of resistance against the Israeli occupation. The opinions voiced by the youth offer clear building blocks for a strategy of national resistance. A strategy that shows striking similarities to the strategy successfully used by the African National Congress of South Africa to fight apartheid. 

Wounded teen speaks about friend's killing at Gaza fence

3 March 2007


‘Abd a-Ra’uf al-‘Adini testifies to B’Tselem: Two days ago [23 January], the last day of school semester, I went to school and took an exam in mathematics. Then, around nine o’clock, I met my two friends. We sat together for about fifteen minutes. Mahran suggested that we quit school and look for work in Israel , anything other than this life of hardship in the Gaza Strip. Mahran’s father is a government clerk, and he lives off advances that he gets on his salary, which is not currently being paid. ‘Imad and I agreed to the idea of working in Israel ; in any case the situation there is better than it is here. 

Injured Palestinian dies after being held up at gate

3 March 2007


On 17 February 2007, around 9:40 P.M., three young men from ‘Azzun ‘Atmah were summoned to help free a car that was stuck in a field in the village. They drove to the area in a tractor without lights. The tractor went up onto a boulder and flipped over. One of the men, ‘Adel ‘Omar, 21, was pinned under the tractor and seriously injured. The village of ‘Azzun ‘Atmah is surrounded by the separation barrier, and lies between Israel ‘s green line and the separation barrier. The only way out of the village is through a gate in the barrier, which closes at 10:00 P.M.
 

How Barack Obama learned to love Israel

Ali Abunimah 4 March 2007


On March 2, Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama gave a speech that proved that when it came to supporting Israel he is “as strong as Clinton, as supportive as Bush, as friendly as Giuliani” in the words of one Israeli journalist. Obama blamed Palestinians for the failure of peace efforts and uttered no criticism of Israeli policies. Yet once upon a time Obama supported Palestinian rights and an even-handed US approach to solving the conflict. EI co-founder Ali Abunimah who has met the candidate half a dozen times over a decade analyzes the speech and traces Obama’s path into the hardline pro-Israel camp. 

Weekly Report on Human Rights Violations

2 March 2007


During the reporting period four Palestinian were killed by IOF in the West Bank, three of the victims were extra-judicially executed by IOF in Jenin. Twenty-eight Palestinian civilians, including two journalists, four children and four women, were wounded by IOF gunfire. On Sunday, 25 February the IOF launched a wide scale military campaign on Nablus during which over 150 Palestinians were arrested. On 26 February during the invasion the IOF shot and killed ‘Anan Mohammed al-Teebi and wounded his son, both resident of the Old City of Nablus. 

Sinn Fein leader calls for economic sanctions on Israel after Nablus incursion

1 March 2007


Sinn Fein Justice and International Affairs Spokesperson Aengus O Snodaigh TD has called on the Government to enforce emergency economic sanctions on Isreal after its latest illegal military incursion into Nablus in the West Bank. Deputy O Snodaigh said occupying Israeli forces have killed and wounded Palestinian civilians and forced young Palestinians to act as human shields. Speaking in the Dail today Deputy O Snodaigh said, “There is an urgent need for the government to respond to the latest illegal Israeli military incursion into Nablus in the West Bank by enforcing emergency economic sanctions on Israel.”