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A Stinging Tribute to an Apartheid State: An Open Letter to Sting Urging him to Cancel his Israel Gig

6 June 2006


Today, Palestinians commemorate the 39th anniversary of Israel’s illegal occupation. At a time of unprecedented Israeli repression and violations of human rights, when Israel is relentlessly pursuing the construction of its colonial Wall and settlements, both declared illegal by the International Court of Justice at the Hague in July 2004, we, representatives of Palestinian civil society, urge you to cancel your planned performance in Israel. We feel particularly disappointed because of your otherwise bright record of supporting just peace and human rights in our region and in other conflicts. 

Dangerous dirty tricks in Palestine

Ali Abunimah 6 June 2006


The referendum called by Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas is supposedly meant to gain public endorsement for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel in all the territories occupied in 1967, as set out in a plan agreed by senior Hamas and Fatah leaders held in Israeli prisons. But Abbas’ ploy has nothing to do with hastening the creation of such a state, and everything to do with Fatah’s inability to come to terms with its defeat in last January’s legislative elections. It is, says EI co-founder Ali Abunimah, another sordid attempt to use “democracy” not to reveal the will of the people, but to frustrate it. 

Palestinian blacksmith dreams of returning to job in Israel

Yasser Abu Moailek Gaza Strip 5 June 2006


On a sunny Friday afternoon, Tawfiq Saad sits in front of his house, drinking tea and watching his four children play in a small patch of land right across the house, near the northern border of the Gaza Strip, in the small town of Beit Lahiya. Suddenly, a thunderous sound echoes throughout the area, and clouds of smoke rise less than a hundred metres from his house. The terrified children dash to the house screaming. The youngest of them, five-year-old Najat, jumps into her father’s arms and starts crying. 

Six Injured, including Four Children, in Incidents involving the Misuse of Weapons in the Gaza Strip

5 June 2006


Over the past two days in the Gaza Strip, six people, including four children, were injured in incidents involving the misuse of weapons. PCHR’s preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 01:30 on Sunday, 4 June 2006, Omar Mahmoud El-Batsh, a 22-year-old resident of Greater Abasan to the east of Khan Yunis, was admitted to the European Hospital in Khan Yunis. He had been injured by a bullet that had penetrated through the right thigh and then entered the left thigh. The bullet had been fired accidentally from a friend’s firearm. 

Tension between Fatah and Hamas continues

5 June 2006


In the latest clash between armed groups in the Gaza Strip, unidentified gunmen fired at Abdel Hadi Seyam, a member of the Izzedeen El-Qassam Brigades in Gaza City. He was seriously injured in the chest. Prior to this incident, nine people were injured, including a child, in armed clashes between members of the Preventive Security Apparatus and members of the Izzedeen El-Qassam Brigades in Khan Yunis. Unknown gunmen also shot Khader Afana, an officer in the Preventive Security Apparatus, in Gaza City. He died of serious injuries sustained in the attack. 

The Boycott of Palestinian Education: Can the Anti-Boycotters Please Stand Up?

3 June 2006


In the flurry of letters and comments against the boycott of Israeli academics who, according to Natfhe, are complicit through their work or silence, in the military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, the reality facing the other side of the coin, that of Palestinian academics, researchers and educational institutions, has been ignored. Under Israeli occupation, all eleven Palestinian universities have been closed, the longest being Birzeit between 1988 and 1992, and the most recent Hebron Polytechnic which was closed by military order for 8 months in 2003. 

We Need Justice

Fida Qeshta 3 June 2006


My family and I live in Rafah. On January 21, 2004, our neighbor, Abu Jamil, woke us at 2:00 AM. He asked for help because the Israeli military came to bulldoze his home. My mother and I helped his family to empty their house. By 6:00 AM it was demolished. Since 1967 Israel has demolished 12,000 Palestinian homes. During this uprising, Israel has demolished 2000 homes in Rafah, mostly near the border with Egypt, and 3,000 houses in the Gaza Strip. In Rafah 3,000 people remain homeless. 

The Myth of Unilateralism and Convergence

Am Johal 2 June 2006


What Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is attempting to pull off through unilateralism is historically unprecedented – to take a disputed territory and mark its own borders without taking in to account historical aspirations or negotiations. Convergence is a public relations term rather than something to be taken as seriously as diplomacy. It will more than likely perpetuate the vicious circle which has gone on since 1993 and could stoke the fires of a third intifada. 

How Olmert conned Washington over convergence

Jonathan Cook 1 June 2006


Israelis have a word for it: “hasbara”. It is often misleadingly translated as “advocacy for Israel”. But what the word signifies more deeply for Israel’s supporters is the duty, when the truth would be damaging, to dissemble or to disseminate misinformation to protect the interests of Israel as a Jewish state — that is, a state with an unassailable Jewish majority. If hasbara is expected of the lowliest members of Israel’s international fan club, it is a duty of the first order for the country’s prime minister. 

The Hamas Government Should be Recognized

Tanya Reinhart 31 May 2006


The U.S. and Europe decided, despite Israel’s opposition, to permit the Palestinian people to hold democratic elections. According to Jimmy Carter’s report in the “Herald Tribune”, the elections were “honest, fair, strongly contested, without violence and with the results accepted by winners and losers. Among the 62 elections that have been monitored by… the Carter Center, these are among the best in portraying the will of the people.” In a just and well-ordered world, it would be unthinkable for a government that was elected in this way to be disqualified because Israel does not like the choice of the electorate in question.