An elderly Palestinian woman grabbed my hand and held it over her chest. “Feel my heartbeat,” she said. “We are really afraid of the settlers.” Only half an hour before she took my hand, a group of 20 settlers from Maon settlement entered the village of Juwwiya and shot at her and her family as they grazed their sheep. Joy Ellison writes from the occupied West Bank. Read more about Tony Blair and the full measure of justice 

In the Sadiyya neighborhood inside the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City is the Jaber family home. There, three members of the Jaber family, as well as the Karaki family, have lived with their parents, and later spouses and children, since the 1930s. Six years ago Israeli police came to the house and told Nasser Jaber that his house no longer belonged to his family. Marcy Newman writes from occupied Jerusalem. Read more about Ethnic cleansing, one home at a time 

“For this is what the Palestinian does: we wait. For an answer to be given, for a question to be asked … for exile to a better place and for return to the only place that knows us …” Laila El-Haddad writes about her deportation from Egypt while attempting to go home to Gaza. Read more about The quintessential Palestinian experience 

“We are like the roots of a tree. The Israelis may cut us in places, but we will never die. We will not be transplanted from Jerusalem. I will not leave this house,” Maher Hanun tells a crowded room of Palestinian community members supported by Israeli and international solidarity activists. Jeff Pickert writes from occupied East Jerusalem. Read more about Sheikh Jarrah residents organize in the face of mass house evictions 

The wall Israel has constructed on occupied Palestinian land since 2003 has had a devastating effect on the 4,000 residents of Jayyus, a village northeast of the West Bank town of Qalqiliya. The wall near Jayyus separates the farmers from 75 percent of their agricultural land. Ida Audeh interviews affected farmers for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Jayyus farmers at the mercy of the occupation 

During Israel’s three-week-long offensive on Gaza launched on 27 December, the Israeli army used internationally banned weapons according to foreign military and medical experts. Israel used American-made white phosphorus shells in populated areas across the Gaza Strip. Yousef Al-Helou reports from the Gaza Strip. Read more about White phosphorus not forgotten in Gaza 

Palestinians across the Middle East were due to commemorate Land Day today, marking the anniversary of clashes in 1976 in which six unarmed Palestinians were shot dead by the Israeli army as it tried to break up a general strike. Although Land Day is one of the most important anniversaries in the Palestinian calendar, sometimes referred to as the Palestinians’ national day, the historical event it marks is little spoken of and rarely studied. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Palestinians remember Land Day 

If there is a single act that characterizes the plight of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation, it is waiting: waiting in lines to pass through the hundreds of checkpoints scattered across the West Bank, waiting for Israel to issue an identification card, waiting for permission to travel to the next village or out of the country, waiting for loved ones languishing in Israeli prisons to be released. And for nearly two months, Kris Petersen shared the experience of waiting for Israel to give permission to travel to Gaza. Read more about Waiting to enter Gaza 

We crossed into Gaza through the Rafah land crossing on 2 February 2009. Minutes after Palestinian officials stamped our passports, we were startled by a loud explosion. “Don’t worry,” said one of the officials, unflinching. “They’re only bombing the tunnels. It’s normal here.” Radhika Sainath writes from the US. Read more about The crimes we witnessed in Gaza 

The continuing shortage of cooking gas due to Israel’s border closures, along with the destruction of at least seven major poultry farms during the recent military siege, has made an important food item scarce and unaffordable for most of the Strip’s 1.5 million residents. The Electronic Intifada correspondent in Gaza, Rami Almeghari reports. Read more about Once plentiful, chickens now rare in Gaza