Today, more than any other day in my life, I am proud to be Palestinian. Let me explain. Nation-states mean little to me. They represent artificial boundaries, legal restrictions, “No Entry” signs, and collective brainwashing into the “uniqueness” of cultures that only humans acknowledge. What fish has ever stopped swimming as it approached that most invisible “water line” separating one country from another? Nada Elia writes from the US. Read more about Power of the people  

Three kids, their mother and their aunt hurried towards the Salah al-Din gate in southern Gaza on Wednesday. The mother, in her early thirties, explained in a rush, “We are heading to al-Arish [the Egypt border town] to follow my mom and brother who entered today after the borders were reopened.” The family was not alone; thousands of other Palestinians thronged nearby, on their way to al-Arish, following the blasting through of the Israeli-built steel walls by Palestinian resistance fighters earlier that day. EI correspondent Rami Almeghari reports from the Egypt-Gaza border. Read more about Gaza scrambles for supplies as border forced open 

Last night I received a text message from my dear friend Fida: “It’s coming down — it’s coming down!” she declared ecstatically. “Laila! The Palestinians destroyed [the] Rafah wall, all of it. All of it not part of it! Your sister, Fida.” More texts followed, as I received periodical updates on the situation in Rafah, where it was 3am. “Two hours ago people were praising God everywhere. The metal wall was cut and destroyed. So was the cement one. It is great, Laila, it is great,” she declared. Laila El-Haddad writes from the US Read more about Down goes the wall 

Since US President George W. Bush’s visit to this part of the world, at least 38 Gazans were killed and another 1,500 were injured as a result of Israeli military attacks. This escalation of violence came right after Bush’s trip to Israel and Ramallah, as Israel enjoyed an obvious green light from the US as the Arab world sat by and watched. For anyone who might believe that Bush’s visit would improve the lives of Palestinians in general and of Gazans in particular, let me assure you that the opposite has occurred. EI contributor Mohammed Ali writes from Gaza. Read more about What Bush left behind 

So US President George W. Bush came to Ramallah, and of course the city was turned upside down. The Palestinian Authority (PA) wanted to show that they were up to the task of handling the security. I managed to get a press pass and I was cynical but curious to see how the big show would go down. All the photographers and journalists were told to come at 6am at a certain location so that they could be taken all together to the Muqata’a, the PA’s headquarters. Anne Paq reports from Ramallah. Read more about Mr. Bush's trip to Ramallah 

The Palestine Wildlife Society has recently installed 64 nesting boxes for barn owls and kestrels in the Jordan Valley, in the area around Atuf village. Imad F. Atrash, director of the society, arranged for a public event on 2 January 2008, to celebrate the completion of this project at Atuf school. Accompanying the event was live fire by the Israeli army, who were conducting military exercises less than a mile away. As the volunteers rigged up the sound system and displays, an Israeli army jeep drove past, no doubt attracted by the gathering. Read more about Life and wildlife in the Jordan Valley 

It’s almost midnight. I rushed to my laptop when I saw the glow of the lamp after almost 12 hours darkness following one of the electricity cuts that hundreds of thousands of Gazans like myself have been subjected to over the past week or so. As a journalist in Gaza, I was keen to file to my editors a story on the electricity cuts. I did the job, I talked with the people, I collected the material but when I went to my office and sat down in front of my PC, there was no electricity. EI correspondent Rami Almeghari reports from Gaza. Read more about Gaza's fate left to the whim of an Israeli court 

Much more important issues than the siege on Gaza were on Bush’s agenda. The need to realize and work on a “vision” for the future was in the forefront of Bush’s mind. “The parties” should now sit down and “negotiate a vision” — the parties being Israel, the fourth strongest military might in the world and a forty-year-long occupier, and the Palestinians, a stateless people who have been dispossessed by Israel for sixty years and under brutal military occupation by their colonizers for over four decades. Sam Bahour comments from al-Bireh/Ramallah. Read more about Bush's "vision" is Palestine's nightmare 

While I was driving in the car the other day, there was a radio report that the Israeli high court has approved to cut off the electricity from Gaza and leave Gaza in darkness to intensify the collective punishment on Gaza. When the Israeli high court previously agreed to ban the transfer to Gaza of fuel to supply the main power plant, there were power cuts for at least eight hours a day. Power and fuel cuts mean that hospitals, factories and other essential services suffer as a result. Mohammed Ali writes from Gaza. Read more about George W. Bush: You are not welcome