News

Jahalin Bedouin suffer without representation

Kieron Monks 19 November 2009


Beyond the demolitions in its suburbs and the frequent, violent clashes around the al-Aqsa mosque, Jerusalem is the scene of a quieter shame. Southeast of the holy city live the Jahalin Bedouin, a community that has been repeatedly displaced and transferred, now enduring unimaginable poverty beside Jerusalem’s largest garbage dump. Kieron Monks reports. 

The "green zone" called Jordan

Jon Elmer 17 November 2009


MUWAQQAR, Jordan (IPS) - In the bleak and seemingly endless desert expanse that unfolds east of Jordan’s capital city, Amman, lies a crucial cog in the ambitious regional designs of the US and its allies in the Middle East. Commonly known by its acronym JIPTC, the Jordan International Police Training Centre is ground-zero for the transformation of US-allied security forces not only for the Kingdom of Jordan, but also for Iraq, Lebanon and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. 

Israeli judge rules Arabs need "protection" from justice system

Jonathan Cook 17 November 2009


An Israeli judge made an historic ruling last week when he decided that an Arab teenager needed “protection” from the justice system and ordered that he not be convicted despite being found guilty of throwing stones at a police car during a protest against Israel’s attack last winter on Gaza. Jonathan Cook reports. 

Gaza braces for bitter winter

Mel Frykberg 17 November 2009


EZBT ABBED RABBO, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza living in tents and damaged homes face a wet, cold and miserable winter as Israel’s blockade of the coastal territory continues to prevent the importation of building and reconstruction material. During the last few weeks Gazans were given a brief reprieve from the oncoming winter as an unseasonal snap of warmish, sunny weather held off winter rain and plummeting temperatures. 

Baseball team urged to cut ties with settler organization

Eli Clifton 17 November 2009


WASHINGTON (IPS) - A coalition of 11 US, Israeli and Palestinian groups are calling on the New York Mets baseball team to cancel a fundraiser by the “violent and racist” Israeli Hebron Fund which is scheduled to be held at the Mets’ stadium, Citi Field, on 21 November. The Hebron Fund participates in “the raising of capital for the improvement of daily life for the residents of Hebron, Israel,” but the Fund has been accused of encouraging violence towards Palestinians and participating in illegal settlement expansion. 

Resisting through education

Marryam Haleem Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip 16 November 2009


Ahmad’s first day of school was in 1991 during the first Palestinian intifada. Then six years old and living in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, Ahmad was a good student who enjoyed school. He worked hard and was always the first in his year. However, he was to have a different attitude towards education as frequent Israeli violence made completing his studies a struggle. Marryam Haleem writes from Beit Hanoun. 

Goldstone report met with muted enthusiasm in Gaza

Rami Almeghari Gaza Strip 10 November 2009


Tareq Abu Daya, owner of a popular souvenir shop in the heart of Gaza City, has recently offered his customers a new kuffiyeh, or traditional checkered scarf, on which the name of Judge Richard Goldstone is inscribed. “When the famous UN report of Judge Richard Goldstone was first made public, I thought of something that would be in honor of such a significant report that accuses Israel of war crimes against Gaza during the last war,” Abu Daya said. Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip. 

Palestinians cling to their homes in Silwan

Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler 9 November 2009


OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM (IPS) - “Make sure your father gets this,” the municipal inspector tells a ten-year-old boy at the gate of the concrete house in an alleyway in the al-Bustan quarter of Silwan, a Palestinian neighborhood right under the shadow of the walled Old City. “This” is a court-approved demolition notice, “No. 59.” It’s for a house under imminent threat of being torn down by the Israeli authorities because it does not have the requisite building permit. 

Bilin's legal struggle continues

Jillian Kestler-D'Amours 10 November 2009


The villagers of Bilin are pushing forward in their nonviolent struggle against the Israeli occupation by appealing a Quebec Superior Court ruling in their case against two Canadian companies. The residents of Bilin are suing Green Park International and Green Mount International, two companies that, they argue, should be held legally accountable for illegally building residential homes and settlement infrastructure on the village’s land. Jillian Kestler-D’Amours reports for The Electronic Intifada.