On 13 October, Tulane University, an elite university in the southern United States, hosted former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as a featured speaker. In response to his visit, a coalition of students, teachers, activists and community members — Muslims, Jews, Christians, Palestinians and their allies — rallied in opposition and protest inside and outside the event. Emily Ratner writes from New Orleans. Read more about Olmert visit sparks Palestine movement at US university 

The tactics of Israel seem to promote armed resistance. They refuse to release just one of the 11,000 Palestinian prisoners currently rotting away in Israeli jails, but when an Israeli soldier is taken hostage, they are willing to negotiate. How can I convince the mothers of those martyred and those imprisoned that nonviolent resistance is the way forward? But in my heart, I know that nonviolent resistance is the path to freedom for our nation. From my small village of Bilin, I hope our actions can set an example for others to follow. Ahmed A. Khatib’s story as told to The Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre. Read more about Believing in the nonviolent struggle 

Approximately 30 activists – mainly students from area universities – disrupted a lecture given in Chicago by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday which was hosted by the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. While Olmert’s speech was disrupted inside the lecture hall, approximately 150 activists protested outside the hall in the freezing rain. Read more about EI exclusive video: Protesters shout down Ehud Olmert in Chicago 

Touching the old scar on her forehead, 14-year-old Samah Owda fought back tears while telling her story. For the past four years she has carried on, proving that internal wounds are sometimes more difficult to heal than external ones. As a 10-year-old girl she was given a “new life” and a chance that at the time no one thought would be possible. Eman Mohammed reports from the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about Second chance at life 

GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - Thousands of Gazan farmers may be unable to replant their crops during the region’s main planting season in October due to agricultural land still damaged by the Israeli offensive at the start of the year, and a lack of agricultural materials like seeds and fertilizers, according to officials. Read more about Gaza farmers struggle with damaged agricultural land 

SHEIKH ZAYED, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - On a searing summer morning, workers are adding layers to the mud-brick police station being constructed in Sheikh Zayed, northern Gaza. “We started building on 20 June,” says Mohammed al-Sheikh Eid, a consultant engineer with Gaza’s Ministry of Interior. “Since this is the first time we’ve built something on this scale with mud bricks, we can’t estimate exactly how much longer it will take to complete. Maybe another two months or so.” Read more about Rebuilding Gaza's infrastructure with mud 

On 30 September 2009 at 11am, 17-year-old Fuad Mahmoud Nayif Turkman was standing outside his school in the West Bank village of Yabad, when he was run over by an Israeli military jeep. An Israeli military spokesperson later claimed that “hundreds” of Palestinians were “rioting” in the area, and that the jeep had experienced “mechanical difficulties.” However, eyewitnesses from the scene say that the students were doing nothing of the sort. Jody McIntyre spoke with Fuad’s father, Mahmoud Turkman, and his 12-year-old brother Fadi for The Electronic Intifada Read more about "They killed him because he was Palestinian" 

Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation would have to be suppressed and the population pacified if the occupation was to be sustainable. Thus began an evolutionary relationship that continues to this day, that of the Palestinian resistance versus Israel’s policy of permanent occupation. Jimmy Johnson analyzes for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Israel's export of occupation police tactics