The Israeli government and its right-wing supporters have been waging a “McCarthyite” campaign against human rights groups by blaming them for the barrage of international criticism that has followed Israel’s attack on Gaza a year ago, critics say. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Israel subjecting rights groups to "McCarthy techniques"
Our sobering taste of life in Hebron included other devastating stories and the presence of Israeli guard towers, camouflage netting, checkpoints, a wall spray painted with graffiti that included a tribute to the Golani brigade, one of the Israeli army’s most aggressively violent units, and to Betar, a right-wing youth organization. I passed a concrete block obstructing the road, spray painted with an arrow and the words “This is apartheid.” Alice Rothchild writes from Hebron. Read more about Hebron's living hell
Members of prominent Palestinian families from Jerusalem came out last week in protest against plans by the Simon Wiesenthal Center to build a Museum of Tolerance on top of part of the ancient Mamilla Cemetery where their ancestors are buried. One family member behind the initiative said it is not just symbolic, but instead a full-blown campaign. Marian Houk reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Jerusalem families come out against museum built on ancestors' graves
Despite Israel’s oppressive tactics against it, the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement has marked additional victories with many institutional investors divesting from or blacklisting Israeli military contractor Elbit Systems. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Scandinavian financial institutions drop Elbit due to BDS pressure
Over the past few days graffiti scrawled on walls around the mixed Jewish and Arab town of Jaffa in central Israel exclaims: “Settlers, keep out” and “Jaffa is not Hebron.” Although Jaffa is only a stone’s throw from the bustling coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv, Arab residents say their neighborhood has become the unlikely battleground for an attempted takeover by extremist Jews more familiar from West Bank settlements. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Palestinians fight Jewish-only housing in Jaffa
“This morning,” my neighbor Mona explained to me, “I told my husband that since the kids are out of school and he didn’t need to go into town, I would cook something special and we would have a party.” Mona has a wry sense of humor and I started to wonder what the punch line would be. Joy Ellison writes from al-Tuwani, occupied West Bank. Read more about "At least there's food in prison!"
Defence for Children International-Palestine Section aims to protect the rights of children and minors living in occupied Palestine. The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof recently interviewed director Rifat Kassis about DCI-PS’s work and the special situation of Palestinian children growing up under occupation. Read more about Defending Palestinian children: An interview with Rifat Kassis
Since the first constraints of the siege on Gaza were imposed nearly four years ago, the destruction of Gaza’s agricultural sector and potential to provide produce and economy to a severely undernourished Strip has dramatically worsened. With Palestinians in Gaza now largely dependent on the expensive Israeli produce that is inconsistently allowed into Gaza, the plight of the farmers reverberates throughout the population. Eva Bartlett reports from the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about Israel bombs Gaza's agricultural sector to the brink
The Israeli courts ordered the release this week of two foreign women arrested by the army in the West Bank in what human rights lawyers warn has become a wide ranging clampdown by Israel on nonviolent protest from international, Israeli and Palestinian activists. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Israeli immigration police abducting international activists in West Bank
Wael al-Faqeeh has been held without charge by the Israeli military since his arrest on 9 December 2009. The 28 January hearing that lasted approximately three minutes here in Salem court resulted in the extension of his detention by a further ten days. Bridget Chappell writes for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Israel wields iron fist against nonviolent resisters