News

30 hours in Gaza

Mohamed Madi Gaza Strip 10 February 2010


One of my first glimpses of the Gaza Strip was a youth on a motorcycle who threw me his red kuffiyeh. “Remember me!” he shouted, before disappearing in a sea of flags. With a certain irony, it was the members of the Viva Palestina aid convoy who ended up playing the role of war victims as we finally rolled into Gaza on 6 January. We were still reeling from a clash with Egyptian police that left 60 injured the night before. Mohamed Madi writes from the Gaza Strip. 

Gaza's energy crisis continues

Mel Frykberg 9 February 2010


RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Pressure exerted on the Palestinian Authority by international and regional officials has given Gazans a last minute reprieve, albeit temporary, from plunging into darkness and plummeting temperatures. “The emergency has been temporarily halted after the PA released urgent funds to finance two fuel tankers entering Gaza on Sunday,” says Osama Dabou from Gaza’s Power Plant authority. 

A mother's grief

Rami Almeghari Gaza Strip 9 February 2010


Nejoud al-Ashqar is a 30-year-old mother from the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya. Two of her sons, Bilal, 5, and Mohammad, 6, were killed during Israel’s invasion of Gaza last winter. Al-Ashqar also lost her right arm in the assault. EI contributor Rami Almeghari writes from Gaza about the hardships endured by the al-Ashqar family since the Israeli invasion. 

Jerusalem mayor to raze 200 Palestinian homes

Jonathan Cook 8 February 2010


Jerusalem’s mayor threatened last week to demolish 200 homes in Palestinian neighborhoods of the city in an act even he conceded would probably bring long-simmering tensions over housing in East Jerusalem to a boil. His uncompromising stance is the latest stage in a protracted legal battle over a single building towering above the jumble of modest homes of Silwan. Jonathan Cook reports from Jerusalem. 

Justice denied in Gaza

Mel Frykberg 8 February 2010


RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Gazans hoping for a modicum of justice following Israel’s indiscriminate military assault on the coastal territory during December 2008 and January 2009 — which left 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, dead — could be waiting in vain. The Israeli government has taken the offensive in the propaganda battle and attacked United Nations-appointed Justice Richard Goldstone’s report into war crimes committed during the war. 

Israel slaps six-month travel ban on Palestinian map expert

Marian Houk 5 February 2010


Citing “security reasons” — the ubiquitous and unanswerable catch-all phrase against which it is almost impossible to mount any defense — Israel’s Ministry of the Interior has just issued a six-month travel ban on map expert Khalil Tafakji. Tafakji, like almost all other Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, is a “permanent resident,” but not a citizen of Israel. Marian Houk reports. 

Pressure continues on Veolia and Alstom to halt light rail project

Adri Nieuwhof 4 February 2010


French transport giants Veolia and Alstom are involved in the construction and running of a light rail line which connects West Jerusalem to several illegal settlements in or surrounding occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem. The light rail project is part of the “Jerusalem Transportation Master Plan” sponsored by the Israeli government and the Jerusalem municipality. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Report: Israel stole $2 billion from Palestinian workers

Jonathan Cook 4 February 2010


Over the past four decades Israel has defrauded Palestinians working inside Israel of more than $2 billion by deducting from their salaries contributions for welfare benefits to which they were never entitled, Israeli economists have revealed. A new report, “State Robbery,” to be published later this month, says the “theft” continued even after the Palestinian Authority was established in 1994. Jonathan Cook reports.