UNITEDNATIONS (IPS) - People in seven majority Muslim countries favor a more active United Nations with broader powers, while simultaneously viewing the world body as dominated by the US and failing to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a new poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org, a global network of research centers. The survey was conducted in Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Iran, Indonesia, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Azerbaijan. Nigeria, which has a 50 percent Muslim population, was also polled. Read more about UN recieves low score on Palestine
GAZA (IRIN) - Gaza’s sole power station supplies about 30 percent of Gaza’s electricity; 10 lines from Israel supply about 62 percent; and two lines from Egypt about eight percent. The station supplies about 65MW of electricity, and is functioning at half capacity after its transformers were bombed by Israel in June 2006, according to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs field officer Hamada al-Bayari in Gaza. Read more about How Gaza gets power
Extremist settler groups currently involved in violent confrontations with Palestinians in the center of Hebron have chosen their next battleground, this time outside the West Bank. A far-right group know as the Jewish National Front, closely associated with the Hebron settlers, is preparing to march through one of the main Arab towns in northern Israel. Jonathan Cook reports from Nazareth. Read more about Hebron settlers take their fight into Israel
Israel has further tightened the screw on Gaza, where some areas have been completely plunged into darkness as fuel shortages shut down Gaza’s sole power plant 25 days ago. The power cuts affect all activities dependent on electrical power as the remaining power sources provided by Israel and Egypt cannot serve the needs of the whole of the Gaza Strip. Access to drinking and irrigation water is affected, as well as sewage treatment, risking disease. Sameh A. Habeeb reports from the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about "We are slowly dying"
UNITEDNATIONS (IPS) - The president of the United Nations General Assembly, Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, dropped a political bombshell last week when he lashed out at Israel for its repressive actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including the recent blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza. “What is being done to the Palestinian people seems to me to be a version of the hideous policy of apartheid,” he told delegates, during a meeting commemorating the “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.” Read more about UN assembly head hailed for slamming Israel
WESTBANK/GAZA (IRIN) - Adel Abu Sido, 31, a taxi driver from Gaza City, stands over his two-week old premature baby, Hadil, dreading her air supply may abruptly stop. Hadil’s incubator is not reliably providing enough oxygen due to the inconsistent power supply at al-Shifa Hospital, the main healthcare center in the Gaza Strip. The fuel for hospital generators has nearly run out and a shortage of basic medical supplies has left al-Shifa with only 20 percent of the oxygen supply it needs. Read more about Power cuts, fuel shortages affect health and water supplies
The movement in Europe to put pressure on companies that benefit from the occupation is growing. Over the last few months, European, Palestinian and Israeli activists have won significant victories toward the 2005 call by Palestinian civil society for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. In early October, Barkan Wineries, a subsidiary of Tempo Beer Industry Ltd., decided to divest from an illegal settlement in the Barkan Industrial Park. Adri Nieuwhof reports. Read more about More transnational companies divest from illegal industrial settlements
JERUSALEM (IRIN) - Food aid accounts for over two thirds of the 2009 $462 million requested by United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations to fund humanitarian aid programs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Food accounts for $209.4 million; next comes cash assistance ($133.3 million), followed by protection, emergency jobs, water and sanitation. Read more about Humanitarian appeal focuses on food
Israel’s 17-month siege, tightened over the past three weeks, has forced Palestinians to find other ways to meet their basic needs. Because Israel has closed border crossings into Gaza, the 1.5 million residents lack many essential supplies including food, medicines, fuel, cooking gas, and now, electricity. Rami Almeghari writes from the Gaza Strip. Read more about Gazan bakers cope under siege
Israel’s siege on Gaza, now in its 19th month, has wreaked havoc on all aspects of life and significant attention has been paid in particular to the economic consequences of border closures and blockade. However, an overlooked epidemic threatens the social and familial ties that bond the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza. Living under a constant state of crisis in which their livelihoods have been denied, the people of Gaza’s once exemplary resilience and determination are giving way to an unfathomable sea of depression and psychological illnesses. EI contributor Safa Joudeh reports on one Gaza family’s story. Read more about A psychological siege
