News

Besieged Palestinians outraged over Israel's attack on Flotilla


As news was released of Israel’s attack on the Freedom Flotilla and rising casualties among the passengers, the mood at Gaza’s modest seaport grew somber. Hundreds of civilians including governmental and non-governmental representatives, activists, and ordinary Palestinians were waiting anxiously to welcome those on board the Flotilla. Rami Almeghari writes from the occupied Gaza Strip. 

Thousands rally for Freedom Flotilla in Stockholm


The central Sergels Torg square in Stockholm is not the place you would normally expect to hear the words “stop the blockade,” or “boycott Israel,” or even “In our souls and with our blood we support you Palestine,” in Arabic no less. Sami Halabi and Assaad Thebian report from the Swedish capital on protests against Israel’s attacks on the Freedom Flotilla aid convoy. 

Israel indicts tortured rights activist Ameer Makhoul


A leading human rights activist from Israel’s Palestinian Arab minority was charged yesterday with the most serious security offenses on Israel’s statute book, including espionage. Prosecutors indicted Ameer Makhoul, the head of Ittijah, an umbrella organization for Arab human rights groups in Israel, with spying on security facilities on behalf of Hizballah after an alleged meeting with one of its agents in Denmark in 2008. Jonathan Cook reports. 

Gaza home demolitions spark anger, highlight housing crisis


On 16 May, bulldozers demolished 20 houses in the al-Barahma neighborhood west of Rafah in the southern occupied Gaza Strip. This tragic scene has been repeated all too many times in Palestine’s history, but what made this different, and a subject of great controversy and outcry, is that it was carried out by the Palestinian Land Authority (PLA), backed by police from the Hamas government. Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Long-separated family reunites in Gaza through tunnel


Naima Akkawi, a 40-year-old Moroccan native, is finally back home in Gaza with her husband Mahmoud Jouda and her two young children, Riwan (5) and Rimas (3) after an enforced absence of 10 years. During that long and agonizing separation, Mahmoud and Naima did all they could to get back together through official channels but it was all to no avail. Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Interview: ethnic cleansing inside the green line


Rawia Abu Rabia, a social activist and human rights lawyer with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, represents her community and advocates for their human and civil rights as the state continues to discriminate and uproot citizens across the country. Nora Barrows-Friedman interviewed Abu Rabia on the ongoing displacement of Palestinians inside Israel. 

Living the Nakba in Gaza


GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - This is the month for Palestinians to remember their Nakba, or “catastrophe,” in which more than 700,000 women, men and children were pushed off their land and rendered homeless refugees by the Zionist attacks before, during and after the founding of Israel in 1948. 

Rampant employment discrimination against Palestinian workers in Israel


Unemployed computer engineer Morad Lashin would like to work in Israel’s Electricity Company, a large state utility, but admits his chances of being recruited are slim. The reasons were set out in graphic form this month when a parliamentary committee revealed that only 1.3 percent of the company’s 12,000 workers are Arab, despite the Palestinian Arab minority constituting nearly 20 percent of the population. Jonathan Cook reports.