News

Gaza reconstruction aid fettered by political motives

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 8 March 2009


CAIRO (IPS) - A conference held this week in Cairo devoted to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip succeeded in raising more than 5 billion dollars from international donors. But some critics say the issue is being used as a means of isolating Gaza-based resistance faction Hamas. “Reconstruction efforts are being exploited to further weaken Hamas and coerce it into changing its position vis-a-vis the Zionist occupation,” Essam al-Arian, leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition movement, told IPS. 

Lessons from the I-97 Seattle divestment initiative

Dave Jette 5 March 2009


No two campaigns are the same, and no experience can be fully replicated from one city to the next. However, the experience of I-97 in Seattle has shown that it is possible to use the ballot initiative process to educate the public, keep their attention focused on issues of war and occupation in the Middle East, and mount a serious challenge, at the local level, to the foreign policies of the US government. Dave Jette comments for The Electronic Intifada. 

Iraq's Palestinian refugees back at square one

Anaheed Al-Hardan Syria 5 March 2009


When images and news of the new border tent-camps that the Palestinian refugees from Iraq fled to after the US invasion began to spread through Arabic-language media, a concurrent anecdote began to circulate: “Word is that the Palestinians will even be hosted in tent-camps in the afterlife.” The nightmare of the approximately 25,000 to 30,000 Palestinians whose families sought refuge in Iraq in 1948 is but the latest manifestation of the ongoing tragedy of Palestinian stateless refugeehood. Anaheed Al-Hardan writes from Syria. 

Washington ends its diplomatic embargo on Syria

Jim Lobe 4 March 2009


WASHINGTON (IPS) - Ending a four-year diplomatic embargo on Damascus, the administration of United States President Barack Obama Tuesday confirmed that it is sending two high-level officials to Syria this week for “preliminary conversations,” presumably on improving relations. The trip, which will be undertaken by Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and Daniel Shapiro, a senior staffer on the National Security Council who also served as one of Obama’s top Middle East advisers during his presidential campaign, was announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Jerusalem. 

Solidarity with Gaza brings jail

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 8 March 2009


CAIRO (IPS) - Magdi Hussein, secretary-general of Egypt’s suspended Socialist Labor Party, has been sentenced to two years in prison by a military tribunal. Hussein, along with two others, was charged with “infiltrating” into the Gaza Strip following Israel’s recent campaign against the coastal enclave. Protests against his arrest continue to be ineffective. 

Israel boycott movement gains momentum

Mel Frykberg 4 March 2009


RAMALLAH (IPS) - “Standing United with the People of Gaza” is the theme of this week’s Israel Apartheid Week, which kicked off in Toronto and another 39 cities across the globe Sunday. A movement to boycott Israeli goods, culture and academic institutions is gaining momentum as Geneva prepares to host the UN’s Anti-Racism Conference, Durban II next month amidst swirling controversy. 

Gaza solid waste management in dire straits

3 March 2009


GAZA CITY (IRIN) - The lack of technical means to transport and process solid waste in Gaza is posing a severe risk to people’s health in the enclave, experts say. Many Gazans, especially children, have developed breathing problems as a result of the stench emanating from rubbish dumps and the indiscriminate burning of waste; insects attracted to the rubbish tips and ground pollution pose further health risks.