We woke up this morning to the news in Gaza. It seems we always wake up to news there — so it has become a matter of perspective how bad the news is each time; how remote it seems each time; how real or not; how severe and whether the severity warrants an “international outcry” or whether the animals can continue to suffer in their cages for a while longer. Laila El-Haddad writes from the US. Read more about The rains of death in Gaza
Yesterday, after I finished my lecture at one of Gaza’s universities, my wife asked me to bring some bread from Gaza City. All bakeries in our area have stopped operating because of the lack of flour and cooking gas due to Israel’s 18-month siege of the territory. I drove throughout Gaza City to try to find some bread for my four children, instead finding a miserable scene. The Electronic Intifada correspondent Rami Almeghari writes from the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about No bread in Gaza
Israeli politicians, in the run-up to elections, are promising to deal a severe blow to Gaza as this is how Israeli policy is made. However, every household in Gaza is already under siege. In Gaza you can only find pale, angry and frustrated faces. If you visit my house you won’t find power, while my neighbor is out of gas. Another neighbor seeks potable water as power outages have left him without for four days. A third neighbor desparately looks for milk for his child but does so in vain. Sameh A. Habeeb writes from the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about Hunger before the storm
RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has sent urgent letters to Palestinian leaders in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, urging them to commute the death sentences of 11 Palestinians currently awaiting execution. The death-row inmates, including one who was a juvenile at the time of his conviction, were sentenced this year by Palestinian military and state security courts. Read more about Death penalty in Palestinian territories alarms rights groups
Earlier this month, Israeli authorities deported Professor Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, who had arrived in the country to conduct his duties to investigate rights abuses in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Electronic Intifada contributor Victor Kattan interviews Falk about the motivation behind his deportation. Read more about Championing global human rights: interview with Richard Falk
Salah Oukal, 46 years old, had gone outside to collect herbs for dinner, harvesting in the dark as the power was out again. It was just before 9pm and he was watering the trees next to his home in Jabaliya, when the missile struck, killing him instantly. A second missile followed immediately but did not explode. Oukal’s family spent the next hour searching without success for the father of seven and the family’s sole provider. Read more about More missile strikes, more victims
Jewish peace groups have accused the Israeli police of fueling racism by canceling a “Jewish Pride” march by a far-right group that was to have taken place through one of the largest Arab towns in Israel. The police postponed the march, due last Monday, claiming they had evidence extremist residents of Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel would open fire on the marchers and police. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Arab town blamed for Jewish Pride march's cancellation
Quebec inked an economic partnership agreement with Israel this fall in Jerusalem. Attracting little attention from major media outlets, Quebec’s bilateral accord was signed during a government-led delegation to Israel that included high-level state officials and corporate representatives this past September, amidst Israel’s ongoing siege of Gaza. Quebec’s accord with Israel stands in contrast to the growing international calls for an economic boycott of the Israeli government. Stefan Christoff comments. Read more about Quebec supporting apartheid?
QALQILIYA, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Qalqiliya has been an encircled town since the Israeli West Bank barrier was built around it in 2003. Only one narrow gate guarded by Israeli soldiers allows access. The anger, disbelief and protests over this situation have become muted. The people of Qalqiliya are waking up to the reality of near imprisonment. The town’s legislators spend most of their time in Israeli prisons without being charged of anything. Read more about Sun sets on an encircled town
WASHINGTON (IPS) - Eighteen months after Hamas evicted Fatah forces from Gaza, the prospects for restoring Palestinian unity are more elusive than ever, with both factions believing that time is on their side, according to a new report by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) released Wednesday. But changes in the regional and international landscape, particularly if United States President-elect Barack Obama follows through on his campaign pledges to engage with Iran and Syria, could spur a reconciliation, one which a growing number of experts here believe is essential for progress toward a Palestinian-Israeli peace accord. Read more about Unity, and peace, hinge on US
