The World Bank approved a $42 million grant to assist the Palestinian Authority (PA) meet its immediate financing needs in the wake of a severe fiscal crisis to avoid suspension of vital basic services to the Palestinian population. The grant will be made through a multi-donor trust fund—the Public Financial Management Reform Trust Fund—launched in 2004, with support from international donors, to channel budgetary aid to the PA against progress in financial reforms. The EC, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the UK contributed to the current grant. The West Bank and Gaza continue to suffer from a debilitating economic recession brought on by restriction on movement of goods and people since September 2000. Read more about World Bank approves $42 million to Palestinian Authority to sustain public services for Palestinian people
In a landmark judgment, a panel of seven justices on Israel’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled this week that the government’s decision to award 500 Jewish communities special “National Priority A” status, compared with only four Arab villages, was discriminatory and racist. The priority status has been used to award the communities substantial economic benefits since it was first established nearly a decade ago. Such a result, wrote Supreme Court chief Aharon Barak, “is contaminated by one of the most suspect distinctions, which is distinction based on race and nationality. This is a result that Israeli democracy cannot tolerate.” Read more about Supreme Court overturns Israeli government's 'racist' policy of National Priority Areas
Israel’s Central Election Committee, a partisan body with the power to disqualify political parties from the forthcoming election, questioned this week the right of one of the three main Arab parties to contest the election. The committee is dominated by politicians from rightwing Zionist parties. The committee held a session on Tuesday February 28 in which it considered barring the joint list of the United Arab List and Taal, led by Sheikh Ibrahim Sarsur and Ahmed Tibi, from the standing. Several parties represented on the committee, including Likud and the National Religious Party, submitted a petition against the Arab party based on the claim that its platform denies Israel as a “Jewish and democratic state”. The ban was rejected by a wafer-thin majority of 18 votes to 16. Read more about Arab MKs again face investigations and threats of disqualification in run-up to Israeli elections
Far-right leader Baruch Marzel this week staged his second visit, backed by armed settlers, to the Arab town of Sakhnin in less than a month. He was kept to the edge of the Galilean town by police but allowed to take up position on elevated points so that he and his followers could photograph the area. Marzel, a former head of the outlawed anti-Arab Kach party, is now a leader of the Jewish National Front, a group of far-right extremists. He was joined on the trip by Itamar Ben Gvir, a settler leader based in Hebron who is suspected of belonging to Jewish underground organisations. Read more about Far-right settlers launch campaign of provocative armed visits to Arab communities
Rachel Corrie was 23 years old when she was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer on March 16, 2003. She was working with others trying to protect the home of a Palestinian pharmacist from demolition in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Palestine. “My Name is Rachel Corrie” is a powerful one-woman show based entirely on the writings that Rachel left behind, telling her story from the time she was a small child, leading up to the days before her death. The play, edited by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner from Rachel’s diaries and emails, was produced by the Royal Court Theatre in London. Starring Megan Dodds, it played to sold out audiences and wide acclaim. “My Name is Rachel Corrie” was scheduled to open at the New York Theatre Workshop on March 22nd. It has been postponed indefinitely, sparking much debate. Read more about Activism Call: Why are people afraid of Rachel Corrie's words?
The weekly reports of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights tell the frightening story of the Israeli occupation In its latest report of the week from 16 till 22 February 2006 it is mentioned that Balata refugee camp was invaded. Israeli troops “willfully killed two Palestinian children in Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus.” Most of the over thirty incursions took pace in Nablus and the neighbouring Balata refugee camp, killing three Palestinians, wounding thirty six civilians and arresting at least thirteen people. A number of houses were transformed into military sites. Adri Nieuwhof and Walid Abdelhadi researched the story behind the figures of the weekly report on the ground. Read more about Balata refugee camp under attack
Nadim Melham was shot dead in unclear circumstances by the Israeli police at his home in the Arab village of Arara in northern Israel on January 19. Police say they broke into the Melham family’s home after a tip-off that the youth was a drug dealer and had a stash of guns. They claim he tried to escape and, when cornered, pulled out a gun and cocked the trigger. He was shot in the chest by officers defending themselves, say police. Read more about Justice Ministry delays investigation into police shooting of Arab youth
A debate at Israel’s most high-profile policy-making forum on government plans to destroy up to 30 villages in the Negev that are home to tens of thousands Bedouin Arabs was cancelled at the last minute as protesters outside threatened to draw attention to the discussion. The Herzliya Conference, staged annually at the seaside resort north of Tel Aviv, attracts the country’s leading politicians, diplomats, generals, buisinessmen, academics and journalists under the banner “The balance of national strength and security”. Read more about National Security Council cancels debate on demolition plan for 30 Bedouin Arab villages
The Church of England’s most senior decision-making body, the General Synod, voted to disinvest from “companies profiting from the illegal occupation [of Palestine]”. Caterpillar manufactures D9 bulldozers used by the Israeli armed forces for house demolitions. The decision follows examination by the Church’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG) of whether the shares currently held in Caterpillar were consistent with the Church’s ethical investment policy, which prohibits investment in arms companies or companies making “weapons platforms” such as naval vessels or tanks. Read more about Church of England votes to divest from Caterpillar
The Jewish state uses Jerusalem to define itself in the ever expanding city. All buildings, including new ones, have to be made of stone in order to show the eternal Jewish presence, in this process Jerusalem’s Palestinian past is being appropriated. Malkit Shoshan, director of FAST (the Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory), and Eitan Bronstein, director of Zochrot, examine the ways in which planning is being used to create this fantasy heritage for Israel, at the expense of Palestinian culture. The village of Lifta, which lies just outside Jerusalem, has been abandoned since the Israeli army drove out the last of its Palestinian inhabitants in 1948. Read more about Reinventing Lifta (2/2)
