Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have cast their ballots in the first municipal elections in decades in this part of the Occupied Territories. Thousands of Palestinians on Thursday turned up at voting booths in 10 districts in the Gaza Strip, including the northern town of Bait Hanun, devastated by Israeli incursions. The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, which for the first time has candidates running in Gaza, is expected to sweep the elections. Ahmad al-Kurd, director of the Islamic Benevolence Society and Hamas candidate for the district of Dair al-Balah, said he is confident of his party’s success and that the elections will bring change. Laila El-Haddad reports from Gaza. Read more about Gazans vote in municipal polls
Several Palestinian and Syrian NGO’s based in territories occupied by Israel will join thousands of civil society groups, organizations and people from around the world at the World Social Forum (WSF) in Porto Alegre, Brazil, calling for world leaders to commit to an end of the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. The WSF is a unique platform where social movements, networks, NGOs, and individuals come together to debate, analyse and formulate alternatives. They appeal to participants to undertake urgent action so that people living in the region can freely exercise their basic individual and collective rights. Read more about Palestinians at World Social Forum: "End the Israeli military occupation"
The Israeli army has renewed plans to demolish hundreds of Palestinian homes in Rafah at the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli media. Army sources say the purpose of the demolitions is to create an artificial canal to prevent Palestinians from digging underground tunnels which could be used to smuggle weapons into Gaza from Egypt. A report published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Wednesday said Israeli officials were worried the demolitions would trigger widespread international indignation, especially in light of the gradual restoration of calm and the imminent ceasefire. Read more about Israel plans to raze more Gaza homes
Israeli occupation soldiers have shot and killed a three-year-old girl inside her home in central Gaza, eyewitnesses and medical sources said. Rahma Abu Shamas was reportedly inside her home in Dair al-Balah in central Gaza on Wednesday when a bullet struck her in the head, killing her instantly. Israeli soldiers manning an army watchtower at the nearby colony of Kfar Darom opened machinegun fire randomly on Palestinian homes around dawn on Wednesday. An Israeli army spokesman acknowledged the killings, saying the army was looking into the “incident”. The Israeli-state run radio, Kol Yisrael said no Palestinian fighters were present in the area when the shooting took place. Read more about Israeli troops kill Palestinian girl in the Gaza Strip
Redwood City, CA — The Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Campaign in Gaza has been nominated for a GlobalGiving.com competition. Through January 27th, people throughout the world can vote online and rate the entries they deem best. The Gaza project is one of only two in the Human Rights category. 15 semifinalists chosen through open ratings will present their work at the Global Philanthropy Forum on Borderless Giving in March, where three winners will share $100,000 in project grants. Read more about Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Campaign in Gaza nominated in GlobalGiving.com competition
Toine van TeeffelenJerusalem, Palestine24 January 2005
The Writing on the Wall is a series of interviews with Palestinians who live close to the Wall. Van Teeffelen asked three questions: How is your daily life influenced by the Wall and the checkpoints? What does freedom mean to you? What are your sources of energy? Toine van Teeffelen speaks with Maha Abu Dayyeh, director of the Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling (WCLAC) in Jerusalem. her office is close to her home. When its completed the Wall will block the street she had to cross to her office. “As long as there is a society that resists there is hope. I see people resisting as a profound, courageous expression of choosing life. I see it all around me. It may not be tangible in the immediate, but when people choose life, there is hope.” Read more about The Writing on the Wall: Maha Abu Dayyeh
Optimism for a period of peace following the elections has been misguided. In Nablus, Israeli military aggression continues as usual. The army made a special effort for Eid celebrations. On 18 January at 9pm a large number of troops entered Nablus in unmarked vehicles and took up positions in the area. Soon after, a group of medics and internationals reached Old Najah Street near the Old City. More army also arrived, in about twenty military vehicles. If anyone approached the soldiers, the result was “access denied” at gunpoint. Israeli occupation forces blew up a house. Many neighbours had not been evacuated and found themselves amidst bursting windows. The explosion flattened the house completely, also causing severe damage to several of his neighbour’s homes. Read more about No rest for Nablus during Eid celebrations
Ray SmithBalata refugee camp, Nablus19 January 2005
The time of relative quiet that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) initiated during the Palestinian Authority elections, in order to please international observers and media, is now definitely over. While before the army kept coming at night, the IOF now also causes trouble during the day. The main target of these daily IOF attacks on Nablus is, once more, the Balata Refugee Camp. With almost 30,000 inhabitants — the largest camp in the occupied West Bank — it is situated on the outskirts of the city. Read more about Daily disruption in Balata: A four day overview
Peter Hansen, the departing Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNWRA), spoke out about the conditions in Gaza at a recent conference sponsored by the Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace held in East Jerusalem. According to Hansen, the situation in Gaza is so horrendous that without the help of bulldozers you couldn’t get through the debris and sand barriers thrown up to block traffic. “If you wanted to go into Gaza today you wouldn’t be able to because there are tanks along all along the main road to Gaza. All along the road you will see houses that have been bulldozed. As you move down through Gaza the situation gets even worse,” Hansen stated. Read more about Departing head of UN refugee agency decries conditions in Gaza as horrendous
At least seven Palestinian refugees stranded at the Egypt-Rafah border crossing closed by Israel for the past six weeks have succumbed to various illnesses. The dead men were part of 7000 people stranded somewhere between Cairo and the Rafah border crossing - the only crossing they can use to travel in and out of Gaza - since an explosion in a tunnel beneath the border killed six Israeli occupation soldiers on 12 December. Medical sources in Gaza and security sources in Egypt have spoken of families waiting to bury their dead in their hometown of Gaza, but forced to resort to the Egyptian border town of al-Arish after being turned back at the crossing. Read more about Rafah crossing closure takes tragic toll
