On 30 September 2009 at 11am, 17-year-old Fuad Mahmoud Nayif Turkman was standing outside his school in the West Bank village of Yabad, when he was run over by an Israeli military jeep. An Israeli military spokesperson later claimed that “hundreds” of Palestinians were “rioting” in the area, and that the jeep had experienced “mechanical difficulties.” However, eyewitnesses from the scene say that the students were doing nothing of the sort. Jody McIntyre spoke with Fuad’s father, Mahmoud Turkman, and his 12-year-old brother Fadi for The Electronic Intifada Read more about "They killed him because he was Palestinian"
Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation would have to be suppressed and the population pacified if the occupation was to be sustainable. Thus began an evolutionary relationship that continues to this day, that of the Palestinian resistance versus Israel’s policy of permanent occupation. Jimmy Johnson analyzes for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Israel's export of occupation police tactics
The Israeli government announced yesterday it would consider banning Israel’s Islamic Movement at the next cabinet meeting, in a significant escalation of tensions that have fueled a fortnight of bloody clashes in Jerusalem over access to the Haram al-Sharif compound of mosques. The move followed the arrest of the movement’s leader, Sheikh Raed Salah, on Tuesday on suspicion of incitement and sedition. Jonathan Cook reports from Nazareth. Read more about Following al-Aqsa clashes, Israel mulls banning Islamic movement
Following reports published by The Electronic Intifada on the use of Volvo equipment in the demolition of Palestinian houses in 2007, the Volvo Group stated that it did not condone the use of its equipment for such purposes. Claiming to have no control over the use of its products, Volvo affirmed that its Code of Conduct decries unethical behavior. In spite of these claims, The Electronic Intifada has found that through its Volvo Buses branch, the Volvo Group is providing armored buses to transport Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Read more about Volvo providing armored buses for Israeli settlements
Tension over control of the Haram al-Sharif compound of mosques in Jerusalem’s Old City has reached a pitch unseen since clashes at the site sparked the second Palestinian intifada nine years ago. Ten days of intermittently bloody clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in Jerusalem culminated yesterday in warnings by Palestinian officials that Israel was “sparking a fire” in the city. Israel’s Jerusalem Post newspaper similarly wondered whether a third intifada was imminent. Jonathan Cook reports from Nazareth. Read more about Haram al-Sharif sovereignty under threat
Israeli youth who refuse to cooperate with Israel’s military occupation are sent into a lengthy and relentless labyrinth of court martials and consecutive jail terms in what Israeli lawyer Michael Sfard calls a “price tag” meant to deter other young Israelis from non-participation. “Otherwise,” he says, “[the Israeli government’s] argument says, everyone — of ideological or personal reasons — will refuse to serve.” The Electronic Intifada contributor Nora Barrows-Friedman recently interviewed two young Israeli women who have refused to serve in the army. Read more about Israeli highschoolers choose jail over occupation army service
Israeli diplomats suggested on Sunday that Washington had promised the Palestinian Authority, in return for delaying an inquiry into accusations Israeli war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip, that the US would apply “significant pressure” on Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to move ahead on a diplomatic process when the US envoy, George Mitchell, arrives in the region tomorrow. But, according to Israeli and Palestinian analysts, diplomatic arm-twisting was not the only factor in the PA’s change of heart. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about How Israel bought off UN's war crimes probe
Nine months after he helped to organize protests against Israel’s attack on Gaza, Samih Jabareen is a prisoner in his home in Jaffa, near Tel Aviv. The 40-year-old actor and theatre director is one of dozens of Arab political activists in Israel who have faced long-term detention during and since Israel’s winter assault on Gaza in what human rights groups are calling political intimidation and repression of free speech by the Israeli police and courts. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Gaza solidarity organizer under house arrest in Israel
For the last three months, residents of the West Bank village of Bilin have been subjected to constant night raids by the Israeli military in retaliation for the village’s five-year campaign of nonviolent resistance against Israel’s wall being constructed on their land. Members of the Bilin Popular Committee have been arrested as well as teenagers and young boys from the village in order to obtain forced confessions against committee members. Bilin Popular Committee’s Media Coordinator Abdullah Abu Rahme tells the story of the 16 September 2009 raid of his home to The Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre. Read more about Night raids in Bilin target activists
Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler29 September 2009
OCCUPIEDEASTJERUSALEM (IPS) - Almost a year ago a barely noticed event took place in Sawarha, a Palestinian neighborhood in the Israeli-occupied part of the city. On that November day, Israeli Jerusalemites were voting in a new mayor and a new city council. On that same day, in this neighborhood home to 25,000, people were ignoring the Israeli-run elections. Instead, they were focused on electing their own local council. Read more about Jerusalem Palestinians defining their own future