One year has passed since the first Palestinians were allowed to return to the outskirts of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, destroyed by the Lebanese army during three months of fighting in the summer of 2007 with Fatah al-Islam, a small Islamist militant group. Meanwhile, up to 15,000 people have resettled in the camp. Ray Smith reports on their situation from Nahr al-Bared. Read more about Uncertainty clouds Nahr al-Bared's future 

Experience of terror and trauma is the norm for children in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, especially those living in the Gaza Strip. As the Israeli siege creates a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, an entire generation of traumatized children suffers an absence of psychological care. Sameh A. Habeeb writes from the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about A generation of traumatized children 

In occupied East Jerusalem, the Israeli light rail system currently being built in violation of international law on seized Palestinian land by Veolia, a European company, will fundamentally change the landscape. Veolia and partner Alstom have continued their involvement in the disputed project, drawing the attention of financial institutions and civil organizations. EI contributor Adri Nieuwhof reports on the latest developments of the campaign. Read more about Pressure on Veolia mounts 

GAZA CITY (IPS) - The letter of acceptance that 28-year-old Hazem Hussain got for a business graduate program in a California university once brought joy. Now he does not know what to do with it. He has admission, and a visa to the United States, but the Israelis will not let him leave. “I have tried to get out through every means possible for a year now,” he says. “But I am not able to go.” Read more about Israel targets Palestinian students 

In November 2006 a horrible war crime was committed in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli army. The operation was not directed at militants who were heading to fight Israel, but at a poor family. This action was committed by the same Israeli army which bulldozed Palestinian farms and crushed cars and houses. I remember every single detail of what happened that day in Beit Hanoun. Sameh A. Habeeb recalls the massacre. Read more about Remembering Beit Hanoun 

Burj al-Shemali is located at the edge of Tyre and was established in the early 1950s after Zionist forces expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland. Today some 20,000 people live in the quiet, but fenced-in Burj al-Shemali Camp. More than two-thirds of its labor force work at least part-time in agriculture. Ray Smith writes from southern Lebanon. Read more about Picking oranges the Palestinian way 

Despite pronouncements from Israeli leaders that the recent Acre violence is damaging the city’s image as a model of coexistence, the reality is of a deeply divided city, where the wounds of the 1948 war have yet to heal. The Electronic Intifada contributor Jonathan Cook analyzes. Read more about Acre violence exposes Israel's double standards 

On a beautiful sunny day this week, a group from the International Solidarity Movement, a non-partisan grassroots initiative, went to the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun in order to help protect Palestinian farmers harvesting their olive crops from the Israeli army. EI corespondent Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about Harvesting in solidarity with Gaza's farmers 

An underreported factor behind the violence in the northern Israeli city of Acre is how militant Israeli settlers from the West Bank, funded by donors in the United States, have instigated tension in an attempt to reduce the Arab population. The Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah analyzes. Read more about Extremist West Bank settlers help stir Acre violence 

Aqaba Mayor Hajj Sami is permanently wheel-chair bound. He was shot three times in the back by Israeli soldiers when he was 16, and one of the bullets remains in his chest to this day. Yet he has tirelessly fought for his community’s right to remain on the land they have owned for generations. Paul Adrian Raymond writes from Aqaba. Read more about A West Bank mayor's struggle