Almost two weeks ago, my friend Dawud, a high school English teacher from Kufr ‘Ain, called me nearly in tears to report the checkpoint hold-up that had cost him his six-month-old son. Shortly after midnight on March 8th, my friend’s baby began having trouble breathing. His parents quickly got a taxi to take him to the nearest hospital in Ramallah, where they hoped to secure an oxygen tent, which had helped him recover from difficult respiratory episodes in the past. As the family was rushing from their Palestinian town in the West Bank to their Palestinian hospital in the West Bank, they were stopped at Atara checkpoint, where an Israeli soldier asked for the father’s, mother’s, and driver’s IDs. Read more about The crime of being born Palestinian 

On 4 April 1968, Martin Luther King was shot dead in Memphis, Tennessee, where he planned to lead a protest march. The powerful voice of King was silenced, but almost fifty years later, his ideas are still a source of inspiration for people who seek peace and justice. Israel claims to have a special relation with the legacy of King. Every year it marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a United States holiday, with a special session in parliament. Read more about The legacy of Martin Luther King: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere 

WASHINGTON, D.C., 23 March 2007 (IPS) - How seriously and to what ends is the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush willing to engage the new Palestinian government of national unity? As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes her seventh visit to the Middle East in the last eight months, that is the question that foreign policy analysts and diplomats here are asking, and the answers are as yet far from clear.Is the administration committed to resuming a genuine peace process designed to fill out the “political horizon” of a final settlement to which both Israel and the Palestinians, including Hamas, will be willing to commit? Read more about Tentative moves toward new Palestine government 

Gaza - Ma’an News Agency - The death toll due to the renewed clashes between Fatah and Hamas supporters in the Gaza Strip, which began on Wednesday, March 21, rose to three after a two-year-old infant died on Thursday evening. Security sources reported that the infant, Hassan Abu al-Nada, died from wounds sustained after being shot by armed men while in his house near the home of a leader of the Fatah-affiliated al-Aqsa Brigades, Samih al-Madhoun. Read more about Two-year-old killed in renewed factional violence 

My last day in Nablus I got to discover another one of the city’s gems: An-Najah University. I immediately took to the old architecture mixed with modern sculptures on the main campus, but what inspired me most was watching thousands of students return to the frantic bustle of daily university life so soon after soldiers had released the city from hostage. Resilience is a defining character of Palestinian identity in my experience, and I was more impressed than surprised to see Palestinians asserting their determination to get an education even in the most difficult circumstances. Read more about Existence is Resistance 

Palestinian leaders heaved a sigh of relief over the weekend when the formation of the long- awaited Hamas-Fatah national unity government finally became a reality. But the Palestinians could quickly discover that while the formation of a unity government, after months of tortuous negotiations, may have averted the threat that growing internal strife would balloon into all-out civil war, it could fail to achieve its second and no less important goal — the lifting of crippling international sanctions. Read more about United But Still Isolated 

EAST JERUSALEM, 20 March 2007 (IRIN) - Two months ago, the 12 members of the Abdullah family awoke at 7.30am to find their home in East Jerusalem surrounded by 2,000 Israeli soldiers. They were hustled out as two bulldozers from the Jerusalem Municipality tore it down — leaving them to face the winter cold with just a canvas Red Cross tent for shelter. “We have no money to rent a flat here and no relatives who can take us in. Years of saving money and work disappeared in 30 minutes,” said Milouk Abdullah, a 55-year-old scrap-metal dealer. Read more about Evictions and demolitions continue in East Jerusalem 

BAGHDAD, 18 March 2007 (IRIN) - The United Nations has reiterated its call for the protection of Palestinian refugees in Iraq after Iraqi security forces killed one and detained dozens in raids last week, causing a number of Palestinian families to flee to the border. “One Palestinian, [who was] a guard at a mosque, was killed with at least one gunshot to the head during the raid on Wednesday,” said Ron Redmond, chief spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva on Friday. The agency called for the immediate protection of Palestinians in Iraq. Read more about Police raids spread panic among Palestinians in Iraq