“The result is that, while Israel claims to be hitting at the “terrorist infrastructure”, the consequence last week was a two-mile funeral procession through Gaza City, in which mourners chanted “no to Abu Mazen”, the new pro-roadmap Palestinian prime minister. In Gaza, as in the other Palestinian territories, the space for moderation gets smaller with every minor humiliation and every death. You don’t have to be a peace activist to understand that this is a kind of madness. If ordinary Israelis and their friends in other countries were to spend even a few hours in Gaza, or talking to people on the West Bank, then it is difficult to imagine them supporting the policies of the present Israeli government.” Read more about Why friends of Israel should see Gaza
A dozen heavily armed and entirely male army force surrounded us, grabbing for our cameras and violently pushing us to the ground. Several soldiers grabbed Charlotte and I—causing bruises on our arms and legs—and forced on a jeep to the Tulkaram DCO and military base. Read more about Tulkarem: Israeli forces snatch, beat and arrest ISM volunteers
“The contribution of the ISM to advancing the cause of peace in the Middle East, to defending human rights, and to upholding international law is without parallel. This organization’s selfless efforts to promote peace and protect the lives of innocent civilians in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict clearly merit international recognition.” Canadian MP Svend J. Robinson nominates ISM for the Nobel Peace Prize. Read more about Canadian MP nominates ISM for Nobel Prize
The Israeli military yesterday began obliging foreigners entering the Gaza Strip to sign waivers absolving the army from responsibility if it shoots them. Visitors must also declare that
they are not peace activists. The move came hours before an autopsy on James Miller - the British cameraman killed in a Gaza refugee camp - confirmed that he was almost certainly killed by an Israeli soldier, despite the army’s assertions to the contrary. Yesterday, the British government demanded an Israeli military police criminal investigation into Miller’s death and the shooting of another Briton by the army in Gaza, Tom Hurndall, a peace activist. Chris McGreal reports for The Guardian. Read more about Gaza visitors must sign waiver in case army shoots them
The Electronic Intifada has obtained the text of a document distributed by the Israeli military to foreign diplomatic representatives. The document is entitled “Form to be filled out and submitted to IDF authorities prior to entry to the Gaza Strip” and is aimed at excluding foreign peace activists from undertaking nonviolent direct action against Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip. Read more about Text of new IDF declaration to be signed by foreign nationals entering Gaza
“For a fraction of a second, I was panic-stricken. The terrible monster coming towards me was not more than five meters away and continued to move as if I weren’t there. The giant bulldozer pushed a great heap of dirt and boulders before it. The driver, two meters above me, seemed a part of the machine. It was clear that nothing would stop him. I jumped aside at the last moment. Some weeks ago, in a similar situation, the American peace activist Rachel Corrie expected the driver to stop. He did not, and she was crushed to death.” Israeli activist Uri Avnery reports on the progress of Israel’s apartheid wall. Read more about The Evil Wall
While the Dutch celebrate the 58th anniversary of Germany’s capitulation, which meant the end of German occupation, activists organized a street theatre performance in the centre of Amsterdam raising awareness about military occupations supported by the Dutch government. Read more about Pro-Palestinian activists enforce a mock checkpoint in centre of Amsterdam
“They do it in the middle of the night. On dark nights. Quietly, stealthily. In large groups. Well organized militias - armed and all. A crowd of about 50 religious settlers. Came in the night to two houses in Israeli-annexed, Arab East Jerusalem, Sheikh Jarrah, over the Green Line. They threw a child out of the broken window they’d entered by. A two-year-old flying baby, falling from the 2nd storey window, five meters high, ending up in hospital traumatised. They hit a man so badly he was driven away unconscious in an ambulance; I saw him go.” Annabel Frey reports on settler harassment in Jerusalem. Read more about Settler violence and harassment in Sheikh Jarrah
The commemoration programme was built on the traditional Arab format of the condolence visit (ta’aziya). All participants were invited to wear mourning clothes, and behind the whole area hung an obituary notice, an eighteen-foot-long banner inscribed with words: ‘The sisters of the children of Baghdad and their families, and the paternal uncles of the families of Mosul, Al-Nasirya, Jenin, Rafah, and Nablus, and their kin living in the Arab world and abroad, mourn with deepest sorrow their dearly beloved deceased: The victims of American and Israeli aggression, cut down in their childhood, and their youth, and their prime, members of humanity’.” Rosemary Sayigh reports from Beirut on a symbolically charged protest action. Read more about "We are not just numbers": Commemorating the war victims of Iraq and Palestine
Kufr Sur is an isolated village of 1000 people situated between Qalqilya and Tulkarem in the West Bank. The bulldozing for the Apartheid Wall has begun, totally destroyed 10 thousand dunums of land belonging to 53 families. Anna Weekes reports. Read more about A new occupation
