News

Israel's daily destruction of Gaza

Kristen Ess Gaza Strip 28 October 2002


In Namsawi, an area of Khan Younis refugee camp directly in the line of Israeli fire, displaced families live in buildings with holes the size of Volkswagen bugs. Apache missle fire and tank shelling have destroyed many areas of the camp made up of soccer fields and cement apartment buildings. There are children playing in the sandy dirt who scatter when shots are fired. Half the population is under 15. Kristen Ess reports from Gaza. 

PCHR position on collaborators

Palestinian Center for Human Rights 28 October 2002

In this position paper, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights tackles the thorny question of how one deals with traitors in wartime. PCHR concludes that suspected collaborators should be investigated and tried in accordance with international standards, including the rights to fair trial, not to be subjected to torture and ill treatment, right to legal counsel and others. 

Misery in Mawasi

Kristen Ess Qarrara, Gaza Strip 23 October 2002


At 30 mph, cars seem as if they are speeding on the dusty road of Qarrara, a village just south of Abu Ali checkpoint and a few minutes north of Khan Younis, in the middle of the Gaza Strip. The checkpoint is open now. F-16s are rumbling overhead on their way to terrorize Rafah. Israeli soldiers are shooting in nearby Mawasi. Kristen Ess writes from Qarrara, Occupied Gaza. 

In Exile: Bethlehem to Gaza

Kristen Ess Gaza City, Palestine 22 October 2002

Those Palestinians who were banished following Israel’s siege of the Church of the Nativity languish in Gaza, their families in Bethlehem. Kristen Ess crosses from Bethlehem to Gaza, to report on how families are dealing with the separation. 

In Middle East, Heaviest Toll Exacted on Civilians

Molly Moore Rafah refugee camp 19 October 2002

In the space of a few minutes Thursday afternoon, the narrow main street of O Block became a corridor of fiery metal shards and flying body parts. In the end, six Palestinians who had been going about their daily lives — buying snacks, gossiping with neighbors, taking an afternoon nap — were dead, and 45 other Palestinians had been injured, mostly by shrapnel. Two other Palestinian men, who remained unidentified, were reported killed near the edge of O Block, but Palestinian medical officials said the Israeli military had not allowed ambulances to retrieve their bodies. Washington Post reporter Molly Moore writes from Rafah Refugee Camp in Gaza. [may require registration] 

The funeral of Shaden Abu Hijleh

Amer Abdelhadi Nablus, Palestine 14 October 2002


Imagine losing a loved one suddenly and violently, and having to constrain yourself and not express any sadness or anger. It must be hard. Now imagine witnessing the murder of your own mother and finding yourself so contrained. You cannot do anything about it, you cannot find answers, and you have to save your own life. Amer Abdelhadi writes from Nablus about the plight of the family of Shaden Abu Hijleh. 

My friend is being tortured!

Sam Bahour Ramallah 12 October 2002

At the end of the day, Haytham is just one of 5,000 Palestinians Israel has detained after rounding up more than 12,000 Palestinians over the last few months. Nevertheless, I refuse to just keep adding up numbers. We must stop and put faces and families to the names of those illegally detained and tortured. 

A typical Sunday morning in Jenin

Marthame Sanders and Elizabeth Sanders Zababdeh, Palestine 10 October 2002

It was a restless night for us, the hours perforated by bursts of gunfire, the heavy grinding of tanks, and Hebrew-accented Arabic barked from military loudspeakers. We had finally drifted off when the blast literally shook us out of bed. Marthame and Elizabeth Sanders write from Zababdeh.