JEET, WESTBANK, 27 April (IRIN) - It was difficult for 87-year-old Jamil Khader to discover that nearly all of the 1,400 olive trees his extended family planted in February had suddenly gone missing, having been uprooted and stolen. “He became very ill when I told him. He was hospitalized and was in bed for a week,” his son Khalil, from the small town of Jeet in the northern West Bank, told IRIN. Read more about West Bank farmers face ruin after trees uprooted
JERUSALEM/GAZA, 23 April (IRIN) - Israel once again pumped industrial diesel to the Gaza Strip’s sole power plant on 23 April, just hours before it was scheduled to stop operations due to a lack of fuel. An Israeli official told IRIN about one million liters would be sent in, provided no “security incidents” took place. The plant said it needed about 3.5 million liters a week, though Israel has committed to transferring only 2.2 million. The amount sent in on 23 April could only be spun out for a few days. Read more about Gaza fuel supplies on a knife edge
JERUSALEM/GAZA, 22 April (IRIN) - For families in the Gaza Strip with sons or daughters in Israeli jails, the past 11 months have been especially hard, as they could no longer visit their imprisoned relatives and have only had contact through brief written messages. “This issue is a humanitarian concern for us, for the families and the prisoners,” said Katharina Ritz, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Jerusalem. Read more about Israel suspends family visits to prisoners
Following a motion passed at the inaugural Congress of the University and College Union (UCU) in the UK last May, a tour of British universities by Palestinian trade union academics was authorized. However, the UCU has taken a strong line that only its members will be allowed to attend tour meetings and attendees are required to bring identification. Rumy Hasan comments. Read more about Palestinian education delegation to UK gets special treatment
In March of this year, the US Campaign to End the Israeli occupation launched its newest corporate accountability campaign: “Hang Up on Motorola.” Motorola Incorporated and its fully owned subsidiary Motorola Israel benefit from Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Present in Israel since 1964, Motorola supplies the Israeli army with equipment. EI contributor Adri Nieuwhof reports. Read more about Activists hang up on Motorola
The goals of the National Popular Palestinian Conference to be held in Chicago in August 2008 include cultivating our national Palestinian-Arab identity, exploring grounds for cooperation and collective expression, and motivating and organizing the US-based Palestinian community to assume a greater role in realizing Palestinian national objectives and preserving our collective identity. Noura Erakat and Monadel Herzallah outline the goals and history of the conference. Read more about Popular Conference: preserving collective identity
A pro-Israel pressure group is orchestrating a secret, long-term campaign to infiltrate the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia to rewrite Palestinian history, pass off crude propaganda as fact, and take over Wikipedia administrative structures to ensure these changes go either undetected or unchallenged. A series of emails by members and associates of the pro-Israel group CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America), provided to The Electronic Intifada (EI), indicate the group is engaged in what one activist termed a “war” on Wikipedia. Read more about EI exclusive: a pro-Israel group's plan to rewrite history on Wikipedia
JERUSALEM, 17 April (IPS) - Three decades after he brokered the first-ever peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country, former US president Jimmy Carter has become persona non grata in the Jewish state. Both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak refused to meet with him during his four-day visit here. So did former prime minister and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who accused Carter of holding “anti-Israel views in recent years.” Read more about Israel doesn't want to know Carter any more
As a third-generation Palestinian refugee, the Nabka is more than fleeing the homeland, and losing your identity. It is not having a single memory of the homeland that once was for your grandparents, and your parents. It is not having anything to tell your children, like the taste of your land’s fruits, the smell of its sand, about stories and experiences with your people. Najwa Sheikh writes from Gaza. Read more about My Nakba
Amna Abu Sido was waiting for a ride at the so-called Universities Junction in the heart of Gaza City on Tuesday afternoon when she explained how difficult her commute has become: “I take at least two taxis to go back home to the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood from the school I teach at in Talatini street. Taxis are scarce nowadays and this is really adding to our difficulties.” EI correspondent Rami Almeghari reports on how Palestinians in Gaza are coping with the latest Israeli measure of collective punishment. Read more about In Gaza, fueling cars with cooking oil
