The Israeli army issued a statement yesterday (Tuesday 14th December 2004) that a decision would be made in the next 48 hrs concerning four Birzeit University students who were illegally ‘deported’ back to Gaza last month. An international letter writing campaign involving hundreds of academics from around the world has been launched demanding they are returned to the university to complete their degrees. All were due to graduate this year. Bashar Abu Salim is one of the four. Charles Stratford tells the story about what happened on the night of his arrest. Read more about "It Was Like Abu Ghraib": Israeli Abuse of Birzeit University's Gazan Students 

The above leaflet was dropped on Gaza this morning from Israeli military helicopters. The translation says: TO THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE. Your life is being harmed by irresponsible elements who exploit you by firing missiles from in between your houses at the Israeli settlements. These missiles backfire on you causing only destruction and loss of your source of living without leaving you any road to hope. Be aware !!! that firing missiles from your area will compel the Israeli Defense Forces to act in your area and to hit missile-launching elements in any place they act from. Get rid of terror which leads you to the bottom. Follow the road of hope. Do not allow the terrorists to come close to your area.” EI’s Nigel Parry reports. Read more about Leaflets of fear 

The South African people fought for decades to free themselves of apartheid. The ANC departed from its non-violent policies in the early 1960s, becoming actively involved in the armed liberation struggle. The violence used by the ANC was directed at government institutions, economic targets and the forces involved in oppression. Nelson Mandela was arrested and imprisoned for almost 30 years. International solidarity movements supported the ANC by organising massive campaigns for sanctions and public boycotts against South Africa. A Dutch anti-apartheid activist and a South African ANC supporter whose father was imprisoned for ten years on Robben island for in his involvement in the resistance look back on activism during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Read more about Sanctions against apartheid South Africa should inspire the Palestinian people 

The Writing on the Wall is a series of interviews with Palestinians who live close to the Wall. Van Teeffelen asked three questions: How is your daily life influenced by the Wall and the checkpoints? What does freedom mean to you? What are your sources of energy? Toine van Teeffelen speaks with Jizelle Salman from Beit Jala, an English language teacher and youth coordinator at the Arab Educational Institute in Bethlehem. “I need to take a detour to get to my house. I used to take a road which has now become an Israeli checkpoint and military camp. We’ve heard last year that the land on the hill above my house, which we cultivated for many years, will be expropriated in order to build the Wall and next to it a military road. This was of course most difficult news for us.” Read more about The Writing on the Wall: Jizelle Salman 

“To understand human rights, human rights violations, and human rights enforcement, one must begin at the ground level, with the social and cultural setting of the abuse situation. This is not simply a legal requirement, but even more so a moral and political imperative. Whoever endeavors to protect human rights takes on the commitment to be fully human: to think, critique, imagine, argue, envision, cooperate, and take risks in concrete social contexts fraught with political consequences. Foremost among the risks of taking human rights seriously is reaching out to communicate. EI co-founder Laurie King-Irani offers some reflections on International Human Rights Day. Read more about International Human Rights: One day out of 365 is not enough 

A group of Israeli soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip have reportedly admitted killing a 15-year-old Palestinian in Khan Yunus for sport. According to the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronoth, the incident took place in March when a group of newly graduated soldiers were on a hike near the town of Khan Yunus. According to the report, an undisclosed number of Givati brigade soldiers shot and killed Khalid Sulaiman Mahdi while he was working with his father on their farm. The boy’s father, Sulaiman Mahdi, told the paper the killing was “just for the sake of it”. Read more about Israeli soldiers 'shoot boy for fun' 

Palestinian presidential candidate Mustafa al-Barghuthi has accused Israel of disrupting the upcoming Palestinian election due on 9 January. Mustafa al-Barghuthi, a prominent independent candidate, at a press conference on Wednesday in Ramallah said Israel was not allowing candidates freedom of movement within the West Bank and between the West Bank and Gaza Strip. “The Israeli occupation authorities have been barring me from travelling to the Gaza Strip. How can we conduct an effective and orderly election campaign if one is unable to meet one’s supporters?” he said. Al-Jazeera’s Khalid Amayreh reports from the occupied West Bank. Read more about Israel censured over Palestinian elections 

EI co-founder Ali Abunimah writes about a visit to a family of elderly Palestinians refugees who have been given sanctuary in a Montreal church for nearly a year, after the Canadian government ordered them deported: “What was so shocking and moving about the situation Ayoubs find themselves in, in their church basement room in Montreal, is how reminiscent it is of the conditions they fled in Ain el Hilweh refugee camp.” Read more about Ain el Hilweh in the heart of Montreal