News

DFLP's Saleh Zeidan: Obama's speech should become action


Saleh Zeidan, Gaza-based leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), spoke to The Electronic Intifada correspondent Rami Almeghari about chances for peace in the region following the latest failures and setbacks in United States peace initiatives. This is part of an occasional series of interviews with various political figures and factions in Palestine. 

Israeli raids targeting children


Silwan, Occupied East Jerusalem (IPS) - Three thousand heavily armed Israeli security service forces locked down large parts of the Old City of Jerusalem on Tuesday, as battalions of police fired rounds of tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinian protesters in the occupied eastern part of the city. Nearly 40 Palestinians were wounded and treated at nearby hospitals, as 25 were arrested during intense clashes. 

Harvard students condemn center's defense of fellow's racist statements


We students at Harvard University are disturbed by the racist and inhumane comments of Martin Kramer, Visiting Scholar at the National Security Studies Program at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. We have become even more alarmed that rather than taking a dissociating or even strictly neutral stance against such extremist and hateful statements, the Weatherhead Center issued a defensive response. 

Sending a laptop to Gaza


I sat outdoors at a cafe on the Mediterranean Sea in al-Arish, a dusty seaside town in Egypt’s northern Sinai. I drank a tea and smoked a water pipe; it gave me something to do while I waited for Ismail — that’s not his real name — an Egyptian Bedouin tunnel smuggler who was going to deliver a package for me into Gaza. Ahmed Moor writes from al-Arish. 

Homes and livelihoods gone in an instant


Radia Abu Sbaih, 47, lives with her sister and one niece on family land roughly 700 meters from the “green line” boundary between Israel and Gaza. Until 18 February 2010, they had nearly 600 olive, fruit, date and nut trees, an agricultural cistern, a water well, various vegetables and a house. Theirs was one of three homes demolished by Israeli military bulldozers that day in al-Mossadar, eastern Gaza. Eva Bartlett reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Rachel Corrie's family takes Israel to court


Seven years after Rachel Corrie, a US peace activist, was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza, her family was to put the Israeli government in the dock today. A judge in the northern Israeli city of Haifa was due to be presented with evidence that 23-year-old Corrie was killed unlawfully as she stood in the path of the bulldozer, trying to prevent it from demolishing Palestinian homes in Rafah. Jonathan Cook reports.