In July of 2006, Tadamon! [Solidarity! in Arabic], a Montreal-based collective of social justice organizers and media activists, will be sending a delegation to Lebanon. In the context of historic political change taking place in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East region, this delegation will be producing independent media reports concerning the current political, social and economic situation in Lebanon, for dissemination through alternative media networks in the Middle East, North America and internationally including the Electronic Intifada. Read more about Tadamon delegation to Lebanon in Summer 2006
Sa’ed Jamal Al Taleb (26) of Al-Jalazone refugee Camp (originally from Um Al Zainat close to Haifa) was the last of the scores of wounded to be discharged from Al Ri’aya Hospital in Ramallah. When the events of May 24 took place, he had been on his way home from the Arab-Amman Bank, where he worked as a messenger (he had worked for five years in Jordan and Saudi Arabia before returning home). Sa’ed was hit in the leg, as he ran towards Al Manarah to see what was going on. Read more about Portraits of Palestinian Resistance: The Wounded
With Aysar’s death during the May 24 Israeli raid in Ramallah, Kamal Jamil Qasem (49) of Aqqaba near Jenin buried his second child. The first to die was Fadi, who, at 19, fought with Abu Jandal of Islamic Jihad during the nine-day Israeli attack on Jenin Refugee Camp in April of 2002. He fought against bulldozers, apache helicopters, tanks and heavy machine guns. Aysar, a member of the PA national security forces, was stationed in Ramallah, because he was having trouble getting to Hebron, his original post, as a result of the Israeli check points. Read more about Portraits of Palestinian Resistance: Aysar Kamal Abu 'Arra
Ghaleb’s father, Rabah (48) worked in Israel as a laborer from 1977 until 2000, when he was no longer allowed to work there. He now has a job in a factory that manufactures solar heating tanks. He has provided well for his large family, his wife Mayada, his two oldest married sons, both waiters in Ramallah and living with him in the family compound. He has one married daughter who lives in Safa. Another is a sophomore at Birzeit University studying psychology. His five youngest children are all in school. Read more about Portraits of Palestinian Resistance: Ghaleb Rabah 'Allan
Ja’far’s father, Khaled, a truck driver and the father of four other sons and two daughters, was in a village called Naleen west of Ramallah when he got the frantic call from one of his neighbors. Ja’far, who had been taking driving lessons in Ramallah in the past few weeks, was there on the afternoon of May 24th for his driving test. To pay the fess of the test, he had just borrowed 350 NIS from his younger brother Hussein (20), a waiter at a restaurant in downtown Ramallah. Read more about Portraits of Palestinian Resistance: Ja'far Khaled Betillo
Refugee Camps all over the West Bank and Gaza are targets of frequent Israeli attacks. Al-Am’ari Refugee Camp, where Milad was born and where he lived with his family (refugees from Jaffa) until he was killed by the Israelis at the age of 19, is no exception. The Camp is on the outskirts of Ramallah and has seen its share of tragedies. Its approximately 6000 refugees are under siege, increasingly unable to provide for themselves. Al-Am’ari camp boasts of its share of Israeli air and land raids, home demolitions, bombs, as well as “wanted”, imprisoned and martyred men, women and children. Read more about Portraits of Palestinian Resistance: Milad Attallah Abu Al-Arayes
Palestinian resistance to the occupation comes in many shapes and forms, some of which involves armed resistance undertaken by organized groups with various ideologies. These groups are composed of barely trained young men who pit their meager and crude resources against one of the best trained and best equipped military body in the world, the Israeli Occupation Forces. Of the 76 Israeli soldiers who died in 2005, only six were killed as a result of Palestinian attacks. Read more about Portraits of Palestinian Resistance: Introduction
In his book Memory for Forgetfulness, Mahmud Darwish, the eloquent Palestinian poet says, “I bring my search for meaning to a complete stop because the essence of war is to degrade symbols and bring human relations, space, time and the elements back to a state of nature, making us rejoice over water gushing on the road from a broken pipe”. This was written during the Israeli invasion of Beirut in 1982, a time that was very similar to the current situation in Palestine. Read more about Palestine's Defeat?
Lost in the discussion of peace processes, military raids, Qassam rocket fire and unilateralism carried out by the Israeli government for ‘security purposes,’ is the climate of fear that is the defining feature of Israeli and Palestinian life. It does more damage than anything else. The threat of coercion, of bureaucratic reprimand, the hold up of paperwork, the threat of home demolitions and a myriad of other policies force normal people in to silence even when their rights are violated. Read more about The Right to Live Without Fear
Over the past 24 hours, nine people were injured, including three members of the Preventive Security Apparatus and six civilians, in two separate armed attacks in Khan Yunis and Gaza. At approximately 12:00 on Tuesday, 6 June 2006, unknown assailants fired three rockets at the headquarters of the Preventive Security in the Tal El-Hawa area of Gaza City. Six members of the Preventive Security were injured and were taken to Shifa Hospital for treatment. Information released by the Preventive Security about the incident stated that a number of gunmen fired three 60 millimeter mortars at the headquarters from the east, injuring two Preventive Security personnel and four maintenance workers in the compound. Read more about Nine Injured in Attacks Targeting the Preventive Security Compound and Preventive Security Personnel in the Gaza Strip
