The Church of England’s most senior decision-making body, the General Synod, voted to disinvest from “companies profiting from the illegal occupation [of Palestine]”. Caterpillar manufactures D9 bulldozers used by the Israeli armed forces for house demolitions. The decision follows examination by the Church’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG) of whether the shares currently held in Caterpillar were consistent with the Church’s ethical investment policy, which prohibits investment in arms companies or companies making “weapons platforms” such as naval vessels or tanks. Read more about Church of England votes to divest from Caterpillar 

The Jewish state uses Jerusalem to define itself in the ever expanding city. All buildings, including new ones, have to be made of stone in order to show the eternal Jewish presence, in this process Jerusalem’s Palestinian past is being appropriated. Malkit Shoshan, director of FAST (the Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory), and Eitan Bronstein, director of Zochrot, examine the ways in which planning is being used to create this fantasy heritage for Israel, at the expense of Palestinian culture. The village of Lifta, which lies just outside Jerusalem, has been abandoned since the Israeli army drove out the last of its Palestinian inhabitants in 1948. Read more about Reinventing Lifta (2/2) 

The Jewish state uses Jerusalem to define itself in the ever expanding city. All buildings, including new ones, have to be made of stone in order to show the eternal Jewish presence, in this process Jerusalem’s Palestinian past is being appropriated. Malkit Shoshan, director of FAST (the Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory), and Eitan Bronstein, director of Zochrot, examine the ways in which planning is being used to create this fantasy heritage for Israel, at the expense of Palestinian culture. The village of Lifta, which lies just outside Jerusalem, has been abandoned since the Israeli army drove out the last of its Palestinian inhabitants in 1948. Read more about Reinventing Lifta (1/2) 

Most attention surrounding the 25 January 2006 election has focused upon the sweeping victory of Hamas at the polls, and with good reason. But there are other aspects to this year’s election that will also leave permanent impressions upon the future of Palestinian national activity. Among the 132 Palestinians who won seats in the Legislative Council, 15 of them are prisoners. 14 are imprisoned in Israeli jails, and one sits in a Palestinian administered jail in Jericho, with CIA and British Intelligence oversight. 11 of them are affiliated with Hamas, 3 with Fateh, and one with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Read more about A Parliament of Prisoners 

Yesterday, after a trip around Bait Hanun, Gaza’s northern breadbasket, I headed to the Erez Crossing to give some journalist friends a lift. They were headed to Jerusalem, where they were based, and to where I am I unable to travel.I hadn’t been to Erez in a while, namely because there is no point. I am forbidden from entering the West Bank based on the arbitrary decision of some official in the Israeli security matrix. Or maybe not so arbitrary. Because obviously with a pen in one hand, a dirty diaper in the other, I am a very real and potent threat to the Israeli security establishment. Read more about Where the Sidewalk Ends 

There is a risk that Palestinian children who grow up under violence will perceive their parents and adults as being unable to protect them. This psychological reaction is a direct threat to the relationship between a child and their parents. The impact of violence caused by the occupation on children can be life long. It can distort their outlook on life, which will not only influence their lives, but also those of future generations. For how long will the international community continue protecting Israel? What will it take before it finally shifts its attention to protecting Palestinian children? For those not intimately connected with the events in Palestine, it is almost impossible to imagine how the world has been able to turn a blind eye for so long to their pain and suffering. Read more about The ongoing betrayal of Palestinian children (2/2) 

The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, dispossession of Palestinian land and properties and discriminatory policies in Israel have hit Palestinian children hard. Recent research of the Palestinian Counselling Centre (PCC) has conclusively established that the wall has had a profound negative impact on the mental health of Palestinian children1 and created a major obstacle to them obtaining an education.2 In this article, Adri Nieuwhof and Jeff Handmaker examine certain violations of children’s rights caused by the formation of the State of Israel and following Israel’s occupation since 1967 and further explore their social and psychological impacts on children. Read more about The ongoing betrayal of Palestinian children (1/2) 

The cliche of the day was that Wednesday the 25th of January, the second elections of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was a festival of democracy. The Gaza Strip is a dusty stretch of land. But as the day passed and the night wore on we were surprised by the strength of the Hamas showing. Certainly anyone who has ever been to the Gaza Strip and witnessed Israeli human rights violations and the chaos on the streets because of the collapse of law and order is not shocked at a good showing by Hamas. Even more so after yesterday’s elections - now the world awaits the dusty political landscape to settle. Eoin Murray reports, Live from Occupied Palestine, in the Gaza Strip. Read more about Palestinian Elections: Forcing the West to awake to the voices of the people