A member of Britain’s House of Lords said Saturday that Israeli soldiers shot at her and two other lawmakers during a fact-finding visit to Gaza the day before. Baroness Northover, the Liberal Democrat party’s spokeswoman on international development issues, said the group was traveling under U.N. supervision near the Rafah refugee camp Friday when soldiers in an Israeli observation post fired machine guns over their heads. A large number of children were nearby, she said. The group then moved closer to marked U.N. vehicles and another shot hit a building next to them, chipping off pieces of masonry near Northover, she said in a statement. Read more about British lawmaker alleges Israeli soldiers fired at group during visit to Gaza
After years of observing the media, one might conclude that the West Bank and Gaza Strip are Palestinian areas and the rest, including Jerusalem, is Israeli. For the untrained eye there seems to be nothing wrong with such image constructions. It is no wonder that viewers internationally do not know any better. However a more in-depth look tells us otherwise. Bisan Abou Gharbiyeh explains that a virtual reality is being created which is completely contradictory to the actual reality on the ground, in particular when it comes to Jerusalem and the status of its inhabitants. Read more about Jerusalem, Al Quds, Yerushalaym
On June 8, Arab Media Watch correspondent Victor Kattan interviewed British Member of Parliament George Galloway, who is running for a seat in the European Parliamentary elections for Respect-The Unity Coalition on Thursday June 10. Galloway: “…contrary to all the assurances given to Parliament by Mr. Blair, and contrary to assurances given to him by Ariel Sharon, British weapons were being used in the occupied territories… The so-called ethical foreign policy of Mr. Blair doesn’t seem to draw any lines around General Sharon.” Read more about Interview with George Galloway, British Member of Parliament
“No! These are my guests, and this is my house!” The admonition is delivered to Israeli soldiers attempting to stop a group of Palestinian women crossing the grounds of a monastery. The messenger is Father Claudio Ghilardi, a Passionist priest from Italy. His message is clear: at least as far as the monastery grounds are concerned, he will not permit the harassment of Palestinians by soldiers. The soldiers desist as long as Father Claudio is present. The Palestinians continue on their way, attempting to cross the monastery and reach Jerusalem on the other side. At least they were able to get this far, thanks to Father Claudio’s intervention. Read more about "These are my guests, and this is my house", Priest stands up to the Wall
With the construction of the ‘Separation Wall’ in the West Bank being brought before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, for the very first time an aspect of the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been transferred from the usual forums of international debate (the UN Security Council, General Assembly, and subsidiary bodies) to an international judicial body. This novelty raised considerable optimism on some sides. Andreas Mueller, argues however that these expectations have to be closely examined in view of the legal and political limits of the ‘World Court.’ Read more about Crippled Justice: Limping Towards the Wall
Muhammad Juma was still trying to make sense of what had just happened. Incensed as he was, he sat sipping a cup of mint tea next to a caged, limping coyote and a bouncy kangaroo. Spread out in the field in front of him was an array of rotting carcasses, with the imposing stench that only death imparts. Two gazelles lay facing each other, the look of fear frozen on their faces. Besides the carcasses, the only indication that a zoo once occupied this empty field was a rusty welcome sign that had fallen to the ground. Everything else had been brutally ploughed over with military tanks and bulldozers. Read more about Rafah counts cost of Israeli onslaught
One year after the murder of activist Rachel Corrie by the Israelis in Gaza, her local community has not forgotten her. Ms. Corrie continues to inspire and lead in Olympia, it may even be possible that she has become more powerful in death than in life. There is some solace in this ability to affect change postmortem, to have truly achieved martyr status, but it is an aching solace tinged with loss. At the same time, there is this harsh and parallel realization that Olympia has lost but one life to the Occupation. It is sobering and hard to truly imagine the sorrow of the Palestinians who have lost so many and so much. candio. reports from Olympia. Read more about "In our hearts and in our work": The continuing influence of Rachel Corrie in Olympia
In the aftermath of the horror that has been visited upon Rafah over the past two weeks in particular but the past three years in general, Americans across the country are asking their congress people to stop military aid to Israel. On Friday 21 May 2004, there were sit-ins and other similar actions at congressional offices in San Francisco, Louisville, New Orleans, Albuquerque, Olympia, New York, and more. Following a week of calling representatives, Senators and the White House, Bostonians marched to the campaign office of John Kerry. Tom Wallace reports for EI. Read more about Taking a call for justice in the Middle East to Kerry's doorstep
Several Palestinians were injured, some seriously, when Israeli troops opened fire on a Palestinian funeral in Rafah today. 23 year-old Ziad Alwan was shot in the eye, and is now in hospital in a serious condition. Several other mourners also required medical attention. An estimated 50,000 Palestinians had attended the funeral for 17 citizens of Rafah killed in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood during the Israeli invasion of the area. Some of those being buried had been killed at the beginning of the invasion a week ago and preserved in fridges used for storing vegetables because the hospital and morgue had no room for the bodies. Read more about Israeli troops fire on funeral as Rafah tries to bury its dead
Tamar Gozansky is an former member of the Israeli Knesset and a member of the political bureau of the Israeli Communist Party. She visited Gaza on 19 May 2004: “Attention is now drawn to the Israeli war crimes committed by the IDF in Rafah on May 19; especially to the numerous victims of the shelling by Israeli tanks of a civilian demonstration, mostly youth and children, at high noon. I watched the horrific live TV images of wounded children, youth running for shelter and smoke rising from the shelled location, in the company of the head of the Palestinian Internal Security in Gaza City, Rashid Abu Shbak, alias Abu Khatem.” Read more about The Crimes of War: Between Al-Zeitoun (Gaza) and Rafah
