News

Do they talk to you?

Annie Higgins Jenin, Palestine 15 January 2003


Photo by Musa Al-Shaer. “As I was walking from the house at the top of the hill, occupied by Israeli forces from beginning to end of the sixteen-day invasion of Jenin Refugee Camp in October/November, schoolboys on the road asked me this question. It is a refrain that punctuates my comings and goings, and it is one that leaves me tongue-tied. The question is not, ‘Do you talk to them?’ because anybody can do that. What matters is if they respond with words rather than gunfire. The nature of the soldiers’ response is a source of curiosity for people who are always in danger of being shot rather than spoken to.” Annie Higgins writes from Jenin. 

Crossing Kalandia

Anne Gwynne Nablus 12 January 2003


Kalandia is not a checkpoint in any recognized sense of the word ‘checkpoint’, which is commonly understood to be a place where documents and goods are checked, and through which people and goods are inspected in order to facilitate passage. Everything at ground level in the whole landscape is torn-up, demolished, cleared into piles of rubble, worn out, collapsing, never repaired — I cannot find adequate words. Anne Gwynne writes about Kalandia, with an introduction by EI’s Nigel Parry. 

Email from Saffuriyya: "Where are you from?"

Jonathan Cook Nazareth, the Galilee 12 January 2003

“It is a reflex question for Palestinians, always posed early in the Arab greeting ritual, to ask a stranger, even another Palestinian, ‘Where are you from?’ before enquiring: ‘Where do you live?’ Few Palestinians live where they feel they belong. ” Jonathan Cook introduces us to a new generation of Saffuriyeen who are keeping their ties to the destroyed town of Saffuriyya strong and vibrant. 

U.S. pressures Israel to probe crimes against Palestinians

Philip Jacobson 12 January 2003

Israel’s military authorities have approached human rights organisations operating in the West Bank and Gaza to help with investigations into crimes committed by their troops against Palestinian civilians. Philip Jacobson reports on some unprecedented developments, due in no small part to the efforts of the family of Shaden Abu Hijleh, murdered by the IDF last fall. 

Children shot in Askar Refugee Camp

Anne Gwynne Nablus, Palestine 11 January 2003

Oshan Abdul Aziz Shanier was shot by a single bullet to the heart and died instantly. He was 22 years old, born in a refugee camp in his own land, died in a refugee camp in his own land, killed by a soldier who is illegally in his country contravening all the relevant International Laws and Conventions. No warnings here, no mercy. No normal human decency. Shoot to kill. Anne Gwynn writes from Nablus. 

IDF's murder of Palestinian grandmother tests Israeli justice system

Nicole Gaouette 10 January 2003

“In Nablus, where the Abu Hijleh house echoes with a new emptiness, the family is determined that Shaden not become another nameless statistic. For some of her children, this means resisting the Palestinian glorification of martyrdom. For her family and friends, it means pursuing some measure of justice. That mission began minutes after the bullets flew.” The Christian Science Monitor’s Nicole Gaouette reports on one family’s attempts to challenge Israeli impunity in the international media—and at the International Criminal Court.