Randa Abdel-Fattah’s new novel for young people, Where the Streets Had a Name, is an engaging family story deftly that weaves together every iconic element of Palestinian disenfranchisement — land titles, checkpoints, curfews, the general frustrations of daily life — along with jokes, arguments and repeated stories which keep people going. Lost olive trees and the profound and irrevocable sense of time and haunted belonging, are in place by page 20. And they all ring very very true. Naomi Shihab Nye reviews for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Wisdom and laughter in a child's view of Palestine
Besides restoring my faith in humanity, Barak Obama’s victory made me think of one thing: the first Palestinian Prime Minister in a post-Zionist, secular, democratic state in Palestine/Israel. This may sound strange coming from an Israeli living in America, but just as Obama is good for black and white Americans, a Palestinian prime minister in a secular democracy will be good for Israelis as well as Palestinians. If it can happen in the US it can happen in the Holy Land. Miko Peled comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Obama's victory and what it means to us
A broad coalition of Jewish lobby groups has made a series of breakthroughs this year in its campaign to link the question of justice for millions of Palestinian refugees with justice for Jews who left Arab states in the wake of Israel’s establishment 60 years ago. Referring to these Jews as the “forgotten refugees” and claiming that their plight is worse than that of exiled Palestinians, the campaign has scored political successes in recent months in Washington, London and Brussels. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Jewish "refugee" lobby seeks to eclipse Palestinian losses
It is difficult to recall a US secretary of state who embodied the ideals of the position: the promotion of dialogue and privileging of diplomacy. Unfortunately, US President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee, Hillary Clinton, is not likely to restore these ideals to the office. Clinton has long championed military action against the former Yugoslavia, Iraq and has promised to “obliterate” Iran if the state launched a nuclear strike against Israel. Dr. Marcy Newman comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Will Palestinians hit Hillary's glass ceiling?
The following is a speech delivered by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire at the seventh International Sabeel Conference in Jerusalem on 19 November 2008: I am very happy to be here with you and to be invited to speak to you. I am deeply grateful to have the freedom to come here to East Jerusalem and the freedom to speak and meet with you. Read more about Nobel Laureate: There is a way toward peace for Palestine
The slow death that is being visited on the Palestinians in Gaza is finding its first victims in more than 400 critically ill patients who are being prevented from leaving Gaza for urgent medical attention in Israeli or Arab hospitals. Thousands of other patients are being turned away from hospitals suffering from a severe shortage of 300 different kinds of medicines. Sonja Karkar comments. Read more about Gaza's death throes, and no one's listening
The Electronic Intifada’s correspondent in Gaza, Rami Almeghari, sat down with UNRWA Chief of Operations in the Gaza Strip, John Ging, to discuss how the siege, and the latest closures are affecting UNRWA and the civilian population in Gaza. UNRWA is the UN agency responsible for providing aid to millions of Palestinian refugees. On 4 November, Israel sent tanks into the Gaza Strip and carried out attacks which killed six Palestinians, breaking a ceasefire that had generally held since June. Read more about UN aid chief to EI: Gaza people "stripped of their dignity"
From the very beginning, students have played an active role in the Palestinian national movement. Their enthusiasm, motivation, and hard work help them to overcome even the most daunting tasks. Organizing rallies, academic events, political debates, fundraising, cultural programs, students demonstrate the great influence they are able to assert on societies divided by war, engrossed by political strife, and weakened by economic turmoil. The Electronic Intifada contributor Raja Abdulhaq argues that the General Union of Palestinian Students must be rebuilt. Read more about Rebuilding a General Union of Palestinian Students
James Zogby isn’t just an Arab American with an opinion. He is the president of the Arab American Institute, a well-known writer, and an esteemed leader within the Arab American community. Many non-Arab Americans highly regard his analysis and look to his articles as a resource to understand the Middle East. This is precisely why his latest article, “Rahm Emanuel and Arab Perceptions,” published by The Huffington Post, is so disturbing. Remi Kanazi comments. Read more about No free pass for Rahm Emanuel
