“Just because the International Court of Justice ruled against Israel and, by extension, its US protector, on every point, does not invalidate the reasoning for the rest of the world. Rather, it is a wake-up call to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his supporters in the United States to reconsider their stands and return from orbit. You cannot cherry-pick international law, enforcing the parts you like on others and denying those that impinge on your interests.” Veteran UN analyst Ian Williams assesses the 9 July World Court advisory opinion on the illegality of Israel’s Apartheid Wall. Read more about "Mr. Sharon, tear down this wall!"
“Every time I visit Amman,” writes EI co-founder Ali Abunimah, “the US embassy here seems to have around it more high walls, concrete barricades and armored cars with menacing machine guns mounted atop.” Abunimah says this symbolizes the growing gulf between ordinary Jordanians and the US, even as Jordan’s government is seen as increasingly “pro-American.” He examines the growing opposition among Jordanians to US policies in Palestine and Iraq and explains why US policies actually help stifle full democracy in Jordan, rather than encouraging it. Read more about US policies in Iraq, Palestine, fuel Jordanians' discontent
He was the last breakfast companion I was expecting. Separated from me by a rack of toast and a handful of marmalade sachets was Mordechai Vanunu, the man who 18 years ago revealed that Israel had amassed a secret stockpile of nuclear weapons. Breakfast at the St George’s pilgrim guest house in East Jerusalem is usually a sedate affair, but on this occasion both he and I were skating unintentionally but dangerously close to arrest by Israel’s security services. Occasional EI contributor Jonathan Cook explains why Israel — and the US and UK — remains afraid of Vanunu. Read more about Why Israel is still afraid of Mordechai Vanunu
In February, press reports that cement imported from Egypt through Palestinian companies and ready-made concrete manufactured in the Palestinian village of Abu Dis were being used to build Israeli settlements and the apartheid wall provoked outrage among Palestinians. A commission of inquiry has now reported finding “compelling evidence and documents adequate for indicting those involved.” But Hasan Abu Nimah and Ali Abunimah say that corruption within the Palestinian Authority has deep roots. Read more about Deep-rooted corruption in Palestine
The study suggests that television news on the Israel/Palestinian conflict confuses viewers and substantially features Israeli government views. Israelis are quoted and speak in interviews over twice as much as Palestinians and there are major differences in the language used to describe the two sides. This operates in favours of the Israelis and influences how viewers understand the conflict. The study focused on BBC One and ITV News from the start of the current Palestinian intifada, the Glasgow researchers examined around 200 news programmes and interviewed and questioned over 800 people. The study is unique in that for the first time it brought senior broadcasters together with ordinary viewers to work in research groups, analysing how the news informs people and how it could be improved. Read more about New Book: Bad News from Israel
“We have to make the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a mainstream concern and the only way we can do that is by effectively communicating the realities at ground zero for Joe and Jane Palestinian to the American public. Nobody would sign off on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if they knew what happened at ground zero, nobody. Only the most ardent and entrenched supporters of Israel.” This article is an edited version of a speech EI’s Nigel Parry gave at the “Palestine: Perception and Reality” panel at the 21st National Convention of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington DC, on Sunday 13 June 2004. Read more about Palestine: Perception and Reality
How can we explain the conjurer’s trick by which Sharon has turned into the darling of the Israeli peace camp? In the last Israeli elections, many voters who were fed up with Sharon voted for Labor candidate Amram Mitznah. But now their elected representatives are keeping Sharon afloat. On Monday, June 7, there were two non-confidence votes in the Israeli Parliament, one submitted jointly by the Beilin’s Yahad party and the Arab parties. The Labor party abstained, thus giving Sharon the majority he needed to survive. Tanya Reinhart comments. Read more about The address for protest is Labor's headquarters
Does UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan think that Palestinians have a right to defend themselves against the kinds of violent attacks and destruction Israel is carrying out in Rafah refugee camp? EI’s Ali Abunimah spoke to Annan’s representative, but found its not so easy to get a straighforward answer to a straightforward question. Abunimah says that Annan could use his position to have a profound effect on the Palestine-Israel conflict, but instead chooses to play word games, dressing the persistent failure of the US-led “Quartet” as a restless search for peace. Read more about Questions with no answers
Things must be bad in Palestine when the United States allows a resolution to pass in the UN Security Council, as it did late on 19 May condemning Israeli actions. The resolution is a moral victory for Palestinians, but there is no reason to take comfort from it as Israel intensified its attack on the Gaza refugee camp. Unless the other members of the Security Council and the wider international community act immediately to halt Israel’s assault, we can conclude that the UN Resolution was designed only to absolve them from any further action. EI co-founder Ali Abunimah names some specific actions the international community must take. Read more about After Rafah, Europe, Arabs have no excuse for inaction
Sam Bahour and Michael DahanRamallah, Jerusalem19 May 2004
Many words are taboo if used to describe Israel�s actions against Palestinians. One word in particular — genocide — sparks emotions that echo across Israel, Europe, and North America. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines genocide as “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group.” What is happening in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip today is dangerously close to genocide, close enough that photographs of terrified Palestinians in Rafah loading their meager belongings onto carts and fleeing their homes are all too reminiscent of another time, another place another people. These images should be setting off alarm bells in the hearts and minds of Israelis. Read more about Genocide By Public Policy
