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
Israel has blamed its latest shocking restrictions of aid and fuel to Gaza on Hamas’s violation of a five-month ceasefire by launching rockets out of the Strip. But Israel had a hand in shattering the agreement: as the world was distracted by the US presidential elections, the army invaded Gaza, killing six Palestinians and provoking the rocket fire. The humanitarian catastrophe gripping Gaza is largely unrelated to the latest tit-for-tat strikes between Hamas and Israel. Nearly a year ago, Karen Koning AbuZayd, commissioner-general of the UN’s refugee agency, warned: “Gaza is on the threshold of becoming the first territory to be intentionally reduced to a state of abject destitution.” Jonathan Cook comments. Read more about The real goal of Israel's Gaza blockade
Civil strife usually ends when there is truth and reconciliation. In Lebanon, it subsides when a truce poses as reconciliation. Top Lebanese leaders are doting over each other, calling for a new pact of political rivalry that is confined to the arena of democratic and peaceful confrontation. Meetings between top March 14 and March 8 officials have calmed fears of further clashes on the streets. With the notable exception of Christian leaders, all sectarian heads are trying to unite their ranks in the run up to next year’s parliamentary elections. Meet the Lebanese Press is The Electronic Intifada’s regular review of what is making the rounds in the Lebanese press and the pundits’ take on it. Read more about Meet the Lebanese Press: Strategic defense or strategic shift?
In April 2003, the 21-year-old Tom Hurndall was shot in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip. The Israeli authorities absurdly claimed “that a Palestinian gunman wearing fatigues had been shooting a pistol at a watchtower and had been targeted by a member of the Israeli Defense Force [‘IDF’].” His mother Jocelyn, the author of the harrowing memoir, My Son Tom - The Life and Tragic Death of Tom Hurndall (with Hazel Wood), travels to Israel. At the Soroka Hospital in Beersheva she recognizes her comatose son “despite the bandages surrounding [his] dreadfully swollen head, covering [his] eyes.” Raymond Deane reviews for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about "My Son Tom": Mother continues the solidarity that Israeli bullets cut short
There has been a spate of recent news reports on international companies moving out of the Occupied Palestinian Territories to locations inside the internationally-recognized boundary between Israel and the West Bank. The impression is made that boycotting products originating in Israel’s illegal colonies in the West Bank is on its way to becoming mainstream, handing the growing boycott, divestment and sanctions movement with a fresh, substantial victory. The Electronic Intifada contributor Omar Barghouti comments. Read more about Boycotting Israeli settlement products: tactic vs. strategy
In January US president elect Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the new American head of state. The term of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will end a few days before that, and in February, Israeli elections will be held. In 2010 the term of the Palestinian Legislative Council is also set to expire. The Electronic Intifada co-founder Arjan El Fassed suggests how the Palestinian national movement should move forward, inclusive of Palestinians around the world. Read more about Palestine's greatest asset: its people
During the United States election campaign, racists and pro-Israel hardliners tried to make an issue out of President-elect Barack Obama’s middle name, Hussein. Such people might take comfort in another middle name, that of Obama’s pick for White House Chief of Staff: Rahm Israel Emanuel. Emanuel is Obama’s first high-level appointment and it’s one likely to disappointment those who hoped the president-elect would break with the George W. Bush Administration’s pro-Israel policies. EI co-founder Ali Abunimah looks at Emanuel’s record. Read more about Obama picks pro-Israel hardliner for top post
