US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently convened Palestinian and Israeli negotiators in Washington. Under a rumored deal, Israeli leaders will agree to keep only part of land that doesn’t belong to them while Palestinian leaders agree to give up rights not theirs to cede. Borders in exchange for the Palestinian refugees’ right of return, with the issue of Jerusalem left hanging for now, is where negotiations supposedly stand. Nadia Hijab comments. Read more about Can Obama best Rice?
Imagine if Chinese-Americans visiting relatives were prevented by the Chinese government from returning to America. Or if an American traveled to Iran and was then forbidden from reaching an airport to come home. This happened to me at the hands of Israel, supposedly America’s closest ally in the Middle East. I am a US citizen and small-business owner in Olathe, Kansas. I am also a Palestinian born in Gaza. I traveled to Gaza last December to care for my ill father. Israel trapped me there for four months. Yaser Wishah comments. Read more about Israel's siege of collective punishment
I am a Palestinian journalist from Gaza. At the age of 17, I armed myself with a camera and a pen, committed to report accurately on events in Gaza. I have filed reports as Israeli fighter jets bombed Gaza City. I have been recognized for my reporting, even in the United States and United Kingdom, where I have won two international awards. I have also been beaten and tortured by Israeli soldiers. Mohammed Omer comments. Read more about Truth and consequences under the Israeli occupation
The conventional wisdom quickly developed among peace process industry analysts that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s departure would be a “setback” for ongoing negotiations with the Ramallah Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, endangering the much-touted goal announced at last November’s Annapolis summit of reaching a final agreement by the end of this year. However, Hasan Abu Nimah comments, there is not a peace process to mourn. Read more about Olmert's departure: The perfect alibi
Abdelwahab Elmessiri passed away on Thursday, 3 July, in the Palestine Hospital in Cairo at the age of 70. There is a befittingly poetic resonance about the name of this hospital — the place of his final struggle — when one considers that Elmessiri had devoted almost his entire intellectual career to the defense of the Palestinian cause. Aslam Farouk-Alli remembers the life of the Egyptian writer and political thinker. Read more about On life, literature and Palestine, a tribute to Abdelwahab Elmessiri
I did not do it because I was a hero, but only because I was compelled. This is how I made my three documentaries. I say compelled because I am an actor, not a director. Nevertheless I loved my three films as a father loves his children. Mohammad Bakri comments on his persecution in the Israeli court system. Read more about My crime was to tell the truth
This summer, a group of Palestinians, Israelis and internationals will sail directly from international waters into Gaza. We say: Enough already! I will be aboard as the ship’s doctor. The Free Gaza Movement vessels will challenge Israel’s policy of imprisoning over 1.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, while saying they are free. Dr. Bill Dienst comments. Read more about Breaking the Gaza siege, by boat
The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) is a media monitoring organization with a large database of supporters known for its staunch support for Israeli policies and its ability to influence media coverage. While CAMERA claims to be objective and interested in holding the media accountable to its own “self-professed standards,” a study published by The Electronic Intifada demonstrates terminology and views of the organization are largely consistent with those of the Israeli government itself. Read more about EI study refutes CAMERA media bias accusation
Every aspect of Barack Obama’s visit to Palestine-Israel this week has seemed designed to further appease pro-Israel groups. Typically for an American aspirant to high office, he visited the Israeli Holocaust memorial and the Western Wall. He met the full spectrum of Israeli Jewish (though not Israeli Arab) political leaders. He traveled to the Israeli Jewish town of Sderot, which until last month’s ceasefire, frequently experienced rockets from the Gaza Strip. However, Ali Abunimah comments, Palestinians received very little of the Senator’s attention. Read more about What Obama missed in the Middle East
Israel established a “development town” on the site of the destroyed villages of al-Faluja and ‘Iraq al-Manshiya in 1955. It was called Kiryat Gat (Gat City) in the mistaken belief that it was the site of the ancient Philistine town of Gath. Initially, Kiryat Gat’s major industries were agriculture and textiles. But in the mid-1990s Intel chose Kiryat Gat as the site for a huge new plant it called Fab 18. Henry Norr comments for EI about the Intel corporation’s complicity in the ongoing Nakba in Palestine. Read more about The Nakba, Intel, and Kiryat Gat
