As the news out of Gaza makes international headlines, Democracy Now! took a look at where the Republican and Democratic presidential contenders stand on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Democracy Now! spoke with Electronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abunimah on 24 January. Abunimah commented, “What we’ve seen from Gaza and what we’ve seen time and again in Lebanon is that resistance will continue, that people will not quietly accept the fate that has been designed for them in the boardrooms of the Pentagon and the White House and the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. People will resist.” Read more about Ali Abunimah discusses US presidential candidates on Democracy Now!
EI’s Ali Abunimah appeared on Democracy Now!, interviewed by host Amy Goodman, on Friday, 15 June 2007. He was joined by journalist and mother living in Gaza, Laila El-Haddad. Abunimah and El-Haddad discuss the current situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as Hamas takes control over the Gaza Strip. The two discuss US and Israel’s involvement in the recent fighting between Fatah and Hamas which has been commonly referred to as a civil war. Read more about Audio/Transcript: Ali Abunimah and Laila El-Haddad on the situation in Gaza
EI’s Ali Abunimah appeared on Democracy Now!, interviewed by host Amy Goodman, on Tuesday, November 28, 2006. He was joined by Columbia University professor and author of the new book, “The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood,” Rashid Khalidi. These two leading Palestinian-American intellectuals discuss the current situation in Palestine, the role of US policy, and former President Jimmy Carter’s new book on Palestine. In addition, Abunimah and Khalidi discuss the history of colonialism and occupation, from the British to the present, in Palestine. Read more about Ali Abunimah discusses the potential for "One Country" in Palestine
Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon has entered its sixth day and the Lebanese death toll has now topped 150: almost all of them civilians. Meanwhile, Hezbollah is continuing to fire rockets at northern Israel. On Sunday, a missile hit Haifa, Israel’s third largest city. The Israeli death toll since now stands at around 24. We go to Lebanon to get a report. First we go to Northern Lebanon to speak with Rania Masri, assistant professor in the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Balamand in Lebanon, assistant director of the Institute for Environmental Studies at that university. Welcome to Democracy Now!, Rania Masri. Read more about Live from Lebanon: Rania Masri on Democracy Now!
Israeli forces have invaded the Gaza Strip for the first time since withdrawing ten months ago. Israel says it launched the raid to recover a soldier captured by Palestinian militants. The strikes came just hours after Fatah and Hamas agreed on a document to implicitly recognize Israel within its 1967 borders. We go to Gaza to speak with Palestinian physician Dr. Mona El-Farra and we get comment from former Israeli foreign minister Shlomo Ben Ami and Palestinian activist Ali Abunimah. Read more about Gaza Invasion: EI co-founder and Shlomo Ben Ami on Democracy Now
Thousands of settlers are refusing to leave their homes in Gaza settlements today as Israeli soldiers and police order them to move out. The pullout is seen by some as a strategy by the Israeli state to consolidate its hold over the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Others see it as a necessary step in the roadmap to peace in Israel-Palestine. We speak with a resident of Gush Katif who is resisting the pullout, the director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, a journalist who spent time with soldiers and settlers and the founder of Electronic Intifada. The Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip began officially today. Gaza is currently home to 8,500 Israeli settlers and 1.4 million Palestinians. Read more about Democracy Now: Israeli Settlers Resist Gaza Pullout, Palestinians Call for Withdrawal from West Bank
In the first Israeli-Palestinian summit in four years, Israeli Prime Minister Gen. Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas verbally agreed today to end four years of fighting. Since the intifada began in September 2000, about 3,600 Palestinians and 1,050 Israelis have been killed in fighting. Israeli and Palestinian leaders are expected to announce a cease-fire deal today to end more than four years of bloodshed which has claimed over 4,000 lives. Hussein Ibish joins us in our DC studio. He is a Senior Fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine and on the line from Chicago we are joined by Ali Abunimah, founder of the Electronic Intifada. Read more about Sharon and Abbas Hold Summit, Call For End of Violence
EI’s Ali Abunimah was a guest on Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman on 10 January 2005 to discuss the results of the election for president of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied territories. Abunimah said “Many Palestinians fear this is another setup so when the inevitable failure brought about by Israeli intransigence occurs, this will be another opportunity to blame the Palestinians, and accuse them of missing an opportunity once again.” Read more about Democracy Now!: EI discusses Palestinian election results
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died overnight in a Paris military hospital ending his 40-year struggle for statehood for the Palestinian people. Arafat was one of the most recognizable figures on the world stage; a man who rose from a guerilla icon to a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Arafat named no successor and his death brings with it what many observers believe will be a fierce fight over who will take charge of the struggle Arafat led for 4 decades. When word of Arafat’s death was announced shortly after 4:30 am, thousands of Palestinians poured into the streets of Gaza and other cities to mourn. Read more about EI discusses Arafat on Democracy Now!
On MSNBC’s Scarborough Country on Sept. 8 2003, renowned appellate lawyer, Harvard Law professor and author Alan Dershowitz says: “I will give $10,000 to the PLO…if you can find a historical fact in my book that you can prove to be false.” The book Dershowitz refers to is his latest work The Case For Israel. Professor Norman Finkelstein takes him on by charging that Dershowitz makes numerous factual errors in his book. Read more about Norman Finkelstein calls professor Alan Dershowitz's new book on Israel a "hoax"
