Last week the Association France Palestine Solidarite (AFPS) has taken legal action in France against Veolia and Alstom because both companies are involved in the Israeli light rail or tramway project that will run on occupied East Jerusalem. The National Collective for Peace [1] gives full support to the legal steps taken by AFPS. Veolia and Alstom have closed their ears to widely voiced criticism that the Israeli tramway project is in violation with international law. Just like Israel the companies act as if they stand above the law. The aim of the action is the annulment of the contracts and to stop the construction activities. Read more about Legal action in France against Veolia and Alstom 

The week before the opening of the ‘New Territories’ exhibition in which she was to participate, artist Alexandra Handal writes, “I went to Brugges to install my work, and there I met the artists who were able to attend. … I was walking with two artists in the city and as we approached a big poster in front of the DeHallen Belfort, where the show was to take place, we noticed that there was an Israeli government seal on it. We were in complete disbelief. What was the Israeli government seal doing on the poster?” Read more about "New Territories" curator not transparent regarding Israeli government sponsorship 

The Palo-Dutch Concept Factory has a clear core business: generating ideas, for campaigning in the broadest sense. These ideas are born in Ramallah, Palestine. Generating ideas such as “Send a Friend” (connecting schoolkids in Palestine and the Netherlands), “Sell the Wall” (how to create awareness and involvement of mainstream Dutch with the Wall) and “Palovision”, the Palestinian entry for the Eurovision Song Competition in 2008, a mix of humor, irony, implicit politics and smart use of Dutch media, the Palo Dutch Concept Factory organizes its next workshop in Ramallah on May 4, 5 and 6, 2007. For this workshop PDCF is looking for Palestinian creative minds. Read more about Palo Dutch Concept Factory returns to Ramallah 

On the border between Iraq/Jordan and Iraq/Syria today live hundreds of Palestinian families who fled the US war to find themselves stranded in no-mans land. These families live in tents, in squalor, with little certainty or hope for the future, like their parents and grandparents did after their expulsion from their own homeland in the 1948 Nakba (catastrophe) by the Israelis. The Al-Hol, Al-Tanaf, Al-Ruweished and Al-Walid refugee camps in the Iraqi desert are examples of the on-going Nakba that Palestinian refugees face. The fate of the 34,000 Palestinian refugees who once lived in Iraq can be added to the many tragic stories of the US invasion and occupation of that country. Read more about Palestinian Refugees of Iraq 

Three Palestinian women were shot dead in the northern Gaza Strip last month — rumours say it had to do with ‘honour’. The corpses of the women — Ibtisam Mohammad Musallam Abu Qeinas, 31; Samira Tahani Debeiky, 45; and Amani Khamis Hosari, 40 - were found within a 24-hour period in Beit Lahiya and Gaza City, leaving residents shocked. “People are saying it was an honour killing, that the women were of loose morals…” Read more about Violence against women rises in the occupied territories 

Since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., Middle Easterners have found themselves under the microscope, especially in the US, and our polarized world is being misdiagnosed as a “clash of civilizations.” Thankfully, standup comedians Dean Obeidallah, Ahmed Ahmed, Aron Kader, and Maz Jobrani are here to skewer it all in the must-see Axis of Evil Comedy Special, which airs in the US on Comedy Central this Saturday. Comprised of American performers of Middle Eastern descent, the Axis of Evil Comedy Show is an ongoing tour that began in 2005 and has been greeted across the US with critical acclaim. Read more about The lighter side of the Axis of Evil 

We in Canada have our own AIPAC’s, devoted Zionists in bed with our government, and the Christian Right. However, we also have many Palestine solidarity and Arab organizations, as well as grass roots civil groups that have flowered here over the years, and take a dynamic, public position on the occupation, the right of return, the human rights abuses that Palestinians are subjected to, and have wholly embraced the movement to Boycott, Divest and Sanction Israel. We consider it our mandate to educate the Canadian public on these issues and as well, on our government’s untenable and right wing policies towards the Middle East. Read more about Canadians and the International Boycott Movement  

CAIRO, Mar 7 (IPS) - In a rare show of unity, parties from across the political spectrum have condemned reported Israeli violations against Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque. They have warned of “dire consequences” if the site — the third holiest in Islam — were to be damaged. “Jihad [holy war] becomes incumbent on Muslims when violence is done against them or their holy places, dignity or possessions,” Mohamed Tantawi, grand sheikh of Cairo’s venerable al-Azhar University declared in a departure from his usually non-confrontational position. Read more about Egypt Gov't Challenged over Israeli Action at Mosque 

WASHINGTON, Mar 6 (IPS) - A majority of people from around the world hold predominantly negative views of Israel, Iran, and the United States, according to a survey of more than 28,000 respondents in 27 countries. The survey, which was sponsored by the BBC World Service and designed by Globescan and the Washington-based Programme for International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), found that 56 percent and 54 percent of all respondents said they had mainly negative views of Israel and Iran, respectively. Fifty-one percent and 48 percent said the same about the United States and North Korea, respectively. Read more about Israel, Iran, U.S. Least Liked Countries