The New York Times has all but confirmed to The Electronic Intifada (EI) that the son of its Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner was recently inducted into the Israeli army. Over the weekend, EI received a tip suggesting this had been the case and wrote to Bronner to ask him to confirm or deny the information and to seek his opinion on whether, if true, he thought it would be a conflict of interest. Read more about New York Times fails to disclose Jerusalem bureau chief's conflict of interest
Despite logistical problems, the 12 January earthquake in Haiti has seen much of the “international community” pull together to provide food, doctors and other emergency aid for the already poverty-stricken country. But the disaster has also provided apologists for the State of Israel’s human rights abuses an opportunity to try and grab high moral ground. Sarah Irving comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Israel's PR exploitation of Haiti aid
Ehud Barak, Israel’s defense minister, approved last week the upgrading to university status of a college in a settlement located deep inside the West Bank, a move certain to further undermine Palestinian confidence in the peace process. The decision, authorizing the first Israeli university in Palestinian territory, is expected to entitle the college to significant extra funding, allowing it to expand its student population. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Israel upgrades settlement college to university
Umm Faris Baroud of Shati refugee camp in western Gaza City wakes up early every Monday in the hope that she will be allowed to visit her son Faris, serving a life sentence in one of Israel’s prisons. “For the past two and a half years I have been unable to visit Faris,” she explained. Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Gaza families fight to visit relatives in Israeli prisons
During last winter’s invasion of Gaza, Israeli forces killed 16 medical rescuers, four in one day alone. Another 57 were injured. At least 16 ambulances were damaged with at least nine completely destroyed. In a special report for The Electronic Intifada, Eva Bartlett speaks with Gaza’s emergency medical workers one year after the massacres. Read more about Gaza's thin red line one year later
“Being a journalist is the most dangerous work in the world,” says Palestinian photojournalist Nayef Hashlamoun, “especially being a photojournalist or a photographer. We work under risk every day, especially in conflict areas like Palestine or Iraq, especially if you have soldiers who feel that you are from the other side, not from their side.” Sarah Irving reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about "Palestinian journalists can't work freely or safely"
The Campaign to Stop the Wall of Shame, a newly-formed activist movement based in Beirut, Lebanon, held a press conference this morning to publicize the Arab Contractors construction company’s role in the building of an underground steel wall along the Egypt-Gaza border. Read more about Lebanon activists launch campaign targeting Egypt's "wall of shame"
RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Israel is lashing out at international criticism and attempting to crush local dissent in what appears to be growing sensitivity to reproach of its policies. Several recent incidents have dominated media headlines, including the arrest of a Jewish-American journalist on the grounds of security, threats by an Israeli minister against international diplomats and the arrest of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists. Read more about Israel threatening, arresting and deporting to crush dissent
Once again, Israel resorts to show trials. Sheikh Raed Salah, a prominent political and religious leader of the Palestinian minority, was sentenced on 13 January by an Israeli court to nine months of imprisonment. This is his second conviction in recent years. This time the allegation was that he assaulted a policeman and obstructed police work during a demonstration at al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Nimer Sultany comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about "Jerusalem is in danger"
In his new book Israeli Exceptionalism: The Destabilizing Logic of Zionism, M. Shahid Alam successfully argues that the moral force behind the Zionist movement is a sense of Jewish, and consequently Israeli, exceptionalism. This claim of exceptionalism underpins what he calls the “destabilizing logic of Zionism.” According to Alam, Zionism “could advance only by creating and promoting conflicts between the West and the Islamicate.” Ahmed Moor reviews for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Zionism's destabilizing force: "Israeli Exceptionalism" reviewed
