WASHINGTON (IPS) - This week, two respected human rights organizations — one Palestinian, one Israeli — each came out with very full reports into the extent of the damage caused by the assault Israel waged against Gaza last winter. According to PCHR 1,419 Palestinians were killed during the fighting, of whom 252 were combatants and the rest noncombatants. Three hundred and eighteen of those killed were, it said, children. Read more about Gaza's conflicting casualty counts
Yunis al-Masri was severely injured in a car wreck as he and his brothers traveled to work in Israel 24 years ago. He is entitled to a monthly allowance of $800 from Israel’s National Insurance Institute, out of which he has supported his wife and 10 children in their home in Gaza. In early January, however, the transfers of disability benefits stopped arriving in his bank account in Gaza. About 700 other injured workers are in the same situation. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Gaza's disabled cut off from payments
On 31 August, Israeli gunboats shot at and shelled the fishing trawler of Khaled al-Habil, destroying it completely and leaving the boat’s 18 fishermen and their families without a source of income. One week earlier, on 24 August, Israeli soldiers along Gaza’s northern border shot dead a young farm worker, Said al-Hussumi. Sixteen-year-old al-Hussumi was killed while working on land a few hundred meters from the border with his cousin Masoud Tanboura, who was seriously wounded. Eva Bartlett reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Israel targeting fishermen, farmers in Gaza
Israel is an apartheid state. It rules over me in Gaza yet does not permit me to vote in an Israeli election. It hoards my resources in the West Bank, it detains me and dictates the terms of my survival. It issues my travel documents and denies me the right to travel. I cannot associate or marry or build or import or consume — in short, I cannot live — without Israel’s permission. Yet, I do not have the right to vote. Ahmed Moor comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about My rights, my remedy
GAZACITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - Some 1,200 students at al-Karmel High School for boys in Gaza City returned to class on 25 August without history and English textbooks, or notebooks and pens — all unavailable on the local market. Severe damage to the school, caused during the 23-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip which ended on 18 January, has yet to be repaired. Al-Karmel’s principal, Majed Yasin, has had to cover scores of broken windows with plastic sheeting. Read more about No windows, pens in Gaza's classrooms
Gabriel Ash, Mich Levy and Sara Kershnar9 September 2009
A call to organize a large march to break the siege of Gaza immediately captured the imagination of many organizers. However, after the initial call, the framework of the march was challenged by highly-respected Palestinian activists. Their criticism, expressed with the utmost respect for the courage and good will of the organizers, challenged the organizers’ decision to delay engaging in a wide conversation with Palestinian civil society and activists until after the call was made and the framework formulated. Gabriel Ash, Mich Levy and Sara Kershnar comment for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Compromising for Gaza without compromising Palestine
The increasingly harsh political climate in Israel under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government has prompted the leadership of the country’s 1.3 million Arab citizens to call for the first general strike in several years. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Racist measures against Palestinians in Israel lead to strike call
Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler8 September 2009
OCCUPIEDEASTJERUSALEM (IPS) - In the early morning sunlight, the smoky window of the plush new apartment reflects back a golden tinge from the Dome of the Rock that stands at the heart of Islam’s third holiest shrine. Down across the valley from the walled Old City, families have already started moving into some of the 91 apartments in this new 240-family compound of Jewish settlers. Read more about Palestinians in limbo in occupied East Jerusalem
The Israeli government has launched a television and Internet advertising campaign urging Israelis to inform on Jewish friends and relatives abroad who may be in danger of marrying non-Jews. The advertisements, employing what the Israeli media described as “scare tactics,” are designed to stop assimilation through intermarriage among young Diaspora Jews by encouraging their move to Israel. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about "Scare tactic" campaign aims to bring US Jews to Israel
GAZACITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - Until last Monday, Omar and Khaled al-Habil were the owners of a 20 meter fishing trawler staffed by five or six fishermen at a time, but employing around 18 in cycles. But that morning the vessel came under heavy Israeli navy machine-gun fire, and then shelling. The trawler caught fire. “It’s destroyed, completely destroyed,” says al-Habil. Read more about Israel destroys Gaza boats and lives
