The Electronic Intifada

West Bank villagers pushed away from their valley

Marcy Newman 17 March 2009


The West Bank village of Aqraba sits nested in the Jordan Valley, approximately 20 kilometers southeast of Nablus and around 50 kilometers east of Israel’s wall that separates Palestinians in what is now considered Israel from those who reside in the West Bank. It is close enough to the Jordanian border that Palestinian cell phones roam here as if one were in Jordan. Dr. Marcy Newman reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Ensuring maximum casualties in Gaza

Eva Bartlett 16 March 2009


“We were still young and in love. We had all of our dreams,” Muhammad Abu Jerrad said, holding a photo of his wife by the sea. Wafa Abu Jerrad was one of at least six killed by three flechette bombs fired by Israeli tanks in the Ezbet Beit Hanoun area, northern Gaza, on 5 January. Eva Bartlett reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Durban II: no-show is slap in face of victims of apartheid

Arjan El Fassed 16 March 2009


More and more Western countries are either announcing their boycott or are threatening to boycott Durban II, a United Nations conference scheduled for April to review progress made since the World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa in 2001. Earlier this month, Italy became the first EU member to withdraw from the event, stating that it could not endorse a draft agenda that criticizes Israel. The Electronic Intifada co-founder Arjan El Fassed comments. 

Broad nonviolent resistance to Zionism

Ahmad Hijazi 17 March 2009


Amid the escalating violence, and the 60-year-long status quo, there are certain fundamental questions that need to be asked. Are there certain values and absolute foundations that make resistance in general, and against Zionism specifically, a moral and humane necessity? What is the framework for nonviolent resistance, and how is it connected to these values? What is the ultimate end goal of the struggle? Ahmad Hijazi comments for The Electronic Intifada. 

Gaza fishing industry reeling

13 March 2009


GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - A combination of damage to fishing resources caused by the Israeli offensive, and a restriction on the zone in which Gazans are allowed to fish is reducing catches and adversely affecting people’s diets in Gaza, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 

Border areas bombed again

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 13 March 2009


CAIRO (IPS) - Almost two months after the attacks on the Gaza Strip, the border area between the battered coastal enclave and Egypt continues to come under frequent Israeli aerial bombardment. Israeli officials say the strikes target cross-border tunnels used to smuggle weapons to Palestinian resistance factions. 

Experts to Obama: Political Islam not the enemy

Ali Gharib 12 March 2009


WASHINGTON (IPS) - Scores of Middle East and democracy experts released an open letter to US President Barack Obama Tuesday asking him to focus more of his foreign policy efforts at making reforms in the region, including boosting human rights. Signed by more than 120 academics, scholars, experts and others, the letter said that previous US policy had been “misguided” and “produced a region increasingly tormented by rampant corruption, extremism, and instability.” 

Israeli settlers terrorize Palestinian villagers

Mel Frykberg 11 March 2009


AL-TUWANI, occupied West Bank (IPS) - “I couldn’t run. My pregnancy was too far advanced and there was nowhere to hide,” said Amna Salman Rabaye, 31, as she recalled the terrifying incident several months ago. Rabaye from the Palestinian Bedouin village of al-Tuwani in the southern West Bank was grazing her sheep when she was assaulted by a security guard from the adjacent illegal Israeli settlement of Ma’on.