A draft report by the Jerusalem and Ramallah heads of missions, representatives of the EU member states, to their foreign ministers, was leaked to the media. In the report the diplomats recommend a more critical approach toward Israeli policies in East Jerusalem. The diplomats want clear statements by the EU and the Middle East Quartet that Jerusalem remains “an issue for negotiation by the two sides,” and that the EU should call on Israel to desist from “all measures designed to pre-empt such negotiations.” The diplomats want the EU to request Israel “to halt discriminatory treatment of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, especially concerning working permits, building permits, house demolitions, taxation and expenditure.” Read more about EU diplomats slam Israel's policies in occupied Jerusalem
One constant in the long conflict over Palestine is that Israel and its backers always have an excuse to avoid the central issues that prevent peace. Israel is adapt at creating complications which then absorb and exhaust all available diplomatic and political energy, while it uses the time to entrench itself ever more deeply in the occupied territories. EI contributor Hasan Abu Nimah and co-founder Ali Abunimah write that attention is set to focus on the new distraction of an Israeli general election while the hard realities of spreading Israeli settlements, extrajudicial killings and the grimness of life in still occupied Gaza feature nowhere in all the heady talk about peace. Read more about Another checkpoint on the road to nowhere
“Beit Rishonim” (Founders’ House) in Herzliya is a museum that preserves and exhibits the history of the town that was founded as a pioneer settlement in 1924. The museum glorifies the founders who did not admit defeat despite the numerous hardships they faced. The museum holds mounted displays, spot-lit photographs and books that tell the story of the settlement that became a city. Some of the items also depict the pioneers’ Arab neighbors in the early days. These were residents of the villages Alharam (Sidna Ali), Ijlil, Abu Kishek and other Bedouin communities. I will try to interpret the museum’s position toward these local Arab residents through the pictures displayed in the museum, their captions, and some of the written texts. Read more about Alharam (Sidna Ali) in the Memory of Herzliya
On Friday November 11th 2005, the residence of the Palestinian village of Bil’in, along with international and Israeli activists, rallied at the center of the village to prepare for their weekly act of civil disobedience and non-violent protest. Bil’in was once a small peaceful village located high on the hills of Palestine, inside the West Bank and north of Jerusalem. For thirty-eight years, a brutal Israeli military occupation has subjected the village of Bil’in, along with the entire West Bank, to unrelenting violence, seizures, curfews, and land appropriations that have violated the Palestinian peoples’ basic civil and human rights. The wall has now reached the village of Bil’in, threatening to cut the villagers off from two thirds of their land. Read more about VIDEO: Protests in Bil'in
Susan Nathan’s new book The Other Side of Israel: My Journey Across the Jewish/Arab Divide recalls her recent experience of making Aliya to Israel, claiming her right to immediate citizenship according to the Israeli law of return. Growing up in a Zionist home and having had more than one or two experiences of antisemitism, Nathan is at first enchanted with Zionism and in love with the idea of the State of Israel and what she believes it represents. However, it isn’t long before that bubble bursts and she begins to see the less than ideal reality of Israel. Read more about Israel's uglier face reared towards its Palestinain citizens
“What is more perplexing and amazing? Four dehumanized individuals blowing themselves and sixty other people to bits, or the wondrous lesson in humanity shown by a family that would not have been blamed for seeking revenge, but who instead repaid murder with magnanimity by donating the organs of their son, a non-Jew, to Israelis? The minds of murderers, whether Jewish, Christian or Muslim; American, Israeli or Arab, are much easier to understand than the actions of Ahmed Khatib’s family. Unlike suicide bombers or IDF snipers, Ahmed’s family violated the grammar of the conflict and exposed the arbitrariness and barbarity of erecting walls, whether actual or metaphorical, between human beings.” Read more about Of transplants and transcendence: Questioning social and symbolic categories in Israel
Victor Kattan and Mary Nazzal-Batayneh11 November 2005
On Saturday 22 October, hundreds of people from all over the United Kingdom descended on the Institute of Education in Logan Hall, Bedford Way, London, to discuss Israel, Palestine and the law. For six hours delegates sat and listened as politicians, lawyers and governmental advisors took to the podium in front a banner carrying the name of the event’s organizers, the “Palestine Solidarity Campaign”. The speakers included Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Diana Buttu, Daniel Machover, Leah Tsemel. Victor Kattan and Mary Nazzal-Batayneh report for EI. Read more about London hosts conference "Palestine, Israel and the Law"
Israel has a long history of detaining people without trial, quite often for long periods, based on an administrative instead of judicial order based on secret evidence. Israel’s policy on administrative detention is not only grossly immoral, but it also leads to the violation of numerous principles and binding obligations of international law. In recent weeks, there have been several confirmed reports that hundreds of people have been administratively detained, though it is virtually impossible to determine the exact number. Jeff Handmaker and Adri Nieuwhof believe that human rights advocates should raise their voices anew against the injustices caused by the use of administrative detention. Read more about Administrative detention should be banned (2/2)
Israel has a long history of detaining people without trial, quite often for long periods, based on an administrative instead of judicial order based on secret evidence. Israel’s policy on administrative detention is not only grossly immoral, but it also leads to the violation of numerous principles and binding obligations of international law. In recent weeks, there have been several confirmed reports that hundreds of people have been administratively detained, though it is virtually impossible to determine the exact number. Jeff Handmaker and Adri Nieuwhof believe that human rights advocates should raise their voices anew against the injustices caused by the use of administrative detention. Read more about Administrative detention should be banned (1/2)
The greatest cause of contemporary Palestinian poverty is, without a doubt, the overwhelming Israeli occupation. International aid has played a pivotal role in attempting to alleviate this recent phenomenon, but many questions persist. Who gives such large amounts of financial assistance to the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT) and who takes from the Palestinian people? What are the donors’ motivations for these monetary injections and how effective has the implementation of these funds been? And why does foreign aid continue to increase while the Palestinian economy continues to stagnate? Such questions are tackled in the new book Aid, Diplomacy and Facts on the Ground; the Case of Palestine. Read more about Givers and Takers: The case of international aid to Palestine
