Al-Rowwad Center is an Independent Center for artistic, cultural, and theatre training for children in Aida Camp trying to provide a “safe” and healthy environment to help children discover their creativity and discharge stress in the war conditions they are forced to live in. In July 2005, Al-Rowwad’s theatre group performed in Louisville, Kentucky. Multimedia producers Patrick Yen and Andrew Sturgill produced the profile on Al-Rowwad for EI. Read more about Video: Al-Rowwad theatre group visits Louisville, KY
Until this weekend Israel’s one million Palestinian citizens had stayed out of the debate about the country’s imminent disengagement from Gaza. “It’s not our story,” they said when pressed, “this is an entirely Jewish conversation.” Although Israeli Jews have been flying blue and orange ribbons from their cars for months - showing respectively support for and opposition to the disengagement - car aerials in Israel’s Arab towns and villages have remained resolutely bare. That is no longer the case. At the weekend the Arab drivers in the Galilee could be seen flying black ribbons to commemorate the killings of four Arab citizens by a young Jewish extremist with his Israeli army-issued rifle. Now Israel’s Palestinian citizens find themselves part of the conversation, whether they like it or not. Read more about Palestinians in Israel Find Themselves Part of The Disengagement Debate
Beirut is a city that vibrates with political culture and is defined by a history of social justice struggles. Currently, Lebanon is undergoing massive political changes, sparked by street protests following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February and the subsequent withdrawal of approximately 15,000 Syrian troops and intelligence officials last April. The future for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in refugee camps throughout Lebanon is also central to current political discussions in the region, as refugees continue to demand their right to return to occupied Palestine. Read more about Growing Grassroots in Beirut
Maureen Clare Murphy and Zachary Wales8 August 2005
Nablusi architect Naseer Arafat’s current project, “a ten year dream,” as he calls it, is the restoration of an estate that was once owned by an influential sheikh and housed a residence, soap factory and reception hall. The compound, which Arafat describes as having a “unique composition,” is nestled in Nablus’ Old City, home to 20,000 Palestinians and some 2,560 historic buildings, mostly constructed during the Ottoman period, as well as some from the Mameluke, Crusader, Byzantine and Roman eras. Read more about Breathing life into Nablus
Wavel is a Palestinian refugee camp located in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, on the outskirts of Baalbek. Originally a French military base during the colonial era, Palestinian refugees inhabited 12 military barracks shortly after the Palestinian el-Nakba (the Catastrophe) in 1948, as hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees were forced from Palestine through the creation of the state of Israel. Today Wavel is home to approximately 8000 refugees, a significant segment of which continue to reside in the now dilapidated French barracks. Read more about Photostory: Wavel Refugee Camp
Journalist Jonathan Cook writing the letter one reporter in Israel wishes he could send news editors who ask him to cover Israel’s Gaza disengagement. Israel is not giving foreign journalists free access to the Gaza Strip, or even the settlements, during the disengagement. Apparently, the only way to “witness” the disengagement will be by applying to the Israeli press office for a place on a number of army coaches transporting reporters to individual settlements. I am opposed in principle to the idea of being shepherded around by the army while covering this event. How is this not just another form of “embedding”? But in any case I am told seats on the coaches will be extremely limited, maybe only a few dozen, and are bound to be snapped up by the media big-hitters. Read more about How to cover disengagement?
Thousands of transport trucks line the winding highways of Akkar, an impoverished region in northern Lebanon which borders Syria. Currently all land border crossings into Syria are shutdown to economic traffic, dealing a serious blow to Lebanon’s already unstable economy. The Syrian government has publicly justified this border lockdown in the name of regional “security”, as Syria is under intense international political pressure mainly from the U.S. to introduce tighter border controls. In Lebanon, the newly formed government and various unions representing impacted sectors, have painted the border crisis as an attempt to hit the country economically after the forced withdrawal of upwards of 15 000 Syrian soldiers from Lebanon in April 2005 and the recent election results. Read more about Lebanon / Syria: Border Lock Down....
Winner of a Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival (Best Film) and Bronze Leopord (for Mohammad Bakri’s performance), “Private” is a thought provoking, psychological drama, based on real events. Mohammad, played by famous Palestinian actor Mohammad Bakri is a Palestinian teacher and active pacifist. He lives with his family in a home located in an area between a Palestinian village and Israeli settlements. His wife Samia (Areen Omari) feels unsafe in these surroundings and would like to move, but Mohammad’s pride does not allow him and his middle class family to be labeled with the status of refugee. He decides to stay. Read more about Film review: "Private"
This week, the United States said it may sell up to $600 million in equipment and services to Israel for maintenance of the engines on the Israeli Air Force’s F-15 and F-16 figher planes. The sale would cover support for Pratt and Whitney F-100 engines, spare and repair parts, testing, training, and other services for 10 years, the U.S. Defense Department said in a notice to the American Congress. Athough the US government has reportedly postponed working with Israel to develop a Joint Strike Fighter airplane because of concern about Israel’s sales to China, the US has provided Israel with funds to develop new weapons. According to US law, government authorized transfers or sales of controlled defence articles can be used only for internal security or defensive purposes. Read more about US may sell up to $600 million to Israeli Air Force, after Israel-US agreement on China
On July 22, E. J. Kessler, deputy managing editor of the oldest and most revered American Jewish weekly, Forward, reported that “a far-left pro-Palestinian group” sought to pass a divestment resolution at the AFL-CIO quadrennial convention, which takes place in Chicago next week. As a co-founder of this “far-left group,” Labor for Palestine — which is not a “group” but a campaign as its Web site’s watermark indicates on every page — I find it worth noting some errors and points of conjecture that my colleague’s article contains. LFP represents one of many organized movements that are dissatisfied with the AFL-CIO’s well-documented complicity with US foreign policy. Read more about Helping Forward move forward
