On 16 April, approximately 100 Palestinian villagers and internationals walked towards the construction site of Israel’s wall in the occupied West Bank village of al-Walaja, four kilometers northwest of Bethlehem. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Volvo equipment: Israel's weapons to destroy al-Walaja homes
Flip through any issue of a major newspaper from the past decade and it is a safe bet you will be confronted with a warning about the dangers of religious extremism. So how could the mainstream media have failed to notice the growing influence of fundamentalists on the European Union’s relations with one of its nearest neighbors: Israel? David Cronin analyzes for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Israel finds allies in Europe's Christian fundamentalists
GENEVA (IPS) - Raed Abu Hammad, 27, was allegedly kicked to death by Israeli prison wardens on 16 April. This while Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have been on hunger strike since 7 April to press for better treatment. Read more about Palestinian prisoners hunger strike for better treatment
Many of Israel’s critics blame an “Israel lobby” for the near-total complicity of the US in Israeli annexation, colonization and cleansing programs in the occupied West Bank. However, the lobby thesis does little to explain US foreign policy in the Middle East. Stephen Maher comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about US hegemony, not "the lobby," behind complicity with Israel
Amidst the crater-filled roads, crumbling art deco houses, Jewish-Israeli filled hummus joints and flashing blue lights of passing cop cars, Palestinian citizens of Israel are struggling to grasp onto the last neighborhood of Jaffa to remain a Palestinian majority — Ajami. Carmelle Wolfson reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Palestinians resist threat of eviction in Jaffa
The new book The Pen and the Sword — a collection of five interviews with Said conducted between 1987 and 1994 by David Barsamian, the founder of Alternative Radio — serves partly as a memoriam for Said himself and for the generation he represented. Robin Yassin-Kassab reviews for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Book review: Edward Said's commitment in conversation
GAZACITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - Nine-year-old Ismail spends every afternoon herding his family’s flock of sheep and goats, a scraggly group of roughly 20 animals. They live in a shanty house district near Tel al-Howa in Gaza City, where growth is sparse to non-existent. Read more about Israel winning its war on goats
To preserve my sense of purpose, and keep the Palestine struggle from becoming a lifeless abstraction, I need periodically to recharge my moral batteries by reconnecting with the actual people living under occupation and by witnessing firsthand the unfolding tragedy. From each trip I invariably carry away a handful of stark images that I fix in my mind’s eye to dispel the occasional hesitations about staying the course. When the memories begin to fade I know it is time to return. Norman Finkelstein writes in this excerpt from his new book, This time we went too farRead more about Gaza's calm determination
By participating in the touring Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition, the French transnational company Veolia Environnement is attempting to spin its image that has been tarnished by the exposure of its involvement in the Israeli occupation. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Veolia tries to spin its involvement in the occupation
Washington insiders are now touting a misguided Obama-dictated plan to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Most recently, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Stephen Solarz took to the pages of The Washington Post to float the idea of an imposed peace, which largely undermines non-negotiable historic Palestinian rights. As a Palestinian, I believe that any plan that seeks to sacrifice our inalienable human rights to ensure race-based majorities in Israel will fail. Ahmed Moor comments. Read more about Right of return not negotiable