Two Palestinian citizens of Israel have won $8,000 in damages from Israel’s national carrier, El Al, after a court found that their treatment by the company’s security staff at a New York airport had been “abusive and unnecessary.” Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about El Al sued for racial profiling
BEITUMMAR, occupied West Bank (IPS) - A young Palestinian man died in Israeli custody as hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets of villages and towns across the West Bank and Gaza to commemorate Palestinian Prisoners Day on Friday, 16 April. Read more about Israeli forces besiege Prisoners Day commemoration
Despite Israel’s attempts to spin its 2008 Gaza invasion, global public opinion of Israel has sunk to an all-time low. In his latest book, “This Time We Went Too Far,” Norman Finkelstein argues that Gaza marked a turning point in public opinion reminiscent of the international reaction to the 1960 Sharpeville massacre in South Africa. Ziyaad Lunat reviews for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Book Review: Norman Finkelstein's "This time we went too far"
Har Homa settlement’s impact on the Palestinian community has been devastating, with the town of Beit Sahour now dominated by the ever-expanding settlement. While many are aware of Beit Sahour’s famous nonviolent resistance during the first Palestinian intifada (1987-1993), less well-known is how Israeli rule continues to choke the town. Ben White reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Beit Sahour: a microcosm of Israeli colonization
One of a filmmaker’s primary roles in any inquiry is to illuminate the topic of the narrative through entertainment, information, posing challenges or any other kind of engagement. Simone Bitton’s Rachel, a new documentary about the death of International Solidarity Movement activist Rachel Corrie, struggles to do this. Jimmy Johnson reviews for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Film Review: Simone Bitton's investigative documentary, "Rachel"
In addition to destroying homes in three areas of the West Bank this week, Israeli forces this week invaded villages inside Israel and bulldozed and handed out further demolition orders. Nora Barrows-Friedman reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about "In the eyes of the state, we don't exist here"
Ahead of the English publication of his book Eyes in Gaza (co-authored with Dr. Erik Fosse), Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert recently spoke with The Electronic Intifada contributor Stefan Christoff about what he witnessed during Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s three-week long assault on the Gaza Strip starting in December 2008, during which more than 1,400 Palestinians were killed and thousands more injured. Read more about Medical solidarity with Gaza: in conversation with Mads Gilbert
An Arab member of the Israeli parliament is demanding that a newspaper be allowed to publish an investigative report that was suppressed days before Israel attacked Gaza in winter 2008. The investigation by Uri Blau, who has been in hiding since December to avoid arrest, concerned Israeli preparations for the impending assault on Gaza, known as Operation Cast Lead. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Did banned media report foretell of Gaza war crimes?
GAZA (IPS) - It was bad enough that Ahmad Asfour was severely maimed by an Israeli drone strike outside his house on 9 January 2009. But, his search for advanced treatment landed the journalism student, now 19, in Israeli prison where he remains. Read more about Adding torture to injury
Sometime early this decade the Israeli army issued a military order banning Palestinian musicians from using simile and metaphors. This order also prevented them from singing about anything but the occupation. Ok, that’s not actually true. But if your only contact with Palestinian music was through the documentary Checkpoint Rock you could be forgiven for coming to that conclusion. Jimmy Johnson reviews for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Film review: Missed opportunities in "Checkpoint Rock"