The Electronic Intifada

Israeli media first to report Haitian organ theft rumor

Jillian C. York 19 February 2010


There is considerable speculation following the removal of Lady Jenny Tonge on 14 February from her position as health critic for the Liberal Democratic Party in the UK’s House of Lords following her statement calling for an inquiry into claims that the Israeli military stole organs during its relief work in Haiti last month. Jillian York reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Jerusalem families come out against museum built on ancestors' graves

Marian Houk 19 February 2010


Members of prominent Palestinian families from Jerusalem came out last week in protest against plans by the Simon Wiesenthal Center to build a Museum of Tolerance on top of part of the ancient Mamilla Cemetery where their ancestors are buried. One family member behind the initiative said it is not just symbolic, but instead a full-blown campaign. Marian Houk reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Review: A (happily) partial memoir of the second intifada

Raymond Deane 17 February 2010


Emma Williams is a doctor who worked in Britain, Pakistan, Afghanistan, New York and South Africa before accompanying her husband, a UN official, to Jerusalem in October 2000. This account of their three years in Palestine, It’s easier to reach heaven than the end of the street - a Jerusalem memoir, was originally published in the UK in 2006 and now appears in a revised and updated US edition. Raymond Deane reviews for The Electronic Intifada 

Poland tightens military alliance with Israel

Ewa Jasiewicz 17 February 2010


Poland’s military has embarked on a “Polonization of Israeli technology” drive, coupling Israeli weapons-manufacturing technology with Polish manpower and raw materials. Poland’s Bumar Group has a 10-year offset deal worth $400 million with Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to produce Spike missiles for drones and helicopter gunships. Ewa Jasiewicz comments. 

Israel's new strategy: "sabotage" and "attack" the global justice movement

Ali Abunimah 16 February 2010


Israel’s influential Reut Institute has identified the global movement for justice and peace as an “existential threat” and called on the Israeli government to “attack” and possibly engage in criminal “sabotage” of this movement in what Reut believes are its various international “hubs” in London, Madrid, Toronto, the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Ali Abunimah comments for The Electronic Intifada. 

Palestinians fight Jewish-only housing in Jaffa

Jonathan Cook 16 February 2010


Over the past few days graffiti scrawled on walls around the mixed Jewish and Arab town of Jaffa in central Israel exclaims: “Settlers, keep out” and “Jaffa is not Hebron.” Although Jaffa is only a stone’s throw from the bustling coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv, Arab residents say their neighborhood has become the unlikely battleground for an attempted takeover by extremist Jews more familiar from West Bank settlements. Jonathan Cook reports. 

Defending Palestinian children: An interview with Rifat Kassis

Adri Nieuwhof 15 February 2010


Defence for Children International-Palestine Section aims to protect the rights of children and minors living in occupied Palestine. The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof recently interviewed director Rifat Kassis about DCI-PS’s work and the special situation of Palestinian children growing up under occupation. 

Israel bombs Gaza's agricultural sector to the brink

Eva Bartlett 15 February 2010


Since the first constraints of the siege on Gaza were imposed nearly four years ago, the destruction of Gaza’s agricultural sector and potential to provide produce and economy to a severely undernourished Strip has dramatically worsened. With Palestinians in Gaza now largely dependent on the expensive Israeli produce that is inconsistently allowed into Gaza, the plight of the farmers reverberates throughout the population. Eva Bartlett reports from the occupied Gaza Strip.