The recent attempts to intimidate a critic of the Palestinian Authority, Abdel Sattar Qassem, into silence is disturbing, but is only one incident in a growing trend. The Ramallah-based political leadership, dominated by Fatah, and the PA security forces, are becoming increasingly authoritarian, encouraging a culture of militarized policing and a lack of respect for human rights and the rule of law. Ben White comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about The Palestinian Authority's authoritarian turn
Umm Raed’s sick husband hasn’t worked in more than 20 years. Her own family can’t, or won’t, help support her and her seven children. So her job in the Royalife factory in the Barkan industrial zone, built on illegally confiscated Palestinian land in the Salfit governorate in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was the household’s main source of income. Sarah Irving reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Palestinian women settlement workers' plight
GAZACITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - UN agencies and the health ministry in Gaza are working to strengthen communicable disease surveillance systems in Gaza, in light of the fact that leaking sewage may be contaminating drinking water. Read more about Efforts to track communicable diseases in Gaza
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani28 April 2009
CAIRO (IPS) - Egyptian authorities announced earlier this month the discovery of a Hizballah “cell” allegedly planning to carry out violent operations in Egypt. Although Hizballah General Secretary Hassan Nasrallah insists the group was only tasked to assist the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, the government has used the episode to launch a blistering media campaign against the Lebanese Shia resistance group. Read more about Egypt's dubious claims spark row with Hizballah
The Durban Review Conference held last week was initially intended to be a forum to evaluate the progress towards goals set eight years ago. But bullying tactics by certain European/North American states ensured that the draft Durban Review Conference declaration excluded any criticism of Israel. In the planning process original “offensive” statements such as those referring to “unlawful collective punishment” and “torture” were removed. Isabelle Humphries comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Racism, boycott and a big dose of hypocrisy
As the pressure on companies to pull out from business facilitating Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip grows, it has been recently revealed that in Norway three private banks and the state pension fund invested in one such company. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Norway gov't, banks investing in settlement construction company
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani27 April 2009
CAIRO (IPS) - The recent onslaught against the Gaza Strip — and Israel’s failure to achieve its military objectives there — left Palestinian resistance group Hamas politically stronger than ever. Concurrently, it dealt a possible death blow to the faction within Fatah led by strongman Mohammed Dahlan, long known for its closeness to Israel. Read more about Dahlan comeback to Gaza fails
In his new book, America’s Defense Line: the Justice Department’s Battle to Register the Israel Lobby as Agents of a Foreign Government, tenacious analyst Grant F. Smith focuses on an important aspect of the Israel lobby’s origins that has implications for how it operates today. Muhammad Idrees Ahmad reviews for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Book review: Resurrecting "America's Defense Line"
Even today, there remains a great deal of misinformation on Palestinian websites regarding the participation of Palestine in the 1934 and 1938 World Cup tournaments. Such misinformation generally comes from individuals who are not familiar with the historical facts and must be corrected. Issam Khalidi looks at the history of the Zionist movement and sports in Palestine. Read more about The Zionist movement and sports in Palestine
As the global movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions grows, an
arms embargo strategy is a key element of the wider sanctions call. Refusing to trade weapons with Israel sends a powerful message of disapproval for its actions, and the current review being undertaken by the British government demonstrates how grassroots campaigning can make a real difference in forcing governments to justify their actions. Yasmin Khan comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about UK campaigners score victory towards arms embargo
