The Electronic Intifada

Israel's economic warfare still keenly felt in Gaza

Mel Frykberg 16 July 2010


RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) — Israel has received international praise for its decision to ease its crippling blockade on Gaza following the country’s deadly assault on a humanitarian flotilla trying to bring desperately needed humanitarian aid to the coastal territory. But according to the UN and human rights organizations, the easing of the blockade is insufficient in meeting Gaza’s needs. 

"They want us to be loyal to the occupation": Muhammad Totah interviewed

Max Blumenthal 15 July 2010


Muhammad Totah is one of three Palestinian legislators staging a sit-in to protest Israel’s decision to expel them from Jerusalem. In an interview with The Electronic Intifada contributor Max Blumenthal, he details the Israeli government’s plan for mass deportations of Palestinian citizens of Israel. 

Tough times for Gaza travel agent

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 17 July 2010


“Shurafa Tourist and Travel Company has been operating in Gaza since 1952,” Nabil Shurafa, general manager of the company, says proudly. This historical background is significant, as much for understanding the many and various forms of movement restrictions with which Shurafa Travel has had to deal during Gaza’s 43 year occupation as for providing a rationale for how and why Shurafa remains open under the current restrictions. 

Pride through solidarity

Amita Kumari 14 July 2010


Though I’ve never felt compelled to take the streets for Pride, I did this past month, on several occasions, walk alongside folks that I resonated with in important ways, in vocalizing my outrage against the illegal and inhumane acts of the Israeli state. Amita Kumari writes from Toronto. 

Why doesn't Clinton care about my jailed husband?

Janan Abdu 13 July 2010

I used to tell my husband, Ameer Makhoul, “One day, they’ll come for you.” As chairman of the Public Committee for the Protection of Political Freedoms he’d begun to organize an awareness-raising campaign to push back against the security services’ harassment of our community, the Palestinian citizens of Israel. Come for Ameer they did, late one night this May, pounding at our door, ransacking our house and terrifying our two teenage daughters. Janan Abdu comments. 

Unwelcome guests: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

Dalal Yassine 13 July 2010


For over 60 years, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have been denied their basic rights. Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Dalal Yassine examines the legal status of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and the “Right to Work” Campaign. She argues that greater coordination between Palestinian and Lebanese civil society organizations and solidarity groups in the Palestinian Diaspora is required in order to change the country’s laws.