The Electronic Intifada

Hope and anxiety at Rafah crossing

Rami Almeghari Rafah, Gaza Strip 11 June 2010


Jamila Hammouda, a mother of five small children, hopes that she will be reunited with her family in Cairo, Egypt. Hammouda, her husband and their children were waiting on the Gaza side of the Rafah terminal crossing with Egypt, where Palestinians in Gaza have queued up after Egyptian authorities reopened the crossing “indefinitely.” Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada. 

Palestinian boycott coordinator: "The movement has a huge impact"

Adri Nieuwhof 14 June 2010


Hind Awwad, national coordinator of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), recently toured Europe to support the growing worldwide campaign. The movement aims to end the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the discrimination against Palestinian citizens in Israel, and calls for respect for the rights of Palestine refugees. The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof interviewed Hind Awwad in Bern, Switzerland. 

Helen Thomas and the moral failure of US liberals

Jonathan Cook 10 June 2010


The ostracism of Helen Thomas, the doyenne of the White House press corps, over her comment that Jews should “get the hell out of Palestine” and “go home” to Poland, Germany, America and elsewhere is revealing in several ways. In spite of an apology, the 89-year-old has been summarily retired by the Hearst newspaper group, dropped by her agent, spurned by the White House, and denounced by long-time friends and colleagues. Jonathan Cook comments. 

After the Flotilla, will Turkey emerge as a force for Palestinian rights?

Murat Dagli 9 June 2010


After years of disappointment with successive Arab regimes, Turkey appears to be taking a regional leadership role. While better and closer relations between Turkey and the Arab world are welcome developments, and there is hope for a momentum building up for the Palestinian cause, the ambiguities of the Turkish stance are apparent and raise important questions. Should the current crisis with Israel be interpreted as a singular event in which Turkey gave a strong response or as the inevitable culmination of a completely new foreign policy orientation? Murat Dagli comments for The Electronic Intifada. 

Obama's Cairo speech one year later

Ahmed Moor 8 June 2010


We’re told that US President Barack Obama’s Cairo Speech a year ago was a harbinger of peace, magnanimity, truth and justice. Hark, herald the new dawn. Islam is not a terrorist religion: peace; fist clench; hand open; “assalaamu alaykum.” Celestial choirs punctuated every sentence with a rising crescendo of harmonious hymning. And at the climax, we climaxed. We’re Arabs, and Barack is the New America, and we like one another. Ahmed Moor comments for EI.