A year ago, Israel launched its invasion of Gaza. Dubbed “Operation Cast Lead” by the Israeli military, the invasion started on 27 December 2008 and finished on 18 January 2009. During those 23 days, more than 1,400 Palestinians were killed including more than 320 children. Originally from England, Ewa Jasiewicz was one of a handful of “internationals” on the ground during the entirety of the attacks. Frank Barat spoke to Jasiewicz for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about "We are all complicit": an interview with Ewa Jasiewicz
RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Israel has long argued that Palestinians should pursue their political objectives in a nonviolent way. However, several prominent Palestinian peace activists have recently been arrested and jailed for doing just that. Abdallah Abu Rahmah, 39, the coordinator of the Bilin Popular Committee, which has challenged Israel’s illegal expropriation of Palestinian land both in an Israeli court and a Canadian one, has been charged with “illegal arms possession, stone throwing and incitement.” Read more about Israel jails Palestinian peace activists
I should have known that my trip to al-Arish was not going to be straightforward. The last time I set foot in the usually sleepy Sinai tourist town, just 40 kilometers away from the Egypt-Gaza border (or, should I say, iron wall of oppression) at Rafah was back in March 2009, when I met up with the first Viva Palestina convoy. Ten months later, another convoy was on its way to the besieged Strip. Jody McIntyre writes from al-Arish, Egypt. Read more about Fighting our way to Gaza
GAZACITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - “If we had money we’d get married right away,” says Samir, 23. He has found his bride, but not the money to hold the wedding. The Israeli siege imposed shortly after Hamas’s election in early 2006 has ruled out marriage for many. Palestinians traditionally marry young, between 18 and 25, but more and more now pass their mid-twenties single. Read more about Marriage under siege close to impossible
Hip-hop has got hold of the Burj al-Barajne camp in Beirut. As the music from a small but nascent rap-scene reverberates around the streets of this crowded community, its rappers are acutely aware of their position to foster not just musical change, but social change. Rasmus Bogeskov Larsen reports. Read more about In Lebanon refugee camp, "hip-hop is a school"
A new report by Freedom House, a US-government funded think tank, suggests US interference around the world makes countries less free. Despite this, it calls for even more US intervention. The report’s approach also provides a stark example of the abyss liberal thinking has fallen into when it comes to ignoring Israel’s systematic abuses and presenting the country as an idealized democracy. EI’s Ali Abunimah comments. Read more about The United States, Israel and the retreat of freedom
Even if the Iron Dome missile-defense system unveiled by Israel last week is little more than a new development in Israel’s program of psychological warfare against Gaza, the pressure is most definitely building on Hamas on several fronts. Israel has significantly tightened its chokehold on the enclave over the past year. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Israel ratcheting up the pressure on Gaza
Israel’s recent aggressions look ominously like the 4 November 2008 attack on Gaza, which killed six persons and shattered the four-month-long truce meticulously respected by Hamas. Predictably, Hamas and other factions retaliated for that Israeli provocation and then Israel used their response to justify its massacre of 1,400 people in Gaza this time last year. Hasan Abu Nimah comments. Read more about A second Gaza war around the corner?
Although I appreciate Asa Winstanley’s warm review of To Gaza with Love (4 January 2010), he left out every woman involved in the organization and founding of the Free Gaza Movement. I’m dismayed that the review shows yet another attempt to turn the story into a “good-old boy tale” instead of what was a primarily a female initiative. Read more about Don't forget Free Gaza Movement women
Soliciting the support of people in the US-based Palestine solidarity movement, Palestine Note recently launched a new website that aspires to become the online hub for all things Palestine. While the website announces its dedication to “news, stories and views about Palestine and Palestinians,” and its aspiration to become a “cultivator of community,” The Electronic Intifada contributor Yaman Salahi finds there is more behind the enterprise than meets the eye. Read more about Making a business out of Palestine's struggle
