Speaking at the third annual Herzliya conference, Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his audience: “The most important thing is maintaining the Jewish majority in the country and improving the economy to encourage more Jews from the Diaspora to immigrate.” If the Palestinians in Israel “reach 35 to 40 percent of the Israeli population, Israel will become a state with two nationalities,” he said. Israelis — on both the left and right — will have to make a choice. To solve their “Palestinian problem” Israel can opt for four ‘solutions’ EI’s Arjan El Fassed lays them out. Read more about Racism thrives at Israel's Herzliya conference
The courtroom at the Jaffa Military Court had never been so overcrowded. Special benches had been dragged in, filling the aisle and leaving hardly any room for passage. Activists, family members and journalists crowded into every available corner (there were four TV crews, who were chased out after the judges came in) and still as many as were in had to wait outside. At long last, the verdict in the trial of Noam Bahat, Matan Kaminer, Adam Maor, Haggai Matar and Shimri Tsameret was going to be delivered. Read more about Doing things the hard way - the verdict of five "refuseniks"
It is 12:30pm at the Nablus area District Civilian Affairs Office (DCO). It is over 40 degrees outside, where a long queue of Palestinians had been waiting in the oppressive heat (some for over three hours) with dust and dirt and no place to sit. They are here to request a permit, formal permission from the Israeli government to travel from the surrounding villages into Nablus to work. Palestinians need permits to move, to live, for everything. Suraya Dadoo takes a look at the nightmare involved in navigating the permit maze. Read more about Permission to work?
Not quite a deus ex machina, the Geneva Accord demonstrates the manifest inability of elements within both the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Israeli ‘Left’ to fight for a just resolution to the over 100 year Zionist enterprise in Palestine. Palestinians who desire to negotiate with Israeli politicians face an intractable problem. All Israeli officials who are capable of negotiating (i.e., who are elected to the position of Prime Minister) are ardent Zionists. Yossi Beilin, the main Israeli proponent of the Geneva Accord, worries about the demographic growth of the Palestinian community relative to that of the Jewish Israelis. Brock Bevan comments. Read more about Geneva Accord: Relapse to Structural Discord for Beilin "Absolutely Kosher."
Speechless. Silent. I could not move. I just sat there, watching the screen, the scrolling text of dedication and the names of Arna’s children: Youssef, Nidal, Ashraf, and Ala. Arna’s children form a small theatre group of Palestinian children in Jenin. Arna’s son Juliano, director of this film, was directing the theatre group. All those years, from 1989 to 1996, Juliano filmed the rehearsals and performances of the plays. He films Ala sitting on the ruins of his home blown up by Israeli soldiers, growing up to become a fighter in Jenin. EI’s Arjan El Fassed saw the film and comments. Read more about Review: Arna's Children
The greatest struggle in Soha Béchara’s life was not plotting to assassinate Antoine Lahad, the Lebanese chief of militia in Israeli-occupied Southern Lebanon during the 1980s. Rather, her true test was somewhat parallel to that of her home country of Lebanon — to survive living under the tyranny of the occupying Israelis. But in Béchara’s case, her prison was a literal one. However, Béchara’s memoirs are missing that extra layer of narration that would let readers in on the true mental process of someone who is ready to give their life for their country. Read more about Book review: Resistance - My Life for Lebanon
In the foreword to Reporting from Ramallah: An Israeli Journalist in an Occupied Land (2003), filmmaker and activist Rachel Leah Jones describes Amira Hass’ body of work as the complete story on the confiscation of land, paving of bypass roads, and expansion of Israeli settlements. These 37 selected writings form a shorter chronological account aimed primarily at a target audience of Israeli Jews. Hass is an Israeli journalist and recipient of the UNESCO Guillermo Camo World Press Freedom Prize for 2003. From 1993 to 1997, she reported exclusively from Gaza. Tina Dybvik reviews Hass’ new book. Read more about Book Review: "Reporting from Ramallah" (2003)
Since we launched The Electronic Intifada in February 2001, millions of people all over the world have used our site as a resource for the latest news and in-depth analysis about Palestine and the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. We are thrilled today, on International Human Rights Day, to launch Version 3.0 of the The Electronic Intifada, a major upgrade of The Electronic Intifada website. The changes you will see on the site take nothing away from all you have come to know and trust about EI, but add some fantastic new features to address the needs of the site as it has grown. Read more about Electronic Intifada version 3.0 launched!
Fifty-five years have past since the United Nations set forth the specific framework for resolving the Palestinian refugee case. On December 11, 1948, the UN adopted resolution 194, affirming their right to return to their homes of origin, property restitution and compensation for losses and damages. Palestinian refugees should be free to seek their right to repatriation, regardless of what negotiators acquiesces to. Rifat Odeh Kassis comments. Read more about The right of return and the right of choice
The two-state solution might have been possible some years ago. Not any more. Rifat Odeh Kassis concludes that the realties, which Israel itself created on the ground are beyond the scope of honest co-existence simply because too much water has flowed under the bridge of this conflict. In the aftermath of Oslo, it became apparent that Israel was quite unwilling to countenance even some objective essentials and fundamentals in the route to peace. To persist with the idea of a two-state solution is to ignore reality. Read more about One democratic state might be the solution (2/2)
