JERUSALEM, 3 October (IRIN) - The UN has expressed renewed concern over the state of the Gaza Strip’s border crossings, saying that, if realized, the Israeli threat of increased restrictions would most likely lead to a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished enclave. “In the last three months, the arrival of 106 truckloads of supplies per working day has ensured that there has not been a humanitarian crisis among the Gazan population. This could not be guaranteed with increased restrictions on the border crossings,” a recent statement by UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. Read more about "The noose is tightening around Gaza"
This slideshow is a selection of images from the month of September 2007. The month in pictures is an ongoing feature of the Electronic Intifada. If you have images documenting Palestine, Palestinian life, politics and culture, or of solidarity with Palestine, please email images and captions to photos@electronicintifada.net. Read more about Photostory: The month in pictures
Many members of the Palestinian Canadian community have been working hard to establish a truly representative Palestinian National Voice (PNV) organization for our community. Laith Marouf, identifying himself as the chapter coordinator for the student group Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), on 14 September 2007 published an article attacking this effort (see Palestinian Diaspora: With or against collaboration?). James Kafieh responds. Read more about Working towards a Palestinian national voice
The clinking champagne glasses on Engage’s website said it all. The movement established to oppose the proposed boycott of Israeli academic institutions was celebrating a victory, as the British University and College Union (UCU) announced that to even discuss the boycott risked “infringing discrimination legislation.” The boycott of Israel, it seemed, had suffered a blow. Ben White comments on the seeming defeat for the Palestine solidarity movement. Read more about Only the beginning of the end
PSAGOT, WESTBANK, 30 September (IRIN) - For some West Bank Palestinians rubbish has become not only a livelihood but the only method of survival they know. Many dozens of Palestinians across the territory, including children, work at landfill sites, trying to earn a meager living. “This is very hard work here. My hands are all cut up, it smells. But what can I do? There’s no work in Ramallah,” said Muhammad, from al-Bireh, a nearby town. Aged 43, he has worked for the last 30 years — apart from a stint in jail — in the Psagot landfill site, sifting through the rubbish in search of scrap metal. Read more about Dozens of Palestinians sift through rubbish tips to survive
“Getting inside the official Israeli mind is a worthwhile, if lurid, experience,” the late Edward Said wrote in his article “Dignity, Solidarity and the Penal Colony.” This is what it feels like when one is trying to understand the Middle East peace process that never seems to lead to anything. Observing this never ending saga, one can hardly help reaching the realization that peace is not a priority for Israel, and indeed Israeli governments have made no secret of the fact that a peace that precludes Israel’s complete control over historic Palestine is of no interest to them. Miko Peled comments. Read more about A crack in the wall
The Arab Summit is a musical project on the cultural front lines, uniting the most innovative hip-hop artists within the growing Arab rap movement of North America. The Arab Summit delivers inspirational beats that drive a musical project highlighting a progressive Arab voice in North America, advocating for the self-determination of people in the Middle East through hip-hop. EI contributor Stefan Christoff interviews the minds behind Arab Summit. Read more about Interview: Arab hip-hop forces unite for justice
EINBEITALMA, 26 September (IRIN) - Residents of the Ein Beit Alma refugee camp began to pick up the pieces after an intense Israeli military incursion last week left dozens homeless, and many very frightened, especially children. The fighting with Palestinian militants also caused damage to sewer systems, residents said. Muhammed Msaimi, aged 26, hid for over a day with his wife and three children in the bathroom because of gunfights which took place outside their apartment. Read more about West Bank camp incursion causes destruction, fear
Imagine an American TV network deciding to take the American Idol format and apply it to poetry: lining up poets to read their poems in front of temperamental judges while the nation gets out its mobile phones to vote for its favorite poet. One can be sure the show would not survive the first commercial break before the chastened executives pull the plug on it and replace it with yet another series on the Life and Times of Nicole Ritchie. Yet, that was exactly the formula for the latest TV sensation to take Arab countries by storm. Read more about Arab poetry's sometimes subversive answer to "American Idol"
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani24 September 2007
CAIRO, 24 September (IPS) - The border crisis that had appeared to subside last month is back, with an estimated 2,000 Palestinians marooned on Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip. A new security arrangement between Cairo, Tel Aviv and the Palestinian Authority (PA) has effectively sealed the last sovereign transit point in or out of the troubled territory, which has been governed by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas since mid-June. Read more about Border impasse arises again
