It has been an unnatural string of days here in Bethlehem. Gone is the usual quaintness. Palestinian police are working overtime and coffee shops are being lit up by men in suits with cigars in town for Fatah’s sixth general assembly. The secular Fatah movement was founded in the 1950s and has since been at the forefront of the Palestinian national movement. Sousan Hammad writes for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Smoke, mirrors and acrimony: The 2009 Fatah congress
AL-BUREIJ, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - Tens of thousands of children in Gaza are still suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following Israel’s three-week bombing in December-January. Several crisis counseling teams run by international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been carrying out intervention programs aimed at helping Gaza’s most vulnerable put the pieces of their lives back together. Read more about Traumatized children struggle to rise again
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani4 August 2009
CAIRO (IPS) - The Egyptian government is now accusing the Muslim Brotherhood of links to Palestinian resistance groups and of establishing “global networks.” Recent months have seen a host of government accusations — which critics say are fabricated — against opposition groups it claims have ties with Hamas, Hizballah, and the ever-elusive al-Qaeda. “The government is making up so many charges of ‘terror networks’ and ‘Islamist cells’ that it’s hard to keep track of them all,” Islamist lawyer Montasser al-Zayat told IPS. Read more about Egyptian opposition branded "terrorist"
“In Jaffa we were called the “Beirutis” [the ones from Beirut] and in Beirut we became known the Yafawi. Who am I?” Shafiq al-Hout, the Palestinian political figure and founding member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, passed away in Beirut this week at the age of 77. In a tribute to his tireless efforts towards the liberation of the Palestinian people, the Electronic Intifada presents his story in his own words, as told to The Electronic Intifada contributor Mayssoun Sukarieh in Beirut in 1999. Read more about "Beiruti in Jaffa, Yafawi in Beirut": Shafiq al-Hout's story in his own words
In a bid to staunch the flow of damaging evidence of war crimes committed during Israel’s winter assault on Gaza, the Israeli government has launched a campaign to clamp down on human rights groups, both in Israel and abroad. It has begun by targeting one of the world’s leading rights organizations, the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), as well as a local group of dissident army veterans, Breaking the Silence, which last month published the testimonies of 26 combat soldiers who served in Gaza. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Israel moves to declare rights groups as foreign agents
GAZACITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - Saleh wonders how he will pay for a replacement car part he bought from the tunnels black market. “It cost more than $1,000. Before the siege, it would have been 500 to 1,000 shekels (roughly $125-$250), at most $250. Anyway, I had to buy it; you need to maintain the car when you use it all the time.” The father of five drives one of Gaza’s many run-down taxis, working around the clock but earning just enough to get by. Read more about Gaza's cars barely running
Israel enjoys free trade of industrial goods with Europe under the Association Agreement it signed with the European Union in 2000. Yakov Ellis, chief executive officer of the Israeli cosmetics company Ahava, told the BBC radio program Today on 5 November 2008 that his company has benefitted from the free trade with the EU. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about The ugly reality of Israel's settlement-made beauty products
For years, many people who might have played an active role in striving for an end to Israeli occupation and other violations of Palestinian rights, have stayed silent, loathe to be attacked for criticizing Israel lest they be vilified as anti-Semites. All over the world, people are breaking free of this fear, including significant numbers of Jews, and uniting to support boycott, divestment and sanctions. Omar Barghouti and Sid Shniad comment. Read more about United for freedom and universal justice
“I recently returned from the Holy Land after leading about 40 Presbyterians from Galilee to Jerusalem. This isn’t new territory for me. I’ve been in the country many times leading students, working at archaeology digs, speaking at conferences, and occasionally taking a church such as this. And this time what I saw and heard was worrying.” Author and Bible scholar Gary Burge comments on rising frustration amidst Israel’s policies that are destroying Palestinian communities and futures across the occupied West Bank. Read more about A third uprising?
Much of the debate about US President Barack Obama’s push for Middle East peace resembles the proverbial argument about whether the glass is half full or half empty. But even a full glass is not very useful if you need to fill an entire reservoir. The constant focus on process and gimmicks has obscured the reality that a workable two-state solution is almost certainly unachievable. Ali Abunimah comments. Read more about Why Obama's peace process is still going nowhere
