It all started with an explosion on September 23, at a military rally for the militant Palestinian movement Hamas - its last before declaring an end to all weapon displays in the streets of Gaza. Hamas leaders blamed Israel for the explosion, arguing that it was a bombing by unmanned spy drones targeting leaders in the movement. However, PA officials said that the explosion had actually resulted from a malfunctioning makeshift ‘Qassam’ rocket. On the same night, HAMAS sent 30 rockets into the Israeli town of Sderot. Five Israelis were reported injured in the heaviest rocket attack in more than six months. The Israeli response was fierce. Read more about Israel's 'Sound' Terrorism 

Bethlehem — While average Palestinians celebrate Israel’s withdrawal in the streets of the Gaza Strip, the minds of ranking Palestinian leaders are distracted by the implications of this development. Understanding that the post-withdrawal situation in Gaza will greatly affect the future of negotiations, PA leaders have outlined curious plans to ensure success. Facing Hamas, an adversary that reputable security analysts predict could defeat PA security forces in a military confrontation, PA officials have posited the idea of transferring thousands of armed Palestinian refugees from Lebanon to the Gaza Strip. Read more about Governing Gaza: The role of Lebanon's armed Palestinians 

During the first week of January 2004, Israeli minister of Justice Yosef Lapid warned his country about an international boycott. He told Israeli radio: “There is a very serious risk the World Court (International Court of Justice in the Hague) will rule against us …. and this is liable to prompt the General Assembly into imposing all sorts of sanctions against us”. Despite this, Israel has continued its occupation, including the construction of the Wall and expansion of the settlements in Occupied Palestinian territories. Lapid was right, the voice for economic pressure on Israel is becoming louder, especially from the churches. Read more about Churches speak out on economic pressure as a tool for peace 

There’s a first time for everything, and this weekend it was Palestine’s first Octoberfest-styled beer festival, held in Taybeh village. Excited local boy scouts and townspeople mixed with foreigners who had made the pilgrimage to the Biblical city of Ephraim, and the entertainment was geared towards all parties - children’s performances, live music, and, of course, Taybeh beer. Taybeh’s second claim to fame, apart from its visit by Jesus before he traveled to Jerusalem, is its brewery - the only one in Palestine, and one of only a handful in the Arab Middle East. Read more about Palestine's first Octoberfest in Taybeh 

Recently, I was quite surprised to find that the map of Israel on the popular Internet site MapQuest presents the area of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights (Syrian Heights) as undifferentiated from Israel proper. In other words, as opposed to depicting Israel delineated by its internationally recognized borders, MapQuest displays the “Greater Israel,” which is the dream of many in the Israeli right wing.  The realization of this “Greater Israel,” of course, precludes any possibility of the Palestinian people realizing their national aspirations. Read more about MapQuest.com obscures status of occupied territories 

It is only a matter of time before West Bankers start blasting holes in the wall Israel has built to contain them as though they were cattle. Right now, they seem to be satisfied with spraying graffiti on the wall and painting whimsical scenes of ladders and windows or representations of holes. On the Gaza Strip, in the fine tradition of great prison-escape movies, Hamas blasted a hole in the wall north of Rafah a few days ago to help people through. Islamic Jihad blasted a hole about a mile down the wall shortly after that. EI contributor Rima Merriman notes that Palestinians are refusing to read the lines Israel has written for them in a nightmarish script. Read more about The Palestinian 'Great Escape' 

“As the so-called ‘disengagement’ from Gaza has come to an end and the Israeli government turns its hawkish eye towards consolidation in the West Bank, the lines of debate over the motives and value of the pull-out have been drawn. But whatever the future may hold, the redeployment has contributed to a pernicious vein of thinking about the colonial settlers and their relation both to the Israeli state and to Zionism itself.” Issa Mikel is a Palestinian-American lawyer currently freelance writing and engaging in non-profit work in Palestine. Read more about Disengaging from Zionism 

A Palestinian-American from Brooklyn, Suheir Hammad has appeared on the HBO show “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry,” hosted by Mos Def. Her poems have been featured in numerous publications, on the BBC World Service, and National Public Radio. Hammad recently wrote two poems about Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath. The first reprinted here, “A Prayer Band”, was performed at an event organised by Hammad called “Refugees for Refugees” in New York City on September 9th, which raised $5,000 for hurricane relief. Suheir Hammad arrived in Jackson, Mississippi yesterday, to deliver the money personally and help with direct relief efforts. Read more about "A Prayer Band": Palestinian poet Suheir Hammad on Hurricane Katrina