During the United States election campaign, racists and pro-Israel hardliners tried to make an issue out of President-elect Barack Obama’s middle name, Hussein. Such people might take comfort in another middle name, that of Obama’s pick for White House Chief of Staff: Rahm Israel Emanuel. Emanuel is Obama’s first high-level appointment and it’s one likely to disappointment those who hoped the president-elect would break with the George W. Bush Administration’s pro-Israel policies. EI co-founder Ali Abunimah looks at Emanuel’s record. Read more about Obama picks pro-Israel hardliner for top post
“As usual, a lot of misguided analysis is once again attributing the failure of the peace process to the imminent departure of the leaders committed to it, thus obscuring the objective factors that made the failure inevitable. Such flawed reasoning holds that once new leaderships are in place in Washington, Tel Aviv and Israeli-occupied Ramallah, the process can begin anew.” Hasan Abu Nimah comments. Read more about One year after Annapolis
The following slideshow is a selection of images from the month of October 2008. 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 A T electronicintifada D O T net. Read more about Photostory: The month in pictures, October 2008
GENEVA (IPS) - With the 2008 presidential campaign at its end, pundits have begun to discuss in earnest what expected winner Barack Obama’s administration might look like. An important piece of evidence is Obama’s campaign team, which largely escaped the harsh scrutiny that his opponent’s lobbyist-laden team received. Read more about Obama adviser Dennis Ross's dodgy record
People around the world, including those in the Middle East, may have paid little attention to Canada’s parliamentary elections on 14 October. The Canadian election brought little change to the makeup of parliament. The Conservatives maintained their lead and formed a minority government while the Liberals lost more seats. But preserving the status quo and the virtual absence of foreign policy as a topic of public debate in the run up to the vote reinforces the transformation in Canada’s geopolitical role in relation to the Middle East. And this must be of extra concern today. Hicham Safieddine comments. Read more about The United States of ... Canada
In a conflict that has produced more than its share of suffering and tragedy, the name of Kafr Qassem lives on in infamy more than half a century after Israeli police gunned down 47 Palestinian civilians, including women and children, in the village. This week Kafr Qassem’s inhabitants, joined by a handful of Israeli Jewish sympathizers, commemorated the anniversary of the deaths 52 years ago. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Execution of 47 in Kafr Qassem commemorated
After the 11 September 2001 attacks, the United States government launched a massive program to spy on millions of its own citizens. Through the top secret National Security Agency (NSA), it has pursued “access to billions of private hard-line, cell, and wireless telephone conversations; text, e-mail and instant Internet messages; Web-page histories, faxes, and computer hard drives.” In his new book, The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America author James Bamford casts light on this effort, including a detailed account of how spying on American citizens has been outsourced to several companies closely linked to Israel’s intelligence services. Ali Abunimah comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about How Israel helps eavesdrop on US citizens
RAMALLAH (IRIN) - Some 100 academics and mental health workers were denied entry to the Gaza Strip to attend an international medical conference, but the conference took place anyway — by video link, with one group gathering in Gaza City and another in Ramallah. “It made it harder to exchange experiences,” said Samir Qouta, a psychologist at the Islamic University in Gaza, told IRIN. Read more about Israel tries to block Gaza health conference
Ask Saif Abukeshek when he became an online activist, and he’ll give you the same answer as many of his Palestinian peers: after the second intifada erupted, in 2000. That explosion of violence in the occupied territories brought about a tough lockdown on Palestinian mobility by Israeli forces and produced the right conditions for a home-grown, grass-roots activism — frustrated youth trapped inside all day with nothing but the TV and the internet to turn to. Don Duncan reports. Read more about Palestinian youth bring their politics online
Salwa Salam Qupty clutches a fading sepia photograph of a young Palestinian man wearing a traditional white headscarf. It is the sole memento that survives of her father, killed by a Jewish militia during the 1948 war that established Israel. “He was killed 60 years ago as he was traveling to work,” she said, struggling to hold back the tears. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Denied visit to father's grave
