In November 2007 the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) sent a very senior delegation of trade union leaders including the President of ICTU and several General Secretaries of major trade unions on a seven-day fact-finding mission to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The express aim of the delegation was to produce a report that was as impartial and as objective as possible. Read more about Irish trade union delegation report criticizes Israel, governments
GAZACITY (IPS) - So much is missing as you walk down the street along the shops of Gaza. Food and medicines kept out by the blockade enforced by Israel; but also newspapers once a part of the street landscape. Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda and Al-Ayyam, two newspapers loyal to Fatah, are not around any more. And for once, you couldn’t blame the Israelis for censorship. Read more about Mutual censorship in the West Bank and Gaza
RAMALLAH, West Bank (IPS) Israeli-Palestinian peace talks appear to have hit a dead end, while efforts to bridge the yawning chasm which divides Hamas and Fatah politically and ideologically appear to be going nowhere. The two main streams of Palestinian politics are already locking horns over when the next legislative and presidential elections will be held, and whether Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, or Abu Mazen as he is better known, is legally entitled to stay in power beyond January 2009. Read more about Palestinian politics on the road to nowhere
Imagine John Lennon is still alive and touring, and is asked to play Tel Aviv as Israel celebrates turning 60. Picture him publicly telling the Israelis where to stick their offer. Paul McCartney, on the other hand, will be giving the first performance by a Beatle in Tel Aviv on 25 September — receiving an alleged $4.3 million — despite efforts by various groups in Palestine and internationally calling on him to boycott Israel. William Parry comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Live and let die
I continue to believe that we can achieve a lasting peace, with the Israeli and Palestinian peoples living as neighbors in two independent states. But if we do not succeed, and succeed soon, the parameters of the debate are apt to shift dramatically. Israel’s continued settlement expansion and land confiscation in the West Bank makes physical separation of our two peoples increasingly impossible. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas comments. Read more about Israel and Palestine can still achieve peace
WASHINGTON (IPS) - Both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia have risen in Europe over the last four years, according to a survey conducted earlier this year by the Pew Research Center. While attitudes towards Muslims are substantially more negative than those against Jews across Europe, anti-Jewish sentiment as grown steadily in five of the six countries surveyed on the question. Read more about Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia on the rise in Europe, decline in US
WASHINGTON (IPS) - With less than two months before the November elections, Arab American voters in the United States are poised to vote heavily Democratic, according to a poll released here today by the Arab American Institute. The poll, which was conducted by Zogby International for AAI, a Washington-based lobby and public education group, found that the Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, currently leads his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, by some 20 percentage points among Arab American voters — 54 percent to 33 percent — in a two-man race. Read more about Poll shows Arab Americans favor Obama by wide margin
Where are you taking us, Mr. President? To what desert are you leading us? To what catastrophe? How dare you decide how many refugees can or cannot return? Who gave you permission to speak in my name, and in my children’s name? Who asked you to barter our rights? What is the price for the sale of an entire people’s rights and their sacrifices for 60 years? Abdelfattah Abusrour decries the Palestinian Authority president’s recent statements undermining the Palestinian refugees’ right of return and compensation. Read more about A refugee's open letter to Mahmoud Abbas
RAMALLAH, West Bank (IPS) - Palestinian children continue to be victims of disproportionate and indiscriminate violence from the both the Israeli occupation and internal Palestinian infighting in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Read more about UN office: Palestinian children's rights being violated
JERUSALEM (IRIN) - Economic progress ha s been insufficient to stimulate growth in the Occupied Palestinian Territories because of the restrictions on movement, while dependency on aid was increasing, the World Bank said on 17 September. In a report released ahead of a donors’ meeting on 22 September, the bank praised the reform efforts of the Palestinian Authority, saying appointed Prime Minister Salam Fayyad had managed to significantly reduce expenditure, cut down on government employment and begin reforming the security forces. Read more about World Bank: Growth weak, aid dependency rising
