On 26 August 2008, a group of human rights advocates attended a meeting at the offices of SNS Asset Management in Utrecht, the Netherlands. We were there to urge the bank — a full subsidiary of SNS Bank, one of the top five banks in the Netherlands — to withdraw its investments in the French Veolia Corporation because of Veolia’s direct and indirect involvement in Israel’s violations of international law in occupied East Jerusalem. Jeff Handmaker comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Dutch bank must disinvest from rights abuses 

This week marks the 26th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, one of the bloodiest events of the second half of the twentieth century. A Google search for recent news reports on this year’s commemoration of the atrocity, however, brought up very little. The Electronic Intifada co-founder Laurie King comments that the failure to hold massacre perpetrators accountable has let the atrocities continue. Read more about And so it continues: 26 years after the massacre 

GAZA CITY (IPS) - A strike call has trapped thousands of teachers between Fatah unions and a Hamas government. The strike in Gaza called by the Palestine Teachers’ Union — a non-elected body supported by the government of Palestine Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank — continues into its third week. Of the Palestinian territories, Gaza strip is ruled by the Hamas government and the West Bank by the Fatah Party led by Abbas. Read more about Gaza teachers trapped between Fatah and Hamas 

Israel’s enduring use of Palestinian collaborators to entrench the occupation and destroy Palestinian resistance was once the great unmentionable of the Middle East conflict. When the subject was dealt with by the international and local media, it was solely in the context of the failings of the Palestinian legal system, which allowed the summary execution of collaborators by lynch mobs and kangaroo courts. Jonathan Cook comments. Read more about Israel's dark arts of ensnaring collaborators 

The debate on the Palestinian refugee problem has been confused and badly mishandled. While Israel maintains a consistent position, the Palestinians and the Arabs are often contradictory, vague and inconsistent. The Palestinian refugee problem should therefore be placed in its proper perspective. Instead of solely talking about the right of return, both Palestinian and Arab discourse should emphasize refugee rights, of which the right of return, which is inalienable and fundamental, but represents only one aspect. Hasan Abu Nimah comments. Read more about The right of no return 

As the bus of 199 prisoners (a number oddly short of 200) pulled into Ramallah recently, many will have seen the images of crying mothers and waving Palestinian flags as yet another indication of Israel’s willingness to take risks for peace. Newspapers were filled with op-eds praising Israel for its bravery and courage while the usual international voices hailed it as a step in the right direction. Akram Salhab argues for The Electronic Intifada that this was just another Israeli ruse and does not reflect a change in policy. Read more about Prisoner release yet another propaganda tactic 

EAST JERUSALEM (IPS) - The Israeli government is attempting to Judaize Palestinian East Jerusalem, and maintain a Jewish majority against the demographic threat of a higher Palestinian birth rate. To that end, the Israeli government is enforcing a number of policies aimed at establishing facts on the ground in order to limit the number of Palestinian residents in the city. Read more about Israel Moves to Judaize East Jerusalem