Israel has always had a master plan and a strategy for achieving it and its plans for us are patently clear. We, too, need a long-term strategy in which we act intelligently and purposefully, not simply reacting ineffectually to the schemes of others. Our strategy must be mindful of our history, the irrefutable justice of our cause, the sacrifices that good and honest people have made in hope of realizing a better future for generations to come, and the considerable assets that we have, marginalized and bombarded and besieged though we are. Ida Audeh comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Identifying Palestinian options
From just outside Jerusalem’s Old City walls, the simple stone and cinder-block homes of Silwan cascade southwards into a valley known as the Holy Basin. The Palestinian residents are used to living in the shadow of history and religion. But of late, history has become a curse for most of Silwan’s residents. Read more about Archaeology used politically to push out Jerusalem Palestinians
WASHINGTON, (IPS) - A new report from several international aid organizations blasts the Quartet, an international group assembled to facilitate the Middle East peace process, for failing to meet their goals in advancing a lasting peace between Israel and Palestinians. Read more about International orgs. give Quartet failing grade
WASHINGTON (IPS) - A group of hard-line United States neo-conservatives and former Israeli diplomats, among others, are behind the mass distribution, ahead of the November US presidential election, of a controversial DVD that critics have denounced as Islamophobic. The group, the Endowment for Middle East Truth, is working with another organization called the Clarion Fund, which produced the 60-minute video and is itself tied closely to an Israeli organization called Aish Hatorah. Read more about Neo-cons, ex-Israeli diplomats push Islamophobic video
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
