Johannes Abeling, graduate of the Royal Art Academy in the Hague and a freelance Dutch photojournalist, is back in Palestine shooting photos. Just a few days after he arrived, Johannes found himself in Rafah in the middle of a peaceful protest march by local residents calling for the Israeli army to cease “Operation Rainbow”, a military operation to destroy hundreds of Palestinian homes along the Gaza-Egyptian border. Israeli combat helicopters and tanks opened fire on the demonstrators, killing at least 8 people and wounding about 50. Abeling’s series of photos are chilling and graphic, and EI publishes them here to give readers a rare but necessary opportunity to see life during wartime in Rafah. Warning: Some of the images are extremely disturbing.Read more about Photostory: Israel's Rafah operation and its May 19th attack on a peaceful march (graphic content)
“Nidal played the hero of the play who did not confess anything to the interrogators. He said that the play taught them about what to expect if they were ever arrested, and how to avoid giving up information even when manipulated. ‘Now,’ he said, ‘three of the actors are living the play in real life.’ Muhammad, who played an interrogator in the play, is lonely these days, having lost many in his circle of friends. With a forlorn air that almost suggested he only spoke to journalists because there was no one else to talk to, Muhammad said, ‘Before the arrests, there was movement in Aida, I could find people to chat with. Now, there is no one’.” Amahl Bishara and Nidal al-Azraq report on life imitating art in one West Bank refugee camp. Read more about Assume the position: a play about prison is followed by arrests
Israel’s ongoing assault on human lives and property in Rafah is, according to Israeli spokespersons, “aimed at preventing a huge shipment of arms being smuggled.” The past four days, Israeli forces have killed 39 Palestinians. Its military assault on Palestinians in Rafah includes extensive house demolitions and other human rights abuses. The question should be asked, who supplies Israel’s military occupation of the Gaza Strip. Both the U.S. and EU are the main suppliers of arms with which Israel has forced Palestinians to live under military occupation for decades. Read more about Who really smuggled weapons to Rafah?
oh rafah. aching rafah. aching of refugees aching of tumbled houses bicycles severed from tank-warped tires and aching of bullet riddled homes all homes worm-eaten by bullets and then impregnated through bullet holes by birds.
Read the journal entry of peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was living in Rafah when she was crushed to death by an Israeli-operated bulldozer while defending one of the many homes that have been destroyed by the Israeli military in Rafah. Read more about "oh rafah, aching rafah" - A poem from the journal of Rachel Corrie
When I saw the images of Iraqi prisoners being humiliated by U.S. troops in Abu Ghraib, I felt as though I had already visually experienced it in the visceral work of American artist Leon Golub. Similar to what I sensed when first seeing the now infamous Abu Ghraib photographs, the even more recent images of house demolitions and death in Rafah incited an all too familiar feeling of dread — the feeling that we have seen this all before, and how horrible are we for letting it happen again. Read more about Pictures of war: Conflicts and dates may change, but the imagery and inhumanity stay the same
Since Rachel Corrie died in Rafah over a year ago, Rafah has held a special place in the hearts of Olympia residents who have been attempting to forge a sister city relationship with the besieged city. On May 18, the Olympia Rafah Sister City Project [ORSCP] sponsored a demonstration in support of the people in Rafah. About 35 people gathered at rush hour on Percival Landing to protest the latest destruction and show solidarity with the Palestinian people. The current deadly incursion in Rafah has hit many people here hard. Read more about Outrage in Olympia as Sister City is Attacked
Since the beginning of May 2004, Israel has dramatically increased its program of structural and ethnic cleansing of Rafah. While Israel claims that its military operations in Rafah are motivated by “security reasons”, numerous reports from human rights organisations paint a picture of arbitrary shootings of residents, including children, and nightly firing at border homes from Israeli watchtowers. EI co-founder Nigel Parry examines the various claims Israel has made about the ongoing “Operation Rainbow” and attempts to uncover some of the realities behind Israel’s distortions of what is happening in Rafah. Read more about Key Israeli distortions about "Operation Rainbow" in Rafah
“The deadly operation launched by Ariel Sharon this week in Rafah, the southernmost city of the crowded and occupied Gaza Strip, is picturesquely code-named ‘Operation Rainbow.’ Dressing up a murderous assault on unarmed civilians with an ancient symbol of glittering hope is obscene. One hue never present in any rainbow is black. But that’s the shade I’d like to focus on in this essay and call for action.” EI co-founder Laurie King-Irani suggests a simple symbolic protest to encourage thought, inspire discussion, and nurture solidarity in the face of escalating carnage in Gaza and Iraq. Read more about Black is for mourning, to say "we're not conforming," to war crimes in the Middle East
Ali Abunimah, Nigel Parry and Michael F. Brown18 May 2004
The Electronic Intifada urges all concerned people to contact international and government officials to demand immediate action to halt Israel’s assault on Rafah refugee camp in Gaza. Israel is in the process of committing major war crimes with total impunity. The United States continues to give a green light to Israeli war crimes. In recent days, Secretary of State Colin Powell half-heartedly criticized the destruction in Gaza. Today, however, as the atrocities continue in Rafah, President Bush declared in a major address to the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC that Israel “has every right to defend itself from terror.” Bush made no criticism whatsoever of the Israeli attack on Rafah. Read more about Urgent: Protest Israeli war crimes against civilians in Rafah; Gaza
The American news media have been largely eyeless in Gaza (save for Molly Moore did write a moving though haunting piece about Rafah for the Washington Post of May 16). According to UNRWA 1,100 Palestinians were made homeless in the first 10 days of May. Has that appeared in your local newspaper? Can you imagine the hue and cry if Palestinians somehow had the capacity to force 1,100 Israelis out of their homes in Ashkelon just a touch north of Gaza? The story would lead the newspapers — as it should — even if Palestinians said they were simply moving back to the land they were pushed out of more than 50 years ago. The point to make to the newspapers, and to CNN, is that both Israeli and Palestinian suffering should be covered. All too often, Palestinian casualties are ignored or downplayed. Read more about Speak out now for Rafah
