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
The Bush administration will establish the first official United States diplomatic presence in Tehran before it leaves office, according to reports published last week. A US interests section in the Iranian capital would be the first step towards restoring full diplomatic ties severed since the 1979 hostage crisis amidst the tumult of the Islamic Revolution. Hasan Abu Nimah comments. Read more about Washington's new policy towards Iran
RAMALLAH (IPS) - Israeli soldiers shot and killed three young Palestinians in the Ramallah district of the central West Bank last week. The army claimed the Palestinians were about to throw Molotov cocktails at soldiers and settlers in the Bet El settlement. But the circumstances in which the young men were shot has been questioned. Read more about Israeli forces kill three Palestinian youths near Ramallah
Is the Bush administration making quiet overtures towards Hamas? What are the prospects for reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, and what are Hamas’ views on peace with Israel? Does the Islamist movement support the one-state solution and where does it look to for political role models? Dr. Ahmed Yousef, senior advisor to Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, the leader of the Hamas government in Gaza, recently spoke to The Electronic Intifada’s Gaza Strip correspondent Rami Almeghari about these and other issues. Read more about EI interview: Hamas advisor on talking to the US, Fatah and Israel
“The Acre incidents” rocked the city from its supposed tranquility — a tranquility that hinged on a tenuous basis. It might definitely be best for everyone if life in Acre does not return to its previous track. It is simply necessary to change the track. But Acre is not alone. There are six other cities like it that are also called “mixed cities,” where strong and deep-rooted Palestinian communities lived until 1948 and where only the remnants of the expulsion remained. Ali Haider comments. Read more about Don't put life in Acre back on track
WASHINGTON (IPS) - The West Bank’s economy continues to gasp for air despite increased international aid mainly because Israel keeps the Palestinian territory in a stranglehold, says the World Bank. Israel’s illegal settlements, security cordons, and hundreds of roadblocks pose the most significant obstacle to the movement of people and goods, the Washington-based bank says in a new assessment. Violence and vandalism by Israeli settlers further deters investment, it adds. Read more about World bank assails Israeli chokehold on West Bank
