The Electronic Intifada

A second Gaza war around the corner?

Hasan Abu Nimah 13 January 2010


Israel’s recent aggressions look ominously like the 4 November 2008 attack on Gaza, which killed six persons and shattered the four-month-long truce meticulously respected by Hamas. Predictably, Hamas and other factions retaliated for that Israeli provocation and then Israel used their response to justify its massacre of 1,400 people in Gaza this time last year. Hasan Abu Nimah comments. 

Don't forget Free Gaza Movement women

Greta Berlin 12 January 2010


Although I appreciate Asa Winstanley’s warm review of To Gaza with Love (4 January 2010), he left out every woman involved in the organization and founding of the Free Gaza Movement. I’m dismayed that the review shows yet another attempt to turn the story into a “good-old boy tale” instead of what was a primarily a female initiative. 

Making a business out of Palestine's struggle

Yaman Salahi 12 January 2010


Soliciting the support of people in the US-based Palestine solidarity movement, Palestine Note recently launched a new website that aspires to become the online hub for all things Palestine. While the website announces its dedication to “news, stories and views about Palestine and Palestinians,” and its aspiration to become a “cultivator of community,” The Electronic Intifada contributor Yaman Salahi finds there is more behind the enterprise than meets the eye. 

Church in hot water over Jerusalem land sales

Mel Frykberg 11 January 2010


RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Israel’s bid to keep occupied East Jerusalem under its sovereignty and prevent its incorporation into a future Palestinian state has been boosted over the years with the acquiescence of the Greek Orthodox Church. The church’s sale of politically sensitive land in East Jerusalem under dubious circumstances and amidst charges of political blackmail have caused outrage amongst Greek Orthodox Palestinians and threatened to split the church. 

Uphill battle for academic freedom in US universities

Nora Barrows-Friedman 11 January 2010


Despite the expanding and momentous student-led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, open dialogue around the reality of the situation in occupied Palestine continues to be an uphill battle for many professors inside the classrooms. Nora Barrows-Friedman reports on recent cases of academic freedom infringement for The Electronic Intifada. 

Will Egypt's underground wall end the Gaza tunnel trade?

Lina Attalah 8 January 2010


A subterranean wall being built by Egypt along its border with Gaza is meant to hack the tunnel structures, which extend from the Egyptian side of the border to the Gaza’s side for distances that range between 400 meters and 1,700 meters. With many prohibitions on the ground, the tunnels have become a lucrative underground alternative. The wall construction portrays the depth of this underground urbanism, bringing the conflict between smugglers and the security to the forefront. Lina Attalah reports. 

Miss Palestine's mistaken rebellion

Sousan Hammad 7 January 2010


One of the travesties of living in a colonized environment is that the inferior, or oppressed, aspire to win admittance to the Western world. There seems to be an emerging trend of this type of appeasement, where submission has replaced the revolution. The introduction to spectacles, like the breaking of a Guinness record for the largest plate of kanafeh and the search for a national beauty queen, are just two examples of absurd practices are coming to be seen as normal in Palestinian cities. Sousan Hammad comments for The Electronic Intifada. 

"No army, no prison and no wall can stop us"

Abdallah Abu Rahmah 7 January 2010


I mark the beginning of the new decade imprisoned in a military detention camp. Nevertheless, from within the occupation′s holding cell I meet the New Year with determination and hope. I know that Israel’s military campaign to imprison the leadership of the Palestinian popular struggle shows that our nonviolent struggle is effective. Abdallah Abu Rahmah writes from the Ofer Military Detention Camp. 

My husband: jailed for protesting Israel's wall

Majida Abu Rahmah 7 January 2010


On International Human Rights Day in 2008, my husband Abdallah Abu Rahmah was in Berlin receiving a medal from the World Association for Human Rights. Last year on the same day, 10 December, Abdallah was taken away at 2am by Israeli soldiers who broke into our West Bank home. Abdallah was arrested for the same reasons he received the prize — his nonviolent struggle for justice, equality and peace in Palestine/Israel. Majida Abu Rahmah comments.