10 July 2003
EI’s Arjan El Fassed visited Rafah, which is located on the southern border of the Gaza Strip. Repeatedly, Israeli occupying forces have demolished hundreds of homes in this area. This has been the scene of killings, large destruction and razing of lands and the place where Israeli forces killed American peace activist Rachel Corrie and journalist James Miller. Read more about Rafah demolished
29 March 2001
Responding to a column written by Thomas Friedman as a mock memo in the name of George Bush to Yasser Arafat, EI’s Arjan El Fassed, in the ‘mock memo’ style that Friedman himself likes to use, imagines what Nelson Mandela would have responded. Read more about Mandela's First Memo to Thomas Friedman
10 October 2003
“ ‘Joseph, are you still sleeping, it’s 8am already?’ These are the first words I would hear upon picking up the phone three, four times a week,” writes Joseph Massad. The powerful teasing voice on the other side was that of Edward Said. Massad remembers his dear friend and teacher, and contemplates how the legacy of this exemplary scholar and public intellectual can teach us how to continue our journey. Read more about Edward Said's journey to Ithaka
9 October 2003
In Mind, Body and Soul of Palestine: A Photo Journal Exhibit, time, imagery, and stereotype are challenged and contradicted. Indeed, some of the imagery in the photographs contradict each other, causing the viewer to reconsider what they know about this country called Palestine that is constantly being reported but seldom understood. The show is presented by al-PHAN (which stands for Palestinian Humanities and Arts Now), a Chicago-based not-for-profit organization, and will be traveling around the U.S through next spring. Read more about Art review: Mind, Body and Soul of Palestine - A Photo Journal Exhibit
7 October 2003
To its standard list of revenge measures following the Haifa suicide attack, Israel added the novel step of bombing Syria. Regular EI contributor Hasan Abu Nimah, and EI co-founder Ali Abunimah write that this escalation by Israel will not save it from an existential crisis that is hurtling towards it like a runaway train. Read more about Israel's date with a runaway freight train
1 October 2003
Thousands of protesters demanding an end to the occupation of Iraq and Palestine took to the streets Saturday in London, Athens, Paris and other cities around the world, chanting slogans against the United States and Britain. The following photo reportage of the protest in London was made by Azem Bishara. Read more about Photostory: London protests against occupation of Iraq and Palestine
28 September 2003
As Palestinians marked the third anniversary of the intifada, at the Tel Aviv District Court, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Marwan Barghouti, who was detained by Israel since April 2002, presented his closing arguments. Read more about Marwan Barghouti: "Why don't you refuse?"
30 September 2003
As we watched helplessly, the two Caterpillars, with pneumatic drills on their long dinosaur arms, systematically punched holes in the front of the house, then in the roof. Billows of dust began to rise as pieces fell off the house, then more as the roof began to fall in. The water tank on the roof was first dented, then punctured, sending out a large spray of water that was visible even from our distant perch. It all took only a few minutes. In fact, only an hour passed between the arrival and the departure of the Caterpillars, probably only 20 minutes from start to finish of the actual demolition. Kathy and Bill Christison write about just one day spent defending Palestinian homes. Read more about Defending Palestinian homes: Tears amid the rubble
30 September 2003
Through a simple campus lecture, Edward Said precipitated a rupture at Ohio’s Oberlin College. But like many things in his life, the debate did not touch the substance of Said’s theory or politics. Instead, his enemies were obsessed by what he stood for — a Palestinian nationalism that scared them because it was not easily stereotyped or dismissed. Through this vignette, I also learnt about the limitations and myopia of liberal campus politics. Naeem Mohaiemen remembers Edward Said. Read more about Edward Said: Campus hysteria in the face of truth
29 September 2003
“There is no excuse for us not to aspire to the courage and clarity that Dr. Edward Said embodied. There is no excuse for us not to envision a better future and to work together with diverse Others for its realization. There is no excuse for any of us to let despair, anger, jealousy or fear poison us or slow us down. And there is no time to waste in honoring and sustaining the legacy of Dr. Said. As an American poet, May Swenson, said about deep sorrow following a great loss: ‘Don’t mourn the beloved. Try to be like him’.” EI co-founder Laurie King-Irani reflects on the lessons to be learned from Dr. Edward Said’s life and vision. Read more about Edward Said: A lesson that will not die, a vision that cannot fail