The Electronic Intifada

The Evil Wall

Uri Avnery 6 May 2003


“For a fraction of a second, I was panic-stricken. The terrible monster coming towards me was not more than five meters away and continued to move as if I weren’t there. The giant bulldozer pushed a great heap of dirt and boulders before it. The driver, two meters above me, seemed a part of the machine. It was clear that nothing would stop him. I jumped aside at the last moment. Some weeks ago, in a similar situation, the American peace activist Rachel Corrie expected the driver to stop. He did not, and she was crushed to death.” Israeli activist Uri Avnery reports on the progress of Israel’s apartheid wall. 

Documentary review: "Jeremy Hardy vs. the Israeli Army"

Maureen Clare Murphy 27 May 2003


Although the film Jeremy Hardy vs. the Israeli Army was “on one hand [intended for] a British audience,” as explained by director Leila Sansour, it also aimed to communicate to the rest of the world that Palestine isn’t just a land of “sad faces and dead bodies.” Sansour wanted to show a universal audience “that it’s a hospitable place” like the Palestine that lives in her memory. Maureen Clare Murphy writes about Sansour’s documentary about the ISM. 

"We are not just numbers": Commemorating the war victims of Iraq and Palestine

Rosemary Sayigh 7 May 2003


The commemoration programme was built on the traditional Arab format of the condolence visit (ta’aziya). All participants were invited to wear mourning clothes, and behind the whole area hung an obituary notice, an eighteen-foot-long banner inscribed with words: ‘The sisters of the children of Baghdad and their families, and the paternal uncles of the families of Mosul, Al-Nasirya, Jenin, Rafah, and Nablus, and their kin living in the Arab world and abroad, mourn with deepest sorrow their dearly beloved deceased: The victims of American and Israeli aggression, cut down in their childhood, and their youth, and their prime, members of humanity’.” Rosemary Sayigh reports from Beirut on a symbolically charged protest action. 

Who's afraid of the Road Map?

Ali Abunimah 5 May 2003

Even before its publication, Israel’s supporters in the United States launched a vigorous campaign to sabotage the US-sponsored ‘Road Map’ for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Nearly 400 members of the US House and Senate signed letters circulated by the pro-Israeli lobby opposing the plan, and key figures have spoken out against it. EI’s Ali Abunimah looks at the arguments being used by the pro-Israel lobby to undermine the Road Map, and asks what chance there is of success in the face of this sustained campaign. 

Where will this road map really lead?

Nick Pretzlik 30 April 2003

“We now witness the publication of the Middle East Road Map, the latest attempt to resolve the Israeli/Palestinian impasse. Cynics will expect Israel to prevaricate and demand amendments and President Bush to lack conviction in the face of a US election in 2004. Cynics will no doubt recall Sharon’s oft-stated belief that it is necessary to inflict a devastating defeat on the Palestinians before peace can be agreed to. They will also remember the words of General Moshe Ya’alon, the IDF chief of staff, when he said that the aim is to lead the Palestinians to internalise “in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people”. Is this the appropriate mindset for an equitable peace?” Nick Pretzlik views events in Palestine and Iraq from London and asks some difficult questions. 

Essay: A year in the life of Montreal's Palestinian solidarity movement

Darren Ell 30 April 2003


The following photo essay is about some of the people “whose names you will never know,” but whose work is essential to the success of the Palestinian struggle. For one year, I attended a large number of the many events organized by Palestinian solidarity groups in Montreal, Canada. Darren Ell writes for EI.