The Electronic Intifada

Radio Sawa: All dressed up with nowhere to go

The Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah is currently in Amman, Jordan and tuning into the latest US government propaganda effort, Radio Sawa. One would have hoped that one of the seeds of hope planted in the rubble of the World Trade Center would have been a reevaluation of America’s activities in the Middle East. Apparently, Britney Spears and censored news were a better idea. Oh dear. Turn up that taxi radio, ya habibi. 

No turning back

It ought to be possible to find a way to resolve political conflicts peacefully so that no more Palestinian or Israeli parents are left to grieve. But the callous indifference and irresponsibility of the world’s great powers, the intransigence of Israel’s leaders and the weakness and divisions in the Arab world ensure that the Palestinian struggle — the last great anti-colonial struggle of the twentieth century — will continue well into the twenty-first. 

Back to Shatila

Abu Ismail is sitting on a sofa as he speaks. The tape recorder sits on a low table in front of him, absorbing his voice, and the noise of mopeds and people from the alley outside. He is in his mid-sixties, but looks perhaps a little older. 

Sharon's deadly calculus

The Palestinian people have made it quite clear that they will resist the occupation until it ends completely, and they are learning more about the occupier’s vulnerabilities every day. Even Sharon will have to stop and think before he does anything more foolish than he has so far. 

Highly improbable plot situations, exaggerated characters, and slapstick elements

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres underlined that Israel was pulling out of the conference because of “anti-Israel and anti-Semitic comments,” adding that the conference was “a farce.” And yet one more opportunity to make Israel accountable for the hell on earth it creates daily for Palestinians under its military occupation was neatly side-stepped.