To accuse Hamas of marketing fundamentalism and extremism in the Gaza Strip is false and inaccurate. There is no “Talibanization” of Gaza. Such a claim is based on Israeli propaganda and the deliberately distorted accounts of those in Gaza who are politically and ideologically opposed to the government of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. Ahmed Yousef, Deputy of the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about There is no "Talibanization" of Gaza 

BEIRUT, Lebanon (IPS) - Abu Yussif doesn’t want to talk about his work anymore. “It’s not going to help and nothing will change anyway,” he says. The tall, white-haired Palestinian has just returned from work and relaxes in his little garden in the Burj al-Shamali refugee camp near the southern Lebanese city of Tyre. Read more about Despite law "reform," Palestinians out of work in Lebanon 

Filmmaker Dahna Abourahme’s latest film focuses on the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein al-Hilwe in south Lebanon, and on the women in particular as they reminisce about their roles during the Israeli attack on the camp in 1982-1984. Amany Al-Sayyed interviews for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Everyday heroes: filmmaker Dahna Abourahme interviewed 

An elections process in Iraq cleverly diverts all attention from the colossal incompetency of the government, and spins the tall tale of a young, fledgling born-again country instead. The reality is that democracy in Iraq does not exist beyond the show business of sham elections. Ahmed Habeeb comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about The deadly lie of democracy in Iraq 

Palestinians describe the Israel Land Administration Law (ILA) quietly passed by the Israeli Knesset in 2009 as the final stage in the 62-year process of displacement from their homeland. The legislation is expected to have a long-term, disastrous impact on Palestinian lives and precludes the possibility of a negotiated resolution to the conflict. Read more about A privatized Nakba 

Director Samuel Maoz’s reduction of Lebanon to the interior of an Israeli military vehicle alerts us to the film Lebanon’s insular vision right away. Belén Fernández comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Cinematic therapy for Israeli soldiers 

Another setback for the Palestinian national movement may be unfolding as Barack Obama dangles a lavish package of incentives in the face of Benjamin Netanyahu in an attempt to lure the Israeli prime minister into renewing a three-month, partial freeze on Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank. Read more about With Netanyahu bribe, Washington going for broke 

The threats of death, maiming and incarceration are perhaps the worst and most direct obstacles to the objective coverage of situations in which human rights violations are committed daily. But by no means do they alone account for problems relating to global coverage of war, politics and human rights in the Middle East today. Read more about The obstacles to reporting the truth about war 

The conventional wisdom is that when Washington has exerted pressure on Israeli governments they have eventually succumbed to American demands. However, a closer reading of the historical record and declassified American archival documents reveals a more complex dynamic between the two allies. Read more about The myth of American pressure