Palestine eNews, a service of Canadian Friends of Sabeel, interviewed Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, during a Canada-wide tour, before carrying his message to the United States next week. Launched in 2002, Palestine National Initiative is a democratic Palestinian opposition movement that calls for a just and durable peace. It distinguishes itself from the current Palestinian Authority on key issues that touch the lives of Palestinians, not just in the Occupied Territories, but around the world. Read more about Hope, out of Ramallah: The rise of the Palestinian alternative
McDonald’s Corporation today confirmed that it has a policy banning its employees from speaking Arabic in its restaurants in Israel, despite the fact that Palestinian citizens of Israel form 20% of its workforce, and Arabic is one of the two official languages of Israel. The Corporation denied, however, that Abeer Zinaty, a former “Excellent Worker 2003 — McDonald’s Israel,” was fired because she spoke Arabic on the job. Read more about McDonald's Confirms 'No Arabic' policy at its restaurants in Israel
McDonalds claims “McDonald’s has a long-standing and distinguished record for diversity — as an employer, franchiser, and purchaser of goods and services. We recognize not only a responsibility to provide opportunity, but also the advantages of having a workforce with diverse backgrounds and perspectives.” The Electronic Intifada urges its readers to contact McDonald’s Corporation to ask for a full investigation of allegations of institutionalized racism and discrimination against Arab employees by its subsidiary in Israel. At least one employee has reportedly been fired because she spoke Arabic to a co-worker. Read more about McDonald's Israel reportedly fires employee for speaking Arabic
Painter John Keane, who was has travelled to the occupied Palestinian territories, juxtaposes historical and current concerns through traditional and contemporary techniques in his work. Deeply impacted by what he saw, Keane’s paintings in his current exhibition The Inconvenience of History - Paintings from the West Bank and Palestine reflect the despair, humiliation, and the brutality Palestinians suffer under Israeli military occupation. His exhibition has been met with controversy, but will still travel Belfast and Ramallah after concluding in London. Nina Malmsten reports for EI. Read more about Artist John Keane revisits Palestine’s obliterated past and present
In a presentation on the Jewish Agency for Israel’s website, entitled “The Security Fence - Hopes and Fears: A Drama in Six Episodes”, the report’s author, Steven Klein, conducted a Google survey into the frequency of terminology used to describe Israel’s Wall, typing in different terms and logging the number of Google hits returned for each. Klein’s stated methodology for discovering “the most deserving term” for Israel’s Wall is which term “enjoys the most common use” as evidenced by Google. EI’s Nigel Parry explores Wall semantics on the Internet. Read more about Israel's West Bank Barrier: Semantics on the Internet
Much of the rising anti-Semitism in Europe today is undeniably fuelled by conflicts in the Middle East. However, continued insistence on the part of the Israeli government and its supporters that critics of its policies are “anti-Semitic” is a dangerous and damaging position to hold. Human rights advocates Jeff Handmaker and Adri Nieuwhof argue that continued insistence on this equation of anti-Israeli government sentiments and anti-Semitism creates a hostile atmosphere and prevents a critical dialogue on Middle East issues from a human rights perspective. Read more about Israel’s cry of anti-Semitism blocks a critical dialogue
Israeli forces killed two Palestinians and wounded dozens in the village of Biddu, near Jerusalem, during a protest against Israel’s Apartheid Wall. Mohammad Sabel Rayan (30), a father of two from Beit Duqqu and Zakariya Eyad, a father of three from Beit Iksa were shot today during a demonstration. Rayan was hit by a bullet in his spine and Eyad was hit in his chest. Palestinians, internationals and Israeli activists were protesting. They are afraid that the Israeli army will cause more casualties. Since yesterday, thousands of protesters have been protesting and confronting Israeli bulldozers working on Israel’s Apartheid Wall. Read more about Israeli forces kill two Palestinians protesting Israel's Apartheid Wall
“ICJ: Justice or Politics” was a statement displayed on a banner at a pro-Israel demonstration in The Hague on Monday. In the last three days I have been covering the oral proceedings taking place before the international court of justice and the demonstrations here in The Hague for the British-based organization Arab Media Watch. Whilst the pleadings proceeded smoothly it has been interesting to note how few countries have come out in support of the Palestinians. Victor Kattan reports from the Hague. Read more about ICJ: Justice or Politics?
Today, the Mayor of The Hague, Wim Deetman, issued a press statement this morning. Deetman was “unpleasantly surprised” by the intention of the Dutch Zionist organization “Christenen voor Israel” to carry photographs which, whether rightly or wrongly were capable of “engendering emotions of a provocative nature,” during a demonstration march. In doing so, Deetman added only the factual, undisputed information that he had been informed by “Christenen voor Israel”, amongst others, that the Israeli Embassy in The Hague had “inspired” them to carry those photographs. Read more about Deetman responds to Israeli anger over protests in The Hague
On the last day of the hearings at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, presiding Judge Shi Jiuyong, declaring a close to the oral hearings said “a date and time for the court to announce its rulings” would be set later. The final session was opened by Sudan, followed by the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. The statements elaborated on jurisdiction and whether the Court is competent in addition to substance such as international humanitarian law, human rights law and other legal consequences of the wall. Read more about ICJ wraps up hearings on legal consequences of the wall
