The US Palestinian Community Network is appalled that the government of the United States not only continues its unconditional support for Israel, but has engaged in establishing Palestinian contra forces in the West Bank, aimed at deepening Palestinian internal division and engaging in arbitrary arrests and assassinations of political activists. We demand an immediate end to all such programs and the immediate withdrawal of US Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton and his mercenaries from Palestine! Read more about Action alert: Kick Dayton and his mercenaries out of Palestine
Haitham al-Katib is a journalist living in the occupied West Bank village of Bilin. During the last few months, village residents have been the victims of constant night invasions by the Israeli military. Al-Katib films the night raids, as well as the weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the wall, and has become a well-known figure for his brave attempts to document the struggle. The Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre, currently based in Bilin, interviewed him about his work. Read more about "Sense of duty": interview with Bilin journalist
Israel’s largest produce exporter, Agrexco, is once again under fire because of its dates produced in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. This year, the company’s dates arrived in time for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, during which faithful Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset and traditionally break their fast by eating a date. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Faithful warned against buying "occupation dates" this Ramadan
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel is gravely concerned that the Toronto International Film Festival 2009 has decided to spotlight Tel Aviv for its inaugural City-to-City program. We encourage filmmakers and audiences to boycott the Spotlight as it extends a gesture of “goodwill” to a colonial and apartheid regime which is violating Palestinian human rights with utter impunity. Read more about Toronto film festival protested for Tel Aviv spotlight
In another stunning blow to Israeli settlement-builder Lev Leviev, the Israeli business magazine Globes Online has reported that BlackRock Inc., one of the world’s largest investment management firms, has divested from Leviev’s Africa-Israel Investments. Read more about Settlement builder Leviev dealt divestment blow
Nostalgia, insists architect and academic Rami Daher, is a legitimate feeling. While most individuals’ instinctive thoughts of the glories of Levantine architecture might run to ancient mosques, castles and palaces, Daher’s yearning is towards an era in living memory, and on a more everyday scale. Sarah Irving reports for Electronic Lebanon. Read more about Lebanon's politics of real estate
If a single person deserves the title of serial thorn in the side of the Israeli state, Uri Davis, a professor of critical Israel studies at al-Quds University on the outskirts of East Jerusalem, might be the one to claim it. The crowning moment for Dr. Davis arrived last weekend when he became the first Israeli Jew to be elected to one of Fatah’s governing bodies, the Revolutionary Council. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Uri Davis: perpetual thorn in Israel's side
On 15 July, a humanitarian convoy organized by Viva Palestina entered the Gaza Strip via Egypt with medical supplies and blankets. Among the 200 individuals in the July convoy was Boulder resident Dan Winters, a 72-year-old retired computer scientist who has been on several humanitarian missions to war-torn countries. The Electronic Intifada contributor Ida Audeh interviewed him about how his latest mission fits into his long history of activism. Read more about Entering Gaza: an interview with Viva Palestina activist
Amnesty International has announced that it will abstain from any involvement in the Leonard Cohen concert in Tel Aviv and will not be party to any fund that benefits from the concert’s proceeds. Amnesty International’s announcement followed an international outcry over the human rights organization’s reported involvement in the Leonard Cohen concert fund, and an earlier international call for Cohen to boycott apartheid Israel. Read more about Amnesty int'l withdraws from Israel concert fund following campaign
A recent acquisition by the Israeli subsidiary of brick and mortar giant Irish CRH has placed the European conglomerate under increased pressure from Palestine solidarity activists. Irish CRH, formerly known as Cement Roadstone Holding, owns 25 percent of the Mashav Group, an Israeli construction firm. Mashav recently announced that it will acquire Hanson Israel, a subsidiary of Germany’s HeidelbergCement. With the acquisition of Hanson Israel, CRH is further entrenched in violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Irish construction giant digs deeper in occupation
