We have learned with dismay that Sweden, a great supporter of human rights worldwide, has invested its pension fund AP1 in at least ten companies that support Israel’s human rights abuses and violations of international law. One of those companies, Israel Discount Bank, is directly involved in settlements on Bilin’s stolen land, and all the companies are involved in destroying hopes for justice and peace in Palestine. Read more about Palestinian village calls for Swedish divestment from occupation
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) salutes the filmmakers, artists and cultural workers who drafted and endorsed the Toronto Declaration: No Celebration of Occupation protesting the Toronto International Film Festival’s City to City Spotlight on Tel Aviv. The impressive list of signatories includes long-time supporters of a just peace and Palestinian rights and newer friends, all of whom we sincerely thank. Read more about Protesters of Toronto festival's Tel Aviv spotlight saluted
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
