Why Israel imprisoned my best friend
2 Sep 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rAnd just as Israel has gradually increased restrictions of where we can go, the boundaries of what is permissible to do as a Palestinian have narrowed markedly. We have reached a point where peaceful protest is unacceptable to the Israeli state and military legislation has been constructed to criminalize and throw in jail anyone who dares to publicly voice dissent. Mohammed Khatib comments.

“Solidarity with the entire Palestinian people”
2 Sep 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights recently published Rights in Principle—Rights in Practice, which examines a rights-based approach to crafting durable solutions for Palestinian refugees. The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof interviews BADIL director Ingrid Jaradat Gassner on the organization’s work and the new book.

“Bureaucratic weapons worse than bombs”
1 Sep 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rFiras al-Maraghi from the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem has been on hunger strike outside the Israeli embassy in Berlin since 26 July. Al-Maraghi is striking in protest of the Israeli Ministry of Interior’s refusal to include his German-born daughter and wife on his Jerusalem residency permit. Bridget Chappell interviews al-Maraghi for The Electronic Intifada.

Bedouin’s legal fight threatens Jewish state
1 Sep 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rNuri al-Uqbi’s small cinderblock home in a ramshackle neighborhood of Hura, a Bedouin town in Israel’s Negev desert, hardly looks like the epicenter of a legal struggle that some observers say threatens Israel’s Jewish character.

Lifta’s legacy under threat
1 Sep 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThere are few villages in historic Palestine which invoke the memories of the Nakba (the 1948 dispossession of the Palestinian people) as does Lifta. However, Lifta’s architectural legacy is under threat as Israel moves to Judaize the formerly pluralistic Palestinian village.

What the wall has done
31 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIsrael began constructing the wall in June 2002 following its invasion of cities in the West Bank, which it dubbed “Operation Defensive Shield.” The immense scale of the 2002 invasion—characterized by the destruction of Palestinian civilian infrastructure, mass arrests, assassinations and massacres—ensured that the construction of the wall would commence with as little resistance as possible. Jamal Juma’ comments.

Diana Buttu: direct talks bound to fail
30 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rAs US officials arrived in Jerusalem last week to meet with Palestinian Authority and Israeli government officials, The Electronic Intifada interviewed Ramallah-based lawyer and former PLO advisor Diana Buttu about this week’s US-brokered direct talks between the two parties.

“Solidarity tastes different inside prison”
30 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr r”My human dignity, basic human rights and constitutional rights are suffering from basic violations. I still have no permit to meet my lawyers without being recorded.” The Electronic Intifada publishes an edited excerpt from a 7 August 2010 letter written by Ameer Makhoul from Israeli prison.

“Once winter’s over, the sun will shine”
30 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rWhen Israel’s construction of the wall began in their village May 2008, the people of Nilin embarked on a campaign of unarmed grassroots resistance against the theft of their land. They have followed a philosophy of direct action, cutting through the electronic fence and razor wire on an almost weekly basis. Jody McIntyre interviewed Mohammed Amireh, a leader of the Nilin Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements for The Electronic Intifada.

Art as resistance: “Against the Wall” reviewed
30 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rLondon-based journalist and photographer William Parry’s Against the Wall serves as both a political and aesthetic document, perhaps exemplifying the German philosopher Walter Benjamin’s famous thesis that ”[t]here is no document of culture that is not at the same time a document of barbarism.”

No reconstruction despite siege “easing”
27 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rLast week, nearly forty families who were displaced during Israel’s winter 2008-09 attacks on the Gaza Strip took over an abadoned, partially-built building in the Jabaliya refugee camp. Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada.

An artist’s pledge to boycott
27 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rI am proud to be among the many Irish and Ireland-based artists from across creative disciplines who have chosen to publicly support the growing campaign of boycott against apartheid Israel. Compared to the imprisoned Palestinian people themselves and to those taking part in flotillas and other perilous anti-apartheid activities in Palestine our contribution and risk may be justly considered small.

Seeing the land as one: Raja Shehadeh interviewed
27 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rA Rift in Time takes readers back to the life of author Raja Shehadeh’s great-uncle Najib Nassar, who edited the Haifa-based newspaper al-Karmil in the last years of the Ottoman Empire. Sarah Irving interviews Shehadeh for The Electronic Intifada.

Why Americans should oppose Zionism
26 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rMore and more people are starting to pay attention to Israel’s crimes and indignities. In so doing, more and more people are questioning the origin and meaning of Zionism—that is, the very idea of a legally ethnocentric Israel. Steven Salaita comments.

Veolia whitewashes illegal light rail project
26 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rLast week the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the consortium holding the contract to the controversial Jerusalem light rail project surveyed city residents on whether they would feel comfortable sharing rail service with Palestinians. The bad publicity around the survey—described as racist by even members of the Israeli government—is an ironic turn of events. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada.

PA forces raid meeting as dissent grows
25 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rPalestinian Authority forces today forcibly dispersed a meeting organized by Palestinian parties opposed to the Palestine Liberation Organization’s scheduled direct talks with Israel. The meeting was held at the same time as a conference in Gaza City, where officials of various Palestinian parties also discussed their opposition to the PLO’s plans for direct talks.

Math program taps potential of young students in Gaza
25 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rAL-ZAHARA, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) – In a bright and spacious classroom, with plants overflowing in the courtyard outside, six students lean forward at their desks looking at the 10-digit addition they are asked to make. One student stands before the numbers on the chalkboard and a red and yellow-beaded abacus. But her attention is on the abacus she visualizes in her mind.

Church boycott calls ring louder
25 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe world’s churches have long been one of the battlegrounds of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. With the strengthening of the BDS movement, a number of churches across the globe have seen the boycott of Israeli and Israeli settlement goods hotting up, and recent weeks have witnessed some notable victories.

Global boycott movement claims victories, arrests
24 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rPalestinians and solidarity activists claimed a major victory as the Norwegian government divested from two Israeli companies involved in settlement construction. Meanwhile, a Chicago activist was arrested days after charges were dropped against UK activists arrested during a boycott action.

Norwegian gov’t pension fund excludes more Israeli companies
24 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) has divested from two Israeli companies, Africa Israel Investments and Danya Cebus, over their involvement in construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank.

“Like living in a big factory” in Gaza
24 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr r”Uff, uff, uff, you can never get time to rest or sleep quietly and you can’t even work. Wherever you are, you hear sound of power generators which makes it seem we are all living in a big factory,” Ahmad al-Bar explained, expressing the frustration of many Palestinians in Gaza at the electricity crisis there, now going on three years.

From isolation to disability union leadership
24 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rHamdan Jewei is a 26-year-old Palestinian living with a physical disability in the al-Doha village near the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. Jody McIntyre spoke with Jewei for The Electronic Intifada.

After long struggle, village on the grid
23 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe West Bank village of al-Tuwani, after nine years of actively fighting and lobbying, has been connected to the Palestinian electrical grid. The victory came after nearly a decade of non-responses, delays, requests for additional paperwork, confiscations and demolitions. Samuel Nichols writes from al-Tuwani, occupied West Bank.

Gaza’s industries suffer under siege
23 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rGAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) – Just off Omar al-Mukhtar Street, Gaza City’s main thoroughfare, in a narrow, sandy alleyway is a little second-hand clothing shop. In the dimly lit store, with only intermittent electricity for some hours a day at best, sits a single battered and aging sewing machine.

Canadian Boat to Gaza to break siege, overcome “aid traps”
23 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rCanadian activists looking to assist in the breaking of the siege of Gaza will launch a Canadian Boat to Gaza this fall. However, this Canadian version of the Freedom Flotilla that seeks to break the siege has a twist.