PA’s betrayal of human rights defenders the unkindest cut
14 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThey hail from opposite parts of the globe, but they have much in common: Jewish; experts on and passionate defenders of international law; and pummeling bags for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. And the future of the law of war lies at the heart of the campaigns against them. Nadia Hijab comments how the undermining of Richard Goldstone and Richard Falk.

Harvard students condemn center’s defense of fellow’s racist statements
12 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rWe students at Harvard University are disturbed by the racist and inhumane comments of Martin Kramer, Visiting Scholar at the National Security Studies Program at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. We have become even more alarmed that rather than taking a dissociating or even strictly neutral stance against such extremist and hateful statements, the Weatherhead Center issued a defensive response.

Interview: Education and resistance at the Ann Arbor Palestine film fest
12 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe second annual Ann Arbor Palestine Film Festival opened on Wednesday, 10 March with the feature film Pomegranates and Myrrh. Such festivals are a growing phenomenon with new ones popping up throughout the United States. The Electronic Intifada contributor Jimmy Johnson spoke with festival organizers Hena Ashraf, Ryah Aqel, Lauren Thams and Pomegranates and Myrhh director Najwa Najjar.

Flouting its own laws, EU accommodates “Made in Israel”
12 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rIn 2008 Britain expressed concern about how goods originating from Israeli settlements in the West Bank may be benefiting illegally from European Union trade preferences that theoretically only apply to businesses within Israel’s internationally-recognized borders. However, EU officials have not only failed to defend international law, they have accommodated Israel’s abuse of it. David Cronin analyzes for The Electronic Intifada.

Sending a laptop to Gaza
12 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rI sat outdoors at a cafe on the Mediterranean Sea in al-Arish, a dusty seaside town in Egypt’s northern Sinai. I drank a tea and smoked a water pipe; it gave me something to do while I waited for Ismail—that’s not his real name—an Egyptian Bedouin tunnel smuggler who was going to deliver a package for me into Gaza. Ahmed Moor writes from al-Arish.

Second annual Ann Arbor Palestine film fest opens with “Pomegranates and Myrrh”
11 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe second annual Ann Arbor Palestine Film Festival opened on 10 March 2010 at the Michigan Theater with hundreds of attendees for Najwa Najjar’s Pomegranates and Myrrh. The film festival showcases films about Palestine and by Palestinian directors. Educating through the screen arts, the film festival amplifies the voice of the Palestinian people as a nation and diaspora by bringing films to the fore that would not otherwise be seen.

PLO paper reveals leadership bereft of strategy, legitimacy
11 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rAs US-brokered “indirect” peace talks are set to resume, a paper authored by PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat reveals a Palestinian leadership ready to re-enter negotiations with Israel having already conceded fundamental Palestinian rights and demands. EI’s Ali Abunimah analyzes a document he says provides insight into the thought processes of a leadership bereft of strategy and legitimacy.

Homes and livelihoods gone in an instant
11 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rRadia Abu Sbaih, 47, lives with her sister and one niece on family land roughly 700 meters from the “green line” boundary between Israel and Gaza. Until 18 February 2010, they had nearly 600 olive, fruit, date and nut trees, an agricultural cistern, a water well, various vegetables and a house. Theirs was one of three homes demolished by Israeli military bulldozers that day in al-Mossadar, eastern Gaza. Eva Bartlett reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Rachel Corrie’s family takes Israel to court
10 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rSeven years after Rachel Corrie, a US peace activist, was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza, her family was to put the Israeli government in the dock today. A judge in the northern Israeli city of Haifa was due to be presented with evidence that 23-year-old Corrie was killed unlawfully as she stood in the path of the bulldozer, trying to prevent it from demolishing Palestinian homes in Rafah. Jonathan Cook reports.

Truth in labeling: EU court challenges “Made in Israel”
10 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rOn 25 February, the European Court of Justice ruled that imports manufactured in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank shouldn’t benefit from a trade agreement between Israel and the European Union. The ruling follows protests of Israel’s export of products from the illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) to the EU and Switzerland labeled as “Made in Israel.” Products labeled as such benefit from favorable import taxes under the EU-Israel Association Agreement of 2000. Phon van den Biesen and Adri Nieuwhof comment for The Electronic Intifada.

Interview: “Anything you want, we can bring to the Gaza Strip”
10 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe siege on Gaza is tightening as the Egyptian government continues construction of an underground steel wall at the Rafah border with Gaza to block the tunnel trade. The Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre spoke with Abu Hanin, a Palestinian laborer from Gaza who works in one of the tunnels at the border with Egypt.

Interview with Gaza rights defender: “Siege began in 1967”
9 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rBRUSSELS (IPS) – For the first time since September 2006, Mahmoud Abu Rahma, a leading figure in the Palestinian human rights group Al Mezan, has been granted permission to travel outside Gaza. More than 30 applications to leave the Strip had previously been turned down by the Israeli authorities and it was not until German diplomats made representations on his behalf that he was finally allowed to visit Europe.

Amir, ten years old, abducted by Israeli soldiers from his bed
8 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rAmir smiled when I asked him to tell me his favorite color. Sitting in his family’s living room last Thursday afternoon in the Old City of Hebron, the ten-year-old softly replied, “green.” Hours after our interview Israeli soldiers would break into the house and snatch Amir from his bed. The Electronic Intifada contributor Nora Barrows-Friedman writes from the occupied West Bank.

“Palestinian cinema is a cause”: an interview with Hany Abu-Assad
8 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rNazareth-born filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad is best known internationally for his 2005 film Paradise Now about two young, attractive Palestinian men from Nablus in the occupied West Bank who are drawn into a suicide bombing mission in Tel Aviv. It was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The Electronic Intifada contributor Sabah Haider spoke with Hany Abu Assad about how his films are received, Palestinian cinema and the challenges of filmmaking.

Pushing the boundaries of identity: an interview with Jennifer Jajeh
5 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rJennifer Jajeh’s critically acclaimed one-woman show, I Heart Hamas and Other Things I am Afraid to Tell You, pulls no punches. From a Ramallah Convention in San Francisco in the 1980s, to casting lines in contemporary Los Angeles, to the front lines of the Israeli occupation and back, Jajeh navigates the complicated and often conflicted terrain of Palestinian identity. The Electronic Intifada contributor Uda Olabarria Walker interviews Jajeh about her work.

Palestinian women become breadwinners under occupation
5 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rRAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) – Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, with its ubiquitous closures, checkpoints, military raids and arrests, has decimated the Palestinian economy in the West Bank and Gaza. The World Bank warned over a year ago that unless Israel eased its restrictions on movement and access in the West Bank the Palestinian economy would further deteriorate.

The sounds of piano in Gaza
4 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rGAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) – At 14, Nour plays the piano, and she knows the facts around her. That the average age for marriage is 18, likely to a man found by parents, her place would be within that home, and a woman has on average 6.5 children. She goes to a United Nations agency for Palestine refugees school in Gaza City, and loves journalism, inspired by her older sister, who works at a radio station.

Gaza police forces and their bereaved families rebuild one year on
4 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rRami Abu al-Sheikh’s parents and siblings still remember how caring and tender their son was before he was killed during Israel’s invasion of Gaza last winter. Rami was 27 years old and was one of hundreds of Gaza police personnel killed by Israeli air strikes during the 23-day assault. He was killed at the main Gaza Strip police station located on Salah al-din Street, the territory’s main road. Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Moment of truth: time to boycott Israel’s entire range of injustice
4 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rWords always matter, and names always have a life of their own. But perhaps Palestine and Israel form a context in which words become positions more dramatically than in many others. The authors of the “Moment of Truth” Kairos document, which is the Christian Palestinians’ statement to the world about the occupation of Palestine and a call for support in opposing it, have repeatedly been asked about the use of the word “boycott.” What exactly does this mean? How far exactly does it go? And what exactly does it call for? Rifat Kassis comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Picking pebbles to survive in Gaza
3 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rGAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) – They come by the hundreds every day to sand dunes and rubble sites to sift for pebbles, stones and sand that can be used in making concrete blocks. They lean into trash bins across the Gaza Strip, and wade through piles of rubbish scavenging for plastics, metals and any bits worth reselling.

Refusal to surrender: “My Father was a Freedom Fighter” reviewed
3 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rPalestinian-American author, journalist and editor of the Palestine Chronicle, Ramzy Baroud’s latest book My Father was a Freedom Fighter is an antidote to the US, European and Israeli media’s decontextualization and dehumanization of Palestinians. It’s also an instant classic, one of the very best books to have examined the Palestinian tragedy. Robin Yassin-Kassab reviews for The Electronic Intifada.

“I can’t live without this place”
3 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr r”The Israeli police used a bullhorn and shouted ‘death to Arabs!’ toward me once,” Abed Rabbeh remembers, his hands wrapped around a small ceramic cup of tea. “Another time, they tried to tell me that my grandfather was born in Dheisheh refugee camp and that I have no roots in this land.” Nora Barrows-Friedman reports on one man’s struggle to stay on his West Bank land.

Rights group: Israeli forces responsible for settlers’ provocation at al-Aqsa
2 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIn the early morning of Sunday, 28 February 2010, Israeli forces closed all roads leading to the al-Aqsa Mosque and established barriers at the entrances of the old city of Jerusalem, denying Palestinian civilians access to it. A few hours later, at least 200 Israeli police and security officers entered the yard of the al-Aqsa Mosque and besieged dozens of Palestinian worshippers.

Palestinians excluded from bulk of occupied West Bank
2 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIDNA, occupied West Bank (IPS) – Israel’s illegal occupation and continued expropriation of Palestinian land in the West Bank has left 2.5 million Palestinians living there with effectively less than 40 percent of the territory. Muhammad al-Bedan, 55, a vegetable farmer with 14 children, struggles to support his family on just over $600 dollars a month.

NY Times’ Jerusalem property makes it protagonist in Palestine conflict
2 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe New York Times’ Jerusalem bureau chief lives on property Israel seized from Palestinian refugees forced to leave their homes during the Nakba in 1948. EI’s Ali Abunimah reveals for the first time details of The Times’ acquisition and use of this property and the story of the Palestinian family whose home it was. What are the implications for its reporting of a case that places the “newspaper of record” at the heart of the Palestine conflict?