Lawsuit challenges Israel’s discriminatory citizenship definition
6 Apr 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rA group of Jews and Arabs are fighting in the Israeli courts to be recognized as “Israelis,” a nationality currently denied them, in a case that officials fear may threaten the country’s self-declared status as a Jewish state. Jonathan Cook reports.

Gaza students to Margaret Atwood: reject Tel Aviv U. prize
6 Apr 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rStudents in the Gaza Strip urge Canadian author Margaret Atwood to support the Palestinian campaign for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement and reject a prize at Tel Aviv University that would be an “inadvertent nod to Israel’s policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide” and help cover up the university’s role in Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people.

Bringing Palestine to the US Social Forum
6 Apr 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rWhile existing conditions have fueled the grassroots movement aimed at delegitimizing racist policies and shattering Israeli impunity in order to realize Palestinian freedom and dignity, they have yet to establish Palestine as an integral component of the social justice movement’s agenda in the US. Doing so requires that the pro-Palestinian movement build meaningful alliances with other organizations, communities, movements and individuals that are also struggling to achieve social justice. Andrew Dalack comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Under the beautiful valley
6 Apr 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rWhile the world’s eyes are riveted to the political arguments between the Obama Administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the ground Israel is covertly tightening its grip on Wadi Hilweh and al-Bustan neighborhoods in Silwan in a literally underground fashion.

Israel destroys Gaza dairy for second time
5 Apr 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rIt was not a chemical plant, nor a nuclear facility, nor a manufacturer of weapons of mass destruction. But almost all the rubble of the entirely destroyed factory was covered in white, with white chunks everywhere. These were pieces of cheese, butter and yoghurt—some of the products made by the Dalloul dairy factory in southern Gaza City. The Electronic Intifada correspondent Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip.

Israel’s “Iron Dome” system aims to pacify, not protect
5 Apr 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIsrael’s Iron Dome program has been controversial from its inception in 2005. Besides the nationalist economic motive, Israel’s efforts at intercepting rockets and mortar shells are products of Israel’s pacification industry. Iron Dome is intended to be a checkpoint of sorts, one that attempts to erase or obscure the resistance of the Palestinians warehoused behind the walls of Gaza and the West Bank by intercepting projectiles. Jimmy Johnson comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Israel gags news on extrajudicial killings
5 Apr 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rRAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) – An Israeli journalist remains under house arrest and another lives abroad, after they broke news on Israeli undercover units carrying out assassinations or “targeted killings” of non-combatant Palestinian political opponents. Anat Kam, 23, who used to work for the Israeli news site “Walla,” was arrested last December for allegedly copying secret Israeli military documents during her compulsory military service.

Four Palestinians injured during Land Day protests in Gaza
2 Apr 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rFour nonviolent demonstrators were shot at close range with live ammunition by Israeli soldiers during six simultaneous protests throughout the Gaza Strip commemorating Land Day. Three of those injured come from Khozaa, a village east of Khan Younis in Gaza’s south. The fourth, from Deir al-Balah, was participating in a peaceful demonstration east of Meghazi, central Gaza.

Activists burst AIPAC conference’s bubble
1 Apr 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rOutside the Washington Convention Center, together with activists from CodePink, Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Avaaz, Jewish Voice for Peace and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, we tried to bring a little reality to the AIPAC policy conference bubble. We carried signs and banners calling for respect for international law and human rights, an end to the siege of Gaza, Israeli apartheid and US taxpayer funding of war crimes.

A rare voice of courage: journalist Gideon Levy interviewed
31 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rGideon Levy is a rare voice of courage in an Israeli media generally supine towards the political establishment. Since 1988, he has written the “Twilight Zone” column for the Israeli daily Haaretz, documenting unflinchingly the myriad cruelties inflicted on the Palestinian people under occupation. In his new book Gaza, a collection of articles which has just been published in French, Levy utters phrases that, by his own admission, are considered “insane” by most of his compatriots. The Electronic Intifada contributor David Cronin spoke with Gideon Levy about his background and journalism.

Swedish fashion chain H&M under pressure
31 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rMore than a year ago, several concerned Swedish organizations asked fashion chain H&M about its plans to extend its franchise to Israel. H&M’s management denied the rumors but refused to provide written confirmation. In March, H&M unexpectedly opened a store in Tel Aviv and a second store in Jerusalem’s Malha shopping mall. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Interview: Palestine a rich landscape for a mystery
31 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rKate Raphael is a Palestine solidarity activist who is currently publishing a mystery novel entitled Murder Under the Bridge one chapter at a time on its own blog. The Electronic Intifada contributor Hannah Mermelstein interviewed Raphael about how the novel came about and where she hopes it will go.

Health workers and advocates support call for U of Arizona to divest
30 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rA joint group of more than 50 Jewish, Christian, Muslim and agnostic medical and health advocates of the Tucson and surrounding region, following student initiative, are calling on the University of Arizona to divest from corporations benefiting from the global health and humanitarian crisis in Palestine caused by Israel’s military occupation, supported by the United States.

Israel greenwashing the “war on terror”
30 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rUnder cover of a sudden interest in developing new green technologies, the Israeli government hopes to weaken the Gulf states by making their oil redundant and thereby defeating “Islamic terror.” Uzi Landau, the national infrastructures minister, outlined a vision of a world without oil this week to Israel’s most loyal supporters in Washington as he searched for wealthy American-Jewish investors and White House support for the strategy. Jonathan Cook analyzes.

Mayada’s mime gives expression to Gaza youth
30 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIn the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, an ordinary family has raised a talented daughter. Her talent is not something widespread in Gaza or even elsewhere in the world. Mayada al-Hallaj, 25, currently studying sociology at university, has also been a mime artist and teacher for the last few years. The Electronic Intifada correspondent Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip.

Israel’s blood diamonds
29 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rEvery year, consumers the world over unwittingly spend billions of dollars on diamonds crafted in Israel, thereby helping to fund one of the world’s most protracted and contentious conflicts. Most people are unaware that Israel is one of the world’s leading producers of cut and polished diamonds. As diamonds are normally not hallmarked, consumers cannot distinguish an Israeli diamond from one crafted in India, Belgium, South Africa or elsewhere. The global diamond industry and aligned governments, including the EU, have hoodwinked consumers into believing the diamond trade has been cleansed of diamonds that fund human rights abuses, but the facts are startlingly different. Seán Clinton analyzes for The Electronic Intifada.

“We are defending our culture”: an interview with Samir Joubran
29 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rEarlier this month the Palestinian group Le Trio Joubran gave a concert in Geneva to support the work of the Association Meyrin-Palestine, which is planning to build a cultural center in Gaza. Le Trio Joubran is comprised of three brothers, Samir, Wissam and Adnan Joubran, who play the oud, a pear-shaped instrument from the Middle East related to the lute. The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof spoke with Samir Joubran about the trio’s music.

Stuck between a wall and an occupation
29 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rWhen Bilal Jadou’s grandmother was sick last year, neither Israeli ambulances or Palestinian ambulances were able to cross the checkpoint to his house. Jadou’s house is on the other side of the sprawling apartheid wall, separated from his community and the West Bank. Nora Barrows-Friedman interviews Jadou from Aida refugee camp, occupied West Bank.

Restaurant attacked for barring armed Israeli soldier
26 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rAn Arab-owned restaurant in the Israeli city of Haifa has been caught in a whirlwind of legal action and threats of violence after staff refused to serve a soldier in uniform, an incident that is rapidly tarnishing the city’s reputation as a model of good Jewish-Arabs relations. Jonathan Cook reports.

Lebanese army encircling Baddawi refugee camp
26 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe relationship between the Lebanese government and the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon is changing. The process of redefining the old relationship began explosively with the battle and subsequent demolition of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, near the northern city of Tripoli, in 2007. Now the Lebanese army is erecting a barrier around the nearby Baddawi refugee camp because of “security concerns.” Ahmed Moor and Deen Sharp report for The Electronic Intifada.

Visions of Palestine’s present and future in “Invictus” and “Avatar”
26 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe recent Hollywood films Invictus and Avatar inspire reflection on the past, present and future hopes of the Palestinian nation. The response to these movies among audiences around the world underscores the amount of sympathy around the world for moral struggles that ensue after the creation of an unjust reality, a sympathy Palestinians have been slow at garnering. Abdaljawad O.A. Hamayel comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Rights groups dispute Israel’s story in Hebron killing
25 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rRAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) – In early February, 41-year-old Fayez Ahmed Faraj, a father of nine from the city of Hebron, 30 miles south of Jerusalem, in the southern West Bank, was shot dead in his home town by Israeli soldiers after he allegedly tried to stab one of them. After a preliminary investigation the Israeli military authorities stated that the soldiers had acted in self-defense and had used the necessary force.

Israel’s inclusion in economic organization a threat to democracy
25 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rMembership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which includes 30 of the world’s most developed countries, does not provide money or any special economic benefits. Yet it is easy to see why the Israeli government attributes great importance to Israel becoming one of its members. Shir Hever analyzes for The Electronic Intifada.

Thirsty for justice
25 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rToni Morrison once wrote “All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.” I feel it is the same for Palestinian refugees, who have struggled for decades for their right to return home. I thought of this connection between water and refugees during a recent meeting about the Middle East Children’s Alliance’s Maia Project with Aidan O’Leary, Deputy Director of the UN agency for Palestine refugees Operations in Gaza. Dr. Mona El-Farra writes from the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s latest provocation at al-Aqsa
25 Mar 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe Israeli government has indicated that it will press ahead with a plan to enlarge the Jewish prayer plaza at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, despite warnings that the move risks triggering a third intifada. Israeli officials rejected this week a Jerusalem court’s proposal to shelve the plan after the judge accepted that the plaza’s expansion would violate the “status quo” arrangement covering the Old City’s holy places. Jonathan Cook reports from Jerusalem.