Academic freedom? Not for Arabs in Israel4 Mar 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rIn the strange world of Israeli academia, an Arab college lecturer is being dismissed from his job because he refused to declare his “respect for the uniform of the Israeli army.” The bizarre demand was made of Nizar Hassan, director of several award-winning films, after he criticized a Jewish student who arrived in his film studies class at Sapir College in the Negev for wearing his uniform and carrying a gun. Jonathan Cook writes from Nazareth.
Trade union building targeted in Gaza3 Mar 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rGAZA CITY, 4 March (IPS) – Two F-16 missiles were all it took to bring down the five-story headquarters of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions. The Union, established in 1965, is one of the forerunners of the movement calling for an international boycott of Israel, and imposition of sanctions on it until Israel meets its obligations over UN resolutions, borders, and the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland.
Photostory: The month in pictures, February 20083 Mar 2008rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThis slideshow is a selection of images from the month of February 2008. The month in pictures is an ongoing feature of the Electronic Intifada. If you have images documenting Palestine, Palestinian life, politics and culture, or of solidarity with Palestine, please email images and captions to photos AT electronicintifada DOT net.
Revealed: the US plan to start a Palestinian civil war3 Mar 2008rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rUnited States officials including President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice participated in a conspiracy to arm and train Contra-style Palestinian militias nominally loyal to the Fatah party to overthrow the democratically-elected Hamas government in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, an investigative article in the April 2008 issue of Vanity Fair has revealed.
Eight new Gaza victims2 Mar 2008rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIsraeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continued their military operations in the Gaza Strip. Over the past 24 hours, IOF carried out several air raids against civilian targets and resistance fighters. As a result, eight Palestinians were killed. Two of the victims were unarmed civilians, one of them a child. With yesterday’s victims the tally since Wednesday, 27 February, till time of publication, soared to 108 victims killed, including 54 unarmed civilians.
Colonial realities2 Mar 2008rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rOnce again Israel defies an impotent international community which offers nothing but timid calls for ceasefire on “both sides.” And once again Palestinian suffering and death tolls continue to break records. Perhaps it is easy to dismiss this suffering by blaming the victims and resorting to ready cliches. When examined closely, however, reality rules out crude explanations of “violence without reason” and “terrorism without context. Nimer Sultany comments for EI.
Torture coalition demands investigation into death of PA detainee2 Mar 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rMajd al-Barghouti died on 22 February, while he was being illegally detained by the General Intelligence Service (GIS) of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. There is evidence “ncluding photographs” indicating that prior to his death, al-Barghouti, 44 years old, arrested on political grounds, was subjected to torture and ill-treatment.
Medical group warns Gaza health system on brink of collapse2 Mar 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rIsraeli military forces commenced widespread operations against Gaza on 27 February 2008, following the death of an Israeli civilian in a college campus in the south of Israel, and damage caused by a Qassam rocket to a hospital campus in the town of Ashqelon. As a result of these operations 101 Palestinians (according to Palestinian counts), the majority of whom were civilians, have been killed.
Al-Khader village protests the wall2 Mar 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rFor the last two months the residents of al-Khader have demonstrated every week against the illegal construction of the Israeli wall on their land. The demonstrations are organized by the al-Khader Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements, with the support of al-Khader institutions, residents as well as Israeli and international activists. Adri Nieuwhof and Samer Jaber report.
Israel keeping true to its racist words1 Mar 2008rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rDehumanizing the Palestinians has been necessary for Israel to justify its actions ever since, and even before, the state was declared on destroyed historic Palestine in 1948 and then in 1967 when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza. Taken together, they indicate the historic effort to destroy Palestinian national aspirations and this is what Israel is trying to do in Gaza, which Nobel prize winner and late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin once wished would be swallowed by the sea. EI correspondent Rami Almeghari comments from Gaza.
Gaza deaths surpass 100; hundreds injured1 Mar 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rDuring the last 24 hours, another 39 Palestinians were killed throughout the Gaza Strip. Twenty-two of them were unarmed civilians, including nine children. Six of the victims were from one family, including three women and three men who were killed in an air strike in Gaza City. The death toll since 27 February currently stands at 101 victims, including 49 unarmed civilians.
The Gaza genocide1 Mar 2008rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rWe celebrated Yousuf’s fourth birthday today. We ate cake. And we counted the bodies. We sang happy birthday. And my mother sobbed. We watched the fighter jets roar voraciously on our television screen, pounding street after street, then heard a train screech outside, and shuddered. Yousuf tore open his presents, and asked my mother to make a paper zanana, a drone, for him with origami; we were torn open from the inside, engulfed by a feeling of impotence and helplessness, fear and anger and grief, despondence and confusion. Laila El-Haddad writes on the “long-term” Gaza genocide.
The time for worldwide boycott is now1 Mar 2008rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rOn Friday, 29 February 2008, Israel’s deputy defense minister Matan Vilnai threatened Palestinians in Gaza with a “holocaust.” This date will go down in history as the beginning of a new phase in the colonial conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, whereby a senior Israeli leader, a “leftist” for that matter, has publicly revealed the genocidal plans Israel is considering to implement against Palestinians under its military occupation, if they do not cease to resist its dictates. Omar Barghouti comments for EI.
Patients suffer privatized, politicized healthcare1 Mar 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rBEIRUT, 28 February (IRIN) – When Hamza Shahrour had a heart attack in June last year, the 24-year-old Shia might have hoped to survive it, given that he was just a few blocks away from the Rafiq Hariri hospital, named after the former five-time Sunni prime minister. But because Hamza’s family had no health insurance and could not afford to pay the thousands of dollars deposit demanded, the doctors refused to treat him.
Gaza death toll rising: 77 killed, including 19 children since Wed.29 Feb 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rIsraeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continued its attacks on Gaza today. IOF’s military operations have killed 47 Palestinians in Gaza today. Of those, 27 were civilians, including ten children and three women. Since Wednesday 27 February 2008, IOF killed at least 77 people and injured approximately 130.
Israel kills some more children29 Feb 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rGAZA CITY, 1 March (IPS) – Tamer was nine, and no child soldier. He did not live in the area from where homemade rockets are launched into Israeli territory. The day he was killed, he was at least two kilometers from the place Israeli troops had entered Gaza, and met with return fire by Palestinian resistance. His tragedy was that the family home was near Deir al-Balah in the middle of the Gaza Strip, close to the area the Israelis have set up as their Kussfim base.
Israel kills at least 31 Gazans today, including 8 children29 Feb 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rIsraeli Occupation Forces (IOF) escalated the attacks and ground incursions against Gaza today. Many attacks hit civilian homes and other objects, killing 31 Palestinians, including eight children. Among the civilian casualties are 13 civilians who were killed inside their homes. Since Wednesday 27 February 2008, IOF killed 61 persons and injured approximately 120.
Egypt begins pumping gas to Israel despite Gaza siege28 Feb 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rCAIRO, 29 February (IPS) – On Monday, Egypt began pumping natural gas to Israel in accordance with an energy accord between Cairo and Tel Aviv. While the Egyptian government defends the move as being in the country’s best interest, opposition figures decry the notion of economic cooperation with Israel, especially in light of the latter’s ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli minister threatens “holocaust” as public demand ceasefire talks28 Feb 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rIsraeli officials began damage limitation efforts after the country’s deputy defense minister Matan Vilnai threatened Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip with a “holocaust.” The comments came a day after Israeli occupation forces killed 31 Palestinians, nine of them children, one a six-month-old baby, in a series of air raids across the Gaza Strip. EI co-founder Ali Abunimah comments.
Israeli siege creates drinking water crisis in Gaza28 Feb 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rGaza’s drinking water crisis was aggravated over the past three days. In addition to the shortage of water supplies to households, the municipal authorities in the Gaza Strip ran out of materials essential for the treatment of water. The Palestinian Water Authority is now instructing Gaza’s people to boil the water at their homes before using it for cooking or drinking.
Gaza-Egypt border in political limbo28 Feb 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rCAIRO, 27 February (IPS) – One month after throngs of Palestinians flooded into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula from the Gaza Strip, the flashpoint Rafah border crossing remains tightly shut. But according to some opposition figures, the breach—viewed by many as a victory for Palestinian resistance faction Hamas—signaled the need for new border protocols consistent with shifting political realities.
Looking for a new Palestinian partner28 Feb 2008rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rAt Annapolis, just like on so many occasions before, it was proclaimed that a “window of opportunity” had opened. Since the meeting, Israel’s military attacks have killed nearly 150 Palestinians in the occupied territories and Israel has escalated the construction of new settlements, increased the number of roadblocks and tightened its siege of Gaza. But for Israeli leaders it is always the Palestinians who are to blame for missing any “opportunities.” EI contributor Hasan Abu Nimah comments.
Israeli missiles silence baby’s laughter in Gaza27 Feb 2008rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe innocent laughter of six-month-old baby Mohammed al-Bor’i stopped forever on Wednesday night when shrapnel from an Israeli missile and rubble struck the infant in the head, minutes after he enjoyed his last meal. “The baby sucked milk, he was playing with his mother; I was reading a book when a rocket hit the Ministry of Interior,” said Nasser al-Bor’i, the baby’s father. Sami Abu Salem reports from Gaza.
Gaza deaths mount as Israel intensifies military attacks27 Feb 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe Israeli Occupation Forces intensified their indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets in the Gaza Strip. Yesterday night and this morning saw intensive air strikes, six of which targeted government buildings and industrial and commercial facilities. As a result, eight persons were killed, including a four-month-old infant, and numerous homes were damaged.
Gaza medical center damaged in Israeli air strike27 Feb 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rJERUSALEM/GAZA, 28 February (IRIN) – A main office of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) was severely damaged in an Israeli air strike late on 27 February. A five-month-old baby was killed, and a mobile clinic unit and other medical supplies were destroyed in the attack.
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