Pilgrims’ progress breaks Gaza siege8 Jan 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rCAIRO, 9 January (IPS) – More than 2,000 pilgrims have finally returned to the Gaza Strip via Egypt’s Rafah crossing after being stuck on the border for five days. The repatriation followed their staunch refusal to return home via alternate, Israeli-controlled border crossings. “The pilgrims’ insistence to cross via Rafah forced the Egyptian government to bring a quick resolution to the problem,” Magdi Hussein, secretary-general of Egypt’s frozen Socialist Labour Party and leader of the unofficial Committee to Break the Gaza Siege, told IPS.
On Veolia, Bernard Kouchner and humanitarian action8 Jan 2008rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rI am writing in response to Adri Nieuwhof’s various articles on Veolia Transport, and in particular her article on Institut Veolia Environment of 8 December 2006, in which she urges all international experts collaborating with the Institut to end their relationship with it. In the article, Nieuwhof comments: “It is likely that the international experts are not aware of Veolia’s involvement in the illegal tramline project in East Jerusalem. A number of them have a track record of respect for international law and human rights, for instance … Bernard Kouchner … founder of Medecins Sans Frontieres.”
An American President and the outposts of Zion8 Jan 2008rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThis week US President George W. Bush embarks on a tour of some of the US’ Middle East allies, including his first visit while in office to Israel. The trip has been presaged by a lot of media guesswork about what exactly Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will discuss, and one of the likely topics will apparently be the so-called “illegal outposts.” EI contributor Ben White finds that the recent focus on so-called “illegal outposts” risks clouding far more crucial issues that go to the heart of the conflict.
Crossing the Line features a speech by Michel Shehadeh7 Jan 2008rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThis week on Crossing The Line: host Christopher Brown airs a speech given by Palestinian activist Michel Shehadeh. Shehadeh was a member of what the media dubbed, the Los Angeles Eight (LA8), who were a group of individuals accused of aiding a member group of the Palestinian Liberation Organization which the US government considers a terrorist organization. Shehadeh spoke on 29 November 2007—the international day of solidarity with Palestine—in San Francisco about the Palestinian struggle for liberation.
Photostory: The month in pictures, December 20077 Jan 2008rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThis slideshow is a selection of images from the month of December 2007. 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.
A living martyr7 Jan 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr r”He insisted that we all take a photo; it was the first in the last 12 years since we got married, as if he was feeling his death was approaching,” says Ghada al-Khatib, widow of Awni al-Khatib at their home in al-Shati’ refugee camp in western Gaza City. Awni al-Khatib died a few days of the brain damage he suffered since 1990 when he was shot in the head by an Israeli-fired, rubber-coated steel bullet. Awni is one of thousands of Palestinians who sustained injuries from such bullets during the first intifada that broke out in 1987. EI correspondent Rami Almeghari reports from Gaza’s Shati’ refugee camp.
In Memoriam: Dr. Ahmad Maslamani7 Jan 2008rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe morning of 7 January 2008, Dr. Ahmad Maslamani, a leading national figure in the Palestinian grassroots struggle against the occupation, passed away as a result of a heart attack. In 1985 he was a founder member of the Union of Health Work Committees, where he was director from 1992. From 2004, he was a member of the steering committee of the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign. He was a member of the central committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
“Injustice every day”: An interview with Leila Khaled6 Jan 2008rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rOne of the most legendary figures of the Palestinian struggle for national liberation, Leila Khaled was recently in the Palestinian refugee camps of northern Lebanon. Visiting for the first time since last summer’s battle between the non-Palestinian Islamist group Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese army, during which the Nahr al-Bared camp was destroyed, Khaled sat down with EI editor Matthew Cassel to discuss Annapolis, Nahr al-Bared, and how the Palestinian movement must move forward.
Two Palestinian villages ask Susan Sarandon to repudiate Leviev6 Jan 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rDear Ms. Sarandon, We felt sorrow when we learned that you accepted Lev Leviev’s invitation to attend the opening night event for his new jewelry store in New York City on 13 November while our friends protested outside, because we respect you for your support for human rights, your courage in speaking since 2002 against the US war on Iraq, and for your many other honorable public positions. Lev Leviev is building Israeli settlements on Bil’in and Jayyous’ land. Mohammed Khatib and Sharif Omar write to the famed actress.
Evidence of Israel’s “cowardly blending” comes to light6 Jan 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rIt apparently never occurred to anyone in our leading human rights organizations or the Western media that the same moral and legal standards ought be applied to the behavior of Israel and Hizballah during the war on Lebanon 18 months ago. Belatedly, an important effort has been made to set that right. Jonathan Cook comments on a new report that unearths evidence that Israel committed war crimes not only against Lebanese civilians but also against its own Arab citizens.
Closure forces two women to give birth in cars6 Jan 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe village of ‘Azzun ‘Atmah is cut off from the rest of the West Bank by the separation barrier. State officials say the village was made into an enclave primarily to place the Sha’are Tikva settlement on the “Israeli” side of the barrier. The only way the residents can get to the rest of the West Bank is through a gate in the barrier that is open only part of the day. When it is closed, soldiers remain in the guard tower by the gate. When residents need to leave the village for any purpose, including medical treatment, they have to call to the soldiers and beg them to open the gate.
Christian Zionists gain Israel’s inner sanctum5 Jan 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rOAKLAND, California, 3 Jan (IPS) – After raising more than two hundred million dollars for various projects in Israel, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), the organization he founded and is president of, has hit pay-dirt. In late December, the Jewish Agency for Israel, which helped found the state of Israel, announced that the IFCJ “will be declared a funding partner of the Jewish Agency … [and] Eckstein will … receive new voting powers that will include spots on the committees that oversee the agency’s budget and that meet with the prime minister and his Cabinet,” the Jewish daily Forward reported.
Eight Gazans killed, 17 injured in ongoing Israeli attacks2 Jan 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rIsraeli occupation forces (IOF) escalated their offensive against the Gaza Strip, killing eight Palestinians and injuring 17 others in various attacks throughout the Strip. The IOF carried out air strikes in different areas. It carried out an artillery attack on a house belonging to the Fayad family in Khan Younis, killing three brothers, their mother, and a fifth family member. Two civilian cars in northern and middle Gaza Strip were also bombarded, but no injuries were reported.
Fatah-Hamas violence claims seven in Gaza2 Jan 2008rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rViolence erupted after the government in Gaza banned celebrations to mark the 1 January anniversary of the establishment of the Fatah movement, in what appears to have been a response to the ban imposed by the government in Ramallah on Hamas marking the 14 December anniversary of the establishment of Hamas in the West Bank. In the lead up to the Fatah anniversary, police and Hamas gunmen in Gaza launched a campaign of arrests of Fatah activists and searched Fatah offices and the homes of people affiliated with Fatah.
Rights org: Israeli soldiers escape indictment2 Jan 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rA 5-page Data Sheet released by Yesh Din reveals Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) failure to investigate and indict its soldiers involved in criminal offenses against Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories. IDF statistics, provided to Yesh Din at the organization’s demand, on results of Military Police investigations of criminal offenses in which IDF soldiers harmed Palestinians and their property since the beginning of the second intifada in September 2000 until June 2007, show that some 90 percent of these investigation files were closed with no indictment.
Israeli forces kill 15 Palestinians in Gaza in less than a week1 Jan 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have continued to escalate their attacks on the Gaza Strip. Seven Palestinians were killed in an IOF air strike and incursion yesterday evening, raising the number of victims since Thursday 27 December 2007 to 15 killed and 17 injured in the Gaza Strip.
Border politics leaves Palestinians stranded1 Jan 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rCAIRO, Jan 2 (IPS) – Hundreds of Palestinians still remain stranded on the Egyptian side of the border following last summer’s closure of the Rafah crossing between Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. Their uncertain circumstances have come to reflect the complex politics between Cairo, Tel Aviv, the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and Palestinian resistance faction Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Ungenerous occupier: Israel’s Camp David exposed1 Jan 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rAfter seven years of rumors and self-serving memoirs, the Israeli media has finally published extracts from an official source about the Camp David negotiations in summer 2000. For the first time it is possible to gauge with some certainty the extent of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s “generous offer” to the Palestinians and Yasser Arafat’s reasons for rejecting it. In addition, the document provides valuable insights into what larger goals Israel hoped to achieve at Camp David and how similar ambitions are driving its policies to this day. Jonathan Cook analyzes the document for EI.
When is it the Palestinians’ turn?1 Jan 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe four of us sat in the tight confines of a shop nestled in the curving alleyways of Shatila, a Palestinian refugee camp established to house those whose families fled historical Palestine in 1948. Twenty-five years ago this then little-known camp—along with a nearby area called Sabra—was also the site of a bloody massacre that left more than 2,000 Palestinians dead at the hands of Phalangist militias backed by the Israeli army. EI contributor Christopher Brown writes from the Shatila refugee camp.
Aida camp residents say wall harming their livelihoods31 Dec 2007rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rAIDA REFUGEE CAMP, BETHLEHEM, 31 December (IRIN) – Behind a luxurious five-star hotel and close to Bethlehem, yet unknown to most visitors who converged on nearby Manger Square for the recent Christmas mass, residents of Aida refugee camp—home to nearly 5,000 people—say their lives have been adversely affected by the Israeli restrictions on movement, in particular the barrier built around the city.
Hajj pilgrims stranded in Egypt31 Dec 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr r”We are in a prison. Our situation is so miserable in the arena the Egyptian authorities have placed us in. Yesterday a 45-year-old woman pilgrim died in front of us,” says Nayef al-Khaldi. The 55-year-old al-Khaldi is stuck at an arena turned into a shelter at the Egyptian border town at al-Arish along with more than 1,100 other Palestinians following the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The pilgrims refused Egypt’s demands that they return to Gaza through an Israeli-controlled border crossing, fearing that they would be vulnerable to arrest and interrogation. Rami Almeghari reports from Gaza.
Pollution without borders31 Dec 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rBEER SHEBA/RAMALLAH, 30 December 2007 (IRIN) – In what should be a dry river bed at this time of year, grey water flows, revealing the extent to which the River Hebron, which runs from the West Bank into Israel, is polluted. The stench underlines the problem. “Most transboundary streams in the region are contaminated and characterized by widespread pollution from Palestinian sources [typically raw sewage], as well as a variety of … sources from within Israel.”
B’Tselem: 373 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in 200730 Dec 2007rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rB’Tselem today releases its year-end report. According to B’Tselem data, the number of Israelis and Palestinians killed in clashes in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip dropped. However, there has been deterioration in many other measures of the human rights situation in the occupied territories. The primary one is the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, which has declined to an all time low, following Israel’s siege on the area.
Democracy: An existential threat?29 Dec 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rAs two of the authors of a recent document advocating a one-state solution to the Arab-Israeli colonial conflict we emphatically intended to generate debate. Predictably, Zionists decried the proclamation as yet another proof of the unwavering devotion of Palestinian—and some radical Israeli—intellectuals to the “destruction of Israel.” Some pro-Palestinian activists accused us of forsaking immediate and critical Palestinian rights in the quest of a “utopian” dream. Ali Abunimah and Omar Barghouti comment.
Palestinian dies in Israeli detention29 Dec 2007rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rPalestinian prisoner Fadi Abd al-Latif Abu al-Rob (21) from the town of Qabatia near Jenin died in the Israeli prison of Jalbou’ on the evening of 28 December 2007. The prisoner was a member of Islamic Jihad detained on 29 June 2007. According to information gathered by PCHR, Fadi suffered an illness on the morning of the day he died. He was transferred to the prison clinic. However, his condition deteriorated and the Israeli Prisons Authority announced his death in the evening without specifying the cause.
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