Israel refuses to lift ban on family unification
20 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rJerusalem-born Firas al-Maraghi has been holding a hunger strike outside the Israeli embassy in Berlin, Germany, since 26 July, protesting a decision by the Israeli government to prevent his newborn daughter from being registered as a Jerusalem resident.

Youth re-imagine life through short films
20 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rPalestinian youth premiered nine short films at public screenings in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip last week. Forty youths worked in small groups during two parallel three-week workshops conducted in the al-Aroub and Jabaliya refugee camps during the month of July. Palestinian and international trainers facilitated the workshops through the participatory media program Voices Beyond Walls, in partnership with local youth community organizations.

Palestinians face movement restrictions during Ramadan
20 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rAZZUN ATMA, occupied northern West Bank (IPS) – For seven years Majda Abdul Qader Sheikh, 38, has not been allowed to visit the home of her parents, just a few hundred meters from her house. “I tried to get a special visitor’s permit for a quick visit during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan but I was refused,” says Sheikh, mother of seven children. “I have had no problems with the Israeli authorities, nor am I considered a security threat,” she added.

West Bank boycott campaign impacting settlement economy
19 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rGrassroots Palestinian boycott campaigns across the occupied West Bank to take Israeli settlement products off the shelves of local stores have made an impact on the Israeli settlement economy, to the unease of the Israeli government, noted the Israeli daily Haaretz this week.

Fighting expulsion and Western hypocrisy in Jerusalem
19 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rEarlier this summer, Israel arrested Muhammad Abu Tir, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and Hamas. Israel also ordered two other PLC members, Muhammad Totah and Ahmad Attoun and the Palestinian Authority’s former minister of Jerusalem affairs Khaled Abu Arafeh to leave their home town of Jerusalem. Rahela Mizrahi writes for The Electronic Intifada.

Al-Araqib residents fear fourth demolition
19 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rJERUSALEM (IPS) – On the eve of the start of Ramadan last week, Israeli police demolished the Bedouin village of al-Araqib in the Negev desert. It was the third time within two weeks that the village had been razed. Unfazed, the Bedouin villagers immediately began rebuilding.

India employing Israeli oppression tactics in Kashmir
19 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe 2010 summer in the disputed area of Jammu and Kashmir, administered by India, has been marked by popular protests by Kashmiris and crackdowns by India’s military. The stream of violence has left more than fifty dead, mostly young protestors. The situation in Kashmir has some parallels with Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, even borrowing the term intifada to describe the uprising. But the connection is more than analogy. Jimmy Johnson analyzes for The Electronic Intifada.

Turkey must oppose Uribe appointment to flotilla probe
18 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rMr. Prime Minister, it is an insult to the memory of those killed in the Israeli massacre against peace activists aboard the Mavi Marmara to have their blood “redeemed” by a man who has a record of violations against human rights and international law.

Chick Corea: don’t turn your back on Gaza!
18 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rWe are a group of students from Gaza, and our only fault is being Palestinians. For that, Mr. Corea, we are imprisoned with our families and loved ones in what major human rights organizations call the largest open air prison in modern history. The state you are planning to entertain committed a process of ethnic cleansing against the indigenous people in 1948.

Israel keeps evidence of ethnic cleansing locked away
18 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rHistory may be written by the victors, as Winston Churchill is said to have observed, but the opening up of archives can threaten a nation every bit as much as the unearthing of mass graves. That danger explains a decision quietly taken last month by Benjamin Netanyahu to extend by an additional 20 years the country’s 50-year rule for the release of sensitive documents. Jonathan Cook reports.

Israel’s multi-front war on Lebanese resistance
18 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rBorder clashes between Lebanon and Israel earlier this month, and Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s presentation of evidence that Israel may have assassinated Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005. are much more than a routine tug-of-war between two long-time foes. Hicham Safieddine analyzes for The Electronic Intifada.

UK, Irish artists saluted for principled boycott stance
18 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) salutes the British dance group Faithless for declining to play in Israel this summer. The cancellation of the group’s Israeli gig is the latest in a string of cancellations of performances in Israel by artists and musicians of conscience.

Students, boycott Israel’s propagandist youth festival!
18 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rOnce again, the Brand-Israel machine is in high gear, this time organizing a million-dollar international youth extravaganza in Eilat in September 2010 called “Funjoya.” This unabashed propaganda exercise is sponsored by the Israel Ministry of Tourism and the Israeli Student Union, among other official and semi-official bodies.

Arabs face increased discrimination at Tel Aviv University
17 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rMeasures designed to benefit Jewish school-leavers applying for places in Israeli higher education at the cost of their Palestinian Arab counterparts have been criticized by lawyers and human rights groups.

Economic and political pressures at Ramadan
17 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rHIRBET DEIR, occupied West Bank (IPS) – Ramadan, with its extra expense (families and friends hosted every evening for the festive iftar meal that breaks the daily fast) and shorter working hours, is a time when most Palestinians especially struggle to make ends meet.

Is Canada passing information on its citizens to Israel?
17 Aug 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rAs a national intelligence organization shrouded in secrecy, it is hard to know if the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) has been mandated to target Palestine solidarity activists. In the current political climate, however, it’s not surprising that CSIS officials view anyone defending Palestinian rights as a threat. Yves Engler analyzes for The Electronic Intifada.

Palestinian roots of Western civilization: an interview with Basem Ra’ad
16 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rBasem Ra’ad is a professor at Al-Quds University in occupied East Jerusalem. For the past two decades, he has been researching the ancient past of Palestine, much of which concerns the Western and Israeli appropriation of ancient languages and cultures, from the Canaanite alphabet to the Canaanite pantheon of gods and goddesses. Jonathan Scott spoke with Ra’ad for The Electronic Intifada.

Gaza’s record-breaking children
16 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rGaza’s kids truly are record-breakers. They survived Israel’s 2008-2009 winter invasion and every day they put up with a state of war during a so-called ceasefire. Smeared in blood, they’ve crawled through the rubble of shelled buildings, taking care of younger siblings, and tending to languishing parents, often emerging from under the remains of their own beds. Vittorio Arrigoni writes from the Gaza Strip.

Interview with “Salt of This Sea” star before nationwide premiere in NYC
11 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rSalt of This Sea (2008), Annemarie Jacir’s groundbreaking feature film, premieres in the US this week after two years on the road and winning over 20 awards in countless international film festivals. Nora Barrows-Friedman interviewed the film’s star, Suheir Hammad, for The Electronic Intifada.

Poisoning of Gaza water puts population at risk
11 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rBeyond tarnishing Gaza’s once pristine shores, the noxious consequences of the deterioration of the wastewater treatment operation in Gaza resulting from the closure hold much more grave implications: the Gaza Strip is, quite literally, being poisoned.

Palestine’s students call on PLO envoy to boycott South African Zionists
11 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rWe address you from occupied Palestine urging you to cancel your participation in an event hosted by the South African Union of Jewish Students entitled “Towards Peace in the Middle East—The Status of Current Democracy” at the University of the Witwatersrand on Thursday, 12 August 2010.

Hamas creates volunteer program for Gaza’s idle youth
10 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIsrael’s siege has had a disproportionate effect on Gaza’s youth. Over half of the Gaza Strip’s 1.5 million residents are under the age of 18, and thousands of young Gazans are unemployed. Hamas authorities in Gaza recently announced a voluntary employment program for Palestinian youth to get involved in their communities. Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip.

Gaza’s emergency services battered
10 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rGAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip – Outside the battered Civil Defense station in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya region, Mohammed Zidan, a seven-year veteran of fire-fighting and rescue services, stands on crutches in front of battered Civil Defense vehicles.

The “banality of evil” and Israel’s destruction of al-Araqib
10 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIn the early hours of 10 August, Israeli forces destroyed—for the third time—the Bedouin village of al-Araqib in the northern Negev desert. Israel had first destroyed the village on 27 July, and again each time the villagers have attempted to rebuild. Joseph Dana witnessed the latest destruction.

Words without Borders “dialogue” violates Palestinian boycott call
9 Aug 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rAn initiative recently launched by the prestigious online literature magazine Words without Borders entitled “Cross-Cultural-Dialogues in the Middle East,” rings alarm bells in light of the Palestinian civil society call for boycott divestment and sanctions on Israel. Haidar Eid comments.