“This is life:” remembering earlier massacres in Gaza
14 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr r”This is the first time I’ve returned here since my friends were killed,” Ahmad Hammad says. He stands at the edge of a vacant plot and gestures to its far end which lies over 1 km from the border separating Israel and the Gaza Strip. Hammad, 24, recalls the day two years ago when three of his friends were torn apart by an Israeli-fired surface-to-surface missile. Eva Bartlett writes from the Gaza Strip.

Human rights defenders Mohammad Othman and Jamal Juma released
14 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rOn 13 January 2010, Mohammad Othman and Jamal Juma, Palestinian human rights defenders active in the campaign against the annexation wall unlawfully constructed by Israel in occupied Palestinian territory, were finally released from Israeli detention. Addameer and Stop the Wall contend that both were arrested in an effort to curb the success of their peaceful activities in defense of Palestinian human rights.

The United States, Israel and the retreat of freedom
14 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rA new report by Freedom House, a US-government funded think tank, suggests US interference around the world makes countries less free. Despite this, it calls for even more US intervention. The report’s approach also provides a stark example of the abyss liberal thinking has fallen into when it comes to ignoring Israel’s systematic abuses and presenting the country as an idealized democracy. EI’s Ali Abunimah comments.

Israel ratcheting up the pressure on Gaza
13 Jan 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rEven if the Iron Dome missile-defense system unveiled by Israel last week is little more than a new development in Israel’s program of psychological warfare against Gaza, the pressure is most definitely building on Hamas on several fronts. Israel has significantly tightened its chokehold on the enclave over the past year. Jonathan Cook reports.

A second Gaza war around the corner?
13 Jan 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rIsrael’s recent aggressions look ominously like the 4 November 2008 attack on Gaza, which killed six persons and shattered the four-month-long truce meticulously respected by Hamas. Predictably, Hamas and other factions retaliated for that Israeli provocation and then Israel used their response to justify its massacre of 1,400 people in Gaza this time last year. Hasan Abu Nimah comments.

Bono: Don’t cross Palestine’s picket line
13 Jan 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 to Bono: Your appearance in Israel would lend to its well-oiled campaign to whitewash all the above grave violations of international law and basic human rights through “re-branding” itself as a liberal nation enjoying membership in the Western club of democracies.

Don’t forget Free Gaza Movement women
12 Jan 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rAlthough I appreciate Asa Winstanley’s warm review of To Gaza with Love (4 January 2010), he left out every woman involved in the organization and founding of the Free Gaza Movement. I’m dismayed that the review shows yet another attempt to turn the story into a “good-old boy tale” instead of what was a primarily a female initiative.

Making a business out of Palestine’s struggle
12 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rSoliciting the support of people in the US-based Palestine solidarity movement, Palestine Note recently launched a new website that aspires to become the online hub for all things Palestine. While the website announces its dedication to “news, stories and views about Palestine and Palestinians,” and its aspiration to become a “cultivator of community,” The Electronic Intifada contributor Yaman Salahi finds there is more behind the enterprise than meets the eye.

Nablus executions: Shoot first, ask questions later
11 Jan 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe brutal killing of three Palestinian men by Israeli military forces in Nablus last week on 26 December 2009 sparked grief and outrage across Palestine and brought the northern West Bank city to a standstill as thousands mourned the lethal attack. However, their voices are drowned out yet again by a well-played hand of Israel’s propaganda machine and repeated by the mainstream media. Bridget Chappell writes from Nablus.

Uphill battle for academic freedom in US universities
11 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rDespite the expanding and momentous student-led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, open dialogue around the reality of the situation in occupied Palestine continues to be an uphill battle for many professors inside the classrooms. Nora Barrows-Friedman reports on recent cases of academic freedom infringement for The Electronic Intifada.

Church in hot water over Jerusalem land sales
11 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rRAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) – Israel’s bid to keep occupied East Jerusalem under its sovereignty and prevent its incorporation into a future Palestinian state has been boosted over the years with the acquiescence of the Greek Orthodox Church. The church’s sale of politically sensitive land in East Jerusalem under dubious circumstances and amidst charges of political blackmail have caused outrage amongst Greek Orthodox Palestinians and threatened to split the church.

Interview: Disabled activist continues struggle in Bilin
11 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre interviews disabled Palestinian grassroots activist Rani Bornat: “These are peaceful protests; if we don’t fight for our land, then who can? If we don’t fight for the truth, then who can? If we don’t stand side by side and resist this occupation together, then who can? Peaceful demonstrations don’t hurt or kill anybody; they are only there to serve the oppressed. We must tear down this wall, so that we can live with peace … and freedom.”

Imprisonment as political pressure: Addameer’s Sahar Francis interviewed
8 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe Palestinian nongovernmental organization Addameer was founded in 1992 to promote and protect the rights of political prisoners. The Electronic Intifada interviewed Sahar Francis, a human rights lawyer and the director of Addameer, about the recent repression wave targeting Palestinian human rights activists protesting Israel’s wall in the occupied West Bank.

Will Egypt’s underground wall end the Gaza tunnel trade?
8 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rA subterranean wall being built by Egypt along its border with Gaza is meant to hack the tunnel structures, which extend from the Egyptian side of the border to the Gaza’s side for distances that range between 400 meters and 1,700 meters. With many prohibitions on the ground, the tunnels have become a lucrative underground alternative. The wall construction portrays the depth of this underground urbanism, bringing the conflict between smugglers and the security to the forefront. Lina Attalah reports.

Miss Palestine’s mistaken rebellion
8 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rOne of the travesties of living in a colonized environment is that the inferior, or oppressed, aspire to win admittance to the Western world. There seems to be an emerging trend of this type of appeasement, where submission has replaced the revolution. The introduction to spectacles, like the breaking of a Guinness record for the largest plate of kanafeh and the search for a national beauty queen, are just two examples of absurd practices are coming to be seen as normal in Palestinian cities. Sousan Hammad comments for The Electronic Intifada.

“No army, no prison and no wall can stop us”
7 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rI mark the beginning of the new decade imprisoned in a military detention camp. Nevertheless, from within the occupation′s holding cell I meet the New Year with determination and hope. I know that Israel’s military campaign to imprison the leadership of the Palestinian popular struggle shows that our nonviolent struggle is effective. Abdallah Abu Rahmah writes from the Ofer Military Detention Camp.

My husband: jailed for protesting Israel’s wall
7 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rOn International Human Rights Day in 2008, my husband Abdallah Abu Rahmah was in Berlin receiving a medal from the World Association for Human Rights. Last year on the same day, 10 December, Abdallah was taken away at 2am by Israeli soldiers who broke into our West Bank home. Abdallah was arrested for the same reasons he received the prize—his nonviolent struggle for justice, equality and peace in Palestine/Israel. Majida Abu Rahmah comments.

Gaza Freedom March: detained at the US embassy
7 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rOn the afternoon of 28 December 2009, I was with several persons who accompanied CODEPINK cofounder Jodie Evans to the US Embassy in Cairo to present a letter from Massachusetts Senator John Kerry in which he expressed “strong support” for citizens of his state who were traveling to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and requesting they be given “every courtesy.” Ali Abunimah writes about being detained at the US embassy in Cairo.

Gaza Freedom March marches in Cairo against blockade
6 Jan 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe international delegation of the Gaza Freedom March originally planned to arrive in Gaza on 29 December 2009 to join a march against the Israeli blockade together with residents of Gaza two days later. Instead, most of its delegates remained in Cairo, having been blocked from going to the Rafah border by the Egyptian government, and instead marched against the Egyptian blockade on Gaza. Sharat G. Lin gives an account of the Gaza Freedom March from Cairo for The Electronic Intifada.

A year after losing a father and sons, a Gaza family copes
6 Jan 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rFathiya Abu Jbara lost her husband and two sons in an Israeli air strike on the family home during Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip last winter. The Electronic Intifada correspondent Rami Almeghari reported on the strike a few days after the attack and one year later, visits the family again to see how they are coping.

Photostory: Commemorating the assault on Gaza
5 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rApproximately one year ago, Israel unleashed its assault on the Gaza Strip—amidst its ongoing siege and occupation—killing more than 1,400 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians. Thirteen Israelis were killed during the attacks, most of them soldiers. The attacks sparked mass demonstrations around the world in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The following images are from around the one year anniversary, when many groups around the world again led demonstrations to show their continued solidarity with Palestine.

Gaza and the path to accountability
5 Jan 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe US, UK and Canadian governments are all embroiled in attempts to immunize themselves from accountability under international law for their own actions in the so-called War on Terror. Protecting Israel from international law has therefore acquired an added urgency, not only in the interests of the Zionist regime, but also in the interests of the US and its two staunchest allies in the War on Terror, Britain and Canada, to remain beyond the reach of international law. Sunera Thobani comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Gaza Freedom Marchers issue the “Cairo Declaration” to end Israeli apartheid
4 Jan 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rGaza Freedom Marchers have approved a declaration aimed at accelerating the global campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israeli apartheid, calling for a global mass, democratic anti-apartheid movement to work in full consultation with Palestinian civil society to implement the Palestinian call for BDS.

Unbreakable in Cairo
4 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThough I have lived most of my life in and around Chicago, it has never been my complete home. My sisters and I were born as first-generation Palestinian-Americans coming from Kuwait and for this reason our lives in Chicago always felt temporary—we were only supposed to stay until the Gulf War was over, we finished school, the occupation ended, the siege was broken, etc. The only accepted rhetoric about our presence in America was and continues to be, “This is not our home, we are from Gaza.” Dana Elborno writes from Cairo.

Sailing into trouble: “To Gaza with Love” reviewed
4 Jan 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rTo Gaza with Love is a documentary by Aki Nawaz for Iran’s English-language channel Press TV. It is an account of the first boats that successfully broke the siege of Gaza in August 2008. The filmmakers traveled to the Gaza Strip with the Free Gaza Movement, which organized the trip. Asa Winstanley reviews for The Electronic Intifada.