Rights orgs: Israel’s Gaza investigation falls short of justice
12 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rInformation and material available to date suggest that the parties responsible for investigating the violations committed during the Gaza conflict have not met the standards prescribed by international instruments. The investigations carried out by the Israeli military authorities fall short of complying with international standards of proper investigations into alleged violations of international law.

Rights group targeted over Goldstone report
11 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rWASHINGTON (IPS) – A campaign of attacks against the New Israel Fund (NIF), a US-based progressive organization that supports human rights groups in Israel, has gained attention in both the Israeli and US media, raising questions about the role played by foreign non-profits and nongovernmental organizations in influencing Israeli government policy.

The end of sectarianism?
11 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rFifteen years of civil war followed by 20 years of civil strife have cemented the role of Lebanon’s leaders as bulwarks of their communities. If any serious sectarian reform begins to occur, hereditary inheritance and the defense of the tribe will cease to be sufficient reasons for these figures to retain their statuses. That is a prospect Lebanon’s politicians can hardly be expected to accept. Sami Halabi comments for Electronic Lebanon.

30 hours in Gaza
11 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rOne of my first glimpses of the Gaza Strip was a youth on a motorcycle who threw me his red kuffiyeh. “Remember me!” he shouted, before disappearing in a sea of flags. With a certain irony, it was the members of the Viva Palestina aid convoy who ended up playing the role of war victims as we finally rolled into Gaza on 6 January. We were still reeling from a clash with Egyptian police that left 60 injured the night before. Mohamed Madi writes from the Gaza Strip.

The Netanyahu-Fayyad “economic peace” one year on
10 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe results of the first year of Netanyahu’s economic peace are visible. While there has been no progress on the political front, security and economic cooperation with the PA has never been better. The American-trained security forces have kept a tight grip over West Bank towns squashing dissent and keeping “order.” Ziyaad Lunat comments for The Electronic Intifada.

The false sacredness of the 1967 border
10 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe Palestinian submission to US pressure that Israel’s large West Bank settlement blocs be annexed to Israel against a fictitious land swap is another vindication of the Israeli belief that facts created are facts accepted. But if West Bank land east of the 1967 border is still contested, so is Israeli land to the west. Hasan Abu Nimah comments.

Gaza’s energy crisis continues
10 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rRAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) – Pressure exerted on the Palestinian Authority by international and regional officials has given Gazans a last minute reprieve, albeit temporary, from plunging into darkness and plummeting temperatures. “The emergency has been temporarily halted after the PA released urgent funds to finance two fuel tankers entering Gaza on Sunday,” says Osama Dabou from Gaza’s Power Plant authority.

A mother’s grief
9 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rNejoud al-Ashqar is a 30-year-old mother from the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya. Two of her sons, Bilal, 5, and Mohammad, 6, were killed during Israel’s invasion of Gaza last winter. Al-Ashqar also lost her right arm in the assault. EI contributor Rami Almeghari writes from Gaza about the hardships endured by the al-Ashqar family since the Israeli invasion.

Jerusalem mayor to raze 200 Palestinian homes
9 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rJerusalem’s mayor threatened last week to demolish 200 homes in Palestinian neighborhoods of the city in an act even he conceded would probably bring long-simmering tensions over housing in East Jerusalem to a boil. His uncompromising stance is the latest stage in a protracted legal battle over a single building towering above the jumble of modest homes of Silwan. Jonathan Cook reports from Jerusalem.

United solidarity with Gaza
8 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rOnce the Gaza Freedom March arrived in Cairo I repeatedly heard justification that organizers did not want to put Egyptian protesters at risk. Yet, Egyptians regularly protest in Egypt despite the risks. For a group of outsiders to justify the exclusion of our involvement without asking our opinion—in spite of the good intentions of “protecting” us—felt paternalistic and demeaning. Philip Rizk comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Justice denied in Gaza
8 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rRAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) – Gazans hoping for a modicum of justice following Israel’s indiscriminate military assault on the coastal territory during December 2008 and January 2009—which left 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, dead—could be waiting in vain. The Israeli government has taken the offensive in the propaganda battle and attacked United Nations-appointed Justice Richard Goldstone’s report into war crimes committed during the war.

Israel slaps six-month travel ban on Palestinian map expert
5 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rCiting “security reasons”—the ubiquitous and unanswerable catch-all phrase against which it is almost impossible to mount any defense—Israel’s Ministry of the Interior has just issued a six-month travel ban on map expert Khalil Tafakji. Tafakji, like almost all other Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, is a “permanent resident,” but not a citizen of Israel. Marian Houk reports.

Pressure continues on Veolia and Alstom to halt light rail project
5 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rFrench transport giants Veolia and Alstom are involved in the construction and running of a light rail line which connects West Jerusalem to several illegal settlements in or surrounding occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem. The light rail project is part of the “Jerusalem Transportation Master Plan” sponsored by the Israeli government and the Jerusalem municipality. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Naseer Shamma and the music of resistance
4 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rCelebrated Iraqi musician Naseer Shamma plays emotive compositions in beautiful tones on the oud to major audiences across the Middle East, stirring musical reflections on human realities in US-occupied Iraq. Although Iraqi current affairs are clearly interwoven into Shamma’s sound, it is also unique musical talent that has earned Shamma a reputation as one of the world’s preeminent oud players. Stefan Christoff profiles Shamma for The Electronic Intifada.

Report: Israel stole $2 billion from Palestinian workers
4 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rOver the past four decades Israel has defrauded Palestinians working inside Israel of more than $2 billion by deducting from their salaries contributions for welfare benefits to which they were never entitled, Israeli economists have revealed. A new report, “State Robbery,” to be published later this month, says the “theft” continued even after the Palestinian Authority was established in 1994. Jonathan Cook reports.

Raze illegal buildings—unless they are Jewish
4 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rSILWAN, occupied East Jerusalem (IPS) – Backed by armed security men, the municipal inspectors race their jeeps through the narrow alleyways and up a hillside crowded with buildings. One block of flats stands out for its unusual seven-story height in an area of the city where two or three storied buildings are the norm. And then there is the giant, blue-and-white Israeli national flag draped demonstratively over the front of the building, from the roof down to the ground.

Nightmares continue to plague Gaza children
3 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rOCCUPIED GAZA STRIP (IRIN) – Mona al-Samouni, 12, is depressed and has nightmares about the day—just more than a year ago—when she witnessed her parents and a number of relatives being shot by Israeli soldiers in their home in Zeitoun, southeast of Gaza City. Like a number of other children who witnessed horrific events during last year’s 23-day Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, Mona has become increasingly withdrawn and silent—common ways of coping with tragedies, doctors say.

Pro-Israel lobbies target Europe
3 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rBRUSSELS (IPS) – Defenders of Israel’s aggressive stance have for many years been recognized as a powerful force shaping United States foreign policy. A less well-known fact is that the pro-Israel lobby has been making a concerted effort to strengthen its presence in Europe. The lobby’s determination to make an impression on European Union (EU) policy-makers was exemplified by a new booklet published on 28 January.

Canadian organization attacking Palestinian rights groups
3 Feb 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe Board of Directors of Rights & Democracy, a not-for-profit organization created by Canada’s parliament in 1988 to encourage and support human rights around the world, recently voted, with substantial objection, to repudiate grants given to Al-Haq and Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights, two well-known Palestinian human rights organizations located respectively in the West Bank and in Gaza.

Interview: “We need a new, united strategy as one people”
3 Feb 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA), based in Nazareth, is one of the first human rights organizations in Israel, founded during the first Palestinian intifada by lawyers and community activists to monitor human rights violations. The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof recently interviewed Mohammad Zeidan, the general director of HRA.

Palestinian politicians face tide of persecution in Israel
2 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rLeaders of the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel warned this week that they were facing an unprecedented campaign of persecution designed to stop their political activities. The warning came after Said Nafaa, a Druze member of the Israeli parliament was stripped of his immunity last week, clearing the way for him to be tried for a visit to Syria three years ago. Jonathan Cook reports.

Palestinians unfairly stripped of citizenship in Jordan
2 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rWASHINGTON, (IPS) – The Jordanian government should halt the arbitrary revocation of nationality from its citizens of Palestinian origin, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released Monday. The report, “Stateless Again: Palestinian-Origin Jordanians Deprived of their Nationality,” details the Jordanian government’s efforts to strip more than 2,700 Jordanians of their citizenship between 2004 and 2008.

“A different kind of occupation”: an interview with Elia Suleiman
1 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rNazareth-born filmmaker Elia Suleiman is one of the darlings of Cannes and stands out from the pack of contemporary Palestinian filmmakers for his unique style of filmmaking based on sewing together a series vignettes, silence—an emphasis on visual storytelling versus dialogue, and deadpan comedy found in often grim humor in the lives of everyday people living under the tyranny of what he calls a “pathetic occupation.” Sabah Haider recently interviewed Suleiman for The Electronic Intifada.

Carleton University students launch campus divestment campaign
1 Feb 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rFor the past several months, Students Against Israeli Apartheid – Carleton (SAIA), a student group at Carleton University in Ottawa that is committed to supporting the Palestinian struggle for freedom, has been conducting research on Carleton’s investments in Israeli apartheid. In light of its findings, SAIA has launched a campaign calling on Carleton to immediately divest from the offending corporations, as well as to adopt a socially responsible investment policy for all of its investments.

Hamas parliamentarian: “We accept existence of Israel within 1967 borders”
1 Feb 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rRAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) – Palestinian politics are at an impasse. The four-year term of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) ended on 25 January with no new elections planned. Presidential elections, meant to be held last year, were also postponed indefinitely. IPS spoke with Dr. Mahmoud Ramahi, a neurosurgeon and secretary-general of the PLC, on the political deadlock.