Audio: Crossing the Line interviews Professor Don Wagner9 Sep 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThis week on Crossing The Line: Host Christopher Brown attends the Sabeel Conference in Berkeley, California organized by various North American Christian groups working for justice and peace in Palestine. Brown speaks with Don Wagner, professor of Middle Eastern Studies at North Park University in Chicago, about the rise of Christian Zionism and its effect on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Report: Israel plundering the Jordan Valley6 Sep 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rAgrexco has become a target in international campaigns for a boycott of Israeli goods. Fruit and vegetable exporter Agrexco is fifty-percent owned by the Israeli state, and is responsible for the export of 60-70 percent of all settlement produce, including that from the Jordan Valley. The report “To exist is to Resist, Eye on the Jordan Valley” was recently published by MA’AN Development Center and the Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign and offers detailed information on the ongoing Israeli colonization of the highly fertile lands of the Jordan Valley.
Book review: “The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy”6 Sep 2007rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy by professors John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt weighs in with 106 pages of endnotes. The controversial tome challenging the might of the pro-Israel lobby is nonetheless accused of “shoddy scholarship”—much as when the authors’ shorter paper on the subject in 2006 unexpectedly burst the bubble of a lobby unaccustomed to challenge and reprimand. However, EI contributor Michael F. Brown finds that the heavy-hitting academics did not suddenly lose their intellectual acumen in penning this well-reasoned criticism of the Israel lobby.
What’s next for Nahr al-Bared5 Sep 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rVictory celebrations are dominating the Lebanese airwaves for the foreseeable future and presidential election “campaigns” here are in full swing. The issue of reconstructing the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp will never see the light of day in any of the Lebanese media outlets, whether pro-government or opposition—just like the humanitarian crisis at Baddawi refugee camp has failed to capture any front page headlines over the past three months. Jamal Ghosn comments.
Legal victory in struggle against wall5 Sep 2007rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rOn Tuesday, the Israeli high court decided in favor of a petition drawn up by the Palestinian villagers of Bil’in in the occupied West Bank to change the current route of the illegal apartheid wall which encircles the small village. For years, residents of Bil’in, along with international and Israeli activists, have led nonviolent resistance actions every week against the encroaching wall and the illegal settlement colonies that expand on a daily basis on their land. Nora Barrows-Friedman reports for EI.
Sarah, Mahmoud and Yehya4 Sep 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rSarah Abu Ghazal’s school uniform still lay on her mattress, untouched as she had left it before running out after her cousins Mahmoud and Yehya Abu Ghazal on Wednesday, 29 August. She was to begin the fourth grade on 2 September, but her friend Amani, who has accompanied her to school since the first grade, would walk alone this year. Sarah’s mother had bought her the blue school uniform, blue jeans and the black shoes just the day before she was killed by Israel tank fire. Her mother waited until the last minute to buy Sarah’s school supplies because she was waiting for her husband’s salary which he had not received since June.
Hamas flag goes up in Lebanon camps4 Sep 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rBADDAWI CAMP, Lebanon, 5 September (IPS) – There is a new look to the entrance of the Palestinian refugee camp Baddawi in northern Lebanon. Hanging above the armed man who guards the entrance are posters of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the slain spiritual leader of Hamas, and other fighters from the Palestinian guerrilla group. Nearby, a huge Hamas banner covers the side of a house, and down the road Hamas flags flutter in the wind.
Call to halt EU trade with Israel3 Sep 2007rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rBRUSSELS, Sep 1 (IPS) – Trade between the European Union and Israel should be halted in protest at human rights violations in the Palestinian territories, a United Nations conference has heard. Under a so-called association agreement, Israel currently enjoys free trade in industrial goods, and preferential treatment of farm produce entering the European Union. Luisa Morgantini, a vice-president of the European Parliament, said that her institution has called for this agreement to be suspended.
“How will I care for my children?”2 Sep 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr r”May God close the eyes of anyone who attempts to shut down the al-Salah charitable society that provides us our living.” So said Halima Abu ‘Isa, a 45-year-old widow and mother of two in reaction to the decision of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah to close down 103 Palestinian charities. The monthly allowance of 900 shekels (US $230) that Abu ‘Isa receives from al-Salah, an Islamic charity with links to Hamas, is the only thing that stands between her and destitution. EI correspondent Rami Almeghari reports on how the decision will affect her and thousands of other charity-dependant Palestinians.
Heritage uprooted2 Sep 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rUniversally regarded as the symbol of peace, the olive tree has become the object of violence. For more than forty years, Israel has uprooted over one million olive trees and hundreds of thousands of fruit trees in Palestine with terrible economic and ecological consequences for the Palestinian people. Their willful destruction has so threatened Palestinian culture, heritage and identity that the olive tree has now become the symbol of Palestinian steadfastness because of its own rootedness and ability to survive in a land where water is perennially scarce. Sonja Karkar comments for EI.
One killed, 21 injured in Gaza clashes1 Sep 2007rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe Gaza Strip saw much tension during the past two days. One Palestinian was killed, 21 were injured and about 60 others arrested in the towns of Rafah and Gaza City. Mass Friday prayers on 31 August 2007 ended with clashes between the Executive Force (EF) and a group of the worshippers, who prayed outside mosques in response to a call from Fatah. In addition, a minor was killed on Saturday, 1 September 2007 as the EF dispersed a vigil that was organized in protest of the prolonged closure of the Rafah Crossing.
Open door to boycott debate and uphold academic freedom1 Sep 2007rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rWhile British colleagues prepare to discuss the Palestinian boycott call and consider the implications of normal academic links with the Israeli academy during the coming academic year, a disturbing development has been noted in the United States and Canada. No sooner had the UK’s University and College Union motion deploring the denial of educaitonal rights for Palestinans been passed than dozens of American and Canadian university presidents and rectors rushed to condemn the Union, basing their attacks on mostly false or inaccurate data.
UN body: Palestinians under “economic siege”30 Aug 2007rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rBRUSSELS, 31 August (IPS) – Poverty in the Palestinian territories has reached “unprecedented levels” because they have been held under an “economic siege” for almost seven years, a United Nations body has found. During 2006 the number of Palestinians living in “deep poverty” almost doubled to more than 1 million. Some 46 percent of public sector employees do not have enough food to meet their basic needs, with 53 percent of households in Gaza reporting that their incomes declined in the last year by more than half.
Shameless30 Aug 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rOver the past two months a coalition has formed around Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in an attempt to bolster his rule. Desperate to maintain his hold on power, Abbas has chosen to forgo national unity and rely on support from the U.S. and Israel to tighten his hold on the West Bank and target Gaza. Abbas and his benefactors have made it clear to the residents of Gaza that only by abandoning Hamas will the siege be lifted. In the interim, any deaths or starvation, while regrettable, are the requisite price to maintain Abbas’ presidency and the position of his cronies.
Israeli forces kill three children, arrest 13 in Gaza29 Aug 2007rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) has escalated its aggression against the Gaza Strip. The IOF, which has full control and clear sight over the borders, killed three children and arrested 13 civilians yesterday. According to field investigations by Al Mezan, at approximately 5.10pm on Wednesday 29 August 2007, the IOF fired one missile that landed where three children were playing near their homes by the Industrial Zone, which is only two kilometers from the borderline to the south of the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun.
PA set to close 103 Palestinian NGOs29 Aug 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) is extremely concerned by the decision taken by the Interior Minister in the Palestinian Government in Ramallah to dissolve 103 benevolent associations and non-governmental organizations alleging administrative, financial, or legal violations. PCHR fears that this step is taken within the context of recent restrictions placed on civil society to undermine its role and restrict its work under the “State of Emergency” declared on 14 June 2007 in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Not another international force29 Aug 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rCAIRO, 27 August (IPS) – Since the Gaza Strip was taken over by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas in June, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has twice appealed for the deployment of an “international force” to the troubled territory. But with international contingents already deployed in hotspots from Lebanon to Afghanistan, some observers see the trend as a challenge to principles of national sovereignty. “The phenomenon represents a return of the region to the foreign colonialism of days past, albeit in a new, internationalized form,” Abdel-Halim Kandil, political analyst and former editor-in-chief of opposition weekly al-Karama told IPS.
Audio: Crossing the Line interviews ARIJ director Jad Isaac28 Aug 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThis week on Crossing The Line: Host Christopher Brown speaks to Jad Isaac the director of the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ), a Palestinian environmental non-governmental organization based in Bethlehem, about the crucial issue of water and how the Israelis have continually denied Palestinians access to a life source that they desperately need. Next, Brown speaks with Nachy Kanfer a Canadian-American environmental activist about the need for Palestinians to determine their own destiny with regards to Palestine’s natural resources.
Bureaucratic dispossession28 Aug 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rOn 20 August 2007, a story appeared in the Israeli daily Haaretz about the disputed ownership of a piece of land in East Jerusalem. The “land in question,” the report said, is “an olive grove called Kerem Hamufti” and part of the “Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.” [1] According to Haaretz, the “Israel Lands Administration is working together with the Ateret Cohanim association to wrest from Palestinian landowners control of 30 dunams (7.5 acres) of land in East Jerusalem and to transfer it to the association without a tender.”
Is this Jericho or Hell?27 Aug 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rMy husband and I left Amman at dawn with our three-month-old-son, and arrived at the Jordanian border control just after 8am. From there its a few minutes’ drive to the Israeli section of the border, then three-and-a-half hours of sitting in a sweltering hot bus waiting at the entrance to the border compound. It was 40 degrees celsius outside, and the stationary bus was like a greenhouse. Inside the compound, Israeli officers took me to one side as I was going through the x-ray. What followed was seven hours of waiting and wondering.
Exhibition: “Lebanon: Open Skies of Struggle”26 Aug 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIn the context of historical political events occurring in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East, photojournalist Stefan Christoff is currently touring a photo exhibition entitled Lebanon: Open Skies of Struggle. Christoff, who is a regular contributor to The Electronic Intifada, was interviewed by Montreal-based independent journalist Mostafa Heneway on the current Lebanon exhibition traveling across Canadian galleries.
The ongoing Nakba: Sickness and health among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon26 Aug 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rPublic health expert Michael Marmot underlines the relation between health and two fundamental human needs: autonomy and full social participation, adding that “deprived of a clean safe neighborhood, meaningful work, freedom from police harassment and arrest, and freedoms from violence and aggression, it is harder to have control over one’s life or be a full social participant.” [1] The values Marmot describes are ones that camp refugees in Lebanon—like Palestinians in many other places—do not have. Rosemary Sayigh analyzes the impact of the political situation on the health rights of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
Ban on truckloads of paper set to hit Gaza schools26 Aug 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rJERUSALEM, 26 August 2007 (IRIN) – The Israeli ban on deliveries of paper to Gaza is not only threatening to create a shortage of textbooks in the Strip but also shining a spotlight on what constitutes legitimate humanitarian aid. Israel is allowing in food, medicines and fuel, which it sees as essential aid, but not paper, even though many would see education as a vital sector in need of all the support it can get.
What do Palestinians really think?26 Aug 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr r”Palestinian poll finds support for Fatah government over Hamas.” That headline from the International Herald Tribune, one of many similar ones last week, must have warmed the hearts of supporters of the illegal, unelected and Israeli-backed Ramallah “government” of Salam Fayyad. Last June Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas and the national unity government he headed, and appointed Fayyad without the legally required endorsement of the Palestinian legislative council.
The next intifada23 Aug 2007rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rWith his latest statements and unrestrained violence, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, has once again confirmed that the occupation, the oppression and the slow genocide of Palestinians by the Israeli war machine he heads will not stop. Any talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders are meaningless he says, and as far as he is concerned there will be no relief for the Palestinians, not even symbolic relief for people trying to cross the checkpoints. After all, even a short delay at the checkpoint can put an end to the life on an innocent Palestinian.
Electronic Intifada