A Village Mobilized: Lessons from Budrus12 Jun 2007The story of the village of Budrus is noteworthy because it reminds us that unarmed people are not powerless. Confronted with an Israeli plan to confiscate 1,000 dunums of village lands to erect a wall that would ultimately enclose area villages in a canton, Budrus residents put their bodies in front of the bulldozers that came to raze their farmlands. Unarmed, and abandoned to their fate by the increasingly useless and indifferent Palestinian Authority, the villagers quickly realized that the wall would stifle the area and make their lives unsustainable. EI contributor Ida Audeh interviews Budrus resident and activist Abd al-Nasser Marrar.
Patients killed as gunmen storm Gaza hospitals11 Jun 2007TEL AVIV, 12 June 2007 (IRIN) – Patients are dying in crossfire as hospitals have been overrun by gunmen in a new wave of Gaza violence, which the UN has warned is jeopardising the delivery of essential humanitarian aid. The violence has claimed 17 lives and ambulance teams are being prevented from evacuating the wounded from combat zones by checkpoints manned by armed fighters across the Strip, medical organisations said. Hamas stormed the hospitals because it was worried Fatah would target its wounded fighters.
No justice without right of return11 Jun 2007The following is a speech made by Dr. Mona El-Farra at a special meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York marking 40 years of occupation by Israel of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip: It is my honour to be amongst you today, despite the gravity of the occasion being commemorated, on this 40th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. First, let me say that 2007 is the 59th anniversary of the brutal occupation of the Palestinian people.
UNICEF estimates 20,000 children affected by conflict in camp11 Jun 2007BEDDAWI CAMP, 11 June 2007 (IRIN) – Seven-year-old Omar Mohammed Mallas may pretend the bombs and bullets that slammed into his home from the clashes outside did not scare him much, but spend a little time with the young resident of north Lebanon’s besieged Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, and he quietly confesses his fears. “I saw the tanks and heard the explosions and I told my Mum: ‘Let’s get out of here.’ On the way I found a piece of shrapnel that I liked but I’ve lost it now. I’m really looking forward to going home,” said Omar.
The Writing on the Wall11 Jun 2007Jamil Hilal’s book Where Now for Palestine, the Demise of the Two State Solution is like the biblical Daniel interpreting the writing on the wall. Thorough and compelling, this book contains eleven illuminating essays with razor sharp analysis on the current state of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the demise of the two-state solution. “The policy imperatives of political Zionism have been oriented towards occupying land with no, or the minimum of, Palestinians.” Hilal writes. EI contributor Miko Peled reviews.
Gaza battles kill 21, injure 15011 Jun 2007For the third consecutive day, Gaza City has witnessed unjustifiable violent internal fighting, and an atmosphere of tension has spread over Gaza that is not less violent than that which has spread as a result of the offensive that has been launched by Israeli Occupation Forces for nearly a month. Since Monday evening, violence has extended to most areas in the Gaza Strip from the north to the south, and militants have deployed in the streets, at the entrances of towns and near governmental headquarters and security compounds.
Testimony: Man used as human shield injured in Jenin camp10 Jun 2007I am a student at An-Najah University and live with my family in the entrance of the Jenin refugee camp. I was studying for my final exams on Tuesday, 15 May 2007 around 1:30am when I heard military vehicles coming into the neighborhood and parking in front of our house. The soldiers called to us on loudspeakers to leave the house. One of the vehicles stopped before our entrance, lighting up the house—I understood that the soldiers meant for us to leave. I went into my parents’ room and found them awake. I went to the front door and opened it, and the soldiers ordered everyone in the house to come out.
The Hariri tribunal: A fait accompli?10 Jun 2007The establishment of the tribunal for Lebanon as conceived in resolution 1757 also suffers from many legal and political imperfections. The question remains: would other possible alternatives—such as a tribunal established within Lebanon, which some Lebanese lawyers believe could have been accomplished whilst taking into account the peculiarities of the Lebanese legal system—be better? After all, the current deficiencies with the judicial system will not be ameliorated by the establishment of a new tribunal outside the country. Nisrine Abiad and Victor Kattan look at the legal aspects of the Hariri tribunal.
One in three Lebanese wants to leave10 Jun 2007BEIRUT, 10 June 2007 (IRIN) – Researchers warn that economic instability and persistent security threats are driving ever more young, educated Lebanese abroad, creating a brain drain that threatens the country’s economic and social future. “We’re suffering a huge brain drain,” Kamal Hamdan, head of the Lebanese Centre of Research and Studies, told IRIN. “Those who have the brains take their diplomas and leave. They are the young people who would go on to be middle executives and entrepreneurs. In the long term, their absence means we may face a serious shortage of policy developers and managers.”
Pressure mounts on Israel’s architects9 Jun 2007Just days before 5 June’s 40th anniversary of the start of the June 1967 war, some of the biggest names in British architecture signed a petition calling on Israeli architects and their fellow professionals to stop participating in the creation of “facts on the ground”, which obliterate the idea of a viable future Palestinian state. Susannah Tarbush follows the controversy that has surrounded the London-based Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine’s efforts to hold accountable their Israeli peers’ involvement in projects that make them complicit in the violation of Palestinians’ rights.
Three Flat Tires7 Jun 2007The Nahr al-Bared Relief Campaign loaded up a truck from its center in Shatila refugee camp in Beirut yesterday to take a shipment of baby formula, medicine, and food aid to Nahr al-Bared refugees in Baddawi refugee camp near Tripoli. There were three of us: our driver from Shatila, a Lebanese, and me, an American. The extra people in the car were there, in part, to ensure that our driver would not be picked up by the army and detained at a checkpoint for driving while Palestinian (think driving while Black in an American context), which is increasingly becoming a problem. Dr. Marcy Newman writes from Lebanon.
Water and Resistance7 Jun 2007The view from the Palestinian village of Nahhalin, in the west Bethlehem area, is sobering. This small village—along with the villages of Husan, Battir, Wadi Fuqin, and Al Walaja—are becoming more and more isolated from Bethlehem. As Israeli colonization in the Etzion bloc grows and as the Wall continues to cut deeply into the West Bank and strangle these communities, these Palestinian villagers have little access to the rest of the Israeli occupied West Bank. Even now, Israel is burrowing out a tunnel under the major settler bypass road running through the Etzion bloc. Timothy Seidel writes for EI.
Unexploded ordnance hampering aid deliveries to refugees6 Jun 2007BEIRUT, 7 June 2007 (IRIN) – Unexploded ordnance and booby-trapped buildings are hindering an already highly restricted relief effort trying to provide vital food and water and evacuate the injured from the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon. Up to 8,000 people remain caught in a deadly stand-off there between the military and Islamist militants. “It is becoming extremely difficult to mount relief operations, not only because of the deteriorating security conditions, but also because debris, rubble and unexploded ordnance on the camp’s roads are obstructing the way for ambulances and relief vehicles,” said Jordi Raich Curco, the ICRC head of delegation in Lebanon.
It’s not just the occupation6 Jun 2007“Forty years ago today was the last day the citizens of Israel were a free people in their own land,” wrote Ha’aretz columnist Akiva Eldar on June 4. “It was the last day we lived here without living other peoples’ lives.” This sums up the cherished mythology of what is still called the Israeli left and much of the international peace process industry—that prior to the 1967 war, Israel was pure and on the right path. EI’s Ali Abunimah challenges the idea that had Israel not “become an occupier” the region would have had a happier history.
Ban products with a criminal flavour6 Jun 2007In an organic grocery in Amsterdam, Natuurwinkel, which has 70 locations all over Holland, a customer noticed several Israeli fruits and vegetables on the shelves. The customer asked about the exact origin of the fruits and vegetables, but the manager of Natuurwinkel could not give a clear answer. Through the Internet the name of the director and importer to the Natuurwinkel chain, Udea—the leading Dutch wholesaler of organic and frozen products and trades with ten European countries—was found, and in several emails clarification was requested on the origin of the Israeli organic products.
Wilful Killing of 72-Year-Old Civilian by Israeli Forces in Hebron6 Jun 2007At approximately 12:20 am on Wednesday, 6 June 2007, a large Israeli military force, comprising at least 50 soldiers, came to the house of Yehia al-Jabari. Yehia, who was 72-years-old, lived with his family in a two-storey house in the B’er Haram area of Hebron city. Upon opening the front door of the house to the soldiers, Rajih al-Jabari, the 26-year-old son of Yehia, was dragged outside. Without any warning or justification, the Israeli soldiers began to beat Rajih, violently hitting his head against the wall of the house.
Ronnie Kasrils’ speech to S. African Parliament on 40th anniversary of occupation5 Jun 2007Forty years ago this week Israel’s military unleashed lightning attacks against Egypt, Jordan and Syria, alleging provocations as justification for its strikes. Within six days the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Golan Heights had been captured. Apart from the Sinai from which Israel withdrew in 1977, the other areas remain under Israeli military occupation and control to this day.
Where do I stand?5 Jun 2007A dear friend of mine told me yesterday that I’m taking sides. That it seems as if I’m condemning only one form of violence. I thank him for that note—it forces me to clarify my position. So, here is my position on what is happening now in Lebanon. I wholeheartedly condemn the attacks against the Lebanese Army. I find it especially abhorrent that many of these soldiers were not killed in “battle” but where actually killed in their sleep, and killed in a most brutal manner. EI contributor Rania Masri writes.
Audio: Crossing the Line interviews author Alex Lubin5 Jun 2007This week on Crossing the Line host Chris Brown speaks with Alex Lubin, an assistant professor of American Studies and the Director of Peace Studies at the University of New Mexico. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Promise Land: The “Orient” in African American Global Imaginary. Lubin’s research centers on the relationship between African Americans and the Arab World, in particular the Palestinians.
Interview: “There are more than 20 dead in our neighborhood”5 Jun 2007Sari Chreih and Razan Al-Ghazzawi interview Saleh Bhar, a medical doctor from Nahr al-Bared Refugee Camp: “During the first hours of the first day of the bombardment … my uncle died in his home when he was hit by one of the shells; he was with his two sons and one of his neighbors. ... My uncle’s wife was injured. I have many relatives who lost their houses. My cousin Amin Bhar, a dentist, lost his house. My other cousin, also a doctor, lost his house too. My cousins told me that my uncle’s neighbor, Raed el Shans, who was with him when his house was shelled, also died with my uncle.”
Defending Israel from democracy4 Jun 2007I have been arguing for some time that Israel’s ultimate goal is to create an ethnic fortress, a Jewish space in expanded borders from which all Palestinians—including its 1.2 million Palestinian citizens—will be excluded. That was the purpose of the Gaza disengagement and it is also the point of the wall snaking through the West Bank, effectively annexing to Israel what little is left of a potential Palestinian state. EI contributor Jonathan Cook writes that we are witnessing the first moves in Israel’s next phase of conquest of the Palestinians.
EI Download: 40th Anniversary of Occupation Flier3 Jun 2007This week marks the 40th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Demonstrations and commemorations are planned in different cities around the world to mark what has become the longest standing occupation in the world today and one which “the West” still supports through military aid and weapons sales. EI offers this flier as a means of highlighting the occupation’s impact on the the lives of those forced to live under it. Print and post it to help educate the public and to spread the word about EI.
Refugee Resentment Simmers as Fighting Escalates3 Jun 2007BADDAWI CAMP, Lebanon, Jun 4 (IPS) – Fighting escalated Sunday and Monday in Lebanon as the Sunni Islamic group Jund al-Asham attacked army positions outside Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, Ain al-Hilweh, in the south. Meanwhile, the top Palestinian leadership in Lebanon says it cannot guarantee it can control the reaction of the more than 400,000 Palestinians living in the 12 official refugee camps throughout the country if the Lebanese army’s all-out assault on the besieged Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in the north causes a heavy civilian death toll.
UNRWA appeals for $12.7m as camp clashes spread south3 Jun 2007BEIRUT, 4 June 2007 (IRIN) – The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) launched a global appeal for US$12.7 million on Monday in an effort to raise funds to meet the humanitarian needs of more than 27,000 Palestinians displaced from the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon. Since 20 May the Lebanese army has laid siege to the camp after Islamist militants from a relatively unknown group called Fatah al-Islam killed dozens of its soldiers. The army has intensified its bombardment of the camp since 1 June, describing its actions as the “beginning of the end”.
Die-in at Lebanese army checkpoint at Nahr al-Bared entrance3 Jun 2007We drove up to Baddawi refugee camp Sunday morning at the request of the women of Nahr al-Bared refugee camp who are now among the thousands of internally displaced Palestinians (IDPs) in Lebanon. They asked Lebanese and internationals to join them in a die-in at the southern checkpoint of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. We painted our t-shirts with red paint and we made signs in English and in Arabic; each sign had one of the seventeen known names of Palestinians who have died as a result of the Lebanese army’s siege of the Nahr al-Bared camp.
Electronic Intifada