Israel threatening, arresting and deporting to crush dissent
21 Jan 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rRAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) – Israel is lashing out at international criticism and attempting to crush local dissent in what appears to be growing sensitivity to reproach of its policies. Several recent incidents have dominated media headlines, including the arrest of a Jewish-American journalist on the grounds of security, threats by an Israeli minister against international diplomats and the arrest of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.

“Jerusalem is in danger”
21 Jan 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rOnce again, Israel resorts to show trials. Sheikh Raed Salah, a prominent political and religious leader of the Palestinian minority, was sentenced on 13 January by an Israeli court to nine months of imprisonment. This is his second conviction in recent years. This time the allegation was that he assaulted a policeman and obstructed police work during a demonstration at al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Nimer Sultany comments for The Electronic Intifada.

“Humanity cannot be divided”: Gaza shows solidarity with Haiti
20 Jan 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr r”We have been living a man-made disaster actually for the past 62 years,” said Palestinian parliamentarian Jamal al-Khudari, a chairman of the Gaza-based Committee to Break the Siege. “We would like to send out a message of solidarity to the people of Haiti, who are now facing a natural disaster.” Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip.

Zionism’s destabilizing force: “Israeli Exceptionalism” reviewed
20 Jan 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rIn his new book Israeli Exceptionalism: The Destabilizing Logic of Zionism, M. Shahid Alam successfully argues that the moral force behind the Zionist movement is a sense of Jewish, and consequently Israeli, exceptionalism. This claim of exceptionalism underpins what he calls the “destabilizing logic of Zionism.” According to Alam, Zionism “could advance only by creating and promoting conflicts between the West and the Islamicate.” Ahmed Moor reviews for The Electronic Intifada.

Israel steps up arrests of grassroots activists
20 Jan 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rWhile prominent protest and boycott organizers from the Palestinian organization Stop the Wall Jamal Juma’ and Mohammad Othman were released last week after nearly one and four months of detention respectively, nightly arrests continue in the West Bank, with eight more arrests on 18 January in the West Bank village of Nilin.

Santana: Don’t entertain Israeli apartheid!
20 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 musician Santana, scheduled to perform in Israel this summer: “Your gig in Israel will be a clear contribution to Israel’s well-oiled campaign to whitewash its persistent violations of international law and basic Palestinian rights through ‘re-branding’ itself as an enlightened and cultured country.”

Lebanon tightens control over Palestinian refugee camps
19 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rNAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (IPS) – Recent inter-factional clashes in Lebanon’s Ein al-Hilwe refugee camp once more illustrated the fragile security situation in some of its Palestinian camps. Lebanese plans to take over security within the camps are rejected by the Palestinians. Ein al-Hilwe and other refugee camps are home to various Palestinian nationalist groups, but also host different Islamist forces that the Lebanese government considers a threat to the state’s security and stability.

Israel jails Palestinian peace activists
19 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rRAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) – Israel has long argued that Palestinians should pursue their political objectives in a nonviolent way. However, several prominent Palestinian peace activists have recently been arrested and jailed for doing just that. Abdallah Abu Rahmah, 39, the coordinator of the Bilin Popular Committee, which has challenged Israel’s illegal expropriation of Palestinian land both in an Israeli court and a Canadian one, has been charged with “illegal arms possession, stone throwing and incitement.”

“We are all complicit”: an interview with Ewa Jasiewicz
19 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rA year ago, Israel launched its invasion of Gaza. Dubbed “Operation Cast Lead” by the Israeli military, the invasion started on 27 December 2008 and finished on 18 January 2009. During those 23 days, more than 1,400 Palestinians were killed including more than 320 children. Originally from England, Ewa Jasiewicz was one of a handful of “internationals” on the ground during the entirety of the attacks. Frank Barat spoke to Jasiewicz for The Electronic Intifada.

Boycott the 2010 Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival
19 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 (PACBI) and the Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel (PSCABI) call on students, lecturers and filmmakers to boycott the 13th International Student Film Festival, scheduled for June 2010 in the city of Tel Aviv. PACBI and PSCABI believe that this festival, as with similar cultural initiatives supported by the Israeli government, is openly designed to whitewash the crimes of Israeli apartheid.

Fighting our way to Gaza
18 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rI should have known that my trip to al-Arish was not going to be straightforward. The last time I set foot in the usually sleepy Sinai tourist town, just 40 kilometers away from the Egypt-Gaza border (or, should I say, iron wall of oppression) at Rafah was back in March 2009, when I met up with the first Viva Palestina convoy. Ten months later, another convoy was on its way to the besieged Strip. Jody McIntyre writes from al-Arish, Egypt.

Nahr al-Bared’s economic recovery hampered by military siege
18 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rMore than two years after the end of the fighting, the war-torn Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, located in northern Lebanon, is far from the model the Lebanese government has promised the camp would become. Instead, reconstruction of the camp is delayed, the area is a military zone with restricted access, and the camp’s economy is stalled and residents are largely unemployed. Ray Smith reports for Electronic Lebanon.

Marriage under siege close to impossible
18 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rGAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) – “If we had money we’d get married right away,” says Samir, 23. He has found his bride, but not the money to hold the wedding. The Israeli siege imposed shortly after Hamas’s election in early 2006 has ruled out marriage for many. Palestinians traditionally marry young, between 18 and 25, but more and more now pass their mid-twenties single.

In Lebanon refugee camp, “hip-hop is a school”
15 Jan 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rHip-hop has got hold of the Burj al-Barajne camp in Beirut. As the music from a small but nascent rap-scene reverberates around the streets of this crowded community, its rappers are acutely aware of their position to foster not just musical change, but social change. Rasmus Bogeskov Larsen reports.

“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.