EU and Israel collaborate on cleaner, deadlier aircraft engines
22 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rBRUSSELS (IPS)—European Union subsidies earmarked for reducing air travel’s contribution to climate change may help develop deadlier warplanes than those already found in the world’s arsenals, Brussels officials have admitted. Some 1.6 billion euros ($2 billion) has been allocated to the EU’s Clean Sky project, which aims to develop aircraft engines that emit half as much carbon dioxide as those now in use.

Exclusive: Leaked documents show PA undermined Turkey’s push for UN flotilla probe
22 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rLeaked documents obtained by The Electronic Intifada show that the Palestinian Authority tried and failed to undermine Turkey’s push for strong condemnation, and an independent UN Human Rights Council investigation into Israel’s deadly attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Asa Winstanley reports.

Activists prevent Israeli ship from unloading at US port
21 Jun 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rFor the first time in US history, a peaceful protest was able to stop workers from unloading an Israeli cargo ship on Sunday, 20 June, in the San Francisco Bay area. From 5:30am until 7pm, social justice activists and labor union organizers blocked and picketed several entrances at the Port of Oakland, preventing two shifts of longshoremen with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union ILWU to come to work and unload the Israeli Zim Lines cargo ship.

“What solidarity means”: a letter from Gilboa Prison
21 Jun 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rAfter being allowed to get a pen and a piece of paper, which has been banned for the last three weeks, and after being allowed to get out of my total isolation, it’s a moment to write a short letter from my jail (Gilboa). Political prisoner Ameer Makhoul writes from Israeli detention.

EU rubber-stamping grants for Israeli war industry
21 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rBRUSSELS (IPS) – A leading Israeli supplier of warplanes used to kill and maim civilians in Gaza is in the running for two new scientific research grants from the European Union. Israel’s attacks on Gaza in late 2008 and 2009 provided its air force with an opportunity to experiment with state-of-the-art pilotless drones such as the Heron.

Book review: Victor Kattan’s legal history of the colonization of Palestine
19 Jun 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rIn order to understand how the law works, one needs to situate it in its political and historical context, otherwise it loses its relevance. That’s what Victor Kattan’s new book From Coexistence to Conquest does. It is a novel attempt to examine the legal history of the Israeli-Arab conflict, describing law as one factor among many that shaped the development of events. Mazen Masri reviews.

Gaza students call on Tiesto to cancel Israel concert
18 Jun 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rDear Tiesto, we write to you to appeal to you to be on the just side of history, to have your voice with the oppressed. Like many other internationally renowned musicians and singers who decided not to entertain apartheid Israel such as Elvis Costello, Gil Scott-Heron, the Klaxons and Gorillaz Sound System, the Pixies, Carlos Santana and David Banhart, we expect you to follow suit and refrain from doing so.

International organizations renew condemnation of Gaza siege
17 Jun 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rSince the 31 May attack on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla, during which Israeli naval commandos boarded the Mavi Marmara ship in international waters and killed nine unarmed activists, international organizations and several governments have condemned Israel for its actions at high sea. Nora Barrows-Friedman reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Ahava campaign comes to court
17 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIn France, the campaign to boycott Ahava Dead Sea cosmetics has entered a new phase with boycott, divestment and sanctions advocates taking legal action against the Sephora cosmetics retail chain’s contract with the company. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Independent journalists dismantling Israel’s hold on media narrative
15 Jun 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rWithin hours of the Gaza-bound aid flotilla being intercepted and besieged in international waters by Israeli commandos, news of the bloody attack had spread across the globe. Rage, condemnation and calls for an international investigation followed. Meanwhile, Israel’s campaign to spin the attack, distort the facts and quell an outraged public was already in full swing. Abraham Greenhouse and Nora Barrows-Friedman analyze for The Electronic Intifada.

Cherien Dabis’ journey to “Amreeka”
15 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rWhy migrate? What do you leave when you do? What’s waiting for you? How do you bring the social construct of “home” with you? Or replace it? And in a collection of such heavy questions, where is there room for marijuana jokes? Director Cherien Dabis’ award-winning feature-length debut Amreeka investigates all of these and much more in an hour and a half of marvelous cinema. Jimmy Johnson writes for The Electronic Intifada.

Israel plans more construction on historic Muslim cemetery
14 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIsraeli authorities are pressing ahead with plans to build a courthouse complex on a large historic Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem that is already at the center of protest over plans to locate a “Museum of Tolerance” there. Jonathan Cook reports.

Palestinian boycott coordinator: “The movement has a huge impact”
14 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rHind Awwad, national coordinator of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), recently toured Europe to support the growing worldwide campaign. The movement aims to end the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the discrimination against Palestinian citizens in Israel, and calls for respect for the rights of Palestine refugees. The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof interviewed Hind Awwad in Bern, Switzerland.

Jewish challenges to Zionism on the rise in the US
14 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIn June 2010, two opposite ends of the Jewish political spectrum will vie for one historical moment. As Israel and the Zionist movement struggle to maintain their century-long pull on Jewish minds, a new project is emerging to rechart the course away from Zionism and toward embracing a renewed commitment to a shared humanity.

Activists disrupt Caterpillar shareholder meeting
11 Jun 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rWhile pro-Palestinian activists and supporters of Israel lined opposite sides of South LaSalle Street outside the Northern Trust Building in Chicago on 9 June, James Owens, the outgoing CEO and Chairman of Caterpillar Inc., told a room full of shareholders the company was not responsible for the way Israel uses the bulldozers the company manufactures in the United States. Kristin Szremski reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Will Flotilla tragedy bring change in Israel?
11 Jun 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rIs it possible to be shocked and yet not be surprised? Israel’s stupidity and disregard for human life is nothing new. It is a recurring theme in the life of the Jewish state from its very inception. Yet as the news unfolded and the images of the Israeli assault on the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza began to unravel a sense of shock was expressed everywhere. Miko Peled comments.

Hope and anxiety at Rafah crossing
11 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rJamila Hammouda, a mother of five small children, hopes that she will be reunited with her family in Cairo, Egypt. Hammouda, her husband and their children were waiting on the Gaza side of the Rafah terminal crossing with Egypt, where Palestinians in Gaza have queued up after Egyptian authorities reopened the crossing “indefinitely.” Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Helen Thomas and the moral failure of US liberals
10 Jun 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe ostracism of Helen Thomas, the doyenne of the White House press corps, over her comment that Jews should “get the hell out of Palestine” and “go home” to Poland, Germany, America and elsewhere is revealing in several ways. In spite of an apology, the 89-year-old has been summarily retired by the Hearst newspaper group, dropped by her agent, spurned by the White House, and denounced by long-time friends and colleagues. Jonathan Cook comments.

Israel’s military support of apartheid S. Africa exposed in new book
9 Jun 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rNEW YORK (IPS) – A US author is standing by claims that Israel offered to sell nuclear warheads to South Africa during the apartheid regime, despite denials by Israel’s then-defense minister, now-president Shimon Peres, that the accusation has “no basis in reality.”

“We’ll be back—with bigger flotillas”
9 Jun 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rRAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) – In an exclusive interview, Huwaida Arraf, the chairwoman of the Free Gaza (FG) movement, which tried to break Israel’s crippling blockade on Gaza, explains what happened on 31 May when Israeli commandos raided the “Freedom Flotilla,” shooting nine people dead and injuring dozens more.

After the Flotilla, will Turkey emerge as a force for Palestinian rights?
9 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rAfter years of disappointment with successive Arab regimes, Turkey appears to be taking a regional leadership role. While better and closer relations between Turkey and the Arab world are welcome developments, and there is hope for a momentum building up for the Palestinian cause, the ambiguities of the Turkish stance are apparent and raise important questions. Should the current crisis with Israel be interpreted as a singular event in which Turkey gave a strong response or as the inevitable culmination of a completely new foreign policy orientation? Murat Dagli comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Obama’s Cairo speech one year later
9 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rWe’re told that US President Barack Obama’s Cairo Speech a year ago was a harbinger of peace, magnanimity, truth and justice. Hark, herald the new dawn. Islam is not a terrorist religion: peace; fist clench; hand open; “assalaamu alaykum.” Celestial choirs punctuated every sentence with a rising crescendo of harmonious hymning. And at the climax, we climaxed. We’re Arabs, and Barack is the New America, and we like one another. Ahmed Moor comments for EI.

The crimes I saw on the Mavi Marmara
8 Jun 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rDuring the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara, deep in international waters, I was inside the body of the ship. We were going to Gaza to break the siege that Israel has imposed on a million-and-a-half people for the last four years. Lubna Masarwa writes from house arrest in Kfor Qara.

Evergreen State students overwhelmingly pass divestment votes
8 Jun 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rOn 2 June 2010, students at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, made history by passing two resolutions supporting human rights, upholding international law, and promoting a just peace in the Palestine/Israel conflict.

Knesset Member who joined Gaza flotilla faces death threats
8 Jun 2010
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rAn Israeli parliamentary committee recommended stripping an Arab MP of her privileges yesterday in a move to prepare the ground for putting her on trial for participating last week in the Gaza-bound aid flotilla attacked by Israeli commandos. Jonathan Cook reports.