05 January, 2009
Civilian Casualties Mount
As Israeli Army Slices Through Gaza
By Chris MarsdenIsrael is engaged in direct conflict with Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip, after its long-expected ground invasion began Saturday. Verifiable accounts of the fighting are scarce, because Israel continues to refuse access to foreign journalists even after its Supreme Court issued a ruling that allowed a "limited number" into Gaza
Molten Lead In Gaza
By Uri AvneryThis war is a writing on the wall: Israel is missing the historic chance of making peace with secular Arab nationalism. Tomorrow, It may be faced with a uniformly fundamentalist Arab world, Hamas multiplied by a thousand
Day 9 Of Israeli War On Gaza
By Sameh A. HabeebDeath toll 450, injured 2350, disastrous humanitarian situation
Do Israeli Pilots Feel Happy Killing
Innocent Women And Children?
By Fida QishtaA Palestinian in Gaza chronicles life under Israeli bombardment
The Gaza Ghetto Uprising
By Joseph MassadThe Gaza Ghetto Uprising will mark both the latest chapter in Palestinian resistance to colonialism and the latest Israeli colonial brutality in a region whose peoples will never accept the legitimacy of a racist European colonial settlement in their midst
Scared But Steadfast In Gaza
By Rami AlmeghariI found that my neighbors are dealing very patiently with what is happening right now. They don't have any place to go and are staying close to their homes, expecting that the worse has yet to come. However, they are saying that they will remain steadfast in their homeland and neighborhood and homes, even if Israel destroys Gaza completely
Trapped, Traumatized And Terrorized
By Laila El-HaddadLive Free or Die. The motto of the State of New Hampshire, probably one that few Americans are familiar with, has never rung truer. And how similar it is to the feeling of ordinary Palestinians in the Gaza Strip now, trying merely to survive day to day, longing for a life free of Israeli occupation and terror
Testimony: Five Girls In One Family
Killed By Israeli Bombing
By Samira Tawfiq Said BaloushaSamira Tawfiq Said Balousha, 36, married with nine children, is a homemaker and a resident of Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Her testimony was given to B'Tselem's Muhammad Sabah by telephone on 30 December 2008
Israeli Lies
By Dr. Elias AklehThe naked truth is that Zionist Israel, since it illegitimate bastard birth, has been a Goyim-ophopic, genocidal psychopathic, land occupying, mass murdering, child slaying, terrorist state
Global Human Rights Groups Protest
Slaughter In Gaza
By Stephen LendmanAs Israel slaughters Gazans, world outrage continues to resonate - on city streets, by solidarity activists, and by human rights groups globally
Gaza: Time For Vociferous Outrage
By Joseph LevineSuppose Hamas terrorists were hiding out in Tel Aviv (or Los Angeles, or London, for that matter -- the exercise is equally illuminating applied to the U.S. and or any other "civilized" Western state). Would an assault of the sort we have seen against Gaza even be contemplated?
The Politics And Propaganda Of
The US-Israeli War On Gaza
By Max KantarBaseless presuppositions and propaganda about Palestinian rejectionism and Israel's moral [scrupulousness] aside, Israel is savagely massacring hundreds of Palestinians with American weaponry for a reason as old as dirt, the naked desire for hegemony; for power over the weak, to guarantee that there will be no peace that recognizes Palestinian rights as equal to Jewish rights
The Only Nation That Can Do No Wrong
By Jim TaylorBecause the rights that European and North American nations demand for Jews do not seem to extend to Palestinians. Or perhaps more accurately, in a perversion of the Golden Rule, the western world looks the other way when the nation of Israel does unto others as others have done unto them
03 January, 2009
Obama's Deadly Silence
By Ali AbunimahAs more than 2,400 Palestinians have been killed or injured -- the majority civilians -- since Israel began its savage bombardment of Gaza on 27 December, Obama has maintained his silence. "There is only one president at a time," his spokesmen tell the media. This convenient excuse has not applied, say, to Obama's detailed interventions on the economy, or his condemnation of the "coordinated attacks on innocent civilians" in Mumbai in November
Letter To Bush On Gaza Crisis
By Ralph NaderThe least you can do in your remaining days at the White House is adopt a modest profile in courage, and vigorously demand and secure a ceasefire and a solidly based truce. Then your successor, President-elect Obama can inherit something more than the usual self-censoring Washington puppet show that eschews a proper focus on the national interests of the United States
Day 7 of Israeli Agression On Gaza
By Sameh A. HabeebDeath toll 435, injured 2300, disastrous humanitarian situation
In Gaza, Targeting A Nation
By Rami AlmeghariUnidentified Palestinians are being victimized for the sake of unidentified objectives. Israel claims it is targeting Hamas, while in fact, it is targeting whoever and whatever in Gaza. For the past seven days, Israeli air raids completely devastated scores of civilian ministerial buildings, municipal premises, charities, universities, schools, homes and mosques
Israel's Righteous Fury And Its Victims In Gaza
By Ilan PappeEvery half an hour a news bulletin on the radio and television describes the victims of Gaza as terrorists and Israel's massive killings of them as an act of self-defense. Israel presents itself to its own people as the righteous victim that defends itself against a great evil. The academic world is recruited to explain how demonic and monstrous is the Palestinian struggle, if it is led by Hamas
Israel Violates International Humanitarian Law
By Prof. Richard Falkstatement by Prof. Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
The Politics Of Israeli Extermination Campaign
By James PetrasBecause of the unconditional support of the entire political class in the US, from the White House to Congress, including both Parties, incoming and outgoing elected officials and all the principle print and electronic mass media, the Israeli Government feels no compunction in publicly proclaiming a detailed and graphic account of its policy of mass extermination of the population of Gaza
Blaming The Victims - The Dominant Media
Vilify Hamas
By Stephen LendmanThe blame game - no one plays it better than the dominant media, and they're at it again over Gaza. Expect no comments below in their spaces, yet honest journalism would headline them
02 January, 2009
More Suffocating Bombings Claim
Lives Of Children, Women
By Sameh A. HabeebThe scale of Israeli war escalated today by hitting more targets in various places across the occupied Gaza. The army opened the new year with more attacks in Gaza leaving more people dead
The Real Goal Of The Slaughter In Gaza
By Jonathan CookIsrael apparently hopes to persuade the Hamas leadership, as it did Arafat for a while, that its best interests are served by co-operating with Israel. The message is: forget about your popular mandate to resist the occupation and concentrate instead on remaining in power with our help
The Day That Changed The Middle East
By Dr Salim NazzalRegardless of the outcome of the mass murder continuing in Gaza, the region won’t be the same as it was prior to December 27. Israel and the United States have presented Palestinians and Arabs with more evidence that the language of power is the only language which the US and Israel understand; this will, no doubt, move the region towards more militarization and revenge
If Hamas Did Not Exist
By Jennifer LoewensteinThe lifeblood of the Palestinian National Movement flows through the streets of Gaza today. Every drop that falls waters the soil of vengeance, bitterness and hatred not only in Palestine but across the Middle East and much of the world. We do have a choice over whether or not this should continue. Now is the time to make it
Is The UN Complicit In Israel's Massacre In Gaza?
By Omar BarghoutiA friend forwarded to me the most original greeting for the New Year: "I wish in 2009 a horrible year for all war criminals and their accomplices." I could not but think of whether some United Nations officials can be counted among such "accomplices."
Shiv'a In Gaza: December 2008
By Deb ReichI am an American-Israeli Jewish woman of 60 living now in an Arab town in Israel and working for Jewish-Palestinian-Arab-Israeli reconciliation. I have two friends in Gaza and I will tell you how we came to be acquainted
Gaza And Hamas: A One-Way Street
By Timothy V. GattoI can understand the angst that Palestinians’ feel when innocents are killed by an enemy that doesn’t care. Let that be the message that comes out of Gaza. Try a winning strategy of non-violence. That takes more courage than to give into anger and present the Israelis with an excuse to commit genocide
31 December, 2008
Gaza Carnage Continues;
Death Toll Rises To 390
By Sameh A. HabeebIsraeli air force still launching the heaviest bombardments in Gaza ever. The fourth day of Israeli military operation started with heavy bombings west of Gaza City in addition to killing 2 children and around 10 in various places in Gaza to raise death toll to 390 while wounded people up to one thousand and most of them civilians
From The Ashes Of Gaza
By Tariq AliThe assault on Gaza, planned over six months and executed with perfect timing, was designed largely, as Neve Gordon has rightly observed, to help the incumbent parties triumph in the forthcoming Israeli elections. The dead Palestinians are little more than election fodder in a cynical contest between the right and the far right in Israel. Washington and its EU allies, perfectly aware that Gaza was about to be assaulted, as in the case of Lebanon in 2006, sit back and watch
Americans Should Act To End Violence Against Gaza
By Jeremy R. HammondIsrael's bombardment of the Gaza Strip was predictable, if not preventable. Israel's crimes against the Palestinians simply could not take place on such a massive scale were it not for US support. The American people, therefore, have a responsibility to act and pressure their government to end its financial, military, and diplomatic support for Israeli violations of international law -- a necessary first step towards any viable and sustainable peace
Arab Connivance In The Gaza Massacre
By Alberto CruzWith the connivance, acquiescence and approval of the United Nations, Europe the United States and reactionary Arab governments, Israel is engaged in a campaign of extermination, a holocaust against the Palestinians
Gaza And The World
By Ramzy BaroudUntil Arab countries and nations translate their chants and condemnations into a practical and meaningful political action that can bring an end to the Israeli onslaughts against Palestinians, all that is likely to change are the numbers of dead and wounded. But still, one has to wonder if Israel kills a thousand more, ten thousand, or half of Gaza, will the US still blame Palestinians? Will Egypt open its Gaza border? Will Europe express the same “deep concern”? Will the Arabs issue the same redundant statements? Will things ever change? Ever?
Israel Is America's Hands
By Peter ChamberlinWill you stand-up for the rights of humanity, or will you cower in the corner while the parade of death marches across your TV screen and into your own home?
Who Wins What In Gaza?
By Mary Lynn CramerIsraeli government officials say that innocent civilians should move away from the Hamas militants so they won’t be injured. To where were the 5 young sisters crushed to death by collapsing walls of a mosque bombed by Israel supposed to escape? The mosque, one of five now bombed to rubble, was next to their home
Gaza: Plan Of Attack
By Jim MilesI wish I were wrong, but the current Gaza war, given the current global situation, will some day be relegated to another footnoted battle against terrorists, soon to be dropped once again from the main media newscasts as soon as the “shock and awe” of it wears off and is no longer newsworthy
30 December, 2008
Gaza Carnage :345 Dead And Counting
By Sameh A. HabeebAt least 345 people were killed and more than 1,650 wounded since Israel blitzed the Gaza Strip with massive air strikes since Saturday, December 27
Why Would Israel Bomb A University?
By Dr. Akram HabeebLast night, during the second night of Israel's unprecedented attack on Gaza, I was awakened by the deafening sound of intensive bombardment. When I learned that Israel had bombed my university with American-made F-16s, I realized that its "target bank" had gone bankrupt. Of course Israeli politicians and generals would claim that IUG is a Hamas stronghold and that it preaches terrorism
Slowy Dying In A Useless Listening In Gaza
By Vittorio ArrigoniPlease, someone stop this nightmare. Choosing to remain silent means somehow lending support to the genocide unfolding right now. Shout out your indignation, in every capital of the “civilised” world, in every city, in every square, covering our own screams of pain and terror. A slice of humanity is dying in pitiful in a useless listening
Israeli Electioneering With Bombs
By Jonathan CookLivni and Barak pin their hopes on Gaza rampage
Jewish Terrorism
By Ghali HassanThe ongoing massacre of innocent Palestinian civilians is not the first Jewish-perpetuated massacre and certainly won’t be the last. Israel follows a Nazi-like racist policy based on physical extermination and ethnic cleansing of the native Palestinian population
Mr Mubarak, Tear Down That Wall!
By Franklin LambEven a cursory examination of the events which began on December 27, 2008 require that Mohammad Hosni Mubarak be added as an accomplice to the pending International Criminal Court (ICC) case concerning international crimes being committed by Israel with American weapons
We Have No Words Left
By Ali AbunimahPalestinians are at a loss to describe this new catastrophe. Is it our 9/11, or is it a taste of the "bigger shoah" Matan Vilnai, thedeputy defense minister, threatened in February, after the last round of mass killings?
The Dogs Of War
By Osamah KhalilCaught between this collection of madmen, criminals and fools are the people of Gaza, who have suffered for far too long and have paid an unbelievable price for simply being Palestinian. After more then 30 months of sanctions and siege, many have become desperately poor, living a daily reality of constant terror and deprivation that few can imagine. Yet, in the face of overwhelming cruelty and a conspiracy of silence and indifference they persevere. That they must do so is an indictment of us all
Leaders Lie, Civilians Die, And
Lessons Of History Are Ignored
By Robert FiskYes, Israel deserves security. But these bloodbaths will not bring it. Not since 1948 have air raids protected Israel. Israel has bombed Lebanon thousands of times since 1975 and not one has eliminated "terrorism". So what was the reaction last night? The Israelis threaten ground attacks. Hamas waits for another battle. Our Western politicians crouch in their funk holes. And somewhere to the east – in a cave? a basement? on a mountainside? – a well-known man in a turban smiles
A Hundred Eyes For An Eye
By Norman SolomonWhat’s going on in Gaza right now is not just an eye for an eye. It’s a hundred eyes for an eye. And the current slaughter is not only an ongoing Israeli war crime. It has an accomplice named Uncle Sam
May We No Longer Be Silent
By Paul Craig Roberts“How many people do you have to kill before you qualify to be described as a mass murderer and a war criminal?” Pinter’s question can also be asked of Israel. Israel has been in violation of international law since 1967, protected by the United States’ veto of UN Resolutions condemning Israel for its violent, inhumane, barbaric, and illegal acts
29 December, 2008
Gaza: The Carnage Continues
By Sameh A. HabeebVictims of Israeli air raids are 312 while wounded are up to 1000. Around 80 air raids took place in Gaza strip from the early morning of Sunday till 7pm in the evening. Around 300 air raids in the last 2 days
The Longest Night Of My Life
By Safa JoudehHere's an update on what's happening in Gaza,on the second night of Israeli air (and sea) raids on Gaza
Gaza Today: This Is Only The Beginning
By Ewa JasiewiczAnd according to many people here, there is nothing and nobody looking out for them apart from God. Back in Shifa Hospital tonight, we meet the brother of a security guard who had had the doorway he had been sitting in and the building - Abu Mazen's old HQ - fall down upon his head. He said to us, 'We don't have anyone but God. We feel alone. Where is the world? Where is the action to stop these attacks?'
Guernica In Gaza
By Vittorio ArrigoniI haven’t seen any terrorists among the victims today, only civilians and policemen. Exactly like our own local police agents, the Palestinian policemen massacred by the Israeli bombings could be found every day of the year pacing the same city square, supervising the same street corner or road
Gaza Carnage Sets West Bank Aflame
By Mel FrykbergAnger, shock and revulsion at the continuing carnage in Gaza has ignited spontaneous demonstrations and riots across the West Bank and Israel, sparking concerns of a possible third Palestinian uprising or Intifada
"An Earthquake On Top Of Your Head"
By Dr. Eyad Al SerrajThe bombing went on for about 10 minutes. It was like an earthquake on top of your head. The windows were shaking and squeaking. My 10-year-old was terrified, he was jumping from one place to another trying to hide. I held him tight to my chest and tried to give him some security and reassure him. My 12-year-old was panicking and began laughing hysterically, it's not normal. I held her hand and calmed her and told her she would be safe. My wife was panicking. She was running around the apartment looking for somewhere to hide
The Hanukkah Massacres
By Gary CorseriDuring the Festival of Lights, 2008, before the last candle of the menorah could be lit, while the children played with their dreidles and received their Hannukah gelt, their blind and deranged parents and grandparents rained terror upon a shackled people in an open-air prison, ensuring that the children in the Holy Land and elsewhere in our tortured world would know neither peace nor joy nor light for many years to come
Israel's Wanton Aggression On Gaza
By Stephen LendmanThe "Stench of Death Hangs Over Gaza," wrote Ola Attallah, IslamOnline correspondent from Gaza City. Can we sense it, smell it, feel it, anguish over it, and decide once and for all this won't stand! If not now, when? If not us, who? If wanton butchery isn't incentive enough, what is?
The World In Hostage
By Dan LiebermanWorld leaders respond timidly to Israeli attacks on defenseless Gaza
Massacre In Gaza: The Paradox Of Peace
By Soraya Sepahpour-UlrichSadly, this was not the first time. History has repeated itself. Only our media has successfully managed to throw sands of ignorance in our eyes and blind us with bigotry, keeping our wits dull with misinformation. For the sake of the innocent victims everywhere, the truth must be exposed. We must revisit history
Israel Threatens Ground Invasion Of Gaza
By Chris MarsdenIsrael seems set for a ground invasion of Gaza following sustained bombardment that has left more than 300 dead and over 1,000 more injured
28 December, 2008
Massacre In Gaza: 230 Killed
By Sameh A. HabeebSaturday morning started as usual but dramatically changed by 11AM. Sixty Israeli F16s bombarded around 100 police stations, civil and governmental offices across Gaza Strip. The bombardment which simultaneously took place left (at the time of writing)160 people killed and around 3 hundred wounded. A number of wounded are expected to die while many corpses still lie under the rubble of buildings
Gaza Massacres Must Spur Us To Action
By Ali AbunimahPalestinians everywhere are asking for solidarity, real solidarity, in the form of sustained, determined political action. The Gaza-based One Democratic State Group reaffirmed this today as it "called upon all civil society organizations and freedom loving people to act immediately in any possible way to put pressure on their governments to end diplomatic ties with Apartheid Israel and institute sanctions against it."
Bush's Farewell Gift
By Nicola NasserUN Resolution 1850 pushes Palestinian unity further from reach than ever, argues Nicola Nasser
26 December, 2008
No Bread In Gaza
By Rami AlmeghariThe Gaza Strip, home to more than 1.5 million Palestinians, will soon be without its most basic commodity: bread. While families around the world celebrate Christmas, gathering around tables of abundance, Gaza parents like me will not even be able provide bread for their children unless Israel opens the commercial crossings to Gaza from the outside world
Gaza's Hunger
By Sameh A. HabeebThe number of Gaza bakeries is 47 but now the working ones are 14 only
Security Council Undermines Justice
And UN Charter
By Hasan Abu Nimah & Ali AbunimahThe United Nations Security Council passed its first resolution on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in almost five years, on 16 December. But far from marking a break with the Council's abdication of responsibility for the fate of the Palestinian people, United States- and Russian-sponsored resolution 1850 is the final nail in the coffin for even the pretense that international law and institutions will play any serious role in ending 60 years of dispossession and occupation, and bringing about a just peace
24 December, 2008
Calm Is Over; Violence Breaks Out Again In Gaza
By Sameh A. HabeebSunday midnight witnessed escalated military steps by Israeli army on Gaza Strip. Apache helicopters raided on Al Shijya area east of Gaza city leaving 3 civilians injured. Medical spokesman of Emergency, Dr. Mawya Hasanian, said 2 children were reported in a wake of military actions. The air raids which were extensively supported by Israeli reconnaissance planes left Gaza residents in great panic
Nazi Israel … Indeed
By Dr. Elias AklehIsraelis and Jews of the world have relentlessly pursued Nazi war criminals for decades for their war crimes committed during WWII. They chased Nazi war criminals for the rest of their lives, even when they were old and close to their death, to make them pay for their crimes. No doubts in my mind that Israeli war criminals, in turn, will be pursued and sentenced for their war crimes committed against Arabs
20 December, 2008
Gaza: The Untold Story
By Ramzy BaroudIt’s incomprehensible that a region such as the Gaza Strip, so rich with history, so saturated with defiance, can be reduced to a few blurbs, sound bites and reductionist assumptions, convenient but deceptive, vacant of any relevant meaning, or even true analytical value
06 December, 2008
Hebron Settlers Take Their Fight Into Israel
By Jonathan CookExtremist settler groups currently involved in violent confrontations with Palestinians in the centre of Hebron have chosen their next battleground, this time outside the West Bank
03 December, 2008
Gaza:A Bare Life Zone Nearing To A No-Life-Zone
By Sameh Akram habeebWith the latest Israeli maneuvers' of tightening the siege imposed on Gaza, more life necessities vanished. The key power plant shut down 25 days ago resulted in tremendous direful outcomes. More than 75% of the Gaza strip faces severe power cuts and some areas completely plunged into darkness
A Peace Process That Makes Peace Impossible
By Nicola NasserPalestinian – Israeli peace-making can only deliver if Palestinians are united, but the current Annapolis “peace process” was launched first of all as a blueprint for perpetuating the inter- Palestinian divide
28 November, 2008
Gaza: Salvation In A News Broadcast
By Ramzy BaroudThe people of that tiny stretch of land find ways to cope with their ample tragedies, as they did the moment the first caravan of refugees, parched and desperate, made their way into Gaza following the 1948 Nakba. They weep for their loss, bury their dead, ask God for mercy, and, once again, return home to huddle around their radios, seeking a glimpse of hope in news broadcasts
26 November, 2008
Humanitarian Disaster In Gaza
By Stephen LendmanGaza is under siege for the past 22 days. Israel lifted the siege briefly on November 24, but closed the boder crossings again after two Qassam rockets were fired on Sunday, one on Monday, and another on Tuesday. A humanitarian disaster is looming in Gaza
Gaza People "Stripped Of Their Dignity"
By Rami AlmeghariThe situation is very desperate at the humanitarian level, I mean people have been stripped of their dignity here, it is a struggle to survive for every body. 750,000 of the people here in Gaza are children of the one and half million population - says John Ging, UNRWA Chief of Operations in the Gaza Strip
19 November, 2008
Extrajudicial Assassinations
As Official Israeli Policy
By Stephen LendmanThroughout its history, Israel willfully and systematically committed premeditated extrajudicial killings of Palestinians and other Arabs as official state policy - carried out with explicit high-level political, judicial and military authorization and allegedly in "self-defense" against individuals threatening Israeli security. Government officials even admit that certain persons are targeted, and Dan Haluts, former Israeli Army Chief of Staff, once told the Washington Post (in August 2006) that "Targeted killing is the most important method in the fight against 'terrorism.' " In other words, premeditated murder is acceptable as long as it's properly classified
18 November, 2008
Humanitarian Disaster And News Blackout In Gaza
By Cherrie HeywoodIsrael has imposed a virtual news blackout on the Gaza Strip. For the last ten days no foreign journalists have been able to enter the besieged territory to report on the escalating humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's complete closure of Gaza's borders for the last two weeks
Obama And The Prospects For
Israeli-Palestinian Peace
By Ali AbunimahUnited States President-elect Barack Obama's election victory has revived hopes that stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations could finally lead to a two-state solution. Few new presidents have been greeted with such optimism and associated high expectations
17 November, 2008
The Real Goal Of Israel’s Blockade
By Jonathan CookThe latest tightening of Israel’s chokehold on Gaza – ending all supplies into the Strip for more than a week – has produced immediate and shocking consequences for Gaza’s 1.5 million inhabitants.The refusal to allow in fuel has forced the shutting down of Gaza’s only power station, creating a blackout that pushed Palestinians bearing candles on to the streets in protest last week. A water and sanitation crisis are expected to follow
13 November, 2008
Israel Tightens Chokehold On Village Of Entrepreneurs
By Jonathan CookNilin, midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, is home to nearly 5,000 Palestinians. Known as the “village of entrepreneurs”, it has more than its share of millionaires. But that looks set to change as the separation wall is closing down on Nilin’s land. Encircled by half a dozen Jewish settlements like Hashmonaim -- all illegal under international law -- the village is slowly being sealed off in a fashion that may soon make its isolation almost as complete as Gaza’s
06 November, 2008
Playgrounds For Palestine:
One Marathon At A Time
By Ramzy BaroudI am also certain that there are many who care just enough to build one more playground for the children in the refugee camps. My hope is that your involvement will exceed that of making a one-time financial contribution to sponsor our run, but will rather get involved yourself as a runner, or in any other way to support such important organizations as Playgrounds for Palestine: they provide hope in a time when only misery and despair seem to eclipse the lives of so many children in Gaza, in Lebanon and in those caught behind Israeli walls in the West Bank
Travesty Of Tolerance On Display
By Jonathan CookThe Israeli Supreme Court’s approval last week of the building of a Jewish Museum of Tolerance over an ancient Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem is the latest in a series of legal and physical assaults on Islamic holy places since Israel’s founding in 1948
03 November, 2008
A Third Palestinian Intifada In The Making
By Ramzy BaroudPalestinian uprisings are often a collective response to hard questions. The chances are the next Intifada - as surely there will always be one as long as the occupation continues - will find again a popular rejection of the ills which have afflicted the Palestinian cause, It would once again reassert the relevance, if not the leading role of the Palestinian people as the real owners of their fate, and guards of their own struggle
30 October, 2008
Israel Bars Visit To Father’s Grave
By Jonathan CookSalwa Salam Qupty clutches a fading sepia photograph of a young Palestinian man wearing a traditional white headscarf. It is the sole memento that survives of her father, killed by a Jewish militia during the 1948 war that established Israel.“He was killed 60 years ago as he was travelling to work,” she said, struggling to hold back the tears. “My mother was four months pregnant with me at the time. This photograph is the closest I’ve ever got to him.” Six decades on from his death, she has never been allowed to visit his grave in Galilee and lay a wreath for the father she never met
Execution Of 47 In Kafr Qassem Commemorated
By Jonathan CookIn a conflict that has produced more than its share of suffering and tragedy, the name of Kafr Qassem lives on in infamy more than half a century after Israeli police gunned down 47 Palestinian civilians, including women and children, in the village
22 October, 2008
The Children Of Gaza: Weaned On Fear And Trauma
By Samah A. HabeebSevere terror and traumas are de facto storms for children in the occupied territories, especially those who exist in the Gaza Strip. The ongoing Israeli military operations and violent retaliation induce psychological maladies and wretched conditions. The recent ceasefire in Gaza allows a temporary rest but not the cure for their fears and nightmares
17 October, 2008
Israel’s ‘City Of Coexistence’ Shows Its True Colours
By Jonathan CookIsrael has been suffering its worst bout of inter-communal violence since the start of the second intifada, with a week of what has been widely presented as “rioting” by Jewish and Arab residents of the northern port city of Acre
Europe And The Middle East:
Will EU Be A More Just Mediator?
By Ramzy BaroudEurope has showed greater willingness in recent months to play a larger part in the Middle East's most protracted conflict, that of Israel and Palestine. But willingness doesn't necessarily indicate readiness
10 October, 2008
Another Israeli West Bank Land Grab Scheme
By Stephen LendmanIsraeli policy of land grab continues. All the while monitored by The Israeli Human Rights organization, B'Tselem. It just documented more evidence in its report titled "Access Denied: Israeli measures to deny Palestinians access to land around (West Bank) settlements." Its findings are discussed below. It details how authorities block Palestinians' access to areas adjacent to settlements through closure policies and de facto seizure. Land theft and displacement for greater settlement expansions
04 October, 2008
Life After Bush: Forecasting Peace In Palestine
By Ramzy BaroudThere are no signs that change, true change, is coming, regardless of who wins the White House and regardless of who rules Israel. The fact remains that the relationship that governs the US-Israeli love affair is much more convoluted, deep-rooted, and institutionalized to be affected by the exit of one man and the advent of another
Israel’s Army And Settlers Fall Out
By Jonathan CookThe Israeli army officer in charge of the occupation of the West Bank, Gen Gadi Shamni, has lambasted extremist Jewish settlers, blaming rising levels of violence on the encouragement of their leadership and right-wing rabbis. It is rare for a senior commander to speak so critically of the settlers, many of whom themselves serve in senior positions in the army
29 September, 2008
Palestinian Economy: From Bad To Wretched
By Ramzy BaroudThe numbers are grim, whether in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian economy is in one of its most wretched states, and the disaster is mostly, if not entirely manmade, thus reversible
26 September, 2008
Archaeology Becomes A Curse For
Jerusalem's Palestinians
By Jonathan CookThe Palestinian residents are used to living in the shadow of history and religion, given dramatic physical form as the great silver dome of the al Aqsa mosque and the looming presence of the Mount of Olives. But of late, history has become a curse for most of Silwan’s residents
24 September, 2008
A Forgotten Story In Gaza:
The Slaughter Of Innocents
By Sameh A. HabeebIsrael had announced officially that a holocaust would be on the way in Gaza and so far, at least 140 innocent people have been slaughtered. Most of them are children and civilians that have paid the price for militants firing Qasam rockets into Israel!
The Palestinians Of Sabra-Shatila:
26 Years After The Massacre: Part II
By Franklin LambTwenty-six years following the Sabra-Shatila Massacre and the founding of Hezbollah: Will the Party of God deliver the Palestinians from exile?
22 September, 2008
Israel And Palestine Can Still Achieve Peace
By Mahmoud AbbasI pledge my full cooperation in the days and months ahead. I am thankful for the efforts of the Bush administration to assist in brokering peace. I again extend my hand to the Israeli people, and I urge them and their leaders to make a choice that ensures a secure and prosperous future for both our peoples
A Refugee's Open Letter To Mahmoud Abbas
By Abdelfattah AbusrourMy name is Abdelfattah Abdelkarim Hasan Ibrahim Mohamad Ahmed Mostafa Ibrahim Srour Abusrour. I am still a refugee in my own country with two rusty keys to his house
20 September, 2008
Racism, Propaganda, And The Palestinian
Right To Return
By Max KantarThe only just solution for the question of Israel/Palestine will be a resolution that recognizes human rights, international law, and one that transcends racist ideology, providing equality for both Jews and Arabs. For all those concerned with justice and universal moral principles, this is non-negotiable
19 September, 2008
Palestinian Unity: Goal Or Mantra?
By Ramzy BaroudPalestinian unity is a must and is a prerequisite to any meaningful, large scale Palestinian strategy aimed at ending the Israeli occupation. But the term must be appreciated, qualified and its practical meaning understood fully before it too turns into another cheap Arab mantra, inscribed on many street corners, but no longer meaning anything
17 September, 2008
Jaffa’s ‘Renewal’ Aims At
Expulsion Of Palestinians
By Jonathan CookA recent report by the Human Rights Association in Nazareth concluded the government was seeking to use a “quiet” form of ethnic cleansing, using administrative and legal pressure, to make Jaffa entirely Jewish
16 September, 2008
The Palestinians Of Sabra-Shatila:
26 Years After The Massacre: Part I
By Franklin LambSabra and Shatila- 26 years after the massacre
Israel's Dark Arts Of Ensnaring Collaborators
By Jonathan CookIsrael’s enduring use of Palestinian collaborators to entrench the occupation and destroy Palestinian resistance was once the great unmentionable of the Middle East conflict
09 September, 2008
Israel Moves To Judaise East Jerusalem
By Mel FrykbergThe Israeli government is attempting to Judaise Palestinian East Jerusalem, and maintain a Jewish majority against the demographic threat of a higher Palestinian birth rate
A New Palestinian Strategy
Or The Same Failed One?
By Ali AbunimahIs the Palestinian national movement about to abandon the two-state solution and demand instead a single democratic or bi-national state throughout Palestine-Israel?
"Ideological Barriers To Peace"
By Max KantarThe Egyptian-brokered cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas and the subsequent events that have taken place since the June 19th truce has once again exposed not only a number of truisms about the nature of Israeli-Palestinian relations, but also has brought to light the not so new ideological barriers from which we understand the conflict
04 September, 2008
Israelis Hinder Academic Pursuits
By Osama DawoudMy people long for their freedom, and our young people champ at the bit when limited to a spit of land 25 miles long and six miles wide. Education and travel provide our students with tremendous opportunities to learn and return to contribute to the well-being of the Palestinian people. A remarkable program is now faltering on account of Israeli policies
03 September, 2008
Israel Turns Gaza Into Prison For
UConn Fulbright Scholar
By Zohair M. Abu ShabanThere are hundreds of Palestinian students in Gaza hoping for a miracle in the next few days so that we can pursue scholarships that may offer a once-in-a-lifetime escape from ignorance and poverty. We are determined not to be rendered a dependent people lacking advanced education. And yet the silence of the world suggests that Israel will succeed in keeping us within the limiting confines of Gaza
Israel Must Rein In Settler Movement,
Protect Palestinian Children
By Joel GulledgeOur leaders must insist that Israel not apply one system of law in the West Bank for Israeli settlers and another for Palestinians. Colonizing another people ought to be regarded as ancient history
02 September, 2008
Palestinian Village Faces Army Reign Of Terror
By Jonathan CookThe window through which Salam Amira, 16, filmed the moment when an Israeli soldier shot from close range a handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinian detainee has a large hole at its centre with cracks running in every direction. “Since my video was shown, the soldiers shoot at our house all the time,” she said. The shattered and cracked windows at the front of the building confirm her story. “When we leave the windows open, they fire tear gas inside too.”
29 August, 2008
Olympic Follies And Triumphs
By Ramzy BaroudWhen four Palestinian athletes marched with the Palestinian flag into the Olympic Games in Beijing it was a statement, a declaration of sorts, that Palestinians insist on their right to exist on equal footing with the rest of the world, to raise their flag without fear and wear their country's name spelled out the way it should be, not as a Palestinian Authority but as Palestine
28 August, 2008
Torture As Official Israeli Policy
By Stephen LendmanThousands of Palestinians are arrested, detained and abused. With little or no accountability, here's how one Israeli soldier put it: "When you deny thousands of people a day (free) movement, it is impossible to do it in a nice way."
26 August, 2008
Sailing Into Gaza
By Huwaida ArrafPeace activists arrive in Gaza safely
Israel's Outposts Seal Death Of
Palestinian State
By Jonathan CookThe majority of the half a million settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are “economic opportunists”, drawn to life in the occupied territories less by ideological or religious convictions than economic incentives. The homes, municipal services and schools there are heavily subsidised by the government. In addition, the settlements -- though illegal under international law -- are integrated into Israel through a sophisticated system of roads that make it easy for the settlers to forget they are in occupied territory surrounded by Palestinians
23 August, 2008
Boat Warriors Against The Israeli Siege Of Gaza
By Eileen FlemingTwo converted fishing boats of the Free Gaza Movement, bought and refurbished in Greece, and flying the Greek flag are travelling to Gaza. On board is a contingent of forty-three crew and human rights advocates, sworn to nonviolence, as well as a modest cargo of hearing aids for Palestinian children in Gaza. Among their ranks are a Greek member of parliament, an 81-year-old Catholic nun and the sister-in-law of former British prime minister Tony Blair
19 August, 2008
Mahmoud Darwish: The Anger,
The Longing, The Hope
By Uri AvneryDuring the funeral ceremony in Ramallah Mahmoud Darwish was referred to again and again as "the Palestinian National Poet". But he was much more than that. He was the embodiment of the Palestinian destiny. His personal fate coincided with the fate of his people
16 August, 2008
Family Politics And The New Gaza Crisis
By Ramzy BaroudOnce again, the important story that ought to matter the most -- that of a continually imposing and violent Israeli occupation -- is lost in favour of Palestinian-infused distractions, deliberate or not.In Gaza, the story of the Israeli siege, which represents one of today's most catastrophic man-made disasters, is relegated in favour of renewed infighting between Hamas and Fatah, whether directly or by proxy
Blocking A Gazan's Path To San Diego
By Fidaa AbedMy education is my gateway to the future. The master's degree I would have earned at UC San Diego in computer science certainly cannot be attained in Gaza. And I am not alone. Hundreds of Palestinian students with dreams of improving their lives are stagnating intellectually in Gaza. The doors to our open-air prison have largely been slammed shut
12 August, 2008
United By Misery: Two Boys From Gaza And Nilin
By Ramzy BaroudAhmed Moussa was a 12-year-old Palestinian boy from the West Bank village of Nilin, near Ramallah. Mohamed Bahloul is a 12-year-old Palestinian boy from Gaza City. The former was shot and killed 29 July by Israeli forces following a peaceful protest against the Israeli apartheid wall. The latter is awaiting death in a dilapidated hospital in Gaza
07 August, 2008
Refugees In And From Arab Lands
By Bahija RéghaïIn the Israeli-Palestinian case, recognition by Israel of the right of return would entail its assumption of responsibility for the uprooting of the majority of Palestinian society in 1948. This would satisfy a central demand that has become a fundamental element in Palestinian national identity. Such recognition would then enable the two parties to enter negotiations over restitution and how best to address the right of return issue
07 August, 2008
Palestinians Unfairly Hit By Israeli Policy In Gaza
By Yaser WishahImagine if Chinese-Americans visiting relatives were prevented by the Chinese government from returning to America. Or if an American traveled to Iran and was then forbidden from reaching an airport to come home. This happened to me at the hands of Israel, supposedly America's closest ally in the Middle East
06 August, 2008
The 'Security Vacuum' In Jerusalem
By Nicola NasserBoth "lone" attacks and an earlier bloody one on a Jewish seminary in March were used by Israeli officials to whip up a mounting internal and external campaign of incitement and hatred against the native Palestinian Jerusalemites, which led Martin Sieff, a conservative defense industry editor for United Press International to stretch the exaggeration out of proportion to write on August 6 that, "A new front in the global war on terror has opened up" in Jerusalem
Olmert's Departure: The Perfect Alibi
By Hasan Abu NimahOlmert is not Rabin and Annapolis was not Oslo. While Rabin paid with his life for even appearing to challenge Israeli Jewish supremacy, Olmert is paying only with his job and his perks. On the other side, the Palestinian "partner" does not reach the mythical status of Yasser Arafat. So we have diminished myths for diminished characters and probably these myths will have a diminished life-span as the mythmakers struggle to hold back the tide of cruel reality that threatens to wash them away
04 August, 2008
Gaza Under Siege
By Stephen LendmanGaza's industrial production dropped 95%, and its agricultural output is about half its pre-2007 level. Nearly all construction also stopped, and according to a new UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) report, poverty tops 50% and unemployment is nearly as high. Other unofficial estimates say 80% for both is more accurate. Things are bad and worsening
02 August, 2008
Palestinians Face Home Demolitions Spree By Israel
By Jonathan CookThe problem of house demolitions affects Palestinians throughout the occupied territories. But according to Hatem Abdelkader, an adviser to Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, the situation is particularly acute in the East Jerusalem area. He noted that Israel’s policy of refusing building permits to many of the 250,000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem has resulted in the classification of 20,000 city homes as illegal since the occupation began in 1967. Last year alone, the Jerusalem municipality issued more than 1,000 demolition orders for “illegal dwellings”
31 July, 2008
From Usurpation To Liberation:
The Palestinian Hope
By Dan LiebermanThe suffering due to occupation and a perspective of Israel as a colonizer drives the Palestinians to a war of liberation. Hope for success is enhanced by Israel's inability to accumulate a sufficient mass of world Jewry to labor for a Jewish homeland. Hopelessness that foresees failure is dictated by Israel's daily violent and cruel acts that grind the Palestinians into dust. Despite its attempt to portray the conflict as a war on terrorism, the ferocity of Israel's campaign certifies it is fighting a liberation movement with tactics designed to completely destroy Palestinian life
Francis Boyle's "Palestine
Palestinians And International Law"
By Stephen LendmanFrancis Boyle is a distinguished University of Illinois law professor, activist, and internationally recognized expert on international law and human rights. He also lectures widely, writes extensively, and authored many books, including the subject of this review: "Palestine Palestinians and International Law."
30 July, 2008
Reflection On The Role Of The Israeli Peace Camp
By Hasan Afif El-HasanActions of the Zionist governments, left or right since the establishment of Israel, suggest no intention of recognizing the rights of Palestinians.The Israelis have to change their consciousness to deal courageously with their collective responsibility for the Palestinian tragedy. Only the Jewish Israeli members of the peace camp can drive this message home to the Israeli people
26 July, 2008
The Path To One Democratic State In Palestine
By Roger TuckerAll that remains is the reality of a land in which reside both Israelis and Palestinians, some of the latter living as second-class citizens within Israel proper and the rest separated by the apartheid wall and imprisoned in the West Bank, and in Gaza. This situation cannot continue indefinitely. Somehow or other, one single state must emerge. The only question is what kind of state
What Obama Missed In The Middle East
By Ali AbunimahObama missed the opportunity to visit Palestinian refugee camps, schools and even shopping malls to witness first-hand the devastation caused by the Israeli army and settlers, or to see how Palestinians cope under what many call "apartheid." This year alone, almost 500 Palestinians, including over 70 children, have been killed by the Israeli army -- exceeding the total for 2007 and dwarfing the two-dozen Israelis killed in conflict-related violence
What's Driving The Jerusalem Attacks
By Uri AvneryThe attacks are the result of despair, frustration, hatred and the sense that there is no way out. Only a solution that will remove these feelings can bring security to both parts of Jerusalem
25 July, 2008
The Ordeal Of Mohammed Omer
By Kenneth RingWe are used to hearing about the hazards, often fatal, of being a journalist these days. Everyone is familiar with accounts of courageous Russian journalists who have been assassinated and of course with stories of war correspondents who have been killed or gravely wounded in the course of reporting from Iraq and Afghanistan. But what about the dangers of just being a Palestinian journalist who is simply trying to return to his own hometown in Gaza after being abroad? Consider the case of a twenty-four-year-old reporter named Mohammed Omer
Jeff Halper's An Israeli In Palestine (Part II)
By Stephen LendmanAccording to Israeli-based author and journalist Jonathan Cook, Halper's book is "one of the most insightful analyses of the Occupation I've read. His voice cries out to be heard" on the region's longest and most intractable conflict. Part II continues the story
22 July, 2008
Jeff Halper's An Israeli In Palestine (Part I)
By Stephen LendmanJeff Halper is an American-born Israeli Professor of Anthropology as well as a peace and human rights activist for over three decades. In 1997, he co-founded the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD). ICAHD's mission is now expanded well beyond home demolitions. It helps rebuild them and resists "land expropriation, settlement expansion, by-pass road construction, policies of 'closure' and 'separation," and much more
21 July, 2008
Revealing A Massacre, Or Stating The Obvious
By Ramzy BaroudThose killed in the 'massacre of Beit Daras', according to Palestinian accounts, were 265, largely women, children and elders. The gender and age groups of the victims were not selective nor coincidental, but related to the nature of the battle, where the fighters of Beit Daras were engaged in fighting against successive Zionist army units, first involving militants from a nearby settlement, then Haganah forces and finally Givati units. The battle for Beit Daras was long and arduous, and duly mentioned in the writings of Jamal Abd Al-Nasser, the first president of Egypt, during his military service in southern Palestine, and of David Ben Gurion's War Diaries
19 July, 2008
I'm Not Barack Obama,
But I will Endorse Him
By Sameh A. HabeebWe Palestinians and Arab Americans have to look over this race to the White House wisely. We have two choices now. Barack Obama who is slightly supporting the Palestinians and their promising state. In the other side, we have one of the biggest new Bushes, John McCain, whose stances are more extreme than Bush and all the new conservatives in the US. One of McCain' s advisors said a couple of weeks ago that Palestinians should go to Jordan and establish their own country. Thus, McCain is so dangerous for us and his ideas are so malicious. So, let's pick the less worse of the two…Let's endorse Obama
13 July, 2008
Thirst In The Palestinian Territories
By Alice GrayThe water crisis has started early this year in the Palestinian Territories. In scores of towns and villages throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, people listen eagerly for the gurgle of water in pipelines, and turn on their taps with trepidation, watching anxiously for the first drops to appear, waiting to see if they turn into a stream, or splutter and gurgle to nothing after a few seconds. Others watch and wait for the arrival of water tankers, transporting the life-giving liquid to them from distant sources across an obstacle course of road blocks, checkpoints and military closures put in place by the Israeli Authorities
11 July, 2008
A Constant Nakba For Palestine's Bedouin
By Ida AudehAbu Dahook is one of the approximately 50,000 Bedouin whose traditions and lifestyle have been nearly destroyed by Israeli colonization. Their communities are still being displaced by Israel's illegal land annexation and the transfer of Israel's civilian population to territory it occupies, in violation of international humanitarian law. Abu Dahook and others like him see no relief in sight as they are constantly dogged by Israeli threats of further displacement and neglect by the Palestinian Authority
03 July, 2008
When You Shoot The Messenger
By Mel FrykbergThe assault of IPS Gaza correspondent Mohammed Omer has left Israeli security personnel with a lot of explaining to do. And they are not doing a very good job of it
02 July, 2008
From Triumph To Torture
By John PilgerIsrael's treatment of an award-winning young Palestinian journalist is part of a terrible pattern
30 June, 2008
Tactics That Ended Apartheid
In S. Africa Can End It In Israel
By Bill Fletcher, Jr.With humbleness, with love, with compassion for Palestinians and Israelis, I believe in the possibility that both can live as neighbors with security, dignity and respect. As it did in South Africa, corporate engagement, including divestment, can help make that possibility a reality
27 June, 2008
Zionism’s Dead End
By Jonathan Cook
in NazarethSeparation or ethnic cleansing? Israel’s encaging of Gaza aims to achieve both
23 June, 2008
On Humiliation, And Gaza’s Dying Children
By Ramzy BaroudAccording to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, "as of 26 May, 64 children had been killed in the conflict since the beginning of the year -- more than the total child death toll for all of 2007. Fifty-nine of the deaths were in Gaza and another four victims were Israeli children."
Why Israel Won't Accept A Two-State Solution
By Bernard ChazelleWithin 10 years, Jews will be a clear minority in the population west of the Jordan, so a democratic unitary state (eg, modeled on South Africa) would mean the end of Israel as a Jewish state, an outcome not everyone would greet with cartwheels
21 June, 2008
Rays Of Hope From The Gaza Ceasefire
By Ali AbunimahAfter the unremitting hell that Israel has inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza, one can only feel relief and even joy at the ceasefire agreed between Hamas and the Jewish state that took effect this week. Its significance extends well beyond Gaza and opens new possibilities as the disastrous Bush Doctrine begins to lose influence
Palestine In The American Imagination:
Religion, Politics And Media
By Ramzy BaroudA study of the political, religious and cultural factors underlying the pro-Israeli bias apparent in the Western media today, as depicted in the mainstream news and television programmes
18 June, 2008
Can You Pass The Israel-Palestine Quiz?
By Jeffrey RudolphWhile it is undoubtedly true that carefully selected facts alone do not constitute an informed opinion, answers to the following questions should not be ignored if one is to understand the Israel-Palestine conflict. And, while a strong commitment to a cause can blind some people to contrary facts, I appeal to such people through the words of the famous British economist, John Maynard Keynes: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”
15 June, 2008
BBC's Pro-Israeli Bias
By Stephen LendmanBBC views the conflict from an Israeli perspective. It features government officials to explain it, and reports whatever they say as fact. This turns reality on its head, makes lawless actions justifiable, results in double standard journalism, and lets Palestinians suffer the consequences
Israeli Government: "Immoral,
Unethical And Illegal"
By Eileen FlemingThe outside world, for the most part, is unaware of Israeli Government's Policy of demonization, willful destruction, of the Muslim Institutions, one by one, in an attempt to destroy the spirit and resilience of the Muslim Communities, not only in Hebron but throughout the illegally occupied Palestinian territories
07 June, 2008
An Award For The Voiceless In Gaza
By Mohammed OmerAs I write, I am still thrilled and honored at such recognition. But since those first minutes during which it was explained that I would have to be in London by 16 June to receive my award, my thoughts have been racing, seeking a way to get out of Gaza. How can I get out at a time when Israel is not allowing even the most urgent medical cases to leave for treatment, a policy that, according to Gaza's ministry of health, has led to the deaths of more than 165 people?
Tear Gas And Bullets In Bil'in VS
International Nonviolent Solidarity
By Eileen FlemingOn June 6, 2008, Vice President of the European Parliament Luisa Morgantini and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Maried Corrigan-Maguire were assaulted by Israeli Forces with tear gas during the weekly Friday afternoon nonviolent protest against the wall and military occupation in Bil'in
05 June, 2008
Gaza’s Imminent Explosion
By Dr. Elias AklehWorst from death itself is watching your young children, your old parents, and your siblings die of starvation, lack of medicine, and on the hands of Israeli terrorist army. Abandoned and pushed to die in a corner without any alternative Gaza Palestinians will not take it silently. They prefer to die struggling for their rights and for their freedom. This is the only choice left for them
The Black Days Of 1948
By Dr Marwan AsmarThe Palestinian Diaspora of 1948 in which over 750,000 people were forced to leave their homes was made virtually at gunpoint. Today as Israelis celebrate their 60th birthday in a bombastic fashion, Palestinians remember their Nakba of destruction and turmoil signified by their uprooting from their land. It is this monstrous equation that has to be driven at the forefront by scholars, academics, journalists, commentators, politicians, and activists so that the world is educated about the Israeli holocaust to the Palestinians
03 June, 2008
"The Hope Of A Victimized People"
By George BisharatMore and more people are recognizing that a Jewish state built on expulsion, repression and ethnic privilege will never know rest. Justice, equality and mutual respect are the salvation of both Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs. Ahead, perhaps distantly, a bright future awaits them
Why A Cultural Boycott Of Israel Is Necessary
By Remi KanaziIt is clear that even cultural dialogue with the Israeli establishment has only proven to normalize the occupation. Tutu once declared, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Now is not the time to be neutral, nor the time to be reticent; it is the time to act
02 June, 2008
Palestinians Trapped At Crossroads
By Nicola NasserFiring home-made primitive rockets at Israeli targets from the Gaza Strip, the mass sweeping through the Palestinian - Egyptian border crossing of Rafah in January and the series of ongoing peaceful demonstrations at Gaza's crossing points with Israel are not an aggressive demonstration of self-confidence, but more a show of defensive despair and weakness against the tight Israeli military siege
Water Wars In The West Bank
By Ron TaylorThat the next war will be about water is a commonly expressed sentiment in Palestine. This may not be the case – there are many other reasons for conflict here - but the unequal division of this life source could well provide the spark for the next eruption
30 May, 2008
Pens And Swords
By Jim MilesBook Review: Pens And Swords : How the American Mainstream Media Report the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
23 May, 2008
Acknowledging The Tragedy
By Raja ShehadehBy continuing its four-decade-old settlement policy Israel, is, in effect, seeking to make our lives so intolerable that we would be driven away from our land, albeit at a slower pace than was the case during the Nakba, 60 years ago
17 May, 2008
Israel At 60: An Ongoing Disaster
By Ida AudehIsrael has ruled over the indigenous Palestinian population for 59 of its 60 years: imposing military rule on the Palestinians who remained in Israel from 1948 to 1966 and ruling since 1967 over the Palestinians in the occupied territories(1), who now number 3.7 million.(2) And in these 60 years, Israel has demonstrated irrefutably that it is a disaster on every level that really matters -- for the Palestinians; for its own citizens; and for its neighbors
Peres’s Coup!
By Dr Marwan AsmarIsrael’s public relations exercise last week celebrating its 60th anniversary has to be seen a major international coup that will be remembered for a long time to come. It was about images rather than about who is right or who is wrong
16 May, 2008
Remembering 1948 And Looking To The Future
By Ali AbunimahThis month Israel marks the 60th anniversary of its founding. But amidst the festivities including visits by international celebrities and politicians there is deep unease -- Israel has skeletons in its closet that it has tried hard to hide, and anxieties about an uncertain future which make many Israelis question whether the state will celebrate an 80th birthday
60 Years Of Denial
By Ramzy BaroudAs Israel celebrates its 60th birthday, nothing is allowed to blemish the supposed heroism of its founding fathers or those who fought in its name. Palestine, the Palestinians, and an immeasurably long relationship between a people and their land hardly merit a pause as Israeli officials and their Western counterparts carry on with their festivities
Resisting The Nakba
By Joseph MassadOne of the most difficult things to grasp in the modern history of Palestine and the Palestinians is the meaning of the Nakba. Is the Nakba to be seen as a discrete event that took place and ended in 1948, or is it something else? What are the political stakes in reifying the Nakba as a past event, in commemorating it annually, in bowing before its awesome symbolism? What are the effects of making the Nakba a finite historical episode that one bemoans but must ultimately accept as a fact of history?
The Nakba March
By Jonathan CookIt has been a week of adulation from world leaders, ostentatious displays of military prowess, and street parties. Heads of state have rubbed shoulders with celebrities to pay homage to the Jewish state on its 60th birthday, while a million Israelis reportedly headed off to the country's forests to enjoy the national pastime: a barbecue
The Solution To The Conflict Originated
By Israel Is A Palestinian State
By Agustin VellosoIf the core of the Palestinian problem is the robbery of a people's land, plus the expulsion of its owners, justice is not achieved by allowing the thief to keep half of it, as the two States solution implies. Much less is justice served by forcing the victims to share it with the thief, making them forget the past and abandon hope of a future free from oppression
15 May, 2008
Huge Cost Of 60 Years Of Apartheid Israel,
War And Palestinian Genocide
By Dr Gideon PolyaAfter a century of this racist, colonialist obscenity it is timely on this 60th anniversary of Zionist Unilateral Declaration of Independence to assess what has been the economic cost of Apartheid Israel and the human cost of Apartheid Israel
Celebrating 60 Years Of Israel’s Terror
By Ghali HassanAs the U.S. and other Western governments began celebrating Israel’s 60th anniversary of colonisation in Palestine, little attention is given to the unimaginable suffering of the Palestinian people. Instead Israel’s daily terror against the Palestinians has been normalised as a relief of guilt feelings
The Church Of The Nativity In The Little Town of
Bethlehem: Today, 2007 And 2002...
By Eileen FlemingThe Palestinian fighters who were deported from the West Bank after the 2002 siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem appealed to Palestinian leadership on Saturday to "end their suffering and return them to their home city of Bethlehem."
09 May, 2008
Common Sense Regarding
The Middle East Conflict
By Roger TuckerThe viral madness that is Zionism, the most virulent form of fascism in today's world, can only be defeated by the spiritual weapons of wisdom and compassion, wielded by people of good will around the world, and the considerable hard work required to cut through the fog of confusion
Ramzy Baroud's "The Second Palestinian Intifada"
By Stephen LendmanRamzy Baroud's "The Second Palestinian Intifada" is poignant and masterful. It blends his personal experience with a gripping narrative of his peoples' struggle for justice
06 May, 2008
Sixty Years Of Palestinian Displacement,
Occupation And Suffering
By Stephen LendmanOn May 14, Israelis will commemorate the 60th anniversary of their "War of Independence" and founding of the Jewish State. It also marks 60 years of Palestinian Nakba suffering
03 May, 2008
The Harsh Reality Of The Middle East Conflict
By Dan LiebermanA century old conflict between the state of Israel and stateless Palestinians, many of whom have been disposed from lands that created the Israel state, has precipitated a argument: Is it preferable to have two states living side by side or have one state from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River that includes Jews and Palestinians without prejudice and with equal rights for all?
02 May, 2008
No Mercy
By Najwa SheikhIn their simple house made of metal sheets, Myassar Abu Me'teq was sitting next to three of her children having breakfast and holding her one-year-old baby in her arms. She listened to their daily complaints and loving quarrels, trying to comfort them and keep them away from the sound of the Israeli shelling close to their home in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. This mother did not know that their clock would soon stop ticking, not by their creator but by their enemy
Blockade Puts Gaza On Brink Of Serious Food Crisis
By Donald MacintyreDestitution and food insecurity among Gaza's 1.5 million residents has reached an unprecedentedly critical level, according to unpublished UN findings that they now need "urgent assistance" to avert a "serious food crisis" in the occupied Palestinian territories
The Bomb Squads: How To Survive
A Gaza Refugee Camp
By Ramzy BaroudExcerpts from Baroud’s upcoming book, “101 Ways to Survive a Refugee Camp.”
01 May, 2008
Denying Palestinians Free Movement
In The West Bank
By Stephen LendmanThis article summarizes an August 2007 B'Tselem report now available in print. It's one of a series of studies it conducts on life in Occupied Palestine to reveal what major media accounts suppress. This one is titled: "Ground to a Halt - Denial of Palestinians' Freedom of Movement in the West Bank."
29 April, 2008
Mother,4 Children Amongst Victims Of
Israeli Gaza Strike
By Al MezanIsraeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed four children and their mother when they shelled their home in Ezbet Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip today. Another man was killed in the attack which occurred during an IOF incursion in different parts of the town of Beit Hanoun
28 April, 2008
Mixed Priorities: Why Palestinian Unity
Is Not An Option
By Ramzy BaroudWhile such noble efforts by the UN’s John Dugard, former US President Jimmy Carter and Bishop Desmond Tutu have brought much needed attention to the plight of Palestinians and Gazans in particular, PA officials are too busy attending donor’s conferences and issuing empty statements which few even bother to read. They act as if they are a neutral party caught in the middle of religious fanatics and Israel. Their fight no longer seems even remotely related to Palestine or its people
18 April, 2008
No Peace Without Hamas
By Mahmoud al-ZaharFormer US President Jimmy Carter's sensible plan to visit the Hamas leadership this week brings honesty and pragmatism to the Middle East while underscoring the fact that American policy has reached its dead end
17 April, 2008
Gaza: The Holocaust Continues
By One Democratic State GroupThe latest Israeli war crimes in the besieged Gaza Strip have resulted in the brutal killings of 21 Palestinians, including 6 children, within the last 12 hours. More than 40 have been injured. Fadel Shanaa, a Reuters cameraman, was amongst the dead. His visibly marked car was targeted by an Israeli missile in an attempt to cover up crimes committed in day light
No Child's Play In The Occupied
Palestinian Territories
By Kim Bullimore in the West BankToday I witnessed, for the first time, a Palestinian child being abducted by the Israeli Occupation Forces. This, of course, is not the first time that a Palestinian child has been abducted in such a manner. It happens every single day in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Shame On Arab Petrodollars
By Khalid AmayrehA day’s revenue of Arab oil and gas can solve all the Palestinian people’s financial problems. It can enable Palestinian authorities to pay for the salaries of all civil servants and help poor college students continue their education for an entire year. It can also serve to subsidize basic consumer products such as bread, sugar and cooking oil, especially for the most impoverished segments of society
Carter's Visit With Hamas' Meshal
By Hasan Abu NimahIt is unlikely that Carter would come out of a meeting with Meshal fully convinced of the Hamas program, but he may not adopt the notion that Hamas is merely a terrorist organization and an obstacle to peace that no one should ever talk to. Indeed, in an interview with Haaretz, he stressed that to make peace you have to talk to everyone. That possibility alone is frightening enough for an Israel that has no interest in genuine negotiations or an end to conflict that requires it to recognize the rights of the Palestinians
Israel Doesn't Want To Know Carter Any More
By Peter HirschbergThree decades after he brokered the first-ever peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter has become persona non grata in the Jewish state. Both Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Ehud Barak refused to meet with him during his four-day visit here. So did former prime minister and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who accused Carter of holding "anti-Israel views in recent years."
07 April, 2008
Gaza Running On Near Empty
By Mohammed OmerGaza needs 850,000 litres of fuel every week, says Mahmoud al-Khozendar, vice-president of the Petrol Station Owners Association in Gaza. Israel allows in just 70,000 litres of it. He said Gaza also needs 2.5 million litres of coal gas a week. Only 800,000 litres per week comes in
There Are No Checkpoints In Heaven
By Ramzy Baroud"I am sick, son, I am sick," my father cried when I spoke to him two days before his death. He died alone on March 18, waiting to be reunited with my brothers in the West Bank. He died a refugee, but a proud man nonetheless. My father's struggle began 60 years ago, and it ended a few days ago. Thousands of people descended to his funeral from throughout Gaza, oppressed people that shared his plight, hopes and struggles, accompanying him to the graveyard where he was laid to rest. Even a resilient fighter deserves a moment of peace
02 April, 2008
This 'Bombshell' Took a Year Falling
By Adam Morrow & Khaled Moussa al-OmraniA recent article in Vanity Fair magazine "exposing" a U.S.-planned coup attempt against Palestinian resistance movement Hamas last year has ignited a storm of debate about Washington's Middle East policies. Yet for more than nine months, details of the plot were reported in the independent Arabic press -- and elsewhere -- leading some observers to ask: where was the mainstream media?
60 Years of Nakbah
By Adalah-NYSaturday’s Land Day protest at the Madison Avenue jewelry store of Israeli billionaire and settlement mogul Lev Leviev highlights the sixty-year Israeli campaign to displace Palestinians from their land, and Palestinian defiance and resistance – from the Nakbah, or Catastrophe, in 1948, when around 800,000 Palestinians were driven from their villages by Israeli forces to become refugees; to the original Land Day protests in 1976; to present day settlement construction by Israeli settlement builders like Lev Leviev in Bil’in, Jayyous, Jabal Abu Ghneim and Maale Adumim
30 March, 2008
Human Rights Violations In Israel And Palestine
By Stephen LendmanThe Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) publishes annual reports on the state of human rights in Israel and occupied Palestine. This article is based on its latest year end 2007 one. ACRI's evidence is disturbing and compelling, yet it's appalled by the Israeli public's indifference. It aims to change this by publicizing its findings so those in government, the media and general population know them and will react to reverse an ugly and damaging trend. Growing numbers of people worldwide know how Israel harms Palestinians. ACRI's report shows that Jews are also impacted
29 March, 2008
The Great Lake Of Gaza:
A New Crisis In The Making
By Suzanne BaroudIt is indisputable that the calamity of contaminated water in the Gaza Strip is a resolute policy of the Israeli government
West Bank Faces Toxic Waste Crisis
By Mel FrykbergThe West Bank has become a dumping site for hazardous waste -?which is making residents sick, say Israeli and Palestinian environmental groups. Several weeks ago, villagers from Jima'in in the Nablus district complained that Israeli trucks were again dumping waste on Palestinian land
27 March, 2008
Transforming Israel
By Miko PeledNow that Kosovo is the newest independent state to emerge out of the ruins of the former Yugoslavia parallels are being drawn between the Balkans and the Middle East. One response to this development came from Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni who said that as she does not mind if the Palestinians follow the Kosovars and declare statehood; what worries her is that Palestinians will demand equal rights with Israelis
Jonathan Cook's "Blood And Religion"
By Stephen LendmanCook's earlier book was published in 2006. It's titled "Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the