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20 August, 2005

Protest, Grief As Barrier Segregates
Palestinian Village From Farms
By Jon Elmer

Palestinians from a farming community stage weekly demonstrations against the massive barrier that, once built, will segregate them from the fields and groves around which their entire lives revolve

18 August, 2005

Watching The Gazan Fiasco
By Jennifer Loewenstein

A great charade is taking place in front of the world media in the Gaza Strip. It is the staged evacuation of 8000 Jewish settlers from their illegal settlement homes, and it has been carefully designed to create imagery to support Israel's US-backed takeover of the West Bank and cantonization of the Palestinians

Palestinians Under Withdrawal Curfew
By Laila El-Haddad

Palestinian communities living near Jewish settlements are bracing themselves for a month-long Israeli-imposed closure

Slicing Off Gaza Is Just A Diplomatic Nose Job
By Sharif Hamadeh

If the government of Israel were sincerely concerned about racist attacks on its Arab citizens, it would not only disengage from Gaza, but also from discrimination. That means a withdrawal from the entirety of the occupied territories, and a departure from the attendant colonial mentality. Under those circumstances, Israelis and Palestinians could truly begin to prepare for peace

The Risk Of A Third Intifada
By Marwan Bishara

All Palestinians deserve an immediate end to an ordeal that includes freedom from occupation that has lasted decades. Anything less would transform Israel's Gaza nightmare into a daily West Bank reality

16 August, 2005

A Miracle Of Rare Device
By Uri Avnery

Sharon's outlook is simple. He wants to expand Israel's borders as much as possible, and minimize the number of Arabs within them. Therefore it makes sense to him to give up the tiny Gaza strip with the million and half Palestinians living there, and also the centers of Palestinian population in the West Bank

14 August, 2005

'With' or 'Against' The Gaza Disengagement Plan
By Tamar Amir

Jewish settlement youth were distributing ribbons in two colors, orange and blue/white. The orange ribbons represent those 'against' the Gaza disengagement plan. The white/blue on the other hand represent those 'with' the Gaza disengagement plan

13 August, 2005

Gaza: The World’s Largest Prison
By Ghali Hassan

Israel’s ‘disengagement’ plan is nothing but an Israeli PR over-sold by Western media as the brutality of the Occupation continues unhindered, and Israel will continue to guard the world’s largest open-air prison

29 July, 2005

'Settlers' or Terrorists
By Ghali Hassan

Western powers are too busy condemning retail terrorism, while turning a blind eye to Israel’s policy of daily acts of terrorism against the Palestinians. For these reasons Israel should be condemned and force to abandon its policy of genocide against the Palestinian people

21 July, 2005

The Battle For The West Bank
And East Jerusalem
By Am Johal

Last week marked the one year anniversary of the International Court of Justice decision declaring the construction of the Separation Wall in East Jerusalem and the Occupied Palestinian Territories illegal

02 June, 2005

Time To Admit It Is Only Gravel
By Hasan Abu Nimah

Mahmoud Abbas has just completed a "successful" visit to Washington. He expressed great satisfaction with the results, and comparing what he had expected to what he had achieved, he must be right. But what benefits the visit did bring the Palestinians is a different matter: simply nothing

09 May, 2005

Oil And Palestine: The New Cold War
By Am Johal

The new Cold War looks alot like the old one, but this time it is about Oil and Palestine

Why Us? (On The Academic Boycott)
By Tanya Reinhart

The international community is beginning to boycott Israel in all domains, from the Caterpillar bulldozers that demolish Palestinian homes, to sports and culture

19 April, 2005

Apologizing To Torturers
By John Pilger

Simon Wilson, the correspondent who did an important and long overdue interview with nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu was made to apologize to a regime Nelson Mandela described as “the greatest moral issue of the age”

15 April, 2005

Behind The Smoke Screen Of The Gaza Pullout
By Tanya Reinhart

Sharon travelled to the USA as a hero of peace, as if he had already evacuated Gaza and only the follow-up remained to be worked out. What has completely disappeared from the public agenda is what is happening meanwhile in the West Bank

07 April, 2005

Mechanisms Of Dispossession
By Ghali Hassan

The practice of Palestinians dispossession is continuing with the full support of the Israeli government and its institutions in Israel and funded by Jewish organisations abroad, such as the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and the World Zionist Organization (WZO)

05 April, 2005

3,500 New Homes On West Bank
By Donald Macintyre and Eric Silver

Ariel Sharon, Israel's Prime Minister, has defied international and Palestinian objections to go ahead with a bitterly controversial plan to expand the largest Jewish settlement on the West Bank by 3,500 homes

Is Israel A Safe Haven For Jews?
By Adri Nieuwhof and Jeff Handmaker

There are clear and growing signs that many Jews do not see Israel as a "safe haven" and therefore seek refuge elsewhere

02 April, 2005

Israeli Rampage
By Khaled Amayreh

Settler violence against Palestinians is burgeoning at an alarming rate

01 April, 2005

The End Of A Viable Palestinian State
By Jeff Halper

American support for Sharon's settlement project destroys forever the possibility of a viable Palestinian state, dooming the peoples of Israel-Palestine to perpetual conflict. How this squares with American interests in a stable Middle East is anybody's guess

31 March, 2005

Palestinians Also Sleep In The Day
By Amira Hass

East Jerusalemites are "trapped" when they leave the Bethlehem area through that checkpoint, and receive a summons to report to the police so they can be questioned about their violation of the order prohibiting their travel

Palestinian Women 'Have Suffered Most In Intifada'
By Donald Macintyre

Palestinian women have borne the brunt of the pain inflicted by four-and-a-half years of conflict but their plight has been largely ignored

29 March, 2005

What Will Be The Sharon Legacy?
By Am Johal

As Sharon prepares to meet President Bush next month, his government is continuing to change the facts on the ground. Under the cover of the Gaza withdrawal, the plan for continued settlement expansion is moving ahead

24 March, 2005

The Israeli Left Is Opting For Suicide
By Tanya Reinhart

Of the 100,000 people who showed up for the demonstration of the Left parties a year ago, that demanded a pullout from Gaza, 90,000 stayed home in this week’s demonstration. Could it be that many of them feel in their heart of hearts that they are being deceived?The Israeli Left chose to commit suicide. It is no longer beholden to its voters. It is beholden only to Sharon

16 March, 2005

We Won't Forget Rachel Corrie
By Alison Weir

There is a quiet battle going on for the memory of a young woman who could have been my daughter, or perhaps yours.On one side are those who would like to erase her from history her actions, her beliefs, her murder.On the other side are those who feel her shining principles should be praised, her courage honored, her death grieved

12 March, 2005

Apartheid Targets Palestinian
Home-Owners Inside Israel
By Jonathan Cook

Ali Zbeidat is a palestinian.Ali's problem is that he is also a citizen of Israel and Israel is threatening the demolition of his home terming it as illegal. Ali's plight is far from unique. There are tens of thousands of other Palestinians in the same desperate situation as Ali, living in homes Israel defines as illegal

11 March, 2005

Defusing Israel's "Demographic Bomb"
By Hasan Abu Nimah

Israeli Jews thought the day they would become a minority was perhaps still twenty years away, the evidence is increasing that the bomb has already exploded and Palestinians are already a majority in historic Palestine, as they were until Israel was created

Bush's Guru
By Uri Avnery

When Israelis heard for the first time about Bush citing Natan Sharansky as his guide and mentor, they gasped in disbelief. Sharansky? Our Sharansky?

04 March, 2005

'Sharon Is 'War Criminal'
By Ken Livingstone

"Ariel Sharon, Israel's prime minister, is a war criminal who should be in prison, not in office", says Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London

Unilateral Give, Unilateral Take
By Roni Ben Efrat

If, in order to get back Gaza, which Israel doesn't want at all, the Palestinians have had to make four years of Intifada, imagine what kind of World War they would have to wage to retrieve the West Bank!

01 March, 2005

Finger After Finger
By Uri Avnery

Seven words uttered by President Bush in Brussels have not been paid the attention they deserve.He called for the establishment of “a democratic Palestinian state with territorial contiguity” in the West Bank, and then added: “A state on scattered territories will not work.” It is worthwhile to ponder these words. Who did he point the finger at?

01 March, 2005

Is peace In Palestine About To Break Out?
By Ali Abunimah

Behind the photo opportunities and historic handshakes, however, the evidence on the ground is that Israel is taking advantage of the new mood not to build peace, but to build more settlements

Militant Settlers Put Sharon On Notice
By Jonathan Cook

While the aggressive language of many among Gaza's 7000 Jewish settlers is making Israeli officials nervous, the government is far more fearful of the response of the wider settler population of the West Bank and East Jerusalem

"Powerless" Bedouin Village
Still Seeking Health Care
By Am Johal

Volunteer Built Solar-Powered Medwed Medical Clinic in Wadi el Na'am Sits Empty as Public Health Crisis from Toxic Industrial Site Worsens

22 February, 2005

Nothing Real
By Noam Chomsky

The cease-fire is to be welcomed: better no killing than killing. But take a careful look at the terms. The framework is entirely that of US-Israeli rejectionism: Palestinian resistance, even against the occupying army, must cease

18 February, 2005

Mahmoud Abbas And The Degeneration Of
The Palestinian National Movement
By Jean Shaoul And Chris Marsden

Although Abbas has sought to cultivate Washington’s support by carrying through measures against his own people that Yasser Arafat balked at, his present course nevertheless expresses the degeneration of the Palestinian nationalist movement as a whole

14 February, 2005

Fake Peace Festivals
By Tanya Reinhart

Just as in the days of the Aqaba summit, the majority of Israeli society is euphoric with expectations for change and calm. As always before, there is an absolute lack of collective memory. It is the media's responsibility to remind the readers of recent history

31 January, 2005

Israel's Fantasy Stands In The Way Of Peace
By Saree Makdisi

The recent election of Mahmoud Abbas as the new President of the Palestinian Authority has renewed speculation that 2005 will bring genuine peace between Palestinians and Israelis. Insofar as it depends on Israel's own intentions, however, such hope is entirely misplaced

17 January, 2005

Sharon Orders Unlimited Operations In Gaza
By Aljazeera

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has given orders for troops to carry out unlimited operations against Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip

15 January, 2005

Sharon Cuts Links To Abbas
By Donald Macintyre

The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, ordered a halt to all contacts with the Palestinian Authority yesterday after the bombing and shooting attack in Gaza which killed six Israeli terminal workers and three Palestinians

Human Rights Watch Indicts Israel
By Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch in its "World Report 2005" severly indicts Israel for its human rights violations in Occupied palestine

13 January, 2005

Trapped Like Mice
By Jamal Juma

Palestinians under the new Israeli "Disengagement Plan"

12 January, 2005

Palestinian Election: A Travesty Of Democracy
By Jean Shaoul and Chris Talbot

It was unique in the world to have general elections conducted democratically under foreign military occupation

10 January, 2005

Yet Another Historic Day
By Ali Abunimah

Once again, the media and the international peace process industry have declared that it is an "historic day" for the Palestinian people. The occasion this time is the election of Mahmoud Abbas as head of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied territories

09 December, 2004

Is Marwan Barghouti Right To Run?
By Hasan Abu Nimah & Ali Abunimah

Barghouti's candidacy has provoked some very negative reactions that cast serious doubt on the sincerity of those who have long been calling on the Palestinians to speed up democratization and reform as a way to advance the peace process

03 December, 2004

Lives Torn Apart In Ramallah
By Charles Stratford

The Israeli Defence Force are in town again. They've been here all night arresting men suspected of involvement with armed resistance groups. They bang on doors and pull young Palestinians into the back of waiting jeeps. They come and go as they please

02 December, 2004

Why They Love Mahmoud Abbas
By Hasan Abu Nimah

Perhaps Mahmoud Abbas has little choice but to repeat old clichés about violence and peace. This will no doubt improve his image and enhance his acceptability as a player in the international peace process industry, but, again, it will not bring peace any closer

30 November, 2004

“The Pianist” Of Palestine
By Omar Barghouti

I wonder when the time will come when a glamorous, award-winning director braves predictable intellectual terror and intimidation tactics to expose the venomous Israeli cocktail of racism and impunity by making a Palestinian version of “The Pianist.”

25 November, 2004

Bush And Sharon After Arafat
By Uri Avnery

Let no one have any illusions: Sharon will use every means, overt and covert, in order to destroy any "moderate" Palestinian leadership. His natural ally is Hamas, which opposes any negotiations with Israel. As of now, Abu-Mazen is Enemy No. 1

24 November, 2004

Killing A 13 Year Old
By Chris McGreal

An Israeli army officer who repeatedly shot a 13-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza dismissed a warning from another soldier that she was a child by saying he would have killed her even if she was three years old

The Arabs Of Israel: Citizens Without Citizenship
By Am Johal

While the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are in the news every day with stories of the Occupation, the Arab citizens of Israel are mired in a similar but different struggle

23 November, 2004

Missing Arafat
By Uri Avnery & Ari Shavit

Uri Avnery speaks about a world with and without Yasser Arafat

18 November, 2004

What Palestinians Should Do Now
By Ali Abunimah

The first priority for Palestinian leaders now must be to defend their people against Israel's relentless colonization and violence and not to negotiate with Israeli guns to Palestinian heads

17 November, 2004

Hebron: The Street
By Am Johal

There won't be peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians until there is peace in places like Hebron

16 November, 2004

Sharon's Gaza Pullout: Not Gonna Happen!
By Tanya Reinhart

For the first time in the history of the occupation, we are seeing joint Israeli-Palestinian struggle. Along with Israel of the army and the settlers, a new Israel-Palestine is forming

15 November, 2004

Play It Again Bush And Blair
By Sam Bahour and Michael Dahan

President Bush and Prime Minister Blair have basically regurgitated the same empty statements as in the past, only this time they choose to do so on the day President Arafat was laid to rest

After Arafat
By Uri Avnery

Ariel Sharon has absolutely no interest in sitting opposite a democratically elected Palestinian leadership enjoying international legitimacy and respect. He will do everything to prevent elections, and, of course, blame the Palestinians

13 November, 2004

Farewell To Arafat
By Donald Macintyre

Palestinians bid an emotional farewell to their president Yassar Arafat

12 November, 2004

Who Killed Yasser Arafat?
By Ghada Karmi

No one knows what killed Yasser Arafat. Rumours are circulating that Israel poisoned him. The evidence is entirely circumstantial and probably no more than fantasy though, when dealing with Israel, nothing can ever be ruled out

11 November, 2004

Yasser Arafat, 1929-2004
By The Electronic Intifada

Arafat's death will not change any of the essential underpinnings of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are still 3.5 million Palestinians living under a brutal Israeli military dictatorship.Millions of Palestinians still live in enforced exile.These stark facts ensure that suffering will continue

Palestine Greater Than Arafat
By Sam Bahour

The international media that has flooded the city of Ramallah, Arafat’s last place of refuge, is poised to analyze every minute aspect of his death and burial. What they will most likely miss is the most important part of his legend, which lies in the fact that the struggle for Palestinian freedom and independence, which Arafat symbolized, will not be buried with him

Who Will Succeed Arafat?
By Roshan Muhammed Salih

Death of Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat has thrown open the question who will succeed him.It is uncertain if the Palestinians - confronted by the reality of Israeli occupation - will get to choose a new leader, or have one foisted upon them through a back-room deal

09 November, 2004

The End Of The Arafat Era
By Am Johal

The Yasser Arafat that lies on his deathbed in Paris today, the one who has Jews and Arabs leaving him flowers outside his hospital, was not ever going to be the leader that brought home the peace or signed the final deal. "It will be the Arafat legacy, that he kept the fight alive; but his dream unfulfilled."

07 November, 2004

A Man And His People
By Uri Avnery

Wherever Arafat may be buried when he passes away, the day will come when his remains will be reinterred by a free Palestinian government in the holy shrines in Jerusalem

05 November, 2004

Uncertainty In Palestine
By Charmaine Seitz

For Palestinians, the implications of Arafat's absence are not so clear. Only an Islamist movement backer dismisses fears of a power struggle in the president's prolonged absence

Hamas Prepares For Post-Arafat Era
By Khalid Amayreh

Hamas has joined other Palestinian political factions in wishing the ailing Yasir Arafat a speedy recovery, but it is also readying for life after Arafat

Before Arafat's Eternal Rest
By Jude Wanniski

If Arafat's passes away at this crucial moment he will have handed his last gift to the Palestinian people. He can no longer be an excuse in Tel Aviv or Washington or in the Arab League to delay yet again the realisation of his lifelong dream of a Palestinian state

Bush, America And The Middle East
By Ali Abunimah

The next four years will be a transition point for the Israel -Palestine conflict: We are likely to see the decisive defeat of the two-state concept by the reality Israel is creating on the ground, accompanied by sharp escalation

03 November, 2004

Killing Children
By Khalid Amayreh

Since the beginning of October, as many as 33 Palestinian children and minors under 17 have been killed by the Israeli army. All in all, nearly 158 Palestinians, the bulk of them civilians, were killed in October

The Importance Of Being “Irrelevant”
By Uri Avnery

Yasser Arafat who years ago was officially declared by the Israeli government to be “irrelevant”, was headline news all over the world this week. There are very few leaders around whose state of health would command similar attention

01 November, 2004

Thinking Beyond Arafat
By Ali Abunimah

Those who may be among the least affected by Arafat's departure are millions of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and in exile for whom he has remained a powerful symbol, but for whom he long since stopped providing effective leadership

28 October, 2004

Settler's Bust
By Michael Dahan

The withdrawal from the Gaza Strip will not lead to civil war, nor will it lead to a rift, irreparable or otherwise, in Israel proper. All the polls and figures point to the fact that the disengagement plan is supported by at least 70% of the Israeli public

27 October, 2004

Sharon Wins Historic Gaza Vote
By Chris McGreal

Israel's parliament last night voted for the first time in 37 years of occupation to remove Jewish settlements from the Palestinian territories in a historic move that Ariel Sharon said paved the way to the end of the conflict

26 October, 2004

Israeli Raids On Gaza Kill 17
By Aljazeera

Up to 17 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military raids and missile strikes in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunus. An eight-year-old child, who was hit by a bullet in the neck, is among the casualties

23 October, 2004

“Days Of Penitence” Or Days Of Genocide?
By Ghali Hassan

Killing Palestinian children is becoming a competitive sport for the Israeli soldiers. ”Mohammed Aaraj was eating a sandwich in front of his house, when a soldier shot him to death at fairly close range. He was six at the time of his death

22 October, 2004

Palestine Takes Centre Stage
At The European Social Forum
By Victor Kattan

"End the oppression, end the occupation" was the rallying cry at the European Social Forum in London last weekend

Guava In Jabalia: First Bite, Last Breath
By Sami Abu Salem

The seeds of guava were still between 13-year-old Saber Assaliya's lips when an Israeli tank shot him in the waist

21 October, 2004

A Bullet Fired For Every Palestinian Child
By Yitzhak Laor

1.3 million bullets in the West Bank and Gaza. It was a bullet for every Palestinian child or at least this is what the Israeli daily Maariv revealed two years ago, when the horrible figures were first leaked

20 October, 2004

Killing Children Is No Big Deal
By Gideon Levy

Who would have believed that Israeli soldiers would kill hundreds of children and that the majority of Israelis would remain silent? Even the Palestinian children have become part of the dehumanization campaign: killing hundreds of them is no longer a big deal

19 October, 2004

Gaza Sinks In A Sea Of Blood
By Mohammed Omer

It smells unbelievably bad here. The stench of rotting blood mixes with the more acrid odor of flesh burnt to black char by the rockets fired by the Israeli Army's American-made Apache helicopters

18 October, 2004

Destroying Your Home With Love And Wisdom
By Chris McGreal

While Sharon agonises over how to draw 7,500 Jewish settlers out of Israel's Gaza colonies - offering hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation to each family - the army has already bulldozed close to 9,000 Palestinians from their homes in the Gaza strip this year alone

Thank You, Dubby
By Uri Avnery

By now, everybody has had a go at analyzing the interview with Dov (“Dubby”) Weisglass, Ariel Sharon’s most intimate confidant. But there is precious little to analyze. His statement is crystal clear: the “redeployment plan” was designed to “freeze” the peace process for decades, to put an end to the possibility of a Palestinian state, once and for all

17 October, 2004

Three Hours At Kalandia Checkpoint
By Neta Golan

Nablus, like most of the major West Bank cities, has been under intense siege for the last four years. Recently, people over thirty five from Nablus are allowed out sometimes and occasionally students are allowed in and out -- once each way each week. Otherwise, if you are from Nablus, you can not leave or enter

14 October, 2004

Double Standards That Kill
By Hasan Abu Nimah

Israel routinely kills 10 to 12 Palestinians per day, the daily equivalent of a Palestinian suicide bombing or two. Israel is engaged in the mass destruction of the Gaza Strip. Yet, other than pro forma criticism, there is great tolerance for the ongoing massacre

Where Are The Leaders
By Am Johal

where are the leaders in Israel and Palestine that will take the region to peace? Who will have the vision, the moral clout, the pragmatic leadership, the support of their people, the distast for conflict and the "Iron Will" to implement it?

13 October, 2004

Gaza Under Attack- Eye Witness Account
By Kim Bullimore, West Bank

The current offensive is merely a continuation of military operations that have taken place since Sharon first announced plans for “disengagement”. For the past six months, the IDF has been systematically demolishing houses and olive groves

12 October, 2004

Army Chief 'Emptied His Magazine'At Girl In Gaza
By Donald Macintyre

Soldiers have come forward to explain that 13 year old girl Iman al-Hams body was riddled with 20 bullets because their immediate commander "confirmed the killing" by shooting two bullets at her already prone body before withdrawing a short distance and then firing a burst of automatic gunfire at the corpse

10 October, 2004

Don’t Believe A Word
By Uri Avnery

When Ariel Sharon announced his plan for “unilateral disengagement”, the media reported that the Peace Now movement was preparing a big public campaign in support. Now Dov Weisglass has confirmed that the sole aim of the plan was to “freeze” the peace process

Gaza Families Live In The Shadow Of Death
By Laila El-Haddad

Meet a few victims of Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's bloody offensive through the northern Gaza Strip, which has claimed more than 85 Palestinian lives, nearly 30 of them children

06 October, 2004

Death And Destruction In Gaza
By OCHA

Heavy fighting has taken place in the last six days. The Palestinian Ministry of Health has recorded 82 Palestinian deaths of which 24 were children. Three hundred and sixteen Palestinians have been injured of which over 110 were children

Judging The Intifada
By Hasan Abu Nimah & Ali Abunimah

As Israel gets further into its corner, the chances increase dramatically that it will seek to resolve its existential problem not just at the expense of the Palestinians, but by spreading the conflict to its neighbors

The Bush Doctrine Is Israel's Doctrine
By Ghali Hassan

The only peaceful solution for the current tragedy and violence in Palestine is for American allies and civilised citizens to reject the Bush-Israel doctrine and convince the US and Israel to end their occupations of Iraq and Palestine and live like civilised nations

05 October, 2004

50,000 Trapped By Israeli Assault On Gaza
By Chris McGreal

Israeli forces have demolished the homes of hundreds of Palestinians, bulldozed swaths of agricultural land and destroyed infrastructure in their bloodiest assault on the Gaza Strip in years

Two Peoples, One State
By Michael Tarazi

New York Times published an article by PLO legal adviser Michael Tarazi where he lays out the case for solving the deadlocked Palestinian-Israeli conflict through "a one-state solution in which citizens of all faiths and ethnicities live together as equals." That the New York Times printed this article represents a major breakthrough of this idea into the mainstream

03 October, 2004

State Of Emergency Declared In Gaza
By Mustafa el-Sawwaf

The new fatalities take to at least 54 the number of Palestinian victims of the new Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, unleashed on Tuesday

A Nation? What Nation?
By Uri Avnery

It sounds like a joke, but it is quite serious.The government of Israel does not recognize the Israeli nation. It says that there is no such thing!

01 October, 2004

When You Have Breast Cancer In Gaza
By Gideon Levy

For 10 days now, F., a 28-year-old resident of Gaza, has been trying to get to Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer for urgent chemotherapy in the oncology department. The story of what has happened to her during these 10 awful days sounds unbelievable, even to someone who has already heard horrible stories

29 September, 2004

It's The Occupation Stupid!
By Am Johal

The Al Aqsa Intifada is a disaster for Israelis and Palestinians as it hits its fourth year with no significant advances, no real agreement in sight or an end to the violence

25 September, 2004

Madonna, Mr. Big and Richard Gere
By Am Johal

The Israeli Tourism Authority, thinking of creative ways to lure visitors back to the Holy Land, has taken to organizing the high profile visits of Hollywood stars and pop divas to mixed reaction

23 September, 2004

Culture And Dissent
By Am Johal

In Occupied Palestine, it is as if you live a dehumanized existence from the day you're born. You are uneqal. You feel it everyday in how power is exercised

18 September, 2004

The Diplomat Of Sheikh Jarrah
By Am Johal

Every regulatory burden imposed by israel has broader purpose to weaken the Palestinian urban existence in places like Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa and to shift central services to the Israeli centers of town

17 September, 2004

'A State Cannot Indefinitely Stand Against The World'
By John Dugard & Victor Kattan

An interview with John Dugard, UN Special Rapportuer for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

15 September, 2004

Why Ignore The Whys Of Suicide Bombings?
By Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi

Media reporting of suicide bombings in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories are rightly given much coverage, but the necessary context and background information are almost always totally absent

Hell In Hebron
By Am Johal and Devorah Brous

There are clusters of Israeli soldiers on every street corner of Al Shuhadah Street for a 5km periphery around Hebron's Old City and the holy burial grounds, the Cave. Welcome to Hebron, the frontline in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict

13 September, 2004

God Wills It!
By Uri Avnery

Many of the most heinous crimes in human history were committed in the name of religion. May God protect us from those who would speak in His name

11 September, 2004

Look Again, Gandhi
By Jonthan Cook

Arun Gandhi who was recently in Palestine to preach non-violence and his supporters fail to understand is that a non-violent struggle requires specific conditions that are not present in this conflict

10 September, 2004

What The IDF Is Doing In Nablus
By Kole writing from Nablus

The testimony of a soldier in the Israeli Defence Forces serving in Nablus

09 September, 2004

The Myth Of Gandhi And Palestinian Reality
By Ali Abunimah

The fact that the Palestinian leadership has never seriously sought to use mass, organized nonviolence is yet another example of its monumental lack of creativity

08 September, 2004

How Are You, Non-Violence?
By Uri Avnery

As long as the Sharon government, with the active encouragement of President Bush, goes on enlarging the settlements, building the Wall and all the other actions of annexation, there is no way to convince Palestinian public opinion to turn its back on violence

01 September, 2004

An Officer In Court
By Uri Avnery

The Berlin wall was smashed and the debris sold as souvenirs to foreign and local tourists. A really sharp operator would now be applying for a concession to sell off chunks when this wall’s time comes

25 August, 2004

Gambling For Greater Israel
By Jonathan Freedland

Sharon knows it's time to cash in his chips and claim the prize of Greater Israel, but his party wants to gamble on

A Very Special Kind Of War
By Uri Avnery

What's going on in occupied territories is a very special war, because it confers rights only on the fighters of one side. On the other side, there is no war, no fighters, and no rights of fighters, but only criminals, terrorists, murderers. Why?

23 August, 2004

US Deal 'Wrecks Middle East Peace'
By Conal Urquhart

The US was yesterday accused by Palestinian leaders of destroying hopes for peace in the Middle East by giving its covert support to Israel's expansion of controversial settlements in the West Bank

20 August, 2004

Imprisoned Decency
By Arjan El Fassed

Palestinian prisoners in four different Israeli prisons started an open-ended hunger strike on Sunday to press for better living conditions of the nearly 8,000 Palestinian prisoners

18 August, 2004

Sharon Rips Up 'Road-Map'
By Eric Silver

Israel issued tenders yesterday for 1,001 new homes in West Bank settlements, despite its commitment to a building freeze under the international "road-map" for peace. It is expected to publish another 633 within the next few months

16 August, 2004

Anarchy, Not Chaos In The West Bank
By Amira Haas

There's no theft in Nablus. Maybe here and there, but it's not a phenomenon. About half the residents of the town have been impoverished by the tough closure, and the classic tension between the refugee camps has intensified

12 August, 2004

The Myth Of Palestinian Development
By Sam Bahour

The Myth of Palestinian Development By Khalil Nakhleh reviewed by Sam Bahour

10 August, 2004

De-development Israeli Style
By Sam Bahour

Just as Israeli tanks and gunships continue to militarily occupy and batter Palestinian cities and towns, there is another facet of this illegal Israeli occupation that is not apparent to the casual observer. Israel refuses to abide by the provisions in the Oslo Peace Accords which gave Palestinians full control over their telecommunications sector

09 August, 2004

Miyasar's Fear
By Shirabe Yamada

Israel has been using the house demolition as a means of collective punishment to families whose member was involved in armed resistance. The policy, illegal by international human rights and humanitarian laws, has made countless families homeless across the occupied territories

08 August, 2004

The BBC: Occupation? What Occupation?!
By Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi

BBC's coverage of Arab-Israeli conflict is consistent in one aspect, its inability to see the Palestinian suffering, its inaccuracies and the blatant lies reported as facts

The Wall Will Fail
By Steve Niva

The belief that security can be provided by walls and physical barriers is best illustrated by the ancient walled city of Jericho, and any Israeli schoolchild can tell you what happened to its great defensive walls once the ancient Israelites emerged from their desert exodus. They came tumbling down

06 August, 2004

Uprooted Trees, Razed Houses
By Eric Silver and Sa'id Ghazali

The Palestinians of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip began to count the cost of a month-long Israeli invasion.More than 42,000 olive, citrus and date trees had been uprooted, 4,405 acres of orchards, vineyards and vegetable fields were flattened. 21 houses demolished and 314 damaged

Palestinian Cement Scandal
By Khalid Amayreh

It is claimed that two Palestinian companies imported Egyptian cement and diverted it to Israel where it is believed it was used in the building of Israel's separation wall

30 July, 2004

Powell And My Grandmother
By Sam Bahour

If U.S. interests in the Middle East continue to be hijacked and jeopardized by a rapacious Israeli state, then maybe not only the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza are occupied territories. Maybe we need a peacekeeping force immediately sent to Capital Hill

27 July, 2004

Palestine's People Never Say Goodbye
By Suheir Hammad

Palestine's people never say goodbye. How can they? One cannot say goodbye to friends, family and land, because these things are with us always. And when strangers come to her, with an open heart and an open mind, they become her family as well. So we gather to say "Travel safe. See you soon. The best days are ahead

26 July, 2004

Death In A Cemetery
By Gideon Levy

Night of horror of the Salah family, in which the father and a son shot dead inside the home, to undergo an interrogation and humiliation; and to discover that the entire contents of the house had been destroyed

23 July, 2004

“A deplorable misunderstanding,”
Or “Shut up, you bastard!”
By Uri Avnery

The Israeli Prime Minister called on the French Jews to leave their homeland “as soon as possible” and come to Israel, in view of the – alleged – anti-Semitic wave in France. The French government and media reacted exactly as their Israeli counterparts would have done. “A deplorable misunderstanding,” the official French spokesman intoned. Meaning, in non-diplomatic language: “Shut up, you bastard!”

Liberating America From Israel
By Paul Findley

Nine-eleven would not have occurred if the U.S. government had refused to help Israel humiliate and destroy Palestinian society. Few express this conclusion publicly, but many believe it is the truth

21 July, 2004

Double Standards
By Gideon Levy

And what would happen if a Palestinian were to shoot an Israeli university lecturer and his son in front of his wife and their young son? Dr. Salem Khaled, from Nablus called to the soldiers from the window of his house because the front door had jammed. The soldiers shot him to death and then killed his 16-year-old son before the eyes of his mother and his 11-year-old brother

20 July, 2004

The World Is Knocking On Israel’s Door
By Sam Bahour

The question that begs an answer is what can an entire community of nations do if the violating party, Israel in this case, and the world’s sole superpower shun an International Court opinion?

19 July, 2004

Isolated From The Human Community
Israel Builds Another Wall
By M. Shahid Alam

In editorials and speeches ringing across Israel and America, a thousand apologists are protesting that beleaguered Israel is building a 'security fence'--not a wall--whose only purpose is to safeguard innocent Israeli civilians against the primordial violence of Palestinians

17 July, 2004

Mourning The Death Of Nick Pretzlik
By Karthika Thampan

We mourn the death of Nick Pretzlik, freelance journalist and peace activist, who died suddenly of heart failure early on 11 July at home in London

16 July, 2004

From Hague To Mas'ha
By Tanya Reinhart

With the ruling of the International Court that Israel must immediately dismantle the sections of the wall that have been built inside the West Bank and move them to the Green Line. This should begin at once with the dismantling of the wall at Mas’ha

Before And After The Wall In Jayyous
By Sharif Omar

Now, many people in Jayyous rely on humanitarian assistance to survive because their land lies inaccessible, just on the other side of the Wal

14 July, 2004

Israel Up Against The Wall
By Ian Williams

People who attack the World Court for its July 9 opinion on the Israeli wall in the Occupied Territories are calling into question the United Nations Charter, the whole foundation of international law and humanitarian conventions and treaties and Israel's very own existence

There Are Judges In The Hague
By Uri Avnery

The same crane that puts the blocks there can also remove them. It happened in Germany. It will happen here. The decision of the judges of The Hague, coming from 15 different countries, has made a contribution to that

10 July, 2004

International Court Rules Against Israel's Wall
By Matthew Taylor

The international court of justice ruled that the barrier being built around the West Bank was illegal and should be pulled down

09 July, 2004

The Wall Is A World Issue
By Jessica Montell

Last week, Israel's High Court of Justice ordered the government to reroute a small portion of the separation barrier.But the timing of the decision raised some eyebrows. The Israeli court knew when it ruled that the International Court of Justice was scheduled, nine days later, to issue a long-awaited opinion on the same subject, and many critics felt the Israeli ruling was designed to mitigate the effect of that upcoming decision

08 July, 2004

A Visit To Shatila
By Bilal El-Amine

It was only after three consecutive nights of carnage that word got out to the international media-Nuhad said she saw the first group of foreign journalist enter the camp and heard for the first time through a London radio station about what had happed on the other side of the camp

07 July, 2004

Justice, Gas And Tears
By Uri Avnery

Israel Supreme Court's decision to change the route of the separation barrier is a victory of sorts for the peace movement

30 June, 2004

The Ethnic Cleansing Of The Palestinians Revisited
By Ghali Hassan

Ethnic cleansing is what Hitler used against innocent people because of their race, religion and ethnicity. We must resist any unjust action to prevent such crimes against the Palestinians from taking place again

29 June, 2004

Why Israel Is Still Afraid Of Mordechai Vanunu
By Jonathan Cook

The current gagging orders are a desperate attempt to prevent Vanunu from talking to journalists and to keep an embarrassing spotlight off Israel's nuclear stockpile. And the restriction on Vanunu leaving the country is a cynical ploy to stop him inspiring a campaign in the West to disarm the only rogue nuclear state in the Middle East

25 June, 2004

Standing Against The Claws Of The Wall
By Tanya Reinhart

Along the route of the separation barrier in the West Bank, a new culture is springing up: on one side, soldiers and bulldozers; on the other, Israelis and Palestinians embracing the land and the trees, trying to save them both

24 June, 2004

Deep-rooted Corruption In Palestine
By Hasan Abu Nimah & Ali Abunimah

The enquiry into the allegation that cement imported from Egypt through Palestinian companies and ready-made concrete manufactured in the Palestinian village of Abu Dis were being used to build Israeli settlements and the apartheid wall is nearing completion

23 June, 2004

“Irreversible Mental Damage”
By Uri Avnery

Ariel Sharon wants to annex at least 55% of the West Bank, hoping that the life of the Palestinians in the remaining 45% will become so impossible that they will leave the country of their own accord

21 June, 2004

Water Theft In Palestine
By Fred Pearce

Israel has drawn up a secret plan for a giant desalination plant to supply drinking water to the Palestinian territory on the West Bank. This project will give Israel full control over the natural water sources in West Bank and also it will be able to cut off water pipelines any time Israel wishes

19 June, 2004

Jerusalem, Al Quds, Yerushalaym
By Bisan Abou Gharbiyeh

After years of observing the media, one might conclude that the West Bank and Gaza Strip are Palestinian areas and the rest (including Jerusalem) is Israeli

18 June, 2004

Zionism, Anti-Semitism And The People Of Palestine
By Noel Ignatiev

A profound analysis which delves deep into the history of zionism, the state of Israel and it's moral contradictions

17 June, 2004

Protest Halts Work On Israel's Security Wall
By Eric Silver

Israel suspended construction of a security fence near the village of Iskaka yesterday, east of the settler town of Ariel, after hundreds of Palestinian and Israeli demonstrators traded stones for tear gas with troops and paramilitary police. The bulldozers are expected to be digging again soon

16 June, 2004

The Nightmare Comes True
By Uri Avnery

West Bank is turning into a crazy quilt of walled-in enclaves, "connected" by bridges, tunnels or special roads, which can be cut off at any moment at the whim of the Israeli government or of a local army officer . Every Palestinian town - Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarm, Kalkilia, Bethlehem, Hebron and others - will become the "capital" of a tiny enclave, cut off from all the others, from their "hinterland" and villages, except by tortuous roundabout routes

15 June, 2004

More Land Grab In West Bank

Under the smokescreen of the widely-reported plan for an Israeli intended “disengagement” from the Gaza Strip, Israeli have started to annex 150 kilometers in the northern West Bank while plans are underway for building a new illegal Jewish settlement south of Jerusalem

13 June, 2004

Sharon, The Enigma?
By Samer Elatrash

Sharon’s ‘disengagement plan’ is no proof that Sharon is willing to pay the “painful price” for peace, but it is evidence that in Sharon, the State of Israel has again found a Prime Minister who is willing to pay the price for gaining time—time to allow the repression of the Israeli army and the creation of more ‘facts on the ground’ to lead to an irreversible situation, which would rule out the establishing of a viable Palestinian state west of the Jordan River

09 June, 2004

Questions With No Answers
By Ali Abunimah

Does UN Secretary General Kofi Annan think that Palestinians have a right to defend themselves against the kinds of violent attacks and destruction Israel is carrying out in Rafah refugee camp?

08 June, 2004

More On The Destruction Of Rafah
By Gideon Levy

One of the 120 homes demolished by the IDF in the Brazil refugee camp belonged to architect Manal Awad. This was the third time since 1948 that her family has been left homeless - and the second time that Ariel Sharon was responsible

06 June, 2004

To Drink From The Sea Of Gaza
By Uri Avnery

"By the end of 2005, not a single Jew will remain in the Gaza Strip!" claims the new Gaza disengagement plan.This reminds us of the classic Jewish joke about the Polish nobleman who threatens his Jew with death if he does not teach his beloved horse to read and write

04 June, 2004

Rafah - Hell On Earth
By Chris Mcgreal

Last month, Israeli troops swept into the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza, bulldozing hundreds of homes and leaving around 60 dead. Israel says it was looking for terrorists, but by the time the army withdrew, 1,600 people were homeless. What happens to the people whose houses are destroyed? Chris McGreal asked six families to show him what they salvaged from the rubble

Rafah Counting The Dead
By Laila El-Haddad

At least 1650 Rafah residents were made homeless here within a span of 72 hours. Fifty-five Palestinians, mainly civilians, were killed and at least 200 others injured. Almost all were unarmed

Priest Stands Up To The Wall
By Larry Fata

The Santa Marta dei Padri Passionisti monastery is located at the confluence of East Jerusalem, Abu Dis and Al-Izariyyeh (Bethany), the latter the biblical home of the sisters Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus.The Israeli authorities want to build their wall right through the monastery grounds

03 June, 2004

Barbarians At The Gate
By Nick Pretzlik

The occupation of Palestinian land, and the harsh methods employed to maintain it, have corrupted Israeli civil society. Poison, which entered the body politic and infected the head, now contaminates the nation as a whole

02 June, 2004

Celebrating Life In Rafah
By Ramzy Baroud

A Palestinian friend of mine, who is living far away from home, told me that as she witnessed the images of the victims of Rafah, she felt a strange and overpowering sense of pride. She said, “If I had not been born Palestinian, I would’ve wished to be.”

01 June, 2004

Tommy's Granny
By Uri Avnery

Sometimes a person "buys his world in one moment," as the ancient Hebrew saying goes. This was done by the Minister of Justice, Yosef ("Tommy") Lapid, when he uttered the words: "This old woman reminds me of my grandmother!"

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