By Jamil Khader On the eve of the sixty sixth anniversary of the Palestinian Nakbah (May 14th), the Franco-German Cultural Center in Ramallah screened the French director Michel Gondry’s film, Is the Man Who is Tall Happy? in the presence of the director himself. In this “animated conversation,” the internationally renowned director, whose credits include […]...
By Jonathan Cook – Nazareth When Pope Benedict XVI visited the Holy Land five years ago, Israel heightened its security, gladly emphasizing the potential threat he supposedly faced in Israel from Muslim extremists. As his successor, Pope Francis, arrived in Israel late on Sunday, security was no less strict. Some 9,000 police had been drafted […]...
By Nicola Nasser A media blackout of the war crimes committed by Syrian insurgents has allowed them to act with impunity, with all scrutiny falling on Damascus As the conflict in Syria enters its fourth year, international press reports focus on the human rights violations of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. However, the war crimes of […]...
The following is a translation of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech at a press conference upon Pope Francis’ arrival in Bethlehem early Sunday. It’s a great honor to welcome Your Holiness to Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus (peace be upon him), the holy blessed land. Welcome, Your Holiness. You are a dear guest […]...
By Jamal Kanj Is it the official diplomatic fanfare and PR machine parading Israel’s religious “tourism,” or the unofficial welcome decorating Palestinian churches in Jerusalem with slogans like “Jesus is garbage” and “Mary is a cow”? Would it be the apartheid highways and byways dedicated exclusively to Israelis, or the high separation wall cordoning original...
A senior Palestinian official told US media on Sunday that the PLO had accepted an invitation to attend talks with an Israeli delegation at the Vatican. A member of the PLO executive committee was quoted by CNN and The Associated Press as agreeing to the request, which came as Pope Francis visited the occupied West […]...
By Mats Svensson You come to Palestine as a diplomat, as a development worker. You come to create change. To make something better. Not for yourself but for people living on a small plot of land between the Jordan River and a wall. You are well educated, have a Master’s degree or you might even […]...
By Sam Bahour Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip use the Israeli currency, the New Israeli Shekel, for their daily business. However, as the peace negotiation efforts of Secretary John Kerry stumbled (many would say failed) in late April, Israel took many punitive measures to punish […]...
By John V. Whitbeck Now that the American-monopolized “peace process” has expired, Europe should seize the initiative and try to do something useful for Israelis, Palestinians and peace. If European states still believe that a decent “two-state solution” is conceivable, several useful initiatives are immediately available. They could support and reinforce the current two-state legality […]...
A group of 30 Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria have been allowed to temporarily enter Tunisia until a permanent solution can be found, having been denied entry to the country a day earlier. The refugees landed in Tunis–Carthage International Airport on Wednesday after having fled Syria via Beirut. Tunisian authorities initially denied them entry to the […]...
Israel’s Supreme Court on Wednesday heard an appeal by the parents of a US activist who was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer in 2003. The parents of Rachel Corrie asked for a decision clearing the military of any responsibility for her death to be overturned, alleging “negligence” in the treatment of the […]...
The Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday brushed off demands, both domestic and international, for a transparent investigation into the deaths of two Palestinian youths killed by Israeli forces last week. The pressure follows the emergence of video footage apparently showing two Palestinian youths being shot despite them not posing danger to life. The […]...
By Liam Brown I’ve gone to meet renowned Palestinian Arab Druze poet Samih al-Qasim in his home in the Galilee village of Rama. Perched on a hillside, his home overlooks the valley below, which is known by locals as the “sea of olives”. When I walk into his room, Qasim, dressed in a dressing gown […]...
Jailed Palestinian leaders Marwan Barghouthi and Ahmad Saadat have announced that they will go on hunger strike on Wednesday, a senior official said. Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Qaraqe said Tuesday that over 120 Palestinian prisoners, including the two jailed leaders, will go on hunger strike for one day in support of administrative detainees who […]...
A dry winter in the Middle East is being studied particularly closely in Gaza, where the area’s 1.9 million residents already face a number of largely man-made threats to water security. The following round-up of recent publications by think tanks, analysts and human rights organizations highlights the close link between water security and electricity supplies, […]...
By Dimi Reider The Israeli response to Nakba Day events this year involved clampdown on demonstrators in the West Bank, most lethally in Betunia, where two Palestinian teenagers – Muhammad Abu Daher and Nadim Siam – were shot dead. There was a miffed reflection by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about how the Palestinians Authority sounds […]...
By Hatim Kanaaneh Silly thoughts come and go. That is why we call them passing thoughts. But some silly thoughts come out of the blue and stay. How can one fall asleep with such a heavy responsibility weighing on his mind? Alan Robock and Paul Jay on the Real News Network convinced me that a […]...
By Joe Catron – Gaza Nestled into the northeastern corner of the Gaza Strip, where the separation barrier Israel built around the Palestinian enclave in 1994 curves from the east to the south, Wael Wahdaan’s three fields illustrate the options facing many local farmers. The land, in the Palestinian city of Beit Hanoun, lies within […]...
The Gaza Strip ministry of interior on Saturday evening agreed to jail three security officers for two weeks after a fact-finding commission determined that they had used excessive force against demonstrators and journalists during a rally marking the Nakba on Thursday. The move to punish the officers is a rare rebuke to the security forces […]...
Dear Ghassan, On our birthday this year I turned 31 and you turned 78. Even the dead grow old without a homeland. Do you know that we live and die in diaspora now? Do you know that Palestinian refugee camps are swollen with Iraqis and Syrians now? Too many Jihadi songs end with the refrain […]...