Palestine

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Russel Tribunal on Palestine

Press statement: Russell Tribunal on Palestine to convene in Cape Town’s iconic District Six

Stephane Hessel and Alice Walker confirmed as members of the jury The Russell Tribunal on Palestine will convene in District Six, Cape Town, site of a brutal apartheid-era forced removal. The land has remained undeveloped on the edge of the city since it was declared “a white group area” and the homes of black residents were demolished in the 1970s. The Cape Town session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine – to be held on 5-6 November – will consider whether Israel’s treatment of the (...) read

date of on-line publication : 1 August 2011

Ma’an News Agency

Palestinians to set currency this year

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestine Monetary Authority will in the coming months set the framework for issuing a new currency, a Palestinian Authority official said Saturday. “This year will be one of deciding on the monetary regime for the Palestinian state,” Ramallah Gov. Jihad Al-Wazir told Bloomberg news. Before the Palestine Pound can be issued, a fully independent central bank must be established and the financial system needs to be strong enough to maintain its own currency, Al-Wazir was (...) read

date of on-line publication : 26 January 2011

Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS)

Latin America Deepens Israeli Isolation

Guyana became thursday the seventh Latin American state to recognise an independent Palestinian state. Although the official recognitions are largely nominal, they have irked the State of Israel as they expose its growing diplomatic isolation in the face of the current peace deadlock. -* Read more read

date of on-line publication : 26 January 2011

Alternative Information Center (AIC)

First Victory of BDS Campaign against Israel in Japan

On 1st December, the MUJI officially announced on their website cancellation of its plan to open a store in Israel. Since the 12 April 2010 release of the MUJI plan to open a store in Israel, and in order to respond to the BDS Campaign against Israel called upon by Palestinians to the people in the world, we, Palestine Forum along with other civil organizations and individuals, had appealed to the MUJI to cancel the plan. For over seven months, various nationwide actions such as appeal (...) read

date of on-line publication : 22 December 2010

Tribunal finds corporations complicit in Israeli war crimes, identifies legal remedies and calls for civil society boycott action

22 november 2010 The Russell Tribunal on Palestine this morning announced its verdict after weekend deliberations. The jury said it had been presented with "compelling evidence of corporate complicity in Israeli violations of international law". Juror Michael Mansfield QC, who chaired this morning’s press conference, announced the jury’s call for the mobilisation of civil society to end the involvement of companies in Israeli human rights violations. Both Israel and the complicit businesses (...) read

date of on-line publication : 23 November 2010

International Crisis Group

Israel/Palestine: At Mideast peace talk, a lopsided table

Israelis and Palestinians will be sitting at the same table on Thursday, but much more separates them than the gulf between their substantive positions. Staggering asymmetries between the two sides could seriously imperil the talks. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is the head of a stable state with the ability to deliver on his commitments. Celebrations of supposed institution-building notwithstanding, Palestinians have no robust central authority. Their territory is divided (...) read

date of on-line publication : 17 September 2010

Inter Press Service (IPS)

EU Boosts Israel Ties, Ignores Illegal Settlements

Diplomats representing the European Union (EU) have drawn up a new plan for strengthening their relations with Israel despite the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Read more read

date of on-line publication : 23 March 2010

Amnesty calls on US to suspend arms sales to Israel Hellfire missiles and white phosphorus artillery shells among weapons used in ’indiscriminate’ attacks on civilians, says human rights group

> guardian.co.uk

Detailed evidence has emerged of Israel’s extensive use of US-made weaponry during its war in Gaza last month, including white phosphorus artillery shells, 500lb bombs and Hellfire missiles. In a report released today, Amnesty International listed the weapons used and called for an immediate arms embargo on Israel and all Palestinian armed groups. It called on the US president, Barack Obama, to suspend military aid to Israel. Read more: (...) read

date of on-line publication : 25 February 2009

Controversial Jerusalem tram operator loses €3,5 billion contract in Sweden

Today the Stockholm community council in Sweden announced that the French company Veolia who has been the operator of the subways in Stockholm County for 10 years lost the contract to the MTR-Cooperation. The contracts for the coming 8 years is worth €3,5 Billion and has been the biggest ongoing public contract procurement process in Europe. Although the board for the county’s public transport claimed the decision was based on commercial factors, the debate about Veolia’s involvement in a (...) read

date of on-line publication : 26 January 2009

Gaza hours away from water and sewage crisis

Oxfam Release Gaza hours from water and sewage crisis as fuel for pumps run dry Gaza’s water and sewage systems are a matter of hours from almost total shut down as stocks of fuel to run vital pumps runs out according to international agency Oxfam. Only 37 of the 122 water supply pumps have fuel and most will run out of fuel within hours. Only six water pumps have fuel to run for more than a day. Oxfam fears the risks of an outbreak of water borne diseases if the water and sanitation (...) read

date of on-line publication : 23 January 2008

Alternative Information Center (AIC)

Refugees for the Second Time: The Forced Eviction of Palestinian Villagers from Khirbet Qassa

> by Ahmad Jaradat and Anahi Ayala Iacucci

Beit Jibrin was a small village with a long history, located in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan. Despite this, it was captured on 27 October 1948, by Israel’s Givati Brigade during the last stage of Operation Yoav, an Israeli offensive of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Beit Jibrin, which was already hosting many Palestinian refugees from neighboring villages that had been caught in earlier fighting, was attacked by Israeli forces from both the land and (...) read

date of on-line publication : 19 December 2007

Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)

First group of Palestinians arrive in Brazil from desert camp

The first batch of Palestinians previously living in a squalid refugee camp on the Iraqi-Jordanian border arrived in Brazil on 21 and 22 September and has been receiving medical assistance, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Justice. The 35 Palestinians are part of a group of 117 Palestinian refugees who had been living in Ruwaished refugee camp in the desert on the Iraqi-Jordanian border since the fall of late former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in 2003. “Brazilians have welcomed (...) read

date of on-line publication : 24 September 2007

MIFTAH

A Quarter of a Century Later, Sabra and Shatilla Massacre Still Alive

September 16 marks the 25th anniversary of the massacre in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon. During the course of the two-day attack, a reported 2,000 Palestinians - mainly women, children and elderly - were slaughtered in their homes at the hands of the pro-Israeli Lebanese Maronite Phalangist militia under the direct eye of the occupying Israeli army. While Israel puts the death toll at 700, some Palestinian and Lebanese estimates put it as high as 3,500. The massacre took (...) read

date of on-line publication : 18 September 2007

Alternative Information Center (AIC)

Israel launches a new peace initiative

Muhamad Dahlan’s failed military takeover in June put an end to seven years of Israeli unilateralism in the region. This resulted in the creation of two Palestinian governments, one headed by Hamas and one by Fatah, both claiming legitimacy, and an agreement from the Fatah militias in the West Bank to disarm. With this as the present context, the peace process was back on the local and international agendas. At the moment, there are two propositions on the peace negotiations table. The Arab (...) read

date of on-line publication : 30 July 2007

HALPER Jeff

The Livni-Rice Plan: Towards a Just Peace or Apartheid

> International Middle East Media Center - IMEMC

For years I have been one of the doomsayers, arguing that the two-state solution is dead and that apartheid has become the only realistic political outcome of the Israel-Palestine conflict- at least until a full-blown anti-apartheid struggle arises that fundamentally changes the equation. I based my assessment on several seemingly incontrovertible realities. Over the past 40 years, Israel has laid a thick and irreversible Matrix of Control over the Occupied Territories, including some 300 (...) read

date of on-line publication : 9 May 2007

Conference on non-violent popular joint struggle in Bil’in - April 18-20th, 2007

You are invited to participate in the Second Annual Conference in Bil’in, Palestine 18 - 20 April 2007 February 2007 marks the second anniversary of the weekly non-violent protests in opposition to the « work-site of shame » for the Apartheid Wall that has annexed almost 60% of the land of Bil’in village in the West Bank. Bil’in has become a symbol both of the theft of land across Palestine and of the power of non-violent grassroots movements in building local and international resistance to (...) read

date of on-line publication : 3 April 2007

NASSAR Ibrahim

Palestinian National Unity Government : does it bring solutions?

> Alternatives International, october 2006, number 6

http://alternatives-international.ne (...)

Following its unexpected victory in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) elections, Hamas found itself facing major political, social and economic obligations. The initial post-election-shock caused many to be thrown off balance, leading to a reaction that was not carefully considered.
This has resulted in confusion, unrealistic expectations and illusions, and has produced political paralysis and chaos. Its end result has been a social and political crisis, bringing the Palestinian situation to the brink of explosion.
Amazed with its electoral success, Hamas raised its expectations, believing it was given an absolute mandate to make political, social and historic reforms on the Palestinian scene. Moreover, Hamas believed the success guaranteed it complete control over the Palestinian agenda and the legitimacy to override anything that contradicted its own vision. This conviction was reflected in Hamas’ position towards the PLO and its insistence that the PLO should be reshuffled to match the electoral outcomes in the West Bank and Gaza.
Hamas did not realize that its victory was not an absolute mandate, but instead reflected the frustration and desperation of the Palestinian people as well as their search for solutions. Therefore, whether it recognizes it or not, Hamas’ legitimacy following its victory is based on its ability to manage its political, economic and social obligations. A failure to meet these obligations would delegitimize their continued rule.
The existing circumstances require the ability to maneuver, to overcome difficulties and tensions, and to avoid an all-out confrontation.Disregard for the complicated Palestinian and international dynamics, and the challenges of the struggle in Palestine, is akin to leaping into an abyss of ideological rhetoric over substance-in the end there are political, social and economic questions that must be dealt with.
Hamas needed the experience of the past months to transcend the euphoria of its electoral success and to admit that it is not able to face the obligations of the Palestinian situation alone. It reached the conclusion that a national unity government would guarantee a way out of the crisis. Moreover, it has now been able to discern that it must lower its expectations, allow interaction with other political forces and enter into compromises.
To read the article and the issue (pdf), click here  read

date of on-line publication : 14 November 2006