The Institute for Middle East Understanding : All site additions (global feed)

Destroying Gaza (Sara Roy, The Electronic Intifada)

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:27:21 PST

The recent meeting between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu generated speculation over the future relationship between America and Israel, and a potentially changed US policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Analysts on the right and left are commenting on a new, tougher American policy characterized by strengthened US demands on Israel.

A relief from the pain (IMEU)

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:30:07 PST

Israeli barrier deepens enmity (Omar Karmi, The National)

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:04:51 PST

It has become one of the most potent images of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Seven years since construction started on the Israeli separation barrier - part barbed-wire fence and military road, part concrete wall - 413km of a projected 709km route have now been completed. Yesterday marked five years since the International Court of Justice in The Hague, asked by the UN's General Assembly to rule on the legality of the barrier, came out with its advisory opinion.

Bil'in protesters teargassed for reminding soldiers of ICJ decision (Ma'an News)

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:03:17 PST

On Friday in the village of Bil'in, north of Ramallah, dozens suffered tear-gas inhalation and two demonstrators have been detained by Israeli soldiers at a non-violent protest. International and Israeli supporters joined Palestinian's from Bil'in, and they marched from the village center after the midday prayers toward the separation wall, which Israel has built illegally on locally owned land.

Israel's wall still deepening the divide (Ben White, The Guardian)

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:02:19 PST

Five years ago today, the international court of justice in The Hague published its advisory opinion on Israel's separation wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). The keenly awaited verdict, requested by the UN's general assembly, was clear: Israel's wall is illegal, it must be removed and adequate compensation paid. The wall's illegality, and Israel's obligation to dismantle the structure and pay damages for the consequences of the wall thus far, were all agreed by the judges by a margin of 14-1.

Hamas: Ideological rigidity and political flexibility (United States Institute of Peace)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:39:40 PST

The report attempts to inject some gray areas into an issue that is often framed only in black and white terms. In a unique approach, the authors do not ask us to necessarily change our conclusions about the value of such engagement. Instead, they invite us to reevaluate our assumptions by providing a new prism through which to analyze Hamas.

Rights without remedy: Israel's illegal wall five years after the advisory opinion of the ICJ (Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions and Stop the Wall)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:36:17 PST

Israel should comply with the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice and related UN resolutions by immediately ceasing construction of the Wall, dismantling the Wall and providing reparation for victims of damages caused by the Wall. Israel should end the illegal occupation of Palestine and enable Palestinians to enjoy their right to self-determination. Until that time, Israel should ensure that human rights law and the Fourth Geneva Convention are upheld and applied in the oPt.

Losing ground: Protection and livelihoods in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Overseas Development Institute - Humanitarian Policy Group)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:30:53 PST

This Working Paper analyses the relationship between protection and livelihoods in the oPt. It explores how threats to people's protection are linked to their livelihoods, the impact of these threats on particular groups in the West Bank and Gaza and the strategies they employ in response. The study analyses the efforts of humanitarian organisations to link protection and livelihoods in their work, with recommendations on how this work could be expanded in the oPt and elsewhere.

Life in the garbage: A status report of sanitation services in East Jerusalem (The Association for Civil Rights in Israel)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:25:11 PST

Sanitation conditions in East Jerusalem are currently in a terrible state. This is the result of ongoing neglect and discrimination in the allocation of resources to East Jerusalem by the Jerusalem municipality. Neglect and discrimination of the eastern part of Jerusalem are manifest in every municipal and governmental area, but they are particularly obvious and tangible with regard to sanitation.

Israel's step children: The lack of pediatrics in the Unrecognized Villages in the Negev (Physicians for Human Rights - Israel)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:22:04 PST

Despite the high morbidity and mortality among the Bedouin children in the Negev, none of the clinics existing in the villages (all clinics except for one are run by "Clalit"), employ a pediatrician. On the other hand, in adjacent, rich Jewish communities - such as Meitar, Omer and Lehavim the residents insured in "Clalit", have pediatricians, gynecologists and family physicians, many and more flexible reception hours and accompanying services that do not exist in the clinics in the unrecognized villages.

Citizens protest against destruction of town in Naqab desert (Palestine News Network)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:19:38 PST

The razing of homes in the village of Wadi Ara must be halted immediately, the head of the Parliamentary Assembly said in an urgent letter to the Israeli Interior Minister. Wadi Ara is a town within Israeli boundaries and is considered "unrecognized." Palestinian parliamentarian Jamal Zahalka called for a freeze in demolitions and the licensing of houses built without Israeli permits - known for being impossible to obtain.

German FM: Settlements remain obstacle to peace (Reuters)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:18:16 PST

Chances for peace in the Middle East are better than at any time in the past 15 years, but Israeli settlements remain an obstacle, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Friday. "A solution has to be found ... but a solution will not be found as long as the settlements continue to be expanded, Steinmeier told foreign journalists in Berlin.

Gaza's Bee Doctor sees old art revitalized amid ailing health system (Ma'an News)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:11:03 PST

Rateb Smour has been running a bee venom clinic in Gaza City since 2003; his was the first and remains the only clinic to use bee venom as a medical treatment, but interest is expanding as basic pain medication remains scarce in the Gaza Strip. Smour started raising bees in 1985 with his father, who also practiced the art of bee venom treatments. The practice was for the family, then the extended family and used primarily for treatment of back and muscle pain.

Rami Kashou: Fashion designer and entrepreneur (IMEU)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:01:36 PST

Up-and-coming fashion designer Rami Kashou was a finalist on Bravo's hit show Project Runway and his dresses have draped Hollywood celebrities Penelope Cruz, Heidi Klum, Jennifer Lopez and Jessica Alba among other starlets. Kashou's work has been featured in tens of magazines including Elle, Vogue, In Style, The New York Times Magazine, and Flaunt. He has been honored by The Make a Wish Foundation, LA Fashion Awards, Seeds of Peace, and the Los Angeles City Council.

The families driven apart by Israel's red tape (Donald Macintyre, The Independent)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:00:49 PST

Jamal Bardawil supports his wife Hadil and their two children, Sami, almost two, and Isra, almost three, by working as an electrician from his sister's house in the West Bank. But he has never seen Sami, who, his mother says, calls the telephone "Baba" - daddy.

Gaza's children struggle with memories of war (Agence France Presse)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:55:31 PST

Fourteen-year-old Ghasan Matar won't talk about the explosion that cost him his legs and killed his brother. In fact, six months after the end of the Israeli war on Gaza, he still barely talks at all. He spends most of his time staring at the walls and a huge poster depicting his older brother against a bloody background of war featuring a Kalashnikov assault rifle and dead Israeli soldiers.

Water shortages plague West Bank (BBC)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:50:31 PST

Mohammed Abbas is sick, with chronic diarrhoea. Not for the first time. He and his family live in a Palestinian village with no running water, no sewage system, and no prospect of getting either any time soon. Watching her son, eyes closed, clutching his stomach on a mattress on the floor, his mother, Sunna, told me she is desperate.

Netanyahu's most cynical ploy (Peter Beumont, The Guardian)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:45:31 PST

The evocation of Judenrein by Netanyahu and by other commentators is the most cynical of ploys in a negotiation that his government feels that is going against it. Under pressure from Obama to freeze settlement building completely - including the construction that Israel likes to label as "natural growth" - it is being forced into ever more extreme language to defend the continued existence of the settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories in language to embarrass and cajole.

Israel's illegal wall traps Palestinians (Al Jazeera, Ayman Mohyeldin)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:00:46 PST

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on Israel to comply with an international court ruling and dismantle its separation barrier through occupied Palestinian land. Five years ago, the International Court of Justice ruled that the barrier was illegal and should be taken down, but Israel continues to ignore international demands.

Palestinians say Israel's Dead Sea grab will split West Bank (Reuters)

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:00:45 PST

The Palestinian Authority said on Wednesday it would ask the World Bank to stop funding studies for a Dead Sea-Red Sea water project if Israel did not withdraw plans to confiscate West Bank land. Israel last month disclosed a plan to expropriate large tracts of land between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, some of it areas exposed by the lake's receding water level over the past 30 years.