IMEU : Analysis

Apathy, as Mahmoud Abbas abandons an irrelevant presidency (Daoud Kuttab, The Daily Star)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:00:31 PST

A political leader's decision not to seek re-election usually triggers fervent discussion about potential heirs. Yet, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' withdrawal from the presidential election scheduled for January 24, 2010, has produced nothing of the kind in Palestine - not because of a dearth of leadership or a reluctance to mention possible successors, but because the presidency of the Palestinian Authority (PA) has become irrelevant.

Peace or process? (Akram Baker, Bitterlemons.org)

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:52 PST

I am deeply hesitant to use the oft-unjustified phrase "a moment of truth" when referring to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. But I have the nagging sensation that we have finally arrived there nonetheless. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' threat to resign and not seek another term in office, US President Barack Obama's seemingly complete failure to convince Israel to halt its illegal settlement activity and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's complete yet strangely-honest disregard for anything resembling peace has shed the hated "peace-process" of any and all pretentions.

Mets' Citi Field to host pro-settlements Hebron Fund (Rebecca Vilkomerson and Neil Strauss, The Huffington Post)

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:30:21 PST

On November 21, hundreds of supporters will pay $300 a plate to attend the Hebron Fund's annual dinner at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. Sitting in the Caesar's Club above the field, the attendees will enjoy a reception, buffet, and Viennese table, and toast the evening's main awardee, Noam Arnon, an outspoken supporter of settler terrorism.

U.S. should stand against apartheid in Israel (Sam Jadallah, San Jose Mercury News)

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:27:00 PST

November 3 marked, in the words of political blogger Philip Weiss, a "historically dark day" in the U.S. Congress. House Republicans and Democrats lined up to vote against the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission carried out by Justice Richard Goldstone and to bash Goldstone, a committed Zionist, because he had the temerity to detail Israel's war crimes in Gaza this past winter.

Gazans brace for cold, bleak and miserable winter (Mel Frykberg, Inter Press Service)

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:35:54 PST

Tens of thousands of Gazans living in tents and damaged homes face a wet, cold and miserable winter as Israel's blockade of the coastal territory continues to prevent the importation of building and reconstruction material. During the last few weeks Gazans were given a brief reprieve from the oncoming winter as an unseasonal snap of warmish, sunny weather held off winter rain and plummeting temperatures.

Credit where it's due (Joharah Baker, Bitterlemons.org)

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:33:38 PST

With all the talk about Palestinian elections, President Mahmoud Abbas refusing to run and a possible unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, one thing remains constant-the undeterred growth of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Unfortunately, it is these settlements that will render all of the above completely irrelevant if they are not stopped and dismantled in line with what they are: illegal.

What's next? (Khaled Amayreh, Al-Ahram Weekly)

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:43:28 PST

The recent decision by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas not to seek a second term in office has already thrown into question the continued survival of the Oslo peace process as well as the future of the PA itself. Most Palestinians have interpreted Abbas's decision as a frank - though belated - admission of the failure of the peace process with Israel.

Fragmenting Palestinian land (Ben White, The Guardian)

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:34:37 PST

This is the context in which to understand how Israel has sought to tear up the Oslo commitment to keeping Gaza and the West Bank as "one territorial unit". Severing ties between Gaza and the West Bank is part of a deliberate fragmentation policy that not only defies international law and human rights, but is also designed to render genuine Palestinian independence and self-determination impossible.

Gaza graduates search for vitamin W (Mohammed Omer, Inter Press Service)

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:00:50 PST

"We fast a long time," says Gaza graduate Mona Ismail, 23. "Only to break our fast on a piece of onion." She is speaking not of Ramadan but of the whole year, and year after year. She graduated in 'academic excellence in English language' from the Islamic University in Gaza. A prestigious course, and her dream. But now, there is no work she can find in line with her studies.

The 'unknown' fight the illegal (Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler, Inter Press Service)

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:00:22 PST

"Make sure your father gets this," the municipal inspector tells a ten-year-old boy at the gate of the concrete house in an alleyway in the Al-Bustan quarter of Silwan, a Palestinian neighbourhood right under the shadow of the walled Old City. "This" is a court-approved demolition notice, "No. 59". It's for a house under imminent threat of being torn down by the Israeli authorities because it does not have the requisite building permit.