IMEU : News & Analysis

Gaza and the language of power (Ramzy Baroud, The Palestine Chronicle)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:00:48 PST

Nearly six months have passed since the Israeli army ceased pounding the tiny stretch of land that is the Gaza Strip. Since then, Gaza continues to appear on the news once in a while, as a recurring subject of human misery. The tireless efforts of British MP George Galloway, and the courageous endeavors of the Free Gaza movement have managed to push Gaza back into the spotlight, even if momentarily and with political context which is lacking at best.

Arab camp kids humiliated in Jerusalem (Tal Rabinovsky, Ynet News)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:55:10 PST

A group of Arab summer camp children were banned from entering Temple Mount in Jerusalem while wearing their camp t-shirts. When the children arrived at Temple Mount wearing their orange summer camp shirt, which read 'Al-Quds - Arab Culture Capital,' police officers told them that if they wish to enter, the shirts must come off.

Conflict-worn Palestinians carve out niches of joy (Mohammed Daraghmeh, The Associated Press)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:50:36 PST

Middle-class matrons shop for imported furniture in a marble-and-glass emporium. A new movie house is screening the Hollywood blockbuster "Transformers". Teens bop to a Danish hip-hop band performing on their high school basketball court. Life in the West Bank - in sharp contrast to beaten down, Hamas-ruled Gaza - has taken on a semblance of normalcy.

Obama's prizes for Israel are not "pressure" (Ali Abunimah, Bitterlemons.org)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:45:42 PST

Israel's settlements violate numerous UN Security Council resolutions and the Fourth Geneva Convention. It should no more be rewarded for ending settlement construction than Iraq should have been rewarded for withdrawing from Kuwait after Iraq invaded in 1990. While today Iraq is still paying Kuwait for a seven-month long occupation that ended almost two decades ago, the US is offering Israel prizes not for ending a 42-year-old occupation but merely for ceasing to commit some crimes.

Britain backs call for Israeli settlement freeze (Reuters)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:38:14 PST

A freeze on Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank could help restart the peace process in the region, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday. "The deadlock has to be broken in some way," Brown told a committee of British lawmakers. "I feel that if the Israelis were prepared to freeze settlement construction, there would be a response in the Arab world. And I think that is a way that you can see that movement forward could happen."

Will EU penalize exports from Israeli settlements? (Der Speigel)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:35:00 PST

The Hamburg Finance Court must now decide whether Soda-Club devices made in Maale Adumim can be imported into the European Union duty-free, like all other Israeli industrial products. Brussels doesn't want the company's products to fall into this category because they are manufactured in Israeli settlements located in the occupied territories. The real question revolves around whether Maale Adumim is part of Israel.

Obama to set binding timetable for Israel-PA talks (Haaretz)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:33:38 PST

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to announce a diplomatic plan soon for renewal of the Middle East peace process. A central feature of the plan, which will be presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, will be a binding timetable for negotiations on the core issues involved in a final resolution of the conflict.

Peaceful resistance meets assailment in Bil'in (Jennifer Urgilez, MIFTAH)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:33:57 PST

The systematic arrest of Bil'in activists begins with the covert intrusion of Israeli soldiers into Bil'in at the stroke of midnight. From the west, soldiers cross the Separation Wall in military vehicles concealed under a blanket of darkness, each entering one by one in 10 minute intervals dropping off soldiers on the eastern side of the barrier.

Video: Viva Palestina breaks the siege, arrives in Gaza (PressTV)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:12:38 PST

At approximately 1820GMT on July 15 2009, the Viva Palestina US Convoy finally crossed into Gaza from the Rafah Crossing in Egypt. Headed up by the British Member of Parliament, George Galloway as well as former Congresswoman Cynthia Mckinney, the convoy was due to bring over US $1million of aid and humanitarian assistance into the besieged Gaza Strip; they were finally only able to cross with half of that amount of aid.

Soldiers weld shut doors of Jerusalem NGO (Ma'an News)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:06:23 PST

On Wednesday, Israeli authorities raided and shut down the offices of the Nidal Center for Community Development in the old city of Jerusalem. The center, affiliated with the Health Works Committees (HWCs), was evacuated because it represented a "security threat" according to Israeli officers on the scene. After ordering employees to evacuate the building, the main gates were welded shut and the closure order issued by Israeli General Inspector Dudi Cohen was posted on the doors.