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Month: April 2011

Egypt to Open Gaza Border Crossing
Egypt is to permanently open the Rafah border crossing to ease the Israeli blockade on Gaza, Nabil al-Arabi, the country’s foreign minister, has said. Arabi said Egypt would take "important steps to help ease the […]

Gaza Civilians Wounded in Israeli Attack
At least four people, including children, have been injured in an Israeli tank fire in central Gaza, Israeli and Palestinian sources said. Witnesses said the Israeli army fired at least three rounds at an area […]

Palestinian Unity: One Word
By Uri Avnery – Israel In one word: Bravo! The news about the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas is good for peace. If the final difficulties are ironed out and a full agreement is […]

Hamas and Fatah: Dawn of New Reality for Palestine
By Iqbal Jassat – Pretoria Unity at last between Hamas and Fatah! Shocking says Israel. Unacceptable declares America. “The Palestinian Authority must choose either peace with Israel or peace with Hamas. There is no possibility […]

Europe’s Alliance with Israel
By Dr. Ludwig Watzal (David Cronin. Europe” Alliance with Israel: Aiding the Occupation, Pluto, London-New York 2011) The United States of America sees itself as an honest broker in the Israel-Palestine conflict. This self-perception could […]

Israeli Leaders Reject Palestinian Unity Deal
Israeli leaders have ruled out negotiations with any Palestinian government that includes Hamas following a Palestinian unity deal between rivals Hamas and Fatah. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, convened his security cabinet on Thursday, […]

Gaza Cautious over Unity Deal Reports
Palestinians in Gaza responded with caution on Thursday to reports that a unity deal had been agreed between Fatah and Hamas in Cairo the evening before. Hopes of an end to the four year division, […]

Palestinian Unity Deal Must Promote Peace: UN
Reacting to reports of a unity deal between Hamas and Fatah, the top United Nations envoy for the Middle East today said that reconciliation between the two main Palestinian factions should take place in a […]

US Needs Israel Now More Than Ever: Oren
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren says that Washington needs Tel Aviv ‘now more than ever.’ Oren also claimed that Israel enhances American intelligence and defense capabilities and provides ports and training for […]

Worries about the Arab Democratic Renaissance
By Hasan Afif El-Hasan The struggle for the future of the Arab nations has just begun. The best thing that can be said about their uprising is that it was truly ‘made in the Arab […]

Fatah and Hamas Sign Reconciliation Deal
Fatah, the Palestinian political organisation, has reached an agreement with its rival Hamas on forming an interim government and fixing a date for a general election, Egyptian intelligence has said. In February, Mahmoud Abbas, the […]

New Aid Flotilla to Set Sail for Gaza
International activists are planning to dispatch a new aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip in an attempt to break the years-long Israeli siege of the impoverished coastal enclave. The Free Gaza Movement said Tuesday that […]

Explosion Rocks Egypt Gas Pipeline
An explosion in Egypt’s North Sinai has rocked a terminal that supplies natural gas to Jordan and Israel. Flames shot into the air at the al-Sabil terminal on Wednesday, sending nearby residents fleeing from their […]

Cairo Holds Massive Anti-Israel Rally
Thousands of Egyptian Protesters have gathered in front of the Israeli embassy in the capital Cairo demanding an end to ties with Israel. The demonstration originated from the nearby Cairo University. The protesters demanded that […]

US Rethinks Strategy: War as Opportunity in Libya
By Ramzy Baroud The brutality of Libyan leader Moammar Ghaddafi, and his refusal to concede power, is costing Libya much more than innocent lives. The country is now also facing a possible loss of future […]

Whither Now Egypt?
By Joseph M. Cachia For those who thought the Egyptian revolution is done and past, think again. The Egyptians did not go home. They are out there again if things do not turn out the […]

After Empire – Book Review
By Jim Miles (After Empire – The Birth of a Multipolar World. Dilip Hiro. Nation Books, Perseus, New York, 2010.) Modern history and current events are aligned in this excellent text from Dilip Hiro. Beginning with […]

Modes of Control: Easter at Qalandiya
By Lauren Banko When Tamar, one of the Israeli women of the human rights observation and documentation group Machsom Watch (machsom translates to ‘checkpoint’ in English) first telephoned me a few days before we were […]

Turkey Says Yes to Palestine Statehood
Turkey has expressed support for the unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence and has urged the international community to help Palestinians "live in peace and with dignity." Turkey joined the list of countries backing the Palestinian […]

International Activists Harvest on Gaza Border
Just a kilometer from the ‘security fence’ separating Israel and Gaza, international solidarity activists and Palestinian volunteers on Monday began a wheat and barley harvest on behalf of landowners who fear Israeli artillery and gunfire […]

Israeli Civilian Killed in West Bank
Israeli and Palestinian security officials are to meet to investigate a shooting in the West Bank in which an Israeli civilian was killed and four others were wounded. The Israeli military told Al Jazeera that […]

Israel Injures Four Palestinians in Gaza
At least four Palestinians have been wounded in separate incidents after Israeli troops attacked the blockaded Gaza Strip, medical sources say. Three Palestinian laborers were injured when Israeli tanks opened fire on a local factory […]

NAM Urges Israel to Abide by Law
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) has called on Israel to abide by its responsibilities under international law after Tel Aviv ignored to stop illegal expansion of settlement activities. In a statement on Thursday, Egyptian Ambassador to […]

The Libyan Tragedy
By Mohamed El Mokhtar Given the peculiarity of Ghaddafi’s persona and political regime, the tribal structure of Libyan society, the very configuration of the country itself, regional as well as geographical, it was quite foreseeable […]

Mission Creep in Libya
By Deepak Tripathi – London Some commentators and politicians are describing it as mission creep – a slide into deeper military involvement in Libya, going beyond the original goal, and inviting unpredictable consequences. In simple […]

Egyptian Government to Ease Siege on Gaza
The Egyptian government will apply new procedures at the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border to ease travel for residents of the besieged coastal enclave, officials said Thursday. During a meeting in Cairo, Baha Ad-Dusuqi, […]

Israeli Forces Attack WB Wall Protesters
Israeli troops have attacked a group of Palestinian and international activists protesting Tel Aviv’s separation barrier on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank. At least 13 demonstrators were injured on Friday when Israeli soldiers […]

US Weapons to Israel Are Disincentives to Peace
By Josh Ruebner Israel may be forgiven for failing to realize the current fiscal woes of the United States. After all, U.S. military aid to Israel not only sailed unscathed through last week’s passage of the […]

France: Palestinians Ready for a State
A French envoy says that the country and its European partners are considering giving formal recognition to a Palestinian state. French Ambassador to the UN Gerard Araud told a UN Security Council debate on the […]

Pressure on Conference Threatens Free Speech
By Cecilie Surasky The Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and the Bay Area’s Jewish Community Relations Council interfered in an academic conference last week called "Litigating Palestine: Can Courts Secure Palestinian Rights?" at the […]