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Month: December 2012

What Is the PLO Doing with New UN Status?
By Stuart Littlewood The Palestinian Embassy in London has just issued a press release under the heading “Pressing need to halt Israel’s illegal settlement colonization campaign via political, legal, and diplomatic means”. It complains about […]

Obama: Person of the Year in US, Not Middle East
By Ali Younes Time Magazine’s selection of president Barack Obama as Person of the Year for 2012 should not come as a surprise, after all, Obama’s presidency is by all measures a historic one. From […]

Video: Gaza Marathon 2013 Now Open for Runners
By UNRWA – Gaza The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has opened the registration for the 2013 Gaza Marathon: a 42-kilometre run along the coastline of […]

UN Criticizes Israel over Settlement Plans
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and members of the Security Council, except the United States, have criticized Israel for its plan of the construct thousands of new settlement homes in the occupied West Bank and […]

Ambassador: Palestinian Refugees Can Return to Damascus Camp
An agreement between Palestinian factions in Damascus will allow residents of the Yarmouk refugee camp to return after fleeing violence, the Palestinian ambassador to Syria said Thursday. Mahmud al-Khalidi said Syrian and Palestinian factions will […]

Israeli Attacks on Media in Gaza ‘Unlawful’: HRW
Israel violated international laws by targeting media in Gaza during the November 2012 conflict, US-based non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch has said. During the eight day conflict, the Israeli army targeted media personnel and offices […]

West Bank Workers Strike over Unpaid Salaries
Government employees in the West Bank have begun a two-day general strike to protest against a delay in the payment of their salaries due to imposed Israeli economic sanctions. Some 50,000 government employees at ministries, […]

New Israeli Herods and Christians
By Jamal Kanj I’m writing from Finland this week, where the omnipresence of snowflakes and festive Christmas lights heralds another year celebrating the birth of Jesus. In parallel, the descendants of the Messiah in Palestine […]

Rebel Controlled Yarmouk Empties Pending Government Counter-Attack
By Franklin Lamb – Yarmouk camp, Damascus A few thoughts rushed through my mind when I saw a distraught looking woman sitting alone, tightly holding two babies, at one corner of the vast parking lot […]

S. Africa’s ANC, Reaffirms Boycott of Israel Resolution
South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), at its 53rd National Conference, reaffirmed a resolution supporting the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel campaign. In October 2012, the ANC’s International Solidarity […]

Abbas in Talks to Shelter Palestinian Refugees Fleeing Syria Violence
President Mahmoud Abbas has contacted the UN and regional countries to try to find a solution for Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria amid fighting in a Damascus neighborhood, his spokesman said Wednesday. Abbas wants the Palestinians […]

Israel Pushes Forward with New Settlements
Israel has pressed forward with the construction of thousands of new homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, part of a series of new settlement plans that have drawn worldwide criticism and prompted […]

A Colonial Lie: Reflections on Gaza 2012
By Amany Al-Sayyed After November’s Palestine statehood bid at the UN, the question of Palestine lies between two formations: the dream of a lasting modern solution, which is a pure colonialist fabrication; and real progress […]

Video: Israeli Army Killing Palestinian Protestors with Impunity
The Real News: Following chronic failure of IDF investigations, activists release the name of soldier involved in killing of Palestinian protester.

Rumors of Third Intifada Exaggerated
By Georgina Reeves Over the past few days, the talk of a third Intifada breaking out in the occupied Palestinian territories has increased. But it isn’t Palestinians living under the occupation who are talking up […]

Christmas Message from the Holy Land: ‘Act and Intervene’
By Stuart Littlewood My first Christmas greeting this year came all the way from Bethlehem itself, just yards from where the Big Story is supposed to have begun 2012 years ago. My friend Jiries is […]

Stability at Stake in West Africa
By Ramzy Baroud ‘Many of us may not be able to point to Mali on a map,’ began National Public Radio show host Neal Conan last Thursday, “but this landlocked nation in West Africa has […]

Sandy Hook and Netanyahu’s Victimization Philosophy
By Matt Moir It was intended to be thoughtful and compassionate, but it came across as something far different. In his letter of condolences to President Barack Obama over the tragedy in Newton, Connecticut, Israeli […]

Yarmouk, Syria: Humanitarian Needs Rising as Residents Flee Fighting
By UNRWA – Damascus As the Syria conflict and its impact on civilians continue to escalate, UNRWA is exerting all efforts to respond to the humanitarian needs of Palestine refugees. Over the past several days, […]

Israeli Forces Assault Hunger-striker in Court
Israeli forces on Tuesday assaulted long-term hunger striker Samer al-Issawi during a court hearing, the head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society said. Guards from the Alnhacon unit beat al-Issawi when he tried to greet his […]

Report: Israel to Shorten Pre-trial Detention of Palestinian Children
Israeli authorities on Tuesday decided to shorten the detention period of Palestinian children before they appear in court, Israeli radio reported. Palestinian children aged under 14 will appear in court within 24 hours of arrest, […]

Einstein’s Prescience: Excerpts from ‘Radical Peace’
By William T. Hathaway (Excerpts from Radical Peace: People Refusing War) Albert Einstein wrote in 1939, “There could be no greater calamity than a permanent discord between us and the Arab people. Despite the great […]

Video: Where Should the Birds Fly?
Where Should the Birds Fly? is a powerful new film about Gaza by Palestinian filmmaker Fida Qishta. It is the moving story of two young Palestinian women struggling for normalcy in the cruel abnormality of […]

Abbas Orders UN Envoy to Complain to Security Council over Settlements
President Mahmoud Abbas has instructed UN envoy Riyad Mansour to contact representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to stop Israeli settlement plans in East Jerusalem. Israel on Monday approved plans […]

Israel Approves 1,500 More Settler Homes
Israel has approved a construction plan to build 1,500 housing units in annexed East Jerusalem, prompting the Palestinians to warn they would seek a UN Security Council meeting on the issue. Efrat Orbach, Israel’s interior […]

Syrian Forces Surround Palestinian Camp after Deadly Air Raids
Syrian troops have surrounded a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus a day after air raids killed at least eight people sheltering in a mosque there. Many residents on Monday fled the area amid clashes between […]

Iraq: Development on the Backburner
By Bernhard Schell – Baghdad Iraq has undergone drastic changes in the last ten years since the ‘regime change’, but the transition to democracy has failed to pave the way for development. Though the government […]

Struggle for Land near the Gaza Border
By Joshua Brollier – Gaza City Yesterday in al-Faraheen, Gaza, Israeli Occupation Forces shot and wounded an unarmed 22 year old farmer, Mohammed Qdeih, from behind. Mohamed and nine others went out to their fields […]

Canada-Syria: White Dominions, Brown Colonies
By Eric Walberg France and Britain have begun to circle Syria like vultures (my apologies to vultures, who politely wait for their prey to die). They plan to save Syria from chemical bombs – a […]

SA Jewish Board of Deputies, Muslim Radio in Legal Wrangle
By Nurah Tape – Cape Town In what is described as a “test for South Africa’s democracy”, a community radio station in Cape Town broadcasting to a mainly Muslim audience is locked in a protracted […]