GAZA CITY — For many survivors of the last Israeli war on Gaza, time has not healed their wounds, physical or emotional. Amal Samouni, 10, still suffers vision problems in her right eye. The shrapnel remaining in her head causes her constant pain and she is unable to concentrate at school. Her concentration is broken, …
Continue reading “In Gaza, New Year Reopens Wounds of the Old”
JERUSALEM – One year after the devastating attack on Hamas in Gaza a new wave of reports castigating Israel for war crimes has emerged. Now, Israel is fighting back with a report on the reports, picking on international NGOs such as Amnesty, Christian Aid, Oxfam, Trocaire , Finn Church Aid, Diakonia, and Cordaid. The immediate …
Continue reading “Israel Declares War on Peace NGOs”
More than 50,000 people are expected to take to the streets of Gaza on Dec. 31 for a mass march designed to send a message to the United States, a key supporter of Israel’s army, that the situation in Gaza violates international human rights laws. The idea behind the "Gaza Freedom March" comes from CODEPINK, …
Continue reading “Gaza March Puts Spotlight on Civilian Suffering”
Jonathan Cook says Israel encourages its own suicide bombers
U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcomed an announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday that Israel will impose a 10-month "moratorium" on settlements, but warned that the move falls short of a freeze on settlement building — a condition that has been a mainstay …
Continue reading “Settlements ‘Moratorium’ Still Short of Freeze”
As Barack Obama arrives home from his weeklong tour of East Asia, he confronts a growing list of ever more urgent problems in the Greater Middle East that he inherited from George W. Bush’s "global war on terror." From Palestine to Pakistan, Obama, who also faces a major fight in getting his top legislative priority …
Continue reading “Obama Returns to Greater Middle East Mess”
In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, movement in the standoff between the two sides can be as often backward as it is forward. The past couple of weeks have seen moves from both sides that have garnered the attention of the world, but forward progress remains elusive. Not least among these moves was Israel’s announcement Tuesday that …
Continue reading “US Credibility as Peace Broker Eroding by the Day”
JERUSALEM — Along a wall not about to come down — a hotel no longer a hotel, but an outpost. The three-story, 36-room Cliff Hotel used to be a favorite for Western pilgrims in search of the "authentic Holy Land flavor" because of its extensive gardens; it was a favorite also among Jerusalem Palestinians for …
Continue reading “West Is East, When Israel Decides”
RAMALLAH — U.S. and Israeli failure to take either Palestinian rights or Israeli settlement expansion seriously has placed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority (PA) in an untenable situation, which could seriously damage peace prospects. On Thursday night Abbas announced his resignation in Ramallah. He expressed his frustration at the inability of the …
Continue reading “Abbas Produces a Dubious Twist”
A 575-page blistering report by Justice Richard Goldstone detailing war crimes in Gaza last December is refusing to die despite an aggressive Israeli smear campaign to kill it. The report, which was favorably voted by the 47-member Human Rights Council in Geneva last month, received overwhelming support Thursday in the 192-member General Assembly. The vote …
Continue reading “UN Affirms Israeli-Hamas War Crimes Report” 
