News & Opinions

Feb 2, 2012

Congress defunding Palestinian 'Sesame Street'

There will be no Big Bird, Elmo, Bert, or Ernie for Palestinian children as long as their leaders continue their quest for United Nations recognition. That’s the latest message Palestinians are receiving from Congress. Though while freezing humanitarian aid, the United States continues to support Palestinian Authority security forces by funding training and equipment. This reinforces the notion that Washington is interested solely in maintaining Israel’s security.

Jan 23, 2012

Cell 36: Palestinian children are locked up in solitary confinement in Israel's Al Jalame prison

Important video highlighting the stories of 2 Palestinian boys who were held in solitary confinement in an Israeli prison in violation of international law.

Jan 22, 2012

Child Dies of Wounds Suffered 3 Years Ago During Israeli Attacks on Gaza

Palestinian medical sources reported Sunday that Hanin Kamal Abu Jalala, 16, died of wounds suffered during the Israeli offensive on Gaza three years ago. The child was severely wounded by phosphorous shells fired by the Israeli army into civilian areas in Gaza.

Dec 30, 2011

Gaza Three Years Later: Reflections from the Ground

“When I wake in the morning the first thing I do is remember my children. I come and sit outside and picture them where they used to play. I don’t want to go out and interact with other people anymore. I largely stay inside the home.”-Iman Hamdan, who lost her three children during Israel's 2008-2009 assault

Dec 30, 2011

Ilan Pappe: Confronting intimidation, working for justice in Palestine

If we had a wish list for 2012 as Palestinians and friends of Palestine, one of the top items ought to be our hope that we can translate the dramatic shift in recent years in world public opinion into political action against Israeli policies on the ground.

Dec 30, 2011

DCI: A Child Held in Solitary Confinement

On 24 October 2011, a 17-year-old boy from Haris village, in the occupied West Bank, was arrested by Israeli soldiers at 2:00 am and taken to Al Jalame interrogation centre, inside Israel. He was held in solitary confinement for 24 days.

Dec 19, 2011

Overcrowded living

The overcrowding in Jabalia Refugee Camp, Gaza affects all aspects of family life, but for this family's 9 children the effect is crippling. When the children return home it is dark and, given the constant power cuts, lack of space, and loud noise from electrical generators the children are unable to study. As a result, two of the Abu Rashad children have failed a year in school and been kept back.

Dec 19, 2011

Freedom for 55 children – But 106 children remain detained

55 Palestinian children age 14-17 were released yesterday in part 2 of a prisoner exchange but more than 100 children still remain in Israeli detention.

Dec 15, 2011

Israel’s threat to cut Gaza water supply would be "complete catastrophe"

"Currently 95 percent of the ground water is undrinkable, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO has detected levels of nitrates, believed to be carcinogenic, higher than 330 milligrams per liter of water, far exceeding the 50 mg/l accepted levels."

Nov 30, 2011

Palestinian Youth Deliver “Thirsting for Justice” Petition to European Diplomatic Representations

“Without water justice we cannot have a dignified life, European governments should do more to pressure Israel to respect our rights,” said a representative of the Jerusalem Youth Parliament.

Nov 16, 2011

URGENT: Demand the Release of Palestinian Crafts from Gaza!

Every holiday season, MECA sponsors a bazaar of Palestinian crafts and goods. However, due to the ongoing illegal Israeli siege on Gaza, our most recent shipment of crafts from the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children was prohibited from leaving Gaza by the Israeli government. For the past four years and to the detriment of over 1.5 million people (more than half are under the age of 18), Israel has imposed heavy restrictions on people and goods entering or leaving Gaza. It is our duty to speak out and say enough: Sign our petition today--deadline is Monday, November 21^st!

Nov 15, 2011

Palestinian Freedom Riders On Their Way to Jerusalem Violently Arrested on Israeli Settler Bus

Earlier today, seven Palestinian Freedom Riders were violently arrested while attempting to ride on segregated Israeli public transportation taking settlers from inside the West Bank to occupied East Jerusalem in an act of civil disobedience inspired by the Freedom Riders of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.

Nov 14, 2011

Israeli attack on Gaza injures French consul and his family

On Monday, 14 November 2011, the French Consul in the Gaza Strip, Majdi Jameel Yaseen Shaqqoura, 44, and his two children were wounded in an Israeli attack on the Palestinian Navy site in the southwest of Beit Lahia, located in northern Gaza. They were in their home when they were injured by shrapnel. Additionally, as a result of the same attack the consul's wife suffered from hemorrhage that led to a miscarriage.

Nov 14, 2011

Holocaust survivor's dramatic plea to Zuma

A 94-year-old survivor of Hitler's death camps has made an impassioned plea to President Jacob Zuma to protect a Palestinian member of the Israeli knesset from being stripped of her citizenship for testifying at the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. Hessel and his fellow jurists, Ronnie Kasrils, Alice Walker and Mairead Maguire, told Zuma they were concerned other Israelis and Palestinians who testified at the tribunal would also be persecuted. They want Zuma to get an assurance from the Israeli government that all witnesses will be given safe passage home.

Nov 3, 2011

Welcoming Palestine to UNESCO

It may not ease the daily pain of occupation and blockade or the endless anguish of refugee status and exile or the continual humiliations of discrimination and second class citizenship, but the admission of Palestine to membership in UNESCO is for so many reasons a step forward in the long march of the Palestinian people toward the dignity of sunlight!

Oct 24, 2011

New report highlights violations of children's rights in East Jerusalem

Through the voices of 15 children and three mothers, this report sheds some light on the day to day hardships Palestinian children in East Jerusalem face living under prolonged military occupation, focusing on house demolitions, settler violence, and arrest and detention.

Oct 10, 2011

Hunger strikes will continue until prisoners’ demands respected

More than 100 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails began an open-ended hunger strike on 27 September. Their demands include stopping Israel’s use of solitary confinement ... rectifying the arbitrary nature of denying family visits, and ending the routine humiliation of detainees during prison transfer.

Oct 5, 2011

Ibrahim Zaza: The Gaza Boy Newspapers Omitted

Ibrahim's death seemed to compel little, if any, media coverage. There were no New York Times features, no Time Magazine pictorials of the weeping mother and the devastated community. Ibrahim's existence in this world was short. His death was mostly uneventful outside the small circle of those who dearly loved him.

Sep 29, 2011

A CALL FROM GAZA to the People of Conscience worldwide to break the Israeli Blockade

Do not forget Gaza! We are waiting for your boats at our shores.

Sep 28, 2011

Alice Walker Fights Anti-Palestinian Bias

Pulitzer-winning author Alice Walker sees a reflection of the injustice done to African-Americans in today’s treatment of the Palestinians, leading her to object when the artwork of Palestinian children is barred from U.S. museums and to join a flotilla that challenged Israel’s blockade of Gaza, as Dennis Bernstein reports.