gaza |

Jan 10

Under pressure: UNRWA facing serious challenges in 2014

At the end of 2013 came a shocking update from Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus – at least 15 Palestinians had died of hunger since September. The grim news was shared by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), whose spokesperson Chris Gunness told French news agency AFP that the conditions in the besieged camp were deteriorating. UNRWA, he said, “have been unable to enter the area to deliver desperately needed relief supplies” since September.

Meanwhile, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, anger at job cuts and budgetary problems has manifested itself in the form of industrial action, hunger strikes and marches by refugee camp popular committees. Read more

Feb 23

What a ‘period of calm’ looks like in the Occupied Territories

Three months have passed since the ceasefire that brought an end to Israel’s eight-day attack on the Gaza Strip known as Operation “Pillar of Defence”. This infographic depicts the number of attacks on the Gaza Strip by the Israeli military during this three-month period, as well as the number of Palestinian attacks emanating from Gaza. Since late November, Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have averaged over one a day, everyday. These include shootings by troops positioned along the border fence, attacks on fishermen working off the Gaza coast, and incursions by the Israeli army. Read more

Dec 16

Gaza to Galilee: The colonial context

Framing events in Gaza in the colonial context is vital for understanding the nature of the violence, argues author.

While it is common knowledge that a majority of the population of the Gaza Strip are refugees, it is less well understood where they came from. The shocking reality is that many of the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip are a few miles away from the land of their ethnically cleansed former villages, across the border fence in southern Israel. Like so much else with Palestine, you can’t understand Gaza if you don’t understand the Nakba. Read more

Oct 1

Israel’s High Court of Injustice

Dubbed ‘leftist’ by hawks in Israel, the High Court of Justice actually reinforces colonial policies, writes author.

Last week, Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled against a petition brought by female students from the Gaza Strip, upholding the state’s refusal to allow them to study in the West Bank.

The women, four of whom were registered for a Master’s in gender studies and one aiming to pursue a law degree, brought a case that challenged an Israel-imposed ban that has been in place since 2000. In twelve years, only three Gaza residents have been allowed to study at West Bank universities (and only because they had received US government scholarships). Read more

Sep 17

British citizens are killed by Israel, but the UK does nothing

At the end of August, a civil suit brought by the family of Rachel Corrie came to an end with a Haifa judge ruling that the State of Israel bore no responsibility for the death of the American activist in 2003. Despite the judge’s decision, the case – including key testimonies – was widely believed to have “shed light on Israel’s grave breaches of human rights and the impunity enjoyed by its military”.

Rachel Corrie is not the only international to have been killed by Israel since the start of the Second Intifada in 2000. Three British citizens were shot dead by Israeli soldiers over a six month period in 2002-2003, crimes that almost a decade on are a reminder of the UK government’s reluctance to hold its ally to account. Read more

Aug 13

It’s time to focus on Israel’s separation policy, not just the siege

Israel’s approach to the Gaza Strip has never been static; it changes according to the government’s priorities and short or long-term strategic goals. As early as 1991, Israel implemented the permit regime, regulating the movement of Palestinians in and out of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and in the case of the latter, it went on to construct a perimeter fence in the mid-1990s.

During the Second Intifada, the Gaza Strip was subjected to fierce Israeli military attacks, though none of the assaults were as brutal as “Operation Cast Lead” in December 2008-January 2009. The so-called “disengagement” plan of 2005, resulting in the withdrawal of Jewish settlers from Gaza and the redeployment of Israeli forces based there, heralded another change, a process shaped subsequently by the results of the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January 2006. Read more

Dec 29

IDF chief of staff hails 2008 Gaza strike as an “excellent operation”

This week marks three years since Israel launched Operation Cast Lead, the unprecedented attack on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip that killed hundreds of civilians and devastated the besieged territory in 22 days of airstrikes and ground assaults. Disturbingly, the Israeli military is marking the anniversary with praise for the massacre, and threats of a new one. Read more