Karen AbuZayd, The Guardian, 5 December 2008

As we approach the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the steadily rising death toll in Gaza highlights the painful gap between its peaceful rhetoric and the desperate reality for Palestinian people.

The declaration was a pivotal statement in which the world community recognised the “inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”. True to its nobility of spirit, it declares “the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom from fear and want as the highest aspiration of the common people”.

Sixty years on, the fate of the Palestinian people should be a cause for universal soul-searching. The need to give substantive meaning to the protection of Palestinians has never been greater. The former high commissioner for human rights, Mary Robinson has said that in Gaza, nothing short of a “civilisation” is being destroyed. Desmond Tutu has called it “an abomination”. The humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, Maxwell Gaylard, said that in Gaza there was a “massive assault” on human rights. Most recently, the European commissioner, Louis Michel, described the blockade of Gaza as a “form of collective punishment against Palestinian civilians, which is a violation of international humanitarian law”.

[Read the article]

By Akiva Eldar, Ha’aretz, 5 December 2008

No one stopped Rashid Khalidi, the Columbia University professor of Modern Arab Studies, at Ben-Gurion airport. Having just landed after the long flight from New York, the professor was anticipating the traditional reception from airport security personnel reserved for visitors with “suspicious” names. To his surprise, he entered the airport like anyone else, with no problems or delays. Perhaps word had gotten around at Ben-Gurion that he was the Palestinian friend of United States President-elect Barack Obama.

[Read the article]

By Laila Al-Arian, AlterNet, 26 November 2008

On Monday afternoon, a jury in Dallas, Texas found five Palestinian men guilty of more than 100 charges in the nation’s largest terrorism financing trial since 9/11.

But was this case about prosecuting terrorism, or the Bush administration’s “war on terror?”

[Read the article]

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By Agence France Presse, The Daily Star, 3 December 2008

HEBRON, Occupied West Bank: At least 13 Palestinians and one Israeli were wounded on Tuesday as ultra-nationalist Israelis went on the rampage in the Occupied West Bank city of Hebron, clashing with residents and Israeli security forces. The Israeli rioting broke out as rumors spread that security forces were set to evict 100 Jewish settlers from an occupied house the Israeli high court has ordered evacuated.

Young settlers, backed by right-wing supporters, hurled rocks for several hours at Palestinian homes and police vehicles. Police at one point fired teargas grenades at the protesters, but took no further measures – consistently used against Palestinian activists – to stop the rioting.

Human-rights groups have long denounced Israel’s handling of settler violence with kid gloves in comparison to the brutal tactics employed while putting down even peaceful Palestinian protests.

[Read the report]