Tag Archives: Gaza
Stateless Palestinians: Facing deportation with no place to go
By Heather Elawawadh
Home is where the heart is. Home is comfort and security. Imagine having the place you call home not recognized as an actual house, in an actual city and state.
The possibility of this happening sounds far-fetched, but for Palestinians, this is a reality.
Most Palestinians have faced this unfairness for generations because in 1948 they were classified by the U.N. as stateless. A stateless person is stuck in perpetual limbo and is denied the most basic right; having any rights at all. A ‘stateless refugee,’ as they are known, with no rights is left without access to education, property ownership, or employment, and stateless communities are exposed to political manipulation, exploitation and poverty.
Why we should be critical of U.S.-Israel relations
By Aymen Abdel Halim, Chief Editor
The letter to the editor below was submitted to and published by the Columbia Chronicle in Chicago in their print edition on Monday, December 10, 2012.
Summary of new UN investigation of latest Israeli assault on Gaza
By Sami Kishawi (courtesy of Sixteen Minutes to Palestine)
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (UN OCHA oPt) just published a 35-page initial rapid assessment of Israel’s latest invasion of Gaza which officially spanned eight days starting on November 14, 2012. The investigation more formally known as the Multi-Agency Initial Rapid Assessment of Gaza was conducted just days after a ceasefire brought relative calm to the territory.
Palestine: A “state” with no real standing
By Dima Ansari
On November 29, Palestinians in the West Bank took to the streets to celebrate the birth of a Palestinian “state.” With people dancing, flags flying high, and music blaring in the background, Al Jazeera reporters were barely discernible over the noise as they reported the events on the ground. You couldn’t find a more patriotic or euphoric moment it seemed–some have even called this moment a historical benchmark for Palestine.
But does this patriotically painted moment of success really live up to its hype? Have Palestinians gained any real progress towards a peaceful solution with Israel under the new label of “statehood?”
Standing up for justice: an activist’s guide on Palestine
By the Editors at the Chicago Monitor
In recent mainstream media coverage of the cross-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, it’s easy to get a convoluted story filled with holes and inaccuracies. This is where activists, people of conscience, and purveyors of social justice have an opportunity to reclaim the narrative.
The media’s Israeli-Palestinian fable
By Dima Ansari
In light of the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, major news networks like BBC and the New York Times have really outdone themselves in trying to report the “truth” of the events as they unraveled–that is, if you consider a grossly incomplete narrative to be the “truth.”
“The Guardian Five”: Surprising coverage of Israel’s assault on Gaza
By Sami Kishawi (courtesy of Sixteen Minutes to Palestine)
The Guardian published five articles in the last few days that humanize Gazans in a way I hadn’t expected to see from a premier and globally-recognized news agency.
Israel’s kind acts in Haiti create double-standard
By Maniza Azam
In his Jan. 30 op-ed ["American Jews, Israel answer call to help Haiti"], Steven B. Nasatir [president of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago] highlights the amazing efforts by Jews in America and Israel in the humanitarian crisis in Haiti and for this, I truly commend them. But this also makes me wonder, what about the humanitarian crisis in Palestine? Nasatir’s article mentions religious reasons for helping Haiti as Jews are called to “repair the world,” but in Gaza, Israel is doing the opposite.
Steve Huntley misrepresents the facts on Palestine / Israel
By Dima Ansari
The Dec. 27th opinion piece, “Palestinian state would expel Jews,” by Steve Huntley, dismisses key facts and resorts to illogical arguments. Huntley argues that the formation of a Palestinian state would lead to the expulsion of the Jewish residents in the West Bank. Not only does Huntley attempt to support this claim by citing two unofficial representatives of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), but he disregards the fact that these Jewish settlements are deemed illegal by international law because they are on Palestinian land.
