· January, 2009

Stories about Israel from January, 2009

Palestine: “They used our clothes as a toilet”

  31 January 2009

Bloggers in Gaza are gathering information about what happened during the recent Israeli attacks. In this update, we hear from families whose homes were looted and left covered with faeces by Israeli soldiers, learn what the effects of DIME weapons are, and are told the story of a father whose baby daughter was shot, his wife breastfeeding the girl as she bled to death.

MENA: Reflections on Obama's Al Arabiya Interview

  30 January 2009

It came as a surprise to many people that US President Barack Obama gave his first formal interview as president to an Arab television channel. Some were optimistic with Obama's replies, while others were disappointed. Yet, almost everybody was more concerned about the decision to have the interview conducted for Al Arabiya.

Israel: Where is Mahmoud al-Zahar?

  28 January 2009

Senior Hamas official Mahmood el-Zahar is no where to be seen. Gilad Lotan tunes into to the whispers making rounds on the blogs about his possible whereabouts.

Arab World: “We Stopped Saying Israel…”

  28 January 2009

A message on Twitter calling upon Arabs to stop saying Israel has snowballed into a movement across the Arab world, in this latest twist of the ongoing online war following the Israeli bombing of Gaza. Anas Qtiesh reports from the front lines.

Palestine: Coexisting?

  22 January 2009

Palestinians who choose to co-exist with Israelis “fare no better than any other Palestinian,” observes Ummkahlil, a Palestinian blogger, who lives in the US.

Israel: A Plea to Obama

  22 January 2009

An Israeli human rights activist makes an impassioned plea to the new American president in a video: “Obama, take away the pain in my stomach.”

Palestine: “In Gaza, only the dead have seen the end of this war”

  21 January 2009

The people of Gaza are discovering the extent of the destruction inflicted during three weeks of Israeli attacks, and are slowly starting to rebuild their lives. Some bloggers are wondering about the less visible psychological and emotional damage. One asks, "What will be the reward for getting up and going on, one more time?"

Global: Morocco Closes Caracas Embassy

  21 January 2009

Morocco announced this week that it would close its embassy in Venezuela due to Venezuela's recognition of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), the territory also known as the "Western Sahara," over which Morocco asserts its sovereignty.

Lessons From Gaza

  20 January 2009

A Bengali In TO summarizes some lessons from the recent Gaza conflict and says: “The Muslim world has a surplus of martyrs and a deficit of scholars.”

Iran: A song for Gaza

  20 January 2009

Several Iranian bloggers wrote about Michael Heart's “we will not go down tonight“, a song for Gaza.

Palestine: Not faring better

  19 January 2009

Palestinians who choose to co-exist with Israelis “fare no better than any other Palestinian,” observes Ummkahlil, a Palestinian blogger, who lives in the US.

Israel: Back to Books and Bible Lessons

  19 January 2009

Imshin from Israel notes that life is going back to its normal routine. He writes: “It’s nice to be back with books and things. Last night I finally made it to the third lesson of a series of Bible lessons I had been planning to go to. I was far...

Russia, UK: Rallies for Israel, Gaza

  19 January 2009

LJ user mgor (a London-based native of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) posts photos from a London rally in support of Gaza. LJ user drugoi (Roustem Adagamov, one of the most popular Russian bloggers) posts photos from a Moscow rally in support of Israel. (Text in Russian.)

Palestine: Assessing the Aftermath in Gaza

  19 January 2009

On Sunday evening the Israel Defense Forces began a troop withdrawal from Gaza, following three straight weeks of attacks. Israel's unilateral ceasefire was announced earlier in the day, and met with an offer for a one-week ceasefire from Hamas. Ayesha Saldanha shares blog reactions from Gaza.