· July, 2009

Stories about Palestine from July, 2009

Israel: Cellular firm ad stirs occupation debate

A television ad for Cellcom, the largest Israeli cellular provider, sprung an unprecedented debate on the face of the Israeli occupation over the past two weeks. The advert shows Israeli soldiers playing soccer with unseen Palestinians over the wall separating Israel and the West Bank, to the sound of popular music. The ad was accepted as insensitive at best by many Israelis, becoming an icon of blindness to the occupation in the Israeli society, writes Carmel L. Vaisman.

25 July 2009

Palestine: No Security

In the West Bank, activist Hannah Mermelstein writes: “A friend of mine here once told me that she never feels safe, so safety is not a consideration for her in...

24 July 2009

Palestine: Indigenous Solidarity

In the West Bank, Marcy Newman has been teaching young Palestinians about indigenous Americans, as preparation for a solidarity visit by a group of Native Americans next month.

24 July 2009

Palestine: A Gazan Haircut

From Gaza, Erin Cunningham writes on Twitter: “just had my hair cut by a wonderfully gay Gazan stylist whose salon has been firebombed several times by extremists. resilience = good...

24 July 2009

Israel: A Belief In Coexistence – Interview With Activist Ibn Ezra

While Israel as a whole has moved to the right in recent years, there are nevertheless Israelis who oppose their government’s policies towards the Palestinians. Global Voices Online has interviewed activist Joseph Dana, who blogs at Ibn Ezra, about his involvement with the group Ta'ayush ("coexistence"), the state of activism in Israel, and using social media to get the message out.

22 July 2009

Palestine: Fear Of Flying

At the Moments of Gaza blog, Professor Abdelwahed writes about a couple taking their children out of Gaza for the first time in 13 years, and discovering that they were...

18 July 2009

Jerusalem: Discovering The Old City

Glenn Strachan has been working temporarily in Nazareth, and is now visiting Jerusalem for the first time: “What I quickly discovered is that Nazareth is to Jerusalem what hamburger is...

18 July 2009

Arab World: Trouble for Gay Travels in the Muslim World

The first gay book to have been ever translated into Arabic after being originally printed in English has run into problems straight off the press. Katharine Ganly reports on blogger reactions to the book Gay Travels in the Muslim World, whose translation has spurred a heated debate.

15 July 2009

Palestine: No Progress

Palestinian Pundit‘s Tony Sayegh celebrates his blog's third anniversary. “A lot has happened in the world during these three years, but in the case of the Arabs in general and...

13 July 2009

Palestine: A Campaign Like Never Before

A campaign was launched earlier this year, at the time of the Israeli attacks on Gaza, to promote the concept of taking pride in Palestinian resistance, and to focus on Palestinian rights not victimhood. Called the Never Before Campaign, it is based in Beirut, Lebanon, and has produced a series of videos to convey its message. Global Voices Online has interviewed the Never Before Campaign to find out more.

12 July 2009

Palestine: Gaza Medical Appeal

Dr. Mona Elfarra writes: “The number of patients who have died because they were not allowed to seek medical care outside of Gaza has surpassed 400. As a response to...

7 July 2009