· April, 2009

Stories about Palestine from April, 2009

Palestine: Gaza Mom Back in the US

  11 April 2009

The saga of Palestinian blogger and mother Laila El-Haddad and her two children has come to a complete circle - she is back in the US, where she started her long trek to Gaza, Palestine, three days earlier, after the Egyptian authorities denied her from reaching home. Her messages on Twitter helped draw attention to her plight as well as the drama many Palestinians face as they cross boundaries.

Palestine: Parallels with Native Americans

  9 April 2009

Samuel Nichols, an American who works with the Christian Peacemaker Teams in the West Bank, writes about the parallels he sees between the history of the Native Americans and the situation of the Palestinians.

Palestine: Twittering Gazan Mom Stranded at Cairo Airport Deported after 36 Hours

  9 April 2009

Her tweets have gone silent and her last message spoke of a deportation to somewhere other than home. Home is Gaza in Palestine, which Laila El-Haddad and her two American-born children Yousuf and Noor can't travel to, to be reunited with their grandparents except through the Rafah Crossing on the Egyptian-Palestinian border - which is closed. Egypt won't let them through; and El-Haddad's visa to the US, where she has flown in from to the Cairo Airport where she was stranded for 36 hours, had expired. Where is the Twittering Palestinian mother and what has happened to her and her children?

Palestine: Misconceptions Regarding Criticism of Hamas

  9 April 2009

The Queen of Sheba is an NGO worker currently in Gaza: “I cannot stand the misconception that by being critical of Hamas, one is automatically condoning the international rejection of its legitimacy, and Israel’s desire to remove it from power. … Too many pro-Palestinian foreigners who come here are too...

Jerusalem: Palm Sunday Procession

  9 April 2009

Intern in Israel describes attending the Palm Sunday procession in Jerusalem: “My husband and I participated in the procession from Bethphage to St. Anne’s Church just inside the city gates on Palm Sunday. It was the most fun I’ve ever had on a Palm Sunday… But it was truly sobering...

Palestine: Meeting Hagg Ayoub

  9 April 2009

Natalie Abou Shakra, a Lebanese activist in Gaza, describes meeting a man known as Hagg Ayoub at a demonstration: “Hagg Ayoub, the voice of 61 years of injustice and crimes against humanity!”

Egypt: Stranded Palestinian Mother Tweets Ordeal from Cairo Airport

  9 April 2009

The ordeal of a Palestinian mother and her two children, who have been stranded at the Cairo International Airport for an entire day so far, has engaged Twitter users across the region today. Journalist Laila El-Haddad, who is en route to Gaza from the US via Cairo, kept her followers, friends and the general public informed of her ordeal through a string of tweets at GazaMom, creating another cycle of retweets, Facebook entries and blog commentaries as hope dimmed and her stamina was put to test.

Israel: Teen Killed, Child Hurt in Terror Attack

  2 April 2009

Breaking news in Israel – Two boys were attacked with an ax yesterday (April 2) in the West Bank community of Bat Ayin. Thirteen year old Shlomo Nativ died from his injuries, while 7 year old Yair Gamliel was rushed to the hospital with a fractured skull. The incident, deemed to be a terrorist attack, lead the Israel Defense Forces to the nearby town of Khirbet Safa, where the attacker is believed to be hiding. In the Jewish tradition of burying the dead, Nativ's funeral was held on the same evening.

Israel: Palestinian Youth Orchestra Disbanded for Israeli Performance

  1 April 2009

In honor of Good Deeds Day in Israel, a Palestinian youth orchestra performed for a group of Holocaust survivors. Known as the “Strings of Freedom,” the group was composed of 13 children, ages 11 to 18, from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. Find out what happens next to them in this post.

Palestine/Israel: Palestinian Support on U.S. Campuses

  1 April 2009

“What is happening on the U.S. campuses is not about supporting the Palestinians as much as it is about promoting hatred for the Jewish state. It is not really about ending the ‘occupation’ as much as it is about ending the existence of Israel,” observes journalist Khaled Abu Toameh, a...

Israel: Searching for a Peace Prophet in Palestine

  1 April 2009

“If Palestinians adopted a Gandhian nonviolent strategy, could they reshape the entire conflict with Israel and finally realize a two-state solution?” asks Israeli journalist Gershom Gorenberg in an entry entitled, “The Missing Mahatma: Searching for a Palestinian Ghandi.”

Palestine: The Politics of Health

  1 April 2009

Louisa Waugh writes at the New Internationalist's Gaza Blog: “Last week the Hamas Government took a political decision that will change the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of people inside Gaza.” Read about the new policy concerning healthcare here.

Palestine: Farmers Shot At

  1 April 2009

In Gaza, Lebanese activist Natalie Abou Shakra reports: “The farmers told us that during their harvesting on the field yesterday and the day before that, they had been shot at and were obliged to stop working and leave… to be shot at as one ploughs their lentils on their fields.....

Palestine: New Gazan Blogger

  1 April 2009

In Gaza a new blogger introduces himself: “Hello, my name is Omar Ghraieb and I am proud to be Palestinian. I currently live in Gaza which I am sure alot of you have heard of…I want to share with you what I have witnessed, seen, lived, felt, done and went...

Palestine: The Story of Ahmad

  1 April 2009

Ayman Quader in Gaza writes: “It was an ordinary morning December 2008. Children were playing and having fun. They were digging between the rocks to get some space for their childhood. This is the story of Ahmad , a little boy without sin who was killed on that morning.”

Palestine: The Spirit of Resistance

  1 April 2009

In Gaza, activist Eva Bartlett writes: “Less than two months have passed since the end of Israel’s grisly war on Gaza…Yet Palestinians are trying to move on, again, while dealing with a siege…”