This Week in Palestinian Blogs: Occupy Me With Peace · Global Voices
Shaden Abdulrahman

Happy new prosperous year from KABOBfest and Haitham Sabbah. The Palestinian Blogosphere wish that 2006 would bring with it pleasant surprises and help us get over last year's misfortunes. And even though,  some dark clouds are hovering over our heads, some of us have typed down some new year's resolutions. May this year and every year nothing occupies us but peace.
Photo Credit: International Solidarity Movement
News of the Blogosphere…
According to Beith-Sahour, three non-violent protests took place on the 31 of December in Haifa, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, against checkpoints and the Israeli occupation. Participants weren't only Palestinians but also Israelis and International peace activists. The Israeli movement against occupation protested the expansion of Israeli lands beyoung the Green Line.
15 of Fateh candidates will withdraw from the parliamentary elections scheduled on the 25th of January if Israel did not allow residents of east Jerusalem to vote.
From Beit-Sahour also, shelling of Gaza Strip continues to the very last day of the year. Laila of Raising Yousuf, says Gaza is under seige and the sonic attacks will continue for at least few days according to Israeli newspaper. I don't know what is it with wiping countries and cities off the map these days, but it seems that Isael has some new resolutions for the new year concerning Palestinian cities, one of them is to wipe Beit Hanun off the map. Back in September, plan was slightly different, they wanted to blast it off the map.
Photo Credit: Raising Yousuf
On the three people missing in Gaza, Haitham Sabbah analyzes the kidnapping phenomena and compares between kidnapping in Palestine and Iraq. He says that Palestinians have to watch out for enemies from the outside and the inside too. Sugar Cubes writes about the demonstration held by Gazzans demanding the freedom of Kate Burton, the human rights worker who was showing her parents around when the three of them were kidnapped. Rafah Pundits reports that the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) blames the Palestinian Authority for the incident.
Last but not least, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of Fateh, and Al Quds Brigades,  military wing of the Islamic Jihad, has declared on the 31st of December, after midnight, the end of the truce which was declared last March in Qairo.
What we talk about…
The Palestinian death toll in 2005 reached 255 according to The Black Iris of Jordan while the Israeli has reached its lowest number since the beginning of Intifada in 2000.
2005 highlights by Mazin Qumsiyeh is a must read, from tragedies to meetings and best books of the year with an emphasis on the Palestine-Israel conflict's cases and updates.
There is a big talk going on Palestinian and pro-Palestinian blogs concerning Spielberg's new film “Munich”. KABOBfest and umkahlil quote As'ad Abu Khalil who thinks that the movie serves Israeli propaganda. alt.muslim suggests that Speilberg makes 10 more movies just to balance things up. Check out the list of top 10 movies Hollywood has yet to make if ever considered being fair to Arabs. For more on the movie, The Black Iris of Jordan has reviewed and rated “Munich” 4/5.
While the world was watching Gaza, exapnsionism was taking place all the time in Jerusalem.
Sabbah sums up the challenges facing the Palestinian Authority and Palestinians in general to take charge of things, have a state and enjoy the peace they've always dreamt of. 11 interesting points are definitely worth reading!
The little things that matter…
Every Saturday thecutter goes to a nearby supermarket which sells thousands of people on Saturdays normally since almost all other shops are closed on Sundays. She pulls a sign out of her purse and rests it on a “Jaffa” brand fruit stand. The sign says: “Don't buy Jaffa fruit, or any products from Israel. This produce makes its profits by having exploited native people, throwing them off their land.”
From this much i can say is true, Drew describes his experience with weddings in Rafah. His post is guaranteed to at least make you smile.