Syria once smelt of strong black coffee and sheesha pipes. People played backgammon in crowded coffee shops late into the night, whilst the aroma of fresh chicken drifted through the air from street stalls that lined the pavements. Markets were piled high with Syrian soap and wooden boxes with...

If Israel had any ambition of appearing worthy of a humanitarian stance, it has failed miserably. Palestinian prisoner Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh was scheduled to be released from prison 'in the following days' after being diagnosed with terminal throat cancer. A few hours after the official statement was released, Abu...

Over the last two years, the Syrian conflict has claimed 70,000 lives and displaced one million people. It has also claimed the lives of a significant number of media workers and journalists. These include high profile foreign correspondents: the Sunday Times' Marie Colvin, New York Times' Anthony Shadid, and...

"We are building our state and to me that matters more than causing harm to some group or individual." This statement uttered by a former Palestinian Authority official to journalist David Rose reveals succinctly the official justification for torturing fellow Palestinians – fellow human beings   and passing off irreparable...

Despite Samer Issawi's consistent refusal to bargain with Israeli authorities, the past days have been replete with offers of exile in return for ending the hunger-strike. According to Jawad Boulos, lawyer for the Palestinian Prisoner Society, Issawi has been constantly visited by Israeli negotiators at the Kaplan Medical Center,...

In what is being considered a major victory against administrative detention, Samer Issawi has accepted an agreement negotiated by Israeli and Palestinian officials to end his hunger strike. The Palestinian Prisoner Organisation has stated that Issawi will serve eight months for the alleged violation of bail conditions, after which...

The village known as the Swedish Village, which was established by Swedish donors in 1965 on 40 dunams of land, has been forgotten with the passing of time. Situated along the Gaza beach near the Palestine-Egypt border, conditions in the village have deteriorated to the point that it is...

The Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Addameer) launched in April a global 'Stop Administrative Detention Campaign'. The initiative seeks to highlight Israel's human rights violations against Palestinian detainees, as well as create a platform through which this abuse of freedom can be challenged through international activism. The...

Last week, Channel 4's Unreported World offered an insight into the Gaza Strip's property market. With almost 2 million inhabitants trapped on a sliver of land 25 miles long, another half million people expected by 2020 and houses being destroyed by the conflict, "prices will soar," reporter Seyi Rhodes...

Israel has informed the High Court of Justice that the Israeli army will halt the use of white phosphorus in civilian areas, following a petition from various human rights organisations which have long clamoured for a ban. However, the Israeli army reserves the right to use white phosphorus in...

Earlier this month, Israeli forces declared plans to demolish 11 homes in Deir Nidham in the northwest of Ramallah; their destruction will make way for the expansion of the Halamish settlement, which has been established on part of the village's land. Authorities say the houses were built without permits...

I am a 38 year old white Caucasian United States natural born citizen and Muslim. The details that follow explain my treatment at the hands of the Israeli Defense Forces upon attempting to enter the West Bank of the occupied territories and East Jerusalem in May of 2013. I...

After boycotting a scrutiny session earlier this year, deputy foreign minister Ze'ev Elkin has confirmed seeking reconciliation with the UN Human Rights Council, depending upon the council's willingness to establish 'fair treatment' for Israel. Elkin stated, "After much deliberation I have recently agreed to diplomatic engagement with the council...

The right to land and the right to live have taken on a sinister dimension in Israel, as courts consider Israel's 'right' to expel African migrants to an unidentified country in East Africa. The Supreme Court has requested that the government disclose all details of the forced transfer, including...

For the past three months pop-star hopefuls from across the Middle East have assembled in MBC's Beirut studios to compete for the title of Arab Idol. Every Friday they sing to a studio of fans, a panel of adjudicators and an audience at home who vote via text message...

One of the most spectacular gifts that any of us may be granted by God during our lives is that you become acquainted with a brother not born of your mother, and with whom you have no ties save for feelings of friendship and love; a brotherhood wholly unmarred...

Former IDF commander, brigadier general of the Givati Brigade and Israeli ambassador to Tanzania, Yitzhak Pundak, expressed no remorse about the destruction of Palestinian villages in 1948, declaring it a necessity in order to establish the State of Israel. Speaking on Israeli army radio, Pundak asserted that he sleeps...

Imagine the story of a man waiting eagerly and anxiously for the arrival of his first born child, and as he waits, he is unjustly detained and sentenced to twenty-seven years behind bars. His wife gives birth to their child while he is in prison and the child grows...

According to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Palestinians are faced with an additional and possibly permanent burden. Food insecurity is causing hardships to Palestinians, with one in three households struggling to provide adequate nutrition for their families....

While international outrage over the plight of Samer Issawi has abated considerably, after the agreement between Israeli and Palestinian officials which terminated his hunger strike, the deterioration of other Palestinian prisoners' health has received scant attention in the mainstream media. A recent United Nations report highlights Israel's human rights...

This morning army and police officers opened fire on pro-Morsi supporters as they prayed outside the Republican Headquarters in Cairo. The demonstrators were staging a peaceful sit-in outside the building where their now overthrown leader is said to be held; they want Morsi to be reinstated before they leave....

In a joint letter to the European Parliament, sixteen Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations have urged the European Parliament to send a fact-finding mission to "assess the current situation with regard to the detention conditions of Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, and the use of administrative detention."...

What is going on in Egypt is not merely a political crisis but also an Egyptian struggle which transcends borders and will, no doubt, affect the Islamic world, putting the latter at a crossroads. Will the people rise up for freedom from external influences or will they revert to...

Israel's reported decision to release 82 pre-Oslo Palestinian political prisoners has unleashed a furore among right wing Knesset members who are opposing the move. The prisoners who are mostly affiliated to Hamas, Fatah and Islamic Jihad are set to be released at intervals during the peace talks. Likud MK...

On Wednesday, the Knesset is expected to vote for parliamentary reform allegedly intended to preserve unity and enhance the government's prospects of serving a full electoral mandate. Based upon the previous electoral results, smaller parties risk total exclusion from the Knesset unless party leaders decide to lay political differences...

"Children have hobbies, and my hobby is throwing stones." The simplistic, out of context comment, uttered by a Palestinian teenager interviewed for a recently published New York Times report, sets the scene for the deconstruction of Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation. There is no further elaboration about the...

Recent dangerous developments led to overthrew of Egypt's democratic experience whilst still in its infancy. These developments included constitutional violations, as well as violation of international law, which suggest the return of a repressive dictatorship and the end of the short-lived democratic experience in Egypt. Despite the justifications offered...

While Israel continues to defy international law by further settlement approval and a lack of cooperation with the European Union about the recently publish guidelines restricting projects in areas beyond the Green Line, the occupying power is now allegedly expressing 'concern' about the livelihood of Palestinians whose quality of...

A recent blog on the Times of Israel by the former president of the American Jewish Congress, Robert K. Lifton, has called upon Israelis to support Netanyahu's strategy with regard to the current negotiations. His fear is that the Jewish state might cease to exist, should Israel embark upon...

A sign of a hand with four fingers raised with the thumb closed is fast spreading as a profile picture among Facebook and Twitter users who reject the military coup in Egypt. This sign became common after the dispersal the pro-Morsi supporters in the two protest camps, Rabaa Al-Adawiya...

Breaching Israeli military orders has become the norm, despite IDF claims that it endeavours to minimise physical harm to Palestinians. A report by Defence for Children international – Palestine Section outlines the violence inflicted upon Palestinian civilians, stating that at least 24 children have been injured by crowd control...

Former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez's internationalist example and legacy is being concretely implemented. On August 24, Mexico's 'El Economista', as well as Iran's Press TV, reported that Venezuela and Palestine have signed agreements under which oil will be sold 'at a fair price' to Palestinians. The five year deal...

Advertising on Canadian TransLink buses and on a wall mural in Vancouver's City Centre depicting Israel's expansionist agenda has been deemed a security threat by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (Pacific Region) and the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver. The advertising titled 'Disappearing Palestine' features the four...

The last week has seen a major push for military action in Syria from the UK and US governments. The impetus for western involvement in the two-year civil war came from the alleged chemical attack on 21 August, for which the regime is presumed to be responsible. US secretary...

According to Dr Saeb Erekat, Israel is seeking to further the displacement of Palestinian memory by forcing Palestinian schools in East Jerusalem to alter the curriculum in a manner consistent with Israel's hegemonic narrative. While the majority of schools have demonstrated resistance against the tactic, five Palestinian schools Sur...

The non-governmental organization Médecins du Monde (MdM) has embarked upon a project to address the ramifications of settler violence in Palestine. The project endeavours to manage the violence by providing various forms of aid to Palestinians living in Nablus, after discovering a high incidence of mental health problems such...

Sally Ahmed Zarir works in a newsroom inside a refugee camp. Zarqa, Jordan's industrial centre 12 miles northeast of Amman, is home to over 50 per cent of Jordanian's factories, a 15.9 per cent unemployment rate, and the country's oldest Palestinian refugee camp. 24 year-old Zarir is one of...

The Palestine Solidarity Legal Support (PSLS) and The Center for Constitutional Rights have joined forces to provide a handbook for Palestinian rights activists entitled "Palestinian human rights advocacy in the US". The handbook, published this month, provides activists with a guide to more efficient campaigning as well as creates...

Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip have been facing attacks and harassment by the Israeli navy for years. The political situation in Egypt has brought with it a new threat to their livelihood in the shape of the fuel shortages created by the Egyptian government's crackdown on the tunnels...

During a pro-settlement conference at the European Parliament entitled 'EU-Israel relations: impact of the new EU guidelines on Israel and their effects on the EU, Israeli and Palestinian economies', Bayit Yehudi's Ayelet Shaked denounced the EU decision to stop funding projects pertaining to settlement areas, once again relying upon...

The United Nations has again expressed 'concern' about Israel preventing humanitarian aid from reaching Palestinian communities in the West Bank. According to a UN report, an international humanitarian organisation was prohibited from reaching the community of Makhul, thus causing further hardships for Palestinians whose homes were demolished last week...

According to a press release published on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the agency has expressed its 'gratitude' to the US for contributing $18.3 million, stating that the 'generous contribution' would assist Palestinian refugees facing emergency situations in Syria and Lebanon. Filippo Grandi,...

Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip has been a huge point of contention since it began in 2007. The blockade covers land, sea, and air, and is supported by Egypt, which largely sealed its borders to Gaza after Hamas came to victory in 2006. Israel maintains that the blockade...

A report by Maan Development Centre, titled 'Endemic Impunity – Israeli violations of international law in the Jordan Valley' (2013) makes use of legal debate and Israeli manipulation of international law to avoid accountability for its actions against Palestinians. Departing from legal frameworks which Israel regularly disregards in order...

The Israeli minister for Strategic Affairs Yuval Steinitz declared in a report that Palestinians thrive upon incitement embedded within educational institutions. "Incitement is a serious obstacle to peace … The Palestinian Authority is aware of the inciting messages in its official institutions." The report allegedly gives examples of incitement...

One speech by him from the Rabaa al Adawiya platform was enough to spark the protestor's enthusiasm and keep them keen and determined, until the moment he was arrested on Wednesday morning, October 30, 2013. The years of fighting and opposing injustice has left no sign on Dr Esam...

As 26 families celebrate the recent return of their sons, brothers and fathers from Israeli jails, Hana al Za'ani is awaiting an arrival of a different kind from her home in Beit Hanoun, Gaza. The former prisoners were the second group of releases authorized by Israel as a "gesture"...

I don't know how to feel. Part of me is relieved that I made it back alive, but I feel guilty that my relatives and my people are dying. I have only minor physical injuries, but the mental scars are still there. I don't sleep well at night and...

As the spokesperson of the Hamas-led government in Gaza, Israa Al-Mudalal is breaking stereotypical images of, and breaking the equality barrier for, Muslim women. "When I heard that I was being hired for this new role," she told Al-Risalah.net, "I saw it as a starting point for achieving my...

Among the distinguished guests at the 2013 Palestine Book Awards  at the Paddington Hilton in London on 14 November was the redoubtable veteran journalist Abdel Bari Atwan, who received the lifetime achievement award for his journalistic and literary work. Atwan stepped down as editor in chief of Al Quds...