An inspiring case of how individuals are taking the tragedy of Gaza into their own hands; governments are failing to act: Waterford native Eoghan Quinn was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of four, and found out he also had coeliac disease just nine months later. Now aged 21 and a student…
Showing all posts tagged Gaza
Get your popcorn for the Hamas movie
I saw posters advertising this film across the Gaza Strip. Sounds like a hit…if you like that kind of thing: The audience in the Gaza Strip clapped and cheered as the actor delivered the movie’s most memorable line. “To kill Israeli soldiers is to worship God.” “Imad Aqel”, which had its premiere on Saturday, is…
The politics of Gazan schooling
Palestinian writers and bloggers discuss school graduation in Gaza; attempting a sense of normality in a completely unreal environment. Nazek Abu Rahma and Hanadi Al Qawasmi write: These are some of the scenes of joy in Palestine for its outstanding students. Palestine is renowned for the high academic achievement of its students, compared with other…
The view from Gaza
My latest column for New Matilda features on the ground reporting from Gaza: Six months after the Israeli offensive in Gaza, Antony Loewenstein went to see how its people are coping under Israel’s continuing blockade The no-man’s land you must cross to get from Israel into Gaza is a 500-metre stretch of sand. We —…
The Israeli government ignores allegations by choice
The following statement was released today in Israel: Ten human rights and social change organizations in Israel have publicly declared support for the organization “Breaking the Silence” (Shovrim Shtika). In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and the Foreign Minister, the organizations protested the Israeli government’s attack on the group, which…
The NYTs on myth and reality in Palestine
Thomas Friedman writes in today’s New York Times that Israel needs to stop building settlements. The rest of his column repeats the now-accepted, yet false myth, that Israel withdraw from Gaza and only received rockets in return. In fact, when you blockade a territory after a democratic election, you better expect some fireworks: For years,…
Gaza is a nice little Israeli experiment
The reality on the ground in Gaza, with the devastation of the recent war still fresh and homes not re-built due to Israel and Egypt’s blockade on cement, is explained in the Los Angeles Times. “I lived through the 1967 [Middle East] war, but I’ve never seen days like this before,” said Souad Abdrabo, 53,…
Walking the Gazan streets for Islam
I saw this report a few days ago on Al-Jazeera about a Hamas push for a “better virtues” campaign in Gaza. I intend to write much more about what I saw and heard there about this, but suffice to say, the Strip’s conservative nature is both ripe for such a move but also open to…
Splitting the Palestinians far apart
This news correlates with what I was hearing in Gaza; Fatah and Hamas are very far away from reconciliation: Two dozen Fatah activists have sneaked out of Hamas-ruled Gaza in recent days, including a woman who said she hitched a ride with farmers on a donkey cart Friday to get past Hamas troops at a…
Making the children in Gaza poor
Rami Almeghari, a journalist and academic based in Gaza and somebody with whom I spent time during my recent visit there, writes for the Electronic Intifada about a phenomenon I saw constantly in the streets: children begging, a problem only getting worse the longer the blockade continues: Although the Palestinian Child Law of 2004 forbids…