Sugar Cubes

News of the blogosphere…

Laila from Raising Yousuf reports that the big day of elections is less than two weeks away. She has been recruited by the Guardians Unlimited to write about the elections in a series of posts.

From Ramallah Online, in Palestinian village of Al-Walaja people still live under the same conditions caused by Al-Nakba nearly 54 years ago. The Isreali military forces attackd the village and bulldozed Palestinians properties declaring the area to be a closed military zone.

From KABOBfest, the Palestine Solidarity Movement will hold its fifth annual conference at Georgetown University, Washington, DC from the 17th - 19th of Febreuary, 2006. The spokesperson of PSM, Nadeem Muaddi said the divestment from Israel has become a national concern.

Norwegians activists are under attack from Israel’s supporters in the US and Condoleeza Rice threatens with serious political consequences.

What we talk about…

On Ariel Sharon’s health condition:

SteamedPenguin at the beginning, was afraid Sharon would die quickly, then he was afraid Sharon would live.

KABOBfest’s blogger Will’s post number 400 was also about Sharon, Will says he was surprised not to see any news about Sharon’s health on Yahoo frontpage sidebar.

Laila of Raising Yousuf wonders what will Sharon say when he meets all his peaces on his final day, what will he say to his Maker?

Sugar Cubes compared the poor media coverage of Arafat’s sickness and death to the excessive focus of MSM on Sharon’s health and hospitalization. From Arafat to Sharon and recently Abramoff, who decides what’s a top story?

Photo Credit: Raising Yousuf

From peacepalestine, in a letter from Al Jazeera camerman who is improsined in Guantanamo, Sami Al-Hajj, he asks a question which he can not get out of his mind, why are they punishing him?. Sami was tied to a wire out in the cold, standing all day on his feet just because he asked to go to the bathroom, feeling desperate he eventually soiled his trousers “to the enjoynment of the soldiers and whores watching“.

SteamedPenguin, thinks that Taliban = USA : “So I figure a dark hegemonical backwards empire beating up against misogynist, homophobic, anti-education, anti-progress goat-fucking clowns equals itself out.”

Sugar Cubes tried to shed some light on blogging in Arabic.

Read nasrawi talking about his date with Kamanche.

The little things that matter…

Haitham Sabbah has started a campaign to ask blog services to recognize and list Palestine in their countries category. If a blog service does not recognize Palestine intentionally the pledge states that its supporters will not use it.

From Sugar Cubes, Arab-American author and radio show host Samar Jarrah appeared on a Fox News‘ segment called “Your Turn” as a special guest on “Dialogue Between Arabs and Americans” to talk about her book “Arab Voices Speak to American Hearts”, you can read a review of her book here. Samar did a fabulous job tackling different controversial topics of interest to the average American when it comes to Islam and the Arab World. She explained the difference between Islam and culture and talked about women in Islam. About Palestine, Samar says that Arabs still have the question of Palestine in their hearts even after september 11, the Afghanistan and war on Iraq, and they are still looking for a peacefull solution for the Palestine-Isreal conflict. Read the written interview here

From Sabbah’s Blog, a member of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation are trying to educate the U.S. public by airing Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) on several TV stations. The campaign aims at educating the American public on the human rights conditions in the holy land of Palestine and the daily misfortune Palestinians are going through. Imagine Life, as a Palestinian Campain has also made a complimentary film called Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land.

Intro: Arab-American author and radio show host Samar Jarrah today appeared on Tampa FOX affiliate WTVT as a special guest on “Dialogue Between Arabs and Americans.” Samar was a guest on a 1/2 hour live broadcast show called “Your Turn with Kathy Fountain” and shared thoughts on her new book “Arab Voices Speak to American Hearts.” Samar is also co-host of a radio show (with Ahmed Bedier) True Talk on WMNF 88.5FM, a live 1-hour show from an Arab and Muslim perspective.

Download and watch the interview here

Samar was absolutely amazing, I salute her for the great efforts she’s been making to establish a dialogue between the Arab World and the west, particularly the US.

Below is the interview, typed down by myself, so forgive me if you find any mistake. There are few words which I couldn’t hear clearly and/or did not understand, those are the words put between two question marks.

Cathy: After 9/11 Arabs living in the united states more and more defending themselves and culture. Terrorism has made Americans suspicious, questioning what about the videos has been seen on tv what about the way women have been treated in the arab world

What about the hate we’ve heard being smeared by Arab voices against American values. Well, my guest today certainly did her own share speaking to different groups trying to act like a ? between her two homelands, the US and the Arab world. She’s been a contributor to CNN world’s report, reporting from Jordan, she’s a ? journalist. She ended up writing a book which gave the Americans the opportunity to ask these types of questions to the average Arab citizen and what she found is extremely extraordinary about the way we don’t communicate well with other cultures. So Samar Jarrah is here, she’s the author of the book Arab voices speaking to American hearts.

Explain to me first of all what Arab is, when we talk about Arab countries, America ? put everybody who’s Muslim under that category but its not.

Samar: I am an Arab because I speak the Arab language. My culture is Arabic, my food, my cuisine at least when I lived in the Arab world was Arabic. There is a unifying culture. And it is again based on the language not the religion. My best friend her name is Rose, she’s from a Christian family from Ramallah, she’s absolutely Arab but she’s not a Muslim. So it is not faith that determines your identity it is really the Arabic culture. The North African countries like Tunisia, morocco, Algeria, Libya are Arab for instance greater Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and the gulf region are Arab. But outside of that for instance turkey is not Arab, Cyprus is not Arab yet if you go to the dictionary and look at the middle east they would have turkey, Cyprus and Israel as part of the middle east but not the Arab world. Iran is not Arab, it’s a country that has its own language and culture. It happens that most of its people believe in the faith of Islam, they do not speak Arabic and they do not necessarily share the very same Arabic culture that I do.

Cathy:Is Osama bin laden an Arab?

Samar: yes Osama bin laden is an Arab, he is a Saudi and a Muslims

Cathy: so after 9/11 people were saying Samar come and speak to our group, we have lots of questions for u. the Arabs they are terrorists.

Samar: yes not only the Arabs, some people say Muslims they are terrorists but actually it wasn’t how I was approached. I have been doing public speaking and giving lectures for at least 16 years, I’ve been teaching and I’ve been always asked to come and talk about media, to talk about the national relations in the Arab world and Islam but after September 11 the demand on me became extremely more powerful. They wanted to understand, to talk to an Arab not to someone who has been there or is labeled as an expert, yet does not speak Arabic has not read the Qura’an and believes that he knows the Arab mind so why not talk to somebody in flesh and blood like u did rather than bring somebody who does not speak Arabic is not part of that world to talk about us as arabs or Arabs American. Then you’ll have a direct relation, direct dialogue so this is what happens they invited me to synagogues, to temples, churches groups outside church groups anything, public hens, ever walk of life!

Cathy: what is the most common question Americans want to ask Arabs?

Samar: I can’t tell u there is one question in particular. At the beginning, why do you hate us maybe. after few weeks, and after people started reading a little bit more they started to say ok how can we have a dialogue, how can we interact? Why don’t u tell Arabs this this and that. Why don’t U go there and tell them this and that for instance

Cathy: well I think the question that most American struggle with after 9/11 that they got the impression, right or wrong, correct it, that the Arab world if not supportive of what the terrorists did to America on 9/11 well at least in some way in sympathy.

Samar: you may have elements in society, we always have elements in society that are extremist in their thinking, in every society even here in the USA that might support such a thing but publicly all the government of the Arab world of course condemned September 11 and condemned any form of terrorism but also the people, Arabs are not used to coming out the way here because we live under democracy to march on the streets, they are not used to do this so they never thought that this is what the Americans want to see. Deep in their hearts, everybody I met condemned September 11. Everybody is hurt by it and its consequences on the Arab image on the Islamic image yet they don’t know how to express themselves, they are not used to be interviewed on tv they aren’t used to doing marches in the streets.

Cathy: and u know that leads to the second question you heard commentators on television over and over say, why aren’t we hearing more Muslim leaders, more Arab leaders condemn terrorism? And I think of my questions is it because there’s no one a spiritual leader like the Christian world has the pope to come out and condemn something, who in the Muslim world to come out and say this is wrong?

Samar: that’s a very important point u make Cathy, I am a Muslim and I live according to my faith and my own principles, I do not allow anyone to tell me go to kill myself or not to kill myself, I’m an independent thinker, and that’s the case in the Muslim Sunni world, we do not have a pope, there’s no Islamic hierarchy but there are many well known authorities in Islam like sheikh al Qaradawi, like for example the council in the USA(the Fiqh council) where they make what is called an Islamic decree or a fatwa that says we do not support any form or way of terrorism. The point Cathy, I’ve been speaking for 16 years, when did I get on tv? after 3 years, actually you and I have been going back and forth maybe 3, 4 months. How many times you see a person like me talking about the Arab women and being also Arab. Unfortunately the media sometimes ignore the moderate voices of the Arab world, for instance the us media knows the face of bin laden and al Zarqawi more than they know myself or any other speaker.

[on the phone: Theresa from Sarasota saying that the Palestine-Israel conflict might be one of the main causes of terrorism stressing the fact that the MSM does not talk enough about what is going on in Palestine]

Cathy: we get your point, and to let miss Samar Jarrah answer your question and also what you feel is going to happen if Israeli Ariel Sharon maybe not be able to resume his leadership?

Samar: to answer yours and Theresa’s question, from my work in the Arab world to research for my book I was surprised that after September 11, after the Afghanistan war and after the gulf war the recent one, the Arabs still have the question of Palestine in their hearts as the most important issue that matters to them more than Iraq, more than the war on terrorism, more than anything! It is the Arab Israeli conflict, they would like to see a peaceful resolution for a conflict that has been going for a long time where like Theresa said in the western media but in particular the American media u do not see much the other side of the equation, for instance watch the coverage of the sickness and the passing of Yasser Arafat versus the coverage of prime minister Sharon while he is fighting for his life you will find that there isn’t much balance in the coverage and same thing with the conflict between Arabs and Israeli conflict. There are instances where the Palestinians are guilty and instances where the Israeli army is guilty but most of the time the media is directed towards Palestinians being terrorists or the victimizers not the ones under occupation, and the Israeli army is always retaliating. So that’s why there’s a lot of misunderstanding between the image of the Palestinian in the Arab Israeli conflict and the perception in the Arab world of what is going on. And the Arab people feel that the us government is a broker in this conflict and they need to be more balanced.

Cathy: do they think that Ariel Sharon was doing a good thing, were they hopeful for peace? and this now going to be negative or leave a vacuum if he passes or not able to resume his process.

Samar: if you look at the history of Sharon before 2005, he is known in Israel as the bulldozer, why does he get this name? because he bulldozes the differences between people or because he bulldozes the Palestinian rights and homes?!

Cathy: ?

Samar: I’m very happy, I’m very happy that he does but after what? After his own government found him guilty or indirectly responsible for the massacre of 2000 Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila Camp where his own government and his own Israeli people came, in half a million Israeli protested in 1982 saying not in our name that our army should be aiding ?Falanji? Lebanese Christian militias to massacre 2500 civilians. So unfortunately or fortunately in the Palestinian psychic don’t misunderstand it, when it comes to Sharon you will not find one person who will shed a tear over him but having said that other than Sharon, the Palestinians have made a decision in the late 1980’s that Israel has the right to exist and that they will exchange land for peace and that the negotiation on the table is the best solution to this conflict so the Palestinians have publicly signed on treaties that say Israel has the right to exist, it is now the time for Israel to say publically that Palestinians have the right to exist.

[Robert from Tampa: Americans had a problem with seeing a video of Arab people dancing in the streets after 9 /11]

Samar: It reminds me of the mother who had to turn off her TV when her son had to watch the image keeping repeating with aeroplane hitting the tower because he thought it was happening every two hours, and it was happening everyday. There was one image of one woman with three kids around her, out of context, we don’t know where this was shot and how but it was repeated on and on and on and on so people assume that it was happening everywhere. If it happened its absolutely wrong, and despicable but there was a lot of vigils and a lot of condolences, there were a lot of Arabs who went to embassies and visited their American friends, those images were not shown on TV so images can sometimes deceive, if they happened they are absolutely wrong but its not the general sentiment that I found out when at least I was there last year.

Cathy: So are you saying that the American media was over shooting these images, deliberately sort of isolated, the most inflammatory video and ignoring the videos of people who were horrified about the terrorism? I mean is that happened or?

Samar: I don’t know I’m not saying that, what I’m saying is that it was just one image of that one woman with these kids next to her, there’s no context and was shown over and over but did not for instance have a camera in Cairo, and a camera in morocco and a camera in Baghdad and a camera in Saudi Arabia that was showing images, no, it was just one photos for few seconds and was repeated, and I’m not saying that somebody is trying to put it there. It was an unbelievable emotional time, It was an unbelievable emotional time, it was a double jeopardy because I did not understand what happened but I was so scared, it was like my dreams collapsed infront of me because of all the years of building dialogue and all the years of talking and interacting with Americans. All the Arab organizations and Muslim organizations efforts, I knew were crumbling down with the same building falling down, so it was the most terrible thing that can ever happen to me as an Arab American but also if you read my book you will find that people there are quite upset about it because it just tarnished the image of Arab for instance when ?Temethy Mcvay ?did what he did, the Arabs in the Arab world and the Europeans didn’t think of all the Americans, of Cathy and Jim and everybody in the studio as ?Temethy Mcvay?? No they dealt with it as just few individuals did something wrong or vented in the wrong way.

[on the phone: Tara from Tampa, asking if Qura’an teaches peace and condemns terrorism then why do people justify what Osama bin laden did and what happened by using the Islamic religion]

Samar: Very good question Tara, everybody can you know abuse a verse whether its in the Bible or the Qura’an or the Torah and use it to serve their political means. I personally consider myself a Muslim, a practicing Muslim, I read it and I see it is about compassion and mercy and love and I see about worship and extending friendship and I don’t see it about murder and killing and actually in Qura’an its black and white, no if’s no but’s, if you kill someone not in self defense then it is as if you kill all of humanity. So one life, that I’m not for instance defending myself, somebody trying to kill me, it’s like killing all humanity. So how could one use that and abuse anything out of context in order to pursue…

Cathy: In America women are horrified at how some women in some arab countries are treated and you said to me that it doesn’t say anything in the Qura’an about women being stoned to death for a minor infraction, and women not allowed to drive cars, women have to cover up or they are stoned or killed or beaten, this is not from the Qura’an either?

Samar: Actually I have never heard yet of a woman being stoned in the Arab world and plus in the Qura’an btw it never says that the punishment for adultery is stoning, that’s the law of Moses, and in the Qura’an it is lashes no stoning. So there might be either mix up here or some incident. This is again because people don’t know what is an Arab and what is non Arab but maybe Muslim, but in the Arab world where I grew up, where all my cousins live and all my friends and relatives. The worst thing that happens to be honest with you, in my opinion, is the lack of democracy, the lack of democratic practice, it kills the ability of the woman to be creative, to pursue a dream the way I pursued my dreams of writing a book. So that’s the worst nightmare but to think that women there are beaten up or have no rights…Islam gives me absolute rights in marriage, the pre? Agreement is in my marriage contract, alimony is written there I don’t need a lawyer, even though living here in the USA…

Cathy: But culturally that’s not the way its practiced in many areas right?

Samar: In most of the area in the Arab worlds you have these laws as part of the constitution and if you read Ola for instance, the lawyer who deals with divorce cases, she’s telling you and me in the book that the most difficulty in the Christian divorce cases not the Islamic because in Islam its black and white, what is for the woman, what are for the kids, I have the right to divorce my husband even if I just physically can not be with him, this is all I need to tell the judge.

Cathy: we have to remember that in Afghanistan that’s not the Arab you’re talking about

Samar: you raise a very important point Cathy about the culture, its true, if you look at religion in general all over the world, the rabbis, the imams, the popes, the fathers, they’re all men and men seem to be interpreting and re-interpreting (Cathy says YES ) the Qura’an for you and me and all the holy books

Read Part 1 here, and Part 2 here

By Mustafa Barghouti*

Secondly, Israel had already exhausted the water resources in Gaza by tapping the flow of underground water east of Gaza — resulting in the seepage of seawater into Gaza’s coastal aquifer — and through the over-pumping of the existing aquifer by Israeli settlements. As such, Gazans have been left with brackish water resources that cause high rates of kidney failure. The maximum accepted level of chloride in drinking water, as set by World Health Organisation standards, is 250 mg per litre. In most areas of Gaza, the level stands between 1,200 and 2,500 mg per litre.

A further myth that Israel has been so successful in sustaining is that the withdrawal of its settlers has signalled an end to the occupation of Gaza. Yet the Strip is still as occupied as it used to be. What has changed is only the structure of occupation. Freed of the responsibility of maintaining a physical presence inside Gaza in order to “protect” its settlers, it is now much easier, and less costly for Israel to control the Gaza Strip from a distance using its state of the art military technology.

The Israeli army is located in the Erez area, in northern Gaza. From here, it continues to occupy a strip of land along the eastern border of Gaza some 900 metres to one kilometre deep — again, all in an area of only 360 square kilometres — and maintains control over Gaza’s airspace, coastline and territorial waters. All entry and exit points to the Strip remain under Israeli control, and it is Israel that decides whether hundreds of patients who are in urgent need of treatment are allowed to leave the Gaza Strip or not. Despite the latest agreement brokered by Condoleezza Rice on the opening of the Gaza-Egypt border crossing, Israel retains complete control over the passage of goods and its right to monitor the movement of Palestinians; responsibilities it has frequently abused in the past.

Gaza remains a huge prison, and prospects for economic development in such a context are gloomy. The risk that Israel’s continued control over Gaza will only deepen long-term efforts to sever it from the West Bank, destroying the unity and linkage between Palestinians, and the right of Palestinians to be in one unified state in the future, is a serious concern.

Sharon is using the redeployment from Gaza, which was exaggeratedly portrayed as an epic concession, to unilaterally impose the future of this area. The construction of his ignominious wall and the expansion of settlements will eventually result in the total annexation of no less than 50 per cent of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the destruction of any potential for a coherent, contiguous, and viable Palestinian state.

*Mustafa Barghouti is secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative

10.01.06

Reporters Without Borders / Internet Freedom desk

Corporate responsibility: Reporters Without Borders urges Internet users and bloggers to support its recommendations on freedom of expression

Sign the petition on : http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=16119

On 6 January, Reporters Without Borders issued six concrete proposals aimed at ensuring that Internet-sector companies respect free expression when operating in repressive countries. The organisation calls on bloggers and Internet user to sign an online petition in support of this initiative.

These recommendations will be addressed to the US government and US legislators because all the companies named in this document are based in the United States. Nonetheless, they concern all democratic countries and have therefore will be sent to European Union officials and to the Secretary General of the OECD as well.

Reporters Without Borders’ proposals

- E-mail services:
No US company would be allowed to host e-mail servers within a repressive country*. So, if the authorities of a repressive country want personal information about the user of a US company’s e-mail service, they would have to request it under a procedure supervised by US judicial authorities .

- Search engines:
Search engines would not be allowed to incorporate automatic filters that censor “protected” words. The list of “protected” keywords such as “democracy” or “human rights” should be appended to the law or code of conduct.

- Content hosts (websites, blogs, discussion forums etc)
US companies would not be allowed to locate their host servers within repressive countries. If the authorities of a repressive country desire the closure of a publication hosted by a US company, they would have to request it under a procedure supervised by the US judicial authorities. Like search engines, content hosts would not be allowed to incorporate automatic filters that censor “protected” key-words.

- Internet censorship technologies
Reporters Without Borders proposes two options:

Option a: US companies would no longer be permitted to sell Internet censorship software to repressive states.

Option b: They would still be able to market this type of software but it will have to incorporate a list of “protected” keywords that are rendered technically impossible to censor.

- Internet surveillance technology and equipment
US companies would have to obtain the express permission of the Department of Commerce in order to sell to a repressive country any technology or equipment which can be used to intercept electronic communications or which is specifically designed to assist the authorities in monitoring Internet users.

- Training
US companies would have to obtain the express permission of the Department of Commerce before providing any programme of training in Internet surveillance and censorship techniques in a repressive country.

* A list of countries that repress freedom of expression would be drawn up on the basis of documents provided by the US State Department and would be appended to the code of conduct or law that is adopted. This list would be regularly updated.

Note: The purpose of these recommendations is to protect freedom of expression. They in no way aim to restrict the necessary cooperation between governments in their efforts to combat terrorism, paedophilia and cyber-crime.

More information about this initiative

Read part 1 here

By Mustafa Barghouti*

But the Israelis did not get out of Gaza. A big fuss was created about the great sacrifice Israel was making and how painful it was for settlers to leave. If you steal a piece of land and keep it for 20 years, of course it becomes painful to leave it but it is still something stolen that should be returned to its owners. Prior to the disengagement, a total of 152 settlements existed in the occupied territories: 101 in the West Bank, 30 in East Jerusalem, and 21 in the Gaza Strip. These figures do not include the settlements that Sharon and the Israeli army have created in the West Bank without officially recognising them. With the disengagement, and the evacuation of settlements in Gaza and four small settlements in the Jenin area of the West Bank, 127 settlements have been left in place.

The total population of settlers — illegal under international law, and under the 2004 ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which states that the separation wall and every settlement in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem must be removed — numbers some 436,000: 190,000 in Jerusalem, and 246,000 in the West Bank. Just 8,475, or two per cent of the total number of illegal settlers in the occupied territories were removed from the Gaza Strip and Jenin area. Yet in the same period, the settlement population in the West Bank has grown by a massive 15,800.

So why remove settlers from Gaza if the disengagement was simply an exercise in relocation? Firstly, Israel never really wanted to keep them there. They were a bargaining chip to use when the time came to talk about the future of the occupied territories. But providing security for this relatively small number of settlers through a sustained military presence in the Gaza Strip was proving costly.

*Mustafa Barghouti secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative.

While reading the below article by Mazin Qumsiyeh* (I highly recommend that you subscribe to his human rights e-newsletter), the exchange of comments on Naseem’s blog came to mind. Naseem compared MSM focus on Sharon’s recent stroke and his deteriorating health conditions to the poor coverage of recent bad incidents like the death of more than 76 Muslims as one of Mecca’s hotels collapsed, or the death of at least 55 Iraqi in one day wondering what makes the death of the Israeli president more important.

More than a year ago many in the US media focused on how the passing of an ailing Arafat would become the key to unlock the deadlocked peace process (we now know this to be untrue or was vastly exaggerated).

There was hardly any US coverage of the nature of his “mysterious illness” (to date there was no diagnosis). There was hardly any coverage the good wishes he received from leaders around the world. Nor was there balanced discussion of his history or even of his Israeli supporters or his Palestinian critics (only Israeli critics were highlighted).

Now Sharon is ailing and the contrast in some coverage could not be any more dramatically different. The double standard goes deeper and perhaps relates to the wider problem of US foreign policy credibility around the world.

He continues to ask, why do the violations and crimes of zionists and lobbyists like Abramoff whose associates have already fleed to Israel and are probably waiting for him to join after things cool down, are often deliberately reported shyly with the big picture often ignored :

One can understand the media’s concern for the health of an Israeli Prime Minister but what should never be excused is shabby journalism and hypocrisy in covering illnesses of leaders like Arafat versus Sharon. Perhaps other affairs gives more hints of these double standards.

Going back, one could site the dubious reasons for invading Iraq while supporting Israel (Israel was and continue to be in violation of 10 times more UN resolutions than Iraq ever was). More recently the Abramoff affair may also shed some light (and may be the straw that breaks the camels’ back).

Abramoff pleaded guilty to defrauding Native American tribes of million and directing the money through fake charities to gain political influence and to help his pet causes. But why is it that many in the US media (with few brave exceptions) failed to mention that his top “cause” and his passion was Israeli colonization of Palestinian lands.

Abramoff for example diverted money (”charity donations”) to Israeli settlers living illegally on Palestinian lands. His “customers” were told this money is intended for inner city poor Americans. Instead the money bought military hardware to help settlers terrorize native Palestinians.

[Read full article: Sharon, Arafat, Abramoff, and the Media]

*Mazin Qumsiyeh is an associate professor at Yale University and co-founder of Palestine Right of Return Coalition

By Mustafa Barghouti*

What is the current situation on the ground in Palestine? The Israeli narrative that continues to dominate the international media presents an image that is absolutely at odds with reality. The Gaza redeployment was spun as the beginning of a peace process; a great retreat by General Ariel Sharon, who was portrayed as a man of peace. Yet the fact remains that Palestine is 27,000 square kilometres, of which the West Bank constitutes only 5,860 square kilometres, and the Gaza Strip, just 360 sq km. This is equal to only 1.3 per cent of the total land of historic Palestine. So even if Sharon really had withdrawn from Gaza, this would amount to just 5.8 per cent of the occupied territories.

*Mustafa Barghouti is secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative

Paris - At least 63 journalists were killed around the world in 2005 - the highest toll in more than a decade - with Iraq again the deadliest country, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Wednesday.

In its annual report, RSF said 24 journalists were killed in Iraq in 2005. The overall world toll was the highest since 1995 and up from 53 in 2004.

“For the third year running, Iraq was the world’s most dangerous country for the media,” the Paris-based group said.

“Terrorist strikes and Iraqi guerrilla attacks were the main cause but the U.S. army killed three of them.”

The watchdog said 76 journalists and media assistants have been killed in Iraq since the start of the fighting, more than in the 1955-75 Vietnam War.

Five people working for Reuters in Iraq have been killed since the start of the U.S. invasion in March 2003. Four of them were killed by U.S. forces, and one was killed in a car accident.

A separate survey by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists released on Tuesday found that 47 journalists were killed last year worldwide, including 22 in Iraq. The watchdog said that was a decrease from 57 deaths in 2004.

Different organizations sometimes have different figures for media deaths, partly due to differing criteria on who should be classed as a journalist.

Phillipines Has Second-Worst Toll

The RSF report said that after Iraq, the Philippines had the next highest toll in 2005 with seven journalists killed last year.

“Their enemies were no longer armed groups but politicians, businessmen and drug-traffickers ready to silence journalists who exposed their crimes,” RSF said.

Lebanon was rocked by the killings of two leading journalists, Samir Kassir and Gebran Tueni. A third reporter, May Chidiac, survived a bomb attack on her car, the report noted.

Violence against journalists also increased in Africa, notably in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and Somalia. Also, an investigation into the death of a Gambian journalist was obstructed by the authorities, RSF said.

Censorship against journalists has seen a sharp rise in the last year, the report said. More than half of the 1,006 censorship cases reported were in Nepal, where a state of emergency was declared in February when King Gyanendra sacked the government and took power.

“This has included a ban on FM radio stations, broadcasting news, blocking of websites, seizure of equipment and politically inspired distribution of government advertising,” RSF said.

In China, the BBC, Sound of Hope and Radio Free Asia were among the radio stations jammed by the government.

“Media and website editors and publishers get an almost daily list from the government’s propaganda department of topics to avoid,” the report said.

China topped the list for the number of journalists in prison and was among 15 countries with the toughest Internet censorship, RSF said. Tunisia and Iran were also singled out for strict internet surveillance.

[Source]

Tell your story to the World today!

Here’s the post Haitham has made just today, so this is your chance, contact chelsea quickly and yes I too would like to know if you’re going to do it

You are invited on a public radio show!  

Here comes another great news. I was contacted by Open Source Radio, and they are searching for you. As an editor at Global Voices, they asked my advice and suggestions as to what bloggers in the Middle East/North Africa use skype and would be interested for interviews.

Since I know (I hope I’m wrong) that skype is not very popular in this part of the world, I suggested that instead of me suggesting bloggers, let’s try to make them show up voluntary. So here is the official invitation:

Greetings,

I’m a producer for the national radio show Open Source, www.radioopensource.org. We broadcast out of Boston, MA, USA.

We’re starting a new project, “Blog Stories.” The idea is to interview bloggers, via skype or phone, throughout the Middle East. These will be introduced on our website and then eventually broadcast on our show. These will also be available for podcast.

I’m hoping to collect compelling personal stories from bloggers, the story behind the blog/blogger. And of course we also want to capture the political, cultural modd of the blog and the regions from which the blogger writes.

As for format sometimes the interview will be edited down to 3-5 minute monologues. Other times our host, Christopher Lydon, will interview the blogger and the audio interview will be a dialogue.

Please contact me if this prospect interests you.

Many thanks, and kind regards, Chelsea

mailto: chelsea@radioopensource.org

Thank you a million, Chelsea!

Guys/gals, please do not hesitate to make your voice heard. And it would be great if you can repost this invitation on your blog.

C’mon, don’t miss it, this will also give you few more readers. Well, a lot more than few. Open Source Radio is one of the most popular projects online these days, and I’m sure your blog and opinions will be popular soon

PS. Don’t forget to let me know when you make your interview. I’ll be glad to hear your it.

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.