Nov
27
Young Palestinians feel powerless
Filed Under Gaza, Ramallah | Leave a Comment
For generations, young Palestinians were the driving force behind every major change to their society. However, these days the group is shrouded in a thundering silence. A study published in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Tuesday shows that apathy and fear are striving for dominance.
Gaza Shabab
The study, aptly named ‘Promise or Peril?’ was carried out by the Palestinian youth forum Sharek (Arabic for ‘to participate’) and focussed on young Palestinians between the age of 15 and 24. This demographic represents about 30 percent of the Palestinian population in the occupied territories. Read more
Nov
27
الشباب الفلسطيني والإحساس بالعجز
Filed Under Gaza, Ramallah | Leave a Comment
تقرير: ديفيد بورت / لأجيال متتالية كان الشباب الفلسطيني القوة الدافعة وراء كل تغيير كبير في مجتمعهم. ولكن في الوقت الحالي فإن الصمت الشامل يلف هذه الفئة العمرية. هكذا تبين من نتائج البحث الذي تم تقديمه البارحة في مدينة رام ا لله
البحث الذي يحمل اسم ( فرصة أم خطر) والذي يرعاه منتدى الشباب الفلسطيني (شارك)، يوجه اهتمامه للشباب من الفئة العمرية بين 15 إلى 24 عاما، وهي فئة تمثل 30 بالمائة من مجموع السكان الفلسطينين. ربما يكون الشباب الفلسطيني أكثر الفئات البشرية تسييسا علي مستوى العالم كما يقول الباحثون، فكل حزب أو حركة سياسية فلسطينية لديها فرع الشباب الخاص بها، ولكن مع كل هذا اعتبر 70 بالمائة من الشباب المستجوبين أنفسهم غير ناشطين سياسيا
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Nov
4
Giving up on a Palestinian state?
Filed Under Netanyahu, Ramallah, USA | Leave a Comment
Clinton’s disastrous Middle East trip seems to have crushed the little hope there was for the renewal of negotiations. As a result voices among Palestinians for a one state solution grow louder and louder.
Unprecedented
First we heard PLO official and former PA minister Dr. Sufian Abu Zaida say this on Sunday:
“I give up the Palestinian state. I want one state. I’m ready to sign a one state and don’t want two states. If there won’t be a Palestinian state, it will be like South Africa here.” Read more
Aug
20
“Scum, traitor, mentally unstable”
Filed Under Ramallah | Leave a Comment
He has been called a “traitor”, ‘scum” and “mentally unstable” by his fellow Israelis. Uri Davis is the first person of Jewish origin to be elected to the Revolutionary Council of the Palestinian Fatah movement. He calls himself an “anti-Zionist”and has tapped into a deep well of Israeli resentment. There have even been calls for him to be deported.
Uri Davis was elected to the Revolutionary Council in 31st place from a field of 600 – testimony, he says, to the open and liberal nature of the Fatah movement, describing it as:
“A non-ethnic movement where membership depends on agreement with the political programme, regardless of linguistic background, confessional background, citizenship background or any other distinction”. Read more
Jul
9
Support for illegal West Bank wall greater than ever
Filed Under Jeruzalem, Ramallah | Leave a Comment
The wall around the occupied West Bank was declared illegal by the International Court of Justice precisely five years ago. The court called for the barrier to be broken down, but Israel ignored the ruling and continued to build. “Security above all else,” was the Israeli justification for the wall.
Support for the wall by the Israeli people is greater than ever. In Jerusalem in particular, many Israelis think the wall has proven to be an effective barrier against attacks. Since it was built there have been no large suicide attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank.
Westbank Banksy
Slipping in unnoticed
The question is in how much the barrier has contributed. The wall is planned to be 750 kilometres long in total, but to date only 60 percent of it is complete. In the south of the West Bank, it is quite easy to slip into Israel unnoticed.