Feature Archives

On February 23rd, students at UC Berkeley voted whether to recall John Moghtader, a senator at the student government. Moghtader, along with members of the student groups Tikva and Zionist Freedom Alliance, are accused of assaulting three Palestinian students for displaying Palestinian flags during a campus event last November.

Last week, "Waltz With Bashir" opened in theaters across the Bay Area. The movie concentrates on stories and experiences of Israeli soldiers who invaded Lebanon in 82'. Following Ari Folman's journey to retrieve his memory, the viewers are shown a glimpse of the atrocities and war crimes committed by the Israeli Army and its allies in Lebanon.

In an unprecedented outpouring of popular opposition to U.S. policy in support of the Israeli invasion of Gaza, a full month of nearly continuous protests brought tens of thousands into the streets of major cities in the state of California. In the city of San Jose more than 3,000 people demonstrated over a period of four successive weekends beginning on January 4, 2009. They halted traffic and shopping in Silicon Valley's high-end shopping district, Santana Row. More than 10,000 demonstrated in San Francisco between December 28 and January 10. Thousands more in southern California and in the state capital of Sacramento took to the streets in support of Gaza during the weeks-long attack.

On January 28th, George Cadman interviewed Ali Abunimah on Free Radio Santa Cruz 101.1 FM regarding the future of Palestine/Israel. In this interview they discuss the recent Israeli assault on Gaza, the "ceasefire," the death of the two-state solution, and the potential for a one-state or bi-national state in Palestine/Israel. Abunimah is a Palestinian American journalist and co-founder of Electronic Intifada, a not-for-profit, independent online publication about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

Two American Jewish women, Donna and Darlene Wallach, left their lives behind in San Jose six months ago to break the Israeli siege of Gaza. Courageously sailing on the first two Free Gaza boats, SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty, they had no idea of their fate at the hands of the Israeli navy, which has maintained a total sea blockade of Gaza since the 1970s. On January 25th, the two sisters arrived at Mineta San Jose International Airport to a heroes’ welcome.

Schachaf Polakow, a member of Anarchists Against the Wall, will give presentations in the Bay Area on February 5th and 6th that will include film and photos, and will focus both on AATW's recent work in solidarity with Gaza and their ongoing work in the West Bank. Anarchists Against the Wall is a direct action group that fights against Israeli apartheid and oppression in all its forms, most recently the atrocities in Gaza. For five years the group has waged a constant struggle against Israel's Wall.

On January 18th, Israel announced it was ending its attacks on Gaza and after Hamas agreed to stop rocket fire the next day, Israeli troops have begun to withdraw. Gazans who survived the 22-days of Israeli attacks are starting to venture outside and some reporters are starting to get in to the the destruction. At least 1314 Palestinians were killed and 50,000 were left without homes as a result of the fighting. Israeli officials have said that one reason they ended their attacks was to prevent distracting news stories from getting in the way of Obama's inauguration in the US.