Feature Archives

On July 18th, Israeli war planes struck Lebanese army targets in an overnight raid in which 11 troops, including four officers, were killed and 40 injured. The target wasn't a Hizbullah barracks, it was the regular Lebanese army, which Israel says it would trust to patrol the Lebanese border with Israel, and which they wish would take on Hizbullah.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora pleaded for an immediate internationally-sanctioned cease-fire on Tuesday, saying the international community must have been aware that Israel was committing massacres against Lebanese civilians, including children, women and elders. He said that Israel was acting to destroy "everything that allows Lebanon to stay alive".

Siniora came to power as part of an anti-Syrian political movement supported by the Bush administration, dubbed by the American press "the Cedar Revolution" and thought by some to be a CIA front. As recently as April of this year George W. Bush said about Siniora:
I told the Prime Minister that the United States strongly supports a free and independent and sovereign Lebanon. We took great joy in seeing the Cedar Revolution. We understand that the hundreds of thousands of people who took to the street to express their desire to be free required courage, and we support the desire of the people to have a government responsive to their needs and a government that is free, truly free . . . We talked about the great tradition of Lebanon to serve as a model of entrepreneurship and prosperity. Beirut is one of the great international cities, and I'm convinced that if Lebanon is truly free and independent and democratic, that Beirut will once again regain her place as a center of financial and culture and the arts.

There's no question in my mind that Lebanon can serve as a great example for what is possible in the broader Middle East; that out of the tough times the country has been through will rise a state that shows that it's possible for people of religious difference to live side-by-side in peace; to show that it's possible for people to put aside past histories to live together in a way that the people want, which is, therefore, to be peace and hope and opportunity.

On July 18th Bush warned Syria to stay out of Lebanon as he signalled to Israel that it would have more time to carry out its military campaign. He said Israel had been asked to ensure that the government of Fouad Siniora survived, but the White House declined to comment on repeated Israeli strikes against Lebanese army units.

Juan Cole: Bush to Siniora: Drop Dead | Is the Arab Spring turning to Dust under Israeli Bombardment? |

On Monday July 17th, Bay Area Jewish activists protested in front of the Israeli consulate against Israel's attacks on Gaza and Lebanon. Seventeen people engaging in an act of civil disobedience blocked the street in front of the consulate and were arrested. Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 Videos: 1 | 2 | 3

Jewish Voice for Peace is organizing public actions in major cities across the country to help bring an end to the current conflict. Many JVP members have friends and family in Gaza, Lebanon, and Israel. They believe that Israel’s refusal to negotiate and its decision to act with overwhelming force—using weapons supplied by the United States-- have escalated this situation to war.

On Wednesday July 12th, Hezbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers on the Israel-Lebanon border. Israel responded with the heaviest bombing of Lebanon in 24 years and the imposition of a naval blockade. WIth over 50 civilians killed in the first day of bombings, outrage has spread throughout the Middle East and around the world. In San Francisco, a protest against Israel's actions was held in front of the Israeli consulate on July 13th. Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Video

On Tuesday, July 11, responding to the recent Israeli siege on Gaza and humanitarian crisis resulting from the US-Israeli imposed starvation campaign of the Palestinian people, demonstrators rallied in support of the Palestinian people at 16th & J Streets in Sacramento. The local demonstration, initiated by the National Council of Arab Americans and Sacramento Area Peace Action, was held in conjunction with similar protests taking place throughout the country.

On Monday July 3rd there was an emergency protest in San Francisco against the U.S.-Israeli assault on Palestinians. The protest was at 4:30 PM in front of the Israeli Consulate on Montgomery St. Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
U.S.-supplied F-16 fighter-bombers have destroyed the main power station in Gaza and destroyed bridges on the only major roads linking the northern and southern sections of the region. Round-the-clock Israeli artillery shelling is taking place. Most of the people of Gaza are now without water and electricity. Israel has also arrested a third of the members of the Palestinian Authority governing body.

On Tuesday, June 20th more than 150 people people joined MECA, ADC-SF and QUIT! in downtown Berkeley for an emergency action to say "NO!" to killing children by violence and deprivation. In dozens of cities in North America, June 20th was a Day of Action in solidarity with the Palestinian people. The Israeli military has fired over 7,000 shells on the people of Gaza so far this year. Photos: 1 | 2

Both the United States and the European Union, which is the main donor to the Palestinians with 500 million euros a year, have suspended aid to the Palestinian Authority leaving it on the verge of bankruptcy after Hamas assumed power in March. Israel has further stopped transferring customs duties worth around $50 million a month and previously collected for the Palestinian Authority. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned on May 5th, that a humanitarian crisis was now "on our doorstep" in the Gaza Strip due to the aid freeze.

The US is leading an international campaign to isolate the Hamas-led Palestinian government and has ordered diplomats and contracts not to communicate with the cabinet ministers. On May 23rd, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly backed a bill calling for the Palestinian Authority to be designated a "terrorist sanctuary," and imposing broad restrictions on US aid to the PA. The legislation, passed by 361 votes to 37 with nine abstentions, bans visas for entry into the United States of any official or member of the PA or any component of the PA. It also recommends withholding US contributions to the United Nations proportional to the amount the world body provides the PA. The vote came during Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's first trip to Washington. During his visit, Olmert vowed to fix Israel's final borders by 2010 which include annexing large Jewish settlement blocks in the occupied West Bank, dividing Palestinian areas and making it almost impossible to create a contiguous and viable Palestinian state.

On May 29th, Israel gave a minister and three MPs from Hamas 30 days to resign their posts or face expulsion from Al-Quds (occupied east Jerusalem). Mr Abu Tir, a senior figure who was second on the Hamas candidates' list last January, said: "No one can deport residents of the holy city from their lands. We will fight this erroneous decision every way we can, via the Israeli legal system, the international courts, Palestinian public opinion and the Arab world opinion - in order to defeat these Israeli intentions."

Since Hamas won parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territories it has been under immense pressure to offer Israel recognition. Hamas has simultaneously rejected flat-out recognition while offering a number of unprecedented policy shifts, including spelling out terms for peace with Israel. Ever since assuming office, Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Al-Zahar has been on an almost non-stopped shuttle diplomacy to break a US-led campaign to isolate his government and drum support for the Palestinians in their current financial crunch. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, has set a deadline for agreement on seeking a settlement with Israel - and will call a referendum if none is reached. Hamas complains bitterly that Fatah, possibly encouraged by Israel and the US, is refusing to come to terms of Hamas's electoral victory and is trying to rob the Hamas government of its basic powers and authorities, such as controlling police and security forces. While Israel has authorized deliveries of light weapons and ammunition to the presidential guard of Abbas in a bid to "contend with Hamas", Palestinian factions agreed Friday, May 26th, to stand firmly in the face of attempts trying to spark an internecine conflict and called for adopting a national code of conduct. The Hamas-led Palestinian government ordered its militia off Gaza's streets in the wake of clashes with the Fatah movement that stirred fears of civil war. Hamas had been planning to move its 3,000-strong paramilitary force into Gaza police stations in a move which threatened to undermine the rival Fatah faction's control of the main domestic security forces.

Can Hamas and Fatah ever agree on how to negotiate with Israel? | Abbas threatens referendum over two-state solution | President Bush Embraces “Bold” Israeli Plan To Annex West Bank Settlements | Surrender vs. the Right to Exist | Election Backlash: Iraq, Palestine and Israel | Abbas' Dangerous Game | Deporting Hamas Members of Parliament | Hamas Being Forced To Collapse | Starving Gaza | Israeli Human Rights: Starve the Palestinians