One Year After Ceasefire, ‘Temporary’ Housing for Gazans Seems to be Permanent
An estimated 28% of the population of the Gaza Strip was displaced at the height of the 50-day attack. Ten months later, the last UNRWA collective shelters were emptied, but displacement is still widespread. No one knows exactly how many people still live in the ruined remains of their homes, but according to the Shelter Cluster, a UN coordination body, well over 100,000 families (over half a million people) are still without adequate housing–including the 500 families residing in caravans.
Palestinians need democratic representation
Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas will, later this month, reportedly resign as the head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), though not the PNA, after holding this position for more than a decade. More than half of the members of the PLO governing body, the PLO Executive Committee, will also tender their resignations along with Abbas in a move that his supporters claim will bring in “new faces”. But lest such seemingly positive statements fool anyone, it is important to highlight what Abbas is doing — and what he is not doing.
Israel’s Addiction to Palestine’s Economy
Israel’s planned and systematic actions to maintain full control of the Palestinian economy for over five decades has become a major hurdle in getting Israel to realize that its military occupation of Palestinians must come to an end. Like recovery from other addictions, this one will require external support.
Another Palestinian Uprising?
Predictions of a new Palestinian intifada in the occupied territories tend to accompany every breakdown in the diplomatic process, announcement of a new colonial expansion project, and Israeli violence against Palestinian life—such as the recent horrific murder of Palestinian infant Ali Dawabsheh by settler terrorists who set fire to his West Bank family home.
Existence Before Co-existence
It has become clear to those of us working in the field that engaging in superficial co-existence projects with no foreseeable end merely creates false hopes of peace and impressions of possible safety and security.
The Bigger Picture of the Negev’s Umm al-Hiran
For the past 60 years, Arab Palestinian Bedouin populations in the Negev desert in southern Israel have struggled to simply stay on their land in the face of discrimination and the threat of displacement.
ICC action and the domestic effects of transnational criminality
Noisy discussions in the Israeli/Palestinian context have obscured how the ICC’s role may impact Israel’s relations with other states, especially in Europe. A contribution to openGlobalRights’ debate on the ICC.
The Palestinian Bretton Woods
Palestinian decision-makers have been talking about the introduction of a national Palestinian currency. Keeping in mind the national, economic, and financial repercussions of such a move, this article reviews the current monetary and financial system established by the 1994 Paris Protocol, and delves into the future prospects of issuing a national currency.
A tragically unexceptional story of life and death under occupation
Three decades ago the Israeli military government canceled my sister-in-law’s Palestinian residency because she studied abroad for ‘too long.’ Now, Israel is denying her one last visit with her dying father. But my family will not allow her case, like thousands before it, to be buried in silence.
