Posted on February 16th, 2009 by Marian Houk
There’s something unclear here. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has generously offered — or maybe even actually sent — millions of dollars or shekels or whatever to Gaza to “compensate” people whose homes have been damaged or destroyed in the recent 22-day IDF Operation Cast Lead, designed to stop rocket firing from Gaza onto [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Donors, Gaza, Humanitarian Aid, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians
Posted on February 15th, 2009 by Marian Houk
Haaretz has reported today that an Israeli Defense Forces internal investigation has pointed out that it is difficult to justify the scale of the destruction of Palestinian homes and factories in Gaza during last month’s Operation Cast Lead (27 December to 18 January, with a ground invasion launched on 3 January).
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Filed under: Gaza, Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians
Posted on February 14th, 2009 by Marian Houk
A former guard at the detention facilities in the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba has given a rare interview to the Associated Press describing abusive treatment of prisoners who were detained in Afghanistan and other parts of the world after the 9/11 attacks (on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon [...]
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Filed under: Academic studies and research, Guantanamo, Human Rights, International Committee of the Red Cross - ICRC, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, USA
Posted on February 13th, 2009 by Marian Houk
What more is there to say than this? Apparently, there is only “little risk” to the international space station — not no risk, just a little one. Remember the fuss about space debris when China deliberately shot down one of its “weather” satellites (apparently to try to focus attention on China’s belief that it is [...]
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Filed under: China, Conference on Disarmament, Russia, Space Race, USA
Posted on February 12th, 2009 by Marian Houk
The IDF has announced that it is allowing the export — apparently to Europe only — of 25,000 flowers from Gaza. These flowers are the first exports allowed from Gaza in more than a year… Just in time for Valentine’s Day. Maan News Agency reported that the flower exports — carnations, it seems — were [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Gaza, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians
Posted on February 11th, 2009 by Marian Houk
It is a tremendous relief that Tzipi Livni was not trounced in this vote. By the narrowest of leads — the Israeli election commission now gives Livni’s Kadima Party 28 seats while the next highest party has 27, and some votes are still not counted — she seems to have “won” the most votes in [...]
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Filed under: Israel, Middle East Peace Process, Palestine & Palestinians
Posted on February 10th, 2009 by Marian Houk
It is raining here — and in this dry region, rain is always viewed as a sign of good luck. This year, it is drier than ever, and water levels have reached critical lows. Yet, by contrast, the Associated Press is reporting the rain as an excuse for what may well be a record low [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Gaza, Israel, Middle East Peace Process, Palestine & Palestinians
Posted on February 9th, 2009 by Marian Houk
Bloggers are in trouble in the Middle East — and when dealing with the Middle East. You can get in big trouble for speaking out, in this part of the world. A few recent examples:
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Filed under: Blogging, Egypt, Gaza, Iran, Journalism and Journalists
Posted on February 8th, 2009 by Marian Houk
With impeccable timing, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy has published a polemical new paper — vainly described one of the few (if not the only) “dispassionate examination” [in English] — by an American former legal adviser of UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Near East refugees.
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Filed under: Donors, Gaza, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians, United Nations, United Nations Agencies and Programmes
Posted on February 7th, 2009 by Marian Houk
Among the things U.S. Vice President said at the Munich security conference is this: “America will not torture”. The Politico blog reported that Biden said in Munich: “We will uphold the rights of those we bring to justice. And we will close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay” … In return for closing the Guantanamo [...]
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Filed under: Cuba, Guantanamo, International Law
