In Defence of Children under Occupation
The cases of four Palestinian children, aged 6 to 9, who were arrested by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli Elections: An Introduction to the Manifestoes ‒ by Haim Bresheeth
A guide for the "offerings" of the different parties contending the Israeli elections for the Knesset, on 2nd November, 1988. This election has been billed as the "most important in Israel's history" by a whole number of pundits, arguing that the resulting government will be the one to face the new challenges, internal and external.
Ansar-3 Prisoners’ Call for Closure of “Death Camp”
We, thousands of Palestinian detainees, have been thrown by the Israeli authorities into Ansar-3 Detention Centre, without regard to the most rudimentary judicial formalities, including our right to know the charges levelled against us. We are kept in difficult circumstances under the burning desert sun, where the temperature by day reaches 45°C and drops to below freezing at night; in an area teaming with reptiles, insects and rats. But the severity of nature is no match for the cruelty of the soldiers of the Detention Centre, with their arbitrariness and constant brutality and violence.
An Appeal by Women’s Co-Operatives
"Our Production Is Our Pride" is a Palestinian women's development project in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Its aim is to establish women's co-operatives based on the production and marketing of Palestinian agricultural products.
Communiques of the Uprising
Soon after the eruption of the Palestinian uprising (December 1987), a clandestine United National Leadership (UNL) began to lead, plan and direct the struggle. The UNL has published a series of numbered and dated communiques (bayanat), which have had an important role in mobilizing the masses and directing their struggle. We publish here a full translation of recent communiques: nos 16, 18 and 20, and a summary of no 19.
Michel Khleifi’s “Wedding in Galilee” ‒ film review by Dr Nur-eldeen Masalha
While there is certainly a strong point to be made about the human in each Palestinian and Israeli and the significance of emotions and individual desires and needs, it is nonetheless essential to avoid reducing the real conflict to a confused plethora of feelings and sensations. The Palestinian-Zionist/Israeli conflict remains at heart a real political conflict about land, homeland, political identity and national survival.
Voice of the Uprising ‒ Toby Shelley
Survey of communiques issued by the leadership of the Palestinian uprising [intifada]: from the degree of popular adherence to the urgings and appeals contained in these documents, it is clear that they are the authentic voice of the masses. Their power, and that of their authors, lies not only in their ability to speak in the name of the PLO and (latterly) to reiterate its positions, but ‒ more crucially ‒ in their intimate connection with the stone-thrower and the striker, a connection embodied in the local Popular Committees.
Appeals by Palestinian Women
Palestinian women have played a leading role in the demonstrations, not fearing death but crying out: "Victory or martyrdom, but no to the occupation". At the same time, women have organized themselves in relief committees to help the people who suffer during the uprising. They have also put themselves to danger by trying to rescue youths who are being beaten up by Israeli soldiers. As all other Palestinians, Palestinian women have been subjected to beating, imprisonment and martyrdom.
Yesh Gvul Appeal
In Hebrew, yesh gvul means "there is a limit"; it also means "there is a border". A protest group by this name came into being in Israel following the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Its members pledged themselves to refuse to do military service in Lebanon. More recently, during the Palestinian uprising in the occupied territories, the group extended its pledge and it now covers refusal to take part in the Israeli repressions in those territories.
‘Ad-Kan Appeal
This letter is on behalf of an organization of faculty members at Tel Aviv University called 'Ad-Kan ("No Morel"), an ad hoc group formed in response to the extreme gravity of the situation in the occupied territories. While the members of 'Ad-Kan hold diverse political views, they are united in their commitment to bring an end to the occupation through negotiations with the Palestinians on the basis of mutual recognition and equality.
Israel as a Western Watchdog in the Middle East ‒ By Shlomo Fraenkel
Fidel Castro has been much wiser than Israel's leaders and knew how to demand from his Soviet employers a wage fairer than that demanded by the Israeli leadership from its American employers.
The Economics of Occupation ‒ by ‘Adel Samara
A critical-analytic review of "The Civil Administration, Judea and Samaria, Annual Report, 18th year of Administration, 1984".
“Cruel Zionism” in Action ‒ Book Review by Moshe Machover
This excellent book recounts and documents a significant piece of Middle Eastern history; and it does so in a humane way, full of empathy for the Iraqi Jews who, like Abbas Shiblak himself ‒ a Palestinian refugee from Haifa ‒ were victims of Zionism.
Women in the Middle East: Introduction
Khamsin 1987: Woman in the Middle East – Introdution
The Arab Woman: A Threatening Body, A Captive Being – Magida Salman
Notwithstanding her condition, the Arab woman shares with her sisters a common fate: a life of renunciation, of captivity, in a hyper-male society.
Women’s Participation in Radical Egyptian Politics 1939–1952 – Salma Botman
It was World War II and its consequences that prompted leftist and feminist-minded women to become increasingly articulate about the problems affecting women in Egypt.
Palestinian Women and the National Liberation Movement: A Social Perspective – Hamida Kazi
Palestinian women are conscious of the dialectical nature of their struggle: both the political struggle for national liberation and the need to bring social change within the society.
A Palestinian woman in prison – Laila al-Hamdani
A first-hand account of life as a Palestinian female political prisoner in Israel, the conflicts and relationships between inmates – both Jewish and Arab – and the struggles against prison authorities.
The Jewish collectivity and national reproduction in Israel – Nira Yuval-Davis
An in-depth study by Israeli socialist-feminist Nira Yuval-Davis looking at the constraints put on Israeli women by the zionist state, examining the role of Israeli Jewish women as reproducers of the national collectivity and their role in the "demographic race".
Feminism in Israel: a common struggle? – Debbie Lerman
On the lack of co-operation between Israeli-Jewish and Palestinian-Arab feminists, and some proposals on how to promote a common struggle.