Global Policy Forum

This timeline shows the history of Israel-Palestine from ca. 1300 to ce. 2006. (Presbyterian Church)

Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, explores the history of the Israeli occupation and the incidents leading up to the invasion of Gaza in December 2008. For 18 months the Israeli government imposed a blockade on Gaza, rendering the entry of food, medicine and fuel nearly impossible. Falk entertains an alternative perspective to the "exceedingly pro-Israeli media lens" by saying that Hamas, the elected government, was willing to extend the truce with Israel and had largely complied with the conditions of the ceasefire. He concludes that Israel uses overwhelming force and victimizes the people of Gaza "for reasons remote from the rockets and border security concerns."(Huffington Post)

This primer, published by the MERIP, provides an extensive historical background for understanding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It covers the period from the late 19th century through the second Palestinian intifada (uprising) of September 2000.

This primer documents the historical background leading up to the second Palestinian intifada (uprising) in September 2000, and traces events through the spring of 2002. During that period of time, over 1400 Palestinians and nearly 450 Israelis were killed in the conflict. (MERIP)

Articles

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The Israeli Supreme Court has condemned illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank and has ordered the evacuation of some. This action questions the Israeli government's plan to expand the settlements. By occasionally passing judgment in favor of dispossessed Palestinians and proclaiming their eviction illegal, the Supreme Court strengthens the legality of the remaining majority of occupation-stated cases, argues the author. (Common Dreams)

Powerful states have stood by idly as Gaza's economy and livelihood have collapsed. While the government of Israel continues its closure of the Gaza strip, critical movements have gathered force in Israel, the US and across the globe. These movements, led by prominent politicians, academics, Nobel Peace Prize winners and veteran activists, oppose the injustice and are working cooperatively to supply humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. (Common Dreams)

Breaking the Silence has collected testimonies from 30 Israeli soldiers. Its report challenges the Israeli army's contention that it abided by international law in its conduct of the January Gaza war. Testimonies describe the many Israeli violations, including the use of Palestinian human shields and the failure to distinguish between civilians and combatants. (The Independent)

The Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) controls the type and amount of food allowed to enter the occupied territories of Palestine. Products are placed on and off the forbidden list of 'luxury goods' in a manner which make COGAT's rules and bans seem both unpredictable and nonsensical. But by artificially creating demand for some goods in Gaza, it allows Israeli farmers to get rid of their surpluses, thus stabilizing prices in Israel. (Ha'aretz)

The UN Human Rights Council published a report concluding that Israel committed several human right violations against unarmed civilians. Council members are calling for an international investigation into the Israeli assault. Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, disputes the Israeli claim that it was difficult to distinguish between civilian and military targets, recalling that Israel started the assault knowing it would be impossible to differentiate between civilians and the military in such a densely-populated area. Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, also reported on war crimes committed against children in Gaza. In conclusion, the Human Rights Council has asked the UN Security Council to set up an ad hoc criminal tribunal, to investigate the severity of these crimes. (Frontline)

During the 3 week assault on Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009 the Israeli defense force deliberately fired white phosphorus into civilian areas. White phosphorus is illegal if used in civilian areas, because of its devastating effects on the human body. This Human Rights Watch report asks the US to stop delivering white phosphorus to Israel and notes that Israeli senior commanders must have approved the use of white phosphorus and must be held accountable for these war crimes.

Israel has received large amounts of military aid from the US ever since the proclamation of the state of Israel in 1948. As of 2009 the US gives Israel US$30 billion of military aid on an annual basis. This article shows that the white phosphorus used by Israeli forces in the 2008-09 siege on Gaza was made in the United States and came from the US Company Raytheon. The use of white phosphorus is illegal under international law and Amnesty International claims that Israeli armed forces are responsible for "direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects in Gaza, and attacks which were disproportionate or indiscriminate." (Guardian)

This Times article reports that the International Criminal Court (ICC) might begin an investigation of Israel and its actions in the Gaza assault. According to leading NGOs, the Israeli army used white phosphorus in its military offenses, which is illegal under international law. Israeli forces also fired into civilian areas, denied medical aid to Palestinians, inhibited the mobility of ambulances and fired at people carrying white flags. The ICC Prosecutor, therefore, aims to investigate Israeli leaders and army officials on charges of war crimes.

This timeline gives a clear overview of the Israeli military attack on the Gaza strip, which started with air strikes on December 27, 2008. The timeline also shows a lack of action by the Security Council to halt Israel's aggression and to allow humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. The total dead toll is estimated at 1,200 - more than half of them women and children. (Al Jazeera)

In this article Rashid Khalidi, Professor of Arab studies at Columbia University, points out facts about Gaza that people tend to forget. He explains that the majority of Gazans do not live in Gaza by choice, but because the Israeli army drove them there in 1948. Since 1967 Israel occupied Gaza and even after the withdrawal in 2005 it still largely controls the territory. Khalidi states Hamas' rocket response stems from a history of continued occupation and is in reaction to the Israeli blockade that prohibits the flow of fuel and electricity into Gaza. (New York Times)

While the Israeli siege in Gaza continues, aid organizations complain about the impediment to full humanitarian assistance, in a conflict in which women and children make up 40 percent of the casualties. The International Committee of the Red Cross sharply critiqued Israel's action stating it had failed to comply with its humanitarian obligation under international law. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) suspended its humanitarian action after one of its staff members was killed apparently by Israeli gunfire. (New York Times)

Arab nations demanded a Security Council statement calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas in Gaza. The US blocked approval contending that such a statement "would have no underpinning for success and would not do credit to the council." Other council members, including France, were in favor of "an immediate, permanent and fully respected cease-fire." (Associated Press)

Author Robert Fisk comments on the December 2008 Israeli air strikes on Gaza and recalls the historical plight of Palestinian refugees. Fisk argues that among the one and a half million Palestinian refugees crammed into Gaza, 80 percent of those families once lived in what is now Israel. Condemning both Western and Arab countries for failing to restrain Israel, Fisk concludes that "Gaza was always an insurrectionary place" and "is not going to be tamed now." (Independent)

The Middle East faces severe drought, especially in Syria, Jordan and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Israel controls more than 85% of the water in the occupied West Bank, where one third of the Palestinians do not have access to proper water supplies and sanitation services, because Israel does not issue licenses. Moreover, Israel's military activities pollute the ground water in the West Bank, resulting in significant environmental damage. (Middle East Times)

Israel continues to use tactics of war contrary to the rules of humanitarian law by attacking and killing innocent Palestinian citizens, thereby negatively affecting the peace process. A 2006 Israeli Supreme Court judgment ruled that the government must establish a committee to investigate these Palestinian deaths, but Israel has yet to set up such a team. (International Relations and Security Network)

Karen AbuZayd, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) stated that the Gaza strip will face a humanitarian disaster if Israel continues to block humanitarian goods from entering the territory. Israel says it closes Gaza's borders to curb rocket attacks by Hamas, but withholding food, medicines and fuel from the inhabitants of a territory constitutes collective punishment, an action that is illegal under international law. (ZNet)

David Kretzmer, an Israeli law professor, urged the Israeli Attorney General to investigate possible war crimes by Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz. Kretzmer states that Mofaz violated humanitarian law in 2001 by ordering Israeli forces to kill a daily minimum of 70 Palestinians. The Israeli professor also says that reports from Israeli newspaper Haaretz from 2001 and 2002 raise suspicions that Mofaz ordered Israeli soldiers to shoot at every armed Palestinian, irrespective of their threat to Israeli forces. (Independent)

The European Union (EU) misses an opportunity to act as an independent mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Author George Joffé argues that the EU defers to US policy in the Middle East, believing that Europe needs US military support to ward off the perceived threat of "global terrorism." As a result, the EU excludes Hamas from constructive peace talks, and perpetuates a humanitarian crisis in Gaza by denying finance to the democratically elected Hamas government. (FRIDE)

This article by Seumas Milne argues that it is unjust for Israel to invoke self-defense to use force in Gaza – a blockaded territory under Israeli practical and legal occupation. The article notes that the weight of casualties lie on the Palestinian side by forty to one, with over a fifth of those killed being children. Milne suggests that Israel should take up Hamas' offer of a truce; a solution which is supported by 64% of Israelis, but rejected by Washington. (Guardian)

The Quartet, composed of the EU, Russia, UN and US, elected former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to serve as their new Middle East peace envoy. Blair's supporters point to qualifications such as a long-standing interest in the Middle East, and experience with peace negotiations in Northern Ireland. But Britain's involvement in Iraq and Blair's closeness to the US and support of Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas make him a controversial candidate. (Guardian)

Following several days of Israeli military actions in Gaza, UN officials have called on the Israeli government to cease hostilities. While the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories urges the Security Council to act, the top UN body agreed to discuss the violence in Gaza. This Security Council decision coincides with mounting requests for the organization's intervention in the Palestinian Territories to enforce the cease-fire. (UN News)

This Daily Star - Lebanon article suggests that the UN Security Council should send an international peacekeeping force to monitor the border between Gaza and Israel. In light of the UN involvement in Lebanon, observers call for a similar level of commitment from the international organization in the Palestinian Territories. The establishment of an international force would help to break the vicious circle of violence fostered by attacks on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides, the article says.

A UN rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories calls on the Security Council "to assume responsibility for finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict instead of leaving it to the diplomatic Quartet." He believes the influential Quartet, including the UN, the European Union, Russia and the United States, acts partially when it imposes economic measures on the Hamas government. According to the UN official, the situation in Palestinian territories has worsened since June 2006, and requires talks between Israel and Palestinians on a permanent status accord. (UN News)

The UN special rapporteur on Palestinian human rights condemns Israel for its military actions and blockade of Palestinian territories. The UN expert also accuses Canada, the US and Europe of cutting aid funds to the Palestinian Authority. Both factors contribute to the suffering of the Palestinian people, according to the special rapporteur. In a report, he portrays the standards of human rights in the territories as intolerable. (BBC)

In this Maxims News piece, the former head of the UN's weapons inspection team in Iraq, Hans Blix, analyzes the motives behind Middle Eastern actors' actions and their actual outcomes. Citing Israel's intervention in Lebanon, he concludes that no parties have achieved their expected goals through military actions. Blix wonders whether the players involved in Middle East conflicts should, "in the future, increase their readiness to enter into talks without first going through a phase of suffering, death and destruction."

To end division between their various factions and to establish a common front, Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails produced this "National Conciliation Document." While the document offers implicit recognition of Israel by its endorsement of a two-state solution along the 1967 borders, a major policy change for Hamas, Tel Aviv rejected it for not explicitly recognizing Israel or denouncing terrorism. (Translation by Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre)

UN envoy to the Middle East Alvaro de Soto criticized Israel's decision to withhold $50 million in funds to the Palestinian Authority (PA) following the electoral victory of Hamas, a terrorist organization according to Israel, the EU, and the US. De Soto called Israel's move to freeze the funds "premature" and declared that it ran counter to the policy agreed to by the international "Quartet" of the UN, EU, US and Russia. The Quartet had decided that international funding should be judged against the willingness of the Hamas government to renounce violence, recognize Israel and sign up to past agreements between Israel and the PA. (Independent)

The Guardian asserts that the Bush administration and other pro-Israeli groups were instrumental in blocking UN Relief and Works Agency head Peter Hansen's reappointment because he was "biased and soft on 'terrorists.'" But Hansen, who condemned the Israeli government for destroying Palestinian homes and aiming fire at UN-run schools, says his "job was to represent refugees."

Foreign Policy in Focus argues that Washington endorsed Israeli aggression in the Occupied Territories because of "the American drive to control the world's oil reserves." In explaining the United States' support of Israel, one must not assume that "foreign policy is all about partisan politics and God."

Israeli public opinion shows growing despair with continuing violence, but how will this change manifest itself in political terms, asks Uri Avnery. Avnery urges the Israeli left to channel this political force. (Gush Shalom)

Yedioth Ahronoth extensively documents the thoughts and current initiatives of four prominent Israelis who previously held high rank in the country's General Security Service, or Shin Bet.

In this interview, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia weighs in on his predecessor Mahmoud Abbas as well as Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat. (Washington Post)

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia sought consolidation of security forces under one authority, but Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat succeeded in keeping the commands separate. Arafat furthermore placed a hand-picked successor in the post of Interior Minister. (Associated Press)

Once the most egalitarian society in the developed world, Israel is now among the least so. In the West Bank and Gaza, 60 percent of Palestinians live below a poverty line of 60 dollars. But also in the rest of Israel, people suffer from the government's decision to shrink its role as a welfare provider to force people back into the labor market. (Inter Press Service)

Israel and militant Palestinian factions take different approaches to international inaction in the Middle East crisis. The former continues escalated repression, while the latter engages in escalated violence. Israeli air strikes on Syria will not stop Palestinian suicide bombers, but will only bring more actors into the conflict, says the Electronic Intifada.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered Israeli forces to strike targets in Syria in the first overt aggression against the country since the 1973 October War. Arab analysts hypothesize three basic reasons behind the decision to attack. (New York Times)

An Israeli-Palestinian two-state solution is "probably already doomed," argues Tony Judt in the New York Review of Books. Judt insists that a bi-national solution is both more desirable and more appropriate in the era of the secular state.

25 Israeli Air Force pilots joined the ranks of the "refuseniks" by signing a letter resolving not "to continue to harm innocent civilians" by conducting attacks on Palestinian population centers. This article, translated from Yediot Aharonot, includes a text of the letter and provides the reaction of the Commander of the Air Force.

The BBC highlights behind-the-scenes struggles between Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestinian Authority, and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. Analysts worry that Arafat seems to prioritize his political future over Palestinian hopes for a better future.

The editor of Challenge, a leftist magazine covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, discusses issues including the post-Oslo "peace process" and the response of the Israeli left to the US-led war in Iraq. (Middle East Report Online)

A representative from Terre des Hommes assesses the impact of Palestinian unemployment that has reached 50%. In addition, the UN Relief and Works Agency reports that Palestinian children show substantial symptoms of stress and depression. (Palestine Media Center)

This article from the Middle East Report Online highlights Israeli Supreme Court inaction in human rights issues such as the "neighbor procedure" by which the Israeli Army uses Palestinian civilians to perform military operations. According to human rights groups, "human shields" more accurately describes this procedure.

The Knesset passed a bill that prevents Palestinians married to Israelis from obtaining residency permits for Israel. A spokesman from the Israeli rights group B'tselem denounced the law, exclaiming, "this is a racist law that decides who can live here according to racist criteria." (Associated Press)

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel blames the Sharon government for weakening the foundations of human rights in Israel and the occupied territories. Its report also highlights Israeli army violence against civilians, stressing that the army cannot excuse such violence as "operational necessity." (Independent)

A senior Palestinian cabinet member urges the US administration to provide financial assistance to the devastated Palestinian economy and to intervene if the road map's progress stalls. (Associated Press)

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair rejected a request by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to sever ties with Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian Authority. The UK government's continuing rapport with Arafat increases tension in an already fragile UK-Israel relationship. (Guardian)

Azmi Bishara argues that the US and Israel have a specific political objective to pit Palestinian security organs and militant groups against each other. Bishara stresses the importance of a unified Palestinian strategy to clarify common objectives and methods of resisting the occupation. (Al-Ahram)

Palestinian and Israeli poverty have both increased over the past two years, but the Palestinian population bears the brunt of the problem. Conn Hallinan argues that Israeli government policy of expanding settlements and subsidizing settlers "threatens to destroy the Israeli economy." (Foreign Policy in Focus)

The Guardian reports that President George W. Bush remains naive about the details of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to diplomats, President Bush responds to "one of the world's most intractable problems in a superficial way which holds out little hope of success."

This note summarizes the difficulties NGOs have had in gaining access to the Palestinian territories. The problems include visa denials for NGOs not affiliated with the Israeli government, screening of aid workers in the Gaza Strip and entry restrictions at Ben Gurion international airport in Israel. (Association for International Development Agencies)

According to a new plan drafted by the Israel Defense Forces and the foreign and defense ministries, Israel will now bar international pro-Palestinian activists from entering the country and will try to expel activists from Europe, Canada, and the US who are already in Israel and the Occupied Territories. (Ha'aretz)

Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement has decided to back the new cabinet proposed by incoming Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), increasing the chances that the new team of ministers will win approval in a parliament vote. A "yes" vote could pave the way for the publication of the "roadmap" to peace by the US. (Ha'aretz)

The current dispute between Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, which in the short term threatens the so-called "roadmap" for peace, is also threatening to become the most serious political crisis assailing the Palestinian leadership since the Lebanon war. (Al-Ahram Weekly)

Israel seriously plans to restart an oil pipeline that once transferred oil from Iraq to Israel. According to an Israeli minister, the US would back this project, but its realization would also require Syria's consent, putting Damascus on the list of US targets. (Asia Times)

At a roundtable organized by the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram Weekly, Edward Said and a number of political analysts debated ways to respond to what they saw as "the two major catastrophes currently facing the Arab world, the US-led war against Iraq and the Israeli war against the Palestinians.

Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories fear the ramifications of a US-led war against Iraq. Possible scenarios range from the imposition of more stringent closures and curfews by the Israeli Defense Forces to the mass expulsion of Palestinians. (Ha'aretz)

Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old college student from Olympia, Washington, was killed when she was run over by an Israeli army bulldozer. She was trying to stop the bulldozer from tearing down a house in the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza. (Associated Press)

Mordechai Vannunu was jailed in 1986 for publishing photographs of Israel's nuclear bomb factory at Dimona. His case has raised questions about the Israeli government's policy of nuclear secrecy, which positions it outside of international treaties. (BBC News)

According to a new report from the World Bank, Israeli-imposed closures in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are continuing to cause severe economic problems for Palestinians. Half the Palestinian population is now living on less than two dollars a day. (BBC News)

In a piece originally written for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Tel Aviv University Professor Tanya Reinhart reports on continuing human rights abuses against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and the crisis facing UNRWA, which may be bankrupt by the end of the month. (UNRWA)

Stephen Zunes analyzes President Bush's speech outlining his vision of the Middle East in the aftermath of a possible US invasion of Iraq and criticizes the President's failure to engage seriously with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Foreign Policy in Focus)

Martin Woollacott argues that the Bush administration's current attempt to ignore the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict could give way to a "project to permanently suppress the Palestinian people" if the US can implement its plans for a new world order in the Middle East. (Guardian)

According to UN figures, malnourishment in the Occupied Territories is getting worse, and the UN Relief and Works Agency is on the verge of running out of food stocks. UN officials say that the situation is "a political problem, a problem completely created by human actions." (Guardian)

By claiming that the downfall of Saddam Hussein could somehow be the start of "a new stage for Middle East peace," President Bush showed himself to be either deliberately duplicitous or very badly informed about the Palestinian question, according to Simon Tisdall. (Guardian)

Akiva Eldar, a columnist for the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, writes that President Bush's recent address on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which endorsed the policies of Ariel Sharon and linked the peace process to a possible US-led war against Iraq, has threatened to put an end to the vision of establishing an independent Palestinian state.

Amnesty International calls for human rights observers to be sent to Israel and the Occupied Territories, and for human rights to be placed at the center of any negotiations or peace talks. Thus far, "the international community has failed the Palestinian and Israeli victims" by not insisting on the upholding of human rights. (Amnesty International)

In this briefing, Human Rights Watch urges the Commission on Human Rights to address the human rights and humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and Gaza with a resolution that condemns human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law by all parties and calls on the international community to meet its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention to ensure the protection of civilians in circumstances of armed conflict and belligerent occupation.

After a possible US invasion of Iraq and a regime change, the Israeli government has plans to expel the Palestine leader Yasser Arafat. (Miami Herald)

In a letter sent to the French newspaper Le Monde, Tanya Reinhart, a professor of linguistics at Tel Aviv University, writes in support of the calls by British and French academics for institutional academic boycotts of Israeli universities that followed Israel's "operations" in Jenin in April 2002. (ZNet)

Due to the rising violence in the Middle East, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urges Palestine and Israel to adopt a comprehensive approach to reconciliation that addresses political, security and economic issues in parallel. (IRNA)