Palestine 1896

These were the first recorded images of Palestine, by the Lumier Brothers.

Munther Fahmi’s Crime

Haaretz ran the story of a Palestinian man, born and raised in Jerusalem, left to the US when he was 21 years old, got married there and got his American citizenship, then twenty years later decided to return home, on a tourist visa which he kept renewing by doing visa runs. He’s in the news [...]

Weinstein to Distribute ‘Miral’ – Why?

Yesterday, the Weinstein Co. announced a distribution deal over “Miral,” Julian Schnabel’s film about the founding of a Palestinian orphanage in 1948 and the evolution of a young Palestinian woman at the dawn of the first intifada. Rula Jebreal adapted the screenplay from her own novel.

The film’s story revolves around a real-life orphanage established in Jerusalem by Palestinian woman Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbass) following the 1948 creation of Israel. Miral (Pinto) is sent to the orphanage in 1978, and later teaches at a refugee camp where she falls for an activist (named Programmer Buydatti).

Guest Post: March 11th

I always imagined my own version of the book called “100 Places You Must Visit Before You Die,” where the “100 Places” would be replaced by just one place that I had already chosen. In terms of geographic proximity, that place required no oversea, transatlantic flights. It required no light backpacks and comfortable tennis shoes. Nor did it require a camera with lots of memory space, because I was not going to “visit”

VIDEO: Israel’s Slow Taking of Jerusalem

The Palestine Center released a video that explains clearly — using maps — how Israel is trying to take control of East Jerusalem as well. It is narrated by its executive director, Yousef Munayyer. more

Waiting with Armani: an Odyssey in Jerusalem

SLAP! I was forcibly jolted out of a nervous daze. I had been somewhat amused by the carefree antics of what appeared to be a young girl, crisp auburn curls escaping her ponytail. She was traveling with her mother and her older brother. The family was Palestinian but they lived in the United States. She scuttled around the waiting travelers, hitting her older brother periodically. But her roughhousing was soon to reach a dramatic climax. She perched up on the coffee table, glanced around at her audience, slapped herself, and then squealed with laughter at the shocked reaction.

A Dog With No Teeth: America’s Empty Words

Whoever said the Nakba — the catastrophic effects of Israel’s foundation on the Palestinians — is a historical event is failing to see the on-going and continuous nature of Israel’s Zionist project.

Its fundamental aim is to rid the land of its native inhabitants, the Palestinians, in order to give the Jewish state maximum control over the land.

Now, I read with minor interest and great skepticism that “the US has led international condemnation of Israel after it evicted nine Palestinian families living in two houses in occupied East Jerusalem.” As they should. How barbaric is this act of home-stealing? How ridiculously unjust and tyrannical, not to mention racist and inhumane? Condemnation is simply not enough, not just from the perspective of justice but from an outlook of pragmatism, that is actually getting this shit to stop.

We all know well by know how useless and feather-like American condemnations of Israel are. This is just the latest, though slightly more interesting, episode in a long history of hypocritical hoodwinking — opposing Israel publicly for show’s sake while tolerating its moves, no matter how egregious.

Sign Wars

A few Jewish peace activists in Jerusalem have been engaged in low-level symbolic combat with rightists over street signs in the city..

The official street signs are trilingual, with the name in large Hebrew letters, followed by smaller Arabic script and then larger English lettering.

Some ultra-nationalists have gone around plastering Hebrew signs over or defacing the Arabic script in order to deny the Arab character of Jerusalem.

New Yorker Apologizes to Israel for Taking Umayyad Antiquity from Occupied Jerusalem (!)

There is such a basic ignorance of Israel-Palestine politics and history. Media covering the story of the American who returned an antiquity to Israel are missing the absurdity of the action and Israel’s response.

An American man from New York finally resolved 12 years of guilt and agony over a 21kg (46lb) chunk of medieval pillar he took from Jerusalem’s Old City. Media are reporting he returned it to Israeli authorities, the Israeli Antiquities Authority, and that they decided not to pursue legal action.

Israel Shuts Down Palestinian Media Center for More Jerusalem-Stealing

Israel, showing its respect for freedom of the press and the free flow of information, closed down the Palestinian media center in Jerusalem. No wonder its freedom of the press ranking was recently demoted by Freedom House. The center was set up by the Palestinians to offer media access to Palestinian officialdom during the Pope’s [...]