West Asia Archives - Page 85 of 88

The desert sun slants down, filtering through the dust and car exhaust. We shift our weight from one foot to the next, babies from hips to shoulders. Packages are set on the ground in resignation. Women in brightly embroidered thobes, traditional Palestinian dress, discreetly loosen their headscarves to allow a little air to pass over their throats. We are trying to get from one place to the next, and have been bottlenecked into a checkpoint. There are more than fifty-seven checkpoints in Palestine's West Bank, each one with a series of metal detectors and narrow cattle-shoot passages that one must pass through to reach the Israeli soldiers who staff them. Leaning against their sandbags, guns and ammo hanging from their chests, the soldiers lazily flip through each person's passport or ID card and then make the decision; to be let through, to be questioned further, or to be pulled to the side for a full investigation. It is a wild card every time.

Worker Unions in Iraq: An Interview with Amjad Aljawhary

Benjamin Dangl August 23, 2005 Benjamin Dangl

Amjad Aljawhary is the North American Representative of The Federation of Worker Councils and Unions in Iraq. In this interview he discusses his union's main objectives, the US government's response to union organizing in Iraq, how the money for reconstruction is being spent, public opinion in Iraq regarding the presence of US troops there and what activists and workers outside of the country can do in solidarity to help Iraqi workers.

Heartbreak Hotel in Gaza

Remi Kanazi August 22, 2005 Remi Kanazi

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, military man gone peace-loving hippy, is unilaterally "disengaging" from the Gaza Strip. The hardships Israel is enduring are plastered all over the television, play by play. Scenes of Israeli soldiers, emotionally and physically struggling to remove the 8500 settlers from the Gaza Strip is displayed while CNN anchors utter soft, shocked words in the background. Images of Israeli soldiers painstakingly carry flailing settlers who are protesting the move. Their government once spent billions to protect and contain the animosity of 8500 people who once turned to them for help. But as the old saying goes, you break the law, you pay the price.

Palestine: A Tale of Two Families

Mneesha Gellman August 18, 2005 Mneesha Gellman

In June, 2005 I visited the Hope Flowers School in the town of Al Khadr, located in the West Bank territory of the Middle East occupied by Israel, also known as Palestine. Six kilometers outside of Bethlehem, the school implements a peace and democracy curriculum and was developed in response to the high level of violence the region has experienced. I interviewed two peace activists whose stories highlight the different realities the 1948 establishment of the state of Israel created for Jews and Muslims.

Israel-Palestine: Solutions in the Midst of Crisis

Mneesha Gellman August 3, 2005 Mneesha Gellman

International media has failed itself in covering the conflict in Israel and Palestine. Following the standard tenet, "if it bleeds, it leads," newspapers, radio, and the internet have continued to showcase the gore and ignore the solution-oriented work that many people in the region have dedicated themselves to. During a recent trip to Palestine, I stayed in the home of Fatima Khaldi in Qarawa Bani Hassan, a town in the West Bank continually threatened with the construction of the separation wall. Fatima founded and directs the organization Women for Life in the village of Biddya. Her group has a range of purposes, which revolve around empowering Palestinian women to take charge of their lives and become involved in politics. [Photo: Doors recovered from bombed homes, painted by children's art therapy group, Nablus, West Bank]

A People’s History of Iraq

Bob Feldman July 27, 2005 Bob Feldman

Nearly 140,000 U.S. troops are currently in Iraq trying to influence Iraqi history by waging an imperialist war on behalf of U.S. corporate interests. Yet most people in the United States probably didn't learn very much about Iraqi history in their high school social studies courses. Some knowledge of pre-1950 Iraqi history may be of use to U.S. anti-war activists when arguing with opponents of an immediate withdrawal from Iraq.