Gaza Strip

In Gaza, you get your change in chocolate

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:52:55 +0200

Photo posted on Flickr by "darranc".

Stifled by the Israeli embargo since June 2007, Gazans are so in need of essentials that they're even lacking petty cash. The half-shekel, which is worth about 10 euro cents, has almost completely disappeared.

Many things cost about a half-shekel in Gaza: a packet of tissues, a biscuit, a crayon or a pencil.

There is no official currency in the Palestinian Territories; the Israeli shekel is most commonly used. The Israelis refused to allow Palestinians to have their own currency when an economic agreement was signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1994.

The half-shekel. Image posted on Flickr by Tiffany Follett.

A tourist outing in… Gaza

Ségolène Team Observers — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:26:06 +0200

Nearly three months after the end of the Israeli assault on Gaza, a 20-year-old blogger has decided to film a "tourist visit" of the Strip on her mobile phone. A way for her to give a different view of Gaza, where life goes on.

The operation "Cast Lead" launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip last December flattened some 4,000 houses and left more than 900 civilians dead (figures published by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights).

Yet, despite the heavy toll, Lina Al-Sharif is persuaded the place where she lives, complete with leisure parc, equestrian centre and boat trips, is ready to become a tourist destination.

A video clip blasts the Gaza blockade

Julien — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:15:40 +0100

The animated film director behind the award-winning "Waltz with Bashir" released a short animated movie to denounce the blockade of the Gaza Strip.

"Closed Zone", directed by Yoni Goodman, was ordered by Gisha, a human rights NGO, before operation Cast Lead, the Israeli military operation in Gaza in January, was launched.

The blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip when Islamist militant group Hamas took power has been strengthened since the end of Israel’s offensive. Circulation of merchandise is down to a small trickle, and circulation of people is blocked entirely.

Posted on Youtube by gishaorg

What do you think of this video clip?

Fake rappers: "How do you feel if in London they shoot on civilians?"

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:29:47 +0100

"X-Plain", a fake hip-hop group from Israel, is causing a stir with this rap, which turns Israel's justification for its offensive in Gaza on its head.

The clip was broadcast on Israel's Channel 2 three days after the start of the campaign. It was shown on the popular satire show Eretz Nehederet (Hebrew for "A Wonderful Country").

Subtitled on YouTube. Posted by "SSimfMD". If the subtitles aren't turned on, use the menu button in the bottom right-hand corner. This video was sent to us by one of our Observers for Israel, Roi Ben-Yehuda.

Chavez, hero of the Arab world

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:24:56 +0100

Go to a pro-Palestine demonstration in North Africa or the Middle East, and chances are you'll see a Hugo Chavez poster bobbing above the crowds. In Lebanon, the authorities have even named a street after him.

Chavez's anti-American ramblings have always found a ready audience in the Arab world. But since the Venezuelan leader referred to Israel's operation in Gaza as "genocide" and expelled the Jewish state's ambassador from Caracas, his popularity has soared even higher.

In the ruins of Jabalia

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:25:24 +0100

Members from the pro-Palestine NGO ISM are still in the Gaza Strip. One of them tells us about photos she took in the heavily-bombed northern town of Jabalia at the start of the week. On her blog she explains "the devastation stretches as far as the eye can see".

"The only thing they knew was that they had to get home"

Sharon Lock is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement. She blogs from the Gaza Strip, where she's been since arriving on the "Free Gaza" boat since August.

I took these photos on Tuesday in Jabalia, north Gaza Strip. The area had been targeted from the beginning. As soon as the residents heard the news about the ceasefire, they came back, at daybreak, to see what was left of their homes. They were all completely demolished, there was hardly anything left. I went there to see the families and listen to them. They didn't know what to do. I saw their children in the middle of the rubble, and their parents making tea, in the ruins. Some were using firewood to make fires, to cook. But they didn't even know where to start. The only thing they knew was that they had to get home. I'm going to go back this afternoon, to see how they're getting on. They told us it's good to have someone to talk to. Despite everything, it's motivating to be of some use."

Photos by Sharon Lock.

Al-Quds Brigades show off their conquests on the web

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:52:52 +0100

While Hamas is number one target in Israel's current offensive, there are other groups fighting in the streets of Gaza City too. Amongst them, the al-Quds Brigades, who are posting their IDF defeats online.

The militant we see in the video is a member of Saraya al-Quds, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an extremist group which aims to destroy the state of Israel in order to replace it with an Islamic, Palestinian state. We don't know if the information he gives in the video is correct.

"Our brigades have attacked an armoured vehicle which came in from the eastern town of Khan Younès [south of the Gaza Strip]. We hit the vehicle with an RPG. Here's a piece of the tank. One of our snipers, hidden in a house, also killed an Israeli soldier. We seized this LAW [bazooka] after it was abandoned by a Zionist being shot at by our militants."

Demonstration against ‘Zionist’ café Starbucks

Team Observers — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:10:26 +0100

Tens of demonstrators gathered outside a Starbucks café in Beirut on Tuesday, accusing the American coffee chain of ‘financing Zionism' and for being in part responsible for what's happening in Gaza. Yara Harakeh tells us why she chose to demonstrate. Read more and see photos of the demo below.

Held in Hamra, a Sunni area of Beirut, the demo forced the café to close for the day. Calls for boycotting Starbucks are nothing new though. On the internet, many sites and Facebook group s have been set up on this theme. They accuse the president of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, of being a ‘propagandist for Israel’, a blatant Zionist and of actively supporting George W Bush’s policies in the Middle East. Other American giants have also been targets of this campaign, in particular MacDonalds.

These accusations, made for a number of years now, have been denied by Starbucks. In a statement in 2006, the US company explained that it wasn’t in any way linked to the Israeli Army and that it “didn’t support any political cause".

Gaza: what can Obama do?

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:33:15 +0100

Image: theisraelprojectgallery.

Despite pressure from around the world, US president-elect Barack Obama has remained quiet about Israel's offensive in Gaza since the attack began. On Sunday, in an interview with American channel ABC, he simply promised to get involved in the affair once he takes power. Can he, and will he revolutionise America's foreign policy in the region? Should he start talks with Hamas? Our Observers in the area at hand tell us what they think.

Western activists stay in Gaza to "bear witness"

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:49:01 +0100

Activists from the pro-Palestinian non-governmental organisation ISM are providing their accounts of the ongoing conflict from inside the Gaza Strip. Here's one of them, along with photos.

There are currently ten members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in the Gaza Strip. Their objective: "to fight Israeli oppression". Their belief: non-violent resistance. They come from Canada, Australia, Spain and the UK "to bear witness" and in the hope that their presence might dissuade the Israeli army from attacking. A few months ago, they accompanied Gaza fishermen working under the constraints imposed by the Israeli navy. These days, during Israel's operation "Cast Lead", they follow Red Cross paramedics as they evacuate Palestinian families. Though 400 foreigners were allowed to leave the Gaza Strip on 2 January, members of the ISM refuse to abscond.

The Anti-Defamation League, a US-based group that combats anti-Semitism, says that the ISM met Hamas in August, was in contact with suicide bombers, and helped to hide members of the terrorist organisation Islamic Jihad. There's even an American website called "Stop ISM" which condemns the NGO for "propaganda". ISM however refutes any link with terrorist organisations, although they don't deny the possibility of having been in contact with people close to Hamas "unknowingly".

Sharon Lock, an Australian activist, is one of the ISM members. View her account and photos.