As part of a week of international conference of Anti-Zionist Jews organized by the International Jewish Solidarity Network (IJSN), Reuven Abergel, a Mizrahi Anti-Zionist Jew, visited the Bay-Area. Reuven is one of the founders of the Israeli Black Panthers, an anti-Zionist, and a social activist. Abergel participated in several meetings and panels and spoke about Zionism, racism, and colonialism and ways to resist them. Abergel also discussed the oppression of Mizrahim in Israel and his vision of a united struggle against Zionism and Colonialism composed of Mizrahim and Palestinians and the need to educate the next generation of youth in Israel to become active in global solidarity work.

Abergel was also interviewed on local radio programs. In a response to a question on Flashpoints about the claim by Zionists that critics of Israel are Anti-Semitic, Abergel replied “it is just a way for them to sell lies, to try to protect themselves from the horrific crimes that they commit”. Abergel also added “I’m asking people in the world, how can you accept this occupation? If this was to happen in your country, your homes, you would not sleep. Wake up and stop it, or it will get to your homes”. Reuven Abergel also spoke about his personal experience as one of the Ringworm Children, a group of thousands of kids from Jewish-Arab background that the state of Israel did radioactive experiments on without their knowledge or family consent. The experiences were done under the supervision of the division of social medicine, a department in the Israeli ministry of health that implemented Eugenic ideas and philosophy.

Abergel immigrated with his family to Israel from Morocco in the fifties, and became politically active after a popular uprising by Moroccan Jews in Wadi-Salib Haifa in 1959. In 1971 Abergel founded the Israeli Black Panthers. Inspired by the Black Panthers in the U.S. and determined to stop the racist and discriminatory way in which the state of Israel treated its Arab-Jews, the Israeli Panthers led and organized many demonstrations and uprisings against the establishment. Abergel’s home became the headquarters for the Panthers, and Abergel’s Israeli citizenship was taken away making him a refugee in the state of Israel.

Since the death of the Israeli Black Panthers due to internal conflicts, Abergel has been a Mizrahi anti-Zionist activist and has organized many visits to Palestinian refugee camps and demonstrations against the apartheid wall. In 2002 Abergel met with Arafat when the latter was under an Israeli siege. Abergel also organizes regular food and water deployments to Bedouin villages that the states of Israel has yet to officially recognize, as a consequence these villages lack basic infrastructure such as roads electricity and water transportation.

Reuven Abarjel, discusses Zionism, Racism, and Colonialism-visits the Bay-area l Who’s against who? Between the conflict and the social, Reuven Abergel | Another Act in the Mizrahi-Palestinian Tragedy, Reuven Abarjel and Smadar Lavie I Reuven Abergel, Founder of Israel's Black Panthers, in support of the Academic Boycott of Israel l A small segment from The “Ringworm-Children” documentary, YouTube | Israel compensates for ringworm treatment | The Ringworm Children a collection of articles | Reuven Abergel’s web-page (Hebrew) | Israeli Denial of Right to Water as Means for Pushing Bedouins off their Land | Bedouin citizens of Israel denied water as means of transfer

On on July 28, Ehud Olmert, Israel's Prime Minister, announced that he will resign his post once a new leader is chosen for his party-Kadima. This decision comes as a result of two investigation for corruption that is carried against Olmert. Olmert has been under many police investigations in recent years for corruption and bribery. Olmert became Kadima's party leader and Israel 's Prime Minister in 2006 after a stroke left Ariel Sharon, Kadima's former Party Leader in Coma.

Olmert is the last to resign among three figures that many see as responsible for the Lebanon war. The other two figures are Dan Halutz, who was chief of staff at the time of the war, and Amir Peretz, the then defence minister. In 2006 after two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by the Hizbulla, Olmert refused to negotiate an exchange of POW, and instead pushed for a full attack on Lebanon .

Olmert to Resign Amid Corruption Investigations | Israeli PM to step down | olmert profile | Olmert 'planned Lebanon war before soldiers' kidnap' | Olmert defies calls to resign over bribe probe

On July 28th, at the Left Bank offices in Tel Aviv, a party celebrating thirty years of artistic and political work by Mohammad Bakri took place. Another reason for this celebration was a recent decision by a judge who ruled that Bakri cannot be sued for making the film Jenin Jenin, a documentary of interviews with residents of the Jenin refugee camp after an Israeli invasion in April of 2002. Bakri is a well known Palestinian actor and a director who acted in many movies. After producing Jenin Jenin, however, Bakri has been blacklisted by the movie industry in Israel and sued by a group of Israeli soldiers. The film was banned by the Israeli state censor on the grounds that it is one sided and does not take into account the viewpoint of the occupying army. It was allowed to be screened after an appeal to the Israeli High Court; meanwhlie three Israeli movies describing the attack on Jenin from the Israeli military point of view were aired on two TV channels.

Bakri and Israeli cinemas that showed the film were sued by a group of Israeli soldiers who participated in the Jenin invasion. Recently, an Israeli judge has ruled that although the movie has presented untrue information, its accusations were directed at a whole population and not at specific people, and therefore specific individuals cannot sue Bakri. The judge also ruled that Bakri has not brought to court any of the Palestinians who commented in the movie to testify, or human rights organization to back up the assertion in the movie. And that therefore the movie is untrue. But many have wondered how Bakri was supposed to bring to court residents of Jenin who are living under occupation and are not allowed to enter Israel, and might be afraid of an Israeli retaliation. Furthermore, Amnesty international and Human Right Watch has written extensive reports on what happened during the siege of Jenin in 2002 that details many of the stories that were describe in the movie. Homan Rights Watch, for example, has accused the Israeli military of committing war crimes in Jenin. Some of the incidents described in the reports and the movie were of houses being demolished with residents still inside, and helicopters firing missiles into civilian’s houses. 4000 people, more than a quarter of the population of the camp, become homeless due to the demolishing of their houses by the occupying Israeli army.

Bakri stated after the ruling that the movie was an attempt to give voice to the residents of Jenin, to allow them to speak about the assault on the camp. The soldiers who sued Bakri claimed that they were just trying to defend their homeland, not to assault a refuge camp. But Bakri in an interview responded that “They are not fighting for their homeland. They are fighting for settlements. They are fighting to defend the occupation. They mustn’t be there. They mustn’t be in the West Bank. They mustn’t be in Gaza. This land was occupied in 1967” and that “this is not the right way to fight terrorists, by demolishing whole houses and by that very cruel invasion.”

Bakry has recently finished another movie called Since You Left. The movie is personal documentary describing Bakri’s harassments and experiences in Israel since making Jenin Jenin.

Israeli soldier testimony on what actually happened in Jenin, by one of those who did it and are proud of it. || Jenin: IDF Military Operations, Human Rights Watch || Israel and the Occupied Territories: Shielded from scrutiny: IDF violations in Jenin and Nablus, Amnesty International || Mohammad Bakri defense committee || Mohammad Bakri official Web Site. || Acclaimed Palestinian Actor Mohammad Bakri Faces Trial in Israel for Documentary “Jenin, Jenin", Democracy Now! || Mohammad Bakri: “I will never apologize!” || Galway IPSC protests against the political show-trial of Mohamed Bakri, Director of Jenin Jenin, Indymedia Ireland

On July 16th, a prisoner exchange took place between the governments of Israel and the Hezbollah- a military resistance movement that emerged in Lebanon in opposition to the Israeli occupation. Israel has returned 199 bodies of Hezbollah fighters, and five live soldiers to Lebanon in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers who were killed on Shebaa Farms, an occupied territory on the border between Israel and Lebanon.

The Israeli government was offered the same condition of exchange in June 2006, after the two Israeli soldiers were captured, but Israel refused to negotiate at all and launched an attack on Lebanon in which more then a thousand civilians were killed. The government of Lebanon has issued a statement saying: “This agreement marks a big failure, and a very big failure of Israel's policy which refused, before the July 2006 war, to seal a complete exchange deal…. and launched a war against Lebanon and its people with the excuse of demanding the prisoners, and then it returned and submitted in the end to the logic of negotiating through mediators, in order for the deal to succeed. This deal ... is a new and clear condemnation for Israel, its tactics and its policies."

At the center of the prisoner exchange is Samir Kuntar, who in 1979 at the age of 16 lead an attack in Israel in retaliation to the bombing and intervention in Lebanon by Israel and in solidarity with Palestinian resistance forces in Lebanon, most of them refugees. In the operation, one police officer, a civilian, and a four year old girl were killed. Kuntar was convicted of killing the three, although he has maintained that the girl was killed in cross fire. Upon his release, celebration broke out in Lebanon. Many Lebanese see Kuntar as the longest political prisoner held in Israel, and as symbol of resistance to the Israeli atrocities and terror in Lebanon.

Ehud Olmert, Israel's Prime Minister, has accused Lebanon of making a cold blooded killer into a national hero. But Mohamed al-Sayed Said from the Al-Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies in Cairo, responded on Al-Jazeera saying that Olmert "should not take the moral high ground" with respect to what he sees as the "destructive effect" of the 2006 war. "I don't think Olmert has any right to declare moral victory. While he may call Kuntar an animal, the war that he launched in 2006 resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 people.” Furthermore, some have found it puzzling that Israel, a country who elected Ariel Sharon to the highest position in the Israeli government, can condone anyone for making killers and war criminal’s national heroes.

Prisoners of War Exchange between Israel and Lebanon | Israel, Lebanon, and the "Peace Process" Noam Chomsky | The Israel-Hizballah prisoner deal | Lebanese officials hail swap deal as harbinger of unity | Israel’s Prior Peacekeeping in Lebanon Former cellmate says Samir Kuntar never meant to kill anyone

Demonstrations against the Apartheid Wall are a daily occurrence in Palestine. In Ni’lin, a Palestinian village in the West Bank, Palestinians, international activists, and Anarchists Against the Wall have been protesting the on going construction of the wall on Ni’lin farm lands. On July 1st, four Caterpillar bulldozers , used to demolish Palestinians houses and farm land, were sabotaged during a demonstration .

Three activists were injured, on July 4th, by Israeli forces in the weekly protest against the wall in Bil’in; west of Ramallah. Dozens of protesters were treated for tear gas inhalation. In Al-Maasara/Um Salamuna four activists were arrested.

On July 5th, the occupying Israeli forces surrounded the Ni'lin village and announced a curfew, to prevent further demonstrations. Shops were shut down, two elderly women who felt sick were prevented from exiting the village, and media reporters were threatened with arrests. The village population, however, defied the curfew and demonstrations against the wall and the occupying forces took place. The demonstrators marched towards the apartheid wall and blocked the settlers-only road that runs by the village. On the same day, another demonstration against the wall happened in Ma’sra, a village south of Bethlehem. Live bullets, sound grenades and tear gas were used by the occupying forces to disperse a popular march that started from the centre of al Ma’sra. Organizers vowed to continue resistance and announced more protests to mark the 4th anniversary of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision, which declared the Wall illegal, called for it to be dismantled and those affected to be compensated for the damages.

Indymedia Israel: Photos: 1 | 2 | Video | Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Friends of Freedom and Justice Bilin | Breaking Down the Wall | A crack in the wall | Israeli apartheid week, a solidarity protest for Palestine, at UC Berkeley.

On June 19, a senior advisor to UNICEF stated that UNICEF will not accept any financial support from Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. Leviev, who is the chairman of Africa Israel Investments, is in charge of at least one company in which the Arab rights advocacy group Adalah-NY claims built Jewish settlements on West Bank land.

UNICEF’s rejection of Leviev’s support followed meetings with Adalah, letters from organizations and Palestinian communities advocating a boycott of Leviev’s companies, and a visit by UNICEF officials to Jayyous, one of the Palestinian communities where a Leviev company is building Israeli settlements. Leviev’s diamond-mining companies in Angola have also been accused of serious human rights abuses. Activist groups have met with other organizations and country representatives, demanding that Leviev's company be boycotted.

In a June 24 press release, Anti-Defamation League Director Abe Foxman criticized UNICEF’s decision to sever ties with Leviev, saying that it "smacks of selective political discrimination.” Commenting on the ADL demand, Daniel Lang/Levitsky of Jews Against the Occupation, a member group in the Adalah-NY coalition, explained, "International law and universal human rights are essential principles for international organizations like UNICEF. The construction of Israeli settlements unequivocally violates both of these principles. Therefore, the ADL's demand that UNICEF turn a blind eye to Lev Leviev’s violations of international law while disregarding basic rights for Palestinians is hypocritical and outrageous."

Statement by Jews Against the Occupation | DCI/PS welcomes UNICEF’s rejection of Leviev support | UNICEF Rejects Support From Israeli Billionaire Known for Constructing Settlements on Palestinian Lands

Related Stories: Joint Statement: Support Striking Namibian Workers at Lev Leviev Diamonds!| New Yorkers & Palestinians call on Dubai to boycott Leviev jewelry | NYC Dubai Protest | Mother’s Day boycott of Israeli settlement-builder Leviev | West Bank Settlement Financer in Dubai | Land Day Protest at Leviev New York | Leviev tells Ha'aretz anti-settlement protests funded by competitors | Leviev's Diamonds at the Oscars | Leviev asks Academy Award stars to wear diamonds tainted by human rights abuses | Democracy Now: Activists Call for Boycott of Diamond Giant Leviev | Demonstration in front of Leviev’s diamond store in London | Two Palestinian villages ask Susan Sarandon to repudiate Leviev | JVP: Letter to Susan Sarandon, don't support Leviev | Glitterati at NY Gala Stunned by Palestinian Rights Protest | New York activists crash settler funder’s Madison Avenue gala

Video cameras have become a crucial way for Palestinians to document the daily harassment inflicted on them by Israeli settlers. Reports by Palestinians of physical attacks and damage to property usually go unattended by the Israeli military and police.

In one recent example, a Palestinian family living on the southern hills of Al-Halil, was attacked by four settlers armed with baseball bats while farming their land. The video provided evidence against two settlers, who were arrested by the Israeli police. An Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said that the police are investigating whether the attack was instigated by Palestinian women for dressing inappropriately.

"Shooting Back" is a new project by B'tselem, a human right organization based in Israel. Through the projects, more then a hundred video cameras have been given to Palestinians who live in close proximity to settlements. The cameras help to document the daily harassments by settlers, sometimes under the protection of the Israeli Army.

According to Yesh Din (Hebrew for "there is law"), an organization dedicated to opposing the continuing violation of Palestinian human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, more then ninety percent of complaints filed by Palestinians against settlers are closed without indictments being processed.

Cameras Vs Settlers in West Bank | Palestinian woman films masked men attacking W. Bank farmers | Settlers "Brutalize" Palestinians | Israeli settler kills Palestinian civilian near Ramallah

May 2008 marked 60 years of the Nakba, the catastrophe. Sixty years ago 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes and 350 Palestinian villages were destroyed by the Israeli army and militias. Among the most infamous war crimes committed was the Deir Yasin massacre. To this day, Israel has refused the return of 6 million refugees. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel issued an appeal, signed by many Palestinian organizations, stating that "Sixty years ago, Zionist militias and gangs ransacked Palestinian properties and destroyed hundreds of Palestinian villages. How can people of conscience celebrate this catastrophe?"

In the Bay Area, the Nakba was commemorated by numerous events and demonstrations. On May 10th at the Civic Center, a peace and solidarity festival took place with bands such as The Coup and Dam (a hip hop group from Lid in occupied Palestine).

Jewish groups also organized solidarity actions. The International Jewish Solidarity Network has circulated a statement calling on people not to celebrate, and Jewish Voice for Peace called on Americans to remember the thousands of Palestinians who have suffered in the creation of Israel. The IJSN disrupted an event at San Francisco JCC called “Israel at Sixty.”

On June 1st, Palestinians and allies demonstrated against "Israel in the garden", a celebration of the birth of Israel . Protesters distrupted an Israeli film festival that was taking place at the Metreon. The streets nearby were also covered with graffiti denouncing the occupation.

Reflections on Israel in Gardens, by an anti-Zionist, former Israeli,Jew | Disruption of the Israeli film festival on June 1 | Anti-Zionist graffiti in San Francisco: 1 | 2 | Pro Palestine demo at "Israel in the Gardens" event

Ethnic Cleansing and the Birth of Israel | Electronic indifada: Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe | Ten facts about the Nakba | Palestine Maps

Professor Norman Finkelstein, an American Jewish scholar known for his trenchant criticism of Israeli policy, was detained and interrogated by Israels security forces, Shin Bet, for 24 hours at Tel Avivs Ben Gurion airport on May 23, denied entry into Israel and deported back to Amsterdam where he had been lecturing. He has also been banned from entering Israel for 10 years, for so-called “security reasons.”

The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz has published an editorial criticizing the Israeli government’s decision to ban American academic Norman Finkelstein from entering the country. Finkelstein is known one of the most prominent academic critics of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The Ha’aretz editorial reads in part: “Considering his unusual and extremely critical views, one cannot avoid the suspicion that refusing to allow him to enter Israel was a punishment rather than a precaution….The right to enter Israel is not guaranteed to noncitizens, but the right of Israeli citizens to hear unusual views is one that should be fought for. It is not for the government to decide which views should be heard here and which ones should not. The decision to ban Finkelstein hurts us more than it hurts him.”

WSWS Report | Democracy Now Report

Previous Indybay Coverage: Audio of Norman Finkelstein's talk in Berkeley | Impeccable Scholarship Costs Norman Finkelstein Tenure at DePaul

After months of increasing political anxiety in Lebanon following the failure to elect a president, tensions rose last week, in what appears to have been a calculated challenge to Hezbollah on the part of the US and Lebanon's ruling coalition.

On May 8th, Hezbollah leader Nasrallah held a press conference in Beirut and condemned a decision by the Lebanese cabinet to outlaw Hezbollah's telecommunication network and dismiss the head of Airport security for his alleged ties to the party. Nasrallah said their private communication network was critical to their success during the July 2006 war with Israel. Hezbollah-led opposition forces quickly overpowered pro-government militias and took over large parts of the capital city of Beirut before handing over control to the Lebanese army. The fighting shifted to the north and east of the country over the weekend and fresh clashes were reported in Beirut on May 12th.

Between May 7th and May 11th, armed clashes between Hezbollah-led opposition groups and US-backed pro-government forces left at least 81 dead and many more wounded. "This is very much similar to what is happening in Sudan, in Palestine, in Iraq, in Afghanistan and Somalia, [where] the United States is basically instigating and funding civil wars," says professor As`ad Abu Khalil.

Monday May 12th Peace Vigil At U.C. Merced

Democracy Now! | Yet Another Foreign Policy Opportunity Screwed Up by the Bush Administration | Hezbollah makes show of strength against Siniora government | Clashes resume in north Lebanon | Day 5: Lebanese dare to hope worst is over | Hizballah, in opposition, takes charge | Lebanon in crisis: an interview with editor Samah Idriss | Lebanon army moves to end crisis | Both Sides Take Tough Line, Leave Room To Maneuver | Analysts say Lebanon's crisis in perilous new phase | Uncertainty in Beirut | Lebanon takes 2 Steps toward Civil War; Beirut in Chaos | Hizbullah Rejects Hariri Initiative | Is the Bush Administration Stirring the Pot? | Lebanon on brink of civil war | At least seven lives lost to clashes in Beirut, Bekaa, North | Hezbollah 'seizes west Beirut' | Violence in Lebanon escalates | Airport shut, at least 10 injured as mobs do battle in capital | Violence in Beirut | Beirut paralysed by labour strike

In the past week, Israel has mounted a massive offensive against the Gaza Strip. The attacks have claiming the lives of over 112 Palestinians, including many civilians. The clashes reached a peak on March 1st, when Israel sent in a regiment of ground troops killing 77 Palestinians in two days. According to Gaza health ministry statistics, 22 children were killed and more than 350 people were wounded.

Despite the large number of civilian casualties, Israel says the operation was aimed at rooting out the Palestinian fighters who have been firing homemade rockets at southern Israel. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal insists that Palestinian rocket attacks are a result of, not the cause of, ongoing Israeli aggressions against the Palestinian people. "They [Israelis] do not want to end the occupation, stop attacks or lift the siege. What do people expect the Palestinians to do," Meshaal told a press conference in the Syrian capital Damascus.

On Monday March 4rd, Israel began to pull ground troops from Gaza, but Israeli aircraft continue to carry out bombing raids. The lull in fighting is perhaps due to a visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Tuesday. Monday Rice called for "talks" but refuses to call for a cease-fire. A senior Israeli official told Reuters “This very limited (Gaza) operation was intended to show Hamas what could happen, what you may call a "prequel”. He went on to say “If they continue to fire the rockets, then there will be more operations like this one or worse.”

The Israeli assault has drawn worldwide protests for excessive use of force. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has formally suspended contacts with Israel. In Berlin, Germany's Foreign Minister insisted that Israel "must preserve the principle of proportionateness." United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also issued a condemnation of what he termed Israel's "excessive and disproportionate" response and called on Israel "to cease such attacks". Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the IDF attacks can have no humanitarian justification and added that Israel was rejecting a diplomatic solution to the dispute. Saudi Arabia called on the international community to stop the "mass killings" of Palestinians. In Egypt, thousands of students held protests at universities across the country calling on Arab leaders to stop Israeli aggression and support the Palestinians. In Lebanon, several hundred school children from 20 schools took part in a Hezbollah-organized demonstration outside UN headquarters in Beirut. In Syria, tens of thousands filled the central square of Damascus to protest ongoing Israeli attacks.

On March 3rd, Students for Justice in Palestine staged a die-in in Berkeley to protest Israel's actions.
Photos | Event Announcement

Israel mounts bloody offensive against Gaza | Over 112 Palestinians Killed in Five-Day Israeli Attack | US and Arab states clash at UN Security Council | Wounded Gazans Left to Die | UN Fails Gaza Children, Again | Killed in Cradle | Hamas claims Gaza 'victory' as troops pull back | PA suspends peace talks with Israel over Gaza violence | Gaza raids met by loud silence from the Arab world | Israel kills at least 31 Gazans today, including 8 children | All-out assault on Gaza looms as 54 die in Israeli incursion | End Aggressions, Rockets Stop: Meshaal | Israeli minister threatens "shoah" against Palestinians in Gaza | Third Intifada in sight | The Gaza Bombshell: Crisis Made in USA | Gaza a stain on world’s conscience | HRW: Gaza Strip/Israel: Civilians Bear Brunt of Attacks | Israel ignores peace

From Monday February 4th through Friday the 8th, Students for Justice in Palestine held a series of protests and teach-in as part of Israeli Apartheid Week at UC Berkeley.

On Monday, human rights activist Mark Turner spoke about the time he spent working in the Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus. In 2003, Mark founded the Research Journalism Initiative (RJI), an interactive program that provides tools to teachers and students learning about the Occupation.

On Tuesday, there was a "Right to Education" teach-in. The event featured presentations by "FRESH!" (Freshly Redefining Education for Students through Hip-hop) and other local community education activists and a screening of the short film "Lucky Ahmed" on barriers students face in trying to complete their education under Occupation, prepared by student activists in the West Bank.

On Wednesday, there was a rally on Sproul Plaza with Barbara Lubin from Middle East Children's Alliance and other community leaders. Photos
Also on Wednesday was the opening of the photo exhibit "Jerusalem Dispossessed" at Mudrakers Cafe on Telegraph Ave. with Dr. Hatem Bazian. "Jerusalem Dispossessed" is a collection of photographs put together by the photo collective ActiveStills and the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolition.

On Thursday, Anna Baltzer, a volunteer with the International Women’s Peace Service, presented her experiences documenting human rights abuses in the West Bank and supporting Palestinian and Israeli nonviolent resistance to the Occupation.

On Friday, there was a "Apartheid and the Youth of Palestine" closing event. Ziad Abbas Co-Director of Ibdaa' Cultural Center (Dheisheh Refugee Camp, Bethlehem) and Journalist Nora Barrows-Friedman spoke at the Heller Multicultural Center.

Apartheid Week | UC Berkeley Students for Justice in Palestine

The Israeli government’s tightening of a blockade against the Gaza Strip has deepened an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, plunging its 1.5 million people into cold and darkness and threatening to unleash both mass hunger and a serious health crisis. The Israeli cabinet voted last week to seal all border crossings into Gaza, cutting off food, medicine and fuel for the population and turning the entire territory into a vast prison. On Sunday January 20th, the cutoff of fuel forced the shutdown of the Gaza Strip’s only power plant.

US stymies Security Council action on Gaza | US-backed Israeli siege creates humanitarian disaster in Gaza | Israeli Victory over Asthmatics, Newborns in Gaza | Democracy Now: As Gaza Plunges Into Darkness, Israeli and Palestinian Fighters-Turned Peace Activists Speak Out | Gaza: No rights, little mercy | Siniora denounces Israel's blockade of Gaza | Israeli Atrocity on Gaza Civilians | Rights org: Gaza situation potentially disastrous | Israeli closure 'hits Gaza power' | Never against! European collusion in Israel's slow genocide | Israeli-Turkish relations tense

On January 22nd, dozens of Palestinian protesters stormed the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, demanding it be opened to ease the blockade. Egyptian police opened fire in the air and used batons and water canons, as protesters complained that Gaza was under siege from both Israel and neighbouring Arabs.

On January 23rd, masked militants destroyed around two-thirds of the metal wall separating the Gaza Strip from Egypt. Tens of thousands of Palestinians flooded across the border to buy food and supplies. Egypt's dictator Hosni Mubarak says he ordered his troops to allow Palestinians to cross into Egypt because they were starving. Hamas' leadership has said it will be willing to work to resolve the chaotic situation on the border only if its is placed under exclusive Palestinian and Egyptian control.

On January 25, Egyptian border guards with riot shields formed human chains along the Egypt-Gaza border, but were unable to stop hundreds of Palestinians from rushing into Egypt after a bulldozer wrecked another section of fence along the frontier.

Breaking out | Gaza scrambles for supplies as border forced open | Egypt rejects idea of Israel waiving responsibility for Gaza | The People in Gaza Challenge Sham Peace Process | Democracy Now: Tens of Thousands of Palestinians Seeking Basic Supplies Flood Egypt For Second Day | Mr. Olmert, Tear Down this Wall! | In face of Israeli repression, tens of thousands of Palestinians force their way into Egypt | Palestinians pour into Egypt after Rafah border wall destroyed

Emergency protests are being held around the world against the strangulation of Gaza, demanding an immediate end to the Israeli blockade and siege of Gaza. A San Francisco protest took place on Friday January 25th at the Israeli Consulate, 456 Montgomery Street.
Photos | US Indymedia Coverage | Event Announcement | ANSWER Announcement | JVP Announcement | Demand action to end the Gaza blockade! | Break the Silence on Gaza! | Updated listing of demonstrations to break the silence on Gaza! | Thousands protest in Amman against Gaza blockade | HAMAS-Iraq Launches 'Avenging Gaza' Campaign Against US Forces in Iraq