"THE NEWS"

• Christian Science Monitor: Israel's slipping democracy: This beacon of freedom is becoming more like its authoritarian neighbors, by Nir Eisikovits (24 September 2008).
  This article by an Israeli lawyer describes various ways Israel has been compromising its democratic nature.

• Washington Post
  Around the World: UNITED NATIONS - World Food Program Targets 16 Needy Spots, from News Services (13 August 2008) - the UN has included the Palestinian occupied territories amongst the most neediest spots for food assistance.
• Washington Post
  Campaign to silence dissent in West Bank, Gaza, by Mohammed Daraghmeh, Associated Press (12 August 2008) - describes human rights violations by bot Fatah and Hamas in order to stifle descent..
• Washington Post: Gazans' Access To Care Faulted, by Linda Gradstein (5 August 2008).
  This article describes in very diplomatic terms how Israel blackmails Gazans with medical needs to spy for Israel in exchange for medicine and treatment.

• Chicago Tribune
  Gaza Palestinians to spy in exchange for treatment,
  Washington Post:
  Activists: Israel bullying ill Palestinians to spy:
  both articles by Diaa Hadid, Associated Press (4 August 2008).
• Chicago Tribune
  In demographic race for Jerusalem, Palestinian discovers home is no longer home,
  Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
  Boston Globe,
  Washington Post:
  For Jerusalem Palestinians, home not always home,
  all 3 article versions by Karin Laub, Associated Press (2 August 2008) - this article describes how Israel is attempting to win the demographic race for Jerusalem using inhumane methods such as land policy, home demolitions, wall, discrimination in building permitting, etc., and yet is still losing.
• Washington Post: Rights Group Reports Torture by Palestinian Security Forces, by Linda Gradstein (30 July 2008).
• Boston Globe,
  Washington Post:
  Official: Palestinian boy killed by live round, by Mohammed Daraghmeh, Associated Press (30 July 2008).
• Boston Globe
  Boy dies by Israeli gunfire in West Bank, witnesses say (30 July 2008),
  Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
  Washington Post:
  Boy killed by Israeli fire in West Bank (29 July 2008),
  both articles by Diaa Hadid, Associated Press.
• Chicago Tribune
  Parched Palestinians plead with Israel for water to drink,
  Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
  Boston Globe,
  Washington Post:
  Palestinians call on Israel to rethink water deal,
  these articles by Mohammed Daraghmeh, Associated Press (27 July 2008).
• Washington Post
  Israeli soldier filmed shooting near Palestinian, by Diaa Hadid, Associated Press (21 July 2008).
• Washington Post
  Israeli army probes shooting of bound Palestinian, Reuters (21 July 2008).
• BBC News: Who are the Mid-East prisoners? (16 July 2008).
  This article describes the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, many without charges or trial, and how they are often used as political pawns.

• Chicago Tribune: Israel bans former DePaul professor (25 May 2008).
  Professor Norman Finkelstein is a strong critic of the Israeli government. Israel blocks his entry into the country, which is supposed to be open to all Jews. Isn't Israel supposed to be a democracy?

• New York Times: "Israel's tactics thwart attacks, with trade-off", by Isabel Kershner (3 May 2008).
  This article sides with Israel on the debate between security vs. civil rights. What the author of the article ignores or misunderstands is that the Palestinians and international human rights groups claim that Israel applies its security measures way beyond what is necessary for security to the extent that suggests that Israel has alternative motives to actually destroy Palestinian society, not to just halt terrorism.

• Boston Globe
  Medical chaos, delays cost ill Gazans' lives: UN agency cites border snarls, by Diaa Hadid, Associated Press (2 April 2008) - "Dozens of Gaza residents have died waiting for medical treatment because of delays in obtaining permits to enter Israel, combined with a crumbling health system in Gaza, the World Health Organization said yesterday".

"ONLINE REPORTS"

• If Americans Knew - Letting AP in on the Secret: Israeli Strip Searches (July 29, 2008).
• International Commission of Jurists - Palestine - Attacks on Justice 2005 - Independence of Judges and Lawyers (11 July 2008).
• International Committee of the Red Cross - Israel/Gaza: 23 years' solitary for a detainee's wife (26 May 2008) - Tahani is one of hundreds of Palestinian wives whose husbands are held in Israeli prisons. For the past 23 years, she has had to raise their six children alone. In June 2007, the Israeli authorities suspended all family visits; she is desperate to see him once again.
• Human Rights Watch - Israel: Independent Probe Needed in Gaza Killings - Military-Only Investigations Into Civilian Deaths Inadequate (2 May 2008).
• Human Rights Watch - Letter to IDF JAG on Investigation into Deaths of Four Civilians (30 April 2008).
• Human Rights Watch - Equal Citizens?, by Lucy Mair (31 March 2008).
• Adalah - SPECIAL REPORT: Israeli Military Attacks on the Occupied Palestinian Territories - a case of massive human rights violations.
• Adalah - SPECIAL REPORT: Human Shields - Use of Palestinian Civilians as Human Shields by the Israeli Army.
• Adalah - SPECIAL REPORT: Movement Restrictions on Sheikh Ra'ed Salah - Ban on Foreign Travel.
• International Commission of Jurists - Palestine - Israel - 7th Session of the UN Human Rights Council: ICJ Intervention on the Human Rights Situation in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories - Administration of Justice - Independence of Judges & Lawyers (6 March 2008).
• International Committee of the Red Cross - Gaza: opening the road to new possibilities (29 February 2008) - life is made easier in the Palestinian village of Wadi Salqa, an agricultural community, after the ICRC helps rebuild a vital road.
• Human Rights Watch - Human Rights Watch oral statement on Gaza to the UN Human Rights Council (24 January 2008).
• COHRE - On the Occassion of the Sixth Special Session of the Human Rights Council: Concerning Violations of the Fundamental Rights caused by the Blockade and Sanctions on Gaza - On the Matter of Human Rights Violations taking Place in the Occupied Palestinian Territory including Recent Actions in Gaza and Nablus (23 January 2008) - On 23 & 24 January 2008, the United Nations Human Rights Council held a Special Session on the oPt. At this session COHRE released the findings of its position paper Hostage to Politics and raised its concern about the impact that sanctions and the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip are having on the water and sanitation sectors and hindering the realization of a number of rights for residents of Gaza.
• Human Rights Watch - Human Rights Watch written statement on Gaza to the UN Human Rights Council. Human Rights Watch advocacy document for the sixth special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council addressing the human rights situation in Gaza and West Bank town of Nablus. (22 January 2008).
• United Nations Human Rights Council - Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, John Dugard (21 January 2008).
• Amnesty International - Amnesty International 2008 Report: The State of the World's Human Rights: Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (2008).
• B'Tselem - Human Rights in the Occupied Territories: Annual Report 2007 (January 2008).
• Human Rights Watch - Human Rights Watch 2008 Report: Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) Events of 2007 (31 January 2008)
• International Committee of the Red Cross - The occupied Palestinian territories: Dignity Denied (13 December 2007) - Throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, in the Gaza Strip as well as the West Bank, Palestinians continuously face hardship in simply going about their lives; they are prevented from doing what makes up the daily fabric of most people's existence. An ICRC report.
• Association for Civil Rights in Israel - The State of Human Rights in Israel and the Occupied Territories: 2007 Report (December 2007).
• International Committee of the Red Cross - Gaza: date palms and olive trees on levelled land (19 November 2007) - "Over the past two decades, farmers of the community of El Qarara in the Gaza Strip have seen their land levelled and some of it taken over completely as security zones were expanded. The ICRC is helping the farmers rehabilitate their land, livelihoods – and community spirit."
• International Commission of Jurists - Palestine - Israel - Global inquiry concludes assessment of counter-terrorism laws, policies and practices in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories - Counter Terrorism and Human Rights, by (27 August 2007).
• International Committee of the Red Cross - West Bank: food parcels for Hebron families (27 August 2007) - One woman describes how she and her family survive in the West Bank town of Hebron – just one of more than 1,700 families supported by the ICRC through the monthly distribution of food parcels... with the establishment of Israeli settlements in the Old City in 1979, a long economic decline began. A series of curfews and closures imposed since the beginning of the second Intifada has now turned the pulsing heart of Hebron into a ghost town.
• International Committee of the Red Cross - Occupied Golan: stories of separation (5 June 2007) - Quote from website - "Israel's occupation of the Golan severely restricts the ability of its Arab residents to go about their daily lives. In addition, many have relatives across the demarcation line in Syria that they have not seen for years."
• Adalah - SPECIAL REPORT: The State of Israel v. MK Dr. Azmi Bishara - protection of freedoms of speech and of association (with Syria).
• Adalah - SPECIAL REPORT: Official Commission of Inquiry into the October 2000 Events.
• Amnesty International Annapolis talks must lead to immediate, concrete action on human rights (2007).
• International Committee of the Red Cross - Declining health services in the Palestinian territories: an ICRC report (15 November 2006) - Quote from website - "Since the beginning of 2006, the ICRC has repeatedly warned of the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories. An ICRC report issued today documents the tragic consequences that the interruption of essential health services has had on the Palestinian population. A key finding is that it is the poor, whose numbers are increasing because of the overall economic decline, who are predominantly affected by the current interruption of health services.

"OFFLINE REFERENCE MATERIALS"

• Dugard, John. “Enforcement of Human Rights in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip”, in Playfair, Emma (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (1992), p 461.
• Kuttab, Jonathan. “Avenues Open for Defence of Human Rights in the Israeli-Occupied Territories”, in Playfair, Emma (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (1992), p 489.