GET EDUCATED. FIND OUT WHAT'S REALLY HAPPENING IN PALESTINE AND ISRAEL
I first composed this guide to alternative sources on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict around the start of the second Intifada in 2000. In December of 2005 I returned to Israel/Palestine (my 15th trip) after an 8 year hiatus as a member of a delegation from Faculty for Israeli Palestinian Peace (FFIPP). My aim was to meet with Palestinian and Israeli academics - faculty and students - to learn how they experienced the Israeli military occupation and to develop a more complex and nuanced understanding than was possible from reading the mainstream press alone. My personal experiences reaffirmed my claim, made on this page, in 2000, that we cannot know and we can certainly not understand what is happening in Palestine from reading, watching or listening to the corporate media, particularly in the USA. Even the Israeli Press (see for example the Israeli daily, Haaretz (http://www.haaretzdaily.com) provides more balanced coverage of the occupation than the American media. Since the current Israeli occupation of Palestine and ongoing violation of human rights and international law that accompanies it is being financed with American dollars and is undertaken in our name (or in the name of the American campaign against terrorism) we Americans have an obligation to understand what is being done in our name and to take an informed stand on our role in this ever expanding tragedy that increasingly envelopes more innocent Israelis and Palestinians.
Here are some resources that you can use to educate yourself on what is really happening in Palestine and Israel.
Coming Soon: A list of videos on Israel/Palestine and the occupation.
WHERE TO START: Sites that can give you useful background on the conflict.
Alternative Information Center: http://www.alternativenews.org/ News that's not fit to print in the New York Times or the mainstream Israeli Press. A joint Palestinian/Israeli Project.
The Electrionic Intifada http://electronicIntifada.net/new.html. Up to date reports (until recently) from the occupied territories.
Gush Shalom: http://www.gush-shalom.org/english .The self described hard core of the Israeli peace movement dedicated resolutely to ending the occupation.
Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions - http://www.icahd.org/eng ICAHD is a non-violent, direct-action group originally established to oppose and resist Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories. Their web page lists a number of ongoing political action projects and also contains an archive of useful articles and stories. They also provide excellent maps that trace the dissection of Palestine and and the path of the construction of the separation/apartheid wall. Director Jeff Halper (along with Physics Professor and founder of International Soldarity Movement Ghasson Adoni) were recently nominated by American Friends Service Committee for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information: http://www.ipcri.org/. A joint Israeli/ Palestinian project based in Bethlehem. More technical reports and position papers on prospects for peace.
Not in My Name: http://www.nimn.org. Good info on the occupation and the peace process with maps, history and quotes). A concise but compelling summary of the Barak Peace Offer which sheds some light on the disingenuous claim that Barak offered the Palestinian's everything they wanted and they still walked away from peace.
Taayush: http://www.taayush.org. A joint Palestinian/Israeli peace project aimed at bringing down the wall, ending the occupation and promoting a just peace.
Z Magazine: http://www.zmag.org. Go to the Middle East Watch Section. A massive archive of articles, position papers, maps and history on the conflict. Also, has an excellent list of links to other Middle East sites and alternative media sites. Also check out Z's analysis of the media coverage of the I/P crisis with several columns by media analyst Norman Solomon.
OTHER PLACES TO LOOK: ALTERNATIVE MEDIA COVERING THE CRISIS
Al-ahram Weekly - http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly English language publication based in Cairo. As noted in The Nation, a venerable reality check for those who find the NYT or CNN biased AGAINST Israel.
Al Jazeera English - http://www.cursor.org/aljazeera.htm. The cable news network of the Arab world. Check here if you want to find out what the rest of the Arab world is saying about the crisis.
Alternative Information Center: http://www.alternativenews.org/ News that's not fit to print in the New York Times or the mainstream Israeli Press. A joint Palestinian/Israeli Project.
Democracy Now - Live streaming and archives from the radio and TV show. Special emphasis and alternative reporting on ongoing wars. http://www.democracynow.org
The Electrionic Intifada http://electronicIntifada.net/new.html. Up to date reports (until recently) from the occupied territories.
Independent Media-Israel -http://www.indymedia.org.il/ . When you arrive at the main page click on English Language edition (to the left) to get readable copy.
Independent Media-Palestine http://jerusalem.indymedia.org/. Collection of material from indy media sources.
Middle East Research and Information Project - http://www.merip.org, MERIP has provided in depth analyses of current events in the Middle East for over 30 years.
Palestine Chronicle: http://www.palestinechronicle.com. Daily reports from Palestine. Articles from local reporters and from the world press. A comprehensive page with lots of current information.
Palestine Monitor: http://www.palestinemonitor.org. Comprehenisve noew reported directly from the occupied territories. Maps, background and current events. The Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) set up this website, a gateway to civil society, as part of the newly created information clearinghouse of the same name. The Palestinian NGO Network is a voluntary cluster of Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations who work in various human, social and development fields. They share a unified vision seeking to develop and strengthen Palestinian civil society around the principles of democracy, social justice and sustainable development.
The Nation Online: -more than a century of outstanding reporting. The news that's not fit to print in the NYT. http://www.thenation.org
Tikkun Magazine: http://www.tikkun.org A journal of Jewish politics and culture. Recent issues have devoted considerable space to the occupation, the invasion and the prospects for peace.
ACTIVIST AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ORGANIZATIONS
Cactus 48. http://www.cactus48.com (a voluminous list of links on war, peace and justice in the Middle East)
Courage To Refuse -http://www.couragetorefuse.org. A web page dedicated to the (now more than 1000) Israeli soliders who support the state of Israel but refuse to serve in the ongoing campaign in occupied Palestine.
Foundation for Middle East Peace - http://www.fmep.org - a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping Americans informed about the peace process. Background info with maps on the history of the Jewish settlement movement in Palestine.
Miftah -. http://www.miftah.org.The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy. MIFTAH, is a non-governmental non-partisan Jerusalem-based institution dedicated to fostering democracy and good governance within Palestinian society through promoting public accountability, transparency, the free flow of information and ideas, and the challenging of stereotyping at home and abroad.
Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions - http://www.icahd.org/eng ICAHD is a non-violent, direct-action group originally established to oppose and resist Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories. Their we page lists a number of ongoing political action projects and also contains an archive of useful articles and stories.
Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories -http://www.btselem.org/
International Solidarity Movement (ISM): http://www.palsolidarity.org/main. A palestinian led movement that endeavors to enlist international support in mobilizations against the ongoing occupation. Founder Ghasson Adoni (along with Anthropologist Jeff Halper - director of Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions) was recently nominated by American Friends Service Committee for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Jewish Unity for a Just Peace - http://www.junity.org/. An organization for Jews mobilized against the occupation.
Keshev - http://keshev.org.il/siteEn/default.asp The Center for the Protection of Democracy in Israel. Keshev is a civic association that researches and gathers information on threats to democracy, ideologically-based incitement and violence and the conduct of the media in Israel.
Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights -http://www.lawsociety.org/
Peace Now: http:/www.peacenow.org. Founded in 1978, peace now has been a constant voice for a just, negotiated peace among Israelis.
LIST SERVES
These lists provide mostly daily reports culled from a variety of conventional and alternative news services.
Jewish Peace News &endash; an extraordinarily useful list in recent weeks with reports from some of the best journalists in the Middle East including Amira Haas (reporting from her home in occupied Ramallah), Gila Svirsky, Daoud Kuttab, Edward Said and Robert Fisk. To subscribe simply click here and mail with the word subscribe in the subject box.: jewishpeacenews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Jewish Voice for Peace - A Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) is a San Francisco Bay Area grassroots organization dedicated to the human, civil and economic rights of Jews, Palestinians, and all peoples in the Middle East. To subscribe simply click here and mail with the word subscribe in the subject box.: jewishvoiceforpeace-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Middle East Reports &endash; news information and analyses that governments and intererst groups don't want you to know. To subscribe simply click here and mail with the word subscribe in the subject box MERLIST@MiddleEast.Org. Or,Check out the web page at http://www.MiddleEast.Org