An economic association agreement between the European Union and Israel lends international political legitimacy to the Israeli government, while providing a critical export market for Israeli goods and products, an essential element to Israel’s international trade policy.

Growing debate is occurring within Europe concerning the E.U.-Israel agreement in the face of Israel’s continuing occupation of Palestinian land and systemic abuses of Palestinian human rights as documented by international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International. A critical provision within the economic agreement stipulates that both the E.U. and Israel respect human rights, a provision that has clearly been ignored in the continuation of the agreement, despite wide-spread abuses of Palestinian human rights by Israel.

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occurring within the context of the international Israeli Apartheid Week.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9th, 12:30
Maisonneuve & Mackay
(metro Guy-Concordia)
Montreal, Quebec

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Qualified as a “war crime” by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and illegal “collective punishment” by the European Union and international agencies, the humanitarian and political crisis created by Israel’s five-day hermetic seal on Gaza is taking a toll not only on the 1.5 million inhabitants of the impoverished coastal strip. Damaged “beyond repair”, according to several Palestinians speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly from Rafah, is the image of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is being widely blamed for “turning a blind eye to the misery of his own people in Gaza” while continuing to engage in talks with Israel on peace.

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WASHINGTON (AFP): The Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States, leaders said Wednesday.

“We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us,” long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means told a handful of reporters and a delegation from the Bolivian embassy, gathered in a church in a run-down neighborhood of Washington for a news conference.

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For decades, efforts to bring about a two-state solution in historic Palestine have failed to provide justice and peace for the Palestinian and Israeli Jewish peoples, or to offer a genuine process leading towards them.

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Last Tuesday’s demonstrations, which brought thousands onto the streets of Ramallah, Hebron, Tulkarem, Nablus and Gaza in defiance of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) attempt to silence the peoples’ voice, represented a crucial moment for Palestine.

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The Palestinian Center for Human Rights condemns the Israeli ban on the travel of Gaza Strip students to pursue studies in universities and schools abroad. The Centre calls upon the international community and international organizations, especially UNESCO and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to pressure Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) to allow more than 2,700 students to travel so as to avert the negative consequences on their educational future.

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BEIRUT: Emile Lahoud left Lebanon’s presidency at midnight on Friday, just hours after announcing the transfer of security responsibilities to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) because Parliament had failed to elect his successor. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora issued a statement shortly thereafter declaring Lahoud’s move unconstitutional.

Lahoud’s announcement explained his gambit by asserting that existing conditions in the country “could lead to a state of emergency,” but Siniora’s statement affirmed that only the Cabinet has the executive authority to declare such a state.

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“Les valeurs d’Israël sont les valeurs du Canada”(1)

Pour comprendre le conflit qui oppose Israël à ses voisins depuis 60 ans, un retour attentif sur l’histoire de la Palestine et sur l’année 1947 s’impose. Revenir sur la genèse de la solution de partage de la Palestine historique en deux États, puis en un seul, occupant la population autochtone, permet d’appréhender un conflit où, pour faire diversion, il est question de territoires multiples dont les noms changent au gré des batailles, de divers statuts juridiques incompréhensibles, de frontières contestées, de haines fratricides ou de guerres de religions… En réalité, la question palestinienne est d’abord une question coloniale.

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Photo: Lebanon Oil Spill 2006.

UNITED NATIONS: When the Israeli Air Force destroyed a slew of oil storage tanks and a key power station during its war against Lebanon in July 2006, the environmental damage was described as devastating. And now, more than 15 months later, the United Nations has released a report detailing the extent of the destruction caused by that oil spill to human health, biodiversity, fisheries and tourism.

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