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Columns

Devastation From Gaza to the West Bank

Posted on | Jonathan Kuttab | Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)

While much of the world’s attention has been concentrated on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the same Israeli policy imperatives in Gaza have been followed in the West Bank. While the level of carnage has been of a lesser degree until now, the methods and policies are the same. It has been estimated that since October 7, over 700 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed. Furthermore, the Israeli settlers have intensified their attacks on Palestinian farmers and the rate at which they are taking over their land by force, all the while benefiting from the impunity that Israel has been enjoying and the relative silence of the world.

Columns

MESA Board Joint Letter With CAF condemning the decimation of the education sector in Gaza

Posted on | Middle East Studies Association

Various organizations have been documenting the Israeli military’s killing of Palestinian scholars and university professors. As a precise accounting is obstructed by the ongoing attacks and insecurity, we provide below only a partial list of the names and, where possible, academic affiliations of those scholars who have been killed. These individuals represent a very small percentage of those who have been integral to higher education and intellectual life in the Gaza Strip and have been catastrophically affected by death and suffering: the hundreds of faculty and staff and thousands of students and their families who have been killed in military assaults, bombings, or through prolonged exposure to starvation and disease since 7 October 2023.

Reports

Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Gaza

Posted on | Hamdan Taha | Jerusalem Quarterly

Since the start of the current war on Gaza, the Palestinian cultural heritage has been undergoing widespread destruction, assuming the contours of a systematic cultural obliteration which has targeted ancient sites, historic and religious buildings, the cultural scene as a whole, museums, cultural and academic buildings, public buildings and infrastructure works. The present paper offers a brief summary of policies to do with cultural heritage in Palestine, protecting cultural heritage in international humanitarian law, the role of UNESCO and similar organizations, a preliminary assessment of the destruction done to cultural sites, mechanisms for judicial follow-up, future action to be taken to assess the damage, and framing plans and programs for recovery and rebuilding.

News

Press statement by High Representative/Vice-president Josep Borrell at the Rafah Border Crossing

Posted on | Josep Borrell

What is happening in Gaza today is another horror. It is not just a matter of defending, it is, I think, a massive violation of human rights. The European Union will continue supporting the Palestinians, but at the same time, knowing that we have to look for a political solution. Because to feed someone with a dinner tonight, in order to be killed tomorrow, is not exactly the solution. 

Reports

Targeting childhood: Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank

Posted on | Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP)

The report, “Targeting Childhood: Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank,” details and analyzes Palestinian child fatalities in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between October 7, 2023, and July 31, 2024. Israeli forces routinely targeted Palestinian children with live ammunition and aerial attacks, prevented ambulances and paramedics from reaching wounded children, and confiscated children’s bodies in violation of international law.