Nadia Hijab, independent analyst and senior fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies writes on Richard Goldstone and Richard Falk: “They hail from opposite parts of the globe, but they have much in common: Jewish; experts on and passionate defenders of international law; and pummeling bags for Israel and the Palestinian Authority…

More detailed information on what you can do to support the anti-eviction protests in Sheikh Jarrah, including a link to the people in Israel & Palestine behind it all, at the JustJerusalem blog, a video of the campaign and a speech delivered to Saturday evening’s thousands strong demonstration.

“But it is not just in the West Bank colonies that the Israeli authorities work with ideologically motivated para-state agencies to ‘protect’ and ‘redeem’ the land. The phenomenon is as familiar in the Naqab (Negev). Demolitions, housing shortages, and politically driven Jewish settlement of the kind faced by Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank are also everyday challenges confronting Palestinian citizens of Israel…”

The UN Human Rights Council’s 13th Session has dropped Special Rapporteur Richard Falk’s report from the agenda of its meeting currently in session – as the Palestinian Authority bends to US and Israeli pressure [...]

Many will already be familiar with the campaign against the eviction of Palestinian residents from the Sheikh Jarrah district of East Jerusalem. Saturday evening saw thousands of Israelis and Palestinians protest jointly against the evictions – and coverage in the Israeli press, Hebrew & English language, has been extensive. We collect together here a few of the articles, as well as some crucial background reading links and important blog posts.

Gush Shalom’s Uri Avnery on the motives and mistakes that lie behind the recent announcement of a list of Jewish national heritage sites, several of which are in the Palestinian Occupied Territories including Hebron and Nablus.

Irish foreign minister Micheál Martin has just returned from a visit to Gaza and makes a clear call in the New York Times & International Herald Tribune for an end to the blockade. Two forthcoming meetings – EU foreign ministers in Cordoba on March 19th or at the forthcoming Ad Hoc Liaison donor meeting in Madrid next month – are important opportunities in this respect.

In the first of an occasional series, Hannah Brooks, currently working on women’s rights projects in Jerusalem and the West Bank, reports on life under the occupation and the dull grind of a trip through Qalandiya. In 2004 Hannah spent three months in Israel/Palestine with the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) and in 2006 she worked in Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron with Palestinian lawyers on behalf of the Bar Human Rights Committee. She has also worked on human rights issues and projects in Nepal and Turkey.

A report from IMEMC (& another from Ma’an) about Wednesday’s protests at Beit Jalla against a new section of the wall, including video footage and photos of the day’s events. Olive trees were torn up for the second day to make room for the illegal barrier. Further actions and protests were planned for today (Thursday 4th March) and we’ll update as soon as we have the info.