New Website Features Voices from the Bethlehem Ghetto
heather on March 23rd, 2005OCCUPIED BETHLEHEM: Israeli policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are turning large parts of the Holy Land into walled ghettos. A new web portal launched today features voices from one of the most famous of these ghettos ? Bethlehem.
The Bethlehem Bloggers website is dedicated to bringing first hand insight into life and politics inside Israeli-occupied Bethlehem. The site is managed by a diverse group of activists and professionals living and working in the area. An introductory statement posted to the website explains:
“We are Palestinians and internationals who are living in the Bethlehem region, and who want to tell the world what it is like to be living in occupied territory, under an economic siege, encircled by a wall and military checkpoints: what it is like to live in a Palestinian Ghetto.”
As Israel tightens its control throughout occupied Palestine, indigenous Palestinian communities continue to suffer. Israeli occupying forces completely dominate the Bethlehem region with a network of illegal Israeli settlements, checkpoints and by-pass roads.
The Apartheid Wall now pushes in close on Bethlehem and the neighboring towns and villages, segregating villages and appropriating large portions of Palestinian land.
There are seven permanent Israeli military checkpoints in the Bethlehem District which control access to the ghetto. Israeli troops also often set up an additional three temporary checkpoints to monitor movement within the area and more than 35 roadblocks make it difficult for Palestinians to move between their towns and cities. In addition, there are more than 11 illegal Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land in the Bethlehem District. Most of these settlements are currently undergoing expansion, despite Israel’s stated adherence to the Roadmap peace plan which demands a “settlement freeze” as part of its first phase of implementation.
Bethlehem Bloggers shows the effect of the Israeli occupation on life in Bethlehem. It is also a window for people around the world to look in; to see past the walls, barbed wire fences, and the media distortions; to hear from the people in Bethlehem themselves.
For more information:
Site: www.bethlehemghetto.blogspot.com
E-mail: bethlehembloggers@gmail.com
Conclusion to the Italian Job
heather on March 12th, 2005Our December consignment of oil was delivered to Italy instead of the UK as the transport company loaded our oil into the wrong container. The Israeli transport company have admitted responsibility for the mistake but are refusing to pay compensation. This is a major blow for the UAWC (our suppliers) and Zaytoun who have had to cover the cost.
Our suppliers have to rely on Israeli transport companies to take their goods and the choice of companies is limited. The UAWC have decided not to pursue the matter further as they believe it is not conducive to effective work in the future. They believe that making a ?bad? name for themselves with one Israeli company could adversely affect the way that other transport companies may work with them. They cited another example where they have lost money due to transporter error when a container which took fresh produce from Jericho to France had its refrigeration unit turned off in transit, this resulted in the produce spoiling before reaching its destination, and again they were not compensated.
Having to rely on Israel to transport their goods whilst still under Israeli occupation is an example of the stranglehold on the Palestinian economy.
Palestinian olive oil review by the BBC2 & guardian superplonk columnist
saleh on March 6th, 2005A review of Zaytoun olive oil from the writer of the superplonk column in The Guardian paper and the BBC2 superplonk series!
“It is one of the least aggressive yet pungently attractive olive oils I have tasted. It is in the rich nourishing class of the best of the fruity Sicilian, Cretan, and northern Spanish oils and its beautiful green cloudiness bespeaks of care and judicious handling. It is wholly organic - for what Palestinian in his right mind would have anything to with, or care to spend silly money on, pesticides or fungicides or artificial fertilisers?” Malcolm Gluck ,
superplonk.com
