Watch Tunnel Trade online!
Someone kindly pointed out I confused my days with my times when advertising for the Tunnel Trade film in a previous post! Each of those dates I posted for when teh film will air correspondents to a day earlier (i.e. Sept. 2 is a Sunday, not a Monday).
The correct schedule (including re-runs) as well as a summary and link to the film on YouTube can be found here.
posted by Laila @ Sunday, September 02, 2007
6 Comments:
Much appreciate your posts which I pass along to various lists. Ed Kent
My husband and I just caught the film tonight on Jazeera English.
Wonderfully done, eye-opening...keep up the magnificent work in the face of so many obstacles.
As salaam alaikum.
After being away for I while I am happy to see your still writing --I look forward to catching up.
Ma'as salaama,
nuh ibn
Wonderful documentary and a wonderful spirit of survival, but it makes me so angry.
The whole situation is so unjust. However do you remain objective. It would just do my head in!
Like Ummfarouk I too say, 'keep up the magnificent work in the face of so many obstacles'.
I heard the israeli ambassador in canada say on the piece of documentary you posted earlier that there would be no economic hardship and making it so difficult for people to cross borders if there were no terrorist activity.
I sincerely, and I truly mean sincerely (there is no false pretense here, because it honestly buffles me), ask you Laila: why don't the Gazans stand up against those misusing 'freedom' by executing terror (and qassam) attacks against israel if they see that in order to protect itself, those measures are making life unbearable for the Gazans? In one single decision all this hardship could be a thing of the past. And, I'm pretty sure most Gazans don't really support terror anyway, no?
Laila
Happy Ramadan to you too
I picked this up from Amira Hass in Haaretz. It is particularly evil to deny some kid with a scolarship an exit.
Israel bars students from leaving Gaza at last minute
By Amira Hass
On Monday night, the Defense Ministry telephoned the Israeli liaison office for the Gaza Strip and delivered surprising news: Despite lengthy prior coordination, civilians would not be allowed to leave the strip through the Erez and Nitzana crossings.
But the Ministry for Civilian Affairs in Ramallah, the Palestinian body that coordinated the passage through the crossings, did not receive this message. Thus the ministry, which is the liaison office's Palestinian counterpart, could not inform its Gaza office - which is manned by Fatah loyalists.
As a result, the ministry's head, Hussein al-Sheikh, had already announced the happy but false news on Tuesday: Students from Gaza would be allowed to go through the crossings to study abroad. There are currently several thousand Palestinian students who have been accepted to universities abroad, but cannot leave the strip through Israel to attend.
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A Palestinian official said that no more than 100 students have been allowed to leave since June. The Israeli authorities had agreed to allow 700 students to leave, but the remaining 600 are still waiting.
Some of these 600 students arrived at Erez Tuesday, expecting to be allowed through. One of them, call him B., realized something had gone wrong only after getting there. Eventually, he was told to head back home.
B. was accepted into a scholarship program for a master's degree in Britain. Hamoked - the Center for the Defense of the Individual, a Jerusalem-based Israeli organization whose main objective is to assist Palestinians whose rights have been violated by Israel's policies, helped B. obtain clearance to leave. But if he fails to arrive in the United Kingdom by today, September 20, he can forget about his scholarship. In despair, B. called Hamoked to tell them that he and another 200 people had been sent away from the crossing and not allowed to go through.
The Israel Defense Forces Spokesman's Office told Haaretz on Tuesday that it was not aware of any security limitations that necessitated closing down the Erez crossing. "Go ask the liaison office," it said.
The liaison office referred questions to the Ministry of Defense, but added that only those who were supposed to leave on student visas were barred from crossing. "Regular travelers" were allowed to go through as usual. But the term "regular travelers" refers only to sick people who need medical attention in Israel or Palestinians with special permits to either enter or transit Israel or the West Bank.
Moreover, one holder of such a permit, M., begged to differ with the liaison office's claim. M., a Gaza factory owner and holder of a permit for business people, said he came to the crossing before the cabinet declared Gaza a hostile entity yesterday. "I came there on Tuesday morning," he said. "We were 150 people, mostly sick people and businessmen. They let only 15 people through. Maybe less. They kept us there for hours, and then told us we had to go back."
M. was scheduled to cross over to Jordan from Israel. "I don't want to open a factory in the West Bank," he said, referring to what many Gaza businessmen now hope to do. Instead, M. wants to set up shop in the Hashemite Kingdom. "But now, they won't let me through to Jordan. It's not Hamas who didn't let me through today. It's not Hamas that's keeping me out of business," he complained. "It's a recipe for suicide."
The Defense Ministry referred Haaretz's query on the students to the chief of staff's office. From there, it went back to the IDF Spokesman's Office - which, once again, said the agency qualified to answer the question was the liaison office.
The answer to the question of when the students will be allowed to leave Gaza to study remained unanswered.
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