February 2009. United Press International (UPI).

Photo: Rebuilding after an Israeli bombing in the Middle East.

Beirut, Lebanon. The removal of cluster bombs strewn throughout southern Lebanon is slowing as international funding for the efforts has dwindled, an official says.

Tekimiti Gilbert, acting program manager for the U.N. Mine Action Coordination Center, said mine clearance organizations are struggling to retain international funding and interest in bomb removal efforts, the U.N. Integrated Regional Information Networks said Thursday.

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Interview with Derrick O’Keefe, editor of rabble.ca, by Stefan Christoff.

Photo: Mohanned Mansour. Solidarity protests with Gaza in Montreal.

Media coverage in Canada on the latest war in Gaza often failed to clearly represent the situation on the ground in Palestine and also the response in Canada to the latest crisis.

As thousands gathered for unprecedented street protests in solidarity with Palestinian human rights across the country, mainstream media often downplayed the numbers protesting and at times misrepresented the messages expressed at the demonstrations.

Street protests in Canada against the latest Israeli attack on Gaza were the largest Palestinian solidarity demonstrations in Canadian history, while reports from major media outlets, including the CBC, did not accurately convey the unprecedented size of the protests.

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By Mohammed Omer, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

Photo: Iyad Albaba. Tunneling essential goods into the Gaza Strip.

Options are few in Rafah. As in other societies throughout history trapped behind walls or segregated in ghettos, the smuggling in of basic necessities, as well as weapons for defense, means the difference between life and death. In Gaza, tunneling dates back to the 1980s, when Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. During the first intifada, which began in late 1987, tunnels were used as an underground railroad, transporting people out of Gaza, as well as serving as safe houses for resistance fighters, and storage spaces for weapons and supplies.

Since Israel imposed its siege on Gaza after Hamas won democratic legislative elections in January 2006, the number of Palestinians tied to some segment of the tunnel industry has grown in direct proportion to the increasing lack of availability of raw materials and basic necessities, including food, fuel and medicine. Palestinian sources estimate that some 6,000 people are employed as diggers in the hundreds of tunnels crisscrossing the Gaza-Egyptian border.

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Interview with Maureen Clare Murphy, editor for Electronic Intifada, by Stefan Christoff.

Photo: Matthew Cassel. Bombarded Palestinian home in Gaza.

As world attention turned to the latest Israeli military bombardment of the Gaza Strip, Israel barred international media outlets and correspondents access to Gaza. As Israel controls all entry and exit points into Gaza – land, sea and air – Israel as an occupying power possesses the power to cut-off the Palestinian reality from the international press.

Press freedom in Gaza became severely restricted in Gaza as Israel moved to control global media coverage from Gaza. Despite a decision from the Israeli Supreme Court admits the latest conflict to allow the international media into Gaza to report on the impacts of Israeli air strikes on Palestinians, the ban on international press in Gaza remained.

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March 1st – 9th, 2009

Join us to make 2009 a year of struggle against apartheid and for justice and peace!

Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is an annual international series of events held in cities and campuses across the globe. Israeli Apartheid Week aims to educate people about the nature of Israel as an apartheid system and to build Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns as part of a growing global BDS movement. In Montreal, local solidarity groups and individuals are planning nine full days of awareness-raising events ranging from lectures and workshops to film screenings.

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photo exhibition launch!

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 13th 2009
6-8pm Bar Populaire
6584 St-Laurent
this is a free event

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Ma’an News Agency, February 2009.

Photo: Open skies over docks in South Africa.

South African dock workers announced their refusal to offload cargo from a ship carrying goods from Israel scheduled to arrive in Durban on Sunday.

It follows the decision by dock workers there to strengthen the campaign in South Africa for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against “apartheid” Israel, a statement said.

The pledge by union members in Durban “reflects the commitment by South African workers to refuse to support oppression and exploitation across the globe,” the workers said.

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featuring leading journalists addressing the recent Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 6th 17h00 – 18h00
live broadcast on CKUT Radio, 90.3fm
tune-in globally via live stream at www.ckut.ca

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photo from London, England by Fil Kaler.

Photo: Activists from the International Solidarity Movement project appeal on the BBC.

Protest continues to mount on the BBC in the U.K. for the networks refusal to air an aid appeal from humanitarian organizations working in Gaza. Multiple politicians have publicly urged the BBC to air the aid appeal, while numerous street protests have also targeted the BBC offices and representatives. BBC officials have claimed that airing the air appeal for Gaza would give the impression the media institution was “backing one side” over the other.

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février 2009, Tadamon! Montreal

Photo: Darren Ell. Ballons aux couleurs de la Palestine en hommage aux enfants tués .

« Des ballons pour la paix » tel est le titre d’un article paru dans le Devoir le lundi 26 janvier 2009 concernant la manifestation de solidarité au peuple palestinien qui a eu lieu le dimanche 25 janvier 2009. Quelques erreurs se sont malencontreusement glissées sous la plume du journaliste qu’il convient de mettre en lumière.

L’article fait état de 250 personnes présentes or, selon la CBC Radio, il y avait au moins 1000 manifestants dans les rues de Montréal. Au-delà de l’inexactitude du chiffre, c’est le choix même des mots employés qui est problématique.

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