2006

Occupied Palestinian Territories: Authorities Must Address Violence against Women and Girls
November 7, 2006 – (HRW) The Palestinian Authority (PA) has failed to establish an effective framework to respond to violence against women and girls, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Despite the current political and economic crisis, there are steps that the PA can and should take to address these abuses as a priority issue within its security agenda.

3 women bring views on Middle East
October 20, 2006 - (Barre Montpelier Times Argus) Three women peace activists – a Muslim Palestinian, a Christian Palestinian and a Jewish Israeli – will offer their strong – and bleak – views of the current conditions in Israel and Palestine in a talk in central Vermont Saturday.

The feminine touch
October 5, 2006 - (The Jerusalem Post) The key to the resolution of the Arab-Israel conflict now lies, for the first time in history, primarily in the hands of women. Condoleezza Rice and Tzipi Livni are the effective custodians of a viable peace initiative. These extraordinarily competent women, drawing on their own skills and hopefully on the work of the resilient and vigorous Israeli-Palestinian women's peace movement, may yet succeed where their male counterparts have failed.

The middle-east crisis: one woman's view
August 4, 2006 - (Open Democracy) In the midst of the destruction of civilian lives in Lebanon, women and families on all sides are trying to build bridges against militarisation and for peace, says Pamela Ann Smith.

Israel/Lebanon: End Indiscriminate Strikes on Civilians
August 3, 2006 – (human rights news) Israeli forces have systematically failed to distinguish between combatants and civilians in their military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said in report released today. The pattern of attacks in more than 20 cases investigated by Human Rights Watch researchers in Lebanon indicates that the failures cannot be dismissed as mere accidents and cannot be blamed on wrongful Hezbollah practices. In some cases, these attacks constitute war crimes.

Jewish and Arab Women Unite Against War
August 4, 2006 (WOMENSENEWS)- Members of a newly formed group in Israel, Women Against War, say they can't abide the violence taking place in Lebanon and Gaza. Despite animosity and even death threats, they are protesting nearly every day in the northern city of Haifa.

Arab women reporters on frontlines of Lebanon war
July 28, 2006 -(middle east online) Young female reporters beat their male colleagues to forefront of both sides of Lebanon-Israel war zone. A male news anchor appeared on screen from the safety of Arabic station Al-Jazeera's studio in Doha as two female correspondents in full war gear reported live from both sides of the Lebanon-Israel frontline.

Security Council calls for comprehensive Israeli inquiry into killing of UN peacekeepers
July 27, 2006 - (UN News Centre) Voicing its shock and distress at the Israeli Defence Forces’ (IDF) killing of four unarmed United Nations military observers in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, the Security Council today called on the Israeli Government to conduct a full investigation.

Lebanon/Israel: Israel Must Allow Civilians Safe Passage
Warnings Do Not End Duty to Avoid Civilian Casualties
July 21, 2006 – (Human rights watch) Israel must allow civilians safe passage out of Lebanon’s embattled south, Human Rights Watch said today. Warnings by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to civilians that they must evacuate southern Lebanon within 24 hours do not absolve Israel of the duty to avoid attacks likely to cause indiscriminate or disproportionate loss of civilian life.

Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) condemns attacks on health organizations and PRCS staff
july 19, 2006 - (Palestine red Crescent) PRCS condemns the Israeli targeting of the health organizations and medical staff as well as the series of Israelis attacks at medical staff and particularly at PRCS staff.

Israeli and Palestinian Women Call on Quartet to Intervene to End the Conflict
July 13, 2006 - (International Womens Comission) Members of the International Women’s Commission for a Just and Sustainable Palestinian-Israeli Peace (IWC) convened an emergency meeting in Athens, July 13, 2006.

UN aid chief warns Gaza is on the verge of humanitarian crisis
June 30, 2006 -(The Associated Press) Gaza is three days away from a deadly humanitarian crisis unless Israel promptly restores fuel and electricity to the densely populated area after its offensive to free an abducted soldier, the United Nations aid chief warned on Thursday.

Gaza: Israeli Offensive Must Limit Harm to Civilians
War Crime for Palestinians to Hold Soldier Hostage
June 29, 2006– (human rights watch) Israel's destruction of Gaza’s only electrical plant needlessly punishes the civilian population and has created the potential for a serious humanitarian crisis, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch also said that Palestinian militant groups are committing a war crime by using a captured Israeli soldier as a hostage to seek the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Israeli and Palestinian Women Leaders Call for a Return to Peace Negotiations
May 3, 2006 -(UNIFEM Press Release) Members of the International Women's Commission, in New York for meetings with UN officials, expressed concern that the results of the Palestinian elections are being seen as a reason to disengage from the peace process, when in fact, this is a critical moment to explore a resumption of negotiations. If not seized now, they said, the chance will be lost.

Palestinians Debate Women's Future Under Hamas
April 23, 2006 -(WomensENews) Since its January victory, Hamas has been preoccupied with first forming and now running a controversial government. But some Palestinian women fear the Islamist government will at some point start curbing women's rights.

INT'L WOMEN'S DAY: Conflict Only Makes It Worse
March 7, 2006 -(IPS) The overriding obstacle that Arab women cite in their fight for freedom and equal rights in the Palestinian territories is the continuing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Women, Secret Hamas Strength, Win Votes at Polls and New Role
February 3, 2006 - (New York Times) Hamas has been known and feared for its men, armed or strapped with suicide bombs. But in its parliamentary election triumph here last week, one secret weapon was its women. To a degree specialists said was new in the conservative Muslim society of the Gaza Strip, Hamas used its women to win, sending them door to door with voter lists and to polling places for last-minute campaigning.

2005

PREGNANT PALESTINIAN WOMEN AND ISRAELI CHECKPOINTS. A DEADLY ENCOUNTER
October 9, 2005 - (International Middle East Media Center) Several United Nations agencies operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories recently submitted a report to the UN General Assembly at the convening of its annual summit in New York.

Palestinian and Israeli Women Create Global Panel to Work for just Middle East Peace
July 28, 2005 – (UN News) Based on their discussions at a recent United Nations-sponsored conference in Turkey, 35 Palestinian, Israeli and international women leaders and activists have established the first-ever global commission working to guarantee women’s full participation in formal and informal Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) said today.