http://www.zcommunications.org/what-happened-in-jenin-by-justin-podur

What happened in Jenin? What is happening in Jenin? The second question is more important than the first, but the two are related. With the United Nations report on Jenin published and the Human Rights Watch Report tabled some time ago, the official voices have spoken.

A photo essay by Justin Podur for ZNet, August 3, 2002

http://www.zcommunications.org/a-conversation-with-justin-podur-in-gaza-by-justin-podur

[Interviewed by Cynthia Peters]

Tell me about Gaza.

http://www.zcommunications.org/turning-the-west-bank-and-gaza-into-prisons-by-justin-podur

[Interviewed by Cynthia Peters]

1. Describe what's happening in Jenin.

This is a society that's slowly being choked to death. It is marked by fear, random violence, and irrational destruction. No one is allowed peace of mind. Even the relatively well-off -- those with jobs and some money -- live in constant fear. The poor, of course, are the hardest hit.

The arguments against reparations for Africa are in the details: How can you possibly measure, and repay, for millions and millions of shattered lives over centuries? When a figure is settled on, and paid, is it all over? Can there be adequate compensation for centuries of slavery, colonization, and destruction? Can one group of people be held accountable for what their ancestors did? Where does exploitation in the present fit in?

August 20, 2000 saw eyes from all over the world watching Chiapas, as the most closely observed elections in the state's history took place under the shadow of a continuing low intensity war. Pablo Salazar, the candidate of the Alliance for Chiapas, won the election by a margin of nearly 10 points. His party was a coalition of left and right parties, whose platform includes complying with the San Andres peace accords with the Zapatistas and reversing the militarization of the state. The electoral victory is cause for cautious optimism for people sympathetic to the Zapatistas.
 

Today a hunger strike in Chiapas’ prisons has expanded. It started in the state’s Comitan prison on July 3. Four days ago, on July 14, the original group of 23 hunger strikers stopped taking honey and since then have been drinking only water. Today the strike has expanded to prisoners in Cerro Hueco prison.