More Middle East Resources

by James M. Ennes

The World Wide Web of the Internet continues to expand explosively. Already there are more than 30-million websites. A search for the word “Palestine” reveals more than 10,000 sites where Palestine is mentioned and more than 100,000 which mention Israel. Despite the great imbalance, a wealth of balanced Middle East information can be found.

Birzeit University

Last month we mentioned the new site by Birzeit University at www.birzeit.edu/. The Birzeit site is rapidly becoming the source par excellence for Palestinian information on the Web.

In little more than two months this well- designed and compelling website has grown to include comprehensive sections on Palestinian history, treatment of prisoners, human rights, the changing political geography, a photographic campus tour, and a detailed “Personal Diary of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” by Nigel Parry ( www.birzeit.edu/diary), complete with photographs.

Parry describes the personal diary as a human rights website, “logging the realities of the peace process” in the Ramallah and Birzeit areas where he lives and works. Presently containing about 40 entries and promising many more, Parry acknowledges that his diary is as yet relatively undiscovered. It deserves attention.

At this writing, there are 35 websites in Palestine. The Birzeit site provides links to most of them. From Birzeit’s www.birzeit.edu/palarc/iplinks.html page a visitor will find direct links to:

www.planet.edu/~arabs —The Arab Studies Society in Jerusalem;
www.birzeit.edu/ceohs —The Center for Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences;
www.birzeit.edu/law —Birzeit University’s Law Center;
www.bethlehem.edu —Bethlehem University;
www.ibrahimieh.edu —A private, non-profit college in East Jerusalem;
www.planet.edu/~cec —The Central Election Commission, providing information about elections and election results, constituencies, election observers and electorial law;
www.planet.edu/~jwu —All about water pipes and sewers in the Ramallah District;
www.palnet.com/health/maanr.htm —The impact on Palestinian health of Israeli closure of access to health services in the West Bank.
www.aic.org/main.html —Human rights reports from the Alternative Information Center in East Jerusalem.
www.birzeit.edu/hrap —Reports of detentions, house raids, denials of freedom of movement of Birzeit students and faculty, compiled by the Birzeit University Human Rights Project since 1977.
www.al-ayyam.com —Al-Ayyam, an online daily newspaper in Arabic from the West Bank.
www.alquds.com —Palestine’s largest newspaper, on line;
www.amin.org/jfi/back.html —The Jerusalem Film Institute, promoting cinema, film and television in Palestine.

The Council for the National Interest

A new, promising, and mostly undiscovered site is that of Paul Findley’s Council for the National Interest, CNI, at www.cni.mynet.net/. Here visitors can read about the background, goals and activities of CNI, while learning about Israeli practices and policies in Palestine and the occupied territories.

In-depth sections provide a calendar of recent news from the area, along with specific reports on settlements, political prisoners, U.S. aid to Israel, U.S. policy toward Israel and the positions of the political parties, the ongoing systematic destruction by Israel of the city of Bethlehem, and Binyamin Netanyahu’s policies and their effect on the endangered peace process.

A convenient CNI link provides a quick way to look up a visitor’s member of Congress, along with a link to send the member e-mail.

Other Sites

flinet.com/~msq94o2b —Politics and Terrorism by Norman Elliott offers an archive of published reports on some of Israel’s actions against U.S. interests such as the Pollard affair and the attack against the USS Liberty.
www.igc.apc.org/desip/ —The Demographic, Environmental and Security Issues Project (DESIP) by Ron Bleier, an occasional contributor to the Washington Report, reports on wars, international trouble spots, refugees, and Middle East problems, and offers numerous links to sites with further information.
palestine-net.com/ —By Alquds Compu-Tech, an Internet service provider in Oregon, is a very comprehensive archive for information about Palestinian history, current and historical news reports, maps, politics, education, art, culture, pictures, sound clips, language, religion, and historical documents concerning Palestine.
shamash.org/lists/jpollard/pollard —The Internet Association for the Liberation of Jonathan Pollard, falls in the “know your enemy” category. The site bears close watching. This is a well-organized campaign to flood Congress and the White House with e-mail, appeals and petitions to free Jonathan Pollard. The site includes a gopher site, a detailed history of the case, a form to sign up for e-mail reports, suggested courses of action, dozens of articles, and even a song about the convicted spy that callers can load into their computers for offline family sing-alongs. E-mail to listproc@shamash.org with text “subscribe pollard (and your name)” will bring regular reports by e-mail. Hypertensives would be well advised to stay away.
www.washington-report.org/ —The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs is renovating its website which opened in 1995 and which already has recorded 56,000 “hits,” or visitors. The new site has a fresh appearance and retains the earlier features, including some magazine covers, information about the magazine and its origins, how to get a sample issue, and links to embassies, country sites, congressional mail links, and the CIA World Fact Book containing detailed information on every country in the world. Eventually it is planned to include the articles, but not the graphics, carried over the past 14 years in the magazine for use by journalists, researchers, and the public. Already in place are the earliest volumes and also the most recent issues of the magazine.
www.open.igc.apc.org/elaw/mid east/palestine/lawe.html —A new site by the American branch of LAWE, The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, now publishes an online archive of the same news reports from Palestine that are received by subscribers to LAWE’s online mailing list. LAWE is probably the best online source of human rights information from Palestine. To receive LAWE’s reports by e-mail, send an e-mail request to Jennifer Moorhead at lawe@netvision.net.il.

Charley Reese, syndicated thrice-weekly columnist from the Orlando Sentinel, for years described Israel as America’s best friend and loyal ally. Now he is frequently critical of Israeli policies. His columns are published electronically by America Online. From the main menu subscribers may click Newstand, Orlando Sentinel, Sound Off, Columnists, Charley Reese.

Palestine Net, the moderated Palestine discussion group, is back online after being out of order for the past month. Subscribers receive several e-mail reports daily about the situation in Palestine. To subscribe, send an e-mail request to pnet-sc@banu musa.cal.uiuc.edu with a short biographical sketch.

www.ussliberty.org/jim/ussliberty —The USS Liberty website, with a new address and new features, continues to draw attention and awards for excellence. The site offers more than 15MB of text and photographs about the attack, as well as direct e-mail access to survivors. At this writing the site has had nearly 17,000 visitors. Very soon, Liberty survivors plan to announce a national essay contest with individual prizes in every state plus a national grand prize. Details will be provided in the website.