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A Palestinian spray-paints a graffiti message on the Wall near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday. A Dutch group collects money over the Internet for the project _ painting messages on the barrier Israel is building along the West Bank. The project aims to publicize the difficulties while raising money for social projects in the West Bank. For a euro 30 ($43) contribution, a Palestinian volunteer will paint a message on the wall _ anything from a political statement to marriage proposal.

• www.SendAmessage.nl
• West Bank Barrier Gets Global Graffiti
• RTL Nieuws item

It was shocking to see Mahmoud Abbas, the designated head of the US-sponsored Palestinian Authority, warmly applaud the acknowledgement of Israel as a "Jewish state" and "homeland for the Jewish people" in Bush's inaugural speech at Annapolis. With his clapping hands, Abbas supported the denial of his people's history, in particular the 1948 mass expulsion that included the destruction of 531 villages and has been followed by the forced removal of Palestinians ever since. EI co-founder Arjan El Fassed comments on the need to object to this denial of Palestinian history. MORE

For as long Palestinians have resisted violent Israeli policies against them, successive Israeli governments have tried to undermine Palestinian unity and foment divisions. A principal strategy has been to try to foster alternative leaders willing to abandon fundamental Palestinian demands for justice and focus on an agenda with which Israel is comfortable. There is a disturbing parallel with current Israeli policy: just as Israel now uses the Abbas-dominated militias of the Palestinian Authority to crack down on those who resist the occupation, Israel attempted to do the same with the Village Leagues. MORE