For the moment, the Arab revolutions have marginalized the Palestinian issue. For the first time in over half a century, the agenda of the Arab world--both that of governments and the people--is not determined by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but by the social and political difficulties they are facing: poverty, economic development and democracy. And when the Palestinian issue is marginalized, the Gaza Strip is pushed to the margins of the margins.

According to Maan News Agency, Zakaria Daoud Issa, 43, died on Monday in the West Bank. Daoud, who was arrested by Israeli authorities in 2003 under charges of being an active Hamas member, spent eight years as a political prisoner in Israeli jails. He was released in August due to his poor health and his death raises questions about the medical care Palestinians receive in Israeli prisons.

Badia Dwaik is Deputy Coordinator of Youth Against Settlements, a grassroots Palestinian organization that organizes demonstrations and educational events as part of a nonviolent struggle to resist the Israeli occupation of Hebron. Here he reflects on growing up in Hebron while his father was in an Israeli prison. 

With Israel's human rights record up for review by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (henceforth 'the Committee') from the 16th to 17th of November, a host of evidence submitted to the UN monitoring body by FIDH member organisations Adalah, Al-Haq and B'Tselem points to the country's continued failure in upholding the basic rights of many living both within its borders and under its occupation.