Irish human rights worker EOIN MURRAY writes from Gaza in Palestine about the tribulations involved in negotiating Israeli security checks as he travelled to Jordan to get his visa renewed, including one scare in which he was treated as a potential suicide bomber. This article was written before last weekend's upsurge in military activity in Gaza involving Palestinian fighters and the Israeli forces. Free article

A roundup of sectarian attacks by unionist paramilitaries during the past week. Free article

1 July 2004 Free article

The British Army was wrong to reinstate the two British soldiers convicted of the murder of Belfast teenager Peter McBride, the army's own assessor of military complaints has ruled. Scots Guardsmen James Fisher and Mark Wright were convicted of murder in 1995 and sentenced to 18 years imprisonment. Within three years, the men had been released and reinstated within the British Army. Free article

A selection of items making the news this week in the North. Free article

What is the future facing Aer Rianta this week? Will it be privatised, will it be kept as one entity, will the airports be broken up, when will they break up? Will workers retain pay and working conditions? What about the proposed new terminal in Dublin Airport? The answer to all of these questions is a clear yes, no and maybe. Confusion reigns and in an economy dependent on its ability to import and export efficiently and competitively, one of our vital national resources is without any clear vision or leadership. Free article

For many reasons, the 1989 Pat Finucane killing remains at the cutting edge of the campaign to expose British collusion with loyalist death squads. But a consequence of so much attention on the death of the Belfast solicitor has inevitably been the sidelining of other controversial killings, particular those outside Belfast and before that specific '80s and '90s period. Now, however, an international delegation of human rights activists is to conduct an independent probe into allegations of British collusion in a series of gun and bomb attacks in Tyrone in the mid-1970s. Free article

Relatives of victims of Britain's policy of collusion with loyalist death squads travelled to the USA this month as part of the campaign to compel the British Government into telling the truth about over 400 controversial killings in the North of Ireland. Pauline Davey-Kennedy's father was John Davey, a Sinn Féin Councillor for Magherfelt District Council, shot dead on his way home after a council meeting in February 1989. At the time of the killing, a series of attacks had been carried out against members of Sinn Féin, including elected members and their families. Free article

On Wednesday, Joe O'Donnell outlined his plans for this year's annual Somme Commemoration events. Joined by the former Mayor of Belfast Alex Maskey, O'Donnell explained that as Deputy Mayor of Belfast he would attend the special meeting of the Council in the Chamber this morning, Thursday, where a minute's silence will be held for those from the 36th Ulster Division who lost their lives. Free article

Speaking in the Dáil on Wednesday, Sinn Féin TD and spokesperson on International Affairs, Aengus Ó Snodaigh said he would not congratulate the Government on the EU Presidency, which he described as a "lapdog Presidency", because "they failed to directly represent Ireland's national interests" during the last six months. Free article