Stichting Stop de Bezetting - Laatst toegevoegde nieuws over en rondom Palestina

The Children of Palestine

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:29:16 +0200

By Julie Holm 16-5-2012

Yesterday Palestinians all over the world marked Nakba-day, which
commemorates the forced exodus of hundreds of thousands of their kin
after the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948. It is a day when
Palestinians remember the fatal events 64 years ago and remind each
other that they will not give up until Palestine is free

Together with thousands of people I took to the streets of Ramallah, joined by a group of amazing women and their children. Even my colleague and friend who is very pregnant and passed her due date defied the sun and the crowds of people to be part of this day. The children had only half a day of school which was reflected in the crowd where children, dressed in school uniforms, carrying Palestinian flags looked like they had done this a hundred times before. A little girl walked by me wearing a hair band with a piece of yellow cardboard attached that had “We will return” written on it in Arabic.Palestinian children grow up in a very politicized reality; they are affected by the occupation even before they are born. They grow up in a world of checkpoints and walls, a world where every family has had a family member who is or was in prison and where the only tool these prisoners have to get fair treatment is their empty stomachs. They experience their land being stolen from underneath them and from

Israel Tied with North Korea in BBC Negative Influence Poll

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:18:06 +0200

by William Temple17-5-2012Israel’s foreign and domestic policy seems to have tarnished its image on the world stage as it came joint third in an annual international BBC poll assessing the negative influence of major countries. The poll asked which states were perceived to have had the most negative influence on the world. Iran and Pakistan took first and second place respectively, with Israel sharing third place with North Korea. Israeli FlagIsrael retained its position as one of the world's most negatively-viewed countries, according to BBC's annual poll published Wednesday night.With 50% of respondents ranking Israel's influence as "mostly negative", Israel keeps company with North Korea, and places ahead of only Iran (55% negative) and Pakistan (51% negative).The 2012 Country Ratings Poll was conducted among 24,090 people worldwide, and asked respondents to rate whether the influence of 22 countries was “mostly positive” or “mostly negative.”Evaluations of Israel's influence, already largely unfavorable in 2011, have worsened in 2012. Out of the 22 countries polled, the majority in 17 of them view Israel negatively, while only three (the US, Nigeria and Kenya) view Israel's influence positively.A trend that should worry Israel is rising negative perceptions in EU countries, reaching 74% in Spain (up 8%), 65% in France (up 9%), while in Germany and Britain the negative views remain high but stable (69% and 68% respectively). In other Anglo countries, perceptions

Seven Injured By Israeli Shells In Gaza

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:15:27 +0200

by Saed Bannoura17-5-2012Palestinian medical sources reported Thursday that seven Palestinians were wounded when Israeli soldiers fired several artillery shells into the Al-Shujaeyya neighborhood, in Gaza. The shelling came after the army carried out two invasions in the northern and southern parts of the Gaza Strip.Archive - PalinfoAdham Abu Salmiyya, spokesperson of the Medical and Emergency Services in Gaza, stated that two of the seven wounded residents suffered serious injuries; the remaining five suffered moderate wounds.The army fired the artillery shells at several homes and farmlands in northern and southern Gaza; medics are still searching the targeted area due to initial reports of more injuries among the civilians.Media sources in Gaza reported that the Israeli army is still operating in an area east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, and Beit Lahia in the northern part.Eyewitnesses said that at least eight military vehicles advanced nearly 300 meters into Al-Fakhary town, and uprooted Palestinian farmlands while firing at random.Soldiers also invaded farmlands north of Beit Lahia and fired rounds of live ammunition at the farmers forcing them to run for their lives.At least one farmer was injured, while initial information revealed that several farmers are still trapped in their lands, surrounding by the invading Israeli soldiers. Source

Israel confisqueert opnieuw apparatuur van Palestijns tv-station

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:13:14 +0200

17-05-2012

De Palestijnse premier Fayyad op bezoek in de studie van Watan tv in
Ramallah op 29 februari 2012, nadat Israëlische militairen daar tijdens
een inval alle apparatuur hadden meegenomen. Fayyad noemde de inval een
daad van piraterij. Ramallah valt onder de jurisdictie van de
Palestijnse Autoriteit, maar Israel laat zich daar niet al veel van aan.
(Foto LA Times)Israelische militairen hebben donderdag de operationele directeur van het Palestijnse tv-station Al Asir (het station van de gevangenen) opgepakt en de apparatuur van het station meegenomen zodat verder uitzenden onmogelijk is. De baas van het station, Saher Qassem, heeft dat meegedeeld aan Ma'an News.Qassem vertelde dat soldaten het huis binnenvielen van Baha Khayri Ata Musa (32) in het dorpje Mirka bij Jenin. Hijzelf zowel als de apparatuur van het station werden meegenomen. Al-Asir tv heeft ook een kantoor in Bahrain.In februari roofden Isarelische militairen tijdens invallen de apparatuur van de stations Watan-tv en Al-Quds tv. Het laatste was een station dat werkte voor (school)kinderen. Bron

Nakba Day 2012: Revolution On Hold

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:10:31 +0200

by Linah Alsaafin16-5-2012

A
Palestinian protester jumps during clashes between Palestinian
stone-throwers and Israeli security forces outside Ofer prison near the
West Bank city of Ramallah 15 May 2012. (Photo: Reuters - Mohamad
Torokman)
The week leading up to the 64th commemoration of Nakba Day, the city of Ramallah witnessed a blitz of protests which were echoed in other Palestinian cities such as Gaza, Nablus, and Jerusalem. The deal to end the hunger strike on the eve of Nakba led to a more subdued commemoration then was expected.The mass hunger strike that began on April 17, with an estimated 2,500 Palestinian prisoners participating, was the largest of its kind and had entered its fourth week. Eight of the hunger strikers had entered their third consecutive month without food.Small protests at the Israeli prison of Ofer in west Ramallah took place daily, with the Israeli army typically responding with tear gas and rubber bullets.Every day, the city center witnessed multiple marches, with marchers calling on shopkeepers to close their stores and join them as they headed back to the point they started from: the prisoners’ solidarity tent at Clock Square.On some occasions, huge traffic jams were caused by the protesters who blocked the main streets as they sat on the ground, chanting and holding up posters and pictures of prisoners.Other creative ways of demonstrating to raise awareness about the prisoners’ struggle included offering water and salt t

Gush Shalom: The agreement with the hunger striking prisoners prevented at the last minute a general flare-up in the Occupied Territories

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:05:26 +0200

by Adam Keller15-5-2012Gush Shalom: The agreement with the hunger striking prisoners prevented at the last minute a general flare-up in the Occupied Territories – but with no end in sight to occupation and settlement, this is no more than a temporary postponementThe government of Israel had no choice but to reach an agreement at the last minute with the hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners and accept a significant part of their demands. Had the hunger strike continued and led to the death of some of the strikers, it would have caused a general conflagration in the Occupied Territories. The security experts understood this very well, and fortunately the political echelon took their advice.However, the agreement with the prisoners provides no more than a temporary delay. The real problem remains the same: the occupation which tramples upon Palestinians and which in a few weeks will be forty-five year old – more than two thirds of Israel's entire history - and the ever-expanding settlements which grab more and more of the Palestinians' meager remaining land. Prime Minister Netanyahu provided himself with a broad government coalition which could give him backing for whatever policy he chooses - but so far he only utters empty words on being ready to enter negotiations, while refusing to stop settlement expansion or make any commitment on where the borders are supposed to be set. In this situation, the countdown continues; the chances of reaching a peaceful solution are

Settler Violence and Land Theft - 12th and 13th May

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:26:45 +0200

15-5-2012Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank continue apace, while the occupational forces provide the aggressors' with protection. The attacks, ranging from destruction of fruit trees to seizure of land, demonstrate Israel's continued commitment to policies of terrorism and ethnic cleansing as they continue to expand and build on stolen land.On Saturday the 12th of May a group of settlers entered and captured farmland belonging to a Palestinian from Al Khader, a village to the south of Bethlehem. Stop the Wall area coordinator, Ahmed Khadr, said that a group of settlers, led by an individual known as Ananias, took an area of around 6 acres, owned by Mohammed Mustapha Ghoneim. Ghoneim was on his way to his land early on Saturday morning, when he found the settlers blocking the way. They proceeded to inform him that the land had been "appropriated", and warned him of dire consequences if he attempted to enter. Recently Ananias and his gang have, with support of the occupational forces, stepped up their campaign of land theft in the region, "appropriating" more than 300 acres, mostly belonging to the Sabih family. They frequently use dogs to assault and terrorize farmers, steal agricultural equipment and spray the land with water laced with chemicals.On the same day, a group of settlers attacked shepherd Ma'moun Nassar, who was tending to his flock near the village of Madama south of Nablus, and beat him.Early on Sunday morning similar attacks took plac

IMAGES: Protesters, IDF clash on Nakba Day at Ofer prison

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:21:10 +0200

By Max Schindler15-5-2012The army used tear gas and plastic-coated steel bullets against stone-throwing demonstrators, at least 200 required medical treatment. [UPDATE: Photo gallery from the Nakba Day demonstrations has been added at the bottom of this piece.] An
injured Palestinian receives treatment during the Nakba day protest in
support of the Palestinian prisoners, near Ofer Military Prison, May 15,
2012 (photo: Activestills)RAMALLAH – Tuesday’s annual Nakba Day commemorations, marking the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948, focused largely on support for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Until an agreement reached on Monday night, more than 1,500 prisoners had fasted for weeks, demanding an end to administrative detention and for improving their prison conditions.Yesterday, Israel announced that it would meet a few of the prisoners’ demands in exchange for an end to the hunger strike.Nearly 1,000 Palestinians and international supporters demonstrated outside the Ofer Military Prison near Ramallah, in the largest West Bank protest today.Protesters brandished posters and t-shirts imprinted with the faces of two hunger strikers, Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahla, whose fasts lasted for 77 days before they indicated their hunger strike would end today, in accord with the recent agreement.The two prisoners – alleged by Israel to be fundraisers for Hamas and Islamic Jihad – are held in administrative detention without trial or charge.The crowd at Ofer – consi

Nakba Day: Returning to Lebanon's border

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:13:07 +0200

by Nour Samaha15-5-2012It was meant to be a day of commemoration, albeit amid an atmosphere of festive defiance; hundreds of multi-coloured balloons were floating in the skies, national flags adorning the hill top were fluttering in the wind, speeches rich with patriotism were booming over the loud speakers.But what started off as a "day out" to the border for thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese - many of whom had never seen the occupied territories before - quickly turned to bloodshed.By the end of the day, six young men had been killed - and 126 people wounded - after Israeli soldiers opened fire on the unarmed demonstrators, reported the ad hoc committee Palestine Action in Lebanon, which counted the corpses and the injured.This was the scene at Maroun el Ras, a town situated on the Lebanese border with Israel, on Nakba Day 2011.The day, known as "The Catastrophe" in Arabic, commemorates the exodus of thousands of Palestinians from their homes and their land on May 15, 1948, sparked by Israeli violence immediately following the declaration of the Israeli state.'Maybe it’s time to go home'"I remember getting on the bus from Beirut on the morning of Nakba Day with my friends, and everyone was really happy, really enthusiastic," said Munib Masri, a 24-year-old Palestinian who attended last year's event. "It wasn’t an aggressive situation.""I still remember seeing the first person getting shot," he said. "I will never forget that image. He was about 15 or 16 years old,

Israeli Court rejects Israeli citizenship of non-Jews

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:05:27 +0200

by Saed Bannoura16-5-2012Twenty percent of the population of Israel could be affected by a court ruling in Haifa on Tuesday in which a judge ordered that only Jews should be allowed to have Israeli citizenship, and non-Jews, even those born and raised in what is now Israel, should not be allowed to claim Israeli citizenship.The ruling rejected an appeal by Uzzi Ornan, who claims no religious faith, but was born in what is now Israel. It is unclear what impact this will have on the Christian, Muslim and atheist citizens of Israel, which constitute around twenty percent of the population.Tuesday's court decision also brings into question the Israeli government's claim that it is both a Jewish and democratic state. As the plaintiff in the case, Uzzi Ornan, told reporters Tuesday, “A judge appeals to Jewish law, and the ruling shows that Israel is a Jewish community and not a civilian state.” Orman and others say that this verifies that Israel is a Jewish state, and not a democratic one.In his ruling, Judge Daniel Fisch appealed to Jewish religious law, and the 'Right of Return' which allows anyone born of a Jewish mother anyone in the world to claim Israeli citizenship. The displacement of the indigenous Palestinian population by this and other Israeli laws was not mentioned by the judge.The state prosecutor's office stated, “The fact that the petitioner is listed in the Population Registry according to his declaration as a person with no religion does not affect his being

Hongerstaking Palestijnse gevangenen voorbij (II): de details

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:03:07 +0200

15-5-2012
Gevangenis van Ramle Het 'gevangenisakkoord' tussen de hongerstakende gevangenen en de Israelische gevangenisdienst is nu bijna 24 uur oud en intussen weten we nu meer details.Uit wat de mensenrechtenorganisatie Addameer die zich het lot van de gevangenen aantrekt, bekend heeft gemaakt (en via bronnen binnen Addameer), is me intussen duidelijk geworden dat het akkoord inderdaad wel een soort overwinning voor de gevangenen inhoudt. Maar wel is het nu zaak om Israel aan de afspraken te houden. In het verleden is daar vaak niet veel van terecht gekomen. Overeengekomen is: - dat niet alleen de vijf langst stakende hongerstakers zoals Thaer Halahleh en Bilal Dhiab (en nog drie anderen die ruim 60 dagen bezig zijn) vrij komen zodra de termijn van hun huidige administratieve detentie is afgelopen, maar ook alle andere gevangenen in administratieve detentie (308 in totaal). Van al deze 308 mag de detentie niet worden verlengd en moet - als toch sprake is van een nieuwe detentie - dit gebaseerd worden op nieuw bewijsmateriaal en niet op gegevens uit de dossier zoals ze nu zijn. Bovendien moet vanaf nu een burgerlijke rechtbank over administratieve detenties beslissen en niet - zoals tot nu toe - een militaire rechtbank.
Gevangenis van Ashkelon- alle gevangenen die in eenzame opsluiting zitten zullen daar binnen 72 uur uitkomen.Dat geldt ook voor Ahmad Sa'adat (de leider van het Volksfront voor de Bevrijding van Palestina) die al dr

Nakba anniversary message

Wed, 16 May 2012 08:59:07 +0200

by Mazin Qumsiyeh15-5-2012On this 64th anniversary of the Nakba we mourn the ethnic cleansing that began in 1948 and that continues today with silent transfer, home demolitions, land confiscation and more. But we also celebrate an amazing resilience and success of the Palestinian endogenous people against incredible odds:-We just celebrated the success of a hunger strike by over 1600 political prisoners despite attempts to stifle the story in Zionist dominated Western media. They succeeded in achieving a part of their basic rights including receiving family visits and ending solitary confinement.-We are 11.5 million people and while most of us are refugees and displaced people, we remain steadfast and hopeful and connected. Thanks to persistence and now the internet and modern communications, even the feeble attempts to isolate us from each other failed. Thousands of Palestinians still go to their main city of Jerusalem without Israeli permission. Thousands connect across the Green line to the areas occupied since 1948.-We are still the most educated people in the Middle East with the highest per capita of postgraduates. -We now have 12 universities inside the occupied Palestinan territories. On Saturday we held the second biomedical research symposium in Bethlehem showing scientific work rivaling that done in countries with a strong tradition of research. This is miraculous considering the conditions under occupation.-We are still the peop

Israel Agrees to Most of Hunger-Striking Detainees' Demands

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:04:17 +0200

by Saed Bannoura15-5-2012Palestinian Minister of Detainees, Issa Qaraqe’, stated that Israel has agreed to a large number of the legitimate demands of the hunger-striking Palestinian political prisoners, including ending its illegal solitary confinement policies within 72 hours, allowing visits to Gaza Strip detainees within a month, and handing over the remains of 100 Palestinians buried at the “Numbers Graveyard” -- a graveyard that Israel repeatedly denied existed.During a press conference held on Monday evening at a protest tent installed in front of the Al-Biereh City Council, in Al-Biereh near the Central West Bank City of Ramallah, Qaraqe’ said that an agreement was reached between the detainees and the Israeli Prison Authority.The agreement states that detainees, held under administrative detention, will have their so-called “secret files” (that even defense attorneys do not have access to) examined by legal committees, and that, if Israel fails to provide “security information’ against them, they will not receive an extension to their administrative detention.The agreement also states that Israel will hand over the remains of 100 Palestinians buried at the “Numbers Graveyard”, a graveyard where bodies of fighters and certain political prisoners are buried. Israeli repeatedly denied the existence of thid graveyard.Qaraqe’ further stated that the Israel Prison Authority will improve the living conditions of the detainees, adding that Israel also a

#Nakba64 | Palestinians get prepared for Nakba Day anniversary

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:58:01 +0200

14-5-2012Source

What Thaer Halahleh's family told me about his release brings joy, but raises troubling questions

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:53:09 +0200

by Linah Alsaafin15-5-2012 Palestinians
hold a sit-in in front of the house of prisoner Thaer Halahle in the
West Bank village of Kharas near Hebron, on May 8, 2012. At around 1:30am Palestine local time I was lying on my side in my bed trying to sleep and doing my best to ignore the queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach as I thought about how the 64th commemoration of Nakba Day would pan out.My phone suddenly vibrated jarringly. I grabbed it and the name of the last person I expected to call me was flashing on the screen: Abu Thaer Halahleh, the father of Palestinian hunger striker Thaer Halahleh. I immediately answered.What I learned in the conversation was a cause for both joy, and serious concern about a pattern of pressure to isolate prisoners and coerce them into accepting deals.“Hello?”“Hello…is this Um Muhammad?”“No, this is her daughter. Is that Fathiya?”“Yes, it’s me, Thaer’s sister.”My heart stopped. I thought she had called to tell me Thaer had died. She cleared her throat. “I just want to tell you…I’m happy to tell you that Thaer has taken the decision to end his hunger strike in the morning.”My heart swelled. “Tell me more!” I almost shouted.“He will be released on 5 June after Israel signed a contract promising not to renew his detention… during that time he will receive medical aid to help his recuperation.” Fathiya was bubbling with happiness.“What about Bilal Thiab and the other hunger strikers?”“I’m not

Israel ontneemt kinderen in dorpje Jinba de mogelijkheid van het volgen van onderwijs

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:36:19 +0200

14-5-2012
Khirbet Jinba is een dorpje in het zuiden van het gouvernoraat Khalil
(Hebron), waar de bewoners als honderden jaren in grotten wonen. De Israelische autoriteiten hebben vorige week een auto in beslag genomen die Palestijnse onderwijzers vervoerde vanuit de plaats Yatta naar de basisschool in het 20 kilometer verderop gelegen dorpje Khirbet Jinba in de heuvels van Zuid-Hebron. De inbeslagname betekent dat de school, die een dependance was van de school in Yatta, ophoudt te bestaan. Pogingen van de onderwijzers de school per ezel te bereiken mislukte, de afstand was te groot. Het leger heeft trouwens ook een 'slooporder' voor het gebouwtje uitgevaardigd. De kinderen in Jinba hebben nu geen mogelijkheid meer onderwijs te volgen, meldt Haaretz.Het is niet de eerste keer dat het Israelische 'Burgerbestuur' tegen de schoolkinderen van Jinba optreedt. Enkele jaren geleden was er een overeenkomst met het verderop gelegen dorpje Al-Fakhit. De kinderen konden daar les krijgen in speciaal voor dat doel opgezette tenten. Maar daar kwam een eind aan toen het leger in 2009 de 'schoolbus', een pick-up truck die de kinderen van Jinba door de droge heuvels naar Al-Fkhit vervoerden, in beslag namen.

Het schoolgebouwtje van Jinba. Het bord vermeldt dat het gaat om een dependance van de school in Yatta.Zondag namen de militairen trouwens ook een een auto in beslag van een dierenarts van de Palestijnse Autoriteit die naar Jinba kwam om schapen in te enten. De maatrege

Confusion over reports of end to prisoner hunger strike

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:31:41 +0200

by Omar Rahman14-5-2012Contradictory rumors began to circulate Monday evening regarding an agreement purportedly reached between the representatives of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike and Israel. The deal was reportedly brokered by the Egyptian government, which played a pivotal role in the prisoner release deal signed between Hamas and Israel last year.Over 1,600 Palestinian prisoners have been on a collective hunger strike since April 17, and eight others have been on individual hunger strikes for much longer. Two prisoners, Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh, have gone without food for 77 days, the longest hunger strikes in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It was not immediately clear whether the deal meets the demand of the two for immediate release, or whether they have agreed to call off their strike. Other sources claimed that no such deal had been reached, and that reports to that effect constitute efforts by the Palestinian Authority to hijack the hunger strike.Sources had reported the two prisoners as very close to death. Both official Israeli and Palestinian sources revealed that they were worried that the death of a prisoner could spark widespread unrest in the occupied territories and that they were working hastily on a deal.It is still unclear what, if anything, has been agreed to at this point. The hunger strike movement—which has been popularly labeled the Battle of Empty Stomachs—is two-pronged: contesting the policy of administrative de

Visualizing Occupation: Freedom of movement

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:29:42 +0200

by Michal Vexler14-5-2012Whereas West Bank settlers can travel freely between Israel and the West Bank, Palestinian movement is governed by the Israeli security establishment. This illustration is the fourth in a series of infographics on the effect of the occupation on the Palestinian civilian population.
Source:Machsom Watch: Invisible prisoners—————————Michal Vexler is a designer and an activist. This work – a part of a series of infographics regarding the effect of the occupation on the Palestinian civilian population – is presented here with her permission.Source

Statement No. 7 of the Strike leadership

Mon, 14 May 2012 11:37:30 +0200

by The Central Committee of the Leadership of the Strike14-5-2012We have only two options: to achieve all of our demands, or to dieFree Palestinian people, masses of our nation, free people of the world….We have entered a stage of legendary and draining human struggle, where we face real danger which threatens our lives. We are now very close to martyrdom, which is more precious and one of the best options for us.We are now at the state of a great test of wills and we reject completely the attempts of the Prison Service management to force us to accept partial settlements in order to bring an end to this epic humanitarian struggle for justice. Here, we emphasize the following points:We have only two options to achieve all of the following.First, we swear not to go back without achieving our demands. We are waiting for martyrdom for the sake of our dignity, and we have prepared ourselves to confront our only two options – the victory of our humanity and our dignity, or our martyrdom without it.Second, we strongly and firmly swear that we will continue with our battle of the empty stomachs, whatever the costs may be, until we achieve the minimum of our demands, particularly the immediate end to the horror of solitary confinement and isolation, and to allow prisoners from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank who have been denied family visits to receive them, and to return prison conditions to their pre-2000 state.Third, we greatly appreciate the role of our great sister Egypt w

Day 76 of hunger strike: Diab sends will to family, Halahleh writes to daughter

Mon, 14 May 2012 08:58:26 +0200

13-5-2012Striking political prisoners Thaer Halahleh and Bilal Diab have contacted their families in the run-up to their 76th day of hunger strike, the longest in Palestinian prisoner history. Diab sent a will to his family whilst Halahleh wrote a letter to his two-year old daughter. Family home of Thaer Halahleh, currently on his 76th day of hunger strike (Photo: AIC)Diab, 27 years old, commenced his hunger strike on 29 February in protest of his administrative detention, in which no charges have been filed and the evidence on which his detention is based is confidential. Diab’s family, from the Jenin-area town of Kufr Rai, told Ma’an news that they received his will on Saturday detailing his wishes in case of death."On the 75th day of my hunger strike, I am still determined, patient and focused on continuing against conspiracies, threats and solitary confinement by the fascist Israeli prison administration," Diab wrote.Diab requested that freed hunger-striker Khader Adnan lower him into his grave and thanked all Palestinians, and Arab and Islamic nations for their support. Thaer Halahleh, also on his 76th day of hunger strike, recently sent a letter to his two-year old daughter, Lamar. A copy of the letter was received by the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs and translated by Jalal Najjar, Alresalah.ps:“My Beloved Lamar, forgive me because the occupation took me away from you, and took away from me the pleasure of witnessing my firstborn child that I

House support for Israel damages prospects for peace

Mon, 14 May 2012 08:54:46 +0200

by Josh Ruebner13-5-2012
Israeli soldiers with and Iron Dome system, Beersheba, Israel, 2011.
Congress proposed on Monday to give Israel in 2013, $680 million for
Iron Dome batteries. (Photo: UPI)By once again demonstrating Congress's bottomless cup of munificence for Israel, actions this week by the House of Representatives make painful across-the-board budget cuts more likely. U.S. taxpayers will be even more complicit than before in bankrolling Israel's nearly 45-year military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip. Additionally, the American "generosity" will shred whatever little credibility the United States has left in attempting to portray itself as an "honest broker" to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on an equitable basis. And urging new weapons systems for Israel could help facilitate an attack on Iran. On Monday, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense released its draft 2013 budget bill, which includes an eye-popping $949 million for the research, development, and procurement of anti-missile systems to benefit Israel, including $680 million to purchase additional Iron Dome batteries.The utility of the Iron Dome system, which is designed to intercept and destroy the crude, short-range projectiles fired by militants from the Gaza Strip, was demonstrated in March during an exchange of fire in which Israel killed 24 Palestinians and wounded 79. Iron Dome reportedly knocked down over 90 percent of

Israeli minister: Cut power supply to Gaza this summer

Mon, 14 May 2012 08:49:52 +0200

by Noam Sheizaf13-5-2012Faced with a power shortage for Israelis, the environment minister offers to cut the life-saving power Israel is selling to Gaza strip.Israel’s minister of environmental protection, Gilad Erdan (Likud), has demanded that the government stop supplying power to the Gaza Strip in order to prevent power failure in Israeli cities this summer. In an official letter addressed to all government ministers (below), Erdan notes that 4.5 percent of Israel’s power supply is sold to Gaza.Erdan writes (emphasis in the original): The State of Israel is preparing itself for a power shortage during the summer of 2012. In order to continue the steady supply of power, we [the government] are presented with a decision which details measures for the prevention of a power shortage. Before the government discusses this option, I ask you to add a condition which states that prior to placing any limit on the power supply to Israeli citizens, power supply to all foreign elements will stop, most notably to the terror authority of Hamas in Gaza.The collapse of the natural gas agreement between Egypt and Israel will probably lead to a power shortage in Israel – a temporary problem, which can be solved when Israel begins using its own huge natural gas resources in 2013. As a result, Israelis are likely to suffer a few hours of power shortage at the peak of this summer’s heat.The 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza already suffer 12 hours of blackout a day on a

Immediate and adequate healthcare needed for hunger strikers - World Health Organisation.

Mon, 14 May 2012 08:46:03 +0200

by Sean Mohan13-5-2012Israel has been urged to give quick and sustainable health care to Palestinian hunger strikers including their transfer to civilian hospitals.Some 1,600 Palestinian prisoners are currently refusing food in protest against solitary confinement, detention without charge and restrictions on family visits, education and various privileges.They have stated their concern regarding one of the strikers who is suffering from thalassemia a blood condition and has “refused his regular lifesaving blood transfusions in addition to food.The hunger strikers have gained international attention within Europe and the rest of the world. Two of the protestors Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahla marked their 73rd day without food on Friday however the Red Cross and various rights groups say that several prisoners who are also close to death.Some progress has been reported on some demands that the prisoners have asked for regarding visits from families but other issues regarding case by case reviews of solitary confinement have not been as fruitful. Source

Settlers chop down fruit trees belonging to villages north and south of Hebron

Mon, 14 May 2012 08:43:26 +0200

13-5-2012

In February of this year the settlers of settlement Havat Maon held a
march during which they entered the nearby village of Tuwani with an
escort of the army. The settlers, some of them armed, intimidated the
villagers and damaged some of the agricultural lands and trees.
The same settlers also regularly harass the children of Tuwani when
they walk to school. The Israeli army is therefor supposed to escort
the children. However, regularly the soldiers don't show up in time.Israeli settlers also cut down olive, almond and grape trees in Palestinian-owned land north of Beit Ummar, a town north of Hebron, on Sunday, a local activist said.Spokesman of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements, Mohammed Awad, told WAFA that Israeli settlers from the nearby settlement on Bat Ayin attacked the Palestinian land and destroyed fruitful trees belong to Hammad al-Salibi.Awad said this is the fifth attack targeting al-Salibi's land since the summer. On 12 March of this yearsettlers destroyed 150 of his olive trees, and the same month there was also an attack on the 67-year old Salibi himself and on his children. According to what Awad earlier said, Sunday's attack must be the 11th time Al-Salabi's land was the target of settlers from Bat Ayin.

During an earlier attack on farmer Al-Salibi's trees on 12 March 2012, the settlers from Bat Ayin left their signature on a rock. Source

Fuel Crisis Leaves Gaza's Fishermen Grounded

Sun, 13 May 2012 12:26:15 +0200

12-5-2012Abd al Moti stares vaguely from the deck of his fishing trawler moored in Gaza Harbour, just at the peak of the fishing season, as the fuel crisis has all but grounded the entire Palestinian fishing fleet."It's the first time in the 20 years that I've owned this trawler that you can find me on the dock," Abd al Moti says. "I should be out at sea with my men. Missing the fishing season is a disaster."The employer of 10 fishermen and captain of the boat, Abd al Moti has seen his income decline this season in what he describes as the worst fishing year he has ever experienced. Just like him, dozens of other fishermen are killing time at the harbour waiting for some good news, but fuel remains so scarce that they can't afford to switch on their engines."We don't even have gas to make tea here, so we're back to using firewood," the head of Gaza's fishermen's association, Mahmoud Al Asi Abu Hain, said.Abd Al Moti said he managed to recently buy 280 litres of fuel for his boat at a higher cost than usual, lasting him about half a dozen hours at sea. This week, no fuel for private sector sale entered Gaza, increasing the demand and putting the livelihood of farmers and fishermen at further risk."My trawler needs a lot of fuel to keep going but with the current fuel scarcity and the high prices on the black market it's impossible for us," he said. "If we could go up to 20 nautical miles, like other fishermen in the world, then I'd buy the higher priced fuel because the catch

Protests on behalf of prisoners sweep the West Bank

Sun, 13 May 2012 12:22:49 +0200

by Allison Deger12-5-2012Reaching a new height in protests supporting the 2,500 Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, thousands demonstrated in cities across the West Bank yesterday. Marches were held in Hebron, Kafr Qaddoum, Nablus, Nabi Saleh, Ni'lin, Ramallah, al-Walaja and outside of Ofer prison.
Protest tent, Nablus, May 11, 2012. (Photo: Ahmad Al-Bazz/ActiveStills)

Demonstrators at this week's Friday protest in Nabi Saleh carry signs in
support of hunger strikers, May 11, 2012. (Photo: International
communities against Israel)
For almost a full week activists have gathered daily outside of Ofer prison, a large West Bank facility known for warehousing political prisoners, and the site of military trials for administrative detainees. Today journalists on the ground reported the Israeli military shot tear gas canisters, rubber coated bullets, water cannons, and "skunk water" sprayed from a large tank, resulting in 31 injuries. Separately, demonstrators in Kafr Qaddoum said live ammunition was fired.
Protestors prepare to burn tires.

Palestinians demonstrate in al-Walaja, near Bethlehem, May 11, 2012.

Palestinian children holding hand-made sign, Nabi Saleh, May 11, 2012. By Ofer prison a "protester was hit now in head from tear gas canister," said Journalist Abir Kopty in a Tweet earlier yesterday. Kopty along with demonstrators Tweeted updates throughout the day, describing the array of crowd dispersal tactics used on the activists.In response prote

Boycott the boycott violators in the International Writer's Festival in Jerusalem

Sun, 13 May 2012 12:17:31 +0200

13-5-2012Taking a clear stand in support of the just Palestinian cause should be a top priority for engaged intellectuals all over the world. The General Union of Palestinian Writers salutes those who have chosen to boycott the upcoming International Writers' Festival in Jerusalem and condemns as shameful those who ignore the Palestinian call for boycott and will still participate in this event.Despite the repeated boycott appeals to international writers participating in the International Writer’s Festival (Mishkenot Sha’ananim), to be held in Jerusalem between 13–18 May 2012, and despite the fact that a number of them have heeded these appeals, some continue to ignore the boycott calls and insist on participating in this festival. The festival is planned to coincide with the celebration of the settler-colonial state of Israel’s 'independence day’, which coincides with the sixty-fourth commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe). Not only are some of these writers – who crossed the Palestinian picket line – like the American writer Tracy Chevalier and the Bosnian writer Aleksandar Hemon, still participating in this shameful festival, they have also asked the director of the Festival, Uri Dromi, to arrange for them to meet with 'local’ Palestinian writers in Ramallah, and to tour East Jerusalem to see the Palestinians. This Orientalist tendency to get acquainted with 'the locals’ as objects of colonial voyeurism, and through colonial intermedia

Arrested protesters tasered, beaten, threatened with rape

Sun, 13 May 2012 10:11:50 +0200

by Mairav Zonszein12-5-2012A demonstration in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike last week ended in the illegal arrest of 17 activists. The police violence they encountered in detention - which included threats of rape and the use of electroshock Taser guns – shows just what the authorities think of the basic right to human dignity and the freedom of expression and protest. Arrest in Ramle, May 3, 2012 (photo: Activestills)Last Thursday, May 3, 15 Israeli citizens – Palestinians and Jews (including one resident of Jerusalem) – as well as one American and one Canadian, were violently arrested after a demonstration outside the Ramle Prison in solidarity with Palestinian administrative detainees on hunger strike. Eight were arrested at the demonstration and then nine more outside the police station after the protest had ended. Adalah attorney Orna Kohn told +972 that even though the nine arrested at the police station were not within the parameters of the legal protest by the prison, “there were less than 50 people there, so it does not constitute illegal assembly anyway.”Besides there being no pretense for the arrests since it was a legal and nonviolent protest, the activists in custody were reportedly beaten, verbally abused, threatened with rape, shocked by Taser guns while handcuffed, and held in custody beyond the time alloted by the judge.Adalah, which is providing legal representation for all 17 activists, has filed a complaint with the

EU Ministers To Condemn Israeli Violations

Sun, 13 May 2012 09:59:18 +0200

by Saed Bannoura13-5-2012Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported that EU Foreign Ministers are expected to issue a condemnation targeting Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank, and the escalating attacks carried out by extremist settlers against the Palestinians and their property. Netanyahu’s Envoy meets Abbas in Ramallah.The 27 Ministers are also expected to demand Israel to lift its restrictions that are hindering constructions and economic development in Area “C” in the West Bank that falls under full Israeli control.The report, Haaretz said, details Israeli violations in the West Bank over the past several months, and denounces Israel for its expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank, and in occupied East Jerusalem.The report also denounces the increasing and escalating attacks carried out by extremist Israeli settlers, and calls on Israel to prosecute the assailants.On Saturday evening, Israeli envoy Yitzhak Molcho, met Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abba, in the central West Bank city of Ramallah and handed him a letter written by Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in response to a letter sent by Abbas on April 17 detailing the Palestinian vision to resuming peace talks.During the meeting that was also attended by Palestinian Chief Negotiator, Dr. Saeb Erekat, Abbas stressed on the importance of ending the suffering of the detainees by releasing them, especially those who have been imprisoned since before the Oslo peace agreement was signed in 1

Thaer Halahleh's letter to his daughter: 'My Beloved Lamar - Forgive me'

Sun, 13 May 2012 09:54:46 +0200

by Linah Alsaafin12-5-2012The Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs received a letter from hunger striking Palestinian prisoner Thaer Halahleh addressed to his two year old daughter Lamar, most likely passed on by one of Addameer’s lawyers Mona Neddad during her last visit to the Ramle prison hospital on Thursday, May 10.In the latest installation of prisoner profiles for Al-Akhbar English News, I wrote how Lamar who was born while Thaer was imprisoned only knows her father through pictures and posters.“A month later on July 19, Thaer became a father to baby Lamar but only got to meet her months later on October 9, the first visit allowed him since his last arrest and the only time his family were able to see him. Lamar is almost 2 years old now, and knows her father through pictures. She goes to sleep with a photo of her father tucked beneath her cheek. She is convinced that there is a wedding every day because of the solidarity tent set up outside the family home in the Hebron village of Kharaas. Her mother Shireen cries privately when Lamar insists on wearing a new dress every day.”Below is a translated version of Thaer’s letter, by Jalal Najjar:“My Beloved Lamar, forgive me because the occupation took me away from you, and took away from me the pleasure of witnessing my firstborn child that I have always prayed to God to see, to kiss, to be happy with. It is not your fault; this is our destiny as Palestinian people to have our lives and the lives of our children take

U.S. exhibit to display nonviolent struggle led by Palestinian women

Sat, 12 May 2012 09:28:14 +0200

11-5-2012Next month, the Palestinian non-violent resistance movement will take center stage at an art gallery in New Mexico. Mati Milstein, an Israeli photojournalist, has spent the last year documenting the activities of a group of women activists fighting the occupation. He discusses “Nesa’iyéh (a woman thing),” his exhibition of their struggle, as depicted through his lens.
How did you get involved in the project?I was in downtown Ramallah on March 15, 2011, photographing Palestinian demonstrations calling for unity between disparate political factions. I noticed that many of the protest leaders were, in fact, women. Though I did take note of this unusual fact, it initially remained filed somewhere in the back of my head. As the following weeks passed and I continued to photograph Palestinian protests in the West Bank, I realized I was seeing the same women – week after week – that I had seen at that protest in Ramallah.I began talking to them, trying to get a grasp of this new and unusual image (at least new and unusual to me) of women leading men in Palestinian street protests. Eventually described by the international media as the “March 15th” group, these women (together with their male colleagues) were a very loose coalition of like-minded individuals, non-violent in their strategy and totally independent in their political affiliations. In parallel with photographing their political actions, I also sat and listened to them, attempting to educate myse

The Wall, 10 years on / part 7: A village turned prison

Sat, 12 May 2012 09:21:39 +0200

by Haggai Matar11-5-2012There is no place quite like it in the entire West Bank. Residents of the village of Walajah petition the courts, demonstrate, initiate protest theater and music shows – yet still see the wall is expanding and surrounding them from all directions.
Project photography: Oren Ziv / ActivestillsThe last time I visited Walajah I left only in the late afternoon, around dusk. It was a Friday, and the car was going downhill towards the checkpoint into Jerusalem, a breathtaking view all around, when suddenly I saw tens of Palestinians carrying bags and walking in the opposite direction. At first I thought these might be workers returning home from the city, or a demonstration I had not been informed of, but I soon realized that this was a whole different matter: a little ways before the checkpoint I noticed an area on the hill slopes to my right, where tens of families were picnicking between old ruins and several lively fountains. The people I had seen walking up the road were simply families returning home from a day outdoors.Seeing the families relaxing, the children jumping into the fountains and the parents looking at Jerusalem stretching on the other side of the valley I remembered how within just a few months time – none of these people would be able to kick back in this little piece of heaven. Walajah is to be encircled by 360 degrees of the separation wall, and the slopes of this hill are to become a leisure park for residents of our capital city.

Obama's next evolution: Nakba remembrance outside White House next Tuesday

Sat, 12 May 2012 09:13:04 +0200

by Philip Weiss11-5-2012Sabeel, Code Pink, the Washington Report for Middle East Affairs, and several other organizations are sponsoring a Nakba remembrance outside the White House next week. The groups are hoping for 500 to attend so as to commemorate every village extirpated: In Their Name….. We Remember The NAKBA Come congregate with us…. 531 of us (1 for every village lost) for a memorial In front of the White House on May 15, 2012 6:30pm-Sunset We will be joined by local students on a Hunger Strike in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners. -Reading of Village Names -Testimonials of Survivors -Display of Antiquities from the Nakba…..Old Village Key, Diary -Mobile Art Exhibit – "Faces of Nakba" Mobile Slide Show of the Nabka – LED truck will circle the White House And… At Sunset….1 person, 1 candle, 1 village….. 531 candles lit in remembrance & hope with a reading of Mahmoud Darwish’s Poem "I Come From There" Sponsored by Ad Hoc Committee for Nakba 2012Source

Washington Urges Netanyahu To Push For Peace

Sat, 12 May 2012 09:07:58 +0200

by Sean Mohan11-5-2012With previous claims of unsettling his coalition government if he made gestures towards Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a call from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging him and his new coalition partners to advance peace talks.Coalition PartnersA senior U.S. State Department official confirmed that after being briefed on the main points of the coalition deal she welcomed a clause that the two parties would “advance a reasonable peace process.“ She said the United States is ready to support both sides in an effort to achieve a two state solution.Clinton reportedly told Netanyahu that after his ruling party, The Likud, signed an agreement with the Kadima Party, enabling it to join the coalition government, the expanded government has no reason to stall peace talks.Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported that, over the past three years, Netanyahu always stated that he cannot advance peace talks with the Palestinians as he fears the collapse of his coalition government.Clinton told Netanyahu that she was “pleased” about a clause in the new coalition that states that “the government will be supporting a responsible peace process”, and added that “The United States is willing to help Israel and the Palestinians in achieving the two-state solution”.The situation has been at stalemate for some time with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas still waiting on a reply to a letter he had sent previously to

In six West Bank towns, thousands rally in support of hunger striking prisoners

Sat, 12 May 2012 09:04:24 +0200

by Saed Bannoura12-5-2012Four protesters were wounded, and hundreds more suffered the effects of tear gas and chemical water sprayed by Israeli forces on non-violent prisoner solidarity protests in six West Bank villages on Friday.Protesters hold pictures of imprisoned loved ones (image by AIC - from April protest)One Palestinian was injured in the village of Aboud near Ramallah during clashes with stone-throwing youth and Israeli troops who attempted to prevent a nonviolent protest held in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners.Local sources said that Majed Barghouti 18 years old was hit with a rubber bullet in his eye. Barghouti was moved to the hospital for treatment in Ramallah and wound was described as serious.In the meantime, residents of the nearby village of Nabi Saleh, in addition to international supporters marched in solidarity with the prisoners after the Friday midday prayers. Israeli troops stopped the marchers at the entrance of the village and fired several rounds of tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and chemical water. Dozens were treated for the effects of gas inhalation and some of the nearby fields caught fire.Clashes erupted afterwards between stone throwing youth and Israeli soldiers who blocked all entrances of village and prevented the ambulance from entering the village to treat the wounded.In the nearby village of Bil'in, Israeli and International peace activists joined the villagers in their weekly anti-wall protest which was dedicated to the Pa

Palestijnse hongerstaker Thaer Halahleh heeft te horen gekregen dat hij nu elk moment kan sterven

Sat, 12 May 2012 09:01:46 +0200

11-5-2011Mona Neddaf, een advocaat van de mensenrechtenorganisatie Addameer, heeft donderdag een bezoek kunnen brengen aan vier Palestijnse hongerstakers die in de kliniek van de gevangenis van Ranleh verblijven.

Eén van de vier was Thaer Halahleh, die vandaag aan de 74ste dag van zijn hongerstaking bezig is.Volgens Neddaf is Thaer in acuut levensgevaar. De gevangenisarts heeft hem verteld dat hij elk moment kan sterven. Thaer weegt 55 kg, normaal woog hij ruim 80 kilo. Hij heeft een uitzonderlijk lage bloeddruk, en zijn temperatuur gaat op gevaarlijke manier op en neer. Hij geeft bloed over en heeft bloedende wangen en lippen. Volgens de gevangenisarts heeft hij een plaatselijke infectie in een deel van zijn lichaam. Thaer drinkt water, maar neemt geen vitaminen of mineralen. Neddaf rapporteerde dat hij weliswaar lichamelijk zwak is, maar mentaal onaangedaan. Hij zou donderdag bezoek krijgen van familie, maar de Israelische gevangenisdienst zette daar een streep door.Addameer meldt dat ook de gezondheid van Mohammed Taj, nu in de 55ste dag van zijn hongerstaking, eveneens ernstig in gevaar is. Addameer vreest verder voor de levens van Bilal Diab, die net als Thaer aan de 74ste dag van zijn hongerstaking bezig is, Hassan Safadi (de 68ste dag), Omar Abu Shalal, (de 66ste dag), en andere hongerstakers die in ernstige gezondheidsproblemen verkeren en wier situatie door de gevangenisautoriteiten niet voldoende ernstig wordt genomen.Advocate Neddal m

Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (03-09 May 2012)

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:05:13 +0200

Israeli
Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian
Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)OF use force to disperse peaceful protest organized by Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.11 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded. Dozens of civilians suffered from tear gas inhalation.A Palestinian child was wounded by IOF in a funeral procession in Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron.IOF conducted 64 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and a limited one into the Gaza Strip. IOF arrested 17 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, in the West Bank, and two others, including a child, in the Gaza Strip.IOF raided offices of the Palestinian People Party and the Public Committee against the Annexation Wall in Ramallah.IOF continued to attack Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip.Israeli gunboats fired at Palestinian fishing boats in the southern Gaza Strip 5 times.IOF arrested two fishermen in Gaza City.Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.IOF arrested 3 Palestinian civilians, including two children, at various checkpoints in the West Bank.IOF have continued efforts to create a Jewish demographic majority in East Jerusalem.IOF ordered evacuation of a Bedouin community to the northeast of Jerusalem.Two Palestinian families were notified to vacate their homes in favor of Israeli settlers.IOF forced resid

West Bank barrier threatens villagers' way of life

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:15:57 +0200

9-5-2012Israel is being urged to reroute its controversial West Bank barrier away from the lands of an ancient Palestinian village with a unique agricultural system. The BBC's Wyre Davies visited Battir, whose inhabitants fear their traditional way of life will disappear.In this part of the world, the supply and control of water is a major logistical and political issue. Yet the quaint village of Battir must be one of the luckiest and most blessed communities around - because Battir has water in abundance.For more than 2,000 years, seven natural springs have given life to the village and its fields. Children still play, almost incongruously, in an old Roman bath built centuries ago at the spot, in the middle of the village, where one of the springs emerges.The land is everything to us... Without our land we are nothing”The simple irrigation system used today is as it was in ancient times. Water is shared between Battir's eight main extended families. A simple system of manually diverting water via sluice gates means that fruit and vegetables from the small plots on the lower slopes are renowned for their freshness and quality.Built on the side of a steep hill just to the south of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, Battir also boasts land arranged as traditional terrace agriculture. But this is a system and a landscape that is under threat from Israel's controversial barrier.The exact route of this section of the barrier has yet to be finalised. But if, as thought, it is b

Lives of Palestinian detainees on hunger strike in danger

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:07:33 +0200

8-5-2012Geneva/Jerusalem (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is extremely concerned about the deteriorating health condition of six Palestinian detainees who have been on hunger strike for between 47 and 71 days. Interview with Elpida Papachatzi, head of the ICRC delegation's protection
department.The detainees, who are demanding that the Israeli authorities put an end to their administrative detention, are in imminent danger of dying. ICRC delegates and medical staff have been visiting them since their hunger strike began..Interview with Elpida Papachatzi, head of the ICRC delegation's protection department.So far, more than 1,600 detainees have been on hunger strike since 17 April. Their main demands are for a resumption of family visits from Gaza and for an end to solitary confinement in Israeli places of detention."We urge the detaining authorities to transfer all six detainees without delay to a suitable hospital so that their condition can be continuously monitored and so that they can receive specialized medical and nursing care," said Juan Pedro Schaerer, the head of the ICRC delegation in Israel and the occupied territories. "While we are in favour of any medical treatment that could benefit the detainees, we would like to point out that, under resolutions adopted by the World Medical Association, the detainees are entitled to freely choose whether to consent to be fed or to receive medical treatment. It is essential that their choice be

Right of Return key goes on tour

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:03:09 +0200

by Annie Robbins10-5-2012What a fantastic idea!Al Arabiya News A huge key that weighs approximately a ton and symbolizes the right of return for Palestinian refugees was transported from the Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem to the Berlin Biennale in Germany. The key, which is nine meters long and has inscriptions in several languages, started its journey in March when it was dismounted from its place on top of the camp gate. The steel key was made by Palestinian refugees at the Aida Social Youth Center in Bethlehem. For center manager Monther Amayra, displaying the key in Berlin gives Palestinians a chance to communicate their aspirations to the world. “This is an excellent opportunity for us as refugees and as the makers of the Right of Return Key,” he said. “It is a major event expected to receive more than two million visitors who will be acquainted with the demands of the Palestinian people, on top of which is the right of return.” The key is presented as "a symbol of peaceful resistance" while teaching Palestinian history. It has already been invited to tour other cities. Please bring the key to America! Of naar Nederland!!!Source

Palestinian children work for a pittance in Israel's settlements

Fri, 11 May 2012 08:57:06 +0200

by Jillian Kestler-D'Amours10-5-2012 Restrictions on building schools have had a particularly devastating impact on child development in the Jordan ValleyAL-FASAYIL, occupied West Bank (IPS) - “It’s tiring,” said 15-year-old Ibrahim, deep lines running across his forehead. “But there is no alternative.” Ibrahim has been working full-time for three years already.The eldest son in a family of ten children, he lives in the Palestinian village al-Fasayil in the occupied Jordan Valley, and is forced to work in the nearby Israeli settlement Tomer to help support his siblings. “I work from 6am to 1pm,” he said. “And I get 70 shekels [$18 dollars] per day.”Al-Fasayil residents say that more than a dozen youths from the village, all under the age of 18, are currently working in Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley. It is estimated that between 500 and 1,000 minors travel from other villages and cities throughout the West Bank to work in the area.Most child laborers in the Jordan Valley make between 50 and 70 shekels per day and are employed to pick, wash and package fruit and vegetables grown in local Israeli agricultural settlements. They work long hours in difficult weather conditions throughout the winter and summer months, and receive no benefits or insurance against injuries.“There are so few options in the Jordan Valley. Due to Israeli restrictions that are in place on economic and agricultural development, there’s nothing. Palestinians can either stay

Meridor: 'Palestinian State Will Never Be Established On 1967 Lines'

Fri, 11 May 2012 08:52:01 +0200

by Saed Bannoura11-5-2012Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, Dan Meridor, stated that the Palestinian state will never be established along the 1967 six-day war border, adding that there should be different maps, and certain compensations.Meridor stated that Israel will lose if it continues to build settlements in the occupied territories, and that it must use a reasonable policy with or without a peace agreement with the Palestinians.The deputy PM said that Israel should freeze all settlements construction in the West bank, but should continue to develop existing settlements.Talking to the “Times Of Israel”, Meridor stated that “Israel should not be building settlements all over the place”, as such a move harms Israel’s stance on the international level.He said that Israel’s international reputation is harmed when the Israeli government builds settlements everywhere, and tells the world that it is seeking peace with the Palestinians.Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Palestinian Liberation Organization are refusing to resume the peace process due to Israel’s ongoing violations, including its ongoing settlement construction and expansion in the West Bank, including in occupied East Jerusalem.Meridor affirmed that “a settlement freeze does not apply to East Jerusalem, and large settlement blocs in the West Bank that Israel wants to keep under any final-status peace agreement.He further stated that the current relative calm between Israel and the Palestini

Beautilful resistance

Fri, 11 May 2012 08:45:03 +0200

By Dr. Abdelfattah Abusrour11-5-2012Alrowwad Cultural and Theatre Center for Children in Aida Camp-Bethlehem. I was born Palestinian, and I don’t want to do anything to change this.I was born in a refugee camp, in my own country, and there is nothing I can do about it.I was born under occupation, and I will do everything possible or impossible to change this.The culture and history of nations is probably measured through what they show and what they are able to communicate to the rest of the world. Throughout history people have tried to communicate their life, culture, and environment using oral tradition, writing, drawing or painting on stones, leather, or paper, or by the creation of sculpture and monuments. In modern times, multimedia and the Internet have changed the form of expression and the capacity of that expression to reach the maximum number of people with little delay.Palestinians are no different from other people in their desire to share with the world their history and culture. Like many other people, they intend through their expressions to counter the images constructed of themselves, their culture, and their history. Zionist propaganda has promulgated numerous fictions and stereotypes about Palestinians and their history, such as the famous Zionist slogan, “A land without a people for a people without land.”It might be our fate to be always swinging between an occupation or custodianship or mandate or another occupation ... Perhaps this is the main

Report from the Palestinian prisoner hunger strike, and the movement growing to support it

Thu, 10 May 2012 09:30:55 +0200

by Adam Horowitz9-5-2012Physicians for Human Rights-Israel is holding an emergency fundraising drive to cover the work they're doing to support the prisoner hunger strike. From their website: Physicians for Human Rights-Israel is fighting for the medical rights of Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahala, among others, Palestinian administrative detainees in the advanced stages of a hunger strike. We are in urgent need of financial support. Following the submission of 16 court petitions on behalf of hunger strikers since January, PHR-Israel’s allotted legal funds for the year are now fully depleted. We are concerned that we will not be able to continue to defend the rights of of prisoners on hunger strike, nor take on any more of the scores of new cases we are currently monitoring.To learn more, see hereSource

The Wall,10 years on / part 6: What has the struggle achieved?

Thu, 10 May 2012 09:23:48 +0200

by Haggai Matar9-5-2012Commemorating 10 years since construction of the wall also means commemorating almost 10 years of the struggle against it, as described in the previous chapter. Just as we shall later examine what the wall has accomplished, one should also ask what exactly the struggle against it succeeded to do, especially as so many people paid such a high price for it, and as most of the wall is still off the Green Line.
The first and most obvious answer to this is simple: in many places uprising villages were able to change the route of the wall and gain part of their land back, either due to the security apparatus’ decision or due to a court ruling. But when one asks the prominent Palestinian activists what they think they had achieved one finds that their answers are much more principled. Some mention the creation of an un-armed alternative for the entire Palestinian struggle, and others stress the importance of links between Israelis and Palestinians forged in struggle and deeply shaking the political separation the wall tries to create. Some also speak of the international sympathy the demonstrations earn for the Palestinian cause. Although demonstrations have been going on for a decade – none of the activists ponder switching to armed resistance.Farmers overlooking construction work in Wadi a-Rasha (Activestills)“Showing the world that we are not the terrorists – but the victims of terror”“Ever since our struggle started the army’s response was b

Court prevents eviction of Palestinian family by JNF

Thu, 10 May 2012 09:13:44 +0200

by Mairav Zonszein9-5-2012After two decades of legal struggle, the Ruweidi family from Silwan has been granted recognition by the courts that they are indeed the rightful owners of their home. The decision rejects the Jewish National Fund’s claim that the home was property of the State of Israel.Moriel Rothman contributed to this report.The Ruweidi family outside their home in Silwan May 9, 2012 (Photo: Moriel Rothman)The Jerusalem District Court ruled in favor of the Ruweidi family from East Jerusalem last week (May 2), accepting the claim that their home is not “absentee property,” as the Jewish National Fund has sought to prove in court since the 1990′s. The Ruweidi family will thus be able to continue living in their home.The JNF, operating through its subsidiary organization Himnutah and together with the rightwing organization ELAD, claimed the Ruweidi’s home was legally seized by the state. During the proceedings it turned out that the confiscation was based on a declaration made in 1987 by a Palestinian man who has no connection to the family, and is suspected of falsifying similar claims in East Jerusalem on several occasions.Sameer abu Alaa al Ruweidi, Juma’a's nephew, expressed the family’s relief at the court’s decision: “This house was one of the first four houses in Wadi Hilweh, built by my great great great great grandfather. First of all, we give thanks to god. We also pray that the rest of the land that we own, which has be

In turnabout, Netanyahu urges ministers to find way to leave Ulpana intact

Thu, 10 May 2012 09:08:58 +0200

By Chaim Levinson 9-5-2012The political earthquake took the West Bank settlers by surprise - they expected the Likud primaries to work in their favor.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backtracked and asked ministers to consider crafting bills to prevent the demolition of the Ulpana neighborhood in the Beit El settlement.On Monday, the High Court of Justice gave the government 60 days to demolish houses in the neighborhood. In a surprise move early the next day, Netanyahu added Shaul Mofaz's Kadima party to his governing coalition.

Beit El’s Ulpana neighborhood.

Photo by: Olivier Fitoussi
Until recently, Netanyahu opposed bills on Ulpana because of the attorney general's opposition. But on Tuesday, Netanyahu discussed the matter with several ministers and asked them to "think" about it.Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein vehemently opposes legislation as a way to solve the illegal outposts crisis. He has been reluctant to request the High Court to further postpone the demolition of the neighborhood. But he capitulated and agreed to submit such a request, and the High Court insisted that the neighborhood be demolished by July 1.Bills on the matter have proposed that if the government built unknowingly on private Palestinian land, the owners will be compensated with land or cash. These bills would also set limits to avoid a massive takeover of land.The political earthquak

Time for a military coup in Israel?

Thu, 10 May 2012 09:02:42 +0200

by Alan Hart5-5-2012The mounting public criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by past and present members of the Zionist state’s defense and intelligence establishments triggered the recall of a comment made to me by one of its former Directors of Military Intelligence. The comment was: “If we had a government consisting of only former DMI’s, we’d have had peace with the Palestinians long ago.”I must confess (and do so cheerfully) that I can’t remember which of two former Israeli DMI’s said that to me. It was either General Chaim Herzog, one of the founding fathers of Israel’s Directorate of Military Intelligence who went on to become the Zionist state’s ambassador to the UN and then its president, or General Shlomo Gazit, the best and the brightest of them all. In private conversations with me both men were refreshingly honest.Herzog, for example, said the following to me on the second day of the June 1967 war: “If Nasser had not been stupid enough to give us a pretext for war, we would have created one in a year to 18 months.”But it was Gazit who hit the nail of truth most squarely and firmly on the head in one of our conversations.For about two decades he was the head of research at the Directorate of Military Intelligence. Then, in 1973, he was called upon to become DMI, with a brief to overhaul the agency to make sure there could never again be an intelligence failure of the kind that had occurred in the countdown to the Yom K

Settler group patrols West Bank for demolition targets

Thu, 10 May 2012 08:56:30 +0200

by Charlotte Alfred9-5-2012BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A tiny village of Palestinian families in the southern West Bank has had an unwelcome visitor in recent months.“He comes with small weapons and his camera, sometimes with armed forces, sometimes with settlers,” Susiya resident Nasser Nawaja says.The armed visitor is Ovad Arad, the Judea and Samaria Director of Regavim, an Israeli non-governmental organization.Arad’s job is to roam the West Bank photographing Palestinian buildings for the group’s legal petitions, which demand the Israeli government expedite their demolitions.Susiya, a hamlet of 350 people, including 120 children, is now at immediate risk of forced displacement as a result of Regavim’s petition, the United Nations humanitarian affairs office says.Arad is not a lone-ranger.The group he works for is run by residents of Israeli settlements and illegal outposts, with political connections to local government and the Likud and National Union parties.According to Israeli experts who reviewed the group’s official reports, the NGO is financed by publicly funded local councils of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. It received more than 2 million shekels ($550,000) of funding in 2010, the latest year for which figures are available.
Regavim says it is an independent non-profit, but its settler staff file legal cases to demolish Palestinian homes as retribution for measures against outposts, while supported by publically funded settle

Ramallah holds rally for jailed Palestinians

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:16:24 +0200

8-5-2012

The two men are among hundreds of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike to demand better conditions [AFP]

In a show of solidarity for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, hundreds of people have taken to the streets in the West Bank.Tuesday's protests in Ramallah come as a hunger strike by almost 2,000 prisoners enters its fourth week.The demonstration also came a day after Israel's supreme court rejected an appeal by two Palestinian prisoners who have refused food for over 70 days in protest at being held without charge.But in its decision, released by the justice ministry, the court said security authorities should consider freeing them for medical reasons.The two prisoners, Bilal Diab, 27, and Thaer Halahleh, 34, are also demanding better conditions and an end to detention without trial as part of one of the largest prison protests in years."The Supreme Court refused both appeals," Jamil Khatib, their lawyer, told AFP news agency on Monday of the prisoners' appeals against their administrative detention."Israeli courts do not handle administrative detention in a positive way. It shows that the intelligence services have the final word."They will continue their strike till the end," Khatib said.A ruling on the appeals was postponed after being lodged at Israel's highest court last Thursday, WAFA, the Palestinian News and Information Agency repor

ACT NOW - ISRAEL RAIDED THE OFFICE OF @STOPTHEWALL

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:12:15 +0200

8-5-2012In a pathetic attempt to silence those who rightfully act and
non-violently ‘fight’ for justice and human rights, Israel raided the
office of Stop The Wall. They also confiscated equipment and archive
documents and so violated private property as well as intellectual
rights.
Here’s a short impression of what happened as related by Stop the Wall on twitter:

stopthewall
@stopthewall

#StoptheWall offices raided by Israeli military and intelligence this night at 1:45 am. All computers and some archive docs confiscated.

8 May 12

ReplyRetweetFavorite

stopthewall
@stopthewall

#StoptheWall office raid is part of Israeli policy to confront all civil resistance with repression and brutality.

8 May 12

ReplyRetweetFavorite

stopthewall
@stopthewall

Spread news about #StoptheWall raid. Express support for StoptheWall's work in defense of Palestinian human rights. Full

Too many tears have been shed in Palestine; let us laugh again

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:03:17 +0200

by Yousef M. Aljamal8-5-2012Two Sundays ago, my mother moved from one home in Jericho, in the occupied West Bank, to another in Gaza. She said she felt sad and happy at the same time.

Eman, Huda (the author’s mother), Ruqia and Arwa with Omar. (Photo courtesy of the author)

After describing how she was treated roughly by a female Israeli soldier at Erez, the checkpoint on the Gaza-Israel boundary (the soldier had mastered the Arabic word for “not allowed” — mamnoua), my mother spoke of her relief. She left “the many checkpoints” and started looking for a driver to bring her and my youngest brother Omar to the West Bank, where she was born and spent her early years before marrying my dad in 1978.“When I left the last checkpoint, I didn’t know what to do. I was in a state of disbelief. We first headed to al-Maqased hospital [in Jerusalem], for one of the passengers was supposed to get medical attention there. I always feel dizzy when I get into cars for long hours, but I never felt dizzy that day for I was incredibly happy,” she recalled.“We crossed the road I used to cross each time I traveled to the West Bank,” she added. “Many things changed. We made it through Deir Yassin village [where Zionist forces committed a massacre in April 1948]. It was as if we Palestinians have to be reminded of massacres when we feel happy.”“After finally reaching al-Azariya checkpoint [in East Jerusalem], I waited for some time before I

Coalition deal's bright side: Days numbered for rotten government

Wed, 09 May 2012 08:57:28 +0200

by Dahlia Scheindlin8-5-2012The Israeli political system and the media were thrown into a frenzy by the unprecedented announcement that the early elections will be postponed following a coalition deal between Kadima – formerly known as the opposition – and Likud. Everyone is spitting mad: the talking heads have been cheated out of their favorite game; newbie Yair Lapid is like a child who was pushed out of the sandbox; Labor was basking in poll numbers that had it slated for second place, and is now left dazed and confused. The far-right faction of Likud has to get into bed with Kadima, which most Israelis view as a centrist party tilting slightly left.The morning media conversations obsessed about what a horrible move this was, perhaps anti-democratic, a dirty trick (“nauseating” was a favored description) and, insisted one veteran Knesset television reporter, it tramples the will of the people.I don’t trust the righteous anger on behalf of the people. The bitter accusations that this is a deal based on “personal interests” smack of bitter personal interests.There are actually various reasons why this probably a good thing – or at least no worse than the (now counterfactual) potential results of an election.1. The main towering advantage of postponing the elections until late 2013 is that it ensures only another year and a half of one of the worst governments Israel has ever had – a government that drove hundreds of thousands to the streets in economic desp

Geen Veolia in Den Haag!

Wed, 09 May 2012 08:48:55 +0200

Beste mensen, Op 23 mei a.s. besluit de
stadsregio Haaglanden, bestaande uit Den Haag en acht randgemeenten,
over de gunning van het grootstedelijke busvervoer. Eén van de
kandidaten is Veolia, een bedrijf dat betrokken is bij ernstige
schendingen van het internationaal recht op de Palestijnse Westbank en
in Oost-Jeruzalem. Zie hierover het gedetailleerde dossier van United
Civilians for Peace (UCP) en Een Ander Joods Geluid, via de bronnen
onderaan de pagina. Veolia wordt
inmiddels door gemeenten en instellingen in tal van Europese landen
geweerd. Het is de hoogste tijd dat Nederlandse instanties dat voorbeeld
resoluut gaan volgen. Het behoort de normaalste zaak van de wereld te
zijn dat geen zaken worden gedaan met volkenrechtelijk besmette
bedrijven – zéker voor de stad van vrede en recht die Den Haag wil zijn.
Dit zijn de momenten waarop Van Aartsen c.s. die status moeten
waarmaken – eigenlijk zonder dat wij ons daar zorgen om zouden hoeven
maken. Maar dat moeten we wél. Het is keihard
nodig dat zoveel mogelijk burgers zich hierover uitspreken, erover
publiceren, bloggen en/of anderen erop wijzen. Daartoe heeft UCP
accounts aangemaakt op Twitter en Facebook: https://twitter.com/#!/unitedcivilians/status/197676750606573568 en http://www.facebook.com/UnitedCiviliansforPeace. Ook
de 'decision makers' zélf moeten van ons horen tot ze het spuugzat
zijn. Ik stuurde hen onderstaande e-ma

US To Grant Israel $1 Billion For 'Iron Dome'

Wed, 09 May 2012 08:43:19 +0200

by Saed Bannoura8-5-2012The U.S. Congress decided to grant Israel one billion Dollars so that Tel Aviv can develop additional “Iron Dome” missile interception systems. The U.S. security budget mounts to $608 Billion.Archive Photo - Palestinian Family DisplacedU.S Congress member, member of the House Appropriates Defense Subcommittee, Steve Rothman (Democratic Party), issued a statement declaring; “I am proud to announce that $947 million has been appropriated to the iron dome, David Sling and Arrow for the coming year”.Rothman added that these defense systems will give Israel’s leaders the ability “to root out terrorists and carefully plan their next move”.He further stated that President Obama and members of the Appropriations Subcommittee realize what he called the importance advanced anti-missile technology “both to safeguard our citizens, and the troops of the Jewish State”.His usage of the term “Jewish State” likely comes to show Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his extremist coalition partners, that the U.S supports Israel’s demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish State. (The U.S did not officially ask the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish State, but a number of congress members, senators and officials, stated their approval of such a demand).The United States provides Israel with approximately $3.6 Billion of annual aid. This figure does not included hundreds of millions collected by lobbies, and direc

Monstercoalitie Netanyahu-Mofaz kan de weg banen voor een Israelische aanval op Iran

Wed, 09 May 2012 08:40:30 +0200

8-5-2012

Netanyahu en Mofaz tijdens hun gezamenlijke persconferentie. (Haaretz/Emil Salman) De vervroegde verkiezingen in Israël zijn van de baan. De Israëlische premier Benjamin Netanyahu heeft vandaag overeenstemming weten te bereiken over het uitbreiden van de regeringscoalitie met oppositiepartij Kadima, zo hebben beiden op een persconferentie bevestigd. Nog geen 48 uur eerder kwam de regering met een wetsontwerp voor vervroegde verkiezingen op 4 september, omdat in de coalitie de spanningen toenamen over de sloop van huizen in een 'illegale' uitbreiding van de nederzetting Beit El en de kwestie van de dienstplicht voor religieuze studenten (de Tal-wet). Nu heeft Netanyahu ineens een monstermeerderheid van 94 van de 120 Knessetzetels en is alles in één klap anders.Het smeden van deze coalitie getuigt van grote politieke slimheid. Netanyahu heeft handig gebruik gemaakt van de dramatische val in de peilingen van Kadima, waar de leider Tzippi Livni onlangs werd weggestemd en moest plaatsmaken voor ex-minister van Defensie Shaul Mofaz. Met de verbintenis met Netanyahu geeft Mofaz zijn partijgenoten in de Knesset wat meer respijt, en hemzelf ook wat meer tijd om zich waar te maken voor er weer gestemd wordt en Kadima onder de voet gelopen dreigt te worden door de oprukkende zoveelste gelukzoeker aan het Israelische politieke firmament, Yaïr Lapid. En Netanyahu krijgt door de toetreding van 28 Kadima-parlementariërs meer armslag om de situatie aan te pakken

#PalHunger | Palestinian hunger strikes: Media missing in action by Prof. Em. Richard Falk

Tue, 08 May 2012 09:40:41 +0200

by Richard Falk7-5-2012Is the mass Palestinian prisoner hunger strike the beginning of the Palestinian Spring?

‘The official Israeli response to Palestinian moves toward
political restraint and away from violence [has been to increase]
settlement expansion, extensive targeted killing… and a 50 per cent
increase in [arrests]‘ [GALLO/GETTY]

Santa Barbara, CA -Can anyone doubt that if there were more than 1,500 prisoners engaged in a hunger strike in any country in the world other than Palestine, the media in the West would be obsessed with the story? Such an obsession would, of course, be greatest if such a phenomenon were to occur in an adversary state such as Iran or China, but almost anywhere it would be featured news, that is, anywhere but Palestine. It would be highlighted day after day, and reported on from all angles, including the severe medical risks associated with such a lengthy refusal to take food, with respected doctors and human rights experts sharing their opinions.At this time there are two Palestinians who were the first to start this current wave of resistance to the practice of administrative detention, Thaer Halalheh and Bilal Diab, enduring their 70th day without food. Both men are reported by respected prisoner protection association, Addameer and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, to be in critical condition with their lives hanging in the balance. Examining doctors indicated recently that both detainees were reported to “s

New French president says boycott of Israeli goods 'illegal', but Paris court acquits more BDS activists

Tue, 08 May 2012 09:33:50 +0200

by Ali Abunimah7-5-2012French president-elect François Hollande has told a Jewish community publication that he opposes the boycott of Israeli goods, even apparently from Israeli settlements in occupied territories, and considers such boycotts “illegal.”Hollande also promised to visit Israel as president and echoed hardline Israel lobby rhetoric about Iran.His statements published Tribune Juive (Jewish Tribune) on 1 May contrast sharply with the decisions of French judges who on 3 May acquitted another group of French activists on charges related to calling for the boycott of Israeli goods.In a significant victory for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement in France, the criminal court near Paris ruled that it cannot be deemed “incitement to discrimination” to call for the boycott of a state, as opposed to a specific population group.On 6 May, Hollande defeated incumbent French President Nicholas Sarkozy, and will take office on 16 May.Hollande “totally opposed to the boycott of Israeli goods”Hollande’s comments came in an interview with Tribune Juive relevant sections of which I’ve translated: Tribune Juive: Jean-Luc Mélenchon [leader of the Left Party] calls for the boycott of Israeli products that come from “occupied” territories, which would ruin the Palestinians that grow or make them and goes against the law. Are you going to make an alliance with all the parties of the left in order to achieve victory? &n

Olmert: Right-wing Americans killed Mideast peace plan

Tue, 08 May 2012 09:26:49 +0200

by Paul Woodward5-5-2012

Sheldon Adelson on the Olmert government: 'This is an illegitimate government. It must be thrown out.'
CNN reports: In the explosive second part of his exclusive interview on Friday’s Amanpour, Ehud Olmert, former Israeli Prime Minister, said certain elements in the Jewish community in the United States had deliberately derailed the peace process. Olmert was speaking of the peace plan he proposed in 2008, when he was Prime Minister. Knowing the political risks, Olmert sought a “full comprehensive peace between us and the Palestinians” – a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. “It broke my heart, the most difficult decision of my life,” said Olmert, once the Mayor of Jerusalem. “Because for me to propose a division of Jerusalem was really terrible. I did it because I reached a conclusion that without which, there will not be peace.” “It was a killer for me,” he said. “It was a killer for me not only because of the opposition in Israel. I think that, by the way, in Israel the majority of the Israelis would have supported my plan, had it come for elections.” Then, he leveled his astonishing charge: “But I had to fight against superior powers, including millions and millions of dollars that were transferred from this country (the U.S.) by figures which were from the extreme right wing, that were aimed to topple me as Prime Minister of Israel. Th

Jewish National Fund resumes forestation project in al-Arakib

Tue, 08 May 2012 09:17:30 +0200

by Mairav Zonszein7-5-2012After having their homes destroyed by the State over 30 times in the last two years, the residents of al-Arakib can do little else but watch as a forest is built on the ruins of their homes. Children of al-Arakib watch as border police enter village (photo: Mairav Zonszein)The Jewish National Fund resumed cultivating land Monday morning in al-Arakib, an unrecognized Beduoin village in southern Israel which the quasi-governmental agency has earmarked for a large forestation project. A week ago, the families in the village got word that the JNF would return and asked for activists to come and support them.JNF equipment escorted by heavy police presdence showed up Monday morning and sealed off the entrance to the village. Families and activists watched from the village cemetery, the only spot that has been deemed untouchable due to its historic and emotional significance. Residents told +972 that JNF representatives gave their word in private conversations a couple of months ago that they would not plant on a specific plot of land - known as plot 24 – since it is the subject of an ongoing court case, however this morning they prepared this precise piece of land for cultivation.Since July 17, 2010, the village has been demolished by the Israel Lands Administration (ILA) more times than anyone can count, and each time the families have returned and built it up again to confirm their claim on the land. Despite remaining steadfast in the

Vervroegde verkiezingen Israël van de baan

Tue, 08 May 2012 09:11:24 +0200

door Lex Boon8-5-2012De vervroegde verkiezingen in Israël zijn van de baan. De Israëlische premier Benjamin Netanyahu heeft vandaag overeenstemming weten te bereiken over het uitbreiden van de regeringscoalitie met oppositiepartij Kadima. Dat heeft het kantoor van president Shimon Peres bevestigd, meldt persbureau AP. De huidige regering krijgt door de uitbreiding met Kadima een gematigder gezicht.Gisteren nog stelde de regering vervroegde verkiezingen voor op 4 september, ruim een jaar eerder dan volgens schema. Binnen de coalitie bestonden toenemende spanningen over diverse binnenlandse kwesties, zoals de invoering van militaire dienstplicht voor ultraorthodoxe studenten of het neerhalen van illegale bouwsels op de Westelijke Jordaanoever. Met de uitbreiding van de coalitie met Kadima moet de rust terugkeren en zijn vervroegde verkiezingen niet meer nodig.Kadima akkoord na uitstel militaire dienstplicht voor ultraorthodoxe jodenKadima heeft onder leiding van voormalig minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Tzipi Livni altijd geweigerd zich aan te sluiten bij de regeringscoalitie, omdat Livni van mening was dat Netanyahu niet serieus wilde praten over vrede met de Palestijnen. Livni is echter partijleider af en is opgevolgd door Shaul Mofaz, een voormalige legerchef en ex-minister van defensie.Mofaz ging akkoord met aansluiting bij de coalitie op voorwaarde dat de regering instemt met uitstel van militaire dienstplicht voor ultraorthodoxe joden. Mofaz wordt in de nieuwe regering

Israel's supreme court rejects appeal of hunger strikers Diab and Halahleh

Tue, 08 May 2012 09:08:46 +0200

7-5-2012

Israel's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by two Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in protest at being held without charge. The two prisoners, Bilal Diab, 27, and Thaer Halahleh, 34, have been on hunger strike for the past 70 days. Administrative detainees Bilal Diab, 27, from Jenin, and Thaer Halahla, 33, from Hebron -- are in a precarious condition after refusing food since Feb. 29, a doctor from Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said this week.Jamil Khatib, the lawyer of Diab and Halahleh, told the AFP news agency on Monday that the Supreme Court refused both appeals against their administrative detention. 'Israeli courts do not handle administrative detention in a positive way,' he said. 'It shows that the intelligence services have the final word. They will continue their strike till the end.'The human rights organization Addameer added that the Court in Thaer’s case recommended that since he has already spent nearly two years in administrative detention, the Israeli Security Service should investigate more in depth before extending his detention order to see if there are any possible alternatives to administrative detention. The Court further stated that if his detention order is extended, a more thorough interrogation should occur. The Court reiterated that these recommendations were irrespective of his hunger strike.In Bilal’s case, the Court also suggested that if his administrative detention order is renewed, and his health permits ex

Palestinian hunger strikers' appeal rejected

Mon, 07 May 2012 12:15:54 +0200

7-5-2012Israeli court rejects appeal by two Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in protest at being held without charge.Israel's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by two Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in protest at being held without charge, their lawyer has said.The two prisoners, Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh, have been on hunger strike for 70 days."The Supreme Court refused both appeals," Jamil Khatib told the AFP news agency on Monday of the prisoners' appeals against their administrative detention.A ruling on the appeals was postponed after being lodged at Israel's highest court last Thursday, WAFA, the Palestinian News and Information Agency reported last week.The two men are among hundreds of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike to demand better conditions and an end to detention without trial in one of the biggest prison protests in years.Ten Palestinian prisoners participating in the mass hunger strike were placed under medical supervision on Saturday as their conditions worsened, a spokeswoman for Israel's prison service previously said.At least 1,550 are taking part, although activists have said the figure is as high as 2,500 out of 4,600 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.Most of those participating began refusing food 19 days ago, but a smaller core have been striking for periods ranging from 40 to almost 70 days.Diab was moved to a civilian hospital last week. An independent doctor with Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I)said then that h

PalHunger | MUST READ | Israeli jailers punish Hamas hunger strikers in Negev prison

Mon, 07 May 2012 12:10:52 +0200

5-5-2012TULKAREM, (PIC)– Hamas prisoners in Negev jail said the Israeli jailers isolated six hunger strikers in solitary cells as a punitive measure.
In a leaked letter sent to the Palestinian information center (PIC) on Saturday, the hunger strikers said the administration of Negev jail confiscated all belongings of all hunger strikers, including their clothes and drinking utensils, and locked up six of them in isolation cells at the pretext of finding a small amount of salt in their possession.The letter noted that the hunger strikers were stripped naked in search for hidden salt.The jailers also closed section 9 and prevented Hamas administrative detainees from taking their usual break in the yard and threatened all other prisoners with punitive measures if any salt was found, with no regard to the bad medical conditions of some prisoners.“We have only two options, either to get back our rights and live in dignity inside the walls of jails until our liberation comes or to die and become martyrs in the hope that [such Israeli] crime can wake up the world,” the letter read.Source

3 juni Amsterdam lezing Baha Hilo

Mon, 07 May 2012 12:04:52 +0200

Stop de Bezetting organiseert een lezing door BAHA HILO, die coordinator is voor de Olijfbomencampagne – Keep hope alive, een campagne die erop gericht is de Palestijnse boeren, van wie het land onteigend en vernietigd dreigt te worden door de Israelische militairen en de settlers in de bezette West Bank, te ondersteunen.

De campagne moedigt mensen over ter wereld aan olijfbomen te sponsoren, te helpen met de oogst van de olijven in oktober en in februari met het planten van de olijfbomen.
Baha is 32 jaar oud en werkt sinds 2006 voor deze campagne. Bovendien werkt hij voor de YWCA. Baha woont en werkt in Beit Sahour, (Bethlehem). Hij zal komen vertellen over het werk van de Olijfbomencampagne, en ook over indringende feiten, zoals het verwoesten van de Palestijnse huizen en de steeds meer oprukkende muur, die het leven van de Palestijnen ondraaglijk maakt. Baha is een boeiende spreker en kan veel uitleggen over de situatie.
De lezing vindt plaats bij HTIB, Eerste Weteringplantsoen 2c, 1017 SJ Amsterdam (trams 4, 24, 7, 10 halte Weteringcircuit)
Er wordt waarschijnlijk ook een kleine workshop georganiseerd. Jullie zijn allen van harte welkom, de toegang is gratis.

DETAILS, PROGRAMMA EN AANVANGSTIJD VOLGEN Z.S.M. Houdt in ieder geval zondagmiddag de 3e juni vrij in jullie agenda!

Reacties naar:
Secretariaat.stopdebezetting@gmail.com
www.stopdebezetting.com

Lees ook: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/08/2011

Four brothers jailed by Israel for prisoner solidarity activism

Mon, 07 May 2012 09:00:08 +0200

by Asa Winstanley4-5-2012Late one night in March, Rami Halabi was working on a laptop at his family’s apartment home in Kufr Aqab, on the road between Ramallah and Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank. Suddenly, a group of Israeli soldiers banged on the door and demanded to be let in. They confiscated the iPhone his employer had lent him, and, despite the pleas of his mother, father and sister, they took Rami away to prison.This is a scene all too familiar for many Palestinian families living under the boot of Israeli occupation. But there is one difference for the Halabi family that night: all three of Rami’s brothers were already imprisoned by Israel.In a translated interview with The Electronic Intifada, their mother Samira recounted her plea to the soldiers not to part her from her last free son: “I went to hug my son, and I said, no, you’re not taking this one, you have three already, leave this one!”One of the soldiers took Samira and her husband Samir aside. “They took us to the room to preach at us,” Samira said. “While we were in the room, they took Rami. And his dad was next to him, and they didn’t let him say goodbye to his son … they were really obnoxious.”As the soldiers once again searched the home, Samira reached the end of her tether: “It’s still untidy [from last time],” she told them. “It’s my fault, I didn’t bring media to come and cover it and take photos.”Accused of solidarity activismRami has been held in Ofer prison on

Israel admits: Administrative detention unnecessary

Mon, 07 May 2012 08:55:02 +0200

By Michael Omer-Man5-5-2012Less than three weeks after at least 1,400 Palestinians in Israeli prisons launched a widespread hunger strike, Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch on Thursday made several astounding admissions regarding Israel’s use of administrative detention. In private meetings with security officials, Aharonovitch called for reducing Israel’s use of the practice, applying it “only if there is a need and not in all cases,” according to a Haaretz report.He was in effect admitting that the practice is being used even when it is not necessary, if one accepts that it is ever necessary. Furthermore he seemed to be conceding that Israel uses administrative detention instead of carrying out thorough criminal or intelligence investigations.In a presentation to Israel’s Defense Ministry, Justice Ministry, the IDF, Shin Bet and Prison Service, Aharonovitch recommended that authorities “exhaust investigations and evidence collections” in order to allow the application of criminal proceedings against Palestinian arrestees, a principle that shouldn’t need advocating in a democracy.The official public explanation of the use of administrative detention - the practice of arresting and holding persons without trial or informing them of what crimes they are suspected – is that doing so in open court could reveal sensitive intelligence collection methods and the identities of informants. Administrative detentions are usually secret orders for s

Palestinian Activists Remove Israeli Flags, Raise Palestinian Flags

Mon, 07 May 2012 08:48:50 +0200

by Saed Bannoura5-5-2012As part of a nonviolent activity to express solidarity with Palestinian detainees, holding an open-ended hunger-strike in Israeli prisons and detention centers, a group of Palestinian activists removed Israeli flags on a main road near Ramallah, and replaced them with Palestinian flags.Photo By Ibrahim BornatThe road in question links between the West Bank districts of Ramallah and Nablus. It is also used by Israeli settlers living in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.The activists stated that the Israeli flags should not be there because the area question is an important part of the Palestinian territories; therefore, Israeli flags must be replaced with Palestinian flags.“This is our moral, legal, human and national responsibility”, they said, “This is our land, occupation flags must be replaced with Palestinian flags”. Source

The Wall, 10 years on / part 5: A new way of resistance

Sun, 06 May 2012 12:42:11 +0200

by Haggai Matar5-5-2012Just as it is a story of suicide attacks, security, annexation, legal questions and political controversy – the story of the separation wall is also that of the popular, unarmed and joint struggle of Palestinians, Israelis and internationals against it. What started in September, 2002 as a small spontaneous action by a few farmers became the heart of Palestinian resistance to the occupation.
I guess it’s no coincidence that whenever I think of the beginning of the popular struggle against the wall I think of Gil Na’amati. The story of Na’amati, who was just out of the army after three years of serving as a combatant when he was shot in the knee by soldiers while trying to break open a gate in the fence in December 2003, was what drew my attention to the struggle. I was still in prison at the time, for my own refusal to enlist, and it was this story that led me to start reading about the new struggle I was missing on the outside.I guess it’s no coincidence, as even after having been involved in joint activism against the occupation before prison – something of the racism of Israeli political discourse stayed within me too. Like the demonstrators who yelled at the soldiers “don’t shoot – we’re Israelis,” like the soldiers themselves who usually use less violence towards Israelis and white solidarity activists, like the local media which is more easily shocked when a Jew is hurt during a demonstration (especially a former combatant

Israeli Soldiers Shoot Teargas and Rubber-Coated Bullets Following Funeral in Beit Ommar

Sun, 06 May 2012 12:27:32 +0200

5-5-2012Yesterday, May 4th, 2012, a demonstration took place in Beit Ommar following a funeral in the village. After the funeral, some children started throwing rocks at the army watchtower at the entrance of the village. Some Israeli settlers arrived with guns and started shooting in the air. Additional soldiers came and forced the residents of Beit Ommar back towards the center of the town. Soldiers then entered the village and fired rubber-coated bullets, teargas and sound bombs. The teargas was aimed at people’s homes, causing many problems for the residents.

As in much of Palestine and around the world, Beit Ommar residents have been demonstrating in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike who are risking their lives for their rights. Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh are on the 68th day of their hunger strikes, and their condition is very grave. They are both being held under administrative detention, and demand their right to a fair trial.Source

The Nakba never ceased

Sun, 06 May 2012 10:09:07 +0200

by Rana Baker5-5-2012He clicked his prayer beads shoving a heavy breath out of two enormous nostrils that, I imagined, tumbled over a thick mustache before joining the air. In fact, it looked more like a broom than a mustache. His voice was cluttered and laden with years. He is seventy one. I almost closed my eyes, taking in as much aura as my lungs allowed. It was a mixture of baked cookies, stench, and coffee.A young woman sneaked out of a clay-and-cement shack holding a tray of coffee close to her chest. She bent down and placed it on a plastic table in the middle of a circle of which I, Hajj Othman, a friend of mine and her father formed the contour.A few strands of hair slipped out the young woman’s yellowish headscarf and landed on her forehead. She raised two perfectly arched eyebrows as if summoning a thought from the air but instead of speaking, she lowered her eyes, and nervously pushed the strands back into the hijab.“Tfaddal, please help yourself” she finally broke the silence, serving the first cup to her grandfather, the Hajj.“The guests first, seedi, darling” the grandfather rumbled, tenderly tapping her shoulder.I never drink coffee except in funeral ceremonies where sugarless coffee becomes an arbitrary ritual; but her seemingly dim character and slight smile made me too vulnerable to reject anything. “Bless your hands, it is very well-made” I said, sipping the bitter liquid. “And your hands” she said, her face perking up.I was in a meter-wi

Urgent appeal for funds - help overturn the unjust court ruling against the Negev Bedouins

Sun, 06 May 2012 10:05:29 +0200

6-5-2012

The Bedouin village Al-Araqib was destroyed for the 37th time on 23 April 2012 (Ma'an)Adam Keller of the organisation Gush Shalom writes the following:After a legal struggle lasting three years, the Be'er Sheba District Court rejected the appeal of Nuri al-Okbi, veteran activist for the rights of the Negev Bedouins. El-Okbi's plea for recognition of ownership over the Al-Araqib lands, from which he and his family were evicted in 1951, was rejected out of hand by Judge Sarah Dovrat. The ruling has wide implications for Negev Bedouins in general, implying an overall denial of their rights over ancestral lands.After some deliberations, Nuri el-Okbi decided to appeal to the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, asking it to overturn this unfair ruling. In order to be eligible to lodge such an appeal, however, el-Okbi must pay no later than May 10 the punitive "court expenses" which had been imposed on him by the Be'er Sheba Court, as well as rendering various other legal fees – altogether amounting to the sum of 70,000 Shekels (about 20,000 US Dollars). This amount Nuri and his family – who have already spent considerable funds on ongoing legal procedures ever since 1973 – are unable to pay from their own resources.We therefore call upon you to provide an urgent donation and give Nuri el-Okbi a chance to try redressing a blatant miscarriage of justice.Checks should be sent to POB 1335, Kfar-Sava, Israel 44113 – payable to Yoav Haas or Ya'akov Manor (both of

Israel halts construction of wall after UN complaint

Sun, 06 May 2012 10:01:28 +0200

5-5-2012
Major-General Serra, head of UNIFIL, walks with
Lebanese army officer as they observe newly built wall being built on Israel
side along a 1km stretch in front Kfar Kila village in southern Lebanon (Photo:
Reuters – Ali Hashisho)Israeli forces on Saturday paused the construction of a wall being built near the Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after the Lebanese army claimed the wall was inside Lebanese territory, the National News Agency reported.Israeli troops violated the Blue Line, the UN drawn demarcation separating Lebanon and historic Palestine, by about 65 centimeters on Thursday as they were building the six-meter-high wall, the army said.Israel had previously claimed the wall would be built only on its side of the Blue Line and would not infringe on Lebanese territory.Major General Paolo Serra, commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), condemned the move as "a blatant violation" of Lebanese sovereignty.The UN has the right to require Israel to reroute the wall accordingly or stop work on it in such instances.Andrea Tenenti, spokesman for UNIFIL, would not speculate on how when construction would continue."The force commander is fully engaged with the parties, for the moment UNIFIL force commander and the parties are talking in order to resolve the issue," he told Al-Akhbar.Israel began construction of the wall last Monday, erecting four-meter-high concrete blocks complete with barbed wire fencing.Israel says the barrier is need

Time for change

Sun, 06 May 2012 09:58:43 +0200

by Mazin Qumsiyah5-5-2012Palestinian political prisoners illegally held in Israeli jails are on hunger strike and some are near death. The population of strikers includes 200 child prisoners, 27 Palestinian legislative council members, and 456 prisoners from Gaza who have not been allowed family visits since 2007 [1]. Meanwhile, colonization continued a relentless pace. Ramzy Baroud and Jeff Halper argue that Israel is “fixing” the outcome and is an “end-game” scenario to take over most of the West Bank and leave us in small cantons [2]. Yet, judging from my research into the carefully planned Zionist project, such plans are not end games but mileposts to give the Zionists time to consolidate gains in preparation for the next round of expansion in precisely the way Ben Gurion described it to his son in 1937. Ben Gurion explained lucidly how the new state of Israel when established on part of the coveted land would be a base of steady expansion and growth in the future with or without agreement from “Arabs” [3]. I pondered how little has changed in the intervening 75 years. Colonial Israel continues to push the envelope and expand with or without agreement from compliant “Arabs”. Compliant Arabs existed in 1937 (headed by Ragheb Al-Nashashibi) and existed in 1967 and in 2012. There also existed intellectual and honest Arabs throughout our history.Zionist colonization is not driven by emotion or haphazard action. It is d

Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (26 April - 02 May 2012)

Sat, 05 May 2012 12:30:22 +0200

Continued construction works in “Migron”
settlement outpost near RamallahIsraeli
Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian
Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)IOF use force to disperse peaceful protest organized by Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.10 Palestinian civilians were wounded. Dozens of civilians suffered from tear gas inhalation.IOF opened fire at Palestinian communities in the Gaza Strip.Two Palestinian civilians were wounded.Some areas of agricultural land in the southern Gaza Strip were burnt.IOF conducted 60 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 9 limited ones into the Gaza Strip. IOF arrested 29 Palestinian civilians, including 4 children, in the West Bank.IOF continued to attack Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip.IOF arrested 6 fishers, including a child, and confiscated their boat.Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.IOF arrested two Palestinian civilians at various checkpoints in the West Bank.IOF have continued efforts to create a Jewish demographic majority in East Jerusalem.Israeli occupation authorities plan to establish hotels in “Givat Hamatos” settlement neighborhood in Jerusalem.Israeli occupation authorities ordered the demolition of 7 houses in al-Bustan quarter in Silwan village to the south of the old town of Jerusalem.IOF have continued settlement activiti

Strange stage of an issue

Sat, 05 May 2012 09:29:36 +0200

by Daoud Kuttab 3-5-2012The Palestinian conflict is going through one of its strangest stages these days. So much is going against Palestine, yet so much is going for it.Israel was never as arrogant in its treatment of Palestinians and its expansionist policy, and the US government as well as the international community seem inept.Yet, despite Israel's arrogance, support for Palestinians at so many levels has never been as high.On the ground in Palestine, Israel is ignoring the basic demands of thousands of hunger striking Palestinians. Prisoners are demanding basic rights as simple as family visits, obtaining books and an end to administrative detentions. Two Palestinians held without trial or charge are in their second month of hunger strike, putting their lives in real danger.Last week, Israel authorised retroactively three Jewish settlements that were built not only in violation of international law (like all settlements) but in violation of Israel's own policies. The Israeli government legalised what it considers illegal outposts at the same time that it is trying to dodge orders from its high court demanding that it evacuate housing units built on private Palestinian lands near the Jewish settlement of Beit El.Israeli hasbara (propaganda) machine has, of course, been busy painting Palestinians as anti-peace because of their refusal to negotiate if settlement activities are not suspended. And even though Palestinian negotiators quietly dropped the demand that talks resta

PHOTOS: Growing solidarity in Gaza for prisoners' hunger strike

Sat, 05 May 2012 09:24:22 +0200

by Joe Catron2-5-2012
As
the number of Palestinian detainees on hunger strike in Israeli prisons
reaches 2,500, the local center for their support has moved from the
traditional protest tent outside Gaza’s International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) to a much larger tent in Unknown Soldier’s Square
(al-Jundi).

(Photo: Joe Catron)

(Photo: Joe Catron)

(Photo: Joe Catron)

Al-Jundi’s
greater size offers more room for a range of activities in solidarity
with the prisoners’ movement, including the creation and display of
banners, murals, and other public art.

(Photo: Joe Catron)

(Photo: Joe Catron)

(Photo: Joe Catron)

(Photo: Joe Catron)

Both
al-Jundi and the ICRC are full of activity this week, with multiple
events, including sit-ins, rallies, marches, and vigils, in support of
the hunger strike occurring every day.

(Photo: Joe Catron)

(Photo: Joe Catron)

(Photo: Joe Catron)

(Photo: Joe Catron)

(Photo: Joe Catron)
Participants
include every sector of Palestinian society, with detainees’ families,
former prisoners, political figures, and university students among those
most strongly represented.

(Photo: Joe Catron)

(Photo: Joe Catron)

(Photo: Joe Catron)

(Photo: Joe Catron)

(Photo: Joe Catron)

(Photo: Joe Catron)

(Photo: Joe

From Ofer to Ramle: Impressions of protests across the Green Line

Sat, 05 May 2012 09:17:29 +0200

by Omar Rahman4-5-2012From the River to the Sea, Palestinians are prevented from protesting freely for their rights.Yesterday, I attended my first Palestinian demonstration across the Green Line, in front of Ramle Prison. Having been to many protests in the West Bank I was eager to assess the differences between the two events and how the Israeli authorities respond to each.

The day before, I had attended a demonstration in front of Ofer Prison near Ramallah. Both events were in support of the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails, and therefore, relatively parallel.In the occupied West Bank, peaceable assembly by Palestinians is prohibited unless authorized by the Israeli military, which does not happen. Thus, any form of collective protest is dealt with harshly by the Israeli military, leaving Palestinians with no outlet for releasing public frustration or protesting for their basic rights.On Wednesday, Palestinian demonstrators once again tried to reach Ofer prison in order to show their support for the approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners now on hunger strike in what has been billed the “Battle of Empty Stomachs.” Yet before the protest could even begin, the Israeli soldiers assembled on the road that leads to the prison began firing endless volleys of teargas canisters and excessive amounts of plastic-coated steel bullets.
I was nearly hit by these so-called “rubber” bullets on several
occasions during the protest, even when I had m

Detainee In Solitary Confinement For 10 Years

Sat, 05 May 2012 09:08:41 +0200

by Saed Bannoura4-5-2012Mahmoud Issa is a Palestinian political prisoner who has been in prison since 1993 and in solitary confinement for the last 10 years. He is allowed only half-hour visits from his family while in February a judge denied Issa’s 75-year-old mother the right to visit him. Israel claims she is a “security risk”.
Mahmoud Issa, from Anata town north east of Jerusalem, has been imprisoned by Israel since 1993. He was sentenced by an Israeli military court to three life-terms, on the grounds that he participated in the abduction and killing of an Israeli soldier identified as Nissim Toledano, and that he attempted to kill two other Israeli soldiers.A report by Israeli daily, Haaretz, revealed that the ruling was based on what the judge called “secret material” and information submitted by Israeli Internal Security (Shin Bet).Issa’s family stated that he has been kept in solitary confinement for all these years as an act of punishment.His sister stated that it is unbelievable that Israel considers his 75 year-old mother a security risk despite her sickness, old age and partial deafness.She added that even when they are allowed to visit Issa they do not have any body contact because of the glass barrier that separates them during visits, and they can only speak to him through an internal phone monitored by the guards, Haaretz reported.Israel claims it has not received visitation requests from Issa’s mother or family, and tha

Palestijnse mensenrechtenorganisaties vragen om interventie ten gunste van hongerstakers

Sat, 05 May 2012 09:05:19 +0200

4-5-2012

Demonstratie in solidariteit met de hongerstakers bij de Ofer gevangenis op 2 mei 2012.De Palestijnse Raad van Mensenrechtenorganisaties, waarin 11 mensenrechtenorganisaties in de bezette gebieden samenwerken, heeft donderdag zijn grote bezorgdheid geuit over de serie collectieve strafmaatregelen die de Israelische gevangenisautoriteit heeft genomen tegen het grote aantal hongerstakers in de Israelische gevangenissen. Ook is de Raad uitermate bezorgd voor de levens van Bilal Dhiab en Thaer Halahleh, die hun staking op 29 februari begonnen en dus vandaag (vrijdag) bezig zijn aan de 67ste dag. De gezondheidssituatie van beide mannen is kritiek en aan beiden is het recht ontzegd om zich onder behandeling van onafhankelijke artsen te stellen. Beiden staan bloot aan grote druk van de gevangenisartsen en de leiding van de gevangenis om hun staking op te geven, zo heeft Thaer laten weten, maar allebei zijn ze vastbesloten om door te gaan tot ze worden vrijgelaten.De PCHRO deed een beroep op het Europese parlement, de Verenigde Naties en het Rode Kruis om bij Israel tussenbeide te komen om de levens van Bilal en Thaer te redden. Ook vraagt de Raad om druk uit te oefenen op Israel teneinde onafhankelijke artsen bij de gevangenen toe te laten, een einde te maken aan de praktijk van administratieve hechtenis en de behandeling van gevangenen te laten plaatsvinden volgens internationaal erkende normen. De Raad doet een beroep op het Europarlement om e

'We've gone way beyond Apartheid'

Sat, 05 May 2012 08:58:45 +0200

by Frank Barat2-5-2012Peace activist Jeff Halper speculates that Israel may annex Area C - with the consent of the Palestinian Authority.

'We've gone beyond the occupation. The Palestinians have been pacified', says Jeff Halper [GALLO/GETTY]

I caught up with Jeff Halper, long time Israeli peace activist, director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and author of numerous books, while he was on a European speaking tour. Here is what he had to say about the situation in Palestine/Israel:Frank Barat: I'd like to start by talking about what's happening in Jerusalem. When I came in 2007, you took us to Silwan, explaining the huge house demolition plan the Israeli government had in mind, telling us that thanks to the efforts of many and including an intervention by the US, the demolitions didn't happen. Today, nonetheless, it looks like the demolitions will take place. Could you give us an update on this, and also give us a broader view of what people now often refer to as the 'ethnic cleansing' of Jerusalem?Jeff Halper: Well let me give you a broader picture about the whole thing and then we can go back and put it into context. I think what's coming down the pipeline is that Israel today has basically finished this. We've gone beyond the occupation. The Palestinians have been pacified and from Israel's point of view the whole conflict, th

Qalqilya District: an inhumane situation established by the Israeli authority

Fri, 04 May 2012 07:56:51 +0200

2-5-2012The family of Al Shour live an almost unimaginable life full of degrading Israeli regulations in the Qalqiliya governate. Their village of Arab Ramadin is namely located in Area C and since the establishment of the wall has been totally isolated. The family lives in exile on their own land.Photo by Dylan CollinsOne of the outcomes of the 1993 Oslo accords was a temporary administrative division of the West Bank into three zones; Areas A, B and C. Area A is under full civil and security control by the Palestinian authority. This area includes the major Palestinian villages and Israeli citizens are prohibited to enter this area. Area B includes rural communities which are under Palestinian civil control and joint Israeli-Palestinian security control.Israel has full civil and security control over Area C. This area encompasses approximately 62% of the West Bank. Area C includes all Israeli settlements, land in the vicinity of these settlements, and most roads which connect the settlements as well as strategic areas called ‘security zones’. Area C is home to at least 150,000 Palestinians and roughly 320,00 illegal Israeli settlers.The division of these three zones and the presence of the Apartheid Wall has created extraordinary inhumane situations. In the Qalqilya governate the Israeli authorities makes the ability of leading a normal life impossible, as part of their policy to to make the Palestinians leave and to confiscate more land.Photo by Silvia BoariniThe

Increase of inhumane punishment by IPS for thousands of Palestinians classified as security prisoners in 2011

Fri, 04 May 2012 07:50:35 +0200

3-5-20124,275 security prisoners are Palestinians from the OPT… fourteen security prisoners are Jewish.

[Prisoners in jail in Israel. Image from Physicians for Human Rights – Israel]
According to data that the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) provided to Adalah in a letter on 28 February 2012, there were 19,561 prisoners in detention facilities managed by the IPS, 4,631 of them were classified as "security prisoners." 4,275 of the security prisoners were Palestinians who are living in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, 340 are Palestinians citizens of Israeli, two were from the Golan Heights, and fourteen were Jewish security prisoners. From the Palestinian prisoners classified as security prisoners who are from the West Bank and Gaza, 533 have life sentences. According to data and reports provided by human rights organizations, Israel holds about 320 Palestinians from the West Bank in administrative detention according to Adameer. In prisons under the responsibility of IPS, 1,355 Palestinian prisoners who were convicted for illegal presence in Israel are classified as security prisoners.[Source: Israeli Prison Services, Updated February 2012]

Security prisoners are held under much harsher and more severe detention conditions than criminal prisoners, including prisoners detained for the same offenses who were classified as criminal prisoners by IPS.The Supreme Court ruled that IPS is authorized to define security and criminal prisoners itself, and to take specia

Ameer Makhoul: still shaking the foundations of Israeli apartheid after 2 years in jail

Fri, 04 May 2012 07:41:19 +0200

by Jillian Kestler-d'Amours3-5-2012Two years ago, Janan Abdu’s life changed forever.

Janan Abdu with an Ameer Makhoul campaign poster.“It’s not [just] one issue, the political prisoners; it became our life,” said Abdu, a prominent Palestinian human rights activist, mother of two daughters and wife of Ameer Makhoul, a Palestinian community leader serving a nine-year sentence in an Israeli prison.“It’s so hard because you live it every day. You live the pain, but you live the struggle. I don’t have any choices. I don’t have two or three choices. The one, only choice that I have is to struggle and to continue,” Abdu said.This weekend (6 May) marks the two-year anniversary of Makhoul’s arrest. Makhoul was the director of Ittijah, the Union of Arab Community-Based Associations, a network for Palestinian organizations in Israel.Sixteen agents of the Israeli internal security agency, also known as the Shin Bet or Shabak, arrested Makhoul during a 3am raid on his Haifa home in 2010. They confiscated his family’s computers, cell phones and many personal effects, and proceeded to search the Ittijah offices.“It was a traumatic arrest for [myself] and for my daughters. [They spent] two weeks not seeing their father. I lost my two parents during the month of [Ameer’s] jailing and I wasn’t able to even see Ameer or hug him. My daughter graduated from school without her father beside her. When you speak about the personal level, it’s so hard

Army Hands Former Military Base To Settlers

Fri, 04 May 2012 07:34:38 +0200

by Saed Bannoura4-5-2012Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported Thursday that the Israeli army handed an abandoned military base in the occupied West Bank to a nearby settlement council to be used by the settlers. The base, near the southern West bank city of Hebron, was formerly used as a training center for Army Engineering Corps; it was evacuated more than 10 years ago.File - Photo By IMEMCSettlers of the so-called “South Hebron Hills Regional Council of Settlements” started remodeling the base before the army handed it to them, and even began building a concrete wall around it.The settlers have been trying to take control over the former base the day the army left it, and said that “they fear the Palestinians could take control over it”.According to Haaretz, Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, approved in August of 2010 a request by the South Hebron Hills Regional Council of Settlements, allowing them to take over the former military base, and even granted the settlers an official license to use it.The so-called Civil Administration, run by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank, signed a contract in January 2011, granting the settlers an approval to make use of the former base until 2016.Israeli Peace Now movement stated that this agreement between the soldiers and the settlers is just part of an ongoing habit in which the army seizes West Bank Palestinian lands, citing security concerns, and then hands them to the settlers.The army said that the license that was

Gravely ill Palestinian hunger striker faints in court as Israeli judges sentence him to slow death

Fri, 04 May 2012 07:30:54 +0200

by Ali Abunimah3-5-2012Two days after doctors warned that hunger strikers Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh are at immediate risk of death, and being denied necessary medical treatment, the Israeli high court has once again delayed action on an appeal against their prolonged detention without charge or trial.

Palestinian protesters hold up banners and portraits of a prisoners jailed in
Israel,during a rally in solidarity with prisoners in Israeli jails, in the West
Bank city of Ramallah, April 30, 2012Prisoner’s rights group Addameer, whose lawyer observed the Israeli court session today, posted an update on Facebook:No decision was made in today’s Israeli High Court hearing regarding the administrative detention of Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh, currently on their 66th day of hunger strike. Both Bilal and Thaer were brought to the hearing and attended in wheelchairs. During the hearing, Bilal fainted and there were no doctors present inside the court. Thaer testified to the mistreatment he has suffered since his arrest. Judge Amnon Rubenstein announced that the panel of judges would make a decision after reviewing the “secret file”, but after the review there was still no decision. He said that the parties will be informed of the decision later on, without stating when.Given the gravity of the two men’s situation, any delay by Israeli authorities is tantamount to a slow death sentence.More than 2,000 Palestinian prisoners have been on hunger strike since 17 Apri

For Israel, punishing Palestinians is not enough

Thu, 03 May 2012 09:47:42 +0200

by Amira Hass3-5-2012An ongoing hunger strike by nearly 2,000 Palestinian inmates stands as a reminder of their humanity, but Israelis are more interested in revenge.In faraway, frozen Finland - otherwise known as the infirmary of Ramle Prison - the lives of four detainees who have been on a hunger strike for at least 60 days hang in the balance. Nearly 2,000 inmates in the Nafha, Ashkelon, Gilboa and other prisons around Israel have been on hunger strike for two weeks. The very fact of their decision to refuse food and their willingness to risk being punished by the authorities stands as a reminder of their humanity.The Israel Prison Service does not have to make much of an effort to conceal this mass action from Israeli eyes. The great majority of Israelis label all incarcerated Palestinians as conscienceless murderers or common terrorists, at the least. They have little interest in acts of personal or collective courage on the part of Palestinian detainees that serve as reminders that they are human beings.Administrative detainees have been held without trial for years under emergency regulations inspired by the British Mandate. It's not important. Hundreds of prisoners from the Gaza Strip haven't seen their families for six or more years. Why should anyone care?When Gilad Shalit was in captivity in Gaza, the cancelation of visits for Gazan prisoners in Israel was presented as "proportionate pressure." After his release, Israelis don't care that this sort of proportionalit

UN Official Appalled by Israeli Violations against Palestinian Prisoners

Thu, 03 May 2012 09:44:44 +0200

3-5-2012GENEVA, May 2, 2012 (WAFA) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory, Richard Falk, said he was appalled by the “continuing human rights violations in Israeli prisons,” amid a massive wave of hunger strikes by Palestinian prisoners, according to a statement released on Monday.Folk described the hunger strike as extraordinary act of collective nonviolent resistance to abusive conditions connected to Israel’s prolonged occupation of Palestinian territory, including unjust arrest procedures, arbitrary detention and bad prison conditions.“I am appalled by the continuing human rights violations in Israeli prisons and I urge the Government of Israel to respect its international human rights obligations towards all Palestinian prisoners,” Falk said.“Israel must treat those prisoners on hunger strike in accordance with international standards, including by allowing the detainees visits from their family members,” said the statement.Prison authorities have reportedly taken punitive measures against those on hunger strike, including denying them family and lawyer visits, confiscating their personal belongings and placing them in solitary confinement, added Folk.He noted that since the 1967 war, estimated 750,000 Palestinians including 23,000 women and 25,000 children have gone through detention in Israeli jails, which constitutes approximately 20% of the total Palestinian population in the occupied Pale

Undercover Forces Kidnap Three Children In Jerusalem

Thu, 03 May 2012 09:41:40 +0200

by Saed Bannoura3-5-2012At dawn on Wednesday undercover forces of the Israeli army kidnapped two children, ages 14 and 10, in Silwan town, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied East Jerusalem. On Tuesday, the undercover forces kidnapped a 12-year-old child in Ath-Thoury neighborhood in Silwan.File - Radio Bethlehem 2000The two children who were kidnapped on Wednesday at dawn were identified as Hani Sarhan, 14, and Taha Sarhan, 10.On Tuesday, Israeli soldiers kidnapped Adnan Al-Joulani, 12, from Ath-Thoury neighborhood, and took him to an Israeli Police Center in Talpiot area.The Al-Joulani family stated that their son was picnicking with his friends in the meadows of the Jabal Al-Mukabber area in East Jerusalem, and was kidnapped while on his way back home. His brother, Shadi, stated that the police claimed Adnan was carrying stones in his hands when he was kidnapped, but the family denied the Israeli claims and stated that what their son carried was a football. The Police interrogated Al-Joulani for several hours and released him on 500 NIS bail.Several human rights groups recently warned of a sharp increase in arrests of Palestinian children in Occupied East Jerusalem.Israeli soldiers broke into and searched several homes in the Silwan area according to Radio Bethlehem 2000, based in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.Source

Visualizing Occupation: The right (or privilege) to protest?

Thu, 03 May 2012 09:34:12 +0200

By Michal Vexler2-5-2012Israel and its defenders often boast that it is the “only democracy in the Middle East,” where people can openly express opposition to government policies. However, when comparing a protest in Tel Aviv for “social justice” with one in the West Bank for Palestinian rights, it becomes clear that the freedom to demonstrate and the means used to disperse them depend on where you are and who you are. This illustration is the third in a series of infographics on the effect of the occupation on the Palestinian civilian population.
Source

Israelische leger stopt onderzoek naar slachtpartij op familie tijdens Gaza-oorlog in de doofpot

Thu, 03 May 2012 09:29:49 +0200

2-5-2012

Afscheid van drie van de jongste leden van de (extended) familie Samouni.De mensenrechtenorganisatie B'tselem meldt dat zij van de Israelisch militaire advocaat-generaal bericht heeft gekregen dat het politie-onderzoek naar de dood van 21 leden van de familie Samouni in de Gaza-strook is gestopt. Een majoor, Dorit Tuval, van het bureau van de Advocaat generaal schreef dat in een brief aan B'tselem en het Palestijnse Centrum voor de Mensenrechten. Beide organisaties hadden een klacht ingediend. Volgens de majoor had het onderzoek uitgesloten dat sprake was geweest van het opzettelijk letsel toebrengen aan burgers, of van haast en onzorgvuldigheid waardoor burgers letsel hadden opgelopen, of van strafbare nalatigheid. B'tselem zegt dat de brief geen enkele bijzonderheid over het onderzoek meldt, noch een reden geeft waarom het onderzoek is gesloten of ook maar de ,minste nieuwe bijzonderheden geeft over de omstandigheden waaronder de affaire zich heeft afgespeeld.B'tselemen is uitermate ontevreden over dit antwoord. Yael Stein, advocaat en hoofd research van B'Tselem, zei in een reactie dat het 'onaanvaardbaar is dat niemand verantwoordelijk is bevonden voor een actie van het leger waarbij 21 niet bij strijd betrokken burgers werden gedood, in een gebouw waar zij op last van militairen naar toe waren gegaan - zelfs als er geen opzet in het spel was geweest. De manier waarop het leger zichzelf van alle verantwoordelijkheid voor deze gebeurtenis he

Het NOS Journaal presenteert: de smetteloze bezetting

Thu, 03 May 2012 09:20:03 +0200

door Neil van der Linden2-5-2012Vrijdagavond 20 april jl. zond het NOS Journaal een item uit over het Palestijnse dorp Nabi Salih, gelegen op de door Israël bezette Palestijnse Westbank. Het Journaal was daar op uitnodiging van het Israëlische leger, dat – na wat publicitaire tegenwind – de behoefte voelde om uit te dragen hoe 'beheerst en professioneel' met de bezetting en de daartegen protesterende bevolking wordt omgesprongen. In de reportage is te zien dat de NOS de gewenste beeldvorming van een 'beschaafde bezetting' ruimhartig faciliteert. De vraag staat open: is dit journalistiek amateurisme of is welbewust meegewerkt aan een volkenrechtelijke witwas-operatie? http://nos.nl/video/364597-israel-militairen-opereren-met-terughoudendheid.html Kun je als Nederlandse publieke omroep op verzoek van een bezettingsmacht een reportage maken over de efficiëntie van diens bezetting? Die vraag lag recent op tafel bij de NOS en het antwoord was positief. Zowel volkenrechtelijk, moreel als journalistiek ging de omroep diep door de knieën om het Israëlische verzoek te faciliteren. Internationaal rechtHet internationaal recht draagt de wereld op om vastgestelde schendingen ervan scherp te adresseren, de overtreders erop aan te spreken en elke vorm van samenwerking met hen uit de weg te gaan. Dit om te voorkomen dat overtreders een stem wordt gegund - bijvoorbeeld onder het door de media graag gebruikte mom van de 'vrijheid van meningsuiting'. Net als universele mensenrechten h

Ex-Mossad Chief Meir Dagan says ruling regime in Israel more dangerous than 'Iranian threat'

Wed, 02 May 2012 09:17:37 +0200

1-5-2012Former Mossad Chief, Meir Dagan, has said that Yuval Diskin, the
former director of Shin Bet (Israel’s Security Agency), was speaking his
“internal truth” when he criticized Israel’s Prime Minister, Binyamin
Netanyahu, and Defence Minister, Ehud Barak.
Dagan made his statements on Sunday at a conference organized by the
Jerusalem Post and held at the Marion Hotel in New York. The conference
was attended by former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, and former
IDF chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi. Dagan described Diskin as a
good friend and a serious person speaking his “internal truth”.
Dagan has criticized the ruling Likud Party’s intention to pass the
“Dagan Law” which entails imposing restrictions on statements made by
the heads of security apparatuses. In an interview to the Israeli
newspaper Maariv, Dagan asserted that the Israeli regime is more
dangerous than the Iranian threat which he downplayed. He said that the
“real threat” to Israel is the ruling regime, and that Israel is on the
brink of the abyss.
The former Mossad chief also accused Netanyahu of using most of his
time and effort toward strengthening the ruling coalition in fear that
it would collapse and the premier would lose his power in a day.
On his part, Olmert criticized Netanyahu for his confrontation with
US President Barack Obama asserting that Israel should avoid
confrontation with the US president. “You have to respect him.

Four Injured As Soldiers Attacked Nonviolent Protest

Wed, 02 May 2012 09:13:34 +0200

by Saed Bannoura1-5-2012Palestinian medical sources reported
Tuesday that Israeli soldiers attacked nonviolent protesters, near the
Ofer Israeli military prison, expressing solidarity with Palestinian
political prisoners holding hunger-strike in different Israeli prisons
and detention facilities. (Video Included)

The
army violently attacked the protesters, used pepper-spray against them,
and fired rubber-coated metal bullets at them wounding four, including
one resident who suffered moderate injuries, the Maan News Agency
reported.

During the protest, a Palestinian woman climbed up the Israeli military
“skunk truck” spraying the protesting with waste-water, and waved a
Palestinian flag in the air.
Israeli soldiers then attacked her, and the residents who attempted to
protect her, and started spraying their faces with pepper-spray.

Dozens of detainees joined the open-ended hunger-strike two weeks ago,
starting their strike on April 17, the Palestinian prisoners’ day.
Recent reports revealed that approximately 2000 Palestinian detainees
are on hunger-strike, while more intend to join.

On Monday, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) – Israel Branch, warned
that the health condition of Thaer Halahla and Bilal Thiab, who entered
their 63rd day of hunger strike is causing grave concern, adding that
both detainees suffer from an acute decrease of muscle tone and are

For Palestinian women, a picnic with a purpose

Wed, 02 May 2012 09:04:50 +0200

by Amira Hass2-5-2012Palestinian women gather at a spring that was once theirs, to discuss the future of the spring and their community.The only men who received permission to participate were armed with cameras. That, however, was a mistake. The next time this group of women pays a visit to one of the springs on the West Bank, it will bear in mind that there are enough professional, able women photographers around, and they can document the message: In a place where theft of springs has become part of the system, a picnic becomes part of a fight for freedom.Two women initiated the idea to start a picnic tradition. Manaal Tamimi, from the al-Nabi Saleh village, and her friend Salwa Duaibus, from Ramallah. "For more than two years we have staged demonstrations in our village, demanding that we be able to return to a spring belonging to our village and to the Deir Nidham village, which has been appropriated by the Halamish settlement," explained Tamimi. "We have been wounded, arrested, and one of our sons was killed [Mustafa Tamimi, who was killed when an Israeli soldier hit his face with a tear gas canister in December 2011], all in an effort to tell the world that this spring, which was part of our childhood and that of our parents, was taken away from us, and that we insist on returning to it. Then the OCHA report was published, and we decided that we could do more."

Manaal Tamimi at the al-Nabi Saleh spring. 4 ID

Israeli prison doctor fears for lives of four hunger-striking Palestinians

Wed, 02 May 2012 08:59:08 +0200

by Amira Hass1-5-2012Some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners have been on hunger strike since April 17 to protest Israeli detention policies and conditions in Israeli prisons.There are fears for the lives of four of the thousands of Palestinians currently on hunger strikes in Israeli prisons, an Israeli Prison Service doctor said on Monday.The Israeli Prison Service said earlier this month that some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners have been on hunger strike since April 17 to protest Israeli detention policies and conditions in Israeli prisons.

Palestinian women walk by posters of Palestinians on hunger strike in Israeli prisons.

Photo by: AP
Of the four said to be in danger, Bilal Diyab, Ta'ir Halale, and Omar Abu Shlal are administrative detainees whom a military court sentenced to prison on the basis on a Shin Bet order as well as a military decree, and who demand to be either tried or released. The fourth detainee, Muhammad Siksak from the Gaza Strip is hunger striking after being deemed an "illegal combatant" by the Israeli authorities.The Israel Prison Service did not directly confirm the statement by the prison medical facility doctor according to which that the prisoners are facing danger, but told Haaretz that the "Israel Prison Service is obligated by law to ensure the health and safety of those in custody. Naturally, the concern for the safety of the hunger strikers k

Israel geeft dorp opdracht 1400 olijfbomen te rooien die geplant zijn op eigen, privé grond

Wed, 02 May 2012 08:53:55 +0200

1-5-2012

Olijvenpluk in Deir al-Istiya, foto van een paar jaar geleden.Opnieuw is er een zaak waarbij de oneerlijkheid van Israelische maatregelen in de bezette gebieden belicht wordt. Het dorp Deir al-Istiya in de regio Nablus heeft een order van het militaire bestuur (de Civil Administration) gekregen om een aanplant van niet minder dan 1400 tussen de twee en vijf jaar oude olijfbomen te verwijderen. De bomen zijn geplant in een natuurpark, Nahal Kana, geheten. Vandaar dus. Je kan niet zomaar bomen planten in een park. Klinkt logisch. Al kan je je zeker afvragen of Israel wel het recht heeft natuurparken aan te leggen in gebied dat niet van Israel is en dat het heeft bezet. Maar het wordt tamelijk bizar als we lezen dat de grond in dat park waar die aanplant is geplant, privé grond is van inwoners van Dar al-Istiya. Dit is wat de burgemeester van het dorp, Nazmi Salman, aan Haaretz als commentaar geeft op de beslissing van de Israelische militairen: 'De 'Civil Administration' zegt dat we de status quo in stand moeten houden, maar dat accepteren we niet,' aldus Salman. ''Wij denken dat de eigenaren van privé-land het recht hebben die grond te bewerken en ermee in hun onderhoud te voorzien. Zoals wij het zien gaat het hier om een Israelische poging om Israels controle over het gebied te versterken. Er wordt hier met twee maten gemeten, want aan de ene kant zijn er nederzettingen gevestigd in het gebied, die zich uitbreiden. Zelfs

Palestinian children and women fight distress in East Jerusalem

Wed, 02 May 2012 08:48:27 +0200

By Catherine Weibel2-5-2012EAST JERUSALEM, Occupied Palestinian Territory, 30 April 2012 – The winding lanes of Silwan are among the most ancient and picturesque in East Jerusalem. But Silwan is also one of the most densely populated Palestinian neighbourhoods, where poverty and violence are part of daily life. “People literally live on top of each other, which creates a lot of friction and tension,” said Abeer Zayad, the head of the Ath Thuri Women’s Centre. Today about 30 women and children are crowded on sofas and plastic chair in its main room.“We are crowded in our houses, we are crowded in our neighbourhood, we are crowded in our schools,” said 12-year old Iman*. “In Silwan, we have no library and no safe area where we could play like other children in the world.”

© UNICEF/NYHQ2012-0306/Pirozzi

A woman and her daughter walk in an arched alleyway in Silwan, a densely
populated East Jerusalem neighbourhood in the Occupied Palestinian
TerritoryMuna*, one of the mothers, described the neighbourhood. “In Silwan, the trash is not collected, rats run between the houses, the streets turn into pools any time it rains, and there is no parking. The only way we can fix the crumbling streets is to collect money in the neighbourhood and do it ourselves,” she said. “The Israeli authorities have not built any safe play areas and because schools are not in sufficient numbers, many children, especially boys, hang out on the street where they are exp

Major olive producing village ordered to uproot 1,400 trees by May 1

Tue, 01 May 2012 08:33:03 +0200

by Allison Deger28-4-2012
Villagers relaxing in Deir Istiya, 2009. (Photo: Genevieve Long)Earlier this week, Israel ordered Palestinian farmers in Deir Istiya, a major West Bank olive producing village, to uproot 1,400 trees by the end of this month. By comparison, this order is 400 more trees than the total number uprooted in all of 2011."This is the largest order for uprooting trees that the farmers of Wadi Qana have ever been given," said the International Women's Peace Service (IWPS). And Amal Salem, 63, from Deir Istiya, but now living in St. Louis says unearthing olive trees effects everyone in the village, "When I visited last year, every house I went to has had uprooted trees."Amal's family has farmed olive for five generations. It was their livelihood, and afforded her to attend school in Cairo. "I went to school because of the olive trees. I went to school because in Cairo because of the trees. My father had no other income but the olive trees." In Amal's family, Israeli authorities uprooted 300 trees of her 83-year old uncle's land. Amal described them as ancient growth, "1,000 years old," stemming from the Roman period. The day the bulldozers arrived, her cousins protested, clinging to the trees, although they were uprooted regardless. But within a day or two, her family proudly re-planted what was unearthed. Yet Amal's uncle has night terrors from this incident, stirring over the sight of seeing his child nearly smashed by a bulldozer.Since the Mamluk peri

'Empty Stomachs' hunger strike spreads across prisons

Tue, 01 May 2012 08:28:00 +0200

by Omar Rahman29-4-2012Khader Adnan speaks to his supporters on the night of his release from prison (photo: Omar Rahman)A movement of Palestinian prisoners protesting their incarceration and treatment inside Israeli prisons is continuing to reach momentous proportions. Billed the “War of Empty Stomachs,” the number of prisoners on hunger strike is now in the thousands.On April 17, the prisoner movement split into two when between 1,200 and 1,600 prisoners launched a coordinated, open-ended hunger strike against their treatment inside Israeli prisons, including the pervasive use of solitary confinement, denied family visits and right to education. Another 2,000 joined in a limited solidarity hunger strike.The prisoners had joined a group of hunger strikes launched independently by prisoners protesting their administrative detention—a policy by which Israel incarcerates Palestinians for periods of up to six months without evidence or trial, which can be renewed by a military judge indefinitely.Galvanized by the hunger strike of Khader Adnan, beginning on December 18 and carried on by Hana Shalabi in February, the hunger strike movement is continuing to grow rapidly. At least seven prisoners are reaching dire health conditions, including Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh, who are on the 61st day of their hunger strikes. Hasan Safadi is on his 56th day, and others, including Omar Abu Shalal and Jafar Izzedine, are quickly approaching these lengths of time.Khader Adnan’s hung