Palestinians rally for unity

Direct Action - Issue 31: April 2011
http://directaction.org.au/issue31/palestinians_rally_for_unity

By Kim Bullimore

Tens of thousands of Palestinians rallied for national unity across the occupied West Bank and Gaza on March 15. The rallies, led by Palestinian youth and inspired by the recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, sought to bring to an end three and a half years of bitter division and rivalry between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas.

In Gaza, at least 3000 Palestinians began gathering in the Square of the Unknown Solider on March 14, the evening before the scheduled unity rally. By the morning of March 15, tens of thousands had joined the demonstration, with estimates of the size of the rally ranging as high as 100,000.

More than 10,000 Palestinians rallied throughout the West Bank, including 4000 in Ramallah and 2000 each in Nablus and Hebron. Smaller rallies took place in other Palestinian cities, including a rally of approximately 1500 in Bethlehem.

While protesters in both the West Bank and Gaza carried a range of placards and banners, the most common slogan read simply: “The people want to end the division”.
Years of division

In January 2006, Hamas candidates won a majority of seats in elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), ending Fatah’s political control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) since its inception in 1996. In response, Israel, the US and the European Union imposed an economic and financial embargo on the PA in an attempt to undermine the democratic choice of the Palestinian people. The blockade pushed more than 85% of Palestinian households below the poverty line.

As the blockade devastated the Palestinian economy, the US channelled millions of dollars to Fatah leader and PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Most of the funds were earmarked to bolster Abbas politically, but some were for the training of hundreds of presidential guards to ensure that Fatah remained in control of the PA security forces. In the months after the PLC elections, Israel arrested at least 33 members of the PLC, the majority of whom were elected on Hamas’ Change and Reform ticket.

In October 2006, fighting erupted between armed Hamas and Fatah militants. Under pressure from the Palestinian street and jailed Palestinian resistance leaders to end these armed clashes, the two groups agreed in February 2007 to form a “national unity” government. This government, however, was short lived, as the US and Israeli rulers continued to push Fatah to carry out a “hard coup” against Hamas. Over a period of one year, fighting between Hamas and Fatah killed more than 450 Palestinians and wounded 1800.

Throughout May 2007, a Gaza-based Fatah warlord, Mohammed Dahlan, used the PA Preventive Security Service to provoke clashes with Hamas. In June 2007, Hamas-led forces in Gaza quickly overran Dahlan’s CIA-trained thugs, seizing control of the coastal strip. In retaliation, Abbas declared a state of emergency, dismissed the Hamas-led national unity government and installed a PA cabinet headed by Salaam Fayaad, whose Third Way party held only two seats in the 132-seat PLC.
Inspired by Tunisia, Egypt



The youth-led unity movement began in February, when Palestinian youth in Ramallah and Gaza organised demonstrations calling for unity between Fatah and Hamas. Inspired by the mass uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, the Palestinian youth organised a Facebook campaign to demand the establishment of a national unity government, calling for demonstrations to be held on March 15.

The demands of the March 15 demonstrations included the holding of democratic elections for the Palestinian National Council, in which all Palestinians could participate, including Palestinians living inside Israel and those living in other countries around the world. The youth also demand the release of all political prisoners held by Hamas in Gaza and by the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. In relation to the demonstrations themselves, the March 15 Coalition demanded a ban on all factional or party flags and called for the Palestinian flag to be the only one flown.

While the Palestinian Authority and a range of Palestinian political parties — including Fatah, Hamas, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Palestinian People’s Party and the Palestinian National Initiative — all issued statements praising and supporting the youth initiative, the leaders of the youth coalition organising the rallies have fought to ensure their movement was not coopted by any political party or group. In a statement issued by rally organisers a week prior to March 15, they noted that the various groups had been “attempting to legitimise themselves by falsely stating that they are the main organizers behind this event”. The statement rejected those attempts, saying “[we] do not welcome attempts by leaders to redirect efforts”.

In Gaza, Samah al-Rawah from the March 15 Coalition told the French news service Agence France-Presse that the Hamas Interior Ministry in Gaza had refused to give them a permit for the march, instead awarding it to a Hamas-dominated group called “National Campaign for an End to the Division”. According to al-Rawah, the reason many protesters gathered in the Square of the Unknown Soldier the previous evening was to avoid the cooption of the rally by any political faction. Similarly, in Ramallah, protest organisers refused attempts by Fatah to coopt the unity movement.
Attacks



Despite assurances by both the Palestinian Authority security forces and the Hamas security forces in Gaza that the rallies would be allowed to proceed unhindered, the two largest rallies, in Gaza City and Ramallah, were attacked.

In Gaza, despite a ban on factional flags, more than 500 members of Hamas attempted to march into the rally carrying Hamas flags. According to eyewitnesses, when protesters attempted to stop them, the Hamas members began attacking protesters. Hamas security forces, rather than protecting the rally began to disperse it violently. March 15 Coalition members told Maan News that hundreds of Hamas security forces stormed the protest and tried to end it by force.

Maan also reported in its March 15 updated article that protesters and PA security forces clashed in Ramallah, when the PA attempted to gain control of the demonstration: “At least 20 people have been injured by security forces in the main square, and six were taken away in ambulances, our correspondent reported from the scene”. Ramallah protest organisers later issued a statement saying that four protesters had been arrested. Israeli journalist Amira Hass in her March 20 article in the Hebrew edition of Haaretz noted that while there had been widespread coverage of the Hamas attack on the Gaza Unity rally, very little had been written about attacks on the Ramallah rally.

Despite the attacks on the rallies, Palestinian youth have continued to protest and demand national unity. In Gaza, Ramallah, Nablus and Bethlehem, dozens of Palestinian youth in each city have continued to stage “sit-ins” in public squares, with many embarking on a hunger strike saying they will not go home until the division ends and national unity is achieved.

HUMAN RIGHTS VOLUNTEERS FROM AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND NEEDED IN PALESTINE

The International Women¹s Peace Service (IWPS) is a team of international female human-rights volunteers in Palestine who provide accompaniment to Palestinian civilians (including farmers during the annual olive harvest), document and non-violently intervene in human-rights abuses and support acts of non-violent resistance to end the Israeli military occupation and construction of the barrier throughout the West Bank.

IWPS is currently inviting applications from women based in Australia and New Zealand who would like to join our team of long-term volunteers.

We are also inviting applications from women who would like to work with IWPS on a short term basis.

LONG TERM VOLUNTEERS:
Long-term volunteer applicants will be expected to serve a minimum of one 3 month term in the West Bank, Palestine, as well as supporting our work outside of Palestine. Applicants should be able to commit to further terms in Palestine of one to three months in their 2nd and 3rd year of commitment to IWPS.

Please visit our Long Term Volunteer Page on our website (www.iwps,info) for more information or alternatively you can request an application pack by emailing us at applyiwps@gmail.com

SHORT TERM VOLUNTEERS:
We are also accepting application from women who would like to work with IWPS on a short term basis in 2010 and 2011 (minimum of 3 weeks). Please visit our Short Term Volunteer Page on our website (www.iwps.info) for more information.

TRAINING:
Successful Australian and New Zealand applicants (both long-term and short-term) will be invited to 4 day training program and meeting in Melbourne, Australia (November 12 – 15th).

If you would like more information and/or would like to receive an Application Package please visit our Volunteer Pages at www.iwps.info where you will find Application Documents, Contact information, answers to Frequently Asked Questions and suggestions about other ways you can help our efforts or you can email us at: applyiwps@gmail.com


Deadline for Australian/New Zealand applications: 8 October, 2010

Israel prepares for more West Bank ethnic cleansing

Dear friends,
I am a little late in posting this up, but please find below my article from the May Direct Action on Israel's preparation for further ethnic cleansing of the Occupied West Bank.

In solidarity,
Kim
***
Home » Issue 22: May 2010
Israel prepares for more West Bank ethnic cleansing

By Kim Bullimore

A new Israeli military order will enable the deportation of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank or their imprisonment for up to seven years. Military order No. 1650, which was enacted on April 13, amends a 1969 military order known as the Order Regarding Prevention of Infiltration. This defined an “infiltrator” as anyone entering Israel from an “enemy state”, such as Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon or Syria.

The amended order defines an “infiltrator” as “a person who entered the area unlawfully ... or a person who is present in the area and does not lawfully hold a permit”. “Infiltrators” can either be deported from the West Bank after 72 hours or jailed for seven years. In addition, “infiltrators” who may have legally entered the area but did not have an approved “permit” from the Israeli military commander can still be jailed: “[W]here an infiltrator has proven his entry into the area was lawful — he shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of three years”.


Israeli Occupation Force's new "infiltrators" order

According to the Gisha Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement, one of 10 Israeli human rights organisatios that are challenging the new order, it creates a presumption that every person is an “infiltrator” unless he or she can prove that both his or her entrance to and presence in the West Bank were approved by the military commander or relevant Israeli authorities. A briefing paper issued by Gisha says the amended order “could seemingly apply to everyone: bearers of Palestinian identity cards, residents of east Jerusalem, Israeli citizens and foreigners”. However, Gisha notes that the order most likely will apply to three main groups: Palestinian residents who hold Palestinian ID cards with Gaza addresses; persons “without status” (mainly spouses of Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank) and non-Israeli foreign nationals working or living there.

Tens of thousands threatened

According to the Palestinian Office of Civilian Affairs in Ramallah, there are approximately 25,000 people with registered Gaza addresses living in the West Bank. In 2003, Israel began to prohibit Palestinians with Gaza addresses on their IDs from being in the occupied West Bank, even if they had been residents there for many years. It also began arresting Palestinians who had a Gaza address and removing them to Gaza against their will.

Gisha noted that Israel’s removals policy contradicts its obligations under the 1993 Oslo Accords, which recognised the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as a “single territorial unit”, where Palestinians listed in the Israeli-controlled Palestinian Population Registry may lawfully reside. Gisha’s executive director, Sari Bashi, told Aljazeera news agency on April 13 that the order was “part of a series of steps implemented by Israel to empty the West Bank of Palestinians, especially by removing them to Gaza … There are tens of thousands of people at risk, who pose no security threat whatsoever”, but the new order will “mak[e] it criminal for them to be present in their own home”.

A spokesperson for the Israeli government, Mark Regev, tried to present the amended military order as protecting Palestinian rights. Regev told Aljazeera on April 13: “What we’ve done here is we’ve strengthened the rights of people who face such deportation by creating ... an independent judicial oversight mechanism, which makes sure there are checks and balances and that the legal rights of people are protected”. Regev went on to say that, previously, people served with deportation orders could be deported the same day, but under the amended order they had a 72-hour appeal period.

Israeli human rights organisations have disputed Regev’s claims. According to an April 11 media release by the organisations challenging the order, there is a distinct “possibility that some of the deportees will not be given an opportunity for a hearing before being removed from the West Bank as, according to the orders, the deportation may be executed within 72 hours whereas it is possible to delay bringing a person before an appeals committee for up to eight days”.
History of ‘exclusivity’

The new order is the latest step in Israel’s attempt to ethnically cleanse the region of its indigenous population, the Palestinian people. According to the UN, the forcible transfer of a people so as to render an area “ethnically homogeneous” is illegal and constitutes “ethnic cleansing”. Under international law, ethnic cleansing is designated a crime against humanity.

Israeli historian Ilan Pappe notes in his 2006 book The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine that the drive for “Jewish exclusivity” in Palestine has been a central tenet of the Zionism. Now known as “transfer” in Zionist terminology, the ethnic cleansing of Palestine was first advocated by the founder of political Zionism, Theodor Herzl. In 1895, Herzl wrote in his diary: “We shall try to spirit the penniless population across the border by procuring employment for it in the transit countries, while denying it employment in our own.”

Israeli Zionist historian Benny Morris notes in his 2004 book The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited that Herzl and other Zionist leaders of his time did not discuss or write about “transfer” publicly. By 1936, however, Zionists leaders had become more publicly outspoken about the “transfer” or ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. Speaking to the British Peel Commission in 1937, David Ben Gurion, head of the Jewish Agency and the Israeli state’s first prime minister, argued that Jordan (then known as Transjordan) should be opened up for the “transfer” of Palestinians in order to make way for Jewish settlement in Palestine. At the 20th Zionist Congress in 1937, he advocated the “transfer” of Palestinians from the Jezreel Valley (near Haifa), the Sharon Coastal Plains and other areas of Palestine, saying “Transfer is what will make possible a comprehensive settlement program”.


David Ben Gurion

In 1940, Yossef Weitz, the head of the “settlement department” of the Jewish National Fund in Palestine, wrote in his diary, which was published in 1965, that the “transfer” of the indigenous Palestinian population “does not serve only one aim — to reduce the Arab population — it also serves a second purpose by no means less important, which is: to evict land now cultivated by the Arabs and to free it for Jewish settlement”. According to Weitz, “the only solution is to transfer the Arabs from here to neighbouring countries. Not a single village or a single tribe must be let off.”

Plan Dalet

In 1948, in the months before the UN partition plan for Palestine was to be implemented, Plan Dalet was drawn up by Ben-Gurion and other Zionist leaders. According to Ilan Pappe, Plan Dalet was the “blueprint for ethnic cleansing”. It resulted in more than 500 Palestinian towns and villages being either destroyed or depopulated, in what became known to the Palestinian people as al Nakba (the Catastrophe). More than 1 million Palestinians were forced to flee their homes, with at least 750,000 being forcibly expelled to other countries (such as Lebanon and Jordan), while another 150,000 became internal refugees inside the borders of the newly formed Israeli state.

In a 2004 interview with Haaretz newspaper, Morris noted: “A Jewish state would not have come into being without the uprooting of 700,000 Palestinians. Therefore it was necessary to uproot them. There was no choice but to expel that population. It was necessary to cleanse the hinterland and cleanse the border areas and cleanse the main roads. It was necessary to cleanse the villages from which our convoys and our settlements were fired on.”

In 1954, Israel enacted the Prevention of Infiltration Law, in order to prevent the Palestinian refugees in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria from re-entering Israel. The law allowed their re-expulsion, as well as the expulsion of the 150,000 internally displaced Palestinian refugees if they attempted to return to their villages or towns. The 1969 Order Regarding Prevention of Infiltration was an extension of the 1954 law. It was designed to prevent the return of Palestinians who had fled the West Bank at the time of its June 1967 conquest by Israel.

The new military order is a further indication that the Israeli rulers have no real intention of agreeing to an independent Palestinian state, that their ultimate objective remains Zionist control over the whole of historic Palestine, with the indigenous Palestinian population reduced to living in a series of isolated cantons surrounded by large-scale Israeli settlements and under continued Israeli military control.

Israel moves to ban Israeli human rights organisations that expose Israeli war crimes

Dear friends,
on the back of the poll that reveals that a majority of Israelis are willing to see the banning of Israeli human rights organisation, 20 Israeli parlimentarians have tabled a bill to outlaw Israeli human rights organisations which expose Israeli warcrimes and wrong doings by the Israeli military. (Most of this has been reported in the Hebrew press language rather than English language press - the second article includes a translation of the article from Maariv)

Two articles/blogs below on the newly proposed law, as well as a statement issued by Israeli Human Rights organisations in response.

in solidarity, Kim

***
From The Promised Land Blog: http://www.promisedlandblog.com/?p=2534

Knesset moves to outlaw human rights organizations in Israel
Posted: April 29th, 2010 | Author: noam | Filed under: In the News, The Left, media | Tags: adalah, avi dichter, human rigths, im tirzu, meni mazoz, new israel fund, shin beit, the only democracy in the middle east | No Comments »

Something very troubling is happening to “the only democracy in the Middle East”
More than 20 MKs, including members of opposition party Kadima, proposed a new bill which will make it possible to outlaw the important human rights groups in Israel. Among the organizations mentioned in the proposed bill are Doctors for Human rights, The Coalition of Woman for Peace, The Public Committee against Torture in Israel, and Adalah: the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights. All these organizations receive funds from the New Israeli fund.

According to a report in Maariv, the new bill will outlaw any organization “which is involved in activity intended to lead to the prosecution or arrest of IDF officers and government officials for war crimes.” the word “involved” makes it a very broad definition.


Palestinian child tied to a Israeli jeep and used as a human shield by Israeli Occupation Forces - a war crime under international law.

Two weeks ago, an article by Maariv’s Ben Caspit suggested that NIF sponsored organizations that are linked to an international effort to investigate and prosecute senior IDF officers for war crimes.

The introduction to the new bill declares that:

“… “Those organizations help foreign organizations that seek to issue arrest warrants and indictments against senior Israeli officials, either by means of providing information—the preponderance of which is erroneous and even mendacious—to foreign groups, or by publicly agreeing and lending credence to the accusation that Israel is guilty of war crimes.”

More than 20 MK’s signed the offer. Among them are known parliament members from Tzipi Livni’s opposition party Kadima, former head of Shin Beit Avi Dichter and members from Likud and NRP.

—————————
From all the anti-democratic measures I’ve been writing about here, this is by far the most extreme. Even if a mild version of this law passes, defending human rights in Israel – a difficult tusk as is – will become practically impossible. Merely proposing this bill will harm grassroots efforts and freedom of speech, as both the media and the public are becoming more and more hostile to people and groups who are portrayed as unpatriotic or anti-Israeli.

Much of “the case for Israel” is based on the notion that this is a democracy – the only one in a hostile environment. But Israel is changing. This is not something that you notice on a one week vacation in Jerusalem or from on the Tel Aviv beach, but if you pay close attention to the news, you can easily notice it.

People are harassed and delegitimized for the things they say and because of their views. Foreign activists are arrested and deported. The Shin Beit, Israel’s security agency, stated recently before the court that it sees its job as to supervise and follow the actions of Israeli left-wing organizations even when they are not suspected in breaking the law. This statement was approved by the former Government’s attorney, Meni Mazoz, who also heads the prosecution in Israel.

As a poll published this week on Haaretz shows, the Jewish public is supportive of such measures:

57.6 percent of the respondents agreed that human rights organizations that expose immoral conduct by Israel should not be allowed to operate freely.

Slightly more than half agreed that “there is too much freedom of expression” in Israel. The poll also found that most of the respondents favor punishing Israeli citizens who support sanctioning or boycotting the country, and support punishing journalists who report news that reflects badly on the actions of the defense establishment.

Politicians and Journalists, always sensitive to public opinion, follow such trends with calls for actions. Violence against activists in the West bank becomes common. Police arrests organizers of legal protests, even if there is nothing to charge them with.

As most of the country carries own with its daily life, and the world is busy with efforts to re-ignite the peace process and doesn’t pay much importance to such details, it is easy to miss the big picture. But something very major is happening here right now. I don’t have any idea where will it end up leading us, but I suspect it’s not such a good place.

UPDATE: here is a full translation of today’s article in Maariv, courtesy of Coteret blog.

MKs Propose Outlawing Adalah

Ma’ariv (p. 12) by Arik Bender — More than 20 MKs from the coalition and the opposition yesterday introduced a bill that is geared to outlaw non-profit organizations that are involved in activity that is geared to bring about the arrest of IDF officers and senior government officials overseas for war crimes. The bill did not specify the names of the non-profit organizations in question, but the law-makers did cite NPOs such as Adalah, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Physicians for Human Rights and the Coalition of Women for Peace—all of which receive funding from the New Israel Fund.

“It is very saddening that in an era such as this one, when we ought to be united against those very same baseless accusations, we witness Israeli NPOs and organizations operating beneath the surface against Israel,” read the printed explanation to the bill. “Those same organizations help foreign organizations that seek to issue arrest warrants and indictments against senior Israeli officials, either by means of providing information—the preponderance of which is erroneous and even mendacious—to foreign groups, or by publicly agreeing and lending credence to the accusation that Israel is guilty of war crimes. Sometimes they even extend palpable legal assistance in drafting the arguments.”

The bill was submitted yesterday at the end of a tempestuous debate in the plenum about Ma’ariv’s expose about the involvement of the New Israel Fund in lawsuits against the IDF and top state officials. Among the signatories of the new bill are the former director of the GSS, MK Avi Dichter, former deputy GSS director MK Gidon Ezra, Chairman of the State Audit Committee MK Yoel Hasson, MK Ronit Tirosh, MK Otniel Schneller, MK Yaakov Edri, MK Moshe Matlon, MK Ophir Akunis, MK Tzippi Hotovely, MK Uri Orbach, MK Zvulun Orlev and others.

“The bill will put an end to the rampage by NPOs who are trying to subvert the state under the guise of human rights,” said yesterday Ronit Tirosh, one of the sponsors of the bill.


Im Tirtzu smear campaign poster against Noami Chazan and the New Israel Fund.

Upon the introduction of the bill, the Im Tirtzu movement announced that it was ending its campaign against the New Israel Fund. Ronen Shoval, the director of Im Tirtzu, said that he was pleased that his movement’s message had been heard in the Knesset. “We congratulate the MKs who picked up the gauntlet and intend to defend the IDF from the NPOs that are supported by the New Israel Fund,” said Shoval.

The forum of directors general of the human rights organizations in Israel, which includes Adalah—the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel— issued the following statement in response: “Instead of defending the values of democracy, the sponsors of the bill opt to trample it to dust. The bill—which seeks in practice to conceal information or suspected crimes—contravenes international conventions and the universal declaration about human rights that were signed after World War II and constitutes an unprecedented moral nadir in the Israeli legislature.

***
Israeli law proposal: Outlaw organisations reporting on violations
Foreboding in the Israeli human rights community as a new proposed law targets organizations reporting on breaches of international law
By JNews Thursday, 29 April, 2010 - 13:44 London, UK
Source: Knesset minutes, nrg, Maariv, Israeli human rights groups

http://www.jnews.org.uk/news/israeli-law-proposal-outlaw-organisations-reporting-on-violations

A new law tabled on Wednesday in the Israeli Knesset, seeks to forbid registration of Israeli organizations (NGOs) that are suspected of provision of information or involvement in law suits against Israeli officials or commanders for breaches of International Humanitarian Law, or war crimes. It would also require the Registrar of Association to close down existing organizations engaged in such activities.

The proposed Associations Law (Amendment – Exceptions to the Registration and Activity of an Association), 2010, comes in the wake of an incitement campaign against the human-rights community in Israel and is the second law to be proposed against their activities this year.

Among the signatories to the proposed bill are two former members of Israel’s secret police, the Shin Bet or shabac: former director Avi Dichter and former deputy director Gideon Ezra.

The law proposal does not cite names of specific organizations, but the initiators of the bill, 19 Knesset members (MKs) from various parties of both the coalition and the opposition, cited Israeli groups Adalah, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel and Coalition of Women for Peace as examples, in the course of a debate held on the bill Wednesday.

Israeli daily Maariv focused specifically on Adalah, a human-rights organization led by Palestinian citizens of Israel. Its news item on the law proposal was headed “MKs propose: Outlaw Adalah

In a heated discussion in the Knesset yesterday, MK Nitsan Horovitz of the left-leaning Meretz party described the law proposal as a witchhunt.
“So long as activities are legal under Israeli law, they are [allowed] under freedom of expression, and the conflict is a political one,” said Horovitz. “Is anything illegal being done by an organization? – then go to the police,” he said.

He added that the Knesset should address the allegations made by the organizations under attack, instead of silencing them.

A group of ten Israeli human rights organizations has published a response to the bill, saying that it “violates international treaties and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which was signed in the wake of the horrors of World War II,” and that it “seeks to conceal information or suspicions of a crime.”

The group added that “The Israeli government’s refusal to allow the domestic legal system to investigate allegations of war crimes is the very reason that war crimes may be investigated and prosecuted abroad,” and that “instead of defending democracy, the sponsors of this bill prefer to reduce it to ashes.”

Adalah’s Director Hassan Jabareen, added that “if the legislation is enacted, it would constitute an official admission by the State of Israel that it is committing war crimes, and is ordering human-rights organizations in Israel to keep silent about them, to refrain from passing on information about them, and to cease assisting both the victims and the international community in working to prevent their continuation. Only a state that commits prohibited acts would be interested in such legislation.”

This article may be reproduced on condition that JNews is cited as its source

**
Human Rights Groups in Israel Respond to Proposed Bill to Suppress Information about Serious Breaches of International Law: A Danger to Democracy
http://www.phr.org.il/default.asp?PageID=222&ItemID=662

Democratic values are important to the human rights community in Israel. A new bill proposes to trample these democratic values and undermine the ability to seek accountability for human rights violations. It is with great concern that we respond to the proposed bill: Associations (Amutot) Law (Amendment – Exceptions to the Registration and Activity of an Association), 2010.


Brochure: Adalah - Legal Centre for the Arab Minority in Israel

The bill, introduced yesterday, would prohibit the registration of any Non Governmental Organization (NGO) if "there are reasonable grounds to conclude that the association is providing information to foreign entities or is involved in legal proceedings abroad against senior Israeli government officials or IDF officers, for war crimes". An existing NGO would be shut down under the proposed law if it engaged in such activity.

Instead of defending democracy, the sponsors of this bill prefer to reduce it to ashes. This bill is the direct result of irresponsible leadership that is doing all it can to undermine democratic values and the institutions that are the backbone of a democracy: the Supreme Court, a free press, and human rights organizations. A public sphere without these institutions operating independently of the government is a public sphere that is crippled and anti-democratic at its core.


Logo of B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories

The sponsors of this bill would do well to invest their energies in fulfilling their duty to oversee the actions of the executive branch, including the security forces. Where a suspicion arises that war crimes have been committed, legislators should act to bring about an independent, impartial investigation in Israel, according to the standards set by international law. The Israeli government's refusal to allow the domestic legal system to investigate allegations of war crimes is the very reason that war crimes may be investigated and prosecuted abroad. The bill – which essentially seeks to conceal information or suspicions of a crime – violates international treaties and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which was signed in the wake of the horrors of World War II. It represents an unprecedented moral nadir within the Israeli house of parliament.

This response is issued by the Directors' Forum of the above-listed human rights organizations, all of whom are associations (amutot) registered in Israel.

For further information:
Keren Tamir, Spokesperson of Gisha, 052-891-9190, 03-6244120, keren@gisha.org; Sari Bashi, Director of Gisha, 054-8172103.
Louis Frankenthaler, International Outreach Director, Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, 02-642-9825, 052-364-8822, louis@stoptorture.org.il.


ADALAH - THE LEGAL CENTER FOR ARAB MINORITY RIGHTS IN ISRAEL | ASSOCIATION FOR CIVIL RIGHTS IN ISRAEL | BIMKOM – PLANNERS FOR PLANNING RIGHTS | B’TSELEM - THE ISRAELI INFORMATION CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES | GISHA - LEGAL CENTER FOR FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT | HAMOKED - CENTER FOR THE DEFENCE OF THE INDIVIDUAL | PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS - ISRAEL | PUBLIC COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE IN ISRAEL | RABBIS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS | YESH DIN - VOLUNTEERS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

4 Palestinian youth killed in West Bank by Israeli military in less than 24 hours

Dear friends,

the terrible news has come through that the Israeli military has shot dead 4 Palestinian youth in less than 24 hours in the West Bank. Mohammed Qaddous, age 16, was killed when he was shot from behind by the Israeli military with live ammunition. Ussayed Qaddous, 19, from the same village of Iraq Burin was also shot in the head with live ammunition and died several hours later. The Israeli military has denied the use of live ammunition, despite medical proof to the contrary.

My teammates from the International Women's Peace Service (IWPS), Marie and Gwen, were in the village at the time of the shootings and I have included their initial report below [at the time of the report was written the second boy, Ibrahim remained in coma. Sadly, he died later].

Two other Palestinian from the village of Awarta, which is also in the Nablus region were shot dead by the Israeli military in the hours following the death of the first two boys. The Israeli military is claiming the two boys attacked them with pitchforks. However, according to my team mates from IWPS, who have since visited Awarat, the villagers have contradicted the IOF's story, saying that Muhammed Faysal (19 yrs) and Salah Muhammad Qawariq (16 years), were in fact killed by settlers.

Reports in the Haaretz have reported Palestinian Authority spokespersons saying that witnesses stated that the two young men were killed in cold blood after they had been arrested and bound by the IOF.

According to Marie and Gwen, while they can not ascertain the manner of the boys death at this time, they believe the story about the boys attacking the IOF is unlikely. What is not in dispute, however, according to my team mates is that the boys were unarmed and were killed in cold blood.

In addition, to the report from my colleagues at IWPS, I have also included a report from Haaretz on the 4 shootings and a report from YNet on the first two deaths in Iraq Burin.

In solidarity, Kim


***

Medical Xray of live ammunition lodge in the skull of Ussayed Qadous.
Photograph by Salma aDeb'i - B'Tselem

INITIAL IWPS REPORT ON IRAQ BURIN - 21 MARCH, 2010

16 YEAR OLD MUHAMMED DIED AS A RESULT OF GUNSHOT WOUNDS BY ISRAELI MILITARY AND 16 YEAR OLD IBRIHAM IS CURRENTY IN SURGERY FOR A GUNSHOT TO HIS HEAD.

Today, March 20th, Gwen and I responded to a call earlier in the week by the Mayor of Iraq Burin, Abu Haitham, to be an international presence in his village during what has become weekly clashes between armed settlers and Israeli soldiers and unarmed villagers.

We arrived at the village a little after 11:00am and were soon joined by a group of international volunteers from Project Hope who work in the Nablus refugee camps, who were there for informational resources rather than villager accompaniment, then a little later a couple of ISM’ers . Later in the day members of EEAPI came to be a presence for a time.

We gathered at a community building in the village and were given some history on the problems the villagers of Iraq Burin has had with the illegal settlement of Bracha, their inhabitants and the military. Construction on the settlement began in 1982 taking land from neighboring villages Burin and Kufr Kalil, and now plan to expand onto land belonging to Iraq Burin. According to the coordinator for the Project Hope delegation, Israel plans to link the settlements around the Nablus area to the Larger settlement of Ariel.

According to Israeli law, if land is left unused it reverts to the state (of Israel) after 3 years. The villagers of Iraq Burin held their weekly Friday prayers on the land surrounding their village that wasn’t being used for agriculture. About six months ago the military began denying the village access to this land. The villagers went to court and got an order giving them freedom to access all their land. However, settlers began attacking them during their Friday prayers. The military was called in but did not prevent the settlers from attacking. Instead, they acted as escorts for the settlers. The settlers began “holding prayers” at a well on the land of Abu Haitham. In actuality, they have thrown stones in the well, swam in it and made it unfit for potable water.

The villagers then proposed they would not hold demonstrations against the settlers if they would be allowed access to their land on Saturdays to plant. This was agreed to by the military; however, access to their land on Saturdays has been met with violent resistance by both the settlers and the military.

In the past couple of weeks 15 people have been injured in settler violence.

Today, when we arrived in Iraq Burin their were approximately 12 soldiers visible on the hills surroundng the village. After our meeting with the Mayor and other internationals, about 50 people proceeded toward part of the land in dispute. Soldiers (not those in position when we first arrived but rather another group) immediately began provoking the villagers with taunts and shooting live ammunition into the air in an attempt to disperse the gathering. This went on for about 10 minutes. The military then began shooting tear gas as well as the live ammo. There was a retreat of the demonstration, then the demonstration would go back, replaying the scene of violence over and again for several hours.

When it appeared that the military was retreating for the day IWPS and ISM prepared to leave. Suddenly, there was a great commotion with villagers running toward the village and yelling. Five or Six military jeeps came into the village from the road while those who had been engaged in the demonstration came down from the hills. Heavily armed soldiers began a house to house search, and arrested 3 young men. At one house an ISMer attempted to enter the house with the soldiers to document their treatement of the inhabitants but he was physically blocked from entering.

We followed the soldiers to each house they raided, but unfortunately there were too few of us to adequately document the human rights abuses. While we were shadowing the soldiers we heard what I assumed to be tear gas explosions in another part of the village. After the soldiers completed their house raids they quickly exited the area and soon after villagers again started running toward the center of the village. As well, ambulances headed in the same direction. We followed and heard that teenagers had been shot, a 16 year old by the name Muhammed of was shot in the back and a 15 year old named Ibrihim was shot in the head. According to villagers they were shot with live ammunition. At the time of this writing, we are waiting to hear of the condition of Ibrihim, who is in surgery.
　
Written by Marie
Edited by Gwen


Mohammed Qaddous: Photograph by Salma aDeb'i - B'Tselem


Mohammed Qaddous: Photograph by Salma aDeb'i - B'Tselem


*****
Last update - 21:46 21/03/2010
PA accuses Israel of killing Palestinian teens 'in cold blood'
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies
Tags: Israel news, Nablus, IDF

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1157845.html

Senior Palestinian Authority officials on Sunday accused Israel of escalating tensions after Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinian youth in the West Bank in 24 hours.

Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib called for an independent investigation into the killing of 19-year-old cousins Mohammed Qawariq and Saleh Qawariq on Sunday, who were shot by Israel Defense Forces troops who they attempted to stab with a pitchfork. The soldiers were not harmed in the incident.

Khatib cited witness accounts that the two had been shot only after being arrested, while Mahmoud al-Aloul, a senior figure in the Fatah party led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the youth had been killed
in "cold blood".

"Nobody can imagine that we can stand with our hands tied vis-a-vis what is happening," Aloul told around 1,500 mourners at their funeral in Awarta, south of Nablus.

According to initial reports, soldiers from the IDF's Nahshon Battalion were stationed south of the Israeli settlement of Itamar in order to protect Palestinians plowing their land.

"Two men tried to stab a soldier during a routine patrol near the Awarta security crossing near Nablus. The force opened fire and confirmed their death," an army spokeswoman said.

Earlier Sunday, a 19-year-old Palestinian died of wounds sustained one day earlier when IDF troops opened fire on demonstrators south of Nablus.

Oseyd Abd al-Nasser Kadus was hit in the midriff by a rubber-coated bullet and was taken to the hospital in Nablus, where he had been listed in critical condition.

Another youth, Ibrahim Abd al-Khader Kadus, 16, died Saturday after being hit in the heart by a rubber-coated bullet fired by IDF troops.

The two were wounded clash after IDF soldiers tried to prevent clashes between Israeli settlers and Palestinians near the village of Iraq Burin, south of Nablus. Villagers own land that borders the nearby settlement of Bracha.

Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Israel had responded to U.S. and international efforts to revive peace talks "with more escalation" that thwarted attempts to get negotiations going.

The head of the local village council, Abd al-Rahim Kadus, told Haaretz that every Saturday settlers come to the village, attack the locals and destroy property, leading to clashes with the Palestinians.

Israeli troops usually intervene to break up the fighting, which then turns into a confrontation between young villagers and the soldiers.

The Palestinians maintain that the two teenagers were hit by live ammunition and that the soldiers prevented Palestinian medical staff from evacuating them. The two teenagers were subsequently rushed to the hospital in private cars.

The IDF began an investigation into the incident, which marked the first killing of a Palestinian in months. Army sources told Haaretz that the Palestinians' claim that live rounds were fired is false.

The human rights group B'Tselem, which sent an investigator to the hospital in Nablus, said that both casualties were the result of live rounds.

In recent weeks demonstrations have taken place in the area by villagers, who have also pelted soldiers with stones

A Journey to the Gaza Border

Its New Year's Eve and my team mate and I are on our way to Israel's Erez Crossing, one of the 6 border crossings into Gaza which has been repeatedly closed by the Zionist state as part of its illegal collective punishment of the Palestinian people in Gaza. We have joined three bus load of Israeli and Palestinian activists in Jaffa to make the hour long journey to the Gaza border crossing to protest Israel's ongoing siege. As we wait for the buses in Jaffa, I look around the slowly gathering crowd and recognize some of the faces from demonstrations in the Occupied West Bank: several of the courageous and dedicated activists from Anarchists Against the Wall, as well as some activists from Gush Shalom and others from Ta'ayush. But there are many I don't recognize - young people, as well as older folk - all of whom are outraged at Israel's repeated war crimes and collective punishment of the Palestinian people of Gaza.

It's now been a year since Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli war which killed more than 1400 Gazan Palestinians and more than two and half years since Israel declared the region an "enemy entity", imposing an almost total siege on 1.5 million people. In September this year, the Goldstone report provided the most accurate and damning account of Israel's actions in Gaza both during Operation Cast Lead, as well as Israel's actions before and after its brutal all out war on Gaza .



According to the report, the Israeli military carried out indiscriminate attacks on Palestinian civilians, as well as deliberately targeting Palestinian civilians during both ground and air attacks [1]. In addition, the report outlined how Israel's war machine used Palestinian civilians as human shields on at least four occasions and well as its systematic and “reckless” use of chemical weaponry such as white phosphorus (which burns through flesh and bone) and small arms fletchettes missiles in densely populated urban areas. Despite claims of bias by both the Israeli state and its supporters, including the Obama Administration in Washington, the Goldstone report also addressed the issues of Palestinian made Qassam rockets being fired into Israel, noting that while they constituted an indiscriminate attack on a civilian population, they also "caused little damage".

While the Goldstone report key recommendations were not binding, the report called for the immediate lifting of the Israeli siege of Gaza; the cessation of Israeli restrictions on Palestinian sea access; the lifting of Israeli restrictions on freedom of movement between Gaza and the Occupied West Bank, as well as Israel to pay reparations for the destruction its assault wrought on Gaza [2]. Other key recommendations included a call for Israel to release all Palestinian political prisoners detained as a result of the Zionist state's ongoing illegal occupation and that the Israeli authorities should end its attempts to intimidate internal Israeli dissent and opposition to the government's policy and its military operations in Gaza.



Three months after the release of the report, however, Israel has continued to tighten its Gaza noose. Three months after the release of the report, Israel continues to bomb Gaza regularly and continues its illegal colonisation of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and Occupied East Jerusalem, while deepening its apartheid policies within Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

A year after Operation Cast Lead, as we gather in the small part in Jaffa, in Cairo 1400 internationals have also gathered in an attempt to break the siege as part of the Gaza Freedom March. Their attempts to reach Gaza, however, have been actively stymied by the brutality of the Egyptian police and security forces obeying the orders of a corrupt and brutal Egyptian regime which long ago decided that the human rights of own people or those of the Palestinian people matter little.

Soon the buses arrive and we start to board and I find myself sitting next to a young Palestinian woman who is from a village in what is now the north of Israel. We chat for a while and she tells me about the campaign she is involved in to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes in Jaffa and to prevent the further ethnic cleansing of the city. In front of me, I hear my team mate talking with an older Israeli woman, who is recounting a story from her early years as an anti-occupation activist.

Soon, we have left the traffic congestion of Jaffa and are traveling through the open countryside. In all my previous visits, I have never traveled to this region of what is now the Israeli state. The landscape is different from that in the Occupied West Bank. There, the land is hilly and rocky, dotted with ancient olive groves and sparse shrubbery. Its rocky beauty is something I fell in love with just weeks into my first visit to Palestine. Here in the South, however, the land is flat and open and the fields have been cultivated into blankets of greenery, with almost every trace of Palestinian heritage wiped clean.

But every now and again, it reappears. In a field, here and there, you will see what's left of a beautiful old Palestinian house, with its square cut sturdy blocks of stone. These houses, now derelict or used dismissively as agricultural storage areas, stand as a last defiant reminder that this land once belonged to another people.

As I gaze out the window of the bus, I notice the location signs dotted along our route. Soon we are passing the junction turns for Ashdod, Asheklon, Sderot. At the junction for Sderot, we turn into a gas station, as this is to the convergence point for all the buses traveling to the demonstration. The buses from Jaffa are the first to arrive and over the next 30 – 40 minutes, we are joined by buses carrying solidarity activists from Jerusalem, Haifa, Lod (formerly the Palestinian city of Lydda), Bethlehem and other cities within Israel. Once all the buses have arrived, we re-board and make the final leg of the journey, which too my surprise only takes 8 or so minutes.

My first sight of Erez Crossing is like a punch in the stomach. I immediately felt nauseous. Before me is a massive terminal, with the apartheid wall snaking out from either side of it. My immediate thoughts fly to the 1.5 million people of Gaza trapped in devastation behind this ugly wall and building. It is hard to fathom that they are so close and we can not see them, reach them or speak to any of them. In a daze, still trying to fully comprehend that I am at the Gaza border, I leave the bus along with my traveling companions.





Several hundred protestors, many of whom are Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, have already gathered near the terminal gate. The protest crowd soon swells as bus load after bus load of demonstrators join their ranks. In front of one section of the crowd are Palestinian women dressed in traditional dress leading chants and holding up photos of the devastation in Gaza. Lifeless bodies of children, destroyed homes and a ravaged homeland. Near the terminal gate are some older Palestinian men, who have attached a banners to the crowd rails set up by the Israeli police. One banner says: "ISRAEL end your persecution. WORLD end your indifference". Another proclaims definitely: "Our Will is Stronger than your Siege". For the next two hours, chants ring out in Hebrew and Arabic, calling not only for an end to the siege, but also calling for national unity between Fatah and Hamas and for defiance against Israel's occupation of their homeland.

As I stood listening to the women chant and sing, suddenly jubilant cheering erupted. A older Palestinian woman dress in black with a lone suitcase is being surrounded by the protesting women, who are now dancing and singing. The woman, a resident of the besieged strip, had just exited Erez Terminal and was being embraced by the women in the rally. Within seconds, she is enthusiastically joining the singing and dancing. As I stood smiling, watching the women in their exuberance embrace their sister from Gaza, I could not help wondered about the well being of those we could not see, still left behind the concrete wall.


Video by Kim

Unlike the demonstrations in the Occupied West Bank where rubber bullets and teargas are fired on non-violent protests like clockwork, this does not happen today. The Israeli state, however, is still omnipresent. On the hills surrounding the protest, at least three dozen Israeli border police stood watching the demonstration. At the fences near the terminal were many more, as well as mounted police. Unlike a year ago, the Israel state apparatus does not attack or arrest any demonstrators. The fact that we even make it to the Terminal Crossing is a surprise for many of the Israeli demonstrators. A year before, at the height of the war, they were arrested and prevented from even making it anywhere near the Crossing.

As the demonstration starts to wind down and the demonstrators start to board the buses, I find it hard to leave. Part of me want to run to the terminal and shout and try to fruitlessly tear down the fencing, part of me wants to cry and part of me is more angry then ever at the inhumanity and injustice of what lies in front of me. But there is another part of me which is buoyed by the solidarity and strength I had witnessed today and the knowledge that at the same time we were protesting at Erez that thousands of Palestinians in Gaza were also definitely marching on the other side of the wall that divided us and that we were also joined in spirit by the more than 1400 internationals in Egypt and tens of thousands around the world who stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their struggle for freedom and justice.

[1] & [2] UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/9/FactFindingMission.htm


Video by Israel Puterman

Tony Blair and the Emperor's New Clothes

Dear friends,
please find below, in case you missed it, a wonderful article which appeared on the website of Bethlehem based Palestinian News Agency, Maan News.

The article is an interview with the Alexandra Darby, the niece of Tony Blair (former British PM now Middle East Quartet Envoy) and her mother, Lauren Booth (Blair's sister in law). In August 2008, Booth, who is a journalist and broadcaster, was one of the participants on the Free Gaza boats, which helped break the siege of Gaza. Booth subsequently spent a month or more in Gaza working as a human rights volunteer and reporting on the siege. She has since returned to Palestine to participate in the Peace Cycle, bringing her daughter with her.

During their visit to Hebron, Booth and her daughter, just happened to cross paths with Tony Blair's cavalcade which had been in Hebron as well. Alex notes, after her and her mother spoke with local Palestinian residents, that her uncle visit reminded her of the Hans Christian Andersen fable of "The Emperor's New Clothes".

Alex told Maan: “Do you know the story of the emperor’s new clothes?" she asks, "Well the emperor is blinded by what they do, because for real there is nothing there. And I think that’s what they are doing, because when he went to visit the Old City, and well, the Israelis didn’t make him go through the metal bit to get into the mosque; he went through the wide bit. So he thinks, ‘Well, then it's right what they say, these people aren’t poor, these people aren’t under an occupation.’ That’s what they are trying to make him see, so he can make others see the same.”

What a wonderful comment from such a young person!

In solidarity,
Kim


**

Quartet envoy's eight-year-old niece sees the real Palestine
published 22/10/09 and updated on 27/10/09

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=234091

Bethlehem - Ma’an - Eight-year-old Alexandra Darby, the niece of Quartet envoy Tony Blair, toured the West Bank this week on a bicycle, peddling an estimated 200 kilometers from Amman to Jerusalem.

Asked what she will tell her school friends about the Peace Cycle journey, Alex reflected, “I’ll tell them that the people here are very nice, not like they say in the newspapers.”


Alex Darby - photo by Maan News.

The West Bank is not a usual vacation site for most eight-year-olds. But, as mother, journalist and activist Lauren Booth explained, “She’s been asking me for the last five years why she can’t go to Palestine, and despite the fact that the Israelis can make it bloody trying to get in and out, the greeting here I knew would be so sensational for her that I didn’t have a reason not to bring her.”

Why doesn't Alex think other kids get to come to Palestine? “Because, of course, the telly, which says Palestinians are not like us, that they are a revolting people, a violent people, a nasty people, it’s mad. In fact it’s the exact opposite, it’s the Israelis.”

Alex and Tony visit Hebron

On Tuesday, Alex visited Hebron with the Peace Cycle Group. As she entered the streets leading to the Old City, she saw her uncle’s motorcade drive away.

While in the city, mom Lauren had heard the Quartet envoy, and husband of her sister, may be in the area. “We tried to wave them down,” she said, but “they thought we were just waving at them [as fans] so they just waved back. They thought people on the streets were waving at them, which was a bit frustrating.”

But it meant Alex had the fortuitous experience of meeting the people who had just escorted Blair around the city. His visit was reported as a chance for Blair to hear about the troubles of Palestinians in Hebron so he could better inform the decisions of the Quartet as it pushes its Middle East peace Road Map.

“As soon as Blair left, we arrived and got to speak to the local dignitaries and to the police who had been part of showing him around, and their disappointment was total,” Lauren explained.

“He was shown into the mosque and cheered in by Israeli soldiers. He went not through the cattle grid and the humiliation of checkpoints that the local population has to go through to get to their own mosque; he went in through open doors used only by Israelis. How is he going to learn, and make any judgment about what the Palestinian people need, if that’s the sort of trip he makes?”


Tony Blair - former British PM and now Middle East Quartet Envoy.

Touring the area with her mom and the group, listening to the way people talked about Blair’s visit, and what he was supposed to be doing, reminded Alex of the Hans Christian Andersen fable The Emperor’s New Clothes. The tale is of a leader who hires swindlers to make him new robes and is fooled into believing they are made of a magical fabric that only the worthy can see.

“Do you know the story of the emperor’s new clothes?" she asks, "Well the emperor is blinded by what they do, because for real there is nothing there. And I think that’s what they are doing, because when he went to visit the Old City, and well, the Israelis didn’t make him go through the metal bit to get into the mosque; he went through the wide bit. So he thinks, ‘Well, then it's right what they say, these people aren’t poor, these people aren’t under an occupation.’ That’s what they are trying to make him see, so he can make others see the same.”

“The Palestinian Authority is culpable in this as well,” Lauren adds, “they arrange these visits so that he doesn’t have tea with a local family; they go along with these supposed security issues that allow Israel to protect foreign diplomats from the supposedly violent Palestinians and they never get to see the real situation.”

Alex, however, saw the real Hebron.

“I felt a bit scared in Hebron,” she admits, tucking her legs up into the chair, “You never really could be alone. When you came in there are Israelis looking down at you, then we got to one bit, there was this big thing the Israelis could look through just to see far-er, and he had a big gun,” Alex said describing the guard towers that dot the Old City.

“She has been afraid twice,” Lauren explained, “both times because of settlers, and that’s disappointing that she had to feel that. I never want any child to have to go through that, but she did… and it really affected her.”

Going home

Wednesday was the last night for Alex and Lauren in Palestine, so thoughts turned to what would happen when she returned to class.

What did she tell her friends before leaving? “I’ve told them about the siege, but they don’t listen, my best friend listens though.”

What will she tell them when she gets back? “I think it’s a mad idea to build a wall, to think of people getting guns and building a giant wall around France and saying ‘This is England;’ it’s mad.”

Does she think her visit will prompt them to come and see the place for themselves? “I don’t really think they will, because if I tell them about the soldiers they’ll be scared… I think their parents would come first, to get to know some people and make friends, then when they know the people quite well and that they’re nice, then perhaps they’ll bring their children.”


Peace Cycle - photo by Maan News.

That comment prompts an idea in Lauren, who, along with the other members of the Peace Cycle Team, has used the trip to make connections with local initiatives, hoping to pair them with organizations in the UK and Europe. “You need to know the people first, you’re right. Do you think your classmates would want to Skype with the kids in Jenin that you met?”

Alex nods, excited about the prospect of keeping in touch with some of her new friends.

“I have brought the most precious thing in my life to Palestine with the knowledge that she will be loved and cared for,” Lauren says as the buss rolls up to take the group to a school for the blind in Beit Jala, “and that she has found this to be a place where children are adored and not in the least like she would have expected it to be as a child exposed to the news.”

Getting nervous about the visit, Alex asks if we want to hear the song she will share with the children at the school.

“Are you ready?

Free my people Palestine - Sing it loud
We will never let you die - Sing it loud
Palestine West Bank Ramallah Gaza, this is for the child that is looking for an answer
I wish I could take your tears and turn them into laughter
Long live Palestine, Long live Gaza!”

Israeli soldiers admit widespread abuse of Palestinian detainees, including children

Dear friends,
Please find below an article by Ben Lynfield from the UK newspaper, The Independent, about Israel soldiers abuse of Palestinian prisoners. The article confirms, once again, the wide spread and illegal use of abusive force against unarmed Palestinian prisoners, including children (some as young as 14) by the Israeli occupation forces.

In particular, the article focuses on the Israeli occupation forces invasion of Hares village in the Salfit governate of the Occupied West Bank.

Hares is the village that the International Women’s Peace Service www.iwps.info , (the team that I work with in Palestine) is based in. We have been located in the village since 2002, when the village issued an invitation for an international team to be based in the village as it was under constant attack in the first years of the Al Aqsa intifada.

Hares is located, along with several other villages, in the centre of the massive illegal bloc of settlements known as the “Ariel settlement bloc”. Ariel settlement is the largest settlement in the West Bank proper, with around 50,000 illegal settlers. From our balcony, you can see Ariel which is less than 2 km away; while from the window of our kitchen you are assaulted visually by the illegal colonies of Barkan and Revava. Barkan is an “industrial” settlement and produces furniture and wine, to name a few things. The settlement bloc includes approximately another 12 illegal colonies, all within a few kilometres of Hares.

At the time of the invasion mentioned in Lynfield’s article, my colleagues in Hares reported that the raid was part of an increased militarisation in the northern part of the Occupied West Bank that included the Israeli occupation forces erecting new roadblocks at the entrance of villages in the form of earth mounds – with this happening in Hares, as well as Azzun in the Qalqilya district (Azzun is approximately 30 -40 minutes from Hares).

Earlier in the month, the Israeli occupation forces invaded Hares and invaded our apartment/office in village. This was the first time in a number of years since this had happened. According to my team mates there was some speculation that the IOF has in the past few months been embolden by their “success” in Gaza and the election of the new ultra right government headed by Netanyahu

I have included below, as well, the link to the IWPS report on the invasion mentioned in Lynfield’s report. The original report, available on the IWPS website, includes a series of photographs taken during the invasion.

In solidarity,

Kim

***

Bound, blindfolded and beaten – by Israeli troops

Children among Palestinian detainees abused during West Bank operation, according to soldiers' confessions

By Ben Lynfield in Hares, West Bank

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/bound-blindfolded-and-beaten-ndash-by-israeli-troops-1700194.html

Tuesday, 9 June 2009

Two Israeli officers have testified that troops in the West Bank beat, bound and blindfolded Palestinian civilians as young as 14. The damaging disclosures by two sergeants of the Kfir Brigade include descriptions of abuses they say they witnessed during a search-and-detain operation involving hundreds of troops in Hares village on 26 March. The testimonies have been seen by The Independent and are expected to add fuel to the controversy over recent remarks by Colonel Itai Virob, commander of Kfir Brigade, in which he said violence against detained Palestinians was justified in order to accomplish missions.

Both the soldiers, from the Harub battalion, highlighted the tight tying of the plastic hand restraints placed on detainees. "There are people who think you need to tighten the restraints all the way, until no drop of blood will pass from here to there," one soldier said. "It doesn't take much time until the hands turn blue. There were a lot of people that you know weren't feeling anything."

He said about 150 Palestinians, some as young as 14, were bound, blindfolded and detained at the village school during the operation, which lasted from 3am to 3pm. He was told it was aimed at preventing village youths throwing stones against nearby settler roads. It was clear many of the people detained had done nothing wrong, but they were held to gather intelligence, he said.


Photos by IWPS


Photos by IWPS

The worst beatings were in the bathrooms, he said. "The soldiers who took [detainees] to the toilet just exploded [over] them with beatings; cursed them with no reason. When they took one Arab to the toilet so that he could urinate, one of them gave him a slap that brought him to the ground. He had been handcuffed from behind with a nylon restraint and blindfolded. He wasn't insolent, he didn't do anything to get on anyone's nerves ... [it was] just because he's an Arab. He was something like 15 years old." The soldier said he saw a lot of soldiers "just knee [Palestinians] because it's boring, because you stand there 10 hours, you're not doing anything, so they beat people up."

A second soldier described a "fanatical atmosphere" during the search operations. "We would go into a house and turn the whole thing upside down," he recalled, but no weapons were found. "They confiscated kitchen knives."

The first soldier said involvement was widespread."There were a lot of reservists that participated, and they totally had a celebration on the Palestinians: curses, humiliation, pulling hair and ears, kicks, slaps. These things were the norm." He said the incidents in the toilet were the "extreme" and added that the beatings did not draw blood. They were "dry beatings, but it's still a beating".

The second soldier said some troops stole from houses they searched, even though the people were so poor it was hard for them to find anything to take.

Last month, Colonel Virob testified in a military court that hitting detained Palestinians could be justified. "Standing them against walls, pushing them, a blow that doesn't cause injury. Certainly, these are things that are commonly used in an attempt to accomplish the mission," he said. Despite a reprimand of Colonel Virob by the head of central command, General Shamni, and a disavowal by army chief of staff Lt General Gabi Ashkenazi, the remarks are seen by Breaking the Silence, an organisation that collects testimonies of soldiers, as proof that the alleged abuses in Hares cannot be dismissed as an isolated occurrence or low-level improvisations.

In Hares, Ihab Shamlawi, a university student, recalled watching as a high school pupil asked soldiers permission to go to the bathroom. "They put him on the floor, they kicked his legs and beat him," he said. Ten or 15 other soldiers were watching, Mr Shamlawi recalled. "They all laughed," he said.

The army spokesman's office yesterday said an investigation had been opened and added that, following Colonel Virob's previous remarks, General Shamni had distributed pamphlets to troops underscoring that "when someone is detained, stopped or held ... Israel Defence Force soldiers ... are absolutely and clearly forbidden to use any force or violence against them".

***


Photos by IWPS


IWPS report on Hares Invasion

27 March 2009

http://www.iwps.info/en/articles/article.php?id=1222

Army incursion in Haris, over 150 minors and youths arrested

Written by Rada Edited by Maria

A major military operation took place today in Haris between 2am and 5pm. Around 15 jeeps, 2 border police jeeps and vans belonging to Israeli Intelligence Shabak entered Haris and arrested around 150 people including large number of minors.

A number of people reported injury by the soldiers including several cases of beatings of small children and women. Soldiers also destroyed furniture, appliances, walls and various food products in at least 4 houses.

At 4:30pm most of the people who were arrested were released. At present IWPS is aware of 4 youths all aged 16 who have not been released and whose whereabouts is currently unknown. There are strong indications that more people were taken away and we are hoping to have more accurate figures soon.

At 2 am soldiers and jeeps entered Haris in a major military operation which lasted 15 hours. The soldiers raided most houses in Haris, arresting youths and interrogating them about their friends, family members and the layout of the houses. The IWPS has heard from many parents and adults that soldiers gave them a piece of paper with a number and photographed them holding this paper.

All those arrested were blindfolded, handcuffed and taken to the primary school in Haris. Here they were seated in the classrooms and in the playground and interrogated one by one by Shabak and the military. Those released were given a paper so that other soldiers would not re-arrest them as the arrests continued throughout the day.

The IWPS members witnessed several of the arrests and we have managed to secure photographic evidence and statements form a number of victims and their relatives.


Photos by IWPS


Photos by IWPS


IWPS also received a report of a man who suffered a back injury due to excessive use of force by the soldiers. The IWPS called for an ambulance which arrived shortly after but was denied entry into Haris by the soldiers, in spite of being urged by the IWPS and the villagers living near by. The reason given was that if a person was injured it would be army's responsibility to take care of them and provide the ambulance. However, the Israeli ambulance parked nearby was not called by the soldiers to treat the injured man.

Two photojournalists who managed to enter Haris close to the primary school where shortly after escorted by the border police out of the village. In addition, a TV van and two other journalists were denied entry into Haris.

The army incursion finished around 4.30 and the villages fear that it might continue in the near future.

When questioned about the purpose of the incursion, IWPS members were told by the army that they were updating its database of information of Haris residents. Last Saturday 21st March there was another army incursion into Haris where army jeeps and Shabak vans parked in front of the primary school and took photos of the school.

IWPS is concerned about the current wave of arrests of residents of Haris and especially minors and youths. IWPS is also very concerned about the violent behavior of soldiers during the arrests and the use of primary school for detention and interrogation purposes. In addition the media access has repeatedly been denied and there is limited flow information including about the very serious human right abuses mentioned above

Israeli occupation forces murder 5th Palestinian in Ni'lin village

Dear friends,
the terrible news has come through that the Israeli Occupation Forces have once again killed another unarmed demonstrator in Ni'lin village. Akil Srour, aged 36, was shot in the chest by an Israeli sniper using live ammunition. Akil is the 5th Palestinian to be killed in Nil'in by the IOF. For the past 18 months, Ni'lin village has been waging a tireless and courageous non-violent struggle against the confiscation of their land and the building of the apartheid wall. Since the demonstrations began, Israel has shot 35 people with live ammunition and injured dozen others.

Please find below the media release issued by the ISM at the time of the shooting and also the report on Akil's funeral.

Also below is footage of the demonstration in which Akil was shot. Please note the footage is graphic and may cause distress.

in solidarity and sadness,
Kim

***

Israeli forces kill Palestinian demonstrator in Ni’lin
June 5, 2009
For Immediate Release: International Solidarity Movement
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/06/7023

Friday, 5 June 2009 at 2:50pm: Israeli forces have killed a demonstrator in the West Bank village of Ni’lin.


Yousef Akil Srour, murdered 5 June by Israeli Occupation Force sniper


The Israeli army shot Yousef Akil Srour, aged 36 years in the chest with 0.22 caliber live ammunition. He was dead upon arrival to Ramallash Hospital.

Yousef Akil Srour is the 5th Palestinian to be killed by the Israeli army in Ni’lin during a demonstration against the theft of his land for the construction of the Annexation Wall.

Israeli forces shot Mohammad Mouslah Mousa, aged 15 years, in the lower chest shortly after shooting Srour. He was taken to Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Ramallah.

Additionally, the army shot another 3 demonstrators today with 0.22 caliber live ammunition; one in the leg, one in the side and one in the shoulder.

As of Friday, 5 June 2009, Israeli forces have shot 35 people with live ammunition during demonstrations in the village of Ni’lin.

Israeli occupation forces have murdered five Ni’lin residents during demonstrations against the confiscation of their land and critically injured one international solidarity activist.

Ahmed Mousa (10) was shot in the forehead with live ammunition on 29 July 2008. The following day, Yousef Amira (17) was shot twice with rubber-coated steel bullets, leaving him brain dead. He died a week later on 4 August 2008. Arafat Rateb Khawaje (22), was the third Ni’lin resident to be killed by Israeli forces. He was shot in the back with live ammunition on 28 December 2008. That same day, Mohammed Khawaje (20), was shot in the head with live ammunition, leaving him brain dead. He died three days in a Ramallah hospital. Tristan Anderson (37), an American citizen, was shot with a high velocity tear gas projectile on 13 March 2009 and is currently in Tel Hashomer hospital. Yousef Akil Srour (36), was shot with 0.22 caliber live ammunition in the chest on 5 June 2009 and pronounced dead upon arrival at Ramallah hospital.

In total, 35 people have been shot by Israeli forces with live ammunition.

Since May 2008, residents of Ni’lin village have been demonstrating against construction of the Apartheid Wall. Despite being deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004, the occupation continues to build a Wall, further annexing Palestinian land.

Ni’lin will lose approximately 2500 dunums of agricultural land when the construction of the Wall is completed. Ni’lin consisted of 57,000 dunums in 1948, reduced to 33,000 dunums in 1967, currently is 10,000 dunums and will be 7,500 dunums after construction of the Wall.


Video by Israel Putermam - Shooting of Yousef Akil Srour in Ni'lin village
Please note the footage is graphic and may cause distress.


Funeral for Yousef ‘Akil’ Srour held in Ni’lin
6 June 2009
Report by the International Solidarity Movement
www.palsolidarity.org


The funeral for Yousef Tzadik ‘Akil’ Srour was held in Ni’lin on Saturday, 6 June 2009. Srour was murdered by Israeli forces on Friday, 5 June 2009, during a demonstration against the construction of the Apartheid Wall on Ni’lin’s land. Akil frequently participated in the unarmed demonstrations against the construction of the Apartheid Wall. He was known as a leader amongst the demonstrators, always ready to help another.

According to an eyewitness from the village, “The soldier was to our right and Akal was running to the left to help an injured man… when he was shot in the heart.”

Residents of Ni’lin, amongst others, drove behind the vehicle bringing Srour’s body back to Ni’lin. The procession reached Ni’lin from Ramallah around 12:30pm. People marched through the village, carrying Srour’s body to his home, the mosque and finally to the place of burial. Sour’s brother and other Ni’lin residents spoke of Akil’s kindness and dedication to his village after his burial.

To date, Israeli occupation forces have murdered five Palestinian residents and critically injured 1 international solidarity activist during unarmed demonstrations in Ni’lin.

29 July 2008: Ahmed Mousa (10) was shot in the forehead with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition and pronounced dead upon arrival at a Ramallah hospital.

30 July 2008: Yousef Amira (17) was shot in the head with two rubber coated steel bullets. He died in a Ramallah hospital 5 days later on 4 August 2008.

28 December 2008: Arafat Rateb Khawaje (22) was shot in the back with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition and pronounced dead upon arrival at a Ramallah hospital.

28 December 2008: Mohammed Khawaje (20) was shot in the head with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition. He died in a Ramallah hospital 3 days later on 31 December 2008.

13 March 2009: Tristan Anderson (37), an American citizen, was shot in the head with a high velocity tear gas projectile. He is currently at Tel Hashomer hospital

5 June 2009: Yousef Akil Srour (36) was shot in the chest with 0.22 caliber live ammunition and pronounced dead upon arrival at a Ramallah hospital.

In total, 35 people have been shot by Israeli forces with live ammunition: 7 were shot with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition and 28 were shot with 0.22 caliber live ammunition.
Since May 2008, residents of Ni’lin have been organizing and participating in unarmed demonstrations against construction of the Apartheid Wall. Despite being deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004, the Occupation continues to build the Wall, further annexing Palestinian land.

Ni’lin will lose approximately 2,500 dunums of agricultural land when construction of the Wall is completed. Ni’lin consisted of 57,000 dunums in 1948, was reduced to 33,000 dunums in 1967, is currently 10,000 dunums and will be 7,500 dunums after completion of the Wall.

Additionally, a tunnel for Palestinians is being built underneath road 446. This tunnel will allow for the closure of the road to Palestinian vehicles, turning road 446 into an Israeli-only road. Ni’lin will be effectively split into 2 parts (upper Ni’lin and lower Ni’lin), as road 446 runs between the village. The tunnel is designed to give Israeli occupation forces control of movement over Ni’lin residents, as it can be blocked with a single military vehicle.