Last Updated June 15, 2012

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Archive 1               Archive 2

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August 8,  2010

Displacing the Bedouin

Twice last week employees of the Israel Lands Administration, with the help of a large police contingent, demolished the homes of around 300 residents in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Al-Arakib in the Negev. Most of them, citizens of the State of Israel, including many children, were left not only without homes, but humiliated, frustrated and shocked. Both times the police were brutal, and neither time did the state offer an alternative, compensation or assistance, either material or psychological, for the people whose village was demolished and world was destroyed. That’s how a country treats its citizens. Even if there is substance to the state’s claims that the village’s lands belong to the state and not to the inhabitants, it should have offered other solutions besides sending in bulldozers again and again. There is a large cemetery at Al-Arakib and water wells that the residents say denote their possession of the land, along with old ownership documents. They claim they were forced to abandon the area after the War of Independence and that they returned in the 1990s because the land remained empty.

In the eyes of the state they are squatters. After a protracted legal battle, the state destroyed the village. When the residents tried, with the help of volunteers, to rebuild, the bulldozers arrived again on Wednesday. While the state has given sweeping approval to Jewish “individual farms” in the Negev, awarding huge areas to individual citizens, it treats tens of thousands of Bedouin harshly, presenting their settlement in the Negev as a “problem” and a “danger.” This attitude is infuriating. The Bedouin are the children of the Negev. Most of them were born there and some have lived there for generations. At least some of the inhabitants of Al-Arakib are well integrated into the economy and see Israel as their country. Destroying their homes and pushing them into the crowded and poor Bedouin cities creates a much more severe political and social problem than the danger of the Bedouin living on state lands.

The bulldozer cannot be the state’s only answer, especially not when it is used only against the Bedouin. It’s hard to understand why Israel is pushing a significant sector of its citizens toward extremism and crime. On the ruins of Al-Arakib a new generation of Bedouin will sprout that is alienated from the state, enraged and desperate. Neither they nor the state deserve this.

Source = http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/displacing-the-bedouin-1.306645

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Water in blockaded Gaza ‘not fit for human consumption’

June 15, 2012

“As a matter of urgent priority for the health and well-being of Gaza’s children, Israel must lift the blockade in its entirety to enable the free movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza.”

The water in Gaza is too dangerous to drink as it is contaminated with fertilizers and sewage, says a new report. Several charitable organizations have called on Israel to immediately lift its blockade to allow crucial sanitation equipment in.  Sanitary conditions have reached crisis point in Gaza after five years of blockade. Authorities have warned inhabitants that the only source of running water is too dangerous to consume. A report by charities Save the Children and Medical Aid for Palestinians says that the levels of contamination are more often than not ten times what is safe for consumption. Many poor families have no choice but to drink the water. “The children of Gaza are living in prison-like conditions, entrapped on a strip of hostile land that prevents them from even dreaming of a better future. Since the beginning of the blockade in 2007, the number of children under 3 years of age being treated for diarrhea has doubled,” said Save the Children director Valerio Neri. He added that conditions were so dire in the region that “even a simple case of diarrhea can be fatal for a child.”

As well as the blockade, the report cites war damage and lack of investment as the root causes of the sanitary crisis. The charities highlighted the fact that Israel’s repeated bombing of Gaza had left the sewage system “completely broken.” The Israeli government maintains that it has eased up the blockade on the region over the past couple of months with a view curbing the crisis. It says that medical supplies and building materials are being allowed through to aid in Gaza’s reconstruction. However, the report says this is not enough and calls on the international community and the Palestinian Authority to do more.

Source = http://www.rt.com/news/water-dangerous-contaminated-gaza-909/

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Israel is new South Africa as boycott calls increase

June 3, 2012

Some of the world’s biggest stars – from Madonna to the Red Hot Chili Peppers – are being accused of putting profit before principle in a growing backlash against artists performing in Israel. Campaigners angry at human rights abuses against the Palestinian people – symbolised by Israel’s policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinians and allowing Israeli settlers to take over their land – are demanding a boycott of Israeli venues in a campaign that echoes the 1980s protests against South Africa and the infamous venue Sun City. Last week Madonna came under fire for her decision to perform in Israel to kick off her world tour last Thursday. “By performing in Israel, Madonna has consciously and shamefully lent her name to fig-leafing Israel’s occupation and apartheid and showed her obliviousness to human rights,” said Omar Barghouti of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.

Attempts by Madonna to deflect criticism by offering free tickets to local campaigners backfired, with a number rejecting the offer. Boycott from Within, an Israeli campaign group, accused the singer of “a blatant attempt at whitewashing Israeli crimes”. Mr Barghouti added: “As we’ve learned from the South African struggle for freedom, entertaining Israeli apartheid should never be mislabelled as singing for peace.” The star’s publicist did not respond to requests for comment. Acts such as alleged war crimes during Israel’s 2008 invasion of Gaza and the 2010 killing of peace activists by Israeli commandos on an aid ship are fuelling the return of an anti-apartheid campaign on a scale not seen in a generation. Saeed Amireh, 21, a peace activist from Nilin in the West Bank, said: “We don’t have freedom of movement. They don’t want peace; they just want us to disappear. They are suppressing our very existence.”

Calls for a boycott are supported by hundreds of artists around the world, from the film director Ken Loach to former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters and the author Alice Walker. Artists such as Carlos Santana and Elvis Costello have cancelled shows after pressure from campaigners in recent years; Coldplay, U2 and Bruce Springsteen have declined invitations to play in Israel without supporting the boycott publicly. Paul McCartney, Elton John, Rihanna and Leonard Cohen are among those to have ignored calls not to appear there.

Source = http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/israel-is-new-south-africa-as-boycott-calls-increase-7813538.html

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Mavi Marmara: Israeli officers face Turkish trial

May 28, 2012

A Turkish court has charged four senior Israeli military commanders over the killing of nine Turkish activists trying to reach Gaza in 2010. Ex-military chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi and former heads of military intelligence, the navy and air force are expected to be tried in absentia. The nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed after Israeli troops boarded their ship, the Mavi Marmara. They had been hoping to breach Israel’s naval blockade and deliver aid to Gaza.

A prosecutor at the court in Istanbul has called for each of the four Israeli officers to face nine life sentences, Turkish news agency Anatolia reported. The other three commanders are ex-naval chief Vice Admiral Eliezer Marom, former head of military intelligence Major General Amos Yadlin, and former head of the air force Brigadier General Avishai Lev. Israel has refused to co-operate with any prosecution of those who took part in the attack. If they are convicted, the Turkish court could issue a warrant for their arrest.

The Mavi Marmara was intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters as it sailed towards Gaza’s coast on 31 May 2010. A UN inquiry found that Israel’s blockade of Gaza was “a legitimate security measure”. It said Israeli troops had faced “significant, organised and violent resistance” when they boarded the ship. But it said Israel’s decision to board the ship and the use of substantial force was “excessive and unreasonable”. The incident has led to a major rift in relations between Turkey and Israel.

Source = http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18232886

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Ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, or, democratic Israel at work

May 5, 2011

It happened on the day after Independence Day, when Israel was immersed in praise of itself and its democracy almost ad nauseam, and on the eve of (virtually outlawed ) Nakba Day, when the Palestinian people mark the “catastrophe” – the anniversary of the creation of Israel. My colleague Akiva Eldar published what we have always known but for which we lacked the shocking figures he revealed: By the time of the Oslo Accords, Israel had revoked the residency of 140,000 Palestinians from the West Bank. In other words, 14 percent of West Bank residents who dared to go abroad had their right to return to Israel and live here denied forever. In other words, they were expelled from their land and their homes. In other words: ethnic cleansing. While we are still desperately concealing, denying and repressing our major ethnic cleansing of 1948 – over 600,000 refugees, some who fled for fear of the Israel Defense Forces and its predecessors, some who were expelled by force – it turns out that 1948 never ended, that its spirit is still with us. Also with us is the goal of trying to cleanse this land of its Arab inhabitants as much as possible, and even a bit more. After all, that’s the most covert and desired solution: the Land of Israel for the Jews, for them alone. A few people dared to say it outright – Rabbi Meir Kahane, Minister Rehavam Ze’evi and their disciples, who deserve a certain amount of praise for their integrity. Many aspire to do the same thing without admitting it.

The revelation of the policy of denying residency has proved that this secret dream is in effect the establishment’s secret dream. There one doesn’t talk about transfer, heaven forfend; nobody would think of calling it cleansing. They don’t load Arabs onto trucks as they once did, including after the Six-Day War, and they don’t shoot at them to chase them away – all politically incorrect methods in the new world. But in effect that’s the goal. Some people think it’s enough if we make the lives of the Palestinians in the territories miserable to get them to leave, and many have in fact left. An Israeli success: According to the Civil Administration, about a quarter of a million Palestinians voluntarily left the West Bank in the bloody years 2000-2007. But that’s not enough, so various and sundry administrative means were added to make the dream come true. Anyone who says “it’s not apartheid” is invited to reply: Why is an Israeli allowed to leave his country for the rest of his life, and nobody suggests that his citizenship be revoked, while a Palestinian, a native son, is not allowed to do so? Why is an Israeli allowed to marry a foreigner and receive a residency permit for her, while a Palestinian is not allowed to marry his former neighbor who lives in Jordan? Isn’t that apartheid? Over the years I have documented endless pitiful tragedies of families that were torn apart, whose sons and daughters were not permitted to live in the West Bank or Gaza due to draconian rules – for Palestinians only.

Israel’s ethnic cleansing

Israeli authorities are planning to launch a campaign of expulsion against thousands of Palestinians living in the West Bank. This ethnic cleansing will be carried out mainly under the pretext that the individuals are originally from the Gaza Strip or are resident in the occupied territory “illegally”. The military order for the arrest, imprisonment (for several years) or deportation of Palestinians came from the commander of Israeli forces, despite the protests of human rights organisations locally and internationally, and declarations of illegality by several civil courts. Targeting the people of Gaza in this way suggests that the Israelis intend to separate the Gaza Strip and its people formally from their kin in the West Bank, and treat them as citizens of a foreign country. This is a serious development in terms of the “peace process” and internal Palestinian reconciliation efforts. The people from Gaza who live in the West Bank do so because it is part of Palestine, under the control of the Palestinian Authority which supposedly represents all Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. The PA negotiates with the Israeli government on behalf of all Palestinians for the establishment of an independent Palestine on the territory of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with Jerusalem as its capital, alongside the State of Israel.

The Israeli military’s decision not only underlines a separation between the West Bank and Gaza, it also confirms the limitations of the Palestinian Authority in representing the people of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. President Abbas himself has no right to distinguish between the Palestinians of the West Bank and the Palestinians in Gaza. The Palestinian Authority duly denounced the Israeli decision, on the basis that it is totally incompatible with the agreements signed between the two parties, particularly the Oslo Accords. Yet PA officials know that the Israelis have basically bypassed the PA as if it did not exist and destroyed the last vestige of the Authority’s credibility; that assumes, of course, that it still had some left to lose. With such a racist decision, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has declared another stage in the war of attrition against the people of Palestine, paving the way for a new round of dispossession and displacement. In doing so the Israelis are taking advantage of the weakness of the Arab states and the artificially induced inability of the international community to do anything concrete against the Zionist state’s scandalous violation of human rights law and conventions, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention concerning on prisoners of war and areas under occupation. The planned expulsion of Palestinians as “infiltrators” in breach of Israeli law, may well be the first step towards an even larger level of ethnic cleansing of the Arab citizens of Israel itself, on the basis that that they have no place in a Jewish state. Moreover, this decision will cancel unilaterally the refugees’ right to return not only to the cities and villages occupied sixty years ago, but also to any future state supposed to be established in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

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Barack Obama throws full US support behind Middle East uprisings

May 19, 2011

Barack Obama has sought to realign US policy on the Middle East, promising to shift from the long-held American backing for autocratic regimes to support for pro-democracy movements – and pledging to set out the shape of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal “The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines, with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognised borders are established for both states,” he said.

Although he prefaced this by saying that Israel’s security remained a core US aim in the Middle East, it marks a move towards the Palestinians. Obama is due to see the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, in Washington on Friday and address the American Jewish Lobby in Washington on Sunday. “As for Israel, our friendship is rooted deeply in a shared history and shared values,” Obama said. “Our commitment to Israel’s security is unshakeable. And we will stand against attempts to single it out for criticism in international forums. But precisely because of our friendship, it is important that we tell the truth: the status quo is unsustainable and Israel too must act boldly to advance a lasting peace.”

Barack Obama presses for Middle East reform

May 19, 2011

n a speech at the state department, Mr Obama said the future of the US was bound to the Middle East by forces of economics, security, history and fate. “It will be the policy of the US to promote reform, and to support transitions to democracy,” he said. The speech was Mr Obama’s first comprehensive response to revolts sweeping the Arab world, analysts say. “We face a historic opportunity,” he said. “We have a chance to show that America values the dignity of a street vendor in Tunisia more than the raw power of the dictator.” “As Americans have been seared by hostage taking, violent rhetoric, and terrorist attacks that have killed thousands of our citizens – a failure to change our approach [in the Middle East] threatens a deepening spiral of division between the United States and Muslim communities,” Mr Obama added.

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Israel urges UN to cancel Goldstone Report on Gaza war 

April 3, 2011

Israel has called on the UN to cancel a report that said it possibly committed war crimes during its 2008-2009 military offensive in Gaza. The report’s author, South African judge Richard Goldstone, said on Friday that new accounts indicated Israel had not deliberately targeted civilians. He said that if he had known what he knew now, “the Goldstone Report would have been a different document”. Israel’s prime minister said the remark meant the report “should be buried”.

Operation Cast Lead was launched in response to repeated rocket attacks on Israeli territory by militants in Gaza. Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including hundreds of civilians, as well as 13 Israelis. The Goldstone Report, published in September 2009, concluded that both the Israeli military and militants from the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which controls Gaza, had committed potential war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the offensive.

The UN-appointed expert panel led by Mr Goldstone accused Israel of using disproportionate force, deliberately targeting civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure, and using people as human shields. Israel refused to co-operate with the investigation, accusing the panel of being biased, and rejected its accusations. It did, however, conduct independent investigations into more than 400 allegations of misconduct. In an opinion piece in the Washington Post on Friday, Mr Goldstone wrote that his conclusions about Israel appeared to have been wrong.

He said the Israeli investigations, which were recognised by a UN committee, indicated that “civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy”. “We know a lot more today about what happened in the Gaza war,” he explained. “If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document.” On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement: “Everything we said has been proven to be true.

“Israel does not purposely target civilians and its investigative institutions are competent, while Hamas intentionally fires at innocent civilians and does not investigate anything. “The fact that Goldstone has backtracked means the report should be buried once and for all.” Mr Goldstone also noted that Hamas had “done nothing” to examine its rocket attacks, which were “purposefully and indiscriminately aimed at civilian targets”. There was no immediate response from Hamas.

HUMAN RIGHTS IN PALESTINE AND OTHER OCCUPIED ARAB TERRITORIES

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. On 3 April 2009, the President of the Human Rights Council established the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict with the mandate “to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law that might have been committed at any time in the context of the military operations that were conducted in Gaza during the period from 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009, whether before, during or after.”

2. The President appointed Justice Richard Goldstone, former judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, to head the Mission. The other three appointed members were: Professor Christine Chinkin, Professor of International Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science, who was a member of the high-level fact-finding mission to Beit Hanoun (2008); Ms. Hina Jilani, Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and former Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders, who was a member of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur (2004); and Colonel Desmond Travers, a former Officer in Ireland’s Defence Forces and member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for International Criminal Investigations.

3. As is usual practice, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) established a secretariat to support the Mission.

4. The Mission interpreted the mandate as requiring it to place the civilian population of the region at the centre of its concerns regarding the violations of international law.

5. The Mission convened for the first time in Geneva between 4 and 8 May 2009. Additionally, the Mission met in Geneva on 20 May, on 4 and 5 July, and between 1 and 4 August 2009. The Mission conducted three field visits: two to the Gaza Strip between 30 May and 6 June, and between 25 June and 1 July 2009; and one visit to Amman on 2 and 3 July 2009. Several staff of the Mission’s secretariat were deployed in Gaza from 22 May to 4 July 2009 to conduct field investigations.

6. Notes verbales were sent to all Member States of the United Nations and United Nations organs and bodies on 7 May 2009. On 8 June 2009, the Mission issued a call for submissions inviting all interested persons and organizations to submit relevant information and documentation to assist in the implementation of its mandate.

7. Public hearings were held in Gaza on 28 and 29 June and in Geneva on 6 and 7 July 2009.

8. The Mission repeatedly sought to obtain the cooperation of the Government of Israel. After numerous attempts had failed, the Mission sought and obtained the assistance of the Government of Egypt to enable it to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing.

9. The Mission has enjoyed the support and cooperation of the Palestinian Authority and of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. Due to the lack of cooperation from the Israeli Government, the Mission was unable to meet members of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. The Mission did, however, meet officials of the Palestinian Authority, including a cabinet minister, in Amman. During its visits to the Gaza Strip, the Mission held meetings with senior members of the Gaza authorities and they extended their full cooperation and support to the Mission.

10. Subsequent to the public hearings in Geneva, the Mission was informed that a Palestinian participant, Mr. Muhammad Srour, had been detained by Israeli security forces when returning to the West Bank and became concerned that his detention may have been a consequence of his appearance before the Mission. The Mission is in contact with him and continues to monitor developments.

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Europe’s Israel romance is on the wane

March 14, 2011

In Europe, Israel has historically enjoyed a high level of support, not least because it was perceived as a progressive democracy in a sea of Arab backwardness. At the same time, most Europeans knew very little about the Israel-Palestine conflict: as recently as 2004, the Glasgow University Media Group found that only 9% of British students knew that the Israelis were the illegal occupiers of Palestinian land. Astonishingly, there were actually more people (11%) who believed that the Palestinians were occupying the territories. However, according to a new poll by ICM for the Middle East Monitor, Europeans’ perception of Israel has changed decisively, and their understanding of the Israel-Palestine conflict, while still giving some cause for concern, has improved significantly. The survey of 7,000 people in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Britain reveals only a small minority (10%) now believe their countries should support Israel rather than the Palestinians, while many more, 39%, think they should not.

This shift in European public opinion may owe something to an improved understanding of the conflict; 49% of respondents were now able to identify Israel as the occupying power. However, 22% still didn’t know. This persistence of ignorance about issues that have been long established in international law may reflect media bias, or inadequate coverage of the conflict. It could also be a result of campaigns undertaken by the Israeli public relations machinery in Europe. Whatever the cause, the shift in public opinion is clearly not mainly due to the success of a pro-Palestinian lobby. This decisive shift appears to be primarily a consequence of Israel’s violation of international law, specifically its actions in Gaza, the 2010 attack on the humanitarian flotilla, its settlement expansion programme, and the construction of the separation wall.

There is, across Europe, a growing rejection of Israeli policies. Its blockade of Gaza was said to be illegal by 53% of those polled (16% thought it legal) – an appreciation of the international legal opinion that recognises the siege as a form of collective punishment and a violation of the Geneva conventions. While it is important to note that those polled saw fault on both sides, 31% considered Palestinians to be the primary victims of the conflict, while only 6% thought Israelis the primary victims. A third of respondents believe Israel is not a democracy, while fewer than half believe it is, and most of those surveyed (65%) agree Israel does not treat all religious groups the same, compared with 13% who believe it does.

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‘Abducted’ Palestinian engineer appears in Israel court

April 1, 2011

A Palestinian engineer has appeared in an Israeli court after being captured in Ukraine and jailed in Israel. No charges were laid, but the court extended Dirar Abu Sisi’s detention. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Mr Abu Sisi was “a Hamas man” who has provided “valuable information”. Mr Abu Sisi accuses Israel of “kidnapping him for no reason”. He also denies any knowledge about a captive Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip – amid media speculation to that effect. Sgt Gilad Shalit was captured by Hamas-linked militants in June 2006.

Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine speculated this week that Israel may have seized Mr Abu Sisi to try to get information about the soldier. The authorities say they will charge Mr Abu Sisi – a manager at Gaza’s main power plant – next week, his Israeli lawyer Smadar Ben-Natan said on Thursday. The 43-year-old says he was forcibly removed from a train in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, on 19 February for interrogation by Israeli agents.  He said he was handcuffed, hooded and then held in an apartment before being flown to Israel. He said he went a total of 25 days before seeing a lawyer.

His wife – who is Ukrainian – says he had gone to Ukraine to apply for citizenship and move the family there. On Thursday, the Palestinian ambassador in Kiev, Mohammed al-Assad, called Israel’s arrest “an international crime that must be punished”. The Ukrainian government has said it was not involved in the operation and was waiting for an official Israeli explanation. A partial gag order by an Israeli court has prevented the publication of details relating to this case.

Palestinian engineer kidnapped in Ukraine appears in Israeli court

April 1, 2011

A Palestinian engineer who is believed to have been abducted from Ukraine by the Israeli secret service, Mossad, denied he had done anything wrong when he appeared in court on Thursday . Prosecutors asked the court in Petah Tikva in central Israel to allow the continued detention of Dirar Abu Sisi for five days after which he would be charged. No charges have been made public. Abu Sisi, who has not been seen since his abduction on 19 February, told the court that he had been abducted and that he denied all allegations against him. Referring to an Israeli solider abducted by Hamas in 2006, he said: “I don’t know anything about Gilad Shalit. I don’t know anything. I’m an engineer.”

Reports suggest Abu Sisi was taken forcibly from a train in Kharkov then flown to Israel. It later emerged that he was being held in Ashqelon prison in southern Israel. Abu Sisi works as an engineer for a power company in the Gaza Strip and is married to Veronika, a Ukrainian national with whom he has six children. His family said that he was in the Ukraine to apply for citizenship to enable his family to leave Gaza. While no charges have been made against the engineer, the German magazine Der Spiegel claimed that he was kidnapped because he had knowledge of the whereabouts of Gilad Shalit. However, Ehud Barak, Israel’s defence minister, said there was no direct link between Shalit and Abu Sisi.

“He didn’t organise the abduction or guard Shalit but he is a person with intimate internal information on Hamas. This has value,” he told Israel army radio. Smadar Ben Natan, Abu Sisi’s lawyer, said that she had general knowledge of the charges against her client which were out of proportion to the efforts made to bring him to Israel. “He is not a member of Hamas. He has a public position in the electricity distribution company. No one has said he is an essential person to any organisation, only that he has information. It’s impossible to live in Gaza and not have some knowledge of Hamas,” she told the Guardian.

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Archive 1               Archive 2

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