9+ Human Rights Activists Killed & 60+ injured as Israeli Navy Attacks International Aid Boats

PRESS RELEASE: Free Gaza Team | 31 May 2010

(Cyprus, June 1, 2010, 6:30 am) Under darkness of night, Israeli commandoes dropped from a helicopter onto the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, and began to shoot the moment their feet hit the deck. They fired directly into the crowd of civilians asleep. According to the live video from the ship, two have been killed, and 31 injured. Al Jazeera has just confirmed the numbers.

Streaming video shows the Israeli soldiers shooting at civilians, and our last SPOT beacon said, “HELP, we are being contacted by the Israelis.”

We know nothing about the other five boats. Israel says they are taking over the boats.

The coalition of Free Gaza Movement (FG), European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza (ECESG), Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), the Perdana Global Peace Organisation , Ship to Gaza Greece, Ship to Gaza Sweden, and the International Committee to Lift the Siege on Gaza appeal to the international community to demand that Israel stop their brutal attack on civilians delivering vitally needed aid to the imprisoned Palestinians of Gaza and permit the ships to continue on their way.

The attack has happened in international waters, 75 miles off the coast of Israel, in direct violation of international law.

Contact:

• Greta Berlin - +357 99187275 iristulip@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Mary Hughes, +357 96 38 38 09 daisydozy@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Audrey Bomse, +357 96489805 audreybomse@hotmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Dr. Arafat Shoukri, Director, Council for European-Palestinian Relations (CEPR) Tel: +32 2503 5402 M:+44 7908 200 559 arafat@savegaza.eu

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FOR MORE INFORMATION AS THE STORY DEVELOPS VISIT THE LINKS BELOW
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VIDEO coverage:

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--- Gaza Freedom march updates:
--- Guardian "live" coverage updated:

- BBC article:
- BBC event timeline:
- Ma'an News article #1:
- Ma'an News article #2: "UN Shocked..."
- Telegraph UK event analysis:
- Ha'aretz article:
- PCHR Condemns Israeli Attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla:
- Independent Middle East Media Center article:
- Palestine News Network article:

--- Radio report:

Over 100 Palestinian minors reported abuse in IDF, police custody in 2009

tulkarem kids #10, originally uploaded by michaelramallah.

note: links to the 2009 & 2010 DCI-Palestine reports are included at the end of the article

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69 minors complained of being beaten, four minors reported being sexually assaulted, and 12 said they were threatened with sexual assault.

By Amira Hass
Published 00:52 28.05.10

Most Palestinian children arrested by the Israel Defense Forces and police are intimidated, abused and maltreated in custody, according to the sworn testimonies of minors who were arrested last year. This happens both before and during interrogation, and several minors have been sexually assaulted.

The Palestinian branch of the non-governmental organization Defense for Children International has asked the United Nations to probe complaints of sexual assaults.

The organization has collected 100 detailed depositions from minors aged 12 to 17 who were arrested last year, immediately after their release. Most of the findings were not a surprise to DCI activists, apart from verbal or physical attacks of a sexual nature committed by soldiers.

Sixty-nine minors complained of being beaten by soldiers (slaps, kicks, sometimes blows with a rifle stock or club ). Nearly all - 97 percent, including children aged 12 to 15 - were held for hours with their hands cuffed, and 92 percent were blindfolded for long periods of time. Twenty-six percent said they were forced to remain in painful positions.

For example, one child said he was bound, blindfolded and placed on the floor of a jeep or vehicle on its way to the prison facility. About half the children said the soldiers who arrested them cursed and threatened them before the interrogation, to make them confess the charges. Or the children were urged to confess with false promises of immediate release.

The children were frequently told that the soldier who beat them was also the interrogator to whom they must confess. Most of them said they were held for many hours before receiving anything to drink or eat.

The DCI says the numerous sworn testimonies attest to a fixed, repeated pattern. It says these practices violate international law and the children's rights.

In addition, causing pain and intimidation to extract a confession from a minor or make him incriminate others is defined as torture.

The relatively surprising findings in the depositions were the complaints of sexual abuse - verbal or physical. Minors usually have difficulty talking about this aspect of their arrest, and the issue came up only during the longer conversations DCI lawyers had with the children.

Four minors reported being sexually assaulted, and 12 said they were threatened with sexual assault. The threat was accompanied by physical violence. Last week, the DCI's Palestinian branch sent the UN official who monitors torture 14 complaints by Palestinian prisoners aged 13 to 16 of sexual assault during detentions from January 2009 to April 2010.

The depositions sent to the UN report direct attacks, including squeezing boys' testicles, pushing a blunt object (a club or rifle stock ) between the chair and a child's buttocks, and repeated threats of "I'll screw you if you don't confess you threw stones."

A 15-year-old arrested in September told the DCI that a soldier slapped him twice, squeezed his testicles and asked if he had thrown stones or a Molotov cocktail. The boy said he hadn't thrown either, and the soldier shouted at him that he was a liar, beat him all over his body, grabbed his testicles again and squeezed. "I won't let your balls go until you confess," he said.

The boy felt such pain that he confessed to throwing stones, he reported.

The DCI recommends that the IDF and police interrogate minors only in the presence of a lawyer of their choice and a relative, and record the interrogation on video. These accepted procedures for interrogating children would reduce the risk of extorted confessions.

Palestinian prisoners, including minors, are allowed to see their lawyers only shortly before trial, sometimes only in the courtroom itself. This prevents them from talking in detail about their treatment in custody. Minors, 60 percent of whom are charged with stone-throwing, may expect a much shorter prison sentence than their detention time until the end of the trial.

Consequently, many minors confess, even when they deny the charges, and their lawyers sign plea deals with the prosecution to shorten their incarceration.

Asked about a failure to complain to the authorities about the sexual assault of minors, DCI legal adviser Khaled Kuzmar said many parents are not prepared to do so. "Very few people have confidence in the system that abuses them," he said.

Some fear that the system or certain individuals would take revenge on them if they complain, he said.

However, the DCI is considering filing complaints along with Israeli human rights groups, if the parents agree.

The Israeli authorities arrest around 700 Palestinian minors aged 12 to 18 annually. Some 300 Palestinian minors are held in various Israeli prison facilities every month - either before or after they have been tried. Last month, 335 Palestinian minors, 32 of them aged 12 to 15, were imprisoned, mostly on suspicion of throwing stones.

The IDF Spokesman's Office dismissed "claims of deliberate deviation from procedures for arresting and interrogating minors. Minors' arrests are carried out in keeping with international law; the arrest of suspects under 16 years old in the West Bank requires a military lawyer's approval .... Minors are brought before a judge within a relatively short period."

The spokesman said complaints about violence should be raised during the trial, or in an orderly complaint to the Justice Ministry's police investigation department or the Military Police.

Military sources told Haaretz that minors' interrogation sessions are recorded, except for interrogations by the Shin Bet security service, which are exempt by law. As for a lawyer's presence during a minor's interrogation, the law does not require that even in Israel proper.

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Palestinian Child Prisoners: The systematic and institutionalised ill-treatment and torture of Palestinian children by Israeli authorities -[June 11, 2009 Report]

DCI - Palestine submits 14 cases of sexual assault and threats to the UN for investigation - [May 18, 2010 Report]

a boy, a flag, a soldier, originally uploaded by michaelramallah.

Human Rights Groups Condemn Israeli Deportation & Arrest Policy

Palestinian and Israeli Human Rights Groups Call for End to Israeli Military West Bank Deportation Policy

We, the undersigned, express our opposition to Israel's policy of unlawful transfer and deportation from the West Bank, which has escalated in the form of the Order regarding Prevention of Infiltration (Amendment No. 2) (No. 1650) ("Order 1650"). The order, effective April 13, 2010, defines anyone present in the West Bank as an "infiltrator", unless he or she is in possession of a permit from Israel, and subjects those without permits to deportation, transfer, criminal charges, fines, and/or imprisonment. It is part of a series of steps taken by Israel to remove Palestinians from the West Bank by declaring them to be illegally present in their own homes.

The order is vaguely worded, such that it could apply to anyone, but the groups that appear to be targeted are:

1. Bearers of Palestinian ID cards whose registered addresses are in the Gaza Strip in the Israeli copy of the Palestinian population registry.

2. Those individuals without official status ("status-less"), including spouses of Palestinian residents for whom Israel refuses to approve ID cards and others who have not been added to the population registry or have had their status revoked or deleted by Israel;

3. Foreigners visiting or working in the West Bank, including those for whom Israel refuses to renew visas.

Since 2000 Israel has significantly halted the Palestinian population registry update. Accordingly, tens of thousands of people, including those who were born and/or living in the West Bank for decades, are at risk of being torn away from their homes, families, schools, and jobs – because Israel has declared them "illegal" in their own land. Already, some of these people are limiting their own movement for fear of being arrested and removed from their homes. At a time when Israel is promising to "ease" restrictions in the West Bank, Order 1650 is choking the civilian population.

The order and the deportation policy violate Israel's obligations under international law. They breach the prohibition, under the Fourth Geneva Convention, against forcible transfers or deportations of protected persons in occupied territory and therefore effectively legislate for the commission of grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention. They breach the obligation, under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to allow persons legally present in their territory to enjoy freedom of movement and to choose their places of residence. They breach the obligation undertaken by Israel in the Oslo Accords - and enshrined in the Palestinian right to self-determination - to recognize the West Bank and Gaza as a single territorial unit, in which freedom of movement is to be facilitated.

We call upon the Government of Israel to rescind Order 1650, to desist from its policy of deportation and transfer, and to recognize the right of Palestinians and foreigners to live in, work in, and visit the West Bank, in accordance with international law and the international agreements to which Israel has committed, and to allow protected persons to move freely within the West Bank and to enter and leave freely.

We call upon the international community to take concrete and immediate steps to ensure that Israel refrains from prohibited practices of deportation and transfer of a civilian population, including by raising this issue at the highest political levels.

For further details and interview coordination

Alva Kolan, HaMoked , 054-3347353, Keren Tamir, Gisha, 052-8919190, Shawan Jabarin, Al Haq, 059-9522701

List of Signatories

Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel\

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association

Al Dameer Association for Human Rights

Al-Haq

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights – Gaza

Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights

B’tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories

The Campaign for the Right to Enter

Defence for Children International - Palestine Section

Ensan Center for Human Rights and Democracy

Gaza Community Health Programme

Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement

Hamoked - Center for the Defence of the Individual

Haraka: the Palestinian Coalition for the right of mobility and choice of place of residence

Jerusalem Legal Aid Center

Mattin Group

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel

Public Committee Against Torture in Israel

Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies

Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counselling

Yesh Din – Volunteers for Human Rights

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Amnesty International: Israel must stop harassment of human rights defender

12 May 2010

Amnesty International has called on the Israeli authorities to end their harassment of a human rights activist whose week-long detention by the Israeli authorities was extended today.

Ameer Makhoul, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was arrested in a dawn raid at his home in Haifa, northern Israel, by the Israeli security services and police on 6 May. He has been charged with "contact with a foreign agent" on the basis of “secret evidence”.

"Ameer Makhoul is a key human rights defender, well-known for his civil society activism on behalf of the Palestinian citizens of Israel," said Philip Luther, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme.

"His arrest and continued detention smacks of pure harassment, designed to hinder his human rights work. If this is the case, we would regard him as a prisoner of conscience call for his immediate and unconditional release.”

Ameer Makhoul has been denied legal advice throughout his detention. The doctor at the prison where he is held has informed his lawyer that he is suffering from pains in his head.

On the morning of his arrest, Ameer Makhoul was taken to Petah Tikva interrogation centre and, at a hearing the same day, his detention was authorized for six days. Today it was extended until 17 May.

According to Ameer's wife, Janan Makhoul, during the raid on their home, security forces confiscated mobile phones, laptops, a camera, and documents.

The same morning, members of the Israeli security forces also raided the office of the association Ittijah in Haifa, where Ameer Makhoul works.

Ameer Makhoul had already been banned from travelling for two months on 21 April by the Israeli Minister of the Interior Eli Yishai, who said at the time that Ameer Makhoul’s exit from the country “poses a serious threat to the security of the state”.

The Palestinian activist was only made aware of the ban when he attempted to leave Israel on 22 April, where he was scheduled to begin a series of meetings with civil society activists in Jordan.

When Amnesty International spoke to Ameer Makhoul in late April he expressed his concern that the travel ban was part of a broader pattern of state repression against the peaceful political activities of Palestinian citizens of Israel, justified under "security concerns".

In January 2009, the Israeli Central Election Committee banned the National Democratic Assembly (NDA), a party which currently holds three seats in the Israeli parliament and calls for Israel to be "a state for all its citizens", and the United Arab List, which has four parliamentary representatives, from standing in Israel’s general elections under the claim that the parties supported terrorism and "did not recognize Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state".

The Committee’s ban on the two parties was subsequently overturned by the Israeli High Court.

On 24 April, Omar Said, an activist with the NDA was detained by the Israeli authorities.

Initially a gagging order was imposed on the Israeli press to prevent reporting of Ameer Makhoul’s and Omar Said’s detentions.

The lifting of the order led to reports in the Israeli media on Monday that the arrests of both men related to accusations of spying and contact with a foreign agent from Lebanese group Hizbullah.

Ameer Makhoul has been the General Director of Ittijah, which works on behalf of the Palestinian community in Israel, since its foundation in 1995.

He is also the chair of the Public Committee for the Defence of Political Freedom within the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee in Israel.

"In the unlikely event that there are genuine grounds to prosecute Ameer Makhoul he should be charged with recognizable criminal offences and brought promptly to trial in full conformity with international fair trial standards," said Philip Luther.

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East Mediterranean Team
Amnesty International, International Secretariat
Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street
London WC1X 0DW
United Kingdom
E-mail: Eastmed@amnesty.org
Tel: +44 (0)20 7413 5500
Fax: +44 (0)20 7413 5719

Join the Global Intifada this Summer in Palestine!

Join the

GLOBAL INTIFADA

Popular Struggle – Steadfastness – Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions

the Great Grape Harvest #6, originally uploaded by michaelramallah.

Popular resistance to Israel's apartheid is growing globally! In Palestine, non-violent resistance to land confiscation and settlement expansion is gathering momentum.

Weekly non-violent demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza have tripled since January, and continue to increase in size and number. The tents are standing strong in Jerusalem's threatened communities of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, and resistance to settler attacks and land grabs in the Jordan Valley is also building.

The International Solidarity Movement is committed to supporting these communities in their struggle for justice and freedom. We stand alongside Palestinians in demonstrations, stay in the tents and homes of threatened areas, and walk with farmers to their land. By documenting and helping to resist the evils of apartheid, ISM projects the Palestinian struggle to a global audience, and shows Israel that the world is against its actions.

Come and join the Global Intifada in Palestine! Committed volunteers are needed in the West Bank this summer. This new wave of unarmed resistance is exciting and powerful, and it needs your support. Whether for 2 weeks or for 3 months, your contribution is needed. See www.palsolidarity.org for more information, or email us at palreports@gmail.com.

From abroad: Under the banner of "Global Intifada", solidarity actions are needed worldwide. Please consider organizing an action in your hometown.

The growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is crucial, and is a great way for you to get involved in your own country. Similar tactics were used in ending South African apartheid. For more information, go to bdsmovement.net

Please join the Global Intifada. We look forward to seeing you here.

ISM Palestine

Palestinians & internationals pick olives in Qusin #2, originally uploaded by michaelramallah.

Just like me...Noam Chomsky denied entry into Israel

Professor Noam Chomsky, an American linguist and left-wing activist, was denied entry into Israel and the West Bank on Sunday.

No reason was initially given for the decision, but the Interior Ministry later said immigration officials at the Allenby Bridge border crossing from Jordan had misunderstood Chomsky's intentions thinking initially he was also due to visit Israel.

Chomsky, who is on a speaking tour in the region, was scheduled to speak at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank on Monday.

Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Haddad said officials were now trying to get clearance from the Israel Defense Forces, which controls access to the West Bank to allow Chomsky to enter that territory.

"We are trying to contact the military to clear things up and if they have no objection we see no reason why he should not be allowed in," said Hadad.
Chomsky said inspectors had stamped the words "denied entry" onto his passport when he tried to cross from Jordan over Allenby Bridge.

When he asked an Israeli inspector why he had not received permission, he was told that an explanation would be sent in writing to the American embassy. "They apparently didn't like the fact that I was due to lecture at a Palestinian university and not in Israel," Chomsky told Reuters by telephone from Amman.

Chomsky arrived at the Allenby Bridge at around 1:30 in the afternoon and was taken for questioning, before being released back to Amman at 4:30 P.M.

In a telephone interview with Channel 10, Chomsky said the interrogators had told him he had written things that the Israeli government did not like. "I suggested [the interrogator try to] find any government in the world that likes anything I say," he said.

Chomsky is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is considered among the foremost academics in the world. He identifies with the radical left and is often critical of both Israeli and American policies.

Chomsky said he last visited Israel and the West Bank in 1997 when he lectured at Ben-Gurion University and also at Bir Zeit. He said all his previous West Bank visits had been as a part of trips to Israel.

His Palestinian host, lawmaker Mustafa al-Barghouti called the decision "a fascist action, amounting to suppression of freedom of expression."

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel slammed the Interior Ministry for "using detention and deportation to prevent a man from expressing his opinion", calling it "characteristic of a totalitarian regime."

"A democratic country where freedom of expression is a guiding principle does not close in the face of criticism or ideas that are not comfortable and does not deny entry to guests only because it does not accept their opinions. Instead, it deals with these opinions through public discussion," said ACRI in a statement.

Kadima MK Otniel Schneller, on the other hand, praised the move.
"It's good that Israel did not allow one of its accusers to enter its territory," said Schneller. "I recommend [Chomsky] try one of the tunnels connecting Gaza and Egypt."

source: http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/noam-chomsky-denied-entry-into-israel-and-west-bank-1.290701

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Renowned US scholar Noam Chomsky has been denied entry to the West Bank by Israeli immigration officials.

Prof Chomsky, renowned for his work on linguistics and philosophy, was planning to deliver a lecture at Birzeit University.

Prof Chomsky, 82, had been trying to enter from Jordan.

An Israeli interior ministry spokeswoman said it was to trying to clear the matter up and allow Prof Chomsky to enter.

Prof Chomsky said the officials were very polite but he was denied entry because "the government did not like the kinds of things I say and they did not like that I was only talking at Birzeit and not at an Israeli university too."

He added: "I asked them if they could find any government in the world that likes the things I say."

Prof Chomsky's Palestinian host for the visit, Mustafa al-Barghouti, told Reuters: "This decision is a fascist action, amounting to suppression of freedom of expression."

The interior ministry spokeswoman, Sabine Hadad, said: "We are trying to contact the military to clear things up and if they have no objection we see no reason why he should not be allowed in."

Prof Chomsky has frequently spoken out against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8685930.stm

Nabil Sha'ath: "The Palestinian Nakba"

16/05/2010 10:01

Today Israel celebrated 62 years since its formation on 15 May 1948. For Palestinians, today marks the 62nd year since the Nakba – our national and personal catastrophe, involving the loss of our ancestral homeland and the dispersal of three-quarters of our people into exile.

To date, the Palestinian people await Israeli recognition of its responsibility in the catastrophe and agreement to resolve the conflict based on international law, including UN resolutions.

I experienced exile first-hand. On 13 May 1948 one day before Israel’s declaration of independence, my hometown of Jaffa was captured by Zionist forces. Seventy thousand Palestinian inhabitants of the city were forced to leave, most of them by sea to Gaza, Egypt, and Lebanon. We Jaffans were literally driven out to the sea. I was 10. We were never allowed to return.

The same reality befell more than 726,000 indigenous Christian and Muslim Palestinians who fled their homes or were expelled from Mandate Palestine in and around 1948; while hundreds of Palestinians were killed as they were driven out, or in their attempt to come back home. Several Israeli historians such as Benny Morris and Ilan Pappe described the catastrophe vividly and accurately.

In the wake of the expulsion, more than 418 Palestinian villages were razed to the ground. Nearly all Palestinian property, including that belonging to Palestinians who managed to stay within the areas that came under Israeli control, was confiscated by the nascent State of Israel for the exclusive benefit of Jews. In 1952, when Israel’s parliament passed its nationality law, Palestinian refugees were denied the option of citizenship in the new state. Additional measures were taken to bar our return to our country and our homes. The expulsion of Palestinians and the subsequent measures to render the displacement permanent were taken in contravention of international law.

These events, which left the majority of Palestinians stateless and dispossessed, were compounded by the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians once again fled their homes, and Israel expanded its control over the remaining 22% of our historic homeland. Today, the stranglehold over the Gaza Strip, the ongoing settlement and closure activities in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is leading to more Palestinian fragmentation and displacement. Indeed, the Nakba continues.

Today, there are more than 7 million Palestinian refugees. They constitute the largest refugee population in the world and one of the world’s longest unresolved refugee crises. Palestinian refugee vulnerability, brought about as a result of their protracted mass exile and statelessness, is contributing to Middle East regional instability and insecurity, from Iraq to Lebanon to the Gaza Strip.

As a Palestinian, I cannot forget the uprooting of my nation, which has shaped my history and which has created the continuation of a reality of hardship for my people. At the same time, Palestinians have expressed their desire to achieve conciliation and move forward based on an accommodation grounded in the acknowledgment and just implementation of our rights.

In the course of the 62 years since the Palestinian Nakba, Israel’s responsibility for the forced displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian people has been clearly established by historians (many of them Israelis) and international legal scholars. The right of individual Palestinians to choose whether to return to their homes and determine their own destinies has continued to be reaffirmed by the international community in UN General Assembly Resolution 194. Yet, this historical injustice remains officially unacknowledged and the human rights of Palestinians denied.

I profoundly regret that Israel continues to disregard the Arab Peace Initiative (API), adopted by the Arab League in Beirut in March 2002. The API calls for an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip along the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with UNGA Resolution 194, in exchange for normalization of relations with Israel and a lasting peace. The API has been repeatedly reaffirmed by Arab countries. Additionally, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) which represent 57 Islamic countries worldwide has endorsed the API as the basis to end the Arab/Palestinian Israeli conflict. What this means, in practical terms, is achieving peace between Israel and more than 1.2 billion Arabs and Muslims worldwide.

Peace is made between equals, through the respect of each side’s history and identity, and understanding the discourse of the “Other”. As history proves, States commit wrongs, but States are strengthened when they acknowledge and apologize for those wrongs. To end the denial, the suffering, and the resentment that has led to violence and conflict, to reach the accommodation proposed by the Arab Peace Initiative, it is necessary that the Palestinians be recognized as dignified human beings entitled to the same treatment and laws as other refugees and victims of conflict including their right to return and to exercise freedom of choice consistent with peace and security for all.

To achieve real peace, it will be necessary for Israel to acknowledge its responsibility in the creation and perpetuation of the plight of the refugees. Such an acknowledgment is not a threat to its existence. It is in fact the exact opposite. By doing so, Israel would inevitably empower our respective citizens and leadership to establish peace based on political accommodation.

On the 62nd commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba, I invite Israel to acknowledge its responsibilities, recognize our rights and suffering, and work with us for a breakthrough for peace, historical reconciliation, and an end of conflict.


Nabil Shaath, the author, is a member of the Fatah Central Committee in charge of International Relations and is the former Palestinian Foreign Minister. A version of this article originally appeared in El Pais, printed in Spain. It is republished here with permission from the author.

HRW: destruction in Gaza 'unlawful'

BBC: Thursday, 13 May 2010 17:35 UK

The Israeli army unlawfully destroyed civilian property in its 22-day offensive in Gaza in 2008 and 2009, a report by Human Rights Watch says.

Click to view the HRW report:
“I Lost Everything”: Israel's Unlawful Destruction of Property during Operation Cast Lead

Israeli forces destroyed buildings that had "no military significance", a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Conventions, the report said.

The New-York based group have documented 12 cases that they say must be investigated.

The IDF denies the charges and says it has investigated the incursion already.

Palestinians and rights groups say more than 1,400 Gazans died in the conflict, known as Operation Cast Lead, but Israel puts the figure at 1,166. Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, were killed.

'IDF control'

Human Rights Watch documented the complete destruction of 189 buildings, including 11 factories, 8 warehouses and 170 residential buildings, leaving at least 971 people homeless during the operation which began in December 2008.

The 12 incidents documented in the report account for roughly 5% of the homes, factories and warehouses destroyed in Gaza during the operation the report said.

"These cases describe instances in which Israeli forces caused extensive destruction of homes, factories, farms and greenhouses in areas under IDF control without any evident military purpose," the report said.

"These cases occurred when there was no fighting in these areas; in many cases, the destruction was carried out during the final days of the campaign when an Israeli withdrawal was imminent."

The group obtained satellite pictures of Gaza during and after the conflict.

A Human Rights Watch researcher interviewed 94 people in Gaza about their experiences as they fled Israeli forces.

Majid al-Athamna who lived in the town of Izbt Abd Rabbo in the north of the Gaza Strip, told HRW that when he was allowed to return, he found his home demolished.

"There are still four Hamas houses standing on Zimmo Street, but mine is destroyed. Were my cars launching rockets? Why did they destroy them?" he said.

The other interviewees had similar stories.

Violations

Human Rights Watch say they discounted any case in which a military action occurred nearby.

The report stops short of saying outright that war crimes were committed by the Israeli Defense Forces.

But, it said, "the report examines incidents of destruction that suggested violation of the laws-of-war prohibition of wanton destruction" - the term used to describe extensive destruction of civilian property not lawfully justified by military necessity.

"Such destruction would be a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Conventions of 1949, which is applicable in Gaza. Individuals responsible for committing or ordering such destruction should be prosecuted for war crimes," the report said.

'Carefully checked'

In an IDF report published in July into Operation Cast Lead, the military says that every consideration to protect civilians was made before opening fire.

"While Hamas deliberately sought to harm civilians by launching rockets and mortars on towns in Southern Israel, and even boasted about directing their attacks at civilian populations, the IDF carefully checked and cross-checked targets — using best available real-time intelligence — to make sure they were being used for combat or terrorist activities, and not instead solely for civilian use," the report said.

In a written response to HRW, included in their report, an IDF spokesman said "The level of damage to the infrastructure was proportional, and did not deviate from that which was required to fulfil the operational requirements."

Any fresh cases not covered by the July report would be investigated, the spokesman said.

Last year, a report produced by a UN team led by former war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone accused both sides of war crimes during the Israeli military offensive

Full UN report on Gaza war (pdf):

Ha'aretz: "Shin Bet deports Spain's most famous clown upon arrival in Israel"

Published 01:26 06.05.10
By Barak Ravid

Ben Gurion Airport security officials detain Ivan Prado for six hours, accusing the Spanish entertainer of ties with Palestinian terror groups.

Ivan Prado, the most famous clown in Spain, did not expect to be put on a return flight back to Madrid soon after arriving at Ben-Gurion International Airport late last month, after spending six hours with officials from the Shin Bet security service and the Interior Ministry. The officials accused Prado of having ties to Palestinian terror organizations.

Foreign Ministry officials, meanwhile, say the incident caused grave damage to Israel's image in Spain.

Prado, director of the International Clown Festival in Galicia, arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport on April 26 with a Spanish national of Arab origin. They planned to go to Ramallah to help organize a similar festival, but at passport control Prado was taken aside by a Shin Bet officer who asked him about his planned visit to the West Bank and about his connections to various Palestinian organizations. He and his female companion were held for six hours, during which they were questioned repeatedly, and their passports were confiscated.

They were sent back to Spain after an Interior Ministry official informed them that they would not be permitted into Israel.

After Prado returned to Madrid he launched a media campaign denouncing Israel and comparing the situation of Palestinians in the West Bank with Jews in Poland.

The incident sparked tension between the Israeli Embassy in Madrid and the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, prompted by questions to the embassy from Spanish journalists and fueled by the diplomats' anger at the Foreign Ministry's explanation that Prado was turned away at the airport "for security reasons."

The Shin Bet issued a statement to Haaretz lacking significant details about the reasons behind the decision. "We recommended to the Interior Ministry to prevent his entry into Israel after the findings of the security check produced suspicions about him," the statement said. "The man declined to provide complete information to the security people, especially in regard to his links with Palestinian terror organizations."

Israel admits use of Shin Bet to watch international activist

4 May 2010

Ramallah, Occupied Palestinian Territories, PM– Israel has exposed the extent of its crackdown on resistance in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court on April 29, claiming that the Shin Bet intelligence agency has been conducting surveillance on ISM activist and Australian citizen Bridget Chappell in Area A of the West Bank. The affidavit claims that her arrest and continuing surveillance of her movements is justified on account of various Israeli military orders, highlighting its overall authority in its implementation of apartheid in the Occupied Territories and its total disregard for the sovereignty of the Palestinian Authority and the Oslo Accords.

“My arrest from Ramallah in February and the Shin Bet’s new claim that I am under surveillance in Area A of the West Bank serves to further abolish the myth of Palestinian control in the West Bank,” says Chappell. “It’s clear that Israel is the authority in the Territories and that this is apartheid. Israel’s matrix of control in the occupied territories extends not only to the entire Palestinian population, but international activists involved in the popular resistance here, which is very dangerous grounds for them as their attempts to crack down on our participation in the struggle focuses the eyes of the world on what Israel has hoped to execute as a very stealthy and systematic bantustanization of Palestine.”

The state’s affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court on April 29 claimed that the arrest of Chappell was based on her violation of a 1970 military order stating that non-residents of the West Bank are prohibited from staying in the area longer than 48 hours without written permission from the military commander of the region. This is in-keeping with what may become Israel’s strategy of removing internationals from the Palestinian territories via the system of martial law enforced in the West Bank since the military occupation in 1967. Attempted implementation of these military laws on internationals in Palestine will spell the exposure of one of Israel’s most veiled weapons – the system of martial law that has enabled the imprisonment of over 650,000 Palestinians since 1967, mass annexation of land and the network of checkpoints and apartheid roads.

Omer Shatz, attorney for Chappell and Marti, states: “We are pleased that the state has finally admitted that it is the authority in Area A, as if the Oslo Accords have disappeared, and that the ‘bantustan’ known as the Palestinian Authority has no significance. This straightforward position will certainly interest the U.S. secretary of state, in light of the start of proximity talks”.

The gathering momentum of non-violent popular resistance has been met with extreme measures by Israeli forces targeting Palestinian, international and Israeli activists. In the cases of Chappell and Ariadna Jove Marti, Eva Novakova, and Ryan Olander, Israeli authorities used the ‘Oz’ Immigration Unit in an attempt to deport foreigners for their political activities. In the case of Chappell and Marti, the Supreme Court ruled that the use of the ‘Oz’ and the Israeli Defense Forces to implement arrests of internationals residing in the West Bank is illegal.

These arrests are part of a wider crackdown on the growing movement of popular struggle in Palestine, that has seen the arrest and imprisonment of many members of the popular committees of Al-Ma’asara, Ni’lin, Bil’in, Nablus and Nabi Salih. The latest codified measures of arrest are a sign that Israel is intensifying its resources against the grassroots Palestinian struggle. Targeting international supporters is just part of a multi-tiered campaign to quash a quickly spreading model of non-violent resistance.