YNET
After long negotiations, it's finally official: Sir Elton John will return to Israel and perform at the Ramat Gan Stadium on June 17, exactly 17 years after his previous Holy Land concert.
...The concert will be sponsored by Bank Discount, which plans to invest some NIS 4 million (about $1 million) in the event... Full story
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Local: Settlers attack cemetery in West Bank village
Ma'an
Israeli settlers attacked a cemetery on Wednesday in the Orta Village, southeast of Nablus, and vandalized graves...
.... Israeli settlers broke the gate to the village school and left graffiti on the walls.
Abu Salam Awad, 38, and a teacher in Orta, told Ma’an that dozens of settlers raided the village at 10pm on Tuesday, accompanied by Israeli troops...
Awad said that graves had been vandalized and property was damaged. Full story
Israeli settlers attacked a cemetery on Wednesday in the Orta Village, southeast of Nablus, and vandalized graves...
.... Israeli settlers broke the gate to the village school and left graffiti on the walls.
Abu Salam Awad, 38, and a teacher in Orta, told Ma’an that dozens of settlers raided the village at 10pm on Tuesday, accompanied by Israeli troops...
Awad said that graves had been vandalized and property was damaged. Full story
Israel's compassion in Haiti can't hide our ugly face in Gaza
Ha'aretz - Akiva Eldar
Who said we are shut up inside our Tel Aviv bubble? How many small nations surrounded by enemies set up field hospitals on the other side of the world? Give us an earthquake in Haiti, a tsunami in Thailand or a terror attack in Kenya, and the IDF Spokesman's Office will triumph. A cargo plane can always be found to fly in military journalists to report on our fine young men from the Home Front Command.
....... the remarkable identification with the victims of the terrible tragedy in distant Haiti only underscores the indifference to the ongoing suffering of the people of Gaza. Only a little more than an hour's drive from the offices of Israel's major newspapers, 1.5 million people have been besieged on a desert island for two and a half years. Who cares that 80 percent of the men, women and children living in such proximity to us have fallen under the poverty line? How many Israelis know that half of all Gazans are dependent on charity, that Operation Cast Lead created hundreds of amputees, that raw sewage flows from the streets into the sea?
The Israeli newspaper reader knows about the baby pulled from the wreckage in Port-au-Prince. Few have heard about the infants who sleep in the ruins of their families' homes in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces prohibition of reporters entering the Gaza Strip is an excellent excuse for burying our heads in the sand of Tel Aviv's beaches; on a good day, the sobering reports compiled by human rights organizations such as B'Tselem, Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel on the situation in Gaza are pushed to the newspapers' back pages......
The disaster in Haiti is a natural one; the one in Gaza is the unproud handiwork of man. Our handiwork. The IDF does not send cargo planes stuffed with medicines and medical equipment to Gaza. The missiles that Israel Air Force combat aircraft fired there a year ago hit nearly 60,000 homes and factories, turning 3,500 of them into rubble. Since then, 10,000 people have been living without running water, 40,000 without electricity. Ninety-seven percent of Gaza's factories are idle due to Israeli government restrictions on the import of raw materials for industry. Soon it will be one year since the international community pledged, at the emergency conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, to donate $4.5 billion for Gaza's reconstruction. Israel's ban on bringing in building materials is causing that money to lose its value.
A few days before Israeli physicians rushed to save the lives of injured Haitians, the authorities at the Erez checkpoint prevented 17 people from passing through in order to get to a Ramallah hospital for urgent corneal transplant surgery..... At the same time that Israeli psychologists are treating Haiti's orphans with devotion, Israeli inspectors are making sure no one is attempting to plant a doll, a notebook or a bar of chocolate in a container bringing essential goods into Gaza....
.....despite international criticism, Israel continues to keep the gates of Gaza locked. Even the images of our excellent doctors in Haiti cannot blur our ugly face in the Strip. Full story
Who said we are shut up inside our Tel Aviv bubble? How many small nations surrounded by enemies set up field hospitals on the other side of the world? Give us an earthquake in Haiti, a tsunami in Thailand or a terror attack in Kenya, and the IDF Spokesman's Office will triumph. A cargo plane can always be found to fly in military journalists to report on our fine young men from the Home Front Command.
....... the remarkable identification with the victims of the terrible tragedy in distant Haiti only underscores the indifference to the ongoing suffering of the people of Gaza. Only a little more than an hour's drive from the offices of Israel's major newspapers, 1.5 million people have been besieged on a desert island for two and a half years. Who cares that 80 percent of the men, women and children living in such proximity to us have fallen under the poverty line? How many Israelis know that half of all Gazans are dependent on charity, that Operation Cast Lead created hundreds of amputees, that raw sewage flows from the streets into the sea?
The Israeli newspaper reader knows about the baby pulled from the wreckage in Port-au-Prince. Few have heard about the infants who sleep in the ruins of their families' homes in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces prohibition of reporters entering the Gaza Strip is an excellent excuse for burying our heads in the sand of Tel Aviv's beaches; on a good day, the sobering reports compiled by human rights organizations such as B'Tselem, Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel on the situation in Gaza are pushed to the newspapers' back pages......
The disaster in Haiti is a natural one; the one in Gaza is the unproud handiwork of man. Our handiwork. The IDF does not send cargo planes stuffed with medicines and medical equipment to Gaza. The missiles that Israel Air Force combat aircraft fired there a year ago hit nearly 60,000 homes and factories, turning 3,500 of them into rubble. Since then, 10,000 people have been living without running water, 40,000 without electricity. Ninety-seven percent of Gaza's factories are idle due to Israeli government restrictions on the import of raw materials for industry. Soon it will be one year since the international community pledged, at the emergency conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, to donate $4.5 billion for Gaza's reconstruction. Israel's ban on bringing in building materials is causing that money to lose its value.
A few days before Israeli physicians rushed to save the lives of injured Haitians, the authorities at the Erez checkpoint prevented 17 people from passing through in order to get to a Ramallah hospital for urgent corneal transplant surgery..... At the same time that Israeli psychologists are treating Haiti's orphans with devotion, Israeli inspectors are making sure no one is attempting to plant a doll, a notebook or a bar of chocolate in a container bringing essential goods into Gaza....
.....despite international criticism, Israel continues to keep the gates of Gaza locked. Even the images of our excellent doctors in Haiti cannot blur our ugly face in the Strip. Full story
PPS: “More Sick Detainees In Deteriorating Conditions”
IMEMC
A lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) visited a number of sick detainees imprisoned by Israel at a number of detention facilities, and stated that there is an increasing number of detainees who need medical attention but are deprived from this internationally guaranteed right.
The lawyer said that detainee Firas Yousef Qadri, 29, from Salfit, was injured in his eye after a soldier struck him while kidnapping him on February, 13, 2003.
He was sentenced to 17 years, and had one surgery at Al Maskobiyya prison, yet he lost vision in his eye as he was never sent a specialist.
... never received treatment for his pancreas infection.
.....Due to blood complications, he was hospitalized 4 to 5 times and the doctors performed several blood tests and other needed tests, but never informed him of the results. He was never given any medication besides vitamins.
....lost sight in his right eye due to repeated infections and the lack of medical treatment. He was kidnapped by the army on April 27 2004, and was sentenced to eight years.
He needs surgery in his right eye but the prison administration refused to authorize the surgery due to ‘financial considerations”. His family can only visit him once or twice a year due to Israeli security restrictions.
.... lost his sight in prison, and lost one of his feet. His health condition is gradually deteriorating...
... suffering from a psychological condition and is receiving some pills to calm him down. He is still detained without charges or trial and is seeing a psychologist in prison.
... a skin disease in his face but never received any specialized treatment. He was sent to the prison clinic several times, but his condition is deteriorating.
... notices blood in his urine. Prison doctors did not require him to do any tests for this issue and just told him that “he is fine”.
....shot in the neck before he was kidnapped by the army and is suffering from a heart condition.
.... there are more than 7400 Palestinian and Arab detainees currently imprisoned by Israel. The number is constantly changing due to ongoing arrests carried out by the army.
Head of the PPS, Qaddoura Fares, stated that there are more than 315 children and 34 women imprisoned by Israel. He added that the Israeli army kidnapped 2820 Palestinians in 2009. Full story
A lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) visited a number of sick detainees imprisoned by Israel at a number of detention facilities, and stated that there is an increasing number of detainees who need medical attention but are deprived from this internationally guaranteed right.
The lawyer said that detainee Firas Yousef Qadri, 29, from Salfit, was injured in his eye after a soldier struck him while kidnapping him on February, 13, 2003.
He was sentenced to 17 years, and had one surgery at Al Maskobiyya prison, yet he lost vision in his eye as he was never sent a specialist.
... never received treatment for his pancreas infection.
.....Due to blood complications, he was hospitalized 4 to 5 times and the doctors performed several blood tests and other needed tests, but never informed him of the results. He was never given any medication besides vitamins.
....lost sight in his right eye due to repeated infections and the lack of medical treatment. He was kidnapped by the army on April 27 2004, and was sentenced to eight years.
He needs surgery in his right eye but the prison administration refused to authorize the surgery due to ‘financial considerations”. His family can only visit him once or twice a year due to Israeli security restrictions.
.... lost his sight in prison, and lost one of his feet. His health condition is gradually deteriorating...
... suffering from a psychological condition and is receiving some pills to calm him down. He is still detained without charges or trial and is seeing a psychologist in prison.
... a skin disease in his face but never received any specialized treatment. He was sent to the prison clinic several times, but his condition is deteriorating.
... notices blood in his urine. Prison doctors did not require him to do any tests for this issue and just told him that “he is fine”.
....shot in the neck before he was kidnapped by the army and is suffering from a heart condition.
.... there are more than 7400 Palestinian and Arab detainees currently imprisoned by Israel. The number is constantly changing due to ongoing arrests carried out by the army.
Head of the PPS, Qaddoura Fares, stated that there are more than 315 children and 34 women imprisoned by Israel. He added that the Israeli army kidnapped 2820 Palestinians in 2009. Full story
Israel Refuses to Take Responsibility for Rehabilitation of Gaza’s Amputees
Jamila Al Habbash, 15, lost her legs from an unmanned Israeli drone, which also killed her sister and a cousin when they were playing.
PHR-IL
Shortly after the Israeli assault on Gaza ended last January, Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHR-IL) embarked on a campaign to obtain responsibility from the Israeli Ministry of Security for the treatment of Gaza civilians seriously injured during the assault.
According to estimates provided by health organizations such as the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) and the Artificial Limb and Polio Center in Gaza, over 100 civilians lost limbs during or in the aftermath of the 23-day offensive which took place between December 2008 and January 2009.
PHR-Israel demanded that Israel cover the costs of rehabilitation and prosthetic limbs for three individuals specifically who had been injured during the offensive...
Amputees in Gaza are currently able to take advantage of only limited treatments, most of which are not suited to deal with cases requiring advanced technical expertise or technology.....
.. PHR-IL utilized emergency funds to cover the cost of treatment and rehabilitation for two of the four injured individuals featured in the letter.
The first, S. Z., is a 47-year-old woman who lives in the southern Al Ramal region of Gaza City. On January 15, 2009 at 8 a.m. a rocket was fired on to the roof of her apartment while she was upstairs in her children's room.... S.Z.'s leg was amputated on the spot, while her left leg remained seriously injured. S.Z. was transferred to Shifa' hospital, were she stayed for about a month, during which time her left leg was also amputated...
The second injured individual, G.A.E, a young man of 17, is a resident of the A- tufah neighborhood in Shujaiah in the eastern Gaza Strip. Close to 3 p.m. on March 1, 2008, G.A.E's house was hit by mortar fire from a nearby Israeli brigade stationed close to his home..... Immediately following the incident, G.A.E was rushed to Shifa' Hospital where his two legs were amputated, both above the knee... Full story
Israeli forces shut down container road checkpoint in Bethlehem
Ma'an
Hundreds of Palestinians faced delays on Wednesday morning on the Container Road between Bethlehem and Abu Diss, occupied East Jerusalem, as Israeli forces carried out extensive searches and closed the checkpoint.
Bethlehem Governor Abdul Fattah Hamayal was among those affected by the closure, who commented that such actions are a means to provoke Palestinians, adding that internal checkpoints have been subject to prolonged closures recently.
Governor Hamayal further said that such practices are often based on the mood of the solider and “is not a personal issue, but one experienced by all the Palestinian people.”
He called on the international community to work at bring an end to such “repressive” Israeli practices at checkpoints, and that the lives of Palestinians should be affected by the mood of an Israeli soldier.....
Full story
Hundreds of Palestinians faced delays on Wednesday morning on the Container Road between Bethlehem and Abu Diss, occupied East Jerusalem, as Israeli forces carried out extensive searches and closed the checkpoint.
Bethlehem Governor Abdul Fattah Hamayal was among those affected by the closure, who commented that such actions are a means to provoke Palestinians, adding that internal checkpoints have been subject to prolonged closures recently.
Governor Hamayal further said that such practices are often based on the mood of the solider and “is not a personal issue, but one experienced by all the Palestinian people.”
He called on the international community to work at bring an end to such “repressive” Israeli practices at checkpoints, and that the lives of Palestinians should be affected by the mood of an Israeli soldier.....
Full story
Qaraqi: Case of Palestinian prisoners to be taken to the Hague
Ma'an
Palestinian Minister of Prisoners and ex-Detainees’ Affairs Issa Qaraqi announced on Wednesday that a professional committee has been established to prepare the case of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails to be taken to the International Criminal Court at the Hague.
The file in question relates to Palestinian prisoners considered Prisoners of War under the Third Geneva Convention... Full story
Palestinian Minister of Prisoners and ex-Detainees’ Affairs Issa Qaraqi announced on Wednesday that a professional committee has been established to prepare the case of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails to be taken to the International Criminal Court at the Hague.
The file in question relates to Palestinian prisoners considered Prisoners of War under the Third Geneva Convention... Full story
Delegation of European doctors perform surgeries in Gaza
Ma'an
A European medical delegation arrived in Gaza on Sunday and performed a number of surgeries throughout the week....
....“It is difficult for doctors to come to Gaza but our message is to show them the suffering of Gaza residents and the need for doctors to carry out such significant surgeries,” he said. Full story
A European medical delegation arrived in Gaza on Sunday and performed a number of surgeries throughout the week....
....“It is difficult for doctors to come to Gaza but our message is to show them the suffering of Gaza residents and the need for doctors to carry out such significant surgeries,” he said. Full story
Israeli forces raid homes in Hebron
Ma'an
Israeli forces raided overnight on Tuesday a number of homes in the Ras Al-Jora neighborhood of Hebron, according to Palestinian Authority security sources.
...were stormed and thoroughly searched... Full story
Israeli forces raided overnight on Tuesday a number of homes in the Ras Al-Jora neighborhood of Hebron, according to Palestinian Authority security sources.
...were stormed and thoroughly searched... Full story
Israel expels detained Ma'an journalist
Ma'an
For the first time in a week, American journalist Jared Malsin was allowed to use his mobile phone on Wednesday morning to inform Ma'an that he was being placed onto an El Al flight bound for New York.
He sounded shaken and confused. He said he did not know why he was not being flown to Prague, where he was expected to be sent, saying only that flying there "would create problems." He said he was in an armored vehicle en route to the airport gate.
On Tuesday, Tel Aviv District Judge Kobi Vardi ordered that a hearing be scheduled to consider the Israeli Ministry of the Interior's decision to deport the journalist. Following the call, lawyer Castro Daoud went to the airport detention facility where Malsin has been kept for the past week to deliver the news.
At about 2:30 pm, Daoud left the detention center and filed a motion requesting that Jared be permitted to leave the country while the hearing and case proceed in his absence. As the Attorney General's Office insisted that Malsin not be permitted to attend his hearing, Daoud argued that it was no longer necessary to keep him confined to his cell in the detention center.
At about 4:30pm, staff from the US Embassy in Tel Aviv notified Malsin’s parents in the US state of New Hampshire that he would be on the next flight to Prague, even though Justice Vardi had not ruled on Daoud’s motion to let Malsin travel and still pursue the case.
At about 7:30pm, Daoud expressed shock after he received notification that a motion was signed by Malsin requesting his deportation challenge be annulled. Justice Vardi has closed the case on Malsin’s deportation order one week after it was filed.
Ma’an is deeply concerned that there was no lawyer present when Malsin apparently filed this independent motion, which was sent from the Ministry of the Interior and not his legal representative, who had just left. It is inexplicable that Malsin would knowingly drop the legal challenge after his first major success.
Without jumping to conclusions, Ma’an wants to be sure these events did not take place under duress, and is consequently concerned that Malsin’s lawyer and parents were prevented from reaching him during the 24 hours before the deportation to clarify what happened between 2:30 and 4:30pm on Tuesday afternoon. Full story and contact information
For the first time in a week, American journalist Jared Malsin was allowed to use his mobile phone on Wednesday morning to inform Ma'an that he was being placed onto an El Al flight bound for New York.
He sounded shaken and confused. He said he did not know why he was not being flown to Prague, where he was expected to be sent, saying only that flying there "would create problems." He said he was in an armored vehicle en route to the airport gate.
On Tuesday, Tel Aviv District Judge Kobi Vardi ordered that a hearing be scheduled to consider the Israeli Ministry of the Interior's decision to deport the journalist. Following the call, lawyer Castro Daoud went to the airport detention facility where Malsin has been kept for the past week to deliver the news.
At about 2:30 pm, Daoud left the detention center and filed a motion requesting that Jared be permitted to leave the country while the hearing and case proceed in his absence. As the Attorney General's Office insisted that Malsin not be permitted to attend his hearing, Daoud argued that it was no longer necessary to keep him confined to his cell in the detention center.
At about 4:30pm, staff from the US Embassy in Tel Aviv notified Malsin’s parents in the US state of New Hampshire that he would be on the next flight to Prague, even though Justice Vardi had not ruled on Daoud’s motion to let Malsin travel and still pursue the case.
At about 7:30pm, Daoud expressed shock after he received notification that a motion was signed by Malsin requesting his deportation challenge be annulled. Justice Vardi has closed the case on Malsin’s deportation order one week after it was filed.
Ma’an is deeply concerned that there was no lawyer present when Malsin apparently filed this independent motion, which was sent from the Ministry of the Interior and not his legal representative, who had just left. It is inexplicable that Malsin would knowingly drop the legal challenge after his first major success.
Without jumping to conclusions, Ma’an wants to be sure these events did not take place under duress, and is consequently concerned that Malsin’s lawyer and parents were prevented from reaching him during the 24 hours before the deportation to clarify what happened between 2:30 and 4:30pm on Tuesday afternoon. Full story and contact information
The Merchants of Fear: Israel’s Profiting from Homeland Insecurity
In the wake of the weird Christmas Day “underwear bomber” incident on Northwest Flight 253, former Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff, as if on cue, was all over the mainstream media touting whole-body scanners as the answer to America’s airline security problems. Since leaving public office in 2009, Chertoff had co-founded the Chertoff Group, a security and risk-management firm whose clients include a manufacturer of body-imaging screening machines. While some in the media noted this rather commonplace conflict of interest, ignored by all was a far more significant abuse of the American public’s trust.
In a CNN interview, Chertoff cited the Detroit incident as “a very vivid lesson in the value of that machinery.” One lesson that he hasn’t drawn, however, was about the unreliability of the security firm which allowed the young Nigerian Muslim without a passport to “slip through” Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
ICTS International N.V., the Dutch-based security firm, was established in 1982 by former members of Israel’s secret police, the Shin Bet, and El Al security. Menachem Atzmon, who holds the controlling shares in the firm, was convicted in 1996 for campaign finance fraud while co-treasurer of the Likud party. The other co-treasurer Ehud Olmert, who was acquitted of those charges, resigned as Israeli Prime Minister in 2008 amid multiple corruption charges.
Although the rapid worldwide expansion of ICTS was no doubt helped by the much vaunted reputation of Israeli aviation security, its record abroad is less reassuring. In December 2001, the so-called “shoe bomber” Richard Reid also slipped through ICTS security at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to board a flight to Miami. And it was an ICTS subsidiary, Huntleigh USA, that shared security duties at Boston’s Logan Airport, where two of the four hijacked planes originated on September 11, 2001.
Interestingly, Michael Chertoff has close family ties to Israeli aviation. His father, an American rabbi, married Livia Eisen, who was an air hostess for El Al in the 1950s. “There are reports that she was involved in Operation Magic Carpet, which brought Jews to Israel from Yemen,” wrote Jonathan Cook in Israel and the Clash of Civilizations. “It therefore seems possible that Livia Eisen was an Israeli national, and one with possible links to the Mossad.”
Somehow, nobody thought of asking Michael Chertoff whether his mother had ties to a foreign country’s intelligence service during the Senate confirmation hearing on his appointment as secretary of Homeland Security in 2005. Most likely taking their cue from Senators Charles Schumer and Joseph Lieberman, who endorsed[Chertoff] for the DHS job, the AIPAC-conscious Senate approved Chertoff by a vote of 98-0.
Normally hypersensitive to even the most tenuous links to Islamic terrorism, Sens. Schumer and Lieberman were apparently unconcerned by Chertoff’s 1998 legal representation of Dr. Magdy Elamir. The FBI had filed a report charging Elamir with skimming money from an Islamic charity to support al-Qaeda and financially supporting the al-Salam mosque, which the “Blind Sheikh” Omar Abdel-Rahman used as a base of operations for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Moreover, there are suspicions that Chertoff, as head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, may have been behind the deportation for “immigration violations” of the 200 Israelis arrested in 2001 for “suspicious activities” both before and after 9/11. According to a DEA report, these Israeli “art students” had “recently served in the Israeli military, the majority in intelligence, electronic signal intercept, or explosive ordnance units.” As Antiwar.com editor Justin Raimondo wryly put it in his essential book The Terror Enigma, “the probability that these are graduates of the Mossad School of Art (summa cum laude) is certainly high.”
But then again, how could one possibly doubt the patriotism of the author of the USA PATRIOT Act? Whatever his other qualities, Chertoff must be a fast writer. The 342-page document was signed into law on October 26, 2001 – a mere 45 days after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Striking oil on 9/11
On October 11, 2001, exactly one month after 9/11, Senator Lieberman introduced S. 1534, a bill to establish a Department of Homeland Security. The bipartisan Department of National Homeland Security Act of 2001 was co-sponsored by Republican Senator Arlen Specter, who is, perhaps not coincidentally, also a Jewish Zionist.
The day after 9/11, Benjamin Netanyahu let slip that the deaths of almost 3,000 Americans was “very good” for Israel. In particular, the mass murder was very good for an emerging sector of the Israeli economy. In “Laboratory for a Fortressed World,” Naomi Klein detailed the post-9/11 “explosion of Israel’s homeland security sector.”
“Before 9/11 homeland security barely existed as an industry,” Klein wrote in 2007. “By the end of this year, Israeli exports in the sector will reach $1.2 billion – an increase of 20 percent. The key products and services are high-tech fences, unmanned drones, biometric IDs, video and audio surveillance gear, air passenger profiling and prisoner interrogation systems – precisely the tools and technologies Israel has used to lock in the occupied territories.”
And the Department of Homeland Security, the Lieberman-Specter brainchild then headed by Michael Chertoff, had become one of Israel’s most reliable markets.
“Israel has struck oil,” as Klein so aptly put it. “The oil is the war on terror, the state of constant fear that creates a bottomless global demand for devices that watch, listen, contain and target ‘suspects.’”
In order to exploit that resource to the full, Israel needed the likes of Chertoff, Lieberman, Schumer and Specter to hype the concept of “homeland security” in the United States. Americans, however, should have been asking a couple of pertinent questions. Which homeland? And whose security?
(L-R) Michael Bloomberg, Michael Chertoff, Charles Schumer, D-N.Y, Hillary Rodham Clinton
Maidhc Ó Cathail is a widely published writer based in Japan.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Peaceful march reaches Gaza buffer zone
Ma'an
Dozens of Palestinian and foreign activists on Monday rallied in protest against Israel’s creation of a buffer zone between the Green Line and the northern and eastern borders of the Gaza Strip....
The demonstrations began last Monday and are due to be held every week. Following the first protest, Saber Az-Za’aneen, coordinator of the local committee that organized the protests said that the committee hopes to see participation grow, in order to protect farmers, who are most affected by the decision, and to assist them in gaining entry to their agricultural land.
The Israeli army dropped leaflets across Gaza, informing its residents of the new areas that are no longer accessible to the population. Full story
Dozens of Palestinian and foreign activists on Monday rallied in protest against Israel’s creation of a buffer zone between the Green Line and the northern and eastern borders of the Gaza Strip....
The demonstrations began last Monday and are due to be held every week. Following the first protest, Saber Az-Za’aneen, coordinator of the local committee that organized the protests said that the committee hopes to see participation grow, in order to protect farmers, who are most affected by the decision, and to assist them in gaining entry to their agricultural land.
The Israeli army dropped leaflets across Gaza, informing its residents of the new areas that are no longer accessible to the population. Full story
Coming Home - Winter in Tents in Juhr Ad-Dik, Middle Gaza
Al Mezan
During Operation Cast Lead [Israeli assault on Gaza Dec. 27-Jan. 18], Israeli forces completely destroyed at least 3,600 homes, displacing over 20,000 men, women and children... In the largely agricultural Juhr Ad-Dik area of Gaza district, Israeli forces completely destroyed 124 homes and partially destroyed a further 27. Almost a full year later, hundreds of people in this area are still living in tents as Israel’s unlawful siege continues to prohibit the entry of basic building materials into the Gaza Strip. Al Mezan interviewed Salem Abu 'Iyada, the mayor of Juhr Ad-Dik and local residents who tried to go home on 18 January to see how their community is coping as the winter advances... Full story
“Life Used to be Beautiful” – Hanin Mousa, 18
..."I was 17 when my mother was killed but I still felt like a child. I miss my mother so much. There are so many things I want to ask her, especially now I’m married. I’ve got no-one to ask for advice. I used to have a beautiful life before they killed my family.” Full story
More Personal Reports
During Operation Cast Lead [Israeli assault on Gaza Dec. 27-Jan. 18], Israeli forces completely destroyed at least 3,600 homes, displacing over 20,000 men, women and children... In the largely agricultural Juhr Ad-Dik area of Gaza district, Israeli forces completely destroyed 124 homes and partially destroyed a further 27. Almost a full year later, hundreds of people in this area are still living in tents as Israel’s unlawful siege continues to prohibit the entry of basic building materials into the Gaza Strip. Al Mezan interviewed Salem Abu 'Iyada, the mayor of Juhr Ad-Dik and local residents who tried to go home on 18 January to see how their community is coping as the winter advances... Full story
“Life Used to be Beautiful” – Hanin Mousa, 18
..."I was 17 when my mother was killed but I still felt like a child. I miss my mother so much. There are so many things I want to ask her, especially now I’m married. I’ve got no-one to ask for advice. I used to have a beautiful life before they killed my family.” Full story
More Personal Reports
Series of Personal Testimonies, ‘Lives Destroyed,’ Reveal How One Year after Operation Cast Lead, Life in Gaza is Not Back to Normal
Al Mezan
23 personal testimonies which examine how, a full year after Operation Cast Lead, the survivors of this brutal offensive are coping with their loss, trauma and disabilities. One testimony will be released on each day of the Operation Cast Lead commemoration, 27 December 2009 to 18 January 2010.
23 personal testimonies which examine how, a full year after Operation Cast Lead, the survivors of this brutal offensive are coping with their loss, trauma and disabilities. One testimony will be released on each day of the Operation Cast Lead commemoration, 27 December 2009 to 18 January 2010.
“As a human rights organisation working here on the ground, we are forced to focus our energies on investigating and documenting the serious human rights violations perpetrated daily in the Gaza Strip,” says Issam Younis, Al Mezan’s director.
“As a result, we are sometimes unable to find the time to remind people why upholding human rights is so important. The pain, anguish and misery of the survivors persist for years or even decades after the bombs have fallen. Through releasing this series of personal testimonies we hope to show the world that life in Gaza is not back to normal; for many, it will never be back to normal.”
Excerpts from the Testimonies
Day 4 of Operation Cast Lead: The Hamdan Family
“Hanadi (the children’s 18-year-old sister) went into shock after what happened. She didn’t speak at all during the three days of mourning after her little sisters and brother were killed. That morning, as soon as she heard the explosion, she turned to her brother Abdel Kareem and said, ‘The children are dead.’ It was Hanadi who told them to take out the garbage. She’d seen people moving around in the neighbourhood so she thought that everything was okay...Hanadi can’t cope with what happened. She can’t bear it. She keeps saying that she wishes that she were dead. She wants to be killed by Israeli shelling.”
Day 8 of Operation Cast Lead: The Al Err Family
“I have four girls who are alive. I have two boys and another girl who are dead. I don’t feel as though they are dead. I still talk to them. I tell them everything I used to tell them before. I still buy them clothes. They aren’t dead. They’re just away. They are going to come back,” says Leila before her stepson, Nahedh, gently leads her out of the room before coming back to explain, “Leila has become very unstable. She has sort of lost her mind. I think it’s because they bulldozed her children in front of her. She went hysterical at that point...When we first used to go to the cemetery she kept trying to dig up the earth around the graves with her hands. Even now we have to stay with her all the time; 24 hours a day. Medicines sans Frontiers (MSF) are following her condition. When we told them we were moving to a fourth floor apartment they advised us not to. They think she might throw herself out of the window. They still come to us every week.
Full story
Full story
Repression continues: Eight Arrested Following a Night Raid in Ni'ilin
PalSolidarity
Four residents of Ni'ilin have been arrested last night during a military incursion into the West Bank village. Four others, who were not home at the time of the raid surrendered themselves in the morning. These recent arrests are a part of a concerted assault on the popular movement and the arrest of three prominent organizers from the village last Wednesday.
At around 3:00am tonight, a large military force invaded the village of Ni'ilin to stage mass arrests of residents suspected of participating in demonstrations against the Wall. During the incursion, over ten houses were raided and ransacked.
Tonight's raid is the 13th staged in the village since 16 December. In this period alone, 16 of the village's residents have been detained on various charges relating to anti-Wall protests...
Four residents of Ni'ilin have been arrested last night during a military incursion into the West Bank village. Four others, who were not home at the time of the raid surrendered themselves in the morning. These recent arrests are a part of a concerted assault on the popular movement and the arrest of three prominent organizers from the village last Wednesday.
At around 3:00am tonight, a large military force invaded the village of Ni'ilin to stage mass arrests of residents suspected of participating in demonstrations against the Wall. During the incursion, over ten houses were raided and ransacked.
Tonight's raid is the 13th staged in the village since 16 December. In this period alone, 16 of the village's residents have been detained on various charges relating to anti-Wall protests...
Israel's military continues to target anti wall protest organizers
IMEMC
Four Palestinian civilians were kidnapped by Israeli troops during a pre dawn invasion targeting the village of Nil'in, central West Bank. Israeli troops told their families that they have been kidnapped for their involvement in the weekly nonviolent protests against the Israeli built wall on villager's lands.
Around 100 Israeli soldiers stormed the small village near Ramallah. Troops searched a number of homes and ransacked them...
Last week, Israeli troops kidnapped two organizers from the popular committee against the wall and settlement construction in Nil'in village and one from the nearby village of Bil'in. Also last Friday Israeli troops have used live ammunition to suppress the anti wall protest in Bil'in...
According to the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee Israeli troops have kidnapped 94 residents of Nil'in village in connection to the protests since they started nearly two years ago. In Bil'in, where nonviolent protests are being organized for five years now, 34 residents have been kidnapped over the past six months.
.......Mahmoud Zwahra is from the village of Al-Ma'sara near Bethlehem, where people have organized against the wall for the past three years [said]:
"At the end of last year(2009) they started to phone us, they said that will not allow any demonstrations in the village and if we going to see one we are going to arrest you and but you in the black list meaning the well not allow us to travel." Zwahra commented.
Currently, the Israeli military is holding at least six members of the popular committee against the wall and settlements. They are accused of incitement against the military. All are currently being held based on secret evidence that their lawyers have no access to and without any charges brought against them in the military court. Full story
Four Palestinian civilians were kidnapped by Israeli troops during a pre dawn invasion targeting the village of Nil'in, central West Bank. Israeli troops told their families that they have been kidnapped for their involvement in the weekly nonviolent protests against the Israeli built wall on villager's lands.
Around 100 Israeli soldiers stormed the small village near Ramallah. Troops searched a number of homes and ransacked them...
Last week, Israeli troops kidnapped two organizers from the popular committee against the wall and settlement construction in Nil'in village and one from the nearby village of Bil'in. Also last Friday Israeli troops have used live ammunition to suppress the anti wall protest in Bil'in...
According to the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee Israeli troops have kidnapped 94 residents of Nil'in village in connection to the protests since they started nearly two years ago. In Bil'in, where nonviolent protests are being organized for five years now, 34 residents have been kidnapped over the past six months.
.......Mahmoud Zwahra is from the village of Al-Ma'sara near Bethlehem, where people have organized against the wall for the past three years [said]:
"At the end of last year(2009) they started to phone us, they said that will not allow any demonstrations in the village and if we going to see one we are going to arrest you and but you in the black list meaning the well not allow us to travel." Zwahra commented.
Currently, the Israeli military is holding at least six members of the popular committee against the wall and settlements. They are accused of incitement against the military. All are currently being held based on secret evidence that their lawyers have no access to and without any charges brought against them in the military court. Full story
The Israeli military kidnaps 17 Palestinian civilians from the West Bank
IMEMC
Seventeen Palestinian civilians were reported kidnapped on Monday by Israeli troops during pre-dawn invasions targeting a number of West Bank communities.
...Last week the Israeli military conducted at least 23 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During those attacks troops kidnapped 28 civilians, including 9 children. Full story
Seventeen Palestinian civilians were reported kidnapped on Monday by Israeli troops during pre-dawn invasions targeting a number of West Bank communities.
...Last week the Israeli military conducted at least 23 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During those attacks troops kidnapped 28 civilians, including 9 children. Full story
UN warns 250,000 Palestinians 'vulnerable' to settler violence
Ha'aretz
A report released by the United Nations last year says settlers angered over the destruction of outposts could exact revenge on 250,000 Palestinians in the West Bank......
According to the report, if Israel takes significant action against the outposts, around 250,000 Palestinians in 83 West Bank communities will be "highly or moderately vulnerable" to settler violence. Full story
A report released by the United Nations last year says settlers angered over the destruction of outposts could exact revenge on 250,000 Palestinians in the West Bank......
According to the report, if Israel takes significant action against the outposts, around 250,000 Palestinians in 83 West Bank communities will be "highly or moderately vulnerable" to settler violence. Full story
Obama confidant's spine-chilling proposal
OpEdNews
Cass Sunstein has long been one of Barack Obama's closest confidants. Often mentioned as a likely Obama nominee to the Supreme Court, Sunstein is currently Obama's head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs where, among other things, he is responsible for "overseeing policies relating to privacy, information quality, and statistical programs."
In 2008, while at Harvard Law School, Sunstein co-wrote a truly pernicious paper proposing that the U.S. Government employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-"independent" advocates to "cognitively infiltrate" online groups and websites -- as well as other activist groups .... The paper's abstract can be read, and the full paper downloaded, here.
Sunstein advocates that the Government's stealth infiltration should be accomplished by sending covert agents into "chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups." He also proposes that the Government make secret payments to so-called "independent" credible voices to bolster the Government's messaging (on the ground that those who don't believe government sources will be more inclined to listen to those who appear independent while secretly acting on behalf of the Government).
This program would target those advocating false "conspiracy theories," which they define to mean: "an attempt to explain an event or practice by reference to the machinations of powerful people, who have also managed to conceal their role." Sunstein's 2008 paper was flagged by this blogger, and then amplified in an excellent report by Raw Story's Daniel Tencer...
Cass Sunstein has long been one of Barack Obama's closest confidants. Often mentioned as a likely Obama nominee to the Supreme Court, Sunstein is currently Obama's head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs where, among other things, he is responsible for "overseeing policies relating to privacy, information quality, and statistical programs."
In 2008, while at Harvard Law School, Sunstein co-wrote a truly pernicious paper proposing that the U.S. Government employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-"independent" advocates to "cognitively infiltrate" online groups and websites -- as well as other activist groups .... The paper's abstract can be read, and the full paper downloaded, here.
Sunstein advocates that the Government's stealth infiltration should be accomplished by sending covert agents into "chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups." He also proposes that the Government make secret payments to so-called "independent" credible voices to bolster the Government's messaging (on the ground that those who don't believe government sources will be more inclined to listen to those who appear independent while secretly acting on behalf of the Government).
This program would target those advocating false "conspiracy theories," which they define to mean: "an attempt to explain an event or practice by reference to the machinations of powerful people, who have also managed to conceal their role." Sunstein's 2008 paper was flagged by this blogger, and then amplified in an excellent report by Raw Story's Daniel Tencer...
When Woolsey Met Harman
OpEdNews - David Swanson
....[California Democratic Congresswoman] Lynn Woolsey [ came to [LA] yesterday to support Jane Harman.
Jane Harman has never seen a war she didn't like or a crime by anyone important that she couldn't excuse. When caught on a warrantless wiretap by the Bush-Cheney gang conspiring with representatives of the Israeli government against her own, Harman chose to allow herself to be blackmailed. She pressured the New York Times to keep the story of warrantless spying programs secret until Bush could get into a second term as president. Harman's loyalty is not to the wishes of her constituents, not to the political fate of her party (the Democrats) and not to her country. In other words she's a model congress member.
Lynn Woolsey, another Democratic congress member, from Northern California, sometimes -- in fact more than almost anyone else -- votes against her party's leadership but with her constituents and the majority of Americans. She votes for peace, justice, decency, and good governance. But just about the only thing she does is vote right. And all of her good votes are countered by someone like Jane Harman, who always votes the worst way she can manage.....
It was an accomplishment not much less significant than any of Woolsey's accomplishments as co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC).
........A couple of years ago, virtually the entire caucus, and some non-caucus members, a total of 90 congress members, signed a commitment not to vote for war funding. And with a few exceptions, they all turned around and voted for it. A few members, like Woolsey, will often vote the right way, once they are assured that the bill will go the wrong way and their vote won't actually displease Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In fact, Pelosi herself often votes against murderous legislation after guaranteeing its passage.
...........Woolsey votes the right way when it can have no impact, and does so more than just about anybody else. But is that ENOUGH, when Congress is funding mass murder with all of the money we need for saving lives, when people are losing their homes, when lifeguards are being pulled off the beaches for lack of funds out here, when state and city services are being eliminated, when our rotten education system is collapsing on itself, when the state of Hawaii will go without a congress member for lack of funds to hold an election.......
.....An all-out peace advocate would not raise money for Jane Harman, but would instead publicly shame Jane Harman's funders and call for a criminal investigation of both Harman and her blackmailers...
....[California Democratic Congresswoman] Lynn Woolsey [ came to [LA] yesterday to support Jane Harman.
Jane Harman has never seen a war she didn't like or a crime by anyone important that she couldn't excuse. When caught on a warrantless wiretap by the Bush-Cheney gang conspiring with representatives of the Israeli government against her own, Harman chose to allow herself to be blackmailed. She pressured the New York Times to keep the story of warrantless spying programs secret until Bush could get into a second term as president. Harman's loyalty is not to the wishes of her constituents, not to the political fate of her party (the Democrats) and not to her country. In other words she's a model congress member.
Lynn Woolsey, another Democratic congress member, from Northern California, sometimes -- in fact more than almost anyone else -- votes against her party's leadership but with her constituents and the majority of Americans. She votes for peace, justice, decency, and good governance. But just about the only thing she does is vote right. And all of her good votes are countered by someone like Jane Harman, who always votes the worst way she can manage.....
It was an accomplishment not much less significant than any of Woolsey's accomplishments as co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC).
........A couple of years ago, virtually the entire caucus, and some non-caucus members, a total of 90 congress members, signed a commitment not to vote for war funding. And with a few exceptions, they all turned around and voted for it. A few members, like Woolsey, will often vote the right way, once they are assured that the bill will go the wrong way and their vote won't actually displease Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In fact, Pelosi herself often votes against murderous legislation after guaranteeing its passage.
...........Woolsey votes the right way when it can have no impact, and does so more than just about anybody else. But is that ENOUGH, when Congress is funding mass murder with all of the money we need for saving lives, when people are losing their homes, when lifeguards are being pulled off the beaches for lack of funds out here, when state and city services are being eliminated, when our rotten education system is collapsing on itself, when the state of Hawaii will go without a congress member for lack of funds to hold an election.......
.....An all-out peace advocate would not raise money for Jane Harman, but would instead publicly shame Jane Harman's funders and call for a criminal investigation of both Harman and her blackmailers...
Ma'an urges hearing for detained US journalist
Ma'an
District Judge Kobi Vardi heard arguments on Sunday from the Israeli Attorney General's Office against two requests filed by Ma'an on Wednesday seeking to delay the imminent expulsion of journalist Jared Malsin.
A comprehensive translation from Hebrew into English is underway, but a preliminary reading indicates that the attorney general requests there be no hearing because it would make it more difficult for the Ministry of the Interior to deport Malsin.....
The papers conclude by saying Malsin is responsible for the cost of his detention and expulsion...
District Judge Kobi Vardi heard arguments on Sunday from the Israeli Attorney General's Office against two requests filed by Ma'an on Wednesday seeking to delay the imminent expulsion of journalist Jared Malsin.
A comprehensive translation from Hebrew into English is underway, but a preliminary reading indicates that the attorney general requests there be no hearing because it would make it more difficult for the Ministry of the Interior to deport Malsin.....
The papers conclude by saying Malsin is responsible for the cost of his detention and expulsion...
The Carlos Santana "Concert of Shame"
Aztlan
...Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Israeli producer Shuki Weiss has booked the world famous Mexican born rock musician and guitarist Carlos Santana to perform at the Blumfield Stadium in Jaffa, Israel this coming June.
Carlos Santana ..... is in addition a very well known humanitarian and active advocate for children's rights. He is the founder and principal supporter of the Milagro Foundation that benefits underserved and vulnerable children around the world by making grants to community based tax-exempt organizations that work with children in the areas of education, health and the arts....
Apparently Carlos Santana is not aware that Zionist Israel massacred over 300 innocent Palestinian children in a brutal military attack on the Gaza Strip about a year ago....
Latino human rights organizations are calling for Carlos Santana to cancel his "Concert of Shame" scheduled for June in Zionist Israel. His representative may be contacted through...
...Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Israeli producer Shuki Weiss has booked the world famous Mexican born rock musician and guitarist Carlos Santana to perform at the Blumfield Stadium in Jaffa, Israel this coming June.
Carlos Santana ..... is in addition a very well known humanitarian and active advocate for children's rights. He is the founder and principal supporter of the Milagro Foundation that benefits underserved and vulnerable children around the world by making grants to community based tax-exempt organizations that work with children in the areas of education, health and the arts....
Apparently Carlos Santana is not aware that Zionist Israel massacred over 300 innocent Palestinian children in a brutal military attack on the Gaza Strip about a year ago....
Latino human rights organizations are calling for Carlos Santana to cancel his "Concert of Shame" scheduled for June in Zionist Israel. His representative may be contacted through...
Israel forces detain shepherd, three others in Ar-Rashayda
Ma'an
Israeli forces detained four Palestinians in the village of Ar-Rashayda, southeast of Bethlehem on Monday, including an elderly shepherd, as they returned home from tending to their sheep...
....a military convoy of 20 Israeli jeeps apprehended the car the four were travelling in and detained them.
Those detained were identified as Mahmud Muhammad Hamad Ar-Rashayda, known as Abu Ismail, 61, his brother Ahmad, 55, Riziq Ahmad Ar-Rashayda, 18, and Yasser Aramin.
Israeli forces told Abu Ismail’s family that he had been transferred to the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital following a decline in health, the sources added.
Abu Ismail suffers from high blood pressure. His family called on human rights organizations to intervene for his release. Full story
Israeli forces detained four Palestinians in the village of Ar-Rashayda, southeast of Bethlehem on Monday, including an elderly shepherd, as they returned home from tending to their sheep...
....a military convoy of 20 Israeli jeeps apprehended the car the four were travelling in and detained them.
Those detained were identified as Mahmud Muhammad Hamad Ar-Rashayda, known as Abu Ismail, 61, his brother Ahmad, 55, Riziq Ahmad Ar-Rashayda, 18, and Yasser Aramin.
Israeli forces told Abu Ismail’s family that he had been transferred to the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital following a decline in health, the sources added.
Abu Ismail suffers from high blood pressure. His family called on human rights organizations to intervene for his release. Full story
Gazans raise money for Haiti
Ma'an
Palestinians in Gaza set off for the Red Cross headquarters on Monday to offer donations and financial support for the victims of Haiti’s devastating earthquake...
Relatives of Palestinian prisoners also participated in the drive, with many offering financial donations and goods including blankets and covers, as well as food and milk for children.
Head of the Committee to Break the Siege Jamal Al-Khudary said "people may be astonished at our ability to collect donations from our people [in Gaza]; we tell them that this is a humanitarian campaign and our people love life and peace …"
"We are here today supporting the victims of Haiti … we feel for them the most because we were exposed to our own earthquake during Israel’s war on Gaza."
The Red Cross director was only able to accept financial donations as transferring goods out of the Strip is near impossible, Al-Khudary added. Full story
Palestinians in Gaza set off for the Red Cross headquarters on Monday to offer donations and financial support for the victims of Haiti’s devastating earthquake...
Relatives of Palestinian prisoners also participated in the drive, with many offering financial donations and goods including blankets and covers, as well as food and milk for children.
Head of the Committee to Break the Siege Jamal Al-Khudary said "people may be astonished at our ability to collect donations from our people [in Gaza]; we tell them that this is a humanitarian campaign and our people love life and peace …"
"We are here today supporting the victims of Haiti … we feel for them the most because we were exposed to our own earthquake during Israel’s war on Gaza."
The Red Cross director was only able to accept financial donations as transferring goods out of the Strip is near impossible, Al-Khudary added. Full story
Israeli excavations blamed for latest Silwan collapse
Ma'an
The Wadi Hilwah Information Centre reported another collapse in the Silwan neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem on Monday, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City, creating a 12 meter square hole in the middle of Wadi Hilwah street.
.......A child was injured and a vehicle fell ithrough the site, Siam said, adding that the local Al-Ein mosque, where Israeli excavation has intensified, was flooded as rainwater seeped into the collapsed site.
The Al-Quds Centre for Economic and Social rights said that this incident follows a number of similar collapses in Silwan recently, pointing out that last year, a collapse occurred in a girls’ school, injuring 17 students.
On 2 January 2010 The Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage reported another street collapse on the main road of Silwan
......... the collapse was related to ongoing excavations by Israeli authorities in the vicinity, apparently on tunnels extending underneath the neighborhood about 700 meters from the mosque compound... Full story
The Wadi Hilwah Information Centre reported another collapse in the Silwan neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem on Monday, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City, creating a 12 meter square hole in the middle of Wadi Hilwah street.
.......A child was injured and a vehicle fell ithrough the site, Siam said, adding that the local Al-Ein mosque, where Israeli excavation has intensified, was flooded as rainwater seeped into the collapsed site.
The Al-Quds Centre for Economic and Social rights said that this incident follows a number of similar collapses in Silwan recently, pointing out that last year, a collapse occurred in a girls’ school, injuring 17 students.
On 2 January 2010 The Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage reported another street collapse on the main road of Silwan
......... the collapse was related to ongoing excavations by Israeli authorities in the vicinity, apparently on tunnels extending underneath the neighborhood about 700 meters from the mosque compound... Full story
Gaza family appeals to Abbas to help save dying son
Ma'an
The family of a young boy in Gaza who suffers from cancer appealed on Monday to President Mahmoud Abbas to intervene in their son’s treatment.
Ahmad Al-Agha, 12, suffers from cancer of the abdominal lymph nodes. A medical report issued by the Al-Rantisi Pediatric Hospital revealed that in mid 2009, Al-Agha’s condition improved following chemotherapy. However, his condition deteriorated over the last six months and is urgently in need of medical treatment in a developed cancer ward outside of Gaza, the report said.
......Ahmad’s father explained that the de facto Ministry of Health had contacted Israeli hospitals on behalf of Ahmad, which refused to transfer him. Additionally, a transfer request was made to the Al-Hussein Medical Institute in Jordan but received no reply. Full story
The family of a young boy in Gaza who suffers from cancer appealed on Monday to President Mahmoud Abbas to intervene in their son’s treatment.
Ahmad Al-Agha, 12, suffers from cancer of the abdominal lymph nodes. A medical report issued by the Al-Rantisi Pediatric Hospital revealed that in mid 2009, Al-Agha’s condition improved following chemotherapy. However, his condition deteriorated over the last six months and is urgently in need of medical treatment in a developed cancer ward outside of Gaza, the report said.
......Ahmad’s father explained that the de facto Ministry of Health had contacted Israeli hospitals on behalf of Ahmad, which refused to transfer him. Additionally, a transfer request was made to the Al-Hussein Medical Institute in Jordan but received no reply. Full story
Israeli forces detain four in Jerusalem area
Ma'an
Israeli forces detained four Palestinians in Beit Duqqu, northwest of Jerusalem early on Monday, according to sources.
..... an Israeli military convoy of 10 vehicles, accompanied by police dogs, raided the village at 3am and used stun grenades against the four before detaining them... Full story
Israeli forces detained four Palestinians in Beit Duqqu, northwest of Jerusalem early on Monday, according to sources.
..... an Israeli military convoy of 10 vehicles, accompanied by police dogs, raided the village at 3am and used stun grenades against the four before detaining them... Full story
Palestinian rights orgs demand gov't investigate Goldstone claims
Ma'an
Thirteen Palestinian human rights organizations and legal advocacy groups appealed to President Mahmoud Abbas and de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in open letters, calling for the immediate commencement of internal investigations of the Goldstone report.
The groups, listed below, demanded the investigations be carried out in compliance with the UN General Assembly resolution.
...on 5 February 2010 the UN Secretary-General is due to submit his report on the implementation of the General Assembly Resolution relating to investigations into allegations made in the Goldstone report. "As Palestinian and international non-governmental organisations, we urge both the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza to immediately commence credible internal investigations in compliance with international standards and in accordance with the Report by the Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict."
......."Israel has continued to reject the rule of law and their international humanitarian and human rights obligations by continuing its illegal practices, including the blockade of the Gaza Strip, and by condemning the Report of the Fact Finding Mission and rejecting its well-based findings on Israel's violations. For the Palestinians to continue to effectively struggle for their legitimate rights as a people, it is crucial that their leaders and representatives adopt an approach, centered on the rule of law and respect for human rights." Full story
Thirteen Palestinian human rights organizations and legal advocacy groups appealed to President Mahmoud Abbas and de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in open letters, calling for the immediate commencement of internal investigations of the Goldstone report.
The groups, listed below, demanded the investigations be carried out in compliance with the UN General Assembly resolution.
...on 5 February 2010 the UN Secretary-General is due to submit his report on the implementation of the General Assembly Resolution relating to investigations into allegations made in the Goldstone report. "As Palestinian and international non-governmental organisations, we urge both the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza to immediately commence credible internal investigations in compliance with international standards and in accordance with the Report by the Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict."
......."Israel has continued to reject the rule of law and their international humanitarian and human rights obligations by continuing its illegal practices, including the blockade of the Gaza Strip, and by condemning the Report of the Fact Finding Mission and rejecting its well-based findings on Israel's violations. For the Palestinians to continue to effectively struggle for their legitimate rights as a people, it is crucial that their leaders and representatives adopt an approach, centered on the rule of law and respect for human rights." Full story
Experts: Egypt's wall will destroy Gaza's aquifer
Ma'an
Experts in Gaza determined on Sunday that Egypt's underground steel wall will lead to the destruction of Gaza's aquifer, during a symposium entitled The Metal Wall between Egypt and Gaza: Impacts, Environmental and Human Consequences, held in Gaza.....
...the metal wall threatens Gaza's underground water storage system and will cause the destruction of the aquifer, resulting from pollution...
.... could lead to salt water being pumped underground, causing soil to collapse. This Al-Weheidi warned, could lead to the collapse of buildings in Rafah. The tunnels, he said, would contribute to flow of salt water.
.......... "the metal wall, between 20 to 30 meters deep underground, will obstruct the flowing of water in the joint aquifer between Sinai and Gaza, threaten the aquifer which is already suffering from many problems including lack of water, pollution and mismanagement."
.....economist for Al-Azhar University noted that "halting work in the tunnels will prevent the local markets from having access to products that are coming through tunnels, such as supplies of food and construction materials...
"In such a situation, Gaza will have a black market with a lot of goods including necessities with skyrocketing prices and infinite queues."
More than 30,000 workers would lose their jobs, Rajab estimated...... Full story
Experts in Gaza determined on Sunday that Egypt's underground steel wall will lead to the destruction of Gaza's aquifer, during a symposium entitled The Metal Wall between Egypt and Gaza: Impacts, Environmental and Human Consequences, held in Gaza.....
...the metal wall threatens Gaza's underground water storage system and will cause the destruction of the aquifer, resulting from pollution...
.... could lead to salt water being pumped underground, causing soil to collapse. This Al-Weheidi warned, could lead to the collapse of buildings in Rafah. The tunnels, he said, would contribute to flow of salt water.
.......... "the metal wall, between 20 to 30 meters deep underground, will obstruct the flowing of water in the joint aquifer between Sinai and Gaza, threaten the aquifer which is already suffering from many problems including lack of water, pollution and mismanagement."
.....economist for Al-Azhar University noted that "halting work in the tunnels will prevent the local markets from having access to products that are coming through tunnels, such as supplies of food and construction materials...
"In such a situation, Gaza will have a black market with a lot of goods including necessities with skyrocketing prices and infinite queues."
More than 30,000 workers would lose their jobs, Rajab estimated...... Full story
Sunday, January 17, 2010
ISM Gaza: Education under attack
Palsolidarity - Bianca Zammit
On December 28th 2008 mid-term examinations had been scheduled to take place at the University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS) in Gaza. When the day arrived, however, the University College’s rooms, which usually cater for 8000 students, were void of any life. This was the second day of [Israel's massive invasion] operation Cast Lead.....
Operation Cast Lead wholly demolished or rendered unusable several educational facilities across the Strip. Amongst these facilities were 280 kindergarten, primary and secondary schools, the American International School, the library of the Al Aqsa University and the laboratory of the Islamic University. Many other educational facilities were shot at causing facades to become tarnished with indelible war stains and windows to shatter in a deliberate attempt to undermine education.
When Operation Cast Lead ended, The University College of Applied Sciences announced the new dates for the mid-term examinations. The time after Cast Lead has been the most testing for all students in Gaza as they struggle to put memories aside and focus on mastering their academic abilities.
For Sawsan Tamboura, a student in Secretarial English at UCAS, memories of Cast Lead are still vivid and too powerful to override.... When Cast Lead started she left her home in Beit Lahiya and went with her family to the closest UNRWA school. The school was bombed with white Phosphorous bombs killing her two cousins, who were at the same UNRWA school. The same attack caused her aunt to lose both hands, her skin was burnt and it also caused her hair to fall. Her exams were postponed to February. Tamboura studied very hard but had problems concentrating. Against all odds, she insists on pursuing the road of education and supports her friends to continue in theirs. “Education is the only tool we as students have, it is everything for us”.
For other students the damage caused by Cast Lead was physical as well as personal obliging them to rethink their educational prospects. 5,300 people were injured by Cast Lead.
Yousef Abdul Jabbar Al-Mughrabi is an outstanding 21 year old students with an above 90 average. During Cast Lead a drone bomb exploded in the vicinity of his home causing him to become blind and paralyzing the right side of his body.
On December 28th 2008 mid-term examinations had been scheduled to take place at the University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS) in Gaza. When the day arrived, however, the University College’s rooms, which usually cater for 8000 students, were void of any life. This was the second day of [Israel's massive invasion] operation Cast Lead.....
Operation Cast Lead wholly demolished or rendered unusable several educational facilities across the Strip. Amongst these facilities were 280 kindergarten, primary and secondary schools, the American International School, the library of the Al Aqsa University and the laboratory of the Islamic University. Many other educational facilities were shot at causing facades to become tarnished with indelible war stains and windows to shatter in a deliberate attempt to undermine education.
When Operation Cast Lead ended, The University College of Applied Sciences announced the new dates for the mid-term examinations. The time after Cast Lead has been the most testing for all students in Gaza as they struggle to put memories aside and focus on mastering their academic abilities.
For Sawsan Tamboura, a student in Secretarial English at UCAS, memories of Cast Lead are still vivid and too powerful to override.... When Cast Lead started she left her home in Beit Lahiya and went with her family to the closest UNRWA school. The school was bombed with white Phosphorous bombs killing her two cousins, who were at the same UNRWA school. The same attack caused her aunt to lose both hands, her skin was burnt and it also caused her hair to fall. Her exams were postponed to February. Tamboura studied very hard but had problems concentrating. Against all odds, she insists on pursuing the road of education and supports her friends to continue in theirs. “Education is the only tool we as students have, it is everything for us”.
For other students the damage caused by Cast Lead was physical as well as personal obliging them to rethink their educational prospects. 5,300 people were injured by Cast Lead.
Yousef Abdul Jabbar Al-Mughrabi is an outstanding 21 year old students with an above 90 average. During Cast Lead a drone bomb exploded in the vicinity of his home causing him to become blind and paralyzing the right side of his body.
CPT: Hebron Incidents, December 17-31, 2009
PalSolidarity
The Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron released this incident report for the period between December 17 and December 31, 2009.
December 17, 2009 Shortly after morning worship, the team’s neighbor told them that soldiers were on the roof of the apartment building... Video
The Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron released this incident report for the period between December 17 and December 31, 2009.
December 17, 2009 Shortly after morning worship, the team’s neighbor told them that soldiers were on the roof of the apartment building... Video
Daily Situation Report: Jan. 15, 2010
PMG
Israeli occupation actions:
Israeli occupation actions:
- Physical Assaults — 7 Protestors beaten
- Injuries — 6 civilians in demonstrations, Ramallah
- Attacks – 8 Incl. 2 in raids and 3 from mil. posts
- Raids — 12 Incl. 3 in Tulkarem and 2 in Qalqiliya
- Air Patrol — 1 F16 combat aircraft over Khan Yunis
- Arrests (per person) — 6 Incl.
- Detentions — 17 Incl. 3 female civilians
- Wall Construction — 21
- House Occupation — 1 Converted into a military post
- Closure of Checkpoints — 12 Incl. access impeded at 9
- Flying Checkpoints — 17
- Closure (per District) — 7
- Closure of Main Roads — 38
- Closure of Crossing Points — 6
- Settler Violence — 3
- Palestinian Attack — 1 mortar fired toward Green Line
- Demonstrations — 5 Full report
A review of ZIONISM, MILITARISM AND THE DECLINE OF US POWER by James Petras
December 2009 issue of Culture Wars magazine - Ken Freeland
The hegemonic influence of Zionist-Israeli forces over America's foreign policy, particularly Middle East policy, is a phenomenon without historical precedent. While right-wing radicals, with their focus on patriotism and constitutional values, set off early alarms about this perceived foreign domination, the Left pretty much slept through its insidious ascent to power.
The American Left, indeed, has a long and unfortunate history of giving a free pass to Israel, reserving the whole of its diatribe for imperialists of the indigenous variety. (As James Petras makes clear again and again, this is a predictable result of the antiwar movement's frequently pro-Israel leadership, and the ubiquitous Zionist-liberal influence within it.)
For the traditional Left, this emergence of a Zionist power elite within the United States presents a significant theoretical problem... it really does not follow from the normal Leftist-materialist construction of the political world, and so it tends to be just ignored. The popular antiwar movement slogan “no war for oil” is its residue: the Left is happy to pin the war tail on the donkey of Big Oil, a traditional bogeyman, and one which fits neatly into a materialist paradigm...
The hegemonic influence of Zionist-Israeli forces over America's foreign policy, particularly Middle East policy, is a phenomenon without historical precedent. While right-wing radicals, with their focus on patriotism and constitutional values, set off early alarms about this perceived foreign domination, the Left pretty much slept through its insidious ascent to power.
The American Left, indeed, has a long and unfortunate history of giving a free pass to Israel, reserving the whole of its diatribe for imperialists of the indigenous variety. (As James Petras makes clear again and again, this is a predictable result of the antiwar movement's frequently pro-Israel leadership, and the ubiquitous Zionist-liberal influence within it.)
For the traditional Left, this emergence of a Zionist power elite within the United States presents a significant theoretical problem... it really does not follow from the normal Leftist-materialist construction of the political world, and so it tends to be just ignored. The popular antiwar movement slogan “no war for oil” is its residue: the Left is happy to pin the war tail on the donkey of Big Oil, a traditional bogeyman, and one which fits neatly into a materialist paradigm...
The Role of Neoconservatives — and Israel’s Right Wing — in the War in Iraq
FGF - Allan C. Brownfeld
For many Americans, the reasons for the U.S. attack on Iraq in 2003 remains a mystery. The reasons the Bush administration gave for going to war — that Iraq had ties with al Qaeda, that it possessed weapons of mass destruction, and that, somehow, it was involved in the terrorist attacks of 9/ll — have all been proven false. It is, some argue, as if after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, we declared war on Mexico.
However, a group of men and women in and out of government proposed war with Iraq even before 9/ll. These were the neoconservatives — including such leading Bush administration officials as Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, and L. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. What motivated these advocates of war with a country that never attacked the U.S. and posed little threat is the subject of an important new book, The Transparent Cabal: The Neoconservative Agenda, War in the Middle East, and the National Interest of Israel (Enigma Editions) by Stephen J. Sniegoski, Ph.D.
....The new book examines the close relationship of the American neoconservatives and the Israeli Likudnik right, and its role as a fundamental driver of the Bush administration’s militant Middle East policy. Sniegoski states, “This orientation is at the root of the explanation for why our policy does not seem to address or correspond with the genuine security needs of the U.S.... Ideology and personal ties have blinded them to what most others clearly see was the foreign policy reality.”
While U.S. policy traditionally stressed stability in the Middle East, “[T]he neocons called for destabilizing existing regimes.... Likudnik strategy saw the benefit of regional destabilization for its own sake — creating as it would an environment of weak, disunified states or statelets involved in internal and external conflicts that could easily be dominated by Israel....
For many Americans, the reasons for the U.S. attack on Iraq in 2003 remains a mystery. The reasons the Bush administration gave for going to war — that Iraq had ties with al Qaeda, that it possessed weapons of mass destruction, and that, somehow, it was involved in the terrorist attacks of 9/ll — have all been proven false. It is, some argue, as if after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, we declared war on Mexico.
However, a group of men and women in and out of government proposed war with Iraq even before 9/ll. These were the neoconservatives — including such leading Bush administration officials as Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, and L. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. What motivated these advocates of war with a country that never attacked the U.S. and posed little threat is the subject of an important new book, The Transparent Cabal: The Neoconservative Agenda, War in the Middle East, and the National Interest of Israel (Enigma Editions) by Stephen J. Sniegoski, Ph.D.
....The new book examines the close relationship of the American neoconservatives and the Israeli Likudnik right, and its role as a fundamental driver of the Bush administration’s militant Middle East policy. Sniegoski states, “This orientation is at the root of the explanation for why our policy does not seem to address or correspond with the genuine security needs of the U.S.... Ideology and personal ties have blinded them to what most others clearly see was the foreign policy reality.”
While U.S. policy traditionally stressed stability in the Middle East, “[T]he neocons called for destabilizing existing regimes.... Likudnik strategy saw the benefit of regional destabilization for its own sake — creating as it would an environment of weak, disunified states or statelets involved in internal and external conflicts that could easily be dominated by Israel....
Israeli forces detain seven in Nablus
Ma'an
Israeli forces detained seven Palestinian from the Al-Ein Refugee Camp and Al-Sikkah Street in Nablus on Sunday, following an incursion.
More than 15 Israeli military vehicles entered the city, raided a number of homes and detained Muntaser Hamdi, Samer As-Salhi, Raed Al-Khatib and Mu'tasim Saleh, witnesses said.
Three brothers were detained in Al-Sikkah Street before Israeli troops withdrew from at 8am... Full story
Israeli forces detained seven Palestinian from the Al-Ein Refugee Camp and Al-Sikkah Street in Nablus on Sunday, following an incursion.
More than 15 Israeli military vehicles entered the city, raided a number of homes and detained Muntaser Hamdi, Samer As-Salhi, Raed Al-Khatib and Mu'tasim Saleh, witnesses said.
Three brothers were detained in Al-Sikkah Street before Israeli troops withdrew from at 8am... Full story
Two Palestinians beaten by Israeli forces near settlement
Ma'an
Israeli forces attacked two Palestinians near the Betar Elite settlement near Husan village west of Bethlehem on Sunday morning. Both were hospitalized for serious injuries.
Security sources said that Israeli soldiers stopped and beat Muhammad Halahleh, 35, and Mahmoud Ramadan, 15, both from Kharas in the Hebron governorate. Full story
Previous incident:
Israeli forces attacked two Palestinians near the Betar Elite settlement near Husan village west of Bethlehem on Sunday morning. Both were hospitalized for serious injuries.
Security sources said that Israeli soldiers stopped and beat Muhammad Halahleh, 35, and Mahmoud Ramadan, 15, both from Kharas in the Hebron governorate. Full story
Previous incident:
Israeli Navy Kidnaps Palestinian Fishermen In Southern Gaza
IMEMC
The Israeli Navy kidnapped on Sunday at dawn six Palestinian fishermen in Palestinian territorial waters in the Rafah area, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The Navy also opened fire at the fishermen and boarded two boats.
.... The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture in Gaza reported that the six were taken to unknown destinations and that they were on three small boats when they were attacked by the Israeli Navy.
.....The Ministry held Israel responsible for the lives of the fishermen and called on the Red Cross and different human rights groups to intervene and ensure the release of the detained fishermen and boats.
In related news, Israeli Navy ships opened fire at several Palestinian fishing boats in Palestinian waters in Rafah, Khan Younis, Al Nuseirat, and Dir Al Balah. Damage was reported, no injuries. Full story
Israeli naval abductions and shooting at Palestinian fishermen: it’s routine
...Zaki Taroush and his 17-year-old son Zayed were fishing 600 metres off the coast and 200 metres south of the closed zone the same day Sultan was abducted. They were likewise forced under the live fire of Israeli soldiers to paddle their hassaka west to a waiting Israeli gunboat where they underwent the same, standard, procedure: strip, swim, abduction, handcuffing and blindfolding.
In detention, they were accused of being in off-limits waters, in what is known as the ‘K’ zone. Tarroush had been abducted along with seven other fishermen just three months earlier, on Mar. 13, under similar circumstances, also losing his net when Israeli soldiers cut the ropes. Following that abduction, the Israelis kept his hassaka, returning it nearly two months later, the 150 shekels transport of which he had to pay.
Under the Oslo interim agreement, Palestinian fishermen were accorded a 20 nautical mile fishing limit, one which Israel has since repeatedly, unilaterally, downsized to as little as three miles.
In Sudaniya, Jihad Sultan explains his work on a beached, broken hassaka. “This was taken by the Israelis. When it was returned to us, it had been badly damaged. I’m certain it was dropped on cement,” he said, pointing to long splits in the wood. “It needs to be entirely rebuilt.” Full story and additional photos
The Israeli Navy kidnapped on Sunday at dawn six Palestinian fishermen in Palestinian territorial waters in the Rafah area, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The Navy also opened fire at the fishermen and boarded two boats.
.... The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture in Gaza reported that the six were taken to unknown destinations and that they were on three small boats when they were attacked by the Israeli Navy.
.....The Ministry held Israel responsible for the lives of the fishermen and called on the Red Cross and different human rights groups to intervene and ensure the release of the detained fishermen and boats.
In related news, Israeli Navy ships opened fire at several Palestinian fishing boats in Palestinian waters in Rafah, Khan Younis, Al Nuseirat, and Dir Al Balah. Damage was reported, no injuries. Full story
Israeli naval abductions and shooting at Palestinian fishermen: it’s routine
July 2009 - Inside Palestinian fishing boat shot more than 50 times by Israeli navy soldiers in Palestinian waters
...Zaki Taroush and his 17-year-old son Zayed were fishing 600 metres off the coast and 200 metres south of the closed zone the same day Sultan was abducted. They were likewise forced under the live fire of Israeli soldiers to paddle their hassaka west to a waiting Israeli gunboat where they underwent the same, standard, procedure: strip, swim, abduction, handcuffing and blindfolding.
In detention, they were accused of being in off-limits waters, in what is known as the ‘K’ zone. Tarroush had been abducted along with seven other fishermen just three months earlier, on Mar. 13, under similar circumstances, also losing his net when Israeli soldiers cut the ropes. Following that abduction, the Israelis kept his hassaka, returning it nearly two months later, the 150 shekels transport of which he had to pay.
Under the Oslo interim agreement, Palestinian fishermen were accorded a 20 nautical mile fishing limit, one which Israel has since repeatedly, unilaterally, downsized to as little as three miles.
In Sudaniya, Jihad Sultan explains his work on a beached, broken hassaka. “This was taken by the Israelis. When it was returned to us, it had been badly damaged. I’m certain it was dropped on cement,” he said, pointing to long splits in the wood. “It needs to be entirely rebuilt.” Full story and additional photos
Diskin to Abbas: Defer UN vote on Goldstone or face 'second Gaza'
Ha'aretz - Akiva eldar
The request by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the United Nations Human Rights Council last year to postpone the vote on the Goldstone report followed a particularly tense meeting with the head of the Shin Bet security service, Haaretz has learned. At the October meeting in Ramallah, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin told Abbas that if he did not ask for a deferral of the vote on the critical report on last year's military operation, Israel would turn the West Bank into a "second Gaza."
Diskin, who reports directly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, threatened to revoke the easing of restrictions on movement within the West Bank that had been implemented earlier last year. He also said Israel would withdraw permission for mobile phone company Wataniya to operate in the Palestinian Authority. That would have cost the PA tens of millions of dollars in compensation payments to the company.
A PA official close to Abbas told Haaretz that Diskin came to the Muqata compound in Ramallah in October with a foreign diplomatic delegation, and that a senior Israel Defense Forces officer made similar threats to other PA leaders at around the same time.......
The Goldstone commission recommended that Israel be given until March to complete an independent inquiry into its conduct during the offensive and to try any figures suspected of war crimes. Failure by either Israel or Hamas to conduct an open inquiry into their conduct would result in the case being referred to the International Criminal Court.
The United States is now seeking to persuade Israel to conduct such an investigation, and to release its findings on a number of incidents in which civilians were killed during the fighting. Full story
The request by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the United Nations Human Rights Council last year to postpone the vote on the Goldstone report followed a particularly tense meeting with the head of the Shin Bet security service, Haaretz has learned. At the October meeting in Ramallah, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin told Abbas that if he did not ask for a deferral of the vote on the critical report on last year's military operation, Israel would turn the West Bank into a "second Gaza."
Diskin, who reports directly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, threatened to revoke the easing of restrictions on movement within the West Bank that had been implemented earlier last year. He also said Israel would withdraw permission for mobile phone company Wataniya to operate in the Palestinian Authority. That would have cost the PA tens of millions of dollars in compensation payments to the company.
A PA official close to Abbas told Haaretz that Diskin came to the Muqata compound in Ramallah in October with a foreign diplomatic delegation, and that a senior Israel Defense Forces officer made similar threats to other PA leaders at around the same time.......
The Goldstone commission recommended that Israel be given until March to complete an independent inquiry into its conduct during the offensive and to try any figures suspected of war crimes. Failure by either Israel or Hamas to conduct an open inquiry into their conduct would result in the case being referred to the International Criminal Court.
The United States is now seeking to persuade Israel to conduct such an investigation, and to release its findings on a number of incidents in which civilians were killed during the fighting. Full story
Policemen charged with abusing Palestinian detainee
Four Israel Police officers were indicted on Sunday for allegedly abusing a Palestinian detainee, arrested on suspicion of having stolen a motorcycle.
The four were charged with abusing a helpless person, indecent act, aggravated assault, fraud and breach of trust....
Some of the arresting officers, according to the victim's testimony, hurled cigarette butts and ashes at him, with one of them allegedly urinating on him while others placed bananas and cream on his head......another officer inserted the barrel of his gun into his backside, as well as punching and kicking him. Full story
Third night in a row, Israeli forces close northern roads
Ma'an
Israeli troops closed the Qalqiliya-Azzun road, installed an impassible checkpoint and were seen searching areas east of Qalqiliya on Saturday night.
Witnesses said Israeli forces were operating in the city, and said traffic was backed up for hours, until word spread in the area that the road had been closed.
The closure marked the third night in a row that areas in the northern West Bank were closed by Israeli military personnel. On Friday, three roads in and out of Tulkarem were shut down, with witnesses describing a series of flying checkpoints installed and inspections being carried out. On Thursday, the city of Nablus was closed off, the Huwwara checkpoint locked down and similar searches performed.... Full story
Israeli troops closed the Qalqiliya-Azzun road, installed an impassible checkpoint and were seen searching areas east of Qalqiliya on Saturday night.
Witnesses said Israeli forces were operating in the city, and said traffic was backed up for hours, until word spread in the area that the road had been closed.
The closure marked the third night in a row that areas in the northern West Bank were closed by Israeli military personnel. On Friday, three roads in and out of Tulkarem were shut down, with witnesses describing a series of flying checkpoints installed and inspections being carried out. On Thursday, the city of Nablus was closed off, the Huwwara checkpoint locked down and similar searches performed.... Full story
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