OPT: Flood misery for tented communities in Gaza

IRIN
Thousands of Gazans made homeless by Israel’s 23-day military assault on the Gaza Strip which ended just over a year ago, are still in tents and damaged buildings; cold weather and recent flash floods have exacerbated their plight, say aid workers and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

....The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) described conditions in al-Mughraqa as “shocking”. Most of the residents there have no land of their own and live in shelters or tents with their livestock, on which they depend for their livelihoods.

Residents said many of their animals were killed in the floods and people were surviving on food distributed by Hamas, the de facto ruling authority in Gaza since 2007.

......."We don’t sleep at all when it rains like this in winter,” said Um Subhi Awaja, 33, who is pregnant and lives in a tent in Beit Lahiya with her husband and five children. “We stay up the whole night scooping water out and trying to dig a small ditch around the tent to prevent more water getting in, but it doesn’t help. My children are afraid and we don’t have enough blankets or clothes. It’s so cold we’re freezing.”....

"I’m not sure how we will cope… The children are always getting sick, coughing or getting a fever,” she said.

Photo: Suhair Karam/IRIN

Um Subhi Awaja, 33, sits with her children in her family tent in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza. Their house was destroyed during the Israeli offensive in Gaza in January 2009

Rent relief

According to an April 2009 UNRWA and UN Development Programme assessment of the damaged caused by the Israeli assault and subsequent fighting, some 4,036 houses in Gaza were totally destroyed or beyond repair, and 11,514 partially destroyed.

Those made homeless have squeezed in with relatives, rented apartments or made do in their damaged homes, aid workers said.

Ahmed Harb al-Kurd, Hamas social affairs minister, said on 27 January that Hamas has offered to pay rent of up to US$3,000 a year to any Gazans who lost their homes during the war. He told IRIN that this would be until “the government finds a solution to reconstruct their houses once Israel lifts its barbaric siege, and construction materials, such as cement, are allowed to cross to Gaza”.

Israel has not allowed cement and building materials into Gaza since June 2007, shortly after Hamas took over in the Strip, because it says they could be seized by Hamas to fortify their military structures.

The UN has repeatedly called for the lifting of the blockade on humanitarian grounds.

“We have seen nothing” of the $4.4 billion pledged to the Palestinian Authority by more than 80 states and organizations at a donor conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in March 2009, al-Kurd said. The money was meant for the Palestinian economy as a whole and Gaza in particular....  Full story

B'Tselem investigation raises grave suspicion that the killing of the three Palestinians in Nablus on 26 December 2009 was unlawful

Btselem

In the pre-dawn hours of 26 December 2009, soldiers shot to death Ghassan Abu Sharakh, Nader a-Sarkaji, and ‘Anan Subuh, while each of them was at home in the Old City of Nablus. The first two were with their families at the time they were shot.........

B'Tselem’s investigation of the event, which included interviews with nine relatives of the men who were killed and examination of the findings at the scene and of medical reports..... The investigation raises a grave suspicion that the soldiers acted unlawfully and, at least in the cases of Ghassan Abu Sharakh and Nader a-Sarkaji, made no attempt to arrest them before shooting them to death.

The findings of the investigation follow....

In light of the above, B'Tselem wrote to the judge advocate general, Maj. Gen. Avichai Mandelblit, demanding that he immediately order a Military Police investigation into the circumstances of the killings ....  also investigate the soldiers’ violence and threats against the families of the three men and the damage caused to their property.    Full story

Israeli troops raid Qalqiliya, search home

Ma'an
Israeli forces raided the northern West Bank city of Qalqiliya from two sides at dawn on Thursday, Palestinian security sources said.

.....During the operation, soldiers searched the home of Muhammad Adnan, a member of the Qalqiliya city council, as well as the homes of his brother and several relatives, the sources said.

....the troops were accompanied by dogs, and caused what one termed "a huge mess."

........The raid was the second in 24 hours. On Wednesday afternoon, soldiers entered the city and stopped a number of residents, asking them for identification, witnesses said.

Four military jeeps entered the city a few meters from the Preventative Security headquarters, where they asked a number of residents for their ID cards, the witnesses said...   Full story

MADA condemns Malsin deportation

Ma'an
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) strongly condemned Israel's deportation of Ma'an News Agency's chief English editor last week.

....MADA said it considered "this act as a serious breach" in freedom of expression, and called on the International Federation of Journalists to intervene.

Malsin was detained at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on 12 January 2010. He was interrogated for eight hours in a detention hall during which time he had no access to a lawyer or to his consulate.

He was denied entry into the country for "failing to cooperate" with Israeli security personnel, and because he had authored news stories "inside the territories" and articles "criticizing the State of Israel."......    Full story

Testimony: New intel officer harasses Nablus residents

Ma'an
Stripped almost naked in the January cold, Issam Mismar, 42, a father of five, was introduced to an Israeli soldier claiming to be the new intelligence chief in Nablus district.

"I’m the officer Oren, a new officer in the area, I came to personally get to know you. How are you and how are your kids?” Mismar remembered the man, holding a computer and sitting in a military jeep, telling him......

The ten men were stopped by Israeli forces on the road. "They made us take off our clothes, and then go meet the Israeli intelligence officer who carried a computer and was sitting in a military jeep," Mismar recalled.

Then the officer, who identified himself as Oren, asked Mismar, half naked, about his kids, about the mosque and who prayed at it, how many people there were and what the situation was there in general. Mismar said he asked questions for 5-10 minutes before he was allowed to go......

Yasser Alawneh, with the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) said the practice of making civilians strip "is a clear and flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which explicitly states that the occupying power should uphold the dignity and rights of all the citizens that are under its control.”...  Full story

Gaza children sing for Obama

(Pal Telegraph)
...one year ago, the Gazans who were seared by the bright flames of phosphorous bombs used by what is ironically called the Israel Defense Force, placed much hope on the new president of the United States. They believed he would promptly intervene and press Israel to stop its crimes against our beleaguered land, that he would be just and fair as he promised. However, he did practically nothing...

As an "Americanist" in Gaza -- a professor who loves America and the wonderful American people, and teaches American literature and American culture, I was disappointed with the performance of the new American administration in its first year.

I expressed this disappointment in a message to Obama sung by Palestinian children -- those who do not know why they are orphaned, why they are jailed in a big concentration camp called Gaza, or why they are being suffocated by a siege imposed by the most unethical force of oppression in the world -- one that uses the most sophisticated American weapons. ....
Full story

Israeli forces detain popular resistance coordinator in Bil'in

Ma'an
In what organizers are calling "the highest profile arrest of the recent wave of repression against West Bank popular struggle," Israeli forces detained Popular Committee member Mohammed Khatib from the village of Bil'in before sunrise Thursday.

According to fellow members of the Popular Committee, Israeli forces entered the village at 2am, and stormed Khatib's home, waking Mohammad, his wife and four young children. The home was quickly searched and troops retreated from the area shortly after the arrest.

Several witnesses and international solidarity workers reported seeing five military jeeps return to the home approximately thirty minutes after the detention. According to a statement, "six soldiers forced their way into the house again, where Khatib's children sat in terror, and conducted another, very thorough search of the premises, without showing a search warrant. During the search, Khatib's phone and many documents were seized, including papers from Bil'in's legal procedures in the Israel High Court."

Witnesses said soldiers left a note "saying that documents suspected as 'incitement materials' were seized," the statement said......   Full story

Similar raids have also been conducted in the village of alMaasara, south of Bethlehem, and in the village of Ni’ilin – where 110 residents have been arrested over the last year and half, as well as in the cities of Nablus, Ramallah and East Jerusalem.

Our Playing Small does not Serve the World

IMEMC

I remained silent. I went below ground. I wanted to erase my name and work from internet sites-from the memory and eyes of the Israeli security. But by hiding, silencing my story, I admit defeat. I refuse to cower in the face of Israeli discrimination and fear. I am just one woman. One Arab American woman.

,,,,, who believed that she could in some small way make a difference. I thought that I could help people understand a more complex history of the Palestine and Israeli conflict. I hoped to learn and share what peace means to both my Palestinian and Israeli brothers and sisters. This hope was robbed from me on January 3rd, 2010. On this day I arrived to Tel Aviv Airport and was greeted with suspicion, disrespect and hostility. I was held for 36 hours, repeatedly strip searched and questioned, fingerprinted, photographed, thrown in jail and deported; barred from entering Israel or the Palestinian Territories for a minimum of ten years.

My crimes? Well, the state of Israel does not have to give reason for deportation and exile. However I suspect being Arab is enough of a crime. Photographs I took in the West Bank city of Hebron were found via internet searching. I was quoted on a blog regarding home stay experience with a Palestinian family during a delegation with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) last March. Do I believe that working with CPT is a threat to the state of Israel? Well, that depends on your vision of Israel- of Israeli security. If Israel is really committed to peace with their Palestinian neighbors wouldn't it behoove them to encourage the peacemakers, the educators and media?....

Instead Israel seems to be sending a clear message to the international community: Continuing to work within the West Bank will earn you jail time and deportation. In the past month they arrested and deported Eva Nováková, the media co-ordinator for the International Solidarity Movement-one of the strongest Palestinian non-violent direct action organizations in the Occupied Territories. They also denied entry to two full-time Christian Peacemaker Team members as well as a long-time delegation leader Bob Gross, head of On Earth Peace.

It is rumored that the TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron) will not be allowed to renew their contract in order to keep an international presence in the one of the most volatile regions in the West Bank.... Israel is beginning to launch a new campaign to refuse work permits for international NGO workers from Oxfam, Save the Children, Médecins Sans Frontières, Terre des Hommes, Handicap International and the Religious Society of Friends... Ma'an News Journalist Jared Malsin was deported for reporting on the situation in the Occupied Territories.

We cannot remain silent. We will continue to return, to write, to photograph, to record and to stand with those people working for a just peace in the Middle East. Full story

Israel To Demolish 11 Homes, Cooperative Society and A Clinic In Hebron

IMEMC

The Israeli Authorities decided to demolish eleven Palestinian homes, a Cooperative Society and a Clinic in the Al Baq’a area, and in Ithna town, near the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

....the army handed seven orders for demolition of their homes in the town.

The army claims that the structure are built without permit.

........Furthermore, Israeli soldiers handed four residents of Jaber family military orders for the demolition of their homes under the pretext that that they were built without permit.

The army also handed an order to the demolition of Al Nour Cooperative Society and a number of clinics.

The orders are illegal as those areas are under Palestinian Civil control and permits in this regard are issued by the local councils of the Palestinian Authority. Full story

US lawmakers urge Obama: Press Israel to ease Gaza siege

Ma'an
By Wednesday, 27 January 2010, 54 members of the American Congress had signed the following letter to US President Barack Obama:

Dear President Obama,

......The unabated suffering of Gazan civilians highlights the urgency of reaching a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and we ask you to press for immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza as an urgent component of your broader Middle East peace efforts. The current blockade has severely impeded the ability of aid agencies to do their work to relieve suffering, and we ask that you advocate for immediate improvements for Gaza in the following areas:

• Movement of people, especially students, the ill, aid workers, journalists, and those with family concerns, into and out of Gaza;
• Access to clean water, including water infrastructure materials,
• Access to plentiful and varied food and agricultural materials;
• Access to medicine and health care products and suppliers;
• Access to sanitation supplies, including sanitation infrastructure materials;
• Access to construction materials for repairs and rebuilding;
• Access to fuel;
• Access to spare parts;
• Prompt passage into and out of Gaza for commercial and agricultural goods; and
• Publication and review of the list of items prohibited to the people of Gaza.

Winter is arriving and the needs of the people grow ever more pressing. For example, the ban on building materials is preventing the reconstruction of thousands of innocent families' damaged homes. There is also a concern that unrepaired sewage treatment plants will overflow and damage surrounding property and water resources.

Despite ad hoc easing of the blockade, there has been no significant improvement in the quantity and scope of goods allowed into Gaza. Both the number of trucks entering Gaza per month and the number of days the crossings have been open have declined since March. This crisis has devastated livelihoods, entrenched a poverty rate of over 70%, increased dependence on erratic international aid, allowed the deterioration of public infrastructure, and led to the marked decline of the accessibility of essential services.

The humanitarian and political consequences of a continued near-blockade would be disastrous. Easing the blockade on Gaza will not only improve the conditions on the ground for Gaza's civilian population, but will also undermine the tunnel economy which has strengthened Hamas. Under current conditions, our aid remains little more than an unrealized pledge. Most importantly, lifting these restrictions will give civilians in Gaza a tangible sense that diplomacy can be an effective tool for bettering their conditions.

Your Administration's overarching Middle East peace efforts will benefit Israel, the Palestinians, and the entire region. The people of Gaza, along with all the peoples of the region, must see that the United States is dedicated to addressing the legitimate security needs of the State of Israel and to ensuring that the legitimate needs of the Palestinian population are met.  Full letter and list of signatories

Susan Chira, New York Times Foreign Editor, confirms, excuses Bronner's conflict of interest

(L-R) Times Foreign Editor Susan Chira, Jerusalem Bureau Chief Ethan Bronner

Responding to an inquiry from If Americans Knew, New York Times foreign desk staffer Kyle Crichton confirmed that the son of the Times' Jerusalem Bureau chief is in the Israeli army.

When queried about this seeming conflict of interest, Chrichton referenced a statement by Times Foreign Editor Susan Chira, who declined to come on the phone.

Chira's statement, issued to Electronic Intifada yesterday in response to EI's query as to whether Bronner's son was in the Israeli military, reads:

“Ethan Bronner referred your query to me, the foreign editor. Here is my comment: Mr. Bronner’s son is a young adult who makes his own decisions. At The Times, we have found Mr. Bronner’s coverage to be scrupulously fair and we are confident that will continue to be the case.”

When asked about the Times' ethics policy, in which even a family member's bumper sticker could be considered a conflict problem, Chrichton said he could not comment and conveyed Chira's statement that she would not say anything further on the topic.

Chira was also asked by way of Chrichton whether Bronner had divulged this potential conflict of interest to the Times ahead of time, as required by Times' ethics guidelines. Chira refused to answer.

Times' guidelines state that in serious breaches, "the staff member may have to withdraw from certain coverage. Sometimes an assignment may have to be modified or a beat changed."

Yesterday, If Americans Knew posted a blog entry on the situation discussing the organization's studies of the New York Times, which had found considerable pro-Israel distortion.

In addition the post revealed that Bronner had said that there were not enough competent Arab/Muslim American journalists to balance the 2-3 Jewish journalists covering Israel-Palestine, despite the fact that Arab-American and Muslim-American journalists have won such journalism awards as the Pulitzer Prize.

Bronner's situation was originally broken by the Electronic Intifada, which said that it had indirect information that Bronner's son was in the Israeli military.

Settlers attack Palestinians to avenge West Bank outpost demolition

Ha'aretz
The text messages were sent out en masse at about 9:43 A.M....

Several dozen teens from the area responded to the call and rushed to the Givat Menachem outpost, hoping to prevent the razing of the outpost's synagogue. It was too late. When they arrived, the police are already gone....

... they began chanting slogans: "The police destroy nothing that belongs to Arabs." "The rule of evil is persecuting the settlements." "In 24 hours, we will set this place up anew." "We will not be broken."

As the number of teens at the site grew, and talk of the "unfair" treatment intensified, it was clear that a "price tag" operation - an attack against Palestinians or their property to retaliate for outpost demolitions - was only a matter of time. In recent months, the Dolev-Talmonim area has become a "price tag" zone.

....despite the military preparations, the youths found a weak point.... Suddenly, the relative quiet turned into an assault, as one teen galloped to the top of the path, shouting, "Let's go! Mayhem!"

About 20 other teens, some with masked faces, joined him. They stopped suddenly near an olive tree, cut branches from it and made themselves improvised weapons. Other picked up stones, and one of the older ones became a security guard, making sure no journalists joined the operation.

"We will break your cameras," he threatened, to emphasize the risk of disobeying him. Another youth, his face masked, came up with a bottle of water to spill on the camera.

The crowd of rioters reached a house at the edge of Bitilu, which overlooks the nearby settlements. The house belongs to the Mazar family. Some of the teens approached the back of the house and threw stones at the windows. Other approached the car at the front and tried to set it on fire. One of the seats did catch fire, but the residents managed to put it out.

Two other members of the household tried to escape in another car. The rioters surrounded them and pelted them with stones.

Mohammed Mazar, who was visiting his grandmother, was hit in the head and began to bleed. Another relative was also injured, and both were evacuated to a local clinic.

....The rioters then quickly escaped, leaving behind destruction, casualties and an unsettled village. The village school was closed. Municipal workers were sent home. The shopkeepers in the center of the village closed their stores and rushed to the site of the attack...

Jamal Mazar showed everyone his son, who was bleeding from a wound to his head. Mohammed Radwan, the town's engineer, said at least 30 people were injured in the attack.

The villagers began preparing to attack the outpost and pay its residents back. But then, three border policemen arrived at the scene and barred the way. Full story

PSP: Israeli patrol tried to run over elderly woman

Ma'an
An Israeli military patrol car attempted to overrun an elderly woman in Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, as she tried to protect her grandchild from being detained on Tuesday afternoon, according to the activist group the Palestine Solidarity Project.

...said that three patrols raided the town of Beit Ummar, opened fire and threw tear-gas canisters inside the homes of Palestinian. Young Palestinians then began hurling stones at the patrols, he said, following which Fadi Ahmad Muhammad Abu Maria, 16, was detained.

Abu Maria's grandmother attempted to protect him when the patrol tried to run her over...   Full story

Hamas prepares to sue Israel for organ theft

Ma'an
The de facto government in the Gaza Strip began collecting the testimonies of families whose sons allegedly had their organs harvested by Israeli soldiers, Gaza Minister of Justice Muhammad Faraj Al-Ghoul said Wednesday.

"We have started collecting documents and information which prove that the Israeli occupation has stolen the body parts of martyrs. We intend to prepare a complete legal file to be used in suits against the Israeli government in international courts,” Al-Ghoul told reporters in Gaza.

The announcement follows months of on and off accusations and a building pile of reports from Israeli and international reporters alleging a series of incidents involving the theft of organs from young men in Israeli custody.

Al-Ghoul said announcements would be printed in the local newspapers asking families and victims of the alleged harvesting come forward and testify at the offices of the ministry.

[Israel's chief pathologist and former head of Israel's state morgue Yehuda Hiss has been repeatedly investigated by Israel for organ theft and has admitted taking Palestinian organs.]  Full story 

More information on Israeli organ harvesting

Gaza leaders plead for EU, Quartet support for fuel shortage

Ma'an
Urgent and intensive communication is ongoing between Gaza leaders and the international community over the current fuel crisis....

Several letters were sent to leaders of EU member states via their representative offices in Jerusalem, the head of the European Commission Christian Berger, as well as to the offices of the International Middle East Quartet, Al-Wadieh said, asking that competent authorities step in and stop the situation in the Gaza Strip from deteriorating.

The letters asked the officials to interfere and prevent the fallout if the fuel station stopped working, he said.

"The cold is causing suffering for the people whose houses were demolished as a result of the war,” the official said, calling the current situation "dramatic" and asking what residents are supposed to do without electricity for eight to 10 hours a day...    Full story

Yousef: “Occupation Deliberately Tries To Humiliate Figures and Legislators Visiting Gaza”

IMEMC

Dr. Ahmad Yousef, advisor of the Palestinian Foreign Ministry in Gaza, stated that the Israeli occupation deliberately tries to humiliate international figures and legislators who attempt to visit the Gaza Strip.

....Israel’s behavior towards Belgian Development Minister, Charles Michel, preventing him from entering Gaza, is another Israeli violation to the international law. 



Yousef went on to say that the occupation believes that allowing international figures into the Gaza Strip would expose its violations in Gaza especially since it is trying to claim that the Hamas movement is fabricating the suffering of the residents, living under siege and ongoing attacks. 
  Full story

Soldiers Kidnap 15 Palestinians In Less Than Two Days

IMEMC

Israeli soldiers kidnapped at least 15 Palestinians, this Sunday and Monday, and detained them for the purpose of interrogation.

Local sources reported that on Monday, at dawn, soldiers kidnapped five Palestinians in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

Two of them were kidnapped near the Ibrahimi Mosque in the center of Hebron. They were violently attacked and beaten by the soldiers who stopped them at a roadblock in the Old City.

...suffered several bruises and concussions after being attacked by the soldiers, and was moved to the Ezion military camp, north of Hebron.

....Furthermore, soldiers invaded the town of Tarqoumia, west of Hebron, and handed a resident a military order for questioning.

The soldiers broke into his home and ransacked it, before handing him the order.

Soldiers also kidnapped two residents in Arraba village, near the northern West Bank city of Jenin. The two were arrested after the army broke into and ransacked their homes also.

They were identified as Mansour Iz Ed-Deen and Mohammad Shqeir. Their families were forced out of their homes for several hours while the army searched the property.

In addition soldiers fired concussion grenades and gas bombs to terrorize the residents...

In the central West bank city of Ramallah, soldiers kidnapped nine Palestinians described by the army as persons named on their “wanted list”. They were all moved to interrogation centers, an Israeli army spokesperson said.

On Sunday, Israeli soldiers arrested nine laborers from the Al Khader village, near Bethlehem, after violently attacking them.

The workers were initially detained in front of Al Zayyim roadblock, in East Jerusalem. They were reported to be on their way to Jerusalem, attempting to find work to support their families.

The army said the workers did not carry the permits that allow Palestinian residents of the West Bank to enter Israel. The soldiers struck them with their rifles and batons, in addition to kicking and punching them.

They suffered concussions and fractures to several parts of their bodies. Full story

Palestinians prepare to enter record books with longest caricature

Ma'an
Palestinians are hoping to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for the third time for drawing the longest caricature in the world.

Muhammad An-Nimnim, known as Abu Noon, the director of Artists for Freedom in Palestine and a Palestinian cartoonist, told Ma’an that the participants are in preparation and making the necessary arrangements to enter the record books with the longest caricature in 2010.

Abu Noon said he hopes that the picture will be drawn on the separation wall in Bethlehem in the West Bank, to boost tourism to the city. International artists will also participate in the caricature's creation, in support of peace, he said.

Coordination with a consulate is underway to complete the necessary procedures to allow the artists to begin drawing on the wall in Bethlehem, he added.

The caricature, he said, will express peace and the universal language of art.........   Full story

Daily Situation Report: Jan 24, 2010

PMG
Israeli actions:

• Arrests (per person) — 4 Incl. 2 in Bethlehem & 1 in Nablus
• Detentions — 13 Incl. municipality staff
• Raids — 27 Incl. 4 in Nablus & 3 in Qalqiliya
• Checkpoints — 9 Access impeded at 6 checkpoints
• Flying Checkpoints — 23 Incl. 7 in Salfit & 1 in Nablus
• Attack — 1 In a raid on Habla town in Qalqiliya dis.
• Provocation of Pal. Forces — 1 Storming police station in Biddu town
• Wall Construction — 21 Jer., Raml’h., Qalq., Salfit, Heb., Beth.
• Closure (per District) — 7 Jer., Beth. (2 villages) & Hebron (4 areas) 
• Closure of Main Roads — 39 Incl. 8 in Nablus & 2 in Qalqiliya
• Closure of Crossing Points —  4 Partial opening of 3 crossings only
• Settler Violence — 2 Assaulting a civilian & stealing 15 sheep Full report

New York Times fails to disclose Jerusalem bureau chief's conflict of interest

EI
The New York Times has all but confirmed to The Electronic Intifada (EI) that the son of its Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner was recently inducted into the Israeli army.

Over the weekend, EI received a tip suggesting this had been the case and wrote to Bronner to ask him to confirm or deny the information and to seek his opinion on whether, if true, he thought it would be a conflict of interest.

Susan Chira, the foreign editor of The New York Times wrote in an email to The Electronic Intifada this morning:

"Ethan Bronner referred your query to me, the foreign editor. Here is my comment: Mr. Bronner's son is a young adult who makes his own decisions. At The Times, we have found Mr. Bronner's coverage to be scrupulously fair and we are confident that will continue to be the case."

The Electronic Intifada also wrote to Clark Hoyt, the public editor of The New York Times, to confirm the information and ask for an opinion on whether this constituted a conflict of interest, but had yet to receive a response.

Bronner, as bureau chief, has primary responsibility for his paper's reporting on all aspects of the Palestine/Israel conflict, and on the Israeli army, whose official name is the "Israel Defense Forces."

On 23 January, Bronner published a lengthy article on Israel's efforts to refute allegations contained in the UN-commissioned Goldstone report of war crimes and crimes against humanity during its attack on Gaza last winter ("Israel Poised to Challenge a UN Report on Gaza").

As'ad AbuKhalil, a frequent critic of Bronner's coverage, blogged in response that "The New York Times devoted more space to Israeli and Zionist criticisms of the Goldstone report than to the [content of the] report itself" (The Angry Arab News Service, "Ethan Bronner's propaganda services, 25 January 2010)

Bronner's pro-Israeli bias reporting on Israel's attack on Gaza last year was also criticized by the media watchdog Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) (See "NYT and the Perils of Mideast 'Balance'," 4 February 2009).

The New York Times' own "Company policy on Ethics in Journalism" acknowledges that the activities of a journalist's family member may constitute a conflict of interest. It includes as an example, "A brother or a daughter in a high-profile job on Wall Street might produce the appearance of conflict for a business reporter or editor." Such conflicts may on occasion require the staff member "to withdraw from certain coverage.".........  Full story

Palestinian farmers are being treated like criminals

Ha'aretz - Amira Hass
Under the cover of the incessant noise from the roads in the Hebron district, an anonymous Arab is perpetrating a serious crime: With a small hammer, he is digging a cistern so he can collect rainwater on his rocky land. Other such criminals have other methods of carrying out their evil schemes - which is to say, to prepare their land for cultivation of vegetables, grain, grapevines or almond trees.

"When someone builds a terrace on his land, he does it by taking a stone from the ground and adding it to the supporting wall once a month or once a week at most, so that it will be hard to discern the change," a Hebron resident said, explaining one of the methods.

Experience shows that if you use heavy equipment to rehabilitate the land, it immediately attracts Civil Administration inspectors and local settlers, and is followed shortly afterward by stop-work injunctions.

In the spirit of the popular saying along the lines of "Give a man a fishing rod rather than a fish," the European Union has been devoting attention and money to Palestinian farmers in recent years......

"And we were actually convinced that the Palestinians and Israel have a common interest: developing Area C, which supports the Palestinian economy, and projects that suit both sides in terms of the environment," said a European diplomat - who discovered he was mistaken.

Over the past two years, the Civil Administration in the Hebron area has issued dozens of stop-work orders to Palestinian farmers trying to reclaim, rehabilitate and prepare the land on their property. That is how European officials, representatives of the donor nations, discovered that Palestinians "are not allowed to move a stone or plant a tree or collect rainwater on their land without the approval of the Civil Administration," as one of them told Haaretz.....

............Nobody wants to experience what happened four months ago to the family of Rabi'a Jaber . In October, Israel Defense Forces soldiers and the Civil Administration raided the family's dry, rocky 10-dunam plot, southeast of Hebron. An IDF bulldozer scattered the stones of the terraces, turned over the ground and destroyed the cistern...  Full story

Israeli Occupation Forces kidnap 4 in Beit Ommar, West Bank

Palsolidarity
At 4am on January 21st, at least 30 members of the Israel Police, Border Police, Army and Secret Police (Shin Bet) raided the village ofBeit Ommar, arresting four men.

At the home of Mohammed Salibi, the Occupation Forces broke the window of the door in an effort to enter, as well as another window. Upon entering with a search dog, they asked for the whereabouts of Mohammed from his brothers, Alah, 20, and Ahmed, 14, who were sleeping at the time..... Three agents picked up Ahmed and threw him
on the ground. Cabinets were also smashed...

After finding Mohammed, 25, sleeping, they arrested him and took him away without providing further information. As of January 24th, there is still no word on his whereabouts. Three other residents of Beit Ommar were arrested: Jamal Ibrahim ‘Aliyan, 18; Mohammed Mahsin Abd Al-hamid Awoud, 32, an officer in the Palestinian Police Force; and ‘Alam Ghazi Munir Ibraghit, 18... Damage to the
Salibi house totaled over 400 shekels...  Full story

An open letter to the Israeli Ministry of the Interior - Christian Peacemaker Teams

Ma'an
Things you may not know about internationals working in Palestine

Dear Ministry Personnel,

At church this past Sunday in Jerusalem, the pastor read the names of church members to whom you had recently denied entry into Israel. Several worked for organizations that have been trying to meet human need in this area for decades. Everyone in that congregation probably felt the same chill I did as I imagined the interrogation, the airport jail cell, and the police van parked, blue lights flashing, on the tarmac to prevent us from leaving on the jet deporting us to our home countries.

I will operate on the assumption that you think Palestinians should have the same human rights as Israelis, and that you honestly think internationals working in Palestine represent a threat to Israel’s security. If that is so, then I would like to enlighten you on a few points:

1) Most individuals who come to work for aid, development, peace, and human rights organizations in Palestine and Israel are compassionate people who have chosen their line of work because they want to alleviate human suffering. If you showed up at their doorstep, hungry, cold and unarmed, they would take you in, give you a hot meal and listen sympathetically when you told them how you ended up in such an unfortunate condition.

2) You should really get to know human rights workers. For one thing, most of them are really funny. More importantly, many of them became interested in their field after they learned about the Holocaust and the centuries of anti-Semitic persecution leading up to it. They want to work toward a world where these evils never happen again to anyone......

3) And as long as we’re on the topic of anti-Semitism: Ouch. It really hurts when you accuse us of that. Those of us who did not already have Jewish friends and family members when we came here have developed, over the years, warm relationships with Israelis, who, like us, think human rights are important

4) When you accuse us of siding with Palestinians, you should know that a lot of us, particularly church workers and members of peace organizations, came over here determined to listen to both Israelis and Palestinians and to present a balanced view of the situation to the folks at home. You should know that every international I have met who did this sort of careful, even-handed listening, every single one of them, eventually just accepted the fact that Israel has shafted the Palestinians...

As I said, the above points are relevant if you value human rights. If you think Palestinian lives are worth less than Israeli lives, that they should not have the human rights you claim for yourselves, and that Israel has the right to dominate, brutalize, and rob them indefinitely, well, never mind.

The Christian Peacemaker Teams include Mennonites, Brethren and Quakers as well as other ecumenical groups. In Palestine they work mainly in the Hebron area, using what they describe as Biblically-based and spiritually-centered peacemaking, emphasizing creative public witness, nonviolent direct action and protection of human rights.

Sheikh Jarrah: Settlers throw urine bottles, activists arrested

Palsolidarity
January 22nd, settlers occupying the Gawi and Al-Kurd family’s homes were reported to be harassing and attempting to provoke the evicted Palestinians and solidarity activists to a violent response. Other settlers stood by with film equipment, ready to record any response to their provocation...


Settler harassment of neighborhood residents continued and during the night four chairs were stolen by settlers from the Al-Kurd tent. In the last two weeks they have also stolen an ISM”ers shoes and a shelf from the tent. Thursday night’s theft was reported to the police but no action was taken.

Friday morning a young settler boy in the Al-Kurd home threw bottles from the home towards the Al-Kurd tent. One bottle, directed at a solidarity activist who was filming nearby, contained urine.

The rest of the day was quiet and the weekly, nonviolent demonstration began as usual. Police closed the street and when demonstrators tried to enter the area, they were arrested. 15 Israeli activists were arrested as they tried to reach the Gawi and Al-Kurd tents. Access to the nearby Orthodox Jewish tomb was also restricted however access was granted for settlers and Jewish Israelis. At the barrier to the tomb, a few young orthodox Jewish boys began throwing stones at a Palestinian woman from the neighborhood.

When it became apparent that the police were condoning these actions, neighborhood men tried to prevent the boys from throwing stones by pushing the boys away. Police reacted immediately to the Palestinian men and arrested Muhamad Zamamiri and Muhand Jalejel... One ISM activist was also arrested while filming.......

Background on Sheikh Jarrah

Approximately 475 Palestinian residents living in the Karm Al-Ja’ouni neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, located directly north of the Old City, face imminent eviction from their homes in the manner of the Hannoun and Gawi families, and the al-Kurd family before them. All 28 families are refugees from 1948, mostly from West Jerusalem and Haifa, whose houses in Sheikh Jarrah were built and given to them through a joint project between the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the Jordanian government in 1956.....   Full story

Israeli border police severely beat Palestinian workers, says family

Ma'an
Israeli Border Police detained and beat 10 Palestinian workers at dawn on Sunday at the Al-Za’iem crossing into occupied East Jerusalem...

The workers, from the Al-Khadr village south of Bethlehem, were stopped at the crossing and... severely beaten with sticks and riffles.

Father of detained Rani, 26, Hussein Salah, said his son sustained a number of fractures, as well as having his teeth broken, and is now unable to walk.

... the 10 workers with him were all beaten, causing many to pass out.

Rani was then transferred to hospital, while the rest remained in detention, his father said....

The Israeli Border Police were unavailable for immediate comment.

On Saturday four members of the E’lieyan family were transferred to hospital and several others suffered tear-gas inhalation and bruising when an Israeli border guard chased down a teen from the family outside his Beit Safafa home, witnesses said.   Full story

PA forces rescue injured settler near Qalqiliya

Ma'an
Palestinian Authority civil defense crews rescued an Israeli settler who was trapped under her overturned car on Friday near Qalqiliya in the northern West Bank. ... Full story

Israeli Soldiers Injure Non-Violent Protesters at Villages Near Ramallah

IMEMC

Eight people have been injured, and five kidnapped, by the Israeli military in response to non-violent protests...

Israeli Military Threatens International Protester - Circare Parrhesia, IMEMC

The non-violent protests took place on Friday, one in the village of Dier Natham and the other in Al Nabi-Saleh, both located in the central region of the West Bank.

The protest in Dier Natham began after the completion of mid-day prayers and finished later in the afternoon. Despite a peaceful conclusion, six people were injured when the Israeli military used rubber-coated steal bullets... Israeli troops also attacked villagers homes and kidnapped one local youth after the protest.

The non-violent protest which took place in the village of Al Nabi-Saleh was also met with an aggressive response from the Israeli military. This anti-wall protest led to the injury of two civilians and the kidnapping of four others.  Full story

Protester Injured in Bil’in During Weekly Non-Violent Demonstration

IMEMC

This Friday... 30 to 40 Palestinian, Israeli, and other international protesters marched through the West Bank village of Bil'in to the Israeli built separation barrier, ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice. Per usual, the demonstration was dispersed by tear gas projectiles and concussion grenades shortly after the marchers arrived at the gate.

At least one Palestinian protester was injured and many other demonstrators were treated for varying degrees of tear gas inhalation. As of Friday evening, there have been no reported of injuries from the Israeli army.

After the midday prayer, Palestinians and internationals assembled outside in the village of Bil'in and proceeded to march to the barrier while chanting pro-Palestine slogans and waving Palestinian and Fatah flags. Tear gas and concussion grenades were initially employed to disperse the protesters, but roughly thirty minutes into the demonstration Israeli soldiers crossed the barrier line into the village and attempted to chase and detain Palestinian protesters. No arrests were reported.

Several Palestinian youths wearing keffiyehs to cover their heads threw rocks and shouted insults at the Israeli soldiers. International demonstrators recorded and photographed the clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers. Israeli forces invaded the village in response to the clashes with the demonstrators and eventually fell back across the separation wall over an hour after the protest began.

This week's demonstration in Bil'in marks a continued escalation of repressive tactics employed by the Israeli military. 2010 has seen a dramatic increase in night raids, arrests, and harassment directed towards the organizers of the Popular Committee resistance in the West Bank.   Full story

Local Organizer Arrested Following Weekly Protest in al-Ma'sara

Ma'an

[Friday] in al-Ma’sara, near Bethlehem, the weekly non-violent demonstration started at the village mosque and marched towards the land where Israel is building their separation wall. This wall is built on land owned by the villagers and annexes further territory.

The protests have taken place for 3 years and the villagers are joined, in support, by anti-Zionist Israelis and internationals.

The Israeli military had blockaded the road with a barbwire barricade and as the protesters peacefully tried to pass the soldiers forced them back, using their rifle butts and batons...

In addition to the blockade, the Israeli military occupied the rooftops of houses along the protest route. This recent escalation in tactics has come in the New Year, following a warning issued to the leaders of the Popular Committee against the Wall & Settlement Construction, that protests would not be tolerated in 2010.

After the protest ended peacefully, the Israeli military entered the village and kidnapped Saeed Ibrejiah from the local the Popular Committee against the Wall & Settlement Construction.

Palestinian minister for agriculture, Ismael Daik, joined the demonstration today, to show his support for the village and stand in solidarity.  Full story

Nil'in's Weekly Protest Ends in Israeli Violence

IMEMC

Starting early in the morning, the Israeli military sealed of the village of Nil’in, near Ramallah, in an attempt to prevent those from outside of the village gaining access, to support the protest march to the separation wall.

The protest started after midday prayers, as it has every Friday for the past 2 years, with the villagers marching towards the gate of the wall, that separates them from their land.

Each week supporters from the anti-Zionist Israeli movement and internationals join the local protesters.

As soon as the Palestinian flag was raised, the Israeli military began its assault against the non-violent protesters, firing tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets.....

2 members of the protest, sustained injuries due to being shot by rubber-coated steel bullets and dozens suffered from the effects of tear gas inhalation. Troops entered the village, after the protest had ended and fired tear gas into homes.

On Monday, four Palestinian civilians from the village were kidnapped by Israeli troops during a pre-dawn invasion. 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... Full story

Gaza Health Fact Sheet

World Health Organization
The Gaza Strip has been the setting of a protracted political and socio-economic crisis. Recent events have resulted in a severe deterioration of the already precarious living conditions of the people in Gaza and have further eroded a weakened health system.

The closure of Gaza since mid-2007 and the last Israeli military strike between 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009 have led to on-going deterioration in the social, economic and environmental determinants of health.

REFERRAL ABROAD OF PATIENTS WITH SERIOUS MEDICAL CONDITIONS FOR SPECIALIZED TREATMENT OUTSIDE GAZA

Many specialized treatments, for example for complex heart surgery and certain types of cancer, are not available in Gaza and patients are therefore referred for treatment to hospitals outside Gaza. But many patients have had their applications for exit permits denied or delayed by the Israeli Authorities and have missed their appointments. Some have died while waiting for referral.

1103 applications for permits for patients to cross Erez were submitted to the Israeli Authorities in December 2009. 21% had their applications denied or delayed as a result of which they missed their hospital appointments and had to restart the referral process.

Two patients died recently while awaiting referral - one in November and one in December. 27 patients have died while awaiting referral since the beginning of the year.

DEATH OF FIDAA TALAL HIJJY

Fidaa Talal Hijjy, 19 years old.............

Fidaa died on 11 November 2009. The Israeli Authorities approved her request on 12 November 2009, three days after her hospital appointment and one day after her death.

PROVISION OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES – CENTRAL DRUG STORE

Supplies of drugs and disposables have generally been allowed into Gaza. However, there are often shortages on the ground mainly because of shortfalls in deliveries. The table below shows the drugs and disposables that are out of stock as a percentage of the essental list. The essential drugs list contains 480 items, and the medical disposables list is 700 items.

Delays of up to 2-3 months occur on the importation of certain types of medical equipment, such as x-ray machines and electronic devices. Clinical staff frequently lack the medical equipment they need. Medical devices are often broken, missing spare parts or out of date.

TRAINING OF HEALTH STAFF

- Health professionals in Gaza have been cut off from the outside world. Since 2000, very few doctors, nurses or technicians have been able to leave the Strip for training eg to update their clinical skills or to learn about new medical technology. This is severely undermining their ability to provide quality health care. An effective health care system cannot be sustained in isolation from the international community. - During the health strike from end August to end December 2008, an estimated 1750 doctors, nurses and non-clinical staff from hospitals and health clinics went on strike and many of their jobs were filled by new people recruited by the de facto authority. Many of the staff who went on strike have not returned to their jobs - In August 2008, two thirds of hospitals in Gaza had no maintenance staff. All Gaza hospitals . except the two in Rafah - now have engineers and technicians in post. But three quarters of technicians surveyed by WHO West Bank and Gaza in May 2009¹ had been in post for less than one year. Whilst half of the engineers had been trained in medical equipment maintenance, only one in four technicians had had any specific training. - In medical schools and public health programs, curriculum development processes do not reach international standards.

GAZA'S ECONOMY IN COLLAPSE

Rising unemployment (41.5 percent of Gaza's workforce in the first quarter of 2009²) and poverty (in May 2008, 70 percent of the families were living on an income of less than one dollar a day per person³) is likely to have long term adverse effects on the physical and mental health of the population.

WATER: OVER-EXTRACTION, SALINITY AND NITRATE LEVELS

The increasing salinity and high levels of nitrates in water supplies from the over-extraction of the ground water and the intrusion of salt water is a major concern for the safety of drinking water, particularly for children they are most vulnerable to high nitrate levels⁴. Salinity levels in water wells in most parts of the Gaza Strip are above the 250 mg/liter limit established by WHO, and nitrate concentrations exceed WHO guidelines of 50 mg/liter (up to 331 mg/l).

OPERATION "CAST LEAD" -- IMPACT ON HEALTH FACILITIES AND STAFF

- 16 health workers killed and 25 injured on duty

- Damaged health services infrastructure:
• 15 of 27 Gaza's hospitals
• 43 of its 110 Primary Health Care services
• 29 of its 148 ambulances

- The lack of building materials is affecting essential health facilities: the new surgical wing in Gaza�fs main Shifa hospital has remained unfinished since 2006. Hospitals and primary care facilities, damaged during operation �eCast Lead�f, have not been rebuilt because construction materials are not allowed into Gaza.  Full story

Save the Musht – and the Land of Palestine

AMEU - Rosina Hassoun
A rather funny looking fish swims in the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias), oblivious of its predicament. Since the creation of the State of Israel, the numbers of this species have been dropping. The Musht, or more scientifically Talapia galilea, is a native fish of the Sea of Galilee. It is commonly known as Christ’s fish or Saint Peter’s fish. The Musht is widely associated with the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes in the Bible. What is not widely known is that the Musht could be considered an endangered species. 

However, this article is not a simple appeal to save the Musht. There are issues of such importance involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict that they make the possible extinction of a single species appear almost inconsequential. The irony of the situation is that printing up “Save the Musht” T-shirts and launching a campaign for the fish may do more to raise awareness about Middle East issues than years of lectures and appealing for human rights.

Many people argue that environmental issues should not be a priority in the Arab/Israeli conflict, given the level of violence and loss of human life. What is not understood is that in reality political, social, economic and environmental issues cannot be compartmentalized. Mistreating the environment and mistreating people are often one and the same action.

......The environmental problems at the heart of the Palestinian/Israeli struggle are rarely exposed. Most people do not even know that Palestinian representatives (although only United Nations Observers) were present and active at the Earth Summit meeting in Rio de Janeiro last summer.

..........How a people administer their human and natural resources depends upon their cultural attitudes, their image of themselves and the land. Israeli and Palestinian images differ radically. They project conflicting world views, and this makes the struggle more intense and irreconcilable. A war of paradigms results, fought on the field of poetry, writings and myths. Grasping these paradigms provides a key to understanding the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.

Zionists see Palestine as a wasteland and desert.

The wasteland paradigm was promoted by the World Zionist Organization in their slogan--coined to salve the conscience of anyone who might be queasy about uprooting a native population--that Palestine was “a land without a people for a people without a land.” (Paradoxically, most promoters of this slogan were themselves secretly worried about what to do with the native population.)

The paradigm of the desert appeared in the Zionist claim that they “made the desert bloom.” By this one image they expunged the storied role of Palestine as the bread basket of the Middle East, that fragile, delicate ecosystem that fed the great empires of prehistory and history.

For the Zionist colonizers this duel image of wasteland and desert satisfied their ideological imperatives...    Full story

U.S. Jew indicted as possible Israel spy

Ha'aretz
New documents presented in federal court in Washington, D.C. reveal deep ties (more than was known) between Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Dr. Stewart David Nozette, an American astronomer accused of spying for Israel.

.....Two attorneys in the counterespionage unit of the U.S. Department's of Justice National Security division, Deborah Curtis and Heather Schmidt, presented documents found on the scientist's computer. One document, titled "Proposed Operations for 2005-2006," referred to the need to carry out "a penetration of NASA," the U.S. space agency.

Another document, according to the prosecution, shows Nozette attempted to obtain highly confidential material by using his high-level security clearance and infiltrating other people's computers.

Other documents mention the names of Yossi Weiss and Yossi Fishman. Weiss is a former project manager and today the deputy CEO of IAI and head of the company's missile and space division. Fishman was the IAI's representative in the U.S. and is today the CEO of ODF Optronics.

Fishman told Haaretz he knew Nozette the way he knew other Americans employed by the IAI at the time as consultants. "We did not engage in any kind of spying activity or information gathering, perish the thought. The relationship was business as usual.".......

...The indictment and the documents indicate that Nozette was employed for nine years as an IAI consultant. Versions vary as to how much he was paid, from $170,000 to $225,000.....
The FBI searched Nozette's home and computer and found additional proof of his connection to Israel. He visited here several times, but did not report this - as is required by his high security clearance...

Nozette, 52, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, was arrested after FBI surveillance that included wiretapping and undercover photography. The operation followed the former astronomer's interrogation on suspicion of tax evasion and defrauding the U.S. government. Nozette worked out plea bargain with the Justice Department; he admitted to fraud and accepted a sentence of up to three years in jail, plus a fine of $265,000. His jail term would have started in November, but he was arrested on the new and more serious charge of espionage.

Nozette, who was born in Chicago, has Jewish parents but there is no evidence he ever went to synagogue or Jewish community centers. His neighbors said he was "a Zionist" but without evidence attesting to this....

...... the IAI and its subsidiaries in the U.S. continue to do business there and to cultivate ties. It is rather clear to them, and this is indeed fairly routine business practice, that to obtain contracts and win grants from the U.S. administration, doors must be opened. For that, people with connections are needed to open those doors. This was one of Nozette's assignments. Against this backdrop he apparently tried (among other things) to help the "penetration" of NASA. IAI, which produces space missile launchers, satellites and other space technologies, hoped to win contracts and development grants and enter joint ventures.

..........The indictment does not mention Israel nor has the administration made any complaints. Nevertheless Israel since its establishment systematically conducted spying missions on U.S. soil - for around a quarter of a century. Primarily, it was nuclear and technological-military spying.... Full story

Israel Continues To Spy on Its Biggest Ally, Another Israeli Spy Arrested by FBI

IMEMC  

..... The case is one of many cases in which Israel was caught trying to spy on its biggest ally and supporter, the United States of America.

In 1985, the United States arrested Jonathan Pollard, who worked as a civilian intelligence analyst, and sentenced him for a life imprisonment in 1987.

Pollard was born in Galveston, Texas on August 7, 1954. He was granted Israeli citizenship by the Israeli government in 1995. Several Israeli groups, including senior officials, such as the current Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have lobbied for his release.

His case is connected to another Israeli spy Ben-Ami Kadish, a U.S national who confessed and pleaded guilty of passing classified information to Israel.

Israel denied Pollard is a spy for fourteen years, but in 1997, Pollard filed a legal action at the Israeli High Court of Justice to force the Israeli government to admit he was an agent for Israel recruited to spy in the USA.

On May 11, 1997, Netanyahu officially admitted that Pollard is an officially sanctioned agent handled by senior Israeli officials working for Israel’s Bureau of Scientific Relations.

The United States grants Israel billions of dollars in direct and indirect financial and military aid, in addition to millions of dollars sent by Jewish and American groups......   Full story

Malsin: No such thing as voluntary deportation

Ma'an
Upon landing in New York on Thursday, Ma'an News Agency's Jared Malsin, a US citizen, said Interior Ministry staff pressured him into dropping a legal challenge against his deportation order just two hours after his lawyer left for the day. ... [Ma'an is the largest independent news agency in the Palestinian Territories. Malsin was the chief editor of their English language division.]

.........Malsin was subsequently placed onto an El Al flight to New York. "None of this was my decision," he emphasized in a phone interview minutes after arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport early Thursday morning local time, rejecting reports that he left Israel voluntarily. "There's no such thing as a voluntary deportation. I was deported, period."

.....  Interior Ministry officials coerced him into creating a legal document to withdraw his case without an attorney present, and offered a misleading explanation over what he was signing.

The document apparently indicated Malsin was leaving the facility "without personal coercion." But Malsin said he was under the impression that the papers he signed would allow him to simply leave the airport while his case continued in Israel.

......In an e-mail from Malsin to Ma'an staff sent upon his arrival to his parents' home in New Hampshire, he said, about the paper, "I thought it was a formality. In retrospect I wish I hadn't signed it. I believe the prison guards were extremely manipulative, misleading, mendacious in the way they dealt with me," he said, but "I'm just so relieved to be out."

....Malsin's deportation was met with mixed reactions from Israeli officials. Interior Ministry spokeswoman ............ told Israel's Hebrew-language Yedioth Ahronoth that he had voluntarily left Israel, adding, "I guess he didn't like it [detention] and chose to leave the country."

Allegations of Malsin being a security risk were made even at the start of the deportation process, with documents alleging Malsin's failure to cooperate with Israeli intelligence officers constituting such a threat.

The same day Hadad told the AP Malsin was a security threat, however, she was quoted by Reuters and the Washington Post as denying Malsin was refused a visa for political or security reasons.

........ international press associations condemned the detention as a violation of press freedom from the beginning.

"We condemn this intolerable violation of press freedom," said Aidan White, the head of the International Federation of Journalists, the largest union of media professionals worldwide.

"The ban of entry in this case appears to be as a reprisal measure for the journalist's independent reporting and that is unacceptable," he said. "This kind of interference has no place in a democracy."   Full story

Israeli forces take 9 overnight, raid Nablus, Bethlehem, Ramallah

Ma'an
Israel’s channel 10 News said nine Palestinians were detained during overnight raids in the West Bank, with Palestinain security sources confirming the detention of two men in raids on Nablus.

Israeli sources said the nine were "wanted," and noted two of the men were from Nablus, two from Ramallah, and five from Bethlehem...

Nablus

Palestinian security sources said several Israeli vehicles stormed Nablus from the Huwwara military checkpoint at 1:30am, entering several neighborhoods...

Beit Ummar

In the Bethlehem-area town of Beit Ummar.... four were detained and the home of 60-year-old Muhsen Awad was raided, its owner beaten and his identity card stolen. After the beating, the man's 35-year-old son was detained.

According to Awad, soldiers also stole 800 shekels in cash from the home.

Three others were detained, identified as Jamal Ibrahim Ikhlil, 18, Allam Baraghith 18 and Muhammad Sleiby, 25.

Awad said the troops used dogs to search several homes near the village entrance, and remained in the area for four hours.

Ni'lin

A third raid overnight targeted the village of Ni'lin, north of Ramallah. According to the village's popular committee, the 3am military incursion was the 15th in the past month aimed at "apprehending Palestinian anti-Wall activists."

Anti-wall protest organizers said the "arrests are a continuation of a concerted assault on the popular struggle movement and its leadership."...   Full story

Three More Arrested in Ni'ilin Night Raid

PSCC
Three residents of Ni'ilin were arrested in a pre-dawn imilitary incursion into the village of Ni'ilin today. This is the 15th time such a raid was conducted in the past month in order to apprehend Palestinian anti-Wall activists. Today's arrests are a continuation of a concerted assault on the popular struggle movement and its leadership.

Shortly after 3 am tonight, dozens of Israeli soldiers participated in a night-time incursion on the Wes Bank village of Ni'ilin as part of a prolonged arrest campaign against the village held by the army in the past month. Among those arrested was also Mustafa Amirah, a man in his 50s, who was only arrested because his son was not at home when the soldiers arrived to arrest him, and in an illegitimate and illegal attempt to apply pressure on him. During the raid soldiers broke into five additional houses, but carried no arrests in them.

Tonight's raid is the 15th one to be held in Ni'ilin alone since 16 December. During this period the army had arrested twenty of the village's residents in connection to anti-Wall protest. The past month's arrestees include Ibrahim Amirah, Hassan Mousa and Zaydoun Srour, members of the village's popular committees (the body that organizes the demonstrations), who were arrested last week. Since demonstrations began in Ni'ilin, in May of 2008, 109 of the villages residents were arrested for their involvement in anti-Wall protests.

The arrests tonight are an escalation of an ongoing and extensive Israeli attempt to suppress the Palestinian popular resistance. Similar raids to the ones conducted in Ni'ilin have also been conducted in the village of alMaasara, south of Bethlehem and in the village of Bil'in – where 34 residents have been arrested in the past six months, as well as in the cities of Nablus, Ramallah and East Jerusalem.

The recent wave of arrests is also an assault on the members of the Popular Committees – the leadership of the popular struggle – who are charged with incitement when arrested. The charge of incitement, defined in military law as “attempt, whether verbally or otherwise, to influence public opinion in the Area in a way that may disturb the public peace or public order<”, is a cynic attempt to equate grassroots organizing with a hefty charge and lengthy imprisonments. Such indictments are part of the army's strategy to use legal measures as a means of quashing the popular movement.

Among those arrested in the recent campaign are also five members of the Bil'in Popular Committee, all suspected of incitement, and include Adeeb Abu Rahmah - who is already held in detention for over six months, and Abdallah Abu Rahmah – the Bil'in Popular Committee coordinator.

Prominent grassroots activists Jamal Jum'a (East Jerusalem) and Mohammed Othman (Jayyous) of the Stop the Wall NGO, involved in anti-Wall and boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigning, have recently been released from detention after being incarcerated for long periods based on secret evidence and with no charges brought against them.

US Groups Demand that Israel End Crackdown on Palestinian Protesters

WAFA
Israel must end a wave of arrests of Palestinian civil society members who are organizing protests and boycotts opposing Israeli rights violations, Adalah-NY, CodePink: Women for Peace, and Jewish Voice for Peace said today.

 While prominent protest and boycott organizers from the Palestinian organization Stop the Wall Jamal Juma’ and Mohammad Othman were released last week after nearly one and four months of detention respectively, nightly arrests continue in the West Bank, with eight more arrests on January 18^th in the West Bank village of Ni’lin west of Ramallah.

....... Jewish settlements built on occupied Palestinian land violate international law. Israel’s wall, where built inside the West Bank, was ruled a violation of international law by the International Court of Justice in 2004. Eighty-seven percent of the wall has been built on Palestinian land in the West Bank, separating villages from their farmland and facilitating settlement expansion.

 Thirty-four residents from the village of Bil’in, which has conducted a five-year protest, boycott and legal campaign against the Wall, have been arrested since June 23, 2009. Abdallah Abu Rahmah, the Coordinator of Bil’in’s Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements, was arrested on December 10th.  Despite his outspoken advocacy of peaceful protest, Abu Rahmah has been charged by Israeli authorities with “incitement” for organizing protests that include stonethrowing, with throwing stones, and with the Orwellian charge of “weapons possession” for building a peace sign out of spent Israeli tear-gas canisters and bullet casings fired by soldiers at Bil’in protesters.   

 Another leader of Bil’in’s Popular Committee and advocate of nonviolent protest, Mohammad Khatib, was arrested on charges of stone throwing and incitement on August 3, 2009. Khatib was released on bail while his case is tried after proving that a photograph purporting to show him throwing stones was taken when Khatib was in another country. At a hearing, Khatib’s teenage nephew stated that Israeli interrogators coerced him into signing a statement incriminating Khatib by threatening him with assault. As a bail condition, Khatib must report to a police station at the time of Bil’in protests.

 Mohammed Khatib and Abdallah Abu Rahmah are among the founders of the new Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC) which aims to coordinate actions of a number of West Bank towns in demonstrations, as well as supporting boycott, divestment and sanctions.

 Israeli soldiers arrested Adeeb Abu Rahmah, a taxi driver from Bil’in, on July 10 on charges of incitement, disturbing public order, and entering a closed military zone, though fellow protesters say they have never seen him engage in violence or urge anyone else to do so. “Incitement” is defined under Israel military law as “attempting, whether verbally or otherwise, to influence public opinion in the area in a way that may disturb the public peace or public order.”

...“Israeli settlements and Israel’s wall violate international law. The route of Israel’s wall has even been ruled illegal by Israel’s Supreme Court in places like Bil’in. Therefore, it’s absurd to charge protest organizers with incitement for attempting to organize peaceful protests to save their land from illegal Israeli actions.”

Since the start of regular civilian protests by the village of Ni’lin in May 2008, five residents have been killed by the Israeli military and 106 arrested. On January 12th, Israeli soldiers arrested Ibrahim Amirah and Hassan Mousa, respectively the Coordinator and a member of Ni’lin’s Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, and Ni’lin activist Zaydoun Srour. On January 15th, Israeli soldiers invaded the village of Al Ma’asara, a site of weekly peaceful demonstrations for over three years, surrounded the houses of Popular Committee members Mohammed Barjiya and Mahmoud Zwahre, and threatened them with repercussions if they did not stop the village’s protests.

On the night of December 9, 2009, Israeli soldiers arrested Wa’el Al Faqeeh, a nonviolent organizer from Nablus. Those who know Al Faqeeh say that he has worked tirelessly in defense of human rights and to promote the strategy of Palestinian non-violent resistance. Al Faqeeh has been detained without charge, and will be tried in a military court on January 28th.

The newly released Stop the Wall detainees Othman and Juma’ were held without charges, based on secret evidence they were unable to view. Juma’, the Coordinator of Stop the Wall, and Othman, an employee there, have both organized protests in the West Bank against Israel’s wall, and advocated for local and international campaigns for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel and businesses supporting Israeli human rights abuses. Othman is from Jayyous, a West Bank village which has been protesting since 2002, when Israel’s wall cut off 75% of the village’s farmland in order to facilitate the planned expansion of the Zufim settlement owned by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev....  Full story

NEW JEFF GATES VIDEO: Israel’s Role in Terrorism

Veterans Today
Jeff Gates outlines how Israel, using game theory, has manipulated America, inflicting damage no enemy could, while acting as our closest ally. Through the careful application of complex game theory, terrorist acts have been planned based on superbly crafted plans meant to use public fear, outrage and the predictability of America to serve the interests of Israel while bringing about the systematic downfall of the United States....
Full story

Israel withholding NGO employees' work permits

Ha'aretz - Amira Haas
The Interior Ministry has stopped granting work permits to foreign nationals working in most international nongovernmental organizations operating in the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, Haaretz has learned.

In an apparent overhaul of regulations that have been in place since 1967, the ministry is now granting the NGO employees tourist visas only, which bar them from working.

Organizations affected by the apparent policy change include Oxfam, Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, Terre des Hommes, Handicap International and the Religious Society of Friends (a Quaker organization). 

..... the Interior Ministry is aiming to make the Ministry of Defense responsible for those international NGOs and also requiring them to register with the coordinator of government activities in the territories (COGAT), which is subordinate to the Ministry of Defense.

Foreign nationals working for NGOs had understood they would receive a stamp or handwritten note alongside their tourist visa, permitting them to work "in the Palestinian Authority." Israel is refusing work visas to most foreign nationals who state that they wish to work within the Palestinian territories, such as foreign lecturers for Palestinian universities and businessmen.

..........One NGO worker told Haaretz that the policy was reminiscent of the travel constraints imposed by Burmese authorities on humanitarian organizations, albeit presented in a subtler manner.

.....A number of NGO workers who spoke with Haaretz voiced deep apprehensions about having to submit to the authority of the Defense Ministry. The groups are committed to the Red Cross code of ethics, and therefore see being subjugated to the ministry directly in charge of the occupation as problematic and contradictory to the very essence of their work.

Between 140 and 150 NGOs operate among the Palestinian population...

The new limitations do not apply to the 12 organizations that have been active in the West Bank prior to 1967. Those groups, which include the Red Cross and several Christian organizations....

The new move by the Interior Ministry is the latest in a series of steps taken in the last few years to constrain the movement of foreign nationals in the West Bank and Gaza, including Palestinians with family and property in the occupied territories. Most of those who have been effected are nationals of countries with which Israel has diplomatic relations, especially Western states. Israel does not apply any similar constraints on citizens of the same countries traveling within Israel and West Bank settlements.....    Full story

Daily Situation Report: Jan. 18, 2010

PMG
Israeli actions:

• Caused injury — 1 A child in a raid on Jenin refugee camp
• Arrests (per person) — 22 Incl. 2 in Tulkarm & 2 in Qalqiliya
• Detentions — 11 At checkpoints & in  residential locales
• Raids — 26 Incl. 5 in Jenin & 1 in Tulkarm
• Checkpoints — 8 Access impeded at 5 checkpoints
• Flying Checkpoints — 19 Incl. 5 in Tulkarm & 3 in Qalqiliya
• Attacks — 3, 2 in raids & 1 in confrontations
• Provocation of Pal. Forces — 1 Set up a checkpoint near political office
• Destruction of Property — 1 Digging tunnels caused road collapse 
• Wall Construction — 21 Jer., Raml’h., Qalq., Salfit, Heb., Beth.
• Closure (per District) — 7 Jer., Beth. (2 villages) & Hebron (4 areas) 
• Closure of Main Roads — 38 Incl. 1 in Jenin & 2 in Tulkarm
• Closure of Crossing Points —  4 Partial opening of 3 crossings
• Settler Violence — 2 Stoning civilian vehicles in Raml’h & Heb.   Full report