Europe, December 14, (Pal Telegraph-Agencies) – The European Union says it is prepared to recognize a Palestinian state in the wake of a groundswell of international support for the Palestinians.
In a statement issued on Monday, the EU Foreign Affairs Council said it "reiterates its readiness, when appropriate, to recognize a Palestinian state,".
The EU also said such a state had to be “contiguous and viable.”
Brazil and Argentina recently recognized Palestine, and Uruguay and France have pledged that they will follow suit.
However, Israel continues to construct and expand illegal Jewish settler units on the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East of Jerusalem. Tel Aviv occupied the territories in 1967.
Israel refused to extend a partial freeze on settlement activities in late September, thus stalling the direct talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA) that had resumed earlier that month.
The Palestinians say that the settlement construction activities are being carried out to prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
The EU foreign ministers, who were meeting in Brussels, "noted with regret" Tel Aviv's failure to prolong the moratorium.
The settlements “are illegal under international law and an obstacle to peace," the EU ministers said in a statement.
Source-http://www.paltelegraph.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7720:EU-ready-to-recognize-Palestine&catid=81:world-news&Itemid=128
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Last kaffiyeh factory struggles to stay afloat in Palestinian territories
The kaffiyeh became a symbol of resistance because of its most famous exponent, Yasser Arafat. Its popularity as a fashion item came later. Photograph: AFP
In a rundown office to the side of a gloomy and deserted breeze-block factory, 76-year-old Yasser Hirbawi is hunched on a low couch turning his life's work over and over between his fingers.
In his lap – and on his head – are specimens of what has become the internationally recognised symbol of the Palestinian national struggle, the kaffiyeh, the chequered headscarf worn by politicians and militants alike and adopted not just by their supporters but by fashionistas across the globe.
But the kaffiyeh's ubiquity is of small comfort to Hirbawi, his two sons and the sole employee left in the last factory making the headscarves in the Palestinian territories. After almost 50 years, the family business is struggling to keep afloat amid a flood of cheap Chinese imports.
"The Chinese kaffiyehs are like a cigarette paper," says Jouda Hirbawi, 44. "They are cheaper, but the quality is lower."
According to the Hirbawis, the Chinese manufacturers use polyester and poor-quality cotton in their kaffiyehs. In contrast, a Hirbawi kaffiyeh is laboriously produced with high-quality material and – just as importantly – a sense of history.
But the Chinese products sell at less than two-thirds the price of the Palestinian scarves. "We sell a dozen for 100 shekels (£17). The Chinese sell a dozen for 60 shekels (£10)," says Jouda. "The people who are importing this garbage from China are killing the local product."
Hirbawi Textiles once employed 15 men in the factory, plus perhaps another 25 women finishing the scarves in their homes, between them supporting about 300 people and producing hundreds of kaffiyehs daily. "We were working 17 or 18 hours a day, supplying the local market. It's very intensive and tedious work."
Now one loyal employee is left working alongside the Hirbawi brothers. All but one of the looms was idle today, its clacking echoing around the factory floor. A low-wattage fluorescent strip casts a pool of light over the machine in the factory gloom.
The change in fortunes followed the signing of the Oslo accords in the early 1990s, after which the newly formed Palestinian Authority opened up its market to imports. In 1995, Hirbawi Textiles closed down. "There was no demand," says Jouda. "We shut for five years. Then we said, 'This is the only thing we know how to do', so we decided to try again."
The family is bitter at the PA's refusal to protect Palestinian businesses and what it describes as a "national product".
"There should be high taxes imposed on outside products," says Yasser Hirbawi. "They should not be helping outside products against local products. A falafel stand makes more money than this factory."
He is dismissive of the Palestinian businessmen importing Chinese kaffiyehs. "They are merchants, they just want to make a profit."
The factory's main source of income now is from foreign visitors, without whom "we would have closed a long time ago," says Jouda. "A lot of foreigners wear kaffiyehs to show their support for the Palestinians."
In the factory office, a small boy is rearranging bagged kaffiyehs on banks of shelves awaiting the next group of foreigners to descend with shekels to spend. On the wall is a poster of Palestinian icon Yasser Arafat, sporting, as always, a kaffiyeh. Is it one from the factory? "Yes," says Yasser Hirbawi. "Maybe," says his son more realistically.
As they show their visitors out, they shut down the one working loom and switch off the overhead light. It's lunchtime and perhaps production is over for the day.
Jouda Hirbawi insists the family will not give up its struggle to keep the factory going. "We will continue. This is the fruit of 50 years of continuous work – it's more than a business. We are trying to be competitive but we want to manufacture a high-quality kaffiyeh."
The family finds it hard to believe that the item they have been producing for almost half a century is in such global demand yet their business is on its knees.
"All over the world the kaffiyeh has become a symbol of resistance – even on protests that have nothing to do with the Palestinian people, you see people wearing them," says Jouda.
His father, weary and bitter, adds: "Everyone all over the world is benefiting from this symbol – except us."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/02/last-kaffiyeh-factory-palestinian-territories
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In a rundown office to the side of a gloomy and deserted breeze-block factory, 76-year-old Yasser Hirbawi is hunched on a low couch turning his life's work over and over between his fingers.
In his lap – and on his head – are specimens of what has become the internationally recognised symbol of the Palestinian national struggle, the kaffiyeh, the chequered headscarf worn by politicians and militants alike and adopted not just by their supporters but by fashionistas across the globe.
But the kaffiyeh's ubiquity is of small comfort to Hirbawi, his two sons and the sole employee left in the last factory making the headscarves in the Palestinian territories. After almost 50 years, the family business is struggling to keep afloat amid a flood of cheap Chinese imports.
"The Chinese kaffiyehs are like a cigarette paper," says Jouda Hirbawi, 44. "They are cheaper, but the quality is lower."
According to the Hirbawis, the Chinese manufacturers use polyester and poor-quality cotton in their kaffiyehs. In contrast, a Hirbawi kaffiyeh is laboriously produced with high-quality material and – just as importantly – a sense of history.
But the Chinese products sell at less than two-thirds the price of the Palestinian scarves. "We sell a dozen for 100 shekels (£17). The Chinese sell a dozen for 60 shekels (£10)," says Jouda. "The people who are importing this garbage from China are killing the local product."
Hirbawi Textiles once employed 15 men in the factory, plus perhaps another 25 women finishing the scarves in their homes, between them supporting about 300 people and producing hundreds of kaffiyehs daily. "We were working 17 or 18 hours a day, supplying the local market. It's very intensive and tedious work."
Now one loyal employee is left working alongside the Hirbawi brothers. All but one of the looms was idle today, its clacking echoing around the factory floor. A low-wattage fluorescent strip casts a pool of light over the machine in the factory gloom.
The change in fortunes followed the signing of the Oslo accords in the early 1990s, after which the newly formed Palestinian Authority opened up its market to imports. In 1995, Hirbawi Textiles closed down. "There was no demand," says Jouda. "We shut for five years. Then we said, 'This is the only thing we know how to do', so we decided to try again."
The family is bitter at the PA's refusal to protect Palestinian businesses and what it describes as a "national product".
"There should be high taxes imposed on outside products," says Yasser Hirbawi. "They should not be helping outside products against local products. A falafel stand makes more money than this factory."
He is dismissive of the Palestinian businessmen importing Chinese kaffiyehs. "They are merchants, they just want to make a profit."
The factory's main source of income now is from foreign visitors, without whom "we would have closed a long time ago," says Jouda. "A lot of foreigners wear kaffiyehs to show their support for the Palestinians."
In the factory office, a small boy is rearranging bagged kaffiyehs on banks of shelves awaiting the next group of foreigners to descend with shekels to spend. On the wall is a poster of Palestinian icon Yasser Arafat, sporting, as always, a kaffiyeh. Is it one from the factory? "Yes," says Yasser Hirbawi. "Maybe," says his son more realistically.
As they show their visitors out, they shut down the one working loom and switch off the overhead light. It's lunchtime and perhaps production is over for the day.
Jouda Hirbawi insists the family will not give up its struggle to keep the factory going. "We will continue. This is the fruit of 50 years of continuous work – it's more than a business. We are trying to be competitive but we want to manufacture a high-quality kaffiyeh."
The family finds it hard to believe that the item they have been producing for almost half a century is in such global demand yet their business is on its knees.
"All over the world the kaffiyeh has become a symbol of resistance – even on protests that have nothing to do with the Palestinian people, you see people wearing them," says Jouda.
His father, weary and bitter, adds: "Everyone all over the world is benefiting from this symbol – except us."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/02/last-kaffiyeh-factory-palestinian-territories
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Thursday, July 29, 2010
Palestinian prisoners protest inhumane Israeli punishment
Palestinian prisoners protest inhumane Israeli punishmentThe Ministry of Prisoner Affairs for the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah has warned of an 'explosion' of the situation within Israeli prisons, given the systemic conduct of collective punishment of detainees exercised in most Israeli jails.
In a press release issued on Monday (26.07.2010), the ministry stated that the management of Israel's Prison Service continues to enforce repressive policies against Palestinian detainees who have in turn responded by escalating their active objection.
The ministry's lawyers explained that all detainees of the Ramon prison have recently begun a partial hunger strike in protest at the sudden campaign of carrying out night searches. 11 detainees of the Eshel prison have also taken the same step in objection to the collective punishment they are all subjected to; they are banned from receiving visitors for 6 months - a measure that was taken after the prison management found a cell phone on one of the detainees.
A detainee of the Israeli Shata prison has said that special army units carry out inspection campaigns that usually last for four consecutive hours, during which time prisoners' personal effects are tampered with and some items are even confiscated - searches are carried out on the pretext of searching for cell phones.
In the Gilbo'a prison five detainees have been prevented from receiving visitors while electric fans have been confiscated and all inmates have been stopped from taking part in any sports for two months without reason.
The Ministry also mentioned that detainees in Ofer prison said that the prison's management has installed distraction devices which make noises that continuously irritate prisoners and cause mental and physical disorders. According to the ministry, Ofer's prisoners have demanded that Israeli authorities be pressured into removing these devices which are spread all over the prison.
Palestinian prisoners protest inhumane Israeli punishment
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In a press release issued on Monday (26.07.2010), the ministry stated that the management of Israel's Prison Service continues to enforce repressive policies against Palestinian detainees who have in turn responded by escalating their active objection.
The ministry's lawyers explained that all detainees of the Ramon prison have recently begun a partial hunger strike in protest at the sudden campaign of carrying out night searches. 11 detainees of the Eshel prison have also taken the same step in objection to the collective punishment they are all subjected to; they are banned from receiving visitors for 6 months - a measure that was taken after the prison management found a cell phone on one of the detainees.
A detainee of the Israeli Shata prison has said that special army units carry out inspection campaigns that usually last for four consecutive hours, during which time prisoners' personal effects are tampered with and some items are even confiscated - searches are carried out on the pretext of searching for cell phones.
In the Gilbo'a prison five detainees have been prevented from receiving visitors while electric fans have been confiscated and all inmates have been stopped from taking part in any sports for two months without reason.
The Ministry also mentioned that detainees in Ofer prison said that the prison's management has installed distraction devices which make noises that continuously irritate prisoners and cause mental and physical disorders. According to the ministry, Ofer's prisoners have demanded that Israeli authorities be pressured into removing these devices which are spread all over the prison.
Palestinian prisoners protest inhumane Israeli punishment
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Wednesday, July 28, 2010
West Bank Bedouins worse off than Gazans
AL HADIDIYA, WEST BANK, 28 July 2010 (IRIN) - The road to al-Hadidiya village in the northeastern West Bank district of Tubas is dotted with boulders etched with a warning in Hebrew, Arabic and English: "Danger - Open Fire Area".
The boulders arrived about six months ago, and are positioned at the entrance to Palestinian villages, indicating that chunks of the Jordan Valley have become a closed military zone claimed by the Israeli army. They signal a further squeeze on the Bedouin communities here.
Shepherd Abdul Rahim Bsharat, 59, and his family have lived and farmed in al-Hadidiya since the 1960s. At that time, he said, there were 400-500 families there. Now, there are 17, who stay on despite having no access to water or electricity. Every building in the village has an Israeli demolition order on it.
On 21 June, the Israeli military gave Bsharat notice that his house and animal shelters could be destroyed at any time. When Bsharat’s house was previously demolished in 2002, his water tank was confiscated too. "If they destroy my property again, I’ll come back and rebuild it again. This is my land," he told IRIN.
Bsharat’s home is a canopy of sewn-together sacks propped up over bare ground. It can easily be rebuilt. His other problems are more difficult to solve.
Photo: Phoebe Greenwood/IRIN
Bsharat in front of his home, which has an Israeli demolition order against it
Al-Hadidiya is in a part of the West Bank under complete Israeli control, known as Area C. The estimated 40,000 Palestinians living there are unable to build or repair their homes, schools, hospitals or sewage systems under Israel’s strict permit system, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). In a region where almost all families are herders, Israel’s restrictions on Palestinian access to and development of agricultural land mean thousands are going hungry, aid agencies say.
A report published recently by Save the Children UK entitled Life on the Edge, warns that many parts of Area C have plummeted into a humanitarian crisis more acute than in Gaza.
Israeli townships
Al-Hadidiya is surrounded by three expanding Israeli townships, Ro’i, Beka’ot and Hemdat. Its land is directly adjacent to Ro’i and the community collects any over-flow from the water pumps irrigating the settlers’ crops in rusting tins.
Despite a lengthy petition from Bsharat, Israeli authorities have not permitted al-Hadidiya to be connected to the main water network. There is no health centre and no permit to build one. The nearest hospital is several hours away in Jericho.
Israeli roadblocks and checkpoints mean that reaching a doctor can take hours. In 2002, Bsharat’s then two-and-a-half-year-old son was hospitalized for 16 days when a common cold turned into pneumonia. In the same year, his eight-year-old son was badly injured falling off a tractor. It was six hours before a car could get through to al-Hadidiya to get him to hospital. He died from blood loss.
Israel has suffered deadly suicide bombings launched from the West Bank in the past and says strict rules on Palestinian movement enforced through checkpoints and roadblocks are necessary for its security.
According to the Israeli military, homes in al-Hadidiya and much of the Jordan Valley are being demolished because they have either been built illegally, without an Israeli building permit, or are located in "closed military areas". Around 18 percent of the West Bank is now a closed military zone.
Stunting
Photo: Phoebe Greenwood/IRIN
Bedouin children wander away from their home in al-Hadidiya village, which is now within a closed military zone claimed by the Israeli army
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) found that in Bedouin communities like al-Hadidiya, rates of stunting are more than double those in Gaza. Almost half the children have diarrhoea, one of the biggest killers of children under five in the world, and three quarters of families do not have enough nutritious food.
Save the Children works with local NGO Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) to help families in al-Hadidiya repair damaged buildings and farmland, when possible. But the strict restrictions on building and access mean that the Palestinian Authority and aid agencies are limited in the help they can offer families anywhere in Area C.
"In recent weeks the international community has rightly focused on the suffering of families in Gaza but the plight of children in Area C must not be overlooked. Many families, particularly in Bedouin and herder communities, suffer significantly higher levels of malnutrition and poverty," Salam Kanaan, Save the Children UK’s country director, said. Source -
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The boulders arrived about six months ago, and are positioned at the entrance to Palestinian villages, indicating that chunks of the Jordan Valley have become a closed military zone claimed by the Israeli army. They signal a further squeeze on the Bedouin communities here.
Shepherd Abdul Rahim Bsharat, 59, and his family have lived and farmed in al-Hadidiya since the 1960s. At that time, he said, there were 400-500 families there. Now, there are 17, who stay on despite having no access to water or electricity. Every building in the village has an Israeli demolition order on it.
On 21 June, the Israeli military gave Bsharat notice that his house and animal shelters could be destroyed at any time. When Bsharat’s house was previously demolished in 2002, his water tank was confiscated too. "If they destroy my property again, I’ll come back and rebuild it again. This is my land," he told IRIN.
Bsharat’s home is a canopy of sewn-together sacks propped up over bare ground. It can easily be rebuilt. His other problems are more difficult to solve.
Photo: Phoebe Greenwood/IRIN
Bsharat in front of his home, which has an Israeli demolition order against it
Al-Hadidiya is in a part of the West Bank under complete Israeli control, known as Area C. The estimated 40,000 Palestinians living there are unable to build or repair their homes, schools, hospitals or sewage systems under Israel’s strict permit system, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). In a region where almost all families are herders, Israel’s restrictions on Palestinian access to and development of agricultural land mean thousands are going hungry, aid agencies say.
A report published recently by Save the Children UK entitled Life on the Edge, warns that many parts of Area C have plummeted into a humanitarian crisis more acute than in Gaza.
Israeli townships
Al-Hadidiya is surrounded by three expanding Israeli townships, Ro’i, Beka’ot and Hemdat. Its land is directly adjacent to Ro’i and the community collects any over-flow from the water pumps irrigating the settlers’ crops in rusting tins.
Despite a lengthy petition from Bsharat, Israeli authorities have not permitted al-Hadidiya to be connected to the main water network. There is no health centre and no permit to build one. The nearest hospital is several hours away in Jericho.
Israeli roadblocks and checkpoints mean that reaching a doctor can take hours. In 2002, Bsharat’s then two-and-a-half-year-old son was hospitalized for 16 days when a common cold turned into pneumonia. In the same year, his eight-year-old son was badly injured falling off a tractor. It was six hours before a car could get through to al-Hadidiya to get him to hospital. He died from blood loss.
Israel has suffered deadly suicide bombings launched from the West Bank in the past and says strict rules on Palestinian movement enforced through checkpoints and roadblocks are necessary for its security.
According to the Israeli military, homes in al-Hadidiya and much of the Jordan Valley are being demolished because they have either been built illegally, without an Israeli building permit, or are located in "closed military areas". Around 18 percent of the West Bank is now a closed military zone.
Stunting
Photo: Phoebe Greenwood/IRIN
Bedouin children wander away from their home in al-Hadidiya village, which is now within a closed military zone claimed by the Israeli army
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) found that in Bedouin communities like al-Hadidiya, rates of stunting are more than double those in Gaza. Almost half the children have diarrhoea, one of the biggest killers of children under five in the world, and three quarters of families do not have enough nutritious food.
Save the Children works with local NGO Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) to help families in al-Hadidiya repair damaged buildings and farmland, when possible. But the strict restrictions on building and access mean that the Palestinian Authority and aid agencies are limited in the help they can offer families anywhere in Area C.
"In recent weeks the international community has rightly focused on the suffering of families in Gaza but the plight of children in Area C must not be overlooked. Many families, particularly in Bedouin and herder communities, suffer significantly higher levels of malnutrition and poverty," Salam Kanaan, Save the Children UK’s country director, said. Source -
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Sunday, June 6, 2010
Shaikh Raed Salah
* Raed Salah was born in 1958 in the Palestinian town of Umm al-Fahm, in the territories occupied by the nascent state of Israel in 1948. Being one of the "1948 Palestinians" (i.e. those governed by the Israeli occupation since 1948), he holds an Israeli passport, which enables him to move relatively easily across the occupied Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem. He also visits several European countries to attend gatherings of the Palestinian diaspora and conferences for solidarity with the Palestinian people and occupied Jerusalem.
* Shaikh Raed enjoys unprecedented popularity among Palestinians, especially because despite facing numerous threats from Israeli officialdom he remains one of the most daring Palestinian figures in his fight against the occupation. This struggle led to him being imprisoned more than once. Aside from his charismatic personality, he is known for his close relationship with ordinary Palestinian people, having a very modest lifestyle, high moral standards, a quiet character and a kind smile always on his face.
* He began his political and public career in 1989 through his candidacy for mayor of Umm al-Fahm and earning a tremendous victory with more than 70% of the votes cast. He won the municipal elections twice in 1993 and 1997 before, in 2001, he gave up his post voluntarily to defend the Palestinian cause and stand up for the city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants in the face of growing Israeli threats.
* As a leader of the “Islamic Movement in Palestine '48", the most popular political force in that area, Shaikh Raed Salah rejected the opportunity to stand for election to the Israeli parliament (Knesset). He believes that there are no opportunities to end the occupation of Palestine through parliamentary life due to the dominance of military, intelligence, extremist and racist forces over Israeli political life.
* He is famous for his tireless and peaceful protests against the Israeli occupation and its continued violations. His reliance on non-violent means meant that he is sometimes known as the "Gandhi of Palestine." In addition to the social programmes and the humanitarian and educational projects he stands behind, in 1998 Shaikh Raed launched the "self-reliant community" initiative which aimed to achieve the ’48 Palestinians’ self-development and economic independence from the Israeli occupation.
* He draws attention repeatedly to successive Israeli governments’ use of “peace agreements” with the Palestinian side as pretexts for continuing its expansionist policies on Palestinian lands against the Palestinian citizens. This includes the ongoing violations against the city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants, and the occupation of the Palestinian territories.
* In 2002, the Israeli Ministry of Interior issued an order banning him from travelling abroad, and the Israeli Supreme Court of Justice turned down Sh. Raed’s appeal against the order. He went on to be among the first to launch mass campaigns against the policies of the Israeli occupation in the city of Jerusalem, especially the attacks on Islamic and Christian holy places, and the destruction of tombs and encroachment on the historic Ma`man Allah cemetery.
* In 2009 and 2010, the Israeli occupation authorities issued military orders banning Sh. Raed from entering Jerusalem, after he discovered a series of secret Israeli plans for the implementation of wide-ranging archaeological digs around Al-Aqsa Mosque and the construction of complex tunnels under Muslim and Christian holy sites and the historic walls of Jerusalem.
* He led many solidarity actions with the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem against the Israelis’ plans to expel them from their homes, withdraw their identity cards and cancel their residence permits in the city. He had a direct role in organizing daily convoys of buses loaded with people from the Arab towns and villages occupied in 1948 showing solidarity with inhabitants of the Old City of Jerusalem.
* Over the last few years, Shaikh Raed has played an effective role in demanding implementation of the right of return for Palestinian refugees who were expelled by Israeli forces from their towns and villages in 1948. For this purpose, he regularly participates in gatherings and conferences organized by the Palestinian refugees in living in Europe to claim their right to return to Palestine. Raed Salah is famous for his dictum declared on the sixtieth anniversary of the Nakba (the catastrophe of 1948) which said, "No retreat from the right of return”.
* In 2000, Israeli troops shot him in the head in what was considered by observers as an attempted assassination; needless to say, he survived. The Israeli occupation authorities arrested him several times, the first being in 1981. Between 2003 and 2005, Shaikh Raed Salah was imprisoned for two years but after his release he continued with his public and popular movements against the occupation, facing further arrest a number of times for his contribution to protest rallies in solidarity with the city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. On January 13, 2010, an Israeli court sentenced him to nine months in prison plus a six-month suspended sentence in addition to a fine. The sentence was supposed to take effect from February 28, 2010.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/resources/fact-sheets/1082-shaikh-raed-salah
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* Shaikh Raed enjoys unprecedented popularity among Palestinians, especially because despite facing numerous threats from Israeli officialdom he remains one of the most daring Palestinian figures in his fight against the occupation. This struggle led to him being imprisoned more than once. Aside from his charismatic personality, he is known for his close relationship with ordinary Palestinian people, having a very modest lifestyle, high moral standards, a quiet character and a kind smile always on his face.
* He began his political and public career in 1989 through his candidacy for mayor of Umm al-Fahm and earning a tremendous victory with more than 70% of the votes cast. He won the municipal elections twice in 1993 and 1997 before, in 2001, he gave up his post voluntarily to defend the Palestinian cause and stand up for the city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants in the face of growing Israeli threats.
* As a leader of the “Islamic Movement in Palestine '48", the most popular political force in that area, Shaikh Raed Salah rejected the opportunity to stand for election to the Israeli parliament (Knesset). He believes that there are no opportunities to end the occupation of Palestine through parliamentary life due to the dominance of military, intelligence, extremist and racist forces over Israeli political life.
* He is famous for his tireless and peaceful protests against the Israeli occupation and its continued violations. His reliance on non-violent means meant that he is sometimes known as the "Gandhi of Palestine." In addition to the social programmes and the humanitarian and educational projects he stands behind, in 1998 Shaikh Raed launched the "self-reliant community" initiative which aimed to achieve the ’48 Palestinians’ self-development and economic independence from the Israeli occupation.
* He draws attention repeatedly to successive Israeli governments’ use of “peace agreements” with the Palestinian side as pretexts for continuing its expansionist policies on Palestinian lands against the Palestinian citizens. This includes the ongoing violations against the city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants, and the occupation of the Palestinian territories.
* In 2002, the Israeli Ministry of Interior issued an order banning him from travelling abroad, and the Israeli Supreme Court of Justice turned down Sh. Raed’s appeal against the order. He went on to be among the first to launch mass campaigns against the policies of the Israeli occupation in the city of Jerusalem, especially the attacks on Islamic and Christian holy places, and the destruction of tombs and encroachment on the historic Ma`man Allah cemetery.
* In 2009 and 2010, the Israeli occupation authorities issued military orders banning Sh. Raed from entering Jerusalem, after he discovered a series of secret Israeli plans for the implementation of wide-ranging archaeological digs around Al-Aqsa Mosque and the construction of complex tunnels under Muslim and Christian holy sites and the historic walls of Jerusalem.
* He led many solidarity actions with the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem against the Israelis’ plans to expel them from their homes, withdraw their identity cards and cancel their residence permits in the city. He had a direct role in organizing daily convoys of buses loaded with people from the Arab towns and villages occupied in 1948 showing solidarity with inhabitants of the Old City of Jerusalem.
* Over the last few years, Shaikh Raed has played an effective role in demanding implementation of the right of return for Palestinian refugees who were expelled by Israeli forces from their towns and villages in 1948. For this purpose, he regularly participates in gatherings and conferences organized by the Palestinian refugees in living in Europe to claim their right to return to Palestine. Raed Salah is famous for his dictum declared on the sixtieth anniversary of the Nakba (the catastrophe of 1948) which said, "No retreat from the right of return”.
* In 2000, Israeli troops shot him in the head in what was considered by observers as an attempted assassination; needless to say, he survived. The Israeli occupation authorities arrested him several times, the first being in 1981. Between 2003 and 2005, Shaikh Raed Salah was imprisoned for two years but after his release he continued with his public and popular movements against the occupation, facing further arrest a number of times for his contribution to protest rallies in solidarity with the city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. On January 13, 2010, an Israeli court sentenced him to nine months in prison plus a six-month suspended sentence in addition to a fine. The sentence was supposed to take effect from February 28, 2010.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/resources/fact-sheets/1082-shaikh-raed-salah
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Monday, May 31, 2010
UN chief 'shocked' by Gaza aid flotilla raid
KAMPALA — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday he was "shocked" by a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla and demanded a full investigation.
"I am shocked by reports of killings and injuries of people on boats carrying supplies for Gaza," the UN chief said at a press conference following the opening in Uganda of a key conference on the International Criminal Court.
"I condemn this violence," Ban added, as an Israeli television channel reported that as many as 19 pro-Palestinian activists may have been killed in the Israeli military raid.
"It is vital that there is a full investigation to determine exactly how this bloodshed took place," Ban said.
"I believe Israel must urgently provide a full explanation," he added, moments after delivering a speech hailing the "new age of accountability" heralded by the creation of the ICC in 2002.
The Hague-based tribunal, of which Israel is not a member, is the world's first permanent court mandated to bring perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide to justice.
The UN chief said that a detailed account of the incident was needed before the international community could coordinate its response.
http://islamicscholars.newsvine.com/_news/2010/05/31/4442389-afp-un-chief-shocked-by-gaza-aid-flotilla-raid?threadId=969074&commentId=14504515#c14504515
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"I am shocked by reports of killings and injuries of people on boats carrying supplies for Gaza," the UN chief said at a press conference following the opening in Uganda of a key conference on the International Criminal Court.
"I condemn this violence," Ban added, as an Israeli television channel reported that as many as 19 pro-Palestinian activists may have been killed in the Israeli military raid.
"It is vital that there is a full investigation to determine exactly how this bloodshed took place," Ban said.
"I believe Israel must urgently provide a full explanation," he added, moments after delivering a speech hailing the "new age of accountability" heralded by the creation of the ICC in 2002.
The Hague-based tribunal, of which Israel is not a member, is the world's first permanent court mandated to bring perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide to justice.
The UN chief said that a detailed account of the incident was needed before the international community could coordinate its response.
http://islamicscholars.newsvine.com/_news/2010/05/31/4442389-afp-un-chief-shocked-by-gaza-aid-flotilla-raid?threadId=969074&commentId=14504515#c14504515
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Civilians Under Attack by Israel
Civilians Under Attack by Israel 31 May 2010
(Cyprus, June 1, 2010, 6:30 am) Under darkness of night, Israeli commandoes dropped from a helicopter onto the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, and began to shoot the moment their feet hit the deck. They fired directly into the crowd of civilians asleep. According to the live video from the ship, two have been killed, and 31 injured. Al Jazeera has just confirmed the numbers.
Streaming video shows the Israeli soldiers shooting at civilians, and our last SPOT beacon said, “HELP, we are being contacted by the Israelis.”
We know nothing about the other five boats. Israel says they are taking over the boats.
The coalition of Free Gaza Movement (FG), European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza (ECESG), Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), the Perdana Global Peace Organisation , Ship to Gaza Greece, Ship to Gaza Sweden, and the International Committee to Lift the Siege on Gaza appeal to the international community to demand that Israel stop their brutal attack on civilians delivering vitally needed aid to the imprisoned Palestinians of Gaza and permit the ships to continue on their way.
The attack has happened in international waters, 75 miles off the coast of Israel, in direct violation of international law.
http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/press-releases/1191-civilians-under-attack-by-israel
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(Cyprus, June 1, 2010, 6:30 am) Under darkness of night, Israeli commandoes dropped from a helicopter onto the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, and began to shoot the moment their feet hit the deck. They fired directly into the crowd of civilians asleep. According to the live video from the ship, two have been killed, and 31 injured. Al Jazeera has just confirmed the numbers.
Streaming video shows the Israeli soldiers shooting at civilians, and our last SPOT beacon said, “HELP, we are being contacted by the Israelis.”
We know nothing about the other five boats. Israel says they are taking over the boats.
The coalition of Free Gaza Movement (FG), European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza (ECESG), Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), the Perdana Global Peace Organisation , Ship to Gaza Greece, Ship to Gaza Sweden, and the International Committee to Lift the Siege on Gaza appeal to the international community to demand that Israel stop their brutal attack on civilians delivering vitally needed aid to the imprisoned Palestinians of Gaza and permit the ships to continue on their way.
The attack has happened in international waters, 75 miles off the coast of Israel, in direct violation of international law.
http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/press-releases/1191-civilians-under-attack-by-israel
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Monday, May 3, 2010
Zionist aggression against God, Judaism and humanity.
Enough Lies discusses the Main lies that are being brought by the tongues of the Israeli spokesmen on the western media regarding Gaza and Hamas.
a montage of various [News Channels, Interviews, News Links and Audios] related to the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict where I try to Expose the lies about terror state Israel which has been always decorated by the western media to justify it's Brutal, sadistic actions towards the Palestinian People.
This video is to educate the people of the world.
I didn't make this video, this video was created by futurdoc whose channel was suspended countless times for speaking out against Zionism
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a montage of various [News Channels, Interviews, News Links and Audios] related to the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict where I try to Expose the lies about terror state Israel which has been always decorated by the western media to justify it's Brutal, sadistic actions towards the Palestinian People.
This video is to educate the people of the world.
I didn't make this video, this video was created by futurdoc whose channel was suspended countless times for speaking out against Zionism
Subscribe to Falestin Under Occupation by Email
Landscapes of Occupation in Palestine
Ex-Communicated tells the story of Israeli occupation in Palestine through the genre of landscape and the perspective of a camera lens. In his series of remarkable photographs, Gary Fields, a professor of communication at the University of California, San Diego takes us behind the walls, gates, and fences of this deliberately fragmented geography in revealing Palestinian life under Israeli military rule. What he shows in these images is how the forces of occupation use the landscape as an instrument of control over Palestinians and a mechanism for dispossessing them of land and property. Much of this story is untold and largely unseen. These photos convey forcefully how the process of enclosure on the landscape has “ex-communicated” Palestinians, immobilizing them into ever-diminishing spaces, while at the same time inspiring them into heroic acts of peaceful resistance.
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Saturday, May 1, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Israel closes Gaza's commercial crossings
Gaza, April 18, (Pal Telegraph) The Israeli occupation authorities announced the closure of Gaza’s commercial crossings today and tomorrow because of Jewish holidays.
Raed Fattouh, Chairman of goods entry to Gaza Committee, said that the Israeli occupation forces closed the Kerem Abu Salem and Carney commercial crossings today and tomorrow due to jewish holidays, to be re-opened on next Wednesday’s morning.
Fattouh, added that the Israeli occupation authorities allowed the introduction of 69 trucks through the Kerem Abu Salem crossing, including two trucks of aid, in addition to pumping 223,437 liters of gasoline for power plant and 111,300 liters of cooking gas, and exported one truck loaded with flowers.
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Raed Fattouh, Chairman of goods entry to Gaza Committee, said that the Israeli occupation forces closed the Kerem Abu Salem and Carney commercial crossings today and tomorrow due to jewish holidays, to be re-opened on next Wednesday’s morning.
Fattouh, added that the Israeli occupation authorities allowed the introduction of 69 trucks through the Kerem Abu Salem crossing, including two trucks of aid, in addition to pumping 223,437 liters of gasoline for power plant and 111,300 liters of cooking gas, and exported one truck loaded with flowers.
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Thursday, April 15, 2010
The Dangers and Difficulties of Reporting from Gaza: Two Journalists Recount Their Experiences
We speak with two journalists who have covered Gaza extensively about the dangers and difficulties of reporting from the Occupied Territories: Mohammed Omer, an award-winning Palestinian journalist who was interrogated and beaten by armed Israeli security guards on his way back home to Gaza after receiving the prestigious Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism in London in July of 2008, and Ayman Mohyeldin, the Gaza correspondent for Al Jazeera English, who was one of the only international journalists reporting from inside Gaza during the twenty-two-day Israeli assault last year.
Watch Videos here at Democracy Now
Part two
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Watch Videos here at Democracy Now
Part two
Subscribe to Falestin Under Occupation by Email
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Your Tax Dollars at Work: Israel to deport...well...just about the entire West Bank, apparently
In the most recent round of Kafka-esque absurdity from the U.S.-funded Israeli military, new military orders would allow the occupying army to deport anyone in the West Bank without an army-granted permit--which could include just about anyone
According to an editorial in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, "The order's vague language will allow army officers to exploit it arbitrarily to carry out mass expulsions, in accordance with military orders which were issued under unclear circumstances....This would be a grave and dangerous move, unprecedented during the Israeli occupation."
And The Guardian reports on efforts by Israeli human rights groups to combat this order:
"Israel's leading human rights groups are trying to stop two new Israeli military orders which will make any resident of the occupied West Bank who does not have an Israeli-issued permit liable for deportation or jail.
The new Order Regarding Prevention of Infiltration and Order Regarding Security Provisions, which comes into force on Tuesday have "severe ramifications," the rights groups say. Palestinians, and any foreigners living in the West Bank, could be labelled infiltrators and deported within 72 hours or jailed for seven years if they are found without the correct permit. It does not define what Israel considers a valid permit.
"The orders … are worded so broadly such as theoretically allowing the military to empty the West Bank of almost all its Palestinian inhabitants," said the 10 rights groups, which include Ha-Moked, B'Tselem, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and Rabbis for Human Rights. Until now the vast majority of Palestinians in the West Bank have not been required to hold a permit just to be present in their homes, the groups say."
Meanwhile, deported American journalist Jared Malsin writes at Huffington Post that the recent Anat Kam/Uri Blau cover-up scandal, which involves an expose of Israeli assassination orders that violated even the country's own laws (much less international law regarding extrajudicial assassination), is the latest front in Israel's "crisis of legitimacy."
Crisis of legitimacy, indeed. Racist permit systems. Arbitrary deportation. Extrajudicial assassinations. There is nothing legitimate about any of it.
Find out how much money you and your community are spending to support this sort of absurdity, and what you can do to stop it, at AidtoIsrael.org
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/your-tax-dollars-at-work-israel-to.html
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Stuck between a wall and an occupation
When Bilal Jadou's grandmother was sick last year, and in need of immediate medical care, the family called the Jerusalem emergency service and requested an ambulance -- only to hear on the other end of the line that no Israeli ambulances would be permitted to reach the house without permission from the Israeli military. "Try the Bethlehem ambulance service," the emergency dispatcher told Jadou. When he called the Bethlehem ambulance, they told him to have his grandmother meet them at the other side of the main Bethlehem-Jerusalem checkpoint because they weren't allowed to cross. Jadou's house is on the other side of the sprawling apartheid wall, separated from his community and the West Bank, and in a permanent state of oppressive bureaucratic and administrative limbo as nearby settlements are intended to spread onto his land.
The Electronic Intifada correspondent Nora Barrows-Friedman interviewed Jadou, 26 years old, about his situation. They spoke inside Aida refugee camp, in Bethlehem.
Nora Barrows-Friedman: Tell us about your situation and why this story is so important in the context of what's happening here in the Bethlehem area, especially in Aida camp, which is right up against the wall, cutting the land of families here in half.
Bilal Jadou: My family is separated from each other. We used to live in the refugee camp here and in our other house that used to be within five minutes walking distance from here. Since the wall was built, we can't communicate as a family. Some of us live in this house in Aida, and the others live in our other house on the other side of the wall.
I have six brothers and three sisters. Two of the brothers, including me, and one of our sisters, are allowed by Israel to live in the house on the other side of the wall. No one else is allowed to be there. Now it sometimes takes two hours to cross the checkpoint in Bethlehem to see our family in Aida camp. Other times, the Israelis close the checkpoint entirely and we can't see each other at all.
NBF: How did the Israelis choose who was able to live in the house on the other side of the wall?
BJ: They said it was purely because of "security reasons," and we still don't know why some got permission and some didn't. Also, we can't add anything to the house; we can't build onto the house. At any time, they can come and take my permission and say it's for "security reasons."
NBF: Do you have a special ID card now? Such as a Jerusalem residency card? How are you identified as someone who lives on the other side of the wall?
BJ: I still have a West Bank Palestinian ID, with a special permission slip for just the Tantur area [where the house is]. If Israeli police catch me anywhere else other than at my house, or if they catch me working inside Jerusalem, they will take my permission away. I can just be inside the house, and nothing more.
The Israeli wall runs along the Aida refugee camp.
NBF: So, if you want to buy groceries, or go to the bank, or get gasoline for your car, or get to the hospital, what do you do?
BJ: We can't do any of these things. I can't even drive a car inside the area near the house. We're not allowed. We can't even take a taxi to the checkpoint. We have to walk. If we want to buy groceries, we can only buy them inside the Palestinian territories. But we are not allowed to bring anything from inside the Palestinian territories to my house. So the only way I can get food and supplies to my house is to have friends inside Jerusalem buy our groceries, or whatever we need, and bring them to us.
We have no services except water and electricity, which come from the Palestinian side of the wall. Israel won't allow us to have anything else. It's a way to push us to leave this area and go to the other side of the wall. This is the only reason they're doing this to us.
My grandmother got sick and we called the Israeli ambulance. They told us to coordinate with the Israeli soldiers, who then refused to allow the ambulance to reach us. The Palestinian ambulance told us that since they couldn't cross the checkpoint, we had to bring my grandmother to the checkpoint and they would take her to the hospital in Bethlehem. Since we couldn't use a car to bring her to the checkpoint, we put her on a donkey and walked her over there. But before we reached the checkpoint, my grandmother died.
NBF: On the other side of the wall, there is a lot of land that was cultivated by families in Beit Jala and Aida camp until the wall was completed in 2004. And then you have Gilo and Har Gilo settlements, right next to your house on the other side. Talk more about this policy of taking land, using the wall to separate communities, and forcing Palestinians to stay inside these ghettos in the West Bank.
BJ: There is a lot of land near our house owned by Palestinians. But we're the last family who are allowed to stay there. Just a few months ago, we tried to expand our house a little bit; we built a shed that was only two meters squared. The Israeli police came and told us that we had to stop building. If we want to fix the house, the police come. If we paint our house, the police ask us to remove the paint. But then you look across the street, and you see Gilo settlement with their cranes and bulldozers and construction teams building all the time, expanding all day long.
NBF: The police come often to check to see if you have put paint on the walls. But what about the treatment you receive by settlers?
BJ: The settlers attacked us once. They built a fence around our house and told us to leave. But we went to the court to prove that this was our house, with deeds and documents since the Ottoman period. The court gave us back our land and the permission to stay on our land. Most of the time, though, we get the most terrible treatment from the Israeli soldiers. They come and attack us. Once, they came and took all of our furniture from inside the house and threw it outside. They told us, "find another place to live!" They sometimes come at 2:00 in the morning, taking us outside of the house, and searching to make sure we haven't built anything or fixed anything inside the house.
I was once told by a soldier, after he took my ID card one night, to go to the checkpoint to retrieve it. I got to the checkpoint, and the soldier called me on my mobile phone, telling me that he was outside of the house, and I should come back to get it. I went back to the house, and then he called and said that he was at the checkpoint. This went on until 6:00 in the morning. Sometimes they take my ID card to other checkpoints so I'm forced to travel a long distance to retrieve it. They're trying to put a lot of pressure on us so that we leave the area and they can expand the settlement.
NBF: Tell me about your family's history. We're sitting inside your home in the refugee camp. Where was your family from, originally, before they were expelled in 1948?
BJ: Originally, we're refugees from al-Malha. It's just one kilometer away, five minutes away by car. Some of my family fled in 1948 and came here. Even part of the refugee camp is on al-Malha land, inside the West Bank borders. When the Israelis invaded and occupied the West Bank in 1967, some of the family decided to go back to the house in al-Malha, inside the so-called Israeli area. So now we're separated into three parts -- my family in Aida camp, my brothers and sisters inside the house on the other side of the wall, and the rest in al-Malha. We haven't been together as a family -- we haven't all sat down to dinner together -- for six years.
Sometimes, if something is happening inside the camp, like a wedding for a friend or neighbor, we have to leave our house at nine in the morning to be sure we're at the wedding by three in the afternoon. We're affected a lot by the separation.
NBF: It used to take you five minutes to get to the camp from the house before the wall was built.
BJ: Yes, five minutes, not more. Sometimes, if I walk quickly, it used to take three minutes. Now, it's half an hour just to walk to the checkpoint. Then I spend sometimes two, three hours inside the checkpoint.
NBF: What do you think about the next generation of Palestinians who are facing similar situations? When you get married and have children, what do you want for them?
BJ: I hope everything changes. The situation is extremely difficult, and I hope that the new generation can live in peace without any conflicts. Actually, when you mentioned marriage, this is a very depressing issue for me. I tried to get married recently. But I can't, because I'm living in this area. If I marry a girl from Bethlehem, I can't live with her in Bethlehem because then I'd have to move to the city and lose my land and my house. If I want to marry a girl from Jerusalem, she'd refuse. I don't have an Israeli ID and I can't go anywhere inside Jerusalem. This is no way to make a family. So I'm stuck.
I think I'll never get married, because I need to protect my house. Maybe there'll be a solution soon, and things will change.
All images by Nora Barrows-Friedman.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11168.shtml
Subscribe to Falestin Under Occupation by Email
The Electronic Intifada correspondent Nora Barrows-Friedman interviewed Jadou, 26 years old, about his situation. They spoke inside Aida refugee camp, in Bethlehem.
Nora Barrows-Friedman: Tell us about your situation and why this story is so important in the context of what's happening here in the Bethlehem area, especially in Aida camp, which is right up against the wall, cutting the land of families here in half.
Bilal Jadou: My family is separated from each other. We used to live in the refugee camp here and in our other house that used to be within five minutes walking distance from here. Since the wall was built, we can't communicate as a family. Some of us live in this house in Aida, and the others live in our other house on the other side of the wall.
I have six brothers and three sisters. Two of the brothers, including me, and one of our sisters, are allowed by Israel to live in the house on the other side of the wall. No one else is allowed to be there. Now it sometimes takes two hours to cross the checkpoint in Bethlehem to see our family in Aida camp. Other times, the Israelis close the checkpoint entirely and we can't see each other at all.
NBF: How did the Israelis choose who was able to live in the house on the other side of the wall?
BJ: They said it was purely because of "security reasons," and we still don't know why some got permission and some didn't. Also, we can't add anything to the house; we can't build onto the house. At any time, they can come and take my permission and say it's for "security reasons."
NBF: Do you have a special ID card now? Such as a Jerusalem residency card? How are you identified as someone who lives on the other side of the wall?
BJ: I still have a West Bank Palestinian ID, with a special permission slip for just the Tantur area [where the house is]. If Israeli police catch me anywhere else other than at my house, or if they catch me working inside Jerusalem, they will take my permission away. I can just be inside the house, and nothing more.
The Israeli wall runs along the Aida refugee camp.
NBF: So, if you want to buy groceries, or go to the bank, or get gasoline for your car, or get to the hospital, what do you do?
BJ: We can't do any of these things. I can't even drive a car inside the area near the house. We're not allowed. We can't even take a taxi to the checkpoint. We have to walk. If we want to buy groceries, we can only buy them inside the Palestinian territories. But we are not allowed to bring anything from inside the Palestinian territories to my house. So the only way I can get food and supplies to my house is to have friends inside Jerusalem buy our groceries, or whatever we need, and bring them to us.
We have no services except water and electricity, which come from the Palestinian side of the wall. Israel won't allow us to have anything else. It's a way to push us to leave this area and go to the other side of the wall. This is the only reason they're doing this to us.
My grandmother got sick and we called the Israeli ambulance. They told us to coordinate with the Israeli soldiers, who then refused to allow the ambulance to reach us. The Palestinian ambulance told us that since they couldn't cross the checkpoint, we had to bring my grandmother to the checkpoint and they would take her to the hospital in Bethlehem. Since we couldn't use a car to bring her to the checkpoint, we put her on a donkey and walked her over there. But before we reached the checkpoint, my grandmother died.
NBF: On the other side of the wall, there is a lot of land that was cultivated by families in Beit Jala and Aida camp until the wall was completed in 2004. And then you have Gilo and Har Gilo settlements, right next to your house on the other side. Talk more about this policy of taking land, using the wall to separate communities, and forcing Palestinians to stay inside these ghettos in the West Bank.
BJ: There is a lot of land near our house owned by Palestinians. But we're the last family who are allowed to stay there. Just a few months ago, we tried to expand our house a little bit; we built a shed that was only two meters squared. The Israeli police came and told us that we had to stop building. If we want to fix the house, the police come. If we paint our house, the police ask us to remove the paint. But then you look across the street, and you see Gilo settlement with their cranes and bulldozers and construction teams building all the time, expanding all day long.
NBF: The police come often to check to see if you have put paint on the walls. But what about the treatment you receive by settlers?
BJ: The settlers attacked us once. They built a fence around our house and told us to leave. But we went to the court to prove that this was our house, with deeds and documents since the Ottoman period. The court gave us back our land and the permission to stay on our land. Most of the time, though, we get the most terrible treatment from the Israeli soldiers. They come and attack us. Once, they came and took all of our furniture from inside the house and threw it outside. They told us, "find another place to live!" They sometimes come at 2:00 in the morning, taking us outside of the house, and searching to make sure we haven't built anything or fixed anything inside the house.
I was once told by a soldier, after he took my ID card one night, to go to the checkpoint to retrieve it. I got to the checkpoint, and the soldier called me on my mobile phone, telling me that he was outside of the house, and I should come back to get it. I went back to the house, and then he called and said that he was at the checkpoint. This went on until 6:00 in the morning. Sometimes they take my ID card to other checkpoints so I'm forced to travel a long distance to retrieve it. They're trying to put a lot of pressure on us so that we leave the area and they can expand the settlement.
NBF: Tell me about your family's history. We're sitting inside your home in the refugee camp. Where was your family from, originally, before they were expelled in 1948?
BJ: Originally, we're refugees from al-Malha. It's just one kilometer away, five minutes away by car. Some of my family fled in 1948 and came here. Even part of the refugee camp is on al-Malha land, inside the West Bank borders. When the Israelis invaded and occupied the West Bank in 1967, some of the family decided to go back to the house in al-Malha, inside the so-called Israeli area. So now we're separated into three parts -- my family in Aida camp, my brothers and sisters inside the house on the other side of the wall, and the rest in al-Malha. We haven't been together as a family -- we haven't all sat down to dinner together -- for six years.
Sometimes, if something is happening inside the camp, like a wedding for a friend or neighbor, we have to leave our house at nine in the morning to be sure we're at the wedding by three in the afternoon. We're affected a lot by the separation.
NBF: It used to take you five minutes to get to the camp from the house before the wall was built.
BJ: Yes, five minutes, not more. Sometimes, if I walk quickly, it used to take three minutes. Now, it's half an hour just to walk to the checkpoint. Then I spend sometimes two, three hours inside the checkpoint.
NBF: What do you think about the next generation of Palestinians who are facing similar situations? When you get married and have children, what do you want for them?
BJ: I hope everything changes. The situation is extremely difficult, and I hope that the new generation can live in peace without any conflicts. Actually, when you mentioned marriage, this is a very depressing issue for me. I tried to get married recently. But I can't, because I'm living in this area. If I marry a girl from Bethlehem, I can't live with her in Bethlehem because then I'd have to move to the city and lose my land and my house. If I want to marry a girl from Jerusalem, she'd refuse. I don't have an Israeli ID and I can't go anywhere inside Jerusalem. This is no way to make a family. So I'm stuck.
I think I'll never get married, because I need to protect my house. Maybe there'll be a solution soon, and things will change.
All images by Nora Barrows-Friedman.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11168.shtml
Subscribe to Falestin Under Occupation by Email
Attack on Berkeley divestment bill dishonest and misleading
A coalition of nearly 20 Jewish groups, ranging from the right-wing David Project and the Jewish National Fund to the liberal J Street, is distributing a misleading statement condemning a Student Senate bill at the University of California, Berkeley ("Troubling UC Berkeley Student Senate Bill on Israel, 5 April 2010). The ground-breaking bill calls for divestment from companies that profit from the perpetuation of the Israeli military occupation in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza. They refer to the bill as "dishonest" and "misleading" and "based on contested allegations."
Yet it is their letter that is both dishonest and misleading.
The bill is based on extensive, footnoted research (see A Bill in Support of UC Divestment from War Crimes).
Yet this coalition of Jewish groups does not contest any of the facts. Without offering any evidence, they dismiss findings by reputable organizations like the Red Cross, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Instead of condemning these human rights violations, they prefer to misinform the public by suggesting that it is somehow wrong to "take sides" against universally-recognized injustice. In so doing, they effectively defend illegal Israeli settlements and the Israeli military occupation that continues to disrupt everyday features of Palestinian life: education, health care, economic life and art and culture.
Further, they claim that the Berkeley bill calls on the university "to divest exclusively from Israel." They imply that the bill calls for divestment "from any company doing business with Israel."
But this is simply not true.
The Berkeley bill focuses specifically on the Israeli occupation, not on Israel. While a vibrant and necessary debate on the merits of a total boycott and divestment from Israel continues around the world, it is not at issue here.
In reality, the bill divests only from two American companies that make money by equipping the occupation, General Electric and United Technologies -- but no Israeli companies. It also announces an intention to divest from any company -- whatever the nationality, and only after further research -- that similarly profit from the occupation.
These groups choose to deliberately misreport the language of the bill, which refers specifically and exclusively to companies that:
Provide military support for or weaponry to support the occupation of the Palestinian territories; or facilitate the building or maintenance of the illegal wall or the demolition of Palestinian homes; or facilitate the building, maintenance, or economic development of illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territories.
By condemning the humane and ethical policy of what is essentially morally responsible investment, do these groups mean to encourage investing in companies that provide the weapons of occupation, build the settlements of colonization, and render thousands of innocent Palestinians homeless?
They claim that the bill "unfairly targets the State of Israel." But Israel is the country building the settlements and administering the occupation. And it is one of the world's best known human rights abusers that is not already sanctioned by the United States -- which provides Israel with more than $3 billion annually. Who else should the bill address?
There is no reason not to name Israel when it violates human rights, but these groups suggest that students should instead pass a bill with no teeth, a bill that merely condemns human rights violations in general without referring specifically to Israel. But it is absurd to suggest that students do not already condemn those violations in the abstract, or have not already worked to apply similar standards to countries like Sudan and South Africa and will not apply them similarly to other countries in the future. The bill merely applies widely-held principles to a particular situation.
In effect they are calling on students not to apply the same principles applied elsewhere to Israel. These groups want us to ignore reality and to allow Israel to be the one and only human rights violator that escapes accountability and condemnation. Perversely, they themselves are guilty of singling out Israel in order to defend occupation and the unjustifiable oppression of the Palestinian people.
The statement acknowledges no wall, no home demolitions, no Israeli settlements, no Palestinian suffering. All of these, the letter calls "discrete incident[s] without consideration of the larger picture." How many more decades of occupation and dispossession will it take for our nation's major Jewish organizations to issue a statement calling these injustices what they are, an inhumane and morally indefensible system of occupation?
By reducing these coordinated events to isolated incidents, they diminish their significance, aid the settlement efforts, and obstruct Palestinian freedom and human rights.
Most perniciously, they refer to the bill as "marginalizing Jewish students on campus who support Israel." The fact that they mention only Jewish students and not other students who might hold similar political positions reveals the true meaning of this statement: this is an intellectually dishonest and misleading accusation of anti-Semitism that cannot be taken lightly. The bill does not target any students: it only targets corporations that facilitate occupation.
In fact, the Berkeley bill was co-authored by an Israeli Jewish student on campus and is supported by many Jews who have testified in favor of the bill and have written thousands of letters of support to the student senators.
Ironically, these groups' statement actually marginalizes both Jews and non-Jews who oppose the Israeli occupation. It especially harms American and Palestinian students who may be affected by such investments when studying, conducting research, or visiting relatives in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The misinformation campaign targeting UC Berkeley follows the same script that was used to defame similar efforts by the Presbyterian Church in 2008, which endeavored to ensure that it was "invested only in peaceful pursuits."
Then, a similar coalition accused the Presbyterian Church of "one-sidedness" and in much more explicit terms, anti-Semitism. In other words, they recast the very idea that one should be "invested only in peaceful pursuits" in Israel-Palestine as biased or racist.
This year the Presbyterian Church is considering divestment from Caterpillar because of the company's refusal to take responsibility for the destruction its bulldozers create in the West Bank and Gaza. The Simon Wiesenthal Center cast all logic aside and accused the church of engaging in "nothing short of a declaration of war on Israel." This kind of hyperbolic language is untrue, harms civil discourse and only serves to hamper the efforts of those rightfully opposed to the demolition of Palestinian homes and the uprooting of Palestinian orchards.
Now in Berkeley, a constellation of Jewish organizations has regrettably mobilized its resources to stand in the way of yet another progressive victory. The letter's deliberate distortions call into question whether the signers would support any method of monitoring, discouraging and preventing Israeli human rights violations.
Instead, the letter's signers suggest that Americans should act with their hands tied behind their backs, without the full toolkit of nonviolent resistance tactics that have been an essential part of all successful human justice movements.
However, not engaging in morally responsible investment when faced with the clear findings of human rights organizations and the international community would be morally indefensible.
Choosing to do something about Israel's human rights violations does not require turning a blind eye to other injustices in the world as these groups suggest; but refusing to take action because of other examples would indeed turn a blind eye to this one. Now is the time to support Palestinian freedom and human rights. Berkeley students have done the right thing. Others should follow suit and divest from the occupation, as part of their general commitment to ethical investment policies.
Sydney Levy is the Director of Campaigns for Jewish Voice for Peace, a national grassroots organization dedicated to full equality between Israelis and Palestinians.
Yaman Salahi, a UC Berkeley alumnus and member of Students for Justice in Palestine, is currently a student at Yale Law School.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11198.shtml
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Yet it is their letter that is both dishonest and misleading.
The bill is based on extensive, footnoted research (see A Bill in Support of UC Divestment from War Crimes).
Yet this coalition of Jewish groups does not contest any of the facts. Without offering any evidence, they dismiss findings by reputable organizations like the Red Cross, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Instead of condemning these human rights violations, they prefer to misinform the public by suggesting that it is somehow wrong to "take sides" against universally-recognized injustice. In so doing, they effectively defend illegal Israeli settlements and the Israeli military occupation that continues to disrupt everyday features of Palestinian life: education, health care, economic life and art and culture.
Further, they claim that the Berkeley bill calls on the university "to divest exclusively from Israel." They imply that the bill calls for divestment "from any company doing business with Israel."
But this is simply not true.
The Berkeley bill focuses specifically on the Israeli occupation, not on Israel. While a vibrant and necessary debate on the merits of a total boycott and divestment from Israel continues around the world, it is not at issue here.
In reality, the bill divests only from two American companies that make money by equipping the occupation, General Electric and United Technologies -- but no Israeli companies. It also announces an intention to divest from any company -- whatever the nationality, and only after further research -- that similarly profit from the occupation.
These groups choose to deliberately misreport the language of the bill, which refers specifically and exclusively to companies that:
Provide military support for or weaponry to support the occupation of the Palestinian territories; or facilitate the building or maintenance of the illegal wall or the demolition of Palestinian homes; or facilitate the building, maintenance, or economic development of illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territories.
By condemning the humane and ethical policy of what is essentially morally responsible investment, do these groups mean to encourage investing in companies that provide the weapons of occupation, build the settlements of colonization, and render thousands of innocent Palestinians homeless?
They claim that the bill "unfairly targets the State of Israel." But Israel is the country building the settlements and administering the occupation. And it is one of the world's best known human rights abusers that is not already sanctioned by the United States -- which provides Israel with more than $3 billion annually. Who else should the bill address?
There is no reason not to name Israel when it violates human rights, but these groups suggest that students should instead pass a bill with no teeth, a bill that merely condemns human rights violations in general without referring specifically to Israel. But it is absurd to suggest that students do not already condemn those violations in the abstract, or have not already worked to apply similar standards to countries like Sudan and South Africa and will not apply them similarly to other countries in the future. The bill merely applies widely-held principles to a particular situation.
In effect they are calling on students not to apply the same principles applied elsewhere to Israel. These groups want us to ignore reality and to allow Israel to be the one and only human rights violator that escapes accountability and condemnation. Perversely, they themselves are guilty of singling out Israel in order to defend occupation and the unjustifiable oppression of the Palestinian people.
The statement acknowledges no wall, no home demolitions, no Israeli settlements, no Palestinian suffering. All of these, the letter calls "discrete incident[s] without consideration of the larger picture." How many more decades of occupation and dispossession will it take for our nation's major Jewish organizations to issue a statement calling these injustices what they are, an inhumane and morally indefensible system of occupation?
By reducing these coordinated events to isolated incidents, they diminish their significance, aid the settlement efforts, and obstruct Palestinian freedom and human rights.
Most perniciously, they refer to the bill as "marginalizing Jewish students on campus who support Israel." The fact that they mention only Jewish students and not other students who might hold similar political positions reveals the true meaning of this statement: this is an intellectually dishonest and misleading accusation of anti-Semitism that cannot be taken lightly. The bill does not target any students: it only targets corporations that facilitate occupation.
In fact, the Berkeley bill was co-authored by an Israeli Jewish student on campus and is supported by many Jews who have testified in favor of the bill and have written thousands of letters of support to the student senators.
Ironically, these groups' statement actually marginalizes both Jews and non-Jews who oppose the Israeli occupation. It especially harms American and Palestinian students who may be affected by such investments when studying, conducting research, or visiting relatives in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The misinformation campaign targeting UC Berkeley follows the same script that was used to defame similar efforts by the Presbyterian Church in 2008, which endeavored to ensure that it was "invested only in peaceful pursuits."
Then, a similar coalition accused the Presbyterian Church of "one-sidedness" and in much more explicit terms, anti-Semitism. In other words, they recast the very idea that one should be "invested only in peaceful pursuits" in Israel-Palestine as biased or racist.
This year the Presbyterian Church is considering divestment from Caterpillar because of the company's refusal to take responsibility for the destruction its bulldozers create in the West Bank and Gaza. The Simon Wiesenthal Center cast all logic aside and accused the church of engaging in "nothing short of a declaration of war on Israel." This kind of hyperbolic language is untrue, harms civil discourse and only serves to hamper the efforts of those rightfully opposed to the demolition of Palestinian homes and the uprooting of Palestinian orchards.
Now in Berkeley, a constellation of Jewish organizations has regrettably mobilized its resources to stand in the way of yet another progressive victory. The letter's deliberate distortions call into question whether the signers would support any method of monitoring, discouraging and preventing Israeli human rights violations.
Instead, the letter's signers suggest that Americans should act with their hands tied behind their backs, without the full toolkit of nonviolent resistance tactics that have been an essential part of all successful human justice movements.
However, not engaging in morally responsible investment when faced with the clear findings of human rights organizations and the international community would be morally indefensible.
Choosing to do something about Israel's human rights violations does not require turning a blind eye to other injustices in the world as these groups suggest; but refusing to take action because of other examples would indeed turn a blind eye to this one. Now is the time to support Palestinian freedom and human rights. Berkeley students have done the right thing. Others should follow suit and divest from the occupation, as part of their general commitment to ethical investment policies.
Sydney Levy is the Director of Campaigns for Jewish Voice for Peace, a national grassroots organization dedicated to full equality between Israelis and Palestinians.
Yaman Salahi, a UC Berkeley alumnus and member of Students for Justice in Palestine, is currently a student at Yale Law School.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11198.shtml
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Talking Palestine to power
Today, there is no excuse for not knowing the truth about Palestine, especially what is happening in Gaza. Even taking into account the disinformation spread in mainstream media, there are enough glimpses one gets of a ravaged Gaza and a brutalized people that should compel us to ask questions. There are enough websites and blogs easily available for anyone to learn more, even if it requires sifting through and evaluating the available information. Certainly, the alarm bells should be ringing when our political leaders declare undying fealty to Israel or cavalierly wear it as a badge of honor, despite the documented reports of Israel's war crimes by human rights groups and official enquiries.
But the world lacks courage from government leaders, acquiescent mainstream media, nongovernmental organizations dependent on government support, academics looking for tenure and populations too long fed on a diet of Zionist myths. People are terrified of being labelled anti-Semitic, a mendacious charge against anyone criticizing Israel. Palestinians too, afraid of being further shunned and disadvantaged in countries that give them refuge, so often remain silent. Not only do people fear repercussions, but speaking the truth or even just hearing it has a way of taking people out of their comfort zones. They fear their troubled consciences may require them to act and so they bury their heads deeper into the sand where they hope even the sounds of silence might be extinguished.
This then is the challenge for advocates the world over. How does one talk Palestine to power if one cannot even talk Palestine to the people who are in fear of the powerful?
In the face of media saturation with Zionist viewpoints and the new "Brand Israel" campaigns, many wanting to advocate for Palestine might feel defeated, but time and again we see that the power of one can be enormously effective.
The great scholar and public intellectual Edward Said showed more than anyone else that individuals can make a difference in the public defense of Palestine. He particularly saw the intellectual's voice as having "resonance."
But one does not need to be an intellectual. Said's words can just as aptly apply to any one of us. He said avoidance was "reprehensible" and in his 1994 book Representations of the Intellectual, described it as "that characteristic turning away from a difficult and principled position which you know to be the right one, but which you decide not to take. You do not want to appear too political; you are afraid of seeming too controversial; you need the approval of a boss or an authority figure; you want to keep a reputation for being balanced, objective, moderate; your hope is ... to remain within the responsible mainstream ... ."
In 1993 when almost everyone else thought the handshakes at the White House steps would seal the negotiated Oslo accords and at long last give the Palestinians their freedom and bring peace to the region, Edward Said saw that these accords would merely provide the cover for Israel to pursue its colonial expansionism and consolidate its occupation of Palestine. However, he knew to criticize Oslo meant in effect taking a position against "hope" and "peace." His decision to do so flew in the face of the Palestinian revolutionary leadership that had bartered for statehood.
Although Said was denounced for his views, he was not prepared to buy into the deception that he knew would leave the Palestinians with neither hope nor peace. And just as he predicted, each fruitless year of peacemaking finally exposed the horrible reality of Oslo as Palestinians found themselves the victims of Israel's matrix of control, a term first used to describe the situation by Israeli professor Jeff Halper in 1999. And this domination of one people over another without any intention of addressing the injustices against the Palestinians ethnically cleansed from their homeland, has undeniably reduced Israel to an apartheid state.
The Palestinians have nothing left worth calling a state and they are facing an existential threat on all fronts. Yet, some intellectuals are still talking about a two-state solution in lock step with politicians, a mantra that is repeated uncritically, even mendaciously, in the mainstream media.
This pandering to an idea for decades has been undermined by the furious sounds of drills and hammers reverberating in illegal settlements throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the catastrophic societal ruptures engineered in Gaza. Now those sounds are muffled by the rhetoric of "economic peace," "institution-building," "democracy," "internal security" and "statehood." They are words that must be challenged at every opportunity, for they are not mere words, but dangerous concepts when isolated from truth on the ground.
It is no use talking about "economic peace" when industrial estates built for Palestinian workers are intended to provide Israel with slave labor and cheap goods. It is useless to support "institution-building" when Israel continues to undermine and obstruct those programs already struggling to service Palestinian society. It is a lie to speak of "democracy" when fair elections in 2006 had Israel and the "international community" denying Hamas the right to govern. It is a charade to accept "internal security" when arming and training Palestinians to police their own people covers for Israel's and America's divide-and-conquer scheme. It is hollow to speak of "statehood" when Israel keeps stealing land and building illegal settlements that deprive the Palestinians of their homes and livelihoods while herding them into isolated and walled-in ghettoes.
Edward Said was proven right. Now, it is our turn to speak the truth and act fearlessly, regardless of the censure we are likely to encounter. The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer is believed to have said that truth passes through three stages: "first, it is ridiculed; second, it is violently opposed; third, it is accepted as being self-evident." Today, we are at the third stage: the 11 million Palestinians living under occupation, apartheid and as stateless refugees are the living truth. That is Israel's Achilles' heel.
The Palestinians are no longer the humble shepherds and farmers that Zionist forces terrorized into fleeing to make way for the Jewish State of Israel. A new generation wants justice and it is demanding it eloquently, nonviolently and strategically. Their message: no normal relations with Israel while it oppresses Palestinians, denies their rights and violates international law. And boycott, divestment and sanctions have to be legitimate tools for challenging a state that claims exceptionalism no matter how extreme and criminal its actions.
The temptation of course is always to opt for the path of least resistance. Therefore, we must appeal to the individual, not even to sacrifice for others, but to recognize that no matter where we live in this global village, we are all vulnerable if we do not stand up for universal human rights and uphold the principles and application of international law.
Despite his own Zionist affiliations and loyalty to Israel, Justice Richard Goldstone saw the danger of tailoring his UN-backed report on war crimes in Gaza to exonerate Israel. He had the decency and courage to put the rule of law and humanity ahead of the savage condemnation he knew would come from talking truth to power.
The same can be said of Richard Falk, the Jewish professor emeritus from Princeton University and UN special rapporteur in the occupied Palestinian territories, who was denied entry into Israel because he described Israel's siege on Gaza as a "Holocaust in the making" ("Israel deports American academic," Guardian, 15 December 2008). Israel's treatment was insulting enough, but now shamefully, the Palestinian Authority has asked the Human Rights Council to "postpone" his report on Gaza and, as Nadia Hijab reported, is asking him to resign ("PA's betrayal of human rights defenders the unkindest cut," Nadia Hijab, 14 March 2010).
These are honorable men, but we too can stand on principle in smaller ways, whether that is refusing to buy Israeli goods at our local store, boycotting an Israeli-government sponsored event or exposing and protesting the collusion between governments and corporations with Israel. That is what it means to become part of a worldwide civil movement that will do what our leaders will not: pressure Israel to dismantle the matrix of control on Palestine and make reparations for the decades of injustices it has perpetrated against its people.
It is indeed possible for all of us to "squeeze out of reality some of its potentialities," the reality that University of Melbourne Professor Ghassan Hage has said is found in those utopic moments that come from challenging our own thoughts, fears and biases. In that space lies the untapped power we seek, to speak the truth without fear or favor. In that space lies the potential for political change. In that space, there will always be hope for Palestine.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11197.shtml
Subscribe to Falestin Under Occupation by Email
But the world lacks courage from government leaders, acquiescent mainstream media, nongovernmental organizations dependent on government support, academics looking for tenure and populations too long fed on a diet of Zionist myths. People are terrified of being labelled anti-Semitic, a mendacious charge against anyone criticizing Israel. Palestinians too, afraid of being further shunned and disadvantaged in countries that give them refuge, so often remain silent. Not only do people fear repercussions, but speaking the truth or even just hearing it has a way of taking people out of their comfort zones. They fear their troubled consciences may require them to act and so they bury their heads deeper into the sand where they hope even the sounds of silence might be extinguished.
This then is the challenge for advocates the world over. How does one talk Palestine to power if one cannot even talk Palestine to the people who are in fear of the powerful?
In the face of media saturation with Zionist viewpoints and the new "Brand Israel" campaigns, many wanting to advocate for Palestine might feel defeated, but time and again we see that the power of one can be enormously effective.
The great scholar and public intellectual Edward Said showed more than anyone else that individuals can make a difference in the public defense of Palestine. He particularly saw the intellectual's voice as having "resonance."
But one does not need to be an intellectual. Said's words can just as aptly apply to any one of us. He said avoidance was "reprehensible" and in his 1994 book Representations of the Intellectual, described it as "that characteristic turning away from a difficult and principled position which you know to be the right one, but which you decide not to take. You do not want to appear too political; you are afraid of seeming too controversial; you need the approval of a boss or an authority figure; you want to keep a reputation for being balanced, objective, moderate; your hope is ... to remain within the responsible mainstream ... ."
In 1993 when almost everyone else thought the handshakes at the White House steps would seal the negotiated Oslo accords and at long last give the Palestinians their freedom and bring peace to the region, Edward Said saw that these accords would merely provide the cover for Israel to pursue its colonial expansionism and consolidate its occupation of Palestine. However, he knew to criticize Oslo meant in effect taking a position against "hope" and "peace." His decision to do so flew in the face of the Palestinian revolutionary leadership that had bartered for statehood.
Although Said was denounced for his views, he was not prepared to buy into the deception that he knew would leave the Palestinians with neither hope nor peace. And just as he predicted, each fruitless year of peacemaking finally exposed the horrible reality of Oslo as Palestinians found themselves the victims of Israel's matrix of control, a term first used to describe the situation by Israeli professor Jeff Halper in 1999. And this domination of one people over another without any intention of addressing the injustices against the Palestinians ethnically cleansed from their homeland, has undeniably reduced Israel to an apartheid state.
The Palestinians have nothing left worth calling a state and they are facing an existential threat on all fronts. Yet, some intellectuals are still talking about a two-state solution in lock step with politicians, a mantra that is repeated uncritically, even mendaciously, in the mainstream media.
This pandering to an idea for decades has been undermined by the furious sounds of drills and hammers reverberating in illegal settlements throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the catastrophic societal ruptures engineered in Gaza. Now those sounds are muffled by the rhetoric of "economic peace," "institution-building," "democracy," "internal security" and "statehood." They are words that must be challenged at every opportunity, for they are not mere words, but dangerous concepts when isolated from truth on the ground.
It is no use talking about "economic peace" when industrial estates built for Palestinian workers are intended to provide Israel with slave labor and cheap goods. It is useless to support "institution-building" when Israel continues to undermine and obstruct those programs already struggling to service Palestinian society. It is a lie to speak of "democracy" when fair elections in 2006 had Israel and the "international community" denying Hamas the right to govern. It is a charade to accept "internal security" when arming and training Palestinians to police their own people covers for Israel's and America's divide-and-conquer scheme. It is hollow to speak of "statehood" when Israel keeps stealing land and building illegal settlements that deprive the Palestinians of their homes and livelihoods while herding them into isolated and walled-in ghettoes.
Edward Said was proven right. Now, it is our turn to speak the truth and act fearlessly, regardless of the censure we are likely to encounter. The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer is believed to have said that truth passes through three stages: "first, it is ridiculed; second, it is violently opposed; third, it is accepted as being self-evident." Today, we are at the third stage: the 11 million Palestinians living under occupation, apartheid and as stateless refugees are the living truth. That is Israel's Achilles' heel.
The Palestinians are no longer the humble shepherds and farmers that Zionist forces terrorized into fleeing to make way for the Jewish State of Israel. A new generation wants justice and it is demanding it eloquently, nonviolently and strategically. Their message: no normal relations with Israel while it oppresses Palestinians, denies their rights and violates international law. And boycott, divestment and sanctions have to be legitimate tools for challenging a state that claims exceptionalism no matter how extreme and criminal its actions.
The temptation of course is always to opt for the path of least resistance. Therefore, we must appeal to the individual, not even to sacrifice for others, but to recognize that no matter where we live in this global village, we are all vulnerable if we do not stand up for universal human rights and uphold the principles and application of international law.
Despite his own Zionist affiliations and loyalty to Israel, Justice Richard Goldstone saw the danger of tailoring his UN-backed report on war crimes in Gaza to exonerate Israel. He had the decency and courage to put the rule of law and humanity ahead of the savage condemnation he knew would come from talking truth to power.
The same can be said of Richard Falk, the Jewish professor emeritus from Princeton University and UN special rapporteur in the occupied Palestinian territories, who was denied entry into Israel because he described Israel's siege on Gaza as a "Holocaust in the making" ("Israel deports American academic," Guardian, 15 December 2008). Israel's treatment was insulting enough, but now shamefully, the Palestinian Authority has asked the Human Rights Council to "postpone" his report on Gaza and, as Nadia Hijab reported, is asking him to resign ("PA's betrayal of human rights defenders the unkindest cut," Nadia Hijab, 14 March 2010).
These are honorable men, but we too can stand on principle in smaller ways, whether that is refusing to buy Israeli goods at our local store, boycotting an Israeli-government sponsored event or exposing and protesting the collusion between governments and corporations with Israel. That is what it means to become part of a worldwide civil movement that will do what our leaders will not: pressure Israel to dismantle the matrix of control on Palestine and make reparations for the decades of injustices it has perpetrated against its people.
It is indeed possible for all of us to "squeeze out of reality some of its potentialities," the reality that University of Melbourne Professor Ghassan Hage has said is found in those utopic moments that come from challenging our own thoughts, fears and biases. In that space lies the untapped power we seek, to speak the truth without fear or favor. In that space lies the potential for political change. In that space, there will always be hope for Palestine.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11197.shtml
Subscribe to Falestin Under Occupation by Email
Friday, April 9, 2010
The Demise of Gaza's "Fun Land"-Zoo
Almost all that remains of the zoo that once made up Gaza's "Fun Land" are the cages; a situation that reflects the fact that the name given to the zoo at its inception, has died along with its inhabitants. The animals of Fun land have all slowly perished for lack of the materials necessary for their development, medicine and the availability of food needed to meet their special dietary requirements.
For the past four years, Israel has imposed a strict blockade on Gaza which means that only limited amounts of food and the bare necessities needed to sustain human life are allowed in, much less items for animals.
Mohammad Barghoth, the proprietor of Fun Land, has recently put the land his zoo once occupied up for sale in an effort to stem the losses he has been incurring. He explained that the crisis began immediately after the war when large numbers of animals died of hunger in addition to exposure to the bombing. He mentioned that the ongoing restoration he had been attempting could not save the park from the crisis, which worsened rapidly.
The zoo's director said the crisis had intensified with the passage of time and lack of medicines and food for the animals, especially for the wild birds that began to die every few days. He added that they had tried to bring in medicine through the tunnels, but could not as most traders were not interested. For those that would consider it, they requested extortionate sums.
A number of the park's animals and birds have died recently, despite receiving medicine, including the ostrich, some peacocks and a fox. The ostrich died a few hours after ingesting a drug that was brought in. The adverse effects of the drug were noticed and measures were taken to save the ostrich, but to no avail.
The Director of the zoo blamed the deaths on a lack of expertise and experience of veterinarians in dealing with their animals. He tried to bring in alternative animals to ensure the continuation of the zoo, but this also failed as traders proposed to bring in the new animals at a cost of $10,000 each.
With the daily losses he incurs as a result of the death of animals, in addition to the initial cost of the zoo which was around $700,000, the enterprise has only caused him an accumulation of debt. There is almost no public demand for the zoo, whether individual or groups and he is forced to close altogether. This is despite the recent phenomenon which sought to replace the zebras by donkeys. Due to the extortionate sums required to bring in zebras, zoo owners resorted to using dye to paint regular donkeys with black and white strips to look like zebras which entertained the children for a while.
As long as the blockade of Gaza continues, this will remains the fate of "Fun Land" and other businesses like it which depend on goods being brought into the Strip from the outside. The siege continues to have far reaching effects on various aspects of Palestinian life and rights; economic, social and cultural.
Source - pictures
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For the past four years, Israel has imposed a strict blockade on Gaza which means that only limited amounts of food and the bare necessities needed to sustain human life are allowed in, much less items for animals.
Mohammad Barghoth, the proprietor of Fun Land, has recently put the land his zoo once occupied up for sale in an effort to stem the losses he has been incurring. He explained that the crisis began immediately after the war when large numbers of animals died of hunger in addition to exposure to the bombing. He mentioned that the ongoing restoration he had been attempting could not save the park from the crisis, which worsened rapidly.
The zoo's director said the crisis had intensified with the passage of time and lack of medicines and food for the animals, especially for the wild birds that began to die every few days. He added that they had tried to bring in medicine through the tunnels, but could not as most traders were not interested. For those that would consider it, they requested extortionate sums.
A number of the park's animals and birds have died recently, despite receiving medicine, including the ostrich, some peacocks and a fox. The ostrich died a few hours after ingesting a drug that was brought in. The adverse effects of the drug were noticed and measures were taken to save the ostrich, but to no avail.
The Director of the zoo blamed the deaths on a lack of expertise and experience of veterinarians in dealing with their animals. He tried to bring in alternative animals to ensure the continuation of the zoo, but this also failed as traders proposed to bring in the new animals at a cost of $10,000 each.
With the daily losses he incurs as a result of the death of animals, in addition to the initial cost of the zoo which was around $700,000, the enterprise has only caused him an accumulation of debt. There is almost no public demand for the zoo, whether individual or groups and he is forced to close altogether. This is despite the recent phenomenon which sought to replace the zebras by donkeys. Due to the extortionate sums required to bring in zebras, zoo owners resorted to using dye to paint regular donkeys with black and white strips to look like zebras which entertained the children for a while.
As long as the blockade of Gaza continues, this will remains the fate of "Fun Land" and other businesses like it which depend on goods being brought into the Strip from the outside. The siege continues to have far reaching effects on various aspects of Palestinian life and rights; economic, social and cultural.
Source - pictures
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Friday, April 2, 2010
Massive oppression and rising temperatures don't stop the popular struggle
Some 25 Israelis, over 30 internationals, Palestinian supporters, a DFLP delegation and the Palestinian Minister of Culture joined Bil'in locals for the weekly demonstration against the wall. Demonstrators carried posters of Tristan Anderson, who was hit in his head a year ago by a gas canister in Ni'lin, and is still in critical condition.
This time the army decided to set a "honey trap" for the protesters. The gates in the fence were left open for them to charge through, while soldiers without protective gear (so they can run faster) hid on the Palestinian side of the fence, waiting to charge the protesters from behind and make arrests. The local shabab, however, quickly picked up the soldiers in hiding, and stormed forward despite the showers of gas canisters and rubber bullets that injured two youths. The soldiers retreated back behind the fence, and the shabab celebrated by charging to the fence. Soon enough, the organizers took over, restrained the local youth, and led some 30 protesters to the fence for a peaceful demonstration. As the wind was favorable and the soldiers slightly less trigger happy than usual, an Israeli recovered ex-soldier took advantage of the opportunity to preach to the soldiers, urging them to recognize their exploitation by Israeli politicians and contractors and to cross over and join the Palestinians demonstrating against occupation.
A smaller than usual weekly demonstration in Ma'asara, no more than fifty people strong (of different nationalities), was met after marching in the heavy heat through the village streets by a larger than usual combined army and border police force. Soldiers set up near the first houses of the village, deeper than ever before, and prevented the demonstration from proceeding towards the village lands.
After giving speeches in Arabic, English and Hebrew, a small group of demonstrators went through the barbed wire set on the road, and was pushed by the soldiers who also threatened activists will be arrested as the area is a closed military zone. Demonstrators on both sides sat on the ground, beat drums, sang songs, and called upon the soldiers to abandon the oppression of the popular struggle and join it in stead. The soldiers, already with stun and tear gas grenades at hand, were somewhat taken aback faced with this act of non-violent resistance and the many cameras documenting all over the place. And so, with nobody arrested and no attack on the demonstrators, activists eventually decided to leave willingly and escape the burning sun, promising to return next week as well.
All Reports
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Wednesday, March 31, 2010
An open letter to Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations
Gaza
March 21, 2010
Your Excellency:
You are already well aware of the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza consequent on Israel’s devastating military attacks and its siege. As recently as December 27of 2009, you called the blockade of Gaza “unacceptable.” While this statement is certainly valid, it constitutes a gross understatement of the actual situation which amounts to slow genocide. Such understatement suggests that you are trimming your language to accommodate US pro-Israeli policy. We live an ongoing, illegal, crippling Israeli siege that has shattered all spheres of life, prompting the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights, Richard Falk, to describe it as “a prelude to genocide”. Your own UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, headed by the highly respected South African judge, Richard Goldstone, found Israel guilty of “war crimes and possible crimes against humanity,” as did major international human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The Goldstone report concludes that Israel’s war on Gaza was “designed to punish, humiliate and terrorize a civilian population, radically diminish its local economic capacity both to work and to provide for itself, and to force upon it an ever increasing sense of dependency and vulnerability.”
Mr. Ban,
The 1948 Genocide Convention clearly says that one instance of genocide is "the deliberate infliction of conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of a people in whole or in part.'' That is what has been done to Gaza since the imposition of the blockade by a UN member state, namely Israel, and the massacre of 1434 Palestinians, 90 per cent of whom were civilians, including 434 children.
On your second short visit to Gaza since the end of the Israeli onslaught in 2008-09, you will find what Professor Sara Roy, an expert on Gaza, describes as “a land ripped apart and scarred, the lives of its people blighted. Gaza is decaying under the weight of continued devastation, unable to function normally…” Professor Roy concludes that “[T]he decline and disablement of Gaza's economy and society have been deliberate, the result of state policy--consciously planned, implemented and enforced... And just as Gaza's demise has been consciously orchestrated, so have the obstacles preventing its recovery." Israel is intent on destroying Gaza e because World official bodies and leaders choose to say and do nothing.
As civil society organizations based in Gaza, we call on you to use your position as Secretary General of the UN, the world body responsible for holding all governments accountable for the safeguarding of the human rights of all peoples under International Law to bring to bear on Israel the full force of your mandate to open the borders of Gaza to allow the import of building materials as well as all the other requirements for decent living conditions for us, the besieged Palestinians of Gaza.
We understand you are coming to Khan Younis to inspect an UNRWA housing project designed to provide housing for Palestinians whose homes were demolished by Israel’s war machine and who have been waiting for over five years for replacement. Of course the building project will not have been completed because of the blockade, even though it is an UNRWA project. The brazen refusal of Israel to cooperate with the decision of the International Community to re-construct Gaza, for which several billions of Euros were pledged, should not be tolerated. Israel’s attacks have damaged or completely destroyed many public buildings and have according to the UN’s own OCHA report as of April 30, 2009, severely damaged or completely destroyed some 21,000 family dwellings. Many other Palestinians who have spent the past several winters in flimsy tents have also been promised the means to rebuild homes and schools, though to date nothing has been done to alleviate their suffering.
In addition to the very visible lack of shelter, we, in Gaza, also suffer from the contamination of water, air and soil, since the sewage system is unable to function due to power cuts necessitated by lack of fuel to the main generators of the Gaza power grid. Medical conditions due to injuries from phosphorous bombs and other illegal Israeli weapons as well as from water contamination cannot be treated because of the siege. In addition to the ban on building materials, Israel also prevents many other necessities from being imported: lights bulbs, candles, matches, books, refrigerators, shoes, clothing, mattresses, sheets, blankets, tea, coffee, sausages, flour, cows, pasta, cigarettes, fuel, pencils, pens, paper... etc.
Mr. Secretary General,
When you visit Khan Younis, keep in mind that a huge UN storage depot was directly targeted by Israeli phosphorus bombs only last year destroying tons of badly needed food and other essentials. At that time your UNRWA chief John Ging spoke of massive obstacles preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the civilian population of Gaza: those obstacles must be removed. The Red Cross called the Israeli assault “completely and utterly unacceptable based on every known standard of international humanitarian law and universal humanitarian principles and values.”
We sincerely hope you will live up to your responsibility and speak for the suffering people of Gaza to those who hold the keys that could easily end the barbaric blockade, as the first step towards the implementation of all UN resolutions in Palestine.
Gaza,
2010-03-21
Signed by:
University Teachers’ Association in Palestine
General Union for Health Services Workers
General Union for Public Services Workers
General Union for Petrochemical and Gas Workers
General Union for Agricultural Workers
Union of Women’s Work Committees
Union of Synergies—Women Unit
Union of Palestinian Women Committees
Women’s Studies Society
Working Woman’s Society
Arab Cultural Forum
Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel
One Democratic State Group
Al-Quds Bank for Culture and Information Society
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March 21, 2010
Your Excellency:
You are already well aware of the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza consequent on Israel’s devastating military attacks and its siege. As recently as December 27of 2009, you called the blockade of Gaza “unacceptable.” While this statement is certainly valid, it constitutes a gross understatement of the actual situation which amounts to slow genocide. Such understatement suggests that you are trimming your language to accommodate US pro-Israeli policy. We live an ongoing, illegal, crippling Israeli siege that has shattered all spheres of life, prompting the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights, Richard Falk, to describe it as “a prelude to genocide”. Your own UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, headed by the highly respected South African judge, Richard Goldstone, found Israel guilty of “war crimes and possible crimes against humanity,” as did major international human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The Goldstone report concludes that Israel’s war on Gaza was “designed to punish, humiliate and terrorize a civilian population, radically diminish its local economic capacity both to work and to provide for itself, and to force upon it an ever increasing sense of dependency and vulnerability.”
Mr. Ban,
The 1948 Genocide Convention clearly says that one instance of genocide is "the deliberate infliction of conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of a people in whole or in part.'' That is what has been done to Gaza since the imposition of the blockade by a UN member state, namely Israel, and the massacre of 1434 Palestinians, 90 per cent of whom were civilians, including 434 children.
On your second short visit to Gaza since the end of the Israeli onslaught in 2008-09, you will find what Professor Sara Roy, an expert on Gaza, describes as “a land ripped apart and scarred, the lives of its people blighted. Gaza is decaying under the weight of continued devastation, unable to function normally…” Professor Roy concludes that “[T]he decline and disablement of Gaza's economy and society have been deliberate, the result of state policy--consciously planned, implemented and enforced... And just as Gaza's demise has been consciously orchestrated, so have the obstacles preventing its recovery." Israel is intent on destroying Gaza e because World official bodies and leaders choose to say and do nothing.
As civil society organizations based in Gaza, we call on you to use your position as Secretary General of the UN, the world body responsible for holding all governments accountable for the safeguarding of the human rights of all peoples under International Law to bring to bear on Israel the full force of your mandate to open the borders of Gaza to allow the import of building materials as well as all the other requirements for decent living conditions for us, the besieged Palestinians of Gaza.
We understand you are coming to Khan Younis to inspect an UNRWA housing project designed to provide housing for Palestinians whose homes were demolished by Israel’s war machine and who have been waiting for over five years for replacement. Of course the building project will not have been completed because of the blockade, even though it is an UNRWA project. The brazen refusal of Israel to cooperate with the decision of the International Community to re-construct Gaza, for which several billions of Euros were pledged, should not be tolerated. Israel’s attacks have damaged or completely destroyed many public buildings and have according to the UN’s own OCHA report as of April 30, 2009, severely damaged or completely destroyed some 21,000 family dwellings. Many other Palestinians who have spent the past several winters in flimsy tents have also been promised the means to rebuild homes and schools, though to date nothing has been done to alleviate their suffering.
In addition to the very visible lack of shelter, we, in Gaza, also suffer from the contamination of water, air and soil, since the sewage system is unable to function due to power cuts necessitated by lack of fuel to the main generators of the Gaza power grid. Medical conditions due to injuries from phosphorous bombs and other illegal Israeli weapons as well as from water contamination cannot be treated because of the siege. In addition to the ban on building materials, Israel also prevents many other necessities from being imported: lights bulbs, candles, matches, books, refrigerators, shoes, clothing, mattresses, sheets, blankets, tea, coffee, sausages, flour, cows, pasta, cigarettes, fuel, pencils, pens, paper... etc.
Mr. Secretary General,
When you visit Khan Younis, keep in mind that a huge UN storage depot was directly targeted by Israeli phosphorus bombs only last year destroying tons of badly needed food and other essentials. At that time your UNRWA chief John Ging spoke of massive obstacles preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the civilian population of Gaza: those obstacles must be removed. The Red Cross called the Israeli assault “completely and utterly unacceptable based on every known standard of international humanitarian law and universal humanitarian principles and values.”
We sincerely hope you will live up to your responsibility and speak for the suffering people of Gaza to those who hold the keys that could easily end the barbaric blockade, as the first step towards the implementation of all UN resolutions in Palestine.
Gaza,
2010-03-21
Signed by:
University Teachers’ Association in Palestine
General Union for Health Services Workers
General Union for Public Services Workers
General Union for Petrochemical and Gas Workers
General Union for Agricultural Workers
Union of Women’s Work Committees
Union of Synergies—Women Unit
Union of Palestinian Women Committees
Women’s Studies Society
Working Woman’s Society
Arab Cultural Forum
Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel
One Democratic State Group
Al-Quds Bank for Culture and Information Society
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Sunday, March 21, 2010
Hamas Chief Khaled Mashal - 1st Anniversary Gaza War - Speech Summary
Hamas bureau chief, Khaled Mashal gave a speech in Damascus today at an event marking the first anniversary of the 22 day Israeli war on Gaza. Mashal says that Hamas will never give up it's right to make resistance against the illegal Zionist Occupation, he also stated that Netanyahu and Tel Aviv are hampering prisoner swaps, and vowed the Gilad Shalit will not be freed until Palestinian prisoners are freed. Recorded on January 22, 2010 @ 2300gmt
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Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Clashes mark Jerusalem Day of Rage
Palestinians have clashed with Israeli police in two areas of occupied East Jerusalem after Palestinian groups called for a "day of rage" over the reopening of a synagogue in the Old City.
Palestinians threw stones at Israeli police who responded with stun grenades in the Shuafat and Essawiyya neighbourhoods early on Tuesday.
At least 90 people were wounded in the clashes, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, with around 15 people seriously hurt by rubber-coated steel bullets, teargas inhalation and at the hands of Israeli police.
Israel security forces said about eight police officers were lightly injured in clashes that ended with up to 60 arrests.
About 3,000 police officers had been deployed in East Jerusalem and nearby villages after Hamas and other Palestinian groups called for action in response to the reopening of the Hurva synagogue.
The Hurva, considered by some people to to be one of Judaism's most sacred sites, reopened for the first time in 62 years on Monday in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem's Old City.
The walled Old City is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which makes the reopening of the synagogue controversial.
Moreover, al-Aqsa, Islam's third holiest site, and the Hurva are about just 700 metres apart.
'Extremely tense'
Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Essawiyya, said Palestinian protesters hurled stones at the Israeli border guards, who responded using stun grenades.
"It is an extremely tense standoff. Police want to patrol the situation using as little force as possible, they told us, but they are wearing full riot gear," she said.
"From our vantage point we can only see about 20 Palestinian protesters, hurling stones, which they have been doing throughout the night and into the morning.
"It seems a few number of protesters against a large number of border guards."
Adnan al-Husseini, the governor of East Jerusalem, told Al Jazeera from al-Aqsa mosque that only a few people had been able to attend prayers because of restrictions placed on movement by Israeli authorities.
"Also many police are at the entrance of the Old City and the mosque and on the streets of the Old City. So movement is very difficult and very tense.
"People are trying to come to the mosque, the shops, their houses. And unfortunately the Israeli police are stopping them."
Israeli officials have limited access to al-Aqsa for the fifth consecutive day for security reasons.
Palestinian men under the age of 50 have not been allowed to enter the mosque.
Micky Rosenfeld, the Israeli police spokesperson, told Al Jazeera: "Throughout the morning we have been dealing with local disturbances. A group of 50 to 60 Palestinians who are causing riots.
"The rest of Jerusalem itself is absolutely quiet. The Temple Mount is closed to visitors and tourists.
"Our units are responding to small incidents in and around East Jerusalem."
Hamas warning
The previous day, Khaled Meshaal, Hamas' political chief who is exiled in Syria, strongly condemned the ceremony.
"We warn against this action by the Zionist enemy to rebuild and dedicate the Hurva synagogue. It signifies the destruction of the al-Aqsa mosque and the building of the temple," he said at a meeting of Palestinian groups' leaders in Damscus on Monday.
He urged Palestinians in Jerusalem to "take serious measures to protect al-Aqsa mosque from destruction and Judaisation".
Meshaal also said that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank should "launch a campaign to protect Jerusalem and Islamic and Christian holy sites there".
The Hurva synagogue, first built in 1694, was destroyed in 1721 and then demolished during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
The nearby al-Aqsa site is revered by Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), comprising al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock. It is known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
An Israeli government decision to include two West Bank religious sites in a Jewish national heritage plan has already angered Palestinians and raised tensions in recent weeks.
The announcement last week of Israeli plans for new settler homes near East Jerusalem has also contributed to the unrest.
Message from Abbas
Against this backdrop of escalating tensions, Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, left for Moscow on Tuesday to present the Quartet - which includes the US, Russia, the EU and the UN - with Palestinian conditions for starting peace negotiations with Israel.
Al Jazeera has gained exclusive access to the content of letters that Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, despatched with Erekat, in which he accuses Israel of exploiting Palestinian and Arab goodwill.
Abbas says Israel's stepped-up settlement activity, especially in East Jerusalem, threatens to "permanently derail peace talks".
In the letter, he also calls on the Quartet to take "effective" steps against Israel
Source
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Palestinians threw stones at Israeli police who responded with stun grenades in the Shuafat and Essawiyya neighbourhoods early on Tuesday.
At least 90 people were wounded in the clashes, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, with around 15 people seriously hurt by rubber-coated steel bullets, teargas inhalation and at the hands of Israeli police.
Israel security forces said about eight police officers were lightly injured in clashes that ended with up to 60 arrests.
About 3,000 police officers had been deployed in East Jerusalem and nearby villages after Hamas and other Palestinian groups called for action in response to the reopening of the Hurva synagogue.
The Hurva, considered by some people to to be one of Judaism's most sacred sites, reopened for the first time in 62 years on Monday in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem's Old City.
The walled Old City is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which makes the reopening of the synagogue controversial.
Moreover, al-Aqsa, Islam's third holiest site, and the Hurva are about just 700 metres apart.
'Extremely tense'
Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Essawiyya, said Palestinian protesters hurled stones at the Israeli border guards, who responded using stun grenades.
"It is an extremely tense standoff. Police want to patrol the situation using as little force as possible, they told us, but they are wearing full riot gear," she said.
"From our vantage point we can only see about 20 Palestinian protesters, hurling stones, which they have been doing throughout the night and into the morning.
"It seems a few number of protesters against a large number of border guards."
Adnan al-Husseini, the governor of East Jerusalem, told Al Jazeera from al-Aqsa mosque that only a few people had been able to attend prayers because of restrictions placed on movement by Israeli authorities.
"Also many police are at the entrance of the Old City and the mosque and on the streets of the Old City. So movement is very difficult and very tense.
"People are trying to come to the mosque, the shops, their houses. And unfortunately the Israeli police are stopping them."
Israeli officials have limited access to al-Aqsa for the fifth consecutive day for security reasons.
Palestinian men under the age of 50 have not been allowed to enter the mosque.
Micky Rosenfeld, the Israeli police spokesperson, told Al Jazeera: "Throughout the morning we have been dealing with local disturbances. A group of 50 to 60 Palestinians who are causing riots.
"The rest of Jerusalem itself is absolutely quiet. The Temple Mount is closed to visitors and tourists.
"Our units are responding to small incidents in and around East Jerusalem."
Hamas warning
The previous day, Khaled Meshaal, Hamas' political chief who is exiled in Syria, strongly condemned the ceremony.
"We warn against this action by the Zionist enemy to rebuild and dedicate the Hurva synagogue. It signifies the destruction of the al-Aqsa mosque and the building of the temple," he said at a meeting of Palestinian groups' leaders in Damscus on Monday.
He urged Palestinians in Jerusalem to "take serious measures to protect al-Aqsa mosque from destruction and Judaisation".
Meshaal also said that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank should "launch a campaign to protect Jerusalem and Islamic and Christian holy sites there".
The Hurva synagogue, first built in 1694, was destroyed in 1721 and then demolished during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
The nearby al-Aqsa site is revered by Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), comprising al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock. It is known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
An Israeli government decision to include two West Bank religious sites in a Jewish national heritage plan has already angered Palestinians and raised tensions in recent weeks.
The announcement last week of Israeli plans for new settler homes near East Jerusalem has also contributed to the unrest.
Message from Abbas
Against this backdrop of escalating tensions, Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, left for Moscow on Tuesday to present the Quartet - which includes the US, Russia, the EU and the UN - with Palestinian conditions for starting peace negotiations with Israel.
Al Jazeera has gained exclusive access to the content of letters that Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, despatched with Erekat, in which he accuses Israel of exploiting Palestinian and Arab goodwill.
Abbas says Israel's stepped-up settlement activity, especially in East Jerusalem, threatens to "permanently derail peace talks".
In the letter, he also calls on the Quartet to take "effective" steps against Israel
Source
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Thursday, March 11, 2010
Israel indicts soldiers over Gaza
The Israeli military has indicted two of its soldiers for endangering the life of a Palestinian boy during the three-week war in Gaza more than a year ago.
The soldiers face charges for instructing the boy to open several bags suspected of being booby-trapped while searching a building in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza, the military said in a statement on Thursday.
The bags turned out to be harmless.
An Israeli military official said the soldiers could face up to three years in prison.
'Unrelated' to Goldstone
The army said it opened the investigation after the incident was brought to its attention by the United Nations, but emphasised it was "completely unrelated" to a report issued by UN investigator Richard Goldstone.
A team of UN investigators led by Goldstone said it found evidence that Israel and Hamas fighters committed war crimes during the conflict.
The two sides deny the accusations.
The UN General Assembly ordered Israel and Hamas to carry out investigations or face possible action from the US Security Council.
Israel has rejected the report and insists it is capable of investigating itself - a claim international human rights groups dismiss.
EU backs Goldstone
On Wednesday, the European Parliament backed the findings of the Goldstone report and urged its 27-member states to monitor Israeli and Palestinian probes into war crimes in Gaza.
It also urged Israel to immediately open its border crossing with the Gaza Strip to alleviate the worsening humanitarian crisis there.
The assembly is the second institution after the United Nations to back the report, with just over 50 per cent of politicians passing the resolution.
But the move was sharply criticised by Israel, which says it has opened 36 criminal investigations into complaints of improper conduct by its troops during the fighting in Gaza, much of which occurred in residential areas.
Last month a senior Israeli field officer involved in the war in Gaza was reprimanded over artillery shelling in a heavily populated area that hit a United Nations compound.
Some 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, and 13 Israelis, were killed in the offensive Israel launched in December 2008
Source aljazeera
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The soldiers face charges for instructing the boy to open several bags suspected of being booby-trapped while searching a building in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza, the military said in a statement on Thursday.
The bags turned out to be harmless.
An Israeli military official said the soldiers could face up to three years in prison.
'Unrelated' to Goldstone
The army said it opened the investigation after the incident was brought to its attention by the United Nations, but emphasised it was "completely unrelated" to a report issued by UN investigator Richard Goldstone.
A team of UN investigators led by Goldstone said it found evidence that Israel and Hamas fighters committed war crimes during the conflict.
The two sides deny the accusations.
The UN General Assembly ordered Israel and Hamas to carry out investigations or face possible action from the US Security Council.
Israel has rejected the report and insists it is capable of investigating itself - a claim international human rights groups dismiss.
EU backs Goldstone
On Wednesday, the European Parliament backed the findings of the Goldstone report and urged its 27-member states to monitor Israeli and Palestinian probes into war crimes in Gaza.
It also urged Israel to immediately open its border crossing with the Gaza Strip to alleviate the worsening humanitarian crisis there.
The assembly is the second institution after the United Nations to back the report, with just over 50 per cent of politicians passing the resolution.
But the move was sharply criticised by Israel, which says it has opened 36 criminal investigations into complaints of improper conduct by its troops during the fighting in Gaza, much of which occurred in residential areas.
Last month a senior Israeli field officer involved in the war in Gaza was reprimanded over artillery shelling in a heavily populated area that hit a United Nations compound.
Some 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, and 13 Israelis, were killed in the offensive Israel launched in December 2008
Source aljazeera
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