Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
Prisoners Archive - July 2008
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
Prisoners Archive - July 2008
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
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Ship sets sail to Gaza as Arab conference endorses solidarity day with Gaza Palestinian Information Center 7/31/2008 BEIRUT, (PIC)-- A grouping of Arab popular committees has declared that Friday 8/8/2008 would be dubbed "The Arab and international day to open the Rafah crossing and break the Gaza siege". The general coordinator of popular committees in Lebanon, Ma’en Bashur, briefed Hamas’s deputy political bureau chairman Dr. Mousa Abu Mazrouk in Cairo on the initiative. Bashur said that Palestinian national unity must be restored on the basis of national concord document, and added that an Arab, international campaign would be soon launched to demand the release of 12,000 Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli occupation jails. He pointed out that efforts were underway to prepare for the Arab, international conference on the Palestinian right of return that is scheduled to be held in Damascus in mid November and would be attended by thousands from Arab and foreign countries to highlight RoR. Two detained PLC members now in Israeli prison hospitals Ma’an News Agency 7/31/2008 Hebron – Ma’an – Member of the Hamas bloc for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Basem Az-Z’areer denounced on Thursday the Israeli interrogators’ attack on imprisoned PLC members en route to Ofer, the Israeli military court. Az-Z’areer charged that integrators intentionally drove well beyond the speed limit, and would suddenly stop, causing injuries among several of the PLC members. After the drive, said Az-Z’areer, PLC members Mohammad Abu Tir and Nayef Ar- Rujub were moved to Ramleh prison hospital. Secretary General of the PLC Dr Mahmoud Ar-Ramahi, Mohamad At-Tal, Khaleel Ar-Rab’i and A’zam Salhab were injured. Az-Za’reer described what happened as "against all laws and morals of countries and governments," he wondered about the role of the human rights organizations in preventing these sorts of injustices. Ahrar: Four Palestinian women and their husbands imprisoned in Israeli jails Palestinian Information Center 7/31/2008 GAZA, (PIC)-- The Ahrar center for prisoner studies reported Wednesday that four Palestinian women and their husbands are incarcerated in Israeli jails and banned from seeing each other or their children, and appealed to social institutions to highlight the suffering of these families and to support them. In a press statement received by the PIC, the center said that the four female detainees are not allowed to communicate with their detained husbands even on the phone and are not granted visitations. The statement underlined that the hardest distress the Palestinian families can experience is the detention of both parents and leaving their children without a breadwinner. Fuad Al-Khafsh, head of the center, stated that the IOF troops recently kidnapped the municipal member Kholoud Al Masry and her husband Ammar. Brigade commander rebuked for Naalin shooting Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 7/31/2008 Judea and Samaria Division Commander marks reprimand in Colonel Aviv Reshef’s personal record following incident in which rubber-coated bullet was fired towards bound Palestinian detainee. Regiment commander says in hearing he did not order soldier to shoot - Judea and Samaria Division Commander, Brigadier-General Noam Tibon, marked a reprimand against Binyamin Brigade commander, Colonel Aviv Reshef, in the latter’s personal record following the incident in the West Bank village of Naalin, in which a rubber-coated bullet was fired towards a bound Palestinian detainee. A hearing was held on Thursday for the regiment commander who ordered the soldier to shoot at the detainee. The officer’s attorneys said their client had not given any such order. The Military Prosecution will decide whether to indict him or not next week. Palestinians share stories about life in Israeli prisons PNN, Palestine News Network 7/30/2008 Ramallah -- The Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies held a symposium Tuesday evening to hear the stories of 12 Palestinians who have been released from Israeli prisons. Dr. Hassan Abdullah, a writer and scientist, directed the discussion and personal testimonies. Director of the Centre Dr. Iyad Barghouti stressed that the recent prisoner exchange gave special importance to the symposium. The Centre’s goal was to create an environment of tolerance, equality and recognition of others. Those who gave personal testimonies painted a picture of imprisonment since the late 60s. They unanimously agreed that their experience in Israeli prisons passed several stages. They all suffered from problems in the beginning, but their experience evolved and crystallized especially in the early 70s. They explained that the relative level of democracy differed from one stage to another and from one prison to another. Naalin commander ordered to go on 10-day leave Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 7/29/2008 Northern command chief suspends senior officer following shooting of bound Palestinian in during anti-fence rally, citing ’moral and authoritative failure’ -Northern Command Chief Major-General Gadi Eisenkot ordered Battalion 71 Commander Lieutenant-Colonel Omri to go on a 10-day leave of absence Tuesday following the incident in the West Bank Palestinian village of Naalin, in which a soldier under his command fired a rubber bullet at a bound Palestinian detainee during an anti-fence rally. Major-General Eisenkot noted that the incident indicated a severe lapse in judgment and a "moral and authoritative failure" on the commander’s part. The Lt. Col. continues to maintain that the soldier acted independently, however Ynet has learned that he recently failed the polygraph test he was subjected to. Israeli arrests of women on the rise Amin Abu Wardeh, Palestine News Network 7/29/2008 Nablus -- Last night Israeli forces arrested 40 year old mother Suhaila Shellesh in Shuqba Village near Ramallah. The Ahrar Center for Prisoners’ Studies and Human Rights reported on Tuesday that Shellesh is the mother of six children and the director of an elementary school. She was also elected to serve on the Shuqba Village council. Director of the Ahrar Center, Fuad Al Khafash, said the abduction of municipal and village council members, especially women, has increased recently. Israeli forces arrested Nablus municipal council member Mrs. Khulud Masri earlier this month and stormed the house of Dr. Magda Fidah. The Israeli military court also extended Palestinian Legislative Council deputy Muna Mansour’s sentence by eight days. She was arrested as a member of the Change and Reform bloc, affiliated with the Hamas party, in the PLC. Palestinians ’use torture regularly’ Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem, The Independent 7/29/2008 Torture is used regularly on Palestinians detained by the Fatah-dominated security forces in the West Bank and by their Hamas counterparts in Gaza, two human rights reports say. Between 20 and 30 per cent of the people arbitrarily detained in Gaza and the West Bank have suffered severe beatings, whippings, been made to stand or sit in painful positions for hours, and other degrading punishments, according to the Palestinian human rights organisation Al Haq. It says that three people have died in Gaza and one in the West Bank during the detentions since the split that followed Hamas’s enforced takeover of the Gaza Strip 13 months ago. Each group has arbitarily detained about 1,000 people. Fatah security forces rounded up dozens of Hamas supporters in the West Bank yesterday in response to similar detentions of up to 200 Fatah adherents by Hamas in Gaza. Abuse reported in Palestinian jails Middle East Online 7/29/2008 RAMALLAH, West Bank - One detainee told of being beaten with pipes and having a screwdriver rammed into his back. Another said interrogators tied his hands behind his back then lifted him into the air by his bound wrists. Two human rights groups on Monday decried abuse of political opponents by Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah. The findings emerged as the two sides carried out fresh arrest sweeps in the West Bank and Gaza — highlighting deep tensions in the Palestinian territories after a flare-up in violence over the weekend. In the West Bank on Monday, the security forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rounded up more than 50 suspected Hamas supporters, including mosque preachers and intellectuals, in retaliation for a similar sweep of Fatah loyalists in Gaza, set off by a bombing that killed five Hamas members Friday. Video nation George Rishmawi, International Middle East Media Center News 7/29/2008 B’Tselem, a Jerusalem-based NGO, released video footage this week of a handcuffed Palestinian detainee being shot in the leg by an Israeli soldier. The footage is part of a new trend to use video footage to document abuses against Palestinians by Israeli soldiers and settlers. On July 20, Jerusalem-based human rights group B’Tselem released video footage showing an Israeli soldier shooting a handcuffed Palestinian detainee in the knee with a rubber-coated steel bullet. A 14-year-old Palestinian girl, Salaam Kanan, shot the footage two weeks earlier in the West Bank village of Ni’lin, using nothing but her own cellphone camera. B’Tselem, also known as the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, decided to go public with the information after it had sent the footage to the Israeli army in early July to no effect. PA security rounds up 32 Hamas supporters Palestinian Information Center 7/29/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The PA security apparatuses under the command of PA chief Mahmoud Abbas launched a new wave of arrests in lines of Hamas supporters in the West Bank over the past 24 hours that included 32 persons. The arrest campaign, which is launched in retaliation to the Hamas-led government in Gaza’s detention of suspects in the Gaza beach bombing, is the biggest for a long period of time. Among the detainees are the municipal council chairman of Til village, Nablus district, Omar Eshtiye, along with former prisoners in Israeli occupation jails and PA prisons, imams of mosques and the director of the PLO office in Salfit, Sheikh Majed Al-Qadi, in addition to municipal council member Dr. Zuhair Sawalha in Kufr Ra’ee village. The arrests were made in the districts of Nablus, Qalqilia, Salfit, Ramallah, Jenin and Tobas. IOA extends detention of MP Mansour, kidnaps another female Palestinian Information Center 7/29/2008 NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority has extended the detention of MP Mona Mansour for eight more days while its troops abducted municipal council member Suhaila Shalash on Monday evening. Fuad Al-Khafsh, the director of the Ahrar center for prisoners’ studies, denounced the recently growing detention of Palestinian women, describing it as a rising phenomenon. He said that in July the Israeli occupation forces kidnapped Khulud Al-Masri, Nablus municipality member, stormed the home of Dr. Majeda Fidda, another Nablus municipal member, in a bid to kidnap her, and now Suhaila Shalash, 40, of the Shakaba village municipal council on returning from Saudi Arabia where she performed Omra (minor pilgrimage). The same month also witnessed the detention of Mona Mansour, a Nablus MP for the Hamas Movement. He said that Mansour was moved to the Hasharon prison for women and was. . . Solidarity visit to family of prisoner entering 32nd year of incarceration Ma’an News Agency 7/29/2008 Nablus – Ma’an – The governor of Nablus, Jamal Muhaisin, headed a solidarity delegation visiting the family of Palestinian prisoner Sa’id Al-’Atabah on Tuesday. Al-’Atabah is believed to have spent the longest time in prison in recent history as he enters his 32nd year of incarceration. The governor delivered a short speech in which he confirmed that Al-’Atabah had entered the Guinness Book of Records for the longest period spent in detention and applauded his steadfastness in the face of such hardship, adding that it would not be an exaggeration to say that he had triumphed, simply by existing, over his prison guards. During the meeting Sa’id’s sister thanked the governor and all of the institutions that expressed their solidarity with her brother. She said it meant particularly much to her mother who is still hoping to see her son at his home with the family. IDF commander suspended after failing polygraph test Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post 7/29/2008 A battalion commander who allegedly ordered a soldier to fire a rubber bullet at point-blank range at a handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinian was temporarily suspended from active duty on Tuesday after a polygraph test cast doubt on his version of events. Polygraph casts doubt on officer’s storyLt. -Col. Omri Burbag, commander of Armored Battalion 71, appeared before OC Northern Command Maj. -Gen. Gadi Eizenkot on Tuesday for a hearing, after which he was ordered to take a 10-day leave of absence from his position. Eizenkot told Burbag the shooting of the Palestinian was against IDF values and demonstrated a breakdown in Burbag’s command. The suspension came a day after Burbag failed a polygraph test given by the Military Police. Last week, he took a private polygraph test and was found to be responding truthfully to questions of whether he had ordered the soldier to shoot the detainee. Ynet: Naalin commander ordered to go on 10-day leave Hanan Greenberg, International Solidarity Movement 7/29/2008 Ramallah Region - Northern command chief suspends senior officer following shooting of bound Palestinian in during anti-fence rally, citing ‘moral and authoritative failure’ - Northern Command Chief Major-General Gadi Eisenkot ordered Battalion 71 Commander Lieutenant-Colonel Omri to go on a 10-day leave of absence Tuesday following the incident in the West Bank Palestinian village of Naalin, in which a soldier under his command fired a rubber bullet at a bound Palestinian detainee during an anti-fence rally. Staff Sgt. filmed shooting rubber bullet towards bound Palestinian detainee found to have testified truthfully about in second lie detector test. But his commander, whom he accuses of ordering him to shoot, found to have lied Major-General Eisenkot noted that the incident indicated a severe lapse in judgment and a "moral and authoritative failure" on the commander’s part. Na’alin officer fails polygraph test Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 7/29/2008 Staff Sgt. filmed shooting rubber bullet towards bound Palestinian detainee found to have testified truthfully about in second lie detector test. But his commander, whom he accuses of ordering him to shoot, found to have lied - Staff Sgt. L, the soldier filmed firing a rubber bullet at a bound Palestinian detainee in Naalin, was found to have testified truthfully in his second lie-detector test. The Staff Sgt asserts that his regiment commander, identified as Lieutenant-Colonel Omri, ordered him to shoot towards Ashraf Abu Rahema. The Lt. Col. continues to maintain that the soldier acted independently, however Ynet has learned that he recently failed the polygraph test he was subjected to. The army may already choose to take measures against the Lt. Col. in the coming days. He is scheduled to meet on Tuesday with Northern Command chief, Maj. Al-Haq: Arbitrary detention and torture by Palestinian forces rife Ma’an News Agency 7/28/2008 Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights group, in a report released on Monday, claims that the instances of arbitrary arrests and acts of torture have increased since the internal political split between Fatah and Hamas began. The report, “Torturing Each Other: The Widespread Practices of Arbitrary Detention and Torture in the Palestinian Territory," claims that an increase in political infighting has sparked the growing use of torture and ill-treatment of detainees by both the security forces of the de facto government in Gaza and those of the caretaker government in Ramallah. Most of these cases are politically motivated and seen as a means of exacting revenge on political enemies. Al-Haq have carried out extensive investigations into the practices of the Palestinian security forces, through monitoring the situation in prisons and relying on the testimony of victims, eyewitnesses. . . Inhumane treatment on bus transporting Palestinians from Israeli prison to military court Ali Samoudi, Palestine News Network 7/28/2008 Jenin -- Political prisoner Major General Fuad Al Shobaki reports that he and other Palestinians being held in Nafha Prison were subject to "torment and punishment" on their trip to Ofar Military Court. "Ofar transport procedures are considered the most difficult with the prison administration practicing all forms of repression and punishment," attorney with the Mandela Institute, Buthaina Duqmaq, reported from the court’s waiting room this week. "Prisoners’ hands and feet are shackled and they are prohibited from speaking. "Shobaki said that he spent three days traveling with the rest of the political prisoners from one prison to another amid arbitrary, unlawful practices. First, he said, they spent two hours in chains while enduring severe temperatures. They were then taken to Al Naqab Prison in a deliberate attempt to make a detour on their way to the Ofar Military Court. Report: Torture widespread in Palestinian jails Associated Press, YNetNews 7/28/2008 Human rights groups publish report indicating Hamas, Fatah rivalry in Gaza Strip, West Bank manifests in brutal torture of detainees; more than 1,000 people reporedly detained by each side - Majdi Jabour was beaten to the point of passing out by the Fatah-allied interrogators in the West Bank who accused him of ties to rival Hamas. In Gaza, the same fate befell a Fatah supporter who was bloodied in a lockup by club-wielding Hamas security men. Two human rights groups on Monday decried widespread mistreatment and torture in Palestinian jails - an issue taking on fresh urgency with a flare-up of Hamas-Fatah violence over the weekend in the Gaza Strip. Detainees corroborated the reports in conversations with The , and a doctor confirmed Jabour’s account. The groups’ reports looked at human rights violations during the past year, since the Islamic militant. . . PCHR calls for release of all political prisoners Ma’an News Agency 7/28/2008 The Palestinian centre for Human Rights (PCHR) on sunday condemned the campaign of arrests by Palestinian security forces against Hamas supporters in the West Bank. The Centre is concerned that these arrests are an act of reprisal in response to the detention of dozens of Fatah supporters as well as NGO’s and sports clubs in the Gaza Strip affiliated to the movement. In a press release the centre called upon the governments in Ramallah and Gaza to put an end to all forms of arbitrary arrests, and to immediately release all political prisoners on both sides. The statement comes as a response to a campaign of arrests in several areas of the West Bank carried out by the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Saturday. Approximately 30 leaders, members, and supporters of Hamas were detained. The arrests include:Sheikh Ammar Badawi (Tulkarm Mufti),Dr. ’Torture widespread in PA, Hamas’ Associated Press, Jerusalem Post 7/28/2008 Two human rights groups on Monday decried widespread mistreatment and torture in Palestinian jails - an issue taking on fresh urgency with a flare-up of Hamas-Fatah violence over the weekend in the Gaza Strip. The groups’ reports looked at human rights violations during the past year, since Hamas wrested control of Gaza from the forces of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. In the past year, the security forces in both the West Bank and Gaza have carried out large-scale, arbitrary arrests of political opponents, the Palestinian human rights group Al Haq said in an 85-page report. More than 1,000 people were detained by each side, Al Haq estimated, even before a roundup of some 200 Fatah supporters in Gaza over the weekend, following a bombing that killed five Hamas members. Report: Worrisome findings at Israeli prisons Aviad Glickman, YNetNews 7/27/2008 Justice Ministry’s Department of Public Advocacy visits 33 detention facilities, revealing numerous cases of abuse, suicide attempts, etc. Israel Prison Service says in response improvements are underway - A closer look into Israeli prisons revealed, violence inflicted by wardens, severe punishment, bed-binding for hours, suicide attempts, lack of treatment and rehabilitation frameworks for the prisoners. These are just a few of the findings unleashed in the 2007 Justice Ministry’s Department of Public Advocacy report on the detainment and imprisonment conditions at the Prison Authority, police, and courts’ detention facilities. The advocacy’s report compiled the findings on official visits at 33 detention facilities around Israel. Eleven of the correction facilities were under the Prison Authority’s responsibility during the time of the visit,. . . As the situation between Hamas and Fateh worsens in Gaza the Israelis do not let up Kristen Ess, Palestine News Network 7/27/2008 Amjad Al Shawa lives in what is often described as the "world’s largest open air prison. "He is the Director of the Gaza City branch of the Palestine Network of NGOs. The PNGO attempts to serve the Strip’s 1. 5 million residents. "I think you have a good description for Gaza and the worsening conditions since the Israeli siege. Since January until now we are suffering from shortages of many items, the main being basic food, medicine and fuel. So the conditions here in Gaza are getting worse and worse even though we have the ’cease-fire’ between Hamas and the Israelis, still the Israelis continue the siege on the Gaza Strip. They prevent the entrance of many kinds of basic materials. " Mainly I’m talking about the issue of fuel of which we are receiving just small quantities. For example yesterday the Israelis decided to prevent the entrance of fuel for three days, starting yesterday [16 July]. Arab-Israeli prisoner demands conjugal visit ’like Yigal Amir’ Sharon Roffe-Ophir, YNetNews 7/27/2008 Petition filed on behalf of man serving life sentence for terror offenses says Arab prisoners discriminated against, denied private spousal visits. Defining inmate as security prisoner as excuse to deny legal rights, implies practice applied on Arab prisoners only,’ attorney says -Walid Dakah, an Israeli Arab who was sentenced to life imprisonment for security offenses, filed a first-of-its kind petition Sunday morning with the Nazareth District Court, asking that it grant him conjugal visitsin order to allow him and his wife to bring a child into the world. Dakah was sentenced to life in prison in 1986, after he was convicted of membership in a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror cell that murdered IDF soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984. Dakah was sent to prison at the age of 22, and the petition, which was filed on his behalf by Adalah. . . Former Al-Aqsa member announces hunger strike in PA prison Ma’an News Agency 7/26/2008 Nablus – Ma’an - An official from the Al-Aqsa Brigades said that 30-year-old Iyad Hamad Al-Inabousi, who is detained in the Palestinian military intelligence headquarters of Jneid prison, announced that he would begin a hunger strike on Saturday. Al-Inabousi told a Ma’an correspondent in Nablus that his strike would continue indefinitely in protest of the Israeli postponement of the hearing of his case, and the stalling of negotiations between the Palestinian National Authority and Israel. In a deal between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, Al-Inabousi along with a large number of other members of the Al-Aqsa Brigades was detained in the PA prison near Nablus. The mens weapons were confiscated and they were asked to renounce their affiliation with the Brigades before their release. Al-Inabousi, who says he has complied with all the conditions of his release, is now waiting for the "okay" from Israel so that he can leave the prison. Family appeals for release of Palestinian prisoner with brain stroke Palestinian Information Center 7/26/2008 SALFIT, (PIC)-- The family of a Palestinian prisoner has appealed for his release from Israeli occupation jails after his health condition gravely worsened after suffering a brain stroke that paralyzed the left part of his body. The family called for the immediate release of Zahran Abu Osba before further deterioration of his condition. The lawyer of the Palestinian prisoner’s club said that Zahran, who is serving a 14-year imprisonment term, was suffering from numbness in the head causing pressure on the eyes. He added that the pressure led to temporary blindness, and underlined that the Ramle prison doctor could not diagnose his case. Meanwhile, three Palestinian female prisoners in Israeli jails, all minors, have complained of the Israeli Nahshon unit’s maltreatment during their transport to court and back to jail. Palestinians in Israeli prisons celebrate release of Dalal Al-Mughrabi’s body Ma’an News Agency 7/25/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an -Palestinian prisoners in Israel celebrate symbolic release of Dalal Al-Mughrabi’s body. Detainees in the Negev desert prison of An-Nakab from the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (affiliated with Fatah)celebrated on Friday the symbolic return of Dalal Al-Mughrabi’s body. The prisoners also honored released prisoner Samir Quntar. During the celebration they delivered speeches to honor the Hizbullah deeds and Hassan Nasrallah’s efforts in releasing prisoners and bringing back hope. They called on Abbas to continue his efforts to secure the release of all Palestinian prisoners. [end] Palestinian Prisoners Society meets to support prisoners Doris Norrito, International Middle East Media Center News 7/24/2008 About fifty members of the Palestinian Prisons Society met nearby the Red Cross headquarters in Bethlehem at 11 am on Thursday. The Society meets once or twice a month to show solidarity and give support for more than 11,000 detainees suffering under bad conditions in Israeli prisons. A poster displayed the faces of resisters sentenced to life terms by the Israeli court. About fifty children under the age of eighteen are presently in prison. Some are pressured to make them collaborate with the Israelis, a spokesperson said. Most of the men who came to the meeting said they had served terms in prison and were there to show solidarity in their support for the others still imprisoned. Mothers and relatives held pictures of detainees. Some such as Issa Abed Rrabbo and Marwan Barghouthi had been sentenced to life terms for resistance activities and have already spent twenty five years in prison. Soldier who killed peace activist denied appeal Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 7/24/2008 Taysir Hayb tells military committee hearing his appeal that he sent taped apology to family of British peace activist Tom Hurndall, whom Hayb killed while he was shielding Palestinian children from gunfire; however family denies receiving tape - A special IDF committee has denied an appeal by the soldier Taysir Hayb, who was convicted of killing British photographer and peace activist Tom Hurndall, for early release from prison. Hayb has served half of his sentence, and the committee determined that when he completes two-thirds his case will be reconsidered. Hurndall, 21, was shot in the head during a protest in Rafah, while acting as a human shield for Palestinian children that had been caught in the crossfire. He lost consciousness following the injury and eventually died from complications of the onset of pneumonia. IOF kidnap father of girl that filmed soldier shooting handcuffed detainee Palestinian Information Center 7/23/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- IOF troops on Wednesday kidnapped Jamal Omaira, the father of the girl whofilmed an IOF soldier while shooting at a handcuffed, blindfolded Palestinian detainee in Na’lin village west of Ramallah city a few days ago. The soldier said that he was following orders of his commander who ordered him to shoot at the helpless detainee. In the meantime, large numbers of IOF troops stormed the city of Tulkarem and Qufin village searching for Islamic Jihad activist Fadi Kittana, who survived an assassination attempt on Tuesday night. The soldiers detained Ahmed Abu Abed from the same village after wreaking havoc in his home and other stormed homes in the village. In Qalqilia, a commercial strike was observed on Wednesday at the call of the national committee to break the Israeli siege. The committee said that the city has been under Israeli siege for a year. . . Polygraph ’confirms’ IDF officer didn’t order soldier to shoot cuffed Palestinian Yuval Azoulay and Shahar Ilan, Ha’aretz 7/24/2008 The Israel Defense Forces officer accused of ordering a soldier under his command to shoot a bound and blindfolded Palestinian detainee has passed a polygraph test verifying his testimony that he did not give the order to open fire. Lieutenant colonel Omri Fruberg, commanding officer of IDF regiment 71, took the polygraph on Tuesday in a private institute at the recommendation of his lawyers. The investigation began after the soldier, who was filmed shooting a Palestinian protester during a demonstration in the West Bank village of Na’alin, said he just been carrying out an order by Fruberg. In the video, Fruberg is shown holding the arm of the Palestinian, Ashraf Abu-Rahama, 27, while a soldier under his command opens fire at close range. Abu-Rahama sustained light wounds to his foot in the incident. Israel Probes ’Detainee Shooting’ BBC News, MIFTAH 7/23/2008 Israel says it has launched an inquiry after an Israeli human rights group released footage that appears to show a soldier shoot a Palestinian detainee. The video is blurred when the gun fires, but the Palestinian man says a rubber bullet hit his left big toe and he was treated by an army medic. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) called the incident "grave" and in "direct contradiction" of the army’s values. Rights group B’Tselem said the incident occurred on 7 July in the West Bank. B’Tselem said the video clip showed a soldier firing a rubber-coated steel bullet, from close range, at a handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinian detainee. It said the shooting took place in the presence of a lieutenant colonel, who was holding the Palestinian man’s arm when the shot was fired. InvestigationA 14-year-old girl reportedly filmed the incident from the window of her home in the town of Nilin, which has been the scene of violent protests against Israel’s West Bank barrier. Israeli army invades three Palestinian areas, kidnap one civilian Rula Shahwan, International Middle East Media Center News 7/23/2008 Israeli Army invaded a number of Palestinian cities Wednesday at dawn, and kidnapped one civilian in Tulkarem. Local sources reported that a number of Israeli military vehicles invaded the city of Nablus and drove through several neighborhoods for a couple of hours. The army withdrew without taking anyone prisoner. Nablus and the nearby villages and refugee camps, have been subject to frequent Israeli invasions in the past three weeks. During those three weeks dozens of civilians were kidnapped, homes were ransacked in addition to the closure and invasion of educational, social, commercial and religious facilities. Israeli troops also invaded the city of Jenin, its refugee camp and the nearby village of al-Yamoun in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Local sources reported that a number of Israeli vehicles invaded area and troops patrolled the city’s neighborhoods and shot intensive gun fire and sound bombs. Eight Palestinian prisoners in hospital after swallowing shampoo to protest continued detention Ma’an News Agency 7/22/2008 Nablus – Ma’an – Nablus governor Dr Jamal Muheisen said on Tuesday that eight Palestinian detainees were transferred from Al-Juneid prison in Nablus to hospital after swallowing shampoo as part of a protest at their continued detention. Al-Muheisen told Ma’an that the eight have spent seven months at Al-Juneid prison and are to stay under Palestinian Authority (PA) custody until the Israeli authorities allow their release. They are among the Palestinian activists who accepted the Israeli amnesty agreement, gave up their weapons, and voluntarily entered PA custody seven months ago. Although they were supposed to be released after three months to resume their lives as normal citizens, the Israelis have ignored pleas to set the men free and keep postponing their release date. As a protest at the Israeli delay, the detainees took the drastic action of swallowing shampoo. IOF kidnapped hundreds of Palestinians in W. Bank since Gaza truce started Palestinian Information Center 7/21/2008 GAZA, (PIC)-- The ministry of prisoners and ex-prisoners’ affairs in the PA caretaker government under premier Ismael Haneyya has confirmed on Sunday that the IOA arrested 395 Palestinian citizens across the West Bank since the calm agreement in Gaza commenced a month ago. "The Israeli occupation government’s policy of arresting more Palestinian citizens was meant to impose more pressure on the Palestinian people, to break their will, and to force them bow to the occupation’s dictates, in addition to emptying the Palestinian street of national and Islamic action leaderships", asserted Riyadh Al-Ashkar of the ministry’s information department in a statement he issued Sunday. He also explained that the city of Nablus was the most affected city in this regard with more that 100 of its inhabitants, including Dr. Abdul Rahim Al-Hanbali, 66, the former head of the city’s Zakat committee, and city councilor Husam Al-Dein Kataloni. Israeli soldier shoots restrained Palestinian at close range Report, B'Tselem, Electronic Intifada 7/20/2008 Today, B’Tselem is publishing a video clip documenting a soldier firing a rubber coated steel bullet, from extremely close range, at a cuffed and blindfolded Palestinian detainee. The shooting took place in the presence of a lieutenant colonel, who was holing the Palestinian’s arm when the shot was fired. The incident took place on 7 July, in Nil’in, a village in the West Bank. A Palestinian demonstrator, Ashraf Abu Rahma, 27, was stopped by soldiers, who cuffed and blindfolded him for about thirty minutes, during which time, according to Abu-Rahma, they beat him. Afterwards, a group of soldiers and border policemen led him to an army jeep. The video clip shows a soldier aim his weapon at the demonstrator’s legs, from about 1. 5 meters away, and fire a rubber coated steel bullet at him. Abu-Rahma stated that the bullet hit his left toe, received treatment from an army medic, and released by the soldiers. A Palestinian girl from Nil’in filmed the incident from her house in the village, and B’Tselem received it this morning. Masri: An honorable swap deal is near Palestinian Information Center 7/19/2008 GAZA, (PIC)-- MP Mushir Al-Masri has expressed conviction that an honorable prisoners’ exchange deal was the in the offing between Palestinian resistance factions capturing Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and Israel. Masri, a member of Hamas affiliated bloc in the PLC, asked Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation jails to maintain patience and steadfastness, opining that it was only a matter of time before the swap deal was concluded. The MP, who was speaking at a rally organized by Hamas in Gaza city on Friday, said that his Movement was adamant on resistance as the "strategic" option to restore usurped rights and to liberate prisoners from occupation jails. The Israeli occupation government is the one delaying the prisoners’ swap deal, he said, and congratulated the Lebanese Hizbullah party on the swap deal that freed the Lebanese prisoners in occupation jails topped by the dean of Lebanese prisoners Samir Al-Kuntar. Change and Reform bloc denies that imprisoned PLC member Aziz Dweik received surgery Ma’an News Agency 7/19/2008 [Ma’anImages archive] Gaza – Ma’an – The Change and Reform legislative bloc on Saturday denied that Dr Aziz Dweik has received any surgical operation. Dweik is the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) speaker and a Change and Reform member who has been detained in Israeli jails for more than two years. It was reported earlier this week that Dweik would receive surgery to remove gallstones at Ramle prison. In a statement received by Ma’an, the bloc said that Dr Dweik desperately needs surgery, but Israeli authorities have refused to authorise the operation. The bloc said that the Israeli authorities are fully responsible for the life of the PLC speaker, and demanded that humanitarian organisations and the Red Cross intervene urgently in order to save Dr Dweik’s life. The bloc noted that Israeli doctors decided to peform the surgery following medical tests confirming. . . Thirteen detainees wounded in Majeddo prison Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 7/18/2008 In a letter that was leaked on Wednesday from the Majeddo Israeli prison, the detainees stated that Israeli soldiers broke into the prison and attacked them with batons and clubs. Thirteen detainees were wounded and suffered concussions and bruises. The detainees said that the soldiers broke into their rooms and violently attacked them without any explanation. They also stated that there were also attacked several days ago after the soldiers broke into section 9 of the detention facility and used water hoses, clubs and batons against the detainees after claiming that they refused to stand in front of the prison warden to be counted and searched. The administration placed five detainees in solitary confinement and imposed high fines on five other detainees after claiming that they violated the instructions of the prison administration. IOF troops cause loss of hearing to a Palestinian teenager Palestinian Information Center 7/18/2008 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Eighteen-year-old Abdullah Khalaf has lost, on Friday, his hearing when he was hit by a stun grenade fired by the IOF troops who raided the village of Eizaryyah to the east of occupied Jerusalem. The stun grenade hit the teenager in the face causing, in addition to permanent loss of hearing, burns to his face and hair. Munketh Abu Roumi, director of the press office of Asrana society in Jerusalem district, said that as Abdullah came out of his house to go to an outside toilet he was surprised by the bomb fired at him by the IOF troops. Abdallah was previously arrested by the IOF and sentenced to serve a prison term by the Ofer military court near Ramallah. Meanwhile, IOF troops arrested on Thursday evening and Friday morning arrested 13 young Palestinians from the villages Madma and Asira al-Qibeya near Nablus in the northern West Bank. Youth wounded near Jerusalem Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 7/18/2008 The Asrana (Our Detainees) Center reported on Thursday evening that an 18-year old youth was wounded in his head in addition to sustaining burns in the head and face after Israeli soldiers hurled a sound bomb at him. The youth, Abdullah Jamal Mubarak, also lost his hearing sense , apparently permanently, as the concussion grenade exploded near his ear also causing burns to his face and hair. Monqith Abu Roomy, head of the Media Office at Asrana Center in Jerusalem district, stated that Mubarak was heading towards an exterior toilet near his home when the soldiers hurled the concussion at him. The wounded youth is a former political detainee as he was earlier kidnapped and sentenced for membership with the Fateh movement. Detained PLC head facing a deteriorating health condition Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 7/18/2008 The presidency of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) expressed deep concern over the deteriorating health condition of the Legislative Council head, Dr. Aziz Dweik, who is imprisoned by Israel along with dozens of legislators and officials. In a press release, the PLC stated that Dr. Dweik underwent surgery at the Al Ramla Prison Hospital on Thursday, and is still in a bad health condition. His health started deteriorating three months ago. He was kept at the prison hospital which lacks the basic tools and equipment for more than two months as the Israeli Authorities are refusing to allow him to be hospitalized at a specialized hospital. The PLC stated that these acts violate the international law and the Fourth Geneva Conventions. Also, the PLC called on Amro Mousa, secretary-general of the Arab League, and UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, to intervene for the release. . . Conditions in Ramon prison may result in major unrest Ma’an News Agency 7/18/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – Ibtisam Anati, a lawyer from the Al-Hurriyat center for human rights, said on Friday that the harshness of the conditions at Ramon prison in the south of Israel was threatening to result in major unrest. Prisoners have declared that they will go on strike if the situation does not change. The discontent in the facility comes as a reaction to the apparent, repeated assault of the inmates by prison guards, as well as the general conditions in the prison. Anatialso claims that some prisoners have been prevented from taking the university entrance exams, the Tawjihi, while others have been denied the books necessary to study. This has added to the mood of unrest in the jail. Ramon prison is part of the Nafha facility in the Negev desert that has been widely criticized for its human rights abuses. PLC Deputy Speaker concerned for health of imprisoned PLC speaker Ma’an News Agency 7/18/2008 Gaza – Ma’an - Deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Ahmad Bahar, on Friday expressed his deep concern over the health of imprisoned PLC speaker Dr Aziz Dweik. Dr Dweik has been held in Israeli custody since August 6 2006. His family said that Dr Aziz underwent an operation on Friday in the hospital at Ramle prison in Israel to remove gallstones and that his health had deteriorated since his detention. In a statement, Bahar criticised the decision of the Israeli administration of the prisons to transfer Dr Dweik to a prison hospital for treatment instead of allowing him to be treated in a civilian hospital. He called for the urgent intervention of the Secretary General of the Arab LeagueAmr Musa and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to secure Dweik’s release. Detained deputy PLC head tortured and barred from seeing his lawyer since 45 days Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 7/16/2008 Qbdul-Qaher Srour, deputy head of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) imprisoned by Israel along with several legislators including PLC head Dr. Aziz Dweik, has been under interrogation by Israel in Al Maskobiyya Interrogation facility since May 29 and was not allowed to see his lawyer. His wife voiced an appeal for his release and urged human rights groups to intervene especially since he is still under interrogation which started after he was kidnapped by the army on May 29. In an interview with the Ahrar Center for Detainees’ Studies, the detained legislator’s wife said that her husband is suffering from a bad health condition as he was supposed to conduct a heart surgery which was planned to be conducted in early June. Srour was kidnapped and imprisoned by Israel six times in addition to his current imprisonment. PLC Speaker Dweik to undergo surgery in Israeli prison Ma’an News Agency 7/16/2008 Hebron – Ma’an – The elected speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Aziz Dweik, is undergoing surgery to remove gallstones at Ramle prison in Israel. Attorney Samira Halayqa said that a team of doctors ordered the surgery after Dweik suffered severe pain throughout his imprisonment. A total of 45 Palestinian members of parliament are held in Israeli prisons. Israel abducted most of the deputies in 2006, and has linked their release to the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who is held by Palestinian armed groups in Gaza. [end] Family of female prisoner appeals to physicians for human rights to intervene Palestinian Information Center 7/16/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The family of female prisoner Khulud Al-Masri, a member of the municipal council in Nablus, appealed to human rights organizations especially physicians for human rights to urgently intervene to provide their daughter with medication and to work to get her released as soon as possible for the sake of her five children. The family said that a center for the defense of human rights called HaMoked informed them that the Israeli prison authority transferred Khulud, 40, to the Beilinson hospital after the deterioration of her health, pointing out that their daughter suffers from weakness in her heart muscle. The wife of prisoner Abdelkader Sorour, the director of the PLC speaker’s office, appealed to humanitarian organizations to necessarily intervene to get her ill husband, 36, released from the Israeli Maskubia prison. Two prisoners at a P.A prison deny allegations they were tortured IMEMC & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 7/16/2008 The Maan News Agency reported on Wednesday that two prisoners detained by the Palestinian Military Police in Qalqilia District, in the northern part of the West Bank, denied allegation that they were tortured for membership with the Hamas movement. The two prisoners, Eyad Salmi and Basil Abu Suleiman, were interviewed by a Maan reporter and said that they are receiving proper treatment without any attacks or humiliation. Several weeks ago, the agency reported that the two prisoners voiced an appeal to President Mahmoud Abbas to intervene as they were being abused in prison. The two prisoners said they had no knowledge of what was published as they did not voice any appeal. The two prisoners seemed to be in a good health and no torture marks were present on their bodies. Head of the military police, representatives of the Public Relations Office of the Palestinian Security and the mothers of the two detainees also attended the interview. The Israeli Army kidnaps 8 civilians and confiscates an institution in Nablus Ghada Salsaa NEWS, International Middle East Media Center News 7/16/2008 The Israeli Army kidnaps 8 civilians from the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday at dawn. Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli Army invaded Nablus Mall and ransacked the office of the Solidarity Institutions for Human Rights, confiscating a number of computers, documents, and the files of the Palestinian detainees. The sources added that the kidnapped Palestinians are: Hamza Ghassan al-Jawhari, Bashar "˜Ali Kalbona, Kadri Shaheen, Mo’men al-Kayse, Karem Abu "˜Issa, Mos’ab "˜Ata Me’yari, Mos’ab Abu Salha, and Khalil Mohammad Nadi "˜Akra’. [end] 3350 Palestinian students take college entrance exam in Israeli prisons Ma’an News Agency 7/14/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – Three thousand three hundred fifty Palestinians in Israeli jails began the Palestinian college entrance examination (the Tawjihi) on Monday after Palestinian and Israeli officials struck an agreement. The Palestinian Minister of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Ashraf Al-Ajrami, said he met with Israeli prison authorities and secured their cooperation, allowing young Palestinians in Israeli prisons to take the crucial test. Tens of thousands of Palestinian students take the Tawjihi at the end of their third year of secondary school. The exam plays a large role in determining whether Palestinians will be accepted by universities. Possible prisoner exchange leaves questions for thousands of families: who will make the list? Ali Samoudi, Palestine News Network 7/14/2008 Jenin - Riyad Abdullah Bani Hassan is the only member of his family still able to attempt to try to free his brother from Israeli prison. He has been running from agency to institute in an attempt to get 42 year old Othman Bani Hassan’s name on list for the prisoner exchange a Palestinian. The Jenin family has not seen Othman outside of prison for 25 years. Israeli forces arrested him as a 17 year old boy. Until 12 years ago family visits were possible, but since this stopped the Bani Hassan family lives under an ever darkening cloud of grief. They have no idea what his status is concerning the prisoner exchange, but say that every happy occasion becomes one of sadness due to the absence of Othman, including Riyad’s wedding. But still he fighting for the inclusion of Othman’s name in the next prisoner exchange. Israeli soldiers torture 10-year-old in his home Report, Defence for Children International-Palestine Section, Electronic Intifada 7/10/2008 A 10-year-old boy was subjected to physical abuse amounting to torture for 2. 5 hours by Israeli soldiers who stormed his family’s shop on 11 June, seeking information on the location of a handgun. The boy was repeatedly beaten, slapped and punched in the head and stomach, forced to hold a stress position for half and hour, and threatened. He was deeply shocked and lost two molar teeth as a result of the assault. On Wednesday 11 June 2008, at around 10:30am, 10-year-old Ezzat, his brother Makkawi (7) and sister Lara (8) were in their father’s shop selling animal feed and eggs in the village of Sanniriya, near the West Bank city of Qalqiliya. The children were suddenly startled to see two Israeli soldiers storm in to the shop. Interrogation and abuse in the shop One soldier wearing a black T-shirt started shouting in a loud, menacing voice in Arabic, "your father sent us to you to collect his gun. " Student Prisoners: The Right to Education Violated by Arrests Palestine Monitor, Palestine Monitor 7/10/2008 Fadi Hamad, the president of Student Council at Birzeit University, was arrested by the Israeli military on November 25th, 2007. Fadi was charged with "holding a position of responsibility" and for "belonging to an illegal organization", as well as with breaking probation from a previous arrest. The probation prevented Fadi from working with student groups for the next three years. Fadi was arrested in December of 2004, and spent ten months in prison because of his membership in the Islamic Bloc and for holding the office of president of the Student Council. According to Birzeit University’s Right to Education Campaign, Fadi "represented the interests of some 7,000 students before the university administration, and was responsible for welfare programmes for students, providing them with sports and cultural activities as well as help with registration, paying fees, [and] their studies. Israeli forces block South African delegation including a Justice of the Supreme Court, in WB Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, Palestine News Network 7/10/2008 Jeruslaem - Today, Wednesday, July 09, 2008, the Israel Police blocked a tour of The South African Human Rights Delegation to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. The police declared the delegation’s visit to the city as an "illegal gathering", and arrested the three Israeli guides accompanying the delegation. As of 2:30 pm, the 25 members of the delegation were camped opposite the Hebron police station, demanding that the police releases the three detainees. Among the South Africans present at the event are a Justice of the South African Supreme Court, several members of Parliament, senior attorneys, journalists, and human rights activists. Nafha Association ordered to close; calls measure arbitrary and unjust Ma’an News Agency 7/10/2008 Bethlehem - Ma’an - "Yes for having strong and effective Palestinian civil society organizations…No to the Israeli arbitrary unjust measures," says a press release issued by the Nafha Association for Defending Human and Prisoners Rights. The Nablus Association was one of a number that were ordered shut down this week, during raids and property confiscation carried out by Israeli forces. The Nafha offices were attacked at dawn on Tuesday, and according to the press release, all property was confiscated. In addition, said the statement, the army has "issued a military order signed by the commander of the Israeli army forces for the West Bank, imposing the closure of the society for two years, based on the accusation that the association promotes terrorism. " The Nafha Association maintains that it is a "civil institution that provides legal, social. . . Detainee facing death as he heart conditions worsened Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 7/10/2008 Palestinian detainee Basheer Hashshash, 28, is currently facing a sharp deterioration in his health condition as he is suffering from a heart condition, high cholesterol and high blood pressure but is not receiving the needed medical treatment due to ongoing rejection by the Israeli Prison Administration. Secretary-general of the Palestinian Popular (Folk) Committees, Azmi Shiokhy, stated the four brothers of Basheer died due to the same conditions, and added that Basheer is now very weak and needs urgent medical attention. Shiokhy voiced n appeal to the international community and the Red Cross to intervene for the release of Basheer in order to enable him receive the needed medical attention. He slammed the ongoing Israeli violations against the detainees, and the lack of food and clothes. Shiokhy also said that all sick detainees have the right to receive medical treatment. . . IOF troops storm charitable societies in Nablus Palestinian Information Center 7/8/2008 NABLUS, (PIC)-- The IOF troops stormed at an early hour Tuesday a number of charitable societies including the Nafha society for the defence of human and prisoners’ rights and confiscated their contents and funds in the Nablus city. Palestinian local sources reported that the IOF troops handed closure notices to the raided societies at the pretext that they are affiliated with Hamas and support it financially. The invading troops broke into and ransacked the Islamic school for girls in the Rafidia area and confiscated all its contents as well as a number of buildings and a shopping mall in the same area. They also stormed a mosque in the Askar refugee camp and confiscated Qur’an books, according to the sources. In another context, the IOF troops broke into and ransacked on the same day the headquarters of Al-Bireh municipality, central West Bank, in addition to the offices of the Islamic labor union in Ramallah. Ahrar Center slams closure of Nafha Society for Defending Human rights Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 7/8/2008 The Ahrar Center for Detainees Studies issued a press release on Tuesday slamming the Israeli attacks against several institutions an societies in Nablus, and the Israeli orders of shutting down several societies including the Nafha Society for Defensing Detainees and Human Rights. The society, along with several other institutions in the northern West Bank city of Nablus were shut down by Israeli forces who invaded the city. The society defends Palestinian and Arab detainees imprisoned by Israel and is considered one of the leading human rights groups in Palestine. The Ahrar Center demanded Human Rights Groups and the International Community to intervene and stop the ongoing Israeli violations against the Palestinian people and their institutions. Following the Israeli attack against the city and its institutions, several national and Islamic factions in Nablus called for a general strike in the city. Prisoners study centre condemns Israeli closure of Nafha society Ma’an News Agency 7/8/2008 Nablus - Ma’an - The Ahrar center for prisoners studies and human rights condemned Israeli army closure Nafha prisoners society in Nablus, on Tuesday morning. Ahrar center said in a statement, “The Nafha society is one of the strongest and best societies working in the Palestinian arena on Palestinian detainees’ affairs. This society has been able to prove itself in the affairs of Palestinian prisoners as well as amongst families of prisoners and detainees. ”Ahrar called on all human rights organizations, civil society institutions and prisoners societies to show solidarity with Nafha and to condemn Israeli atrocities against societies and institutions. The Nafha Society was among six Hamas-affilated associations in Nablus closed by the Israeli army on Tuesday, in a campaign against Islamic charities in the West Bank. Israeli army shuts down six Hamas-affiliated associations in Nablus Ma’an News Agency 7/8/2008 Nablus – Ma’an - Israeli army closed six Hamas-affilated associations in Nablus on Tuesday, confiscating documents and equipment as part of an Israeli crackdown on Islamic charities in the West Bank. Palestinian security sources told Ma’an’s correspondent that more than 120 Israeli military vehicles stormed Nablus on Monday night and raided a number of Palestinian associations in the city. Israel claims the six associations have been financing the activities of "terrorist" organizations over the past two years. They are the Nafha Association for Prisoners’ Affairs, the Islamic Union Association, The Scientific Medical Association, the Yazur Association in the Balata refugee camp and the Al-Basmah Association at the the ’Askar refugee camp, as well as storming the Al-Huda mosque in the ’Askar refugee camp. Eyewitnesses confirmed that the Israeli army also stormed the Nablus. . . Ahrar appeals for releasing paraplegic prisoner Palestinian Information Center 7/8/2008 SALFIT, (PIC)-- The Ahrar center for prisoner studies appealed to all human rights organizations to necessarily pressure the IOA to release a Palestinian prisoner called Rabia Harb, 27, who is suffering from paraplegia as a result of being shot in his spine by IOF troops. The center said that the IOF troops in the Ramla prison hospital deliberately neglect Harb, where the only medical treatment they provide him is one tablet of Aspirin and a glass of water which led to the deterioration of his health. The center pointed out that there are more than 30 Palestinian prisoners in the Ramla prison hospital in extremely difficult health conditions. The Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli Nafha prison appealed through a leaked letter to human rights organizations and the Red Cross to save prisoner Yusri Al-Masri from getting blind. Families of Palestinian prisoners duped by con artists Ma’an News Agency 7/8/2008 Tulkarem – Ma’an – A spate of fraud and attempted fraud cases against the families of Palestinian prisoners has broken out in the Tulkarem district of the northern West Bank. In several cases, families reported anonymous callers claiming to have information about their imprisoned loved ones. In one case, the caller told a family that their son was on the list for a prisoner exchange with Israel. "Keep your cell phone on," the caller said. The families of the 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails are hoping that that their relatives will be released as a part of an upcoming prisoner deal between Israel and the Lebanese resistance group Hizbullah. Another prisoner swap involving the Hamas movement in Gaza is still pending. In another case, a man visited the family of a prisoner from the Tulkarem district claiming that he was a former prisoner. Convicted terrorist released from jail due to declining health Jack Khoury, Ha’aretz 7/8/2008 Israeli authorities on Tuesday released a security prisoner who was sentenced 23 years ago for his role in committing and planning numerous attacks against Israeli targets in the Golan Heights. Haaretz has learned that the prisoner, Sitao Eluli, was released due to his deteriorating health. In recent years, he has suffered from a serious illness. Upon his release from the Gilboa prison, he was transferred to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. Eluli is expected to return to his home village of Majdel Shams in the Golan Heights on Wednesday. Villagers are said to be planning a rousing welcome for Eluli, who will also pay a visit to the nearby villages of Mas’ada and Bukata. Eluli’s attorney, Majd Abu Salah, told Haaretz that his client’s release was strictly due to health reasons, and is in no way connected to the recent prisoner swap with Hezbollah. Abbas security kidnaps husband of MP Samira Al-Halaika Palestinian Information Center 7/7/2008 AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- The PLC presidency has condemned PA chief Mahmoud Abbas’s security apparatuses in the West Bank for abducting the husband of MP Samira Al-Halaika in Al-Khalil city on Sunday. The PLC chairmanship in a statement said that the security apparatuses in the West Bank were persisting in human rights violations and in breaching Palestinian traditions in a way that harmonized with the Israeli occupation authority’s methods. It noted that those security elements on Sunday morning detained Sheikh Mohammed Zaitun Al-Halaika, the husband of the lawmaker, along with other citizens in Al-Khalil who also included a mayor. The PLC chairmanship held the security apparatuses fully responsible for the life of Halaika and other detainees, denouncing the way the director of the preventive security apparatus replied to the MP when she asked about what were the reasons for detaining her husband. Hebron: Israeli army kidnaps a civilian and continues to impose closure on the city Rula Shahwan, International Middle East Media Center News 7/7/2008 The Israeli army kidnapped on Monday a civilian and conducted a series of attacks in different parts of the southern West Bank city of Hebron. Security sources reported that the Israeli army kidnapped 26 year old Muhammad Atallah after he was stopped a checkpoint at near the city. The Palestinian Prisoners Society in the city of Hebron reported that now the number of men kidnapped from Hebron by the army in the past seven days stands at 10. On the other hand, the Israeli army continued to force closure on Hebron, and erected more checkpoints at crossroads, surrounding the city and surrounding villages. [end] Prisoner released after spending a third of his life in prison; family was separated for 22 years Palestine News Network 7/7/2008 Nablus / Amin Abu Wardeh - After a collection of arrests that have caused Palestinian Samer Shirab to spend a third of his life in prison, he was released from an Israeli prison this week. His family’s joy was bittersweet, however, as his two brothers, Amjad and Majdi, were arrested two weeks ago by Israeli forces. The family has been separated now for 22 years. As the family prepared to welcome Samer home, their arrest came as a surprise. Samer’s release from prison followed a seven-year period in jail. He had previously spent five and a half years in prison after being arrested in 1996, adding to his total time in jail. Samer was arrested for the first time during the first Intifada. He was taken from his home during the night and sentenced to five years, which he spent in the Megiddo Prison. He was released in the first year and then rearrested after six months, interrupting. . . Official PA paper: Israel poisoning prisoners Roee Nahmias, YNetNews 7/7/2008 In bid to increase Palestinian public pressure, official newspaper for Palestinian Authority reports of ’medical experiments’ being conducted by Israel on Arab, Palestinian prisoners. ’The Israeli occupation is killing prisoners through slow deaths,’ claims director general of prisoner affairs center at Al-Quds University - Incitement in the Palestinian media is far from rare, but with Israel on the cusp of a prisoner exchange deal with Hizbullah and the fate of a similar deal for Palestinian prisoners still far from being finalized - the Palestinian Authority’s official newspaper is trying to ratchet up the pressure. In a series of reports published in the ’al-Hayat al-Jadida’ newspaper Israel is accused of poisoning Palestinian prisoners in its custody and conducting "medical experiments’ on them. In a special report issued on Monday by ’Palestinian Media Watch,’. . . Paralyzed detainee facing slow death Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 7/8/2008 The Ahrar Center For Detainees Studies and Human Rights reported on Monday that detainee Rabee’ Harb, 27, is facing slow death in Israeli prisons, and voiced an urgent appeal for his immediete release in order to receive the needed medical treatement. The Center reported tha Harb was shot and injured by the Israeli forces, the injury caused paralysis. He was shot in his spine before he was kindapped by the army, and is currently at the Al Ramla prison hospital which lacks the fundemental equipment. The Center also stated that the health condition of Harb is gradually deteriorating as bullet fragments shattered his spine and also penetrated his kidney and other bullet fragments shatterd his bowels. He is currenty isolated at the ospital as he also suffers from a viral infection. Fuad Al Khuffash, a researcher and the head of the Ahrar Center, stated that Harb is not receiivng. . . Detainee freed after speding more than one-third of his life in detention Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 7/8/2008 Palestinian detranee Samer Shirab, was release from an Israeli detention facility this week. He spend seven years in detenton and in the past he was imprisoned for more tanb five and a halfd years folowng his abduction by the soldiers in 1996. The family was releaved after his release but still this joy is mixed with sandess as his two borthers were kidnapped by the Israeli forces two weeks ago. Samer was first kidnapped by the army during the first Intifada. He was abducted from hoime during a night raid and spent five years in Magiddo Israeli prison. He was also kidnapped again and was detained for suix months. During this period he continued his studies and received his secondary certificate while in prison, yet he was unable to attend a univeristy. Samer still recalls the days and months he spent in etention and recalls an incident which took place on August 22, 2003, when there was a fire in the Negev detention camp. Medical supplies on the way to Gaza! Please help if you can!! David Halpin, Palestine Think Tank 7/7/2008 Bon Voyage to Khalil Al Niss and Linda Willis - This couple have decided to take precious medical supplies by road to the prison which is Gaza. They set off on Thursday 10th of July. They are doing this under their own steam but donations towards their expenses have beenrequested and directed to the Dove and Dolphin under which banner they will besailing. They will be crossing from Edinburgh to Belgium with two further leapsover the Bosphorus and at Aqaba. They will enter the Gaza strip at Rafah wherehardly a mouse goes in and out. The hospitals in Gaza willwelcome them with open arms, as will all the people. I told Khalil two days agothat plastic tracheostomy tubes are needed at the Al Wafa Rehabilitation hospital. These are for very ill patients who need assistance with theirbreathing; mostly these are people with severe head injuries. -- See also: Link to news story VIDEO - News/ IDF: Jlem attacker’s home should be sealed off, not demolished Haaretz Staff and Channel 10, Ha’aretz 7/7/2008 Haaretz. com/Channel 10 news roundup for July 6, 2008. Home Front recommends the Jerusalem attacker’s home be sealed off, not demolished. Activity in a Galilee cemetery suggests preparations for a prisoners swap with Hezbollah are underway. More than 100 kilograms of cocaine are confiscated at a Haifa port. [end] UN committee expresses concern over Israeli practices in the Golan Palestinian Information Center 7/5/2008 GENEVA, (PIC)-- The UN Special Committee on Israeli practices in the occupied Arab lands has expressed concern over the human rights conditions in the Syrian Golan Heights under Israeli occupation since 1967. A statement issued on Friday by the Committee, formally known as the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, pointed to the Israeli restrictions on visits of Golan inhabitants to their relatives in Syria. It also mentioned the maltreatment of Golan detainees in Israeli jails especially the absence of adequate health services. Members of the Special Committee started their annual tour of the region on 23/6/2008 that covered Egypt, Jordan and Syria. The members reiterated the importance of Israel’s adherence to its legal commitments regarding the human rights laws and the international humanitarian laws. Addameer: bulldozer incident investigation needs international supervision Ma’an News Agency 7/5/2008 [Ma’anImages] Gaza – Ma’an - Addameer (Conscience) Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Association, a Palestinian non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the rights of political prisoners and detainees released a statement on Saturday condemning "execution" of Jerusalem bulldozer attacker Husam Dwayyat. The statement described the execution as "violation of the right to life. "The statement also slammed the Israeli Knesset’s decision to demolish the man’s home, describing the action as "racial behavior and collective punishment against Palestinian residents of Jerusalem. " The association demanded in its statement that investigations be held under international supervision since there are some indications that the incident was in fact a road accident with nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Prisoners condemn ongoing solitary confinement of Sheikh Jamal Abu Al-Hayja Ma’an News Agency 7/5/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – Hamas-affiliated Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails on Saturday condemned the extension of the solitary confinement of Hamas leader Sheikh Jamal Abu Al-Hayja. Abu Al-Hayja, the leader of a group of fighter in Jenin refugee camp, has been in solitary confinement for six years. In a communiqué from Askelon prison, the detainees also condemned the Israeli decision to prevent Abu Al-Hayja from seeing his two sons, who are also in Israeli prisons. His son Abdul-Salam is serving seven and a half life sentences, and his son ’Asim has been in administrative detention for three years. His wife and daughter were previously jailed, then released, by Israel. Abu Al-Hayja was sentenced to nine life sentences and an additional 20 years. After losing an arm in the battle of Jenin refugee camp in 2002, Abu Al-Hayja was seized by Israeli forces during a massive arrest operation in August 2002. Israeli army killed 78 Palestinian children in six months Middle East Online 7/5/2008 TULKAREM, West Bank - Israeli troops killed 78 Palestinian children, and captured more than 2,500 Palestinian citizens, including 260 children, throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the start of this year, a report issued by the Nafha society said. The society, which caters for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, explained that 1500 of the captured Palestinian citizens were from the West Bank, in addition to hundreds of Palestinian citizens in the Gaza Strip rounded up by the Israeli troops during military incursions into the tiny Strip. The report also added that 13 Palestinian women were among the arrested citizens, including human rights activist Ahlam Johar who was later on forcibly deported to Jordan. According to the report, the West Bank cities of Nablus and Al-Khalil had the biggest number of the arrested citizens of 465 and 450 citizens respectively, while in Bethlehem city 220 cases were reported. B’Tselem: 'Palestinian child abused during arrest, tortured during interrogation' Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 7/5/2008 The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (B’Tselem) reported that a Palestinian child was tortured by Israeli soldiers while arresting him and was also tortured in an Israeli prison during interrogation. The child, Majid Jaradat, 13, was kidnapped by the army on November 13, 2007, after the soldiers claimed that he hurled stones at them during a demonstration in Sa’ir village, near the southern West Bank city of Hebron. In his affidavit, Jaradat stated that he was severely beaten by the soldiers when they arrested him and that they kicked him on his back. He added that the abuse continued after he was moved to Azion Police Station as he was beaten by the interrogators. Following interrogation, Jaradat was moved to Ofer detention facility. Jaradat was later on "convicted" of hurling stones at the soldiers and was sentenced to two months. Occupation extends isolation of Sheikh Jamal Abu al-Hayja Palestinian Information Center 7/4/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Ahrar Centre for Prisoners Studies has learnt that an Israeli military court decided to extend the isolation of Sheikh Jamal Abu al-Hayja, a prominent Hamas leader, for the sixth year running. Sheikh Abu al-Hayja is serving nine lives plus 20 years. He is in a bad health condition as he lost one of his arms during the Israeli occupation massacres at the Jenin refugee camp and he caught some skin diseases in the isolation cells of the Ramlah prison. The same court refused a request made by Sheikh Abu al-Hayja to meet his son Abdel-Salam who is serving a seven and a half years sentence or his other son Asem who is in administrative detention for the past three years. The court told Sheikh Abu al-Hayja that he should not be allowed to meet anyone in this world. The wife of Sheikh Abu al-Hayja said she was worried about his deteriorating health and expressed. . . Detained Hamas leader remains in solitary confinement after six years IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center News 7/4/2008 The Ahrar Center for Detainees Studies reported on Thursday that an Israeli Military Court decided to extend solitary confinement against Sheikh Jamal Abu Al Haija, one of Hamas’ leaders, who is currently in solitary confinement in the Al Ramla prison. Abu Al Haija was sentenced to nine life-terms and additional twenty years. He is in very bad health, as one of his hands was amputated during the massive Israeli assault against the Jenin refugee camp in April 2002. Abu Al Haija is also suffering from a skin disease. The Israeli assaultagainst the camp started on April 3 and lasted through April 13. The United Nations said after the attack that the Israeli army killed 58 Palestinians, wounded hundreds of others and leveled at least 200 homes. Abu Al Haija filed an appeal to the Israeli court to allow him to meet both of his detained sons, but his request was rejected. Policeman Convicted of Killing Arab Escapes Erfat Weiss, MIFTAH 7/3/2008 Where in the world is Yanai Lalza? The police are attempting to locate Yanai Lalza, a Border Guard police officer who killed a Palestinian boy in Hebron. Lalza for supposed to begin serving his prison term last week but failed to report at the jail. Despite the police’s request, Lalza was not held in detention and was supposed to report to prison at the set date. Lalza was sentenced to six and a half years in prison after being convicted of killing a 17-year-old Palestinian in December 2002. Lalza was convicted of manslaughter by the Jerusalem district court. The incident in question, which involved Lalza as well as three other Border Guard officers, was videotaped. According to the indictment, the four police officers kidnapped the Palestinian teen and later threw him out of a speeding jeep. The Palestinian teenager’s head slammed against the ground and he was killed. The judge in the case decided to impose a relatively lenient sentence on Lalza, citing his "difficult family circumstances. " Human rights report indicates barbaric methods used during 243 arrests in June Palestine News Network 7/3/2008 Nablus / PNN - The Palestinian Centre for the Defense of Prisoners reports that Israeli forces arrested approximately 243 Palestinians, including children, during the month of June. The arrests were made in 11 governorates throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "Dirty Methods" Used During ArrestsThe Centre also explained that Israeli forces used "dirty methods" during their arrest operations, such as police dogs, death threats and firing automatic weapons. They also arrested children and women, including the wives and mothers of several men, in order to intimidate them. On 25 June in a southern Hebron neighborhood, Israeli forces invaded the Taha Abu Sneineh family home. Israeli soldiers attacked Jawaher Rajeh Taha, 31, and severely beat and arrested her 19 year old brother, Ghalid Rajeh Taha. This is one example of dozens of arrests made by Israeli forces daily. Bodies of 200 Palestinian fighters buried in Israeli military cemeteries Ma’an News Agency 7/3/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – The bodies of at least 200 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza, killed during the first and second Intifadas, are buried in unmarked graves in Israeli military cemeteries, deputy of detainees committee in the Legislative Council Issa Qaraqe’ said on Thursday. "Four graves were discovered in Israel, but there are more, as the total number of bodies still held in Israeli cemetaries is unknown," Qaraqe’ explained. He demanded they be returned to their families for proper burial. Qaraqe’ told Ma’an that the bodies are not to be included in the prisoner swap between Israel and Hizbullah, which is due to take place within the next two weeks. He said that any future deal regarding the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit should include the return of the dead fighters. IOF troops kill 78 Palestinian children; kidnap 260 others within six months Palestinian Information Center 7/2/2008 TULKAREM, (PIC)-- The IOF troops killed 78 Palestinian children, and kidnapped more than 2,500 Palestinian citizens, including 260 children, throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the start of this year, a report issued by the Nafha society asserted. The society, which caters for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, explained that 1500 of the kidnapped Palestinian citizens were from the West Bank, in addition to hundreds of Palestinian citizens in the Gaza Strip rounded up by the IOF troops during military incursions into the tiny Strip. The report also added that 13 Palestinian women were among the arrested citizens, including human rights activist Ahlam Johar who was later on forcibly deported to Jordan. According to the report, the West Bank cities of Nablus and Al-Khalil had the biggest number of the arrested citizens of 465 and 450 citizens respectively, while in. . . VIDEO - News / Police tear down mourning tent erected by Jerusalem terrorist’s family Haaretz Staff and Channel 10, Ha’aretz 7/4/2008 Haaretz. com/Channel 10 news roundup for July 3, 2008. Border Police tear down a mourning tent erected for the man behind Wednesday’s terror attack. The perpetrator’s Jewish ex-girlfirend gives a different view of Hussam Duwiyat. Preparations begin for the prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah. Related articles: Olmert: Raze terrorist’s home, revoke family’s social benefits ANALYSIS / Terrorist or petty criminal run amok? Mother of Kuntar victim: This monster will be a Lebanon hero Also on Haaretz. com TV: Language barrier lands immigrant soldier in military police detention Terrorist kills three, wounds dozens in downtown J’lem rampage News / U. S. official says concerned Israel will attack Iran by end of 2008 For more video news and features, visit Haaretz. com TV Prisoners’ lawyers announce boycott of Israeli courts Ma’an News Agency 7/2/2008 Ramallah – Ma’an – The Committee of Palestinian lawyers who defend prisoners in announced a two-day boycott of Israeli courts on Wednesday and Thursday. They said the boycott is meant to protest the actions of Israeli military prosecutors against Palestinian lawyers and detainees. The committee called on all lawyers and prisoners’ families to participate in the boycott. [end] Administrative detention orders extended for 2 Palestinian detainees Ma’an News Agency 7/2/2008 Nablus - Ma’an - The Israeli authorities on Wednesday extended the administrative detention orders for two Palestinian prisoners, according to a lawyer from Nafha, the Palestinian prisoners’ society for defending prisoners and human rights. The periods of detention for 37-year-old Faraj Abdel Rahman Rummaneh and 43-year-old Hussein Muhammad Abu Kweik were extended for the second time by six months. They were detained by Israeli forces who stormed their houses in Ramallah on January 18 2008. [end] Appeal for ending isolation of two Palestinian female prisoners on hunger strike Palestinian Information Center 7/2/2008 GAZA, (PIC)-- The ministry of prisoners in the PA caretaker government on Tuesday appealed to international institutions and human rights groups to swiftly pressure the Israeli occupation authority to save the lives of two Palestinian female prisoners. The ministry in a statement said that the two prisoners, Amna Mona and Abir Atef started an open ended hunger strike since Saturday 21/6/2008 to protest their continued solitary confinement. It noted that both suffered a number of diseases and that Abir’s body weight drastically went down from 85 kilograms to only 31. The two on strike prisoners are daily harassed and pressured in their isolation cells in order to end their strike, the ministry pointed out. Delegation of 2002 Nativity Church deportees meet with Haniyeh Ma’an News Agency 7/2/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – A delegation of the Nativity Church deportees, taken from Bethlehem by Israeli forces during the 2002 incursion and deported to Europe and the Gaza strip, met with Prime Minister of the de facto government Ismael Haniyeh on Tuesday evening to discuss the national dialogue and the issue of deportees. One of the representatives of the group, Iyad ’Adawi, said in a phone call with Ma’an that the delegation includes all deportees affiliated with Fatah, Hamas, the Popular Front and the Islamic Jihad movement. "The deportees of the Church demanded Haniyeh to include them in the prisoners’ swap so they can return to Bethlehem. They insisted that they don’t want to return as prisoners, but they want their case to be separated from the exchange deal of Palestinian detainees where Haniyeh supported the issue of deportees," ’Adawi explained. MP Saleh narrates heart breaking stories about women in Israeli jails Palestinian Information Center 7/1/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- MP Mariam Saleh, former minister of women’s affairs, who was released recently after seven-month administrative detention, revealed in a press conference held Monday heart breaking stories about the suffering of female prisoners in Israeli jails and the inhuman measures pursued against them by prison administrations. In the conference which was held by the campaign of solidarity with Palestinian lawmakers on the second anniversary of their abduction, MP Saleh explained that there are 80 female prisoners in Israeli jails including five serving several life sentences and many others sentenced to 20 to 30 years. The ex-detainee noted that the oldest female prisoner in Israeli jails is Sona Al-Ra’aee who has been locked up for more than 11 years. Some of the prisoners are mothers who left behind nine or five children without parental care or a breadwinner because. . . Police hunt for Border cop convicted of killing Palestinian Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 7/2/2008 The Justice Ministry’s Police Investigations Department (PID) is trying to locate Yanai Lalza, a border police man who was convicted of killing a Palestinian youth in Hebron and sentenced to six and a half years in prison, Channel 2 reported Tuesday. Lalza was supposed to begin serving his sentence last week, and when he didn’t arrive, it became clear that he had fled. Against police recommendation, Lalza was not in custody while the proceedings against him were being completed. It was decided, instead, that he would voluntarily appear on the date he was summoned. Lalza, was also convicted of robbery, destroying evidence and obstructing justice. Lalza and three other border policemen were posted in Hebron in 2002. One day the four abducted several Hebron residents, among them 17-year-old Amran Abu Hamadiya, and took them for a ride in their jeep.  Articles
A prison is not a penal colony Haaretz Editorial, Ha’aretz 7/30/2008 The Public Defender’s report on the situation of prisoners in 2007 reveals serious failures in Israel’s prisons. The editors of the report do note that the Israel Prison Service opened its doors without reservations to the inspector, related seriously to findings and criticism, and that at the time of the editing of the report, some of the distortions had been corrected. Nevertheless, the findings are cause for concern. Most disturbing of all is the violence by prison guards and their commanders toward prisoners and detainees, especially when it comes to minors. The report, which examined 11 prisons and jails, reveals inter alia that at the Ofek Prison, where all of the prisoners are minors, there are disproportionate and collective punishments including, for example, shackling all four limbs to a bed. Considered a means of restraining suicidal minors that requires a doctor’s authorization, this is used at Ofek as a means of punishment. This is an outrageous, inhumane method that exacerbates despair and suicidal tendencies among the prisoners. The Prison Service claims that the problems at Ofek, considered one of the most advanced facilities (the writers of the report confirm the classrooms, leisure time activities and physical facilities have improved), stem from poor management, and in a discussion in the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee they promised that the management would be replaced in the near future. If this is the case, there is no reason to wait, and it must be ensured that the new management changes the approach. The Palestinian torturers Ben White, The Guardian 7/30/2008 Human rights abuses by Palestinian security forces should be exposed, even if they provide Israel with a public relations coup. Two reports released this week are throwing the spotlight on Palestinians who are detained without charge and tortured by the Hamas and Fatah forces. Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights group, has detailed how more than 1,000 have been arrested in the last year, with "an estimated 20%-30% of the detainees" having suffered torture "including severe beatings and being tied up in painful positions". Human Rights Watch is today releasing a similarly-focused report which concludes that "the use of torture is dramatically up". Al-Haq accuses both Hamas’s Executive Force, and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA)’s Preventive Security Force of widespread maltreatment of detainees. A report like al-Haq’s must be welcomed for its attention to detail and courage in documenting unjustifiable abuses of power - all the more so since these kinds of findings can easily be manipulated or ignored for political reasons. An Interview with Ghazi Hamad - Complicating Matters Bitterlemons, MIFTAH 7/28/2008 bitterlemons: Will the Hizballah prisoner exchange have consequences for how Hamas deals with its own prisoner exchange with Israel? Hamad: I think it may give people encouragement that they can achieve better progress because they see that for two bodies, Israel paid a heavy price. Now, people here think that if we stand off, stay strong and remain patient we will get more from Israel. This may be the main message of the Hizballah-Israel prisoner exchange. On the other hand, Hizballah succeeded in keeping every detail secret and involved a mediator that was active daily on all fronts. I think Hamas needs to find a new mechanism to ensure there is a good exchange. bitterlemons: There has been some talk that Hamas is not very happy with Egypt’s mediation on this issue... Hamad: Hamas wants Egypt to be more active and to find a new mechanism in order to accelerate progress on a swap. Some people say Egypt should not simply take messages from one side to the other, but should generate its own ideas. Shalit saga continues Khaled Amayreh, Al-Ahram Weekly 7/24/2008 With Hizbullah scoring a victory in its prisoner exchange deal with Israel, pressure is building on Hamas to do even better. The recent "spectacular" prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hizbullah, which plunged Israel into a state national confusion while feelings of triumph spread in Lebanon and throughout the Arab world, is already impacting on efforts to resolve the Shalit affair. Hamas, like all other Palestinian factions, welcomed wholeheartedly the prisoner swap, arguing that it proved that Israel would be willing to release prisoners "who have blood on their hands" in return for the release of Israeli prisoners, dead or living. quot;If they are willing release ’prisoners with blood on their hands’ for dead Israelis, then they should be even more willing to release similar prisoners in exchange for Shalit, who is alive and well," said Mushir Al-Masri, a Hamas lawmaker. Administrative Detentions: a report from the Israeli Association for Palestinian Prisoners Israeli Association for Palestinian Prisoners, Palestine Think Tank 7/24/2008 The Case of Dr. Ghassan Khaled, the law faculty of Al Najjah University, Nablus Administrative detention is detention without charge or trial, and without informing the detainees or their lawyers of the charges against them.Moreover, neither they nor their attorneys are allowed to see the evidence.* Administrative detention serves as a convenient tool of harassment by the Israeli regime to use against political activists and members of parliament, peace activists leading non-violent resistance to the occupation, students and other people who cannot be put to trial because of the lack of evidence against them. In recent years, 8% of the political prisoners in Israeli jails have been administrative detainees. At present there are about 730 administrative detainees in Israeli prisons. Top-ranking IDF Sadists Gilad Atzmon, Palestine Think Tank 7/23/2008 We learn from the Israeli press that a criminal investigation has been launched against the soldier caught on tape firing towards a bound Palestinian. However, there is a detail the Israeli press in English is reluctant to share with us. The shooting soldier was not just an ordinary low-ranking infantry recruit, he was a First Sergeant. But it goes much further, the soldier who is caught on video holding the bound Palestinian detainee is no less than a regiment commander, an IDF Lieutenant Colonel. In case someone fails to understand, it is a high-ranking Israeli officer who is caught on video holding a handcuffed man as a still target for the merciless vengeance of another IDF soldier. An unavoidable question pops to air. What are these people made of? Do they share any recognised qualities with the rest of humanity? Clearly, cruelty is deeply rooted in Israeli society. It may take two to tango, but apparently it doesn’t take more than two Israeli soldiers to prove to us all what Israel and the Jewish national revival is all about. Why in a stated Democracy are political and social groups, academics and thinkers, squelched? Amin Abu Wardeh, Palestine News Network 7/22/2008 Nablus -- The Israeli Association for Civil Rights is condemning illegal actions performed by Shin Bet, an internal Israeli security organization that uses abduction and torture of Palestinians in its investigations. The group, which is non-partisan and aims to protect civil and human rights, sent a letter to the Israeli Attorney General in the wake of increasing unlawful investigation of political activists, groups, and journalists. The investigations are illegal as a result of the ambiguous nature of the term "conspiracy" in Israeli law. The ACRI had previously demanded that Israelis desist from conducting illegal and oppressive interrogations. The investigations do no more than instill fear in those involved and deter them from exercising their political, legal, and democratic rights. Another letter, sent in early June, called for the Attorney General’s intervention based on work and investigations done by Physicians for Human Rights. An open letter to Ehud Barak Bassam Aramin, Translated by Mimi Asnes, Palestine Think Tank 7/21/2008 Honorable General Ehud Barak, you don’t know me personally. I am a seeker of peace, and I struggle with all my strength and ability for the realization of a just peace that will bring calm and prosperity to Palestinians and Israelis together. I have suffered personally from your criminal occupation and I have paid a heavy price. Firstly, I was imprisoned when I was 17 years old and wasted seven years of my life in your barbaric prisons. Secondly, have you perhaps read or heard about what happened to the young girl Abir Aramin? She was a ten-year-old that your soldiers killed with a rubber bullet from a distance of 15 feet on January 16th, 2007 in front of her eleven-year-old sister Areen. Despite this I, the father of Abir—may she rest in peace—believe in the right of the Israeli person, as in the right of all people, to exist and to live in peace and security. So why do you not believe in our right to enjoy these same things, sir? Where was the democratic nature of your state when your heroic soldiers killed my daughter before the eyes of her friends at the entrance to her school in Anata? Where were your democratic ideals when you closed the investigation file into Abir’s murder for lack of sufficient evidence, this despite the fact that the crime is clear and was committed in front of more than ten witnesses? Was Abir really a threat to your soliders, sir? There are no losers if talks proliferate Rami G. Khouri, Daily Star 7/19/2008 The fact, announced this week, that the third-ranking US State Department official will join the international talks with Iran in Geneva today is a smart move, not a humiliating defeat for the United States. Israel for its part was forced to swallow its pride and its words Wednesday when it exchanged Lebanese prisoners for the bodies of its two soldiers whom Hizbullah had abducted in 2006, sparking that summer’s war. Both the US and Israel are doing things they had said they would never do: the US sits and talks with Iran before Tehran has suspended uranium enrichment, and Israel does a diplomatic deal to retrieve its soldiers’ bodies after it had failed to achieve that goal by vicious and prolonged warfare. The fact that the US and Israel were both politically humbled on the same day has been widely interpreted as victories for Iran and Hizbullah. That is too simplistic a reading of the dynamics in the region. Hizbullah and Iran generate widespread support among Arab public opinion because they defy and resist the US and its allies. Iran and Hizbullah have emerged as the vanguards and bookends of a broad, loose coalition of forces - parties, militias, governments, grassroots movements and several hundred million ordinary men and women - that have stood up to US-Israeli military might and diplomatic swagger, and in places successfully faced them down. They have fought the US-Israeli-Arab conservative alliance to a draw, but they have not defeated their ideological foes. A warrior’s rest Amira Howeidy, Al-Ahram Weekly 7/17/2008 This week’s prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hizbullah marks a new chapter in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The images transmitted from South Lebanon and northern Israel spoke volumes. Broadcast around the world at 9:30am yesterday from Lebanon, footage showed two plain black boxes -- coffins -- containing the corpses of Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev captured by Hizbullah two years ago. Across the border, five healthy looking handcuffed Lebanese prisoners held by Israel completed the story that took two years and a war to end. The seven -- two dead, five alive -- were swapped in a high- profile exchange deal between Hizbullah and Israel. In the deal, Hizbullah was due to receive the remains of 190 Lebanese, Syrian, Libyan, Palestinian and Tunisian fighters who died resisting Israeli occupation over the past three decades. For its part, Israel also was to gain information on an Israeli soldier who went missing in Lebanon 22 years ago. One-room houses in the stories of struggle and hunger Amin Abu Wardeh, Palestine News Network 7/19/2008 Nablus -- Poverty and destruction are ravaging the Old City of Nablus as Israel forces continue to the attacks and closures. More families are living in smaller spaces, with one room becoming common. Bringing food for a family is increasingly difficult. The Old City has a population of 30,000 and it has been referred to as a "disaster area." The ancient buildings are frequently destroyed, while the tanks or bulldozers that periodically plow through shake the underground Roman city to the point of further destruction. The Al Aqaba family is representative of hundreds of families in the Old City who are facing unemployment, overcrowding, and imprisoned family members. The room they live in does not exceed six meters square which is used during the day to receive guests and at night the children whose parents are imprisoned sleep there along with their grandmother. They are 11 year old Samah and her brother, 12 year old Jihad. Their parents were sentenced to 18 and 13 years in Israeli prison. Different Planets Uri Avnery, Middle East Online 7/19/2008 I spent the whole day flipping between the Israeli channels and Aljazeera. It was an eerie experience: in a fraction of a second I could switch between two worlds, but all the channels reported on exactly the same occasion. In one section of the breaking news, the events happened at a distance of a few dozen meters from each other, but they could just as well have happened on two different planets. Never before have I experienced the tragic conflict in such a stunning immediacy as last Wednesday, the day of the prisoner swap between the State of Israel and the Hezbollah organization. The man who stood at the center of the event personifies the abyss that separates the two worlds, the Israeli and the Arab: Samir al-Kuntar. All Israeli media call him "Murderer Kuntar", as if that were his first name. For the Arab media, he is "Hero Samir al-Kuntar". 29 years ago, before Hezbollah had become a significant factor, he landed with his comrades on the beach of Nahariya and carried out an attack that has imprinted itself on the Israeli national memory with its cruelty. In the course of it, a four year-old girl was murdered, and a mother accidentally suffocated her small child while trying to keep it from giving away their hiding place. Kuntar was then 16 years old - not a Palestinian, nor a Shiite, but a Lebanese Druze and a communist. The action was set in motion by a small Palestinian fraction. Reflections on the Israel-Hezbollah Prisoner Swap Deal Khalid Amayreh, Palestine Think Tank 7/17/2008 The latest prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hezbollah is a healthy indicator thatat least some Arabs are beginning to understand the depraved Zionist mentality, and act accordingly. Such mentality is based on arrogance, insolence, and religious and ethnic superiority. Israel, a country whose collective mindset views non-Jews as virtual animals or at least lesser human beings, had to face a new enemy, an enemy that will not be scared by overwhelming brutality, but one that will meet Israel’s state terror with toughness, resilience,valor and defiance. This is a new reality that Israelis, especially Israeli leaders, have yetto come to terms with, especially psychologically. This explains the deep frustration that is apparent in the tone of Israeli leaders reacting to the latest swap deal, especially the fact that Israel has been forced to releasethe Lebanese guerilla Samir Kuntar. Media manipulations: The child was called a murderer while the soldier was called a '˜boy’ Iqbal Tamimi, Palestine Think Tank 7/16/2008 One of today’s main articles on the Guardian reads "˜Israel exchanges Lebanese murderer for bodies of two captured soldiers’. When anyone in the English reading world sees this title and what follows in the article, he or she would immediately think that one of the persons mentioned is a vicious murderer while the others are innocent persons. This is a good example of media manipulation and steering of the public views, aiming to charge the public to hate one side and to sympathize with the other. The story is about the swap of the oldest Lebanese prisoner in Israel, Samir Kuntar, in return of the bodies of two Israeli soldiers who died inside the Lebanese territories while on a military mission. What were the two soldiers doing on another sovereign country’s land, and why did they sneak there? Of course describing them as soldiers, one would think they were working inside the borders of their own country when they died, defending their soil.... Whose Crimes? Against Whose Humanity? Rami Khouri, Middle East Online 7/16/2008 WASHINGTON, DC -- We stand before a decisive moment today, with the demand July 14, by a prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for a warrant to arrest Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, on ten charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, for his policies in Darfur. This is a moment of historical reckoning for the leaders and people of the Arab world. How the Arab world responds to this challenge may well determine whether our region collectively shows its desire to affirm the rule of law as its guiding principle, or instead moves deeper into the realm of dysfunctional, brittle and violent statehood as its defining collective identity. It is a classic example of how the Arab world is politically tortured and ethically convoluted by its twin status as both victim and perpetrator of various crimes and atrocities. President Bashir is being accused and may be tried -- at one level. But at another level, many in the Middle East and elsewhere will ask if this is a new form of racism and colonialism that applies different standards of accountability for different countries. Meet the Lebanese Press: Free at last! Hicham Safieddine, Electronic Lebanon, Electronic Intifada 7/16/2008 The petty politics of forming a national "unity" government in Lebanon will be overshadowed this week by a development with local and regional implications. All Lebanese political prisoners still held in Israeli jails will return home. Five in total, including Samir Kuntar, the dean of Arab detainees, who has spent close to three decades of his life in captivity. (See details of the deal as ratified by the Israeli cabinet and published in As-Safir below.) With the return of prisoners, another chapter of Hizballah’s struggle against Israel has closed. This raises a set of questions not only about the future rules of engagement between the organization and Israeli forces, but Hizballah’s internal political agenda and its regional policies vis-a-vis the Arab-Israeli conflict.This latter point is particularly important in light of regional tensions between the US and its Arab and Israeli allies and Hizballah’s long-standing relationship with Iran and Syria. Ibrahim al-Amine of Al-Akhbar explores what this agenda might look like. Meanwhile, painstaking haggling between the different Lebanese factions has given birth to a 30-member government with 11 seats for the opposition, three for the president, and 16 for the loyalist camp. Concern about making gains ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections prompted the two leading groups in each camp, the Hariri-led Mustaqbal movement and Hizballah, to make concessions to their Christian allies. The Israel-Hizballah prisoner deal Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, Electronic Lebanon, Electronic Intifada 7/16/2008 The Israeli cabinet’s decision to strike a prisoner-exchange deal with the Hizballah movement in Lebanon -- on the eve of the anniversary of the war between the two sides of 12 July-14 August 2006 -- will not be remembered as one of Israel’s most glorious moments. Even its chief architect, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, has referred to the deal in terms of "sadness" and "humiliation" while it has been staunchly opposed by the heads of Israel’s internal-security agency (Shin Bet) and foreign-intelligence agency (Mossad), as well as by a number of Israeli politicians across the political spectrum. Indeed, the exchange of captives itself (or in the case of two Israeli soldiers whose seizure precipitated the 2006 war, their remains), which is planned to occur by 16-17 July 2008 at latest, can be described as a replay of what Israel’s own investigative commission into that war regarded as a historic defeat. True, Israel has made similar deals in the past -- some involving the release of much larger numbers of prisoners than the five Lebanese to be freed this time. But the very nature of the current exchange, as well as its strategic implications, renders it a zero-sum game in which Israel loses and Hizballah again emerges triumphant. In implementing it, Israel will effectively fulfill Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s "truthful promise" to secure the release of Lebanese prisoners held by Israel (the original aim of the operation Hizballah carried out on 12 July 2006 when it abducted two Israeli soldiers on the Israel-Lebanon border) and reconfirm his oft-repeated slogan: "just as I always used to promise you victory, now I promise you victory once again." The overall impact will be to give these popular catchphrases the appearance of strategic foresights. Do no harm: A torture victim remembers Naji Ali writing from San Francisco, US, Live from Palestine, Electronic Intifada 7/10/2008 I wasn’t really surprised by the watchdog group Physicians for Human Rights-Israel’s (PHR-I) latest intervention to Israel’s health ministry, in which they accused Israeli doctors of complicity in the torture of Palestinian detainees in Israeli interrogation centers. Indeed, it sounded all too familiar to what I experienced during 550 days of incarceration in a South African prison from 1990 through 1992. PHR-I reached its conclusion based on the testimony of two Palestinian prisoners who were tortured during interrogation and developed trauma-related symptoms including hearing loss, panic attacks and incontinence. The doctors who treat Palestinian detainees conduct medical checkups on the prisoners during and after interrogation but they fail to report the findings and symptoms, which make them an actor in the torturing of detainees, PHR-I said. The report about those tortured Palestinian detainees leads me to recall my own experience. I returned to South Africa following the release of Nelson Mandela after he served 27 years in apartheid prison. I chose to go back to the birthplace of my activist father, the land that I grew up in for the first eight years of my life, and the place where my older brother was shot and killed right in front of me when I was just five years old. Chasing a mirage? Dina Ezzat, Al-Ahram Weekly 7/10/2008 A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo Tuesday for talks with Egyptian officials to resume truce negotiations frozen by the movement last week as well as discuss a prisoner swap deal involving Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit held captive since 2006. Hamas hopes to exchange Shalit for a number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. There are over 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons. The Hamas delegation, which includes leaders from both the Gaza Strip and the Diaspora, will also ask the Egyptian leadership to step up efforts to bring about Palestinian national reconciliation between Fatah -- which Egypt leans towards in support -- and Hamas. Rafah is also high on the agenda with some Hamas leaders privately criticising Egyptian reluctance to reopen the border crossing, saying that keeping it closed is causing unwarranted distress for desperate Gazans. Hamas leaders also take issue with Egypt’s refusal to release Hamas members held by authorities in Egypt -- some for years. Egyptian officials acknowledge that tension has marred contacts with Hamas. Breaking into Gaza Ramzi Kysia, Middle East Online 7/8/2008 I want to tell you a secret and I want to ask you a question. Shhh! – Come closer. Listen carefully: I’m part of an international conspiracy to break into the world’s largest open-air prison this summer by sea. Will you help me? This August, the Free Gaza Movement will set sail from Cyprus to Gaza on a ship carrying needed medical supplies. We will not be asking Israel for permission. For over two years the state of Israel has severely restricted the Gaza Strip’s ability to import fuel, spare parts and other necessary materials. Israel maintains complete control over Gaza’s airspace and territorial waters, near complete control over travel into or out of Gaza, near complete control over Gaza’s imports and exports, and near complete control over Gaza’s own tax revenues. Little is allowed in. As a result, Gaza’s economy has completely collapsed. This has consequences, both vast and personal. Let Vanunu go Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, The Guardian 7/8/2008 Twenty-two years after Mordechai Vanunu told the truth about Israel’s nuclear weapons, ordinary people must rally to free him. In 1986, a young Israeli man called Mordechai Vanunu followed his conscience and told the world that Israel had a nuclear weapons programme. He was convicted of espionage and treason and sentenced to 18 years in prison. After serving this (12 years of which were in solitary confinement), Vanunu was released. In April 2004, about 80 people from around the world went to welcome him out of prison. Unbelievably, upon his release Vanunu was made subject to severe restrictions, which forbade him many basic civil liberties (including his right to leave Israel, to speak to foreigners and foreign media) and restricted his travel within Israel. Each year, around April 21, Vanunu receives a letter from the prime minister renewing these restrictions, and he starts, yet again, the process of appealing against them through the Israeli courts. Most recently, he has been charged with breaking the restrictions by. Israeli army ransacks, shuts down Nablus organizations Report, PCHR, Electronic Intifada 7/8/2008 PCHR strongly condemns Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) for closing several charities and humanitarian organizations in Nablus over the past two days. The Centre calls upon the international community to intervene to put an end to these measures. The Center’s preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 1:35 on Monday, 7 July, IOF raided the Benevolent Solidarity Association, the Islamic School for Girls, Benevolent Solidarity Club, Solidarity Mosque, and Solidarity Medical Center in Rafedia Quarter west of Nablus. IOF confiscated medical equipment and computers from the medical center. In addition, IOF issued an order closing the association for three years. The order was signed by the Israeli army commander in the West Bank. At approximately 1:00 on Tuesday, 8 July, IOF raided several organizations affiliated with Hamas. IOF closed seven organizations for two years. IOF claimed that these organizations were used to "finance terrorist organizations." The organizations that were closed are: Nablus Mall (owned by the Development, Investment, and Insurance Company), Nafha Association for Prisoners’ Affairs, Federation of Islamic Trade Unions, Scientific Medical Association, Yazour Benevolent Society, Basma Association and Graduates Cultural Forum. 10-year-old subjected to torture by Israeli soldiers Defence for Children International - Palestine, Palestine Think Tank 7/5/2008 A 10-year-old boy was subjected to physical abuse amounting to torture for 2.5 hours by Israeli soldiers who stormed his family’s shop on 11 June, seeking information on the location of a handgun. The boy was repeatedly beaten, slapped and punched in the head and stomach, forced to hold a stress position for half and hour, and threatened. He was deeply shocked and lost two molar teeth as a result of the assault. On Wednesday 11 June 2008, at around 10:30am, 10-year-old Ezzat, his brother Makkawi (7) and sister Lara (8) were in their father’s shop selling animal feed and eggs in the village of Sanniriya, near the West Bank city of Qalqiliya. The children were suddenly startled to see two Israeli soldiers storm in to the shop. Interrogation and abuse in the shop: One soldier wearing a black T-shirt started shouting in a loud, menacing voice in Arabic, “your father sent us to you to collect his gun”. A terrified Ezzat responded, “My father does not own a gun”. The soldier responded by slapping Ezzat hard across the right cheek and his brother Makawi across his face. The soldier then ordered Makkawi and Lara to leave the shop. Once the younger children had left the soldier demanded once again that Ezzat hand over his father’s gun. Although Ezzat repeated that his father did not own a gun the soldier ordered him to search for it in the sacks containing the animal feed. Ezzat kept insisting that there was no gun in the shop so the soldier slapped him once again, this time across his left cheek. Palestinian Journalist Abused, Stripped Nora Barrows-Friedman and Dennis Bernstein, Middle East Online 7/5/2008 The US-supported occupation violence against Palestine continues unchecked. The failure of major Western politicians and the Big Press to cover the story has given Israel an absolute free hand to prosecute its program of ethnic cleansing. It is nearly impossible these days to get substantial, unbiased information out on punishing Israeli policies. The few reporters who have chosen to take on the story head-on oftentimes risk their life and their limbs to do their work. A week ago Thursday, the Israeli occupation violence hit close to home as award-winning reporter and Flashpoints correspondent Mohammed Omer was detained and tortured trying to return back to his home in Gaza through Jordan. Mohammed Omer was returning home from Europe with great pride, having been distinguished with the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. The prize is given every year with great fanfare to frontline reporters who take great risks to report their stories. Shalit is not more important than 10,000 Palestinian prisoners Khalid Amayreh in Occupied East Jerusalem, Palestinian Information Center 7/5/2008 One of the most repulsive expressions of Israeli racism is the firmly-held belief that a Jew is superior to and more important than a non-Jew. According to this unholy principle, which most Israeli Jews see as an unquestionable truism, a Jewish life is more important than a non-Jewish life, and a Jewish blood is far more important than a non-Jewish blood. Unfortunately, it is upon this manifestly racist concept that the entire Israeli justice system is based. This scandalous perception of the Jew-gentile relationship encompasses all aspects of Israeli treatment of the Palestinian people. It also explains the institutionalized racism against the native Palestinians, especially in the occupied territories of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Take for example, the Shalit affair and how Israel managed to kill, maim, detain and torture thousands of innocent Palestinians in order to coerce Hamas to release the man who probably has become the world’s most famous prisoner. The narrative of a young woman: her eyes, life and hope under occupation Manar Wahhab, Palestine News Network 7/4/2008 Bethlehem - I will begin with the story of leaving in 1948 with the words of my grandmother. "Before the British left in May 1948, they humiliated the Arabs." "We used to think that they sold petrol for only five dinars but when we opened the bottles we discovered that they sold us water!" She continued, “I want to tell you what had happened to me and my family when we lived in Al-Ramlah [a village the Israelis took in 1948]…my six children and I sat at home [one of her children is my father]. Two men knocked on the door. When we opened the door, they told us to leave the house because there would be clashes. We didn’t believe them. I was cooking for my children. Then we suddenly heard shelling and bombing. I took my children and went to the Catholic convent to hide. There we met a lot of people, both Christians and Muslims. The children were afraid and cried because of the sounds they heard. There was no food or water anymore. So we were obliged to bring what we had in our houses. The Israeli soldiers told the boys and men to visit a specific place if they wanted to get permission to be in the streets, but the Israelis were lying: when the men went to the place they all were taken to prison. The Israeli airplanes shelled most of the houses. The snipers killed many boys, men, women, and children, even dogs and cats in the street.&rdquo. Unite to negotiate a real truce Dr. Eyad al-Sarraj, Electronic Intifada 7/4/2008 After nearly one year of a suffocating siege imposed on Gaza by the Israeli military establishment, a truce agreement was reached between Hamas and Israel. This followed months of dedicated Egyptian good offices. Rockets launched from Gaza against Israeli settlements were to stop in return for gradually lifting the blockade. A ceasefire sustained for six months would then roll over to the West Bank. A hostage Israeli soldier would be released in a separate deal involving exchange of Palestinian prisoners. Future negotiations would set the terms for opening the borders between Egypt and Gaza. Hamas vowed to respect the agreement as did other Palestinian factions. In addition to Hamas, only Islamic Jihad is to be taken seriously. Fatah, the faction linked to President Abbas, has long and vehemently criticized rocket firing from Gaza. Five days into the long awaited ceasefire, Israel allowed the entry of tissues and sanitary napkins into Gaza as a form of "good will." Simultaneously, it carried out an early morning raid against a student hostel in Nablus, killing two Palestinians in their beds. Iqbal Tamimi - 'Will you remember my name?' Iqbal Tamimi, Palestine Think Tank 7/4/2008 When one Israeli person is killed or kidnapped, the media makes sure every single person hearing the news would know the name of that person, giving the incident a human dimension. But this has never been the case with Palestinians who have been killed, imprisoned or kidnapped by the Israeli authorities. Palestinians are considered as a demographically abundant population, it is alright not to know their names; they are ignored on a human level. Their names are never mentioned. When Palestinians are killed you only hear about numbers, their blood is diluted by the media manipulators who do not have the decency to respect human life on both sides. This is why I thought of mentioning the names of a few young Palestinian men who died inside Israeli prisons. When you read their names, remember that each one of them has a family and friends, and each of them has his own dreams and hopes, and his blood screams at you, "WILL YOU REMEMBER MY NAME?" And most of all, almost all of them were killed inside Israeli prisons during interrogations before being convicted or standing in a court to a fair trial. The majority are very young, this is another tactic of Israeli authorities to empty the country of its people as soon as possible. Critics see vendetta in al-Arian’s legal limbo Ali Gharib, Electronic Intifada 7/3/2008 WASHINGTON (IPS) - Palestinian activist and former university professor Sami al-Arian was arraigned Monday in US federal court on two counts of criminal contempt for his refusal to testify in a grand jury investigation of a Northern Virginia Muslim think-tank. The indictment is the latest episode of a long, Kafka-esque process that has violated nearly every tenet of al-Arian’s plea agreement following the end of his first trial in 2005, and kept al-Arian in prison for over five years. "The government has made a complete mockery of the plea agreement," al-Arian’s attorney, Jonathon Turley, told IPS. "Dr. al-Arian has received zero benefit from his plea agreement." Supporters of al-Arian cited the charges as an attempt by an overzealous Justice Department prosecutor to keep al-Arian behind bars indefinitely despite an inability to secure a jury conviction. There is no maximum penalty for criminal contempt. "The whole case against him is a vindictive act by sore losers that lost the Florida case badly because there was no evidence," al-Arian’s daughter, Laila, told IPS. "So they’re manufacturing crimes to keep him in prison as long as possible. It’s almost as if the whole plea agreement was just a way to buy time." -- See also: US prosecutor won't let go of Palestinian professor Running against the clock Dina Ezzat, Al-Ahram Weekly 7/3/2008 Dina Ezzat reviews progress in and opinion regarding Egyptian mediation efforts on the Palestinian-Israeli front President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian Monarch King Abdullah met this week in Sharm El-Sheikh to synchronise diplomatic and intelligence efforts on the Palestinian-Israeli front. According to diplomatic sources, the prime objective of both Egypt and Jordan at this point is to sustain the fragile truce between Hamas and Israel. The second objective, the same sources add, is to move on to phase two of their mediation and secure the release, in return for the release of a few hundred Palestinian prisoners, of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit captured two years ago by an Islamist resistance movement loyal to Hamas. The third objective is to support Palestinian-Israeli negotiations that aim to lay down the outlines of a final status agreement -- even if not fully developed -- before US President George W Bush exits the White House later this year. Egyptian sources say that Egypt is keener to work on the first two objectives and doubts the ability of Palestinian and Israeli negotiators to deliver the third. However, they add that Egypt is still willing to provide support. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met earlier this week with President Mubarak in Sharm El-Sheikh on the sidelines of the African Union summit. During the meeting Abbas expressed hope that "something could come out" of current negotiations. "Despite our doubts we are not going to withdraw any support that is requested," one Egyptian source said. According to this source, Egypt, in coordination with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Jordan, has demanded that the Arab League abandon earlier plans to hold an Arab foreign ministers meeting this summer to express Arab dismay at the outcome of the Annapolis process that last November promised a final status agreement before the end of 2008. Tipping the balance Hussein Ayoub, Al-Ahram Weekly 7/3/2008 In sealing a prisoner swap with Israel, Hizbullah has vindicated its strategy, writes from Beirut The prisoner exchange deal between Hizbullah and the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert differs from earlier exchanges between Israel and Palestinian or Arab parties, most significantly in terms of the "price" Israel has been compelled to pay. That this is so is due mainly to the July 2006 war and the unprecedented strategic failure of Israel’s assault. The Israelis are agreeing to exchange prisoners in return for corpses, among them Samir Kuntar, convicted of killing three Israelis, and they are doing so in a deal cut with a Lebanese party. Ask today about the Palestinian Liberation Front or Operation Gamal Abdel-Nasser which it planned and carried out 30 years ago in Neharaya during which a number of Palestinian and Lebanese fighters were either killed or captured and most people will look blank. Ask about Kuntar, however, and it will soon become clear that the man is far more famous than the operation in which he participated, or indeed the faction, led by Abul-Abbas, that planned it. More foot-dragging Khaled Amayreh, Al-Ahram Weekly 7/3/2008 The "Shalit affair" is being delayed for cynical ends, writes in Ramallah Gilad Shalit Hamas has accused Israel of "dragging its feet" and "showing little seriousness" about negotiating a prospective prisoner swap deal whereby Israel would free hundreds of Palestinian political and resistance prisoners in exchange for Hamas releasing an Israeli occupation army soldier captured by Palestinian fighters near Gaza two years ago. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he would like to speed up the negotiations with Hamas on a swap deal. Olmert was quoted as saying that he instructed all those who are involved in the negotiations with Hamas "to do what is necessary" so that the talks can progress as quickly as possible. However, the Israeli government, especially the intelligence and security establishment, seems generally opposed to freeing hundreds of prominent Palestinian prisoners on the grounds that such a step would boost Hamas’s popularity, mostly at the expense of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) regime. From triumph to torture John Pilger, The Guardian 7/2/2008 Israel’s treatment of an award-winning young Palestinian journalist is part of a terrible pattern. Two weeks ago, I presented a young Palestinian, Mohammed Omer, with the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. Awarded in memory of the great US war correspondent, the prize goes to journalists who expose establishment propaganda, or "official drivel", as Gellhorn called it. Mohammed shares the prize of £5,000 with Dahr Jamail. At 24, he is the youngest winner. His citation reads: "Every day, he reports from a war zone, where he is also a prisoner. His homeland, Gaza, is surrounded, starved, attacked, forgotten. He is a profoundly humane witness to one of the great injustices of our time. He is the voice of the voiceless." The eldest of eight, Mohammed has seen most of his siblings killed or wounded or maimed. Getting Mohammed to London to receive his prize was a major diplomatic operation. Israel has perfidious control over Gaza’s borders, and only with a Dutch embassy escort was he allowed out. Last Thursday, on his return journey, he was met at the Allenby Bridge crossing (to Jordan) by a Dutch official, who waited outside the Israeli building, unaware Mohammed had been seized by Shin Bet, Israel’s infamous security organisation. Mohammed was told to turn off his mobile and remove the battery. He asked if he could call his embassy escort and was told forcefully he could not. A man stood over his luggage, picking through his documents. "Where’s the money?" he demanded. Mohammed produced some US dollars. "Where is the English pound you have?" LinksAdalah Adalah (Justice in Arabic) is the first non-profit, non-sectarian Palestinian-run legal center in Israel. The main goal of Adalah’s work is to achieve equal rights and minority rights protections for Palestinian citizens of Israel. Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Organization: Addameer (conscience) is a Palestinian non-governmental, civil institution which focuses on human rights issues. Supports Palestinian prisoners, advocates for rights of political prisoners, works to end torture. Amnesty International Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights. AI’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. Amnesty International USA Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights. AI’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. Arab Association for Human Rights - HRA The HRA was founded in 1988 to promote and protect the political, civil, economic, and cultural rights of the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel and to further the domestic implementation of international human rights principles. It is an independent non-governmental organisation registered in Israel. Association for Civil Rights in Israel - ACRI In Hebrew - The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) was founded in 1972 as a non-political and independent body, with the goal of protecting human and civil rights in Israel and in the territories under Israeli control. B’tselem The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel. Boycott Israeli Medical Association UK: The Medical Committee for Boycott of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) will document the systematic torture of Palestinian people by agents of Israel. It will publicise the practice in order to bring world opinion to bear on Israel. And it will challenge the Israeli Medical Association which has repeatedly failed to issue advice to doctors who are involved in any way with torture. Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. Palestinian Center for Human Rights The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) is an independent legal body based in Gaza City dedicated to protecting human rights, promoting the rule of law, and upholding democratic principles in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Palestinian Prisoners Society The Palestinian Prisoner Society is a social and human institution and its members are prisoners inside prisons and released prisoners. Membership is open to every Palestinian prisoner inside and outside prisons who meets the conditions of membership. Physicians for Human Rights - Israel Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHR-Israel) was established in 1988 as a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, dedicated to promoting and protecting the medical human rights of all residents of Israel and the Occupied Territories. Public Committee Against Torture in Israel - PCATI An independent human rights organization founded that monitors the implementation conditions in detention centers and continues the struggle against the use of torture in interrogation in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine The main collection contains the texts of current and historical United Nations material concerning the question of Palestine and other issues related to the Middle East situation and the search for peace. World Organisation Against Torture OMCT is today the largest international coalition of NGOs fighting against torture,summary executions, forced disappearances and all other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in order to preserve Human Rights. It has at its disposal a network, SOS Torture, consisting of some 240 non-governmental organisations which act as sources of information.
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