Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
Prisoners Archive - August 2008
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
Prisoners Archive - August 2008
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
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Haniyeh’s nephew released from Israeli prison after 15 years Ma’an News Agency 8/31/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – After serving 15 years in Israeli prisons, the nephew of Palestinian Prime Minister of the de facto government Ismail Haniyeh was released. Abel Mo’ti Haniyeh was released on Sunday afternoon, and is not at Erez crossing on his way to the Gaza Strip. The announcement came Sunday from the media spokesperson for senior prisoners Mahmoud Abu Hasirah. According to Abu Hasirah, Haniyeh served his sentence in different prisons including Ashkelon, Nafha, Hadarim and Megedo. He also spent time in solitary confinement. [end] New Israeli Medical Association boycott website Stop The Wall 8/31/2008 The Medical Committee for Boycott of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) has launched a new website. The site contains information, articles and analysis on the Occupation’s use of torture as well as the acceptance by Israeli doctors of this practice. The boycott targets the IMA because it has consistently refused to condemn or issue advise doctors who are involved with torture. As an institution, the role of the IMA is to insure that international medical standards are met. By remaining silent, it is effectively condoning torture and ill-treatment of Palestinians. The IMA boycott movement began in the UK. Last year, they published a letter in The Guardian signed by 130 British doctors calling for a boycott of IMA. Those involved in the IMA boycott have also been active in supporting Palestinian universities and students, sending aid to Gaza and working toward an academic boycott within the UK. Mandela appeals for ending tragedy of Palestinian hunger strikers in Jalama jail Palestinian Information Center 8/30/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Mandela institute for human rights and political prisoners appealed to international humanitarian institutions especially the Red Cross to end the tragedy of Palestinian detainees in the investigation cellars of the Israeli Jalama prison, who went on a hunger strike in protest at the unjust incarceration conditions. Lawyer Buthaina Duqmaq, the head of the Mandela institute, stated that the Jalama prisoners decided to go on the hunger strike after all efforts made to stop their detention in isolation cells and to convince the prison administration to transfer them to central prisons failed. Lawyer Buthaina said that the IOA extended the detention of prisoners several times despite the fact it ended investigating them two months ago, and the prison administration refused to transfer them and end their isolation tragedy. Freed former PLC member Husam Khader sees release as a first step; wants national dialogue Ma’an News Agency 8/30/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – Despite all of its criticism, the good will gesture from Israel of releasing 198 Palestinian prisoners is an accomplishment and a victory for the Palestinians, says released prisoner Husam Khader. A member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) for the Fatah bloc, Khader gave an interview with the Gazan radio station Sout Ash-Sh’ab (People’s Voice) on Friday following his release from Israeli prison. Khader is from Balata camp near Nablus in the West Bank, and is widely respected for his work on the rights of refugees both in Palestinian territories and in the Diaspora. During the interview Khader called the release of the prisoners a move paves the way for the release of all of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention facilities. Asked about the experience of his five year imprisonment Khader said that it did not change anything about his views. Fatah hosts welcome celebration for released prisoners in Balata camp Ma’an News Agency 8/30/2008 welcomed in Balata Nablus – Ma’an – A welcome home celebration was prepared for the released prisoners from the Balata refugee camp on Saturday, organized by the area’s Fatah leaders. Top on the list of those celebrated was Hussam Khader, a member of the Palestine Legislative Council who was arrested in 2003. Khader is known as a defender of the rights of refugees whether inside Palestine or in the Diaspora. For his strong political drive and work on the issue of refugees, Khader is respected and appreciated by all of the Palestinian political parties. Residents of the refugee camp took part in the ceremony, which honoured the released prisoners and their families. Friends and family of the freed detainees came from around Nablus to join in the celebration. The secretary of Fatah Hussam Abu Al-Adas delivered a speech in front of hundreds and praised the steadfastness of Palestinians and the detainees’ stamina. Palestinian journalist recounts mistreatment while detained by the P.A IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center News 8/29/2008 Palestinian journalist, Awad Rajoub, 30, was recently released from a Palestinian prison where he was detained and interrogated by Palestinian security forces. He said that he was subjected to mistreatment, and was facing harsh conditions for over a month. Rajoub told reporters on Friday that he was in solitary confinement for more than fifteen days in a bad cell and that he had to use his own shoes as a pillow. He added that at one point during interrogation his head was covered with a bad-smelling sack which also barred him from seeing the interrogations and anybody around him. Rajoub also said that he could hear other prisoners being tortured and that he knows that some of them were transferred to hospital due to torture. The reporter works with the Arabic news service of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera. He was charged with "writing provocative reports that are considered as undermining national interests". Journalist recounts nightmarish detention in PA prison Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank, Palestinian Information Center 8/29/2008 A Palestinian journalist just released from a Hebron jail has accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) security authorities of mistreating him and incarcerating him in "difficult conditions"¯ for over a month. Awadh Rajoub told reporters Friday that he was placed in solitary confinement for more than 15 days and that he had to sleep in a rancid cell, using his own shoes as a pillow. "At one point they covered my head with a bad-smelling sack, apparently in order to prevent me from seeing people they didn’t want me to see. "But I heard people being tortured and I know that several people were transferred to hospital or sent to their homes due to torture. " ¯ Rajoub, who works for the Arabic service of al-Jazeera. net, was charged with writing inflammatory reports and undermining vital national interests. Rights org calls for an end to political arrests Report, PCHR, Electronic Intifada 8/29/2008 Dozens of Palestinians have been arrested on political grounds by security services of the two Palestinian governments in Gaza and Ramallah. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) calls upon the two governments to stop political arrests which are prohibited under the Palestinian Basic Law and a Palestinian High Court of Justice ruling, and to release all detainees who have been arrested in this context. According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at least 100 members and supporters of Hamas, including public figures, Imams of mosques, school teachers, university students, journalists and elected members of local councils, have been detained by Palestinian security services in the West Bank for various periods. The detainees include a number of journalists: Mustafa Sabri, 42, who is also a member of the municipal council of Qalqilya and who was arrested on 7 August 2008; Fareed Detainees in Al Jalama Israeli prison on hunger strike Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 8/29/2008 Lawyer Bothaina Doqmaq, head of the Mandela Institute in Palestine, reported on Friday that the detainees in several sections and in solitary confinement in Al Jalama Israeli prison and interrogation center started a hunger strike on Thursday in protest to the harsh living conditions and the administration’s rejection to move them to ordinary sections although they ended their interrogation period. Doqmaq stated that the detainees held talks with the administration to remove them from their solitary confinement but to no avail. She added that the detainees are deprived from their visitation rights and cannot even meet with representatives of the Red Cross. The detainees complained of bad treatment, bad food, and the lack of medical attention and treatment especially since there are several detainees who are sick and need urgent attention. PCHR Calls upon the Two Palestinian Governments to Put an End for Political Arrests Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 8/28/2008 Dozens of Palestinians have been arrested on political grounds by security services of the two Palestinian governments in Gaza and Ramallah. PCHR calls upon the two governments to stop political arrests which are prohibited under the Palestinian Basic Law and a Palestinian High Court of Justice ruling, and to release alls detainees who have been arrested in this context. According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at least 100 members and supporters of Hamas, including public figures, Imams of mosques, school teachers, university students, journalists and elected members of local councils, have been detained by Palestinian security services in the West Bank for various periodsThe detainees include a number of journalists: Mustafa Sabri, 42, who is also a member of the municipal council of Qalqilya and who was arrested on 7 August 2008; Fareed Hammad, 35, from Nasif: Palestinian prisoners live in difficult conditions in Israel jails Palestinian Information Center 8/28/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Ra’fat Nasif, 43, one of Hamas’s political leaders, who was released Wednesday after four and a half years in Israeli jails, stated that the Palestinian prisoners are living in difficult conditions as a result of the arbitrary Israeli practices against them especially the policy of isolation, transfers and mass punishment. Nasif said that the release of prisoners is a natural right and obligation especially since there are more than 11,000 prisoners in Israeli jails, noting that the prisoners support any option to get them released. The Hamas leader held the Israeli government fully responsible for the suffering of its captive soldier Gilad Shalit and his family as it is responsible for the suffering of thousands of Palestinian prisoners and their families, calling on it to comply with the conditions of the Palestinian resistance regarding the prisoner swap deal. Legal report: IPA breaks records in violating captives’ human rights Palestinian Information Center 8/27/2008 GAZA, (PIC)-- The prisoners’ center for studies has accused the Israeli prison authority (IPA) of maltreating Palestinian captives in Israeli jails, asserting that it had broken the records in violating the simplest human rights of the Palestinian prisoners. The center quoted former Palestinian captive Abu Ali Yatta as confirming that the IPA had turned life of the Palestinian captives into intolerable hell, and keeps on punishing and imposing more restrcoitions on them on daily basis. Yatta was released from jail a couple of days ago after he spent more than 20 years in Israeli jails. Another Palestinian captive in the Israeli Ramon prison where he spent nearly 20 years of his life has confirmed to the center, through telephone contact, that life inside the Israeli prisons became intolerable, and that he anticipates a very strong reaction from the Palestinian captives with the aim to preserve their dignity and their legal rights. US-born Israeli activist detained after breaking Gaza siege The Daily Star and Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 8/28/2008 ASHKELON, Israel: Police on Wednesday released an Israeli they held overnight for joining international activists who sailed to the Gaza Strip in defiance of Israel’s blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory. US-born Jeff Halper, who was detained when he walked across the Erez border crossing between Gaza and Israel on Tuesday, told AFP he was freed on a 2,000 shekel ($570) bond. Halper said he was accused of violating a military order that generally bans Israelis from entering Gaza, which has been ruled since June 2007 by Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist group pledged to Israel’s destruction. He said he was also charged with "being a nuisance," adding that authorities told him this was because Israeli troops would have been sent in to rescue him had he been kidnapped. But he said he felt more threatened inside the Israeli prison than in Gaza. Israeli Bar: Palestinian captives in isolation for five years without trial Palestinian Information Center 8/25/2008 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli barristers’ syndicate has issued a report on Monday, revealing that there were a number of Palestinian political prisoners who spent many years in solitary confinement in Israeli jails without being charged or brought to courts. The report also monitored the bad conditions of the Israeli jails, and the sharp shortage in medical services that put lives of captives at risk, and resulted in the death of a number of them. In addition, the report focused on the maltreatment of the Palestinian prisoners at the hands of the Israeli Nahshon unit, which is in charge of transferring prisoners from one jail to another. According to the report, seven Palestinian political prisoners were thrown into the darkness of the solitary confinement at the Israeli Ayalon prison without knowing the charges against them, adding that those prisoners weren’t classified. . . Detainee in Abbas’s jail loses 20 kg of his weight Palestinian Information Center 8/26/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Relatives of Sheikh Adnan Al-Husary have expressed concern over news that the Sheikh had lost 20 kilograms of his weight during 50 days of detention in the preventive security apparatus’ jails in Tulkarem. Well informed sources said that the security apparatus, loyal to PA chief Mahmoud Abbas, refuses to allow any visits to the detainee while his relatives are appealing to the Red Cross and human rights groups to call on him and ask for his release. The relatives said that Husary suffers from a number of diseases due to his incarceration in Israeli occupation prisons for two years under administrative detention. Meanwhile, relatives of another detainee in Abbas’s jails Ali Daraghme are concerned about the reported deterioration of their son’s health after one month in detention. They appealed to legal and human rights organizations to intervene and demand his release. Palestine Today 082708 IMEMC News - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 8/27/0200 Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 4 m 0s || 3. 66 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Wednesday August 27th, 2008. Israeli military forces continue to invade West Bank cities and kidnap Palestinian civilians, meanwhile Israel keeps Gaza crossing closed as Free Gaza Boats prepare to leave, these stories and more, coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast An Israeli military force kidnapped three Palestinian civilians from the West Bank cities of Hebron, Nablus and Jenin on Wednesday morning, local sources reported. A number of military vehicles invaded Hebron and the nearby Surief town and Beit Ula village. Troops launched a wide scale search of residents’ homes. Soldiers took Tahseen Abu Ayesh, Sharif Adwan and Ibrahim Saraheen prisoner and led them to undisclosed location. Released from Israeli prison after more than 20 years Maisa Abu Ghazaleh, Palestine News Network 8/20/2008 Jerusalem -- Nader Je’ba Ashour’s mother cried as she took him into her arms. They were separated for nearly 21 years. Ashour’s sentence of 20 years in 70 months ended and he was released from Israeli Jelbua Prison. Despite the passage of many years, the last two months of his sentence were some of the most difficult. Ashour was unable to sleep and became increasingly worried about his ill health. Prison becomes what is known. His mother said, "Despite the difficult wait over several years, the joy will only be complete upon the release of all prisoners from Israeli jails. I am so happy to see my son, but I do not consider myself to the mother of just one prisoner but rather of all the prisoners. " Three of her children have been imprisoned. Several officials greeted Ashour as he arrived home. Wife of prisoner appeals for his removal from isolation Palestinian Information Center 8/20/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The wife of Palestinian prisoner Yousef Masalha has appealed for removing her husband from his solitary confinement cell in the Israeli prison of Beer Sheba. She addressed the appeal through the Wa’ed society for prisoners and ex-prisoners asking human rights and legal institutions to pressure the Israeli occupation authority to take her husband, who has been jailed for more than 15 years, out of isolation. She asked the Red Cross to immediately intervene to save his life especially when other internees had told her that his health condition was worsening in isolation. The wife denounced Masalha’s unjustified continued isolation, adding that the health and psychological conditions of internees held in isolation were very bad. Masalha, 42, was sentenced to life in prison after his arrest from his home 15 years ago and has been deprived of family visits for. . . High Court issues injunction halting Na’alin shooting trial Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 8/21/2008 The High Court of Justice issued a show-cause order and an interim injunction yesterday in response to a petition by four human rights groups demanding tougher charges against two soldiers involved in shooting a bound Palestinian at Na’alin a month ago. Lt. Col. Omri Burberg, who was commander of Battalion 71, is accused of holding the bound Palestinian, Ashraf Abu Rahman, while a soldier under his command fired a rubber-coated bullet at the prisoner at close range, wounding him slightly. Burberg and the soldier, L. , were charged with conduct unbecoming, and Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi transferred Burberg to the armored corps training grounds at Tze’elim. In response to the petition, Justice Ayala Procaccia issued a show-cause order giving the military advocate general, Brig. Gen. Avichai Mendelblit, three weeks to submit a detailed justification of his decision not to press more serious charges. Court orders IDF to explain soft indictment against Naalin commander Aviad Glickman, YNetNews 8/19/2008 Palestinian shot in anti-fence rally files High Court petition demanding IDF amend indictment to include offences punishable by actual jail time; court delays legal proceedings, orders military to explain indictment -Several human rights groups petition the High Court Tuesday asking that it order the Military Advocate General, Brigadier-General Avi Mandelblit and the IDF’s Chief Prosecutor, Colonel Liron Lieberman, to explain their reluctance to amend the indictment filed against Lt. Col. Omri Burberg and Staff Sergeant L. for their involvement in the Naalinshooting incident. The petition was filed by B’Tselem, Yesh Din, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, and the Palestinian who was shot, Ashraf Abu-Rahma. Subsequently, the court issued an interim order suspending the legal proceedings, as well as order-nisi compelling the Military Prosecution. . . After a petition filed by human rights groups, High Court suspends proceedings in Nil’lin case Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 8/19/2008 Ashraf Abu Rahma, the Palestinian resident who was shot by the soldiers after they bounded and blindfolded him, filed a petition along with Israeli Human Rights groups; B’Tselem, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, and Yesh Din, against the Judge Advocate General’s decision to prosecute the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Omri Borberg, and the soldier who fired the shot, Staff Sgt. L, for "unbecoming conduct", the High Court issued a decree nisi, forcing the Judge Advocate General to justify his decision, B’Tselem reported. The court also decided to suspend the military court until a decision is made on the petition. The petition was written by attorneys Limor Yehuda and Dan Yakir of ACRI. The petitioners demanded the court to change the decision against the soldier due to the severity of the offense he carried out when he shot and wounded the bound detainee. The sister of the soon to be released: We are waiting for all 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons Fadi Yacoub, Palestine News Network 8/18/2008 Sena Al A’taba’ spoke with PNN after receiving the news that her brother, long-time political prisoner in Israeli jail, Sa’ed Al A’taba’, is about to be released. He is among the 200 names presented to President Abbas by the Israelis as what they refer to as a "good-will gesture. "Although Palestinian officials say that 200 out of over 11,000 [number reported by the Mandela Institute] falls far short, Sa’ed’s sister is pleased at the possibility of seeing her brother. He has been imprisoned since 1977, well before Oslo in the early 1990s when all prisoners were to be released. But the Israelis never honored that agreement: that is, until now, at least for some. Sena’s brother was arrested on the night of his marriage ceremony just days before his sister was planning to travel abroad. He is among the 200 names presented to President Abbas by the Israelis as what they refer to as a “good-will gesture. Palestinians slam Israel’s ’revolving door policy’ on prisoners Ali Waked, YNetNews 8/19/2008 Human rights center says Israel detaining far more Palestinians than it is releasing; 1,751 since beginning of year -Officials in the Palestinian Authority do not appear overly enthused by the Israeli cabinet’s recent decision to release 199 prisoners, including detainees with ’blood on their hands’, as a gesture to President Mahmoud Abbas. According to data provided by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the IDF has arrested 1,751 Palestinians in the West Bank since the beginning of the year, including 500 who have been detained since last month’s Mediterranean summit in Paris, during which Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged to free more prisoners. Palestinian Legislative Council member Mustafa Barghouti said that since the Annapolis peace conference in late November, Israel has released 788 Palestinians, but detained more than 3,700 others, among them 30 teenagers. Israeli lawyer gets Palestinian prisoner out of solitary confinement after seven years Ma’an News Agency 8/19/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – An Israeli lawyer working with the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs managed to get prisoner Muhammad Abdi out of solitary confinement after seven years at Ramlah prison on Tuesday. Lawyer Avigdor Feldman secured Abdi’s transfer to Hadareim prison, where he met fellow prisoners again. Palestinian lawyer Jawad Amari, who is in charge of legal affairs at the Ministry of Prisoners Affairs said, that Abdi’s transfer was a step towards getting all other Palestinian prisoners out of solitary confinement. He asserted that the ministry was doing its best, given limited financial resources, to achieve this. He named a number of notable Palestinian prisoners who have been in solitary confinement: Abdullah Barghouthi, Hasan Salamah, Mahmoud Issa, Ahmad Al-Mughrabi, Ibrahim Hamid, Jamal Abu Al-Hayja, Mu’taz Hijazi, Jum’ah Muhawish, PLC member Muhammad Natshah and Abu Humam, amongst others. Hamas: PA forces detain 17 members across the West Bank Ma’an News Agency 8/17/2008 Bethlehem - Ma’an - Palestinian Authority (PA) security systems detained seventeen Hamas members in the West Bank on Saturday and Sunday. Hamas said in a statement received by Ma’an that security forces detained Mohammad Hussein Birri in Imatin and the two brothers Mohammad and Fadi Bakir, Amir Dahbour, Jawad Hussni and Na’el Enayeh all from Azzoun, in the northern West Bank district of Qalqiliya. In the Jenin governorate Hamas said Adib Faris Hijazi and Naser Abdel Qader Yassin were detained from the village of Abu Da’if. In the Tulkarem governorate PA forces detained Ahmad Asem who was released a few days ago from PA prisons, as well as Qassab Zaqqout, Misleh Hamdan and Kifah Ghanem from the village of Deir Al-Ghusun. In Salfit, east of Nablus, PA forces detained Nahel Na’im, Amin Shaker, Sanad Ghazzawi and Ahmad Sidqi. Fatah: Hamas police violently disburse women and children protesting Ma’an News Agency 8/17/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – A non-violent protest involving the wives and children of several Fatah affiliated detainees was violently disbursed by de facto Hamas police on Sunday. A spokesperson of the Fatah central media office in Gaza condemned the attacks saying “police forces in PLC [Palestinian Legislative Council] headquarters square prevented local and international media outlets from covering the incident and imposed consequences against whoever filmed or photographed the protest”. The spokesperson further condemned the de-facto police policy of preventing Palestinian or Fatah flags from being raised during weddings of Fatah affiliates in Gaza. De facto police go so far, he added, as to prevent artists and singers from performing in Fatah celebrations, making them sign pledges that they will not perform. Israeli troops invades Jenin, paralyze movement of civilians Rula Shahwan, International Middle East Media Center News 8/16/0200 Israeli army troops invaded West Bank city of Jenin Saturday at dawn and erected several military checkpoints, and searched anumber of houses, local sources reported. Eye witnesses said that a at least eight Israeli jeeps, vehicles backed by helicopters invaded the city and positinoed in several location for around two hours. troops launched a large search campaign, and ransacked several houses, without taking anybody prisoner, locals reported. Israeli Soldiers also erected a number of military checkpoints in the city and resitricted the movement of civilians in the city. [end] Cell phone videos show Israeli soldiers maltreating Palestinians Palestinian Information Center 8/16/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- An Israeli human rights organization called Yesh Din revealed cell phone videos showing Israeli border policemen maltreating Palestinian residents of occupied Jerusalem. According to the organization, some video snapshots were recorded in July 2007 and others recently in August 2008. The video recordings showed the Israeli soldiers severely beating a group of Palestinian detainees and forcing them to perform the military salute. A passerby found the cell phone which was apparently lost by one of the Israeli soldiers and handed it in to the organization. In another context, the Israeli military court under direct instructions of the Israeli intelligence, extended, the administrative detention of Khaled Al-Haj, a prominent Hamas leader in the West Bank, for the third consecutive time without leveling any charge against him. After Israeli assassination threats two young men submit themselves to Israeli custody Ma’an News Agency 8/15/2008 Nablus – Ma’an – Two young Palestinian men turned themselves in to Israeli soldiers on Thursday evening after their families received assassination threats from the Israeli intelligence. The two men from Nablus went to the Huwwara checkpoint, about five kilometers outside of the city. The checkpoint one of the most notorious in the West Bank and effectively cuts off Nablus from the cities to the south; men often stand in line for hours waiting to pass through, and cars without an Israeli license plate are not allowed to pass. Wijdan Sarawi, a former Palestinian woman prisoner told Ma’an’s reporter that her son 18-year-old Hamzah Sarawi and his friend 18-year-old Imad Darwish turned themselves over to Israeli forces. She explained that Israeli troops stormed her family house in Nablus on Wednesday morning, inspected the house and damaging parts of its interior under the pretext of looking for her son Hamzah, who was not at home. Israeli assassination threats force two young men to turn selves in Rula Shahwan, International Middle East Media Center News 8/15/0200 Local sources reported that two young Palestinian men turned themselves in to Israeli soldiers on Thursday evening after their families received assassination threats from the Israeli intelligence services. The two men from Nablus went to the Huwwara checkpoint, approximately five kilometers outside the city. The checkpoint one of the most notorious in the West Bank and effectively cuts off Nablus from the cities to the south; civilians will often stand in line for hours waiting to pass through and cars without an Israeli license plate are not allowed to pass. Wijdan Sarawi, a former Palestinian woman prisoner told Ma’an’s news agency that her eighteen year old son Hamzah Sarawi and his friend Imad Darwish, also eighteen, had turned themselves over to Israeli forces. She explained that Israeli troops stormed her family house in Nablus on Wednesday morning, inspected the house. . . Abbas’s henchmen torture old man from Nablus; now fighting for his life Palestinian Information Center 8/15/2008 marks of torture on the body of Sheikh Majd al-Barghouthi who died as a result of severe torture From Anas al-Masri, NablusAn elderly man from Nablus is fighting for his life in a local hospital after undergoing severe physical and psychological torture at the hands of CIA-trained Palestinian security (PA) interrogators The man, identified as Hajji Marwan K. Al-Khalili, had a massive stroke Thursday during a "torture session"¯ at the Preventive Security headquarters in Nablus. According to his family, the torture included severe beating, using plastic hoses, electric shocks, hooding, shaking, and sleep deprivation. Al-Khalili, 67, was abducted by PA security personnel at the Allenby border crossing on 5 August as he was returning home from Saudi Arabia where he performed Umra, or Minor Pilgrimage to Islam’s holy sites in Mecca and Madina. De facto ministry of prisoners in Gaza organizes picnic for prisoners’ families Ma’an News Agency 8/15/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – The de facto Hamas ministry of prisoners and freed prisoners in the Gaza strip will host a picnic on Saturday for the families of Palestinians in Israeli prisons. The trip will be at the seaside recreation house Al-Hurriya on the Gaza beach. De facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh will visit the picnickers and deliver a speech in order to show solidarity with them. The de facto government ministry of prisoners and freed prisoners called on media outlets on Friday to spread the word of the Saturday event. According to the ministry, "the day’s activities will begin at 9am with a speech by de facto minister of prisoners Dr Ahmad Shweidih. There will be some amusement and competitions for children as well as breakfast and lunch for all picnickers. "A thousand prisoners’ relatives are expected to participate. Former fighters 'assaulted' by PA prison guards Ma’an News Agency 8/13/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – Former Palestinian fighters in the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Jericho prison said on Wednesday that they have been assaulted by prison guards, denied family visits, and their cell phones confiscated. According to one prisoner, the PA prison guards beat the men in response to a protest about the conditions in the jail. The men have been on a hunger strike for five days. The men are currently in PA custody as a part of an amnesty deal between the PA and Israel, under which fighters pledged to give up violence and serve a prison term in exchange for having their names removed from Israel’s list of "wanted" Palestinians. Of 25 men in the Jericho facility, 11 are affiliated to the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, the faction that also controls the Palestinian Authority. "The prison administration disrespects [the prisoners’] parents and. . . Detainees report arbitrary practices in Israeli jails Ma’an News Agency 8/14/2008 Jenin – Ma’an – Visits to Israeli prisons reveal unlawful and arbitrary practices, said the head of the Prisoners’ Society in Jenin, Raghib Abu Dyak. Reporting on conditions in the Jalama detention center north of Jenin, the Salem detention center north west of Jenin, as well as prisons in Ashkelon, and Nafha prison on the outskirts of the Negev town of Mitzpe Ramon, Dyak related visiting lawyers’ observations. In Jalama, an Israeli military court extended the detention periods of ten Palestinians from eight to 25 days during a hearing of the court on Thursday. Anan Khader, one of the society’s lawyers, visited 38 new detainees at Salem detention center. It was reported that detainees reported being handcuffed and blindfolded, and many had their noses held shut to prevent them from breathing. Dyak highlighted that this practice is against humanitarian laws. IOA deprives Hamas leader from visitation for six years spent in isolation Palestinian Information Center 8/10/2008 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli prisons authority has refused to allow visitors to call on Sheikh Jamal Abul Haija, one of the Hamas West Bank leaders, who is serving nine life sentences in addition to 80 years. Buthaina Dakmak, lawyer of the Mandela institution catering for Palestinian captives, said that even Abul Haija’s children are not allowed to visit him. The IPA is not content with isolating the detained Sheikh for the sixth consecutive year but has also deprived his three children and his wife and daughter from seeing him, she said. The lawyer noted that the Israeli military court recently allowed his children to visit him but after reaching jail following a tiresome trip and humiliating searches the visit was called and they were not allowed to see their father who has been held under inhuman incarceration conditions since June 2002. Prisoners’ ministry: IOA bears no goodwill toward prisoners Palestinian Information Center 8/10/2008 GAZA, (PIC)-- The ministry of prisoners’ affairs in the Gaza Strip on Sunday said that the Israeli occupation authority did not bear any goodwill toward the Palestinian prisoners. Riyadh Al-Ashqar, the ministry’s spokesman, said in a press release that the reports about releasing 150 Palestinian prisoners were only meant to spread the illusion that the "useless" negotiations with the IOA did bear fruit. He said that the Israeli occupation forces kidnap 10 to 15 Palestinians on daily basis from various occupied West Bank and Jerusalem areas and the number of captives is on the rise. Hence, the reports about releasing 150 prisoners, all to be chosen according to IOA standards, out of 11,700 were a mere "deception" and an attempt to "market unsuccessful projects" that only entailed disastrous consequences on the Palestinian people, he elaborated. Israeli court turns down request for release of paralyzed Palestinian prisoner Palestinian Information Center 8/9/2008 NAZARETH, (PIC)-- An Israeli court on Friday turned down an appeal for the release of the Palestinian prisoner Rabee Harb who suffers from paraplegia and his condition is daily deteriorating. The court ruling disappointed the family of Harb, who expected his release in order to treat him abroad in view of the seriousness of his condition. The family said that Harb, who was hit with several bullets in his spine and in one of his kidneys at the hands of Israeli occupation forces on his arrest, was using a wheelchair and could not live a normal life. A medical report on his condition said that the bullet fragments shattered his spine and also penetrated his kidney and shattered his bowels. They asked legal and international organizations and the Red Cross to pressure the Israeli occupation authority to release Harb and allow his treatment abroad before it is too late. Water being denied Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails Ma’an News Agency 8/3/2008 Bethlehem - Ma’an - Stories of inhuman treatment emerge from Meggido, Shata and Nafha prisons. A lawyer from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Association, who for safety resons will remain unidendified, visited three Israeli prisons and reveald water is being witheld from prisoners within the institutions. Prisoners told the lawyer that the administration uses water supply as a way of torturing them. They said that the water is cut off for ten hours at a time. Guards, they say, claim that the action is due to a water shortage in Israel. Last friday, the prisoners reported that the water was turned on for two hours only, during which each prisoner was alowed to wash for prayers for two minutes. Report reveals violations against Palestinian children in Israeli jails Palestinian Information Center 8/3/2008 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Ahrar center of prisoner studies stated Sunday that a report issued by a legal committee in Israel last week revealed that the IOF troops and Israeli jailers exercise violence and arbitrary measures against Palestinian children either during kidnapping or in jails. The report unveiled that the jailers in the Ofek juvenile prison located in the Sharon area tie up Palestinian children, force them to sleep on the floor for long hours and beat them with batons in addition to many violations of their rights. Fouad Al-Khafsh, the director of the Ahrar center, recalled that the center had issued a report about the exposure of imprisoned Palestinian minors to sexual blackmail and harassment, as well as different kinds of extortions and maltreatment. Khafsh said that the humiliating practices against children starts from the moment of kidnapping them from. . . Detainee with cancer reaches critical condition due to medical negligence Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 8/4/2008 One of the lawyers of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) met with Palestinian political detainee Jamal Darabia, 35, from Gaza, imprisoned in Eshil Israel prison, who is suffering from cancer but not receiving the needed medical treatment. The negligence of the Israeli prison authorities has allowed a severe deterioration in his health condition. Darabia was kidnapped by the army in 2005 and was sentenced to one life term. He is suffering from pain in his back after he underwent four surgeries. The surgeries did not achieve the desired outcomeand stitches have opened, while his flesh underneath is dissolving and bleeding profusely. His lawyer said that he could see the bones on Darabia’s back, adding that Darabia is not receiving the urgent attention he needs. The detainee said that he needs surgery in his back and that he knows that this surgery could lead to paralysis or slow death, as he was informed by prison physicians. IOA extends detention of administrative detainee for sixth time Palestinian Information Center 8/3/2008 SALFIT, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority has extended the administration detention without trial or charge of Ibrahim Madi, director of the PLC office in Salfit, for the sixth consecutive time. The IOA court in Negev jail renewed the detention of Madi for four renewable months without giving any reason. The family of the detainee denounced the court ruling, and asked for his immediate release since no charges were leveled against him. Madi had previously served 13 years in occupation jails and was kidnapped in June 2006 and held in administrative detention since then. In a similar incident, the court in Ofer prison near Ramallah turned down a lawyer’s appeal against the detention of the Palestinian student Ahmed Qa’ud, who hails from Kufr Al-Dik west of Salift. The military court extended the detention of the Najah University student for four months for the fourth time running without any charge being leveled against him. Detained MPs ask for international monitoring of their incarceration conditions Palestinian Information Center 8/3/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Members of the Palestinian legislative council detained in Israeli occupation jails have called for international monitoring of their incarceration conditions after five of them were injured while being transported to court. The MPs issued a press release after the incident in which the driver of the prison van transporting them made several sudden stops by braking sharply causing the MPs, whose hands and feet were tied, to be thrown all about the van which has resulted in various injuries to the MPS. The statement noted that MPs Mohammed Abu Tir and Nayef Al-Rejoub were hospitalized in Ramle prison hospital after both were moderately injured in the incident. It added that three others were lightly injured and returned to prison after receiving first aid. The detained lawmakers charged that the international community’s silence was encouraging the Israeli occupation authority to commit more such crimes. B’Tselem summons Palestinian girl to testify against Israeli police officer Ma’an News Agency 8/3/2008 Ramallah – Ma’an – The Israeli humanitarian organization B’Tselemsummoned a Palestinian girl on Sunday to give testimony against an Israeli police officer. Sixteen-year-old Salam Kan’an filmed an Israeli officer shooting 27-year-old Ashraf Abu Rahma from Nil’in west of Ramallah at short range with a rubber coated steel bullet while he was hand-cuffed and masked. The video was filmed on Monday 17 July. Israeli forces arrested the girl’s father three weeks later and sentenced him to 100 days in prison. Kan’anat was summoned to the Beit El court in the illegal Israeli settlement of the same name north of Ramallah. [end] Israel frees prominent Hamas figure from prison Reuters, YNetNews 8/4/2008 Former Hamas finance minister Omar Abdel Razek arrested by Israel after Gilad Shalit’s abduction is released. ’Judge believed he period served was enough,’ says Hamas minister al-Shaer -Israel freed a formerHamas minister from prison on Sunday, an official from the Islamist group said. The official said that Omar Abdel Razek, who was finance minister when Israel seized him in June 2006, had been freed by an Israeli judge. "The judge believed it was enough, the period that he served in prison," Nasser al-Shaer, a former Hamas minister, told of Razek’s release. " They have released him and he is on his way home". Israeli officials could not immediately confirm the release. Some 40 Hamas officials, including former lawmakers, remain in Israel custody. Razek was one of half a dozen Hamas lawmakers and ministers arrested around the same. . . Released prisoner reports: Israel reducing food and medical services in jails Ma’an News Agency 8/2/2008 Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli prison services have deliberately reduced food and medical services for detained Palestinians said freed 21-year-old Abd Ar-Rahman Shaheen on Saturday. Shaheen reported that prison officials also deliberately provoke mothers and siblings when they come to visit by conducting humiliating inspections and forcing visitors to wait long hours under the sun. He also said that visitors are refused entry to the prisons under trivial pretexts. Shaheen spent two years in Israeli custody, charged with resisting the occupation. He was released a few days ago from Megeddo prison, a military institution near Hafia. [end] IFJ Condemns Torture of Journalists by Political Rivals in Palestine Palestine News Network 8/2/2008 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is condemning the recent attacks on Palestinian journalists by both governments of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority which are locked in a political power struggle. The recent reports of torturing journalists in the Gaza Strip and West Bank is the culmination of an intimidation campaign against journalists and media which started during the violent confrontation between Hamas and PA security forces in June 2007 says the IFJ. At least eight journalists had been arrested in recent days, some of them, according to multiple reports, suffering torture while in detention before being released without charge. "Both Hamas and the Palestinian authority are responsible for these outrageous assaults," said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. "In the process these Palestinian governments are fundamentally damaging the Palestinian cause. Palestinian prisoner enters his 30th year in Israeli jails Ma’an News Agency 8/2/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – Akram Mansuur from Qalqilia marked his thirtieth anniversary of detainment in Israeli prisons on Saturday 2 August according to the Ahrar Center for Detainees Studies and Human Rights. The group released a statement Saturday reporting the anniversary. The report says that Mansuur was arrested when he was 16-years-old, on 2 August 1979. He has been in Israeli custody ever since. Fu’ad Al-Khafash, director of Ahrar center says Mansuur comes fourth in the list of Palestinians serving longest jail terms. Today he joins the growing list of Palestinian prisoners who have served more than 30 years in Israeli prisons: Sa’id Al-Ataba, Na’il Barghouthi and Fakhri Barghouthi. Al-Khafash appealed to humanitarian organizations and the captors of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to include long-term prisoners in any prisoners swap deal that is being negotiated. Human rights organization condemns PA arrests of Hamas members in West Bank PCHR, Palestine News Network 7/31/2008 Gaza - Gaza City’s Palestinian Centre for Human Rights condemns the campaign of arrests by Palestinian security forces against Hamas supporters in the West Bank over the past several days. The Centre is concerned that these arrests are an act of reprisal in response to arrest campaignsas well as raids and closure of dozens of Fateh-affiliated NGO’s and sports clubs in the Gaza Strip. The Centre calls 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 Centre’s preliminary investigation indicates that in the evening hours of Saturday, 26 July, a joint force of Palestinian security services embarked on an arrests campaign in several areas of the West Bank. Approximately 30 leaders, members, and supporters of Hamas were detained. Femle detainees suffering in Israeli prisons Ma’an News Agency 8/1/2008 Tulkarem – Ma’an – Freed Palestinian prisoner Seema A’nbas revealed Friday that her fellow prisoner 36-year-old Amal Jum’aa is suffering from uterine cancer. A’nbas heard the news about Jum’aa after the latter’s sister returned from a visit to the women’s prison. She said that the cancer was discovered two days ago after doctors conducted her regular checkup in the prison. Jum’aa is 36-years-old and a resident of Askar refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus and is serving an 11 year sentence. A’nbas called on prison authorities to provide medical care for Jum’aa and allow a specialist into the prison to conduct the required medical assessment. She added that the prison authorities should allow a doctor in to examine all women who suffer from illnesses, and give medicine to those who need it. She asked Human Rights organizations working in the Palestinian territories. . . Five PLC members injured in Israeli custody Ma’an News Agency 8/1/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli authorities deliberately injured five detained members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) causing two to be hospitalized, Dr Ahmad Shweidih, Minister of Detainee’s Affairs for the de facto government in Gaza, said on Friday. The minister said that the deputies had deliberately been injured to provoke and humiliate them while being transported in a prison truck. Dr Shweidih claimed that this is not a one-off incident, but a regular occurrence, particularly when imprisoned PLC deputies are concerned, because they are seen as symbols and representatives of the Palestinian resistance. He added that the injuries were sustained when the truck driver who was transporting the deputies to court intentionally braked hard several times so that the deputies, who were hand-cuffed, would be flung from their seats in the back of the vehicle. Five detained legislators wounded while being transferred to court Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 8/1/0200 Palestinian sources reported that five Hamas legislators, imprisoned by Israel, were wounded while being transferred to an Israeli court as the military truck driver kept stepping on the breaks without any warning, A letter that was sneaked from prison and was received on Thursday by the Palestine Information Center, which is run by Hamas, revealed that legislators Mohammad Abu Teir and Nayef Al Rajoub were moved to Al Ramlah hospital after suffering moderate injuries. Three other legislators, identified as Khaleel Al Rabee’ey, Azza Salhab, and Mahmoud Al Ramahy, sustained mild wounds. The legislators were handcuffed and their legs were tied so they were unable to protect themselves and their heads slammed into vehicles iron top. Female member of Nablus city council moved to administrative detention Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 8/1/0200 The Ahrar Center for Detainees’ Studies reported that the Israeli Authorities transferred Kholoud Al Masry, 42, member of Nablus City Council, to administrative detention after a decision from a judge at an Israeli Military court. Her daughter, Safa’, stated that the Israeli Security Services claimed that they have a "secret file" against Kholoud. In these cases, neither the detainee not the lawyer are allowed to see this file. Kholoud Al Masry is a mother of five children, aged 10 -- 20. Al Masry was kidnapped by the army on July 15, 2007, he husband is also imprisoned by Israel. Fuad Al Khoffash, head of the Ahrar Center For Detainees’ Studies, slammed the Israeli decision and Israel’s ongoing violations against the elected Palestinian officials and legislators. Palestinian serving 67 back-to-back life sentences beaten and abused Ma’an News Agency 8/1/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – Abdullah Al- Barghouthi, who is serving 67 back to back life sentences in Israeli prisons, has sustained severe bruising after he was attacked in Ashkelon prison which is north of the Gaza Strip. Buthaina Duqmaq, lawyer and head of the Mandela Foundation announced the news on Friday after visiting Al-Barghouthi in prison. She said that Al-Barghouthi reported not feeling well after being the victim of a surprise attack by Israeli interrogators who broke into his cell the day of Lebanese prisoner Samir Quntar was released on July 16. Al-Barghouthi reported that he had been surprised while watching TV in his cell, when eight masked soldiers from "Metsada" entered and attacked him using fists and batons. According to Duqmaq soldiers continued to attack as he lay "on the ground helplessly.  Articles
They failed to free Shalit Haaretz Editorial, Ha’aretz 8/31/2008 A ministerial committee headed by Haim Ramon will begin work this morning on a list of 450 Palestinian prisoners whom Israel will be willing to release in exchange for Gilad Shalit. It is difficult to offer an explanation for this puzzling story. Is this the first time that someone is busying himself with preparing a list of 450 prisoners? Is it really true that they have only managed to come up with 80 candidates for release "who meet the criteria"? Or was a decision made to release to the press news of the preparations, in order to give the people a sense that something is happening. The more time goes by, the tougher Hamas’ stance is becoming, making Israel’s shame all the more evident. If immediately after the abduction it was possible to gain Shalit’s release for a few prisoners, today Hamas is signaling that it will not accept only the 450 about whom there was talk in the past, but will demand the release of 1,000 prisoners, and maybe as many as 1,500. In response to these demands come proposals by the Shin Bet security service to impose sanctions on the Gaza Strip and bar the shipment of fuel, even if this will threaten the calm - just as long as Hamas recognizes that Israel does not succumb easily to blackmail. Ofer Dekel, who is in charge of the negotiations, argues that the calm in the Gaza Strip has led Hamas to toughen its stance, even though in the past the defense minister expressed a contrary opinion. The Ordeal of Sahar Vardi, Refusenik Neve Gordon, Counterpunch, Palestine Monitor 8/30/2008 Eighteen-year-old Sahar Vardi is currently in an Israeli military prison. She is being punished for the crime of refusing to be conscripted into the Israeli military. A few weeks before her imprisonment she wrote Israel’s Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, explaining her decision to become a conscientious objector. "I have been to the occupied Palestinian territories many times, and even though I realize that the soldier at the checkpoint is not responsible for Israel’s oppressive policies, that soldier is still responsible for his conduct"¦"¯ She summed up her letter to Barak with the following words: "The bloody cycle in which I live—made up of assassinations, terrorist attacks, bombings, and shootings—has resulted in an increasing number of victims on both sides. It is a vicious circle that is sustained by the choice of both sides to engage in violence. -- See also: A Summer Camp for Political Dissenters in Israel Abie Nathan Lawrence Joffe, The Guardian 8/29/2008 To rightwing fellow Israelis, Abie Nathan, who has died aged 81, was a figure of fun, or, worse, a traitor. Nathan did seem an unlikely warrior for peace in the Middle East, but he invariably had the last laugh. When, in 1968, he mooted the idea for an offshore pirate radio station that would spread regional goodwill, sceptics predicted that it would sink, metaphorically if not literally. Instead, the Voice of Peace blasted out pop, political commentaries and celebrity interviews for 21 years. Many also thought Nathan mad when, in 1977, he sailed through the Suez Canal distributing chocolates and toys to Arab children. By the year’s end, though, Nathan and fellow Israelis were negotiating directly with President Sadat. Their meeting presaged Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem, and the 1979 bi-national peace treaty. Israeli security chiefs regarded Nathan as dangerously naive for talking to the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s Yasser Arafat in 1989, and he spent nine months in prison in 1991 for his contact with the PLO. Yet within four years, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was shaking hands with Arafat at the White House. Nathan was an entrepreneur, a man with business acumen, an ability to exploit photo opportunities - and a hatred of injustice and suffering. Letters: Boats of hope for desperate Gaza The Guardian 8/29/2008 We do not idealise Palestinian society, fractured and divided as it is, though this is in good measure the result of sustained Israeli policy over many decades of occupation (Showboating over Gaza, August 28). Nor do we recall Israel extending a great hand of friendship to the Palestinians under President Arafat when that society wasn’t fractured. Rather, he was routinely labelled a "terrorist".Now, suddenly, we all have to "steer the Palestinians through the choppy waters to statehood". The fact is that about half the West Bank is under the authority of Jewish settlements and the Israeli military, and that the Israeli government shows no signs of yielding up this occupied territory to the new Palestinian state Israeli ambassador Ron Prosor purports to want. You do not have to be a fan of Hamas - we definitely are not - to recognise that they prosper as the result of the criminal and illegal policy of collective punishment that Israel insists on inflicting on the people of Gaza. Gaza is still occupied, still a prison, as evidenced by Israel’s land, air and sea blockade. The two boats of protesters that broke the Israeli blockade last week aimed specifically to draw attention to this. They have now set a precedent. May they be followed by hundreds of others bearing food, medicines and other desperately needed goods to the people of Gaza. Richard Kuper Torture as Official Israeli Policy Stephen Lendman – Chicago, Palestine Chronicle 8/28/2008 ’Israel’s military and security forces have systematically practiced torture.’ The UN Convention against Torture defines the practice as: "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain and suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity...." Although its language in part is vague, contradictory and protects abusive practices, Section 277 of Israel’s 1977 Penal Law prohibits torture by providing criminal sanctions against its use. It specifically states in language similar to the UN Convention against Torture: quot;A public servant who does one of the following is liable to imprisonment for three years: (1) uses or directs the use of force or violence against a person for the purpose of extorting from him or from anyone in whom he is interested a confession of an offense or information relating to an offense; (2) threatens any person, or directs any person to be threatened, with injury to his person or property or to the person or property of anyone in whom he is interested for the purpose of extorting from him a confession of an offense or any information relating to an offense." However, Israel clearly discriminates against Palestinians, (including Israeli Arab citizens), denies them rights afforded only to Jews, and gets legal cover for it by its courts. More on that below. Summer heat and winter cold destroy the bodies of Palestinian political prisoners in Al Naqab PNN, Palestine News Network 8/9/2008 Ramallah -- Political institutions and human rights organizations gathered on Saturday to activate their role in trying to protect Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. The place in question for today is Al Naqab Prison. It is in the desert. In the summer the heat burns the bodies of those held captive in the tents and open air. In the winter, they freeze. The Director of Statistics in the Ministry of Political Prisoners, Awni Abdel Nasser Farwana, said that all the Palestinian institutions dealing with prisoners and human rights, and various media organizations, are on the case to activate their role and support the prisoners detained in Al Naqab Desert Prison. They are highlighting that the suffering is worsening. Farawana issued a detailed report on the memorial of the death of Mohammad Saleh who died due to medical neglect in Al Naqab. The desert climate is harsh and the lives of those trapped their behind the barbed wire and Israeli machine guns in harsh to say the least. The guards use routine beatings, the doctors and nurses are cruel and inhumane. In order to save the lives of the Palestinians inside, immediate action need to be taken. Under Siege - Poem Mahmoud Darwish, Palestine Chronicle 8/9/2008 Mahmoud Darwish, the world’s most recognized Palestinian poet passed away in a US hospital Saturday, August 9, 2008 after undergoing complicated heart surgery. Darwish has published more than two dozen books of poetry and prose rooted in his experience of Palestinian exile and struggle in a career spanning nearly five decades. Under Siege By Mahmoud Darwish (1942-2008) Here on the slopes of hills, facing the dusk and the cannon of time Close to the gardens of broken shadows, We do what prisoners do, And what the jobless do: We cultivate hope. ***** A country preparing for dawn. We grow less intelligent For we closely watch the hour of victory: No night in our night lit up by the shelling Our enemies are watchful and light the light for us In the darkness of cellars.... Death Penalty, a punishment for Palestinians, is not sufficient in Israel George Rishmawi, International Middle East Media Center News 8/3/2008 The immediate punishment that comes to Israeli officials and security forces for Palestinians who attack Israelis is to raze their homes.This has become a norm in Israel since a very long time. Hundreds if not thousands of Palestinian homes were demolished as an additional punishment for families of Palestinians who carry out attacks against Israeli civilians or military. Razing the homes in some cases is not enough.Sometimes the brothers are taken prisoner and the parents are detained. When identified, the case in most attacks, the attacker would be executed on the spot.Therefore, the punishment is inflicted on the family of this person, which indicates that death penalty is not enough; the family must suffer as well. This indicates that the Israeli government and officials have retaliation mentality rather than bringing justice. Gaza and Humanity David Halpin, Middle East Online 8/2/2008 David Halpin details the torturous effort of people of conscience who are determined to open a humanitarian link to the Palestinians of Gaza. 27 July 2008: Exeter Airport – The 2330 hours flight to Larnaka is delayed by two hours. Estimated time of departure now 0140 hours on 28 July. These little discomforts in order that we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people whose “discomfort” started at the point of a gun and with stories of terrible savagery as at Deir Yassin in April 1948! Anything that an outsider suffers in his efforts for justice now is but a speck within the imprisonment, torture, suffocation and life-denial of the Palestinian. About 1 million have been imprisoned since 1948 and some for many years. Currently 11,000 are in prison and about a tenth are there under “administrative detention”, a convenient extension of the perfidious Albion’s Palestine Mandate law. About 37 of this human mass are legislators belonging to the Hamas party. A scrupulous election was no bar to stifling a democracy emerging under brutal occupation. In spite of generous offers to include the main opposition party Fatah in government, that attempt at plurality invited the annihilation of Hamas by the engine of destruction and its many subservient nations, led by the USA. Any adherents to Islam must be isolated and driven by goading to division and self-destruction. Thus was the medieval siege laid on Gaza in March 2006 against all morality and all major international laws. The Hague Rules and Nuremberg Principles were never enunciated and they do not exist; barbarism is the only rule. Hillary Clinton calls for the obliteration of Iran and wishes for a high speed version of Enola Gay. Gaza on the precipice of disaster…again MIFTAH, MIFTAH 8/2/2008 Tensions between Hamas and Fateh reached dangerous levels this week following the July 25 seaside car bombing, which killed five Hamas activists and one little girl. While Hamas officials squarely put the blame on Fateh for the bombing, Fateh has vehemently denied involvement in the incident. Nevertheless, this has not stopped the enmity between the two rival parties from rising to toxic levels, causing even more damage. Hours after the bombing, police forces belonging to the deposed Hamas government began making blanket arrests throughout the Strip, picking up scores of Fateh members or supporters. They also closed down approximately 150 institutions, clubs and offices affiliated with Fateh, ransacking many of them and confiscating equipment, computers and documents in the process. In response, police and security forces belonging to the Fateh-run West Bank government began making similar arrests of Hamas activists. Tensions and accusations ran so high, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on July 31 while visiting Tunisia for all political prisoners arrested after July 25 to be released from both sides. He also said the leadership encouraged a restart of conciliation talks between Palestinian parties and demanded that an independent investigation be opened into the bombing. Truth and Consequences Under Israeli Occupation Mohammed Omer, Middle East Online 8/1/2008 Israeli attacks on journalists are not new; nor are they rare, but the story of award-winning Palestinian journalist and photographer Mohammed Omer is shockingly egregious. The youngest winner of the Gelhorn Prize for Journalism recently, Omer was detained and severely beaten by Israeli authorities on his return from accepting the award in London. I am a Palestinian journalist from Gaza. At the age of 17, I armed myself with a camera and a pen, committed to report accurately on events in Gaza. I have filed reports as Israeli fighter jets bombed Gaza City. I have interviewed mothers as they watched their children die in hospitals unequipped to serve them because of Israel’s embargo. I have been recognized for my reporting, even in the United States and United Kingdom, where I have won two international awards. I have also been beaten and tortured by Israeli soldiers. This summer, at age 24, I was honored to learn that I had become the youngest journalist to receive the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, named for the famed American war reporter and awarded to journalists who counter propaganda with the truth. Although Israel has sealed Gaza’s 1.5 million Palestinians in what many now call the world’s largest open-air prison, Dutch MP Hans Van Baalen lobbied the Israeli government to let me leave Gaza to receive my award in person. Upon my return from London, I was surrounded by Israeli security officers. I was stripped naked at gunpoint, interrogated, kicked and beaten for more than four hours. At one point, I fainted and then awakened to fingernails gouging at the flesh beneath my eyes. An officer crushed my neck beneath his boot and pressed my chest into the floor. Others took turns kicking and pinching me, laughing all the while. They dragged me by my feet, sweeping my head through my own vomit. I lost consciousness. I was told later that they transferred me to a hospital only when they thought I might die. Enshrining resistance Lucy Fielder, Al-Ahram Weekly 7/31/2008 Lebanon’s leaders are haggling again, though the true balance of power has been laid bare, Lebanon’s politicians squabbled this week over whether or not to enshrine Hizbullah’s resistance to Israel in a ministerial statement to be adopted by the fledgling national unity government. But with the balance of power in favour of the Shia movement laid bare since the May strife, analysts said there was little doubt the alliance they dominate would again prevail. A ministerial committee met 11 times at the time of writing to try to draw up the statement, with some from the "14 March" anti-Syrian movement opposing including the "right to resist" clause in the document. Hizbullah wants that right spelled out in the statement, as it was in the 2005 policy statement when the last government was sworn in, but the 14 March team wants a more vague wording. This week, ministers have been expressing optimism that agreement was close. President Michel Suleiman, elected in late May under the Doha deal that halted Lebanon’s descent into crisis, reportedly brought some pressure to bear. Analysts said capitulation was in any case all but inevitable. Hizbullah is in a strong position to push its demands, particularly following its lopsided prisoner swap with Israel in mid-July. Search for conspiracy Doris Norrito, International Middle East Media Center News 8/1/0200 The other man’s story Yesterday, I visited with Sameeh Hammoudeh and his family. He was a co-defendant in the terrorism trial of Dr. Sami Al-Arian. It was a very important visit and before I describe it, you’ll need this background. In February 2003, at the same time Dr. Sami Al-Arian was arrested, Sameeh Hammoudeh was also arrested. Accused of terrorist activities, Hammoudeh was one of the three co-defendants who appeared with Al-Arian in the high-profile federal case that took place in Tampa, Florida. The six month trial ended in December 2005. All defendants were found "not guilty"¯ of any terrorist activities."¯ Before the trial, U.S. citizens Ghassan Ballut and Hatim Fariz were released on bail. Bail for Hammoudeh and Al-Arian had been denied and they spent two and a half years before the trial in prison, most of the time in solitary. As of today, Al-Arian remains imprisoned. The other defendants were freed. But for Sameeh Hammoudeh, who was exonerated of all charges and had already served two and a half years of pre-trial imprisonment, the suffering and anguish continued for another six months. Held in a detention center awaiting deportation, we began to correspond by letter. 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 Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories 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 Centre 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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