Vermonters
for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
Prisoners Archive - October 2007
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
Prisoners Archive - October 2007
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
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Pollard doubts ’secret release talks’ Aaron Klein, WND, YNetNews 10/30/2007 Imprisoned Israeli agent slams Olmert for ’failing to take basic steps’ to win freedom - - Responding to recent reports Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been holding secret talks with the US to secure his release, imprisoned Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard said Israel hasn’t taken "even the basic steps" to seek his freedom. Pollard, who completes his 22nd year of a life sentence next month, strongly refuted statements by the government here that it is extending full support to him and his family in line with legal requirements afforded a recognized Israeli agent. "Why is it that my wife continues to live in poverty and distress and I continue to rot in prison, while the government of Israel continues to lie blatantly about supporting us and about efforts for my release?" ... Popular Committees: "Detainee in critical health condition, not receiving needed treatment"ť Saed Bannoura - IMEMC, International Middle East Media Center 10/31/2007 The Palestinian Popular (Folk) Committees issued a statement on Tuesday holding the Israeli Prison Authorities responsible for the life of detainee Taiseer Al Jab’a, who was seriously injured recently when the army broke into the Negev detention facility and fired at the detainees. The Committees added that the detainee is not receiving the needed medical treatment and that he is facing discrimination by the administration since he is a detainee in an Israeli hospital. Moreover, the Committees appealed international human rights group to intervene and stop the ongoing Israeli violations especially since the soldiers fired live rounds at unarmed detainees, which constitutes a war crime. In a separate statement, Azmi Shiokhy, Secretary-General of the Committees, appealed human rights groups , and the Red... Nafha Society slams the abduction of two women by Israeli forces IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 10/30/2007 The Nafha Society for Defending the Rights of Detainees and Human Rights issued a press release on Tuesday slamming the Israeli army’s abduction of two women, from Qalaqilia in the northern part of the West Bank. The Society stated that Kawthar was previously detained and interrogated for ten days as a sort of psychological pressure on her sons. Also, the society appealed human rights groups and women organizations to intervene for the release of the two aged mothers, and to expose the illegal Israeli practices against the detainees and the Palestinian people. The Israeli army carried repeated abductions of mothers of wanted resistance fighters in order to pressure their sons to surrender. Such conducts come in direct violation to the international law and the basic principles of human rights. Occupied Palestinian Territories: Palestinian factional strife fuelling abuses Amnesty International - AI, ReliefWeb 10/24/2007 Interfactional fighting between Hamas and Fatah forces in the Gaza Strip earlier this year left 350 Palestinians dead and has been followed by further serious abuses in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Amnesty International said in a new report published today. The 57-page report, Occupied Palestinian Territories: Torn apart by factional strife, accuses Hamas of resorting increasingly to arbitrary detentions and torture since it took power last June in the Gaza Strip, and of allowing its forces to attack and assault peaceful demonstrators as well as journalists reporting on their protests. In the West Bank, the report blames security forces loyal to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas of arbitrarily detaining hundreds of Hamas supporters but of failing to take action against Fatah militants responsible for abductions, arson and other attacks. PRC leader: "Kill Jews everywhere" Ma’an News Agency 10/24/2007 Gaza – Ma’an – Prominent leader of the Popular Resistance Committees Abu Al-Sa’id on Wednesday called on the de facto Palestinian government to hasten disbanding the Palestinian Authority and establish a ’Resistance Authority’ instead in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Speaking during a press conference, Abu Al-Sa’id urged Palestinian resistance factions, particularly the Salah Addin Brigades of the PRC, to "kill Jews everywhere without waiting for permission", in retaliation for the murder of Muhammad Al-Ashqar and the violent treatment of Palestinian detainees at Ktziot prison. Spokesperson of the Salah Addin Brigades Abu Mujahid denied intentions to hurt captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, saying "Islamic morality states that captives cannot be harmed". Abu Mujahid said that any prisoners’ exchange for Shalit has stagnated due to Israeli intransigence. Palestinian man sentenced to thirty years in Israeli prison Ma’an News Agency 10/24/2007 Tulkarem – Ma’an – An Israeli military court on Tuesday sentenced Palestinian detainee twenty-six-year-old Muhammad Raddad, from the northern West Bank town of Seida, to thirty years in prison. Raddad was seized in Ramallah, where he worked, and has been held at Hadarim Israeli prison. He was accused of membership in Islamic Jihad, masterminding operations against Israel and recruiting Palestinians to detonate explosive vests / belts inside Israel. However, Raddad was not accused of personally carrying out any operations. [end] Amnesty International criticizes Palestinian infighting Saed Bannoura - IMEMC, International Middle East Media Center 10/24/2007 Several hundred Palestinians have been killed due to inter-factional infighting in the West Bank and Gaza Strip this year, including a number of civilians. The human rights group Amnesty International has issued a report accusing both the Hamas and Fateh parties of human rights abuses during the infighting. The report continues, “As armed clashes became more frequent and intensified, Fatah and Hamas gunmen unlawfully killed and maimed captured rivals and hostages. They used indiscriminate and reckless fire in and around residential neighbourhoods. ” The Amnesty report accused the Hamas party of mistreating detainees and even torture. Fateh was accused of engaging in revenge attacks that often ended up targeting civilians. Negev prisoners enter second day of hunger strike Nisreen Qumsieh - IMEMC News & agencies, International Middle East Media Center 10/24/2007 Palestinian prisoners in the Negev detention center on Wednesday entered their second day of hunger strike in protest against their treatment by Israeli prison authorities. In a phone call to representatives outside the prison, prisoners indicated that some 250 inured detainees were yet to receive medical treatment, with one prisoner having lost an eye as a direct result. Approximately 11,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention centers announced a one-day hunger strike on Tuesday in solidarity with those prisoners in the Negev. Negev prisoners also demand on Wednesday to perform an international investigation committee to investigate recent events. [end] Images that shock Leader, The Guardian 10/25/2007 Occasionally the mask slips and unpalatable truths emerge. The Guardian has filmed rare scenes inside Hamas-controlled Gaza which the various players in the unfolding tragedy of the Middle East would rather we did not see - Hamas beating up Fatah dissenters, Palestinian doctors forced by their Fatah paymasters to go on strike or forfeit their salaries, the militants who log on to Google Earth to search for Israeli targets for their Qassam rockets. The images, now on the Guardian’s website, affront our concept of right and wrong, but they serve our understanding of what is going on. Gaza is a wound that is being left to fester. Fatah, Israel, the US and the international community have different motives for leaving half of the Palestinian people to rot in this prison, but they are all, for the moment, united in their attempt to isolate Hamas. Feud ’hurting Palestinian rights’ BBC Online 10/24/2007 Fighting between the two main factions in the Palestinian territories is fuelling human rights abuses, a leading human rights NGO reports. Amnesty International says illegal detentions and torture have become commonplace in both Hamas-controlled Gaza and Fatah’s West Bank stronghold. It notes that the situation in Gaza has deteriorated sharply since June when Hamas seized control by force. The UK-based group is calling for an independent investigation. According to Amnesty, arbitrary detentions and the torture of opposition supporters have become widespread in the Gaza Strip where there have also been attacks on demonstrators and journalists covering such incidents. But the report says human rights abuses are being committed in the West Bank too, by government security forces under the control of President Mahmoud Abbas against Hamas supporters. Protests after Israel prison riot Al Jazeera 10/23/2007 Violence broke out after guards began searching the prisoners’ bunks [AFP] A riot in an Israeli jail that left one inmate dead has provoked an angry response from other Palestinian prisoners and sparked protests in the occupied territories. The Prisoners Club, the main group representing Palestinian prisoners, said on Tuesday that most of the about 10,000 security detainees held in Israel had gone on hunger strike. "This is a one-day hunger strike to protest against what happened at Ketziot," Issa Qaraqi, a Palestinian MP, said. However, Yarona Zamir, a spokeswoman for Israel’s prison service, said that although some prisoners had refused their breakfast there was not a widespread hunger strike. Clashes broke out at the Ketziot prison in the southern Negev desert early on Monday as about 1,000 inmates attacked prison guards and torched the tents where they were being held. Palestinian ’torture widespread’ Al Jazeera 10/24/2007 Amnesty International has accused Hamas and Fatah of widespread human rights abuses, including torture, arbitrary detention and other ill treatment against each other. The rights watchdog on Wednesday released a report criticising the Palestinian governments in both Gaza and the West Bank for harming civilians in their clashes. The 58-page report, Torn Apart by Factional Strife , said about 350 Palestinians were killed during the first months of 2007 in Palestinian infighting in the Gaza Strip, many of them noncombatants. Clashes between the two sides peaked in June, when Hamas fighters forced Fatah-dominated Palestinian security forces from Gaza. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and leader of Fatah, dismissed the Hamas-led cabinet and formed his own government, which controls the West Bank. Palestinian groups threaten to avenge inmate’s death Ali Waked and Reuters, YNetNews 10/24/2007 Fatah’s military wing says it will reconsider their commitment to truce, warns it members may carry out terror attacks against Israel following Palestinian’s death in Israeli jail riot. Hamas threatens to harm Israel through kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit - - One Palestinian inmate died of wounds suffered in an Israeli jail riot and over a dozen were wounded after violent clashes on Monday with prison guards, 15 of whom were also hurt, a prisons spokeswoman said. Following the incident, Palestinian organizations threatened to carry out terror attacks against Israel. The violence flared when guards conducted a routine search for weapons in a tented complex housing 1,000 inmates in Israel’s Negev desert, Eli Gabizon, commander of the Israel Prisons Service southern district, told Israel Radio. New immigrant held ransom Raanan Ben-Zur, YNetNews 10/24/2007 For two weeks, 30 year-old immigrant from Germany held captive, released for USD 320,000 - - Two Israelis are suspected of kidnapping a new immigrant from Germany, abusing him, and holding him captive for two weeks. Eventually, the man was released after kidnappers received a ransom of USD 320,000, it was released for publication today. The immigrant, aged 30, was kidnapped by five people in February. He was held in a number of hideout locations in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area and in Jerusalem, and taken to a new location every few days. The immigrant’s family was told to provide USD 320,000 for his release. According to suspicions, during the time of his kidnapping, the man was physically and emotionally abused in order to speed up the ransom payment. The suspects tortured and bound the man, and put out burning cigarettes on him, as well as shouting and cursing at him. Israel prisons service denies foul play in assassination of a Palestinian detainee Ma’an News Agency 10/23/2007 Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Israeli General Prisons Service on Tuesday refused to reveal the ammunition the warders at Ktziot prison used against Palestinian detainees, which killed one and injured hundreds. Haaretz electronic website quoted head of the Israeli prisons service in the southern district Eli Gavison as saying that wardens "fired non-lethal objects at the crowds of prisoners, which caused some injury." Gavison said that the ammunition used by the specialized riot dispersal unit is classified information. He also alleged that the mortally wounded prisoner was hit in the head with a small bag filled with pellets. Regulations state that wardens are only allowed to fire missiles at prisoners’ legs, and Gavison claimed that this rule had been adhered to. He alleged that the deceased prisoner was bending over when he was struck by the so-called sachet of pellets. Hamas: We have no intention of harming Shalit Ma’an News Agency 10/23/2007 Bethlehem – Ma’an – A spokesperson of the Hamas movement on Tuesday asserted that Hamas has no intention of harming captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The spokesperson said that Israeli websites had doctored a statement made by Hamas’ Qassam Brigades to imply that Hamas intends to hurt the soldier. The spokesperson said that the brigades’ statement read, "The response to the Israeli oppression of Palestinian prisoners will be painful." Hamas is investigating a number of possibilities regarding the Israeli detainee, said the spokesperson. Shalit was captured by three Palestinian military groups in June 2006 on the Gaza border. [end] PRC: Abduct more Israeli soldiers to achieve release of Palestinian detainees Ma’an News Agency 10/23/2007 Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Popular Resistance Committees on Tuesday asserted that the most effective strategy for achieving the release of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails is to abduct more Israeli soldiers. The PRC, in a statement, offered its condolences to the family of Muhammad Al-Ashqar, who was killed in Ktziot jail on Monday during a violent Israeli raid. The PRC urged the Red Cross and other humanitarian organisations to ease the suffering of Palestinian prisoners and investigate events at Ktziot jail. [end] Palestinian security violently breaks-up Hamas-led protest in Hebron Ma’an News Agency 10/23/2007 Hebron – Ma’an – Several Palestinian protestors were injured in the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Monday when the Palestinian security services violently dispersed a demonstration against Israeli aggression at Ktziot prison. One Palestinian prisoner was killed and 250 were injured during an Israeli raid at Ktziot prison in the Israeli Negev on Monday. The Palestinian security alleged that it dispersed the Hamas-affiliated demonstrators in Hebron as the protest was illegal and, because it was held at night, could endanger people. Clashes erupted between the Palestinian security and Hamas loyalists at the start of the demonstration, which began at Al-Hussain Ibin Ali Mosque. PLC member from the Hamas bloc Hatim Qafisha said he saw a Palestinian civilian being shot with a firearm. He also reported contacting head of Hebron security Samih Al-Sayfi to request permission Palestinian resistance fighters active in the West Bank and Gaza Strip Ma’an News Agency 10/23/2007 Gaza – Ma’an – The military wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades, on Tuesday claimed responsibility for launching two homemade projectiles at the Israeli military post of Nahal ’Oz, east of Gaza City. The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades of the PFLP reported launching two homemade projectiles at the Israeli Western Negev town of Sderot. The brigades stated that the operation was retaliation for the oppression of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. The military wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, on Monday evening claimed that one of its groups of fighters clashed with an Israeli undercover force in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip. The brigades said it was part of the preparation for resistance to an Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. Palestinian PM meets Russian Vice Foreign Minister in Ramallah IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 10/24/2007 Palestinian sources in Ramallah city, north of Jerusalem, reported on Tuesday that Palestinian Prime Minister, Dr. Salaam Fayyad, met at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah with the Russian Vice Foreign Minister Alexander Saltenov. Palestinian PM Dr. Salaam Fayyad Fayyad also told Saltenov that there are more than twelve thousanddetainees imprisoned by Israel, facing daily abuse and attacks, and informed him on the Monday attack carried by Israeli soldiers against the detainees in the Negev detention facility. One detainee was killed and several hundreds were injured. Moreover, Fayyad informed Saltenov that the Palestinians are preparing for the Annapolis peace Conference in the United States, and added that the Palestinian leadership is interested in the success of the conference. Also on Tuesday, Fayyad today met a French delegation headed by Mr. Hamas media sources: "P.A security arrested eight members including three students"ť Saed Bannoura - IMEMC, International Middle East Media Center 10/24/2007 Sources close to the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, reported on Tuesday that Palestinian security men, loyal to Fateh movement, arrested on Monday eight members of Hamas in the West Bank, including three students of Al Najah university in Nablus. Hamas - Logo In the West Bank city of Tubas, Palestinian security men arrested Rasim Sahran, Dhia’ Al Asous, and Anas Abbas. The three, from Al Far’a refugee camp, south of Tubas, were arrested after heading to a Palestinian security center after being ordered to head there for an interview with security personnel. In the southern West Bank city of Hebron, security men broke into the house of detainee Ahmad Abdullah Atawna, and confiscated his personal computer. Also, Hamas stated that Palestinian security personnel broke into a mosque in the western neighborhood of the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem and removed posters. Bir Zeit University Students protest in support to the detainees in the Negev IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 10/24/2007 Hundreds of students at Bir Zeit University, near Ramallah city north of Jerusalem, organized on Tuesday a protest in support to the Palestinian detainees in the Negev Israeli detention camp after the army attacked the detainees, killed one and injured at least 250. Archive Photo Fadi Hamad, head of the Students Council, stated that the detainees maintained their unity despite the Fateh-Hamas conflict, and faced the Israeli soldiers with unity and determination. Also, Fateh student Bloc at the university stated that there cannot be a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict without releasing all detainees, a and without the return of all refugees and the liberation of Jerusalem, the capital of the Palestinian state. The Islamic Bloc at the university called for unity and called for massive protests in support to the detainees. The Bloc also said that all detainees must be freed without any preconditions. All student blocs at the university slammed the Israeli attack against the detainees and called for unity. Hamas denies Israeli claim that they intend to harm Israeli P.O.W. Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 10/23/2007 After Israeli media published what they said were statements from the Palestinian Hamas movement that revenge would be taken against Israeli war prisoner Gilad Shalit in revenge for the Palestinian prisoner killed Monday by Israeli forces, Hamas issued a statement denying the claim. The Hamas party spokesman said that the statements published by Israeli media were mis-translated from Arabic. The spokesman added that the Israeli media had doctored the statement put out by Hamas’ military wing to imply that Hamas intends to harm Shalit. The party leadership made assurances that they will not harm Shalit, and that they are investigating a number of possibilities which would allow for his release, if Israel would agree to a prisoner swap. Hamas has long called for a prisoner swap of a number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of Shalit, but Israeli authorities have refused the offer. Hunger strike by all Palestinian prisoners after Israeli clampdown Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 10/23/2007 Most of the 10,000 Palestinian prisoners of war currently being held by Israeli forces began a hunger strike Tuesday to protest the Israeli crackdown at the Ketziot prison camp on Monday. Israeli forces killed one inmate, and wounded several others. The Israeli forces attacked the prisoners on Monday after prisoners rioted, burning their tents to protest the conditions of their imprisonment. The riot was sparked by a night-time raid of prisoners’ beds and belongings. That raid violated an agreement between the prisons service and inmates barring night-time searches. The raid appeared to be aimed at intimidating prisoners, particularly focusing on those who had been organizing for prisoners’ rights. Since the beginning of the current Intifada in September 2000, all family visits to detainees from the Occupied Palestinian Territories have been prohibited. Tayseer Khalid calls on international bodies to protect Palestinian prisoners PNN - 1 of International Middle East Media Center - IMEMC Editorial, International Middle East Media Center 10/23/2007 Tayseer Khalid, member of the Executive Committee of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Political Bureau of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), on Tuesday called on the international community to move quickly to protect Palestinian prisoners. Khalid demanded that the UNHRC and the ICRC take their humanitarian responsibilities seriously, and send a joint fact-finding mission to investigate the violations carried out by the prison administration, violations that are thought to torture, breaking into cells at night, and barring families from visiting their loved ones. He ended his statement by calling on the international community and the Middle East Quartet to intervene to force Israel to end its policy of mass arrests, to release at-risk prisoners, and to comply with the Fourth Geneva convention on these matters. Translated by Manar Jibrin Release Pollard to Encourage Israeli Concessions to Middle East Peace Mike Mullenix, International Middle East Media Center 10/22/2007 According to Jpost. com, the news website of the Jerusalem Post, President Shimon Peres almost secured the release of Jonathon Pollard from the US government. Pollard, a former U.S. Navy Civilian analyst, sold nuclear secrets to the Israelis and was found guilty of treason and spying and is now serving a life sentence in an American prison. The article reported that at the last minute, however, the US Intelligence community pulled the plug on the deal. However, is it possible that the US is playing with Israel, the same way Israel is playing with the Palestinians? American spy Johnathan Pollard How does Pollard fit into the peace strategy? Well, a release of Jonathon Pollard as an act of good will actually accomplishes nothing for the US. President Bush is looking to improve his personal legacy as well as any bargaining chip he can use to push his newly found dedication to a two-state solution. Amnesty censures Palestinians Ian Black, The Guardian 10/24/2007 Amnesty International has slammed the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and the rival Fatah group for serious human rights abuses in the recent factional fighting in Gaza and the West Bank. Hamas is accused in a report published today of "increasingly resorting" to arbitrary detention and torture since its forces took control of the Gaza Strip in June. In the West Bank Fatah security personnel are accused of detaining, abducting and abusing hundreds of Hamas supporters, with help from Israel. The Palestinian president and chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, is the leader of Fatah and a key partner for Israel, the US and the west. Hamas has been boycotted as a terrorist organisation which refuses to renounce violence, recognise Israel or accept peace agreements." The leaders of both the PA and Hamas must take immediate steps to break the cycle of impunity that continues Terrorist abettor sentenced to 5 life sentences Vered Luvitch, YNetNews 10/18/2007 Israeli-Arab who drove suicide bomber to Tel Aviv nightclub and helped plan attack that left five people dead sentenced to five consecutive life sentences, additional 20 year prison term - - The Tel Aviv District Court sentenced Ashraf Qaisi to five consecutive life sentences with an additional 20 years Thursday, after he was convicted for driving the suicide bomber who blew up Tel Aviv’s Stage Club in February 2005. Qaisi was convicted on five counts of murder, aggravated assault, weapons charges and contacting a foreign agent. In their ruling, the judges noted, "The defendant, a citizen and resident of the State of Israel, has joined forces with our most bitter enemies in order to carry out as many murders as possible. He aided the members of an organization that seeks to destroy us, and fully cooperated with them to help them go ahead with their vicious plan. Chemical castration bill passes preliminary reading Tzvika Brot, YNetNews 10/18/2007 Sex offenders of minors who do not opt to undergo medical treatment will serve longer prison sentences - - A draft proposal forcing sex offenders involving minors to receive medical treatment passed a preliminary reading in the Knesset plenum Wednesday. Offenders will not be forced to undergo treatment; however, those who refuse to take it will be forced to endure a longer prison sentence. According to the proposal, drafted by Kadima coalition chairman Eli Aflalo, the courts will have the authority to order medical treatment designed to repress offenders’ sexual urges in cases involving minors under the age of 13, who are not family members. For this purpose, a committee of experts will be set up to determine the criteria defining a pedophile. In the event that a convicted offender is defined as a pedophile, the courts will be entitled to order him Israel releases 50 imprisoned Darfur refugees Middle East Online 10/11/2007 First Published 2007-10-18, Last Updated 2007-10-18 13:43:15 Still not clear what status they will be granted Tel Aviv releases Sudanese asylum seekers to allow them to work on collective farms. KETZIOT, Israel - Israel on Thursday released 51 Darfur asylum seekers from a prison compound in the Negev desert to allow them to work on collective farms in the Jewish state. The group was being held at a centre on the Ketziot prison compound, said a media correspondent who witnessed their release. The asylum seekers have been granted temporary residency permits and will live and work on kibbutzim, as have other Sudanese refugees for months. Last month, the government decided to grant residency to around 500 Darfur refugees after months of public debate, but Israel says it would expel all other Africans who had entered illegally from Egypt. P.A security forces arrest several Hamas members in the West Bank, Hamas says IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 10/18/2007 Hamas media sources reported on Wednesday that Palestinian security forces, loyal to Fateh movement, arrested on recently several members of the movement in the West Bank cities of Nablus and Salfit. PA security forces - Archive Local sources in Salfit reported that Palestinian Security Forces arrested on Tuesday sheikh Raed Husam Harb, 50, from Iskaka village, east of Salfit after he visited families of residents detained by the Palestinian Security Forces. Harb was repeatedly arrested by the Israeli army and was recently released from an Israeli prison after spending a long period under administrative detention. He is also suffering from several health problems. Hamas movement slammed that arrest of Harb and stated that he is one of the well-known figures who always seek reconciliation. On Thursday morning, Palestinian Security men arrested three Hamas members, including two students of Al Najah University in Nablus. Army breaks into detention facility and destroys prisoners’ belongings Maisa Abu Ghazalah - IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 10/18/2007 Israeli soldiers broke into the Nitsan detention facility on Thursday and attacked the detainees severely. The soldiers destroyed detainees’ belongings as well as throwing away their food. This attack followed an incident involving Ramez Dar Mohamad ,a Palestinian detainee who suffers from a psychological disorder. Dar Mohamad stabbed an Israeli officer in the neck with a tool made from a can opener and slightly injured him. The soldiers then attacked him and all the prisoners who were with him at the time Acording to sources inside the detention facility, members of the Palestinian legislative council imprisoned in Nitsan, held a meeting with the prison administration in a bid to ease the tension. They pointed out that the man who had stabbed the Israeli officer suffers from a psychological disorder. Ten members of the Palestinian Legislative Council from the Hamas bloc are imprisoned in Nitsan. Closing the Arad file? Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 10/18/2007 This week, Israel was gradually pushed into making a decision on a dilemma it had evaded in the previous prisoner transaction with Hezbollah, the one that brought about the return of Colonel (res. ) Elhanan Tenenbaum. Almost four years later, the Tenenbaum exchange is beginning to look like the mother of all sins. Not only because of the price it exacted (the release of 430 prisoners, most of them Palestinians), its format (living prisoners in exchange for the bodies of three abducted soldiers), or its goal (the release of a businessman who admitted to having gone to Lebanon to trade in drugs). The exchange still haunts Israel because of its unrealized "phase 2," at whose center lay a dubious maneuver: In order to effect Tenenbaum’s release, Ariel Sharon, the prime minister at the time, agreed to drop what until then had seemed to be an inviolable Israeli demand - information about the fate of missing air force navigator Ron Arad. Fertile ground for a conspiracy Ehud Asheri, Ha’aretz 10/18/2007 "It looks as though this pregnancy was carefully planned: Larissa Trimbobler, who underwent in-vitro fertilization, is supposed to give birth next Wednesday, the 12th anniversary of Rabin’s assassination... It is hard to believe that this is only a coincidence and we can assume that the beginning of the pregnancy was calculated so that it would end on the day of the assassination" - Yedioth Ahronoth, October 15 Like a virus that has settled in the nerve center, Yigal Amir continues to drive Israeli society crazy. One of the characteristic symptoms is the lunatic conspiracy theories that flourish even 12 years after the Rabin murder. Until this week it seemed as though the virus had spread only among the extremist ideological wing that supports Amir. This week it turned out that it has also attacked parts of the opposing wing, which wants to see the murderer, who is about to become a father, rot in prison to the end of his days. Driver of suicide bomber in 2005 Tel Aviv attack gets 5 life terms Roni Singer-Heruti Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Staff, Ha’aretz 10/18/2007 The Tel Aviv District Court sentenced on Thursday a suicide bomber’s driver to five consecutive life terms and an additional 20 years in prison for his role in the deaths of five people in a 2005 Tel Aviv attack. Ashraf Keisi, an Israeli citizen, was convicted in July of five counts of murder and one count of attempted murder for driving Abdullah Badran to the Stage nightclub on the Tel Aviv beachfront promenade, where he blew himself up, killing five people and injuring 50. Keisi was also convicted of aiding an enemy during wartime, supporting a terror organization, causing mental anguish and other offenses. Twenty-eight-year-old Keisi, from Baka al-Garbiyeh, drove Badran in February 2005 to the club, where he blew himself up at the entrance. In the ensuing investigation, Keisi admitted that he had been in contact with Islamic Jihad militants in order to help choose the location of the attack. Nasrallah’s victory Amir Oren, Ha’aretz 10/18/2007 If, like in the case of revolutions, wars should be judged only after time has passed, then the prisoner exchange deal in the works between Israel and Hezbollah suggests that Nasrallah won the Second Lebanon War. This despite the fact that in the balance of losses - in terms of lives, destruction suffered, political and security capital - he lost. If Israel releases Samir Kuntar for Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, without receiving Ron Arad or at least information about his whereabouts, the war was pointless and its cost was for naught. This does not necessarily mean that a decision to carry out such a deal would be mistaken, but we should not evade the meaning of the decision. The whole affair deserves to be seriously addressed in the report of the Winograd Committee. Kuntar is a murderer who is serving a life sentence. Israel frees 51 Darfuri refugee to work on farms Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 10/19/2007 KETZIOT, Israel: Israel on Thursday released 51 Darfur asylum seekers from a prison compound in the Negev Desert to allow them to work on collective farms in the Jewish state. The group was being held at the Ketziot Prison compound, said an AFP correspondent who witnessed their release. The asylum seekers have been granted temporary residency permits and will live and work on kibbutzes, as have other Sudanese refugees for months. Last month, the government decided to grant residency to around 500 Darfur refugees after months of public debate, but Israel says it would expel all other Africans who had entered illegally from Egypt. It is not clear what exact legal status Darfur refugees will be granted, although Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit has said he supported naturalizing the Darfur refugees who have crossed into Israel with about 3,000 other Africans. Soldier defects due to wife’s pregnancy Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 10/17/2007 Married Muslim soldier goes AWOL for 84 days. His excuse: To be by his wife’s side when she gives birth. Judge gives him light sentense - - In a rare decision, a military court sentenced a soldier who was away without leave for 84 days due to his wife’s preganacy to be merely reprimanded and released from the army. In most cases, military courts mete out harsh prison sentences to soldiers who are away without leave. However, in the case of Corporal A, a serial deserter that had already been away without leave on four occasions, the court decided not to send him to prison at all. The Muslim solider who served in a Bedouin tracking unit, had most recently deserted his unit for a total of 84 days. The soldier volunteered for military service despite not being obliged to because of his marital status. Victim’s brother: Swap Kuntar for abducted soldiers Meital Tzur, YNetNews 10/17/2007 Despite brutal killing of Haran family in 1979, family member says willing to exchange Samir Kuntar for ’living’ abducted Israeli soldiers - - Almost four years have passed since the last prisoner exchange deal, and once again terrorist Samir Kuntar has returned to the limelight, this time pertaining to the exchange deal involving abducted IDF soldiers Udi Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Such an exchange is being fought by the family of missing airman Ron Arad, for whom Kuntar serves as a bargaining chip. And there is also Smadar Haran, who lost her husband and two daughters in a terror attack for which Kuntar stood trial. Danny Haran’s brother Ronny and his mother Nina (Archive photo: Ronnie Schitzer) Ronny Keren, Haran’s brother in law, told ynet: "If the abducted soldiers are alive – and the emphasis here is on alive - I agree to the release of Samir Kuntar. Overcrowded jail grants each prisoner just 1.37 square meters Shahar Ilan Haaretz Correspondent, Ha’aretz 10/17/2007 The average living space allocated to prisoners at the Ofer detention center is 1. 37 square meters, Israel Prisons Service statistics have shown. The IPS figures were presented Tuesday before the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. The prison, situated just north of Jerusalem, was designed for almost 900 security prisoners and last year was transferred to the IPS from the authority of the Military Police. The situation at the Kishon Prison near Haifa isn’t much better. The 700 security and criminal prisoners there have an average living space of 1. 97-square-meters per person. In the Ramon Prison, the area is 2. 04 square meters, in the Shata Prison 2. 16 and in the Carmel Prison 2. 20. The average space alloted to an Israeli prisoner on average has dropped in recent years from 3. 4 square meters to only 2. Hezbollah identifies body handed over by Israel Middle East Online 10/11/2007 First Published 2007-10-16, Last Updated 2007-10-16 11:43:51 Can finally burry her son home Israel, Hezbollah in first swap in nearly four years in deal brokered by German, UN mediators. BEIRUT - Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Tuesday it has identified the body of a slain man handed over by Israel in a rare exchange between the Shiite movement and the Jewish state. Hezbollah spokesman Haidar Doqmaq said the dead man was identifed as Mohamed Esseily and that DNA tests were being carried out on a second body handed over on Monday, thought to be militant Samer al-Najem. The two men, killed in last year’s Lebanon war between Israel and Hezbollah, were exchanged along with a prisoner, Hassan Naeem Akel, for the remains of one Israeli and information on a missing airman. The swap, the first between Israel and Lebanon in nearly four years, was brokered by German and UN mediators. Nasrallah says progress was made for a major prisoner swap deal Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 10/16/2007 Leader of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah party, Hasan Nasrallah, stated on Tuesday that a positive progress was made in prisoner-swap talks which could see the release of two Israeli soldiers captured by the party last year, in exchange for releasing Arab prisoners detained by Israel. Hasan Nasrallah Nasrallah stated that on Monday a limited swap deal was implemented and is only considered a preliminary action before a major prisoner swap which will include the release of Regev and Goldwasser. Nasrallah stated that this step is considered a positive development for a major prisoner swap deal which could take place in the future. On Monday, Hezbollah handed the International Red Cross the body of an Israeli citizen while Israel in return handed the bodies of two Hezbollah fighters. This deal is part of talks which could see the release of Goldwasser and Regev. The Deal with Hezbollah / Israeli assessment: Kidnapped soldiers’ release in exchange for Samir Kuntar Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 10/17/2007 The information Israel has received from Hezbollah about the fate of missing air force navigator Ron Arad offers nothing new. The information details Hezbollah’s efforts since January 2004 to gain information on Arad and confirm his whereabouts, including checking with sources in Iran. Following the exchange that took place on the northern border Monday, in which three bodies and a Lebanese prisoner were traded between Israel and Hezbollah, along with some information on Arad, some of Israel’s options have become clear. Israel now knows that in exchange for the release of the two reservists in the Israel Defense Forces held by Hezbollah - Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev - it will have to release Samir Kuntar, a Lebanese man held for the murder of a family in Nahariya. This would mean that Israel is relinquishing any chance that Hezbollah will contribute to uncovering the mystery surrounding Arad’s disappearance. The Hezbollah swap / Nothing more on Arad; now, on to other captives Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 10/17/2007 The documents that Hezbollah gave Israel as part of Monday’s "mini-swap" do not solve the riddle of missing navigator Ron Arad’s fate; they merely seek to absolve Hezbollah of responsibility. The Islamic organization’s message is: We have done all we can. We searched for Arad all over Lebanon. We found nothing. Hezbollah claims that it has thereby fulfilled its side of "phase two" of a 2004 prisoner exchange, in which it promised to supply reliable information about Arad’s fate in exchange for Israel’s release of Samir Kuntar, who murdered the Haran family in Nahariya in 1979. TO back this claim, it supplied details of everything it has done since 2004 to try to find Arad. What does Hezbollah hope to gain by this? First, Israeli confirmation that the Arad case is closed. Then, it will request that both sides proceed to the next stage. Overcrowding in Israeli prisons reaches new high Shahar Ilan, Ha’aretz 10/17/2007 1. 37 square meters living space at Ofer detention center The average living space allocated to prisoners at the Ofer detention center is 1. 37 square meters. THe figures were presented yesterday by the Prisons Authority to the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. The prison, situated just north of Jerusalem, was designed for almost 900 security prisoners and last year was transfered from the authority of the Military Police to the Prisons Authority. The situation at the Kishon Prison near Haifa isn’t much better. The 700 security and criminal prisoners there have an average living space of 1. 97-square-meters per person. In the Ramon Prison, the area is 2. 04 square meters, in the Shata Prison 2. 16 and in the Carmel Prison 2. 20. The average space alloted to an Israeli prisoner on average has dropped in recent years from 3. Overcrowding in Israeli prisons reaches new high Shahar Ilan, Ha’aretz 10/17/2007 1. 37 square meters living space at Ofer detention center The average living space allocated to prisoners at the Ofer detention center is 1. 37 square meters. THe figures were presented yesterday by the Prisons Authority to the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. The prison, situated just north of Jerusalem, was designed for almost 900 security prisoners and last year was transfered from the authority of the Military Police to the Prisons Authority. The situation at the Kishon Prison near Haifa isn’t much better. The 700 security and criminal prisoners there have an average living space of 1. 97-square-meters per person. In the Ramon Prison, the area is 2. 04 square meters, in the Shata Prison 2. 16 and in the Carmel Prison 2. 20. The average space alloted to an Israeli prisoner on average has dropped in recent years from 3. Hezbollah information may end mystery of airman Ron Arad’s disappearance Amos Harel Barak Ravid and, Ha’aretz 10/17/2007 Yoav Stern Information received from Hezbollah during a deal carried out on the northern border yesterday is hoped to bring to a conclusion the mystery surrounding the fate of missing Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad, sources said yesterday. Israel and Hezbollah carried out an exchange yesterday evening at the Rosh Hanikra border crossing, which included three bodies and a seriously ill prisoner. The transaction, carried out with the help of the United Nations and the Red Cross, is the first overt sign of a mediating process that began six months ago for the release of the two abducted reservists, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. Israel received the body of Gabriel Dawit, a citizen who drowned near Haifa in January 2005 and who was carried by the sea to Lebanon’s shores. For its part, Hezbollah received the corpses of two of its fighters killed during the Second Lebanon War. Yigal Amir’s request to attend son’s bris rejected Raanan Ben-Zur, YNetNews 10/16/2007 Prison Service determines assassin of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin ’a danger to society and endangered by society,’ refuses to grant him furlough for impending birth of his son. Amir’s family slams decision, asserts State trying to ’break his ideology’ - - The Israeli Prison Service on Monday rejected the request filed by Yigal Amir, assassin of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, to receive a furlough from prison to attend the bris of his son with wife Larissa Trimbobler. Trimbobler is scheduled to give birth in late October. The IPS said in its response that Amir’s request had been denied out of concern for both the prisoner’s safety from vigilante acts as well as concern for the public’s safety fro Amir. Officials said there was concern that Amir would manage to get in touch with various extremist right-wing groups during any stay outside of prison. New bill: Visit prostitute, go to jail Yael Branovsky, YNetNews 10/16/2007 MK suggests new bill that would send prostitute patrons to prison for up to six months; poll: 80% of public does not support measure - - MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) intends to present a measure to the Knesset committee on the trafficking of women Tuesday that will prescribe sending clients of the ’the world’s oldest profession’ to prison. The measure would totally outlaw paying for sexual services. Violators would be subject to a jail term of up to six months if found guilty. Those sentenced to jail time for the crime could reduce their sentences by participating in an educational workshop on the harms of prostitution. A law similar to the one to be proposed already exists in some European countries including Sweden and France. Chief Public Defender Inbal Rubinstein is scheduled to participate in the discussions regarding the bill. Israel, Lebanon to swap prisoners Middle East Online 10/11/2007 First Published 2007-10-15, Last Updated 2007-10-15 13:59:23 Israel is also seeking the return of the bodies of five other soldiers Israel could hand over prisoner and bodies of two Hezbollah fighters in exchange for Israeli soldier’s body. By Ali Dia - NAQURA, Lebanon Israel and Lebanon may carry out a prisoner swap on Monday, with the Jewish state handing over the bodies of two Hezbollah fighters and a prisoner in exchange for the body of an Israeli soldier, a security source said. "An exchange of bodies and a prisoner swap could take place this afternoon at the Naqura crossing between Israel and Lebanon," said the source, who did not wish to be identified. He said the two Hezbollah fighters died during the 34-day war last summer between the Shiite militant group and Israel in Lebanon, triggered by the militant group’s capture of two Israeli soldiers in July. Detainee complain of abuse, violations, and ongoing attacks in Israeli prisons IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 10/15/2007 The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) issued a report documenting an incident of illegal acts and abuse carried against a detainee in an Israeli prison. Bazour added that eight soldiers took turns during his interrogation and torture for several hours, and that he was handcuffed all the time. He added that soldiers placed him in an open area in the facility as rain was falling heavily and as he was bleeding from his head. Bazour also said that soldiers forced his head into a toilet seat and then threw him in a cell after totally undressing him. Furthermore, Bazour stated that soldiers repeatedly threatened to shoot him and threatened for arrest his family members and demolish their home. Commenting on the cells, he stated that they are dark and without windows, adding that once he is in the cells he cannot differentiate between day and night time, and that the cell is always smelly. ANALYSIS: Israel, Hezbollah need no trust building measures Zvi Bar''el Haaretz Correspondent, Ha’aretz 10/16/2007 Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah does not like making small-scale deals, and Monday’s prisoner swap was a "small deal," both in terms of the value that Hezbollah received and the price it paid Israel. Neither Hezbollah nor Israel need "confidence-building measures," because at issue here are not long-term processes of mutual recognition or a wide-reaching change in Israeli and Lebanese bilateral policy. There is already a tradition of trust between Israel and Hezbollah with regard to exchange agreements and total distrust in every other sphere. The conclusion that must be drawn is that this was a down payment on a broader deal. Can new, significant information about missing Israeli navigator Ron Arad now be expected? It is doubtful that such information would be given to Israel in exchange for the release of a minor Hezbollah activist and two bodies. Israel Hezbollah swap said to include info on Ron Arad Amos Harel Barak Ravid and, Ha’aretz 10/15/2007 Yoav Stern Information received from Hezbollah during a deal carried out on the northern border yesterday is hoped to bring to a conclusion the mystery surrounding the fate of missing Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad, sources said yesterday. Israel and Hezbollah carried out an exchange yesterday evening at the Rosh Hanikra border crossing, which included three bodies and a seriously ill prisoner. The transaction, carried out with the help of the United Nations and the Red Cross, is the first overt sign of a mediating process that began six months ago for the release of the two abducted reservists, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. Israel received the body of Gabriel Dawit, a citizen who drowned near Haifa in January 2005 and who was carried by the sea to Lebanon’s shores. For its part, Hezbollah received the corpses of two of its fighters killed during the Second Lebanon War. Prisons Service refuses to allow Yigal Amir to attend son’s circumcision Jonathan Lis is, Haaretz Correspondent, Ha’aretz 10/16/2007 The Israel Prisons Service announced Monday that it would deny the request by Yigal Amir - the assassin of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin - that he be allowed to leave prison to attend the circumcision ceremony of his expected son. Amir made the request ahead of the imminent birth of his son. His wife, Larisa Trimbobler, is in the final month of her pregnancy. The IPS also said that it would not allow Amir to hold the ceremony within Rimonim prison, were he is currently incarcerated. The an IPS spokesperson said that the final decision was made by chief of the IPS central district Nazim Zabiadi, following an extensive review of the request by the organization. IPS sources say that Amir? s request was denied because he is a security prisoner. Yigal Amir asks to attend son’s brit Raanan Ben-Zur, YNetNews 10/14/2007 Israel Prison Service receives official demand from prime minister’s murderer to grant him furlough ahead of impending birth of his son. IPS: His request will be discussed like any other request - - Yigal Amir, who assassinated former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, filed a request with the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) on Sunday demanding a vacation from his term ahead of the impending birth of his son. The IPS said in response that Amir’s request would be considered like any other request. Officials within the service said however that the request was not likely to be approved. The Knesset has adopted the "Yigal Amir law", according to which the parole board will not be allowed to recommend that a prime minister’s murderer be pardoned or that his sentence be commuted. The bill was initiated by Knesset Member Avshalom Vilan (Meretz). MK Vilan to advertisers: Say no to Yigal Amir campaign Amnon Meranda, YNetNews 10/14/2007 Campaign initiated by rightist Committee for Democracy organization looks for sponsors for movie depicting Rabin killer’s life. ’Common sense, decency demand you refuse to cooperate with this insane notion,’ Meretz MK says in letter to advertisers - - Knesset Member Avshalom Vilan (Meretz-Yahad) on Sunday called on Israel’s leading advertising companies to refuse to take part in the campaign calling for the release of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s killer, Yigal Amir. Vilan’s call came after the extreme right organization The Committee for Democracy announced it was producing a film staring Amir, as part of a campaign calling for his parole from prison. The film is to depict Amir’s life starting in his childhood and leading up to his assassination of former Prime Minister Rabin. "Common sense and decency demand you refuse to cooperate with this insane notion. Report: Israeli captives transferred to Iran Roee Nahmias, YNetNews 10/14/2007 London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat reports Sunday that Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were transferred to Iran shortly after they were kidnapped by Hizbullah last summer; says deal for release of their remains is in the works - - Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the two Israeli soldiers taken hostage by Hizbullah last summer, have been transferred to Iran, London-based Arab language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Sunday. According to the report, the captives were transferred to Iran shortly after the kidnapping in a special operation overseen by a senior Revolutionary Guard commander. A source at the headquarters of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told the newspaper that the planned release of an Iranian prisoner held In Germany could be related to a possible deal regarding the captives. Spotlight on Soviet Jewish struggle Ynetnews, YNetNews 10/14/2007 Exhibition marking 40 years since launch of Jewish struggle in USSR to open at Beth Hatefutsoth, reveal life of Zion prisoners, refuseniks behind iron curtain - - Forty years after the Jews of the Soviet Union launched their struggle for freedom, a unique exhibition dedicated to this period will open at Beth Hatefutsoth, the World Center for Jewish Peoplehood, in Tel Aviv. The exhibition, titled Jews of Struggle: The Jewish National Movement in the USSR 1967-1989, presents a first of its kind collection that reveals the story of the refuseniks and Zion prisoners, and the efforts taken to preserve and increase Jewish-national consciousness behind the Soviet iron curtain. Through photographs, posters and paintings by Russian Jewish artists, as well as rare films, documents, books, diaries, albums and letters, the show will seek to portray the anti-Semitic campaign in the News in Brief Ha’aretz 10/15/2007 Yigal Amir, who is serving a life sentence for assassinating prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, recently requested a furlough from prison in order to attend the circumcision ceremony for his son, whose birth is imminent. The Israel Prison Service confirmed yesterday that it had received Amir’s request but indicated that it had not responded. A special meeting will be held to discuss the request. Sources in the IPS said the likelihood of a positive response to the application was very small. The IPS will also discuss the possibility of holding the brit milah within Rimonim Prison, where Amir is incarcerated, but officials said they do not expect this to be approved either. (Jonathan Lis) The Interior Ministry has appointed a committee of inquiry to examine the conduct of the mayor of the Western Galilee community of Sha’ab, Faisal Shahiber, and council members. Rabin killer Amir asks to attend son’s upcoming circumcision Jonathan Lis Haaretz Correspondent, Ha’aretz 10/15/2007 Yigal Amir, the jailed killer of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, recently requested that the Israel Prison Service grant him leave to be present at the upcoming circumcision of his unborn son. Amir’s wife, Larisa Trimbobler, is in the last stages of pregnancy and is expected to give birth within the next few days. IPS confirmed on Sunday that it had received Amir’s request, but said no answer had yet been given. The prisons service will hold a special session on the issue in the coming days. Advertisement Sources within the prisons service believe, however, the chances of Amir’s being granted leave are slim. This is due to his status as a security prisoner serving a life sentence without parole. IPA is also expected to discuss an alternative request of the assassin’s, in which he asked to hold the circumcision ceremony at the Rimonim Prison, in the Sharon area, where he is jailed. This Week’s Message Gush Shalom 10/11/2007 Ehud & Ehud PRISONERS WARNING! REDEMPTION CEASE FIRE! Balance Day and night Silence MURDER Stolen land Pride... A Racist Bill Meeting The Majority Wants an Agreement -The Government Does the Opposite Curious A SCANDAL! Not everything Ehud Barak -- ANOTHER WAR OUR OWN GOOD More... Ehud & Ehud EHUDO Gets himself photographed At highly publicized political meetings, Sings the praises of his Palestinian partners, Fantasizes about far-reaching Peace-plans. EHUDB Sends his troops every night Into West Bank towns, Kills every day in the Gaza Strip, Expands the settlements under Army protection Chokes the Palestinian economy. Which Ehud should we pay attention to? Ad published in Haaretz, October 12, 2007 Germany denies assassins’ early release was part of deal with Iran Haaretz Service and The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 10/12/2007 The decision to release early two men convicted in the 1992 assassination of four Iranian opposition figures in a Berlin restaurant is not related to the release of a German by Iran, the German government said Friday. One of the assassins, Kazem Darabi, was to be released in exchange for information on captured Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad, under the terms of a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hezbollah in 2004. "There is no such arrangement with Iran," German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger told reporters. Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office confirmed Thursday that Kazem Darabi, an Iranian, and Abbas Rhayel, a Lebanese - both sentenced to life in prison in 1997 - would be released and deported in December, citing a law that allows early release for foreigners who have served at least 15 years of their sentence. News in Brief Ha’aretz 10/11/2007 Dual citizen leaves Lebanon after arrest Daniel Sharon, the dual citizen of Israel and Germany who was arrested in Lebanon on charges of espionage last month, has been released from prison, the German weekly Der Spiegel reported yesterday. Lebanese General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza issued a statement saying Sharon had been released on Tuesday. According to security officials in Lebanon, it is not likely that Sharon is still on Lebanese soil. Sources at the German embassy in Beirut confirmed the report, saying that Sharon had been released on bail and had likely left Lebanon for Germany. According to Lebanese publication Al-Akhbar Wa-Sapir, Sharon was arrested last month during an investigation into the murder of a Lebanese citizen. (Yoav Stern) Italian daily writes up Nazi sympathizers A group of young, pro-Nazi Italians have visited the site of Dachau concentration camp in Germany Darfurian refugees to settle in Negev Yonat Atlas, YNetNews 10/11/2007 Government’s point-man, Ramat HaNegev Regional Council agree on solution for 500 refugees from Darfur – they will join council’s agricultural industry - - Yaacov Ganot, who was appointed by the government to oversee the care of the Darfur refugees who fled to Israel , called on the head of Ramat HaNegev Regional Council, Shmulik Rifman, to help find employment for some 200 refugees in the council’s agricultural industry. Rifman granted Ganot’s request and told Ynet that 40 refugees have already been sighed to work in the council’s tomato picking. "We will provide them with room, board and a fair pay, and will allow them an honorable existence," he said. Ganot has asked Ramat HaNegev to receive an additional 300 refugees in the near future, marking the end to the refugees’ – who were held in Ktziot prison until now – problem. Extreme right to launch campaign for Yigal Amir’s release Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 10/11/2007 Rightist organization Committee for Democracy to produce film about Rabin killer’s life, launches nationwide campaign for his parole from prison - - The extreme right organization The Committee for Democracy is producing a film staring Yigal Amir, as part of Its campaign calling for his parole from prison. Ynet has learned that the film is to depict Amir’s life starting in his childhood and leading up to his assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The film is said to feature Rabin’s character as potentially destructive and hazardous to Israel’s existence, should he had lived on. The Committee for Democracy’s postcard The Committee for Democracy is funded by an American millionaire and its members, including right-wing extremists Itamar Ben-Gvir, Noam Federman and Avigdor Eskin, have decided to actively call for Amir’s release. PA minister: Israel wants to destroy Fayyad gov’t Ali Waked, YNetNews 10/11/2007 Palestinian minister for prisoners’ affairs protests Israel’s prohibition of delivering sweets to security prisoners for Muslim holiday, says ’Israel is a liar and wants to destroy the peace process’ - - "The Israeli government is a lying government that is out to destroy the Fayyad government and the peace process," said Ashraf al-Ajarmi, PA minister of prisoner affairs. The minister said this in response to the Internal Security Ministry and Israel Prison Service’s decision to prohibit the delivery of sweets to Palestinian prisoners for the Muslim holiday of Eid il-Fitr. This is the first time since 1967 that Israeli bodies prevent the Palestinian government of delivering sweets to prisoners. "The Israeli government is a government of liars that is interested in harming the efforts of the PA and Fayyad’s government to bring about economic and security improvements in the Palestinian territories," al-Ajarmi said. Israeli forces seize attorney, five others in West Bank raids Ma’an News Agency 10/11/2007 Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli forces seized five people in Nablus and a prominent Bethlehem attorney Thursday morning. Palestinian security sources said Israeli forces broke into several homes in the West Bank city of Nablus, detaining four men and one woman. The raid resulted in clashes with Palestinian fighters, but no injuries were reported. Israeli forces also detained an attorney for the Palestinian Prisoners’ Association in Bethlehem, Hussain Yousef Ash-Sheikh. A Palestinian security official said Israeli force besieged Sheikh’s home in the Marah Mu’alla area, south of Bethlehem, before ransacking the building and arresting him. Ash-Sheikh was recently arrested by the Palestinian security services in Bethlehem, and was released two weeks later. Ash-Sheikh was accused of working with Hamas’ Executive Force. He has denied the charges. PPS: "Detainees in Azion facing ongoing violations"ť IMEMC, International Middle East Media Center 10/11/2007 The Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) issued a press release stating that the Palestinian detainees in Azion Israeli interrogation facility are facing ongoing violations and are deprived from their basic rights. The detainees stated that their suffering is ongoing, and that they are subjected to collective punishment, and are placed in tiny dark cells. It is worth mentioning that there are several detainees in Azion who are sick and deprived from their medication rights. Detainee Jeries Entas, from Bethlehem, have a sort of bacteria in his blood and is suffering from pain in his left leg. Another detainee, Faidy Shabana, from Hebron, is suffering from a slipped disc, detainee Saddam Awad from Ramallah is suffering from a neurological condition, and detainee Yousef Al Natsha, from Bethlehem, is suffering from a slipped disc, blood pressure and diabetes. Israeli forces kidnap Prisoners Society lawyer and two civilians in Bethlehem Nisreen Qumsieh & Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 10/11/2007 Israeli forces invaded the city of Bethlehem on Wednesday night and again on Thursday morning. Three Palestinians were kidnapped during the operations. In the early hours of Thursday morning, Israeli military forces abducted Husien Al Sheikh, 37, lawyer for the Prisoners Society in Bethlehem. Palestinian Security sources reported that a large force of Israeli soldiers invaded the neighborhood of Mrah Rabah, in the eastern part of Bethlehem. They opened fire and imposed tight security measures in the area. Homes were searched and troops were stationed in the streets and at the main points of entry to the village. The operation lasted for some time and ended with the kidnapping of Al Sheikh, who was taken to an unidentified location. On Wednesday night, at least 10 Israeli army jeeps invaded Bethlehem city center. Soldiers searched homes and then kidnapped two brothers. Army sources said both are Hamas activists. Local sources identified the two as Adel and Issam Jawarish. Lebanese authorities free Israeli held on suspicion of espionage Yoav Stern Haaretz Correspondent, Ha’aretz 10/11/2007 A dual citizen of Israel and Germany, who was arrested in Lebanon on charges of espionage last month, has been released from prison, the German website Der Spiegel reported Thursday. Lebanese General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza issued a statement saying the man, Daniel Sharon, had already been released on Tuesday. According to security officials in Lebanon, it is not likely that Sharon is still on Lebanese soil. Sources at the German embassy in Beirut confirmed the report, saying that Sharon had been released on bail and had likely departed the country and headed for Germany. A spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry told Haaretz that Sharon had in fact been released ? after extensive efforts made by the German embassy in Lebanon, which over the past weeks provided him with consular services, visited him in his holding cell, and even provided him with legal representation. PA furious over move to forbid visitors from bringing prisoners candy Yoav Stern Haaretz Correspondent, Ha’aretz 10/11/2007 The Palestinian Authority is enraged over a recent Prison Services decision to forbid security prisoners from receiving candy from visiting relatives, and has called the move a provocation. Ashraf al-Ajrami, PA prisoners’ affairs minister, told Haaretz that the decision is motivated by Israel’s desire to thwart peace attempts and hurt the PA government, let by prime minister Salam Fayad. "There are people in the government of Israel who want the Palestinian government to fail. They are ministers with a personal agenda who fear peace and prefer a Hamas government," Ajrami said. Ajrami warned that any moves against the prisoners would adversely affect Palestinian public opinion, because of the enormous clout of their cause. "It will hurt us and it will hurt Israel," Ajrami said. Prison Services officials said that the decision is a professional one reached by Commissioner Benny Kaniak. Germany to set free Iranian assassin despite Israel’s plea Yossi Melman, Ha’aretz 10/11/2007 The government of Israel failed in its quest to convince Germany not to release Kazem Darabi, an Iranian arrested 15 years ago in connection with a political assassination. In an attempt to prevent Darabi’s release, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called Chancellor Angela Merkel, but she told him the matter was being handled by the book, and he would be released after serving two thirds of his sentence. D arabi was part of a deal brokered between Israel and Hezbollah in 2004. In the deal, 400 Palestinian terrorists were released, as well as other prisoners, including Mustafa Dirani and Sheikh Obeid, in exchange for the bodies of three Israel Defense Forces killed at Har Dov in 2000 and Elhanan Tannenbaum. The deal included another stage, in which Germany offered to release Darabi if Hezbollah offered information on the captured Israeli air force navigator, Ron Arad. News in Brief Ha’aretz 10/11/2007 MKs hold on motions related to PM probe The Knesset yesterday removed two urgent motions from the agenda dealing with Public Security Minister Avi Dichter’s suggestion to suspend the criminal investigations against the prime minister. The motions were made by Likud faction chair MK Gideon Sa’ar and MK Shelly Yachimovich (Labor) following Dichter’s statements to Haaretz. Yachimovich accused Dichter of "conveying an improper message" to the police. Dichter said he was not referring to the present situation but to a future arrangement. (Shahar Ilan and Haaretz staff) Penalty for farm thieves increased The Knesset yesterday passed a private bill in preliminary reading to increase the penalty for the theft of farming equipment and produce. MK Orit Noked (Labor), who initiated the bill, proposes to equalize the penalty for these offenses with that imposed on cattle and sheep hustlers - up to four years in prison. Israel fails to prevent Germany freeing Iranian Yossi Melman, Ha’aretz 10/11/2007 The government of Israel failed in its quest to convince Germany not to release Kazem Darabi, an Iranian arrested 15 years ago in connection with a political assassination. In an attempt to prevent Darabi’s release, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called Chancellor Angela Merkel, but she told him the matter was being handled by the book, and he would be released after serving two thirds of his sentence. Darabi was part of a deal brokered between Israel and Hezbollah in 2004. In the deal, 400 Palestinian terrorists were released, as well as other prisoners, including Mustafa Dirani and Sheikh Obeid, in exchange for the bodies of three Israel Defense Forces killed at Har Dov in 2000 and Elhanan Tannenbaum. The deal included another stage, in which Germany offered to release Darabi if Hezbollah offered information on the captured Israeli air force navigator, Ron Arad. The Popular Committees appeals the release of an ailing detainee International Middle East Media Center 10/9/2007 The Palestinian Popular (Folk) Committees voiced an appeal to several human rights groups in order to intervene and save the life of detainee Imad Samara, imprisoned by Israel and facing bad health condition, yet deprived from his medication rights. The Committees added the Samara, currently detained in the Negev detention camp, in the Negev desert, is suffering from Migraine diseaseand ulcer which is causing continuous pain while the Israeli Prison Authorities are refusing to transfer him to a hospital for medical treatment. The Committees held the Israeli Authorities responsible for any further health deterioration and called for allowing representative of the Red Cross to visit Samara. It is worth mentioning that the Prison Authorities are barring the family of Samara from visiting him. Israeli military court sentences five Palestinians to administrative detention Ma’an News Agency 10/9/2007 Jenin – Ma’an – The Israeli military court of Ofer on Monday sentenced five Palestinian detainees from Jenin, in the northern West Bank, to administrative detention. Administrative detention is imprisonment for renewable periods of six months without charge or trial. [end] IDF court lawyers to slow down legal proceedings against Palestinians Amira Hass, Ha’aretz 10/8/2007 The hearing for three Palestinian minors in a military court in the West Bank went quickly several days ago: Their lawyer pleaded guilty to the charges immediately after the indictment was read, and on the basis of the admission they were sentenced to a number of months in prison. But when the fourth indictment was read out, against a minor accused of stone-throwing, the lawyer’s behavior changed. After another lawyer whispered something to him, he demanded that his client be freed on bail -and the judge accepted his request - even though the prosecution’s appeal of the decision was later accepted. As a result, the court and the military prosecutor will spend more time and resources to convict him. The lawyer who represented the minors was implementing the decision made a month ago by lawyers representing...  Articles
Don’t emulate Israel at Guantanamo Lisa Hajjar, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Oct 30, 2007, Electronic Intifada 10/30/2007 A Palestinian political prisoner freed from an Israeli prison celebrates with friends and family as he crosses into the Gaza Strip at the Erez crossing, 2 October 2007. (Wissam Nassar/ MaanImages Should the United States, seeking to recalibrate the balance between security and liberty in the "war on terror," emulate Israel in its treatment of Palestinian detainees? That is the position that Guantanamo detainee lawyers Avi Stadler and John Chandler of Atlanta, and some others, have advocated. That people in US custody could be held incommunicado for years without charges, and could be prosecuted or indefinitely detained on the basis of confessions extracted with torture is worse than a national disgrace. It is an assault on the foundations of the rule of law. But Israel’s model for dealing with terrorism, while quite different from that of the US, is at least as shameful. Long before the first suicide bombing by Palestinians in 1994, Israel had resorted to extrajudicial killings, home demolitions, deportations, curfews and other forms of collective punishment barred by international law. When ’Good Men’ do Nothing Joharah Baker for MIFTAH, MIFTAH 10/24/2007 The events that transpired at the Ketziot Detention Center in the Negev Desert on October 22 sound off more than one alarm bell. The most obvious and most devastating is the fact that a 23-year-old Palestinian political prisoner is now dead and 250 others injured as a result of the violent encounter. But the tragic death of Mohammed Al Ashqar is not the only disturbing factor in this recent event. Once again, Israel, which considers itself above the law [international and otherwise] when dealing with the Palestinians, has carried out one more atrocity against this people with impunity. According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, Mohammed Al Ashqar from Tulkarm died after being shot in the head by prison wardens and riot police. Al Ashqar, who was taken to the Soroka Hospital first, was reportedly handcuffed to the bed even though he was in a state of clinical death. He died shortly after. The riots broke out when prisoners objected to a midnight search by prison authorities. Apparently, an agreement between the two sides stipulates that prison authorities would not carry out late-night raids. That night, it was after two in the morning when the authorities stormed the tents. An interview with Marwan Barghouthi Marwan Barghouthi, ZNet 10/16/2007 ‘The moment that Abbas officially announces his resignation, even if I am in prison, I will put forward my candidacy for President (of the Palestinian Authority) and I will win.’ This is what Marwan Barghouthi said from his cell - number 28, section 3 - during an exclusive interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, later republished in the Al-Quds newspaper as its lead story. The imprisoned Palestinian leader has spent 5 years in an Israeli prison and there are many awaiting his announcement [to run as President of the Palestinian Authority]; not just in Ramallah, Gaza or Nablus, but in wider circles, including within the office of Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister of Israel. Barghouthi asserts that the possibility of his release is more likely now than in any period in the past. On his release: Q: In your opinion, when do you think that you will be released from prison? A: ‘There has been talk about releasing me since the first day of my arrest. One time they said that they would release me in exchange for the release of Azzam Azzam from an Egyptian prison. Then they said that they would release me in exchange for releasing [Jonathan] Pollard from an American prison. Now they are talking about releasing me in exchange for Gilad Shalit but the negotiations have been difficult. Despite all of these statements, I am entering the sixth year of my imprisonment and I am still hopeful that my issue will be resolved in which my release comes in exchange for the release of Shalit, who will be released in exchange for [Palestinian political] prisoners, including political leaders. I am optimistic and firmly believe that a prisoner exchange will happen sooner rather than later.’ Report: Infighting claimed lives of 161 Palestinians Report, PCHR, Electronic Intifada 10/10/2007 PCHR has published a special report titled "Black Days in the Absence of Justice: Report on Bloody Fighting in the Gaza Strip from 7 to 14 June 2007." The report details results of investigations conducted by PCHR into the bloody fighting between Hamas and Fatah movements, represented by their armed wings and security services, which ended with Hamas’ takeover of all headquarters and sites of security services, and consequently, the whole Gaza Strip. This latest round of fighting took the lives of 161 Palestinians, including 41 civilians. This figure includes seven children and 11 women. Additionally, at least 700 Palestinians were wounded. According to PCHR’s documentation, the two parties of the conflict perpetrated grave breaches of the provisions of international law concerning internal armed conflicts, especially common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949. The fighting included: extra-judicial and willful killings of combatants who laid down their arms; killing a number of wounded persons inside hospitals; abduction and torture; using houses and apartment buildings in the fighting, endangering the lives of civilians; and obstruction of access of medical and civil defense crews to areas of clashes. Norman Finkelstein: Jeffrey Goldberg’s Prison Norman Finkelstein, Palestine Chronicle 10/9/2007 The heart of Goldberg’s book is his stint during the first intifada (1987-1993) as a military policeman in Ketziot (Ansar Three), an Israeli prison for Palestinian detainees located in the Negev desert. Jeffrey Goldberg is the recipient of numerous journalism awards and currently writes on the Middle East for The New Yorker magazine. On its surface his book Prisoners: A Muslim & A Jew Across The Middle East Divide interweaves the memoir of an American Jew’s enchantment and subsequent disappointment with Israel, on the one hand, and the reportage of a knowing journalist covering the Israel-Palestine beat, on the other. Its main interest, however, is as a sophisticated work of ideology, one meriting more than passing attention. On a political level it registers the limits of what is currently permissible to acknowledge in enlightened liberal sectors of American Jewry, while on a personal level it registers the limits of what an enlightened believer in the faith can admit to himself. More broadly it signals the eclipse of liberal American Jewry’s love affair with the Jewish state, itself integral of the beginnings of a larger American estrangement from Israel. Boost Here, Squeeze There The Economist - Hebron, Jenin And Nablus, MIFTAH 10/9/2007 THEY came for Omar Maswadeh at half-past midnight. They broke furniture at his home in the West Bank town of Hebron, blindfolded him, shoved him in a car. They kept him in solitary, hooded and with his hands tied, in the painful seated shabah position that Israeli courts have outlawed. Two days later they came for his brother Alaa and his cousin Yusri. After holding the young men for two to three weeks each, they charged them with membership in Hamas’s “executive force”, a militia that the Islamist party created in Gaza but never actually managed to form in the West Bank. Then they let them go. That strategy looks dubious. One reason is that the current repression of Hamas in the West Bank looks like a repetition of the Fatah-Israel collaboration in the mid-1990s, when Hamas was trying to disrupt the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the late Yasser Arafat’s Fatah. Then, the PA’s “preventive security” forces developed a reputation as ruthless jailers and torturers of Islamists. It rebounded on them. A decade later Palestinians—many because they were fed up with Fatah’s corruption and ineptitude—voted Hamas into power. And the Fatah-Hamas blood feud exploded in June in Gaza—to Fatah’s loss. 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 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. Occupation Prisoners News stories and reports about Palestinian prisoners from International Press Center, of the Palestinian National Authority’s State Information Service. 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 degrad | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
