Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
Prisoners Archive - December 2008
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
Prisoners Archive - December 2008
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
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Bethlehem activist sentenced to three life terms, plus 25 years Ma’an News Agency 12/31/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – An Israeli military court on Wednesday sentenced an Al-Aqsa Brigades activist to three life terms in an Israeli prison, with an additional 25 years. The Offar military court had convicted 35-year-old Nasser Ibrahim Ubeijat of killing three Israeli soldiers and other clashes with occupying forces. Ubeijat was originally arrested in 2006 by Israeli forces in the Halhul area of Hebron. [end] Israeli court refuses appeal of deportation order for Diaspora Palestinian Ma’an News Agency 12/30/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Israeli Higher Court of Justice on Tuesday refused an appeal by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society over the impending deportation of Nasri Atwan from Al-Khadr, south of Bethlehem. Atwan is in Israeli custody for allegedly remaining in the West Bank illegally. While in custody, Atwan was given a Palestinian ID card, although the Higher Court still insists on deporting him. The Prisoners’ Society in Bethlehem condemned the decision, calling on the Palestinian Authority and other human rights organizations to intervene and stop the deportation. [end] Free Gaza Movement to Send Emergency Boat to Gaza Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 12/28/2008 The Free Gaza Movement intends to send an emergency boat to the Gaza Strip in an attempt to help in easing the suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, living under siege and under ongoing Israeli Military offensives. The movement intends to hold a press conference on Monday at 16:30 at the Larnaca Port in Cyprus. The boats will be filled with three to four tons of urgently needed medical supplies. In a press release, the movement stated that Dr. Elena Theoharous, a surgeon and Member of Parliament in Cyprus, will also be onboard the ship along with three other surgeons. Furthermore, the movement added that the Hon. Cynthia McKinney, former U. S. Congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate, and Sami al-Hajj, an Al Jazeera reporter and former detainee at Guantanamo, will be onboard the ship. Dr. Free Gaza to send aid vessel on 'emergency mission' Ma’an News Agency 12/28/2008 Bethlehem - Ma’an - The Free Gaza Movement is sending its Dignity vessel "on an emergency mission of mercy" to Gaza, according to a statement sent to Ma’an on Sunday. The ship will depart Cyprus on Monday with three to four tons of urgently needed medical supplies, the group said. On board will be four physicians, including Dr Elena Theoharous, a surgeon and member of parliament in Cyprus. Also going are the Hon. Cynthia McKinney, former U. S. Congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate, and Sami al-Hajj, an Al-Jazeera reporter and former detainee at Guantanamo Bay. Dr Khaled from the Shifa Hospital ICU in Gaza City told the group on Saturday that the majority of cases are critical shrapnel wounds from Israeli gunboats and helicopters, with an estimated 80 percent who will not survive without urgently needed medications. Free Gaza Movement: Dignity to sail emergency medical supplies to Gaza International Solidarity Movement 12/28/2008 (Larnaca, Cyprus) The Free Gaza movement will hold a press conference at 16:30 Monday, December 29 at the port in Larnaca. We are sending in the DIGNITY on an emergency mission of mercy to Gaza loaded with three to four tons of urgently needed medical supplies. On board are four physicians, including Dr. Elena Theoharous, a surgeon and Member of Parliament in Cyprus. Also going are The Hon. Cynthia McKinney, former U. S. Congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate, and Sami al-Hajj, an Al Jazeera reporter and former detainee at Guantanamo. Dr Khaled from Shifa hospital ICU in Gaza City told us on Saturday that the majority of cases are critical shrapnel wounds from Israeli gunboats and helicopters, with an approximate 80% who will not survive. Eliza Ernshire, one of the Free Gaza organizers says, “We have calls for surgeons willing to go into Gaza and work there throughout this crisis. IOA extends for 7th time administrative detention of Jihad activist Palestinian Information Center 12/27/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority has renewed the administrative detention, with trial or charge, of Sheikh Ghassan Al-Saadi, 45, of the Islamic Jihad Movement in the Jenin refugee camp for the seventh time running. Relatives of Saadi said that the Israeli Negev prison authority informed the detainee of his renewed detention for four more months on the last day of his former detention order. They said that the court refused Saadi’s lawyer’s appeal for his release at the pretext that a secret security file prevented his release and that his release would pose dangers on the Israeli public. The relatives appealed to the human rights groups to pressure the IOA into releasing him especially when he is the sole breadwinner of a family of 8 children. Meanwhile, the Palestinian center for human rights said that the Israeli occupation forces have been daily storming. . . Israel sentences PFLP leader to 30 years in prison Efrat Weiss, AFP, YNetNews 12/25/2008 Ahmed Saadat, who was accused of planning 2001 murder of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi, sentenced for heading illegal "terrorist" organization -An Israeli military court on Thursday sentenced Ahmed Saadat, the leader of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), to 30 years in prison for heading an "illegal "terrorist" organization. " "There is no doubt that the accused controls the PFLP," the judges said in the ruling. " When we consider the appropriate sentence for someone who headed a murderous "terrorist" organization, we take into account not only his position, but his actions as well. "The offenses the accused has been convicted of indicate that he initiated and participated in military activity with the aim of killing innocent people. "A military source said on condition of anonymity following the verdict. . . Ghoul: Verdict on Sa’adat illegal, blames PA leadership for surrendering him Palestinian Information Center 12/26/2008 GAZA, (PIC)-- PA minister of prisoners and ex-prisoners Mohammed Faraj Al-Ghoul has condemned the Israeli court verdict against Palestinian legislator Ahmad Sa’adat, and described it as illegitimate and has no legal leg to stand on. Sa’adat, who is the secretary-general of the PFLP, one of the PLO’s main factions, was sentenced to 30 years in prison by an Israeli court accusing him of being the master mind in killing an Israeli minister in 2002. He was placed in PA custody in a prison in Jericho city under American and British guards before he was kidnapped by the IOF troops from the jail after his guards abandoned it. In a statement he issued Thursday, and a copy of which was obtained by the PIC, Ghoul described the verdict as "political", adding that the Israeli occupation would fail to strip legitimacy of the kidnapped Palestinian legislators. Soldier indicted for firing in Hebron squabble Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 12/25/2008 Pursuant to footage released Tuesday, military court decides to imprison soldier until end of legal proceedings - A military court indicted an infantry soldier on Thursday, on counts of threat of force and illegal use of a weapon. Corporal Nahum Ben-Yaakov is accused of firing into the air repeatedly in the vicinity of civilians and of threatening them. According to the ruling, passed by Col. Nir Aviram, the chief justice of IDF Southern Command’s military court, the soldier will be detained in military prison until legal proceedings against him come to an end. In footage released by Ynet on Tuesday, Ben-Yaakov, of the Givati brigade, was seen firing a weapon into the air and making threats during a clash between Palestinians and settlers in Hebron last month. Clashes in Hebron-An IDF soldier residing in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat. . . Palestinian Dies Due to Negligence in al-Ramah Israeli Prison Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/24/2008 The Palestinian Prisoners Society reported on Wednesday that detainee Jom’a Ismail Mousa, age 65, from Shu’fat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, died as a result of medical negligence on the part of the Israeli Prison Services. The detainee spent most of his time in the al-Ramla prison hospital, which lacks the basic medical equipment. Mousa was sentenced to one life-term, and an additional ten years. The Israeli Prison Authorities claimed that the police are investigating his death, and that "he died while receiving medical treatment at the prison hospital". Fares Abu Hasan, head of the International Solidarity Institution for Human Rights in Palestine, held the Israeli occupation responsible for the death of Mousa because Israel ignored calls by several human rights groups, demanding the immediate release of Mousa in order to receive proper medical attention and treatment. Elderly Palestinian prisoner dies in Israeli jail Ma’an News Agency 12/24/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – Palestinian prisoner, 65-year-old Jum’ah Isma’il Muhammad Mousa from Jerusalem died on Tuesday evening at Israeli Nitzan prison in Ramla after he fell ill. According to Israeli sources, the victim was hospitalized in Israeli Prison Service medical facility where he collapsed and was later announced dead. Mousa had been serving lifetime imprisonment since 1993. According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society in Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, he suffered from heart disease, blood pressure and diabetes. He was married and left behind a widow and eight children. Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member from Bethlehem Issa Qaraqi’, in charge of prisoners committee in the PLC held Israel accountable for deathdescribing that as “war crime”. He called for formation of international committee to investigate the incident along with the cases of several other prisoners who do not receive proper medical treatment. Palestinian Jerusalemite prisoner dies in occupation jail due to medical neglect Palestinian Information Center 12/24/2008 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli prisons authority on Wednesday declared the death of Juma Mousa, 65, from the Sha’fat refugee camp east of occupied Jerusalem, who was serving a life term along with ten years. Mousa was suffering from chronic diseases, heart and diabetes in addition to urinary tract infection, and used to spend more time in Ramle prison hospital than in his prison cell over the past ten years. The IPA alleged that Mousa died while receiving treatment in the prison hospital and that the police was investigating his death. Mousa was detained since 29th March 1993 and was one among 30 similar cases of prisoners in Ramle prison hospital with chronic diseases. The Wa’ed society for prisoners and ex-prisoners denounced the Israeli systematic humiliation and penal measures against prisoners. Fugee Fridays / Left to fend for themselves on the streets of Tel Aviv Daniel Gold, Ha’aretz 12/24/2008 "I found her Saturday night, 8 months pregnant and sleeping in the park," Yotam Sheffy tells me. The woman, an Eritrean refugee, had spent three nights in the park after prison authorities released her from Ketziot Prison without notifying any of the various organizations assisting the refugee population. She is the newest addition to a cramped shelter run by the organization Yotam works for, the African Refugee Development Center (ARDC). There is no hint of emotion in his voice as he tells me this, no exasperated sigh or sadness to betray his stoic demeanor. After more than a year of working for the ARDC, the sight of helpless African refugees left to fend for themselves in the streets of south Tel Aviv has grown all too familiar for him. I have spent the past two months investigating the refugee crisis, interviewing volunteers,. . . Israeli forces assault Palestinian prisoners Press release, PCHR, Electronic Intifada 12/22/2008 The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns attacks launched by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against Palestinian detainees at Ofer detention facility in Beitunia town southwest of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 11:00am on Saturday, 20 December 2008, dozens of IOF prison guards, accompanied by representatives of Ofer the detention facility administration arrived at Department B to conduct a search without prior coordination with the representatives of detainees. They provocatively searched the department and violently beat a number of detainees. As a consequence, tension spread throughout the detention facility and the detainees declared high alert. Soon after, the administration of the detention facility sprayed hot water, and used sound bombs and tear gas canisters against the detainees. Gazans condemn Israeli Ofer prison violence, call it step in chain of Israeli aggression Ma’an News Agency 12/22/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli prison guards’ Saturday attacks on Palestinian detainees is the latest example of Israel’s chain of aggression against all facets of Palestinian society, said participants of Monday’s protest against in Gaza. Palestinian politicians and leaders of factions and human rights societies gathered in front of the Red Cross Headquarters in Gaza City to condemn the Ofer detention center attacks and affirm Palestinian commitment to resisting Israeli aggression. The regular sit-in is organized by the Wa’id Society for Prisoners Families. Hamas-affiliated lawmaker Mushir Al-Masri told protesters that prisoners are a top priority for this party, saying Hamas is open to all possibilities for securing the release of prisoners. He said resistance groups in Gaza will not be deterred by Israeli threats to assassinate resistance leaders, and that any attack on Gaza would only open the door to wider resistance operations. Palestinian prisoners declare hunger strike after violent clashes with Israeli guards Ma’an News Agency 12/21/2008 Jenin – Ma’an – Palestinian prisoners declared a hunger strike in an Israeli prison camp in the West Bank on Sunday, a day after clashes with prison guards left ten people injured. “The strike is ongoing until the prisoners’ demands are granted by the prison administration. Otherwise, escalating actions will be taken,” said Mahmoud As-Sa’di, a prisoner and a spokesman for the detainees in the Ofer prison camp. Eight prisoners and two Israeli guards were injured when guards water cannons, tear gas, and rubber-coated bullets to suppress a prisoner demonstration. The prisoner said they were protesting an invasive search of prisoner property. Speaking on the phone from inside the prison, As-Sa’di told Ma’an that the prison administration is still ‘provoking’ prisoners by confiscating all their belongings except their clothes. IPS: Ofer riot was spontaneous but not ideological Yaakov Lappin, Jerusalem Post 12/21/2008 The Palestinian prisoner riot that rocked the Ofer high-security prison near Pisgat Ze’ev on Saturday came as "no surprise" to the wardens who guard the facility, an Israel Prisons Service spokesman said Sunday. "As we see it, this was a totally spontaneous incident," IPS spokesman Yaron Zamir told The Jerusalem Post, explaining that wardens expected disturbances of this kind to erupt periodically. Zamir denied press reports that claimed the rioting had been launched by Hamas prisoners, saying that the prison wings had no clear-cut segregation between Hamas and Fatah prisoners. "The wing in which the riots began has mixed prisoners [from Fatah and Hamas]; they are not fully separated," he said. "The disorder began as a localized incident of hotheadedness, a spontaneous reaction to the entrance of IPS staff who had come to carry out a routine inspection," he explained. Al-Kurd tent demolished for fourth time; Islamic Judicial Council condemns act Ma’an News Agency 12/21/2008 Jerusalem – Ma’an – The Protest Tent of Umm Al-Kurd was demolished for a fourth time Sunday. The elderly woman was evicted from her home by an Israeli court order stating the building, constructed 50 years ago, did not have the proper permits. Umm Al-Kurd’s husband died the day after the family was evicted; she set up a protest tent on property near the site of her demolished home which has been destroyed four times since November. The Islamic Judicial Council condemned the action, which saw dozens of Israeli soldiers and police dismantle the Sheikh Jarrah tent. The condemnation came during a Sunday session of the council headed by Palestinian Judge Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi in Jerusalem. The council demanded all of the International human rights organizations intervene immediately to stop the Israeli attacks on both prisoners and the Al-Kurd family. Clashes erupt in Israeli-run prison Al Jazeera 12/20/2008 At least seven Palestinian detainees and three Israeli guards have been injured in a prison riot, according to Yaron Zamir, a prison service spokesman. The clashes in the Ofer detention centre near the West Bank town of Ramallah erupted on Saturday when dozens of Palestinian inmates started throwing objects at guards who had entered to search a prison ward, Zamir said. "Following the violence a larger force was sent into the ward and order was restored shortly afterwards," he told the AFP news agency. Seven prisoners injured after inhaling tear gas were treated at the jail. Three guards were lightly injured by objects thrown at them, Zamir said. More than 11,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, many of them detained for long periods without trial. Northern West Bank under attack as Israeli forces terrorise Palestinian villages International Solidarity Movement 12/20/2008 Nablus Region - Photos - From Thursday 18th to Friday 19th December, Israeli military forces invaded multiple villages and cities in the Northern West Bank; including Nablus, Burin, Beita, Jenin and Araba - occupying homes, destroying property, and terrorising families. In the case of Beita, the incursion coincided with Israeli authorities cutting all water supplies to the village of 12000 people, leaving all homes and businesses entirely without water. Israeli forces invaded the village of Beita at approximately 12am on the morning of Thursday 18th, storming more than 100 houses. "No one in Beita slept. No one slept that night" reported one elderly villager, whose son was arbitrarily detained, made to strip naked and tortured for six hours. Mahadi, aged 24, was detained from his home when approximately twelve Israeli soldiers invaded his home at 12am on Thursday morning. 16 lightly wounded as Palestinian inmates clash with guards Raanan Ben-Zur, YNetNews 12/20/2008 Prisoners are housed in tents - Inmates at Ofer Prison clash with guards during routine search, set fire to mattresses and hurl objects. Ten guards lightly wounded from tear gas, reinforcements sent to restore order - Palestinian inmates at Ofer Prison clashed Saturday afternoon with guards and set tents and mattresses on fire. Ten guards and six prisoners have been reported lightly wounded in the clashes. The inmates began hurling objects at the guards and torching their mattresses during a routine search of one of the facility’s quarters, in which prisoners are housed in tents. Large reinforcement troops were immediately alerted to the scene to restore order, and firemen arrived to extinguish the blaze. The Israeli Prison Authority put into action an emergency plan and summoned guards from other prisons to help quell the outburst. Palestinian prisoners clash with Israeli guards at West Bank jail The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 12/21/2008 Clashes broke out Saturday between Palestinian inmates and Israeli guards at a West Bank prison. The Israel Prisons Service said about 150 prisoners took part in the fighting that started when inmates threw objects at the guards and set two tents on fire. It said order was laster restored and the fires extinguished. Palestinian deputy minister of prisoner affairs, Ziad Abu Ein, said guards were carrying out an inspection at the Ofer prison when the clashes erupted. He said the guards used stun grenades, tear gas and clubs. The Prison Service said seven inmates suffered minor smoke inhalation and three guards were injured during Saturday’s clashes. Abu Ein, however, said eight prisoners were injured. Outside the prison, several ambulances and scores of Israeli riot police wearing gas masks were seen entering the facility. Ofer prison guards assault Palestinian prisoners, many injured Palestinian Information Center 12/20/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Tens of Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli Ofer prison west of Ramallah were injured or suffered suffocation on Saturday evening after Israeli jailors assaulted them with batons, rubber bullets and gas canisters. Sources in both Wa’ed society catering for prisoners and ministry of prisoners said that the Israeli Nahshon unit members, specialized in quelling prisoners, also opened water cannons at hundreds of prisoners in wards 5 and 6. The sources said that the prisoners tried to defend themselves and threw whatever they had in their possession at the soldiers. The prisoners were confronting a violent search of their wards, the sources said, adding that around 400 prisoners were targeted in the quelling operation. They said that four Israeli soldiers were hurt in the clash, and noted that the disturbances extended to all other ten wards leading to the burning. . . PLC Speaker Aziz Dweik sentenced to 36 months by Israeli court Ma’an News Agency 12/16/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – An Israeli military court sentenced Aziz Dweik, the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) to 36 months in prison on Tuesday. Dweik, who last went before a judge in 2007, has already served 28 months, meaning he technically has eight months left to serve. As PLC speaker, the Hamas movement says it believes Dweik will by default become the acting Palestinian president when the current president, Mahmoud Abbas, reaches the end of his term on 9 January. Dweik is reported to be in poor health and underwent surgery in prison to remove kidney stones last week. Since 2006, he was held by Israel along with 40 other members of the PLC who were seized during an Israeli campaign in retaliation for the abduction of an Israeli soldier. The Gaza-based Acting Speaker of the PLC, Dr Ahmad Bahar, condemned the Israeli court decision and demanded Dweik’s immediate release. Israeli forces detain 13 Palestinian youths near Hebron Ma’an News Agency 12/16/2008 Hebron – Ma’an – Israeli forces ransacked several homes in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, evacuated occupants at gunpoint and detained 13 Palestinian youth Tuesday morning. The Prisoners’ Society in Hebron condemned the arrests, especially those of 17-year-old Murad Abu Judah whose life may be endangered by the detention. Abu Judah was shot in the leg three years ago by Israeli soldiers and needs several medical attentions. Palestinian sources identified the arrestees as, 20-year-old Thaer Abu Hashim, 18-year-old Muhammad Za’aqiq, 17-year-old Omar Awad, 16-year-old Muhammad Ikhlayyil, 18-year-old Murad Abu Judah, 19-year-old Saddam Awad, 18-year-old Alaa Sleibi, 16-year-old Nasr Sabarnah, 17-year-old Sharif Breigheith, 18-year-old Ahmad Al-Alami, 17-year-old Omar Al-Alami, 18-year-old Muhammad Al-Alami and 20-year-old Ibrahim Sabarnah. Two Palestinian girls appeal for releasing them from IOA detention center Palestinian Information Center 12/16/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Two Palestinian female children have appealed to legal centers on the local and international levels to demand their release from the Israeli occupation authority’s notorious Maskobeh detention center in occupied Jerusalem. Sources of the Palestinian prisoner’s club said that Samah Sumada, 15, was detained at the Qalandia roadblock on 2/12/2008 and was since then subjected to cruel interrogation rounds in Maskobeh. Israeli soldiers manning the road barrier claimed that she had a knife and was investigated over suspicion of planning to kill one of the soldiers. The other child Baraa Barakat, 15, was also detained at the same barrier on the same day with the same charge, the club sources noted. They added that she was blindfolded, hand shackled and taken to Maskobeh on the same suspicion. The club sources said that the mental conditions of both girls were. . . Head of ’Hamas parliament’ sent to 3 years in jail Ali Waked, YNetNews 12/16/2008 Dr. Aziz Dwaik, Hamas’ designated president, sentenced to three years jail time, two years probation by Israeli military court - The Military Court at Ofer Base sentenced Dr. Aziz Dwaik, head of the Hamas parliament [sic - Palestinian Legislative Council], to three years in prison, two years probation and a NIS 6,000 fine, after convicting him of membership in Hamas. Dwaik was arrested by Israel shortly after Gilad Shalit was kidnapped to Gaza. Dwaik will be credited 28 months for time served. The court noted that his health played a part in the verdict. If Dwaik is not released, Hamas plans to name his deputy, Dr Ahmed Bahar, acting president. The movement considers Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas nothing more than head of the Fatah organization. Dwaik has been in held by Israel June 2006, along with 40 other Hamas lawmakers. Celebrations welcome 18 released detainees in Tulkarem Ma’an News Agency 12/16/2008 Tulkarem – Ma’an – Eighteen Palestinian detainees arrived in Tulkarem on Monday through the Ennav checkpoint and the entrance to the Nour Shams refugee camp. The released detainees were welcomed by crowds including their families, friends, relatives and Fatah leaders and members. Celebrations took place in many parts of Tulkarem and included singing, clapping, fireworks and a few gun shots into the air to express happiness. The men were among 227 Palestinians freed by Israel in a gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Some 11,000 Palestinians remain in Israeli jails. [end] Israeli prisons officer: Lets tighten Palestinian jail conditions Ma’an News Agency 12/16/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Israel should tighten the conditions of Palestinians in Israeli jails, according to a high-ranking Israeli prisons’ official in an interview with Hebrew-language newspaper Ma’ariv on Tuesday. The officer, who asked Ma’ariv not to identify her, was quoted as saying that Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s custody live in what resembles a boarding school, enjoying excellent life conditions, while captured soldier Gilad Shalit “is rotting in captivity. ”“I can no longer shut up, nor can I sleep knowing that Shalit is rotting inside a basement, without visits of appropriate life conditions,” she reportedly told the Israeli newspaper. “He can’t even see the sun, and in return, we have a boarding school in our jails or a collective nursery including thousands of Palestinian prisoners, some of whom are criminals and scoundrels,” the anonymous official insisted. Prisoners minister: Detaining MP Abdel Razak anew serious precedence Palestinian Information Center 12/14/2008 GAZA, (PIC)-- Minister of prisoners in the caretaker government Mohammed Al-Ghoul on Sunday said that the Israeli court’s decision to renew detention of MP Dr. Omar Abdul Razak after releasing him was a serious precedence and a political decision. He said in a press release that the Salem military court had sentenced the MP, who also served as finance Minster in the PA tenth unity government, to 26-month imprisonment term before releasing him after spending five months and a week. He added that the Israeli courts proved their subjugation to the intelligence orders and re-imposed an additional five-month sentence on him along with a financial fine. The kidnapping of MPs and ministers is a political decision to blackmail the Palestinian people and to use those detainees as a bargaining chip in return for releasing the Israeli captured soldier in Gaza, Ghoul elaborated. Report: Palestinian prisoners in Israel victims of medical neglect Ma’an News Agency 12/13/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an - Palestinian Prisoners Society confirmed Saturday that many Palestinian prisoners are suffering from different illnesses in the Israeli detention facility of Gilboa Prison in Israel just north of the West Bank city of Jenin. Prisoners say their maladies are caused by medical negligence on the part of the prison administration. The Prisoners’ society released a report on the conditions of life for Palestinians in the prisons shortly several lawyers with the organization visited the facility. Conditions that confronted legal staff lead to a call to allow prisoners to receive checkups from medical personnel, and for those prescribed medication to be granted access to it. Israeli military court to former PLC member: Come back to prison Ma’an News Agency 12/13/2008 Bethlehem - Ma’an - Former Palestinian Minster of Finance Omar Abd Ar-Razeq was asked by the Israeli Military Attorney on Saturday to turn himself into Israeli authorities in order to serve a five month prison term starting Monday. In an interview with Ma’an Ar-Razeq indicated that he would indeed turn himself in on Monday. He said he would be transferred to Ofer prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah, where he would spend an unknown number of months in detention. Ar-Razeq was arrested in 2006 after Palestinian factions in Gaza captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Though many ministers were charged, they are generally seen to be held as collateral for Shalit. Ar-Razeq initially spent 26 months in prison and was released in August 2008 and appeared before an Israeli court again in November, at which point his sentencing was postponed. Hamas Security forces release four reporters detained in central Gaza two months ago Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 12/12/2008 The SKeyes Centre for Freedom of the Media, reported on Thursday that the security forces of the Hamas dissolved government in Gaza, released on Wednesday evening four Palestinian reporters who work with the "Palestine Press". The four were identified as Mohammad Shahin, Yousef Fayyad, Akram Al Loh, and Hani Ismail. They did not face any official charges and were verbally accused of "planning a coup against the regime" and "collaborating with the Ramallah authority" (the Palestinian Authority headed by president Mahmoud Abbas). The four reporters were released without any legal procedures as the authorities did not abide by the law in arresting them and in the procedures that followed the arrest. The SKeyes center said that some reports indicated that the reporters were tortured and were forced to stand for extended periods while their hands were tied. Israel releases Palestinian lawmaker who won seat while in prison Ma’an News Agency 12/9/2008 Bethlehem - Ma’an – Israel released a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC)after holding him for three years prison on Monday, following a court ruling. The court at Israel’s Ofer detention center acquitted 47 year-old lawmaker Nizar Abdel Aziz Ramadan of all charges. Ramadan had been held in administrative detention under which Palestinian detainees can be held without charge or trial virtually indefinitely. Ramadan was first detained in September 2005. He campaigned and won a seat in the PLC while still in prison in 2006. Ramadan is a member of Hamas’ “Change and Reform” list representing the West Bank city of Hebron. Forty other members of the PLC are still in Israeli prisons. Rights group to Mazuz: Probe IDF targeted killings in West Bank Tomer Zarchin, Ha’aretz 12/10/2008 The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel is demanding the attorney general order a criminal investigation to determine whether any crimes were committed in the planning and execution of past targeted assassinations. Attorneys Avigdor Feldman and Michael Sfard wrote Attorney General Menachem Mazuz a letter, asking him to clearly and unconditionally prohibit assassinations when detention is an alternative, and to prohibit giving advance approval to harming innocent bystanders. They also demanded Mazuz establish a committee to examine the constitutionality of past assassinations, as the High Court of Justice called for in a 2006 ruling. Two weeks ago, Haaretz Magazine published an investigation by Uri Blau that revealed the Israel Defense Forces approved assassinations in the West Bank even when detention appeared to be a viable alternative. UN to Israel: Free Palestinian prisoners, lift Gaza blockade Jerusalem Post 12/9/2008 UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday called on Israel to lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported. After two days of discussions, the council, which consists of 47 member states, passed a list of 99 ’recommendations’ of gestures for Israel to make to ease Palestinian suffering, including freeing all prisoners. Tuesday’s discussion was the third time the Palestinian situation has been discussed since 2006. Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Aharon Leshno Yaar, was quoted by Reuters as saying that "Israel remains committed to reinforcing areas in which we are succeeding and bettering those areas that need improvement. " He called the discussion in the Human Rights Council "positive and productive. " According to the report, representatives from Syria, Egypt and Iran condemned Israel during the discussion, regarding its policies on Palestinian prisoners and settlement construction. UN’s recipe for peace, in just 99 steps Reuters, YNetNews 12/9/2008 Human Rights Council lists recommendations for improvement of human rights in Israel, including lifting of Gaza blockade, release of Palestinian prisoners. ’Israel committed to bettering areas that need improvement,’ says ambassador -The UN Human Rights Council called on Israel on Tuesday to take 99 measures, from lifting its blockade on Gaza to releasing Palestinian prisoners. The 47-member-state Council adopted the list by consensus at the end of a two-day review of Israel’s human rights record. Under a new mechanism, known as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the records of all United Nations member states are to be subjected to scrutiny every four years. "Israel remains committed to reinforcing areas in which we are succeeding and bettering those areas that need improvement," said Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Aharon Leshno Yaar. Two-tier Israel Seth Freedman, The Guardian 12/9/2008 Last week, Israeli TV reported the findings of a major survey which suggests that the rate of cancer cases diagnosed in soldiers who serve in Tel Arad is 2. 5 times higher than that of soldiers serving in the Infantry Corps as a whole, thanks to the plethora of carcinogens emanating from the chemical and industrial plants dotted around the Negev. Parents of new recruits currently training at Tel Arad are furious that they were not alerted to the dangers sooner, especially since – according to one parent – "the data’s existed since 2002, and no one bothered to mention it to the soldiers. "- My alma mater was demolished shortly after I left its prison-like gates for the last time and, if families get their way, the base where I received my military education will soon suffer a similar fate. Situated deep in the Negev desert, Tel Arad seemed an ideal place to undergo basic training health-wise, Family appeals for Palestinian detainee infected with hepatitis Ma’an News Agency 12/8/2008 Jenin - Ma’an – The family of a Palestinian detainee who contracted hepatitis in prison appealed to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as well as international institutions to secure the release of their son and provide him with proper medical care. Othman Abu Kharj, from the town of Az-Zababida town south of Jenin, is sentenced to life plus 20 years. He has served five years to date and became infected with hepatitis two years ago when he received an injection with a needle infected by another detainee. According to doctors and specialists, Abu Kharj keeps losing weight because he is unable to eat healthy food and drink sufficient fluids. [end] Israeli forces detain wife of Islamic Jihad leader for second time in Jenin Ma’an News Agency 12/7/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – The wife of prominent Islamic Jihad leader Bassam As-Sa’di was detained for a second time on Saturday; taken out of her family home in Jenin by Israeli forces. The 49-year-old Nawal As-Sadi was previously detained at the Huwwara checkpoint south of Nabulus, and kept in prison for 18 days. Bassam As-Sa’di is currently serving a five-year sentence in an Israeli prison. Two of Nawal’s sons were killed by Israeli forces during the second Intifadah. [end] Journalist’s Syndicate: release imprisoned media workers and ensure free speech Ma’an News Agency 12/6/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – Palestinian journalists and media workers must be released from West Bank prisons by the Palestinian Authority security apparatus, said a statement from the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate on Saturday. The Syndicate said some journalists had been in prison for more than three months, and hoped they would be released before the start of Eid Al-Adha. The statement also called for free access for journalists to locations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as well as a guarantee that news publications from both areas would be made available and not censored. [end] 17-year-old who beat Arabs sent to jail Aviad Glickman, YNetNews 12/7/2008 Youth convicted of assaulting Arab minors with sticks, clubs and knives at Jerusalem mall on eve of Holocaust Day, sentenced to one year in prison. Attack followed messages on Web calling on Jews to hurt Arabs - A 17-year-old youth was sentenced to one year in prison on Sunday after being convicted of assaulting Arabs with sticks, clubs and knives along with several other teenagers on the eve of Holocaust Day. "I can’t imagine that throughout his life the accused never heard of the Jews’ Holocaust and was never exposed to the horrors in the pursuit of people for belonging to a different race," the Jerusalem Youth District Court wrote in her ruling. According to the indictment, several young people of the Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood in the capital conspired to hurt Arabs on the eve of the past Holocaust Day. Skin condition spreading in Israeli prison; sufferers refused access to treatment Ma’an News Agency 12/6/2008 Nablus – Salfit – Ma’an – An alarming number of Palestinian prisoners of Israel have been infected by a skin disease, caused by the unsanitary conditions inside the prison facilities, said a lawyer for the Prisoners’ Society on Saturday. The lawyer noted that Israeli prison medical staff have refused to treat the condition, which is adding to the intolerable living situation in the prison. According to one prisoner, Tamer Samer Badran, dozens of prisoners have developed a rash from what they believe to be chemicals used in the shower water. He explained that he asked to be seen by a doctor but was refused. Badran has been in the prison since 17 December 2007, and was arrested for being affiliated with the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah. He is still in Al-Julma prison in the northern West Bank. Imprisoned PLC members urge PA to shoulder Hebron responsibilities Ma’an News Agency 12/6/2008 Nablus/Salfit - Ma’an – The detained members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) with the change and reform bloc sent a statement of solidarity with the residents of Hebron on Saturday. In the statement, sent from the Israeli Megiddo prison, they called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to shoulder their responsibility to protect citizens and ensure their safety against such attacks. "These attacks are not new,” the statement read, “but the settlers’ fierceness is increasing and more responsible and serious protection for the people of Hebron is required. ”The members wished good health and a speedy recovery to those injured, and urged the PA to provide sufficient support to the people. PA tells Red Cross: No political prisoners in Jenin prisons Ma’an News Agency 12/4/2008 Jenin – Ma’an – The Palestinian Authority (PA)’s head of security forces in Jenin denied that there are political detainees in Jenin prisons, according to statements made during a meeting with an International Red Cross (IRC) delegation on Thursday. Commander Radhi Asidah insisted that all prisoners in Jenin prisons were originally fugitives wanted for other crimes. The Red Cross delegation reportedly praised the security forces’ performance, despite its challenges. Asideh spoke about efforts being made to establish "a modern and developed military and security" establishment. The IRC offered to train national security personnel by offering its expertise on human rights issues, according to a statement received by Ma’an. Palestinian jailers can be worse than Israelis, ex-prisoners say Reuters, Ha’aretz 12/4/2008 Allegations of torture, arbitrary arrest and other abuses of due legal process have long been common from Palestinians in the West Bank. But lately more such accusations are leveled not at Israeli forces but at fellow Palestinians, part of the bitter factional rivalry that has divided families and made the two Palestinian territories fiefdoms of the warring camps - Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip and secular Fatah in the West Bank. To make sense of statistics provided by human rights groups,interviewed people in the West Bank city of Hebron about their complaints. Following are three of those in detail: L. , FACTORY WORKER At the height of an uprising against Israeli rule a few years ago, Hamas recruiters tried to persuade L. to sign up as a suicide bomber. Three journalists accused of fabricating anti-Hamas news released from Gaza prison Ma’an News Agency 12/4/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – The de facto government released three journalists from the Gaza Strip on Thursday after a month in prison on charges of fabricating anti-Hamas news. The release of journalists with the Palestine Press in Gaza Yousef Fayyad, Hani Ismail and Akram Al-Loh followed what a Hamas security officer called "intense intervention by fellow journalists" who appealed to senior Hamas leader and de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. The Palestinian Journalists Bloc said they were relieved by Haniyeh’s decision saying, “The release of those three journalists is a step for the better and also a call for journalists to commit to their jobs and be objective. ”[end] Israeli forces extra-judicially kill pardoned Palestinian International Solidarity Movement 12/2/2008 Nablus Region - Photos - At approximately 9:30pm on Monday 1st December, Israeli Special Forces entered Balata refugee camp in Nablus and arrested 28 year old Mohammad Kamal Abu Thraa - an ex-freedom fighter who had been granted amnesty by Israeli authorities in exchange for serving time in Palestinian prison. Two hours later he was pronounced dead from gunshot wounds. Friends and residents of Balata report that Mohammad had been eating dinner with his family before he received a phone call from Palestinian police advising him to wait in front of a convenience store on Al Aqsa street, for a police car to pick him up and take him to the police station to sleep for the night. This was a routine call, as Mohammad had been sleeping in a Nablus police station every night for the past year, forsaking armed struggle in order to take advantage of an amnesty scheme organised between Palestinian and Israeli authorities. IOF unit assassinates 'pardoned' AMB member Palestinian Information Center 12/2/2008 NABLUS, (PIC)-- A special unit of the Israeli occupation forces on Monday night shot and killed Mohammed Abu Dra, a member of the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades the armed wing of Fatah, in Balata refugee camp east of Nablus city. Local sources reported that the IOF troops were hiding in one of the streets near the refugee camp while Abu Dra was on his way to the PA prison where he stays every night in accordance with a PA agreement with Israel that stipulates an Israeli "pardon" to those who renounce resistance and stipulates retaining those who accepted the "pardon" to remain in PA jails for a period of time. However, the IOF soldiers ambushed Abu Dra and shot at him before dragging him to the car they were boarding and taking him to Hawara roadblock east of Nablus. The IOF carried Abu Dra to Kfar Sava hospital then told the PA that he was dead and handed his body to the Palestinian liaison office, the sources elaborated. Study: Most Palestinian prisoners from northern West Bank Ma’an News Agency 12/2/2008 Bethlehem - Ma’an - More than 50 percent of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons are from the northern West Bank, according to the results of a study released on Tuesday. Reported in the study’s findings is that 53. 8 percent of the total number of currently detained persons and those released between January 2007 and August 2008 are from the northern parts of the West Bank, compared to 28. 3 percent and 17. 9 percent from the central and southern parts of the West Bank, respectively. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) released the main results of a survey of Palestinian households in the West Bank on Tuesday, which focused on socioeconomic characteristics of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails. The results also shed light on the average age of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, finding that 33. Court: State obligated to rehabilitate Palestinian prisoners Aviad Glickman, YNetNews 12/2/2008 Judges accept appeal by female prisoner, remark that conditions in which she had been living ’saddened and concerned’ them. ’These prisoners were created human, no one has the right to forget that,’ verdict says -The High Court of Justice on Tuesday reminded the State of its obligations towards Palestinian prisoners, as part of their ruling on the case of a female Palestinian. The judges stated that the Palestinian prisoners were subject to poor conditions, and that they were not being rehabilitated properly by correctional facilities. The court approved an appeal made by 20-year old Nada Dirbas, who was convicted of conspiracy to commit a felony and contact with a foreign agent. Her sentence was reduced from six years to four. The indictment against Dirbas was filed one year ago. Ill woman denied medical treatment as she awaits trial in Israel; family appeals for help Ma’an News Agency 12/1/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – The family of 25-year-old Sana Salah, who stands accused of attempting to stab an Israeli soldier, is appealing to have Sana released from Israeli custody so her medical conditions can be treated. Sana, from the village of Al-Khader south of Bethlehem, suffers from weak eyesight and severe psoriasis in her feet. She has been held in Israeli custody for four months awaiting her trial, and has received no medical treatment. “She told me last Thursday during a court hearing that prison wardens keep beating her,” said Sana’s mother. “As a result [of the beating],” her mother added, Sana “has lost complete eyesight in her left eye. ”Israeli authorities expect Sana to be given a five-year sentence for attempting to stab an Israeli soldier near Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem.  Articles
Victims of Israel’s Latest Experiment Nadia W. Awad, MIFTAH 12/29/2008 There is no point in preparing an introduction to this article. Why waste words on compositional niceties when the only thing I can offer is that I’m at a total loss. There are no words or expressions that could ever fully explain what I and other Palestinians are feeling at this moment in time. Since Saturday afternoon, most of us here have been glued to the television, mutely taking in details of the latest bombed target andwatching horrific footage of bloodied men, women and children, body parts strewn about, and people offering last minute prayers in the rubble of their homes because they think they’re about to die. The hospital scenes offer no consolation, as doctors and nurses wearing bloodied scrubs attempt to aid the injured, knowing full well that they do not have the medical supplies to do so effectively. Rage, disgust, impotence, disbelief… these are just a few of the feelings swirling around in our hearts and minds for the moment.Those feelings are not just addressed to Israel, but to the international community as well. The UN gathered in an emergency session to issue yet another lukewarm resolution calling on all sides to stop the fighting. Of course, the resolution was missing what should have been a key component, condemnation of Israel’s actions. There was no mention of an excessive use of force, no mention of Israel’s responsibilities as an occupying power. The US and the UK did not even bother to demand a halt to the violence, instead merely requesting that Israel try to avoid racking up civilian casualties. Israel hasn’t even acquiesced to that request, and how could they? Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. There are no wide expanses of land. Houses are built on top of each other. Government buildings and police stations are nestled in and amongst residential neighborhoods. It would be like trying to pluck out one card from beneath a house of cards, and expecting the whole structure to stay intact. Besides, Israel is not merely targeting government buildings and security compounds as first thought. Looking at the latest reports, Israel has bombed the Gaza port, a local university campus, an Olympic committee building, greenhouses, a school, homes, parked cars, mosques, prisons (full of prisoners), a graduation ceremony for traffic police, and medical storehouses. And still the bombing continues. The Israeli massacre of Gazans civilians Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate, Palestine Monitor 12/28/2008 The Israeli cabinet approved a military operation against Gaza by the forces of Israel. The military massacre of Gazan civilians was launched on December 27th, 2008 in two separate waves of attacks when over 100 bombs were dropped on dozens of targets . Some 80 airplanes and helicopters took part in the assault destroying civil police compounds and civilian homes. Over 205 Palestinians were killed and at least 750 wounded, 125 of these with critical injuries, including women and children. This massacre of Gazan civilians by the Israeli military, is indeed a crime against humanity. It is all the more cruel considering the suffering of the People of Gaza, under the collective punishment policy of Israel which has cut Gaza off from the World for almost 2 years, and led its one an a half Million people to living in what is the world largest open air prison, and suffering one of the greatest humanitarian tragedies in the world. In November, when I visited Gaza with Free Gaza Movement, we met with the Hamas Leadership, and attended a meeting of representatives of all the Political Parties in Gaza, the 6 month ceasefire was holding and the Political Parties were ready to go to Cairo to meet with their Political colleagues from West Bank. There was great hope that Palestinian National Unity could be built, and that the ways of active nonviolence would help towards the goals of ending the Israeli occupation and self determination for the Palestinian people. Gaza and Israel: Interview with Amira Hass Angel Ricardo Martinez, Palestine Chronicle 12/28/2008 Hass: Gaza is a big prison, and it has been so for the last 18 years. This telephonic interview took place on December 12, when I spoke with Israeli journalist Mrs. Amira Hass from her house in Ramallah, the West Bank. Almost two weeks before, on December 1st, she was ordered to leave Gaza - where she had entered three weeks before on a boat - by Hamas. In this interview, we speak about the current state of Israeli journalism, the contradictions of Israeli society, life in the occupied territories, and the future of Palestinian politics. What motivated you to dedicate your life to this conflict and becoming the only Israeli journalist living in the territories? Let me correct you, I’m not the only Israeli journalist, I’m the only Israeli Jew journalist. But it’s not a decision, this conflict is our life. It’s not by choice, it’s there all the time. Also, before becoming a journalist I was very active in the Israeli left-wing and workers right advocacy groups. It has always been a part of my life. Unmentioned Casualties of the Gaza Massacre Abu Yussef, Palestine Monitor 12/30/2008 Over the last three days the world has fixated upon the ever increasing body count in Gaza following the recent massacre. However, President Abbas, National reconciliation, the Annapolis Process, the Palestinian Non-Violence Movement and the Two-State Solution have all suffered near fatal, if not fatal wounds as a result. The Israeli sea and air bombardment of the Gaza Strip has done more than decimate the already suffering inhabitants of the world’s largest prison; it has led to a number of other important casualties that the press has failed to mention amidst the chaos and death of the last few days. 1. The first casualty has been Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. His attempt to walk the thin line between American and Israeli dictates on the one hand, and the needs and wants of the Palestinians on the other, has gone up in flames. At best he now looks incompetent and weak; in the worst light some are already calling him a ‘spy’ or ‘traitor’. It is unclear now, how he will receive the legitimate support to extend his Presidential mandate in the coming weeks as he can no longer even claim to be able to deliver peace through negotiations in the near terms, nor represent the Palestinian people. Amira Hass / ’Gaza strike is not against Hamas, it’s against all Palestinians’ Amira Hass, Ha’aretz 12/29/2008 At 3:19 P.M. Sunday, the sound of an incoming missile could be heard over the telephone. And then another, along with the children’s cries of fear. In Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, high-rise apartment buildings are crowded close together, with dozens of children in every building, hundreds in every block. Their father, B., informs me that smoke is rising from his neighbor’s house and ends the call. An hour later, he tells me that two apartments were hit. One was empty; he does not know who lives there. The other, which suffered casualties, belongs to a member of a rocket-launching cell, but no one senior or important. At noon Sunday, the Israel Air Force bombed a compound belonging to Gaza’s National Security Service. It houses Gaza City’s main prison. Three prisoners were killed. Two were apparently Fatah members; the third was convicted of collaborating with Israel. Hamas had evacuated most of the Gaza Strip’s other prisons, but thought this jail would be safe. Gaza Atrocity Leila Diab, Middle East Online 12/28/2008 Is this a civilized government - the bombardment of thousands of defenseless Palestinian men, women and children? Can these (Israeli) crimes against humanity (in Gaza) usher in a new year of a peaceful hope in 2009? As I awoke this morning and opened up my email to check my mail, I found several very disturbing and disheartening news of yet another atrocity in the Gaza Strip. As the sun rose over the Gaza Strip, on the 28th of December, 2008, the Israeli military government launched a massive wave of air attacks on the Gaza Strip people. At least 200 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 200 Palestinians have been wounded. According to an Israeli military spokesman, Avi Benayhu, he reported to the Israeli army radio that the massive bombardment of Gaza was only just beginning. Does anyone Care? "Truly don’t we care? And, why don’t we care?" decried my anguished Indian friend, Bindu, upon hearing of the news in Gaza. Is this a civilized government - the bombardment of thousands of defenseless Palestinian men, women and children? They can’t even possibly escape from the prison confines of its army controls and after it has starved the population for months and reduced it to absolute penury! Does "collateral dame" of women and children justify the Israeli government’s security manifestations and claims, while being - the world’s fourth largest army against the people of Gaza, a race of people who both physically, psychologically, and deliriously are suffering from hunger, economic deprivation and confinement? Will American politicians, Arab and Muslim leaders and the world community’s leaders condemn the Israeli military government’s attacks on a defenseless Palestinian population? Gazan Voices, American Silence Kenneth Ring, Palestine Think Tank 12/27/2008 [Author’s note: Just after this article was written, it became evident that Israel is likely to launch at least a limited attack on Gaza, which only heightens the sense of urgency for action that is advocated here.] The baby is crying again. You wake up. Cold. There is no electricity in the house; it went off during the night. For the last week – weeks, months – it has been on only sporadically. You throw on a coat and go to check on the baby. It seems listless. There is no milk in the house, and very little food. The UN shipments have stopped again, and you are not sure when they will resume. In the other room, you hear your husband coughing. He has been sick for weeks and lately he has been spitting up blood. He has tried to get permission to get to a hospital in Israel, but every time he has been denied permission to leave. You go outside to see if a neighbor can give you any milk. The first thing that hits you is the stench. The garbage has not been collected for weeks, and the sewage problem, because of the recent rains, has become even worse. No wonder so many people are sick. You are living in a cesspool. And you, and everyone else, is trapped inside this prison because the borders are sealed. This has been going on now for a year and half, and there is no telling when it will be over. And with the end of the truce, such as it was, there is a renewed threat of violence from the Israelis. Even now, you see an Israeli drone overhead and know that a missile could be launched from it at any time. Cartooning for peace Georges Bahgory, Al-Ahram Weekly 12/25/2008 In Paris, Georges Bahgory teams up with 14 cartoonists for a dose of politics and sharp wit. Like a frond from a palm tree in my village, Bahgora, I was bound to meet other fronds, fronds that came from other parts of the world. Together we recreated one palm tree, a palm tree of universal dimensions. There are fifteen of us: Plantu from France, No-Rio from Japan, Vladdo from Colombia, Kroll from Belgium, Xia Lichuan from China, Patrick from Switzerland, Zlatkovsky from Russia, Ali Dilem from Algeria, Ramize from Turkey, Georgio Forattini from Italy, Danziger from America, Khalil Abu Arafeh from Palestine, Baha Boukhari from Egypt and Michel Kichka from Israel. We are all reincarnations of that great artist, Honore Daurmier, the French cartoonist whose drawings took France by storm in the 19th century. We challenged Israel in the cartoon battle. We sneaked into enemy land undetected, and we had the protection of Kofi Annan to boot. We wanted our drawings to reach the children of Ramallah. We wanted the detainees in Israeli prisons to bear witness as well. Our pens and brushes are ready. Plantu is swift with the left hand, drawing as fast as he thinks. Norio makes it look easy, working at the speed of light. Forattini offers a political analysis of the aggressor and the victim. Ramize gives her critique a sensual touch. Abu Arafeh is unwavering in his defence of Palestinian right. I keep the pen down, twirling it on the page, forming one long curly line. Christmas in Gaza Stuart Littlewood, Middle East Online 12/24/2008 In World War II the Nazis practised collective punishment to suppress resistance. Entire villages, towns or districts were held responsible for any resistance activity that took place there. Oh, come all ye faithful… Let’s crush Gaza, starve their little ones Who is holding the governments of Britain, the EU and the US to account this Christmas for aiding and abetting the deliberate starving of 1.5 million in Gaza? Hardly anybody. Most of those in a position to do so are Friends of Israel. What of our foreign secretary, David Miliband, our very Christian prime minister Brown and our even more pious peace envoy Mr Blair…. have they done anything at all to insist that Israel’s blockade is ended? The ‘Zionist Tendency’ in Whitehall still goes unchallenged. Please tell us Messrs Brown, Miliband and Blair: isn’t the Fourth Geneva Convention supposed to protect civilians under military occupation…. no violence to life or person, no cruelty, no torture; no taking of hostages; no outrages upon personal dignity; no collective punishment, no sentencing or executions unless ordered by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees demanded by civilised peoples…all that sort of thing? Human Rights: Nails in the Coffin of Israel Kawther Salam, Palestine Think Tank 12/19/2008 The Jewish State of Israel considers itself above the laws and has imposed a blockade on any criticism against its violations of the International laws, of its barbaric Apartheid regime and of its many crimes against humanity, by the UN human rights organizations and members of the International community. The representatives of this so-called "state" lose control each time any criticism against them, as small and innocuous as it may be, arises here or there. Each time they are criticized according to international laws and agreements to which Israel has acceded, and which in part were even redacted with help of representatives of Israel, these saints of the "unique and aloof" morality of their state give themselves the right to punish, to lambast the international organizations and their representatives, instead of accepting punishment or even mild criticism from these organizations which constitute the forum for the representatives of a great part of humanity. The representatives of the Israeli occupation regime reacted arrogantly after the Human Rights Council of the UN in Geneva unanimously released a list including 99 recommendations at the end of a two-day review of Israel’s record on human rights last Tuesday 9 December 2008. The council urged Israel to take 99 step to end its violations of human rights, including to lifting the blockade on the Gaza Strip, freeing Arab detainees, and to allowing international observers to enter Palestine. Underneath the Rubbles: Argentina Conspiracy Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich, Middle East Online 12/19/2008 Haaretz reports that an Argentine judge has ordered the property of a former Iranian diplomat to be seized as compensation awarded to a survivor of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. Without verification, Israeli and American accusations trump lack of evidence in any jurisdiction- Argentina in particular – since it stands to benefit from the verdict. The US-Argentina relationship has always been in a struggle; but it was Ronald Reagan, the man who declared to the American people: “We raised a banner of bold colors--no pale pastels. We proclaimed a dream of an America that would be a Shining City on a Hill” who strengthened the ties. Reagan’s opposition to the Sardinistas prompted him to solicit the aid of the most ruthless military regime Argentina has ever known to train the Contras[i]. ...Among the victims were some 2000 Jews. Hitler was not without long-term impact in Argentina. The country’s military regime kept secret camps decorated with swastikas.[iii] A Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs publication reveals that during this period, the foreign policy of Israel was to offer assistance to the Jews in Argentina, but at the same time “to cooperate with the military regime in realizing economic goals” of Israel. “Israel was accused by various quarters within the Israeli political system and the Jewish community in Argentina of deserting hundreds of Argentinean Jews, some of whom disappeared and some of whom were arrested and tortured under the military junta’s rule. Fighting on a different front Ben White, The Guardian 12/16/2008 This Thursday, a group of Israeli young men and women, barely out of school, will bring home some important truths about the situation in Israel/Palestine for those who care to listen. The Shministim (Hebrew for twelfth-graders) are Israelis who, having been called up for compulsory military service, have refused to serve in an occupying army and are thus sent to prison for refusing the draft. December 18 has been called as a day of action for the Shministim (principally by the US-based Jewish Voice for Peace). It is a chance to raise the profile of Israel’s conscientious objectors, protest at their repeated imprisonment, and highlight exactly why these Israeli youth have decided it is better to go to jail or risk isolation and ridicule from family and friends, rather than enforce the occupation of the Palestinian territories. A Shministim refusenik faces the prospect of repeat sentences of up to four weeks at a time, as the cycle of draft-refusal-punishment can continue until they are 21 years old or discharged for some other reason (medical for example). Someone like Tamar Katz, because of her refusal to wear a military uniform in prison, is placed in solitary confinement. Let the Countdown Begin... Palestine Monitor, Palestine Monitor 12/16/2008 Monday morning - 227 Prisoners released by Israel Monday night - 29 Palestinians arrested and 1 killed by Israel Yesterday, the much hyped and celebrated Israeli release of "˜hundreds’ of Palestinian prisoners occurred. The international press, as it has done throughout the previous prisoner releases, described the event as some sort of grand concession by Israel. It seems that when the international press wants to focus on the prisoner issue, they wait until one of these high-profile, confidence-building releases takes place. The airways were full of images of happy Palestinians reuniting with their families - so many of them that they filled the entire screen. CNN described the event as historic, and the number of prisoners released in the "˜hundreds’. It looks and sounds good, but what do they fail to mention? They fail to mention that this historic concession comprises a mere 2% of the approximately 11,000 Palestinians held by Israel. Behind Israeli Bars: Palestinian Child Prisoners Joharah Baker – The West Bank, Palestine Chronicle 12/10/2008 During Israel’s first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session on December 4 in Geneva’s UN Palais de Nations, a number of issues were brought to the fore by representatives of the UN member states sitting in the room. The UPR, a new Human Rights Council mechanism whereby a country’s own national report on human rights is subjected to scrutiny by its fellow countries, is supposedly aimed at creating a means of addressing human rights violations occurring throughout the world. Among the concerns voiced by state parties towards Israel’s national report was concern over its treatment of Palestinian minors in Israeli prisons. While Israel’s panel of experts attempted to put to rest this issue by claiming that a total of six Palestinian minors from the occupied Palestinian territories were in Israeli prisons or detention centers and that all of these minors were 17 years of age, there are a number of Palestinian and international organizations that beg to differ. The Palestinian prisoner issue has long been at the forefront of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, and has often been used as one of the more flexible bargaining chips that Israel is willing to utilize under the umbrella of “good will gestures”. There are over 10,000 Palestinian prisoners currently in Israeli prisons and detention centers both in the Palestinian territories and inside Israel. While this issue continues to remain a grave concern for Palestinians, the incarceration of children is no doubt an even graver concern and a clear breach of several international laws and charters protecting the rights of the child. Instead of Auschwitz Amira Hass, Ha’aretz 12/11/2008 The committee coordinating the struggle to free Gilad Shalit went all the way to Auschwitz where, it is reported, its members distributed 888 yellow flowers. That was in October, and we can only hope that this media gimmick will not be repeated, either because an agreement will be reached in the near future or because the organizers will understand how lacking in taste that move was. The committee is continuing to put non-stop pressure on the government despite warnings that this is hampering the negotiations. In this way, the organizers and participants are showing a healthy lack of faith in the politicians’ promises. But the lack of faith stops when we talk about the policy of repression employed by Israel against the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. Here the organizers (including the kibbutz movement’s missions branch) accept the government’s approach and merely demand "more!" - more blockading of food, medicine, fuel and cash; more destruction of industry and agriculture; more homes without water. That is the logic behind the demonstrative obstruction of the border crossings initiated by the organizing committee in October. Now the committee is aiming its arrows at the families of the Palestinian prisoners. It tried to stop family visits at the Ashkelon prison and pledges to do so at other jails. Young israelis who refuse to serve the occupation need our support Omer Goldman, Palestine Think Tank 12/8/2008 A note from Shministit Omer Goldman. Dear Mary, My name is Omer Goldman. I am 19 years old. I am one of the Shministim. Thank you for signing the Shministim letter to support me and my friends. I first went to prison on September 23 and served 35 days. I am lucky, after 2 times in jail, I got a medical discharge, but I’m the only one. By the time you read this, many of my friends will be in prison too: in for three weeks, out for one, and then back in, over and over, until they are 21. The reason? We refuse to do military service for the Israeli army because of the occupation. I grew up with the army. My father was deputy head of Mossad and I saw my sister, who is eight years older than me, do her military service. As a young girl, I wanted to be a soldier. The military was such a part of my life that I never even questioned it. Earlier this year, I went to a peace demonstration in Palestine. I had always been told that the Israeli army was there to defend me, but during that demonstration Israeli soldiers opened fire on me and my friends with rubber bullets and tear-gas grenades. I was shocked and scared. I saw the truth. I saw the reality. I saw for the first time that the most dangerous thing in Palestine is the Israeli soldiers, the very people who are supposed to be on my side. The Gaza truce faces a potentially lethal situation Yossi Alpher, Daily Star 12/8/2008 In and around the Gaza Strip we confront a potentially lethal situation. The current cease-fire is due to end in barely 10 days unless new terms can be negotiated between Israel and Hamas. Ten days of fighting last month demonstrated just how easily the two sides can slide back into conflict. In parallel, both Israeli and Palestinian politics are becoming increasingly volatile, with Gaza almost beckoning as an arena where ambitious and even ruthless politicians can seemingly prove their mettle to the voters. Israel is moving into an election campaign in which Minister of Defense Ehud Barak is running at the head of one party while the former head of another, the soon-to-be-indicted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, remains in power with nothing to lose and no one to account to for his decision-making. Judging by his advocacy of caution, the beleaguered Barak, whose standing has plummeted in the polls, does not want to fight an election while fighting in Gaza. In parallel, Olmert appears increasingly capable of negotiating a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas, mediated by Egypt, that releases hundreds of hardened militants in exchange for a single Israeli soldier and boosts Hamas’ popularity in the Arab world in general and among Palestinians in particular. LinksAdalah Adalah (Justice in Arabic) is the first non-profit, non-sectarian Palestinian-run legal center in Israel. The main goal of Adalah’s work is to achieve equal rights and minority rights protections for Palestinian citizens of Israel. Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Organization: Addameer (conscience) is a Palestinian non-governmental, civil institution which focuses on human rights issues. Supports Palestinian prisoners, advocates for rights of political prisoners, works to end torture. Amnesty International Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights. AI’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. Amnesty International USA Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights. AI’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. Arab Association for Human Rights - HRA The HRA was founded in 1988 to promote and protect the political, civil, economic, and cultural rights of the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel and to further the domestic implementation of international human rights principles. It is an independent non-governmental organisation registered in Israel. Association for Civil Rights in Israel - ACRI In Hebrew - The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) was founded in 1972 as a non-political and independent body, with the goal of protecting human and civil rights in Israel and in the territories under Israeli control. B’tselem The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel. Boycott Israeli Medical Association UK: The Medical Committee for Boycott of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) will document the systematic torture of Palestinian people by agents of Israel. It will publicise the practice in order to bring world opinion to bear on Israel. And it will challenge the Israeli Medical Association which has repeatedly failed to issue advice to doctors who are involved in any way with torture. Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. Palestinian Center for Human Rights The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) is an independent legal body based in Gaza City dedicated to protecting human rights, promoting the rule of law, and upholding democratic principles in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Palestinian Prisoners Society The Palestinian Prisoner Society is a social and human institution and its members are prisoners inside prisons and released prisoners. Membership is open to every Palestinian prisoner inside and outside prisons who meets the conditions of membership. Physicians for Human Rights - Israel Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHR-Israel) was established in 1988 as a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, dedicated to promoting and protecting the medical human rights of all residents of Israel and the Occupied Territories. Public Committee Against Torture in Israel - PCATI An independent human rights organization founded that monitors the implementation conditions in detention centers and continues the struggle against the use of torture in interrogation in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine The main collection contains the texts of current and historical United Nations material concerning the question of Palestine and other issues related to the Middle East situation and the search for peace. World Organisation Against Torture OMCT is today the largest international coalition of NGOs fighting against torture,summary executions, forced disappearances and all other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in order to preserve Human Rights. It has at its disposal a network, SOS Torture, consisting of some 240 non-governmental organisations which act as sources of information.
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