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Weekly Report: On Israeli Human Rights
Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Gaza siege: Cut off from food, water and fuel
Continuing political chaos, and the Israeli blockade
of the Gaza Strip has left thousands of Palestinians
isolated and cut off from needed supplies, including
food, water and fuel.
Palestinian teenager injured in Bethlehem by
bomb left behind by Israeli army
A Palestinian teenager was critically injured on Thursday
afternoon when a bomb left behind by the Israeli army
exploded near him in the city of Bethlehem in the
southern part of the West Bank.
Palestinian mentally-challenged man
dies of wounds he sustained last week
A Palestinian mentally challenged man from the town of
Qabatiya near Jenin in the northern West Bank died on
Thursday afternoon due to wounds he sustained last week.
Israeli prisons authority refuses
to treat seriously ill captive
Relatives of Yasser Nazzal, held in Israeli occupation jails,
have called for his immediate release after being denied
badly needed medical treatment in captivity. The relatives
along with the prisoner's committee expressed absolute
concern over the life of Nazzal, who is suffering a serious
medical condition. The committee in a statement
appealed to the human rights and international
organizations to pressure the Israeli prisons authority
(IPA) to extend urgent treatment to him.
Tulkarem locked down
for sixth day by Israeli military
The Israeli military continued to impose heavy restrictions
around the West Bank city of Tulkarem for the sixth
day in a row on Wednesday, erecting flying checkpoints
at the entrances to the city.
IOF troops storm Jenin
shortly after soldier stabbed
IOF soldiers mounting dozens of armored vehicle stormed
Jenin city shortly after midnight Tuesday and broke into
many civilian quarters in the city after ordering inhabitants
out of their homes, locals reported. They said that the
occupation forces were calling on the people via loudspeakers
to get out of their homes then they ransacked those homes.
Hamas: PA security forces arrest 8 members
of the movement from several
parts of the West Bank
The Hamas movement announced on Thursday that the
Palestinian Authority forces affiliated with the Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah arrested 8 members
of the movement from several areas of the
West Bank on Wednesday.
Israeli army invades southern
Gaza; kidnaps 30 civilians
The Israeli army invaded the eastern side of the city of
Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza Strip and kidnapped
30 Palestinian civilians on Thursday morning.
Israeli military invades the northern part of
the West Bank and kidnaps 9
Israeli forces invaded the northern West Bank cities of
Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarem in the early hours of Thursday
morning and kidnapped six Palestinians from the Sabastiya
suburb of Nablus, and one from the Qabatiya district of
Jenin and two from Tulkarem.
CPT: Israeli military arrests approximately
40 Palestinians and places
Beit Ummar under curfew
HEBRON Since 1 am on 13 February, the Israeli military
placed the village of Beit Ummar under curfew and
arrested approximately forty men between the ages
of 18 and 25. Since early morning, Israeli soldiers have
been entering homes. The military has closed four different
areas inside the village. Soldiers are stationed around the
local mosque area and throughout the village, with two
bulldozers and DCO jeeps. The military are denying travel
to people in cars or on foot, restricting the freedom of
movement for goods and medicine. The military denied
entry to an ambulance attempting to enter the village.
Israeli tanks re-enter southern Gaza; DFLP
fighter wounded in earlier incursion
Israeli military vehicles re-entered the southern Gaza
Strip on Wednesday morning, hours after an earlier
incursion on Tuesday night that wounded one
Palestinian fighter.
Israeli army kidnapps 85 Palestinians in
the West Bank in one day
The Israeli army on Wednesday invaded both the city
of Nablus, in the northern West Bank, and the village
of Beit Ummer, located near the city of Hebron in the
southern West Bank. In total, at least 85 Palestinian
civilians were abducted by the invading military.
IOA demolishes 30-year-old
Palestinian home
The Israeli-controlled municipality of occupied Jerusalem
has bulldozed a Palestinian home built in Wadi Al-Joz
suburb over 30 years ago, the proprietors said. Saadi
Aramin, the son of the owner Aisha Aramin, said that his
mother had repeatedly tried to obtain a construction
permit but to no avail, and noted that his grandfather
and uncles had resided in that house.
Israeli army demolishes Palestinian
owned buildings in northern Gaza
The Israeli army invaded areas on the Palestinian side
of the northern Gaza-Israel border, and demolished a
number of Palestinian-owned buildings on
Thursday at midday.
Japanese activist shot near the eye in
Bil'in may not regain his eyesight
Kaoru Kishida, a Japanese activist shot near the eye
by a rubber-coated steel bullet in Bil'in, has just been
operated on in St. John's Eye Hospital in Jerusalem.
The doctors still don't know if he will regain his eyesight.
International volunteers join Palestinians
to plant olive fields threatened by Israel
Twenty-six international volunteers joined Palestinian
activists to plant olive trees in areas threatened by
Israeli settlements, military occupation, and the
separation wall this month in a program organized
by the Joint Advocacy Initiative (JAI) of the East
Jerusalem YMCA and YWCA and the Alternative
Tourism group, JAI said on Wednesday.
The Hamas-dominated government
says truce is now in Israel's court
The Hamas-dominated government in Gaza says that any
truce 'Tahdiya' declaration, is now in Israel's court and
linked with the Israeli actions on the ground.
aL-Zahar of Hamas heads for Egypt
over Rafah crossing terminal
Dr. Mahmoud aL-Zahar, a senior political leader of the
ruling Hamas movement in Gaza headed Thursday
evening for the Egyptian town of aL-Arish for talks
over the Rafah crossing terminal.
The Problem Nobody WantsThere's only
one winner in Gaza: Hamas
Salam Fayyad is a serious man. He takes his job seriously;
he talks seriously; he has no time for crowd-pleasing jokes.
Fayyad is prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, or
what's left of it. This Monday, he bored his audience at
Washington's National Press Club for 20 minutes or so
before mentioning the elephant in the room: Gaza.
Fayyad: The Palestinians are
seeking a democratic state
Palestinian Prime Minister, Dr. Salaam Fayyad, stated
on Wednesday that the Palestinians are seeking the
establishment of a Democratic Palestinian State, based
on law and security, and that this state needs a serious
commitment from Israel, the Palestinians, the US, the
Quartet, Arab countries and the International Community.
Palestinians say militant hub is now safe
town; Israel unconvinced
Nablus emerges as testing ground for Israeli-PA cooperation;
Israel reluctant to cease counter-terror activity in city but
Palestinians say PA control will not take hold
unless IDF eases its grip.
U.S. Secretary Rice plans March visit
to Israel, Palestinian Authority
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on
Wednesday she planned to visit Israel and the
Palestinian Authority early next month to help
both sides narrow their differences in Palestinian
statehood talks.
Washington to ask for clarification from
Israel regarding new settlement activities
Spokespman of the U.S State Department, Jhom
Mackromk, stated on Wednesday that the American
administration will ask for clarifications from Israel
with respect to a new settlement project on the
occupied east Jerusalem. " the U.S never doubts the
commitment by the Israeli prime minister, Ehud
Olmert or the Palestinian Authority's president for
working together fro peace", Mckromak told reporters in
Washington. However, he maintained that the latest
Israeli declared plans to embark on new settlement projects
would negatively reflect on underway Palestinian-Israeli
peace talks, in a way that would undermine the two-state solution.
How the EU helps Israel to strangle Gaza
How is Israel able to strangle the Gaza Strip when
there is supposed to be an international crossing
between Gaza and Egypt not controlled by Israelis?
David Morrison looks at how the Agreement on
Movement and Access, signed more than two years
by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, allowed
Israel to control the border without being physically
present through the the agreement's European Union
third party mechanism.
Students return to Gaza schools still
suffering from lack of heat and electricity
Power shortages in Gaza have meant that children
often have no heat and no lights by which to study.
GAZA, Occupied Palestinian Territory, 13 February
2008 – Nearly 400 government schools in Gaza have
reopened their doors to a quarter of a million students
returning from winter break – but teachers and children
have been met with classrooms that have neither heat
nor light due to reduced power supplies.
Gaza Diary: Life after the party
My two daughters turned seven today. I had been
saving for months so that I could afford to make
their birthday celebrations special. There is very
little children can look forward to these days, so this
is important for them – and me. I invited as many
families and friends as possible for their party. But,
only a few came in the end. Some of them did not tell
me why, perhaps because they did not want to admit
to the sad truth – they could not afford to attend this
family event or even buy presents.
MIDEAST: For the World,
Gaza Is Reality TV
"We are being starved, killed, tortured, and besieged
-- and all this while the world just watches," says
Abu Wael at the funeral of the latest group of
Gazans killed by Israeli forces.
Don't march into Gaza
Invasion will result in high casualty toll;
we must find way to ease Gaza despair.
Red Cross: Situation in Gaza worsening
The director of the Red Cross office in Gaza on Wednesday
warned that the situation in the Gaza Strip was
worsening as a result of long hours of power outage,
reduction in fuel supplies and shortage of basic materials.
Narratives Under Siege (4):
Ard El Insan Child Nutrition Centre
"We receive 20-25 new referrals every day, and we see
approximately three hundred and fifty children a week
here at the centre. Last year we treated more than
eight thousand four hundred children here in Gaza city,
plus another eight thousand children at our centre in
Khan Yunis. All of them were under 5 years old, and
all of them were malnourished."
IDF experts suggest 'surprise'
roadblocks in place of checkpoints
Military experts presented alternatives to the policy of
roadblocks in the West Bank, suggesting instead
surprise roadblocks, Palestinian Authority-coordinated
patrols, and more fences around Israeli settlements, at
a conference in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
ISRAEL-OPT: Israeli experts propose
radical changes to West Bank closure regime
A team of Israeli security experts has devised a plan to
replace the existing closure regime in the West Bank
with an alternative system which they say will offer
Israel security while easing restrictions on Palestinians
and allowing their economy to grow.
imprisonment for trafficking in women
The Tel Aviv district court on Wednesday sentenced
Samuel Mollaris to 18 months imprisonment on
human trafficking charges. Mollaris, 29, was found
guilty of providing transportation to women who
were brought to Israel in order to work as prostitutes
in various apartments and brothels throughout Tel Aviv.
U.S. welcomes death of
Hezbollah commander
The United States on Wednesday applauded the
killing of Hezbollah leader Imad Moughniyah in a car
bomb in Damascus, and called him a cold-blooded
murderer responsible for many deaths.
Former CIA official: Mossad
behind Mugniyah killing
Evidence in Damascus car bombing points to Israel,
says Bruce Riedel, former advisor to three US
presidents on Middle Eastern affairs. 'This proves
Israel has infiltrated Hizbullah,' he notes, adding that
Nasrallah has genuine reason for concern.
PLC slams the assassination of
Hezbollah senior official
The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC),
dominated by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas),
issued a statement denouncing the Tuesday night
assassination of Imad Mughaniya, deputy leader of
the Lebanon-based Hezbollah party, in the
Syrian capital Damascus.
The Mughniyah killing /
When and how will they respond?
Whoever carried out the operation demonstrated very
impressive capabilities, in particular in collecting
intelligence. Such an operation requires the most
exact planning for months in advance. Precise
information is needed, which must come from the
target's inner circle. They must have provided
details on his daily routine, movements, hiding
places and security arrangements. Planning such an
operation also requires precision in getting the
operators where they need to be, and even more
important, they must know how to get away. And
all this must be done without leaving a trace.
Ahmadinejad: We have a
million more Mugniyahs
(Video) Iranian leader sends letter of condolence to Nasrallah,
says assassination of top Hizbullah commander 'casts more
shame on the Zionists and their supporters'; adds:
Occupiers of Jerusalem must know these crimes will
not compensate for their humiliating defeat during
in Lebanon.
Israeli minister hails killing of
Hezbollah leader
"I, of course, do not know who carried out the
assassination of Imad, but he should be blessed,"
said Environment Minister Gideon Ezra.
Gazans mark Valentine's Day
with mixed emotions
For Palestinian flower growers in the Hamas-run
Gaza Strip, it was a holiday of love's labour's lost.
Unable to ship their blooms to Europe for Valentine's Day
because of Israeli export restrictions, they dumped two
truckloads of flowers at the Sufa border crossing with the
Jewish state on Thursday and fed some of the crop to sheep.
Learning From Arab Jews
Guest Column: David Shasha, the founder and director of
the Center for Sephardic Heritage in Brooklyn, New York,
is one of my favorite weekly email reads. (You can subscribe,
too, by contacting him directly.) Arab and Jew are not
mutually exclusive categories. Quite the contrary.
Anyone who tells you, as so many "pundits" do in this
society when trying to explain the Middle East, that "
Jews and Arabs have been fighting for thousands of
years," is speaking from ignorance. The idea of a conflict
between "Jews" and "Arabs" is really only as old as
modern political Zionism, and really only took on a
generalized form in the second half of the 20th century
amid the trauma that accompanied the creation of the
State of Israel. Jews and Arabs had, in fact, lived
together for hundreds of years in the Muslim world, and
many Jews have always considered themselves Arab.
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