Aletho News

ΑΛΗΘΩΣ

American Journalist and Partner Denied Re-entry to Israel – Deportation Imminent

IMEMC | January 13, 2010

…The English Desk at Ma’an News Agency, the largest independent news network in the Palestinian territories, is deeply concerned that its chief editor, Jared Malsin, an American citizen [and graduate of Yale University], was detained on Tuesday afternoon upon arriving at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. He is slated for imminent deportation.

In what can only be explained as a retaliatory measure for Malsin’s reporting on Palestine, his long-term girlfriend, Faith Rowold, a two-year, registered volunteer with the Lutheran Church in Jerusalem, was also seized and placed in a holding cell pending deportation. Israeli security agents have prevented the couple from making calls, and lied to concerned American consular staff, denying that the two were even being held.

While the US Embassy is protesting both incidents, and is in constant contact with our staff on the ground, diplomatic officials say that there is little they can do when Israel cites “security reasons” for the denial of entry. Meanwhile, Israeli security officials have quietly expressed concern to Ma’an over this latest abuse of power by authorities at the Interior Ministry, skeptical that the professional journalist they know could be deemed a threat.

For its part, Israel has yet to specify any allegations against Malsin, who indicated – just before his phone was seized by airport guards – that during his hours of interrogation, security agents inexplicably questioned him over his supposed ties to international peace activists, with whom he has no relationship.

Ma’an scrupulously maintains its editorial independence and aims to promote access to information, freedom of expression, press freedom, and media pluralism in Palestine. It has no other agenda. Israel’s arbitrary detention of the head of its English Desk is an affront to professional journalists not only in Palestine, but also to journalists in Israel and abroad, who rely on Ma’an for its accuracy, impartiality, and independence…

Ma’an report:

Order of Events

Jared’s phone was confiscated by El Al security officials when he boarded a flight in the Czech Republic on 12 January 2010. He was denied the opportunity to make any calls to his consulate, his family or a lawyer between 11am (upon boarding) and 11pm (when his mobile was briefly returned).

In what can only be explained as a retaliatory measure for Malsin’s reporting on Palestine, his long-term girlfriend, Faith Rowold, a two-year, registered volunteer with the Lutheran Church in Jerusalem, was also seized and placed in a holding cell pending deportation.

At 4pm when the flight was disembarked in Tel Aviv, Faith used the phone of a fellow traveler, an Israeli national, in the restroom of the airport. She called her sister with a brief message saying she had landed but indicated that there were problems.

At 6:30pm, the office of US Citizen Services was contacted in Jerusalem. Officials called Israeli airport authorities, who assured them that there were no American citizens being held there at that time. The names of Jared and his companion, also a US national, were reportedly not flagged. The official suggested the couple were out having a good time in Tel Aviv and had simply not gotten in touch.

The official also said local police should be contacted if Jared were actually missing, but assured that his contacts at the airport were not holding him. Ma’an staff asked if the official could confirm whether or not Jared and his companion had in fact cleared immigration.

Jared used the mobile of a French traveler admitted to the detention hall at 8:30pm to call his Faith’s sister again and asked a colleague to immediately contact the US Embassy. He said he was being questioned and feared being denied entry into Israel; he provided passport numbers for himself and his fellow traveler.

The US Consulate official was contacted again with the information that Jared was not out in Tel Aviv, but had in fact been in Israeli custody since 11am that morning. The official immediately expressed concern and said he would call his contacts again at the airport.

The official called back at after 9pm and asked for more information on Jared and his fellow traveler: are they married, is she pregnant, is there a Palestinian connection, what newspaper does Jared write for, etc.

The consulate official was informed that Jared worked with Ma’an. He was also informed that while the US, EU and UK fund programs and productions with the Ma’an Network, that staff at each of the consulates consult the English Desk site daily, even hourly, the State of Israel does not recognize Ma’an as a news organization, and therefore denies its journalists press accreditation.

By 11pm, both Jared and Faith were informed that they had been denied entry. Their mobile phones were returned to them for two hours, and then confiscated just after midnight when they were transferred to holding cells.

At 8am, the US consular official was contacted, called security at the airport and was informed that Jared and Faith were set to be deported at 6am on 14 January 2010, on the next direct flight to Prague, where they had been vacationing a week before.

For further comment, please contact:

George Hale (English)
+972(0)52.785-4907

Raed Othman (Arabic)
+972(0)59.925-8704

Hakim Abdul Salah (Hebrew)
+972(0)59.895-1151

Full story

January 13, 2010 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Full Spectrum Dominance, Illegal Occupation, Solidarity and Activism | Leave a comment

NATO forces kill protesters

By Zainullah Stanikzai | RAWA | January 12, 2010

LASHKARGAH: Ten people were killed and 25 others wounded as NATO-led soldiers opened fire on residents protesting civilian deaths and desecration of the Holy Quran in southern Helmand province on Tuesday.

Dwellers of the restive Garmser district said International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers raided the house of a tribal elder, killing three of his family members and torching copies of Quran in a local mosque.

To protest the overnight raid on the residence of tribal elder Haji Qayyum in the Darveshan village, residents staged a demonstration that came under fire from foreign troops, eyewitness Dost Muhammad told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Agha Muhammad, another resident who had come to the provincial capital of Lashkargah, said the people — chanting slogans against international troops — had informed the district chief of their protest. Even then they were fired on by Afghan and foreign soldiers, he claimed.

“Ten protestors were killed and 25 others wounded as a result of firing by the joint force,” he alleged, saying those slightly injured were rushed to the Garmser Civil Hospital. Eleven people with serious injuries were shifted to the provincial capital, he continued.

An employee of the Lashkargah Emergency Hospital confirmed receiving 10 wounded civilians. Two of them are said to be in a critical condition.

A security official, who did not want to be named, confirmed eight deaths and injuries to13 others. The angry demonstrators reportedly turned violent against intelligence operatives, who opened fire on them, he said.

“The protestors were signaled to stop but they ignored the orders. Subsequently, they came under fire,” the source said, disclosing one intelligence agent was also killed and another two injured. He alleged Taliban commander Mullah Naeem had provoked the protestors.

In Kabul, the ISAF Joint Command (IJC) said it was aware of the protests against the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran that took place in Garmser district.

“While denying these allegations, we take them very seriously and support a combined investigation with local Afghan authorities,” said Major Gen. Michael Regner, IJC deputy chief of staff for operations.

“ISAF is an international force that includes Muslim soldiers, and we deplore such an action under any circumstances.” The allegation comes in reference to an operation against the Taliban in the district.

On Sunday, the multinational force said, Afghan forces conducted the operation, supported by coalition troops. The joint force protected the dignity of all innocent civilians during the operation, it insisted

During the protest, an insurgent sniper shot an Afghan official, the statement added. ISAF service members identified the sniper and shot him dead. There were no other injuries or shots fired.

“As partners with the Afghan people, we will thoroughly investigate allegations to determine the facts,” Regner said. “IJC remains committed to our Afghan partners and we will continue our efforts in support of a free and prosperous Afghanistan.”

January 13, 2010 Posted by | Illegal Occupation, Subjugation - Torture, War Crimes | Leave a comment

Farmers prevented from planting trees

13/01/2010 – Hebron –Ma’an– Two Palestinians and one child were injured on Tuesday as Israeli forces prohibited farmers from tending to their land in Safa village in the northern Hebron governorate, solidarity workers said.

“While the farmers were planting olive trees, Israeli forces attacked them and clashes erupted between both sides,” said media spokesman for the Palestine Solidarity Project Mohammad Awad.

Two men sustained injuries from rubber bullets used by Israeli forces and Hisham Al-Khlayel, 5, was taken to hospital to undergo treatment for shock as a result of tear gas used by forces to disperse those present, Awwad said.

An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the incident, saying troops responded to the group of farmers with “riot dispersal means,” after youth threw rocks at the encroaching soldiers. He said there were no reports of injuries or damages, however.

“The IDF responded to the group of Palestinians by preventing them from approaching the area in order to avoid a scuffle,” the spokesman said.

On Monday Israeli forces reportedly prohibited Palestinian farmers from planting 1,500 olive trees in the Abu Ar-Rish area, also in Beit Ummar.

“Despite the decision by an Israeli court allowing Palestinian farmers to work on their lands, Israeli troops banned farmers today from planting [olive trees],” said Awad.

“The troops said that it is a closed military area.”

An Israeli military source said troops operating in the area had been advised that the valley between Beit Ummar and the Bay Ayin settlement was one of high tension, following a series of settler attacks on Palestinians. One Palestinian youth also snuck into the settlement in April and killed a settler youth.

The Israeli military source said the April attack gave Israeli forces a “reason to prevent” farmers from working in the area.

[MaanImages] – http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=253739

January 13, 2010 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, Subjugation - Torture | Leave a comment

Hariri from Turkey: Defending Lebanon is Not Terrorism

Naharnet-AFP | January 11, 2010

Turkey and Lebanon signed Monday a number of cooperation agreements including an accord on visa-free travel between the two countries and other deals envisaging cooperation in the military, agriculture and transport realms.

The signing ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan, at a joint press conference with Hariri, assured support for Lebanon at all levels.

“We are continuing to put pressure on Israel to implement international resolutions and I have asked Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to visit Lebanon,” Erdogan said.

He slammed the Israeli overflights as “unacceptable action that threatens global peace.”

Erdogan said Turkey would supply natural gas and electricity to help meet Lebanon’s energy needs and that the two countries planned a ferry service between their Mediterranean coasts.

Hariri, for his part, said: “We are not advocates of war, but advocates of the return of our stolen land.”

“Defending Lebanon is not an act of terrorism, but attacks on Lebanon are terrorism itself… We have to stand shoulder by shoulder against the enemy’s plans… We have to stop Israel,” said Hariri answering a question.

Hariri hailed Turkey’s improving ties with Arab countries and increased activism in peace efforts in the Middle East.

“We hope and expect Turkey to continue playing a positive role in trying to bring peace,” he said.

Later Monday, Hariri and the accompanying delegation visited the Turkish parliament in the afternoon.

The premier crowned his talks by an evening meeting with the Turkish President Abdullah Gul in presence of Lebanese Ministers Ali al-Shami, Ziad Baroud, Jerban Bassil, Mohammed Jawad Khalifeh, Mohammed Rahhal, Salim Wardeh, and a number of top Turkish officials.

January 13, 2010 Posted by | Illegal Occupation, Solidarity and Activism | Leave a comment

Soldiers Invade Ramallah, Kidnap a Czech Peace Activist

January 11, 2010 22:34 | By Saed Bannoura | IMEMC News

The Israeli Army invaded on Monday at night the center of the West Bank city of Ramallah, and kidnapped a Czech citizen, identified as Eva Nováková, who started her activities as the media coordinator of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) three weeks ago.

The ISM reported that Israeli forces broke into the home of Nováková in Al Manara Square and kidnapped her. The raid was carried out by the Israeli army and members of the OZ Immigration Police.

Soldiers occupied rooftops of nearby buildings and kidnapped Nováková before taking her to the Givon detention center in preparation to deport her to the Czech Republic.

Her attorney, Omar Shatz, said that the Israeli attack was carried out in a city that is under Palestinian control, and added that Israel and its army have no jurisdiction in Ramallah.

He said that the Israeli immigration police are acting illegally by arresting activists for political purposes.

The ISM reported that this invasion follows an extensive arrest wave targeting grassroots activists and oragnizers throughout the West Bank.

Such raids have been conducted in the villages of Bil’in – where 32 residents have been arrested in the past six month, Ni’ilin – where 94 residents have been arrested in the past 18 months, the cities of Nablus and Ramallah and East Jerusalem. The past three weeks have seen raids on ex-ISM bases in both Bil’in and Ni’lin, near Ramallah.

Among those arrested in this recent campaign are five members of the Bil’in Popular Committee have been arrested in suspicion of incitement, including Adeeb Abu Rahmah, who has already been held in detention for almost six months and Bil’in’s Popular Committee coordinator, Abdallah Abu Rahmah, the ISM added.

Israel continues to hold captive dozens of grassroots activists from several Palestinian areas, especially in Ramallah, Nablus and Jayyous. Some of the prominent activists held by Israel are Wael Al Faqeeh from Nablus, Jamal Juma’ from East Jerusalem, Mohammad Othman from Jayyous and member of the Stop The Wall NGO which is involved in nonviolent resistance against the Wall and divestment from Israel.

No charges were brought against the detained activists as they are being held captive under a so-called ‘secret file’. Israel does not show this ‘secret file’ even to the lawyers of the detainees.

January 12, 2010 Posted by | Illegal Occupation, Solidarity and Activism, Subjugation - Torture | Leave a comment

We’re Sailing Again: Join Us!

by Free Gaza Team | 11 January 2010

This spring, the Free Gaza Movement is sending at least six boats to Gaza to break Israel’s illegal blockade on 1.5 million Palestinians. This blockade constitutes an act of collective punishment, a crime prohibited under international humanitarian law. Gaza’s man-made and internationally perpetuated crisis is set to deepen as Egypt builds an Iron wall 30 meters deep   on the southern Rafah border, closing off the final route for Palestinians to get basic supplies.

The urgency of breaking the blockade grows by the day, as Palestinians living in this prison are denied their most basic rights.

Our mission will include two boats committed by a Turkish NGO plus a cargo ship purchased with donations from the Malaysian people. This ship will be loaded with cement, water filtration systems and paper – all essential reconstruction materials denied entry to Gaza by Israel.

Free Gaza’s missions were the first to challenge Israel’s hermetic closing of Gaza when we sailed two small boats into Gaza in August 2008. We did not ask permission of Israel or Egypt to travel to Gaza and sailed directly from international waters into the waters of Gaza. Since then, we have been the catalyst for a growing international movement of civilian advocates, including the Gaza Freedom March and Viva Palestina.

Of course we will face Israel’s illegal naval blockade. But we have broken through it before and we will do it again. We are writing to ask you to make sure the mission is funded and publicized.

We sailed four more successful missions to Gaza since August 2008, and we intend to come back this year with a small flotilla, so you still have time to get boats and come with us. We are calling on all NGOs, human rights organizations and communities around the world to join us. If you already have funding for boats, we can provide the logistical and technical advice on how get them ready to join the flotilla. If you want to help in other ways, we have listed five below.

  1. Fundraise for this trip. Consider organizing a big or small fundraiser in your community. We already have people available to speak at your events. http://www.freegaza.org/speakers. Friends returning from the Gaza Freedom March, or the Viva Palestina convoy can be especially helpful by turning report backs into fundraisers.
  2. Get your community involved and turn this flotilla into a global effort. Our boats will carry building supplies and school supplies, both banned by Israeli authorities. Contribute by donating paper, ink or books for our Right to Read campaign: http://www.freegaza.org/right-to-read. If you can donate reconstruction supplies, please contact us. Get your children and their schools involved by having them write letters to children in Gaza that we will carry on our boats and deliver.
  3. Publicize the trip. Once we have announced the date, help us get the message out to the media and to your elected officials to assure the passengers and boats will sail safely.
  4. Ask your Member of Parliament/Congress to come with us. We already have MPs from South America, South Africa, Malaysia, Turkey and Europe who are going. If you have contacts with other high profile people, please let us know.
  5. Volunteer as land crew, media or support crew in your countries.

To help, organize a fundraiser, suggest passengers and offer support, please email us at friends@freegaza.org, and we will follow up immediately. We have only two to three months to finish organizing, raise the additional funds, and to set sail.

Join us as we sail together to Gaza this spring!

January 12, 2010 Posted by | Illegal Occupation, Solidarity and Activism | Leave a comment

Strip Search, Arrest and Car Detonation at Reikhan Barta’a Checkpoint, Jenin

January 12, 2010 | By Nathan Stokes – IMEMC News & Agencies

A Palestinian man was subjected to a strip search today at the military checkpoint of Reikhan Barta’a, near Jenin in the North of the West Bank, before having his vehicle detonated by border police.

Ma’an News Agency have reported that the car lurched toward the checkpoint, arousing suspicions, and that after being stopped the driver, Mohammed Abu Jazar, was strip searched in front of a crowd of onlookers before being arrested. Following the arrest, his car was detonated.

Witnesses working close to the checkpoint stated that the vehicle was fired upon by Israeli military before coming to a halt.

January 12, 2010 Posted by | Illegal Occupation, Subjugation - Torture | Leave a comment

Interview: Disabled activist continues struggle in Bilin

Live from Palestine, 11 January 2010

Rani Bornat (Multaqa.org)

The Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre recently interviewed Palestinian activist Rani Bornat about his life after being shot by the Israeli army.

Rani Bornat: My name is Rani Abdelfatah Ibrahim Bornat, and I’m 29 years old. I’m from the village of Bilin, west of Ramallah. I was shot in the throat on the first day of the second intifada.

Jody McIntyre: How was your life before you were injured?

RB: Before it happened, my life was like any other young person. I used to study, go horse riding, herd my goats, ride donkeys … do all the things farmers do. My dream was to finish school, but I was deprived of it. I was to become an electronic engineer, and I was also deprived of that. God willing, I will be able to help my children study to become engineers instead.

It was while I was waiting to hear back from universities about continuing my studies, when the al-Aqsa intifada broke out in Palestine …

JM: Tell me about how you were injured.

RB: It was Saturday, 30 September 2000, the first day of the uprising. We marched to one of the checkpoints near Ramallah to protest against Sharon’s entering of the al-Aqsa mosque. It was a nonviolent demonstration, like the ones here in Bilin, with people chanting and holding up posters. But the soldiers didn’t respond with tear gas or rubber bullets, only live ammunition, because it was their aim to kill as many Palestinians as possible.

I wasn’t shot with a normal bullet, but a special “butterfly” bullet, so-called because of the way it spins as it flies through the air. It entered my throat and cut the artery that connects and nourishes my body and brain. Now I have an artificial artery. Because the artery was cut, and I had a blood clot in my brain, they had to tie two ends of the artery together. I had a stroke on my left side, and my right arm was left paralyzed.

It was a very dangerous situation — I was taken to a hospital in Amman, where I stayed for seven months. For the first two months I was in a coma. I was operated on many times … life-threatening operations. Everyday, people were just waiting for the moment I would die. At first, on the news they said I was a martyr; my father heard on the radio that his son had died. Later, they changed the report, and said that I was a “living martyr.”

When I recovered from the coma, I was struggling to speak, I had lost my memory and I couldn’t move my arms or legs.

JM: How did your family and other people from the village react to what had happened?

RB: When the people from the village saw me come home, still alive, they were so happy, because everyone thought that I would die from my injuries. Some of the family were crying with joy! All my friends were coming to visit me and stay with me … sometimes I had to tell them to leave because I was tired and wanted to sleep! I told them to act like before, so that I could continue with my life as normal.

JM: Do you participate in the demonstrations at the wall here in Bilin, or are you too scared after your past experiences?

RB: Firstly, I would like to tell you that I have been shot many times in the demonstrations in Bilin. Secondly, I would like to tell you that the best person to ask is Jody; he will tell you if I’m scared or not!

JM: So you’re a little bit scared?

RB: I’m not scared.

These are peaceful protests; if we don’t fight for our land, then who can? If we don’t fight for the truth, then who can? If we don’t stand side by side and resist this occupation together, then who can? Peaceful demonstrations don’t hurt or kill anybody; they are only there to serve the oppressed. We must tear down this wall, so that we can live with peace … and freedom.

JM: Has your wheelchair ever been broken during a demonstration?

RB: Once, we had a demonstration in Bilin for disabled people, which I organized. Normally, we would protest right up at the wall, but on this occasion, the soldiers started shooting tear gas before we were even within sight. They started to shout that “after today, there will be no more demonstrations in Bilin” … it was because the week before, they had shot an Israeli lawyer who was participating with us. So they wanted to stop the demonstrations because they were afraid of killing Israelis, not Palestinians! But that was a few years ago, so they haven’t done a very good job on the “no more demos” promise …

It was a very powerful symbol of the occupation, to see the Israeli army shooting at the blind and people in wheelchairs. They shot three tear gas canisters at my wheelchair and broke it completely.

JM: Do you think that the Israeli army deal with you differently because you are in a wheelchair?

RB: They treat me exactly the same. They don’t care if I am in a wheelchair or if I’m walking — according to them, I am a threat to the State of Israel, as ridiculous as that may sound.

Maybe they think I want to take revenge for what has happened to me, but I want to tell them that I am a man who wants peace. Even if they destroy my whole life, I only want to make peace.

JM: How do you envision the future?

RB: I am married now, and we have just welcomed three beautiful children, triplets, into the world. I want to start a new life.

Everybody living under the occupation is pessimistic, but I have hope that we can end it. I want to be able to live in freedom, to be able to travel without seeing walls or checkpoints — those are the real things that restrict my movement!

JM: Are you happy to see someone in a wheelchair from London going to demos with you?

RB: When I first saw you, I loved you, because you’re in a wheelchair like me. But it’s not important if you’re in a wheelchair or not … what’s important are the ideas, the resistance, that’s in your mind.

Jody McIntyre is a journalist from the United Kingdom, currently living in the occupied West Bank village of Bilin. Jody has cerebral palsy, and travels in a wheelchair. He writes a blog for Ctrl.Alt.Shift, entitled “Life on Wheels,” which can be found at www.ctrlaltshift.co.uk, where a version of this article was originally published. He can be reached at jody.mcintyre AT gmail DOT com.

Source

January 12, 2010 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Illegal Occupation, Subjugation - Torture | Leave a comment

What next, Viva Palestina?

By Stuart Littlewood

11 January 2010

Mere words cannot express my admiration for Viva Palestina and those who devote their efforts to it. I love the way they shamed – and not for the first time – the great powers and their gutless leaders.

And for his pains the British MP George Galloway has been declared persona non grata in Egypt. How heartbreaking for him.

Given past disagreements, and the stubborn refusal of this latest convoy to be derailed, it was never going to end in hugs and kisses from President Mubarak’s henchmen, or fond messages of “Come ye back soon, George.”

What really matters is that they delivered the life-saving goods when the armies and navies of the so-called “free world” wouldn’t even think about it. And they did it with style in the face of Egypt’s tantrums.

The nervous Egyptian authorities allowed exhausted convoy members only 30 hours inside Gaza to say hello, distribute their aid and take a rest. Sad and wobbly regimes simply cannot handle a few hundred humanitarians so they accuse them of “incitement” and “hostile acts”, and throw them out.

Now we hear grumbles from some activists that criticizing Egypt diverts attention from the real culprit. But Israel’s evil machinations would find little success without the Egyptian government’s cooperation. There should of course be free movement of goods and people through the Gaza-Egypt border. Instead, Mubarak signed up to the US-Israel-EU conspiracy to keep the 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip bottled up and helpless to resist what many are calling a slow genocide. In so doing, Egypt joined the worst offenders against international law, the UN Charter and the codes of decent conduct. It is time the spotlight fell on Cairo even if it means momentarily taking it off Tel Aviv and Washington.

Mubarak has slithered even further into the Middle East swamp of iniquity by constructing an iron Death Wall designed to create a hermetic border seal and inflict even more misery on his Muslim bothers and sisters, and the Christian community.

The Egyptian president is certainly not part of any solution. He has become a problem.

As for Mr Galloway, when can we expect to see him receive an official pat on the back for doing what the British government’s poseurs were too cowardly to do: bringing humanitarian aid to trampled people Britain still has a residual responsibility for?

Mr Galloway speaks of more convoys setting out for Gaza from Venezuela, Malaysia and South Africa. But Egypt has just announced that convoys, regardless of their origin, are no longer welcome. Instead, it is introducing a new “mechanism” whereby all aid for Gaza must in future be handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent as soon as it arrives at the port of El-Arish. It will then be processed and passed on (if you can believe that) to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Nobody trusts the Egyptian authorities to do this in an honest and transparent way. Besides, donors and fund-raisers often have direct links with charitable organizations inside Gaza and the West Bank. They would not wish to see the fruits of their labour and other people’s generosity disappear into some distribution “black hole”.

Britain still blames Hamas for Gaza’s suffering

And what says the British government, which never seems able to get anything right these days?

The Foreign Office’s “clear advice” is against all travel to Gaza. Why, when they should be facilitating travel to Gaza and applying sanctions against anyone who hinders it?

“The suffering of Gazan people is compounded by the violent and irresponsible actions of Hamas,” says the Foreign Office. “We are concerned by the recent upsurge in incidents of Hamas confiscating aid and obstructing the efforts of international aid organizations in Gaza.” We keep hearing these accusations but never proof. Gaza is on a war footing, under crippling blockade and in continual crisis. Hamas, the de facto government, runs the health service and is almost certainly best placed to know where medical supplies are needed most. Obviously they’ll step in when aid arrives.

Viva Palestina are at least as well informed about the situation in Gaza as the Foreign Office. Would convoy activists really go to so much trouble if Hamas was seizing everything they delivered?

Britain, while eagerly offering the services of the Royal Navy to help Israel stop “smuggling” into Gaza, won’t use its ships to spare the Gazans a slow death from starvation and prevent a public health catastrophe.

It is time our servants Brown and Miliband explained, carefully and logically, exactly what their problem is with Gaza and its democratically elected rulers so that the rest of us can try to understand – if indeed there is anything beneath the layers of pro-Israel “crapaganda” worth understanding.

Go by sea

Events now seem to be prodding Viva Palestina to change tack. Perhaps it Is too simplistic to suppose that Gaza needs to be sea-fed like any other coastal community. But should humanitarian relief teams continue to seek access by land crossings that are controlled by militarized thugs bent on destroying Gaza’s population and halting any convoy in its tracks?

Deal direct. Surely that must be the aim. And do it in the name of God. A large armada of boats led by a multi-faith alliance demanding freedom of the seas and the right to an armed escort, could be the best vehicle. The United Nations should provide the necessary security arrangements to check the cargoes as they are landed in Gaza.

It would require considerable courage. Whether religious leaders have the balls for it is doubtful, even when the highest moral purpose is being served, but they might surprise us. A sprinkling of politicians could be relied on but the higher echelons know which side their bread is buttered.

Israel, Egypt, the US and the UK might wish to airbrush Mr Galloway out of the picture, but that’s unthinkable. He’ll be nominated for the next Nobel Peace Prize and seen as a million times more deserving than the fraud in the White House.

Yes, the REAL international community – that’s ordinary folk like you and me and Viva Palestina and everyone and his dog around the globe – are finally beginning to assert themselves against the corrupt power freaks that strut the world stage.

Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. For further information please visit www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk.

January 11, 2010 Posted by | Illegal Occupation, Solidarity and Activism | Leave a comment

Israel demolishes Palestinian homes in WB

Press TV – January 10, 2010

Palestinian sources say Israeli military forces began to demolish their homes in the northern West Bank after evacuating some 40 families from the area.

Five Israeli bulldozers and more than 15 military jeeps stormed the area in the West Bank village of Tana near Nablus on Sunday, Ghassan Daghlas, the Palestinian official in charge of settlement-related issues told Ma’an News Agency.

The army demolished 20 houses and 12 agricultural storehouses.

The owners of the houses said they had appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court of Justice in May 2005 after they received the demolition notices, but were turned down by the courts.

According to Atif Hanini, the mayor of the nearby Beit Furki town, the Tana neighborhood is two kilometers away from an Israeli outpost.

Twenty five Palestinian families were evicted when the military post was positioned in the area in 2005, Hanini said.

January 10, 2010 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation | Leave a comment

Army harassment at peaceful tree-planting in Qaryut

International Solidarity Movement | January 8, 2010

An overwhelming force of Israeli military soldiers converged on farmlands outside Qaryut today as villagers attempted to replenish their endangered lands with water and new olive trees. Despite the overbearing army presence, residents’ convictions were strong enough for them to stand their ground and finish work for the day.

Villagers entered the Qaryut’s eastern farmlands following the midday prayer, carrying 200 baby olive trees donated by Palestinian Agricultural Relief and the Ministry of Agriculture. Facing the busy Nablus – Ramallah Road 60 route, and the Israeli settlements of Shilo and Eli behind them they set to work planting the new trees in the land oft neglected by farmers from fear of settler or army reprisal.

As residents worked the land, others began clearing the large earth mound that had been constructed across the small dirt road serving as Qaryut’s sole link to Road 60. Residents reported Israeli bulldozers shifting the earth mound in to place on January 6th, a repeated attempt of the military to block farmers from their land. The villagers’ work alerted the attention of Shilo settler security, who were sighted on the hilltop overlooking the farmland, photographing the proceedings.

Israeli Occupation Forces arrived soon after. One hummer carrying 20 soldiers immediately entered the area, shouting aggressively at the Palestinians that they had no right to be working their own land.

“I decided to approach the captain,” said Rayed, resident of Qaryut and co-organiser of the event. “He started to yell at me in Hebrew and I told him, this is Palestine. We don’t speak Hebrew here, we speak Arabic – or maybe English.”

The captain became enraged, but switched to English and informed Rayed that he and the villagers must return to their homes within 5 minutes, before the soldiers “started their work.”

“I said to him, what work?” recounts Rayed. “What is your work? To kill us? Well, he became very angry at that. But I told him that we will keep planting our trees, this is all we came here to do. The security of Israel will not be compromised by us planting some trees.”

By this time 11 more military jeeps had arrived, comprising a force of some 50 soldiers in total who quickly surrounded the farmland where the villagers continued to work. The trees planted successfully in the ground, the villagers prepared to leave as once again the soldiers became aggressive.

“They started shouting at us for leave, to go home,” says Rayed. “We were already on our way, but we didn’t need them to yell at us. They looked like they were about to attack. The captain approached me and demanded that we not intefere with the roadblock. I told him that the roadblock prevents tractors from accessing the crops, and that it is obvious the purpose of the roadblocks’ location is to make it easier for the settlers to conquest the land. If it was anything else, they’d put it directly at Road 60.”

The roadblock has been an ongoing impediment to Qaryut’s residents freedom of movement, and preventing farmers from accessing their lands. Several successful demonstrations were held last year when international solidarity activists joined hundreds of local protesters in removing the roadblock by hand, only for military bulldozers to rebuild it the following day.

January 9, 2010 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, Subjugation - Torture | Leave a comment

Calling Bono – Your Palestinian Gandhis Exist … in Graves and Prisons

By Alison Weir | January 8, 2010

Dear Bono,

In your recent column in the New York Times, “Ten for the Next Ten,” you wrote: “I’ll place my hopes on the possibility — however remote at the moment — that…people in places filled with rage and despair, places like the Palestinian territories, will in the days ahead find among them their Gandhi, their King, their Aung San Suu Kyi.”

Your hope has already been fulfilled in the Palestinian territories.

Unfortunately, these Palestinian Gandhis and Kings are being killed and imprisoned.

On the day that your op-ed appeared hoping for such leaders, three were languishing in Israeli prisons. No one knows how long they will be held, nor under what conditions; torture is common in Israeli prisons.

At least 19 Palestinians have been killed in the last six years alone during nonviolent demonstrations against Israel’s apartheid wall that is confiscating Palestinian cropland and imprisoning Palestinian people. Many others have been killed in other parts of the Palestinian territories while taking part in nonviolent activities. Hundreds more have been detained and imprisoned.

Recently Israel has begun a campaign to incarcerate the leaders of this diverse movement of weekly marches and demonstrations taking place in small Palestinian villages far from media attention.

The first Palestinian Gandhi to be rounded up in this recent purge was young Mohammad Othman, taken on Sept. 22 when he was returning home from speaking in Norway about nonviolent strategies to oppose Israeli oppression and land confiscation. He has now been held for 107 days without charges, much of it in solitary confinement.

The second was Abdallah Abu Rahma, a schoolteacher and farmer taken from his home on Dec. 10, the only one to be charged with a crime. After holding him for several days, Israel finally came up with a charge: “illegal weapons possession” – referring to the peace sign he had fashioned out of the spent teargas cartridges and bullets that Israel had shot at nonviolent demonstrators. (One such cartridge pierced the skull of Tristan Anderson, an American who was photographing the aftermath of a nonviolent march, causing part of his right frontal lobe to be removed.)

The third was Jamal Jumah’, a veteran leader in the grassroots struggle, who was taken by Israeli occupation forces on Dec. 16th and is now being held in shackles and often blindfolded during Kafkaesque Israeli military proceedings.

Palestinians have been engaging in nonviolence for decades.

When I was last in Nablus I learned of a massive nonviolent demonstration that had occurred in 2001 – estimates range from 10,000 to 50,000 Palestinian men, women, and children taking part in a nonviolent march. All sectors of Nablus had joined together in organizing this – public officials, diverse parties, religious, secular, Muslim, Christian.

Modeling their action on images of Dr. Martin Luther King, they marched arm-in-arm, believing that Israel would not kill them and that the world would care. They were wrong on both counts. Israeli forces immediately shot six dead and injured many more. And no one even knows about it. At If Americans Knew we are currently working on a video to try to remedy the last part; there’s nothing we can do about the dead.

But there’s a great deal you can do, Bono. You can use your talent and celebrity to tell the world these facts. You can write a New York Times op-ed about the Palestinian Gandhis in Israeli prisons and call for their freedom. You can sing of these Palestinian Martin Luther Kings you wished for, and by singing save their lives.

For the reality is that nonviolence is only as powerful as its visibility to the world. When it is made invisible through its lack of coverage by the New York Times, the Associated Press, CNN, Fox News, et al, its practitioners are in deadly danger, and their efforts to use nonviolence against injustice are doomed.

In the New York Times you publicly proclaimed your belief in nonviolence. Now is your chance to demonstrate your commitment.

* * *

Killed by Israeli forces while demonstrating against the Israeli wall being built on Palestinian land [http://palsolidarity.org/2009/06/7647]

5 June 2009:
Yousef ‘Akil’ Tsadik Srour, 36
Shot in the chest with 0.22 calibre live ammunition during a demonstration against the Wall in Ni’lin.

April 17, 2009:
Basem Abu Rahme, age 29
Shot in the chest with a high-velocity tear gas projectile during a demonstration against the Wall in Bil’in.

December 28, 2008:
Mohammad Khawaja, age 20
Shot in the head with live ammunition during a demonstration in Ni’lin against Israel’s assault on Gaza. Mohammad died in the hospital on December 31, 2009.

December 28, 2008:
Arafat Khawaja, age 22
Shot in the back with live ammunition in Ni’lin during a demonstration against Israel’s assault on Gaza.

July 30, 2008:
Youssef Ahmed Younes Amirah, age 17
Shot in the head with rubber coated bullets during a demonstration against the Wall in Ni’lin. Youssef died of his wounds on August 4, 2008.

July 29, 2008:
Ahmed Husan Youssef Mousa, age 10
Shot dead while he and several friends tried to remove coils of razor wire from land belonging to the village in Ni’lin.

March 2, 2008:
Mahmoud Muhammad Ahmad Masalmeh, age 15
Shot dead when trying to cut the razor wire portion of the Wall in Beit Awwa.

March 28, 2007:
Muhammad Elias Mahmoud ‘Aweideh, age 15
Shot dead during a demonstration against the Wall in Um a-Sharayet – Samiramis.

February 2, 2007:
Taha Muhammad Subhi al-Quljawi, age 16
Shot dead when he and two friends tried to cut the razor wire portion of the Wall in the Qalandiya Refugee Camp. He was wounded in the thigh and died from blood loss after remaining in the field for a long time without treatment.

May 4, 2005:
Jamal Jaber Ibrahim ‘Asi, age 15
Shot dead during a demonstration against the Wall in Beit Liqya.

May 4, 2005:
U’dai Mufid Mahmoud ‘Asi, age 14
Shot dead during a demonstration against the Wall in Beit Liqya.

February 15, 2005:
‘Alaa’ Muhammad ‘Abd a-Rahman Khalil, age 14
Shot dead while throwing stones at an Israeli vehicle driven by private security guards near the Wall in Betunya.

April 18, 2004:
Islam Hashem Rizik Zhahran, age 14
Shot during a demonstration against the Wall in Deir Abu Mash’al. Islam died of his wounds April 28, 2004.

April 18, 2004:
Diaa’ A-Din ‘Abd al-Karim Ibrahim Abu ‘Eid, age 23
Shot dead during a demonstration against the Wall in Biddu.

April 16, 2004:
Hussein Mahmoud ‘Awad ‘Alian, age 17
Shot dead during a demonstration against the Wall in Betunya.

February 26, 2004:
Muhammad Da’ud Saleh Badwan, age 21
Shot during a demonstration against the Wall in Biddu. Muhammad died of his wounds on March 3, 2004.

February 26, 2004:
Abdal Rahman Abu ‘Eid, age 17
Died of a heart attack after teargas projectiles were shot into his home during a demonstration against the Wall in Biddu.

February 26, 2004:
Muhammad Fadel Hashem Rian, age 25
Shot dead during a demonstration against the Wall in Biddu.

– Hide quoted text –
February 26, 2004:
Zakaria Mahmoud ‘Eid Salem, age 28
Shot dead during a demonstration against the Wall in Biddu.

Notes and Sources:

(1) Israeli was first exposed in the West by the London Times in the late 1970s. Foreign Service Journal [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/opinion/03bono.html] wrote about Israeli torture of Americans in June, 2002, and Addameer [http://addameer.info/?p=496] gives specifics today.

(2) Al Haq, the West Bank affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists – Geneva, writes: [http://freemohammadothman.wordpress.com/2010/01/] “…as part of their repression campaign, which coincided with the release of the Goldstone Report, the Israeli forces have re-launched daily dawn raids in villages affected by the Wall, arresting youths and children, for the purpose of extracting confessions about prominent community leaders advocating against the Wall, and continued to intimidate activists by destroying their private property and threatening them with detention. Finally, Israel has directly targeted the Grassroots “Stop the Wall” Campaign [http://stopthewall.org/index.shtml]by arresting and intimidating its leaders…His village, Jayyous, has been devastated by the Apartheid Wall

(3) Human Rights Watch [http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/12/04/israel-end-arbitrary-detention-rights-activist] found that “”The only reasonable conclusion is that Othman is being punished for his peaceful advocacy…”

(4) Abdallah Abu Rahma was taken [http://www.popularstruggle.org/freeabdallah]when “eleven military jeeps surrounded his house, and Israeli soldiers broke the door, extracted Abdallah from his bed, and, after briefly allowing him to say goodbye to his wife Majida and their three children — seven year-old Luma, five year-old Lian and eight month-old baby Laith, they blindfolded him and took him into custody.”

On Jan. 6th Abdallah wrote: [http://palsolidarity.org/2010/01/10429]:

“I mark the beginning of the new decade imprisoned in a military detention camp. Nevertheless, from within the occupation′s holding cell I meet the New Year with determination and hope…. Whether we are confined in the open-air prison that Gaza has been transformed into, in military prisons in the West Bank, or in our own villages surrounded by the Apartheid Wall, arrests and persecution do not weaken us. They only strengthen our commitment to turning 2010 into a year of liberation through unarmed grassroots resistance to the occupation.

“The price I and many others pay in freedom does not deter us. I wish that my two young daughters and baby son would not have to pay this price together with me. But for my son and daughters, for their future, we must continue our struggle for freedom…”

(5) Tristan Anderson was shot [http://palsolidarity.org/2009/03/5324] with a high-velocity canister after photographing a nonviolent protest in Ni’lin on March 13, 2009. His ambulance was held up for a period of time by Israeli forces before finally being allowed to take him to a hospital. Video of parents’ press conference [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcK_4ksR1fw]

(6) Israeli forces interrogated Jamal Juma’ and then “brought him back home, handcuffed, and searched his house while his wife and three children watched. Then they took him off to prison.” – CounterPunch [http://www.counterpunch.org/hijab12242009.html ] Despite being held for 20 days, [http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2152.shtml] no charges have yet been brought against Jamal.

(7) The Nablus march mentioned above took place on March 30, 2001, on Jerusalem Street in the south of Nablus, leading to the Huwara checkpoint. This was on what Palestinians call the “Day of the Land” or “Land Day” (information on Land Day can be seen at http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/255.shtml).

(8) In our study of the Associated Press, “Deadly Distortion,” [http://www.ifamericansknew.org/media/ap-report.html] we commented: “…our analysts looked at hundreds of articles that AP published on topics relating to the Israel/Palestine issue, and noted a number of additional patterns that merit further examination… Nonviolence movement. Palestinian resistance efforts have included numerous nonviolent marches and other activities, many joined by international participants, Israeli citizens, and faith-based groups. This nonviolence movement has been an important topic in the Palestinian territories, with growing numbers of people taking part – in 2004 the Palestinian News Network reported on 79 major demonstrations that were exclusively nonviolent. Yet, we did not find any reports in which AP had described a Palestinian demonstration or other activity as nonviolent or utilizing nonviolence.

Alison Weir is executive director of If Americans Knew, [http://www.ifamericansknew.org/] which provides information about Israel-Palestine. She can be reached at contact@ifamericansknew.org. She phoned and faxed Bono’s management company Principle Management [http://www.fanmail.biz/25157.html] at both their New York and Dublin locations in an effort to contact him but has not yet received a reply. She suggests that others may wish to do this as well: 212.765.2330 / fax: 212.765.2372.

Related articles

January 9, 2010 Posted by | Illegal Occupation, Solidarity and Activism, Subjugation - Torture | , , , , | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »