No pretense of an excuse for continued Israeli attacks on Gaza
By Eva Bartlett | Rabble | March 13, 2012
In August 2011, when the Israeli army bombed the Gaza Strip for nearly a week, killing 26 and injuring 89 more Palestinians, they at least had a pretext, no matter how transparently false — one which was immediately proven bogus by both their own Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) spokeswoman and subsequent investigations.
Four days ago on March 9, 2012, when the Israeli army assassinated two Palestinians via a precision-fired “drone” (UAV, the technically accurate name) missile, they didn’t even have the pretense of a pretext to cling to. The missile, which hit a car in Gaza City’s Tel el Hawa district, killing two Palestinian resistance fighters, was the first of almost non-stop bombing that has continued throughout Monday. As of Monday evening, the death toll was 25 Palestinians, with another over 80 injured — many with critical, life-threatening injuries — and 3 Israelis injured from the crude, unguided rockets Palestinian resistance fire, with no signs that Israel would cease its murderous campaign. In the first attacks, the IOF assassinated Zuhair al-Qaisi, the secretary general of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), and PRC member Mahmoud Hanani.
Samer, a university student from Beit Hanoun, spoke Monday of the injured he saw at northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan hospital: “The injured I saw there yesterday were all children and women.” Indeed, if the death toll is accurate, while a great many of the assassinated have been resistance fighters, the martyred — and nearly all of the injured — also include civilians, children, and elderly.
In Jabaliya refugee camp, one of the many Israeli bombings on Monday killed 65-year-old Mohammed Mustafa al-Hasumi and his 30-year-old daughter Faiza. Early Monday morning, IOF warplanes targeted the three-storey home of the Hammad family in Ezbet Abed Rabbo, injuring 33, including two critically so, and including nine below the age of 10 years old. Also on Monday, in the Strip’s northern Beit Lahiya, the IOF killed Nayif Qarmout, 14, and injured five other students wounded when the IOF-fired missile hit near them. On Sunday, Israeli bombing in a residential area killed Ayoub Assaliya, 13, and injured his seven-year-old cousin.
The Israeli attacks began Friday with the assassination of resistance fighters who were not participating in acts of resisting the occupation, but rather were travelling through a residential area of Gaza City. Enshrined in international law is the right to resist occupation. In contrast, the targeted assassination of people not engaged in combat is forbidden under international law. Specifically:
Extrajudicial executions are gross violations of universally agreed human rights that enshrine the right to life in accordance with Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and further cemented in Article 6 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights. Extrajudicial executions are acts outside the realm of rule of law and hence deprive the targeted individual(s) of their right to life, as well as the right to defend themselves against charges against them.
According to provisions of IHL, people who live under foreign occupation enjoy special protection under Common Article 3 of the four Geneva Conventions. The Article stipulates that:
“[t]he passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples” are prohibited at all times and in all circumstances. Civilians are moreover protected against acts that constitute collective punishment. Collective punishment, intentional attacks against civilians and extrajudicial executions constitute war crimes in IHL.
Jenny Graham, an Irish citizen living in Gaza City, describes on her blog the pandemonium following the first Israeli attacks on March 9:
A day of bombardment from air, sea and land, The martyred and injured taken to Al Shifa. To the North, South, East and West and everywhere in between, no where escaped. Loud explosions constantly rattled the windows and shook the building.
… not only can Gazans not report their stories, share their fears or spread word of an attack, many can now no longer keep check on friends and family members [due to the 20 hour long power outages throughout the Strip].
… The father of one of the Martyrs sits on the ground outside, oblivious to the crowds surrounding him, his eyes vacant and empty, he will never see the world the same again.
Omar Ghraeib, a 25-year-old Palestinian who blogs when he has electricity, said:
I live in Tel el Hawa, Gaza City. The first bombings last Friday — which ignited the latest escalation — happened in Tel el Hawa. Since then, basically, from south till north Gaza, from east till west, nowhere is safe. They even bombed populated area and high-traffic areas. The bombing affects everyone, including myself and my family; it is not safe to go to work or school. But if I could leave, I wouldn’t! I want to stick with my people here, I am not better than them, and we are all in this together. Some might leave, but the majority won’t leave their lands, houses, and country.
An online letter from various Palestinian civil society groups, including the One Democratic State Group and different BDS groups, reads:
[Gaza has been] bombed by Apache helicopters and F-16 and V-58 fighter planes. Gaza has been enduring Israeli policies of extermination and vandalism since June, 2006. The Palestinian people have already been under siege for more than six years as collective punishment. Israel has turned the Gaza Strip into the largest concentration camp, reminiscent of Bergen Bilsen and Auschwitz, with the largest population of prisoners in the world.
Mahfouz Kabariti, from Gaza City’s port area, says the bombing escapes no area:
“The other day they bombed behind our house, maybe 500 metres away. Three were killed.” But like most Palestinians, he is accustomed to the tragedies of the occupation.
“We are used to this life… but it is the kids dying, that’s the hardest thing.”
Saber al Zaneen, living in Beit Lahiya, said Monday evening:
“The situation is extremely difficult in Gaza It’s very, very dangerous here. There are bombs every five to ten minutes, from warplanes, from zananas (UAVs). Today’s the fourth day we’ve been under Israel’s war … and no one is doing anything to stop it. It’s the beginning of a new war on Gaza, and it already feels as bad as the last war on Gaza in 2008-2009. The Israelis are bombing everywhere again: people’s homes, schools, cemeteries…No one is on the street, everyone is afraid.”
[…]
Finally, and critically, Yaakov Katz in The Jerusalem Post cites statistics that are rarely cited, buried in the pages of Israeli propaganda:
… between September 2005 and May 2007 in which Palestinian armed groups fired 2,700 rockets toward Israel killing four people, Israel fired 14,617 heavy artillery shells into Gaza killing 59 people, including at least 17 children and 12 women. Hundreds more were injured and extensive damage caused.
In 2011, the projectiles fired by the Israeli military into Gaza have been responsible for the death of 108 Palestinians, of which 15 where women or children and the injury of 468 Palestinians of which 143 where women or children. The methods by which these causalities were inflicted by Israeli projectiles breaks down as follows: 57% or 310, were caused by Israeli Aircraft Missile fire, 28% or 150 were from Israeli live ammunition, 11% or 59 were from Israeli tank shells while another 3% or 18 were from Israeli mortar fire.
“To top things off,” Omar Ghareib writes, “Gaza’s Energy Authority announced that Gaza’s only power plant will be shutting down — completely — today, for the third time in a month, because of the lack of fuel. Gaza will sink under darkness again, but will be lit by the Israeli war machines.”
Dr. Hassan Khalaf, Deputy Health Minister in Gaza, said Monday that the combination of the latest Israeli attacks, the prolonged medicines shortage, and the continued lack of electricity meant for a critical health services situation in the Strip:
It is very critical, 180 of 450 of patients’ drug items are at zero stock; 200 of 900 of essential medical items are at zero stock. We lack many essential drugs, including those needed for anesthesia, antibiotics, specialized milk for infants, treatments for neurological conditions like epilepsy, and cancer medications.
No electricity means no medical service. Electricity is the life of medical service, for all machines; the ICU is completely dependent on electricity, as is the operating theatre, kidney dialysis…
In his blog post, “Mowing the lawn”: On Israel’s latest massacre in Gaza and the lies behind it Ali Abunimah links to a video interview with Shifa hospital’s Dr. Ayman Al Sahbani early on in the Israeli attacks, who says:
We don’t know what type of weapon was used. It led to severe burn from the upper torso; severe burn, black. We don ‘t know the type of chemical weapon used, because it is different from the other type of weapons. Used to kill, not to injure, to kill. The twelve martyrs, all of them severe shrapnel, severe injuries, and many of them without heads. In the past we saw burns, but last night, many of them direct trauma, many of them completely without their heads.
Some Palestinians in Gaza fear the worst for future days.
Saber Zaneen said Monday, “People hear rumours that Barack and Netanyahu wants to send tanks in, for a big attack worse than 2008. We have no idea what’s going to happen.”
Posturing in the media, Netanyahu said on Sunday: “We extracted a high price from them and will continue to do so.” On Monday, he said that the Israeli army is “prepared to expand its activities [in the Gaza Strip] as much as is necessary.”
Asking, “is it enough yet?” Jenny Graham writes Monday night of the 25 martyrs and more than 85 wounded, including 27 children, 13 girls and five elderly since Friday evening.
Omar Ghraeib notes what many Gazan Palestinians have said: “The situation in Gaza is unbearable. No one would cope with it, but Gazans do, because they are used to darkness, lack of power, lack of fuel, lack of gas, lack of water, cold weather, and dire conditions. And in addition to all that, we remain under siege.”
A list of Palesitnian martyrs since 2011.
Eva Bartlett is a Canadian and was an International Solidarity Movement member in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead.
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Gaza truce declared as Israel hails new missile defense
Al Akhbar | March 13, 2012
Israel and Islamic Jihad have agreed to a ceasefire after Egypt brokered a “mutual truce” following four days of an Israeli assault on Gaza that left 25 Palestinians dead and at least 80 injured, mostly civilians.
Israeli officials and Islamic Jihad both confirmed that a deal was in place, although they were quick to warn that the agreement would be short lived if the other side stepped out of line.
“There is an understanding, and we are following what’s going on in the field,” Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told Israeli public radio.
“Apparently things are calming down and this round of confrontations appears to be behind us.”
And in Gaza, an Islamic Jihad spokesman said the resistance group was willing to respect the deal if Israel would end its targeted killings of fighters.
“We accept a ceasefire if Israel agrees to apply it by ending its aggressions and assassinations,” Daud Shihab told AFP.
News of the agreement emerged early on Tuesday after Egypt brokered what the Egyptian intelligence official said was a “comprehensive and mutual” truce.
“An agreement on ending the current operations between the two sides, including a halt to assassinations, entered into force at 1:00am,” he told AFP, saying the deal was reached after the Egyptians held “intensive contacts” with both sides.
But the Israel minister denied there was any agreement to halt the military’s campaign of assassinations.
There was no immediate comment from Gaza’s Hamas rulers, who have been relatively silent during the latest round of violence. Hamas did not deploy any of its forces to defend Gaza from attack, nor fire any rockets into Israel in response.
Two Palestinians were killed Monday evening in the latest Israeli attack on Gaza, bringing the death toll in the besieged strip to 25 since Friday, according to medics.
The two men, who were members of the Al-Quds Brigades, were killed in an airstrike on the Shujaiyeh neighborhood, medical officials said.
The latest attacks began Friday evening when Israel killed the head of the Popular Resistance Committees in an airstrike near Gaza City.
Israel routinely carries out airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, and has intensified its campaign in recent months, while Hamas insists on maintaining restraint.
Suspicions of a new war were raised after Israeli army chief Benny Gantz said in December that Israel should launch a “swift and painful” war against Gaza.
Israel’s previous war against Gaza in late 2008 killed at least 1,400 Palestinians and three Israeli non-combatants.
The Jewish state maintains a siege over Gaza and continues to build illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Testing Israel’s Iron Dome
The latest campaign tested Israel’s new Iron Dome short-range air defense system, designed to intercept rockets from Gaza and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
On Monday, 31 rockets headed for urban centers were targeted by Iron Dome, which scored 23 hits, the military said, a 75 percent success rate.
“The system is working very well,” Brigadier General Doron Gavish briefed reporters at one of the batteries in the vicinity of Ashdod, 25kms from the Gaza border.
“Rockets shot at the cities of Israel are being intercepted by the warriors who are operating the system,” said Gavish head of Israel’s national air defenses.
Visiting a battery on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of the system’s “impressive achievements.”
The system, the first of its kind in the world, was developed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems with the help of US funding.
Each battery comprises detection and tracking radar, state-of-the-art fire control software, and three launchers, each with 20 interceptor missiles, military sources said.
The system is later to be deployed along the Lebanese border in the event of a future conflict with Hezbollah.
But a complete deployment is expected to take several years.
(Al-Akhbar, AFP, Reuters)
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Israel TV celebrity, wife of vice PM demands bombing, “suffering” of Gaza civilians
By Ali Abunimah – The Electronic Intifada – 03/12/2012
Israeli talk show personality and socialite wife of Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom has called for escalated bombing of Gaza and for the “passive residents” to be made to “suffer.”
Judy Nir Mozes Shalom, wrote on her Facebook page in Hebrew on Saturday:
I hope that at tomorrow’s cabinet meeting a decision will be accepted to enter Gaza and kill all those responsible for the nightmare that is happening in the south. It’s time even for the passive residents of Gaza to suffer the way the residents of the south are suffering.
Since Friday, Israeli bombing has killed more than 20 people in Gaza and injured dozens more, following an Israeli extrajudicial execution on Friday that set off retaliatory rocket fire by Palestinian armed groups. No Israelis have been. Today, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on “both sides – all sides – to make every effort to restore calm.”
Nir Mozes Shalom’s Facebook post is followed by dozens of other comments by users, many of which support her violent sentiments. [… Hebrew]
Inbal Shalit, for example, responded, “We don’t need to attack Gaza, we need to spray and destroy Gaza!!!! The sooner the better.”
Shalit did not specify with what substance she wanted Gaza to be “sprayed.”
Judy Nir Mozes Shalom frequently takes part in hasbara efforts, including a recent meeting with a delegation from Zionist campaign group One Voice that included former Seinfeld star Jason Alexander.
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5 killed, 46 injured in fourth day of Gaza airstrikes
Ma’an – 12/03/2012
GAZA CITY – Israeli airstrikes killed two Islamic Jihad militants and three civilians on Monday, bringing the death toll since Friday to 23 people, medics and Ma’an’s correspondent said.
An airstrike on Monday afternoon in Beit Lahiya killed Muhammad al-Hasoumi, 65, and his daughter, 30, medical spokesperson in Gaza Abu Salmiya said.
Earlier, hospital officials said a 15-year-old schoolboy was killed in a separate air strike during the day on Monday. Nayif Shaaban Qarmout was killed in Beit Lahiya, north Gaza, Ma’an’s correspondent said.
Witnesses said that the 15-year-old was playing with friends in a play ground near his school when an Israeli missile hit the area.
Five others were injured and taken to Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
Early Monday, two Islamic Jihad militants, Raafat Abu Eid, 24, and Hamadah Salman Abu Mutlaq, 24, were killed in Khan Younis, Ma’an’s correspondent said. Abu Eid was killed when an airstrike targeted a vehicle he was traveling in.
Two other militants sustained injuries and a female passerby was also injured in the attack.
Abu Mutlaq, 24, was killed near a mosque in a village east of Khan Younis after warplanes fired at him. Three others were injured and taken to hospital for treatment.
Earlier, Israeli airstrikes had hit two homes in the northern Gaza Strip, injuring 33 civilians, most of whom were women and children, Abu Salmiya said.
Most sustained moderate injuries, with one critically injured, and were transferred to hospital.
A 17-year-old girl and another man were also injured as Israeli missiles struck a home in Gaza City, Abu Salmiya said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said aircraft had carried out six strikes on Monday. At least 20 rockets have been fired at Israel on Monday, she said.
The army targeted “a weapons storage facility and four rocket launching sites in the northern Gaza Strip, as well as a rocket launching site in the southern Gaza Strip,” a statement said.
Israel’s army denied, however, that there had been any military activity in the northern Gaza Strip at the time of 15-year-old Nayif Shaaban Qarmout’s death.
Gaza’s Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said late Sunday that neighboring Egypt was working to stop the violence and was consulting with militant factions but added that Israel would have to first stop its air strikes.
The latest round of violence flared on Friday when an Israeli airstrike killed two militant leaders in Gaza.
Israel accused them of planning a cross-border attack via Egypt, although an Egyptian official said Sunday that the Sinai is “fully under control.”
“This is an attempt by Israel to give justification for the offensive against Gaza,” he said.
On Sunday, PLO official Hanan Ashrawi strongly condemned Israel’s latest military escalation.
“The Israeli government has acted with impunity for its unilateral violations for far too long. The illegal, cruel siege of the Gaza Strip, along with all other violations of international law must come to an end.”
The PLO official called on the international community to take serious measures to halt Israel’s policy of extrajudicial executions and the continued killing of innocent civilians.
Reuters contributed to this report
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Israeli Forces Open Fire at Gaza Funeral, Injure Five
WAFA | March 10, 2012
GAZA – Israeli forces Saturday opened fire at a funeral held in Jabalia, north of Gaza City, for six Palestinians killed during the recent Israeli shelling injuring five, according to local sources.
They said Israeli tanks stationed at the eastern borders of Gaza opened fire at the funeral when mourners reached the cemetery to bury the six Palestinians.
One of the injured, who were transferred to hospital for treatment, was reported in serious condition.
Israeli attacks kill 12 Palestinians, wound 21
Palestine Information Center – 10/03/2012
GAZA — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) launched a series of air raids on the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours killing 12 Palestinians and wounding 21 others.
The IOF warplanes bombed a civilian car in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza at dawn Saturday killing a 26-year-old man and injuring four others.
Medical sources earlier said that Ahmed Hajjaj died of his wounds suffered in Friday’s raids.
The PIC reporter said that IOF warplanes blasted a house in Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, in a pre-dawn raid that killed two members of the Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement.
He said that the warplanes fired a missile at a house north of Gaza city wounding four people including a child.
IOF artillery shelling on Friday night killed a member of the Quds Brigades while another citizen was wounded.
An earlier aerial raid on Friday night targeted a two-story building in Tufah, a suburb of Gaza city, wounding two citizens.
The fresh Israeli military escalation on the coastal enclave started earlier on Friday when the IOF warplanes assassinated the secretary general of the popular resistance committees, Zuhair Al-Qaisi, and his assistant Mahmoud Hananne, who was deported form the West Bank to Gaza a few years back.
Before midnight Friday IOF warplanes launched five raids on various areas in the Strip while Israeli artillery fired at all eastern areas of Gaza and gunboats fired at the western areas of the enclave.
In response to the fresh Israeli crimes, Palestinian resistance factions fired dozens of crude rockets at nearby Israeli targets.
The Quds Brigades announced that its fighters fired 44 rockets at Israeli positions and settlements adjacent to the Strip in retaliation to the Israeli crimes.
The popular resistance committees’ armed wing, the Nasser Salahuddin Brigades, fired 12 projectiles at Israeli settlements and the armed wing of the Ahrar movement fired ten rockets at similar targets.
Israeli military sources said that the rockets injured a number of settlers and caused material damage.
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Father, Mother, Their Two Children Injured In Israeli Strike On Gaza
The Zaharna family inspect damage to their home. (MaanImages)
By Saed Bannoura | IMEMC & Agencies | February 19, 2012
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported, on Sunday at dawn, that a father, mother and their two children, were wounded when the Israeli army bombarded their home in Gaza City. Two Palestinians were wounded in an earlier strike on Gaza.
The sources stated that the Israeli Air Force fired at least one missile at the house of Ahmad Az-Zaharna, in Gaza’s At-Tuffah neighborhood, wounding the father, Ahmad, in addition to his wife and their two children. They were all moved to the Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza city.
Furthermore, the army bombarded an area east of Gaza city leading to excessive damage but no injuries.
The area is claimed to be a training center for the Al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement.
On Saturday at night, Israeli war-jets fired a number of missiles at a blacksmith workshop in Gaza leading to two injuries among the civilian population.
Eyewitnesses said that the Air Force fired two missiles into the workshop that belong to Ashour family; the workshop is part of the home of the family an issue that led to the injury of two family members, their injuries were described as mild-to-moderate.
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Gaza water and sewer infrastructure displaces neighborhood
By Rami Almeghari | The Electronic Intifada | 13 February 2012
Gaza City – “Many of us women and children have gathered here at this mosque, after bulldozers demolished our homes. Unfortunately, those who displaced us are not the Israelis this time, but our own brothers in Gaza,” said an angry Umm Khaled al-Najjar, 50, as she held her grandson.
Al-Najjar and dozens of other women and children from the Hamami coastal neighborhood in western Gaza City took shelter last Wednesday at the mosque on the al-Rashid road after the demolitions of their homes on the orders of the Gaza municipality and the Gaza Lands Authority.
“They attacked our neighborhood early on Wednesday morning,” al-Najjar told The Electronic Intifada. “A contingent of police including female officers stormed the home and I fainted after the police hit my son in his back. Believe me, what happened is similar to Israeli actions against us for the past four decades, it is unbelievable, unbelievable.” The interview took place on Wednesday afternoon, as bulldozers were still flattening the area.
Abdullah Miqdad is another area resident. An elderly man, he was sitting on the road with many other men from the same demolished neighborhood. Anger, sadness and depression were drawn on the face of Miqdad and his neighbors, as the loud roar of the bulldozers could be heard in the background.
“I am the head of an eight member family and I recall that my father and I, when I was a child, were forced out of the Palestinian town of Hamama back in 1948, when Israeli occupation forces expelled us all from Palestine,” Miqdad said. “I wonder why they have done this excessive thing to us.”
Adel Abu Shiail owned a small grocery shop and house in the area. Both were victims of the bulldozers. “What happened to us has let our tears flow,” Abu Shiail said. “Yes, I cried, for this was my home for many years. I cried for the shop that was my main source of income for me and my five daughters. Where should we go, what should we do now?”
Abu Shiail said that he used to work in Israel, but that became impossible after 2000 due to tightened closures and the store had been his main sustenance.
Local fisherman and resident Ahmad Abu Samaan expressed the shock that many of his neighbors felt: “We never expected that these people, who must be our national authority, would even dare to attack us so brutally and force us out of our homes in which we lived for decades. Why did they do it? Why?”
Official explanations
Gaza authorities say the demolitions are necessary to implement a major traffic improvement project.
At the Gaza municipality building in Gaza City, those responsible for the demolitions were more than happy to provide their own explanation of what was going on.
“We in the municipality have rarely executed such major projects in the coastal city. This is due to the fact that the Israeli blockade of Gaza as well as the frequent Israeli army attacks on the region prevented us doing so,” Hatem al-Sheikh Khaleil, an engineer, said, “This is the first time that we embark on such a large-scale bulldozing as we are going to start a major infrastructure project.”
Khaleil said the project — to widen the 40 kilometer al-Rashid coastal road and install a sewage and water network in the coastal area of western Gaza City — was in cooperation with the Gaza-based Lands Authority and the Palestine Telecommunication Company, under a German grant of €11 million ($14.5 million).
The al-Rashid coastal road is one of two main roads in the Gaza Strip and much of the traffic here relies on it, especially in summer time. The road is too narrow to absorb the traffic of 1.6 million residents of the tiny coastal territory, according to municipal officials in Gaza.
“For the past six months we have been trying to kick off this vital infrastructure project. It is true that Gaza needs a lot of repair from the great damage that the region has suffered due to the Israeli blockade and attacks. So it is also imperative that we start such an internationally-funded project,” Khaleil added.
Over the past five years, the Gaza authorities have been unable to commence reconstruction projects across the coastal enclave due to continued lack of raw materials, caused by the Israeli blockade of Gaza. This is the first time since the blockade that Palestinians in Gaza are able to execute major infrastructure projects.
Compensation
The Palestinian Lands Authority in Gaza told the Electronic Intifada that the fifty displaced families will be transferred to government-owned lands in southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis.
“For the past six months, the Lands Authority sent out several notices to these families to vacate their homes ahead of demolitions,” Amal Shamali, a spokesperson for the Lands Authority said.
“We negotiated with representatives of the families over a land swap in the northern Gaza Strip and near the beach also. The chief of the Lands Authority himself went along with representatives of the families to the Attatra area, but later they refused our offer,” she added.
According to the Lands Authority, the targeted Hamami neighborhood has always been government-owned land and therefore, from an official point of view, the residents were squatters.
“On 17 January, the Hamas-led cabinet in Gaza approved compensation to the residents of the Hamami neighborhood, on which the expansion of the road and the sewage water network will be implemented. The government allocated urgent assistance of $1,500 for each displaced family to rent a home for six months. Also, under the land swap, each family will get a piece of land from 150 square meters to 300 square meters at a discounted price, to be paid by monthly installments for a period of ten years,” Shamali said.
Yet such arrangements were not on the minds of the shocked residents of the now demolished neighborhood.
“At least they should have notified us about the demolitions a few days ago, not come overnight abruptly and start bulldozing our homes. This is so cruel by a government that is supposed to be our own Palestinian national government,” said Adel Abu Shiail, angrily pointing his finger at a bulldozer that had just demolished his store.
The displaced families now face an uncertain future, far from the homes in which many have lived for 63 years.
Rami Almeghari is a journalist and university lecturer based in the Gaza Strip.
~
“Alternative” media sources, including Pacifica radio, reported this story without providing the context shown above under the heading “official explanation”.
Leading Palestinians boycott UN head Ban Ki-moon in Gaza as rebuffed prisoners’ families greet him with shoes
By Ali Abunimah | The Electronic Intifada | February 2, 2012
Leading Palestinian figures including prominent human rights advocates Dr. Eyad Sarraj, and Raji Sourani have boycotted a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Gaza today over the latter’s refusal to meet with the families of Palestinian prisoners.
Meanwhile Palestinians greeted Ban with shoes, beating them on his car as he went by.
In an open letter explaining their decision to boycott the scheduled meeting, the civil society figures explained that they had “made intensive efforts to ensure that representatives of families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails would be part of the delegation that would meet with the Secretary-General.”
But after being rebuffed by Ban, the leaders wrote, “we have regrettably decided to boycott the scheduled meeting with the Secretary-General.”
They added, “We express our strong dissatisfaction towards the Secretary-General’s position, especially as he repeatedly met with the family of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.”
Highlighting the dire conditions faced by Palestinian prisoners, Amnesty International today issued an urgent action alert regarding Khader Adnan, who has been on hunger strike for 49 days continuously since he was detained by Israel on 17 December. He has been held since then without any charge or trial.
This is not the first time Ban operates double standards towards Palestinians, in favor of Israel. Ban has previously given legitimacy to Israel’s blockade of Gaza, even though UN bodies have declared it illegal.
A short time ago, Ban, who is delivering a keynote speech at Israel’s notorious Herzliya conference of military and political leaders, thanked Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak – the architect of the 2008-2009 war on Gaza – for his “generosity” towards Gaza:
@HerzliyaConf
Herzliya Conference #UN Sec-Gen Ban Ki Moon at #HerzliyaConf: “I appreciate Ehud Barak’s generosity towards the #Gaza Population. I ask you for more”
Feb 02 via web Favorite Retweet Reply
The full letter and list of signatories is below.
Meeting of United Nations Secretary-General in Gaza Boycotted
At this time, we were supposed to meet with the United National Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon who is visiting Gaza today. We were also supposed to deliver to him an open letter expressing our demands and expectations from him as a Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Over the past two days, we have made intensive efforts to ensure that representatives of families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails would be part of the delegation that would meet with the Secretary-General.
However, during the preparatory meeting we conducted, with the participation of representatives of families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, we received an unjustified negative response indicating that the Secretary-General refused to meet with representatives of families of prisoners.
Therefore, we have regrettably decided to boycott the scheduled meeting with the Secretary-General.
We express our strong dissatisfaction towards the Secretary-General’s position, especially as he repeatedly met with the family of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
The suffering has not limits, and as the Secretary-General recognized the suffering the Shalit’s family, we expect him to demonstrate concern with the suffering of more than five thousand Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
We will present to you the open letter that we were supposed to deliver to the Secretary-General.
Signatories:
Eyad Sarraj
Chairman of Gaza Community Mental Health Program
Raji Sourani
Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Rawis Shawa
Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council
Mohsen Abu Ramadan
Chairman of the Board of Palestinian NGOs Network – Gaza
Ali Abu Shahla
Businessman
Faisal Shawa
Member of the Board of Bank of Palestine
Sharhabil Zaim
Lawyer
Hamdi Shaqqura
Deputy Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights for Program Affairs
Jamal Khudari
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Islamic University of Gaza
February 02, 2012
Open Letter to United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-Moon
Dear Mr. Ban,
We would like to take this opportunity, first of all, to thank you for returning to the Gaza Strip. It is essential that you see the reality of life in Gaza – and the reality of the longstanding illegal closure – first hand. It is equally essential that you meet the victims of human rights violations, those individuals who look to you for support and protection. In doing so, it is important to note that your previous visits to the Gaza Strip raised high hopes and expectations among the civilian population. To-date, even the most limited of hopes have not been met, generating feelings of frustration and isolation.
As representatives of civil society and a variety of organizations and public figures dedicated to the promotion of human rights and the rule of law, we must take this opportunity to raise a number of issues occurring during your tenure as Secretary-General which have demonstrated a disregard for the fundamental principles of international law.
It is with regret that we express the belief that, in the view of Palestinian civil society, these actions have brought shame upon the United Nations.
The United Nations was founded on the desire to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”, to “reaffirm faith in human rights and the dignity and worth of the human person”, and “to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained.” The UN is an Organization on which millions of individuals throughout the world – including the 1.7 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip – depend, and which countless others trust to uphold international law and to protect human rights: to act in the best interests of individuals. The legitimacy of the UN is dependent on international law. Any action which is contrary to the purpose of the law undermines the legitimacy, the credibility and the effectiveness of the Organization as a whole.
As Secretary-General you are popularly recognized as the ‘guardian of international law’. As such, it is your duty to uphold and promote the rule of law, and to act in the best interests of the individual. Article 100(2) of the UN Charter prohibits Member States from seeking to influence the Secretary-General. This article guarantees to weaker nations and peoples that they will be treated fairly and equally. If this provision is to have any true meaning, it is equally important that, in all circumstances, the Secretary-General treat weaker nations and peoples on the basis of fairness and equality, and not prioritize the interests of the more powerful states. The Secretary-General is required to be neutral and impartial; to act towards the furtherance of the UN Charter and the principles of international law on which it is based.
We firmly believe that it is not the role of the Secretary-General to be ‘politically correct’, but rather to firmly ground all actions in international law – to uphold the principles and purposes of the United Nations, and the principle of universal, fundamental, human rights – no matter what the perceived political difficulties. Unfortunately, with respect to the Israel-Palestine conflict you have repeatedly acted, not to uphold international law and the best interests of victims, but in a manner which can only be described as subservient to the will of powerful States.
For example, in response to serious allegations regarding the perpetration of widespread international crimes during Israel’s 27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009 offensive on the Gaza Strip (Operation Cast Lead) – as documented by numerous UN mandated bodies – you have failed to steadfastly pursue accountability, despite the fact that many of the attacks potentially amounting to international crimes were directed against UN installations, and resulted in the death or injury of UN staff members. In response to the UN Board of Inquiry’s recommendations, which called for investigation into incidents “involving death or injury to UNRWA personnel … and/or physical damage to UNRWA premises that were not included in the Board’s Terms of Reference” and for an investigation into the wider allegations of international humanitarian law violations throughout the course of Israel’s military offensive, you unambiguously stated that “I do not plan any further inquiry.” Such action is simply inconsistent with both the mandate of your office, and a respect for the clear requirements of international law.
Your decision to accept compensation from the Israeli authorities, taken in conjunction with a refusal to pursue criminal accountability – despite the clear recommendations of numerous UN mandated bodies and international human rights organizations – also sends a dangerous message of indifference, both with respect to the lives and well-being of UN staff and the principles of international law. It sends the message that Israel is beyond the reach of accountability. It is noted that your predecessor, Mr. Kofi Anan, stated on the day after the entry into force of the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court that: “[t]here must be no relenting in the fight against impunity.” This surely, must be a guiding principle of the United Nations.
Similarly, the continued involvement of the Secretary-General in the Quartet not only involves a disregard for the requirements of international law, but also raises question regarding potential complicity in such violations. Indeed, it is our belief that the role of the Quartet has contributed to the ‘institutionalization’ of the closure of Gaza – inter alia, through acceptance of the so-called ‘easing’ – in effect legitimizing the collective punishment of 1.7 million civilians.
In its current form this closure has now been in place for over four and a half years, and – as documented by numerous UN agencies – has resulted, inter alia, in the systematic violation of human rights, the de-development of the Gaza Strip, and the creation of a state of dependency. The closure is an unequivocal example of collective punishment – ‘economic warfare’ in the language of Israel’s Military Advocate General – and violates, amongst other provisions, Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. It is noted that, under the terms of the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access, Israel agreed that the crossings “will operate continuously”. The Quartet’s acceptance of the institutionalization of the closure stands in conflict with the clear requirements of international law. The Secretary-General’s continued involvement in the Quartet under such a situation quite simply defies belief.
The Quartet’s decision to impose economic sanctions on the Palestinian Authority in the wake of free and fair elections held in January 2006 amounted to a denial of the fundamental right to self-determination. These sanctions constituted the collective punishment of a population for nothing more than the legitimate expression of democracy. As you can see, the consequences for the human rights situation have been nothing short of disastrous. The UN should have no part in such activity.
Recent developments in the UNRWA operations and presence in the Gaza Strip raise questions about the neutrality and potential political bias of the organization. The former UNRWA Commissioner-General, Karen Abu Zayd, and former UNRWA General Director, John Ging, had their main office in the Gaza Strip and established working contacts with the local government in order to provide the best humanitarian services possible. The current Commissioner-General, Filippo Grandi, however, moved his office to Jerusalem. Additionally, Mr. Grandi and the Acting Director of UNWRWA in Gaza, Christer Nordahl, have cut the existing ties with the government in Gaza. These two factors indicate a politicization of UNRWA’s role, and one which cannot assist in the fulfilment of their vital humanitarian mission.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to highlight the situation of Gazan prisoners detained in Israel. For over 5 years these prisoners have been denied family visitation rights, as well as being subject to treatment which in many instances amounts to torture, or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. It is imperative that you send the clear message that these prisoners are entitled to the equal protection of universal human rights, and that the world will advocate on their behalf. We note that these prisoners have been subject to illegal collective punishment, enacted in response to the detention of Corporal Gilad Shalit. It is essential that you meet with these prisoners’ representatives and family, just as you met with those of Corporal Shalit, underlining the universality of human rights.
We remain committed to the principles of universal human rights, and the rule of law, and express our willingness to assist in any way possible in the pursuit of these goals.
We truly hope that this visit to the Gaza gives you the necessary incentive to stand firm in the quest to uphold the rule of international law. The collective punishment that is Israel’s closure of the Gaza Strip is an unambiguous violation of international law, and a stain on the international community, and in particular the Quartet. It is time for change.
Yours sincerely,
The undersigned;
Eyad Sarraj
Chairman of Gaza Community Mental Health Program
Raji Sourani
Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Rawis Shawa
Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council
Mohsen Abu Ramadan
Chairman of the Board of Palestinian NGOs Network – Gaza
Ali Abu Shahla
Businessman
Faisal Shawa
Member of the Board of Bank of Palestine
Sharhabil Zaim
Lawyer
Hamdi Shaqqura
Deputy Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights for Program Affairs
Jamal Khudari
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Islamic University of Gaza
West Bank couple, deported to Gaza, recount difficult years in Israeli prison
Joe Catron, Gaza City | The Electronic Intifada | 30 January 2012
Obada Saed Bilal and Nili Zahi Safad (Joe Catron)
“This is the life of Palestinian people,” Obada Saed Bilal said one recent morning. “If I hadn’t been detained, I would have been wounded or martyred. I was in detention for over nine years, but I still resist. My marriage and university studies are my ways to keep fighting now.”
Obada and his wife, Nili Zahi Safad, sat in the lobby of the Commodore Gaza Hotel. The Ministry of Detainees in Gaza has temporarily housed them there, along with a number of other former political prisoners who, like Bilal, were freed in the prisoner exchange on 18 October 2011.
Israel forced Bilal, a native of Nablus in the West Bank, to relocate to Gaza following his release, along with 204 other prisoners expelled from their homes in the West Bank.
Safad moved to Gaza shortly after her husband’s arrival. They had been married for only twenty days when his arrest separated them on 16 April 2002.
“I was brutally beaten for two hours,” Bilal said, recalling the 1am military raid in the West Bank village of Aghwar in which he was detained. “Then I was taken to the Petach Tikva detention center in Tel Aviv. They interrogated me for ninety days. This was my most difficult time as a prisoner. I was kept in isolation, handcuffed and blindfolded, and interrogated for about twelve hours every day.”
After his interrogation, the Israeli authorities sent Bilal to Ashkelon, where a military court sentenced him to 26 years.
Isolation
Safad, also a former political prisoner, told a similar story.
“I was detained at a checkpoint,” she said of her arrest on 11 November 2009. “I was returning from Hebron to Nablus, when they arrested me and sent me to detention. They kept me in isolation for ninety days before transferring me to the HaSharon prison for women. About 17 women were detained at HaSharon then; now there are only seven.
“While being interrogated, women are treated exactly like the men,” she added. “We were deprived of food, sleep and even access to the toilet. They shouted insults at us. I was kept handcuffed and blindfolded. Once they chained my hands to the ceiling for four days.”
Bilal and Safad told The Electronic Intifada that their conditions barely improved after they were transferred to prisons following their ninety-day interrogation periods.
“Our daily life was harsh and difficult,” Bilal said. “Our basic human and medical needs were routinely denied. The jailers treated us poorly, the food was awful and we were routinely denied any contact with our families. I wasn’t able to see mine for three years. We were kept handcuffed for ten hours a day, and only given one hour for recreation. Sometimes they punished us by denying even this.”
The Israeli authorities seemed determined to prevent contact with family members inside the prison. “Once I met my two brothers in prison. But when the jailers learned that we were brothers, they separated us,” Bilal said. “And when my wife was arrested, I asked to be placed with her, but the prison administration refused.” Their reunion seemed less likely after Safad completed her sentence and was released on 10 July 2011.
Renewed vows
The authorities also tried to prevent inmates from forming any bonds with each other. “They transferred us among prisons only to confuse us. As soon as we made new friends, they would transfer us again. This was psychological punishment,” Bilal explained.
He had a problem with his eyesight before his arrest, and it became worse in prison. “But they refused to treat it,” he said. “It deteriorated until I couldn’t see at all.”
The International Middle East Media Center reported in late November that there were at least forty persons living with disabilities, such as Bilal’s blindness, among the prisoner population. Many prisoners have died due to systematic medical negligence and torture (“Forty disabled Palestinians are imprisoned by Israel,” 30 November 2011).
Today, Bilal and Safad’s lives go on in a new city, far from their families and community in Nablus.
Bilal, an An-Najah National University public relations student when arrested, has returned to his studies, this time in politics and religion at the Islamic University of Gaza. He and Safad continue supporting Bilal’s brothers, Moad and Othman, both current political prisoners.
The couple also marked the end of their separation by renewing their marriage vows. “We held another wedding party after I was released and my wife came to Gaza, to celebrate our life and resistance,” Bilal said. “This is our message to the world, that we must celebrate our struggle and keep fighting.”
Joe Catron is an international solidarity activist and boycott, divestment, and sanctions organizer in Gaza. He blogs at joecatron.wordpress.com and tweets at @jncatron.
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UK Researchers: Tax Food to Reduce Climate Change
I doubt these professors have anything to fear from a food tax
By Eric Worrall | Watts Up With That? | November 19, 2016
A group of researchers in Oxford University, England have suggested that imposing a massive tax on carbon intensive foods – specifically protein rich foods like meat and dairy – could help combat climate change. […]
This proposal, from a group of people who have probably never missed a meal in their lives, is totally obscene. High income countries often have a lot of poor people who would be hard hit by increases in the price of food.
Needlessly exacerbating the risk poor people don’t get enough to eat, especially children and pregnant mothers, who are especially vulnerable to adverse health impacts from lack of protein in their diet – if this ghastly proposal is ever implemented, future generations will look upon it as a crime against humanity. – Read full article
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