While the Occupation is business as usual for Israel, there should be no business with Israel

In Occupied Palestine

Zionism in practice

Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Property

24 hours to 8am 01 March 2012

Main source of statistics: Palestinian Monitoring Group (PMG) http://www.nad-plo.org/dailyreports.php

2:40am-4am, Israeli forces shoot their way round the villages of Burqin and Bir Al-Basha

Israeli Army live-fire military training exercise in Al-Shamaliya

Night peace disruption in 4 towns and village

14 raids including 2 attacks

8 taken prisoner – 11 detained – 101 restrictions of movement

Peace disruption raids: 02:40-04:00, Burqin 02:40-04:00, Bir Al-Basha - 09:00, Al-Shamaliya - 11:20, Kufirat - 11:20, Al-Arqa - 23:40, Jenin - 04:30, Qabatya - 11:00, Tayasir - 18:20, Al-Far'a - 08:00, Shufa - 22:30, Tulkarem - 16:45, Al-Bathan - 13:20, Hebron - 18:35, Surif.

Palestinian attacks: none

Israeli attack: Jenin – 02:40-04:00, Israeli forces shot their way round the villages of Burqin and Bir Al-Basha.

Israeli attack: Tubas – 09:00, the Israeli Army carried out a live-fire military training exercise in the Wadi Al-Malah area of Al-Zawahiri Al-Shamaliya.

Recent news updates:

Hamas leader and PM Ismail Haniyeh say all Palestinian leaders have right to visit the Gaza Strip in an undivided Palestine. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=464566

What is a 'Jewish State'? Haaretz / In light of the High Court ruling to strike down the Tal Law, and failed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, it's time to address the definition of a 'Jewish ... http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/what-is-a-jewish-state-1.415908

Lieberman: No withdrawal from Jordan Valley. The Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has affirmed that his government will never relinquish the Jordan Valley. Lieberman said, during a tour of the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea in the company of ministers of his party Yisrael Beiteinu, that the Israeli presence. . http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/lieberman-no-withdrawal-from-jordan-valley/

The Zionist entity is practising deception and disinformation under the guise of the so-called peace process. Islam Times / Dr Maher al-Taher, member of the Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said no political solutions could be reached with the Zionist Occupation. Thus, he called for putting an end to the policy of settlement and negotiations. http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/the-zionist-entity-is-practicing-deception-and-disinformation-under-the-guise-of-the-so-called-peace-process/

Wikileaks: Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities last year. http://mondoweiss.net/2012/03/israel-attacked-nuclear-facilities-in-iran-last-year-wikileaks.html

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Stand by Palestinian political prisoners

From Mazin Qumsiyeh:

http://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/2012/03/palestinian-political-prisoners.html *leave comments here.

It snowed in Palestine and the heavy rain washed away many things but not human sins. I thought of the huge amount of water running by friends of mine in Al-Auja near Jericho who were prevented from capturing that water while illegal colonialist settlers get all the water with all the infrastructure they want. I watched Israeli children play in the snow in a park built on the ruins of a destroyed Palestinian village. I thought of the shivering political prisoners in unheated cells, hundreds of whom are in administrative detention (without charge of trial), who do not know when they will be out in any park. Some sacrificed decades for internationally-recognised struggle to end colonialism and occupation. Today (Saturday) many joined the hunger strike of administrative detainee Hana Al-Shalaby. Below are relevant links and material so that we can stand by those freedom-lovers. But first, two quick items:

1- Many of you asked about the answers to the test for the course I teach on human rights that I posted earlier to the list. After sending it to over 20 people, I decided to post the questions with suggested answers (but of course much more can be said and discussed) here: http://www.qumsiyeh.org/test1/
2- Muslim and non-Muslim to join Jerusalem solidarity http://gm2j.com/main/blog/2012/02/29/muslim-and-non-muslim-to-join-jerusalem-solidarity/ (the Zionist movement mobilised to defame the march by claiming it is an Islamist march. Well, there are many Muslims and also Islamic groups like Hamas that do support the march but also leftist groups and all people who agree that Jerusalem is being slowly transformed and its multi-ethnic, multi-religious character eroded slowly to make it a Jewish Zionist city.

Hana Al-Shalaby entered her 14th day on hunger strike to protest against her unlawful kidnapping and being held in "administrative detention". Profile here http://www.addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=161

Sanaa video on prisoners http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-ZpCsKwZCY
Israel issues third consecutive detention order against prisoner of
conscience Ahmad Qatamesh.

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen/israel-issues-third-consecutive-detention-order-against-prisoner-conscience-ahmad
In my book on Popular Resistance in Palestine: A History of Hope and Empowerment I explained how the women's movement in Palestine was very strong in the 1920s and even successfully lobbied the British government to release Palestinian political prisoners. And on 17 May 1936, prisoners in Nur Shams (3 km east of Tulkarem, made into a refugee camp after 1948) declared a strike and confronted the prison guards. The prison warden, a Mr Grand, ordered soldiers to shoot and one prisoner was killed and several wounded as prisoners shouted in defiance: “Martyrdom better than gaol”. On 9 September 1939, freedom fighters took over Beer Al-Saba' government facilities and released political prisoners from the central prison. Political prisoners in Israeli gaols organised themselves into effective committees, which carried on collective strikes that were especially potent in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Peaceful demonstrators during the 1987-1991 uprising were fined 500-1000 shekels (about $200-400, almost half a year’s pay at the time) and gaoled for 8-12 months (ref.). The ranks of prisoners in Israeli prisons swelled to over 20,000 at one point. In September 1988, the Israeli Army released the number of detainees it held at 23,600 and torture was common (ref.). In total, over 700,000 Palestinians spent time in Israeli gaols.

Israel Radio reported on an open hunger strike by prisoners in the prison camps of Jenin, Ramallah and Nablus who demanded improvement in their deplorable detention conditions (ref.). Ninety prisoners in the Ansar 2 Prison in Gaza engaged in an open hunger strike to protest against the deplorable conditions, especially during the harsh winter season (ref.).

In 13 prisons, prisoners from all factions rejected food and water, starting on 26 September 1992 (ref.). These collective actions forged solidarity and raised the political consciousness of all who participated. Al-Ansar Prison in South Lebanon, where thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese political prisoners were held by Israeli occupation forces, showed incredible acts of resistance and resilience, ranging from hunger strikes to refusal to obey orders to writing (ref.). On 6 December 1998 (and during President Clinton’s visit), over 2000 political prisoners engaged in a hunger strike to press for their release.

Thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli gaols started a hunger
strike that lasted from 15 August to 2 September 2004. During this time, the Israeli authorities tried various methods, from persuasion to threats to beatings, to break the strike and 13 UN agencies operating in the Occupied areas expressed their concern (ref.). Outside the prisons, Palestinians and internationals protested and worked diligently to spread the word about the prisoners’ demands and their plight. It started with the prisoners' families, many of whom joined the hunger strike. Crowds assembled on 16 August 2004 outside local offices of the Red Cross and marched to the Gaza headquarters of the United Nations, where they delivered a letter addressed to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, calling for him to apply pressure on Israel and improve conditions for the prisoners. They demonstrated again, in the thousands, two days later (ref.). The Palestinian National Authority, Palestinians inside the Green Line, and the International Solidarity Movement called for hunger strikes outside the prisons (ref.). The strike slowly gained strength. Then Israel's Public Security Minister Tzahi Hanegbi stated: "Israel will not give in to their demands. They can starve for a day, a month, even starve to death, as far as I am concerned" (ref.) but eventually gave in and recognised some basic humanitarian rights the prisoners were entitled to.

Palestinian female political prisoners in Telmud Prison were mistreated and on 28 November 2004 their spokeswomen who complained about the mistreatment was beaten and punished. When others complained, the prisoners were all punished. They engaged in a hunger strike (ref.). Prisoners continued to use hunger strikes to protest against ill treatment and attention to their plight. For example, on 16 February 2006 Jamal Al Sarahin died in prison. He was a 37-year-old “Administrative detainee” (never charged or brought to trial) who had been detained for eight months prior and badly mistreated. Prisoners declared a one day hunger strike (ref.) and on 11 March 2006, a sit-down strike in front of the ICRC in Hebron was held to demand better treatment for prisoners.

On 27 June 2006, 1200 Palestinian political prisoners in the Negev Desert launched a hunger strike to protest against the arbitrary and oppressive practices of the prison administration. In total, over 700,000 Palestinians have spent time in Israeli gaols and the latest statistics showed that 11,000 are still held, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (ref.) By 2009, Palestinians in Israeli prisons were able to achieve a number of successes by non-violent struggle and civil disobedience, including wearing regular clothes (no orange uniforms), access to news, reasonable visitation rights, better access to health care. But the Prison Administration continues to chip away at those rights (ref.).

The sacrifices of prisoners were highly appreciated: “Prison became a rite of initiation, so much so that if one had not been imprisoned, his or her loyalty might be questioned, and prison records earned by the young replaced the stature once enjoyed by the elders.” (ref.). But more importantly, prison built common bonds and strengthened social cohesion and resistance under occupation. One ex-prisoner stated: "Like any human community, there are contradictions, but there is a common thread in the experience in prison that gives us strength, a common goal, a common purpose. We are joined together in struggle, so our shared experiences only
make us stronger." (ref.)

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD http://qumsiyeh.org

Human Rights newsletter http://lists.qumsiyeh.org/mailman/listinfo/humanrights

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Palestinian Resistance

Ali Kazak's newsletter Today in Palestine contains many news summaries that include both armed and non-violent methods of resistance to the Occupation. The newsletter also contains much other useful reporting. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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Behind the Wall

Rich Wiles is a photographic artist who has been living and working in Palestine for some years. His photographic work has been shown around Europe, the US, Australia and in Palestine itself. Since 2006 he has been writing from Occupied Palestine under the title Behind the Wall. Much of this work is based in and around the refugee camps in Palestine, highlighting daily life and memories of refugees who still live in forced exile for over 60 years since Al Nakba (The Catastrophe). www.richwiles.com

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Visit http://www.sapienspromise.org/ for further news.

See this In Occupied Palestine newsletter at: the PHRC website: www.palestine.org.nz

- and you can check out previous editions by clicking on In Occupied Palestine listed under Contents

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Stop the Violence Coalition

Stop the Violence is a coalition aimed at fighting against Israeli violence and crimes all over the world. The purpose of the coalition is to co-ordinate the efforts of groups and individuals working to protest against the historic and continuing oppression of Palestinian people by the Israeli regime. Our coalition is an independent and non-profit organisation, based in Europe, which was formed as part of a global movement against Israeli apartheid. We can also provide the latest news, articles, photos, events and petitions.

Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Website: www.stoptheviolence.eu

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If you have friends who would also like to receive these newsletters, please ask them to contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Leslie Bravery

Palestine Human Rights Campaign  www.palestine.org.nz

PO Box 56150 Dominion Rd Auckland

Palestine Human Rights Campaign Aotearoa/New Zealand (PHRC)

Declaration

We believe that a just peace in Palestine/Israel depends upon the return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland and the dismantling of the Zionist structure of the state of Israel, recognising that the further partitioning of Palestine in order to create the so-called two-state solution would lead only to further injustice and suffering.

We advocate the primacy of international law, the acceptance of which by the Israeli regime must be the basis for the ending of Israeli military occupation and all forms of ethnic discrimination.

We work to raise awareness of the international community's responsibility for upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the urgent need for the state of Israel to be called to account for its gross abuses of Palestinian human rights.

We call for the establishment of a unitary, secular and democratic state in Palestine/Israel, with full and equal citizenship rights for Palestinians, Israeli Jews and all other ethnic communities.

The Palestine Human Rights Campaign Aotearoa/New Zealand (PHRC) works to raise public awareness of the Palestinian people's struggle to resist Israeli military occupation and Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip. PHRC seeks to bring pressure on the New Zealand Government to join the majority of the international community in requiring Israel to:

• observe all relevant UN Resolutions and Geneva conventions

• cease ethnic discrimination and territorial annexation

• abandon its militarism and violence