| 6 & 7 February 2009 |
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| Sunday, 08 February 2009 | |
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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 48 hours to 8am 7 February 2009 Main source of statistics: Palestinian Monitoring Group (PMG). Israeli Army destroys Bedouin homes & other property Ceasefire violation: Fisherman wounded as Israeli Navy attacks fishing boats Ceasefire violation: incursion – crops and farmland bulldozed Ceasefire violation: Israeli air strikes injure 3 people – damage houses Palestinian homes invaded and vandalised by Israeli soldiers Occupation settlers cut down Palestinian olive trees 7 air strikes – 30 attacks – 63 raids – 2 curfews – 1 dead – 15 injuries 25 taken prisoner – 34 detained – 97 restrictions of movement Friday & Saturday Home invasions & occupations: the town of Abu Dis - 03:00, the village of Kafr Dan – Tulkarem - 22:45, the village of Artas - 01:30, Beit Jala - 02:00, the town of Qabatya - the village of As Sawahira ash Sharqiya - the village of Al Jab'a. Friday
Palestinian ceasefire violation: Khan Yunis – dawn, 1 missile fired towards the Green Line. Israeli attack – home invasions – vandalism: Jenin – 02:00, the Israeli Army raided the town of Qabatya, shooting its way into people's homes and detonating stun grenades inside the houses. Two resident were taken prisoner. Israeli attack: Bethlehem – 16:35, Israeli troops in the area of As Sawahira ash Sharqiya (the 'Container') opened fire on people trying to skirt the checkpoint along a side road. Israeli attack: Hebron – 15:45, the Israeli Army shot its way indiscriminately round the village of Abda. Israeli attack – ceasefire violation: Khan Yunis – morning, an Israeli tank fired a shell from a position on the Green Line at an area in the east of the town of Al Qarara. Israeli attack – death: Khan Yunis – 22:30 the Israeli Army opened intensive fire from a position on the Green Line, killing a Resistance fighter, Fu'ad Hamdan, who had approached the Green Line in the Birket Abu Daqqa district of the town of Khuza'a. Israeli attack: Khan Yunis – morning, the Israeli Army opened fire on the Birket Abu Daqqa district of the town of Khuza'a. Curfew: Qalqilya – 16:00, the Israeli Army raided the town of Jayus, imposed a four-hour curfew, and took a person prisoner. Curfew: Bethlehem – 19:45, following an earlier raid on the village of Husasn, Occupation forces raided the village again and imposed a curfew. Abduction: Nablus – 03:30, Israeli soldiers abducted 17-year-old Fakhri Mohammed Hamad in the village of Til. Property violations - theft: Jenin – 00:30, the Israeli Army raided the village of Deir Abu Da'if, ransacked a number of shops and made off with quantities of farm material. Resistance: Jenin – 10:00, political prisoners' families held a sit-in protest in front of the offices of the Red Cross (ICRC) to demand their release from Israeli gaols. Resistance: Hebron – 09:00, political prisoners' families held a sit-in protest in front of the offices of the Red Cross (ICRC) to demand their release from Israeli gaols The demonstrators also demanded the release of cancer sufferer, Fayez Abdul Muhdi Ziyadat. (See political prisoner abuse below.) Occupation settler violence – agricultural sabotage: Qalqilya – 18:30, Israeli militants cut down a number of olive trees in the east of the town of Azzun. Occupation settler violence: Bethlehem – 14:30, a gang of Israelis from the settlement Efrat prevented a delegation from the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture and the Al Khadr Municipal Council from making a field tour of an agricultural road-building project near the settlement. The Israeli militants force the members of the delegations out of the area. Saturday Palestinian attack: Northern Gaza – 09:35, 1 missile fired towards the Green Line. Resistance – injuries – school disruption: Ramallah – 12:30, after an international anti-annexation Wall demonstration had taken place in the town of Ni'lin the Israeli Army mounted a reprisal raid, injuring three people and occupying the roof of a school. A number of other people were overcome by teargas, used by Occupation forces as an offensive weapon. Resistance – injuries: Ramallah – 12:30, the Israeli Army injured two people in an assault on an international anti-annexation Wall demonstration in the village of Bil'in. A number of other protesters were overcome by Israeli teargas. Resistance: Qalqilya – 13:00, one person was taken prisoner as Occupation troops obstructed an anti-annexation Wall demonstration in the town of Jayus. Resistance: Bethlehem – 10:30, the Israeli Army obstructed an international anti-annexation Wall protest in the village of Al Ma’sara, preventing protesters from reaching land to be annexed for the Wall. Two people were detained. Air strikes – injuries – damage: Rafah – 23:00, three people were injured and a number of houses were damaged as Israeli F-16s and helicopter gunships made air strikes on food-smuggling tunnels to the south of the city and on Resistance activists in the east of the city. Israeli attack: Ramallah – 12:20, troops in Beituniya, positioned near Israel's annexation Wall, opened fire and fired stun and teargas grenades at people. The Occupation soldiers complained that stones had been thrown. Israeli attack: Ramallah – 17:00, soldiers manning an Israeli checkpoint at the eastern entrance of Beituniya, near Israel's Ofar Detention and Interrogation Centre, opened fire on civilians, claiming that stones had been thrown. Israeli attack: Jenin – 16:30, the Israeli Army raided Dahiyat Shuweika in Tulkarem, shooting its way round the area and fired stun grenades. Occupation troops also detained a child, claiming that he had thrown stones at Israeli troops. Israeli attack – child & adult injuries: Hebron – 12:30 after Friday prayers, a child and two adults were wounded and seven others were overcome by teargas when the Israeli Army opened fire on people in the Old City and let loose barrages of stun and and teargas grenades at them. The Israelis complained that stones had been thrown at them. Israeli attack – injuries: Hebron – 17:35, three people were wounded when the Israeli Army raided the area of Ras al Arudh. One person was overcome by teargas, used by Israel as an offensive weapon. Israeli attack – economic sabotage: Northern Gaza – morning, Israeli Navy boats opened fire on Palestinian fishing boats and fired missiles at them off the Beit Lahiya coast at As Sudaniya. Israeli attack – economic sabotage: Gaza – Israeli gunboats opened fire on Palestinian fishing boats and fired missiles at them at sea off the city coast. Israeli – agricultural sabotage: Khan Yunis – morning, two Israeli tanks and four bulldozers, with air support provided by helicopter gunships and pilotless aircraft, made an agricultural sabotage incursion into the area around the Abu Reida gate, and bulldozed farmland and crops. Israeli attack: Rafah – morning, the Israeli Army opened intensive fire from the Green Line on Palestinian territory in the east of the city. Israeli attack – injury – economic sabotage: Rafah – 15:00, a Palestinian fisherman was wounded when the Israeli Navy opened intensive fire on Palestinian fishing boats both at sea and onto the city beach. Destruction of homes & property: Jerusalem – in the east of the town of Al Eizariya the Israeli Army demolished a number of shanty houses and livestock shelters belonging to four Bedouin families. Political prisoner abuse: the family of a political prisoner from Jenin refugee camp, Ramzi Waleed Ghareeb, being held in Israel's Ofar Detention and Interrogation Centre, are appealing to human rights organisations and the Red Cross to pressure Israel to release their son. For months, Ghareeb has been suffering from severe abdominal bleeding while the prison authorities repeatedly postponed desperately-needed surgery. Jewish Voice for Peace
Tell your friends to sign the Open Letter to Obama: End the blockade. http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/tellafriend.jsp?tell_a_friend_KEY=3850
Recent news updates: Israel destroyed 14,000 homes, 68 government buildings, 31 NGOs destroyed leaving 600,000 tons of rubble in Gaza. At least 600,000 tons of rubble will need to be cleared before Gaza can be reconstructed, estimated UNDP in a report released Wednesday. The document estimated that 14,000 homes, totaling 2.6 percent of all homes were completely destroyed and 20 percent have sustained light to heavy damage from the fighting. http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=35553 Ethnic cleansing: the village of Khirbet Tana to be razed and the inhabitants expelled. The so-called High Court of Justice issued the final decision relating to Khirbet Tana, east of Nablus city, sanctioning the demolition of the village and the expulsion of the entire population. Khirbet Tana is east of Beit Furik and just west of the Mekhora settlement. The people of the village are primarily shepherds and farmers who established themselves in the area some time ago, and who rely on the nearby springs and shared water sources for their animals and crops. Around 75 families live in the area, residing in older homes as well as in caves. http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/1830.shtml Israeli forces open fire on Palestinian farmers and internationals in Al Faraheen. Israeli soldiers again opened fire on Palestinian farmers and international Human Rights Workers (HRWs) on Thursday, 5 February, as they tried to harvest their parsley. http://palsolidarity.org/2009/02/5065 Bombs, bulldozing & fire. We began our journey and were barely able to reach the town of Abd Rabo. As we drove along, our car dipped to the right and to the left. The ground was rutted from the holes that the Israelis tore into the streets with their bombs, their bulldozing, and their fires. The land was also wounded. A once lush and tranquil neighbourhood had been transformed into hell on earth. Our eyes were filled with nothing but devastation. http://www.counterpunch.org/habeeb02052009.html Pictures from Gaza taken during and after Israel's blitz. MECA (Middle East Children's Alliance) Israel removing from legal documents the names of its soldiers who took part in the Gaza offensive. Removing the names of soldiers in the Israeli army from the arrest warrants they signed during the Israeli war on Gaza is proof of the condemnable nature of their actions, said the Palestinian Prisoners' Studies Centre on Thursday. Israeli forces detained dozens of Gazans during the war, 41 of which were sent to the Negev prison camp. http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=35552 Turkish prosecutor to probe alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza. A Turkish prosecutor's office says it has launched a probe into whether Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip counts as genocide, torture and crimes against humanity. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1062209.html Israeli Navy interference with shipping on the high seas. expels Gaza aid ship crew. The Israeli Navy is accused of beating passengers after seizing a ship delivering aid to besieged Gaza. http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2009/02/20092611429906394.html Further Israeli violations: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L5747856.htm PCHR Weekly Report: On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory No. 05/2009 Homeless Palestinians squeeze into tents in Gaza. HAY AL-SALAM, Gaza Strip, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Thousands of Palestinians are living in tented camps after Israel's three-week assault on the Gaza Strip, hoping for a swift end to Israel's blockade so they can rebuild their homes. Aid workers said on Thursday at least 16,000 people have found temporary accommodation in 10 camps set up in districts laid to waste in a war that local medical officials said left around 1300 Palestinians dead and more than 5000 wounded. http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL4764344 US Campaign: physicians world-wide for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=31818 Self-Defence Against Peace. Did self-defence justify Israel's war on Gaza? Objections have been raised to this claim on grounds of a lack of both proportionality and necessity. To kill over 1000 Palestinians in three weeks, hundreds of them children, and wound thousands more, in order to deter a threat from rockets that did not kill or injure anybody in Israel for the six months the truce was declared by both sides, or even before Israel launched its attack on December 27, is so disproportionate as to be intolerable in any ethical system that holds Palestinian lives equal in value to Israeli lives. It is also so disproportionate as to defy belief that defence against these rockets was the real motive of the war. To ignore the many diplomatic avenues available to avoid even this threat, such as lifting the suffocating 18-month siege, suggests the same thing. http://www.counterpunch.org/mandel02052009.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spanish Court to Investigate Israeli War Crime Associación pro Derechos Humanos de España (APDHE) Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) Press release: Paris, February 4, 2009 - The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Associación pro Derechos Humanos de España (APDHE) and the Palestinian Cente for Human Rights (PCHR) welcome the decision taken on January 29, 2009 by the Central Investigative Judge N°4 of the Spanish National Court, http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/admission_order_propery_translated-1.pdf which receives a complaint concerning crimes committed in Gaza in 2002 and hope that the Israeli authorities will fully co-operate with this investigation. The prosecutor did not appeal ; this decision thus marks the launch of a judicial enquiry into war crimes committed in Gaza in 2002. This investigation targets seven Israeli officials, including:
The facts are related to the events of July 22, 2002, when a one ton bomb aimed at a Hamas official was dropped by an Israeli army F-16 in the Al-Daraj district of Gaza City, killing 14 Palestinian civilians as well as the Hamas leader. Some 150 Palestinians were also wounded. In January 2006 the Israeli Supreme Court stated that the bombing was proportionate to the military objective, which was to assassinate the targeted Hamas leader. On June 24, 2008, six surviving victims of the bombing filed a complaint in Spain, with the support of PCHR, on the basis of universal jurisdiction, in order for the crimes to be investigated and the criminal personal responsibilities of the presumed authors of the crimes be established. "This decision marks an important step in the struggle against impunity for the crimes committed by the Israeli army in the Gaza strip," declared Souhayr Belhassen, President of the FIDH. According to the Spanish legislation, the rules under which universal jurisdiction can be exercised in Spain do not require persons indicted to be present in the country, but, according to the principle of subsidiarity, this enquiry may take place as long as these crimes are not investigated upon in Israel, in conformity with the rules of due process. It was therefore only after having established that the Israeli authorities were not willing to investigate and bring to trial the persons presumed responsible for the death of the Palestinian civilian victims that the Spanish judge asserted his competence. In its decision the Central investigative judge N°4 of the Spanish National Court also issued an international Letter Rogatory and requested that the Israeli and Palestinian authorities co-operate with the enquiry. The Spanish National Court has retained the status of war crime, but has not disregarded the possibility of extending this to crimes against humanity, should the enquiry establish the nature of such qualification. Press contact : Karine Appy/Gaël Grilhot : + 33 1 43 55 25 18 / + 33 1 43 55 14 12 / + 33 1 43 55 90 19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Media Release: Victory for worker solidarity. Issued by Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) The Congress of South African Trade Union is pleased to announce that its members, dock workers belonging to the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) achieved a victory last night when they stood firm by their decision not to offload the Johanna Russ, a ship that was carrying Israeli goods to South Africa. This, despite threats to COSATU members from sections of the pro-Israeli lobby, and despite severe provocation. The Johanna Russ, flying an Antigua flag, is owned by M. Dizengoff and Co., an established "pioneer of the modern era of shipping business in the Middle East" and shipping agent for the ironically named Zim Israel Navigation Company. (Ironic because, last year, the same SATAWU members refused to offload the Chinese ship An Yue Jiang, which was carrying arms and ammunition destined for Robert Mugabe's army.) The worker action last night took place despite attempted subterfuge on the part of the owners of the shipping company. There was an attempt to confound the plan by arriving earlier than originally scheduled, which was 8 February. Dates for the berthing of the Johanna Russ were changed constantly. Yesterday morning, SATAWU members were told that the ship would dock this morning (Friday) at 02:00. Thanks to the vigilance of the dock workers, SATAWU discovered that the ship had docked on Wednesday morning and was due to be offloaded last night at 21:00. But the vigilant workers were on guard and immediately they realised that it had docked, they then refused to handle it, despite pressures from management. SATAWU members maintained their refusal to offload the ship and also attempted to ensure that scab labour would not be used. A few hours after berthing, at 23:00, the Johanna Russ sneaked out of the Durban Harbour. From the beginning of this action, COSATU workers remained resolute about their position and were convinced that, following the recent Israeli massacres in Gaza, they will take determined action against Israel. Israel's terror included flagrant breaches of international law, the bombing of densely populated neighbourhoods, the illegal deployment of chemical white phosphorous, and attacks on schools, ambulances, relief agencies, hospitals, universities and places of worship. COSATU has now decided to intensify its efforts in support of the struggles of the Palestinian people. The worker victory in Durban yesterday spurs COSATU members on to more determined action in order to isolate the Apartheid state of Israel. Other Cosatu unions are currently in discussion about how they might also give effect to Cosatu resolutions on boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel, including a refusal to handle Israeli goods, and continuing pressure on our government to sever diplomatic and trade relations with Israel. The momentum against apartheid Israel has become an irresistible force. We are proud to stand with the millions around the world who say 'Enough is enough'. They are doing what we asked them to do when we faced the apartheid regime in our own country. COSATU and the PSC call on all people of conscience to join us in boycotting Israeli products and institutions until a just, democratic state, with equal rights for all comes into existence in Palestine. This is just the beginning of a solidarity campaign which will continue until the demands of the Palestinian people have been won. For more information, call: Randall Howard (Satawu General Secretary) - 082 564 6298 Patrick Craven (Cosatu) 082 821 7456 Melissa Hoole (PSC) 073 906 0017 Bongani Masuku (Cosatu) 079 499 6419 Salim Vally (PSC) 082 802 5936 Na'eem Jeenah (PSC) 084 574 2674 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Palestinian Resistance Ali Kazak's newsletter Occupied Palestine: News and Articles This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit http://www.sapienspromise.org/ for further news. See this In Occupied Palestine newsletter at: the PHRC website: www.palestine.org.nz the Scottish PSC's website: www.scottishpsc.org.uk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Simpol: Restoring Democracy – Enabling Justice Simultaneous Policy (SP) www.simpol.org Global justice movement Since the atrocities of September 11, 2001, the tolerance of state authorities to street protest or to other forms of protest has become extremely low. Since SP would operate through existing political systems it does not depend on any form of protest but only on the continued upholding of citizens' right to vote. Unlike most other NGOs Simpol could not therefore be accused of being undemocratic, in any way disruptive or of refusing to engage in established political processes. However, this is not to suggest that non-violent protest represents an inappropriate form of action. Indeed, protest is surely vital if world problems are to be brought to wider public attention. But the key point is that, since SP does not depend on protest nor on conventional lobbying, it offers the global justice movement an entirely complementary and potentially highly effective means of pursuing its political objectives. www.simpol.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leslie Bravery Palestine Human Rights Campaign www.palestine.org.nz PO Box 56150 Mt Eden Auckland
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