Monday, April 30, 2012

Abbas vows to take prisoners case to UN

Maan News Agency
 

(MaanImages/File)
TUNIS (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas vowed on Monday to raise the case of Palestinians detained by Israel at the United Nations.

Some 2,000 prisoners have been on hunger-strike for over two weeks to protest their conditions in Israeli jails.

Abbas, during an address to the Tunisian Constituent Assembly, said Palestinian leaders will take their situation to the UN, echoing a call by his minister of prisoners affairs on Sunday for the UN to meet urgently on the issue.

"We know supporters of Israel will block such resolution. Nonetheless, we need to raise our voice everywhere because the prisoners’ issue cannot withstand any delay," official PA news agency Wafa quoted the president saying.

Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal also said Sunday the Arab League would petition the United Nations for Palestinian prisoners, after meeting with League chief Nabil al-Arabi in Cairo.

Israeli army 'razes land in northern Gaza'

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Israeli military vehicles crossed into the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, witnesses told Ma'an.

Seven army vehicles including bulldozers entered Gaza north of Beit Hanoun and dug up lands in the border area, they said, adding that gunshots were heard in the area.

Meanwhile, four Israeli vehicles crossed the border east of Beit Hanoun and dug up agricultural lands, onlookers said.

An Israeli army representative did not return a call seeking comment. Maan News Agency

Haniyeh calls for intifada for prisoners

Palestinian women attend a rally to show solidarity with Palestinians prisoners
held in Israeli jails, in Gaza City, on April 30, 2012.
(Reuters/Mohammed Salem)

 
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called on Monday for a new intifada to support Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, who started a mass hunger-strike two weeks ago.

The premier urged Arab and Islamic nations to intervene to support detainees, in remarks at a rally for prisoners in Gaza City.

Haniyeh stressed the unity of the government and the people in support of Palestinian detainees.

Prisoners are our first priority, and all Palestinians are behind them, he said. The prime minister charged human rights groups to "break their silence" to free all Palestinians jailed in Israel.

More than 4,000 Palestinians are imprisoned in Israel, around 320 of them without any charge.

On April 17, marking Palestinian Prisoners Day, at least 1,200 prisoners in Israeli jails launched an open-ended hunger strike, with prisoner groups estimating that 2,000 people are now refusing food.

They are demanding a change in their living conditions, and an end to solitary confinement, night raids and bans on family visits for prisoners from Gaza.

Prison authorities have responded by denying them family visits and separating them from inmates not taking part in the protest.

On Monday, PA ministry of prisoners affairs said a prison chief met imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti and other prisoners' representatives, saying authorities will respond soon to prisoner demands.
Maan News Agency

Palestinian Flags in Israeli City for Nakba Memory

HAIFA, April 30, 2012 (WAFA) – Arab activists residing in the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Haifa in northern Israel launched a campaign on social networks to raise the Palestinian flag on their homes to mark the Nakba, the day Palestinians were uprooted from their homes in Palestine in 1948 and which led to the establishment of Israel.
The move was seen as defiance of attempts by Israeli legislators to pass laws that would make it illegal for Palestinian Arabs in Israel to commemorate the Nakba.
The Facebook campaign, titled “Palestinian flag on every window in Arab Haifa,” generated a lot of support by Haifa’s Arab residents who responded by raising Palestinian flags on windows and balconies days ahead of the May 15 Nakba Day.
The initiative to raise Palestinian flags started with the Israeli celebrations of its establishment according to the Jewish calendar, which coincided on Thursday. Israeli flags were flown across the country on homes, cars and government buildings.
The group raised over 1000 supporters in few days. Participants shared pictures of Palestinian flags raised on Arab homes across Haifa.Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA

John Wight: 2,000 Palestinian Prisoners on Hunger Strike and Zero News Coverage

There are currently 2000 Palestinians on hunger strike in Israeli prisons, though judging by the lack of coverage of the story in the mainstream media you'd never know it. Two of the prisoners involved are now in a critical condition, having been on hunger strike for 60 days and counting. They are protesting prison conditions, including the widespread use of solitary confinement, lack of medical treatment, and most importantly the use by the Israelis of the prisoner category described as administrative detention.
Under this particular category prisoners can be held indefinitely at the behest of the military without any charges being brought, no trial, or even so much as a hearing to be made aware of the evidence against them. Currently, over 300 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons and detentions centers under administrative detention, including six women and six children.
According to the website of the Palestinian prisoner support organization Addameer,
19 of the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike are being kept in solitary confinement. One of those, Ahmad Sa'adat, has been held in isolation for three years and is yet to be charged with a crime.
It is also claimed that the Israeli prison authorities are waging a campaign of punishment against the hunger strikers, which includes daily raids on their cells, the confiscation of personal belongings, cutting their electricity supply, and various other measures deemed illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Back in March Amnesty International called for the immediate release of Hana Shalabi, a female prisoner who was being held under administrative detention and was close to death as a result of the hunger strike she began 37 days prior.
The human rights organization issued a statement on Shalabi's plight.
Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Israeli authorities to release Hana Shalabi and other Palestinians held in administrative detention, unless they are promptly charged with internationally recognizable criminal offences and tried in accordance with international fair trial standards.
Shalabi's case came to international attention. The resulting pressure brought to bear on the Israeli government led to her being released her as part of the prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas involving 1,027 Palestinian detainees in return for Gilad Shalit, who'd been held captive in Gaza after being captured during an operation by members of the Palestinian resistance on an Israeli military position in 2006. Shalit was the only Israeli being detained by the Palestinians, who are now holding no Israelis captive. In contradistinction, the Israelis currently have over 4,000 Palestinians in captivity.
Israeli prisons and military detention camps are primarily located within the 1948 borders of Israel. There are a total of four interrogation centers, as well as secret interrogation facilities, five detention/holding centers, and about 21 prisons in which Palestinians from the Occupied Territories are held. The location of prisons within Israel and the transfer of detainees to locations within the occupying power's territory are illegal under international law and constitute a war crime. Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention explicitly states that "Protected persons accused of offences shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted they shall serve their sentences therein."
Most of the Palestinian Prisoners are being held in detention facilities located outside the Occupied Territories.
Physical abuse and humiliation of the detainee by Israeli forces is common. Based on numerous sworn affidavits, detainees have reported that they have been subjected to attempted murder and rape, thrown down stairs while blindfolded, as well as various other forms of physical abuse. During their arrest, detainees are often forced to strip in public before being taken into custody. Family members have also been forced to remove their clothes during military raids. Mass arrests from homes in entire neighborhoods continue to take place in the Occupied Territories during military incursions. Once bound and blindfolded, the detainee is usually placed on the floor of a military jeep, sometimes face down, for transfer to an interrogation and detention center.
Since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in 1967, over 700,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel. This forms approximately 20 percent of the total Palestinian population in the Occupied Territories. Considering the fact that the majority of those detained are male, the number of Palestinians who've been detained forms approximately 40 percent of the total male Palestinian population of the Occupied Territories.
John Wight: 2,000 Palestinian Prisoners on Hunger Strike and Zero News Coverage

Crew of Gaza fishing boat arrested, say officials

gulftoday.ae | Crew of Gaza fishing boat arrested, say officials

 GAZA CITY: The Israeli navy on Sunday stopped a Palestinian fishing boat off the Gaza coast and arrested those on board, sources on both sides said.

“A Palestinian fishing boat was found outside the limits of Gaza’s fishing zone and the navy took it to (the southern Israeli port of) Ashdod where the crew will be interrogated,” an Israeli military spokeswoman said.

She said the navy had fired warning shots towards the boat but that nobody had been injured.

A spokesman for the Gaza-based Fishermen’s Syndicate confirmed five fishermen had been detained — four of them Palestinians from the same family, and an Egyptian national.

“They were arrested this morning while at sea, and they were taken to Ashdod,” he said.

Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, Gaza was granted a fishing zone of 20 nautical miles, but following the outbreak of a second Palestinian uprising in 2000, Israel cut back on fishermen’s access to the Mediterranean, according to OCHA, the UN humanitarian agency.

Elsewhere in Gaza, the army arrested two men overnight who were caught trying to sneak across the border into southern Israel, the spokeswoman said, indicating they were both unarmed.

B’Tselem: Army was on Training in Village where Resident was Killed

Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA

TEL AVIV, April 30, 2012 (WAFA) – The Israeli human rights organization, B’Tselem, said in a newsletter published Monday that Israeli army units operating in the West Bank village of Kufr Ramun, where a Palestinian resident was shot and killed, were on a training mission and not on an urgent military necessity as claimed by the army.
Soldiers dressed in civilian clothing entered the northern West Bank village on March 27 and while they were in the yard of a local house, residents mistook them for thieves and came out with knives and clubs to confront them.
The soldiers opened fire at the residents, three brothers, killing one and seriously injuring the other two.
The army later said that its soldiers were on an urgent security mission in the village and that when they were attacked, they opened fire at their assailants.
According to B’Tselem, when two undercover soldiers appeared after midnight near the Shawakhah family's house in Kufr Ramun, three of the Shawakhah brothers, fearing thieves, went outside armed with knives and a club, demanding that the strangers identify themselves.
The soldiers shot one brother, the other two brothers then attacked, and the soldiers shot them, too.
Uniformed soldiers arriving next also shot at two of the wounded brothers - one, Rashad Shawakhah, later died in the hospital.
“The soldiers reportedly entered Ramun not for urgent military necessity, but for training purposes,” said B’Tselem. “If true, this suggests gross disdain for Palestinian civilian lives,” it said.
The Israeli organization demanded full investigation into the incident as well as full scrutiny, including of the senior command decision that sent soldiers disguised as civilians into the village.

Israelis Raze Agricultural Land in Gaza, Open Fire at Homes

Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA -
GAZA, April 30, 2012 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Monday razed agricultural land in northern and central Gaza and opened fire at Palestinian houses, according to witnesses.

They told WAFA that four Israeli bulldozers protected by Israeli forces razed agricultural land belonging to Palestinians east of Bureij refugee camp and east of the town of Beit Hanoun and opened fire towards Palestinian houses.

Forces also opened fire at Palestinians farmers east of al-Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported.

IOF soldiers arrest six Palestinians, beat up a child

IOF soldiers arrest six Palestinians, beat up a child



AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up six Palestinians in Al-Khalil and beat up a 10-year-old child in the city on Monday, local sources said.
They said that the soldiers arrested four citizens in Beit Uwa village, to the west of Al-Khalil, after storming their homes.
The sources noted that a Palestinian was arrested in the southern suburbs of Al-Khalil city and another was detained by a special force in Beit Anun village, to the north of Al-Khalil.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Prisoner society challenges Barghouthi confession report

Maan News Agency:



(Reuters/Mohammed Salem, File)
 
RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society Qadura Fares said Saturday that Israeli media reports on the interrogation of Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi failed to prove he confessed to any charge.

Israeli daily Haaretz on Friday reported that records of the leader's questioning by Israeli internal security service Shin Bet show Barghouti giving partial confessions of his awareness of attacks on Israelis, and late President Yasser Arafat's tacit acceptance of attacks.

Barghouthi -- a revered political figure and former presidential candidate -- was convicted by Israel of five counts of murder in 2004, but refused to present a defense, saying the trial was illegitimate.

Fares on Sunday questioned the timing and content of the Haaretz report, ten years after the interrogation took place.

"The Israeli security services, which failed to make Barghouthi give any confessions during four months of interrogation using the ugliest ways of psychological and physical torture, come today with false claims and baseless lies," Fares said.

"If there were such confessions, the Israelis would have disseminated them at that time, and they would have used them for political gains," he added.

"I challenge any Israeli service to show any document or paper of any kind signed by Marwan Barghouthi."

Palestine Video: Nilin weekly demo 20.04.2012

Settlers Attack Local, International Law Professors In Hebron

  by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies 
Extremist Israeli settlers attacked on Friday local and international law professors participating in a conference regarding Palestine’s membership at the United Nations, organized by the Hebron University, in Hebron city, in the southern part of the West Bank.
Israeli Soldiers In Hebron, File - IMEMC News
Israeli Soldiers In Hebron, File - IMEMC News
The professors were touring in Ash-Shallalah Street, next to the illegal settlement outpost of Beit Hadassah.

Palestinian researcher, professors of Refugees Studies at Oxford University, Abbas Shiblaq, stated that “this attack is a proof of the fascist nature of the Israeli occupation and its settlers” who aim at uprooting the Palestinians from their homeland, and a proof that Israel’s policy if based on “voiding the other”.

Shiblaq described the situation in Hebron and the illegal Israeli violations as a system that is deeper and larger than the former apartheid system in Southern Africa. He added that what the media reports about the violations carried out by extremist settlers and Israeli soldiers, in Hebron, barely reflects %5 of what is happening on the ground.

Oxford Law Professor, Professor of International Refugee Law, Goodwin Gill, stated that visited several conflict zones around the world, but never witnessed a situation that is similar to the situation in the Old City of Hebron.

Gill added that Israel’s closure of Palestinian stores, and roads, and its disregard of the basic human rights of the Palestinian people, cannot be comprehended, adding that the Palestinians in Hebron are unable to lead a normal life due to these violations.

“There is no convincing reason that would explain why would they treat ordinary people like this”, he said, “These violations are destroying the daily lives of the people, bit by bit”.

He was also overwhelmed by size and brutality of Israel’s control over the Old City, the settlers’ ongoing attacks against the residents, and the fact that they hurled stones and trash at his delegation.

Member of the Hebron Defense Committee, University professor, Mohammad Al-Jabreeny, and other committee members, informed the visiting professors about the ongoing Israeli violations in the Old City of Hebron, and the increasing Israeli restrictions, especially on the social sector, the shutting down dozens of shops and stores, in addition to the restrictions on the Freedom of Worship at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.

The visiting dignitaries listened to a presentation that explained the devastating effects of Israel’s closure of the Ash-Shuhada Street on its residents, and the residents of Tal Romeida, in addition to the rest of the city.

International Law Professor, head of the Legal Clinic at the Hebron University, Mo’taz Qfeisha, stated after accompanying the visiting professors that he is happy to be part of the Hebron Defense Committee, and part of its legal nonviolent resistance that aim at maintaining and defending the basic human rights of the residents, and exposing Israel’s violations against the Palestinians in the city.
International Middle East Media Center

EU Condemns Eviction of Palestinian Family in East Jerusalem

Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA 

JERUSALEM, April 21, 2012 (WAFA) - The European Union missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah Saturday condemned in a statement the eviction of the Natsheh family from their homes in the all-Arab East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Beit Hanina.
The EU missions said they were “deeply concern by the plans to build a new settlement in the midst of this traditional Palestinian neighbourhood,” said the statement.
Jewish settlers succeeded in taking over two homes of the Natsheh family in Beit Hanina after Israeli police on Wednesday evicted the 14-member family from the homes.
An Israeli court had issued an eviction order against the family on March 1 following claims by the settlers that they had bought the plot the houses were built on.
“Settlements are illegal under international law,” said the EU missions statement.
“The EU further recalls Article 49, paragraph 6, of the Fourth Geneva Convention which states that ‘the Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies,’” it added.
It further stressed that the international community has repeatedly called upon Israel to cease settlement activities.

After Years of Legal Battle, Settlers Ordered to Leave Hebron Building

Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA 

HEBRON, April 21, 2012 (WAFA) – The Hebron Rehabilitation Committee (HRC) Saturday said in a statement that an Israeli court had issued an eviction order against Jewish settlers who had for years occupied a Palestinian-owned building in the Hebron neighborhood of Tel Rumeida.
It said the Israeli settlers took over the building by force several years ago.
HRC said the court finally ruled to evict the settlers from the building owned by the Bakri family by May 15 after a long legal battle in the Israeli courts.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Detainee Khader Adnan Released

author by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies 
The Israeli Prison Authorities on Tuesday night at midnight, Sheikh Adnan Khader, a leader of the Islamic Jihad who went on hunger-strike for 66 consecutive days demanding an end to his illegal detention without charges or trial.
Khader Adnan After His Release - Facebook Page of Palestinian Picture Society
Khader Adnan After His Release - Facebook Page of Palestinian Picture Society
The Maan News Agency reported that Adnan arrived in his home town Arraba, near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, and immediately went to the protest tent installed in solidarity with detainee Ja’far Ez Ed-Deen, who has been on hunger strike since twenty days.

Maan said that hundreds of residents and several political and social leaders marched to Adnan’s home welcoming his and saluting his determination and steadfastness that led to ending his illegal Administrative Detention.

Marking the Palestinian Prisoners Day, April 17, the Palestinian Central Census Bureau and the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees issued a joint release revealing that 201 Palestinians died in Israeli prisons since 1967 due to torture, medical negligence, and by live ammunition. 76 of them died in Israeli prisons since late 2000.

The Bureau added that 4700 detainees are currently imprisoned by Israel, this includes 6 women, 185 children and 27 elected legislators.
International Middle East Media Center

Video: Israeli navy shot at fishing boat with internationals during the night 17 April 2012

Published on Apr 17, 2012 by
Last night I sailed again with the fishermen on a trawler. This time there were with me three internationals. We sailed from the port of Gaza city at about 6.00 pm and we came back at about 6.30 am.
There is shortage of fish inside the 3 miles, and pullution of the water sea, so we decided to go over 3 nautical miles and we arrived at 3,5 nautical miles.
The Israely navy came around us and put his light on and then turned it off disappearing in the dark, so the fishermen could not see its movements.
The Israeli navy started shooting at us. Then an israeli soldier said "Pull on the anchor, if not I will take you to Ashdod"
The Israeli navy kept on shooting at us.
We came back at 3.00 miles.
This is the siege.

Restrictions on the fishing zone are of extreme significance to Palestinian livelihoods.
This area was supposed to be 20 miles according to the Jericho agreements from 1994 (under the Oslo accords),
then it was reduced to 12 miles, to 6 miles and now to 3 miles since January 2009.
The marine 'buffer zone' restricts Gazan fishermen from accessing 85% of Gaza's fishing waters agreed to by Oslo.
Israel has been regularly attacking Palestinian fishermen within the purported 3 nautical mile fishing limit.
The livelihood of many Gazans relies on fishing and Israel has been using live ammunition and water cannons to prevent
fishermen from doing their work.

Israeli municipality renews demand for demolishing Maghareba bridge

 
 
Quds Media Center – Sources -
The Israeli-controlled municipality of Jerusalem has renewed a request for the demolition of the Maghareba bridge at the pretext it was posing danger to the public.
Hebrew paper Ma’ariv said on Tuesday that Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu had previously stopped the earlier demolition process after Egyptian-Jordanian-Palestinianintervention.
It said that the municipality had re-tabled the request at the planning and construction committee to obtain a preliminary approval for the demolition and sent a copy of the request to Netanyahu’s office.
Israeli municipality renews demand for demolishing Maghareba bridge

Report: 201 Palestinians Died in Israeli Jails

Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA 

 RAMALLAH, April 17, 2012 (WAFA) – Marking Prisoner Day, a joint press release by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Prisoners Affairs said Tuesday that a total of 201 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli jails since 1967.

The prisoners died of torture, medical negligence, use of fatal force, premeditated killing and use of shooting, said the press release.

Seven prisoners died in 2007, including five of medical negligence, making it the highest mortality rate among Palestinians in Israeli prisons in one year since 1967.

Around 2,000 Palestinians were arrested since the October prisoners’ exchange deal between Hamas and Israel, at an average of more than 10 arrests per day.

The press release said Israel currently has around 4,700 Palestinians in prison, including six women, 185 minors and 27 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council.

Israel placed over 20,000 Palestinians under administrative detention, without charge or trial, since 2002, of whom 320 prisoner remain in jail till this moment.

In addition, there are 822 Palestinians who are in detention awaiting trial.

- Sent using Google Toolbar

Israel bars Sheikh Raed from entering Jerusalem on return from London

Israel bars Sheikh Raed from entering Jerusalem on return from London
 
 
Quds Media Center – Sources -
The Israeli authorities handed Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic movement in 1948 occupied Palestine, an order banning him from visiting Jerusalem for one month. A spokesman for the Arab organization for human rights told Quds Press on Tuesday that the decision was illegal.
Sheikh Raed returned to his hometown of Um El-Faham on Monday after 10 months in Britain during which he was indulged in legal procedures against the British Home Office’s decision to deport him.
The Sheikh won the legal battle and the decision was reversed by a British court judge, who said in a 29-page ruling that the Home Office Secretary was misled by mistaken information.
Salah was detained few days after his arrival in the UK for a speaking tour and was ordered to leave the country, but he appealed the decision and won

On Palestinian Prisoners Day, the Suffering of Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli Jails Doubles

International Middle East Media Center
by PCHR 
Today, 17 April 2012, marks the Palestinian Prisoners Day, which has been devoted by the Palestinian people to support the cause of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails. Since 1979, Palestinians have commemorated this day, which marks the anniversary of the release of Palestinian prisoners in the first prisoner swap deal of 17 April 1974.
2detainees_bars.jpeg
This year, the Palestinian Prisoners Day comes at a time in which the suffering of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails doubles as a result of violations of their rights. These violations have recently peaked by the forcible transfer and deportation of prisoners, the latest of which was the forcible transfer of a female prisoner, Hanaa Shalabi, to the Gaza Strip on 01 April 2012.

These violations are part of a systematic policy adopted by Israeli occupation authorities against Palestinian prisoners, subjecting them to cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions, denying them access to medical care, constituting medical negligence which has caused deaths; practicing methods of torture against them; placing some of them in solitary confinement; depriving them of family visitation; and banning them from receiving academic education, according to a decision issued by the Israeli Prison Service on 20 July 2011.[1]

According to the figures and statistics PCHR possesses, more than 4,700 Palestinian prisoners are still held in Israeli prisons and detention facilities, mostly inside Israel, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, particularly Article 76 which stipulates that “protected persons accused of offences shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted they shall serve their sentences therein.”

The majority of the Palestinian prisoners are from the West Bank, and they include 9 women and 190 children, as well as 320 prisoners who have been placed under administrative detention; the latter category includes 27 Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and former ministers.

PCHR expresses its utmost concern for the continued deprivation of family visitation of at least 475 Palestinian prisoners from the Gaza Strip, lasting more than five years now and causing deterioration to these prisoners’ psychological and health conditions in violation of international human rights law.

At least 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in a number of Israeli jails are expected to start an open ended hunger strike to pressurize the Israeli Prison Service to heed to their demands, including abolishing the policy of solitary confinement; ending the application of the Shalit Law; stopping attacks against prisoners, providing prisoners with adequate health care; and allowing family visitation to Gazan prisoners. It is worth noting that at least 10 prisoners have been on hunger strike in protest against the policy of administrative detention.

On the Palestinian Prisoners Day, PCHR draws the attention to escalated violations of the rights of Palestinian prisoners and the deterioration of their conditions because of Israel’s insistence to adopt a series of measures against them, which violate human rights principles and the international humanitarian law, which Israel, as a party to the relevant treaties, must respect.

PCHR also draws the attention to the international silence regarding such violations, which proves suspicions towards the international community’s disregard of international humanitarian law.

Since its establishment, PCHR has systematically and continually followed up the cases of thousands of prisoners in Israeli jails. PCHR has provided legal aid to prisoners and their families, and has documented and reported on violations of their rights. In this context:

1. PCHR calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations under the Convention;

2. PCHR calls upon international human rights organizations to follow up cases of Palestinian prisoners and request their governments to exert pressure on Israel to stop its illegal practices against Palestinian prisoners and release them;

3. PCHR calls upon the European Union to activate Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which provides that both sides must respect human rights as a precondition for economic cooperation between the EU states and Israel.

Public Document

**************************************

For more information please call PCHR office in Gaza , Gaza Strip, on +972 8 2824776 - 2825893

For assistance: info@pchrgaza.org

Video: Thousands of Palestinians rally to mark Prisoner's day

Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets across the West Bank and Gaza on Tuesday to commemorate Prisoner's Day. The day was being marked to coincide with the expected release of prisoner, Khader Adnan, an Islamic Jihad member who was assured by Israel that he would be released after going on a 66-day fast to protest his detention without charges.
Palestinians gathered in Arafat Square holding portraits of detained family members and the Palestinian flag in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Residents in the West Bank city of Bethlehem rallied in Manger Square, in front of the Church of the Nativity.
Adnan's expected release comes after Israel guaranteed his release six-month "administrative detention" before his term was over.
Around 2,300 Palestinian prisoners have rejected their daily meal in support of Palestinian Prisoners Day and 1,200 have begun a hunger strike according to a written statement by the Israeli Prisons Authority.

The statement read "The Israeli Prisons Authority has coped with hunger strikes in the past and is prepared to cope with it now."
Human rights attorney Lea Tsemel, who has represented many Palestinian prisoners, said the hunger strikes don't surprise her.

"I see only deterioration in the punishments, in the attitudes, in the interrogations. The law has changed in order to impose more and more pressure on the Palestinian prisoners. Their rights were cut more and more, until today the situation is that prisoners from Gaza don't have family visits at all. Any political prisoner is not allowed to call the family, to have any contact. Prisoners from the West Bank can hardly get visits with the Red Cross," Tsemel said.

"A hunger strike is always the last resort of a person who is under pressure. It's against oneself, it's torturing oneself. It's threatening perhaps in death to oneself. And yet it is the last possibility for the Palestinians to get together and shout out the voice of the prisoners," she added.
Hanna Shalabi of the Islamic Jihad militant group, who was recently deported to Gaza following a 44-day hunger strike, said she fully supports her fellow hunger strikers.

"I regard their steadiness and I support them and all the Palestinians support them to end their suffering in the enemy's prisons. I support their strike to achieve demands and to get their dignity back. And I tell them I hope they will be released soon," Shalabi said as she gave interviews to local media.
Shalabi went on a hunger strike in protest of being held without trial. She was placed in "administrative detention" on Feb. 16.

An Israeli military official said she had agreed to three years in exile in Gaza in return for her release from prison.

Israel says it uses detention without trial to protect intelligence sources in any legal proceedings against a Palestinian suspect. The measure has drawn criticism from human rights groups and the European Union.

By: Nadia Mayen
Al Arabiya with Agencies

Monday, April 16, 2012

Aic Video: Israeli Army Refuseniks- Noam Gur and Alon Gurman

Two Israeli teenagers -- Noam Gur and Alon Gurman -- publicy refused to serve in the Israeli military earlier today. They explained that they refused to join the army because of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and siege on Gaza, and ongoing Israeli crimes committed against Palestinians. A group of Israeli activists demonstrated in front of the military base in Ramat Gan to support their decision. For more information, visit http://alternativenews.org

Israeli soldiers brutally attack palestinians and ISM activists

Zoabi: “Israel Violates Freedoms At A Global Level”

 
 
Quds Media Center – Agencies -
Arab member of Knesset, Hanin Zoabi, stated that Israeli pressures and threats against nonviolent solidarity activists, the Welcome To Palestine campaign, in addition to the German and British cancellation of airline tickets that belong to several activists due to Israeli pressure, are clear indications that Israel considers itself above the law, and gives itself the right to violate international freedoms.
She added that by cancelling the tickets, Germany and Britain are violating the basic rights of their own citizens, especially their right to travel.
“Israel’s long arm is now openly targeting basic human rights, it did not hesitate in attacking its own citizens, Arabs and Jews”, Zoabi stated, “What happened in Europe should be of concern to the International Community; Israel’s policies are now a threat to everyone”.
Zoabi, a member of the Israeli Knesset, strongly denounced the Israeli claims that the peace activists “violated it laws”, and added that the activists are peacefully struggling against injustice, racism, and Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.
She said that “the pathetic Israeli attempts will not deter the peace activists from continuing their legitimate peaceful struggle in support of the Palestinians living under illegal Israeli occupation.
The MK also said that Israel’s paranoia is a clear indication of the effectiveness of international campaigns conducted in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and that “Israel might have succeeded in preventing several activists from entering the country, but its illegal action sheds a light on its true face as a bitter state that fights against nonviolent resistance by all means.
She affirmed that all solidarity campaigns will continue, and will continue to expose Israel’s illegal policies.
“This is what will lead to an increased international solidarity with the Palestinian people” Zoabi concluded, “Israel will never be able to stop these waves of solidarity, it will stand isolated amidst increasing international support to the legitimate Palestinian rights”.
Zoabi: “Israel Violates Freedoms At A Global Level”

Resident Killed, Dozens Injured, In Jenin Clashes

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies 
Local sources in Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank, reported that one resident was killed and dozens were injured, on Saturday, during armed clashes between the Palestinian policemen and a number of gunmen in Bir Al-Basha town.
The slain resident was identified as Amthal Ghannam Ghawadra, a fugitive who was sentenced to a live term.
File - Photo Wattan TV
File - Photo Wattan TV
The Public Relations office of the Police stated that a number of officers went to Bir Al-Basha to apprehend some wanted fugitives, but came under fire the moment they entered the village.

The office added that the police returned fire seriously wounding Amthal before confiscating his gun and moving him to a local hospital where he died of his wounds.

The Police also apprehended another fugitive, identified as Moammar Fayez Ghawadra, who was convicted as an accomplice to murder.

The Police is still heavily deployed in the town, and declared it a closed military zone.
International Middle East Media Center

'Flytilla' Grounded: Israel bars entry for 'Welcome to Palestine' activists #Airflotilla2

Israel has refused entry to dozens of activists who arrived in Tel Aviv as part of an international campaign dubbed 'Welcome to Palestine'. Nine Israeli activists have also been arrested. The organizers say they'd planned peaceful activities like planting trees in the West Bank and have criticized Israel for over-reacting. RT gets the details from Paula Slier in Tel Aviv.

Tribute to my brother Vittorio (Vik) Arrigoni - by Ken O'Keefe

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Pro-Palestinian activists detained in Israel

Major airlines including Air France, Lufthansa, and Swiss Air are being criticised for refusing to let pro-Palestinian activists board flights to Israel. Al Jazeera's Simon McGregor-Wood reports.

Israel fly-in activists arrested #Airflotilla2

Sunday 15 April 2012

Israel deployed hundreds of extra police at Ben-Gurion international airport on Sunday to prevent peaceful protesters from highlighting its brutal occupation of Palestine.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said 27 "activists" from various countries had been stopped and denied entry.
They would be put on return flights, he said, adding that he expected "hundreds more."
When asked why the protesters were considered a threat Mr Rosenfeld answered they were "involved previously in different activities."
Four Israelis were arrested at the airport for unfurling a banner reading: "Welcome to Palestine," the theme of the planned protest, which was to include activities such as planting trees in the West Bank.
Protest organiser Amira Mussalam said that no protesters had yet managed to get out of the airport and to their final destinations in Palestine, which included Ramallah, Hebron and Bethlehem.
"The aim of Welcome to Palestine is that when we have guests coming to Palestine they should be able to say we are going to Palestine and not to lie," he said.
The purpose of the event was to highlight how Israel controls access to the occupied territory, Mr Mussalam said, noting that travellers who wish to visit Palestine are often detained and questioned for hours by Israeli border police and soldiers.
The heavy-handed government response to the protesters - which included sending lists of "suspected activists" to airlines and telling them to kick them off Israel-bound flights and even threatening carriers with unspecified sanctions - is likely to reinforce the protesters' point.
foreigneditor@peoples-press.com
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Friday, April 13, 2012

#Palestine Video: Bil'in Weekly Demo 13.04.2012 By haithmkhatib

PCHR Report: 6 civilians & 2 fighters wounded by Israeli forces this week

author by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News 
In its weekly report on human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) found that Israeli forces Continued Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territories during the week of April 5 – 11, 2012. A Palestinian civilian and two resistance fighters were wounded by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.
Injured protester in Bil'in village (image from Bilin-FFJ)
Injured protester in Bil'in village (image from Bilin-FFJ)
Israeli attacks in the West Bank:

Israeli forces used force to disperse peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. 5 Palestinian civilians, including a journalist, were wounded. Dozens of civilians suffered from tear gas inhalation.

Israeli forces conducted 52 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, during which they abducted 32 Palestinians, including 6 children. A house was damaged and some jewelry was lost during house raids.

Israeli forces established dozens of checkpoints in the West Bank.

Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip:

In the Gaza Strip, on 07 April 2012, two Palestinian resistance fighters were wounded by an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah.

On 08 April, a Palestinian civilian was wounded by Israeli forces while he was collecting junks in the east of Gaza City.

During the reporting period, Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinian agricultural and residential areas in the northern and southern Gaza Strip. No casualties were reported.

Israeli gunboats also opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats in the northern Gaza Strip 3 times.

Israeli forces conducted three limited incursions into the Gaza Strip.

Israel has continued to impose a total closure and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.

For the full text of the report, click on the link below:
 Link(s): http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_...d=183
 International Middle East Media Center: -

Video: Children of prisoners held in Israeli jails releasing balloons in Gaza

Published on Apr 12, 2012 by
Children of prisoners held in Israeli jails gathered outside the International Red Cross in Gaza City, drew pictures and wrote messages, and tied them to balloons to release them, along with their hopes that they would float to Israel, and be received by their fathers.

PressTV - Israeli occupation of Karm Abu Salem crossing affects Gaza eco...

Performance by Palestinian children to remember Vittorio Arrigoni, Beit ...

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Video: Conference Participants Attacked by Border Police in Hebron

Israeli Border Police officers attacked and arrested Palestinian and international participants in the 7th International Bil'in Conference on the Palestinian Popular Struggle during a tour of the Old City of Hebron

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Aic Video: Deir Yassin Commemoration #Palestine

IOF raids the house of Bilal & Manal Tamimi in NabiSaleh 9-4-2012 night.m4v

Iranian Source: “Israeli Terrorist Cell Captured In Tehran”

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies 
The Iranian “Islamic Republic News Agency” (IRNA) reported that the Ministry of Intelligence captured, on Tuesday, what it called “an Israeli terrorist cell that planned terrorist operations in the country”.
Image - farsnews.com
Image - farsnews.com
IRNA said that all members of the cell were apprehended after being identified by the Iranian Security Forces.

The agency added cell members “planned to carry out terrorist attacks in Iran, but were all apprehended before they managed to carry their plans out”.

In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry said stated that its forces “have discovered one of the biggest terror and sabotage networks of the Quds Occupying Regime (Israel) and protected cells of its operatives and arrested groups of criminal terrorists and mercenaries cooperating with them”.

Iran said that the intelligence forces carried out sophisticated operations in several provinces of the country along the border, and in central areas.

Meanwhile, the FARS Iranian News Agency said that the “months-long complicated measures” led to identifying what it called “the Zionists’ regional command center in one of the regional countries”.

FARS added that several operating cells were also apprehended while planning for new attacks.

The agency quoted the Intelligence Ministry stating that large caches of weapons, ammunition, and military communication equipment were also seized.

The Ministry said that it will not be able, at the current time, to reveal further information due to security considerations, but said that the public will be informed at a later stage.

It is worth mentioning that four Iranian nuclear scientists were assassinated in Iran, in recent years; Tehran accused the United States and Israel of standing behind these assassinations.

On its part, Israel accused Iran of standing behind the bombing of Israeli targets in India and the attempt to attack other Israeli targets in Georgia and Thailand. Some reports recently claimed that Iran is also planning to attack Israelis in Turkey.
 International Middle East Media Center

ADDAMEER - MOHAMMED SULEIMAN is refusing his medical treatment in protest of administrative detention

MOHAMMED SULEIMAN

Date of birth: 16 July 1985
Place of residence: 'Arura, north of Ramallah
Occupation: Researcher
Marital status: Married with one child
Date of Arrest: 18 April 2011
Place of detention: Ofer Prison
Number of administrative detention orders to date: 3
Expected end of current administrative detention: October 2012
ARREST
Mohammed Suleiman was arrested on 18 April 2011 at 2:00 a.m. when Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) soldiers accompanied by an Israeli intelligence officer arrived at his family home in 'Arura. Without presenting a search or arrest warrant, the soldiers announced that Mohammed was under arrest. Mohammed suffers from a blood disorder called thalassemia, which is genetic, and has resulted in anemia. During his arrest, the soldiers ordered Mohammed to bring his medicine with him, while his mother pleaded on behalf of his medical condition. When she asked the soldiers why they were taking him, the intelligence officer sarcastically replied that they wanted to take care of his health.
Mohammed was subsequently transferred to Ofer Prison, where he underwent the standard series of medical tests that prisoners receive upon admission. The prison doctor refused to admit him, however, arguing that he should be sent to a hospital because of the severity of his condition. Instead, Mohammed was transferred to Etzion detention center for three days, during which time he was taken to Shaare Zedek hospital to complete additional medical tests. After that, Mohammed was transferred back to Ofer Prison. Despite his medical condition, he was not taken back to a hospital for 18 days when he was finally transferred to Ramleh Prison Hospital. Mohammed spent 50 days in Ramleh hospital, but according to him, conditions at the hospital were no better than conditions at Ofer, and he preferred returning to Ofer where he shares a cell with his father, who is also currently detained.
                   
ADMINISTRATIVE DETENTION ORDER
Mohammed was interrogated for only one day, on 21 April 2011, with interrogators accusing him of being active in Hamas, an allegation that he denies. A day later, on 22 April 2011, Mohammed received an administrative detention order for 6 months, due to expire on 18 October 2011. During the judicial review hearing, held on 28 April, the military prosecutor claimed that Israeli authorities had been collecting information for the secret file on Mohammed since 2009, but recently decided to arrest him when they received “more serious” information. They also claimed that he is a “military activist” but did not explain what this might entail or mean.
As with all other administrative detainees, Mohammed’s detention was based on secret information collected by the Israeli Security Agency (ISA), available to the military judge reviewing his detention orders but not to Mohammed or his lawyer. Judge Shimon Ashoial refused to disclose any information from Mohammed’s confidential file, stating that it would pose a security risk, and continued to claim that Mohammed had participated in military activities before his arrest. He then confirmed the full 6-month administrative detention order issued by the military commander.
Mohammed’s lawyer decided to file an appeal against Mohammed’s detention, insisting that the secret file contains information on an entirely different individual since it alleges that he is a Hamas member. In fact, Mohammed is widely known as a Fatah supporter, and was even elected in 'Aroura in 2009 as part of the Fatah party. Furthermore, he was a board member in the Fatah Organizing Committee, further evidence that he is not a Hamas member. Nevertheless, on 24 May 2011, Judge Nisim Srousi rejected the appeal, stating that the secret file contained “dangerous” information. During the hearings, Israeli intelligence officials and the military prosecutor made no effort to substantiate the suspicions against Mohammed. The judge’s refusal to disclose information from Mohammed’s file violates international humanitarian law, which permits some limited use of administrative detention in emergency situations, but requires that the authorities follow basic rules for detention, including a fair hearing at which the detainee can challenge the reasons for his or her detention. These minimum rules of due process were clearly violated in Mohammed’s case, leaving him without any legitimate means to defend himself. Furthermore, Mohammed’s case reveals the role of judges in the Israeli military court system as designed to give legitimacy to military orders, rather than providing an actual judicial review of each case. Mohammed’s lawyer planned to bring an appeal to the Israeli High Court of Justice, but decided not to after being informed by the judge on 5 July 2011 that it would be rejected, further exposing the Israeli authorities’ predetermination to keep Mohammed in administrative detention.
On 17 October, Mohammed’s administrative detention order was renewed for another six months, due to expire on 17 April 2012. On 2 April, Mohammed’s administrative detention order was renewed for another six months.
HEALTH
In addition to being denied his basic rights to due process, Mohammed has also been the victim of medical neglect since being in detention. He suffers from thalassemia and chronic anemia, which require him to have blood transfusions every two to three weeks, as confirmed by the medical report of the Palestinian Medical Campus and the doctors at the Association of Friends of Patients of Thalassemia in Ramallah. As a result of his frequent blood transfusions, Mohammed’s blood contains high levels of iron, which has led to a sustained weakness of his heart muscle. Before his arrest, Mohammed therefore went through a daily process of intravenously injecting a medication called Desferal for 8 to 10 hours a day in order to remove some of the iron from his body. Without this, the iron excess would disable cell functions and cause a disruption in his hormonal functions, as well as loss of function in the heart, liver, and skin. For patients with this condition, it is vital to take Desferal on a regular basis. Mohammed also needs to test his kidney, liver, and heart functions every three months or whenever deemed appropriate by his doctor.
Since his arrest, Mohammed has been transferred every month to the hospital to receive blood transfusions. With regard to medication, however, Mohammed has irregularly been taking Exjade, an oral and much more expensive alternative to Desferal, since taking Desferal on a daily basis is a complicated and lengthy process that cannot practically be implemented in prison. The Exjade he has been taking was his own, and since he only had limited supplies, he has now asked the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) to provide him with this medication. The IPS, however, has refused to provide him with Exjade, instead insisting that he take another equivalent, but cheaper medicine or pay for the Exjade from his personal canteen account. As a result, Mohammed’s family has to bear the financial burden of sending him Exjade every month. On 15 July 2011, Mohammed underwent medical tests at Shaare Zedek hospital that confirmed that he now suffers from an enlarged heart and liver, likely the result of his irregular use of Exjade.
It is Israel’s responsibility to provide adequate medical care to all prisoners it has under its care. Article 91 of the Fourth Geneva Convention notably specifies that an Occupying Power is obligated to provide necessary treatment to administrative detainees free of charge. The inadequate treatment of Mohammed’s condition and numerous additional cases of medical neglect reveal that Israel is in clear breach of these international standards.
On 3 April, after receiving another six-month administrative detention order and amid hunger strikes by other administrative detainees, Mohammed decided to stop taking his medication in protest of his ongoing administrative detention. He is also refusing to take blood tests at Ramleh Prison Hospital.
MOHAMMED’S FAMILY
Mohammed’s family has been consistently targeted for arrest. His father was arrested on 16 October 2010, and is currently serving an18-month sentence at Ofer Prison. His father has also been arrested by the Palestinian Authority (PA) multiple times, sometimes being held for up to one month without charges. Following his father’s arrest on 16 October by the IOF, the PA Preventive Forces came to his house to arrest him again. Finding that he was already detained in Israeli prison, the PA arrested Mohammed instead and interrogated him about his father.
Mohammed’s uncle, Saleh Suleiman Al-Arouri, was arrested by the IOF in 1990 and imprisoned for 17 years, two of which were under administrative detention. He was released on 11 March 2007, but arrested again three months later on 22 June 2007. He subsequently spent another three years under administrative detention. On 30 March 2010, he was deported to Syria in exchange for being released from administrative detention. Mohammed’s cousin, Asim Suleiman, was also arrested by the IOF on 2 May 2010 and, after being interrogated for 40 days, received an administrative detention order and is currently detained in Ofer Prison.
Even Mohammed’s 70-year-old grandmother, Aisha Suleiman, has been subject to arrest and harassment. On 2 May 2010, Aisha was summoned by Israeli intelligence officials. She went to the meeting and was interrogated and threatened for an hour about her son, Saleh. The following year, on 23 May 2011, Israeli soldiers arrived at her house with army dogs. Alone in her small apartment, Aisha asked the soldiers what they were doing, and they replied they had brought a doctor with them to check up on her. When she responded that she did not need their doctor, they announced that they had come to arrest her. Declaring that she preferred to die rather than be arrested, she then sat down on the floor and refused to stand up and go with them. In spite of her protest, the soldiers lifted her up and forced her into the jeep, where she was then taken to Moskobiyyeh (Russian Compound) interrogation center. She was interrogated for the whole day and then released that night, following intervention from her lawyer. During the interrogation, soldiers threatened her and shouted at her, while she was forced to sit in a stress position with her hands behind her back.
Mohammed’s wife gave birth to their first child, Suleiman, in the beginning of October. The entire family, except for his 20-year-old sister, is currently forbidden from visiting Mohammed and banned from travel outside of the country.
****
Administrative detention is a procedure that allows the Israeli military to hold detainees indefinitely on secret evidence without charging them or allowing them to stand trial. In the occupied Palestinian West Bank, the Israeli army is authorized to issue administrative detention orders against Palestinian civilians on the basis of Military Order 1651. This order empowers military commanders to detain an individual for up to six month renewable periods if they have “reasonable grounds to presume that the security of the area or public security require the detention.” On or just before the expiry date, the detention order is frequently renewed. This process can be continued indefinitely.
For more information on administrative detention, read Addameer’s reports on administrative detention: “Administrative Detention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: A Legal Analysis Report”, July 2010 and “Administrative Detention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Between Law and Practice”, December 2010

Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association - ADDAMEER - MOHAMMED SULEIMAN

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Video: Remembering Vittorio Arrigoni in the No Go Zone, Beit Hanoun, N. Gaza

Uploaded by on Apr 10, 2012
Every Tuesday we protest against the No Go Zone and the occupation.
Vittorio is always with us when we march in the No Go Zone. But today was a special day. We remembered Vittorio with songs, pictures, t-shirts, in the No Go Zone.
"Vittorio take your rest, we'll continue your struggle"

Hundreds of Settlers Break Into Evicted Settlement in Jenin

NABLUS, April 10, 2012 (WAFA) – Hundreds of Jewish settlers Tuesday broke into the evicted settlement of Homesh, south of Jenin, to commemorate the Jewish holiday Passover, known as “Pesach,” in response to previous settlers’ calls, according to a local activist.
Ghassan Douglas, in charge of settlements file at the Palestinian Authority in the northern part of the West Bank, told WAFA that hundreds of settlers were transferred in large buses to the settlement, which was established on the land of the nearby village of Burqa, under the protection of the Israeli army.
He added that Israeli soldiers intensified their presence in Burqa, set up several flying military checkpoints on entrances of several towns in Nablus, stopped Palestinian vehicles and checked their identity cards.Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA 

IOF soldiers arrest 4 Palestinians including twins



AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested four Palestinians in the West Bank at dawn Tuesday including three in Al-Khalil, local sources said.
Ratib Al-Jabour, the coordinator of popular committees in Yatta to the south of Al-Khalil, said that IOF soldiers burst into the town in a pre-dawn raid on Tuesday and searched a number of homes.
He said that two twin brothers were arrested in the course of the operation, identifying them as Amjad and Munjed Al-Jundi, 20. He said that soldiers also searched a number of homes near theirs.
Palestinian sources said that IOF troops stormed a number of Palestinian villages and towns and searched homes after breaking their doors and forcing the inhabitants into the open. They said that citizens reported damages to their homes as a result of the savage IOF search.
Meanwhile, an Israeli website said that PA security officials returned a number of Israelis who entered Beit Reema village in Ramallah by mistake.
It said that 18 Israelis were on a trip and mistakenly entered the village on their way back at noon Monday. The PA police recognized the vehicles and returned them back safely.
IOF soldiers arrest 4 Palestinians including twins

IOF soldiers kidnap child from Nilin



RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnapped a Palestinian child from Nilin village to the west of Ramallah on passing through a military barrier.
Village sources said that the IOF soldiers kidnapped a 13-year-olld child from the village on Monday but could not identify him.
They said that the soldiers beat up the child after arresting him then took him away without giving a reason.
IOF soldiers kidnap child from Nilin

74-year-old MP Haj Ali returns to hunger strike

 


AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- The 74-year-old MP Ahmed Al-Haj Ali has returned to hunger strike on Monday after the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) retracted its decision  granting him early release, his family said on Tuesday.
The MP’s son said that a prisoner released from Israeli jails on Monday evening told the family that their father returned to hunger strike.
Ali, who is held in Megiddo jail, went on hunger strike on 14/3 and continued for 18 days before an agreement was reached with the IOA by which he would be granted early release in return for ending his strike.
The lawmaker was protesting his administrative detention without trial or charge, which was supposed to end on 4/6/2012. The Israeli intelligence promised Ali that he would be released last Thursday then delayed it to Sunday, but he remained in custody, the family said.
The MP had informed his family that he would return to hunger strike if the Israeli intelligence did not live up to its promise.
74-year-old MP Haj Ali returns to hunger strike

Fresh appeal ahead of Derry to Gaza convoy

Published on Tuesday 10 April 2012 12:17 Derry to Gaza is embarking on its third delivery of much needed aid to the Palestinian people.
A spokesperson said: “On previous convoys, we have successfully delivered an ambulance with thousands of pounds worth of medical equipment and a wheelchair access minibus with educational equipment and winter clothing.
“We would like to sincerely thank the people of Derry and the North West for all their generosity both financially and practically. It still amazes us the generosity of the Derry people. On this mission we will attempt to deliver essential construction equipment to rebuild homes, clinics, schools etc., We will be departing on April 22.
“Despite Israeli propaganda, the people of Gaza are still dependant on the UN for the basics just to survive. Many Palestinians are still living in tents this winter, their homes having been destroyed by Israeli bulldozers or bombed by warplanes.”
Anyone who can help the group either by donations of construction equipment can contact them at 07763155681 or 07857974059. The group also has a facebook page
 Local - Derry Journal

Foundation: Court delays verdict in Rachel Corrie case

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- An Israeli court has postponed delivering a verdict in a civil case brought by the family of US activist Rachel Corrie, killed by an Israeli bulldozer during a demonstration in Gaza, the Rachel Corrie Foundation said Monday.

At the last hearing in July, Judge Oded Gershon said he would deliver a verdict in April 2012. The verdict has been postponed due to delays in the filing of closing arguments, the foundation said in a statement.

A new verdict date has not been set, the foundation added.

Corrie, a US student, was crushed to death by an armored D9 bulldozer in March 2003 while protesting the demolition of a Palestinian home in southern Gaza by Israeli forces.

Activists who witnessed the 23-year-old's death said she was clearly visible to the soldier driving the bulldozer.

Corrie's parents were dissatisfied with the Israeli military's investigation and are suing the state of Israel and the defense ministry for $1 plus costs. Maan News Agency

Organizers: Over 1000 are expected to join Welcome to Palestine Campaign

by George Rishmawi - IMEMC News 
As part of the initiative a press release was issued that stated "Welcome to Palestine 2012 will again challenge Israel's policy of isolating the West Bank while the settler paramilitaries and army commit brutal crimes against a virtually defenceless Palestinian civilian population."
Welcome to Palestine Logo
Welcome to Palestine Logo
The letter was undersigned by many top officials, politicians and writers including Tony Benn, Noam Chomsky and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu.

The letter called for a press conference on Tuesday at the Bethlehem Peace Center to announce the campaign to the public. Coordinators of the campaign told IMEMC that over 1000 visitor purchased their tickets and are getting ready to visit Palestine.

This is the second Welcome to Palestine campaign to be organized by over 25 Palestinian organizations in the West Bank. In July 2011 around 650 people signed up and purchased tickets to come to Palestine, however, over 350 of them had their reservation revoked one day before the travel date based on instructions from the Israeli ministry of Interior sent to the airline companies.

Over 120 passengers were denied entry at Ben Gorion airport as they declared their intentions to visit Palestine. The visitors are expected to arrive on Sunday April 15.
International Middle East Media Center

PLO envoy: Palestine can join ICC

Firefighters try to save bags of food aid at the United Nations headquarters
in Gaza City after it was bombed by Israel on Jan. 15, 2009.
(MaanImages/Mohamed Al-Zanon)

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestine can still pursue an investigation into possible Israeli war crimes during the last offensive on Gaza at the International Criminal Court, PLO observer to the UN Riyad Mansour said Monday.

ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on April 3 rejected the Palestinian Authority's request for a tribunal into the December 2008 war because Palestine is not a recognized state.

Mansour told Ma'an the decision did not mark the end of the bid.

"The doors are still open for us if we decide to sign the Rome Statute, or go to the UN General Assembly asking to become a non-member state. This is left for the Palestinian leadership to determine," the PLO official said.

Moreno-Ocampo told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Palestine could become a party to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, if it becomes a UN non-member state.

"As soon as the General Assembly establishes that Palestine is an observer state, then we can proceed," the ICC prosecutor added.

Over 130 members of the 193-member assembly already recognize Palestinian statehood.

President Mahmoud Abbas requested full UN membership at the 15-member Security Council in September, but the bid remains stalled and the US has vowed to veto it.

Israel 'worked quietly' against bid

Following the Hague's rejection of the Palestinian Authority's bid for a tribunal, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said diplomats had worked against the request for an ICC investigation into Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli news site Ynet reported.

"Not many understand how much work has been put into this issue," Lieberman said.

"We have kept it out of the media," he added. "The Foreign Minister worked very professionally, discreetly and quietly."

Israel's 3-week offensive on the Gaza Strip, launched in December 2008, left nearly 1,400 Palestinians dead, including 300 children.

According to UN figures, Israel's military destroyed over 3,500 residential homes and made 20,000 people homeless during the 22-day assault.

A UN fact-finding mission tasked with investigating allegations of war crimes found that Israel committed "grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention in respect of willful killings and willfully causing great suffering to protected persons."Maan News Agency

Medics: Israeli forces shoot, injure man east of Gaza

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli soldiers on Monday shot and injured a Palestinian construction worker in eastern Gaza, medics said.

The 23-year-old man was taken to the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, medical officials told Ma'an.

An Israeli military spokeswoman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Also Monday, witnesses said that dozens of military vehicles, including bulldozers, ventured 250 meters into the southern Gaza Strip east of Khan Younis and began digging up agricultural land.

Army vehicles were also seen entering the Nahda neighborhood of Rafah in southern Gaza and patrolling the area.Maan News Agency

Three Incursions Into Eastern, Central & Southern Gaza Strip

9/4/2012Israeli troops have entered three separate areas in the east, south and central Gaza Strip, in 28 army bulldozers.
Local sources saidthat 4 Israeli tanks accompanied by 6 military bulldozers penetrated out of the"Abu Rida." gate, east of the Khuza'a town east of Khan Younis and started bulldozing operations in the agricultural land in that region.
Witnesses saidthat the occupation forces fired artillery shells towards the open land east of Al-Qarara town, as a heavy gunfire amid a low-flying reconnaissance aircraft.
The same sources added that three tanks and four bulldozers entered east Al-Nahda neighborhood in Rafah, and combed the area, coinciding with a similar incursion east of Bureij in the central Gaza Strip, where seven bulldozers and four tanks entered with heavy shooting from the military watchtower known as the "camera."
 Scoop News

PressTV - Activists International community turns blind eye to Gazans' ...

Monday, April 9, 2012

Israel Closes a Main Entrance for al-Ram

Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA - Israel Closes a Main Entrance for al-Ram: JERUSALEM, April 9, 2012 (WAFA) – The Israeli military authorities closed with cement blocks Sunday night the main entrance to the northern Jerusalem town of al-Ram under the pretext Palestinian youth throw stones at Israeli soldiers from that area, according to al-Ram mayor Sarhan Salaymah.
An al-Ram resident was recently shot and killed in that area during a demonstration against the Israeli occupation.

Salaymah said closing the main northern entrance, which was completed only recently, will have serious effect on the mobility of 60,000 residents of the town, as well as on economic and trade activities and social life.

“The town has become a big prison,” said Salaymah, adding that residents will have to use other more distant roads to reach Ramallah or travel north or south of the West Bank.

He described such Israeli measures as acts of collective punishment and vengeance that aim to impose more restrictions on the residents.
The town council plans to discuss this issue and ways to reopen the entrance.
The town, which was at one point a hub of activity and a main Jerusalem area commercial and residential center, was cut off from Jerusalem when Israel built a five-meter high concrete wall around it several years ago virtually shutting down its southern entrance.
The northern entrance was rehabilitated following the construction of the wall to allow easy access to Ramallah and Jerusalem.

R.Q./M.S.

- Sent using Google Toolbar

Israeli Army Opens Fire at Palestinian Worker near Gaza Border

Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA - Israeli Army Opens Fire at Palestinian Worker near Gaza Border: GAZA, April 9, 2012 (WAFA) - Israeli army units Sunday opened fire at and injured a Palestinian worker in the buffer zone between Israel and the Gaza Strip near east of Gaza City, according to medical sources.

The worker, who gathers gravel for living, was shot in the foot and transferred to hospital for treatment. His condition was reported moderate.

The young worker was around two hundred meters away from the Israeli borders with the Gaza Strip, entering the buffer zone, which is a military no-go area that extends along the entire northern and eastern perimeter of the border and goes deep into the Palestinian Territory at a range of between 500 meters to two kilometers.

Palestinians, mainly farmers and landowners, are denied access to the land; whereas Israeli forces use live fire against anyone within the buffer zone.

- Sent using Google Toolbar

Palestinian Prisoners Day - Press Conference And Statement By Dr Attallah Abu Al-Sebah

Uploaded by on Apr 8, 2012
A Press Conference attended by Dr Attallah Abu Al-Sebah, Minister of Detainee Affairs, Dr Ahmad Bahar, Representative of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and Dr Mohammad Elmadhoun, Minister of Youth Affairs, was held on 08 April at the Ministry of Detainee Affairs, to launch a series of events in Gaza in observation of Palestinian Prisoners' Day on 17 April.

Israeli tanks and troops invade several areas in the Gaza Strip

Israeli tanks and troops invade several areas in the Gaza Strip
09-04-2012,11:41
Al Qassam website- Gaza- More than 28 Israeli tanks and bulldozers have invaded on Monday morning three separate areas, east, north and Central Gaza strip.
Al Qassam correspondent reported that 4 Israeli  tanks and 6 military bulldozers  have moved from "Abu Rayda" military gate and advanced 250 meters into Khuza'a village east of Khan Younis city, he added that the Israeli bulldozers started razing the area causing  massive devastation to agricultural lands and citizens' properties.
Eyewitnesses said that Israeli occupation forces have launched an artillery shell at open area east of Al Qarara village.
Meanwhile, three tanks and 4 military bulldozers have moved from "Al Mutbig" military gate into east of "an-Nahda" neighborhood in  Rafah city and started leveling and searching the area.
In Central Gaza Strip, 7 military bulldozers and 4 tanks have invaded east of Al Bureij refugee camp amid intensive gunfire.
 Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades