Revenge of the settlers

By Nour Samaha 

Fadi Quran is little different from any other Palestinian living in the West Bank, where violence from Israeli settlers is part of daily life. Hailing from the town of Al-Bireh, less than one kilometre from the settlement of Psagot, the 23-year-old Master's degree student has been forced to deal with attacks and harassment for years.

"Settler violence is a daily occurrence," he told Al Jazeera. On one occasion, he was playing football with friends when they came under fire from settlers with machine guns. In another altercation, settlers threw stones at him while he was driving. Their guns discouraged him from stopping. "I'm telling you my story, but there are literally hundreds of thousands of other cases that are much worse."

Last week, Quran was arrested after attending a non-violent protest in Hebron which demanded the re-opening of a street in the centre of the city. The Israeli army had made it a settler-only road 11 years previously, despite the presence of Palestinian families still living there.

Following a verbal dispute, Israeli soldiers pepper-sprayed him, beat him, arrested him, blindfolded him and took him to an interrogation centre at a nearby settlement. Once there, he discovered the arresting soldiers were actually from one of the area's settlements.

"I asked where they were from and they told me: 'Kiryat Arba'," he said. "One of them then asked me if I knew Baruch Goldstein [an Israeli settler who, in 1994, opened fire inside a mosque in the West Bank, killing 29 and wounding over 125 others]. They said he was a hero and they would do the same thing."

Quran was charged with attacking ten soldiers. In court a few days later, the judge stated there was no proof that Quran did not attack them. The hearing was postponed until the following day, by which point a video capturing the events leading up to Quran's arrest had gone viral. After the video was presented to the judge (which clearly showed Quran had not attacked troops), he was released on bail.

                 Olive harvest reaps animosity in West Bank


Palestinians are under increasing attacks from Israeli settlers, especially in the last few years, reports have found.

Settler violence has been forcing people to significantly change their lives, Quran said: "There are communities who don't use main roads because they are afraid they will be murdered. Many farmers can't farm anymore because their lands are being burned or vandalised, so they have to find another job."

A report published in January by the Washington-based Palestine Center revealed a 39 per cent increase in the number of settler attacks - from stone-throwing to arson and shootings - between 2010 and 2011.

Furthermore, in the five-year period between 2007 and 2011, the occupied West Bank has witnessed a 315 per cent increase in settler attacks - while, over the same period, there has been a 95 per cent decrease in Palestinian violence against Israeli settlements and settlers.

The report found "over 90 per cent of all the Palestinian villages which have experienced multiple instances of Israeli settler violence are in areas which fall under Israeli security jurisdiction".

The report revealed a geographical shift in violent acts; previously settler violence was concentrated in the southern West Bank city of Hebron and its environs. Over the past few years, the Nablus governorate, in the northern West Bank, has also been on the receiving end of a large proportion of the documented settler violence.

This shift to the north, "where rural villages are predominantly targets, suggested that settlers are exploiting unfettered access to isolated Palestinian villages to perpetrate violence more than ever before".

'Open hunting season'

"What we have here is a complete failure to enforce the law and uphold the obligations to protect Palestinians," Yousef Munayyer, director of the Palestine Center, told Al Jazeera.

"The Israelis really need to uphold their own obligations, otherwise we will continue to see violence and it will be open hunting season for settlers to attack Palestinians."

International law states that occupying powers have a duty to protect local populations, while maintaining security and ensuring public order.

Issa Amro, a Palestinian from Hebron who heads the Youth Against Settlements activist movement, was forced with his family to leave his home - now designated a "closed military area" - after years of attacks from settlers.

"Every time settlers attack a Palestinian house, they are escorted by the army who protect them," he explained. "I have filed dozens of cases and complaints, and not one time has anyone gone to court."

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 90 per cent of monitored complaints filed by Palestinians have been closed without indictment.

"I have death threats against me, and I’ve been attacked many times by settlers," said Amro. "[The settlers] say to me 'I hope God erases your name', and they say this to me in front of the army and the police, who stand by and do nothing."

'They are there to protect the settlers'

Ezra Nawi, an Israeli activist who has been working with Palestinians against settler violence for the past decade, said the Israeli military in the West Bank was complicit through inaction.

"Settlers attack Palestinians, but the army has orders preventing them from arresting or stopping them," he said. "They are simply there to protect the settlers."

Nawi is no stranger to settler violence, with his work frequently making him a target. He said the attacks "serve the state's interests".

"The violence scares the Palestinians into not moving around or using their land for farming and agriculture," he said.

Further OCHA statistics also state approximately 10,000 Palestinian-owned trees were damaged or destroyed by settlers in 2011, while 139 Palestinians were displaced due to settler attacks.

The UN group also found that "80 communities with a combined population of nearly 250,000 Palestinians are vulnerable to settler violence, including 76,000 who are at high-risk".

"Every day there are attacks by settlers," said Amro. "What is new is that they have started burning mosques."

Sarit Michaeli, spokesperson for B'Tselem, an Israeli group which documents violence in the West Bank, told Al Jazeera that increasing violence was a result of a lack of law enforcement.

"The Israeli authorities have an obligation under international law to protect both settlers and Palestinians," she said. "While they fulfill their obligation to protect the settlers, with the Palestinians, we see a systematic failure to protect them from attacks."

"It is worth noting that Palestinians who are arrested by the Israeli army are prosecuted and charged through the military court system, which is very low in terms of protection of their rights, while settlers, if they get arrested, are held and tried in the civilian court system, which offers greater protection of their rights," she added.

'It's actually calmer now'

Yet not everyone agrees with the assertions made. David Ha'ivri, spokesperson for the settlement council covering the northern West Bank region, told Al Jazeera he felt the area "is over-exposed in the media in comparison to other areas in the world".

"I've lived here for many years and we have experienced violence, but that is not the situation currently," he said. "It is strange that someone is saying that there is an increase, while we've experienced a decrease in the violence. It's actually calmer now than in the past."

Dani Dayan, chairman of the Yesha Council, reiterated Ha'ivri's assertion, saying the levels of violence had decreased in the past two years, and that media had a tendency to "inflate and exaggerate things like the price-tag attacks".

"Life in Judea and Samaria [the Biblical term for the West Bank] is normal," he told Al Jazeera. "I don’t think violence during the last year has been a crucial problem, not for Jews and not for Arabs.

"Let's not forget that the numbers provided are actually the other way around," he added. "There have been at least 12 settlers who were murdered by Arabs in the last 24 months."

According to B'Tselem statistics 13 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians in the West Bank over the past two years, while four Palestinians were killed by Israeli civilians, and a further 22 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army. In Gaza, 173 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military during the past two years.

Both Ha'ivri and Dayan state the Israeli authorities were doing what was required of them in terms of protecting civilians and arresting perpetrators.

"I don't think there is less accountability, the state and the police are very serious about enforcing the law on both sides," said Ha'ivri. "For example, there are individuals in some communities in Samaria who have been arrested, or banished from living in this area."

"If the Arabs feel there is less accountability then they are not aware of the facts."

While Dayan agreed the authorities were performing their duties, he acknowledged flaws in the judicial system.

"There are very few indictments, if at all, presented to the courts," he said. "I do not have an explanation as to why there are so few indictments, and it is not my place to provide an explanation, but it does create problems, leading some to believe one side has a sense of immunity and can get off without punishment."

"I do know the government and police have a high interest in the public opinion, so I don't think they lack the motivation," said Dayan. "It's not a question of leniency, but maybe one of capability."

'They want Palestine'

The analysis of the Palestine Center's Munayyer focused on causes of settler violence and whether it was responsorial (a reaction to either Palestinian violence and/or Israeli government actions), or structural (a product of demographics and security arrangements).

"What we found actually is that instances of Palestinian violence trigger a decrease in settler violence," said Munayyer. "Palestinian violence tends to receive an official response from the Israeli army, so in these instances the settlers don't intervene.

"We also found that some of it is motivated by Israeli government actions, but ... it doesn't necessarily have to be provoked by anything. As settlers can get away with it at any given time, they will continue.

"The message the settlers are receiving is that 'this is okay, and the state is not going to stop them'."

B'Tselem's Michaeli, however, was keen to emphasise that violence was not something the majority of the settler community participated in. "The mainstream leaders in settler politics have denounced these attacks," she said, adding that settler violence and clashes with local Palestinians dated back to the 1970s.

"Having said that, the settlement community as a whole in an occupied area is violent," she said, referring to the illegal nature of the expanding settlements in the West Bank, frequently condemned by the international community.

Ha'ivri said that in most cases, when there is violence, it happens as a response to attacks on settlers. "I don't think it happens on a daily basis. All acts of violence that have occurred are isolated on both sides," he said. "I don't think either side is going out and actively looking for targets."

For Israeli activist Nawi, the motivations of settlers are much more straightforward.

"Most of the settlers are motivated by religious ideas; that the Arabs are unwelcome people and they need to leave," he said. "It is not an argument you can reason with."

"They want Palestine."

Follow Nour Samaha on Twitter: @samahanour

Homes Destroyed Lives Shattered

             By Graham Peebles . The Director of The Create Trust (www.thecreatetrust.org) E-mail graham@thecreatetrust.org.


Within the catalogue of criminality that is Israel’s occupation of the West bank and Gaza, the destruction of Palestinian homes must rank as one of the most cynical and heinous. “Some 90,000 people are currently reported to be at risk of displacement as a result of Israeli policies such as restrictive and discriminatory planning, the revocation of residency rights, the expansion of settlements and the construction of the West Bank Separation Wall.”[1]

All let us note and explore further, with the tacit engagement of America, who bank-roles the entire operation.

Home, a refuge from the world, safe and secure, somewhere to relax with family and friends, and breath easy, free from fear. This simple image of normality is unknown to many Palestinians living under the brutal illegal occupation by Israel. “The Israeli practice of demolishing homes, basic infrastructure and sources of livelihoods continues to devastate Palestinian families and communities in East Jerusalem and the 60 per cent of the West Bank controlled by Israel, known as Area C. Many of the people affected already live in poverty, and demolitions are a leading cause of their on-going displacement and dispossession in the West Bank.”[2]

Last year (2011) saw more homes demolished than in the previous six years, and record numbers of people made homeless and displaced, “by November 2011 Israeli authorities had demolished 467 Palestinian homes and other buildings in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), displacing 869 people.”[3]  The UN puts the figure even higher, at 1000. (HRWHD) Alongside the illegal destruction of Palestinian homes, the settlement expansion has accelerated and with it, according to Human Rights Watch “an escalation of violence perpetrated by settlers.”[4]

The total number or recorded house demolitions since the occupation began in 1967, is estimated to be “24,813.”[5]  With Palestinians perversely being forced to either demolish their own home or face a charge for the IDF to do it, some homeowners undertake the task themselves, “it [the family] is liable for the costs of the house demolition which can run up to tens of thousands of dollars. To avoid these costs, Palestinians subject to administrative house demolitions may “opt” to undertake the demolition of their own home -it is not known how many Palestinians choose this route.”[6]  These ‘homemade’ demolitions will not be included in the (IAK) figure quoted, making the actual total much higher.

Let us ponder for a moment on the absurdity of living under the cloud of an illegal authority that forces families to bulldoze their own home.

Lives demolished

The impact on the families whose homes are demolished and the effects, immediate and long-term are devastating. Children are particularly vulnerable, as too are pregnant women and the elderly. Families are displaced and separated, children made homeless, frightened and unsettled for years. “Children who have had their home demolished fare significantly worse on a range of mental health indicators, including: withdrawal, somatic complaints, depression/anxiety, social difficulties, higher rates of delusional, obsessive, compulsive and psychotic thoughts, attention behavior - even six months after the demolition. They cry more, are afraid to go to school, feel they are not loved or that others are bad to them, feel guilty, nervous and are very tense. “ (BH)

House demolitions add to the numbers of Palestinian refugees, who constitute the largest single group of refugees in the World, “ In 2007, there were an estimated seven million Palestinian refugees worldwide and 450,000internally displaced in Israel and the OPT.” (BH)

Propaganda permitting violence

As well as the demolition of homes, places of work, businesses and sources of livelihood are destroyed, in addition to basic groundwork, “wells, rainwater harvesting cisterns, and other essential structures.”(HRHD) When in the West bank in 2009 I witnessed numerous roadside market stalls outside Hebron being demolished. I counted eight smashed to ruin or in the process of being destroyed at the hands of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF), America’s occupying security force. “Most demolitions in 2011 affected livelihood structures, negatively affecting the sources of income and living standards of some 1,300 people.”[1] The reasons given, “Palestinians set up shop without the required official permits.” (ISOPT)

Israeli explanations justifying demolitions serve only as propaganda, seeking to justify the unjust, the illegal, the inhumane. The nonsense of permits tramples on sanity. It is the Israeli authorities (IDF) that grant, or refuse to grant permits for a variety of aspects of daily life; Housing, importing goods, travel, trading and infrastructure development, such as water pipes, electrical lines, communication etc. We only destroy homes hat are built without a permit “13%” (BH), or for ‘military reasons’ “41%” (BH), claims the IDF. Disingenuous nonsense. The locution of the deceiver attempting to trap the right minded into legitimising the actions of the IDF and validating its illegitimate authority.

This bureaucratic maze of madness, established, maintained and administered as instruments of control adds to the armoury employed by Israel to bring Palestinians to their physical and emotional knees. “Military law (that) systematically deprives Palestinians of their rights and denies them the ability to have any real effect on shaping the policy regarding the land space in which they live and with respect to their rights.”[2]

The two-tier legal structure installed by the occupying force is designed and implemented to maximise the suffering of the Palestinians, leaving them with no choice but to live outside the system. “Israel’s discriminatory planning restrictions result in the lack of building permits for the Palestinian population in the West Bank forcing them to build without permits and live under the constant threat of eviction and demolition.“  (ISOPT)

Flouting conventions.

Whilst Palestinian homes and essential structures are destroyed, Israelis living comfortably and secure within the illegal settlements are allowed to flout the law. Peace Now has documented “a dramatic increase in the number of new illegal buildings in the settlements, construction is proceeding according to plans that were never approved by the IDF. At least 507 unapproved housing units are currently being built in 29 settlements,” these (Israeli) developments are not subject to a demolition order, even though they are building without the necessary permits ‘compulsory’ under Israeli law. “House demolitions exercised exclusively against Palestinians have displaced thousands of families, while neglecting to enforce the planning laws on Israeli settlers.” (ISOPT) Contradictions coil around the IDF, strangling its actions within a web of dishonesty and deceit as they justify atrocities with bureaucracy, whilst supporting criminality.

Israel has no legitimacy under international law, to build themselves, creating subsidized settler ghettos, or to destroy structures of those that do so without their permission. Full and complete domination of Palestinians is the aim, with all land under Israeli control, Israeli leader Menachem Begin "The return of even one bit of earth to the Arab would be a betrayal of the nation."(MM)

Demolitions of Homes, infrastructure and places of livelihood, are illegal under international law,  “The systematic policy of house demolitions carried out against Palestinian residents in Jerusalem contravenes the 4th Geneva Convention which forbids “any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons” except where such destruction is rendered “absolutely necessary by military operations.”[1]  Furthermore, “extensive destruction of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly constitutes a grave breach to the Convention, which can theoretically be prosecuted under the universal jurisdiction of States party to the convention.”[2]  Theory needs to turn into action, collective complacency giving way to international outrage. Implement and enforce the law.

Add to the above a raft of relevant articles in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), where we find “Article 9, 1 State Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his/her parents against their will, Articles 24, 1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health. Article 27. 1. States Parties recognize the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.  Article 31 The right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts, and crucially article 38, State parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for rules of international humanitarian law applicable to them in armed conflicts which are relevant to the child.”[3] All are implicitly relevant in the impact of house demolitions on children.  A plethora of International law engulfs Israel. What is required and most urgently is the implementation and enforcement of the law.

Quiet please, Ethnic transfer

The demolition policy is a tool of terror in a planned campaign, with the clear intention of subjugation, control and intimidation. House demolitions are tied in with the overall strategy of expansion by Israel and the realisation of imperialist goals “the grand design of Judaic-Zionist expansionist doctrine is to seize all the oil-rich lands from the shores of the Euphrates to the banks of the Nile,”[1] which includes the continuing illegal settlement building, violence at the hands of settlers and the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) “Israel has continued to flout agreements for a moratorium on illegal construction in Israeli settlements, evictions of Palestinian families to make way for incoming settlers continue apace,” [2]  “throughout the eastern half of the city [Jerusalem] nonstop pressure is applied as part of "quiet transfer". (GHD)

The ‘quiet transfer’ is far from quiet or peaceful. It is the violent, forced eviction and displacement of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem. ‘Quiet Transfer’ refers to the technique by the IDF of disempowering the Palestinian’s and extinguishing all hope by making daily life tortuous, leading to the ‘transfer’ of East Jerusalem citizens out of the city into the West bank. “The increasing rate of settlement expansion and house demolitions is pushing Palestinians to the brink, destroying their livelihoods and prospects for a just and durable peace.” (HRWHD) Just after Christmas last year, “Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat announced plans to strip IDs from 70,000 Palestinian residents of Jerusalem , and transfer them to the West Bank civil administration. Though not a physical transfer, this stripping of IDs will mark the largest en masse stripping of citizenship rights, since 1967,” The process of ethnic cleansing, continues apace in Jerusalem. It is illegal, enforce and implement the law.

 Intimidation, unjust house building controls, the theft and rationing of water and the issuing of demolition notices constitute a methodology of suffering underpinning the policy of ‘quiet transfer’ in East Jerusalem.  Eventually wearing the people down, until sooner or later they simply give up. “Once they leave, they rescind their rights to Jerusalem ID papers, destroying any hopes of employment in Israel proper – effectively keeping them caged in the poverty of the West Bank forever.” (GHD) Homes, infra structure, and businesses are demolished within East Jerusalem and Area C of the West Bank, ‘C’ for cleansing - ethnic cleansing it is, “the rate and the method of house demolitions show that this is more a policy of gradual ethnic cleansing than anything else, with clear political and strategic purposes.” [3]

Everything Israel does inside the OPT’s forms a constituent part to an overall plan, a vision of total domination. Demolitions are no exception to this rule. “Each demolition is a microcosm of the occupation: why they are demolishing a particular house in a particular area exposes how the wider occupation works and how the process of house demolitions is contributing to the wider occupation. We want to unmask the way Israel frames the occupation as a conflict of security. The policy of house demolitions shows exactly the opposite. In more than 90% of the cases the families whose house was demolished didn’t have a security record. House demolitions go hand in hand with land expropriation for settlements expansion.”[4]

Settlement building is illegal under international law. Implement and enforce the law.

American Partners in crime

Israel disregards international law, with the support and involvement of their chief criminal ally and partner in crime, America. Every time a Caterpillar bulldozer from the US storehouse of suffering smashes into a Palestinian home, Israel commits another illegal act and the US corporate giant is an accessory to a crime, causing ever more human agony and distress. “ Caterpillar’s [has a] long history of complicity in widespread human rights violations within the occupied Palestinian Territories. Caterpillar routinely provides Israel with equipment designed specifically for military use knowing it is used to demolish Palestinian homes, to kill and injure Palestinian and international civilians, to destroy olive trees and farmland, and to facilitate expropriation of Palestinian territory through construction of Jewish-only settlements and Israel’s apartheid wall.”[1]

America is the supplier of all that destroys and contaminates in the OPT’s, from white prosperous bombs burning the children of Gaza to Caterpillar bulldozers demolishing their homes. “The U.S. is providing Israel with at least $8.2 million each day” (IAK) in military aid alone. Amnesty International’s report Fuelling Conflict states, “transferring weapons to a consistent violator of human rights is illegal under international law.”  Norman Finkelstein referring to Amnesty’s findings, “Israel is a consistent violator of human rights, [emphasis mine] and therefore there has to be a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel.” The consistent supplying of arms by America to Israel maintains and sustains the occupation, “the US is by far the biggest supplier of weapons to Israel; supplying those weapons to Israel is not only illegal under international law, it’s illegal under domestic US law [2].” Implement and enforce the law, international and domestic, within America and the OPT’s,Those sitting in comfort, shrouded in complacency within the White House know well what US corporations are supporting, where US arms are deployed and what consecutive US administrations silence is allowing to continue. By their support the US is condoning the steady on-going demolition of homes and the destruction of lives too many too count. And what words of condemnation issue from the Obama administration, that plays lip service only to justice and the rule of law,  Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton, “described the demolitions as “unhelpful”, noting that they violated Israel’s obligations under the US “road map” for peace.”[3] The US ‘road map for peace’ is a blood splattered road of rubble leading directly and swiftly nowhere, at the hands of a broker, whose vision is not of peace, “the US has blocked the two state-vision supported by virtually the entire World since the mid 1970’s”[4], but of extended hegemony and dominance, throughout the Middle East and the World.

Any ‘road map’ to peace, could be swiftly navigated and gently traversed were America to withdraw the manifest support it gives to Israel, the diplomatic, economic and military tools that are fuelling the illegal occupation and causing untold suffering to the Palestinian people.

The days are numbered for such tyranny and injustice. A growing movement of solidarity and cooperation daily builds in strength throughout the World. Shining light into the darkest corners, and there are few darker than Israel, sustaining all those who call for justice, freedom and unity. All that would pervert and soil the life of men women and children everywhere shall be exposed. Goodness will ought, justice shall be done. Implement and enforce the law is the cry.

ZIONISTS WON'T LET YOU SEE THIS ON YOUR TV

Violent Weekend: Air strikes kill 10 Palestinians, 1 Israeli

Rabbi Dovid Feldman, Jews United against Zionism- Face to Face-07-06-2011

JEWS AGAINST ZIONISM

TRUE TORAH JEWS AGAINST ZIONISM - OUR MISSION
The relatively new concept of Zionism began only about one hundred years ago and since that time Torah-true Jewry has steadfastly opposed the Zionist ideology. This struggle is rooted in two convictions:
Zionism, by advocating a political and military end to the Jewish exile, denies the very essence of our Diaspora existence. We are in exile by Divine Decree and may emerge from exile solely via Divine Redemption. All human efforts to alter a metaphysical reality are doomed to end in failure and bloodshed. History has clearly borne out this teaching.
Zionism has not only denied our fundamental belief in Heavenly Redemption it has also created a pseudo-Judaism which views the essence of our identity to be a secular nationalism. Accordingly, Zionism and the Israeli state have consistently endeavored, via persuasion and coercion, to replace a Divine and Torah centered understanding of our people hood with an armed materialism.
True Torah Jews is dedicated to informing the world and in particular the American public and politicians that all Jews do not support the ideology of the Zionist state called "Israel" which is diametrically opposite to the teachings of traditional Judaism.

We are concerned that the widespread misconception that all Jews support the zionist state and its actions endangers Jews worldwide.

We are NOT politically motivated. We are motivated by our concern for the peace and safety of all people throughout the world including those living in the Zionist state. We support and pray for peace for the people of the Zionist state but have no interest in and do not support the Zionist government.

We seek to disassociate Jews and traditional Judaism from the Zionist Ideology by:
Providing historical and supporting documentation that Zionism is totally contrary to the teachings of traditional Judaism through the words of our Rabbis, Sages, and Holy Scriptures which oppose the creation of a state called Israel.
Providing historical documentation on the ideaology and creation of Zionism, the supporters of Zionism and the negative impact of their actions on the Jewish people in the past hundred years, including their involvement in the holocaust up to the present day.
Publicizing the efforts of traditional Jews to demonstrate that all Jews do not support Zionism, which is being ignored by the mainstream media.
Convince the news media, politicians and the public to cease referring to the state of Israel as the "Jewish State" but to call it what it is: the "Zionist State".
It is our firm belief that when the state of "Israel" is recognized for what it is, a Zionist state which is not guided by the teachings of the traditional Jewish faith, Jews worldwide will be able to live in peace.

Shalit is free: Lift the siege of Gaza now

Shalit is free: Lift the siege of Gaza now
Israel's blockade of Gaza constitutes a clear violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, according to the Red Cross.

In the world of principle and international law, the ongoing Israeli blockade of Gaza - which until now blocks Gazans from traveling to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and blocks Gazans from exporting, farming, fishing, and otherwise earning their living - is a clear violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which bars the use of "collective punishment" against a civilian population living under occupation.

The International Committee of the Red Cross - a key guardian of the Fourth Geneva Convention - has stated this clearly. As Voice of America reported:

"The International Committee of the Red Cross says Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip breaks international law. The humanitarian agency said Monday that the blockade violates the Geneva Convention, which bans 'collective punishment' of a civilian population."

Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 - on the Red Cross website-  says: "No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited ... Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited."

"Protected persons" are defined in Article 4: "Persons protected by the Convention are those who, at a given moment and in any manner whatsoever, find themselves, in case of a conflict or occupation, in the hands of a Party to the conflict or Occupying Power of which they are not nationals."

But whether we like it or not, in the world of practical affairs, other things matter besides principle and law.

In practice, the issue of the Gaza blockade has been entangled with issue of the captivity of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. As the Washington Post has noted, "The blockade was widely seen as a punitive measure driven in large part by the outrage that Shalit's abduction in 2006 generated in Israel."

Hamas officials have said that Israel pledged to lift the Gaza blockade as part of the prisoner exchange that freed Shalit. Egyptian officials have also indicated that lifting the blockade was part of the deal. But Israeli officials have said that Israel did not agree to lift the blockade.

Whether lifting the blockade was part of the deal or not, Shalit's release should cause the international community to urgently revisit the issue of the Gaza blockade.

Key justification

First, there is never a bad time to revisit a serious violation of international humanitarian law, and the ongoing denial of the basic human rights of 1.6 million people.

Second, although the captivity of Shalit was not a legitimate justification for the blockade, it was a key justification nonetheless. That key justification has been removed.

Third, as press reports have indicated, in achieving the prisoner exchange deal that had long eluded them, both Israel and Hamas were responding to changed dynamics in the region as a result of the Arab Spring. Both Israel and Hamas compromised longstanding positions to achieve the deal; both Israel and Hamas responded to pressure from Egypt and others to compromise to achieve the deal.

This development naturally begs the question: Given these changed dynamics, what else could be achieved as a result of new pressure on the parties to compromise? Could a lifting of the blockade be achieved? Is there any good reason why the international community should not try to achieve this?

Lynn Pascoe, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, has just made exactly this argument to the Security Council:

A senior United Nations official has called on the Israeli government to lift the siege that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip for five years. Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe told a Security Council meeting on the Middle East and the Palestine Issue that the prisoner exchange agreement should lead to further steps towards ending the closure of Gaza, where a significant portion of the population are food insecure and dependent on humanitarian assistance.
"We reiterate our call on Israel for more far-reaching steps to ease its land closures and facilitate the entry of construction materials into Gaza, free movement of people in both directions and exports from Gaza, with due consideration for Israel's legitimate security concerns," he said.

To his everlasting credit, when Gilad Shalit was released from captivity, he used his megaphone to press for the release of prisoners, peace and reconciliation. "I will be very happy if all these prisoners are freed so that they can go back to their families, loved ones, territories - it will give me great happiness if this happens," Shalit told Egyptian TV. "I hope this deal will help with the conclusion of a peace deal with the Israelis and Palestinians and I hope that cooperation links between the two sides will be consolidated."

The international community should follow Gilad Shalit's noble lead. Lift the siege of Gaza now.

Robert Naiman is Policy Director at Just Foreign Policy.

Displacement of Palestinians 'a war crime' - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Displacement of Palestinians 'a war crime' - Middle East - Al Jazeera English


Israel is forcing Palestinians out of East Jerusalem as part of a deliberate policy that might constitute a war crime, a prominent Israeli non-governmental organisation said, a charge rejected by Jerusalem's mayor.
The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) has presented the United Nations with its findings on Monday and demanded an inquiry, saying Israel targeted Palestinians by demolishing homes, revoking residency and eroding quality of life.

"We are witnessing a process of ethnic displacement," said Michael Sfard, a lawyer who helped draw up a 73-page report into the issue. "Israel is manifestly and seriously violating international law ... and the motivation is demographic."
Stephan Miller, a spokesman for Israel's mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, dismissed the report. He said in a statement it was based on "misleading facts, blatant lies and political spin about Jerusalem, so I'm sure the UN will enjoy it".

Israel seized East Jerusalem, including the Old City, in the 1967 Middle East war. It later annexed the area and surrounding West Bank villages into a Jerusalem municipality that it declared the united and eternal capital of Israel.

World powers have not recognised Israel's annexations - which, according to international law, are illegal. Moreover, Palestinians want E Jerusalem for the capital of their future state.

There are some 300,000 Palestinians residents in East Jerusalem, representing about 35 per cent of the city's total population, but ICAHD said that since Israel took control of largely Arab areas it had systematically prevented their development.

One third of land in East Jerusalem was taken for the construction of Jewish neighbourhoods, while only nine per cent of the remaining land is legally available for housing. This has all been built on, making expansion impossible.
ICAHD said it was virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits to house their growing families.
"They have no other option than to leave East Jerusalem, build illegally or live in appalling, cramped conditions," said Emily Schaeffer, who authored the report.

'War crime'

Those who leave lose residency rights if they are gone for seven or more years and cannot return.
Some 14,000 Palestinians lost their residency between 1967 and 2010, with half of those revocations taking place after 2006, ICAHD said.

Residency entitles you to Israeli health care and national insurance benefits.
Those who built houses illegally, lived in fear of having their property demolished and also faced hefty fines.
Israel demolished more than 2,000 homes in East Jerusalem since 1967, with 771 being pulled down between 2000-2011. A further 1,500 demolition orders are pending execution.

"Palestinians will de facto be deported from East Jerusalem, not by using guns or trucks, but by not allowing them to live a decent, normal life," Sfard said.
Because the annexation of East Jerusalem was not recognised, Palestinians living there should be considered as a people under occupation, ICAHD said. As such, Israel had no right to strip them of residency or demolish their homes.

"There is a suspicion that a war crime is taking place and that is why an investigation should take place," said Sfard.

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Palestinian News

Israeli Troops storm into a civilian Refugee Camp
THURSDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2011 11:58 WAFA NEWS AGENCY

Palestine, (Pal Telegraph) - Israeli forces Thursday raided Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus in the northern West Bank, according to the camp services committee.
It said a number of Israeli military vehicles raided the eastern sections of the camp during the pre-dawn hours shooting in the air and throwing sound bombs around.

The soldiers raided 10 homes, searching them and destroying most of their contents.
An owner of one of the raided homes told WAFA that soldiers raided his house, searched it thoroughly destroying in the process electrical equipment.

The services committee said the Israeli forces left the camp following the search, but no one was reported hurt.


Israel Bombs Gaza again
THURSDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2011 11:50 WAFA NEWS AGENCY

Palestine, (Pal Telegraph) - Israeli warplanes fired several missiles at three different locations in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, early Thursday shattering a relative calm that has prevailed throughout the Gaza Strip for two months, according to witnesses.
No one was reported hurt in the raids.

The missiles, said the witnesses, hit open areas in Khan Younis and a container on the town's fishing pier destroying it. Another raid on Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, targeted a Hamas training base, also without causing any injuries.


Israel claims that the strikes came after three Grad missiles fired from Gaza fell in areas in southern Israel Wednesday night, without causing any damage, but only panic.
No party took responsibility for the missiles, the first in over two months.
While Hamas does not allow missile firing from Gaza, Israeli press reports claimed Hamas was recently able to smuggle into Gaza advanced Russian missiles looted from Libyan military warehouses.

In another development, Israeli navy ships intercepted two fishermen on the Gaza shores, detained them and impounded their boat, said security sources in Gaza.


Palestinian Christians Hope for Statehood
Mahmoud Abbas Requests Sovereignty at the U.N.
Share by Michele Chabin, Middle East Correspondent Monday, Oct 17, 2011 9:47 AM Comments (2)

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/palestinian-christians-hope-for-statehood/#ixzz1c31YmoNV

JERUSALEM — Salim Manarious, a retired former school headmaster, believes there will be a sovereign Palestinian state in his lifetime.
“I believe it because I’m a Palestinian,” the 72-year-old Orthodox Christian said Sept. 23, the day Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas applied for full membership in the United Nations.
Palestinians currently have observer status at the U.N.
The United Nations Security Council was scheduled to hold preliminary talks on the Palestinian application. The United States has pledged to veto the proposal if it comes up for a vote in the Security Council. The U.S. has called for a return to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations as a way to resolve the issue.
Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican’s No. 2 State Department official, called Sept. 27 for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in remarks delivered in New York, according to Catholic News Agency. He insisted that “if we want peace, courageous decisions have to be made.” Archbishop Mamberti, whose official title is secretary for relations with states, encouraged “the realization of the right of Palestinians to have their own independent and sovereign state and the right of Israelis to guarantee their security.” He also insisted that both states be “provided with internationally recognized borders.”
But Manarious, whose family fled Ramle, a town in what is now Israel, in 1948, isn’t overly optimistic his clan will be able to reclaim their home.
“The house is still there. I’ve visited it twice, but I don’t think I’ll get it back, even though it’s my right,” Manarious said in the shady garden of his home in the Old City of Jerusalem just prior to Abbas’ speech.
Now that the “Palestine” issue is front and center at the U.N., Palestinians, including Christians, are grappling with what a future Palestinian state might mean for them.
Hanni is the father of three grown children, and he lives in Beit Sahour, a largely Christian town next to Bethlehem. In his case, an independent Palestinian country could bring his oldest son, a physician who moved to France in 1993, back home.
“If there is peace and a job, I think he’ll come back and work in a Palestinian hospital,” Hanni said hopefully as he shopped in a Beit Sahour hardware store. The 63-year-old Greek Catholic did not want his last name published. “He left because he couldn’t find work in the West Bank, and the Israelis wouldn’t issue him a permit to work in Israel.”
Israel began severely limiting the number of work and visitor permits it issues at the start of the first intifada (Palestinian uprising) in 1988.
Bassam, a father of three who also requested anonymity (“I don’t want the Israelis to withhold a travel permit”), said Palestinian sovereignty is synonymous with freedom.
Chain-smoking during an interview at the modest housewares store he owns, Bassam said freedom means “we will have enough work and that we won’t have to go through checkpoints everywhere. It means being in control of our own water resources.”
Bassam, whose family has lived in the Bethlehem area for generations, blamed both the Israeli and Palestinian governments for the West Bank’s chronic water shortage.
“First, the Israelis give water to the settlers, and whatever’s left over goes to us,” he asserted. “And I suspect that the Palestinian Authority gives more water to ‘important’ people than to the rest of us.”
The Israeli government says it provides essential services to the best of its ability.

‘Times Have Changed’
Despite this criticism, Bassam is convinced that the Palestinian leadership is ready to run a country.
“The only reason our leaders aren’t leading a Palestinian state is because the Israelis don’t let them,” he said.
Angry though he is at the Israeli government, Bassam does not advocate armed struggle against the “occupation.”
“Twenty years ago I was a follower of George Habash,” founder of the militant Palestinian group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. “Today I have a family and a future,” Bassam said.
Nizreen Manarious, Salim’s daughter-in-law, also believes violence will only hurt the Palestinian cause.
“Times have changed. I think as Palestinians we shouldn’t fight in a violent way. Violence only serves the Israelis’ needs,” said Nizreen, who is 34 and pregnant with her third child, as she watched her two young sons chasing each other around the olive tree in the family’s garden.
Nizreen said she has experienced violence throughout her life. She was born and raised in the West Bank town of Beit Jala near Bethlehem. During the Palestinian uprisings, Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants waged many battles.
“In 1988, Israeli soldiers shot my father dead during a peaceful demonstration in Beit Jala at the beginning of the first intifada,” Nizreen recalled. “He was a peaceful activist. We saw someone being shot but didn’t know it was him until later.”
“We tried armed resistance against the Israelis, and it didn’t work,” agreed George Manarious, Nizreen’s husband, the resource manager of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem.
Lubnah Shomali, an officer for the Beit Sahur Municipality, was 5 years old when her parents moved the family from the West Bank to the United States.
Shomali, a Catholic with three children, moved back to the West Bank with her Palestinian husband and their children three years ago “to give my children their cultural identity.”
The young couple also wanted their children “to see what is really going on, as opposed to what others say. I wanted them to see that Palestine really does exist.”
Like other Palestinians, Shomali doesn’t expect a Palestinian state to be born overnight.
“We are growing as a government and as a nation, reaching closer to independence every day,” Shomali said. “I think we’re heading down the right path.”
Michele Chabin writes from Jerusalem.


Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/palestinian-christians-hope-for-statehood/#ixzz1c31oWFXC