August 2004

Israel killed 436 Palestinians in past 'quiet' six months

Arjan El Fassed 31 August 2004


Anyone following mainstream media today couldn’t miss the news today. CNN reported that two suicide bombers set off almost simultaneous blasts on buses in Beer Sheva, killing 16 people in addition to themselves. At least 93 people were wounded. Usually, such attacks are followed with a wide range of condemnations. While mainstream media tend to portray suicide bombings as a return to violence after a “relatively quiet” period, at least 436 Palestinians have been killed since March 14. This month alone, Israeli forces killed 43 Palestinians and injured 285. This underscores the lack of evenhanded attention given to loss of life in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

New York Plays the Arab Card

Zachary Wales 31 August 2004


The “terrorist” charges against Shahawar Matin Siraj and James El Shafay of New York are nothing short of illegal entrapment. Regardless of what happens from this point on, their futures are ruined. Ironic that Siraj, a 21-year-old Pakistani immigrant who works longer hours than President Bush, in addition to attending night school, came to America for freedom and opportunity. His crime, as spelled out clearly in the complaint filed against him last weekend, was his “hatred of America.” In the coming days, the tabloid press will demonize Siraj and El Shafay, , while the moderate New York Times will dance around the digestible semantics of “Other” and the “anti-Americanist” template of Other’s mindset. 

Human Rights groups: "Prisoner Rights are Human Rights"

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Prisoner Association, Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA), Adalah, B'Tselem, Mossawa Center, HaMoked and Public Committee Against Torture in Israel 27 August 2004


Nine human rights organizations placed an advertisement in the Israeli daily newspaper Ha’aretz, stating that the rights of thousands of incarcerated Palestinians are being violated and that the Israel Prison Service must respect the basic and universal principals of prisoners’ human rights. Article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent diginity of the human person.The groups include ACRI, The Prisoner Association, The Arab Association for Human Rights, Adalah, B’Tselem, Mossawa, Ha’moked, and the Public Committee Against Torture. 

ACRI and Adalah petition High Court on hunger strike prisoners

30 August 2004


The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and Adalah submitted a petition to the Supreme Court yesterday on behalf of seven attorneys and additional human rights organizations against the Israel Prison Service. The petition demands that the court order the IPS to allow prisoners who are classified as security prisoners or detainees, and are currently on hunger strike, to meet with their attorneys. The first hearing of the petition, which was submitted by Adalah Attorney Orna Kohn and ACRI Attorney Sonia Boulos, is on Wednesday at 11.30 am. At the beginning of August the prisoners and detainees declared their intention to begin a hunger strike in protest of the poor and deteriorating prison conditions. 

British journalist banned from speaking with the media

Ewa Jasiewicz 29 August 2004


The Israeli Ministry of the Interior has decided that I may not speak to the media. This attempt to silence me is not new; deportation and imprisonment for political reasons are the highest form of censorship. In this particular case the attempt to cut off my voice is part of a long term Israeli state attack on three vital narratives. The first is composed of international activists who act against the occupation. The second is that of the peace movement and refusniks, who take direct action against the occupation by refusing to serve in it and the third is that of the Palestinian people and the daily terror that they face. 

Pentagon/Israel Spying Case Expands: Fomenting a War on Iran

Juan Cole 29 August 2004


Here is my take on the Lawrence Franklin espionage scandal in the Pentagon. It is an echo of the one-two punch secretly planned by the pro-Likud faction in the Department of Defense. First, Iraq would be taken out by the United States, and then Iran. David Wurmser, a key member of the group, also wanted Syria included. These pro-Likud intellectuals concluded that 9/11 would give them carte blanche to use the Pentagon as Israel’s Gurkha regiment, fighting elective wars on behalf of Tel Aviv (not wars that really needed to be fought, but wars that the Likud coalition thought it would be nice to see fought so as to increase Israel’s ability to annex land and act aggressively, especially if someone else’s boys did the dying). Juan Cole comments. 

Palestinian prisoners press on with hunger strike

27 August 2004


For the 13th day of the hunger strike, the Israeli government continues to refuse to engage in negotiations with the prisoners or their representatives.  Instead, Israeli officials have responded with various forms of punishment designed to break the will of the prisoners to maintain the strike.  Prison officials have ordered Jewish prisoners in the Nafha prison to prepare barbeques for the strikers in hopes that the smells would force the men and women to cave in. The Israeli Prison Service has so far refused to transfer any sick prisoner to hospitals outside the prisons. Israeli hospitals are prevented from allowing striker prisoners in. 

Wings of Freedom

Toine van Teeffelen Bethlehem, Palestine 29 August 2004


Palestinian singer Ammar looks an introvert person. On the Lebanese Future station, where he is a finalist in the Idol-like competition “Superstar”, he sings his almost classical Arab songs in a beautiful melodramatic voice. He remains serious while he laughs. Surrounded by glitter and fashionable show presentators and a screaming teenager audience, he looks out of place. Asked by a jury member why he is so reserved and sad, he replies that he cannot sing gaily when his people in Palestine face so many difficulties, and he mentions the people dying at checkpoints. Art is resistance for him. Toine van Teeffelen reports from occupied Bethlehem. 

Red Cross visits detainees on hunger strike

27 August 2004


The International Committee of the Red Cross has continued to conduct its activities in Israeli places of detention during the current hunger strike by Palestinian security detainees. In particular, over the last 10 days the organization has begun a round of visits to all prisons housing detainees on strike, while maintaining close contact with their families and groups representing them. The ICRC plans to strengthen its team of medical doctors visiting places of detention, with a view to stepping up its monitoring of health conditions and access to medical care there. During the visits, the doctors will stress the possible health consequences of the strike. 

Thirteen UN agencies expressed concern about conditions Palestinian prisoners

27 August 2004


Thirteen United Nations institutions operating in the occupied Palestinian territory expressed concern today about the hunger strike that reportedly more than 2,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees have joined. The UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Terje Roed-Larsen calls on the Israeli authorities to comply with its international obligations and to make every effort to find, with the prisoners, an appropriate resolution to the hunger strike. The UN agencies and offices remind Israel of its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention and relevant international human rights instruments which provide for the protection of detainees and prisoners. 

Leading Israeli organizations call for an immediate change in policy towards the Palestinian political prisoners

27 August 2004


Prisoners on hunger strike are denied vital salts, medical treatment and access to their lawyers. In a press conference today at the Alternative Information Center in Jerusalem, several Israeli Organizations provided an update on the prisoners, condition on the 12th day of the hunger strike and on the legal actions taken to stop the violation of their basic rights. Among the speakers were lawyers Abeer Baker and Lea Tsemel, Maher Talhami of Physicians for Human Rights, AIC’s Ahmad Jaradat and Hannah Friedman of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel. They call for an immediate change in policy towards the Palestinian political prisoners. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

26 August 2004


This week Israeli forces killed 6 Palestinian civilians, including a child and an elderly man. Israeli forces razed 60 donums of agricultural land in Wadi al-Salka and 45 donums in al-Moraq. Israeli forces demolished 17 homes in the Gaza Strip. Israel continues to impose a total siege on the occupied Palestinian territories and construction of Israel’s apartheid wall continues despite international consensus against the wall. Palestinian and Arab prisoners initiated a hunger strike in Israeli prisons with a call to improve conditions of their confinement, seeking respect for minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners. 

Israel uses UNRWA girls' school as detention center

25 August 2004


In the morning of 24 August, Israeli military forces broke into UNRWA’s girls’ school in Askar Refugee camp in the West Bank and proceeded to use the school as a detention and interrogation center for hundreds of male residents of the camp between the ages of 16 and 40. The Agency strongly protests this flagrant violation of the United Nations Privileges and Immunities. The occupation of Askar girl s’ school is not the first such abuse of UNRWA’s humanitarian installations in the West Bank or in the Gaza Strip. No less than 10 schools were occupied during Defensive Shield operation. In all these cases, UNRWA has also protested to the Israeli authorities, but without result. 

Yahoo! Sports makes Palestine's Olympians disappear

Ali Abunimah and Nigel Parry 26 August 2004


The Internet information service Yahoo! has omitted information about Palestine’s athletes competing in the 2004 Olympics at Athens. Yahoo! has extensive Olympics coverage, one of the features of which is a search engine that allows users to look up any athlete by name or to look up all the athletes representing a country — except that the athletes from Palestine are mysteriously missing. EI’s Ali Abunimah and Nigel Parry explain the problem and ask for action. 

Reality Check for "Palestinian Idol"

Charmaine Seitz 26 August 2004


While reality programming was the source of much Palestinian parlor discussion when the genre first hit Arab satellite television, critics didn’t get into the pulpit until Palestinian crooner Ammar Hassan made his way into the final rounds of Superstar, which allows viewers to register their preference for the Arab singer of the year. When Hassan became one of the 12 finalists, a Ramallah sheikh listed the distraction of satellite television among the ills plaguing the Palestinian cause. Hamas officials were more blunt, saying in a statement, “Our people are in need of heroes, resistance fighters and contributors to building the country and are not in need of singers, corruption mongers and advocates of immorality.” 

Local, regional solidarity with hunger strikers grows

26 August 2004


As Palestinian prisoners enter the 11th day of a hunger strike to protest abysmal Israeli prison conditions, Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, professional groups from other Arab countries, and Israeli activists have joined with the strikers in solidarity. Israeli authorities reacted to the strike with disciplinary measures and suspended several of the prisoners’ privileges such as confiscating television sets and radios, suspending newspaper deliveries and stopping visits. Over 200 Palestinian prisoners have died while in Israeli custody, due to torture, ill-treatment, deprivation of medical treatment, and neglect. 

Palestinian prisoner hunger strike continues, despite Israeli repression

Arjan El Fassed 26 August 2004


Over 2,000 Palestinian political prisoners are currently participating in a hunger strike to protest their detention conditions and treatment by Israeli prison authorities. These include demands for public phones, the removal of partitions that separate inmates from visiting family members, and a halt to strip searches. They are also demanding the right to be able to hold their children during visits. Israeli prison authorities have resorted to new measures to end the open hunger strike that entered its 11th day today. EI’s Arjan El Fassed reports. 

UN Committee expresses grave concern at conditions Palestinian prisoners

25 August 2004


At its meeting on 24 August 2004, the Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People expressed grave concern at the systematic violation of the rights of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, detention and interrogation centres, and is alarmed at the growing number of prisoners who are on an open-ended hunger strike. Over 3,000 Palestinian prisoners, including hundreds of ailing prisoners, are now on the hunger strike, which is in its tenth day. 

Building Peace: Demolished Home Rebuilt in Anata Village

Am Johal 25 August 2004


Salim Shawamreh, the Palestinian coordinator of the camp has had his home demolished four times and has rebuilt it for the fifth time as Beit Arabiya, the House of Peace. It is named after his wife who was the head chef at the work camp and is dedicated to American activist Rachel Corrie and Palestinian Nuha Sweidan, two women who died during home demolitions in Gaza last year. In his eyes, it is not a home demolition, but a life demolition. “When they come to demolish our homes, they are planting the hatred inside our kids,” says Shawamreh. 

Annan calls on Israel to cease West Bank settlement expansion

24 August 2004


United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on Israel to cease its recently reported expansion of West Bank settlements, calling the practice a clear contradiction of the country’s obligations under the Road Map peace plan that provides for the establishment of two states - Israel and Palestine - by 2005. “The Secretary-General expresses strong concern over reports of Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, through the Government of Israel’s recent publication of tenders for construction of new housing units,” a statement issued by his spokesman said. 

Child rights group: "Israel should respect rights of child detainees"

24 August 2004


Today, Palestinian political prisoners detained inside Israeli prisons are marking the tenth day of an open ended hunger strike in protest of the inhumane conditions in which they are incarcerated. The prisoners are demanding that the prison authorities respect internationally recognised rules governing detention. They insist that the prison administrators move immediately to improve general conditions on all levels inside the detention facilities and that the prisoners’ basic rights be unconditionally respected. Embarking on a hunger strike is a measure of last resort. The decision to strike follows repeated requests by inmates for an improvement in conditions. These have been met with silence from prison administrations. 

Gaza Disengagement: Palestinian concerns ignored

Linh Truong 24 August 2004


Right-wing Israelis and many Palestinians have at least one thing in common: Both fear the disastrous ramifications of Sharon’s Disengagement Plan. Of course, one viewpoint is an expansionist one that seeks to drive Palestinians from their land, while the other one comes from the very real fear that Sharon will show flexibility on Gaza only in order to entrench the occupation in the West Bank. To date, the Bush administration has failed to grapple meaningfully with the Gaza Disengagement Plan in the context of its being a first step within the scenario of a full withdrawal from the Occupied Territories. 

Remembering Nick Pretzlik

Annie Higgins Amman, Jordan 24 August 2004


There was a face I knew! It was the coffee seller that my friend ordered from, and introduced with respect: “This gentleman is an accountant, but when times got bad and he couldn’t find appropriate work, he began to sell coffee.” The man was humble and welcoming, smiling inside an enormous purple parka, and adding, out of excess generosity, enough cardamom pods to make the little glass of coffee nearly atomic. Here in one of Jenin’s several internet cafes, the coffee man was smiling from the screen of a website, alongside a brief but potent article by one Nick Pretzlik. Annie Higgins remembers an activist for the Palestinian people. 

Interrogated at the Israel-Egypt border

Anjali Kamat Cairo, Egypt 24 August 2004


We were held for over 11 hours at the border and interrogated about every single item in our possession and repeatedly asked if we belonged to any “peace or leftist or even UN organization.” It was an incredibly harrowing experience — long periods of mind numbing boredom, staring out into the beautiful red sea, watching hordes of Israelis return from a roasting vacation in the Sinai and endless British Bible tour groups and American backpackers pass through security unharassed. An unpleasant boredom punctuated by short bursts of nerve-racking questioning about the most personal details of our lives (as culled from “offensive” sources in our bags like journals, letters, photographs, stationery, and even slogans on T-shirts), our plans for tourism in Israel, how we know each other, why we study Arabic, and do we know any Arabs. 

"Let them starve to death"

23 August 2004


On Sunday, August 15, 2004, the Palestinian prisoners kept inside the Green Line started a hunger strike in protest of the living conditions inside Israeli jails. They were joined by the 120 political prisoners who are citizens of Israel. Testimonies of prisoners and reports from lawyers and human-rights groups reveal shocking accounts of physical and psychological torture, which appear to be part of a systematic policy rather than exceptions due to individual misconduct. The prisoners’ daily routine is dominated by medical negligence, unsanitary conditions, beatings, position torture, sleep deprivation, strip searches and the denial of contact with family members and friends. The inhumane conditions of Israel’s prisons are reflected in the demands the Palestinian detainees put forward as a condition to end their hunger strike. 

Harsh treatment of Palestinian women prisoners

23 August 2004


There are now altogether approximately 100 Palestinian women political prisoners. On 13 June one group, about half of the women, was transferred back to Neve Tirza from Hasharon Prison. The rooms are dirty and infected with mice and cockroaches. The heat is unbearable, The windows are closed and covered so that hardly any air or daylight can enter. The food is insufficient, of inferior quality or even spoilt, it is dirty, often containing insects and worms. Mothers with babies are living in the same cells with other prisoners. Contrary to what is an accepted custom in the section of the criminal prisoners, the doors of the political prisoners’ cells where small children live are not permitted to remain open during daytime. 

Non Alignment Movement to impose sanctions on Israel

20 August 2004


The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) called on its member states to bar all products and goods emanating from Israeli settlements at the end of the fourteenth Ministerial Conference of the Non-Alignment Movement (Mid-Term Review) in Durban, South Africa. The call for measures was issued by the Committee on Palestine of the Non-Alignment Movement. The NAM declaration called for its members to “decline entry to Israeli settlers and to impose sanctions against companies and entities involved in the construction of the wall.” “With regard to member states, the ministers called upon them to undertake measures, including by means of legislation, collectively, regionally and individually, to prevent any products of the illegal Israeli settlements from entering their markets,” said the declaration. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

19 August 2004


Israeli forces killed 11 Palestinians, including two children. Five Palestinians were killed in a failed Israeli extra-judicial execution. Israeli forces demolished 13 homes in Rafah and razed 170 donums agricultural land in the south of Gaza City. Israel continues to impose a total siege on the occupied Palestinian territories and construction of Israel’s apartheid wall continues despite international consensus against the wall. Palestinian and Arab prisoners initiated a hunger strike in Israeli prisons with a call to improve conditions of their confinement, seeking respect for minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners. 

Israeli authorities detain British journalist

20 August 2004


The International Federation of Journalists today challenged the Israeli authorities to “live up to the expectations of a democracy” and allow a journalist they have banned from entering the country to have access and to report freely. “It is intolerable that the country which claims to be the only democracy in the region is afraid to allow a writer access to the country,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary, over the ban on journalist Ewa Jasiewicz, a member of the IFJ British affiliate the National Union of Journalists. Ewa Jasiewicz landed at Tel Aviv airport last Wednesday and was detained by the authorities, who claim she is a political activist. 

Interview: "Operation Rainbow" Follow-up with Creator of 'Rafah Today' website, direct from Rafah

Stefan Christoff 20 August 2004


Listen to an interview with Mohamed Omar, an independent Palestinian journalist from Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Mohamed is the creator of the independent news website Rafah Today, which documents life and death in the Gaza Strip. Mohamed, who’s home was recently demolished by the Israeli military, speaks about the importance of an independent media movement in Palestine to document and uncover the often hidden realities of the Israeli occupation. The interview outlines the current situation in Rafah, focusing on the constant Israeli Occupation Forces incursions into Rafah refugee camp, while also exploring the aftermath of the massive Israeli military incursion dubbed “Operation Rainbow” in late May 2004. 

Palestinian and Arab prisoners continue with hunger strike

18 August 2004


Today thousands more Palestinian and Arab detainees have joined this strike. The strike began in four Israeli prisons on the 15th of August in an attempt to exert pressure on the Israeli authority to improve the conditions of confinement. The detainees announced that their intention was to refrain from consuming all solid food but that they would continue to drink liquids. The Israeli prison service started to impose harsh measures on the prisoners from the moment the detainees declared their intention to strike, including the transfer of 120 leaders from Nafha prison in the Negev desert, solitary confinement, placing them with Israeli criminals, and prohibiting visits. 

Adalah: "Fluids and salt must return to hunger-striking prisoners"

19 August 2004


On 17 August 2004, Adalah submitted a pre-petition to the Attorney General’s Office demanding that they issue an order to the authorities of the Israeli prisons in which political prisoners have opened hunger strikes, obligating them to return fluids and salt to the prisoners’ cells. After the announcement of the hunger strike, the prisons’ authorities entered the prisoners’ cells and removed all fluids, such as milk and fruit juice, and salt. The aim of these confiscations was to exert pressure upon the prisoners to abort their strike. Palestinian prisoners began hunger strikes on 15 August 2004. The number of hunger-striking political prisoners reached 2,200 prisoners on 18 August 2004. The prisoners’ strike is a protest against their poor daily living conditions. 

The writing on the wall

Mitchell Plitnick 23 August 2004


The bright red letters stand out starkly against the ugly grey cement. The wall that is slicing through East Jerusalem is some thirty feet high, but casts its shadow for miles. There is little the Palestinians hemmed in on both sides of the wall can do to oppose it. So, the wall is dotted with marks where rocks have been thrown at it in anger, and covered with graffiti. Some graffiti writers ask if the builder of this wall can be a “man of peace”. Some ask how a people whose history is full of ghettos can now be building one. And someone decided to remind us all, in those blood-red letters, that it was “Paid by USA”. 

New Housing Units Sanctioned by Israel Show How Dead the Road Map Is

20 August 2004


August 19th, 2004 — Both the New York Times and the Washington Post carried stories yesterday about the announcement in Tel Aviv that Israel’s Housing and Construction Ministry would build up to 1,000 new housing units in settlements in the West Bank. According to these sources as well as Ha’aretz, the Israeli daily, 604 units will be built in Betar Elite and 141 in Maaleh Adumim, which lie in the area of East Jerusalem, and 204 housing units will be built in Ariel and 42 in Karnei Shomron, lying in the West Bank itself. So why does the U.S. administration still pretend that the Road Map still exists? 

Hunger strike "final avenue" for prisoners

Omar Karmi 19 August 2004


Israeli prison authorities have declared they are ready to weigh prisoners every day, and force-feed them if necessary. On August 17, it was reported that prison guards would use “psychological warfare” to break the strike, including holding large barbeques in jailhouses. While Jarrar is not concerned about the BBQs, she’s more worried by the threat of force-feeding prisoners.”In 1980,” she recalls, “two prisoners [Ali Ja’fari and Rasem Halawi] in Nafha prison were force-fed after a lengthy hunger strike. When they put the tubes down, they put them in the wrong place, and they ended in their lungs.” Ja’fari and Halawi both died. 

Book Review: Bethlehem Besieged

Arjan El Fassed 19 August 2004


Palestinians should have the permission to narrate their own lives, their own hopes, their own history. Putting tragedies, events and experiences into words help ease turmoil and defuse the terror. Writing provides a sense of control and a sense of understanding. For some, writing is a struggle, a matter of survival. As eyewitnesses of tomorrow’s news, we cannot hope to understand what is going on without access to alternative information resources. The compelling stories of Mitri Raheb, a Palestinian Christian pastor of the Evangelical Christmas Church where he ministers to his people in Bethlehem, gives us a window not only into what it is like to have grown up under occupation but also into his soul. 

Administrative detention and torture

16 August 2004


The World Organization Against Torture is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Alaa Kapisha, given reported ill-treatment and torture to which he has been subjected, and the risk of further treatment of this type that he faces will in detention. OMCT calls on Israeli authorities to guarantee his personal integrity and to immediately release him in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standers. OMCT reiterates its grave concern over the use of incommunicado detention by Israel, through the issuing of Orders Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel, as this represents a violation of the detainees’ rights under international law. 

Ministry of Planning and UK kick-start UNDP participatory planning project

18 August 2004


Dr. Nabil Qassis, Minister of Planning, and Mr. Piers Cazalet, Acting Consul General of the UK to the Palestinian Authority, and Mr. Andrea Tamagnini, Special Representative a.i, UNDP, will approve a generous grant of £950,000 in support of the Ministry of Planning’s commitment to mainstreaming the issue of poverty reduction in its humanitarian and developmental planning instruments. The grant will kick-start the Palestinian Pro-poor Participatory Planning project to be implemented by the Ministry of Planning in joint partnership with the United Nations Development Programme/Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People. 

Adalah: "Allow children of prisoners contact with their parents"

16 August 2004


On August 16, 2004, Adalah submitted a petition to the Supreme Court demanding that the Court issue an order of injunction instructing the Israel Prison Authority (IPA) to allow the children of prisoners classified by the IPA as security prisoners to have physical contact with their parents during prison visits. The petition was submitted on behalf of ten children of “security” prisoners, the Prisoner Association and in Adalah’s own name, against the IPA. 

Israel kills five Palestinians in attempt to assassinate Hamas leader

18 August 2004


A senior Hamas leader, Sheikh Ja’abari has survived an Israeli assassination attempt in the Gaza Strip, but at least five other Palestinians, including Ja’abari’s son, his brother, nephew, and his son-in-law were killed in the explosion that tore through his home. Ja’abari sustained moderate injuries as did three other Palestinians, including a child and a second brother of Ja’abari. Israeli military sources claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement to the Israeli media. Some said that a military aircraft attacked the home. 

Israel's race to end Palestinian resistance before the US election

Hasan Abu Nimah 19 August 2004


While the world’s attention is almost completely absorbed by events in Iraq, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s onslaught on the Palestinians continues with extreme brutality. He hopes to put an end to the Intifada before a new American administration is in place, writes EI contributor Hasan Abu Nimah, but while the Palestinian resistance may be exhausted for now, Israel is nowhere near victory and is, strategically, in its worst position against the Palestinians ever. Israel has missed a historic opportunity for peace on highly favorable terms, and the time is coming where it will be lucky to settle for much less than it has now. 

Israeli forces kill two Palestinians near Jabalyah

17 August 2004


Early in the morning of Monday, August 16, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian civilians, east of Jabalyah town, in the north of the Gaza Strip. The two men were killed when Israeli helicopters launched four missiles at an agricultural field. Preliminary investigations by PCHR indicate that the two victims were killed by shrapnel from a rocket and rounds of live ammunition. The attack took place when the two men were collecting wood in area which had been destroyed by an earlier IOF incursion. Eyewitness reports and investigations by PCHR fieldworkers suggest that Israeli helicopter gunships fired four guided missiles at an agricultural field. These missiles were followed by random shelling from the helicopter gunships, targeting the same area. 

Imprisoned Decency

Arjan El Fassed 18 August 2004


Palestinian prisoners in four different Israeli prisons started an open-ended hunger strike on Sunday to press for better living conditions of the nearly 8,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli authorities reacted to the strike with disciplinary measures and suspended several of the prisoners’ privileges such as confiscating television sets and radios, suspending newspaper deliveries and stopping visits. Since 1967 to date, Israel has arbitrarily detained over 630,000 Palestinians. In 1989 alone, Israel detained 50,000 Palestinians, representing 16% of the entire male population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip between the ages of 14 and 55. 

The intellectual, the maestro, and the "piece process"

Ismail Khalidi 17 August 2004


The recent Geneva performance by the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, created by the late Edward Said and the world-famous musician Daniel Barenboim, was cultural diplomacy at its best, and at the same time represented the kind of politics that, quite simply, defies the very conventions of politics. Peace making made fun (and beautiful), but not watered down, the performance was a sophisticated, classic display of the pen’s superiority over the sword, the violin over the rifle. Ismail Khalidi reflects upon the orchedstra’s talent and significance for EI. 

Palestinian prisoners demands are humanitarian not political

16 August 2004


During the month of August 7,500 Palestinian political prisoners will take part in a massive series of hunger strikes hoping to draw international attention and support to a campaign against the gross violations of their rights and against the appalling conditions under which they are being detained. With the help of international recognition of these facts the prisoners seek only to alleviate these harsh conditions, their demands calling for the most basic necessities such as food, water and air and for a standard of treatment that meets humanitarian requirements. 

Israel's Internal Security Minister is "indifferent" to lives of Palestinian prisoners

16 August 2004


The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) condemns the ruthless and irresponsible remark made by Tzachi Hanegbi, Minister of Internal Security, regarding the hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners that “as far as I am concerned they can strike for a day, a month and onto death”. Hannah Friedman, Executive Director of PCATI, said: “it is unthinkable that an Israeli government minister would express himself in this fashion displaying a total disregard for the lives of the people in his custody. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

11 August 2004


This week Israeli forces killed five Palestinians, including three children. Israeli destroyed 26 homes in Rafah refugee camp and razed 130 donums of agricultural land in the middle of the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces attacked Palestinians gathering in Khan Yunis refugee camp from the air, ten of them were injured, many seriously. Israel continues the construction of the apartheid wall. Israel reopened Rafah terminal in the south of the Gaza Strip. One elderly Palestinian civilian died at Rafah because of restrictions imposed by Israeli occupation forces. 

Israel's budget discriminates against Palestinian citizens

12 August 2004


Israel’s draft budget fails to address systematic discrimination against Palestinian Arab school children, Human Rights Watch said today in letters to the Israeli government. Members of the Israeli cabinet are expected to meet on Sunday to finalize the budget proposal before its submission to Knesset. “Prime Minister Sharon acknowledges that ‘education is the most effective tool to reduce gaps in Israeli society,’ but his budget perpetuates discrimination against children who are Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel,” said Clarisa Bencomo, researcher in Human Rights Watch’s Children’s Rights Division. “This budget does nothing to close the educational gap between Israel’s Jewish and Arab citizens.” 

Torture of Palestinians in the Heart of Romantic Landscape

Sami Abu Salem Gaza, Palestine 17 August 2004


Just after leaving the city of Deir al-Balah, south of Gaza City, our eyes were caught by the beautiful neighbourhood of Abu Holi. Palm trees, olive and citrus orchards and green houses flank the road. A shepherd stands with some sheep between the trees, where a low, rusty metal fence surrounds a calf and a cow chewing leaves. In the heart of such a romantic view, thousands of Palestinian civilians face daily torture at the two sides of Abu Holi checkpoint, which divides the Gaza Strip into two parts. Hundreds of Palestinian taxis, trucks and civilian vehicles snake along the dug-up sandy road of the ill-fated Abu Holi. Watchtowers covered with military-green nets border the checkpoint, where the crying of children is escalating along with the endless queue of cars. Sami Abu Salem writes from Gaza. 

Divisions emerge over Qassams

Ghazi Hamad 12 August 2004


Israeli Defense minister Shaul Mofaz dubbed them a “serious threat to the security of Israel,” while the western press has called them variously the “wild card of the Middle East” (CNN) or the “homemade rockets that may change the Middle East” (Time). For a weapon that didn’t claim a fatality until June 28 of this year, the Qassam rockets have gained widespread notoriety. Qassam rockets are primitive homemade rockets developed by Hamas’ military wing, the Izzedin Al Qassam brigades, during the Aqsa Intifada. Palestine Report’s Ghazi Hamad looks at the Palestinian debate surrounding the weapons. 

Israeli forces attack medical staff in Rafah

12 August 2004


The Palestinian Medical Relief Society condemns Tuesday’s attack against PMRS ambulance staff whilst they distributed first aid kits to residents of Rafah. Whilst ambulance staff, including 5 doctors, 2 nurses and the driver, distributed the first aid kits in the Tal al Sultan neighborhood, Israeli forces started firing at the ambulance. According to the staff, firing came from the “Rafih Yam” settlements towers. They at first thought that it was random shooting however; when some bullets were only 50 cm away they realized that this was in fact intentional. Fortunately there were no injuries. 

No tangible progress made towards resuming peace process, Security Council told

11 August 2004


In the past month, there had been no tangible progress towards resuming the peace process in the Middle East; violence had continued to claim innocent lives; neither side had taken adequate steps to protect civilians; and both were in breach of their international legal obligations, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast told the Security Council this morning. Israel, as the occupying Power, had obligations to protect Palestinian civilians and not to destroy their property unless that was rendered absolutely necessary by military operations, he continued.  The scale of destruction of Palestinian property by the Israeli military raised concerns about collective punishment. 

Book Review: The Myth of Palestinian Development

Sam Bahour 16 August 2004


The Myth of Palestinian Development is a focused biography that takes a deep and serious look into how two funding agencies, in particular, and the entire donor community in general, including pre-Oslo Palestinian and Arab donors, view and act toward Palestinian development. The book takes a unique approach by surveying the Palestinian development process — the ‘de-development’ process as Dr. Nakhleh would call it — through his own work experience with the two most significant developmental agencies of the pre and post-Oslo periods, The Welfare Association (1984-1992) and the European Commission (1993-2001). 

Photostory: Images of the Kalandia Checkpoint bombing

11 August 2004


Two Palestinians were killed and seven Israeli soldiers and 13 Palestinians were wounded today when a bomb exploded at Kalandia checkpoint, separating Ramallah and northern parts of Jerusalem from the rest of the city. Six Palestinian wounded were taken to Ramallah hospitals. All Israeli casualties were Israeli army officers. They were taken to hospitals in Jerusalem. As Israeli soldiers are combing the streets of Jerusalem neighborhoods ar-Ram and Dahiya al-Barid, the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. The Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said the attack was meant to retaliate for Israeli actions in Gaza. Israeli armed forces imposed a closure on Ramallah. Hundreds of Israeli police and soldiers are deployed in the area. 

Arrest of Palestinian Human Rights Defender

6 August 2004


Israel should immediately release `Abd al-Latif Gheith, a prominent rights activist now being held without charge in a military detention camp, Human Rights Watch said today. In a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Human Rights Watch said that if Mr. Gheith was suspected of violating any laws, the government should file charges in a court that meets international standards for fair trials. Gheith, 63 years old and board chairman of Addameer, a prisoner support organization based in Ramallah, was detained on July 29 after security officials questioned him at a military checkpoint about Addameer’s activities and staff. 

ECHO provides a further EURO 1.35 million in aid for victims of house demolitions in Rafah

11 August 2004


The European Commission has allocated €1.35 million for victims of house demolitions in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip. More than 10,000 people whose houses were destroyed or damaged during the Israeli army incursions last May and June will be provided with temporary accommodation pending permanent re-housing. They will also receive cash assistance to replace household goods and belongings that were lost in the rubble. Part of the funds will be used to repair shelters housing some 2,000 people as well as key public infrastructure that was damaged during the incursions in Rafah. Water supply networks, sewage systems, and two schools will be rehabilitated. 

EU: No evidence Israeli allegations money given to PA funded terrorism

10 August 2004


To date, there is no evidence that funds from the non-targeted EU Direct Budget Assistance to the Palestinian Authority have been used to finance illegal activities, including terrorism. This is the provisional assessment which the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) gave today, August 10, 2004, in reaction to a number of media reports on the matter. OLAF emphasizes however that the investigations are still ongoing, therefore final conclusions can not yet be drawn. This analysis is in line with the declarations already made by OLAF during a meeting of a special Working Group of the European Parliament on March 10, 2004. 

The Forbidden Road Regime in the West Bank - An Apartheid Practice

9 August 2004


In its new report, The Forbidden Roads: The Discriminatory West Bank Road Regime, B’Tselem finds that Israel restricts Palestinian travel on forty-one roads and sections of roads throughout the West Bank, totaling more than 700 kilometers of roadway. The Forbidden Roads Regime operates under the premise that every Palestinian is a security risk. The Roads Regime violates the rights to freedom of movement and to equality of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank. By unlawfully discriminating against Palestinians based on their national origin, the Forbidden Roads Regime is reminiscent of the apartheid system that existed in South Africa. 

The closure of the Rafah Terminal

4 August 2004


For the past 15 days, the border crossing point between Egypt and Gaza at Rafah Terminal (southern border of the Gaza Strip) has been predominantly closed; some openings of short duration have occurred. These closures have resulted in a mass of stranded populations on the Egyptian side, waiting for the re-opening of the borders. The average daily number of individuals stranded is approximately 2,500, comprised of : young children (30%), elderly, persons with chronic health conditions and disabled. Approximately 200 are chronically ill, and 40 have recently undergone surgical procedures in Egypt and are returning home. 

De-development Israeli style

Sam Bahour al-Bireh 15 August 2004


The Oslo Agreement stipulation on the telecom sector is very clear. Any operator must be licensed by the Palestinian Authority if they desire to sell their services to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Not only are all of the Israeli cellular companies illegally operating in Palestinian areas without licenses, but the Israeli government is encouraging them by disrupting the ability of the Palestinians to develop their own telecommunications networks and refusing to take action against these Israeli operators for violating agreements. 

Back in Dheisheh: Miyasar's fear

Shirabe Yamada Dheisheh refugee camp, Palestine 8 August 2004


It has been almost a month since Miyasar’s sleeping pattern has changed. Her back neighbor’s house was dynamited by the Israeli army in the early morning of July 13th in the densely populated West Bank refugee camp of Dheisheh. The rumor has it that the next demolition will be her next door neighbor’s house. Every night, Miyasar lays awake in her bed in the fearful anticipation of the arrival of troops. “I wait until around 2AM to fall a sleep, because if they don’t come until then, we know we are saved for the night,” says the mother of 5 children. Shirabe Yamada is back in Dheisheh refugee camp. 

Elections are the only way

7 August 2004


This week Palestine Report Online interviews Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, PCPSR, on the recent turmoil in the Palestinian territories. Shikaki says, “There is a very serious problem within the Palestinian political system. We have a significant component of Palestinian national activists who feel they have been marginalized during the last decade of the peace process, and that they have been marginalized by the old guard in the nationalist movement, and [this component] have exploited the last four years of the Intifada.” 

Developments since World Court opinion on Israeli wall "less than promising"

6 August 2004


Developments since the International Court of Justice issued its advisory opinion on Israel’s construction of a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory and the General Assembly meeting that followed were less than promising, Palestine’s Observer Nasser Al-Kidwa told the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People this morning. Israeli officials rejected the opinion, spoke with disdain for the Court, its opinion and the Assembly, and stated its intention to continue its construction of the wall. Meanwhile, the situation on the ground has further deteriorated. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

5 August 2004


This week Israeli forces killed 8 Palestinians, 6 of whom are civilians, including 3 children and one woman. Israel continued its military offensive against Beit Hanoun. Israeli forces invaded a number of Palestinian areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli forces demolished 45 homes and a number of civilian facilities in the Gaza Strip. One house was destroyed in the context of retaliatory measures against families of Palestinian activists. Israeli forces continued indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and at least 30 Palestinian civilians were injured. Despite the UNGA resolution and the ICJ ruling, Israel continued construction of the Wall on occupied Palestinian territory. Israel continued to impose a total siege. 

Al-Fawanees - The first musical in Palestine

5 August 2004


Based on Ghassan Kanafani’s book, Al-Qandeel Al-Saghir (The Little Lantern), Al-Fawanees is the first ever musical to debut in Palestine of such magnitude. Kanafani, whose vision and writings inspired thousands to create and dream, wrote and illustrated this first children’s novel for his niece Lamees whom he adored for one of her birthdays, before the two of them were the target of an Israeli assassination in Beirut in 1972, where both their lives were forever immortalized. The debut of the large-scale production, which includes the 55-member Shams Choir, will be held August 6 at the Ramallah Cultural Palace. 

Responding to continued insecurity, UN agency relocates more staff out of Gaza

4 August 2004


For the second time in two weeks, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has decided to relocate international staff out of the strife-torn Gaza Strip because of Israeli incursions and general instability. “I have been closely monitoring the evolution of the security situation in the Gaza Strip which forced me on 21 July to relocate part of my Headquarters staff to Jerusalem,” Agency Commissioner-General Peter Hansen said in a statement. “Since then, Israeli military operations in Beit Hanoun have continued and been expanded and there have been announcements regarding the potential extension of Israeli military incursions into other parts of the Northern Gaza Strip.” 

Dangerous Illusion: Why Israel's Barrier Will Fail to Provide Security

Steve Niva 6 August 2004


The case for Israel’s wall and fence barrier rests an endlessly repeated and passionately defended premise: only such a barrier can provide Israel security from the waves of Palestinian suicide bombers who have brutally maimed and killed hundreds of Israeli civilians in buses and café’s over the past four years. Given the devastating impact of Palestinian suicide attacks on Israeli society, it’s not hard to see why many have embraced the barrier as a remedy to stop the carnage. Unfortunately, in this case the proposed cure may actually be worse than the malady itself. Steve Niva examines the facts. 

WFP extends emergency assistance to Palestinians

3 August 2004


Amid continuing violence and conflict in the Palestinian Territories and the resulting deprivations on the lives and livelihoods of the population, the United Nations World Food Programme announced today that it will extend its emergency operation in the Territories for a further 12 months. Under the previous emergency operation, which ended last month, WFP provided food to more than half a million people in the Territories at a cost of US$29 million. For the past four years people’s lives have been affected by continuing political instability, military incursions, curfews, house demolitions and a “closure policy”, with over 600 checkpoints which prevent many Palestinians from reaching their work or schools. 

Americans Want a New Policy Towards Israel

30 July 2004


A new Zogby International poll commissioned by CNI found that half of all likely American voters agree that Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry “should adopt an entirely new policy, different from the present administration, towards Israel.” The poll, conducted during the Democratic Convention, showed that 51% of likely voters somewhat or strongly agreed that a policy change was necessary. Only 34% strongly or somewhat disagreed. The number who supported Kerry adopting a new policy towards Israel was even higher among Democrats: 70% of Democrats, Kerry’s voter base, supported such a change. 

Documentary film review: "News from the Holy Land"

Victor Kattan 2 August 2004


News from the Holy Land: Options and Consequences is a film that shows how journalists can improve their coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict. It is geared towards aspiring journalists (although veteran journalists could learn a thing or two from it), introducing creative ways of covering the conflict. The film stresses that it is the lack of context in mainstream reporting of the conflict that leads to a process of polarization. This is partly because the media are only interested in violence and not the underlying processes which lead to the violence. 

Red Cross and Red Crescent assist over 2,500 Palestinians at Rafah Terminal

2 August 2004


The Egyptian Red Crescent Society, with assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross, is providing tents, food parcels, hygiene installations and fans to over 2500 people stranded on the Egyptian side of the closed Rafah Terminal, on the southern border of the Gaza Strip. At the same time the ICRC is making representations to the relevant Israeli and Palestinian authorities to allow the people, who have been blocked at Rafah for up to 12 days, to cross into the Gaza Strip as soon as possible. For nearly two weeks, ERCS volunteers, working closely with local Egyptian authorities, have been assisting the group stranded at the border, which includes women, children and elderly people, with basic relief and medical assistance. 

Protest March New York, includes Jewish support for refugees' return

Zachary Wales 3 August 2004


Take the A train to Brooklyn, the message said. Walk one block west. Meet at the basement. Call this number if you’re lost and don’t forward this message. Palestinian Activist Forum of New York (PAFNY), was planning a demonstration in Manhattan, the Big Apple turned Orange. With the Republican National Convention around the corner, the city would amputate a bridge over one suspicious package. So as PAFNY convened last Friday night to prepare banners, placards and leaflets, security precautions were necessary. Any responsible political group takes precautions into their own hands. 

Insecurity prompts relocation of UN staff out of Gaza but Palestinians still get aid

29 July 2004


Responding to prevailing insecurity in Gaza, the head of the main UN agency helping Palestine refugees has relocated some staff out the area while pledging today that the move will not hamper the provision of aid or services to those in need. Peter Hansen, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), issued a statement in Gaza explaining that “recent worrying developments” - including the extensive Israeli military operations in Beit Hanoun and increased unpredictability and insecurity faced by UN staff in crossing into and out of the Gaza Strip at Erez - drove his decision to relocate some staff last week to Jerusalem. 

Media watch dog calls for thorough investigation into beating of Israeli filmmaker

30 July 2004


In a 28 July 2004 letter to Israeli Public Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, RSF called for a “thorough and open” investigation into a brutal assault on Israeli filmmaker David Benchetrit, who was left barely able to walk after being attacked in front of the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv on 21 April. “We would like to see the police investigation pursued with the utmost vigour so that the perpetrators of this shocking violence are arrested and punished in keeping with the seriousness of the attack,” RSF said in its letter. The filmmaker was attacked as he entered the Defence Ministry for an appointment with ministry spokesperson Ruth Yaron, in connection with a film he is making about Israel’s conscientious objectors.