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West Bank wasteland

Atef Saad 21 April 2005


At the beginning of April 2002, the Israeli army reoccupied a number of cities in the West Bank as part of a wide-scale military operation dubbed “Defensive Shield”. The goal of the operation, as stated by the Israeli government, was to “eliminate the infrastructure of Palestinian terrorism and to prevent suicide bombers from executing their operations in the heart of Israeli cities inside the Green Line.” At the time, no attention was given to an artillery force that snuck up the hills to a quarry - the largest in the West Bank, which is located in the cradle of a huge hill west of Nablus. “We were shocked when we saw that the quarry was being taken over,” says the director of the quarry, Ihab Abu Shusheh. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

21 April 2005


This week, Israeli forces extra-judicially killed a Palestinian and wounded 10 Palestinians, including four children. Construction of the “annexation wall” in the West Bank has continued; more areas of Palestinian land were confiscated and the Israeli High Court issued a decision allowing the construction of a section of the wall in Beit Sahour. Israeli forces arrested at least 20 Palestinians, including four children. At the crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel, Israeli authorities arrested five Palestinians, including two children. Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinians and their property. The siege imposed on the occupied territories remained in force. 

Rabble, Straight Goods, Indymedia

Lisa Sarracini 20 April 2005


Electronic Intifada (EI) began in 2001, a year after Palestine’s Second Intifada. This site is packed with information that is organized, accessible, and thorough. It offers visitors historical, legal, cultural, and political information about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Laurie King-Irani, one of the site’s cofounders, says EI’s most popular aspect is its diaries — live reports from people on the ground in occupied Palestine. In 2002, the EI team decided that instead of critiquing the media, they would become the ideal. “Too often, we aren’t getting the whole story. What we do at EI is deliver the missing part,” cofounder Arjan El Fassed says. “We call it supplementary news, rather than alternative news.” 

Behind the smoke screen of the Gaza pullout

Tanya Reinhart 19 April 2005


Ariel Sharon travelled to the United States as a hero of peace, as if he had already evacuated Gaza and only the follow-up remained to be worked out. What has completely disappeared from the public agenda is what is happening, meanwhile, in the West Bank. Behind the smoke screen of disengagement, a process of slow and hidden transfer is being carried out in the West Bank today. Tel Aviv University professor Tanya Reinhart looks at recent developments. 

Israel Continues to Deny Palestinian Prisoners their Basic Rights

16 April 2005


Al-Haq, on the occasion of Palestinian Prisoners day, calls attention to the ongoing plight of some 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners currently detained in substandard conditions in Israeli-administered jails in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. As of mid-March 2005, these prisoners included 126 women and 310 children. Of the current prison population, 434 Palestinians from the OPT have been held for over 10 years, and five have been incarcerated for over 25 years. During the past four and a half years of intifada, there have been 35,000 cases of detention. 

The Crow Cries

Toine van Teeffelen Bethlehem, Palestine 18 April 2005


Lately Mary said that “we are slaves now,” – slaves even without the possibility of shouting at your masters. “How sad is it that we are happy to get a permit,” she said after hearing of people who received a permit to travel to Jerusalem during Easter week. She herself applied but did not receive one. We heard of many couples who received only one permit. According to some, there were seven hundred permits to give away for a thousand applicants. Most people did not bother to apply. With its army roads and barbed wire the Wall will soon dominate the western border of the Bethlehem area, as well as a large stretch of the south. The checkpoint to the north of Bethlehem is going to be moved southwards, approaching downtown Bethlehem. It will be in or immediately behind the Wall. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

8 April 2005


This week Israeli forces killed seven Palestinian civilians, including two children. Israeli forces conducted a series of incursions into Palestinian areas. Houses were raided and a number of Palestinian civilians were arrested. Construction of the “Annexation Wall” in the West Bank has continued; more areas of Palestinian land were confiscated and 5 houses and a number of animal farms were destroyed for this purpose. Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property in the West Bank. Israeli forces have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT. Israeli forces have continued to close a number of roads since the beginning of the current Intifada, Israeli forces have continued to impose severe restrictions on travel at Rafah International Crossing Point. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

15 April 2005


This week, Israeli forces killed three Palestinian children. Israeli forces wounded 16 Palestinian civilians, mostly children. Israel continues to build the illegal Separation Barrier in the West Bank. Israel confiscated large areas of Palestinian land in Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah. Israeli forces conducted 23 incursions into Palestinian areas in the West Bank, the largest one was into Nablus. Israeli forces arrested at least 40 Palestinians. Israeli forces turned two Palestinian homes into military outposts. Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property in the West Bank and more areas of Palestinian land were confiscated in Hebron and Jenin for the purpose of settlement expansion. The total siege imposed on the OPT remained in force. 

Assassination of resistance fighter in Nablus

Ray Smith Nablus, Palestine 14 April 2005


Today, Thursday afternoon an Israeli undercover commando killed Ibrahim Smeri, 24, a fighter of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, right outside the Balata refugee camp on the outskirts of Nablus. Around 2pm today, two private cars with undercover units dressed in women’s clothes approached Ibrahim Mohammad Mahmoud Smeri Hashash, as he left from Al-Quds street walking towards the southern end of Balata Camp. After being shot, his body was taken by the IOF forces. 

Bridging Differences: The German-Israeli-Palestinian Trialogue "Youth for Understanding" 2005

Victor Kattan 18 April 2005


In April 2005, almost 15 years since German reunification and some 60 years after the Second World War, 21 young journalists of German, Israeli and Palestinian origin, including myself, were invited to take part in a trialogue organised by the German Federal Government, the Goethe Institut and the Herbert-Quandt-Stiftung Foundation (the charitable arm of BMW). The purpose of the trip was to bring aspiring journalists together to produce a newspaper called “The Bridge”, to visit cultural institutions and to meet with government officials.