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Weekly report on human rights violations

Palestinian Center for Human Rights 27 March 2003

This week, Israeli forces killed 7 Palestinians, including 3 children. Four of the victims, including a child, were killed in an extra-judicial execution. Israeli forces conducted a series of incursions into Palestinian areas, accompanied by indiscriminate shelling. The Israeli retaliatory campaign continues against families of wanted Palestinians and those who allegedly have carried out armed attacks against Israeli targets. A number of Palestinians have been detained and the tight siege of the OPT has continued. 

'I just want a moment of peace'

Reema Abu Hamdieh Ramallah, Palestine 26 March 2003

Living under the Israeli occupation has led one Palestinian women to a life of fear and depression. As Israeli troops continue to make it impossible for her to live a normal life, she summons the courage to write a letter to her friends in Vermont. Reema Abu Hamdieh writes from Ramallah. 

Why do Israel, the US, and the EU discriminate against Palestinian refugees and IDPs?

Badil 21 March 2003

March 21 marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Refugees and IDPs often face multiple forms of racial discrimination. Sometimes racial discrimination is a root cause of displacement. Too often refugees and IDPs are discriminated against in places of exile. Racial discrimination, moreover, is frequently a barrier to the right of refugees and IDPs to return to their homes of origin following the cessation of conditions that led to their displacement. 

Belgium's war crimes law under threat

25 March 2003

A breaking news report from BBC World Service reveals that Belgium’s universal jurisdiction law, under which a case has been lodged by survivors of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre against Ariel Sharon, Amos Yaron, and others, is now threatened by fears that the law will allow war crimes cases to be brought against former President George H.W. Bush for atrocities committed during the 1991 Gulf War, and against President George W. Bush and others in his administration for launching an illegal war on Iraq. 

Rachel

Ghassan Andoni 25 March 2003

This is the first time in which I could sit behind the computer and write about the tragic murder of Rachel. Since that happened many of us at the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) have lived through really hard times. What added to my sadness and grief is being the one who received and went through almost all of what was written about Rachel’s tragedy. Ghassan Andoni writes from Beit Sahour. 

A new Sykes-Picot Agreement: Yasser Arafat discusses the future

Kathleen and Bill Christison Ramallah 24 March 2003

Our arrival at Yasser Arafat’s headquarters was fairly dramatic, or at least it gave us, accustomed as we are to nothing more exciting than quietly writing at a computer in our comfortable home, a keen sense of the drama of the occasion. The meeting had been arranged from Amman, without our asking, by the friend of friends of ours, a Palestinian in Amman who had known Arafat for years and set up the meeting through one of Arafat’s advisers. Kathleen and Bill Christison write from Ramallah. 

Time for better decisions to be made on Palestine-Israel

Ziad J. Asali 24 March 2003

The sad fact is that the issue of Palestine has become the latest “last refuge of scoundrels.” The rest of us, unencumbered by divine certitude about the future and open to reason and compromise, have found it harder to have a public voice and space. It is our task to reclaim both. ADC president Ziad J. Asali offers an overview of the bigger picture. 

Gazan branch of Union of Health Work Committees to name new cultural center after Rachel Corrie

Mona El-Farra 23 March 2003

The Union of Health Work Committees Board of Directors has decided to name its new children and youth cultural center in the Rafah Refugee Camp after Rachel Corrie. By naming the center after Rachel, this will provide a lasting outstanding memorial to our Palestinian kids so that they can know and keep in mind that they are not alone in this struggle. Dr. Mona El-Farra writes for Union of Health Work Committees-Gaza.