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The war to annihilate Palestinian civil society

Anat Matar 29 December 2002

On 19 December 2002, Israeli activists held an event at Tzavta Hall in Tel Aviv to protest the indefinitely extended prison sentences currently being handed to the young men refusing conscription. The event was sponsored by conscientious objector organisations Yesh Gvul and Shministim, the latter a group of high school seniors who have declared their refusal to serve in the Israeli army. The following is the text of a speech made at this event by Anat Matar, a veteran anti-occupation activist and the mother of Haggai Matar, one of the men in prison for refusing to serve. 

Language lessons in Jenin

Annie Higgins Jenin, Palestine 29 December 2002


“What language beside Arabic do you see in shop windows in Jenin?” A few boys answered, “Hebrew.” “Yes,” the teacher/ustadh went on, “when there were good relations between Israelis and us, people came from Israel to shop in Jenin. How can they know where to buy something unless they can understand the sign?” Annie Higgins writes about language lessons in Jenin. 

Where is the democracy here?

Aeyal Gross 27 December 2002

The Legal Advisor to the government has asked the Central Elections Committee to bar the Balad list and MK Azmi Bashara from standing in the forthcoming elections. Aeyal Gross, lecturer in Constitutional and International Law at Tel Aviv University, wonders, however, what is really the major threat to Israeli democracy? 

Israeli army continues to breach Supreme Court injunction prohibiting use of Palestinian civilians as human shields

Adalah 25 December 2002

Seven Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations made a further submission to the Supreme Court in connection with their 5 May 2002 petition seeking to prohibit the Israeli army from using Palestinian civilians as human shields. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

Palestinian Center for Human Rights 26 December 2002

Israeli occupying forces have perpetrated more war crimes and human rights violations against Palestinian civilians, including willful and extra-judicial killings, shelling of and incursions into Palestinian areas, house demolitions, and agricultural land leveling.  This week, nine Palestinians – all civilians including a member of the Palestinian Security Forces, three children and a woman, were killed by Israeli forces. 

Jenin: the day after Christmas

Annie Higgins Jenin, Palestine 26 December 2002

“The day after Christmas, the Israeli Army has killed six men, one of them from the next village over, Qabatiya. He is Hamza Abu Rubb who was active in Islamic Jihad. The Army’s obvious presence, comprised of tanks and armored personnel carriers, have been less in evidence. However, they are very much here, using Special Forces soldiers disguised as Arabs to track down and arrest or kill men.” Annie Higgins writes from Jenin. 

Christmas in Bethlehem

Kristen Ess Bethlehem 26 December 2002

At the last minute, at the end of the day before Christmas Eve, the Israeli government announced it would lift its curfew of Bethlehem. This was another move in the endless game of Israeli propaganda, and one that was expected. Thousands of eyes were on Bethlehem, the West Bank city that has been under curfew and reinvasion for the past month. Kristen Ess reports. 

Unilateral U.S. Undermines U.N.'s Credibility

Thalif Deen 23 December 2002

Last week, [Nelson] Mandela said he was disappointed that not a single world leader had publicly condemned the recent U.S. decision to grab the 12,000-page Iraqi arms dossier and spirit it to the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) before the other 14 members of the U.N. Security Council could even peek at it. The following report from the Interpress Service cites EI’s Ali Abunimah. 

Bethlehem, the "capital of Christmas," is dying

Chris McGreal Bethlehem 24 December 2002

“Rather than celebrating birth, Father Sabbara plans to reflect on death — particularly the sickening reality that, just as in Jesus’s time, children are being killed by forces indifferent to their age or innocence. The latest victim is an 11-year-old girl leaning out of a window to watch the funeral procession of another child.” The Guardian’s Chris MacGreal files a somber report from occupied Bethlehem.