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When Human Rights Watch Equates Aggressor with the Aggrieved

2 December 2006


We are writing to you to express our reservations on the HRW news item of 22 November 2006 entitled: “OPT: Civilians Must Not Be Used to Shield Homes Against Military Attacks,” discussing HRW’s position on Palestinian civilians acting against the destruction of civilian homes by Israeli forces in Gaza. The HRW news item is self-contradictory and full of inconsistencies. While pointing that Israeli army destruction of civilian homes is illegal in the absence of concrete evidence indicating that these homes are legitimate military targets, HRW claims that unarmed civilian protest and action against these illegal Israeli activities is a “war crime!” 

PCATI comments on judicial approval of assassination policy

14 December 2006


The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) that filed the petition against the assassinations policy of the State of Israel in January, 2002, regrets that that the ruling of the panel of High Court of Justice justices headed by former Chief Justice, Aharon Barak, did not outline a clear set of criteria that permit or forbid “targeted assassinations”, or extrajudicial executions, in a way that would prevent the killing of innocent civilians. According to PCATI’s data, since the beginning of the second Intifada, and following the first targeted assassination on 9 November 2000, approximately 500 Palestinians were killed during targeted assassinations, including 168 innocent civilians. 

PCATI welcomes investigation into killing of Iman al-Hams

14 December 2006


The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) welcomes today’s ruling by the High Court of Justice which accepted the petition of the parents of Iman El Hams and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel and ordered the judge Advocate General and the Military Attorney’s Office to open an investigation to determine whether illegal open fire orders were given in the area of the “Girit” military post which lead to the killing of Iman Al Hams on 5 October 2004. In addition, the Court ordered the respondents to pay the petitioners the sum of 15,000 NS for their court expenses. Iman El Hams, 13 years old, was killed by IDF fire while on her way to school. 

Israeli Supreme Court states that military-only mortgage benefits don't discriminate

13 December 2006


Today, the Supreme Court approved the use of the military criterion, which severely discriminates against Arab citizens. This ruling contradicts previous decisions of the Supreme Court which specify that the disparate impact test is the test which should be employed to determine the existence or otherwise of discrimination. Therefore, Adalah will request a second hearing before an extended panel of justices with regard to this ruling. On 13 December 2006, the Supreme Court of Israel rejected a petition filed by Adalah on 29 December 2005 against the Ministry of Construction and Housing. 

Fundamental attribution error

Rima Merriman 16 December 2006


In analyzing Palestinian behavior, analysts often slip into what sociologists call “a person-centered” analysis, which attributes most behavior change to personal pathologies or virtues. But to understand why Palestinians behave as they do, what is necessary is a situation-centered approach, one that focuses on external factors. This is because the Palestinian situation is as close to a controlled social experiment as anyone is likely to find in the wild. When US social scientists conducted the by-now classic prison experiment to test the power of the social situation to determine behavior, values and attitudes, they were surprised by the results. 

The 'Atarot Arab Orphan School under Threat

14 December 2006


As a non-governmental organisation committed to the promotion and protection of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Al-Haq would like to bring to your attention the current situation of the Arab Orphan School, a privately run charitable school in East Jerusalem with a long history of providing free vocational education for Palestinian children. As detailed in the attached study, the Arab Orphan School is now facing acute threats to its continuing existence. Located in ‘Atarot, which Israel illegally incorporated within its municipal boundary of Jerusalem, the school has been isolated from its students and staff, the majority of whom live in surrounding villages. 

Palestine on the brink of civil war?

Nigel Parry 15 December 2006


Palestinians are reeling from a century of systematic destruction of their way of life at every possible level. Instead of pouring gasoline on the fire, as the US-Israel-Fatah coalition has been doing, and instead of debating the price of petrol, as the international community has busied itself with throughout the entire history of this conflict, we need to recognize that events are fast reaching the straw breaking the camel’s back moment. Few seem to grasp that ‘business as usual’ in the Middle East can only be destined to lead to more suffering, death, and loss of hope, and that the time to act was yesterday. 

An unclassifiable identity

Dana Shalash Ramallah, Palestine 15 December 2006


I have just found out that I studied in Jordan. I swear I did not know that. Well, that is not the only recent discovery I’ve made about myself. I have been learning many new things about myself as a Palestinian individual, all by coincidence. For instance, a few minutes ago I learnt that I took my BA degree from Jordan. No, I am not losing my mind. Or maybe I am. It is funny how when we Palestinians are striving to prove and maintain our Palestinian identity others still perceive us as aliens. It is as if the concept of “Palestine” only exists in our heads. 

Displaced return amidst growing political tension

15 December 2006


Some 200,000 people are estimated to remain in a situation of internal displacement in Lebanon following the hostilities between Hizbollah and the Israel in summer 2006. Nearly one million people were displaced at the height of the conflict - the vast majority of them within Lebanon. Most of the displaced returned to their homes in south Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut immediately following a UN-brokered ceasefire in August 2006. However the destruction of homes and infrastructure, the presence of cluster bombs, and loss of livelihoods are significant obstacles to the return and sustainable reintegration of displaced people. 

Israel Watchful of Hezbollah Moves

Peter Hirschberg 15 December 2006


An Iranian and Syrian satellite, Hezbollah operating unfettered, and the Israeli army ceasing to patrol the south — that is the fate Israeli leaders fear could befall Lebanon if anti- government forces succeed in ousting the elected government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. For two weeks, anti-government protestors have camped outside the parliament building in Beirut, insisting that the demand of the Hezbollah-led opposition for veto power in the cabinet be met. “For now, Israel is avoiding carrying out operations in Lebanon because of Siniora,” says one Israeli analyst Shmuel Bar.