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UNICEF boosts aid deliveries before Gaza disengagement

Michael Bociurkiw 28 July 2005


With less than a month remaining before Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip, UNICEF has completed final deliveries of aid supplies to some of the most isolated enclaves in the area. In preparation for the mid-August disengagement, the organization has also expanded activities in psychosocial support, health and education. The disengagement plan calls for the evacuation of some settlements and installations. Because of their close proximity to the soon-to-be-evacuated settlements, many enclaves in Gaza are being sealed off, making humanitarian aid deliveries virtually impossible for the next several weeks. This is why special attention has been devoted to these areas, some of which are currently accessible only by a single gate for a few hours a day. 

Building to resist

Maureen Clare Murphy 30 July 2005


Salim Shawamreh describes July 9, 1998, as “the blackest day of my life. … I was sitting with my family and eating lunch when my house was surrounded by Israeli soldiers. I was given fifteen minutes to take my possessions and family out of the house… They left us with nothing.” That was the first time Shawamreh’s house in Anata, a village near Jerusalem, was destroyed by Israeli bulldozers. It would happen three more times. He tells the story while sitting in the fifth incarnation of the house, which currently doubles as a peace and activism center. The walls are hung with pictures of Shawamreh being beaten and his family in tears as a reminder of the history of the building. 

Palestinians protest Gaza smokescreen

Laila El-Haddad 28 July 2005


Palestinians have burned rubber tyres along the trail of the Israeli separation barrier in the West Bank in a symbolic protest against its ongoing construction under the smokescreen of the Gaza pullout. Black smoke seen rising along the wall’s path from the areas of Marda to Qalandia in the Central West Bank on Thursday was an “SOS to the world” to take action to stop Israel’s annexation of their land and “imprisonment of the Palestinian people”, according to Ayed Morrar, coordinator of the Popular Committee to Resist the Wall in Ram Allah. 

Lebanon / Syria: Border Lock Down....

Stefan Christoff 27 July 2005


Thousands of transport trucks line the winding highways of Akkar, an impoverished region in northern Lebanon which borders Syria. Currently all land border crossings into Syria are shutdown to economic traffic, dealing a serious blow to Lebanon’s already unstable economy. The Syrian government has publicly justified this border lockdown in the name of regional “security”, as Syria is under intense international political pressure mainly from the U.S. to introduce tighter border controls. In Lebanon, the newly formed government and various unions representing impacted sectors, have painted the border crisis as an attempt to hit the country economically after the forced withdrawal of upwards of 15 000 Syrian soldiers from Lebanon in April 2005 and the recent election results. 

After Seven Years, Arab Bedouin Family Allowed to Build Home on their Own Land in the Galilee

25 July 2005


After seven years of legal and bureaucratic struggle, on 30 June 2005, the Northern District Appellate Committee decided to accept Adalah’s appeal on behalf of Adel and Itaaf Sawaed and to grant a permit to the couple to build a family home on their privately-owned land in the Jewish community town of Kamoun, in the north of Israel. The NDAC acceptance of the appeal is subject to the fulfillment of a number of conditions, toward which the Sawaed family is currently working. Adel and Itaaf Sawaed, both of whom are Palestinian Bedouin citizens of Israel, are currently living with their children in a temporary home constructed on their land in Kamoun. 

Film review: "Private"

Arjan El Fassed 26 July 2005


Winner of a Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival (Best Film) and Bronze Leopord (for Mohammad Bakri’s performance), “Private” is a thought provoking, psychological drama, based on real events. Mohammad, played by famous Palestinian actor Mohammad Bakri is a Palestinian teacher and active pacifist. He lives with his family in a home located in an area between a Palestinian village and Israeli settlements. His wife Samia (Areen Omari) feels unsafe in these surroundings and would like to move, but Mohammad’s pride does not allow him and his middle class family to be labeled with the status of refugee. He decides to stay. 

Palestinian Children: Surviving the Present, Facing the Future

26 July 2005


Defence for Children International recently published an analysis of human rights violations against Palestinian children during 2004. The report includes case studies, DCI field documentation and analysis of developments regarding the impact of the Wall on Palestinian children’s lives. In the year under review, Palestinian children’s rights were systematically violated on a daily basis by Israeli occupation forces. Often these abuses were perpetrated directly against individual children who were killed, injured, arrested or humiliated by military personnel. But just as frequently, these rights violations stemmed indirectly from general attacks or collective punishments imposed upon the wider Palestinian population. 

Knesset to decide on Wednesday whether to block Palestinian compensation suits

25 July 2005


The Knesset’s Law, Constitution and Justice Committee voted today (Monday) to approve the amendment to the Civil Wrongs Law. The amendment is intended to almost completely exempt Israel from paying compensation to Palestinians injured by the security forces. On Wednesday, the Knesset plenary will vote on it for the second and third readings, necessary to enact it into law. The amendment applies to ” residents of a conflict area” and “subjects of enemy states.” The Government has clearly stated its intention to apply the new law to Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. If the Knesset passes the new amendment, it will almost completely block the ability of Palestinians to file for compensation. 

Israeli High Court denies Palestinian detainee access to lawyer

25 July 2005


The Israeli High Court of Justice today, 25 July 2005, dismissed a petition submitted by PCHR on behalf of Mohammad Said Shaqqura, 32, from Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). The petition sought to ensure that Shaqqura was given access to a lawyer during his interrogation in an Israeli prison. Mohammad Shaqqura is married with four children and has been held by the Israeli Security Services since 10 July 2005. Shaqqura was arrested at Rafah International Crossing Point on the Egyptian border and subsequently transferred to Ashkelon Prison. Since this time he has been held by the Interrogation Section of the Israeli Security Services and a PCHR lawyer has been continually denied access to visit Shaqqura. 

Nablus resists

25 July 2005


In the high point of a week of planned non-violent direct actions against the occupation, residents of Nablus converged on Huwara checkpoint to protest the continuing closure of the region. Prisoners’ families, accompanied by more than thirty international activists, were flanked by Palestinian medics and ambulances as they approached the checkpoint. The two aims of the action were to raise the profile of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli gaols and to protest the ongoing closure of the Nablus area. There are currently 8000 Palestinians, many of whom are women and children, illegitimately imprisoned by Israel. Currently 1400 of the prisoners are from Nablus.