All Content

French journalist turned back while trying to enter West Bank

8 July 2005


Reporters Without Borders has condemned the action of the Israeli authorities in turning back French journalist Houda Ibrahim, of Radio France Internationale (RFI), as she tried to cross into the West Bank from Jordan on 3 July 2005. “It is completely unacceptable that a French journalist, who is moreover representing the French government, should be prevented from doing her job, and we call on the Israeli government to explain this arbitrary measure,” the organisation said. Ibrahim flew from Paris to the Jordanian capital of Amman and went overland in a French consulate vehicle to the West Bank border, where she was refused entry into the occupied Palestinian territories. 

Tearing down illegal wall only way to achieve peace

Marcy Newman 9 July 2005


Imagine that you live in the North End, but your grandparents live in the West End of Boise. Imagine that in order to visit them you must confront a 26-foot concrete wall that surrounds each neighborhood and separates you. Imagine that to cross a small break in this wall along Broadway you will be met by soldiers, who will ask to see your passport and who will interrogate you about why you want to visit your family while pointing guns in your face. Imagine that to go to work every day you must pass similar checkpoints, all of which are a cross between airport security and a military zone. This is what life is like for me right now living in the Palestinian Occupied Territories. 

One year on: Palestinian civil society calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions

9 July 2005


One year after the ICJ ruling on the Wall, Palestinian civil society calls upon international civil society organisations and individuals to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era. Palestinian civil society organisations appeal to them to pressure their respective governments to impose embargoes and sanctions against Israel. These non-violent punitive measures should be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law. 

Palestinian boy shot dead, demonstrations mark one year ICJ ruling

Laila El-Haddad 9 July 2005


A Palestinian boy was shot dead by an Israeli security guard in the West Bank, officials and witnesses said. Fifteen-year-old Muheeb Ahmad Assi was pronounced dead at the scene after being shot by an Israeli security guard, according to Mohammad Hawani of the Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Ramallah. Hawani said Assi died of a bullet wound to his chest. Witnesses said clashes broke out between Assi’s group of friends and an Israeli security guard near a part of the Wall in the village of Beit Lakiya, where he lived. The guard shot at them with live ammunition, and Assi was hit. Palestinians were not allowed near the teen until over an hour had passed, by which point the Assi had bled to death, medics said. 

Fatah meet a damp squib

Khalid Amayreh 7 July 2005


Despite its high-profile, the Fatah central committee meeting in Amman earlier this week seems to have failed to resolve the internal crises and divisions afflicting the movement. Veteran Fatah leaders, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and Fatah chief Farouq Qaddumi voiced satisfaction at the decisions adopted by the movement’s top brass, especially an invitation to Hamas to join a possible government of national unity. The top Fatah leadership also reasserted its rejection of the concept of a state with interim borders as proposed by some in Israel and the US. 

Israeli High Court freezes building of the barrier in Dahiyat al-Barid

22 June 2005


Israel’s High Court of Justice issued a temporary injunction ordering the government to cease construction of the wall south of a-Ram village, northeast of Jerusalem, until arguments for a petition against the wall are heard. Initially, Israel decided to erect this section of the wall along the Jerusalem municipal boundary, as it was fixed following the annexation of the city’s eastern part in 1967. However, in response to the petition of several institutions situated in Dahiyat al-Barid (southern a-Ram), Israel elected to shift the route of the barrier northward, which would isolate part of the neighborhood from the rest of the village. 

Route of barrier designed to allow settlement expansion

2 June 2005


The Association for Civil Rights in Israel submitted a petition to the Supreme Court on 2.6.05: The route of the separation barrier around the village of Ni’ilin was not determined by security considerations but in order to allow the expansion of the settlement of Hashmona’im. The planned route separates the residents of Ni’ilin from half of their agricultural land, and is liable to severely undermine their livelihood. Attorney Pinchuk rejects claims by the state that the route of the barrier surrounding Ni’ilin is a result of security concerns. In order to ensure the security of the Jewish settler community, he adds, other steps can be taken such as expanding the existing defensive system currently used to protect the settlement. 

One child dead, two critically injured as Israeli army attacks Balata

7 July 2005


Arriving at the gate of the Balata refugee camp shortly before 11pm, the Israeli army opened fire into a group of civilians without warning. One fourteen year old boy was shot in the head and is critically injured. Two sixteen year olds were shot, one fatally, in clashes overnight. The army occupied three homes. The Balata Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade has said they will no longer keep the ceasefire. Israeli armed vehicles arrived at the camp late in the evening. Despite the presence of two large groups of civilians, including two internationals, the soldiers began firing live rounds directly into the camp. When medics arrived on the scene minutes later the internationals learned that a child in the other group 50 metres away had been shot in the head. 

Israel does not want peace

Adri Nieuwhof and Bangani Ngeleza 7 July 2005


The trip to Tulkarem is not easy for our driver. He complains that the roads in the West Bank are changing fast. The Israeli regime is working full speed on the construction of the network of highways cutting right through the occupied Palestinian territories and incorporating parts of traditional Palestinian roads. Adri Nieuwhof and Bangani Ngeleza recently visited the occupied Palestinian territories. On a hot summer day, they travelled with a Palestinian guide from Ramallah to Jarushya, north of Tulkarem. The aim of the trip was to visit families that are affected by the Wall. The guide had contacted a leader of the community in Tulkarem and arranged for a meeting. 

One year on: Governments have obligations to hold Israel to account

Jeff Handmaker, Peter Malcontent and Gentian Zyberi 9 July 2005


One year ago on 9 July 2004, at the request of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued an Advisory Opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s construction of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. But, the Court did not stop at Israel’s obligations. An overwhelming majority of the Court concluded that all states were obliged not to recognize the illegal situation Israel has created and to refrain from any financial support to Israel in maintaining the illegally constructed wall. Much remains to be done before States can be said to be in compliance with international law.