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Weekly report on human rights violations

23 September 2004


This week Israeli forces killed 6 Palestinian civilians, including a child and a girl. The child was shot at her desk in school and died later from her wounds. Three of the victims were extra-judicially executed in Gaza. Israeli forces conducted a series of incursions into Palestinian areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli forces razed 77 donums of agricultural land in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces raided homes and arrested dozens of Palestinian civilians. Israel continued shelling of residential areas and civilian facilities, wounding a number of Palestinian civilians. Israel continued construction of the Wall in the West Bank and continued to impose a total siege on the occupied Palestinian territories. 

Israeli forces kill one Palestinian and destroy 54 homes in Khan Yunis

25 September 2004


On Saturday morning, 25 September 2004, Israeli occupying troops launched a wide scale offensive on Khan Yunis refugee camp, using helicopter gunships, tanks and military bulldozers.  They destroyed 54 Palestinian houses, rendering 414 people (66 families) homeless.  They also killed one Palestinian civilian and injured 5 others. Since the beginning of the current Intifada in September 2000, Israeli troops have destroyed 502 Palestinian houses completely and 270 others partially in Khan Yunis.  This year, Israeli occupying troops have demolished 552 houses completely and 88 others partially.  The previous operation to this was on 1 September 2004, when Israeli troops destroyed 2 five-storey apartment buildings, each of which included 18 flats, in al-Nimsawi neighborhood. 

Prisoner Stories: Loai and Ubai Mohammad Odeh

Rima Merriman Ramallah, Palestine 25 September 2004


When Loai’s and Ubai’s mother was born in 1948, her father, Saleem Abu Khaled al Tamimi of Hebron, was in prison for his part in resisting the British plan to partition Palestine. The boys never got to know their grandfather, because he died of a stroke in Ramallah during an altercation with Israeli guards when their mother, a student at Birzeit University then (1969), was being tried because of her activities in the Palestine Liberation Front. She was sentenced to four years in prison and spent a good part of her sentence in Ramleh prison, where her son, Loai (26), is currently being held. Ubay (19) is in Jalboun prison in the north, one of the harshest in the Israeli system. 

Zogby Poll: Should AIPAC be asked to register as an agent of a foreign government and lose its tax-exempt status?

25 September 2004


Question: A tax-exempt organization that lobbies Congress on behalf of Israel, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (also known as AIPAC), has been under investigation by the FBI for allegedly receiving classified information from a Pentagon official and using this information on behalf of the government of Israel. In view of this investigation, do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree that AIPAC should be asked to register as an agent of a foreign government and lose its tax-exempt status? 

Canadian activists protest deportation of Palestinian refugees

25 September 2004


On Saturday September 18th more than 1,000 people took the streets of downtown Montreal under the banner of “Stateless and Deported” to illustrate the growing popular support for the struggle of Palestinian refugees fighting deportation in Canada, within the context of the Palestinian solidarity movement worldwide. The lively and spirited demonstration was also held to commemorate the thousands of Palestinian refugees who lost their lives in the September 1982 massacre of Sabra and Chatila during the Israeli invasion of Beirut. 

Israeli authorities impose more restrictions on UNRWA staff

24 September 2004


The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has today protested to the Israeli Government following new and constantly changing restrictions affecting the freedom of movement of United Nations staff crossing into and out of the Gaza Strip. International staff members holding valid United Nations laissez-passers are now being obliged to cross on foot through the Palestinian labourers’ terminal.  Only those holding a diplomatic visa can go through in their vehicles, and even they are prohibited from carrying other United Nations colleagues with them.  Passage on foot leaves the staff members exposed to considerable risk. 

Five days of struggle against Israel's West Bank Barrier

25 September 2004


With the resumption of construction of the separation wall a familiar pattern repeats itself. Negotiation is not even attempted, and Israeli policy is set unilaterally by the army and government without consideration for Palestinians. At the same time, every attempt at protest and nonviolent resistance is repressed violently. In the course of the last five days (September 19-23) the occupation forces returned to their attempt to literally cement their existence on Palestinian lands. Naturally the residents of the affected villages resisted this attempt and we are with them. Our method and our aim, which we have declared and consciously acted on for the last two years, are popular nonviolent struggle. 

Despite lack of progress, Quartet reaffirms support for Road Map

22 September 2004


The members of the diplomatic Quartet, meeting today at United Nations Headquarters in New York, pledged support for the Road Map outline peace plan despite the lack of “significant progress” achieved so far. In a statement released after their meeting, the representatives of the UN, European Union, Russian Federation and United States called on Israel and the Palestinians to do more to bring peace to the region, including living up to obligations outlined in the plan. “The situation on the ground for both Palestinians and Israelis remains extremely difficult and no significant progress has been achieved on the Road Map.” 

Western Massachusetts Palestinian Film Festival to be held October 1-3

23 September 2004


A three-day festival, “Aqoolu Lakum - Let Me Tell You: The Western Massachusetts Palestinian Film Festival,” will take place in the Pioneer Valley on October 1-3, 2004. The festival, organized by Valley residents from a range of backgrounds, will include twenty-six films and an exhibition of rare photographic material. The festival will show a mixture of documentaries and fiction films about Palestine made largely by Palestinians, with a selection by Israeli and other international filmmakers. 

Interview with Afif Safieh, Palestinian General-Delegate to the UK and the Holy See

Victor Kattan 23 September 2004


As new Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and the Tories prepare for their party political conferences in Bournemouth and Brighton in the coming weeks, Palestinians from Balata to Beit Jibrin will be locked up in their homes and refugee camps for the fourth consecutive year. Against this background, occasional EI correspondent Victor Kattan interviewed Afif Safieh, the Palestinian General-Delegate to the UK and the Holy See - a sophisticated and suave chain-smoker - who invariably describes himself as a diplomat, a democrat, a political scientist and an observer of the British domestic political scene.