During the day Friday, the words of 11-year-old Mohammad Hazahza have filled him up and weighed him down. On Friday night, he pours the words back out, as if wanting to be lifted back up. “Mohammad is so protective of his mother,” says Ralph Isenberg in a weary and reverent voice, recalling the day’s visits to Dallas reporters. “I watched as he got her chair and made her comfortable. And that’s what he did in jail. He protected her from forced labor. When she was ordered to clean the common area, he did that work for her. He really understands family and duty.” Read more about The Experience of Mohammad, 11-year-old in US Prison
PCHR strongly condemns diggings conducted by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in the vicinity of the al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Arab Jerusalem. PCHR further denounces storming the al-Aqsa Mosque and using excessive force by IOF against hundreds of Palestinian civilians who attended the Friday Prayer on 9 February 2007. PCHR warns of the continuation of diggings, which pose a serious threat to one of the holiest sites for Arabs and Muslims and agitate the feelings of more than one billion Muslims around the world. PCHR is concerned over IOF’s challenge for the international law and international legitimacy resolutions related to the Holy City. Read more about PCHR Condemns Israeli Diggings near Al-Aqsa
During the reporting period, IOF killed a Palestinian child in the northern West Bank town of Tulkarm. They fired one bullet at him when he attempted to escape. They left him bleeding to death. The victim was not armed. According to the child’s family, the child attempted to escape as IOF had repeatedly raided his family home searching for him. During the reporting period, 9 Palestinian civilians and a British journalist were wounded by IOF. On 26 January 2007, two Palestinian civilians and a British journalist were wounded when IOF used force against a peaceful demonstration organized in Bal’ein village in protest to the construction of the Annexation Wall. Read more about Weekly Report of Human Rights Violations
Al Mezan’s General Director, Issam Younis, was yesterday prevented from attending a meeting with the British Foreign Minister, Margaret Beckett, to brief her on the human rights situation in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli District Civil Liaison (DCL), that controls all access into Israel through the Erez checkpoint, delayed the processing of the required clearance permit and imposed obstacles that effectively made it impossible for Mr Younis to reach his meeting in Jerusalem. Despite applying three days in advance for his permit, Mr Younis was informed only two hours before the commencement of his meeting. Read more about Human rights advocate kept from Jerusalem meeting by Israel
PCHR calls upon the international community represented by governments and international organizations, specifically UNESCO, to intervene immediately to put an immediate end to Israeli destruction of Islamic holy sites in occupied Jerusalem, especially around Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Centre appeals to these bodies to take immediate action to stop Israeli excavations, and to provide protection for Palestinians and their rights, especially their cultural and religious rights; and provide protection for Islamic holy sites, which are an important part of human culture and civilization. Read more about PCHR: Stop the destruction of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem
As Leaders of the Christian Churches in Jerusalem concerned at the present situation in the Palestinian Territories we feel we must voice our anxiety for all our people - Christian and Moslem alike - at the deteriorating relations between Fatah and Hamas leaders and the armed forces. It would appear that all kinds of mediation and attempts at reconciliation have so far failed resulting in a dead lock in the situation. The latest allegations and threats which have been aired through the local and international media have resulted in some large scale fighting which soon will be very difficult to stop. Read more about A Message of Concern to the Palestinian People
Yesterday evening, unknown gunmen fired at 4 members of the Izzedeen El-Qassam Battalions, the armed wing of Hamas, in Gaza City. One of the targeted individuals, Mohammad Deeb Salim Abu Karsh (24) from Gaza City, was killed and three were injured. One of the injuries is serious. PCHR’s preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 21:30 on Tuesday, 6 February 2007, unknown gunmen fired at four members of Izzedeen El-Qassam Battalions, the armed wing of Hamas, in Lod-Ramla Street in Gaza City. The shooting resulted in the killing of Mohammad Abu Karsh by bullets to the chest, abdomen, and extremities. Read more about One killed, three injured by unknown gunman
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 respond to the recent briefing issued by the Government of Israel’s Office for Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (CoGAT). The briefing, entitled “Key Measures for Easing the Daily Lives of the Palestinian Population,” purports to provide a general overview of recent Israeli measures aimed at improving the Palestinian population’s “fabric of life” within the OPT. Read more about Al-Haq response to recent Israeli government COGAT briefing
The number of Palestinian victims of the last wave of infighting has reached 160. 30 have been killed and 130 injured since Thursday 1 February 2007. All efforts to end the armed clashes have so far been unsuccessful; however both sides have announced a ceasefire under Egyptian mediation. According to the field information collected by Al Mezan, fighting resumed after members of Hamas and the Executive Force of the Ministry of Interior attacked a convoy of trucks lifting caravans and equipment for the Presidential Guards in the Middle Gaza area. Hamas claimed that the trucks carried arms and military equipment. Read more about Infighting escalates, exceeding red lines
Some 90 Palestinian refugee children whose families have been stranded over the last nine months at al-Tanf border crossing point between Iraq and Syria, living in a makeshift refugee camp, started attending an UNRWA tented school on 3 February. At this school, UNRWA will provide general education for refugee children at elementary and preparatory levels as prescribed by the Syrian Ministry of Education. Managed by the UNRWA education programme, with eight teachers from the refugee community in al-Tanf serving as staff, the school will help cater for the refugees’ educational needs. Read more about UNRWA opens tented school for stranded Palestinians
