On 28 April 2005, Adalah wrote to the Attorney General (AG), the Director of the Ministry of Justice’s Police Investigations Unit (Mahash), and the Military Prosecutor General, in the name of Member of Knesset (MK) Muhammad Barakeh. Adalah demanded the immediate opening of an investigation into an incident in which members of the Israeli security forces assaulted demonstrators, including MK Barakeh, and the prosecution of those responsible. Read more about Knesset member demands criminal investigation into conduct Israeli forces against protesters of the Wall
The mountains of Palestine form a sharp edge that plunges into the Jordan Valley as if cut by a knife. Almost to the rim of this drastic landscape lies the village of Al Aqaba, located in the farthest Palestinian lands of the Jenin region. It is almost a no-man’s land, nestled in the soft rolling foothills of the towering mountains, stirred by the strong breeze cooling the hot spring day. We went to Al Aqaba to speak with Haj Sammy, the mayor. The military uses the land around Al Aqaba for their training practices, having killed 8 and wounded 50 since 1971. Haj Sammy’s wound is one such example. He has been paralyzed since. Read more about Al Aqaba: Another village under threat
Twelve Palestinians were wounded as occupation forces unleashed a torrent of bullets, tear gas canisters and sound bombs in the village of Bil’in on Thursday. Over 600 protestors gathered by the village mosque and marched to the west of Bil’in where land is being razed for the construction of the Apartheid Wall, which will trap the village in a ghetto. Around ten bulldozers have been at work constantly over the last two weeks, in the project to annex Palestinian land for the expansion of nearby settlements. Dozens of schoolchildren led a lively and colourful march, carrying an enormous Palestinian flag to the confiscated lands. Read more about 19 wounded as Occupation unleashes brutal wave of attacks against resisting Bil’in villagers
Amnesty International calls on the Israeli authorities to investigate recent incidents of poisoning of Palestinian fields and the increasingly frequent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villagers in the West Bank. Scores of sheep as well as gazelles and other animals have been contaminated by the toxins and several have died. Palestinian farmers have been forced to quarantine their flocks and stop using the milk, cheese and meat from them, effectively depriving them of their livelihood. Read more about Amnesty: Israeli authorities must put an immediate end to settler violence
This week, Israeli forces extra-judicially killed a Palestinian and wounded 10 Palestinians, including four children. Construction of the “annexation wall” in the West Bank has continued; more areas of Palestinian land were confiscated and the Israeli High Court issued a decision allowing the construction of a section of the wall in Beit Sahour. Israeli forces arrested at least 20 Palestinians, including four children. At the crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel, Israeli authorities arrested five Palestinians, including two children. Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinians and their property. The siege imposed on the occupied territories remained in force. Read more about Weekly report on human rights violations
Al-Haq, on the occasion of Palestinian Prisoners day, calls attention to the ongoing plight of some 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners currently detained in substandard conditions in Israeli-administered jails in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. As of mid-March 2005, these prisoners included 126 women and 310 children. Of the current prison population, 434 Palestinians from the OPT have been held for over 10 years, and five have been incarcerated for over 25 years. During the past four and a half years of intifada, there have been 35,000 cases of detention. Read more about Israel Continues to Deny Palestinian Prisoners their Basic Rights
This week Israeli forces killed seven Palestinian civilians, including two children. Israeli forces conducted a series of incursions into Palestinian areas. Houses were raided and a number of Palestinian civilians were arrested. Construction of the “Annexation Wall” in the West Bank has continued; more areas of Palestinian land were confiscated and 5 houses and a number of animal farms were destroyed for this purpose. Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property in the West Bank. Israeli forces have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT. Israeli forces have continued to close a number of roads since the beginning of the current Intifada, Israeli forces have continued to impose severe restrictions on travel at Rafah International Crossing Point. Read more about Weekly report on human rights violations
This week, Israeli forces killed three Palestinian children. Israeli forces wounded 16 Palestinian civilians, mostly children. Israel continues to build the illegal Separation Barrier in the West Bank. Israel confiscated large areas of Palestinian land in Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah. Israeli forces conducted 23 incursions into Palestinian areas in the West Bank, the largest one was into Nablus. Israeli forces arrested at least 40 Palestinians. Israeli forces turned two Palestinian homes into military outposts. Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property in the West Bank and more areas of Palestinian land were confiscated in Hebron and Jenin for the purpose of settlement expansion. The total siege imposed on the OPT remained in force. Read more about Weekly report on human rights violations
Alan Dershowitz is a well-known lawyer and professor at Harvard Law School, a prolific author, and makes regular appearances in the media. When it comes to Israel, he is particularly outspoken and taken quite seriously within certain segments of the North American mainstream. Whether he deserves to be taken seriously is another issue altogether. In a recent talk at York University in Toronto, Canada, Professor Dershowitz repeated many of the controversial claims of his recent book, The Case for Israel, but one claim struck me as — even by his standards — exceptionally far-reaching. Read more about The Case Against Alan Dershowitz: The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel vs. Alan Dershowitz
Under its agenda item on the question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine, the Commission adopted a resolution on Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan by a roll-call vote of 39 in favour to two opposed, with 12 abstentions. In the text, the Commission expressed grave concern at the continuing Israeli settlements and related activities, in violation of international law; and demanded that Israel, the occupying power, comply fully with its legal obligations. Read more about Human Rights Commission adopts resolution on Israeli settlements and Israeli practices in occupied territories
