On 31 July 2003, the Knesset enacted the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law, 5763-2003. Today, B’Tselem and HaMoked released a report describing the implications for residents of East Jerusalem of this law, which demonstrates that Israel deliberately misstated the purpose of the law, claiming it was necessary for security reasons, in order to conceal the real basis for the legislation - demographic concerns. The law constitutes a form of discrimination with no legitimate basis. Read more about Forbidden Families: Family Unification and Child Registration in East Jerusalem
Dr. Baruch Kimmerling is George S. Wise Professor of Sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Writing for the History News Network, he says: “Benny Morris has abandoned his historian’s mantle and donned the armor of a Jewish chauvinist who wants the Land of Israel completely cleansed from Arabs. And in order to be completely lucid on this point he drew an analogy between Israel and North America: ‘Even the great American democracy could not have been created without the annihilation of the Indians. There are cases in which the overall, final good justifies harsh and cruel acts that are committed in the course of history.’ I do not know today any American historian or social scientist who agrees that the annihilation of the indigenous population of the continent was a necessary condition for the constitution of American democracy.” Read more about Top Israeli historian analyzes Benny Morris's shocking interview
On Sunday, 18 January 2004, an enlarged panel of 13 justices of the Supreme Court of Israel held a second hearing on petitions challenging the constitutionality of a new law that prohibits the granting of any residency or citizenship status to Palestinians from the Occupied Territories who are married to Israeli citizens. The new law affects thousands of families, comprised of tens of thousands of individuals. Seven petitions are currently pending before the Court against the “Nationality and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) – 2003,” enacted by theKnesset on 31 July 2003. Read more about Supreme Court Holds Second Hearing on Petitions Against New Law Banning Family Unification
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has authorized the Organization of the Islamic Conference, at its request, to participate in the proceedings in the case concerning Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. By a letter dated 14 January 2004, the General Secretariat of the Organization of the Islamic Conference requested that the Organization be authorized to furnish information on the question submitted to the Court. Read more about International Court authorizes participation of OIC to 'Wall-Case'
The International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has authorized the League of Arab States, at its request, to participate in the proceedings in the case concerning Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (request for advisory opinion). By a letter dated 29 December 2003, the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, Mr. Amre Moussa, requested that the League be invited to furnish information, in writing and orally, on the question submitted to the Court. Read more about International Court authorizes Arab League participation in 'Wall-case'
This week Israeli forces killed a Palestinian woman. Seven civilians, including five children were injured during Israeli shelling in Rafah. Israeli forces invaded various areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli forces destroyed 60 homes in the Gaza Strip, including 51 in Rafah refugee camp. This week Israel razed more Palestinian agricultural land. Israel continues to use Palestinian civilians as human shields in military operations. Israel continued the construction of the Separation Wall and more land was confiscated and razed for this purpose. Israel continues to impose a total siege. Read more about Weekly report on human rights violations
The youth who play football on the small streets and narrow alleys of Bourj El Barajneh represent an entire generation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who live in a day-to-day low intensity war. This is a war waged against Palestinian refugees by the Lebanese government. It is not waged through military campaigns as in the Lebanese civil war, but through policies and laws which are slowly choking the life from Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps. Stefan Christoff reports from Beirout. Read more about Living War: Palestinians Refugees in Lebanon
Israeli occupation forces have issued land confiscation orders to 28 families in the town of Dair al-Balah. Located near the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom in the Central Gaza strip, the total area subject to confiscation and eventual “fencing in” is approximately 1000 dunums – the equivalent of one square kilometre - according to the Central Area Governorate. The move comes despite declarations by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon earlier in the week that he might withdraw from some of the more controversial and costly settlements in remote areas of the Gaza Strip. Laila El-Haddad reports from the Gaza Strip. Read more about Israel orders land seizures in Gaza
Early this morning, 400 Palestinian families were forced by the Israeli occupation forces to evacuate their homes in Rafah during an Israeli military incursion into the area. A total of 25 civilian homes located on the border area with Egypt were destroyed. Israeli forces with tanks and heavy military bulldozers invaded two neighborhoods, firing heavy machine gunfire. Residents were not allowed to remove their belongings from their homes before they were demolished. Read more about Israeli forces demolish 25 homes in Rafah
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel calls on Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon and Judge Advocate General Menachem Finkelstein to investigate the killing of five unarmed Palestinian civilians from Khan Yunis. On December 11, 2002, an Israeli Merkava tank fired a shell at five unarmed Palestinians, all members of the same family from Khan Yunis, killing them all. An Israeli spokesperson said that they had carried ladders but no arms were found. PCATI demands that the incident be immediately investigated. Read more about Israeli rights group calls for investigation into killing of unarmed Palestinians in Khan Yunis
