Human Rights

Weekly report on human rights violations

18 September 2003

This week Israeli forces killed 5 Palestinians, including a child and an old man. One of the victims was killed in an extra-judicial execution in Hebron. Three of the victims, including a child, were killed in three cases of apparent wilful killing. Israeli forces invaded a number of Palestinian towns and villages. Israeli forces demolished 40 homes in Rafah leaving dozens of families homeless. Israeli forces raided a number of homes, arbitrarily detaining a number of Palestinian civilians. In Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis, Israeli forces uprooted dozens of trees and Israeli forces demolished seven homes in acts of collective punishment. Israel continued the construction of the separation wall in the West Bank. Israeli forces have imposed a comprehensive closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 

"We did not have one good day since the massacre"

Cilina Nasser 17 September 2003

“I will not forget the massacre until I go to my grave,” says Mohammed. The last time he saw his father, Shawkat, was when he was lined up with some nine other men at a wall in Shatila. He remembers how his father had to raise his hands, placing them on the wall shoulder-width apart. As the little child walked hurriedly away through the narrow alleyways of the wretched Shatila camp with his mother and sister, they heard a loud burst of bullets. “I kept saying to myself, ‘Daddy must have escaped and he will come back to us.’” After several days, however, Mohammed knew that he would never see his father again. The Daily Star’s Cilina Nasser talks with Sabra and Shatila survivors on the 21st anniversary of the massacre. 

Belgian court to rule whether Sabra and Shatila plaintiffs can proceed

Nicholas Blanford 17 September 2003

“Just as it appeared that the case was lost, it emerged that another complaint against Sharon had been lodged by some Belgian citizens in 2001, only two weeks before the Sabra and Shatila plaintiffs filed their own suit. ‘Everybody had forgotten about this complaint,’ Belgian lawyer Luc Walleyn said. ‘It was sleeping for two years’.” The Daily Star’s Nicholas Blanford interviews Luc Walleyn, one of three lawyers representing the survivors of the Sabra and Shatila massacre in a case that continues to keep legal scholars, activists, and war criminals on the edge of their seats. 

Israeli rights group: "The threat of expulsion due to the separation barrier"

17 September 2003

Today B’Tselem held a tour to release the organization’s new report on the village of Nu’man. Although Nu’man is located within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem, Israel has refused to recognize the villagers as Jerusalem residents, and give them permanent residency status, claiming they were not in the city in 1967. 

Palestinian women mobilising to resist Israel's Apartheid Wall

International Women's Peace Service 17 September 2003


A powerful force is organizing resistance to the construction of the Apartheid Wall — Palestinian women! Palestinian women have always been active in resisting the Occupation. Now they are organizing to resist the construction of the Apartheid Wall. On Sept. 6, Palestinian women in Tulkarem organized a demonstration of more than 200 Palestinian, Israeli, and international women to protest against the Apartheid Wall and the Occupation. In the Salfeet region, located in the heart of the West Bank between Ramallah and Nablus, women have also begun organizing against the wall. The Apartheid Wall is already having a devastating impact on the lives of Palestinian women living in villages and cities along its path. Families are being cut off from access to large portions of their agricultural land and greenhouses. IWPS reports. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

10 September 2003

This week Israeli forces killed 11 Palestinians, including 2 children. Three of the victims were killed in extra-judicial assassinations. Israeli forces carried out two failed attempts to assassinate the founder and two senior leaders of Hamas. Israel continued indiscriminate shelling of residential areas, killing two Palestinian civilians and wounding dozens of others. Israeli forces conducted a number of invasions into Palestinian areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A number of homes were raided and Israel continued to arbitrarily arrest Palestinians. More than 100 donums of agricultural land were razed and 1 home was demolished in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces demolished two homes in the West Bank. Israel continued the construction of the apartheid wall. Israeli forces have imposed a comprehensive closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 

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