Palestinian Center for Human Rights

Swimming in sewage



“I think the sea probably is polluted. Sometimes I get strange white marks on my skin, but we come down to the beach every day because we have nowhere else to go.” Samer and his friends are hanging out on the beach in Gaza City, just about to jump in next to the old fishing harbor. Less than a hundred meters away, a sewage pipe pours mucky water into streams of dark waste that flows towards the sea where Samer and his friends swim. 

"We could not even bury our daughter"



On 11 June, eight-year-old Hadeel al-Sumairi was killed when her home in southeastern Gaza was shelled by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). Less than a week earlier, eight-year-old Aya Hamdan al-Najjar was killed by a rocket fired from an IOF helicopter. Their violent deaths highlight both the continual dangers facing families who live anywhere near the Israeli border. 

Gaza's 700 (and counting) stranded students



For the mainstream press, the story of the Gaza Fulbright seven “moved quickly” and has now concluded with a positive ending. But hundreds of other Palestinian students remain stranded inside the Gaza Strip, and the number is expected to rise this summer. According to data from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, almost 700 Palestinian students are still waiting to leave Gaza in order to pursue studies, and scholarships, abroad. 

"Now we have nothing left"



“They came at four in the morning with two bulldozers, and they left before 8:00am. I own this chicken farm with my three brothers, and we worked day and night for 18 years to build up our business. The Israelis destroyed everything in less than four hours.” Nasser Jaber’s chicken farm was bulldozed by the Israeli Occupation Forces 10 days ago, in the early morning hours of 16 May, while he was sleeping at home in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. 

Israeli siege hits Gaza's special needs children



Every day parents call the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children in Gaza City and ask Suad Lubbad when the school will re-open. Suad is the Administrative Director of the school, which has 275 pupils aged 4-17, and was forced to close without notice in mid-April. Because of chronic fuel shortages, the buses that normally transport the pupils to school were suddenly grounded. 

Remembering the Nakba, 60 years later



“I am not sure what year I was born. But it was around 78 years ago, in Palestine.” Handuma Rashid Najja Wishah sits on the patio overlooking her large garden, recalling the turbulent story of her long life. “I am a Palestinian from the village of Beit Affa” she says, tucking her long white scarf under her chin. “It was a beautiful village and we had a good life there. There was a small Jewish settlement nearby, called Negba, and we had a good relationship with the Jews. 

Gaza lives being put at risk



As the grueling Gaza fuel crisis continues, so does the strain on local public transport services, including ambulances, across the Gaza Strip. Approximately 15 percent of local public services are operating across Gaza, whilst up to 90 percent of private cars remain off the roads, and all of Gaza’s 450 fuel stations remain closed. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights speaks with medial professionals working under siege. 

West Bank journalists detained by PA intelligence



The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the distention of three Palestinian journalists and a columnist by the Palestinian General Intelligence Service in Bethlehem and Qalqilya towns in the West Bank on Thursday, 8 May 2008. PCHR believes that such arrests constitute an attack on press freedoms and the right to freedom of expression, which are ensured by the Palestinian Basic Law and international human rights instruments. 

Israeli forces kill Gaza mother in front of her children



The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the killing of a mother in front of her children yesterday, during an Israeli incursion into New Abasan town, east of Khan Younes. PCHR investigations indicate that at approximately 14:30pm on Wednesday, 7 May, Israeli Occupation Forces troops raided the house of Majdi Abd al-Raziq al-Daghma during an incursion into New Abasan.