Scottish Friends of Palestine

Briefing Paper                                                       

April 2020           

To be the guests of Israel without mentioning its crimes; to commemorate the Holocaust while ignoring its lessons; to visit Jerusalem without traveling to the Gaza ghetto on International Holocaust Remembrance Day – one can barely think of any greater hypocrisy . . . .  When today they recite ad nauseam ‘never again,’ one should cast one’s eyes honestly to the south and east, only a few kilometres away from the memorial hall at Yad Vashem. . .[to the site of the village of Deir Yassin – Ed]  

Referring to Gaza as a “concentration camp.”

There’s no holocaust there, only apartheid. No annihilation, but a systematic brutalization of a nation. Not Auschwitz, but Gaza. How can one ignore this on International Holocaust Remembrance Day?

Trump’s ‘peace plan’

. . . . include Israel annexing vast tracts of the occupied West Bank, canceling the right of return of Palestinian refugees and stripping hundreds of thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel of their citizenship

23/01/2020 Ha’aretz  Gideon Levy  

Israeli snipers target Gaza protesters in their eyes Tareq Hajjaj & Pam Bailey The New Arab 20/12/19 https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/indepth/2019/12/20/eyes-common-target-of-israeli-snipers-at-gazas-marchMuath Amarneh was blinded in his left eye after he was hit by a rubber bullet while covering a protest in the West Bank. . . . . Gaza's Ministry of Health reports that 50 protesters have been shot in the eye since the demonstrations began March 30, 2018 – leaving them permanently blind. " . . . most were targeted directly with what is commonly called a 'rubber bullet,' giving the impression they are somehow benign," says Ashraf Alqedra, MD, a treating physician at Gaza City's al-Shifa Hospital and spokesperson for the Ministry of Health. "But there is still steel at the core, and although these bullets don't usually kill, they do grave damage. It is impossible to save an eye hit directly by a rubber-coated steel bullet."

Mai Abu Rwedah: the most recent victim -- Mai Abu Rwedah, 20, grew up in north Gaza's al-Bureij Refugee Camp in a family of nine children supported by a father who works as a janitor for a UN school. She just graduated from university, hoping to start her professional life as a medical secretary and contribute her income . . . . . .Earlier this month, Mai stood with a few friends about 100 metres from the fence that marks the border between Gaza and Israel. She glimpsed an Israeli soldier waving and pointing his finger to his eye.  . . . . . . Then, suddenly, he raised his gun and pointed it at me. I was about to flee but he was too fast. He shot me in my eye." The bullet damaged her jaw as well. Doctors had to extract her right eye, since it was destroyed....

During the Coronavirus crisis, Israel confiscates tented clinic B'Tselem https://www.btselem.org/press_release/20200326_israel_confiscates_clinic_tents_during_coronavirus_crisis 26/03/20  26 March 2020, at around 7:30 am, officials from Israel’s occupation forces arrived with a military jeep escort, a bulldozer and two flatbed trucks with cranes at the Palestinian community of Khirbet Ibziq in the northern Jordan Valley. They confiscated poles and sheeting that were meant to form eight tents, two for a field clinic, and four for emergency housing for residents evacuated from their homes, and two as makeshift mosques. The force also confiscated a tin shack in place for more than two years, as well as a power generator and sacks of sand and cement. Four pallets of cinder blocks intended for the tent floors were taken away and four others demolished. . . . In addition to the shocking destruction of the clinic under construction, the Civil Administration is continuing its demolition routine. Today, it demolished three seasonal homes of farmers who are residents of Jerusalem, in the village of ‘Ein a-Duyuk a-Tahta west of Jericho.

15-year-old under administrative detention  IMEMC/Agencies 19/12/19 https://imemc.org/article/israel-places-15-year-old-under-administrative-detention/ Israeli forces, on Wednesday, placed a Palestinian minor under detention at the Ofer Detention Center, west of Ramallah,. . . . . Hamza al-Hreimi, 15, was shot and injured in the thigh, by the Israeli soldiers, on Tuesday night. He was later moved to an Israeli hospital for treatment . . . . . . . the family home was invaded by occupation forces, with the purpose of detaining him. The statement added that the Ofer Military Court is scheduled for Thursday to hold a hearing to extend al-Harimi’s detention.

Israel soldiers wantonly shot at Palestinian children MEMO 18/12/90 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191218-ngo-israel-soldiers-wantonly-shot-at-palestinian-children-injuring-two/Israeli forces “wantonly” shot at Palestinian children in Al-Jalazun refugee camp, injuring two, according to an investigation by human rights group B’Tselem. The incident occurred on the afternoon of 17 November, when Israeli occupation forces entered Al-Jalazun to chase Palestinian children who had been throwing stones at them at the camp entrance. After reinforcements arrived in an Israeli military jeep, uniformed soldiers and “at least one armed person in civilian clothing” began “firing live rounds toward the fleeing children and teens”, as well as rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters. Thirteen-year-old Rami Abu Nasrah and 11-year-old Amir Zbeideh were both hit with live ammunition; Rami suffered “an open fracture in the arm and underwent surgery to stabilize the bone”, while Amir “had surgery to reattach his right index finger and remove shrapnel from his chest”.  As B’Tselem noted, at the time, the Israeli military spokesperson claimed that soldiers had “used crowd-dispersal methods including the firing of rubber bullets and shooting into the air.”....

Gaza . . . 500 factories are about to close  Palestine Chronicle 29/12/19 https://www.palestinechronicle.com/gazas-local-industries-in-ruins-as-500-factories-are-about-to-close/ 2019 was one of the worst years for local Gaza economy that is struggling to stay afloat despite the hermetic Israeli blockade. Palestinian sources told Quds News Network that over 500 factories, which have provided much of Gazans’ domestic needs, will shut down by the end of this year, due to the increasingly dire economic situation in the besieged Gaza Strip . . . . . .Quds News reported ...  “The occupation state has targeted all kinds of economic installations during its wars on the besieged enclave,” Quds News reported.

Only 55 Palestinian Christians from Gaza to enter West Bank for Xmas  MEMO 24/12/2019 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191224-israel-allows-only-55-palestinian-christians-from-gaza-to-enter-west-bank-for-christmas/

Israeli authorities have only allowed 55 Christians in the Gaza Strip to enter the West Bank and Jerusalem to celebrate Christmas, according to local news agency Ma’an. The Orthodox Church in Gaza said among the 600 official requests that were submitted to Israel, occupation authorities agreed to grant travel permits to just three children and 52 Palestinian elders mostly over the age of 60. This came after the Israeli Defence Ministry said in a statement on Sunday it would allow Palestinian Christians in Gaza to visit Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank “in accordance with security assessments and without regard to age”, reversing an earlier decision not to issue them permits, a move that was met with immediate backlash by Christian Palestinian leaders as well as Gisha, an Israeli rights group.

Stateless Jerusalemites call on Jordan to restore their citizenship Daoud Kuttab Al-Monitor 30/12/19  https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/12/palestinians-jerusalem-jordan-israel-citizenship.html

Public calls by Palestinians for the restoration of Jordanian citizenship to all Palestinian East Jerusalemites have increased in recent weeks due in part to the increased Israeli attempts to divorce Jerusalemites from any connection to the Palestinian leadership. Some 350,000 stateless Palestinians live in Jerusalem. Their plight has deteriorated over the years, especially since the 1993 PLO-Israel Declaration of Principles (also known as the Oslo Accord) that separated East Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied territories. While Jerusalem is a final status negotiation issue, the reality on the ground after a quarter of a century — especially under the right-wing Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu — has focused in large part on attempts to cut off any connections between Palestinians in Jerusalem and the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah . . . . . the Jordanian government is aware of the plight of Jerusalemites but the issue is not on the government’s agenda . . . .

“We have taken note of the deteriorating situation in East Jerusalem especially after Israeli Minister of Public Security… Gilad Erdan’s decision to sever all ties between Palestinian educational institutions in Jerusalem and the Palestinian government. Some 42 schools run by the Jordanian waqf, which use Palestinian curriculum, were ordered closed last month [Nov. 6], leaving 20,000 students without any educational reference.”...  On Nov. 20, Erdan closed Palestinian health, education, and family organizations and ordered a local TV company not to provide technical services to Palestine TV. The Arab Health Center operating in Silwan was also closed by orders of Erdan because it receives financial support from the Ramallah-based Palestinian government....

Almost 30.000 Jewish fanatics forced their way into Al-Aqsa Mosque in 2019  WAFA 31/12/19  http://english.wafa.ps/page.aspx?id=PQZqxja114602482236aPQZqxj – A total of 29,610 Jewish fanatics have forced their way into Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites, in 2019 raising concern of an organized scheme to change the long-held status quo at the holy compound located in Jerusalem’s Old City as a Muslim-only worship place, today said Azzam Khatib, director of the Waqf department, which is in charge of the Muslim-run places in Jerusalem. He said in a statement that the record number of Jewish fanatics who came to the Muslim holy compound this year under heavy protection by thousands of Israeli police, special forces and intelligence was a breach of the historical and legal status at the Mosque. . . . .  Khatib.warned against “attempts by the occupying power to exploit the issue of Al-Aqsa Mosque as a platform to achieve political gains and for electoral propaganda for individuals and groups, who do not understand the dangers of these actions, in their efforts and insistence to agitate the feelings of millions of Muslims around the world.” Khatib stressed that the Islamic Waqf department insists on confronting all measures and violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque and all its buildings.....

 Israel to use alternative to UNRWA schools in Jerusalem  MEMO 02/01/20 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200102-pa-rejects-israel-decision-to-use-alternative-to-unrwa-schools-in-jerusalem/ The Palestinian Authority (PA) yesterday slammed an Israeli decision to use alternatives to UNRWA-run Palestinian schools in Jerusalem. In a statement, the PA’s Ministry of Expatriates and Foreign Affairs said that the approval of the council of the Israeli municipality in Jerusalem to set up education facilities to replace UNRWA schools is part of Israel’s war on the right of return. The PA ministry also said that the Israeli measure is a “new step towards imposing the Israeli syllabus on Palestinians”, pointing out “this is part of the Israeli plans to Judaise the Palestinian city.” On Tuesday night, the Israeli municipal council approved a plan to establish an educational campus run by the Israeli Education Ministry near the Arab neighbourhoods of Shu‘afat and ‘Anata in Jerusalem.

According to the plan, the new facilities are meant to replace the schools established and being run by UNRWA. The project, according to the London-based Al-Awda Centre, will cost 7.1 million shekels ($2 million), and will be located in an area outside the Green Line but run by the Israeli governed Jerusalem Municipality . . . . “While the previous mayor, Nir Barkat, published press releases for years about his plans to reduce UNWRA’s influence and involvement in eastern Jerusalem, the current Mayor, Moshe Lion, passed last night a decision of unprecedented importance. I salute you, Mayor.”

Over 9.000 Palestinians displaced in a decade of West Bank demolitions
Natasha Roth-Rowland  +972 Magazine 24/12/19 https://www.972mag.com/demolitions-decade-annexation/ Israeli authorities demolished over 6,000 Palestinian structures in the West Bank and East Jerusalem between 2010 and 2019, according to the United Nations. More than 9,000 Palestinians were displaced as a result. The figures, collected by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – Occupied Palestinian Territory, show the scale of Israel’s demolition regime over the Green Line.

The vast majority of the destruction (79 percent) has taken place in Area C of the West Bank, over which the Israeli army has full control. Roughly two percent of demolitions took place in Areas A and B of the West Bank, which are putatively under full and partial Palestinian Authority control, respectively. Around 19 percent of demolitions took place in East Jerusalem. Although Israel annexed the area in 1981 — technically making it Israeli territory — it is often subjected to similar policies as the West Bank because most of its inhabitants are not Israeli citizens (and many, in fact, are stateless). In total, 6,116 structures were demolished between January 1, 2010, and December 24, 2019, displacing 9,249 people — over half of whom are children and minors. In addition, over 115,000 people’s livelihoods were affected by the demolitions. Around 28 percent (1,734) of the destroyed structures were inhabited residential buildings. As this piece was being written, Israeli authorities were in the process of carrying out a string of demolitions throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including at least five on December 24, meaning that these figures may be out of date by the time of publishing....

Israel floods Gaza farmland with rainwater  Palestine Chronicle 06/01/20 http://www.palestinechronicle.com/israel-floods-gaza-farmland-with-rainwater/ Israel deliberately flooded hundreds of acres of farmland on Sunday, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Israel opened one of the gates of its rainwater stores east of Gaza, making the water drown hundreds of dunums of agricultural land.  “Israel flooded agricultural lands, cow ranches, and bee farms in eastern Shujaiyyah neighborhood after opening its dams,” Adham Basiouni, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, told Andalu Agency. “Opening the dams caused soil erosion and caused crops to be flooded,” he added. “It also led to losses in the cattle and bees, which resulted in severe losses for the farmers”.

Israel arrests hundreds of Palestinian minors in Jerusalem Nir Hasson Ha’aretz 10/01/20 htps://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-arrests-hundreds-of-palestinian-minors-in-jerusalem-violating-child-rig-1.8377280 The use of force, night time arrests, questioning not in the presence of their parents, rides in patrol cars for intimidation and unnecessary handcuffing – these are just some of the violations of the rights of minors arrested by police in the ‘Issawiyah neighborhood of Jerusalem over the past few months. More than 600 residents have been arrested since the launch of regular police raids in ‘Issawiyeh, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) said. Residents and lawyers say about a third of those who have been held are minors.

In a case reported by B’Tselem, a 13-year-old boy said police officers broke into his house even though they were told that his parents were not at home. “The policeman pushed my head against the sofa and then hit me in the head with something hard. I think it was a tear gas grenade. I was really scared. They pushed my hands forward, and handcuffed them with plastic cuffs and took me outside while my little brothers were screaming and crying,” the boy said. He was questioned and released a few hours later after his father was summoned to the police station. By law, minor suspects have a long list of rights. For example, minors may not be arrested or questioned at night, they may not be arrested in educational institutions, or by plainclothes police officers, and may only be arrested “if it is impossible to achieve the purpose of the arrest in a way that is less harmful.”

Israel seized Palestinian lands in Bethlehem MEMO 16/01/20 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200116-israel-seizes-palestinian-lands-in-bethlehem/ Israeli forces yesterday issued orders to seize hundreds of dunums of agricultural land in Bethlehem’s southern occupied towns of Al-Khader and Irtas. The head of the Commission for the Resistance of the Wall and Settlements, Hasan Breijieh, told local media that the orders were issued to seize 350 dunums of agricultural land, with the aim “to expand Israel illegal settlements and bypass the roads of the Palestinian towns and villages in Bethlehem.” Breijieh added that the move would “devour more Palestinian agricultural land and prevent Palestinian landowners from accessing their lands as the seizure will also take over 150 meters of land on both sides.”

Israel profited 54,000 shekels from imprisoned children  IMEMC 17/01/20 https://imemc.org/article/israel-profited-54000-shekel-from-imprisoned-children-in-december-2019/  The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs has stated that the Israeli occupation state has made 54,000 Shekel profit off the Palestinian children who were imprisoned in Ofer jail last December, Quds News Network reported. The Committee said in a report issued on Sunday that 38 Palestinian children were sent to Ofer jail last month, increasing the total number of children jailed in Ofer to 82. It also stated that 20 children were sentenced to jail periods that range between one week to 23 months. One child was also slapped with a four-month arbitrary administrative detention, without charges. The report revealed that last year, the Israeli authorities jailed 379 children (under the age of 18) in Ofer jail and imposed 513,100 Shekel of fines on them. The Committee described the Israeli violations against Palestinian children, like the heavy fines and lengthy jail periods, as punitive measures and arbitrary punishment against the Palestinian people. According to the Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Addameer), approximately 700 Palestinian children under the age of 18 from the occupied West Bank are prosecuted every year through Israeli military courts after being arrested, interrogated and detained by the Israeli army. The most common charge levied against children is throwing stones, a charge that is punishable under military law by up to 20 years in prison.....

Israel moves 34 child prisoners to Israel WAFA 13/01/20 http://english.wafa.ps/page.aspx?id=CR1rFLa114715740843aCR1rFL  Israel Prison Services (IPS) today relocated 34 Palestinian minor prisoners held at Ofer military camp and prison, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, to Damoun prison in Israel without any of their adult overseers, said the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) in a statement.  . . . . The decision has prompted strong protests by the prisoners who look after the minors as the relocation may undermine the rights of the minor prisoners who could be abused by the prison guards in the absence of their adult overseers. Some 200 minors are currently held in Israeli prisons out of nearly 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners incarcerated for resisting the Israeli occupation of their land. The adult prisoners usually take care of the minors and help them adjust to their new situation as well as represent them in any dispute with the IPS.

Southern Gaza residents living amid rubbish Sanaa Kamal Xinhua 28/01/20 http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-01/28/c_138739412.htm Hamza Ferwana, 12 years old, from the Palestinian Gaza Strip, spends hours every day searching through trash piles at a municipal rubbish dump to earn a living from items he may find and sell. "I am digging out rubbish in search of food or items that can be sold such as iron, aluminum, or plastic," the little boy told Xinhua while working at a landfill site in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis. Ferwana lives in the Khan Younis city's Nahr al-Bared neighborhood, one of the poorest and most marginalized areas in the Israeli-blockaded seaside territory. The neighborhood, which is bordered by a huge landfill from the south, and a cemetery from the east, is home to more than 100 families living at shabby houses made of tin sheets. "We wait for garbage trucks so we can search for food between those piles, or collect metal tools to sell to feed my family," Ferwana said, holding an empty flour bag. The teen boy has been living, with his 10-member family, in a one-room house for 10 years after they were driven out of their home for being unable to pay the monthly rent. Ferwana wished that he could go back to school and continue his education.

Not far from Ferwana's house, Lina al-Barqoun, 22, was busy cooking food for her two children over wood fire. Lina, who has been pregnant for eight months, described their living conditions as "tragic and non-human," saying that one of her children suffers from chronic asthma, while the other child suffers from atrophy of foot muscles because of scorpion sting. "My husband, my children and I live among harmful insects, scorpions, snakes and mice during summer," the lady said. "We are very poor; sometimes we cannot buy medicines and food for my children."....

Abusing of a Gaza couple who just lost three babies Gideon Levy & Alex Levac Haaretz 31/01/20 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-how-israel-is-abusing-a-gaza-couple-that-just-lost-three-babies-1.8473207

Wafa raises the appallingly tiny palm of her daughter, as though hoping to hold onto her so she won’t slip away like her three other newborn siblings did. Selin is a 2-month-old preemie, who weighed 500 grams (17.6 ounces) when she was born in the 25th week of her mother’s pregnancy. The physicians of the neonatal intensive care unit of Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem are still fighting for her life. Her sister and two brothers – Ilin, Daeb and Kayiz – died one after the other within a few days, after their birth on November 24. Now only Selin remains, breathing by means of an artificial respirator, inside an incubator with a network of tubes attached to her miniature body, her mother softly caressing her hand.

 Amazingly, it’s Selin, the smallest of the four, who is still alive. Dr. Sudqi Hamada, a physician in the unit, believes the tiny infant “can do it,” and will survive ... Two months have passed since the birth that ended so tragically. Since then, the parents, Wafa and Mohammed Ralaban, have had to grapple not only with the death of their children and with the battle to save the life of their surviving daughter. They were also forced to fight for the right to be by their babies’ side in the hospital. If it had been up to the occupation authorities, they would long since have been expelled back to Gaza, leaving the preemies behind for the doctors to save. Had it not been for a determined and devoted struggle by the Physicians for Human Rights Israel NGO – along with the mobilization of the staff at Makassed – the parents and their tiny offspring would have been separated at birth...
Wafa was initially given a permit to stay in Israel for just three days and had not yet given birth when it expired. According to PHRI, there are cases in which Palestinian women who have high-risk pregnancies and give birth in Israel are forced to return to Gaza and leave their infant to struggle alone. Inhumanity knows no bounds.

Jewish settlers torch West Bank school  Qais Abu Samra Anadolu 28/01/20 https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/jewish-settlers-torch-school-in-occupied-west-bank/1716160  A group of settlers stormed Einabous Secondary School and set fire to a classroom, according to Iyad Awad, a spokesman for the Education Directorate south of the city of Nablus. "The fire broke out all over the classroom," Awad told Anadolu Agency. The settlers also sprayed racist slurs in Hebrew on the school's walls, according to Awad.

Court orders Palestinians family turn home over to Israeli settlers IMEMC/ Agencies 27/01/20 https://imemc.org/article/israeli-court-orders-palestinians-to-leave-jerusalem-building-and-turn-it-over-to-israeli-settlers-in-occupied-jerusalem/

An Israeli court, yesterday, ruled in favor of evicting a Palestinian-owned building in the Silwan neighborhood of occupied  Jerusalem and turn it over to an Israeli settler organization, according to the Wadi Hilweh Information Center. It said that the Israeli court rejected all objections by the Dweik family, which owns the building, against a previous court ruling issued at the request of the Ateret Cohanim settlement organization, ordering the Dweik family to evacuate the building and turn over the land it is built on, to Ateret Cohanim, and giving the Palestinian family until August to comply with the eviction order. Mazen Dweik, one of the owners, said that the building consists of five apartments on five floors where five families currently reside, noting that his grandfather bought the land on which the building was built in 1963. The Center further stated, according to Days of Palestine, that 84 Palestinian families in Silwan have received, over past years, notices to leave the land where their homes are built and turn them over to the settler organization. The families are currently battling these orders in Israeli courts.

Prisoner describes torture inside Israeli jail IMEMC/Agencies 21/02/20 https://imemc.org/article/report-palestinian-prisoner-describes-torture-inside-israeli-jail/  In a report issued, on Thursday, the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs Authority released the testimony of the prisoner, Halima Khandakji, 45, from the town of Deir Sudan, Ramallah District, in which she tells details of her torture during interrogation inside the occupation detention cells. The report says “During her interrogation, she was hung to the wall twice, by handcuffing her hands and feet and then attaching her to the wall, she was also denied use of the bathroom, in addition to being mocked and insulted.” The report states that the prisoner Khandakji is the mother of three children whom remains detained at this time, is currently suffering from severe back, hands and leg pains due to the torture and abuse she suffered during interrogation, the Palestine News Network (PNN) reported.

'42 knees in one day': Israeli snipers boast  Hilo Glazer Haaretz Magazine 6/03/20 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-42-knees-in-one-day-israeli-snipers-open-up-about-shooting-gaza-protesters-1.8632555

I know exactly how many knees I’ve hit, says Eden, who completed his service in the Israel Defense Forces as a sniper in its Golani infantry brigade six months ago. For much of the time, he was stationed along the border with the Gaza Strip. His assignment: to repel Palestinian demonstrators who approached the fence. “I kept the casing of every round I fired,” he says. “I have them in my room. So I don’t have to make an estimate – I know: 52 definite hits.” But there are also “non-definite” hits, right? “There were incidents when the bullet didn’t stop and also hit the knee of someone behind [the one I aimed at]. Those are mistakes that happen.”... “There are awful, dreadful stories about soldiers who aimed at a demonstrator and hit someone else. I know someone who took aim at one of the leaders of a demonstration, who was standing on a box and urging the people to keep marching ahead. The soldier aimed at his leg, but at the last moment the man moved and the bullet missed him. Instead, he hit a little girl, who was killed on the spot.  . . . For his part, Amir says the kind of feelings most snipers have are completely different, reminiscent of the world of sports. . .  

Thousands of shekels stolen from Palestinian homes in occupied West Bank
MEMO 04/03/20 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200304-thousands-of-shekels-stolen-from-palestinian-homes-in-occupied-west-bank/ Israel security forces stole thousands of shekels from Palestinians in Al-Zawiya in the Salfit district of the occupied West Bank last night. According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, around 50,000 shekels ($14,500) were seized during raids that were carried out overnight in the houses of Palestinian citizens and former prisoners. The Israeli authorities often claim that money has been “confiscated” because the Palestinians “supported acts of terror” and received the money from unknown sources. As a result, soldiers are rarely charged with such thefts. This is not the first time that Israel has taken money from Palestinian homes during night raids condemned by the Palestinian Authority and international rights bodies. Such accusations have been made on hundreds of occasions, with soldiers pocketing Palestinians’ cash and valuables during the raids that take place nightly across the West Bank. . . . .

Emboldened settlers transform West Bank Kedem Arava AFP 28/02/20 https://www.france24.com/en/20200228-emboldened-by-israeli-pm-and-trump-settlers-transform-west-bank Around the time US President Donald Trump took office, a group of Israeli families more than 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) away started a wildcat settlement near the Dead Sea in the Palestinians territories. In the three years since, it has become the outpost of Kedem Arava, home to 40 families. It is believed to be the first Israeli settlement of the Trump era, and one of dozens built under the decade-long rule of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Today, barefoot children run around happily and race their bicycles between its mobile homes. "It's a paradise for kids," said Ifat Lev, a 32-year-old mother-of-two living in the outpost near Jericho in the Jordan Valley. "Since they turned two, they have been out with their friends, mixing like one family."

Palestinians and the international community may consider such outposts illegal and impediments to peace -- but to their residents, they're home and the families are determined to stay. Kerem Arava, protected by the Israeli army and guarded by razor wire, is a close-knit community that celebrates what it sees as its youthful pioneering spirit ... Under the Trump plan, small places like Kedem Arava could become towns or even cities -- like Ariel, which boasts a university, or a region like Gush Etzion which is now seeing its third generation of residents born. "I don't call this a settlement. I call this my homeland," said Yehuda Leuchter, a musician who lives with his five children in Gush Etzion. "We are here. We are not asking ourselves if we are supposed to be here. We are here."....

Attempted kidnap of two Palestinian children IMEMC 11/03/20 https://imemc.org/article/illegal-israeli-colonists-attempt-to-kidnap-two-palestinian-children-near-ramallah/Three fanatic Israeli colonists, illegally squatting on Palestinian lands in direct violation of International Law, attempted to kidnap two children, Thursday, near Ramallah, in central West Bank. Eyewitnesses said the three colonists were driving their motorcycles in the meadow of Turmus Ayya town, northeast of Ramallah, before forcing a Palestinian car to stop. They added that the Palestinian driver of the vehicle, identified as Tareq Refa‘ey, was with his two children when the Israeli assailants attacked the car and attempted to snatch the two children from it, after smashing some of its windows. The father then sped away to avoid the assailants, who also threatened to open fire on residents in the area.

Settlers enter West Bank site, defying Palestinian corona closure decision 12/03/ 20 WAFA http://english.wafa.ps/page.aspx?id=EQSMHJa115380064437aEQSMHJ

 The Israeli army today allowed groups of Jewish settlers into Sebastia archaeological site in the north of the occupied West Bank despite a Palestinian Authority decision closing tourist sites and banning gatherings in an effort to fight the coronavirus outbreak. Sebastia mayor, Mohammad Azem, said dozens of settlers arrived at the site under Israeli army protection, which closed roads to allow them easy access to the site. He said the site was closed at orders from the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Nablus governor in an effort to stop spread of the coronavirus disease. Nevertheless, he added, the army allowed and facilitated arrival of settlers to the site causing concern in the area since many Israelis, including settlers, have contracted the disease.

Israel soldiers shot at Palestinians simply making a U-turn MEMO 13/03/20 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200313-investigation-finds-israel-soldiers-shot-at-palestinians-simply-making-a-u-turn/  An investigation by Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz has revealed that Israeli soldiers opened fire on a Palestinian vehicle whose driver was simply making a U-turn, in what military officials described at the time as an attempted ‘car-ramming’ attack. According to the paper, on 20 February, the Israeli army spokesperson reported that soldiers had shot at a Palestinian vehicle that accelerated toward them in Beitin village, “in what media reports described as a suspected car ramming attack”. In fact, after obtaining two videos and interviewing the survivors and witnesses, Haaretz reported that Israeli occupation forces opened fire “as the driver was making a U-turn and hit a rock, and that the soldiers faced no life-threatening situation”. . . . Haaretz noted that none of the youths in the car were “suspected of any attacks or attempted attacks” by Israeli authorities. Moreover, “a look at the car shows that signs of bullet entries appear only on the back of the vehicle. If the soldiers shot while the car was careening toward them then such signs should have appeared on the front or sides of the vehicle.” The army has also “changed its version of events about the incident,” Haaretz added. For this latest article, the Israeli military spokesperson merely acknowledged that “troops saw a car accelerating toward them and thought it was an attempted car ramming therefore they shot at the vehicle”.

'the Palestinian way' - with sweets and song Akram Al-Waara MEE 9/03/2020 https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/coronavirus-palestine-bethlehem-quarantine-palestinian-way Nestled between the sloping hills of Beit Jala, the sister town of Bethlehem, is the Angel Hotel - the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic in the occupied West Bank city. The hotel is “ground zero” for the city’s outbreak, after seven of its staff members were diagnosed with coronavirus, which they caught after coming into contact with a group of Greek tourists who stayed at the hotel. Since the first seven cases were announced on 5 March, the number of confirmed patients has risen to 20, all of whom are Palestinian residents of Bethlehem ...  Of the 20 cases, 16 were being quarantined in the Angel Hotel, along with 15 American tourists who are believed to have come into contact with those carrying the virus according to the PA . . . . . But on the morning the 13-people group was supposed to leave, it was ordered to stay for a 14-day quarantine at the hotel to ensure none of them were infected. The visitors, however, have looked on the bright side. Since the hotel was closed off on Thursday, local Palestinian restaurants and residents have been flooding it with medical supplies, personal hygiene products, and most importantly, food. “Amazing community! These 13 Americans love all of you!” . . .one of many posts on Facebook praising the local community for their hospitality towards those quarantined at the hotel.....

 Palestinian children's rights NGO does not have links to terror groups
MEMO 12/03/20 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200312-uk-lawyers-for-israel-palestinian-childrens-rights-ngo-does-not-have-links-to-terror-groups/ The Zionist UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI)has settled out of court in a case brought forward after it alleged children’s rights NGO, Defence for Children International – Palestine (DCIP), had close links to terror groups. The news comes as DCIP reached a settlement in a defamation case against UKLFI.  On its website, UKLFI stated: "In 2018 we wrote about Defence for Children International – Palestine and referred to links between some past board members and a designated terrorist organisation, the PFLP. We would like to clarify that we did not intend to suggest that the organisation has close current links, or provides any financial or material support to any terrorist organisation.."  In a press release issued shortly after news broke of the settlement, DCIP noted that UKLFI has been targeting DCIP since 2018 “through a well-orchestrated political and media misinformation campaign aimed at isolating it, seriously harming its reputation and integrity as a human rights organisation, and preventing it from receiving charitable donations or raising funds.”

Abuse of Palestinians overrides fear of COVID-19 The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights 19/03/20 https://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20200319_abuse%20of%20palestinians%20in_al_esawiyah_overrides_fear_of_covid_19 Despite the unprecedented health crisis requiring residents of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to take extreme social isolation measures, the Israel Police have chosen now, of all times, to escalate their abuse and collective punishment of Palestinians in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of al-‘Issawiya, as part of an operation that began in April 2019.

Border Police and Special Patrol Unit officers invade the crowded neighborhood daily, even at night, and more so on weekends, for no apparent reason and initiate friction with the residents. In the ensuing confrontations, the police act violently, firing sponge rounds, tear gas canisters and stun grenades. They also close off the entrances to the neighborhood. During these incursions, the police arrest residents, mostly minors, and take them to a police station where they are interrogated alone. Most minors are released after a short period, sometimes after spending all night in custody. The police abuse of Palestinians in al-‘Issawiya, by now a permanent feature of life in the neighborhood, is illegal and cannot be justified even under the usual routine of occupation. Yet at this sensitive time, such conduct exposes residents to substantial, completely unnecessary health risks, as it encourages gatherings and forces arrested residents, including many minors, to leave home and be around strangers. The police conduct is jeopardizing public safety (including the health of the police officers) and violating the medical guidelines on social isolation. The fact that Israeli authorities disregard the lives of al-‘Issawiya residents, including children and teens, is nothing new. Yet continuing and even escalating such conduct during a pandemic is an especially appalling manifestation of this policy.

Palestinians would die for the Israeli kind of lockdown Gideon Levy Haaretz 19/03/20 https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-palestinians-would-die-for-the-israeli-kind-of-lockdown-1.8688182 The heavens have darkened and everything is closing in around us. Only fate, God or the shaper of history are laughing at us from up high, a bitter, ironic laughter. The irony of fate: For the first time, Israel is tasting some of the hell it has been dishing out for decades to its subjects. With alarming speed, Israelis have entered a reality known to every Palestinian child. Even the terms have been borrowed from the occupation: Israel is on its way to a lockdown, the army is taking over hotels, the Shin Bet security service is taking over our cellphones, and the Border Police and its checkpoints are right around the corner. It’s no coincidence that Haaretz’s military analyst has been recruited to serve as the coronavirus analyst. In a day or two Tel Aviv will resemble Jenin and Israel will be like the Gaza Strip. What is routine there has become a frightening dystopia here.

 Of course, the differences are many. What for us constitutes the end of the world would for them be an easing of the closure, with the pandemic looming over everyone. Still, we can’t but marvel at the similarities. First, the state of siege. The gates are practically locked. No one leaves or enters. Think of Gaza for 14 consecutive years. Young people who have never seen a passenger plane, even adults who have never been inside an airport, not even dreaming of a vacation abroad. Israelis have difficulties with life without Ben-Gurion Airport even for a moment. Gazans don’t know about a life that includes trips abroad. Where’s that? What does it look like?....

Coronavirus in the Gaza Strip Adam Khalil MEE 23/03/20  The Hamas government has stepped up its measures to limit the spread of coronavirus in the Gaza Strip following the announcement of the first two confirmed cases in the enclave ... “We have been used to living on our own and living in extreme conditions for many years”, said Nawal Eliwa, 55, as she shopped for groceries. “But this pain afflicted the whole world this time, not only Gaza. We do not know if it will help the world understand what is happening in Gaza after the crisis ends.” With only a fraction of Palestinians in Gaza able to enter or leave, the territory has been somewhat isolated from the coronavirus outbreak. Over 1,300 people returning from abroad have been placed into quarantine centres, mostly set up in empty schools and hotels. The Hamas government has imposed additional restrictions, including the closure of all restaurants and cafes, as well as wedding halls, the suspension of Friday prayers and calling worshipers to pray in their homes, but without a complete closure of mosques. The authorities are also preventing weekly markets in all cities. . . . .  With help from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the health ministry has turned a school in Rafah into a centre for fighting Covid-19, complete with an intensive care unit with 36 beds for infected people and 30 other beds for patients with any mild symptoms, according to Majdi Thuhair, a second health ministry spokesman.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/coronavirus-gaza-hamas-palestine-additional-steps-contain-spread

Hugh Humphries  

Secretary                                   

Scottish Friends of Palestine     0141 637 8046         info@scottish-friends-of-palestine.org