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Scottish Friends of Palestine
Briefing Paper
January 2016
‘When a pen, a camera and a stethoscope are seen as security threats, we know we are dealing with a regime that is afraid of the truth and that believes that power confers rights’ Professor Mads Gilbert, formerly of Gaza but now banned by Israel from entering Gaza (from Mads Gilbert’s just published book ‘Night in Gaza’)
We, the women of occupied East Jerusalem, are politically orphaned. We are victims without protection, as the Palestinian Authority has no right to protect us in our city, and the Israeli state treats us as terrorists that should be humiliated, attacked, violated, and controlled. The guerrilla state style tactics used in occupied East Jerusalem, be it the attacks on Palestinians in the streets, the beating of the young and old, the attacks on children going to and from school, the invasion of violent settlers to our neighborhoods and homes, the control of our life, water, cell phones, internet, mobility, health, economy, and accessibility to other resources . Jerusalemite Women’s Coalition /Al-tajamo’ Al-nasawiy Almaqdasy (24.10.2015)
Filled with delight and pleasure, as the media inflames their animal urges Gideon Levy . Ha’aretz11/10/15 http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.679781 A spree of extrajudicial killings is sweeping over the land. It’s sickening, barbaric and lawless – and it is buoyed by the cheers of the masses, media incitement and the authorities’ encouragement. Now add to the wave of terror attacks the worst kind of damage – Israeli society is losing its image. This society has had savage periods before, but not like this one, in which every stabber or anyone who threatens with a knife, screwdriver or vegetable peeler is executed, even after he has thrown down his weapon, while the killer becomes a hero of the nation. Those who wanted the death penalty for terrorists are now receiving a more ignominious version – a death penalty without trial. Fourteen Palestinians have been killed this way in the past week, most of them would not be liable for a death sentence in a state of law. The blood lust, the likes of which is not remembered in these parts, wants more and more blood. In some of the attacks, the security forces and civilians acted appropriately and neutralized the assailants. Sometimes, there is no choice but to shoot and kill. But in other cases, they carried out an execution, there is no other way to describe it. The video clips prove it indisputably. . It’s enough to watch the atrocious shooting of Asra’a Abed in Afula, who stood still with a knife in her hand, surrounded by armed policemen who drew closer and closer to her, one of them licking an ice-lolly, until they finally fired several bullets into her from short range, instead of taking control of her and disarming her. It looks like murder. Those policemen were too cowardly or revenge-thirsty and for that they deserve to go on trial, not a citation. Even more ghoulish appears the execution of Fadi Alon in Jerusalem. After he threw down the knife with which he had stabbed and injured a Jewish youth, he tried to flee from the angry rabble toward the policemen, while the mob incited the policemen with gutter language to kill him. Responding to the riff raff’s request, the policemen shot the youngster to death, for no reason, then rolled his body into the road. The grotesque element was provided by the attack in Tel Aviv. A Palestinian with a tiny screwdriver, who had stabbed and very slightly injured a number of Israelis, was shot to death by an IDF officer. Second Lieutenant Daniel became the hero of the day. Entire pages in the media were written about him, hailing him as a “combatant in an air defense unit who did what is expected of a combatant.” The stabber’s body, which nobody bothered to cover, the tiny screwdriver beside it, is Daniel’s citation. “Heroism at the Kirya’s gate,” screamed the headlines. These are your heroes, Israel, taking out desperate youngsters with a screwdriver who could and should have been arrested. The people of Israel see these pictures and most of them are filled with delight and pleasure, as the media inflames their animal urges. That’s the real incitement. Adults and children see how Arabs are shot like stray dogs at the roadside and learn the lesson. In this way, one of the main reasons for this uprising’s eruption is demonstrated - the dehumanization of the Palestinians, whose life and death are worthless to the Israelis. Nobody dreams of killing Yishai Shlisel or the murderer of teenager Maor Almakayas in Kiryat Gat, but killing a Palestinian is applauded and cheered by the incited mob. And we haven’t yet mentioned the shooting of demonstrators on the Gaza border for no reason, shooting that killed seven civilians including a child. Nor have we mentioned the lynching attempt in Afula, or the Jewish stabber in Dimona, whom no one thought of executing, never mind destroying his house. He came from a background of “distress” so was forgiven, as though the Palestinian stabbers didn’t come from a background of “distress” ten times deeper.
Mother of four shot 17 times for being a bad driver Gideon Levy & Alex Levac Ha’aretz 2/1/2016 Mahdia Hammad was hurrying home to feed her baby. Border Policemen signaled her to stop, but she continued to drive, slowly. Then they sprayed her car with bullets -- Here, next to the house’s fence, is where the car rolled to a stop after it had continued to move even though its driver was already dead. And here’s where the Border Policemen stood as they shot dozens of bullets into her car. It all happened on this normally quiet residential street at the edge of the town of Silwad, north of Ramallah. Only the shell casings still scattered along the side of the road and the fragments of the shattered windows of the Hyundai Lantra testify mutely to what happened here last Friday. This is where Israeli troops killed Mahdia Hammad, a 40-year-old mother of four, the youngest a child of 10 months. In Israel it was claimed that she tried to run over the Border Policemen, who were standing in the street. Her husband claims that she was an inexperienced driver who was hurrying home to feed their son and was apparently rattled by the sight of the Israeli force and lost her head. One way or the other, nothing can explain the rage and lust to kill that seized the troops. They sprayed her car and her body with bullets in a frenzy of shooting that continued even after she was dead. Together with Ashraf Idabis and Iyad Haddad – field-workers for the International Red Cross and the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, respectively – we spent a few hours at the scene this week, taking testimonies from residents and passersby who witnessed the incident. (Continued)
Israel forces apply collective punishment policy against families of Palestinian attackers PCHR http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11299 6/10/15 As part of the collective punishment policy practiced by Israeli forces against families of Palestinians accused of carrying out attacks against Israeli forces and/or settlers, on Tuesday morning, 06 October 2015, Israeli forces destroyed two houses in Jabal al-Mokabber village, southeast of occupied East Jerusalem, and rendered their inhabitants outdoor. They also closed a room in a house belonging to a third family in ath-Thoury neighborhood in Silwan village, south of the Old City. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns this crime that is added to the series of crimes committed by Israeli forces in occupied East Jerusalem in particular and in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) in general. PCHR stresses that this crime is part of the collective punishment policy adopted by Israeli forces against innocent Palestinians in violation of article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention that prohibits collective punishment and retaliatory measures against protected persons and their property.
. According to investigation conducted by PCHR, at approximately 00:30 on Tuesday, 06 October 2015, Israeli forces, including special units and intelligence officers, accompanied by explosive experts moved into Jabal al-Mokabber village, southeast of occupied Jerusalem, while a helicopter was hovering overhead. They raided two houses belonging to the families of Mohammed Ja'abis and Ghassan Abu Jamal. They obliged their occupants and over 23 neighboring families to leave their houses while firing sound bombs and tear gas canisters to frighten them and prevent them from approaching the area. Israeli forces then planted explosives inside the two houses and remotely blew them up. As a result, the two houses were completely destroyed while other houses sustained serious damage. It should be noted that the 110-square-meter house of Ghassan Abu Jamal used to shelter his wife, Nadia, and their 3 children, while the house of al-Ja'abis is located on the second floor in a 2-story building. In the same context, Israeli forces raided in the early morning a house belonging to Mo'taz Ibrahim Khalil Hejazi in ath-Thouri neighborhood in the south of East Jerusalem. They surrounded the house, closed its windows with iron plates and then poured concrete in his room.
- Mohammed Nayef Ja'abis (21), from Jabal al-Mokabber village, was killed on 04 August 2014, when Israeli forces fired over 21 bullets at him from a close range after the bulldozer he was driving hit a bus on Street no. 1 opposite to Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Ja'abis was in his work, yet Israeli forces claim that he carried out an attack against the bus.
- Former prisoner Mo'taz Ibrahim Khalil Hejazi (32) was killed on 30 October 2014, when Israeli special forces opened fire at him while being surrounded on the roof of his family's house in ath-Thouri neighborhood in Silwan village, under the pretext that he opened fire at Rabbi Yehuda Glick, west of Jerusalem.
- Ghassan Mohammed Abu al-Jamal (32) was killed along with Odai Abed Abu al-Jamal after carrying out an attack on a synagogue in "Har Nov" area in Deir Yassin village in occupied Jerusalem. Israeli forces closed Odai's house with concrete in July.
Shin Bet seeks lenient plea deals for Hamas operative to avoid testifying about torture methods
Chaim Levinson Haaretz 7/10/15 http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.679109 The Shin Bet security service is demanding that the military prosecution sign extremely lenient plea agreements with Palestinians accused of setting up Hamas infrastructure in the West Bank to avoid having its agents testify about the harsh interrogation methods they used, military sources have told Haaretz. Last summer, parallel to the kidnapping of three teenagers in the West Bank, Shin Bet head Yoram Cohen informed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about the Hamas network, which was organized by Saleh al-Arouri, a top operative working from Turkey. The Shin Bet then arrested more than 93 suspected members of the network and filed dozens of indictments at the Ofer Military Court. It seized 30 weapons, including 24 rifles, seven rocket launchers and 600,000 shekels ($153,000). The Shin Bet interrogated 46 of the suspects. But in recent months, as the cases reached the Ofer Military Court, the Shin Bet has been trying to get them closed as quickly as possible, at almost any price, to prevent its men from having to testify, military sources said. This decision was linked to the events of June 2014, when the Shin Bet wrongly suspected that Arouri’s network, which it had come across the month before, was responsible for the kidnapping of Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Sher and Naftali Fraenkel, and as a result thought it could torture the suspects to obtain information. The assumption was that if the Shin Bet was ever challenged, it could legally defend its use of torture because it was aiming to “prevent immediate harm to life.” As it turned out, the Hamas infrastructure had no connection to the teens’ abduction and murder. The torture used now became a problem for the Shin Bet . . . The use of torture is a sensitive issue for the Shin Bet, both because of its domestic legal implications and the fact that investigators involved with torture could be prosecuted abroad. When criminal cases involving harsh interrogation methods go to trial in a military court, Shin Bet investigators must testify as to the reasons for using them to extract a confession. Officials must detail the methods so the judge can rule on the admissibility of the confession.
Israeli police shoot Palestinian schoolgirl in Jerusalem WAFA 12/10/15 http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=29546 A Palestinian girl [Marah al-Bakri] was shot and injured on Monday afternoon by Israeli police near the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, when an Israeli settler yelled saying the girl tried to stab him, said local sources and witnesses. WAFA correspondent reported that as a group of female students were leaving ‘Abdullah Bin al-Hussein school in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, they were verbally abused by Jewish settlers, resulting in an altercation. According to witnesses, a settler threw a knife near the girl and started screaming saying the girl attempted to stab him. Israeli police encircled the student and shot her. According to another female student, ten bullet shots were heard. Israeli police claimed in a statement that the girl, who sustained serious injuries, was targeted after allegedly carrying out a “stabbing attack”. The spokesperson said the teenager was “neutralized” while two Israelis were allegedly injured, including a police officer. Police officers rushed into and cordoned the scene off, preventing the school headmistress and teaching staff from approaching the student.
Otherwise Occupied: Make East Jerusalem the capital of Palestine Amira Hass Ha’aretz 12/10/15http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.679909 Israel is like the miser who gradually reduced the fodder he fed his horse. It has perfected the policy of divide, crumble and conquer that it implemented against the Palestinians and did even better when it cut off the capital – East Jerusalem – from its people. Like that miser, Israel thought this would work and earn it a place in the Guinness Book of colonial successes. But the horse died and Jerusalem’s Palestinians are rebelling. The miser is shocked. How did the horse die just as it was getting used to not eating? Many Israelis are reeling. Where did this violence come from? Official spokesmen have succeeded in confusing public opinion. “The Palestinians in East Jerusalem don’t want to live under the Palestinian Authority, a sign that our rule is good for them,” they said. “They want the National Insurance payments and health insurance,” those in the know boasted to journalists. Those in the know, of course, never add that Israel bears direct criminal responsibility for the impoverishment of the Palestinians in the annexed city and for turning them into welfare cases. “The Palestinians in Jerusalem want citizenship because Israel is terrific,” they said, as they released numbers of those applying, but avoided one simple fact: Jerusalem Palestinians seek citizenship to assure they won’t be expelled from their country and hometown. The miser thought that Jerusalem, out of sight and blocked to visitors, would be forgotten by the rest of the Palestinians. The miser is wrong. If Israeli Jews want to stop the disaster brewing in Jerusalem and elsewhere, they must demand that the Israeli government: *Immediately launch an investigation into last week’s killing of Fadi Alun of ‘Isawiyah, who was shot to death by an unidentified policeman when he was lying wounded on the ground. *Stop the armed police raids of neighborhoods like ‘Isawiyah and Jabal Mukkaber, and stop beating residents and spraying their homes with foul-smelling water. *Cancel all the entrance restrictions for Palestinians to Jerusalem’s Old City and the Al-Aqsa compound. . . *Cancel the ban on the Morabiton and Morabitat (Islamic Movement guards on the Temple Mount) and cancel the prohibition on Palestinians, including MKs, to shout and curse. *Release Palestinian demonstrators arrested over the past year (who are not suspected of using deadly weapons, or murder or attempted murder). *Cancel the policy of house demolitions as a collective punishment and immediately compensate those who have been its victims. *Immediately initiate amendments to the entry residency laws that would make it clear that Jerusalemites can never have their residency revoked, even if they live outside the city. *Immediately restore residency status to the some 14,000 Jerusalemites (and their descendants) who have had it revoked since 1967 . . . *Order the removal within a year of nationalist, zealous settlers and their institutions from the Old City and other East Jerusalem neighborhoods, because of the risk they pose to public safety and to law and order in the entire area . . . *Declare that all these steps are a prelude to demolishing the wall that separates the West Bank from East Jerusalem . . . * Declare that the settlement enterprise is a national disaster that threatens the wellbeing of the land and its two peoples. Announce a five-year plan for bringing the West Bank settlers back home, or turning them into law-abiding citizens with no excessive rights in the Palestinian state, subject to that state’s consent and the criminal records of the settlers in question . . . *Declare that all these steps are in preparation for turning East Jerusalem into the capital of the Palestinian state, following accelerated negotiations on a tight timetable of withdrawals.
Delusional? Actually, all this would be far less painful than the destruction of this land and the two peoples who live in it.
Israel's sleeping beauties have awoken from their deathly silence Gideon Levy Ha’aretz http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.680443 15/10/15 What did you think, the Palestinians would sit still indefinitely? Did you really think Israel would continue on its course and they’d just bow their heads in submission? Do you know many historical examples of that? Is there one example of a brutal occupation that persisted without stoking resistance? Apparently that's what you thought, otherwise there would have been public pressure long ago to act, because who wants terror? But Israel slid into a deathly silence, with darkness over the abyss, and now it’s acting surprised. It voted for the right, for ultra-nationalism, racism and messianism, and now its feelings are hurt. After all, what did it ask for but some quiet, to be left alone from the occupation to which it’s not even linked, and from the resistance that has fallen on it like a natural disaster. Sleeping beauty has awoken to the sound of stabbings and car-rammings, and through the cobwebs of sleep it’s asking: How did this happen? How can they be doing this to us again? You can’t blame Israelis — they were busy doing other things and knew nothing. Bar Refaeli’s wedding weighed heavily on people’s minds, as did events at the Allenby 40 nightclub. Israelis didn’t know exactly what was going on over there, beyond the dark mountains, half an hour’s drive from their homes -- for the most part, they didn’t want to know. The media gladly succumbed to their wishes. They hid the crimes of the occupation from people’s sight -- such pictures don’t buy ratings. The image of a Palestinian as a human being doesn’t sell newspapers. The media never reported what those people go through and what they really desire. It sufficed with diversions, incitement and propaganda. That pays better. Politicians promised that everything would be fine, rabbis incited, settlers torched, the whole world is against us, just leave us alone. Then out of the blue those knife-wielding youngsters with murder in their eyes descended upon us. The quiet dissolved, security fizzled, businesses collapsed, dreams of jeep tours and quick vacations became uncertain. . .
8-month-old baby dies from tear gas inhalation near Bethlehem Ma‘an 30/10/15 http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=768571 An eight-month-old Palestinian baby died Friday from tear gas inhalation in Beit Fajjar village south of Bethlehem during clashes in the area, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. The ministry said in a statement that Ramadan Mohammad Faisal Thawabta died after inhaling tear gas when clashes erupted nearby between Palestinians and Israeli military forces. Thawabta's body is being transported to Beit Jala Governmental Hospital. Three Palestinians were injured with 0.22 caliber bullets during clashes in the village, the ministry added . . . The eight-month-old child's death brings the total number of Palestinians killed this month to nearly 70, at least ten of whom have been children. Sixty-nine Palestinians have been killed from clashes and attacks on Israeli military personnel and civilians, many of which have been disputed. At least nine Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians during the same time period.
Schoolgirl executed by Israeli soldiers Charlotte Silver Electronic Intifada 26/10/15 https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/charlotte-silver/schoolgirl-executed-israeli-soldiers
On Sunday, Israeli soldiers summarily executed a 17-year-old Palestinian girl near the Ibrahimi mosque in the Old City of Hebron. Israel said the girl, Dania Jihad Irsheid, had a knife, but witnesses contest this. One witness told Ma’an News Agency that she saw soldiers cover Irsheid, who was lying on the ground bleeding, without giving her medical aid. An eyewitness told Wattan TV he was standing just meters from Irsheid waiting to pass through the same checkpoint where she was shot. He said the girl was surrounded by seven or eight soldiers who searched her book bag. They made her pass through the metal detector and then one demanded, “Where is the knife?” “I’m not carrying a knife,” Irsheid said, according to the witness. Soldiers then fired between her feet and the terrified girl leapt backwards. She raised her hands in the air and repeated, “I do not have a knife.” Then, according to the witness, the soldiers fired about seven or eight bullets at her. Irsheid’s schoolmates and teachers held an emotional memorial and tree-planting for her at her high school on Monday.
Israel's violent cowardice faces Palestinian protesters' bravery Amira Hass Ha’aretz 1/11/15 http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.683656
When it comes to bravery and daring, the young Palestinian demonstrators are defeating the Israeli soldiers and Border Police. They are armed with agility and speed, kaffiyehs covering their faces. They are armed with stones and Molotov cocktails, while the soldiers -- behind them military exercises -- are armed with and protected by armored vehicles, drones, helmets, deadly weapons of various types and poisonous tear gas. Against the bravery of the young Palestinians, the cowardice of the Israeli soldiers is exposed. They have gotten used to feeling strong and heroic in their planes, tanks and armored jeeps, in their detention and interrogation rooms and observation towers with sophisticated equipment, in their late-night break-ins into houses and their pulling minors from their beds. Facing the kaffiyeh, stone and Molotov cocktail they are lost. Insulted. Then vengefulness erupts. You, Israeli reader, should liberate yourself a bit from the Israeli media diet that makes the situation so shallow; you should liberate yourself from the language of the masters of “civil disorders and riots.” Instead, watch the uncensored clips from the “battle” field: soldiers in jeeps running protesters over, a soldier spraying tear gas from point-blank range in the eyes of medics who come to evacuate the wounded. Soldiers setting on a store owner who brings in his wares while clashes are going on, and the soldiers kick him in an orgy of sadism.
Israeli troops shoot and kill young Palestinian woman IMEMC 9/11/15 http://www.imemc.org/article/73773 A 24-year old woman was killed by Israeli troops Monday morning at a military checkpoint [near Qalqiliya] in the West Bank when she approached the checkpoint from afar, holding a knife in her hand and a suicide letter in her bag. She was shot by a soldier while she was still at least 30 feet away from the checkpoint. The woman was identified as Rasha Ahmad Hamed 'Oweissi . . . Her suicide letter read as follows, "Thanks be to God, Best wishes and greetings. My dear mother, I don't know what is happening. I just know that I've reached the end of the road. And this is the road that I chose with full consciousness. In defense of my homeland, the young men and women, I cannot bear what I see anymore. But what I know is that I can't take it anymore. My family, my dad, my brothers, forgive me for everything. I just know that I really love you, especially my fiancé. Forgive me for everything, I have nothing else but this path. I am sorry for this departure." Rasha did not attempt to attack anyone, and was apparently suffering from a mental health crisis. Eyewitnesses report that she did not pose a threat at anytime. She was simply standing, holding a knife, waiting for the soldiers to shoot her . . . She is the 80th person to be killed by Israeli forces since October 1st. 8 Israelis were killed by Palestinians between October 1st and October 18th.
Israel demolishes 4 West Bank homes of Palestinians accused of attacks Ma‘an 14/11/15 http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=768819 Israeli authorities overnight Friday demolished four homes belonging to the families of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly attacks on Israeli settlers, the Israeli army said. In the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, the homes of Yahia Haj Hamed, Samir Zahir Kusa, and Kerem Lutfi Razek were destroyed, the army said in a statement. The three were detained on Oct. 5 along with two others after Israel’s Shin Bet identified them as responsible for killing two Israeli settlers on Oct. 1. In the Ramallah-area town of Silwad, the Israeli army reported that forces demolished the residence of Maad Hamad, who they said killed an Israeli settler on June 29. The demolitions took place under the order of Israel’s defense minister Moshe Yaalon and are a part of a series of punitive measures being carried out by the Israeli government to “deter” future attacks. Israeli watchdog Hamoked filed a petition to the Israeli High Court against the four demolitions on Oct. 29.
Supreme Court approves demolition of 5 attackers' homes Telem Yahav Ynet 12/11/15 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4724827,00.html The Supreme Court rejected on Thursday five petitions against the decision to demolish the homes of six Palestinians who participated in the terror attacks in which Naama and Eitam Henkin, Malachi Rosenfeld and Danny Gonen were murdered. The only petition that was accepted regarded the terrorist Abdullah Ischak, one of Rosenfeld's killers, who lived in a rented apartment in Silwad, north of Ramallah. The justices ruled that there was not enough of a connection between him and the family who lives in the home. Justices Hanan Melcer and Noam Solberg joined Chief Justice Miriam Naor in the decision. Naor wrote in her opinion that, "as determined in the ruling, the purpose of the regulation is as a deterrent, not a punishment. This purpose has been recognized as proper. "Demolishing homes is a harsh and serious step, mainly because it can hurt relatives of the terrorist who sometimes did not aid him and did not know of his plans…" However, Noar added that, "Sometimes there is no alternative to using it. Such are the cases in the decrees before us, which deal with cruel terror attacks in which Israeli citizens were murdered in cold blood. The evidence presented to us made me satisfied that destroying homes of terrorists' families creates deterrence among terrorists." . . . On the subject of an alleged double standard for Jews and Palestinians regarding the policy, Justice Solberg wrote, "The reason that Measure 119 is not used for Jews lies in the fact that the Jewish sector does not require the same environmental deterrence that is the purpose of home demolitions . . . "
Jailing of Palestinians as young as 12 IMEMC/Agencies 11/11/15 Israel's Justice Ministry has finished drafting a bill that would allow children under 14 to be sentenced to jail, Israeli sources reported. Under the bill, which was drawn up by Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, jail sentences could be handed down to children as young as 12, though the offender would start serving the sentence only when he turned 14. Prison sentences could be imposed on children younger than 14 only if they are convicted of murder, attempted murder or manslaughter, the draft bill states, according to Al Ray. Israeli sources reported that, if the bill is passed into law, Israel would become one of only a few Western countries which allow prison sentences for children under 14. The Justice Ministry started drafting the bill after the arrest of 13-year-old Ahmad Manasra, who was convicted of an alleged stabbing attempt, last month. Under Israeli law, Manasra could not be sentenced to jail, but it allows his detention, interrogation and, then, a stint in a closed treatment facility until the age of 14 . . . Under the bill now being drafted, a judge could instead sentence the child to jail, though he or she would be kept in a closed treatment facility until the age of 14. At that point, he would be sent to prison to serve out his sentence, but only after a hearing at which the judge would have to confirm the decision to transfer him to jail.
When Israel demolishes a Palestinian home, does it deter terror or encourage it? Shira Rubin
The Forward 17/11/15 http://forward.com/news/324677/is-demolishing-the-houses-of-terrorists-encouraging-terrorism-instead-of-de/ Muawiyah Abu Jamal, a slight 42-year-old construction worker, recalls vividly the night that Israeli security forces came to his East Jerusalem neighborhood to demolish the nearby home of his younger brother, Ghassan Abu Jamal. The October 6 demolition came, he recalled, almost one year after his brother and his cousin, Odai Abu Jamal, attacked a synagogue in Har Nof, using axes, knives and a pistol to murder four worshipers and a Druze policeman. As the soldiers evacuated the family from their apartment, they evicted others living elsewhere in the same building. According to Muawiyah Abu Jamal, they cursed the mothers and grandmothers, and beat another cousin, Alaa Abu Jamal, on his arms, shoulders and chest, though he wouldn’t allow the soldiers to leave marks on his face. Israel’s declared intention in implementing the demolition was to deter future potential terrorists. From the government’s perspective, anyone contemplating violence against Israelis should know that his or her own family members would suffer, too. But if that was the purpose, it seems to have backfired in this case. A week later, Alaa Abu Jamal drove his company car into a crowded bus station in Jerusalem and used a meat cleaver to hack to death an Israeli man and leave another man seriously injured. He was shot dead at the scene, though Israel is still holding his body, despite the fact that the defense minister said such a move would not deter further terror. “Alaa knew what the consequences for the family were for an operation,” Muawiyah Abu Jamal said. “But when he was humiliated in front of his three sons, it obviously hurt his sense of pride.” . . . In 2005, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz froze the policy based on a military commission recommendation that found the demolitions were more likely to promote hatred of Israel than to achieve deterrence.
Why did they have to kill her? Kate Shuttleworth The National 25/11/15 http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/why-did-they-have-to-kill-her In a pale-walled room two single beds are neatly draped in bright pink bedspreads covered with the image of Fulla -- the Arab world’s Barbie doll. Teddy bears and a pink play pushchair sit in one corner. In a neatly arranged cupboard sits a printout of a near straight-A school report card, alongside a diary filled with teenage entries. The bedroom belongs to 14-year-old Palestinian, Hadeel Wajih Awwad -- the same room where she would often sleep next to her cousin, 16-year-old Norhan Awwad. The girls were more like sisters. The innocence of the room seems a long way from the surveillance video footage showing the cousins threatening passers-by with a pair of scissors in central Jerusalem. What followed was a shocking depiction of the hopelessness and anger of young Palestinians born into an Israeli occupation and the brutality of a security force long accused of using excessive violence. The girls run towards a man in the street near the busy Mehane Yehuda marketplace as he points a gun at them. A police officer rushes in as a bystander flattens Norhan with a chair leaving her still on the ground. The policeman then shoots Hadeel several times, killing her, before firing two shots into Norhan’s chest. Moments earlier, one of the girls had lightly stabbed a Palestinian man, in his 70s, mistaking him for an Israeli. He was treated for a light arm injury and released from hospital on Monday night. Norhan was treated at the scene and taken to hospital in Jerusalem where she remains. Her family have not been updated on her condition. [seems as if the ages of the cousins are reversed here]
What drove a popular Palestinian girl to attempt a stabbing attack? Gideon Levy & Alex Levac Ha’aretz 28/11/15 http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/twilight-zone/.premium-1.688557 One can, of course, label a 16-year-old girl a “terrorist” and also justify, with unbelievable, knee-jerk insensitivity, the wild car-ramming and then the confirmation-of-kill that occurred immediately after her attack – the two bullets fired by a settler, and the two others by a soldier, into the body of the girl who was run over and lying injured on the road. No one is questioning the fact that this past Sunday morning, the teenager Ashrakat Qattanani, wielding a knife, chased an Israeli woman at the Hawara junction, near Nablus, attempting to stab her. But we must ask what motivated the daughter of the imam from the Askar refugee camp to tell her father that she was going to school – where she was a good student and a popular girl – and then instead to go to the junction and try to stab an Israeli woman . . . Taha Qattanani, the girl’s father and the local imam, is an impressive man in a traditional robe and with a well-groomed beard. Speaking softly, he doesn’t try to conceal the fact that his daughter set out to stab Jews. “Ashrakat responded to the occupation,” he says with self-control, hiding his emotions. Those are the emotions of a newly bereaved father who must face the loss of his daughter alone, because Israel continues to deny Ashrakat’s mother entry into the West Bank, even during the mourning period . . . In the past month, he tells us, Ashrakat spoke a great deal about her dream of praying at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. “The occupation prevented her from living with her mother, and the occupation also prevented her from praying at the holiest place for her in her country,” he says. She often watched television reports of the recent acts of stabbing and the killing of the assailants, he says . . . Ashrakat’s uncle, Hassan, adds, “Since the Dawabsheh family in Duma was burned to death, all our children see on television what is going on – the terrorist behavior of the settlers and the army that supports them. No respect for women or the aged. The humiliation is so deep in the soul of every Palestinian.
Israeli soldiers threaten Bethlehem refugee camp Sheren Khalel & Abed al-Qaisi MEE 30/10/15 .http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/watch-israeli-soldiers-threaten-bethlehem-refugee-camp-over-loudspeaker-1147215543 Yazan Ikhlayel, 17, was at a community centre in ‘Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem when Israeli forces stormed the camp. Ikhlayel was using his iPhone to film as Israeli jeeps rolled by on one of the camp’s main roads, shooting off tear gas, when a soldier began issuing a message to residents from one of the jeep’s loudspeakers. “People of ‘Aida refugee camp, we are the occupation army,” the message began.“If you throw stones, we will hit you with gas until you all die - the youth, the children, the old people, you will all die.” The soldier continued, speaking in Arabic and issuing more threats and insults to the people of Aida camp. But Ikhlayel says it was the first line that really shocked people. “The most important thing I want people to see when they watch this video is to realise what the Israeli ‘democracy’ really is,” Ikhlayel told Middle East Eye. “They have said it for us now, they are an occupation - they said ‘we are the occupation army’. It is proof, this is an apartheid country, it is not democratic at all.” “This is the first time I heard them say something like that over a speaker for everyone to hear,” Ikhlayel continued. “The young people aren’t accepting what the soldiers are doing particularly now. They’re going to the streets [to protest] everyday, and they aren’t stopping. They aren’t scared of them.” When asked if he thinks the soldier’s message would scare the youth enough to stop the protests, Ikhlayel shook his head adamantly. “This will not stop until the occupation ends,” he insisted. . .
Yaalon declares war on rights group Breaking the Silence Ma‘an 15/12/15 http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769349 Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Tuesday that he had banned Israeli veteran group Breaking the Silence from participating in any official activities with Israeli forces, Israeli media reported. Yaalon's statement was made on social media, where he called the left-wing veteran group hypocrites spreading "false propaganda" against Israeli forces and the state of Israel in attempt to "delegitimize" them. Breaking the Silence responded to the comment on social media, saying the group has been under attack for the past several months, "through a pre-meditated campaign, in which members of the extreme right-wing, including Israeli parliamentarians and elected officials, along with public figures and right-wing organizations, are trying to silence both us and every debate related to the 48-year-long occupation. "Breaking the Silence is an organization comprised of Israeli veterans who served in combat "and have taken it upon themselves to expose the Israeli public to the reality of everyday life in the Occupied Territor(y)." The group produces videos, collects testimonies and gives lectures -- mostly within Israel, but sometimes abroad -- on war crimes committed by Israeli leadership through its military since 1967.
Education minister Bennett bars Breaking the Silence from schools Or Kashti Ha’aretz 15/12/15 http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.692042 Education Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday that he would not allow the non-profit organization Breaking the Silence into the Israeli school system. The group, which was founded by veterans of the Israel Defense Force, is involved in exposing claims of army misconduct in the territories. Bennett directed Education Ministry Director General Michal Cohen and other ministry officials to change the directive involving what is known as “educational debate” to specifically exclude “organizations that incite against Israel Defense Forces soldiers, such as Breaking the Silence,” from entering the country's schools. In explaining his move, Bennett said “lies and incitement against the IDF” would not be allowed in the school system . . . Bennett's step followed similar action on Monday by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who banned Breaking the Silence activists from engaging in activity in the army.
In Hebron, even the kids have numbers Allison Deger Al Jazeera 16/12/15 http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/12/hebron-kids-numbers-151203091934395.html Every sunset, 23-year-old Alaa stands in the balcony of her modest stone house overlooking Hebron's Shuhada Street. "I count the minutes until he [her husband] comes home. I wait by the window, and I tell him not to be late," she said . . . Shuhada Street (Arabic for "Martyrs Street") was once a bustling thoroughfare running through the heart of the West Bank's largest city, connecting Hebron's outdoor market to the Ibrahimi Mosque . The area is also home to 500 hardline Israeli settlers, and has long been a flashpoint for unrest between Palestinians and the Israeli military. Over the past month, the few Palestinians, who still live on or nearby the street, are enduring a new set of army restrictions and security searches. On October 30, the Israeli military announced a closed military zone over the area of Hebron under full Israeli security control. "No one who can come to visit us. My father couldn't come to see us," Alaa said. To enforce the closure, the Israeli army introduced a new system of identification numbers for the 30,000 Palestinian residents of the cordoned-off H2 district which encompasses about 20 percent of Hebron and includes Shuhada Street and a number of Israeli settlements.In addition to presenting their identification cards at 17 internal checkpoints and undergoing security checks, Palestinians must now orally give soldiers their new ID number when entering and leaving the blockades that enclose Shuhada Street . . . "Anyone who does not have a number is removed or arrested. The Israeli army detained at least 20 international volunteers who monitor H2 area," said Sohaib Zahda, of the Hebron-based activist group Youth Against Settlements. Those who forget their ID numbers or chose not to register sneak in and out of the H2 area through fields, careful not to be caught in the heavily monitored region. "Even the little kids have numbers," said Anas Murakatan, 27, who lives in an apartment near a checkpoint at the entrance to Shuhada Street. "I am 58; she is 59," Anas said, pointing to his pregnant wife, Fadwa Murakatan. His children are 60 and 61. "When the baby is born, she will get one too." . . . Fadwa explained that when she goes into labour, she will have to walk down Shuhada Street and cross a checkpoint, and only then will she be able to enter an ambulance. She said she had to wait 30 minutes the last time she needed an ambulance.
Hugh Humphries Sec Scottish Friends of Palestine info@scottish-friends-of-palestine.org 0141 637 8046
