Photo: Rosa Schiano, Civil Peace Service Gaza (CPSGAZA) – Click here for more images
At 10:55 am, an Israeli naval warship attacked the international observers and Palestinian captain of the Civil Peace Service Gaza (CPSGAZA) boat Oliva, injuring its captain in an apparent attempt to capsize it.
“The Israeli navy passed near us and the fishermen, and started to go around us, creating waves,” said Rosa Schiano, one of the international observers. “The fishermen escaped, but we couldn’t because of a problem with our engine. We couldn’t move, and they went around us very quickly. The Israelis saw that we couldn’t move, and that the captain was trying to fix the engine, but they didn’t stop. We told them, ‘Please stop! Please stop!’ But they didn’t.”
When the warship was two meters away from the Oliva, one of the waves it had created nearly capsized the small boat, filling it with water and causing the Palestinian captain to fall out, injuring his left leg.
“Their intentions were to do something very bad,” said international observer Daniela Riva. “Coming so close to us was very dangerous, and they obviously knew that.”
After more than twenty minutes, the warship retreated, and the Oliva was rescued by a small Palestinian fishing boat, or hasaka, which threw it a line and towed it toward the shore.
Photos are available for free use with attribution to Rosa Schiano, Civil Peace Service Gaza (CPSGAZA): http://bit.ly/CPSGAZAphotos. Additional photos and video will be available upon request: email press@cpsgaza.org.
The incident followed similar attacks on the Oliva during previous missions. Video footage is available: http://bit.ly/CPSGAZAvideos.
Background
Restrictions on the fishing zone are of considerable significance to Palestinian livelihood. Initially 20 nautical miles, it is presently often enforced between 1.5 – 2 nautical miles (PCHR: 2010). The marine ‘buffer zone’ restricts Gazan fishermen from accessing 85% of Gaza’s fishing waters agreed to by Oslo.”
During the Oslo Accords, specifically under the Gaza-Jericho Agreement of 1994, representatives of Palestine agreed to 20 nautical miles for fishing access. In 2002 the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan empowered Catherine Bertini to negotiate with Israel on key issues regarding the humanitarian crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and a 12 nautical mile fishing limit was agreed upon. In June 2006, following the capture of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit near the crossing of Kerem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom), the navy imposed a complete sea blockade for several months. When the complete blockade was finally lifted, Palestinian fishermen found that a 6 nautical mile limit was being enforced. When Hamas gained political control of the Gaza Strip, the limit was reduced to 3 nautical miles. During the massive assault on the Strip in 2008-2009, a complete blockade was again declared. After Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli army began imposing a 1.5 – 2 nautical miles (PCHR: 2010).
The fishing community is often similarly targeted as the farmers in the ‘buffer zone’ and the fishing limit is enforced with comparable aggression, with boats shot at or rammed as near as 2nm to the Gazan coast by Israeli gunboats.
The fishermen have been devastated, directly affecting an estimated 65,000 people and reducing the catch by 90%. The coastal areas are now grossly over-fished and 2/3 of fishermen have left the industry since 2000 (PCHR: 2009). Recent statistics of the General Union of Fishing Workers indicate that the direct losses since the second Intifada in September 2000 were estimated at a million dollars and the indirect losses were estimated at 13.25 million dollars during the same period. The 2009 fishing catch amounted to a total of 1,525 metric tones, only 53 percent of the amount during 2008 (2,845 metric tones) and 41 percent of the amount in 1999 (3,650 metric tones), when the fishermen of Gaza could still fish up to ten nautical miles from the coast. Current figures indicate that during 2010 the decline in the fishing catch continues. This has caused an absurd arrangement to become standard practice. The fisherman sail out not to fish, but to buy fish off of Egyptian boats and then sell this fish in Gaza. According to the Fishermen’s Union, a monthly average of 105 tons of fish has been entering Gaza through the tunnels since the beginning of 2010 (PCHR 2009).
28 December 2011 | Palestinian Cultural Enlightenment Forum
Dr. Yousef Abdul Haq
The lawyer Yousef Abdul Haq (Abu Shaddad), professor at the An Najah National University, and coordinator, former President of the Governing Council of the Tanweer Forum, was arrested Wednesday 7/12/2011 at three o’clock in the morning.
We in the Palestinian Cultural Enlightenment Forum consider the continued detention of our colleague Dr. Youssef a war crime against international law, and we demand his immediate release especially because he was suffering from physical illness and takes medication continuously, in addition to the difficult prison health conditions. The occupation government holds responsibility for any negative results reflected on his health.
We call upon all academic institutions, both cultural and scientific to demand his release.
We call on all parties and civil society groups and national figures, trade unions and the lawyers’ bar to form a committee to address the human rights of colleagues in the legal tribunals of the world to require the occupation to stop the indiscriminate arrest of the Palestinian people.
We also appeal to all people of conscience in Nablus, Palestine and the Arab nation and the world as a whole to stand firm against political and administrative detention.
And, with the will of one united and of one voice we cry out to release all prisoners of freedom from Israel’s occupation prisons, including Dr. Yousef Abdul Haq.
28 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
At first sight Al Jab’a appears as an idyllic Palestinian village, and sitting in a lovely garden under big olive trees, this seems like a perfect escape to the country side: white houses, friendly people, nice nature, and a splendid view until you glance just 500 meters from the village’s border.
An Israeli military watch tower seen from Al Jab`a village
Al Jab’a is surrounded by illegal settlements, a soldier camp, one major checkpoint, the construction of the separation wall as well as one permanent roadblock which blocks access to Jab’a’s land and the neighboring village of Surif. Since Al Jab’a only has about 1000 inhabitants and lacks a hospital, markets, and high school, the restriction of movement means that everyone has to go two to three kilometers by foot in order to do their basic shopping and to reach school, work and healthcare. Sometimes even that is impossible.
“When my wife was pregnant and was about to give birth, they didn’t let us cross the checkpoint. They forced us to go back and my wife had to give birth at home,” Naser, a senior of the village, said.
As Naser guided ISM volunteers through his village, the roadblock obstructing the village from free movement was visible. One women explained that since her husband is sick and she does not want to leave her children alone, she has to walk with them every 4th day to do the basic shopping and to buy milk for her baby.
The restriction on movement should also be seen in context of everyday Israeli harassment which aim at making life unbearable in order to make people leave the village. Many houses have a demolition order as do its trees, plants, fences, walls and mailboxes. The big sign which welcomes visitors at the entrance has one and so do the two small plants that are put next to it.
“They say it is for security but I don’t know what the sign has to do with security. It is like they want to show the world we are not civilized,” said Naser.
The sign to the entrance of the village of Al Jab`a
A small wall similar to a fence on the side of a house had to be taken down because the demolition order said that if the man did not destroy it they would send a bulldozer, charging the man the cost of them sending a bulldozer to demolish his own property.
Why is there so much pressure on such a small village?
In the very middle of settlements, Al Jab’a is a strategically important location. With no Al Jab’a in the middle, all surrounding settlements would be connected into one larger settlement which would mean a complete takeover and a further expansion into Palestinian land.
As in all other cases when Palestinians have to deal with Israeli bureaucracy, it is a long and tiring process when they are asked to bring papers that prove they own their land and houses. Because Palestine has been under both Ottoman rule and British mandate, different record keeping methods have been instilled in the short history of Palestine’s transfer from one occupier to the next. The only papers recognized by Israel are the ones they invented when it was founded, and now they refuse to hand these out.
“Since we have been here for so long, people just know that this was my grandfather’s land which he inherited from his grandfather and so on. We know it because it has been passed from generation to generation and we grew up on it. That is how we know it,” said one middle aged villager, who wished to remain anonymous.
Along the village’s main road only half of the restoration of the pavement is finished. It is painted in black and white and looks a bit odd because of the sudden abruptness. The villagers explained that the road has a demolition order which forced them to stop before it was finished.
“The soldiers should be happy we want to make the road nicer since they come into the village and use it more often than we do, said Naser sarcastically. “They come during the night and bring all the men out to the street. Sometimes they let us stay outside the whole night, and sometimes they bring us to the mosque. Every time they come, they do different things to humiliate us.”
One resident alone has 7 demolition orders for different buildings. This includes the communication tower for Jawwal (Palestine communication service) which is built on his land. Without the tower, communication services will be more difficult and at least 2-3 jobs will be lost. In a village where work is hard to find, 2 or 3 jobs means a lot ,and the loss of work will affect everyone. Many people have already been forced to leave in order support themselves and to find work elsewhere.
Naser described the difficulty of his fellow neighbors,
Everything we build is being destroyed by the military or they send us a demolition order. People cannot predict anything since we are not in power to decide over our village and life here. We have an Arab saying which says that ‘If the judge is your enemy, who are you going to complain to?’ People think that if they do something they will put us in jail, demolish our houses, uproot our trees or kill our children.
One farmer showed the remaining stumps of what used to be his olives trees. “Soldiers cut down my olives trees even though I showed them the right paper which says my family is the owner of this land. They cut down the trees and dumped them beside my house. Seeing my trees being cut down was like seeing my son being killed. I inherited this land from my father, and it has been passed from generation to generation.”
Olive trees are a vital part of the Palestinian identity. In one instance villagers were offered money in exchange for land and olive trees. In exchange for one tree they were offered between 100 and 200 NIS but as Naser explained “it is not about the money. Money is not my ID and money is not who I am. But the connection to my trees and my land is. When people want to know who I am they don’t ask ‘Where is his money?’ but ‘Where is his land located?’ ”
Much of the land that belongs to the village has been made inaccessible by the settlement and the ongoing construction of the wall, and what used to be the fruit basket of the village is now left as empty land. A year ago peace activists came to help plant some hundred olive trees in order to protect Palestinian lands from the settlers. However, if the construction of the wall continues as planned, the owners of the land will have to go all the way around the wall which means crossing neighboring towns and villages to access it. It is hard to imagine that the walk that normally takes about 10 minutes from the village will be replaced by a 2 hour bus drive. In addition to this, the overall area of 400 meters next to the wall will be “security area” which means it is a prohibited area for Palestinians to enter.
“When the wall is finished we’ll probably have a gate that will be open during certain hours of the day for which we’ll need permission to enter and exit through,” said Naser.
In total, the village has lost about 4200 donums from what used to be 6000 donums from the beginnings. When the wall is finished only 200 donums of Al Jab’a will be left for the people to live on.
Beside the everyday harassment when soldiers are coming into the village, the surrounding settlements also cause a lot of problems. Nabil Ibrahim Abdel Hamden walked with his goats when armed settlers came and shot him on the spot after they claimed the land to be theirs.
When relatives from Al Jab’a came to take the dead body away soldiers arrested around 12 of them with the explanation that they did not want them to take revenge on the neighboring settlement. Other children have also been severely beaten either by soldiers or settlers on several occasions. Many youth in the village suffer from long time stress of the constant harassment and the uncertainties of living in the village.
“You know, when children are small they think their parents can protect them from anything. How do you explain to them that you cannot protect them from the soldiers because they are in the ones who have the power?” questioned Naser.
So what does this leave for the future?
When questioned about the future of the village, one woman from the village responded, “It will be bad but I’ll never leave Palestine, it is my land. It is my country. Even though we don’t have anything other than our own hands we are determined to stay.”
In his response, Naser stated that
“Occupation means one land for one people, without any room for Palestinians. What is happening here is a way of making it unbearable for us to live, they want us to give up and leave so that they can take over what is left of our land. Everywhere in the world people talk about the new world order, peace for everyone and human rights but as you can see here in Palestine, they know what’s happening but they don’t care”.
From the main checkpoint and the border into Israel, the Israeli flag is clearly visible but for the Palestinian school-children inside the village, raising the Palestinian flag in the schoolyard is forbidden. Basically any sign of Palestinian existence is being reduced, erased or demolished.
Sara Morand is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed)
27 December 2011 | Palestine’s Youth – Local Initiative – the Popular Resistance Activists, Gaza – Palestine
Click here for more images
Twenty-three consecutive days of horrendous attacks on the Gaza Strip by the IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces) left more than 1500 Palestinians dead and many more injured. Most of the victims were women, children and elderly people.
According to the IOF these attacks were intended to deter the Palestinian resistance. These attacks failed completely, we continue to resist.
Three years have passed since what the Israeli entity called “Operation Cast Lead” began on December 27, 2008. The IOF claimed that they were targeting “Hamas”, but this wasn’t true. Most of the targets were civilians in their own homes.
We, as a Palestinian people, assert that Hamas is an integral part of the national Palestinian liberation movement and that they are not terrorists as the Israeli propaganda depicts them. We think that each political or popular party has the right to resist the occupation with all available means.
Operation Cast Lead left more than 1500 Gazan dead; most of these victims were women, children, and elderly. Three years have passed, justice is still absent.
On the third anniversary of the Israeli war on Gaza, or the “Gaza Massacre”, we call on human rights NGOs and The International Court of Justice to break their shameful silence and take some “practical” steps along with the “usual “condemnations and statements”. The Israeli occupation will not be deterred from violating human rights unless you “act” by force or you use practical methods, not only “talk”.
In its aggression on Gaza, the IOF used internationally forbidden weapons against civilians and in heavily populated areas. For example, white phosphorous was used against civilians in Gaza; it burned many people to death in their homes. The IOF also used white phosphorous against an UNRWA school that had many civilians in it; they were trying to escape from the IOF’s shelling of their homes. Further, the UNRWA headquarter building was also targeted. These are war crimes. International justice must be served equally to all human beings. Therefore, we ask you to boycott the Israeli entity in every way. Economic and cultural boycott are good examples.
27 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza
Photo: Rosa Schiano, International Solidarity Movement, Gaza - Click here for more images
The Beit Hanoun Local Initiative remembered the 1,414 Palestinians killed by Israel during its 2008-2009 “Operation Cast Lead” attack on the people of Gaza during a weekly march in the Israel-imposed “no-go zone.”
