Year: 2012 - Page 79 - International Solidarity Movement

Israeli military court extends administrative detention for civil rights lawyer Dr. Yousef Abdul Haq

9 February 2012 | Tanweer Enlightenment Forum

The Israel military court has extended administrative detention for two months in addition to three months already detained for civil rights lawyer Dr. Yousef Abdul Haq, a lecturer at An-Najah National University and the Cultural Coordinator for the Tanweer Palestinian Cultural Enlightenment Forum, currently detained in Ofer Prison near Ramallah.

Yousef Abdul Haq was arrested November 7th, 2011 at his home at 2:00 AM, suffering from illness which requires constant dosage of medicine, forcing his transfer to a hospital immediately after his arrest in Ramla.

He was sentenced to two months in administrative detention immediately.

This arbitrary administrative detention is legally incompatible with the most basic international standards of human rights, because it is without any specific charge against the prisoner. These arbitrary detentions depend on the military file and “secret evidence” which cannot be seen by the detainee or defense lawyers. This file is prepared by Israel intelligence and is “collected” illegally.

This type of detention is internationally banned and is impacting lawmakers in the Palestinian Legislative Council, members of local councils, university students, political activists, academics, trade unionists and even women and children.

The imposition of administrative detention by Article 111 of the military state of emergency imposed by the British colonial authorities of Palestine September, 1945 is illegal on the grounds that Article 43 of the Hague international agreement of 1907 prohibits an occupying power to change the legislative reality of the country occupied.

Administrative detention is the endless suffering of the prisoners because they may de detained for a decade, physically and psychologically impacting the detainee and their family based on the expectation that the next decision will be an extension of detention.

The International Solidarity Foundation for Human Rights received from the Israeli military court in Ofer, that the number of additional administrative detentions issued by the Israeli military governor reached a total of 5,971 since the beginning of 2004 until the end of 2010.

We in the Tanweer Enlightenment Forum, call for the release of our colleague Dr. Yousef immediately from behind bars, and we hold the Government responsible for the conditions of Israel’s occupation, in respect to his health. We demand the end of the administrative detentions which are contrary to international law..

On this occasion, we declare our solidarity with the prisoner hero Khader Adnan, who is continuing his hunger strike battle in his 55th day to end the administrative detentions. We also call on international institutions and the Arab and local media to expose the policy of administrative detention. We uphold the work of a united front for the release of Palestinian prisoners including lawyers, members of the Legislative Council, academics, students, children and women.

We call for the end of administrative detentions forever.

Freedom for political prisoners.

Close the detention camps and prisons and abolish administrative detention.

In photos: On hunger strike in Gaza

by Mya Guarnieri

10 February 2012 | Alternative Information Center

A number of Gazans have joined Khader Adnan’s hunger strike to protest the inhumane conditions that Palestinian political prisoners face in Israeli jails. Israel often holds Palestinians in administrative detention without charges, depriving detainees of their right to due process.

Adnan has been on hunger strike for 55 days and is currently hospitalized in Israel. While Adnan and his lawyers is contesting his administrative detention, the Israeli judge who heard the case yesterday declined to issue an immediate decision. Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association said that the delay “may prove fatal.”

Here, Gazans fast at a protest tent in support of Adnan. Some lie in beds, with shackles, to simulate Adnan’s current condition.

Photos courtesy of Joe Catron

Turtles in Aqraba

by Jonas Weber

10 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

“Hurry up you turtles!” Wael yelled in the distance. He had suddenly turned this walk into some kind of contest. We skipped across the rocky landscape of Palestine, dirty and with the sun in our eyes.

We were planting trees in the small village of Aqraba, putting up pictures of our missed friends Rachel Corrie and Vittario Arrigoni. Men and women, young and old were helping out with the planting, and we were treated to tea sweet as syrup. Aqaba has lost 144,000 dunums of land to the ten illegal settlements surrounding the village. A road is being built between the settlements of Itamar and Gittit, effectively grabbing even more of the 17,000 dunums still in the villages possession.

After the planting some villagers insisted on showing us something on the other side of the mountain adjacent to the hillside on which we were planting the trees. We went down the slope between the blooming red, yellow, and purple flowers. We crossed the road leading from Itamar to Gittit and started climbing around the hill on the other side. From a rock right next to the trail a turtle watched us wobble past a hyenas nest with our arms stretched out to our sides, so as not to lose our balance.

On the other side of the hill, was a cave used by sheepherders as a place to sleep for hundreds of years. A few steps further down the road I got to see my first blooming almond tree of the year. Beyond that, the lemon groves stretched across the floor of the valley.

We were given lemons and oranges by the farmers and their children. I used the few Arabic phrases I knew to express my gratitude. Then we started the journey back to the olive trees. We picked up speed, not even stopping to admire the stunning view of the rolling green hills of the West Bank. Wael picked up the pace, treading with experienced feet over the rocky ground.

As a worn-out tourist and skeptic, who has long given up the search for the genuine and untouched, I find myself in this setting, my hands sticky with the sour juice of fresh lemons. The sheep grazing the mountainside stare at me just like the turtle, the street vendors of the old city of Nablus, and the children of Balata. As a Westerner I stand out here, without ever feeling like an outsider. The stare of the turtle, the sheep, the vendors, the children are all full of anticipation and curiosity, as is mine when I round the steep mountainside to catch up with Wael.

“Hurry up you turtles!” he yells in the distance.

But I find no reason to hurry. Palestine has greeted me well.

Jonas Weber is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

3rd annual Global Day of Action to Open Shuhada (Apartheid) Street

15 January 2012 | Youth Against Settlements

This year, Palestinian activists in Hebron are planning a week of activities to commemorate the Baruch Goldstein Massacre and demand the opening of Shuhada Street. The planned activities in Hebron are as follows:

Monday : 20/02/2012
Photo Exhibition about the Ibrahim Mosque Massacre and Non-violent Resistance in Palestine

Tuesday : 21/02/2012
Tour For Israeli Parliament Members (if Possible )

Wednesday : 22/02/2012
Film screening about Shuhada Street

Thursday : 23/02/2012
Presentation about Apartheid System in Hebron

Friday: 24/02/2012
Main Demonstration

Saturday : 25/02/2012
Visit to The Families of the Massacre Victims and Families in H2

As we have done for the past few years, we urge all people who are against Israeli Apartheid in Hebron to organize solidarity actions on February 25, 2012.

Below is a list of suggested solidarity actions that we hope you will consider.

1. Demonstrations, Marches, Vigils, Flashmobs

2. Presentations about Apartheid in Hebron

3. Photo Exhibitions concerning Apartheid in Hebron

4. Twitter: Use this hashtag #OpenShuhadaSt to spread the word and educate the masses about Hebron. This is especially important during the week of actions.

5.Video Message: Create and send video messages to community forums, media, and social media outlets urging the international community to use diplomatic pressure to re-open Shuhada Street.

6. Letter-writing and Petitions to the Israeli Ambassador and elected officials in your country asking them to intervene

7.Write letters to the Palestinian Families in Hebron to show solidarity

8.Close roads to show the public the effects of closing the main road in Hebron.

9.Visit Hebron to gain an understanding of the situation and the daily suffering of the people living there.

10. Any other non-violent activity you feel supports the cause, be as creative as possible!!

Please reply to let us know if/how you plan to participate!

Thank you!
Open Shuhada Street Coalition

Settlers attack demo in Qaryut

10 February 2012 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

Demonstrators in Qaryout attempted to plant olive trees to resist land grab. On the way, they were attacked by settlers and the army.

Photos by Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

Approximately 100 residents of the Qaryout joined the weekly protest against the occupation this week, aiming to plant olive trees on their lands, as an action against confiscation of lands by neighboring settlements. One of main legal mechanisms used by Israel to expropriate Palestinian land is the Ottoman Land Law of 1858, which was in force on the eve of the occupation. According to this law, if privately owned agricultural land is not cultivated for three years it may be declared as “abandoned property” and seized by the state.

Residents and their supporters marched towards the roadblock, which they have managed to open last week, and which currently remains open. As they were proceeding, settlement private security guards approached the demonstration, shooting live ammunition in the air. The protesters continued marching, finally reaching a line of soldiers. After proceeding some more, the march was effectively trapped in between two groups of settlers – one from the front and one from the back, as well as the army. Nonetheless, they managed to plant a number of trees. As demonstrators were heading back towards the village, settlers “accompanied” them from the hilltop and threw stones directly at protesters. As a result, some clashes erupted between the local youth and the settlers. The army intervened by shooting massive amounts of tear-gas canisters at the protesters. Two injuries were reported.

The village of Qaryout is located in the Northern West Bank, near the city of Nablus. It is home for approximately 2500 residents whose lives have become unbearable due to continuous land confiscations, obstruction of movement and settler violence.