Author: ISM Media Group

Globes: The Guardian – “Leviev donates to settlements- Britain must not reward him by renting the location for the new embassy from him”

Globes: Israel’s Business News | Sept. 9, 2008
Note: Translated from the Hebrew-only edition. Original Hebrew below.

In an Op Ed by a reporter for the British paper he explains how the decision will send a message from Britian that is opposite the government’s position. “Rewarding Leviev with our contract shows that Her Majesty’s Government is not serious in its intention to stop settlements.”

The British embassy’s decision to rent its new embassy building in Tel Aviv from Lev Leviev’s Africa-Israel sends a message from Britain about its position regarding settlements. So wrote the Guardian journalist Abe Hayeem in an op-ed published today (Tuesday) in the Guardian’s internet edition.

The journalist recalls that British prime minister Gordon Brown was quoted as saying to Abu Mazen during his last visit to Ramallah: “We want to see a freeze on settlements. Settlement expansion has made peace harder to achieve. It erodes trust, it heightens Palestinian suffering, it makes the compromises Israel needs to make for peace more difficult.” According to Hayeem, locating the embassy in Leviev’s building sends the opposite message.

In the article, the writer details Leviev’s activities on behalf of settlements, and recalls too that Leviev has recently become a resident of Britain. Danya Cebus, the contracting arm of Africa-Israel built homes in three settlements in the West Bank: Matityahu East, Har Homa and Ma’ale Adumim. In addition, Leviev is one of the biggest donors to the “Land Redemption Fund” of the Gush Emunim movement.

“Israel’s facts on the ground, created by companies like Leviev’s, make the two-state solution impossible,” writes the journalist. “Rewarding Leviev with the contract for our new embassy shows that Her Majesty’s government is not serious about stopping Israeli settlements.”

We note that a month and a half ago Globes revealed that the British Embassy is moving from HaYarkon Street to the Kirya Tower in Tel-Aviv after decades across from the city’s Hilton Beach. The Embassy is expected to rent three floors in the Kirya Tower from Africa-Israel Properties for a price of $27 per sq. meter.

(Trans. Adalah-NY)

ה”גרדיאן”: “לבייב תורם להתנחלויות – אסור לבריטניה לתגמל אותו ולשכור ממנו את
בניין השגרירות החדש בת”א”
במאמר דעה של כתב בעיתון הבריטי, הוא מסביר כיצד ההחלטה תשגר מבריטניה את המסר
ההפוך לזה של הממשלה: “תגמול של לבייב בחוזה שלנו לשגרירות החדשה מראה שממשלת
הוד מלכותה אינה רצינית בכוונותיה לעצור את ההתנחלויות”

שירות גלובס 9/9/2008

החלטת השגרירות הבריטית לשכור את בנין השגרירות החדש בת”א מאפריקה ישראל של לב
לבייב שולחת מסר שגוי מבריטניה לישראל באשר לעמדתה בנושא ההתנחלויות. כך כותב
העיתונאי אייב חיים (Abe Hayeem) במאמר דעה שמתפרסם היום (ג’) במהדורה
האינטרנטית של ה”גרדיאן” הבריטי.

העיתונאי מזכיר כי ראש הממשלה הבריטי, גורדון בראון, צוטט בביקורו האחרון
ברמאללה כאומר לאבו-מאזן: “אנחנו רוצים לראות הקפאה של ההתנחלויות. הרחבתן
הופכת את השלום למשימה קשה יותר. הן מכרסמות באמון, מגבירות את הסבל של
הפלסטינים, והן הופכות את הפשרות שנדרשות מישראל למען השלום לקשות יותר”.
לדבריו, כאמור, מיקום השגרירות בבנין של לבייב שולח בדיוק את המסר ההפוך.

במאמר מפרט הכתב את פעילותו של לבייב למען ההתנחלויות, ולא שוכח להזכיר כי זה
הפך לאחרונה לתושב בריטניה. דניה סיבוס , הזרוע הקבלנית של אפריקה, בנתה בתים
ב-3 התנחלויות ביו”ש: מתתיהו מזרח, הר חומה ומעלה אדומים. בנוסף, לבייב הוא אחד
התורמים הגדולים לקרן “גאולת קרקעות” של תנועת גוש אמונים.

“קביעת האחיזה הישראלית בקרקעות, שנוצרת ע”י חברות כמו זו של לבייב, הופכת את
הפתרון לשתי-מדינות לבלתי אפשרי”, כותב העיתונאי. “תגמול של לבייב בחוזה שלנו
לשגרירות החדשה מראה שממשלת הוד מלכותה אינה רצינית בכוונותיה לעצור את הבנייה
בהתנחלויות”.

נציין כי לפני כחודש וחצי נחשף ב”גלובס” כי שגרירות בריטניה עוברת מרחוב הירקון
למגדל הקריה בת”א לאחר עשרות שנים מול חוף הילטון בעיר. השגרירות צפויה לשכור 3
קומות במגדל הקריה של אפריקה נכסים לפי מחיר של 27 דולר למ”ר.

Action Alert: Tell the UK government not to rent Tel Aviv Embassy from settlement-builder Leviev

From: Architects & Planners for Justice in Palestine, the village of Bil’in, the village of Jayyous, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Palestinian Boycott National Committee,[1]Adalah-NY, and Jews Against the Occupation

September 10, 2008 – The UK Guardian’s Comment Is Free posted an article on September 9, The wrong message to Israel, by Abe Hayeem, a founding member of Architects & Planners for Justice in Palestine, calling on the UK government to revoke plans to rent its new embassy in Tel Aviv from Israeli-settlement mogul Lev Leviev. The UK’s plan to rent space for the embassy from Leviev’s company Africa Israel was reported on July 29 in the Israeli financial journal Globes. Please contact the UK’s Embassy in Tel Aviv, UK Consulate in Jerusalem, the Foreign Secretary and the Minister of State for the Middle East (contact info below) and demand that they take a firm stand against Israeli settlements and not reward Leviev with UK taxpayers’ money.

Abe Hayeem’s article notes:

“When Britain’s prime minister, Gordon Brown, visited Ramallah in mid-July, he told the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas: ‘We want to see a freeze on settlements. Settlement expansion has made peace harder to achieve. It erodes trust, it heightens Palestinian suffering, it makes the compromises Israel needs to make for peace more difficult.’”

“In that case, the decision by the British government to rent space for our new embassy in Tel Aviv from the Africa-Israel Investments company chaired by businessman Lev Leviev sends precisely the wrong message.”

“Leviev, a Russian-Israeli real estate and diamond billionaire who recently became a UK resident, is also a major settlement builder. Danya Cebus, a subsidiary of Leviev’s Africa-Israel group, has built homes in three West Bank settlements – Mattityahu East, Har Homa, and Ma’ale Adumim.”

“Additionally, Leviev is a major donor to the Land Redemption Fund (LRF), which is affiliated with the radical fundamentalist Gush Emunim settler movement. The LRF uses highly questionable methods to secure Palestinian land for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, in clear violation of international law and the Fourth Geneva convention.”

“The settlement of Mattityahu East along with Israel’s wall, which was built mostly inside the occupied West Bank to grab land for settlements, seizes 50% of the village of Bil’in’s land, including olive groves that its residents have relied on for centuries. Leviev’s Zufim settlement, again along with Israel’s Wall, seizes as much as two-thirds of the village of Jayyous’ agricultural land and six wells, effectively annexing one of the West Bank’s most fertile agricultural zones. Since 2002, residents of Bil’in and Jayyous have held more than 250 nonviolent protests, with the support of Israeli and international activists, in an effort to save their land….”

“Rewarding Leviev with the contract for our new embassy shows that Her Majesty’s government is not serious about stopping Israeli settlements. Rather than mouthing admirable but empty platitudes about freezing settlements, for the sake of all Israelis and Palestinians, let us apply serious sanctions to stop Israel expanding illegal settlements and the Wall, and take our business elsewhere.”

Please write and/or call the representatives of the UK government below, and demand that the UK not rent its embassy from Leviev. Oxfam and UNICEF have already rejected support from Leviev due to his companies’ settlement construction in violation of international law. Please send a copy of your message and/or information on your phone call to levievembassyalert@adalahny.org so that we can compile them all.

In the UK:

MP David Milliband, the Foreign Secretary: Phone: +44 (0)191 456 8910
Email: milibandd@parliament.uk and msu.correspondence@fco.gov.uk

MP Kim Howells, Minister of State for the Middle East: Phone: +44 (0)20 7270 1500
Email: howellsk@parliament.uk

In Tel Aviv:

UK Ambassador Tom Phillips: Phone: +972 (0)3 725 1222 Fax: +972 (0)3 527 8574
Email: webmaster.telaviv@fco.gov.uk

In Jerusalem

Consul-General: Richard Edward Makepeace: Phone: +972-(0)2-541-4100/41 Fax: +972-(0)2-532-2368 / +972-2-541-4157
Email: britain.jerusalem@fco.gov.uk

[1] Members of the Palestinian Boycott National Committee are: Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine; General Union of Palestinian Workers; Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions; Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO); Federation of Independent Trade Unions; Union of Arab Community Based Associations (ITTIJAH); Palestine Right of Return Coalition; Occupied Palestine and Golan Heights Advocacy Initiative; General Union of Palestinian Women; Union of Palestinian Farmers; Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (STW); Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI); National Committee to Commemorate the Nakba; Civic Coalition for the Defense of Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem (CCDPRJ), and the Coalition for Jerusalem.

Israeli forces abduct minors from Ni’lin

Ni’lin – Thursday September 10th 2008

At 2am Thursday September 10th Israeli forces invaded the West bank village of Ni’lin and arrested 9 persons, three of them are under 18 and are still being kept in jail.

Israeli forces invaded the village in the early hours of the morning, firing live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, tear-gas and sound bombs. They entered many houses, arresting 9 residents. Among those arrested were at least 3 minors, including a 12 year old and 13 year old.

Witnesses have reported that the Israeli forces were in the cases of two of the minors looking for other people, taking the minors when they could not find those they intended to arrest. Mohammed Salah Khawaje (12), Mohammed Loi Khawaje (13), Arafat Amira, Sofian Nawaf Khawaje (17), Imad Azzam Khawaje (18), Mustafa Khawaje (20 year old journalist), Milhim Amira (22), Yousef Amira (34) and Salah Mira (36).

The father of the 12-year-old says that the army came to look for him but since he was not at home they roughly searched the house and ended up taking his 12-year-old son, the father sees it as a reaction to threaten him because he is active as a medic in the demonstrations.

The army handcuffed and blindfolded the 12-year-old boy and pushed him down the hill outside the families home while his terrified mother and sister were held back., and could only watch the soldiers violent assault of the little boy.

The brutal behaviour the Israeli army has exposed on the villagers of Ni’lin did not stop them from carrying out the planned demonstrations against the apartheid wall at 1pm the next day.

The military stopped the protest before it got out of the village and started shooting tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets at the about 20 protesters.

Almost 6000 Palestinian children have been arrested since the start of the Al Aqsa intifada in September 2000.

The Israeli law as well as the United Nations Convention on children’s rights defines a child as a person under the age of 18. The Israeli military law, the apartheid law system Israel has imposed on all Palestinians, defines a child as a person under the age of 12.

Yesterday Yousef Khawaja, 32 years was shot in the leg with live ammunition by Israeli forces operating in Ni’lin. Fortunately his situation is not critical and he may be released from Ramallah hospital today. Two other protesters were also injured by Israeli rubber-coated steel bullets.

The Israeli Human Rights organisation, B’Tselem, last week released a statement condemning the violence used by Israeli forces in Ni’lin (to view the statement click here), after the shooting of Awad Sror, stating that;

“The recent wave of similar cases, which led to B’Tselem’s request, raises the grave suspicion that soldiers and Border Police officers systematically breach the Open-Fire Regulations in their use of rubber-coated bullets, often with the knowledge and approval of officers.”

———-
Ynet article on the abductions:


IDF forces apprehend West Bank boy suspected of involvement in violent demonstrations against West Bank security barrier. Father: Soldiers led him away like a sheep, used him as human shield

By Ali Waked

To view original article, published by Ynet on the 11th September, click here

Large IDF forces arrived Wednesday night at the West Bank village of Naalin in order to arrest 12-year-old Muhammad Hawaja, who is suspected of involvement in violent riots held in protest of Israel’s construction of the security barrier.

His father, Salah Hawaja, told Ynet that the forces, “came in from the mountains, surrounded the house and removed Muhammad from his bed.

“My wife and I can’t forget the image of IDF soldiers grabbing hold of Muhammad’s pajama collar and leading him away as if he were a sheep crying and screaming,” said the father, a paramedic.

According to him, the troops used Muhammad as a sort of human shield as they left the village, located near Modi’in.

“Upon leaving the house the forces were confronted by village youths, who hurled stones,” Hawaja said. “Muhammad was used as a shield.”

The father, who was recently been arrested during two separate anti-security fence rallies, says the detainment of his son was conducted as “an act of revenge”.

“If they (soldiers) came because of me, then I’ll say it again – I was merely fulfilling my duty as a paramedic and do not pose a threat of any kind.

“My 12-year-old son should certainly not have to be a victim of the IDF’s attempts to get back at me,” he said.

Salah said he has yet to be notified where his son is being held.

About a month ago the father was beaten by Colonel Omri Burberg, who was relieved of his command following the incident in which a soldier fired a rubber-coated bullet at a bound Palestinian in Naalin. The indecent was caught on tape.

Residents of Naalin and the Anti-Fence Committee fear that Muhammad’s arrest was part of a new strategy aimed at applying psychological pressure on them.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Office said in response that Muhammad was arrested after evidence that was gathered linked him to violent disturbances, including attacks on security forces with cinder blocks and stones.

On Wednesday evening a resident of the village was injured from live fire. The man, in his 20s, sustained injuries to his leg.

Israeli navy to Gazan fishermen: “When the internationals leave Gaza, you will all be made to pay”

Gazan coastal waters, Gaza, 17:00 Wednesday 10th September 2008 – At high speed an Israeli gunboat rammed a Palestinian fishing vessel. The gunboat smashed through the upper hull, careened over the top of the fishing boat, and landed on the other side.

Extensive damage was caused to the fishing boat. The hull was badly damaged, virtually the entire deck area, all the equipment on it, and the canopy above the deck were severely damaged. Unusually all of the crew happened to be in the cabin and at the fore at the time. Had they been on deck they would have had little chance of survival.

Via a megaphone, the gunboat crew then made the threat that ‘When the internationals leave Gaza, you will all be made to pay.’

Human rights observers from the International Solidarity Movement and from the Free Gaza Movement, have recently been accompanying Gazan Fishermen during their work. The fishermen are constantly harassed, threatened and attacked by the Israelis who in flagrant violation of international law and maritime law, have been attempting to impose a no – go area 6 miles off Gaza’s coast through employment of lethal force. Incidentally and not unusually, this attack happened within the so-called ‘permitted’ area.

The ISM regards the project of accompanying the fishermen as a long term commitment. Some of the human rights observers currently undertaking this work are long term volunteers who will be in Gaza for some time. More long term volunteers are expected to bolster their number within the next few weeks.

The Guardian: A blockade of young minds

My dream is to become a bone specialist. But the Israeli government won’t let me leave to pursue my studies abroad

By Abdalaziz Okasha

To view original article, published by The Guardian on the 11th September, click here

This was supposed to be my first year of medical school. Instead, I am stuck here in Gaza in my father’s house inside the Jabalia refugee camp, with few options and no way out. After I finished high school last year, I decided to become a doctor. Gaza cries out for bone specialists, but the training I need is available only abroad.

When I won a place at a medical college in Germany, my parents were proud. I was excited to follow my older brother, who is already studying there. In February, the German authorities granted me an entrance visa. I wasted no time in asking the Israeli authorities for permission to travel to Europe. But I was told that only patients in need of emergency medical evacuation would be allowed out – not students.

Hundreds of other young people trapped in the Gaza Strip have won admission to study abroad. For many of us, this is our only opportunity to continue our education. Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on earth, and one of the poorest – 1.5 million of us live on a patch of land about 41 kilometres long and 6-12 kilometres wide. The local hospitals lack the equipment needed to perform many important procedures, like radiation treatments for cancer patients and heart surgery.

Universities in Gaza are overcrowded and starved for supplies. Many subjects are not even taught, and there are few postgraduate programmes. Instructors from abroad cannot enter Gaza. Without the ability to go overseas, we cannot learn.

In June, after the United States pressured Israel to allow Fulbright scholarship winners to leave the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military announced that it would grant exit permits for a few more students with “recognised” scholarships – but not “hundreds.” So hundreds of us are still waiting, most without prestigious scholarships to draw the world’s attention. I am sure to be one of the many who will not be allowed to leave. Life in Gaza has bled away my optimism.

My father is a teacher and owns a children’s clothing shop. My mother is a housekeeper. I have six brothers and three sisters. We returned to Palestine in 1996 from Saudi Arabia, where my father had been working as a teacher. That was at the height of the peace process. My parents put their hope in the Oslo Accords signed in 1993, and decided that they could give us a better life here.

But when I was 10, the second intifada began. The peace process was collapsing throughout my teenage years. During my third year of high school, the Israeli authorities closed off the Gaza Strip. Israeli border controls have reduced the flow of people crossing the border to a trickle, and have suffocated Gaza’s economy, choking off imports and exports and cutting fuel deliveries and electricity. There is no clothing left in my father’s shop, which was supposed to support my brother and me during our studies.

With the backing of the US, Canada, and the European Union, Israel has maintained its blockade in an attempt to defeat Hamas, which won the elections here in 2006. But the blockade only makes people more desperate. Hamas and other armed groups, I know, have launched rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip that have killed civilians in Israeli towns and villages.

But I also have witnessed how Israel has retaliated with air strikes and armed incursions into the Gaza Strip, including Jabalia. Israel’s blockade amounts to collective punishment. It is hurting all of us, whether we support Hamas or not. It is also destroying my dream to write “specialist in bone medicine” after my name.

Sometimes, I am sorry that I am from Gaza. But my hope is still to go abroad, learn skills, and return to help others here. Sometimes, when there is electricity, I watch television and see how people live in other places. I ask myself why they have the opportunity to travel, to study, to take vacations, when I cannot go abroad even to learn medicine.

We are students, not soldiers. We are not fighters in this conflict. Why doesn’t Israel let us go study? Why do Europe and America support a blockade of young minds? Soon, my fellow classmates at the medical college will be starting classes. When they do, I will probably still be here in my father’s house, waiting for the blockade to end.

Abdalaziz Okasha graduated from high school in the Gaza Strip in June 2007.

In cooperation with Project Syndicate, 2008.