Author: ISM Media Group

Settler shoots farmer’s dog in front of him in Susiya

On Tuesday August 27th at 7.30 pm, Palestinian shepherd Khaled, and his son were walking their sheep and goats back to their tent camp in Susiya when a settler stopped his car in front of them and shot their sheep dog in the mouth before driving off again.

A white Toyota stopped in front of Khaled and his son when they were on their way home after a long day in the fields with their goats and sheep. A settler from the illegal settlement in the nearby archeological site took out his gun and shot the sheep dog. The bullet hit the dog in the mouth making a hole in it’s tongue and damaged the side of it’s mouth.

An international activist living with the Palestinians heard the shot and ran to the two shepherds, together they caught the dog that had run away and called the police.

The Israeli police came and interrogated the two shepherds and the international activist for two hours before claiming that the dog had eaten something wrong that had caused the bleeding.

The dog has been taken to an animal hospital in Jerusalem and the doctors confirm that the dog has injuries that look like they were caused by a bullet.

The 35 Palestinian families in Susiya live in tents between the Susiya settlement and the archeological site where they used live in caves before being evicted in 1985. At the archeological site three illegal houses by Israeli settlers have now been built.

The Palestinians in Susiya are originally from the village of Al-Gareateen that was heavily attacked in 1948. 450 families out of 500 fled Al-Gareateen, many to the now archeological site near Susiya. They stayed there for a couple of years before they returned to Al-Gareateen. The village of Al-Gareateen was attacked again in 1953 and again the villagers fled to the caves near Susiya where they lived for 32 years before the eviction that has forced them to live in tents ever since.

The 35 families that still live in the tents in Susiya are very poor and live mainly from what they harvest from their land along with the milk and meat from their goats and sheep.

The Palestinian shepherds and their sheep are being attacked by settlers almost daily and receive no help from the Israeli police and army who are there to protect all the citizens of the area.

The Palestinians see the shooting of the dog as a threat and fear for themselves and their animals when they go out.

OHCHR: UN rights expert welcomes landing of relief vessels in Gaza

To view original report published by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) click here

25 August 2008

The landing of two wooden boats carrying 46 human rights activists in Gaza this past weekend is an important symbolic victory, says Richard Falk, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories. This non-violent initiative of the Free Gaza Movement focused attention around the world on the stark reality that the 1.5 million residents of Gaza have endured a punitive siege for more than a year. This siege is a form of collective punishment that constitutes a massive violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The siege, the coastal blockade, and the overflights by Israeli aircraft all bear witness to the fact that despite Israel’s claimed ‘disengagement’ in 2005, these realities on the ground establish that Gaza remains under Israeli occupation, and as a result Israel remains legally responsible for protecting the human rights of its civilian population. By severely restricting the entry of food, fuel, and medicine the economic and social rights of the people of Gaza have been systematically violated. There is widespread deafness among the people of Gaza that is blamed on the frequent sonic booms produced by overflying Israeli military aircraft. For this reason the peace boats brought 200 hearing aids to Gaza added Falk.

I strongly urge the international community to take action to uphold human rights in the Gaza Strip. As with other humanitarian catastrophes in the world, here is a situation where the ‘responsibility to protect’ norm endorsed by the Security Council seems applicable, but has been ignored despite the overwhelming evidence of deteriorating mental and physical health in Gaza that has reached crisis proportions. With a cease-fire in effect since June 19, perhaps the willingness of Israel to allow these boats to land without interference signals a subtle change of approach by Tel Aviv that includes a show of greater respect for international humanitarian law and for the standards of international human rights, the Special Rapporteur said.

Mr. Falk also called on the government of Israel to grant exit permits to several Palestinian winners of a Fulbright Scholarship to study in the United States who might be taken back to Cyprus on the return voyage of the peace boats. If they are permitted by Israel to reach their destination without interference this will be a further sign of progress. Above all, what is being tested is whether the imaginative engagement of dedicated private citizens can influence the struggle of a beleaguered people for basic human rights, and whether their courage and commitment can awaken the conscience of humanity to an unfolding tragedy.

Sailing into Gaza

By Huwaida Arraf • August 25, 2008

On Saturday, after 32 hours on the high seas, I sailed into the port of Gaza City with 45 other citizens from around the world in defiance of Israel’s blockade. We traveled from Cyprus with humanitarian provisions for Palestinians living under siege. My family in Michigan was worried sick.

They are not naïve. They knew that Israel could have attacked us — as Israeli forces did in 2003, killing nonviolent American witness Rachel Corrie and Brit Tom Hurndall as well as thousands of unarmed Palestinian civilians over the years.

My family members, though, remember that 60 years ago part of our own family was uprooted and driven from their homes in Palestine by Israeli forces. This loss no doubt fueled my decision to risk my safety and freedom to advance the human rights of innocent men, women and children in Gaza.

Our two boats were greeted upon arrival by thousands of jubilant Palestinians who in 41 years of occupation had never witnessed such a scene. To get there we braved anonymous death threats and the Israeli military interfering with our means of communications despite rough seas that jeopardized our safety. Before our departure, the Israeli foreign ministry asserted its right to use force against our unarmed boats.

We nevertheless resolved to act, to symbolically end the siege of Gaza – and to do as civilians what governments have lacked the compassion or courage to do themselves. Once here, we delivered critical supplies such as hearing aids, batteries for medical equipment, and painkillers.

When a massive earthquake rocked China and cyclones ravaged Myanmar, the world responded. Governments and civilians alike rallied to help. Yet world governments have witnessed a manmade humanitarian catastrophe unfold before our eyes in Gaza. Karen Koning Abu Zayd, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), has asserted that “Gaza is on the threshold of becoming the first territory to be intentionally reduced to a state of abject destitution, with the knowledge, acquiescence and – some would say – encouragement of the international community.”

Israel claims that its occupation of Gaza ended three years ago with its pullout of soldiers and settlers. But because Israel objected to the outcome of a 2006 Palestinian election that the Carter Center deemed free and fair, it has blockaded Gaza, severely restricting movement of goods and people. Dov Weisglass, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, was quoted shortly before the swearing in of the new Hamas government as saying, “It’s like a meeting with a dietitian. We need to make the Palestinians lose weight, but not to starve to death.”

More than 200 Palestinians have died in the past year according to Physicians for Human Rights – Israel because they could not exit Gaza for needed medical care. Over 80% of Gaza’s population now depends on food aid from UNRWA and the World Food Programme. Unemployment is up to an astonishing 45%. And hundreds of young people are being intellectually starved by Israel’s decision to prevent them from taking up overseas academic opportunities.

Now that we have made it into Gaza, we intend to assist Gaza’s fishermen. We will sail with them beyond the six nautical mile limit illegally enforced by the Israeli navy. Palestinian fishermen are routinely harassed and attacked as they ply the waters to eke out a living. We hope our presence will keep the Israeli military at bay.

We do this because we are horrified that this siege of 1.5 million men, women and children is allowed to continue. We are saddened for the state of our world when decision-makers can sit back and watch an entire people being slowly and purposefully starved and humiliated.

We know that with our two small boats we cannot open all of Gaza to the outside world. We could not bring with us the freedom of movement, access to jobs, medical care, food and other critical supplies that they are denied today. But we brought with us a message to the people of Gaza: they are not alone. With our successful journey we show them that American citizens and others from around the world have been moved to advance humanitarian principles and human rights. Our efforts this week are undertaken in that spirit and with the hope that our elected representatives will one day follow our example.

Huwaida Arraf, a human rights advocate from Roseville, is a lecturer at Al-Quds University School of Law in Jerusalem and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement. This essay was sent to The Free Press on her behalf by the Institute for Middle East Understanding.

The Guardian: Israel ‘almost doubles number of homes being built in settlements’

By Rory McCarthy

To view original article, published by The Guardian on the 26th August, click here

Israel has nearly doubled the number of homes under construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank this year, according to a report published today.

The report, by Peace Now, an Israeli organisation, said the housing ministry had begun work on 433 new settlement housing units between January and May this year compared with 240 in the same period last year, despite continuing negotiations with the Palestinians for a peace agreement.

The organisation said its findings were based on figures from Israel’s central bureau of statistics.

It said more than 1,000 new buildings, representing 2,600 housing units, were under construction in settlements. Of these, 55% are on the eastern side of the concrete and steel barrier Israel has built in and along the West Bank.

The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, who arrived in Israel yesterday for another round of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, again criticised the settlement activity.

Under the US road map plan – the framework for the current peace talks – Israel is to freeze all construction in the settlements. All settlements on occupied land are illegal under international law.

“I think it’s no secret, and I have said it to my Israeli counterparts, that I don’t think that settlement activity is helpful,” Rice said. “In fact, what we need now are steps that enhance confidence between the parties, and anything that undermines confidence between the parties ought to be avoided.”

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have so far failed to reach any agreement despite regular talks that began with the relaunch of the peace process in Annapolis, in the US, last November.

Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, said the process would “not be affected” by settlement activity. “The role of the leaders is to try to find a way to live in peace in the future and not to let any kind of noises that relate to the situation on the ground these days to enter the negotiation room,” she said.

“But at the end of the day the Israeli government’s policy is not to expand settlements, not to build new settlements and not to confiscate Palestinian land.”

Livni said settlement activity had “reduced in the most dramatic way”, particularly east of the barrier. But the figures from Peace Now appeard to challenge that argument.

The organisation said the number of tenders issued for construction in the settlements had increased dramatically, standing at 417 housing units this year compared with 65 last year.

The number of tenders in East Jerusalem was up to 1,761 housing units from 46 last year.

The group said there appeared to be a trend to use construction to form a “territorial connection” between the more distant West Bank settlements and the larger settlement blocks. “Despite the Israeli government’s renewed commitment during the Annapolis summit to freeze all settlement activity, the construction has continued and almost doubled in all of the settlements and outposts on both sides of the separation barrier,” the report said.

“This construction undermines the Palestinian partners, creating facts on the ground that might prevent the possibility of a peace agreement.”