Author: ISM Media Group

Don’t Sign for Apartheid in Palestine

The French group “Two Peoples, Two States” calls the public for signing a petition (based on a “Two States Solution”, on the outlines of the Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abbed Rabbo’s “Geneva Initiative”, and the Ami Ayalon and Sari Nusseibeh’s “The Peoples Voice”), which “acknowledge the equal legitimacy of both liberation struggle movements”, and which, in a suspicious way, fails to call for Israel’s full compliance with its obligations under international law through ending its illegal military occupation, its denial of Palestinian refugee rights, and its system of racial discrimination against its own Palestinian citizens.

The unfortunate and harmful support to this petition by religious, secular, political, union, antiracist organizations, among others, at Zionists organizations side, reveals either ignorance of the hidden agenda inherent in the whole initiative, deceptively camouflaged as a collective call for peace, or willingness to forfeit the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people in return for advancing selfish interests.

We ask the French audience and the supporters of a fair peace in Palestine not to be part of this public relations sham, which covers up a deceitful political agenda that falls significantly short of international law tenets and the Palestinian national program.

The “Two Peoples, Two States” group’s campaign poses many problems, among them, a lack of distinction between the occupier and the occupied, the implicit support to the maintenance of the Israelis settlement blocks, the obvious contempt to the right of return for the refugees, the non-mention to the Israeli illegal wall and the lack of any reference to the international law and/or to the human rights.

As the Oslo Agreements and the “Disengagement Plan from Gaza”, the peace process, currently mulled over, is an initiative aimed at enforcing the Israeli control on the whole historical Palestine, while allowing Israel to get rid of its responsibilities towards an important part of the Palestinian people.

The group “Two Peoples, Two States” quotes and upholds the fundamentals of the “Geneva Initiative” and “The Peoples Voice”:

“The State of Israel as Jewish People’s State, the State of Palestine as Palestinian People’s State, both derived from a legitimate national liberation movement, specifically:

the dismantling of most of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, territories swaps agreed by both parties on the basis of the 1967 borders”.

Israel will maintain its major population centres in the West Bank; known as settlement blocs, which, according to Perez, represent no more than 5% of the West Bank, and it does not include Occupied Jerusalem, where there are 250.000 Israeli settlers living.

Israel proposes to the Palestinians a swap according to which it would give the same amount of land Israel populated by Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship. This will allow Israel to remove some of its Arab population, which most Jewish Israelis perceive as “demographic threat” to the nature of the Jewish state.

“. a dignified and realistic solving of the Palestinians refugees issue governed by the respect of the Israeli sovereignty,”

In his letter sent to Sharon in 2004, Bush stated: ” It seems clear that an agreed, just, fair and realistic framework for a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue as part of any final status agreement will need to be found through the establishment of a Palestinian state, and the settling of Palestinian refugees there, rather than in Israel.”

Consequently, in the Israel’s offer, the right of return will be granted to the Palestinian refugees, not in their homes, but in some small parts non adjacent to their original homeland and divided in separated territorial units (walled up ghettos), without any opportunity to maintain a long-lasting economy and without any control on water, energy or on any other essential resources. They will be allowed to come back in a cage whose door will be controlled by Israel.

“. (…) and a partition of Jerusalem as capital for both States.”

According to several reports, ” There will be two capitals in Jerusalem, one for Israel and one for Palestine. The Israeli neighbourhoods will be under Israeli sovereignty and the Arab neighbourhoods under Palestinian sovereignty. There will be cooperation between both authorities which will allow for better administration of people’s lives. Special arrangements will be prepared to secure access to Holy places for all religions “
Therefore, on September 24, the Israeli military commander of the West Bank has issued an expropriation order for about 120 hectares of land located in the Jerusalem area, in order to build 3.500 new houses as part of Project E1 and in extension of the huge settlement Maale Adumin, where 30,000 Israeli settlers are already living, the Wall and a road for Palestinian use. Then the city of Jerusalem will be completely surrounded by Israeli settlements, and no Palestinian living in the West Bank will have access to it.

Furthermore, it is obvious that Israel is insisting on arrogating large parts of occupied East Jerusalem on the ground that Jewish neighborhoods go to Israel and Arab neighborhoods go to a “future” Palestinian state.

That would be disastrous for the Palestinian cause since it would entail the whitewashing of decades of theft of Palestinian property in Palestine’s holy capital, as there are not “mere neighborhoods.” These are illegal settlements built on confiscated Arab land for the sole purpose of obliterating East Jerusalem’s Arab (Muslim-Christian) identity.

We denounce and oppose to these efforts to violate the Palestinians’ human rights, and we assert that the only solution to the Israelo-Palestinian “conflict” should be based on the International Law and the Human Rights, references which do not appear in the call of the “Two Peoples, Two States”’s campaign.

We maintain that the new Israelis generous offer, a two-states solution promoted by G. Bush and C. Rice, will not actually establish two states, and must not be seen as a solution. It will only be the establishment of Apartheid, with the support of the international community.

We call for the 129 organizations and 7815 individuals that have already endorsed this petition, to withdraw their support to this movement that does not promote, at any time, the right of the Palestinian people to justice, equality and freedom.

We also ask those that have not been engaging yet in this call to help us in asking Israel to respect the international law and to put pressure on our governments, particularly the European Union as member of the Quartet, to implement their own decisions in order to apply the international humanitarian law (2005 / C 327/04), and the imposition of sanctions and restrictive measures.

Qusin Olive Harvest 2007

During the week of October 20th, ISM volunteers worked with farmers to harvest olives in Qusin, a small village on the outskirts of the Palestinian city of Nablus in the central Northern region of the West Bank. Nablus had recently experienced an invasion by the Israeli occupation forces. During this invasion, there were a number of innocent Palestinian civilian casualties including a 70 year old man who was killed, a 7 year old girl was shot in the back with live ammunition but fortunately survived and a reporter was shot in the back 4 times by the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) with plastic coated steel bullets, also surviving.

The village of Qusin had experienced IOF incursions as well. The village had staged a peaceful demonstration whereby the villagers of Qusin and international volunteers had marched from Qusin to Sarra, a nearby sister town to protest the erecting of a gate on the main road between the two villages that remained permanently closed. Shortly afterwards, in response to the demonstration, during the night of September 21, the Israeli army invaded Qusin. They invaded again on the night of September 23. Palestinian youths were taken away by the IOF–no information as to their whereabouts was given. They were detained for a day or two, and “beaten like donkeys” as one of the youths described their treatment.

Due to the ongoing harassement by the IOF, internationals were requested to assist with the olive harvest in Qusin in an attempt to reduce the possibility of conflict. When we arrived at the site of the olive trees to be harvested, it was pointed out to us that an Israeli chemical factory had recently been built adjacent to the Qusin olive groves. Detrimental to the Qusin farmers was not only the fact that the factory had been situated right next to their olive trees, but also that they are often no longer permitted access to harvest their trees due to Israeli “security issues” concerning the factory.

The factory was too toxic to be allowed to built in Israel proper, and was only operated at night. In the village of Qusin, the smell of the factory’s toxic fumes was very tangible. Its effect on the olive trees was noticeable as well. We were shown black spots on the olive leaves that had been caused by the factory emmissions. We wondered how long the olive trees would last and what kind of effect the factory fumes would have on the Qusin inhabitants themselves. Clearly, the factory had deliberately been placed by the Israelis as a means of forcing the Palestinians from their lands.

Fortunately, there were no incidents with the IOF during the time we were there assisting with the harvest. We had the feeling that due to our presence, the Qusin palestinians felt more secure in harvesting the olives that were accessible to them. The army had stayed away and, for the most part, the Qusin olives were harvested.

Looting and burning in Nahr al Bared

In May 2007 Nahr al Bared Refugee Camp, home to over 30,000 Palestinian refugees, became the site of a 4-month battle between the Lebanese Army and extremist group Fatah al-Islam.

During this time over 40 civilians, 167 soldiers and over 200 Fatah al-Islam members were killed. 30,000 refugees were displaced.

From the official end of the battle, in early September, until the 10th of October the camp was under exclusive Lebanese army control.

When parts of the new camp were re-opened and the first thousand families returned to Nahr al Bared, they returned to houses that had been burnt, looted and vandalised. Witnesses attest to what appears to be a systematic pattern of burning and looting.
Racist graffiti written in many homes in the camp is signed with the names of various Lebanese Army Commando groups.

No military or independent investigation has been carried out, although Amnesty International has written to the Lebanese government, calling for an investigation to be initiated and those responsible to be held accountable.

Journalists and human rights organizations are being denied entry to the camp.

This short documentary deals with the looting and burning of Nahr al-Bared Camp. All the footage was secretly filmed.

17 Year Old Girl Arrested in Tel Rumeida

On Monday, November 5, 2007, at 7:15 AM, a 17-year-old girl was detained at the Tel Rumeida checkpoint and was arrested for the false charge of attacking a soldier.

Two international Human Rights Workers (HRWs) were present, and saw the incident occur. The girl was stopped whilst walking past the checkpoint by a soldier who had been checking every Palestinian walking past. When he checked her, he noticed something up her sleeve, and demanded that she show it to him. She was at first quite reluctant to show him, but he was insistent, and after about 30 seconds she took out an eight inch-long knife, and held it in her hand. The soldier, clearly frightened, cocked his rifle and pointed it at the girl and yelled at her to drop it. The girl, also clearly frightened, backed away several feet but did not let go of the knife at first. She continued to hold it in her hand, but backed away and moved against a wall, about ten feet away from the soldier. The soldier continued to point the gun at her and yell at her, and after about 10 seconds, the girl tossed the knife away from her and away from the soldier and put her hands up to show that she was not trying to hurt him. She also dropped the bag she was carrying when the soldier asked her to, and held her hands up in the air again. He yelled at her again, and she tossed the bag in the same direction she tossed the knife, away from both herself and the soldier, and again she held her hands in the air.

He then again pointed his rifle at the girl and asked her what was in her bag. She responded in Arabic, “Katub,” but he didn’t understand so he continued yelling at her until she said in English, “Books.”

After about 10 minutes of detaining the girl at the checkpoint, two more soldiers arrived and took the girl up the hill and into the Tel Rumedia settlement. Two other soldiers prevented the HRW with the camera from following the girl or asking her questions, saying that she was “interfering.” However, they allowed two settlers – a young boy on a bike and another man, free access to stand wherever they wished, which was often right next to the girl.

The police arrived soon after, and held the girl for about 40 minutes inside the settlement. They handcuffed her and questioned her intermittently. They did allow a Palestinian woman from the neighborhood approach the police van to get the girl’s name so she could notify her family. After the 40 minutes, the police took her away in their van.

Meanwhile, the soldiers who had discovered the knife were telling the Palestinians who were walking through the checkpoint that the girl had a gun in her bag. However, when a HRW watched the soldiers check through the bag, she saw that there were only books and papers inside. When the HRW asked the soldier why he was telling people that the girl had a gun, he responded, “She tried to kill me!”

At the time of this report, the soldiers have told the police that the girl attempted to stab one of them, and they are calling it a “terrorist attack.” The Red Cross and other organizations are working on the case and helping her family get a lawyer.

Video of the incident will follow shortly.

Strong Military Repression at Non-Violent Demonstration in Bilin

Palestinian demonstrators, joined by international activists, marched in Bil’in on Friday 2nd November as part of the weekly non-violent protests against the segregation wall, internationally recognised as illegal.

As the protest neared the wall the Israeli army used both teargas and sound bombs in attempts to drive the demonstrators back towards Bil’in village. This use of force lasted approximately one and a half hours, with one of the teargas cannisters setting fire to one of the village’s fields. As demonstrators attempted to put out the fire the Israeli army fired teargas and rubber bullets into the crowd. One of the demonstrators was hit by a rubber bullet in the ribs close to the front of the demonstration. Fortunately no one else was injured.

The demonstration, numbering around sixty, including a large party from France, marked the continuing non-violent struggle for Bil’in village against Israel’s illegal annexation of Palestinian land, which has seen 60% of vital agricultural land rendered off-limits to the 1600 residents of Bil’in. In the past three years, over 800 activists have been injured, including two injuries resulting in brain damage due to the close-range firing of rubber-coated steel bullets.