Author: ISM Media Group

Israeli Soldiers Steal Millions of Shekels from Palestinians

by ISM Nablus

At around twelve o’clock on Tuesday night Israeli special forces entered four West Bank cities in a raid against money changers and banks. By four o’clock the military had left, with up to 6 million stolen shekels in their possession.

The Israeli military stole money from Jenin, Tulkarm, Ramallah and Nablus. In the latter, the Jordan National Bank and three private money changers were targeted. Unable to open the bank’s treasury, the Israeli forces stole around NIS 500,000 in total from three money changing enterprises and arrested one of the owners, 40 year-old Ghilab Swidan, from his home.

The three exchange shops are all badly damaged. After forcing and blowing open their doors with dynamite, the Israeli military proceeded to ransack the shops, throwing the contents of the offices onto the street outside. They then stole around NIS 250,000 from each in cash and checks, claiming to have information that this money was to be used to fund militant operations against Israel and to support Hamas.

The two money changers who escaped arrest are adamant that they know nothing about the intended usage of the money they handle. The Palestinian authorities do not know why precisely these companies were targeted but Palestinian police officer Hassan Meyrat says, “this is not the first time it has happened. Three years ago, the Arab Bank was raided and millions of shekels stolen.”

In that particular incident, the Israel National Treasury was forced to return most of the stolen money to the bank. This time, with several smaller companies targeted, it is not clear what will happen. The Jordan National Bank is, however, considering pressing charges against the Israeli army.

Although no money was taken from the three-storey Jordan National Bank, the damage sustained to it’s main office in Nablus city centre is extensive. The director of the bank, Abdul Latif Nasif, estimates the reparation costs to amount to around NIS 2 million. The stairway leading up to the office is strewn with glass, the remains of filing cabinets, window blinds and smashed computer screens. The Israeli military also broke most of the windows, punching holes in them for their snipers.

The Israeli military fired heavily throughout the city center during the entire operation, but no one was injured. Ghilad Swidan remains in Israeli custody.

As if economic sanctions and an economic blockade were not severe enough measures, the Israeli authorities have decided to raid some of the remaining sources of Palestinian capital on unsubstantiated allegations of ‘terrorism funding’.

Brian Avery Petition Successful

by Peter

The Israeli Supreme Court allowed Brian Avery’s petition for a criminal investigation to be opened into his shooting in Jenin in April 2003. The IOF has until now refused to investigate the shooting. The court gave the IOF 45 days to explain to the court why no investigation was carried out. A date for a final hearing will then be set. This is unlikely to be for several months.

Even though the IOF was ordered at a previous hearing in February 2005 to investigate the shooting and interview witnesses who had already submitted statements, it failed to do so.

The IOF has consistently ignored decisions of the Supreme Court to identify who shot Brian and this could be his last bid for justice from the Israeli authorities. Despite the IOF’s obstruction of the judicial process Brian remains determined to find out who left him with severe facial injuries.

The case was featured in Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, The International Herald Tribune, and local US media such as The Wilmington Star and WWAYTV3.

Salon.com: “Up Against the Wall”

Israel continues building a mammoth barrier in the name of border security. Opponents charge that it’s carving more land for Jewish settlements — and assaulting Palestinians’ human rights.

by Rachel Shabi, Salon.com

Sept. 18, 2006, WEST BANK: “We haven’t seen our land since January last year,” says Abdul Ra’uf Khalid, sitting in his home in the Palestinian village of Jayyus. The Khalid family’s 5.5 acres lie on the Israeli side of the separation barrier, which in Jayyus consists of a tall electric fence winding its way across the hilly, rural terrain. The Khalids have greenhouses, and olive, citrus and fruit trees, on the land but aren’t allowed to cross the divide to tend them. “The apricots and peaches are falling from the trees and rotting,” says Abdul’s wife, Itaf. Stuck here, restless and unable to work, the Khalids appear to be deteriorating in similar fashion.

Along much of the West Bank’s border with Israel a similar story is unfolding. It is a story of land, livelihood and a way of life lost to Israel’s rising barrier, known as the “security” or “separation fence” by its supporters and the “apartheid wall” by its opponents. In June 2002, the Israeli government approved the building of the first stage of a physical barrier separating the Jewish state from the West Bank. In July 2004, the International Courts of Justice deemed the wall illegal and called for its removal. Now, the wall — built from various combinations of concrete, razor wire and electric fencing — is 51 percent complete, and construction of the rest continues apace.

Read the rest of the article at Salon.com

IMEMC: Another settler attack in Susiya

by IMEMC and Agencies, Tuesday 19th September

Khalil Nawaja, in his 70s, was attacked with sticks and pipes Monday evening by a group of seven Israeli settlers with their faces covered. An Israeli soldier was escorting the settlers and did nothing to stop the attack, said local eyewitnesses. Villagers called the Israeli police, but could not get a response.

They then called Ezra Nawi of Ta’ayush (Israeli peace group), who was able to get through to the police on their behalf and ask for an investigation. According to a press release from the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) working in the area, the Israeli police only arrived on the scene two hours after the attack, despite the fact that the police station is only 300 meters away from where the attack took place.

The village of Susiya lies between the Israeli settlement of Susya (a Hebrew-ization of the Arabic village name, a common practice among Israeli settlements built atop Palestinian villages), an Israeli settlement outpost (on the site of an ancient synagogue) and an Israeli military base. The Palestinian village has some remaining fifty residents scattered over several hills living in tents, and have been attacked frequently by the Israeli settlers.

According to the Christian Peacemaker Team, the Israeli soldiers and police who eventually arrived to take testimony were angered by the fact that one of the Christian Peacemakers was videotaping, and tried to stop him. The soldiers and police also refused to open an Israeli-controlled gate to allow an ambulance through to the injured man.

When Nawaja was finally able to receive medical treatment, medics noted injuries all over his body – he had been hit on his leg, arm, hand, and upper body. The elderly farmer was taken by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society to Yatta hospital for examination and treatment.

Tulkarem Farmers in Boycott of Israeli goods

Palestinian traders and farmers will gather in the Tulkarem Refugee Camp on September 20th for a Palestinian goods market, boycotting Israeli products as a statement of resistance against Israel’s ongoing occupation, The Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign said.

The Campaign said that The Tulkarem trade fair will gather over a hundred businesses and farmers, many of them from Tulkarem Camp itself, as part of a growing movement to boycott Israeli goods and promote Palestinian produce.

“Seizure and destruction of land and property has made life almost impossible for many Palestinian farmers, and restrictions on movement have devastated trade,” it said.

The Trade Fair will run from September 20-23, from 9.00 – 4.00 every day in The Hall of the Martyr Kamal Saleem, Main Street, Tulkarem Refugee Camp.

The Trade Fair is organised by the Tulkarem Refugee Camp organising committee with the support of the Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign.

During the first intifada Palestinians created ‘victory gardens’, mostly famously in Beit Sahour, in an effort to feed themselves without relying on Israeli goods.

Meanwhile, in the latest international boycott action, shops and supermarkets across Ireland were picketed last Saturday by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) to mark the anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacres. Shops were targetted by pickets which handed out leaflets as well as by trolley actions, which involved activists filling up trolleys with Israeli products and taking them to the checkout to vociferously demand that these products no longer be sold. Actions took place in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Sligo. Especially targetted was the Irish-owned supermarket chain Dunnes Stores as this was where workers first refused to handle goods from Apartheid South Africa in 1984.

These actions coincided with a call in a letter to the Irish times signed by 61 Irish academics for a moratorium on EU support for Israeli academic institutions until Israel abides by UN resolutions and ends the occupation of Palestinian territories.