Category: In the Media

YNet: Chairman MK Yossi Beilin visits Tel Rumeida

Beilin calls Hebron Jews ‘deluded’
Tal Rabinovsky, 17 April 2007

Meretz chairman visits disputed Hebron building, says he intends to submit ‘bill calling for evacuation of all Jews from Hebron’

Meretz-Yahad Chairman MK Yossi Beilin received a not-so-warm welcome by extreme right-wing activist Baruch Marzel upon his arrival at the Jewish area of Hebron on Tuesday.


Photo: ISM Hebron

“Spy, foreign agent! You’re pals with Bishara!” Marzel shouted, in an attempt to disrupt Beilin’s visit.

“I intend on submitting a bill calling for the evacuation of all Jews from Hebron after the summer break. This is a new settlement, and I have been working to evacuate this deluded group since the night they invaded.


Photo: ISM Hebron

“The only question is whether the Olmert government wants to establish a new settlement in Israel today, in 2007″ despite its promise not to allow new settlements, Beilin asked.

Beilin began his tour under tight security in Tel Rumeida, where he met Hani Abu Aisha, who told him about the ill treatment, as he called it, his family suffered at the hands of the Jewish residents.

Beilin also visited a grocery store nearby the disputed building, where he tried to evaluate the way the new residents behaved towards the locals. The owner of the store told Beilin about the “cruelty and violence” of the Jewish residents of the building.

There was much disorder at the entrance of the building itself, lead by Noam Arnon, spokesperson for the Jewish settlement in Hebron.

“It was you who brought us the Oslo agreement, you who brought most of the suicide bombers, and you are responsible for all of this suffering,” Arnon said.

Beilin firmly replied, “Go home crazies!”

There is No Israeli Partner for Peace

Palestinian Minister of Information: “There is No Israeli Partner for Peace”
14 April 2007

Ramallah, 14-04-07: In a press conference held in Ramallah today, Minister of Information and Official Government Spokesperson, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, underlined that Israel’s continued refusal to discuss final status issues pointed to a lack of willingness to engage in peace negotiations.

He added that the Israeli government had failed to constructively address the four most recent Palestinian initiatives, namely (a) the formation of the new national unity government with a flexible political platform; (b) the Arab peace initiative for a comprehensive, complete solution; (c) the Palestinian proposal for complete cessation of all forms of violence through a mutual, reciprocal ceasefire agreement, and (d) the Palestinian proposal for a prisoner swap in exchange for the Israeli soldier captured in Gaza in June 2006.

The Minister emphasised that Israel’s failure to address final status issues such as the borders of a future Palestinian state, the status of Jerusalem, the refugee issue, and the issue of settlements, which were due to have been resolved under the Oslo process by 1999 but have never been addressed as Israel refuses to discuss these issues in violation of the Oslo agreement, betrayed the lack of a real Israeli partner for peace.

By continuing talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas whilst bypassing the goal of final status negotiations he said, Israel was buying time to create irreversible facts on the ground. Dr. Barghouthi added that by evading the issue of final borders, Israel was seeking to substitute the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state with the idea of a self-governing authority within interim borders with jurisdiction over people, but not land, water or borders.

Dr. Barghouthi also focused on the continued use of Palestinian civilians, including children, as human shields by the Israeli military, the violent repression of peaceful protests against the Apartheid Wall by Israeli soldiers and border police, and the plight of more than 10,000 Palestinians currently being held in Israeli prisons.

Human Shields

The issue of the use of human shields, a practice frequently employed by the Israeli military, has been brought back into the media spotlight by a film recorded by a member of the Research Journalism Initiative. The footage clearly shows Israeli soldiers using two Palestinian youths, one aged just 14-years-old, as human shields during an Israeli military invasion into Nablus last Wednesday, [1] a practice illegal under both the Fourth Geneva Convention and under Israeli law itself. [2]

The film can be seen HERE

Dr. Barghouthi stressed that this was not an isolated incident but a systematic procedure that endangers the lives of Palestinian civilians. Nineteen-year-old Nidal Abu M’khisan was killed in this way on 14 August 2002. [3] He called the incident a war crime, and labelled the suspension of the commander in charge of Operation Hot Winter by the Israeli military in response to the issue as mere “window-dressing,” adding that the Israeli military has continued using human shields despite an Israeli Supreme Court ruling in October 2005 forbidding the practice.

Violent Repression

The Minister also showed a film recorded at yesterday’s weekly peaceful protest against the construction of Israel’s Apartheid Wall in a village south of Bethlehem, at which peaceful protests were met with violent repression by the Israeli military and border police, who can be seen beating and kicking a group of Palestinian, Israeli and international protestors, without provocation. The film was yet one more example of the aggression with which Israel responds to non-violent protests against construction of its Wall, which was declared illegal under a ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague in July 2004.

The film can be seen HERE:

Prisoners

In the run-up to Palestinian Prisoners Day on 17 April, Dr. Barghouthi also focused on the fate of the 10,400 Palestinians currently being held in Israeli jails in contravention of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. [4] Of these:

– 86 percent are from the West Bank
– 7 percent are from the Gaza Strip
– 7 percent are from Jerusalem

– 4,430 (44 percent) have been sentenced by Israeli military tribunals
– 611 (14 percent) have been sentenced to 50 years or more in prison
– 4,575 (46 percent) have not undergone trial
– 950 (10 percent) are being held in administrative detention
– 7 (0.7 percent) have spent more than 25 years in prison; 3 have spent 29 years or more in prison
– 376 are children under the age of 18
– 5,000 children have been arrested since 2000
– 600 are women who have been arrested since 2000
– 118 women prisoners are currently in Israeli jails
– 40 are members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), including the Head of the PLC
– 95 percent of Palestinian prisoners have reported being subjected to various forms of torture
– 183 Palestinians have died in prison
– 69 died due to torture
– 42 died due to medical negligence
– 1,000 are suffering from chronic diseases
– 200 suffering from serious health conditions
– 72 Palestinians were assassinated following their arrest

Notes

[1] The dialogue between the cameraman and the Israeli soldier can be clearly heard, in which the cameraman questions the use of the two youths as human shields:

Cameraman : I want to ask you, are these men being detained?
Soldier : Yes.
Cameraman : You can’t use them as human shields, this is a war crime. You know that, right?
Israeli soldier : They’re not human shields.
Cameraman : They’re standing in front of your jeep. That’s not a human shield?
Solider : No.
Cameraman : How is that not? You’re using them to protect you from stones.
Soldier : We asked them to speak with their friends to stop throwing stones.
Cameraman : Then why are they standing here? This is illegal, you know this.
Soldier : [Shuts jeep door, ending discussion]

[2] Article 28 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that “The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations.” Under Article 4 of the Convention, protected persons are defined as “those who, at a given moment and in any manner whatsoever, find themselves, in case of a conflict or occupation, in the hands of a Party to the conflict or Occupying Power of which they are not nationals.”

In a ruling by Israeli Supreme Court on 6 October 2005, Judge Aharon Barak stated that “You cannot exploit the civilian population for the army’s military needs, and you cannot force them to collaborate with the army.” The ruling came in response to a petition filed by seven Israeli-registered human rights organisations to the High Court of Justice against the use of Palestinians as human shields. See the petition HERE:

[3] See B’Tselem. 14 August 2002. IDF is Responsible for Death of “Human Shield”.

[4] Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that: “Protected persons accused of offences shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted they shall serve their sentences therein.”

Evening Tribune: ISM at Alfred Univeresity

“Founder of non-violent Palestinian resistance movement speaks at AU”
by Ryan Westerdahl, The Evening Tribune 12 April 2007

ALFRED – For Huwaida Arraf, a young woman who has stared down armed soldiers, a speaking engagement at Alfred University presented a different challenge – persuasion.

Arraf, who spoke for more than an hour in AU’s Nevins Theater Wednesday, is co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a civilian movement dedicated to non-violent resistance against the Israeli presence in Palestine. She began her speech with an appeal to her audience for open-mindedness.

“I would hope that what I have to say is not controversial,” she said.

Arraf is a Palestinian-American whose parents were born in Palestine, and a third-year student at American University’s Washington College of Law. She divides her time between America and Israel/Palestine, studying and organizing resistance. Arraf said that Palestinians under Israeli governance are deprived of basic freedoms.

“We were treated like second and third-class citizens,” she said.

Arraf began her career in activism working with Seeds of Peace, an organization that brings Palestinian and Israeli young people together to create dialogue and bridge perceived differences between the groups. She said the children discovered that they shared common ground.

“The same likes and dislikes, hopes and aspirations,” she said.

While working for Seeds of Peace, Arraf met her future husband and co-founder of the ISM, Adam Shapiro. The couple started the ISM in 2001, and have dedicated themselves to expanding and promoting the movement. Palestinians have a history of non-violent resistance that often goes unnoticed amidst reports of terrorism, according to Arraf. She described tying cans to cats’ tails to confuse Israeli soldiers trying to impose a curfew, and resisting Israeli control in the town where her mother was born.

“We organized a tax boycott,” Arraf said.

Arraf encouraged her audience to get involved with the ISM, adding that international support for the Palestinian cause is vital. She described the difficulty of finding major news outlets to publish detailed accounts of Palestinian civilian deaths.

“Palestinians feel completely abandoned by the international community,” Arraf said.

While the ISM is predicated on non-violence, it has been accused of supporting violent resistance – such as suicide bombing – behind the scenes. Arraf denied that the ISM supports violence, but she said that Palestinians have the right to engage in violent resistance directed at military targets.

“If you make the decision to resist, then you have to choose how to resist,” Arraf said. “Personally, I believe we should all live together.”

Arraf encouraged the audience to research the conflict, form their own opinions, and get involved with finding a solution.

“We need that little bit of hope,” she said.

AP: IOF Soldier suspended after forcing Palestinians to act as human shields

Cooperation between Research Journalism Initiative and the International Solidarity Movement in publicizing video footage of Israeli soldiers forcing Palestinians to be human shields leads to a rare case of action against IOF officer

IDF suspends officer over troops’ use of Palestinians as human shields
By The Associated Press 13 April 2007

The Israel Defense Forces has suspended the commander of an operation in which troops ordered two Palestinian youths in the West Bank to stand in front of their vehicle to protect it from stones thrown by locals, the army spokesman’s office said Friday.

Following the incident in which IDF soldiers apparently made prohibited use of civilians, GOC Central Command Yair Naveh ordered the suspension of the commander of the mission from all operational activity, in addition to the ongoing investigation into the matter, the IDF statement said.

Additionally, the chief military counsel has ordered a military police investigation into the incident, the statement said.

The footage was filmed by a foreign activist in the course of a raid on the home of a wanted militant in Nablus. During the operation, troops damaged the house, but the fugitive was not inside.

Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti denounced the suspension as window-dressing.

“They are treating it as an isolated incident,” he said. “The problem is
systematic and … they (troops) continued the practice despite the court order,” he said.

Human rights groups say the use of civilians in military operations has dropped sharply since the Supreme Court banned it outright in 2005, but has not ceased altogether.

The landmark Supreme Court ruling was prompted by an outcry over the army’s widespread practice, in a 2002 West Bank offensive, of forcing Palestinian civilians to approach fugitives’ hideouts.

The army, which launched the offensive following a rash of suicide bombings, defended the practice at the time, saying it kept civilians out of harm’s way and encouraged militants to surrender peacefully. And it says it never allowed troops to use civilians for cover during battles.

But in August 2002, a 19-year-old Palestinian student was killed in a gunfight that erupted after he was forced to knock on the door of a building where a fugitive was hiding.

See previous story and video HERE

YNet: Peretz to order evacuation of settler-occupied Hebron house

Peretz to order evacuation of Hebron house
by Hanan Greenberg, YNet, 11 April 2007

Defense Minister Amir Peretz on Tuesday evening instructed Major-General Yosef Mishlav, coordinator of the government activities in the territories, to evacuate settlers who took over a house in the West Bank city of Hebron about three weeks ago.

Peretz issued the order following an evaluation by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, according to which the house was illegally occupied.

The Hebron Jewish Settlement Committee said Mazuz’ ruling was unsurprising, citing the attorney general’s “known animosity against settlements.”

“Although military and police forces expressed their opinion against evacuating the house in Hebron, we are not surprised by Mazuz’s decision,” the committee added.

The evacuation order is expected to be issued within 24 hours. The settlers have the right to appeal the order, but if their appeal is rejected, security forces will be authorized to remove the settlers from the house.

The defense minister already made up his mind to evacuate the settlers last week, regardless of whether they possessed the licenses and documents proving their ownership of the house.

The decision is based on a clause according to which the settlers must have the defense minister’s authorization to stay in the disputed house, which they do not have.


Hebron house on the night of the takeover (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

Peretz was harshly criticized over his decision to evacuate the house, but after receiving legal approval in a meeting with the attorney general on Tuesday evening, he decided to issue the order by Wednesday.

Defense establishment sources believe that an appeal will delay the evacuation. They added that even if the settlers lose the appeal, specific plans regarding an evacuation operation need to be drawn up, such that the implementation of the order will take time.

It is expected that the police, similarly to the recent evacuation of Homesh, will be undertaken by police, as the IDF is still in the midst of widespread military exercises.

The dispute over the house

Three weeks ago, some 300 yeshiva students and youths entered a Palestinian home near Hebron.

The settlers said that they had legal ownership papers for the house, which is located near the road linking Kiryat Arba and the Cave of the Patriarchs (Abraham’s burial site) in Hebron.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Fais Rajabi claimed he was the legal owner of the house. Rajabi said he had purchased the house some 15 years ago and planned to begin inhabiting it next week with his three wives and 22 children.

Rajabi said he bought the house from four brothers who had inherited it and that he has been renovating it since he made the purchase. The house is his life’s work, he said.