Category: In the Media - Page 87 - International Solidarity Movement

France ‘will recognize’ Palestinian state

08 December 2010 | PressTV

France has declared that it will recognize a free and independent Palestinian state based on borders before the 1967 war, becoming the first European nation to do so.

fazaeli-fatemeh20101208071713467 — After Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, France has now declared that it will recognize a free and independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.

Bernard Valero, a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that Paris agrees with the formation of a Palestinian state based on the exchange of land between Israel and the Palestinians.

Valero also expressed hope that peace talks between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel will resume.

During the past week, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay have all sent letters to acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas, declaring that they recognize a free and independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.

Human rights activists and international bodies are meanwhile vying for the United Nations membership for the Palestinian state.

The activists believe that Palestine already meets the required criteria for joining the world body.

Israel has protested the recent recognitions, claiming that the move is against the spirit of the Mideast talks.

Tel Aviv accuses the Latin American nations of ignoring the 2003 Middle East roadmap for peace, which said that a Palestinian state could be established through dialogue, but not through unilateral measures.

This is while the international community widely backs Palestinian demands for a state in most of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem), all territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.

The recent developments come only weeks after Tel Aviv announced that it would not halt its plan for constructing over 1,300 new settler units in East al-Quds and a further 800 units in the northern occupied West Bank.

Israel’s decision has been condemned by the PA, the European Union, the United States and Russia.

In clear defiance to international criticism, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also stated that it considers al-Quds its capital.

The resumption of the illegal construction work has put a halt to direct talks between Israel and the PA, which began in early September after a 20-month break.

The Palestinians say that the settlement activities are being carried out to prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East al-Quds as its future capital.

IDF resumes use of prohibited tear gas canisters

8 December 2010 | Ha’aretz, Chaim Levinson

The canisters, which are used to disperse demonstrations in the West Bank, have been responsible for serious injuries and at least one death

Israel Defense Forces soldiers recently resumed the use of prohibited tear gas canisters to disperse demonstrations in the West Bank.

These tear gas grenades, which are in effect 40 mm rounds with a range of 250 meters, were responsible for numerous serious injuries and at least one death. In March 2009, the U.S. peace activist Tristan Anderson was hit in the head by one of these canisters while demonstrating against the West Bank separation barrier in Na’alin. Anderson was critically injured and was hospitalized in a minimally responsive state for several months after the incident. He has recovered some physical and mental functions. In April 2009, Bassam Abu Rahma, of Bil’in, died immediately after being hit in the chest by a tear gas grenade. The incident is still under IDF investigation.

After several human rights organizations protested to the military advocate general, use of the extended-range tear gas canister was banned by the IDF and stocks were removed from weapons depots. Haaretz reported six months ago that in a training day on crowd dispersal held at the General Staff command several officers expressed objection to the ban. They said that that using the shorter-range canisters put soldiers in greater danger and put them in closer range of rocks thrown by demonstrators.

Last month, IDF forces resumed their use of the extended-range tear gas grenades, despite their prohibition. They were used to disperse the demonstrations held every Friday in the village of Nebi Salah, between Salafiya and Ramallah, which end with participants hurling rocks at the soldiers and at vehicles plying the road to the settlement of Neve Tzuf. Two weeks ago, one of these canisters smashed the leg of one of the demonstrators. A video from November 12 shows tear gas coming out of the canister as it lay on the ground.

On Thursday, soldiers from the Carmeli reserve brigade fired extended-range tear gas canisters at teens who threw rocks at them. Several shells bearing the words “extended range” were visible on the ground after the incident.

Police exonerate Israeli officer who shot canister that hit U.S. activist’s eye

28 November 2010 | Haaretz, Chaim Levinson

Art student Emily Henochowicz was seriously injured during a protest against the IDF’s raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in late May.

The Judea and Samaria district police found no criminal wrongdoing in the actions of the Border Police soldiers who left an American art student without an eye after getting hit in the face with a tear gas canister at a protest in Qalandiyah six months ago.

The incident took place on May 31, when Emily Henochowicz, a student at Cooper Union College in New York, took part in a small protest against the Israel Defense Forces raid on the Turkish flotilla to Gaza that morning.

Video footage of the incident shows Henochowicz, who carried a Turkish flag, injured from a tear gas grenade. She lost one of her eyes, and suffered several other fractures. Henochowicz has since returned to the United States to complete her studies.

Following the incident, Henochowicz’s family filed a complaint to the Judea and Samaria district police which is responsible for investigating the operational activity of the Border Police in the West Bank. The family argued the policeman shot the canister directly at the student, against regulations.

Henochowicz submitted her testimony, as did the Border Police batallion commander, company commander and the officer who fired the canister. The Border Police officers claimed the gas canister only hit Henochowicz after it ricocheted off a barricade. The police investigators claimed this version of events is backed by video footage of the incident. The police case has been transferred to the central district attorney to decide whether charges will be filed.

Attorney Michael Sfard, representing the Henochowicz family, slammed the police investigation, dubbing the Judea and Samaria police “a sewage treatment plant for the Border Police.” He said the investigation was negligent, pointing out that investigators did not bother to speak to Haaretz reporter Avi Issacharoff and photographer Daniel Bar-On, who were present at the scene and captured the incident in print and photos.

“Every investigation of killing or injuries ends up emitting this stench of blamelessness,” Sfard said. “This particular case shows that the negligence borders whitewash. Anyone who finds no need to question objective witnesses, who have stated the Border Police officer took direct aim, is obstructing the investigation and is as good as confessing to having no interest in finding the truth.”

When reached for comment, police would only say the case was now with the district attorney’s office.

Wave of demolitions in Jerusalem, Jordan Valley and South Hebron

25 November 2010 | ICHAD & Al Jazeera
Following the demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley yesterday, this morning the Civil Administration accompanied by large Army and Border Police forces demolished a mosque in the Jordan Valley and several structures in the South Hebron Hills.

Yesterday the Ministry of Interior demolished a Palestinian home in A Thuri, East Jerusalem, displacing a family of 7 including 4 children. The family had been living in their 60m/sq home for more than 8 years and were unsuccessful in years of court battles to resist the demolition. Settlers moved into another Palestinian home close-by on the Mount of Olives after a Palestinian family lost court battles to remain in their home and were evicted from the premises 3 years ago. A new court ruling this week gave the green-light to the settler take-over.

Today Civil Administration representatives along with armed border police forces destroyed a mosque in the East Tubas Bedouin village in the Jordan Valley, following the demolition of 4 structures displacing a family of 12 yesterday in the neighbouring village of Abu Al Ajaj. The recent escalation in the Jordan Valley comes after a spate of settler aggression over the last month amid attempts by the Massu’a settlement to annex adjacent lands from the Abu Al Ajaj community, in the Al Jiftlik area.

Jordan Valley Solidarity have requested volunteer assistance both with recovery and salvage from the recent demolitions, as well as to provide accompaniment for local communities at risk of settler violence. For further details visit Jordan Valley Solidarity.

Earlier this week a Palestinian family was forcibly evicted from their home by settlers in Jabal Mukabber, East Jerusalem, and the Bedouin village of Al Arakib in the Negev was demolished for the seventh time.

Settlers move into house after Israeli police evict Palestinian family

23 November 2010 | The Guardian

Family of 14 driven out of house in Jabel Mukaber, an Arab neighbourhood targeted by ideologically motivated settler activists.

Jewish settlers today moved into a house in East Jerusalem after Israeli police evicted a Palestinian family of 14 and removed all their possessions.

The move will dismay US officials who are striving to discourage settler activity in East Jerusalem in an attempt to restart the stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Armed police arrived early this morning in the area of Jabel Mukaber, a new target for ideologically driven settler activists, following a court ruling that ownership of the house was now in Jewish hands. Three removal trucks took away the family’s belongings as they watched from a neighbour’s house.

Scores of heavily armed police surrounded the area, initially refusing to let non-residents through makeshift checkpoints.

At the property, several muscular Israeli men refused to identify themselves or explain what they were doing. One, who had carried two flak jackets inside, said: “This is a private home. Nothing is happening here. Have a good day.” The sound of drilling and hammering could be heard while on ground outside the house men equipped with bolt-cutters measured up heavy-duty steel window-shields.

Fadi Kareem, 21, a member of the evicted family, said: “They came when I was asleep. Police came with loaded weapons aiming them at us, and told us to get out. We knew it was coming but had no warning of today. We knew settlers wanted to take over the place.”

Asked how he felt, he said: “I can’t even speak.”

A neighbour, Raid Kareem, 36, said the newcomers were the first Jewish settlers in the area. “It’s not good, it’s a problem,” he said. “Now they will bring in security. My children won’t be able to play on the street. My son is already scared of the police.”

Anti-settlement activists at the scene claimed that Elad, an organisation that finances Jewish settlement in Arab neighbourhoods of Jerusalem, was behind the purchase of the house.

The Kareem family claim the house was inherited by five siblings following the death of the owner, one of whom sold his stake to Wohl Investments, a company said to be a front for Elad. Other signatures to the sale were forged, they say. An Israeli court ruled the sale was legal.

Police spokesman Micky Roseneld said that the contents of the house had been removed on a court order “based on the fact that the house was sold by an Israeli-Arab family to a Jewish family”. The family had not been in the house at the time, he added. Their possessions were removed in three vans in an operation which took three and a half hours. “The police presence was to prevent any disorder.”

Assaf Sharon, an Israeli activist from the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement, said: “[The settlers] are now closing off the entrances, turning it into a fortress, bringing in guards. It’s the usual drill – this is how they start a new settlement.”

In a statement, he said: “The new settlement is without doubt meant to worsen the tensions between Washington and Jerusalem and set fire to the powder keg that is East Jerusalem. The residents of Jerusalem will pay the price for this despicable co-operation between the fundamentalist wing of the settlers’ movement and the Jerusalem police.”

There are already a number of highly volatile settlements in the heart of Arab neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, such as in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan. These are orchestrated by politically motivated activists, and are distinct from big Jewish settlements in the east of the city, although all are illegal under international law. East Jerusalem was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day war and later annexed in a move not recognised internationally.

The US has made clear its disapproval of any expansion of Jewish presence in East Jerusalem. The issue has become a stumbling block for the resumption of talks. The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, wants Barack Obama to exempt in writing East Jerusalem from a second temporary freeze on settlement construction. The US is so far refusing to do so.