Category: Press Releases

Mourners to protest murder of 10 year old boy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A mass demonstration is planned on Wednesday for the funeral of Ahmed Husan Yousef Mousa, who was shot dead by Israeli forces at approximately 6:00pm today.

The funeral procession and protest will start at Ramallah Hospital at 10am and make it’s way to Ni’lin, the village where Ahmed lived. People will meet at the hospital at 9:30am

Ni’lin is currently under siege with the main entrance to the village sealed off by the Israeli military. The mourners intend to defy the military blockade and bring Ahmed home.

Please Contact – ISM Media Office (English):(970)-2-2971824.
Salah (Arabic): 0599288124

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According to eye witnesses a group of youths attempted to remove coils of razor wire from land belonging to the village. Without warning,
they were fired upon and Ahmed was killed. Israeli newspaper Maariv reported in March that the Israeli authorities have given a new order to border police operating along the apartheid wall surrounding Jerusalem. They can now open fire directly on Palestinians who try to demonstrate near the barrier. But sniping is forbidden if there are Israeli or foreign citizens amongst the demonstrators.

Demonstrations have been held almost every day for the past few weeks in Nil’in against Israel’s Apartheid Wall, declared illegal by the International Court in the Hague in 2004. The wall will deprive the village of almost 2,500 Dunums of agricultural land, and puts the existence of the entire community in doubt.

At least 11 other Palestinians have died protesting against Israeli’s apartheid wall. Their names are:

Mohammad Fadel Hashem Rayan, age 25.
Zakaria MaHmud Salem, age 28.
Abdal Rahman Abu Eid, age 62.
Mohammad Daud Badwan, age 21.
Diaa Abdel Karim Abu Eid, age 24.
Hussain mahmud Awwad Aliyan, age 17.
Islam Hashem Rizik Zhahran, age 14.
Alaa Mohammad Abdel Rahman Khalil, age 14.
Jamal Jaber Ibrahim Assi, age 15.
Odai Mofeed Mahmud Assi, age 14.
Mahayub Nimer Assi, age 15.

10-Year old shot dead at Nil’in

A 10 year old boy called Ahmed Ussam Yusef Mousa was shot dead at approximately 6pm near the Palestinian village of Nil’in. He was shot once in the head at close range with live ammunition.

Pictures courtesy of Activestills

According to eye witnesses a group of youths attempted to remove coils of razor wire from land belonging to the village. Without warning, they were fired upon and Ahmed was killed. Israeli newspaper Maariv reported in March that the Israeli authorities have given a new order to border police operating along the apartheid wall surrounding Jerusalem. They can now open fire directly on Palestinians who try to demonstrate near the barrier. But sniping is forbidden if there are Israeli or foreign citizens amongst demonstrators.

Demonstrations have been held almost every day for the past few weeks as near Nil’in against Israel’s Apartheid Wall, declared illegal by the International Court in the Hague in 2004. The wall will deprive the village of almost 2,500 Dunums of agricultural land, and put the existence of the entirely community in doubt.

The Israeli Army and Border Police have been increasingly ill-disciplined and violent in response to the demonstrations. News came this morning that Israeli Battalion Commander Lt. Col Omri, had been sent on 10 days compulsory leave as a punishment for his conduct at Nil’in. Omri held a 27 year old Palestinian detainee Ashraf Abu Rahma by the shoulder while one of his men shot Abu Rahma with a rubber coated steel bullet at very close range. Abu Rahma was blindfolded and his hands were bound when he was shot in the foot.

At least 11 other Palestinians have died protesting against Israeli’s apartheid wall. Their names are:

Mohammad Fadel Hashem Rayan, age 25.

Zakaria MaHmud Salem, age 28.

Abdal Rahman Abu Eid, age 62.

Mohammad Daud Badwan, age 21.

Diaa Abdel Karim Abu Eid, age 24.

Hussain mahmud Awwad Aliyan, age 17.

Islam Hashem Rizik Zhahran, age 14.

Alaa Mohammad Abdel Rahman Khalil, age 14.

Jamal Jaber Ibrahim Assi, age 15.

Odai Mofeed Mahmud Assi, age 14.

Mahayub Nimer Assi, age 15.

To date, none of the soldiers who killed demonstrators has been prosecuted.

CPT: Israeli settlers attack Palestinian children and internationals on journey home from Summer camp

To learn more about the Christian Peacemaker Teams’ work in Palestine click here

27 July 2008

AT-TUWANI – At 1:50 pm, on Sunday, 27 July at least three Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian children and two internationals as they walked to
their village of Tuba.

The children had been attending summer camp in the village of At-Tuwani. As the fourteen children and two internationals,
from Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), were walking in a valley south of the illegal settlement outpost of Havot Ma’on, one masked settler came down the hill, throwing stones with a slingshot. The children and CPTer Jan Benvie ran ahead, but other settlers were approaching them from the opposite side of the valley. None of the stones thrown by the settlers struck the children, aged between 6 and 15 years old, and they were able to run to safety.

CPTer Joel Gulledge was filming the attack. When the masked settler saw Gulledge with the video camera, he began directing his stones at Gulledge. The settler hit Gulledge in the leg with a rock and he was unable to run. The settler then ran to him, wrested the camera from him, and began beating him with a rock and the camera. After that, the settler ran off with the camera.

On 22 July, the military did not escort the children. Only seven children were willing to risk walking alone to At-Tuwani. The children informed CPT that at least eight other children did not attend the summer camp because they were too afraid to walk without a military escort. On the morning of 23 July, the army again refused to escort the children. The children were chased by three settlers, one of whom was masked and
carrying a stick, while they walked unescorted to the summer camp. On 26 July, a military personnel informed internationals that the army would no longer provide an escort for the children, who were waiting for the army to arrive while four settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement outpost of Havot Ma’on shouted at the children. The personnel would not give the name and brigade of the commander refusing to provide the escort. When the international explained the dangerous situation for the children, the military personnel said, “I don’t think the settlers will attack the children.”

In October 2004, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian school children and internationals in the same area as the attack on the 27th. Two internationals were hospitalized and, after international media coverage of the attack, the Israeli Knesset recommended that the Israeli military provide a daily escort for the children to go to and from school.

Give ‘Free Gaza Movement’ thumbs up!

By Debbie Menon

Edward Said reminded the world shortly before his death in 2003 that it is easier for the West to demonise the Palestinian – through ‘the vicious media and government campaign against Arab society, culture, history and mentality’ – than actually attempt to humanize what they don’t fully understand. The Gaza imprisonment in the summer of 2005, paraded as an Israeli generous withdrawal, produced the Hamas and Islamic Jihad homemade missile attack and capture of an Israeli Occupation soldier. Even before the capture of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli army bombarded indiscriminately the Gaza Strip.

Putting a human face to the Palestinian people and explicitly saying Israeli policies towards Palestinians are immoral should be acceptable in Western democratic mainstream news media. “It is Not!” Why is it controversial to advocate Palestinian human rights and an independent homeland? After all, the Jews already have Israel. It is time for radical thinking of the conflict.

“Palestinians count on us internationals to help,” explained successful businesswoman Greta Berlin, whose leg is scarred by a wound from an Israeli rubber-coated steel bullet. “They ask us why the U.S. is paying the Israelis to bomb them. I told them I would come back and tell every American I could what is truly happening. I’m mad and sad, and I don’t know what else to do.”

Now, she and a small group of human rights watchers have put to sea in small boats! They started a couple of years ago to put together a “flotilla” of boats, crewed by well-known names, who would land on the shores of Gaza, demonstrating the sovereignty of Gaza in defiance of the Israeli blockade. This is the culmination of their efforts.

More than 40 of them from 16 countries, amongst them Prof. Norman Finkelstein and Prof. Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, Anne Montgomery, a retired 81-year-old nun, Hedy Epstein, herself a Holocaust survivor and several others who wait until the launch to have their names announced, are leaving in August to break Israel’s siege of Gaza. They will sail in two boats to challenge Israel’s authority over an occupied people. Many have been working on this project for two years, and have risen close to $225,000 to buy the boats and set sail. Here is their ad that will be shown in the Middle East in the next few weeks. It’s on www.freegaza.org and YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex0v5BDVFHk

They have set up a list serve used exclusively to keep friends and members of the press informed of the voyage of the two boats, the S.S. FREE GAZA and the S.S. LIBERTY (in honor of the 34 sailors murdered by Israel in 1967 while on board the USS Liberty) during their journey. If you are interested in following their progress, go to lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/gazafriends. They will be posting press releases, updates and announcements there.

You can also watch the voyage in real time at www.freegaza.org after August 5 as they set sail from Cyprus. Give the ‘Free Gaza Movement’ thumbs up! And, stay tuned!

(Debbie Menon: debbie.menon@yahoo.com is an independent writer based in Dubai.)

Support Bil’in’s historic court case

Dear Friends,

As you may already know, the village of Bil’in recently announced the launch of an unprecedented legal action against two Canadian companies, Green Park International Inc. and Green Mount International Inc., charging them with war crimes. The case has been filed in the Quebec Superior Court in Montreal, Canada.


What you can do to show your solidarity with this historic action:
The village of Bil’in is calling on supporters from all over the world to join them in solidarity actions during the court case. The village also needs your help setting up and financing a legal fund to fight the court case, which currently is in need of approximately $50,000.

Please consider doing any one or more of the following:

* Donate directly to the cause through Paypal – click on ‘send money online’. The email to send it to is donate.bilin@gmail.com. (For more information on how to send a tax deductable donation in the US, contact palreports@gmail.com)

* Circulate and publicize a petition of support for the village of Bil’in

* Hold a fundraising party for the Bil’in case in your home or organization

* Add this link to your blog, website, and organization website so visitors can donate to the fund.

* Hold demonstrations of support outside the court in Montreal, and in the city at large.

* Hold demonstrations where the companies are registered.

* Write letters to the editor of local, regional, and national papers, expressing outrage that Canadian companies and Canadian citizens are involved in war crimes.

Bil’in charges that these companies have violated both international law and Canadian domestic law by acting as agents of Israel, illegally constructing residences and other buildings in the West Bank, a territory internationally recognized as illegally occupied due to an act of war in 1967. According to the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, an occupying power may not transfer its civilian population into territory that it has occupied as a result of war. Canada has similar prohibitions under its Canadian Geneva Conventions Act and its Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act. Moreover, the Canadian statutes have jurisdiction over all its citizens everywhere, regardless of where in the world the offence has been committed.

Bil’in is seeking an immediate Order from the Canadian Supreme Court that these companies halt their illegal construction and provide punitive damages and other relief to the village. Upon obtaining such an Order in Canada, Bil’in intends to petition the Israeli Court to enforce the Canadian Court Order in Israel and the West Bank.

This landmark court case aims to bring international companies active in illegal settlement construction to justice. Bil’in’s case is strong, and the lawsuit will foreground the political issue of settlement colonialism as well as the legal responsibility of perpetrators abroad, regardless of the case’s actual outcome. However, if the outcome of the case is positive, other companies in other countries could be dealt with in a similar manner.

To obtain background information on Bil’in please visit www.bilin-village.org/english/discover-bilin/