Category: Press Releases

Action Alert: tell Egypt to open Rafah crossing

19 February 2011 | Gazan human rights organizations

The International Solidarity Movement has received a request from Palestinians in Gaza that concerned people contact the Egyptian embassies to ask them to reopen the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza. They have prepared a statement which you can sign and fax to your embassy in order to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis caused by the closing of the crossing. Below is the email correspondence, and a link to a document containing the statement.

“Please read this letter from Gaza and try and get an organisation/civil society group to endorse it or sign it individually and send it on to your Egyptian embassies. It’s about the continuing Rafah crossing that seems to be the last thing on the Egyptian agenda now. Thousands of Palestinians are stranded at the Cairo airport, and all over the world. Some have gone on hunger strike and the last decision taken by the deposed government was to ban Palestinians from renting in Egypt. You could also send the letter to your local Member of Parliament or representative.

We call on you to sign the attached letter and fax it to the Egyptian embassy where you are based. If you don’t have a fax, please email. Obviously in light of recent events recommencing the movement of goods and people through both directions of the Rafah border with Gaza is a priority, given the devastating effects of the blockade of the Gaza Strip now inside its fourth year. Demand immediate action.

Best,
Palestinians in Gaza

The London Fax number for the Egyptian Embassy in UK is: 020 7491 1542
TEL: 020 7499 3304/2401
The Washington Fax number for the Egyptian Embassy in US is: 202.244.4319, 202.244.5131
TEL: 202.895.5400
The Dublin Fax number for the Egyptian Embassy in Ireland is: 00353-1-6683745
TEL: 00353-1-6606718

Some other Egyptian Embassy contact details can be found here:
http://egypt.embassyhomepage.com/”

“Open the Rafah crossing” letter

Drug store set on fire and classes suspended in school heavily damaged by Israeli bombing

09 February 2011 | Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the targeting of civilian establishments in the Gaza Strip by aircraft of the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) early this morning. Ten Palestinians, including two women and a child, were wounded as a result of the bombing. In addition, a factory was destroyed, a drug store belonging to the Ministry of Health in Gaza was set on fire, and a school and wood warehouses were partially damaged. PCHR calls upon the international community, including the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth 1949 Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war, to exert pressure on IOF to ensure respect for the provisions of the Convention, especially those relating to the prohibition of the destruction of civilian property and objects and to the special protection ensured by the Convention to medical facilities and medical personnel.

According to PCHR investigations, at approximately 00:05, an IOF warplane fired a missile at Hashem Hetto Sons Plastic Company. The Company, which is owned by Mohammed Hashem Rabah Hetto, 23, and which is under construction is located on Salah Addin Street, east of al-Tufah neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. It covers an area of 1,200 m2. The bombing resulted in the total destruction of the company, the destruction of a Renault model 1998 carrying registration plate no. 489591 which is owned by Hetto, and in the destruction of a Del crane model 1995.

Further, heavy damages were caused to a drug store belonging to the Ministry of Health, one of the main drug stores belonging to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. The store, which covers an area of 700 m2 and which contains drugs and medical supplies, is leased from its owner Abdul Karim Mohammed Abdul Karim Abu Ras, 26. The wall, gate and ceiling of the store were heavily damaged, the store was set on fire, and drugs were damaged. It should be noted that the store contained large quantities of drugs and medical supplies, most notably medical aid supplied by foreign delegations that visited Gaza during the few past months. Dr. Munir al-Barsh, Director General of the Pharmacy Department at the Ministry of Health in Gaza, stated that the destruction of the store would result in an exacerbation of the serious shortage in drugs and medical supplies sustained by the health sector. He added that 183 drugs and 190 items of medical supplied are currently in short supply.

This morning, a PCHR fieldworker visited the store with members of the Committee for Supporting the Health Sector which is made up of the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) and human rights organizations from the Gaza Strip. Smoke was still rising from drug and medical supplies containers inside the store. The PCHR fieldworker observed the damages caused to the walls, the main gate and the ceiling of the store. In view of the shortage in drugs and medical supplies suffered by the health sector, the Committee for Supporting the Health Sector had organized a field visit three weeks earlier to the above-mentioned store and to other drug stores in the Gaza Strip.

The same IOF strike also inflicted partial damages on a factory belonging to the Oda Textile Company. The factory, which is owned by Jawad Mohammed Ibrahim Oda, 48, covers an area of 1,200 m2. Some machines and walls in the factory were damaged.

In addition, Nour al-Maaref Standard School, a private school owned by Sami Alian Abu Eida, 47, was damaged. Windows, doors and classrooms in the school were entirely destroyed. The ceiling and the eastern walls of the school were partially damaged. The administration of the school was forced to suspend classes from today, Wednesday, until next Sunday. The school, which covers an area of 6,000 m2, provides educational services to 625 students and employs 60 teachers.

Furthermore, partial damages were caused to four wood warehouses. These warehouses are owned by Mjahed Mahmoud Rateb al-Sousi, 44. They cover an area of 1,700 m2 in total. Walls and furniture were damaged as shrapnel from the bombing and glass entered the warehouses.

Eleven civilian locals, including four children, were lightly wounded or suffered from shock due to the panic experienced as a result of the bombing.

PCHR condemns the IOF’s indiscriminate attacks in the Gaza Strip and expresses its surprise at the conspiracy of silence practiced by the international community towards war crimes committed by IOF against civilian establishments, including medical and educational establishments and civilian property owned by Gaza’s civilian population. PCHR is also astonished by the role played by the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which effectively encourages IOF to commit serious violations and war crimes against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). PCHR poses the question whether these Parties actually exert efforts to ensure States Parties’ respect of the Convention.

In view of the above, PCHR calls:

1. Upon the international community to promptly and urgently take action in order to put an end to the serious violations committed by IOF against Palestinian civilians. PCHR particularly calls for deterrent measures against IOF in order to ensure respect for all the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

2. For an immediate conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 in order to seriously discuss the application of the Convention to the OPT, ensure its respect and promptly take action to activate Articles 1, 2, 146 and 147 with the aim to ensure the State of the Israel’s respect of the Convention by the.

3. For the application of the provisions of Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations to the State of the Israel with the aim of ensuring international security and peace and to ensure immediate international protection to the Palestinian civilians in the OPT against flagrant violations committed by IOF against the Fourth Geneva Convention.

4. Upon the European Union to activate Article 2 of the Euro-Israeli Association Agreement, which makes Israel’s respect for the International Human Rights Law and the International Humanitarian Law as a condition for economic cooperation.

5. For the urgent provision of humanitarian and medical aid. PCHR points to the deterioration of economic and living conditions of the Palestinian people in the OPT as a result of the ongoing closure and the continued attacks against Palestinian property.

Dismantling Impunity: Campaign to help Palestinian victims of army abuse

9 February 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

The Popular Struggle Coordination Committee is proud to announce a new campaign, the “Dismantling Impunity Fund”. This fund will directly challenge Israel’s culture of impunity surrounding the murder and maiming of Palestinians. The fund will be managed by a committee that will include representatives of Popular Committees and Palestinian human rights organizations.

The Abu Rahmah family will be the fund’s first recipient. The family has lost two of their children, Bassem and Jawaher, to Israeli military violence. Both were murdered while nonviolently protesting Israel’s separation wall, built on their village’s land. The family has filed a civil suit in Israeli courts demanding compensation for Bassem Abu Rahmah’s 2009 murder, in which he was shot in the chest from 40 meters with a high-velocity tear gas canister.

The court is demanding 25,000 shekels ($6,700) as a deposit from the Abu Rahmah family. According to a loophole in Israeli law, Palestinians can be considered “foreigners”. This enables the court to demand an upfront deposit large enough to cover the defense’s legal fees, should the prosecution lose the case. If the family does not submit the money, the court will close the case without hearing it.

Through this loophole, Israel has supported its culture of impunity. Palestinians from the occupied Palestinian territories are effectively prohibited from filing civil suits against Israel, the Israeli army or individual soldiers. Financial resources are needed to combat this loophole and enable Palestinians to seek legal redress.

Bassem Abu Rahmah was shot in the chest with the same type of canister that critically injured US citizen Tristan Anderson one month prior.After conducting an extensive investigation into Abu Rahmah’s death, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem demanded a criminal investigation be launched. B’Tselem’s findings proved that Abu Rahmah was shot in direct violation of open-fire regulations while acting in a nonviolent manner. Despite video footage and expert testimony to corroborate this, no one has yet been punished or even charged with Bassem’s killing. A civil case is now the option left for the Abu Rahmah family to seek legal redress.

Mohammed Khatib, Coordinator, Popular Struggle Coordination Committee: “From our experience with the Israeli legal system, we do not expect justice from the occupier’s courts. But we do know that a court case brings to light things that the occupation would rather keep in the shadows. By suing, victims of Israeli violence would be extracting both a monetary and political price for the crimes that Israel has committed against them. It is essential to challenge the prevailing culture of impunity, in which Israeli soldiers and settlers murder and maim Palestinians while going unpunished and unquestioned.”

Donate Electronically to the “Dismantling Impunity Fund” by following the link and checking the “Dismantling Impunity Fund” box.

Donate by check: Write checks to “Alliance for Global Justice”, with “CfJS-Dismantling Impunity Fund” in the memo line. Mail checks to:
Alliance for Global Justice
1247 “E” Street,SE
Washington, DC 20003

Israeli settlers chase Palestinian children after Israeli military fails to provide escort

08 February 2011 | Operation Dove & Christian Peacemaker Team

At-Tuwani, South Hebron Hills, West Bank – On the afternoon of 7 February 2011, three Israeli settlers from Havat Ma’on outpost chased a group of 12 Palestinian schoolchildren who were walking home from school. The Israeli military had failed to arrive to escort the schoolchildren, forcing the children to take a longer path without the army’s escort.

Shortly after the schoolchildren and Christian Peacemaker Teams(CPT) volunteers set out on the path towards Tuba and Maghayir al-Abeed villages, Israeli settlers, two of whom were masked, emerged from the grouping of trees which encompasses Havat Ma’on and began moving towards the children. Upon seeing the settlers, the children turned and sprinted to distance themselves from the settlers. Several children began crying and screaming in fear as they ran away from the settlers, one young girl began shaking uncontrollably as soon as she stopped running from the settlers.

The Israeli Border Police, who were located on an adjacent hill for the duration of the incident, arrived at the scene after the Palestinian children had safely distanced themselves from the settlers. The Border Police stopped and spoke with the settlers, two of whom remained masked during the entire conversation with the authorities.

The Border Police then approached the edge of At-Tuwani village where the children, CPT volunteers, and Palestinian adults had gathered. Border Police officers spoke with a CPT volunteer and an At-Tuwani resident, seeking to understand what had happened. After hearing their accounts but refusing to hear the role the settlers had played, the officers suggested that the Palestinian children, internationals, and At-Tuwani villagers were the ones causing problems, rather than the settlers.

Before the children had set out on the longer path without the military escort, CPT volunteers had called the Israeli military four times inquiring as to the whereabouts of the escort. During CPT’s final call to the military – more than 30 minutes after their initial call – the military dispatch office said that they hadn’t yet called the soldiers, who were to provide the escort, because they were too busy and had more important duties to perform.

Operation Dove and Christian Peacemaker Teams have maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.

Action Alert: End US tear gas & military aid to Egypt, Tunisia & Israel

6 February 2011 | Adalah NY

Egyptians, Americans and people worldwide have been outraged in the last days by the photos, twitter messages and news articles showing that the tear gas canisters fired by Egyptian police at peaceful, pro-democracy protesters in Egypt are “Made in USA.” While we are seeing these pictures now from Egypt, we have seen similar ones in recent months from Tunisia and Palestine. All three places have had in common repressive governments, armed by US companies with tear gas and other weapons. All three have used extreme violence against unarmed protesters who were demanding basic human rights, maiming and even killing protesters with impunity.

In all three places, Combined Systems Inc., a US company based in Jamestown, Pennsylvania, is providing the tear gas – often under its brand-name CTS, an acronym for Combined Tactical Systems – that these governments are employing to crush protest, deny human rights and cling to power.

Israel, Egypt and Tunisia’s CSI tear gas may have been supplied under the US’s massive military aid to these governments, despite those governments’ clear records of severe human rights abuses. Israel receives $3 billion in US military aid annually, including $1.85 million of “tear gasses and riot control agent” from 2007-2008. Egypt receives $1.3 billion in military aid annually, and Tunisia has received an average of around $15 million annually. At a minimum the US State Department has reviewed and approved the sale of US-made tear gas to those governments.

WRITE NOW to the US State Department and tell them to stop using US tax dollars to provide tear gas and other weapons, and to stop approving military sales to repressive governments like Egypt, Israel and Tunisia that use US equipment and weapons to deny basic human rights.

WRITE NOW to executives from CSI and from their major investors Point Lookout Capital Partners and the Carlyle Group, demanding that CSI stop providing tear gas that is used by repressive governments like Egypt, Tunisia and Israel to deny the right to protest.

Egypt: As one example, Agence France Press reported on January 28th that, “Dozens of the canisters made by Combined Tactical Systems in Jamestown, Pennsylvania, were fired at crowds on one Cairo street on Friday, littering the road surface along with rubble and spent shotgun cartridges. Many protesters have been injured through tear gas inhalation and by being hit by the canisters themselves, with the security forces sometimes firing them straight at demonstrators.” Human Rights Watch staff reportedseeing dead protesters in Alexandria with “massive head wounds from tear gas canisters we [HRW staff] were told had been fired directly at their heads at close range.”

Tunisia: According to CNN, “The photograph posted in Tunisia was of a 40 mm riot CS smoke projectile, made by a company called Combined Systems Inc., which describes itself as a ‘tactical weapons company’ and is based in Jamestown, Pennsylvania…. Its warning label reads: ‘Danger: Do not fire directly at person(s). Severe injury or death may result.’ That warning is apparently not always followed. Lucas Mebrouk Dolega died in Tunisia on January 17, three days after being hit by a tear gas grenade at close range. The 32-year-old was a photographer for the European PressPhoto Agency.

Palestine: In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in 2009 Israeli soldiers fired extended range CSI canisters directly at Bassem Abu Rahmah from the West Bank village of Bil’in, killing him, and directly at US citizen Tristan Anderson in the village of Ni’ilin, seriously inuring him. Bassem’s sister Jawaher Abu Rahmah died on January 1, 2011 after she was overcome by tear gas at a protest in Bil’in the day before. CSI tear gas canisters littered the ground in the village of Bil’in after the protest. In May, 2010, US citizen Emily Henochowicz was shot directly in the face by an Israeli soldier with a tear gas canister, causing the loss of her eye. For more detailed information on CSI and Israel’s use of tear gas against Palestinians, Click Here.

Email the United States Department of State and Combined Systems Inc. to demand an end to the shipments of tear-gas to be used against unarmed demonstrators.