Israeli Defense Force soldiers abducted two Palestinian shepherds from their fields today near the Israeli settlement outpost Avigail.
The shepherds, Usef Ibrahim Abed Mur, of Imneizel, and Muhammed Jihad Halil Abu Aram, of Qawawis, were grazing on Palestinian land. The arrests occurred after Yacov Dalia, a settler from the area invited soldiers onto the land and argued that the land is owned by the State of Israel.
Soldiers arrested Ibrahim at approximately 11:00 am, and Jihad at 3:30 PM. The soldiers blindfolded and took the shepherds without warning, and without allowing them time to secure their flocks. Ibrahim was grazing by himself, and a shepherd from the Palestinian village of Jinba collected his sheep for him. Both detainees were released at 7:00 am Sunday night from the military base at Susiya.
On Sunday, April 14, IDF soldiers detained seven-year-old Maher Ahmed Moussa Ibnes and his cousin, sixteen year old Ndal Samir Moussa Ibnes in nearby Imneizel. At approximately 9:00 am Maher Ahmed Moussa Ibnes was grazing sheep on Palestinian land near the Israeli settlement of Beit Yatir when a stone he threw to move the sheep hit the settlement fence.
At approximately 9:00 am Israeli Defense Forces arrived at the boy’s home. They informed the family that they had surveillance video of the boy throwing a stone at the settlement and insisted on taking him into custody. His cousin, Nadal Samir was allowed to accompany him in the military jeep, which took both boys to the checkpoint at Beit Yatir. The boys’ families, and members of the community of Imneizel, followed on foot to the checkpoint. IDF soldiers informed the family that they would release seven-year-old Ndal Samir, but would arrest his cousin, Nadal Samir, who was not present at the alleged incident, and did not appear on the surveillance tape.
IDF soldiers then blindfolded Nadal Samir and transported him to the military base at Susiya. He was released about two and a half hours later in response to calls from a representative of the Red Cross.
The first such incident in recent days took place on March 18, when soldiers detained five shepherds at Beit Yatir. Soldier took the shepherds, Jihad Ibrahim Mor, Mohamed Halil Suliman Rashid, Ahmed Mohamed Halil Rashid, Ezhaq Ahmed Ali Hrezat and Samir Ahmed Mohamed Hrezat, to the army base at Susiya and released them in the early evening.
For more information, contact:
Heidi Schramm, 0543065897
From Wednesday, April 18 to Friday, April 20, the Palestinian village of Bil’in will hold their 2nd Annual International Conference, highlighting the non-violent struggle against the Israeli Occupation. Palestinian leaders along with Israeli and international spokespersons will reunite in the West Bank to relay a message of international solidarity and non-violent resistance.
Members of the Bil’in Popular Committee have sent out the call and are expecting a huge turnout of registrants. On the first day of the conference, participants will hear from speakers from all over the world, including: Mohammad Khatib and members of the Bil’in Popular Committee; Dr. Ilan Pappe, Israeli author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine; Dr. Azmi Bishara, Palestinian Israeli Knesset member; Stéphane Hessel, former French Ambassador; Amira Hass, author and journalist for Ha’aretz; Sam Bahour, Palestinian activist and entrepreneur; Palestine Information Minister Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, and many more.
Day 2 of the Bil’in Conference will focus on workshops, with a spotlight on non-violent resistance strategies to oppose oppression. Such workshops include: Boycott, divestment and sanctions; Media advocacy; and Direct action—to be led by Palestinian, Israeli, and international volunteers. Additional workshops will be led by Jeff Halper from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions; George Rishmawi, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement; Uri Avnery, Israeli journalist; and more. Scattered throughout the first two days will also be cultural activities, including dabka, films, and fun.
On the 3rd Day of the Conference, Palestinians from Bil’in will manifest the previous two days into a major non-violent, direct action against Israel’s Apartheid Wall, which has been built in the village. Last Friday, Israeli Forces shot 15 activists with rubber-coated steel bullets at the weekly demonstration. The Wall separates Palestinians in Bil’in from their land, stealing 60% of the land and placing it on the other side of the Wall. Since February 2005, Palestinians have been joined by Israeli and international solidarity activists who have been non-violently opposing this illegal confiscation.
For more info regarding registration and accommodation, visit: www.bilin-village.org
For further information, contact:
Mohammad Khatib, 054-557-3285, 02-248-9007
Abdullah, 0599-107-069, 054-729-8210
ISM Media Office, 0599-943-157, 02-297-1824
13 Nations Unite to Spray a Message of Freedom by Martinez
Members of the Campaign to Free Marwan Barghouti and All Prisoners were joined by Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals at Israel’s Apartheid Wall near Qalandya checkpoint today. A large stencil of Marwan Barghouti was pre-sliced as were thirteen additional stencils reading,”Patience Marwan,” all in different languages. The action was held in honor of Palestine’s upcoming Prisoner’s Day, to be held on Tuesday, April 17.
Nearly 40 people arrived for the action. First, prisoner solidarity activists climbed the ladders and spray painted the spliced wood, soon to reveal a silhouette of a familiar image:
Then, thirteen nations were represented as they spray painted “Patience Marwan” in the Palestinian colors. A Palestinian held the stencil for an Israeli as she climbed to the highest peak on the ladder and she held the stencil for him as the black paint attached itself to the Apartheid Wall.
Then residents of South Korea, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Holland, the United States, Japan, Norway, and elsewhere, took their turns, spraying in solidarity a message of freedom– to release Marwan and all of Palestine’s Political Prisoners, currently being held behind bars in Israeli jails.
An Israeli soldier yelled at the spray painters from the Apartheid Tower, but the soldiers remained huddled inside the Wall, and the action continued.
For more information, contact:
ISM Media Office, 0599-943-157
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About Marwan Barghouti’s Case:
In apprehending, detaining and torturing Marwan Barghouti, Israel has violated a number of provisions of international law, not to mention fundamental human rights. The following are the most significant breaches:
Arrest or Abduction
Marwan Barghouti was apprehended in Ramallah, in what is known as ‘Area A,’ which according to the Oslo Accords – signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1993 – falls under Palestinian legal jurisdiction; it is therefore a blatant breach of those Accords.
According to the Oslo Accords – Annex III (PROTOCOL CONCERNING LEGAL MATTERS), Article I:
(item 1) The criminal jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority covers all offenses committed in the areas under its territorial jurisdiction.
(item 5) In the case of an offense committed in the Territory by a
non-Israeli against Israel or an Israeli, the Palestinian Authority shall take measures to investigate and prosecute the case, and shall report to Israel on the result of the investigation and any legal proceedings.
So, even if Israeli is accusing Marwan Barghouti of an offense committed while he is living in Ramallah, it has no legal jurisdiction over him. In view of this, some legal experts view Israel’s apprehension of Barghouti as an act of hostage-taking, or abduction, both illegal under international law.
Furthermore, Barghouti is an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (parliament), and is therefore entitled to parliamentary immunity, which Israel infringed upon in this case.
Torture:
Barghouti was moved to the Israeli detention center, ‘Russian Compound’ (Moscobiya), in Jerusalem, where he was subjected at the hands of his interrogators (from the Israeli General Security Service – GSS) to physical and psychological abuse.
In particular, he has been subjected to sleep deprivation, position abuse (known in Arabic as ‘shabeh’ – for more on this, refer to the Israeli Public Committee Against Torture , and intimidating threats, all of which constitute methods of torture and ill-treatment, which are categorically prohibited by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights -Article 5 UNDHR the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 7) and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Israel is a signatory to these key human rights covenants, and is therefore legally bound by their prohibitions.
Although Israeli law now prohibits torture and the introduction into evidence of tainted confessions, and despite the fact that it provides that public servants who use or direct the use of force against persons for the purpose of extorting a confession of an offense or information relating to an offense are liable to imprisonment, Israeli GSS interrogators still frequently resort to various methods of torture, like those used against Marwan Barghouti, with considerable impunity.
Transfer to Territory of the Occupying State:
On Sunday May 26, 2002, the Israeli authorities transferred Marwan Barghouti to the Petah Tikva Detention Center in Israel proper. This is in clear contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which precisely proscribes the transfer of people under occupation to the territory of the occupier. Article 49 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War Article 49 states that:
Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.
Detention Without Trial:
Despite profuse media reports that Israel has set up a team of twenty legal, intelligence and political experts to prepare an official list of charges against Barghouti, the defense team has yet to be officially notified of any such charges. Effectively, Barghouti has been held since April 15th, 2002, without trial and without charge. This is yet another violation of international law that Israel has committed in this troubling case.
According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Article 10:
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
While Article 11(2) states that:
Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
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About Palestinian Political Prisoners in Israeli Jails (from Mustafa Barghouti’s recent press conference):
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
IOF Invade Ramallah and Trashes Al Bireh Apartment Block from Brighton Palestine, 15 April 2007
At around 11pm last night (Saturday 14th April) a large number of soldiers entered Ramallah and surrounded an apartment block in Al Bireh. The picture above shows an apartment belonging to the family of one of our contacts in Tubas
The residents of apartment block were ordered to crowd into a small room on the bottom floor while soldiers searched the flats. The residents were kept in one room until 5am and were not allowed to have privacy even to breastfeed. The soldiers arrived in jeeps, trucks and Hummvees, as they entered they blew apartment doors off their hinges with explosives despite many homeowners offering them the keys to their front doors. They then sent dogs into the building to herd the sleeping residents out of their flats.
After the soldiers had left residents discovered that intercoms had been smashed, the water containers on the roof broken, the lift trashed and windows broken. One person who rented an apartment in the building found that $3000 dollars had been taken during the search. Another said that at least $4000 worth of damage had been done to his home. One man, a policeman, was arrested. The corridor and adjacent flat where he was arrested were smeared with blood. One man living in the building said that ‘the damage caused to our homes was completely unnecessary, they only do this to take away our dignity.’
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]
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.
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:
