Jordan Valley Isolated

by Jamil Husni,

After having finished a hard-working day in the area, three Palestinian Water Authority employees reached al-Hamra checkpoint in the Jordan Valley, on their way to Ramallah. The Israeli army refused to let them through, claiming that their permits are for West Bank checkpoints only.

Othman Sheikha, the wells’ observer in the West Bank said of his arguement with an Israeli soldier: “He demanded special permits to enter the Jordan Valley, other than the permits we have.”

His colleague, who seemed to be less nervous than him said “in order to reach a village or agricultural area in the Jordan Valley, you have to prove to the Israeli army that you are not a West Bank resident.”

He added: “Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley are one issue,” referring to Israeli intentions to dominate these two vital areas.

Israel prevents all West Bank residents from entering the Jordan Valley under security pretexts. This is a real yet unofficial Israeli policy implemented by the army in an area they call the eastern isolation area.

“The next goal for Israel is the Jordan Valley or 30% of the West Bank. There are procedures that Israel does in secret and in public to annex the Jordan Valley and to isolate it from the rest of the West Bank” says Hami al-Masri, a political analyst.

Issa Zboon, director of Geographic Information Systems Unit in the Applied Researches Institute (Areej), said that the area of the eastern isolated zone, from the eastern mountains to the Jordan River, is about 1555 km². According to him, Israel has in effect completed its isolation of the Jordan Valley at the beginning of last year. Even before that, all West Bank residents were forbidden to enter the area due to a law commonly known as the “Identity Law”.

This law, which is enforced by Israeli soldiers at all checkpoints surrounding the isolation zone, forbids non-residents of the Jordan Valley from entering the isolation zone. The soldiers would check the ID card of each passenger to make sure non-residents stayed out, hence the name of this effective policy.

Israel has never issued such a law officially, and always claimed that the procedures in the Jordan Valley are security procedures and not politically motivated. Practically one third of the West Bank is out of bounds for Palestinians.

Zboon said the isolated zone constitutes 27% of the West Bank area, which totals 5561km². Another 10% of the West Bank is in the western isolation zone, behind the wall. The link between the eastern and the western isolation zones, which the Israeli government is trying to establish, is a strip of land taking up to 6% of the West Bank.

“This is stated in the Kadima project about unilateral disengagement and drawing final borders of Israel within 10 years.” Zboon clarified.

“Israel is not wasting time creating facts on the ground, thus making negotiations impossible.”

The checkpoints of the Jordan Valley are so impressive and thorough it gives the impression of crossing the Green line. They are very similar to those on border crossings between countries.

Dr. Ayman Daraghmeh, a PLC member from Tubas, said what Israel doing in the Jordan Valley area has “obvious political goals.”

“There is no Palestinian state without the Jordan Valley borders and real geographic continuity,” said al-Masri.

Palestinians depend on the Jordan Valley for their food and water. The area underwent during the initial years of the Israeli occupation a massive settlement campaign, termed by occupation authorities the “Israeli agricultural settlement”.

JPost: “UK protesters try to hurt Israeli flower sales”

by Ellis Weintraub and Laura Rheinheimer, February 13th

To hurt the high-volume sales of Israeli flowers on Valentine’s Day in the United Kingdom, three anti-Israel protesters chained themselves to a fence over the weekend outside the distribution site of Carmel-Agrexco in Middlesex. Police arrested them.

The UK-based Boycott Israeli Goods Campaign launched the protest on Saturday as part of a five-day campaign against the sale of Israeli flowers.

According to Abraham Daniel, director of the Flower Growers’ Association in Israel, Valentine’s Day should bring in NIS 11.5 million in sales. This amounts to 10 percent of the NIS 115m. Israel expects to export to England this year.

The boycott group hopes to diminish these sales, according to group spokesman Tom Hayes. They aim to damage Carmel-Agrexco’s reputation, negatively impact profits and lobby supermarkets to not sell Israeli flowers, he said.

No stores have agreed to the boycott yet, Hayes told The Jerusalem Post in a telephone interview. But his group remained in contact with several stores, he added.

Saturday afternoon, some 90 demonstrators blocked trucks from leaving Carmel-Agrexco’s Middlesex site. According to Amos Or, Agrexco-UK’s general manager, the protest lasted from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and caused a 30-minute delay.

“It’s a small, noisy group, but the police were well prepared,” he told the Post. Most of the trucks carried Coral strawberries grown by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, he added.

But according to Hayes, the protesters stopped operations for the whole afternoon. His said his group opposed all Israeli companies, but had specifically targeted those with farms in the Jordan Valley, believing they exploit cheap Palestinian labor. He said Palestinians could not develop their own farms in the area because of security checkpoints.

Hayes said his group did not distinguish between flowers grown in the Jordan Valley with those grown elsewhere in Israel.

“We are the Boycott Israeli Goods Campaign, so we are against all Israeli flowers,” he said.

Hayes said his group was against Agrexco for several reasons: It is partially owned by the Israeli government, it operates farms on settlements in the Jordan Valley “at the Palestinians’ expense,” and it “profits from the apartheid.”

He said he based his information on a recent visit to Israel in which he met with workers in the Jordan Valley.

Daniel said only 1%-2% of the flowers grown in the Jordan Valley were exported.

“Most of the flowers from the Jordan Valley are sold in local markets,” he said.

Jordan Valley Regional Council head Dubi Tal said although Palestinians needed permission to enter the area, they were free to work wherever they want. There were “no complaints from outside [organizations] or the Palestinian side,” he said. Palestinians were free to establish farms in the valley, he added.

According to B’Tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli, only Palestinians who are prepared to work on a settlement in the Jordan Valley or those who live there may enter the area.

Michaeli said Palestinians from outside the Jordan Valley sometimes encountered problems accessing land they own in the region.

According Atzmon Meltzer, the general manager of a flower distributor called Aviv, the Jordan Valley exports only 5% of Israel’s total flower exports. Israel grows most of its flowers in the Arava, around Beersheba, the North and the Jezreel Valley, he said. Aviv and a European company hope to buy Agrexco from the government, he added.

Hebron Al Aqsa Mosque Protest Ended by IOF Invasion

by ISM Hebron, February 12th

Today about 800 people demonstrated in central Hebron against the Israeli excavations near the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. A coalition of all the major parties had called for the protest. The demonstrators gathered at 3pm at the al-Hussein mosque where passionate speeches were made. During the whole demonstration slogans were shouted. Flags and banners from a variety of organisations were carried.

The demonstration was supposed to end at checkpoint 56 in the Bab al-Zawiya neighbourhood. However, the demo ended at Manara Square because for the sixth day about thirty IOF soldiers invaded the market area.

Again, clashes broke out as Palestinian youth reacted to the soldiers by throwing stones at them. Like the day before, the army occupied a building overlooking the market, firing teargas and rubber bullets at Palestinians.

Burning barricades were erected as the protesters waved Palestinian flags and slogans were chanted to vent their anger about the events in Jerusalem. The soldiers repeatedly provoked the protesters, yelling at them to get closer. One man, Hatem Qameze, was violently arrested and taken to the police station. At the checkpoint soldiers were aggressive towards local residents and internationals as well. At around 6pm the army went back to their position behind checkpoint 56.

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions – Palestinian Trade Union Call upon International Labor Movement

by the Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign

The Palestinian Trade unions have given out a Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions endorsed by:

* the General Union of Palestinian Workers (GUPW).
* the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU).
* the Coalition of Independent Democratic Unions.
* Other Palestinian professional and vocational unions.

In a press conference held on January 11 2007, the Trade Unions and Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign addressed this call to the Arab and International Trade Unions and, in particular, the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, the Arab League, the Arab Labor Organization, the International Labor Organization, the International Trade Union Confederation, the Organization of African Trade Union Unity, the Palestinian people and the international community.

A further press conference is scheduled to be held in the Gaza Strip.

See English translation of the statement issued on January 11, 2007.

See the original January 11 statement with signatures.


See factsheet: “Trade Union Solidarity for Effective BDS Campaigns”

See labor report by Sawt al-Amel: “Separate and Unequal”

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Support CUPE Ontario’s stand for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions!

Support the Palestinian call to Isolate Apartheid Israel!

In May 2006, CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) Ontario approved resolution 50 supporting “the international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law including the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.” The Palestinian grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign thanks CUPE Ontario for their support and brave decision.

The resolution passed with overwhelming support at the largest provincial convention in the union’s history, held May 24-27 in Ottawa, Canada. Over 900 delegates from CUPE locals across Ontario attended the convention. CUPE represents about 200,000 public sector workers in Ontario and is the largest public sector union in the province. This resolution is part of a growing global campaign initiated on July 9, 2005 by over 170 Palestinian organizations, including the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel.

Palestinian trade unions, civil society and grassroots have greatly appreciated this move and expressed their encouragement for CUPE and trade unions all over the world to implement the Palestinian call for the Isolation of Apartheid Israel. Some of the support letters are gathered below:

Palestinian General Federation Trade Union

Palestinian Industrial Unions

General Union of Palestine Labor Vocational Association

Palestinian Farmers Union

Palestinian grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign

Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO)

Coalition for Jerusalem

PARC

Badil

Palestinian Beekeepers Cooperative

The Palestinian Rural Women’s Development Society

International letters of support:

COSATU – South African Trade Union Cogress

Coalition of Lebanese Society

The Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (endapartheid@riseup.net) is coordinating support for CUPE.

We ask you to respond to their call for action:

* Please contact the leadership of CUPE Ontario and support this decision. A sample letter can be found below.

Messages to CUPE Ontario can be sent to:

Sid Ryan, President CUPE Ontario: sryan@cupe.on.ca

CUPE Ontario Executive Members akirby@cupe.on.ca

Katherine Nastovski, Chair, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee knastov@yahoo.com

(Please cc endapartheid@riseup.net as the unionist’s mailboxes are spammed with attacks by the Zionist lobby.)

* Trade Unions, clergy and community organizations, should call upon their members and congregants to contact CUPE Ontario and support this decision.

* Please forward this note to your distribution lists.

Full Text of the Resolution:

CUPE ONTARIO WILL:

1. With Palestine solidarity and human rights organizations, develop an education campaign about the apartheid nature of the Israeli state and the political and economic support of Canada for these practices.

2. Support the international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self- determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law including the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution194.

3. Call on CUPE National to commit to research into Canadian involvement in the occupation and call on the CLC to join us in lobbying against the apartheid-like practices of the Israeli state and call for the immediate dismantling of the wall.

BECAUSE:

– The Israeli Apartheid Wall has been condemned and determined illegal under international law.

– Over 170 Palestinian political parties, unions and other organizations including the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions issued a call in July 2005 for a global campaign of boycotts and divestment against Israel similar to those imposed against South African Apartheid;

– CUPE BC has firmly and vocally condemned the occupation of Palestine and have initiated an education campaign about the apartheid-like practices of the Israeli state.

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Sample letter

To whom it may concern

I wish to express my profound gratitude to CUPE Ontario for passing Resolution 50 in support of the global campaign against Israeli Apartheid.

Only the grossly uninformed or misinformed can fail to comprehend the inexcusable suffering that Israel has inflicted on the Palestinian people for nearly six decades. For the sake of all of humanity, it must end.

Again, I commend your courage and principle. Rest assured, the vast majority of thinking Canadians who want to see a peaceful world stand with you.

Most certainly you will come under great pressure from the pro-Israel lobby to reverse your decision. Please stand firm for justice and International Law.

Bil’in villager still in prison despite judge’s condemnation of IOF violence

by the ISM media team, February 12th

Farhat Burnat, the Bil’in peace activist beaten and arrested at a demo 10 days ago remains in Ofer military detention centre tonight. After viewing video evidence last week the military judge ordered Farhat’s release but the IOF was given until Sunday to appeal this. This was then extended until today at 9am. Just after 9am an appeal was filed by the IOF but this wasn’t heard today and no future date was set.

Despite recognising the “ugly face” of the IOF the judge still wanted to release Farhat under conditions and NIS 5000 bail. The most Palestinians can hope for when there is no evidence against them, is to be released within a few weeks with a large bail amount and restrictions on their movement.

Last October Bil’in cameraman Emad Burnat spent almost 3 weeks in prison on the trumped up charges of throwing stones at the IOF until being released to house arrest in a neighbouring village. He has only just been allowed to return home to his family in Bil’in.