Al Haq- “One Year after ‘Disengagement’-Gaza still Occupied and under Attack”

AL-HAQ PRESS RELEASE

One year ago, on 12 September 2005, Israel completed its unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip under the ‘Disengagement Plan’. In the year that followed, the Gaza Strip endured military incursions, shelling, attacks on infrastructure, targeted assassinations, sonic booms, aerial surveillance, border closures, and fishing restrictions. Also Israel retains control of the civil population registry. The unilateral withdrawal aimed to establish that the Gaza Strip was no longer occupied, thereby relieving Israel of its duties as the Occupying Power. In reality, Israel has retained effective control of the Gaza Strip and consequently has never ceased its occupation.

Israel continues to control Gaza’s land borders, air space and territorial sea. It closes at will the border crossings regulating the entry and exit of people, goods and services. In fact, external freedom of movement has worsened since the withdrawal. In the year since 12 September 2005, Karni Crossing, used for the transit of goods, was closed completely for a total of 175 days and partially for a further 169 days. Since April 2006, there have been severe humanitarian shortages in the Gaza Strip, including essential medicines and food stuffs. The situation has been aggravated by restrictions on the entry of humanitarian supplies and access for humanitarian workers. These measures violate Israel’s obligation to ensure the right to freedom of movement to, and to provide for the well-being of, the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

Since the unilateral withdrawal, Israel has actually increased its shelling and its targeted assassinations of wanted Palestinians within the Gaza Strip, especially since the beginning of large scale military incursions (Operation ‘Summer Rains’) on 28 June 2006. These attacks have killed 362 Palestinians, the majority of whom were civilians, including women and children. The attacks have also targeted private houses, educational institutions, charitable associations, government ministries, and infrastructure such as bridges and roads, as well as Gaza’s main power plant, resulting in severely restricted power supply. By these actions, Israel has repeatedly failed to uphold its duty to distinguish between combatants and civilians, as well as between military objectives and civilian objects.

On 9 July 2006, Israeli online newspaper Arutz Sheva reported that Israeli General Yoav Galant, Southern District Commander, described the purpose of Operation ‘Summer Rains’ as follows:

The IDF is ready for a long operation involving raids. Within a month or two, the Palestinians will count hundreds of dead terrorists, damaged infrastructures and destroyed offices. When they make the overall calculation, I assume that they will think twice before their next attack or abduction attempt.

The stated intention is to punish all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip for an armed raid and rocket attacks against Israel carried out by a small number of individuals. Those actions cannot justify Israeli military operations such as indiscriminate shelling and sonic booms by low-flying military planes, which affect the Palestinian population as a whole. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits collective punishment of protected persons for an offence they have not personally committed. By undertaking such measures, Israel is in clear breach of this provision.

The events of the past year demonstrate that Israel’s occupation remains, and consequently its obligations as the Occupying Power in the Gaza Strip. Nevertheless, there have been numerous breaches of these obligations, and Operation ‘Summer Rains’ has done much to worsen the situation. Ending occupation and respecting international law are fundamental prerequisites for a durable solution to the conflict. On this day, one year after the conclusion of Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Al-Haq calls on the High Contracting Parties to the four Geneva Conventions to recognise Israel’s continued occupation of, and responsibility for, the Gaza Strip, and to uphold their obligation under common Article 1 to ensure Israel’s respect for the four Geneva Conventions.

What You Can Do For Gaza

A British newspaper, The Independent is trying to launch a campaign to bring the world’s attention to what is happening in Gaza – they need strong letters of support and encouragement for this. Otherwise the momentum will not build and grow as it must in the coming days. The leader article is below. See also “Gaza is a jail”.

Please if you can take a second today, write to:

letters@independent.co.uk and cc to D.Orr@independent.co.uk

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Leading article: A brutal siege the world must ignore no longer

09.08.2006 | The Independent

Gaza is being slowly strangled. This small strip of land on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean has been under siege by the Israeli military for three months. Its 1.5 million inhabitants have been subject to more than 270 air strikes, numerous ground raids, and a severe artillery bombardment. Since Gaza’s sole power plant was bombed in June, its people have been forced to survive by candlelight after dark. Hospitals use electric generators to keep essential services running. The strip’s water mains have been destroyed, causing serious supply problems and increasing the risk of disease. Bridges have been bombed and checkpoints closed. No Palestinians are allowed in or out of what has in effect become a prison.

This has brought the Palestinian economy to its knees. The majority of Gazan families have been forced to rely on United Nations food aid. Yet even support from the outside world for these people has been severely cut back. When Hamas won the Palestinian elections in January, the United States and the European Union decided to stop their funding of the governing institutions of the Palestinian Authority until the militant organisation renounced violence and accepted Israel’s right to exist. An adviser to the Israeli Prime Minister referred to this jokingly as “putting the Palestinians on a diet”. But the result has been the complete breakdown of Palestinian society. The civil service, which supports one-quarter of the population, has been paid no wages in six months.

According to the United Nations, $30m-worth of damage has been inflicted on Gaza since this operation began. But the far graver cost has been in human life. In July and August, some 251 Palestinians were killed by Israeli military action, half of them civilians. The dead have included women, children and the elderly. Hundreds more have been wounded.

And yet while all of this has been going on – the bloodshed, the hunger, the social collapse – the world has turned away. The international community has been preoccupied with the worsening situation in Iraq, Afghanistan or Israel’s war with Lebanon. Yet while the people of Lebanon were able to flee Israel’s bombardment, Gazans have had no such freedom.

The Israeli government claims the purpose of its blockade is to secure the return of Corporal Gilad Shalit, a soldier kidnapped in June after a raid by a faction of Hamas. Another objective is, we are told, to prevent militants firing Qassam rockets across the border into Israeli towns and villages by militants. Even if we accept this intention, the methods have been grossly disproportionate. Five Israelis have been killed by Qassams in the past six years. Does this justify such a lethal response in Gaza? The operation is also deeply questionable from a practical perspective. Does the Israeli government truly expect degrading all Gazans in this fashion to secure the release of Corporal Shalit?

Ultimately we must accept that the return of the Israeli military to Gaza is less about stopping rocket attacks, winning the release of Corporal Shalit, or even removing Hamas, than it is about imposing a collective punishment on the Palestinian people, in the belief that it is in the interests of the state of Israel to do so. It is not. The long-term interest of Israel lies, as it always has, in progress towards a two-state solution. The great prize is the normalisation of relations between Palestinians and Israelis. Every day that the people of Gaza are denied their dignity – every time more innocent Palestinians are killed by stray Israeli rockets – such a settlement is pushed further away.

See also: The Independent: ‘Gaza is a jail. Nobody is allowed to leave. We are all starving now’

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Reader letters

From: johnwfarley[at]yahoo.com
To: Letters@independent.co.uk
CC: D.Orr@independent.co.uk
Subject: Great article on situation in Gaza
Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 16:31:40 -0700 (PDT)

Dear Independent:

Thank you for running the courageous article about Gaza on Sept. 8 “A Brutal Siege the World Must Ignore No Longer”. The world is ignoring a heart-rending situation. Many mistakenly believe that Israel has withdrawn from Gaza. Your article sets down the unpleasant and indeed horrifying truth.

Inevitablly you will get criticism from predictable quarters. Please ignore it. Your article is in the finest journalistic tradition.

Best regards,

John Farley
Henderson, NV, USA

***

From: smahajan[at]sbcglobal.net
To: Letters@independent.co.uk
CC: D.Orr@independent.co.uk
Subject: Your articles on Gaza
Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 13:29:13 -0700 (PDT)

To,
The Independent

Sir/Madam,

I am highly gratified by Independent’s campaign to bring the world’s attention to Gaza’s misery. The recent spate of articles by your paper on the issue, including the leading article “A brutal siege the world must ignore no longer”, have vividly detailed how Israel is brutally strangling Gaza and has reduced it to beggary. When other mainstream newspapers (at least in the US) such as the New York Times never tire of making excuses for and defending every atrocious atrocity that Israel perpetrates on Lebanese and Palestinian civilians, the Independent has shown that real journalism is about passionate search for truth and justice. Please keep up the good work.

Regards,

Sanjeev Mahajan

Farmer Picks Grapes While Harassed by Armed Israeli Colonist Militia

by the Palestine Solidarity Project

Abu Ayash and his family have owned and tended their land for around 100 years but are now facing increasing violence from the inhabitants of the nearby and ever expanding Israeli settlement Karme Zur. On Sunday, September 10, activists with the Palestine Solidarity Project (PSP) joined the farmer to defy the Israeli DCO (District Co-ordination Office – essential the Israeli army’s administrative wing in the West Bank), and make the harvest under the watchful eye of armed settler ‘security’ and Israeli army.

The family owns 3 dunums of land right next to Karme Zur, some of the grapevines reaching out onto the settler road separating the Palestinian land from the green lawns of the settlement. When the family tries to pick the grapes there, armed settlers harass and scare them away, threatening to shoot them if they return. The settlers demand that the family contact the DCO to gain permission to harvest, something that the family refuses to do since it is their land to visit as they please.

Since the family is largely unable to access this land, it is left unguarded for long periods of time. The settlers take advantage of this by picking the grapes for themselves or destroying the trees. In the past, they have used tractors to mow down trees, radically decreasing the harvest and the family’s income. For the past year and a half, the Abu Ayash family has been accompanied by international human rights workers when tending their land. This has substantially lessened the degree of harassment, even though settlers still try to interfere with their work, threatening family members and international activists alike.

On Sunday the 10th of September, volunteers from Palestine Solidarity Project (PSP) accompanied members of the Abu Ayash family to the 3 dunums bordering the settlement. Together, they picked about 1 ton, or 100 boxes, full of grapes which, in financial terms, means a significant income of 800-900 shekles for the family. Armed settler militia approached the harvesters with a jeering “Oh, there you are! We have been waiting for you!” and immediately took their positions along the road separating the land from the settler houses. Protesting whenever someone would climb onto the stone wall to reach for the bunches of grapes growing on the verge of the road, the settlers patrolled the area throughout the four hours the family were on the land. At one point, a military jeep pulled up and seemingly relieved the settler guards of their watch. As we were about to leave, a group of settler children approached to make fun of and spit at the activists.

In the debate concerning the Israeli occupation of Palestine, there is always a lot of talk about the security fears of colonist settlers and Israelis in general. It was, therefore, interesting to see how a young unarmed colonist mother with an infant strapped to her chest and a toddler hanging onto her left hand, calmly walked by the land where we were picking grapes, even stopping to get a closer look at us. This was before the armed settler militia had even arrived. Having seen this, and countless other examples of feigned security concerns, it is difficult to take seriously the proclaimed fear of attack from Palestinians – continuously used to justify the most barbarous policies and a continuation of the occupation.

Seventy dunums of farm land have already been completely confiscated by Karmi Zur colony, and the papers proving ownership have proven worthless in contesting the theft. In addition to the 70 dunums now within the settlement, the family owns an additional 5 dunums of land wedged in between the two settlements of Gush Etzion and Efrat. There are two ways of getting to this land – one a 10 minute drive on a settler-only road, and one a 60 minute journey by dirt-track over the hills. If Israeli police stop Palestinians traveling on the settler-only road they are charged a fine of 1,000 NIS. Both the fine and the time it takes to get to the land on the dirt-track are prohibitive factors that mean that the family is unable to tend their land as needed.

This year’s grape-harvest is now over. In a couple of months, the family will need to cut the vines and plow the earth. In the face of settler violence and military complicity, they will have to continue coordinating their plans with PSP in order to work on their own land. This is PSP’s second direct action in 10 days. PSP is a non-violent Palestinian-led movement based in Beit Ommar welcoming international participation and support. While the website is under construction, PSP can be reached at palestine_project@yahoo.com

You and Whose Army?

by Sholmo Bloom. Journal entry providing further insight to a previously published report on the same incident.

It’s Shabbat, the Jewish holy day, also the day when the settlers cause the most trouble in Tel Rumeida.

I was sitting on Shuhada street with two human rights workers when a Palestinian woman came walked by and told us there were settlers throwing rocks up on the path leading to the girls school. Many Palestinians use this path to go to and from their homes. We went over to check it out and, sure enough, there were about 15 kids tearing up the cement from the path, probably to use as projectiles.

We called the police and and T.I.P.H (Temporary International Presence in Hebron). The Police and TIPH arrived but the settlers remained on the path. At this point there were approximately 25, an intimidating number even with police present. So we began escorting Palestinians up and down the path until they were safely past the settlers.

After a few rounds of doing this, the settlers began to physically block our way as we tried to walk down the path. There were about 15 of them doing this and when we approached, they did not move out of the way. The police did not tell them to move, so I walked straight into the center of them and kept walking despite them calling us Nazis, grabbing, kicking, clawing and trying to prevent me, my friends and the Palestinians we were escorting to get through.

The police of course, just sat there and did nothing.

This charade continued for a few rounds, we’d bring a Palestinian with us, push through the crowd, return back, and take the next person through.

Then a police officer stopped me and asked me if I had assaulted a settler girl. I said no of course not and he informed me that a girl had accused me of scratching and pushing her.

At this point I was taken to the police station on suspicion of assault.

No, I couldn’t quite believe it either, but after being in Hebron for so long, it doesn’t really surprise me.

Upon examining some of my documents, the cops discovered I am Jewish. He told me I should not tell any of the settlers I am Jewish because they will see me as a traitor. I asked him if he saw me as a traitor. He smiled condescendingly at me and said “well, we all make mistakes in our lives.”

I was detained and questioned at the police station for about 4 hours, then released.

I asked the police why didn’t they arrest the settlers who kicked, pushed and blocked our path. They said “We would need an army to arrest them.”

They have an army, don’t they? They call it the Israeli “Defence” Force.

Israeli Colonists Assault Palestinian, HRW and Steal Camera

by the Tel Rumeida Project and ISM Hebron

At approximately 2pm on September 9th, 2006, six young settler men, between the ages of 16 and 19, moved down Shuhada Street, in Tel Rumeida, from the neighborhood checkpoint towards Beit Hadassah settlement. An elderly Palestinian woman was sweeping her stoop slightly more than halfway down the same street. Two Human Rights Workers (HRWs) saw that the young men were being particularly loud and obstreperous. Fearing for the woman’s safety, one HRW crossed to the woman, pointed out the settlers, and tried to suggest that she go inside her house. The woman either didn’t understand, or chose to continue cleaning, and the first HRW moved to the opposite side of the street, in order to avoid drawing the settlers’ attention to the woman. The second HRW remained several meters further down the street, her video camera still in its bag, and prepared to document any aggression by the settlers.

Moments later, the settlers drew within roughly ten meters of the elderly woman’s stoop, and veered towards her, shouting at her in Hebrew. The woman started slowly to withdraw, clearly not comfortable with the behavior of the settlers. The first HRW moved quickly back across the street, and placed himself between the settlers and the woman, hoping to give her time to get inside and lock the door. The settlers started yelling at the HRW to get out of the way, which he refused to do. All six settlers then attacked the HRW, kicking, punching, and shoving him against the wall of the house.

At this point, the second HRW, about eight meters away, took out a video camera in order to record the attack. The settlers quickly peeled away from the first HRW and rushed the second, shouting at her, trying to grab the camera, pushing her, and eventually tearing the video camera out of her grip. They then hurled the camera to the ground, and proceeded to kick it along the street down towards Beit Hadassah settlement. The HRWs followed them, shouting at them to stop it, to give back the camera. The settlers, however, kept kicking the camera all the way past the Israeli army checkpoint and into the first section of the settlement, where one of them picked it up and ran into a settler building, while the others continued down Shuhada Street, further into the settlement.

This entire sequence of events took place within 25 meters of the manned Isreali army post mentioned above. The soldier at the post took no action at any time, despite the HRWs’ calls for help, and the passage of the camera-kicking settlers less than two meters in front of his post. When the first HRW asked the soldier why he did nothing to help, the soldier replied that he couldn’t do anything. This was patently absurd, given that the soldier was armed with an M-16, while the attacking settlers were unarmed, and clearly in their late teens, rather than small children who may be immune from military detention. The first HRW then demanded the soldier call the police, which he appeared to do.

After describing the attack to a series of soldiers, including a 1st lieutenant with some command authority, the HRWs repeated the procedure with a number of police officers. The first policeman with whom they spoke attempted to blame the HRWs use of a camera on the “peaceful holy day” of Shabbat. Eventually, the police took the HRWs to view two suspects who they had detained. Neither HRW could be absolutely certain that the detainees were among those who attacked them, so the suspects were released, and the HRWs were taken to the Kiryat Arba police headquarters to file complaints for the assault and for the robbery of the camera.

Some time after the HRWs’ return from Kiryat Arba, the second HRW was informed by the second lieutenant mentioned above that the soldiers at the IDF post had identified two of the attackers, who were then arrested by the police. This has not yet been confirmed, but, if true, long-term HRWs in Tel Rumeida believe it is the first arrest of settlers in connection with an attack on either Palestinians or HRWs in the past six months.