Operation Dove: South Hebron Hill Settlers attack Palestinian boy and internationals

21 October 2010 | Operation Dove

At-Tuwani – On Thursday, 21st October, at around 9.20 am, two Operation Dove volunteers, coming back to the village of At-Tuwani after having visited some Palestinian families in the village of Tuba, were attacked by Israeli settlers from the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on (Hill 833).

While walking, the internationals received a phone call by a Palestinian shepherd who was with his flock on a upper hill and warned them about some settlers who were quickly approaching. A few minutes after the phone call, two settlers, faces covered by t-shirts, appeared  where the internationals were walking. They shot stones with slingshots at the internationals who quickly ran away.

Later on, a few minutes after 1 pm in the same area, there was a similar attack on a Palestinian boy walking back home through the path on Meshaha hill. Two Operation Dove volunteers were on the top of the close Kharrouba hill to monitor the afternoon military escort of the school children from Tuba and Maghayir al Abeed when they saw an Israeli settler quickly coming out from the outpost, covering his face and calling reinforcements. Few minutes later, three more masked settlers appeared on the top of Meshaha hill and, together with the first settler, started to throw stones against the Palestinian. The boy, after running down in the valley, joined the internationals on Kharrouba hill and stayed with them until the settlers disappeared inside the outpost.

Israeli soldiers, who arrived after being called by the settlers, asked the internationals what had happened and if, according to them, the problems were in some way connected with the Palestinian olive picking activity. The commander then declared he was not proud of the settlers behavior and suggested the internationals call the police every time anything similar happens.

After the settlers attacked At-Tuwani village on June 12th 2010, internationals living in the area documented no other aggression during the summer. These latest events, preceded by the aggression of October 12th when two Israeli masked settlers chased two Palestinian young men and threw stones at them, appear to be a significant renewal of settler violence.

These kinds of incidents are frequent in the South Hebron Hills area, where national-religious settlers from settlements and outposts used to attack shepherds and farmers to intimidate and drive them to abandon their land. These illegal actions usually remain unpunished and, in many cases, happen with the complicity of Israeli army and police. The Palestinian community of this area choose to resist the continuous abuses of Israeli settlers and military with nonviolence.

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

Nablus farmers denied entry to farm

20 October 2010 | International Solidarity Movement

Today a family in the village of Salim, southeast of Nablus, was prevented from harvesting their olives for a second time this year. All of their trees are located behind a settlers´ road leading to the illegal settlement of Elon More: a settlement which has stolen much of the village’s land.

As the family and three internationals approached the settlers´ road, closed by a military ga te, about 10 soldiers stood waiting for them. These soldiers said it would not be possible for the family to go onto their land because the army did not have enough forces to stay in the field with them. Internationals suggested that the soldiers present remain to ensure their safety, but instead soldiers wasted 45 minutes asserting that this wasn’t possible.

During this time, another jeep with five soldiers arrived, but the army maintained that there were not enough forces available, due to a “special operation”. Several times it was stated by the army that the commander of the unit, who was not available, had decided that the farmers could not harvest today, but “maybe tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow”.

The farmers said that this same thing happened on their last harvest last date. They had then received an oral guarantee that the army would be able to prevent settlers from attacking today, the 20th of October. Today’s lapse in commitment frustrated the family as they had prepared themselves to harvest, taking the day off from work and packing for a day in the fields. The same situation may present itself again – the Israeli DCO (District Coordination Office) will call and promise to have soldiers in the field, then deny them entry to their land after a change of plans.

Palestinian farmers who have had land stolen by illegal settlement construction still have to harvest from any trees they have left close to settlements. Many farmers depend on the army to be present, hoping that they will prevent settlers from carrying out attacks on them. The Israeli DCO issue special dates when the army will be present, but often the dates change at the last minute, giving the Palestinian families no other option than to turn around and go home. As a result, settlers are able to steal the olives before Palestinians can enter their own land.

Bil’in organizer sentenced to 18 months

21 October 2010 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

Adeeb Abu Rahmah sentenced to 18 months
Adeeb Abu Rahmah sentenced to 18 months

Adeeb Abu Rahmah, a protest leader from Bil’in, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment by the Military Court of Appeals, for his involvement in organizing demonstrations. The decision dramatically aggravates the one-year sentence originally imposed in the first instance.

Judge Lieutenant Colonel Benisho of the Military Court of Appeals accepted the Military prosecution’s appeal in Adeeb Abu Rahmah’s case today, which demanded to harshen the already heavy-handed one-year sentence imposed on him by the prior instance back in July. The court sentenced Abu Rahmah 18 months of imprisonment with bail of 6,000 NIS and suspended sentence of 1 year. An appeal filed by the defense both on the severity of the punishment and on the conviction itself was denied.

Adeeb Abu Rahmah’s sentence is the first to be handed by the Military Court of Appeals in a series of recent trials against high-profile Palestinian anti-Wall grassroots organizers. The harsh and imbalanced decision is likely to affect other cases, most notably that of Abdallah Abu Rahmah – the Bil’in organizer declared human rights defender by the EU – who was too recently sentenced to a year in jail by the first instance of the military court.

Adeeb Abu Rahmah’s case relied heavily on the forced confessions of four minors arrested in nighttime raids by Israeli soldiers. The four attested in court to having been coerced into incriminating Abu Rahmah and other organizers during the course of their police investigations. They were also questioned unlawfully, denied consol and without their parents being presents and, in some cases, late at night.

The ruling in the appeal concludes 15 months of unfair legal procedures, held amidst a massive Israeli arrest campaign, which ended with an upheld conviction of incitement, activity against the public order and entering a closed military zone.

This precedent-setting decision is the first time in recorded history of the Israeli Military Court of Appeals in which a Palestinian is convicted with a charge of incitement. Even the original one year sentence dramatically exceeds precedents set by the Israeli Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals’ even harsher sentence highlights the lack of equality before the law between Israelis and Palestinians, who are tried before two different legal systems. For instance, in a case of a Jewish settler convicted of incitement to murder, the court only imposed an eight months suspended sentence.

Attorney Gaby Lasky (Defense): “Today the court of appeals has shown that it is serving as one more instance of political repression not as an actual court where justice is served. The court admitted what we all knew – that the entire system is trying to make an example of Adeeb in order to silence the entire Popular Struggle movement against Israel’s occupation.”

Background

Having served his original one-year prison term in full, Adeeb Abu Rahmah should have been released immediately after hearing the sentence. The military prosecution, which hoped for an even harsher sentence as part of its ongoing efforts to use legal persecution to suppress the Palestinian popular struggle, petitioned the Military Court of Appeals, asking that Abu Rahmah remains incarcerated despite having served his sentence.

In a clearly politically motivated decision, Judge Lieutenant Colonel Benisho of the Military Court of Appeals decided to remand Abu Rahmah until a decision in the appeal, saying that “This is an appeal filed to set the proper punishment in a unique case regarding which a general punishment level has not yet been set.” The judge chose to completely ignore the punishment level set forth by the supreme court in similar and even harsher cases. Benisho also ignored a supreme court precedent instructing the courts to only extend the remand of convicts past the time they were sentenced to in very extreme situations.

Ynet: Bulldozer driver testifies in Rachel Corrie case

21 October 2010 | YNet News

The bulldozer driver who ran over Rachel Corrie in Gaza in 2003 said Thursday he did not realize he had trampled the American left-wing activist to death until he heard what had happened over the radio network.

Photo displayed during court hearing (Photo: Avisag Shear Yeshuv)

The driver, whose name has not been released, testified during a Haifa District Court hearing on a civil wrongful-death lawsuit filed in March by the activist’s parents, Cindy and Craig, against the State of Israel and Defense Ministry. The driver testified from behind a wooden partition to keep his identity secret.

The 23-year-old Corrie was run over and killed by an Israeli bulldozer while attempting to prevent Palestinian homes from being demolished along with other members of the International Solidarity Movement. The driver said he did not see her, and her death was ruled an accident by the IDF.

The Corries are demanding $324,000 from the State, which claims the activists endangered IDF soldiers and were in a closed military zone at the time of the incident.

During Thursday’s hearing, Attorney Hussein Abu Hussein, who is representing the parents, spoke of inconsistencies between the driver’s testimony during the IDF investigation and the affidavit he submitted to the court. According to the attorney, the driver told military investigators he had reported the incident over the radio system, while he told the court he heard of Corrie’s death over the network.

The lawyer also pointed to discrepancies in the driver’s testimony regarding how far he continued driving after crushing Corrie. The driver told the court he drove another 20 meters (66 feet) before stopping, but in his affidavit he said he stopped after three meters (10 feet). In addition, the driver claimed Corrie’s body was found between the bulldozer and a mound of dirt, while another soldier said the body was behind the mound. During the hearing, Attorney Hussein displayed a photo in which no mound of dirt can be seen at all.

Meanwhile, Cindy Corrie slammed the state, saying Israel is hiding behind individual soldiers who are hiding behind partitions

PHR: Delayed permission for exit from Gaza causes death of toddler

October 20, 2010 | Physicians for Human Rights

Occupied Territories Department of Physicians for Human Rights Reports on Another Death in Gaza of a Sick Person who Did Not Receive a Permit to Exit the Gaza Strip for Medical Care

Nasama Abu Lashin, a two-year old toddler from Gaza died on Saturday October 15, 2010 in the Netzer Hospital in Gaza.  Nasama did not receive a permit in time to receive medical care that could save her life in Haemek Hospital in Afula.

Nasama Abu Lashin, two years old, suffered from leukemia for which, on October 6, she was most urgently directed for life-saving treatment to Haemek Hospital in Afula.  Testimony from the family reveals that the request for the toddler and her accompanying father to receive a permit to exit the Gaza Strip was sent to the Gaza Coordinating Authority (Matak Gaza) the same day to arrange her exit on 10.10.10.  The response from Matak Gaza was not received immediately and the family was told on 10.10.10 that the request was “under consideration.”

On October 13 as the delay continued in receiving a reply to the request of the ill person, her family turned via Betselem to Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) for assistance.  The same day PHR turned to Matak Gaza requesting immediate transfer of the toddler to the hospital in Israel, but the approval was given only in mid-day of October 14.

Tragically, due to a rapid deterioration, the toddler’s condition was so bad on the day the permit was received that the Gaza doctor treating her said it was no longer possible to transfer her to the Israeli hospital.  Nasama died of her illness early on the morning of October 16, 2010.

In light of this incident the PHR submitted a sharp complaint to the head of Matak Gaza demanding that an investigation be initiated and that those responsible for the delay be brought to justice.

This case follows the testimony of PHR as to the consequences of the Israeli policy of closing the borders of Gaza on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip before the Turkel Committee from October 13, 2010.  In its testimony the PHR noted before the committee members cases of the deaths of patients residing in the Gaza Strip whose exit for life-saving medical treatment was prevented by the Israeli authorities – a phenomenon that has increased since Israel tightened the closure on the Strip in June 2007.  In its testimony PHR emphasized that for the patient, the difference between receiving the permit for exit in time and not receiving it or receiving it after a delay was liable to be the difference between quality of life and unnecessary suffering that might possibly be prevented or even a matter of life and death, as was the situation in the present case.

Physicians for Human Rights calls upon the Israeli authorities at the Erez checkpoint to demand justice from those responsible for the delay in responding to the request of Nasama Abu Lashin.  PHR also repeats its demands of Israel to fulfil its obligations towards residents of the Gaza Strip to ensure the unrestricted access of the patients to medical care without delay.