Judge Advocate General to B’Tselem: 0.22-caliber bullets are not crowd-control measures

B’Tselem

9 July 2009

The army does not classify 0.22 inch caliber bullets as a means to disperse demonstrators or quell disturbances, the Israeli Military’s Judge Advocate General, Brig. Gen. Avichai Mandelblit, informed B’Tselem.

Since the end of 2008, security forces in the West Bank have used 0.22-caliber bullets as an additional means, along with the firing of rubber-coated metal bullets and tear-gas, to disperse demonstrators. In addition, in media statements the IDF Spokesperson referred to 0.22-caliber bullets as a crowd-control measure.

As a result of the use of 0.22 bullets, at least two unarmed Palestinians were killed: on 13 February 2009, ‘Az a-Din al-Jamal, age 14, in Hebron, and on 5 June 2009, ‘Aqel Sror, age 35 in a demonstration in the village of Ni’lin. Dozens of persons have been wounded, some seriously. To the best of B’Tselem’s knowledge, since the killing of Sror, 0.22-caliber bullets have not been fired at demonstrators in Ni’lin.

B’Tselem had written to the Judge Advocate General, demanding that the army cease firing this ammunition at unarmed demonstrators in the West Bank. In its letter, the organization pointed out that, apparently, soldiers and officers in the field view 0.22-caliber ammunition as a means to disperse demonstrators, which led to its widespread and dangerous use. From observations at demonstrations in Ni’lin in recent months, B’Tselem found that 0.22-caliber bullets were not fired in life-threatening situations, but during clashes with demonstrators, some of whom were throwing stones at Israeli forces. B’Tselem provided the JAG with video footage of Border Police officers firing 0.22-caliber bullets in situations in which their lives were not in danger.

In his response, the JAG stated that the rules for firing 0.22-caliber bullets in the West Bank are “stringent, and comparable to the rules for opening fire with ‘live’ ammunition.” He added that, “If misleading information regarding classification of this means [0.22-caliber bullets] has been transmitted to the media or various organizations, it was done by mistake or due to a misunderstanding.” The Judge Advocate General further stated that, “Recently, the open fire regulations that apply to this means have been clarified to the relevant operational elements in the Central Command. Soon the Command will make an evaluation of the situation, headed by a senior Command official, in which framework the lessons relating to the use of this means that have accumulated in recent months will be examined.”

Israel phone firm’s West Bank wall gag fails to amuse

Allyn Fisher-Ilan & Alastair Macdonald | The Washington Post

12 July 2009

A television advert for an Israeli cellphone firm showing soldiers playing soccer over the West Bank barrier has sparked cries of bad taste and prompted Arab lawmakers on Sunday to demand it be taken off air.

The jaunty commercial for Israel’s biggest mobile phone company Cellcom makes light of Palestinian suffering and shows how far Israelis fail to understand their neighbors, critics said. The company stood by the ad, however.

It shows a ball falling on an Israeli army jeep from the far side of a towering wall. A game ensues, back and forth with the unseen Palestinians after a soldier dials up “reinforcements,” including two smiling women in uniform, to come and play.

The advertisement made by McCann Erickson, part of U.S. Interpublic Group, ends with the upbeat voiceover: “After all, what are we all after? Just a little fun.”

Since the ad went out last week — as Palestinians marked the fifth anniversary of a World Court ruling that Israel’s walls and fences in the West Bank were illegal — some Israelis have taken to blogs and social networking sites to voice dismay.

“Aside from being a great contender for the ‘creepiest ads of all time’, this one-minute ad says a lot about how mainstream Israel likes to see itself and the Palestinians,” journalist Dimi Reider wrote in a blog which concluded most of his fellow Israelis did not understand Palestinians’ rage at the barrier.

Ahmed Tibi, an Arab member of Israel’s parliament, said he had written to Cellcom demanding it pull the ad: “The barrier separates families and prevents children from reaching schools and clinics,” he told Reuters. “Yet the advertisement presents the barrier as though it were just a garden fence in Tel Aviv.”

“RACIST COMMERCIAL”

Few Palestinians watch the Israeli stations where the advert aired but there was outrage among liberal Israelis on the Web.

A Hebrew-language Facebook group called “I too got nauseous watching the new Cellcom ad” had signed up 218 members. They demanded “take this racist commercial off the air immediately.”

Israeli blogger Ami Kaufman told Reuters: “We see Israeli soldiers playing with … the people that they are incarcerating behind the wall. But the most grotesque, most disturbing part of this ad is the fact that the Palestinians basically aren’t seen … They’re like monsters or aliens … This is the alienation that Israeli society feels toward the Palestinian people.”

Noam Sheizaf, another Israeli journalist and blogger, said it distorted reality: “In reality, if a Palestinian comes close to the fence to return a football … he is likely to get shot.”

Asked to comment, Cellcom said its “core value is communication between people” regardless of “religion, race or gender.” It said the commercial illustrated the possibility for people of diverse opinions to engage in “mutual entertainment.”

A spokeswoman said it was a coincidence the ad came out so close to last Thursday’s anniversary of the 2004 decision by the World Court that Israel had no right to build hundreds of miles of walls and fences on Palestinian land it took in a 1967 war.

Israel built the barrier with the declared aim of stopping suicide bombers. For Palestinians, it has become one of the most hated symbols of Israeli occupation, a land grab whose course round Jewish settlements would cripple any state they establish.

International activists continue protests at Rafah border

International Campaign to Open the Rafah Border

12 July 2009

We are actually 16 people in our camp with mainly Egyptian activists.
Yesterday afternoon, the Egyptian authorities put barbed wire at the door of the bathroom and cut the water, so now, we have no more access to the bathroom.

Chris says : “Fortunately, I managed yesterday morning to take a shower, after climbing over the bathroom iron gate, so now we will keep dirty. I’m happy to be here again, because this is, may be, the lonely place in the world where you can feel free. We are moving freely, we are challenging the Egyptian authorities, Israel and the worldwide community and we ask them to lift this infamous siege.”

We are waiting the Galloway convoy which has been stopped by the Egyptian authorities at the Moubarak Peace Bridge checkpoint.
It is a shame to see how Americans civilians are treated by the Egyptian authorities.

At the border, we are seeing daily the American forces convoy who come and enter into the Rafah gate (don’t know why they are coming every day and what they are doing inside) but when it comes to American civilians, they are denied to move freely in Egypt.
It is due to their commitment in helping Gaza people who are suffering from an humanitarian crisis.

Last week, G8 members called for an end of the Gaza siege but it seems Egypt did hear nothing. We will not talk about the racist Zionist entity because we know that they never care about other people, particularly Palestinian people, and the whole world accepts it.

Galloway convoy update
The Egyptian authorities didn’t allow them to cross the Moubarak Peace Bridge and to enter into Sinai
They are safe and back in Cairo…. They will try again on Monday!

How to help Viva Palestina Convoy ?

Contact the Egyptian embassy in Washington DC and call for the immediate release of the Viva Palestina convoy. Call 202-966-6342, fax 202-244-4319 and e-mail embassy@egyptembdc.org

Transportation Ministry to Hebraize road signs

Udi Etzion | YNet News

13 July 2009

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz recently ordered a change in roadside signs across Israel’s highways so that the all names appearing on them in English and Arabic would be a direct transliteration of Hebrew.

For example, the sign directing drivers to Jerusalem would read Yerushalayim, Nazareth will become Natsrat and Caesarea will become Kesariya. Arab names are to be changed accordingly.

The Transportation Ministry has been working on the project for over a year and says its main purpose is to create uniform roadside spelling for more than 2,000 names of cities, towns and villages.

Current road signs, says the ministry, reflect the vast changes and development in Israel’s highways, and as such there are many variations of places’ names. Caesarea, for instance, appears as Caesarea, Qesarya, Qesariyya and Ceysaria.

“The lack of uniform spelling on signs has been a problem for those speaking foreign languages, citizens and tourists alike,” explains Yeshaayahu Ronen, head of the ministry’s Transportation Planning Department.

“It impairs drivers’ ability to find their way and we have decided to follow many other countries around the world and make the transliteration of all names correspond directly with Hebrew.”

Katz authorized Ronen’s department to decide which signs would be replaced.

“Almost all Israeli communities’ names have previous names. Some Palestinian maps still refer to the Israeli cities by their pre-1948 names, since they see them as settlements,” said Katz. “I will not allow that on our signs. This government, and certainly this minister, will not allow anyone to turn Jewish Jerusalem to Palestinian al-Quds.”

Katz is convinced the new style will not infringe on Arab drivers’ ability to find their way. “We will continue to serve the Arab public and have signs in Arabic. I have no problem with an Area B (defined by the Oslo Accords as areas under the Palestinian Authority’s civil control and Israel’s security control) sign reading ‘Nablus’ in Arabic.

“The names on the signs should reflect the reality of the local population, which is exactly why Israeli signs must have Hebrew transliteration.”

As for the cost of the new plan, the Transportation Ministry says the change will be gradual. Ministry Spokesman Avner Ovadia says that no existing sign will be changed and that the new ordinance will only affect new signs, or those replaced due to wear.

MK Tibi: Al-Quds will remain al-Quds

Arab Knesset members were infuriated by the proposal: “Al-Quds will remain al-Quds and Shfaram will remain Shefa-‘Amr,” said MK Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta’al).

“Minister Katz is mistaken if he thinks that changing a few words can erase the existence of the Arab people or their connection to Israel. This is a blatant attempt at harming the Arabic language and everything it represents.”

Hadash Chairman Mohammad Barakeh added that the decision was too far-reaching: “Yisrael Katz is merely the transportation minister and it appears that the power went to his head… I hereby inform him that he cannot change the nature of a place. Yisrael Katz will come and go but Shefa-‘Amr is here to stay.”

Minister of Minority Affairs Avishay Braverman criticized the decision as well: “Road signs are not a political issue. Arabic is an official language in the State of Israel,” he said.

“I would suggest the Minister Katz place much needed street signs in Arab communities before he changes road signs.

U.K. hits Israel with partial arms embargo over Gaza war

Barak Ravid | Ha’aretz

13 July 2009

Britain has slapped a partial arms embargo on Israel, refusing to supply replacement parts and other equipment for Sa’ar 4.5 gunships because they participated in Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip earlier this year.

Britain’s Foreign Office informed Israel’s embassy in London of the sanctions a few days ago. The embassy, in a classified telegram to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, said the decision stemmed from heavy pressure by both members of Parliament and human rights organizations.

The embargo followed a government review of all British defense exports to Israel, which was announced three months ago. In total, the telegram said, Britain reviewed 182 licenses for arms exports to Israel, including 35 for exports to the Israel Navy. But it ultimately decided to cancel only five licenses, all relating to the Sa’ar 4.5 ships. The licenses in question apparently cover spare parts for the ship’s guns.

The British said the embargo was imposed because these ships participated in Operation Cast Lead. In so doing, the British claimed, they violated the security agreements between Britain and Israel, which specify what uses may be made of British equipment.

Last week, Britain’s foreign and defense ministries informed the relevant companies that they would have to cease their planned arms deals with Israel’s navy.

Ever since the Gaza operation, British MPs and nongovernmental organizations have been trying to persuade London to impose a complete arms embargo on Israel. However, the British government has rejected this demand.

In February, Amnesty International published a report on arms sales to Israel in which it highlighted Britain’s role in supplying engines for Hermes 450 drones. According to Amnesty, Israel uses these drones to conduct assassinations in Gaza. The report prompted the Palestinian organization Al-Haq to file a suit against the British government, arguing that British arms sales facilitate Israeli operations in Gaza.

In April, Foreign Secretary David Miliband informed Parliament that Britain would reexamine all its defense exports to Israel in light of Operation Cast Lead. An Israeli Foreign Ministry official said that since then, Britain’s military attache in Israel has requested information on the uses Israel made of various types of British-supplied equipment during Cast Lead.

Foreign Ministry officials said that only a small percentage of Israel’s defense-related imports come from Britain. According to data suppled by Britain’s department of trade, these sales total some 20 million pounds – about NIS 130 million.

The British embargo is not expected to have any impact on the navy’s operational capability. However, it has great political significance, and could encourage other countries to halt defense exports to Israel. The country considered most likely to be next is Belgium, which sells Israel equipment used to disperse demonstrations.

In response the British Embassy in Tel Aviv issued a statement saying, “On 21 April 2009 the Foreign Secretary issued a Written Ministerial Statement about U.K. exports to Israel which may have been used by the Israel Defense Forces during the conflict in Gaza. This statement makes clear that all exports are subject to stringent controls.

“The statement sets out clearly the detail of U.K. components in equipment that may have been used in Operation Cast Lead. U.K. equipment was not exported for specific use in Operation Cast Lead and export licenses were issued based on all the evidence available at the time they were granted.

“Future decisions will take into account what has happened in the recent conflict. We do not grant export licenses where there is a clear risk that arms will be used for external aggression or internal repression.

“We do not believe that the current situation in the Middle East would be improved by imposing an arms embargo on Israel. Israel has the right to defend itself and faces real security threats.

“This said, we consistently urge Israel to act with restraint and supported the EU Presidency statement that called the Israeli actions during operation Cast Lead ‘disproportionate.'”