Fishermen abducted and released, three boats and net stolen

ISM Gaza | Fishing Under Fire

21 June 2009

Two fishermen, Ashraf Subhi Sadallah and his brother Abdulhadhi Subhi Sadallah were abducted by IDF on Tuesday 16th June 2009 and released on the same day after being interrogated. Their boats (hassakas) and net remain in IDF custody to this day.

At 6 a.m. the brothers set out in three boats (hassakas) in the region known as Sudaniyya in order to collect the net which they had placed the night before. The net was 400 metres away from the shore. As soon as they arrived close to the net IDF gun boats shot in their direction. The brothers were asked to remove all their clothes and to jump in the sea, which they did. Once in the sea they swam for 30 metres towards the patrol boat. The gun boat moved back 470 metres and the brothers then were forced to swim this distance. They were handcuffed and blindfolded and taken to Ashdod where they were interrogated and told that if they visit the Al Waha region again they would be arrested and tried in court in Israel. The brothers, however, state that they were not in the Al Waha region but rather in Sudaniyya. The brothers were released at Erez border on the same day at 8 p.m.

Without boats (hassakas) and net the Sadallah brothers are unable of working and have lost the tools to their only source of income.

PCHR and Spanish civil society organize conferences in Madrid In defense of universal jurisdiction

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

21 June 2009

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), in cooperation with Spanish civil society partners and national and international human rights organizations, are organizing two events in Madrid, Spain, on 22 and 24 June 2009. The events will take place in the Spanish Cultural Centre and the Spanish Congress.

These events are being organized in opposition to a proposed amendment to Spain’s universal jurisdiction legislation. On 19 May 2009, the Spanish Parliament requested that the government draft legislation limiting the scope of Spain’s universal jurisdiction legislation, this amendment will be presented to the Lower House on 26 June. Spain has long been an advocate of universal jurisdiction; it is widely believed that the current amendments are introduced consequent to concerted political pressure on behalf of States intent on shielding alleged war criminals from justice.

PCHR, and Spanish and international civil society and human rights organizations, are united in opposition to the amendment. Universal jurisdiction is an essential component in the international legal order. Crucially, it is also of critical importance in the fight against impunity. International law grants explicit protection to civilian populations. However, in order for the law to be relevant – to be capable of protecting civilians – it must be enforced. As long as States and individuals are allowed to act with impunity, they will continue to violate international law: innocent civilians will continue to suffer the horrific consequences.

PCHR wish to emphasize that universal jurisdiction is not merely a Palestinian issue. It is a legal mechanism intended to ensure that all those responsible for international crimes – which include genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture – are brought to justice. Universal jurisdiction is only enacted when States with a more traditional jurisdictional nexus to the crime (related, inter alia, to the place of commission, or the perpetrator’s nationality) prove unwilling or unable to genuinely investigate and prosecute: when they shield those accused of international crimes from justice.

In the interests of victims throughout the world, and all those who continue to suffer at the hands of oppressive regimes, universal jurisdiction must be pursued and strengthened. Universal jurisdiction is a fundamental component in upholding the rule of law. It is a key tool in the fight for universal justice, whereby the protections of international law may be extended to all individuals without discrimination, and victims’ rights ensured through the legal punishment of guilty parties.

PCHR’s Director, Mr. Raji Sourani, was due to present key-note speeches in Madrid. However, owing to the illegal siege of the Gaza Strip – a form of collective punishment which has now been in place for 24 continuous months – he has been denied permission to travel.

On 19 May 2009, the Spanish Parliament passed a resolution requesting that the government limit the scope of Spain’s universal jurisdiction legislation. The proposal calls for the existing legislation to be modified so that cases may only be pursued if they involve Spanish victims or if the accused are present on Spanish soil. The government’s amendment will be presented to Parliament on 26 June. If passed, the legislation will then be passed to the Upper House, before being returned to the Lower House for final approval.

This move represents a regression for Spain, a country that has long acknowledged the fundamental importance of universal jurisdiction. In recent years, a number of high profile universal jurisdiction cases have been pursued in Spanish courts, including Pinochet, Scilingo, and Guatemalan Generals. The Spanish Audencia Nacional (National Court) is currently investigating a case brought by PCHR and Spanish partners in relation to the al-Daraj attack of 2002. This war crime resulted in the deaths of 16 Palestinians, including 14 civilians. Approximately 150 people were injured.

On 4 May 2009, Judge Fernando Andreu of the Spanish Audencia Nacional (National Court) announced his decision to continue the investigation into the events surrounding the al-Daraj attack. The Spanish Court explicitly rejected the arguments of the Spanish Prosecutor and the State of Israel, claiming that Israel had adequately investigated the crime. The judge has confirmed that this position is incorrect, and contrary to the rule of law.
The victims and their legal team have placed their trust in the criminal justice system, believing that this is the only mechanism whereby accountability can be pursued and impunity combated. This trust must not be denied on the basis of political pressure. Politics cannot be placed above the rights of individuals.

On 22 June a roundtable discussion will be held in the Circulo de Bellas Artes room of the Valle Incan. On 24 June an information and advocacy conference will be held in Spanish congress. Both events are themed “In Defense of Universal Jurisdiction.” The events, which will be accompanied by press conferences, will be attended by members of Spanish civil society, Spanish parliamentarians and judges, and representatives of national and international human rights organizations.

PCHR stress that politics cannot be allowed to prevail over the rule of law. Victims’ rights to an effective judicial remedy must be upheld, and those accused of international crimes must be investigated and prosecuted in accordance with the demands of international law. The fight against impunity cannot be lost.

For further information, please see the universal jurisdiction section of PCHR’s website: www.pchrgaza.org.

Support Sheikh Jarrah: International day of actions against house demolitions in Palestine

The community of Shiekh Jarrah calls on the international community to set up tents outside of Israeli embassies worldwide in solidarity with the neighborhoods threatened with eviction or demolition in occupied East Jerusalem.

Tents have become a powerful symbol of the struggle of Palestinian people living in occupied East Jerusalem. They have been set up as centres of protest in neighbourhoods threatened by numerous eviction and demolition orders, part of Israel’s wider policy to ethnically cleanse Jerusalem of its Palestinian population. Ultimately this would destroy any hope of East Jerusalem becoming the capital of a future Palestinian state. A number of the tents, notably the one in Sheikh Jarrah, have been built by Palestinian residents forcibly evicted from their homes as a result of Israel’s racist policy. Palestinians, who became refugees in 1948 & 1967 are, once again, facing dispossession from their homes and land as our governments stand by and do nothing.

The neighbourhoods most severely affected are Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, Ras Khamiis, Al Tur and Sur Beher however house evictions and demolitions are not uncommon in the Old City itself. In Silwan, 88 homes in the al Bustan quarter are facing immediate destruction in order to create space for a planned national park. In addition, two apartment buildings housing 34 families in the adjacent al Abbasiyya quarter have also received demolition orders. When completed, up to 2,000 Palestinians will be uprooted from their homes.

The local communities are calling for international activists to organise symbolic protests and set up tents outside of Israeli embassies or Zionist organisations worldwide to stand in solidarity with the protest tents in the neighbourhoods of Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, Ras Khamiis, Al Tur and Sur Beher.

The case of Sheikh Jarrah

The neighbourhood consists of 28 families, and is facing a number of eviction orders which are part of a plan to implant a new Jewish settlement in the area, close to the Old City. After the Al Kurd family has been forcibly removed from their home in November 2008, it is now the turn of the al-Ghawe and Hannoun families to face imminent eviction, while others are awaiting further eviction orders.

The families have gone through 37 years of legal battles, fighting for the right to stay in their houses where many of them have been born and which they legally own. To date, the Israeli courts, including the High Court, decided in favour of the Jewish settler organisations, which claim the ownership of the land based on falsified documents. The courts have not only ignored all the documents produced by the Sheikh Jarrah community which clearly prove their legal status and the ownership of the land, they have also shown that their decisions are not based on law and justice, but are clearly political decisions, serving the goal of cleansing the Palestinian people from Jerusalem.

The latest court hearing, held on the 17th May, ordered the families to sign a guarantee for 50,000 NIS and present a further guarantee for $50,000 from the bank. The court has ruled for this money to be taken if the families refuse to hand in their keys and leave their houses voluntarily by noon on the 19th July. After this date, the settler organisations have permission to enter the houses and the fathers of the families will be sent to prison, charged with contempt of court.
Now that all legal avenues have been exhausted, the families last hope is that media attention & international pressure can help stop the evictions taking place

Maher Hannoun, resident from Sheikh Jarrah faced by imminent eviction order and imprisonment, said:
As refugees and people living under occupation, we are asking people to help us with our struggle for our rights. It is unbelievable that in the 21st century, Israel’s authorities can get away with demolishing the homes of Palestinians in order to build settlements or national parks. The price we and our neighbours have to pay is too high, we are faced with two impossible choices – either we throw our kids out on the street or we go to prison. If we lose our homes, there is nowhere else for us to go, the only option we have is to live in tents.

International solidarity gives us more power and strength to continue in our struggle and stay in our homes. We need support from people around the world to let everybody know about our story and pressure their goverments to help stop this racist policy of house evictions and demolitions.

What you can do – suggestions for further actions:

  • Contact your MPs and other political representatives to tell them about this story. Ask them to raise the issue of East Jerusalem in the Parliament and Government meetings and put diplomatic pressure on the Israeli authorities.
  • Contact media representatives in your countries and ask them to cover the story of Sheikh Jarrah and the ongoing ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem.
  • Organise demonstrations, talks, film nights or photo exhibitions in your countries. Email sheikh.jarrah@hotmail.co.uk to receive updates, tell us about your ideas for actions, events and the co-ordination of an international day of actions.
  • Set up a contigency plan with your organization or affinity group in the event that these evictions are carried out or Maher Hannoun is arrested. Send your email to Sheikh.jarrah@hotmail.co.uk to recieve alerts and co-ordinate your actions.

We ask for people to stand in solidarity with the residents of Sheikh Jarrah and support their fight for justice.

Ni’lin residents demonstrate against the Apartheid Wall

19 June 2009

Following a relatively calm demonstration last week, and the unprovoked murder of Aqel Sror on 5 June, demonstrators marched towards the Apartheid fence with apprehension, unsure of what force would meet them. It was eerily quiet as demonstrators managed to reach the wall without the whistle of tear gas flying through the air.

The youths, well organized and prepared, were able to cut several sections of the razor wire fence that makes up this section of the ilegal Apartheid Wall. Contrary to the reaction of the Israeli army in all previous demonstrations which is generally disproportionate and excessive, these actions received no immediate reaction from the Israeli army, which permitted the youths to remove approximately 50 meters of the razor wire and damage several metal posts in the fence.

After perhaps an hour however, four jeeps began to drive back and forth below the area the youth were, provoking them to throw rocks in a symbolic gesture of refusing to be intimated.

After two and a half hours, the Popular Committe declared the end of the action, and all went home.

Palestinians protest closure of Azzoun Atma gate

20 June 2009

Today there was a demonstration, led by the P.P.P., the “People’s Party of Palestine,” at the `Azzoun `Atma gate, in the Qalqilia district. This was the first demonstration in one year. The last demonstration ended with arrests, so the objectives of the demonstration were to maintain peace and to feel out the situation in order to better plan for future protests. It appears that these objectives were fulfilled.

There were approximately fifty people in the demonstration, approximately half Palestinians and half internationals, Israeli activists, and members of the Palestinian, Israeli, and international press. Groups present included EAPPI, IWPS, ISM, Anarchists Against the Wall, as well as others possibly. Internationals maintained silence and documented with cameras and video recorders, while the Palestinians waved flags, displayed banners, and chanted in Arabic.

At the start of the protest, two military jeeps parked in the middle of the gate, which set the limit on the group’s ability to make forward progress. Approximately five or six soldiers stood in front of the jeeps. Shortly after that, before the demonstration had gotten going, three Israeli soldiers occupied the high ground in our rear. Then, two soldiers stood behind the jeeps.

The soldiers were mostly young guys, and it appeared that they didn’t quite know what to do with this group of peaceful protesters. The soldiers used no violence. In fact, at one point, a senior-looking soldier told a member of the press that he could take off his helmet. This might have been done to look good for the press.

The demonstration lasted for approximately one and a half hours, at which time the group peacefully disbanded.

The village of `Azzoun `Atma is approximately 90% surrounded by the separation wall (see Figure 1). There is only one entrance and exit from the village and only residents are allowed to pass through the gate. Beyond the humiliation and injustice of this blatant occupation action, there are regular problems with woman being denied back to their family’s village due to having married names. This is just one example of the plethora of problems created by the separation wall and this closed gate. The purpose of this demonstration was to open the gate to nonresidents. There were approximately 1,000 locals in the last demonstration, one year ago, from surrounding villages. None of the villagers came to the demonstration today, because they were afraid to participate given the Israelis’ severe response to the last demonstration. The organizers will use their observations from this demonstration to decide whether it will be safe for the villagers from the surrounding area to hold regular, weekly Friday demonstrations in the future.