Diary: East Jerusalem evictions

Rami Hannoun | Al Jazeera

Rami Hannoun keeps watch overnight in case the Israeli authorities come to evict the families
Rami Hannoun keeps watch overnight in case the Israeli authorities come to evict the families

22 April 2009

The Hannouns are one of three families who have had been ordered by an Israeli court to leave their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem.

The families, refugees who lost their original houses when they were occupied in 1948, say they were allowed to build new houses on land allocated by the United Nations under Jordanian administration.

A Jewish organisation, the Committee for Sephardic Jews which operated during the British mandate in Palestine, claims ownership of the land it says it lost during riots before 1948.

The Israeli foreign ministry, the prime minister’s office and the Jerusalem municipality all declined to comment on the case, saying the dispute was a “private matter” between citizens argued out in court.

East Jerusalem is, under international law, an occupied territory and Israel has no authority to change its composition.

The Hannouns are keeping watch for the Israeli police in shifts, with 21-year-old Rami, the eldest son of Maher and Nadia Hannoun, taking the night shift.

Rami has lived in the house all his life, along with his two sisters, 17-year-old Jana and 12-year-old Diala.

He will post regular video and text diaries on this page as both families anxiously await eviction.

Wednesday, April 22: ‘Today a group of priests visited our home’

Today I woke up late and I found the house full of our neighbours and my mother told me that a group of Palestinian students visited us who were coming from the [protest] tent in Silwan.

My father, just like always, explained our situation. Then after that a group of priests came by and visited us and we also told them our story.

During the day, some of the neighbours made a speech to all the groups.

Then one of my sisters took the camera with one of the international protesters and went to try and speak to one of the settlers who was going to pray at the cave where all the Jewish people come and pray because they think there is a rabbi is buried there.

My sister tried to take some pictures of him but the settler refused.

Today, I also had training to go to, but I couldn’t go because the house was full and I couldn’t leave my parents while the house was full of people.

Then I did an interview with my mom and she told me the whole story about our house.

After that my mom made us some food for the first time in two weeks because today she finally had some time to make us something to eat.

Tuesday, April 21: ‘My sisters left the house as my father is afraid for them’

“The Israelis are kicking us out of these houses because they say they own this land – that they have owned it since a long time ago.

Actually, they have a fake paper that says they own it since a long time ago, but we also have papers that go back to the Ottomans period which say that we own this land – that a Palestinian man owns this land and that this land was given to us actually by the Jordanian government and the UN built us these houses.

We are actually waiting every moment for them to come and evict us. My sisters had to leave the house because my father is afraid of them, and our house is completely transformed into another house.

It is not the house that we used to live in. It is not the house we grew up in.

We have lots of internationals [anti-eviction protesters] living with us. We are not living as a family any more, but they are supporting us.

Some nights I stay awake with some internationals, we play cards and smoke hubbly bubbly or something. This makes the time go faster so you cannot feel the time.

My father has not been to work in 40 days because he is afraid the police will come any second, and because he also has to receive lots of internationals and explain to them our story.

My sisters can hardly sleep. They sleep at my grandmother’s because we are afraid for them because of the police and soldiers.

They are too young right now and they cannot handle what is going on. And actually, in front of us they are showing us they are strong, but deep inside they are not strong, they cry to their friends.

Today there was an article in the newspaper. It says that the United Nations are asking Israel to stop evicting Palestinians from their houses in Sheikh Jarrah.

It made me just a little bit optimistic because I hope we will not be evicted from our house.”

Sunday, April 19: ‘I stayed up all night with Israelis who support us’

“It’s my 34th day [on nightwatch]. I woke up and I found the house full of people.

There were a group of Palestinian girls who studied at a college who had heard about our story and came to see us, to understand what is the real situation.

My father explained our case to them. After that, our lawyer came and he was searching for a solution for our case.

International campaigners, including anti-eviction Israelis, are camped out at the house
Then I went to my grandmother’s house. She made lunch for me because my mother wasn’t able to make food because the house was full of people and she didn’t want to leave them.

After that, we had a meeting with some of the international [anti-eviction protesters] who are supporting us. We sat together talking and then I stayed the whole night with them and the Israelis who have come to support us.

The whole situation I am passing through is making me stronger and stronger and it won’t make me give up even if I am getting a little bit tired.

I will always defend my house that I grew up in and lived in for all my childhood.

Military exports to Israel reviewed following Gaza conflict

Nicholas Watt | The Guardian

22 April 2009

Britain announced last night that it is to review all its military exports to Israel in the light of the recent offensive in the Gaza Strip which killed around 1,400 Palestinians.

In a written statement to MPs, the foreign secretary, David Miliband, announced that all current and future licences permitting the export of military equipment would be reviewed in the light of the three-week Operation Cast Lead.

Miliband said Britain provided less than 1% of Israel’s military imports. But he acknowledged that some components supplied by Britain were “almost certainly” used by Israel in its military offensive. These were:

• Israeli reconnaissance satellites, for which Britain supplies minor components, which could have been used to provide information to the Israeli army. Miliband said: “We assess that these might have been used to prepare the operation but would not have played a significant part in the operation itself.”

• F16 aircraft were “widely used” to deliver precision-guided bombs, and incorporate British components. Britain has banned the export of F16 components directly to Israel since 2002. But British F16 components are exported to the US “where Israel was the ultimate end user”.

• Apache attack helicopters, which incorporate British components, exported to the US for use on helicopters “ultimately destined for Israel”.

• Saar-class corvette naval vessels, which incorporate a British 76mm gun, and took part in operations from waters off Gaza.

• Armoured personnel carriers, which included conversions of British-supplied Centurion tanks, and were used as mobile headquarters. The Centurions were sold to Israel in the late 1950s.

Miliband said that exports of military equipment to Israel require export licences which are subject to strict criteria. The most important state that the equipment must not be used for internal repression, must not provoke or prolong armed conflicts, and that the equipment will not be diverted within the buyer country.

Miliband said that the US provides 95% of Israel’s military equipment, with the EU supplying the rest. Britain provides 1%.

All licences covering this would be reviewed in the light of the Israeli military action. “It is inherent … that judgments are in part based on past practice, so evidence from Operation Cast Lead will be used in all future applications. I can confirm that we are looking at all extant licences to see whether any need to be reconsidered in light of recent events in Gaza,” he said.

OPT: Signs of worsening malnutrition among children

IRIN News

A six-month-old underweight girl with her grandmother in Gaza City. Her father was a medic who was killed during the recent conflict. The child comes two times a week to local NGO Ard El-Insan for nutritional supplements
A six-month-old underweight girl with her grandmother in Gaza City. Her father was a medic who was killed during the recent conflict. The child comes two times a week to local NGO Ard El-Insan for nutritional supplements

21 April 2009

Rising poverty, unemployment and food insecurity in Gaza, compounded by the recent 23-day Israeli offensive, have increased the threat of child malnutrition, say UN agencies, health ministry officials and healthcare NGOs in Gaza.

UN World Health Organization (WHO) officials are concerned by the warning signs, including rising malnutrition indicators – like increased cases of stunting, wasting and underweight children – and continuing high rates of anaemia among children and pregnant women.

A Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Food Programme (WFP) qualitative food security assessment for Gaza in 2008 and early 2009 points to increasing food insecurity compared to 2007, said FAO food security adviser Erminio Saco based in Jerusalem; and according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) food acquisition and energy consumption in Gaza declined by 10 percent between 2005 and 2007.

Over the past 18 months the agricultural sector has been struggling to cope with an Israeli blockade on imports and exports, causing lower productivity and reducing access to affordable fresh food, according to FAO.

Stunting

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in January that 10.3 percent of children under five are stunted (low height for age), a steadily increasing trend over recent years.

Stunting is usually attributed to a chronic lack of protein and micronutrients, including iron and essential vitamins, according to WHO. “More than 10 percent of children in Gaza are chronically malnourished,” said WHO officer Mahmoud Daher in Gaza, reporting a slight increase over 2008.

Children’s hygiene has also declined due to the lack of a consistent electricity supply since the blockade was instituted. Clothes washing and bathing has been limited, especially during the conflict, according to residents.

In April 2008 UNICEF estimated there were about 255,000 under-five children in Gaza, with about 26,265 at risk of malnutrition, and 657 most likely to be severely wasted.

Roughly two-thirds of the population – 50 percent of whom are under 18 – is deemed food insecure, according to FAO.

Wasting and underweight

The number of under-five children suffering from acute malnutrition – wasting (low weight for height) – in Gaza almost doubled between 2006 and 2008 from 1.4 to 2.4 percent, according to UNICEF. Wasting is considered a public health problem if the affected population exceeds 5 percent, but WHO is concerned by the significant increase.

In 2008, 2.5 percent of under fives were underweight (weight for age), according to WHO in Gaza.

Karram El-Essy, 10 months old and from the A-Tufah area of Gaza city, is brought to local NGO Ard El-Insan three times a week for nutritional supplements, including soup and fruit, after he was diagnosed with anaemia
Karram El-Essy, 10 months old and from the A-Tufah area of Gaza city, is brought to local NGO Ard El-Insan three times a week for nutritional supplements, including soup and fruit, after he was diagnosed with anaemia

Anaemia

“Anaemia among children and pregnant women is high in Gaza and there are fluctuations in the rates according to availability of food and the political and economic situation in the area,” said Daher.

WHO believes iron and vitamin A deficiencies have increased during and since the conflict. The results of WHO’s current anaemia assessment in Gaza are due in May, but according to Daher, 65 percent of children aged 9-12 months, and 35 percent of pregnant women are anaemic.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has an assessment due in July, but is also concerned about the increase in anaemia cases, according to UNRWA health officer Mohammed Maqadma.

There is a positive correlation between malnutrition and low meat (animal proteins) intake, low consumption of fruit, family size and income, according to UNICEF.

The amount of affordable fresh fruit and protein on the Gaza market has been significantly reduced due to the closures, according to OCHA. “The last shipment of livestock entered Gaza on 31 October 2008, and since the Hamas takeover in June 2007 livestock imports have been severely restricted,” said OCHA field officer Hamada al-Bayari in Gaza.

The director of all 56 primary healthcare centres run by the health ministry in Gaza, Fouad Issawi, said cases of stunting and anaemia increased in 2008 and 2009. Since 2007 the amount of anti-anaemia drugs – like ferrous carbonate (with vitamin C) and folic acid – required by primary health clinics had increased dramatically, he said.

“There was a rise in anaemia amongst children in our centres in 2008 and [this is] continuing,” said Adnan al-Wahaidi, director of Ard al-Insan Benevolent Association in Gaza, the main healthcare NGO supporting an estimated 16,000 undernourished children.

“Women with children who are underweight or wasting have been coming to the centres in greater numbers over the last few months; many of their husbands died during the recent conflict or are unemployed.”

Israeli forces detain youth in Tel Rumeida

19 April 2009

Tel Rumeida, Hebron – 4 Palestinian girls, residents of Tel Rumeida, were detained for more than 3 hours as they left one of their houses.

Two of the girls were about 6 years old, and two were about 13. Two of the girls lived on Tel Rumeid Street and two lived on Al Shuhara Street. At about 5:50 PM, the girls were walking back to Al Shuhada Street, and a settler spoke with soldiers at a checkpoint. The soldiers then detained the girls until after 9 PM. There are Israelis living in illegal settlements on both streets, and Israeli forces are present on the streets 24 hours a day.

Two internationals observed and tried to talk with the soldier and the detained girls. Israeli police threatened the international with arrest, saying the area was a “closed military zone.” The soldiers refused to give reasons as to why the girls were detained.

Report: Olmert, Livni may face war crimes charges in Norway

Ha’aretz

22 April 2009

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert and opposition leader Tzipi Livni may face war crimes charges in Norway over their role in Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza, AFP reported Tuesday.

The news agency said six Norwegian lawyers announced plans Tuesday to accuse the pair, as well as Defense Minister Ehud Barak and seven senior Israel Defense Forces officers, of the crimes.

The lawyers, who planned to file their complaint with Norway’s chief prosecutor on Wednesday, were quoted as saying they would also call for the arrest and extradition of the Israeli leaders.

Under the Norwegian penal code, courts may hear cases involving war crimes and other major violations of human rights.

The lawyers released a statement quoted by AFP accusing Israel of “massive terrorist attacks” in the Gaza Strip from December 27 last year to January 25, killing civilians, illegally using weapons against civilian targets and deliberately attacking hospitals and medical staff.

“There can be no doubt that these subjects knew about, ordered or approved the actions in Gaza and that they had considered the consequences of these actions,” the lawyers’ statement said.

It also said the lawyers were representing a number of people living in Norway.

“It involves three people of Palestinian origin living in Norway and 20 families who lost loved ones or property during the attack,” one of the lawyers, Kjell Brygfjeld, told AFP.

Israel’s stated goal in the three-week offensive was the halting of the cross-border rocket attacks from Gaza.

Gaza officials have said over 1,300 Palestinians died during the campaign, a majority of whom were civilians. But the Israel Defense Forces has disputed these claims, stating that the vast majority of the dead were Hamas militants.