On Friday 17th of April a group of Palestinian activists of the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative, international activists of ISM Gaza Strip and FGM and journalists went to accompany Palestinian farmers to harvest their crops in Beit Hanoun, close to the Green Line.
As soon as they begun to work, Israeli troops start to shoot from nearby military bases and vehicles. As the shooting was becoming more intense and close to the group of Palestinians and internationals, a Palestinian activist called the Palestinian office that coordinates with the Israeli occupation administration. He was told from the coordination, that the Israeli troops couldn’t see the group and that the Palestinians and internationals should move to a place where they could be seen better by the Israeli soldiers.
When some of the Palestinians and international activists (wearing fluorescent or Red Crescent vests) move to a place where they could be clearly seen, the Israeli soldiers observed them for a couple of minutes and then started to shoot again only a few meters from them.
Shooting at civilians is a severe violation of International Humanitarian Law which unfortunately is committed almost daily by the Israeli occupation forces, but the way the Israeli occupation administration this time set this trap maybe have no precedent.
April 11th 2009 marked the 6th anniversary of the shooting of British ISM activist Tom Hurndall by Israeli occupation soldiers that lead to his death 9 months later. It wasn’t possible for ISM volunteers to enter the Gaza Strip for several years due to the clampdown of the Erez crossing, so this was the first time ISM activists managed to commemorate the anniversary in Gaza itself.
Last October, in the occasion of the release of a new television drama based on the killing in Gaza of Tom Hurndall (’The Shooting Of Thomas Hurndall’, Channel Four Television), Amnesty International has renewed its call for justice for Mr Hurndall’s family.
Tom Hurndall playing football in Amman refugee camp
Football match in Rafah, Gaza
Children gather at Tom Hurndall’s memorial
A memorial banner for Tom Hurndall
Gazan boy at Tom Hurndall’s memorial
A memorial banner for Tom Hurndall
Even before the recent onslaught, the human rights organization has described a situation where Israeli military forces kill civilians in Gaza with ‘near-total impunity’ – and while Mr Hurndall’s death has led to the conviction of one Israeli soldier on manslaughter charges, Amnesty insists that this was almost solely due to the determination of his family rather than the Israeli military authorities’ own efforts to see justice done.
Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said:
The shocking truth is that Israeli soldiers kill civilians in Gaza with near-total impunity, week in week out. Tom Hurndall’s family have fought hard to achieve justice over his tragic death but the general position is one where independent investigations of civilian killings almost never happen and where the process itself lacks independence and impartiality. Where, exceptionally, an individual Israeli soldier is held responsible for a civilian death or injury, typically no-one further up the command structure is ever held accountable.
Because of the daily Israeli attacks against civilians in Gaza Strip (despite the “ceasefire”) ISM activists had to continue their work even during that very special day. Since early in the morning some of the activists continued monitoring the Israeli Navy aggressions against Palestinian fishermen. Later ISM Gaza Strip held a meeting with farmers of Khoza’a village, to discuss about the Israeli attacks and the accompaniment by international activists. In the nearby village of Faraheen several ISM activists along with journalists visited also a handicapped Palestinian farmer woman who had broken her leg the previous day, while trying to escape from Israeli gunfire.
We think that continuing our work it was the best way to commemorate Tom’s sacrifice and what he would want. But of course we wanted to do something special. Because some of us have actually worked on the case of Tom just after his shooting and others it was then when we first heard about ISM and we were inspired by Tom and Rachel. So, after this long day, we organized, with the help of local sportsmen, a football match in Yibna refugee camp, the Rafah neighborhood were Tom was shot while trying to rescue Palestinian children from Israeli gunfire. Who knows, maybe some of these children were now watching the match, despite the rain. In any case it was amazing to see Palestinian children of …all ages, to be able to play in a place where 6 years ago they couldn’t reach without being shot. We felt that Tom’s (as well as Rachel’s) sacrifice had somehow contribute to that. And while watching the match the images of the Rafah players were mixed with that image of Tom playing football with a kid in a refugee camp in Amman…
The International Solidarity Movement is issuing a call-out for internationals to volunteer as field activists and office workers in the West Bank, Gaza, and occupied East Jerusalem this summer.
Whether you can come for only few weeks or several months, your presence is needed to support Palestinian communities who are nonviolently resisting the Israeli occupation. Freedom Summer 2009, which will run from June 6th until August 15th, aims to challenge the continued theft of Palestinian land for the rapid expansion of illegal Israeli settlements and their infrastructure in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Volunteer training sessions will be held every week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Visit our “Join Us in Palestine” section to read more information about volunteering.
Below are some of the actions ISM volunteers can anticipate this summer:
ISM volunteers will stand in solidarity with the Palestinian families of occupied East Jerusalem who face dispossession.
International activists will join families in Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, Shu’fat, and other neighborhoods whose residences are threatened, in resisting evictions and demolitions with non-violent, direct actions methods. ISM volunteers will also participate in demonstrations against discriminatory Israeli policies and support ongoing organization of Palestinian heritage and cultural events.
In the West Bank, volunteers will join Palestinian villagers in nonviolent demonstrations against the Wall, and other apartheid infrastructure of the occupation such as checkpoint, settlements, and Israeli-only roads. Activists will be working in communities such as Ni’lin, Bil’in, Jayyous, Husan and Tulkarem to support direct actions under Palestinian popular leadership. Recently Israeli military violence during nonviolent demonstrations has escalated, making it more important that international solidarity activists are present to help deter and document the repression from Israeli forces. Additionally, volunteers will accompany farmers and shepherds to deter violence from the Israeli military and settlers. In the South Hebron hills, the army’s designation of large areas as military closed zones will be challenged.
The ISM volunteers in the Gaza Strip will continue to accompany Palestinian farmers who frequently face live fire from the army as they work their land in the buffer zone. Volunteers will stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza against the crippling siege and sporadic attacks on the region. Several ISM activists will be joining the Free Gaza Movement’s Hope Fleet that will sail into Gaza’s port at the end of May. International activists will mass on the Egyptian border with Gaza between the 22nd of May and the 14th of June, in an attempt to challenging the ongoing closure and isolation of the people of Gaza. Individuals interested in volunteering with ISM Gaza must have previous experience with ISM in the West Bank.
Come to Palestine to support the Palestinian people in their struggle against occupation. Become an eyewitness to the Palestinian struggle for freedom! ISM volunteers have become better advocates for the freedom and self-determination of the Palestinian people in their home communities.
This summer, support and participate in the Palestinian non-violent resistance to the Occupation by using direct action methods to defend the land of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
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.
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
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.”
