Press Release by Luisa Morgantini, Vice President of the European Parliament
Rome, 16th July 2008
To view original press release on the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) website, click here
It’s a very negative signal that the International Quartet Envoy Tony Blair’s planned trip to the Gaza was canceled yesterday, Tuesday 15th July, following what was described as “specific security threats that made the visit impossible”.
As a delegation of the European Parliament we visited, last June, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem. Our visit in Gaza was perfectly coordinated by UNRWA, and we didn’t feel any sort of insecurity, but only despair and responsibility looking at the living conditions of the Palestinian population under an illegal siege (don’t worry we also went to see the danger and the damages of the rockets fired on Sderot).
I really hope that the Israeli authorities’ pressures or other forces are not behind this decision by Tony Blair not to go to Gaza Strip, using the threat of security in order to prevent to witness the disaster of the blockade.
Palestinians, both in West Bank and in Gaza Strip, deplored the fact that Tony Blair had never visited the Strip, despite of the duties related to his role as Quartet Representative that include mobilizing international assistance to the Palestinians, working closely with donors and others, as well as helping to implement plans and concrete projects aimed to promote Palestinian economic development.
Those projects are fundamental and urgent in order to ensure as soon as possible a better and more healthy life for Palestinians, and especially those aimed to solve the increasing pollution in Gaza Strip due to the malfunctioning of the drainage system, such as in Beit Lahya, in northern Gaza Strip where Mr Tony Blair was due to be yesterday.
We saw sewage waters running freely and visibly through the streets of Gaza city and other cities of the Strip and ending up in the sea: any delay in this sense will be a tragedy not only for all the Palestinians living there, but also for the Israelis, sharing the same and polluted Mediterranean Sea.
For this reason Tony Blair’s visit could be -and it can of course be in the future- a fundamental opportunity to improve the living conditions for Palestinians in Gaza, showing that they are not alone, giving at same time a signal of hope for the unity and the reconciliation of the Palestinian people and Territory and finally also demonstrating, instead of a double standards policy, an impartial attitude by the International Community towards this conflict, starting concretely to end the collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza represented by the Israeli siege and closures for people and goods.
Maria Aman, a Disabled Palestinian Infant versus the State of Israel
On July 7 2008, at 9 a.m., a High Court hearing will be held to look into the expulsion of Palestinian infant Maria Aman who was severely injured during a targeted attack in Gaza. Her doctors are concerned her life may be endangered if she is forced to transfer to a hospital in Ramallah.
In May 2006, infant Maria Aman was severely injured during a targeted attack in Gaza. Her mother, older brother, grandmother and aunt were killed in the attack.
Maria, now seven years old, is completely paralyzed, will have to be connected to an artificial respiration machine for the rest of her life, and is still hospitalized in the Alyn Pediatric and Adolescent Rehabilitation Hospital in Jerusalem.
The Ministry of Defense is seeking to expel the infant to a rehabilitation institution in Ramallah.
According to the doctors who are treating Maria, a transfer to Ramallah will endanger her life.
Maria Aman, who has severe spinal injuries, and sustained severe damage to her respiratory tract, has to stay within a reasonable distance of a hospital that specializes in these areas. Her life depends on special and expensive apparatus, a skilled staff that is available 24 hours a day, and ongoing maintenance of the artificial respiration machine. None of these are available in Ramallah or Gaza, or anywhere else in the Palestinian Autonomy.
Maria Aman’s legal representation, attorneys Adi Lustigman and Tamir Blank, are seeking through the High Court appeal to prevent her expulsion, to ensure her rehabilitation in the community with her father and five year old brother, and to attain permanent residency status for them in Israel.
The killing of Gaza-based Palestinian Reuters cameraman received considerable attention 2.5 months ago. Filming at the site of shelling in Gaza earlier in the day, Fadel Shana was himself targeted by shelling from the very tanks he was filming. After the incident, with international outcry from rights groups, journalists associations, and individuals, Israel promised to look into his death.
Given the high number of journalist fatalities and injuries at the hands of the Israeli army, it is not hard to believe that perhaps Israel is targeting journalists.
24 year old Mohammed Omer, an internationally-recognized journalist from Rafah in Gaza’s south, is the latest to be targeted by Israel, although this time not while reporting.
Omer had left Gaza weeks earlier, traveling via Israel and Jordan to London where, on June 16th, he was awarded the prestigious Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. On the same day, journalists in Gaza marched in memory of the slain Fadel Shana, at the same time protesting the vacuum of silence that has followed Shana’s killing just two months later. In the days before the award ceremony, Omer had spoken in Sweden, the Netherlands and Greece on the current situation in Gaza with the year-long internationally-backed Israeli siege.
Although Omer had previously left Gaza, after much bureaucracy from the Israeli authorities, this time was worse, both leaving and returning, with injuries added to insult on his return.
While expecting delays and difficulties in getting Israel to facilitate passage, Omer hadn’t been expecting the abuse which came with hours of interrogation by Israel’s intelligence, the Shin Bet.
According to an interview Omer gave the IPS, “At first I refused but then I had an M16 (gun) pointed in my face and my clothes were forcibly removed, even my underwear.”
IPS reports that Omer was told, “You haven’t seen anything yet,” in reply to his requests they stop the interrogation. Subjecting the journalist to a full-body search, IPS reports that “every cavity of his body was searched as one of the investigators pinned him down on the floor, placing his boot on Omer’s neck. Omer began vomiting, and fainted.” He was later dragged along the ground to a Palestinian ambulance which took him to a Jericho hospital.
When he came round his eyelids were being forcibly opened and his eardrums probed by an Israeli military doctor, who was also armed. He was then dragged along the floor by his feet by the Shin Bet officials, with his head repeatedly banging on the floor, to a Palestinian ambulance which had been called, according to IPS’ report.
Days later, Mohammed Omer still feels the effects of his interrogation.
“I can’t talk much, it hurts too much to speak,” Omer explained over the phone, voice barely audible. He later detailed why he was having so much trouble speaking, breathing: “they put their fingers into my solar plexus and leaned into me, pushing hard.”
Menassat, the Middle East North Africa news agency, reports that Israeli army spokesperson Avihay Adre’y stated after Shana’s killing: “Our soldiers know that the journalist is sacred and is never part of the conflict.” The Menassat article mentions that Israel maintains its soldiers are given special instructions on how to deal with Palestinian journalists operating in combat.
The same article quotes an Israeli journalist who contends that reporting is the only weapon that Gaza journalists have, that they shouldn’t be “stopped, killed or targeted.” The journalist, Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot’s Roni Shaked, avowed “If the situation [in Israel] was similar to that in Gaza, I would definitely be present to cover the events and no-one could stop me.”
This is what Mohammed Omer has been doing, since beginning to report as a journalist on the ground 7 years ago. His reporting, formally recognized with the New America Media’s Best Youth Voice award, appears regularly in the New Statesman, WRMEA, IPS, and numerous internet news-sites, and he is a regular interviewee on the BBC and Democracy Now, among others.
One wonders how Palestinian journalists can continue to report, when targeted on the ground and meticulously abused at the hands of the Israeli army. One wonders even more when Israel will actually be held accountable for its actions, when the international community will no longer accept the dismissive promise to ‘hold an investigation into the matter’. The matter has been investigated ad nauseum, and the matter is fairly clear: Israel is targeting journalists (not to mention civilians).
To view original press release from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), click here
On 24 June 2008, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) filed a lawsuit at the National Court of Spain, the highest Spanish judicial council, against seven former senior Israeli military officials. These include former Defence Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, his former military advisor, Michael Herzog, former Israeli Army Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon and Dan Halutz, former Commander of the Israeli Air Force, who are all suspected of committing a war crime in the Gaza Strip in July 2002.
PCHR filed this lawsuit on behalf of six Palestinians who survived an Israeli extra judicial execution operation in the Gaza Strip in July 2002. This is the first time survivors of an Israeli military attack have filed a lawsuit against members of the Israeli military in Spain. The National Court of Spain has accepted to examine the case, the first step towards launching a formal prosecution.
At approximately midnight on 22 July, 2002, an Israeli Air Force fighter jet dropped a 2,000 lbs. bomb on the house of Salah Shehada, Commander of Izzedeen El-Qassam Battalions, the armed wing of Hamas, who was living in the Daraj district of Gaza city. The bomb killed Salah Shehada and seventeen civilians, including his wife, his daughter, his guard, eight children (including a 2-month infant), two elderly men, and two women. In addition, seventy seven other people were injured, eleven houses were completely destroyed and thirty two houses damaged. The Government of Israel apparently confirmed to [former] Israeli Army Chief of Staff, General Moshe Ya’alon, that it was fully aware Shehada’s wife and daughter “Were close to him during the implementation of the assassination … and there was no way out of conducting the operation despite their presence.”
PCHR embarked on this ground-breaking lawsuit via the National Court of Spain after lengthy consultations with international legal experts indicted the possibility of such action with regard to lawsuits of war crimes. The Centre notes that similar cases have previously been filed in Israeli courts, but did not lead to successful prosecutions. On the contrary, the Israeli judiciary was used as a legal cover for the perpetration of war crimes, and as a tool to deliberately hinder international jurisdiction under the pretext of a “fair” national judicial system operating in Israel.
This PCHR lawsuit is part of continuing and rigorous efforts by the Centre to pursue Israeli war criminals under universal jurisdiction in courts in Switzerland, New Zealand, Britain and Spain. PCHR’s Spanish partners in this lawsuit are Antonio Segura, Gonzalo Boye, Juan Moreno and Raul Maillo, who have already worked on a number of high profile human rights cases, including representing victims of torture in Guatemala and the attempted prosecution of General Augusto Pinochet for the murder of Spanish citizens whilst he was president of Chile.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights previously filed a lawsuit in the UK against former Head of the Israeli Army Southern Commend, Doron Almog, for committing grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention during his army service, (considered a criminal offense in the UK under the Geneva Conventions of 1949) Almog arrived in the UK on 10 September 2005, after a warrant had been issued for his arrest. Having been informed of the warrant before he disembarked, Almog subsequently fled straight back to Israel on the same plane.
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Background to Lawsuit
Antonio Segura, Gonzalo Boye, Raul Maillo and Juan Moreno, are prominent human rights lawyers with extensive experience of cases concerning International Law and Humanitarian Law. In addition to attempting to prosecute former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who was subsequently held in Britain for more than one year, they also represented the case of Jose Couso, a Spanish cameraman who was killed by US troops in Baghdad, Iraq, as well as representing victims of torture in Guatemala, and victims of the September 2004 Madrid bombing. They have subsequently become well known by human rights and solidarity groups around the world for their commitment to representing victims of human rights abuses. This lawsuit has been filed jointly with the Spanish lawyers and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) on behalf of the Centre’ Director, Raji Sourani, and is the first lawsuit of its kind to be filed in Spain.
This lawsuit is the result of more than two year’s collaborative work between Palestinian human rights organizations (including the Arab Cause Solidarity Committee and the Al-Quds Association for Solidarity with People in Arab Countries) and Spanish civil society organizations that focus on justice for Palestinians. PCHR commends the decision of the National Court of Spain to examine this case further, and welcomes Spain’s decision to join the group of countries, whose courts have accepted cases against the Israeli military. To date, Great Britain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United States and New Zealand have also accepted cases against the Israeli military. PCHR regards this as an extremely positive step towards ensuring that victims of these war crimes eventually receive justice.
To view original report, published by the Palestine Media Centre, click here
The security officials pf the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) manning the Allenby border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank assaulted, abused and strip-searched at gunpoint Palestinian journalist and photographer Mohammed Omer, the Gaza correspondent of IPS, joint winner of the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism and was honored by New American Media as the ‘Best Youth Voice’ for 2006.
“Omer returned to his native Gaza Strip on Thursday, literally unconscious and unable to speak after being beaten and tortured by Israeli troops. He is still unable to speak so I was not able to communicate with him,” Steve Amsel of Desert Peace said on Saturday.
Omer was on a speaking tour of the United States. He spoke before a large audience at the Center Congregational Church in Brattleboro on Nov. 29. Omer shared his experiences in Gaza and why journalism was his calling.
He was returning from London where he had just collected his Gellhorn Prize, and from several European capitals where he had speaking engagements, including a meeting with Greek parliamentarians.
Omer’s trip was sponsored by The Washington Report, and the Dutch embassy in Tel Aviv was responsible for coordinating Omer’s travel plans and his security permit to leave Gaza with Israeli officials.
While waiting in Amman on his way back, Omer eventually received the requisite coordination and security clearance from the Israelis to return to Gaza after this had initially been delayed by several days, he told IPS.
Accompanied by Dutch diplomats, Omer passed through the Jordanian side of the border without incident. However, after arrival on the Israeli side, trouble began. He informed a female soldier that he was returning home to Gaza. He was repeatedly asked where Gaza was, and told that he had neither a permit nor any coordination to cross.
Omer explained that he did indeed have permission and coordination but was nevertheless taken to a room by Israel’s domestic intelligence agency the Shin Bet, where he was isolated for an hour and a half without explanation.
“Eventually I was asked whether I had a knife or gun on me even though I had already passed through the x-ray machine, had my luggage searched, and was in the company of Dutch diplomats,” Omer said.
His luggage was again searched, and security then proceeded to go through every document and paper he had on him, taking down the names and numbers of the European parliamentary officials he had met.
The Shin Bet officials then started to make fun of the European parliamentarians, and mocked Omer for being “the prize-winning journalist”.
The Gazan journalist was repeatedly asked why he was returning to “the hell of Gaza after we allowed you to leave.” To this he responded that he wanted to be a voice for the voiceless. He was told he was a “trouble-maker”.
The security men also demanded he show all the money he had on him, and particular attention was paid to the British pounds he was carrying. His Gellhorn prize money had been awarded in British pounds but he was not carrying the entire sum on him bodily, something the investigators refused to believe.
After being unable to produce the prize money, he was ordered to strip naked.
“At first I refused but then I had an M16 (gun) pointed in my face and my clothes were forcibly removed, even my underwear,” Omer said.
At this point Omer broke down and pleaded for an end to such treatment. He said he was told, “You haven’t seen anything yet.” Every cavity of his body was searched as one of the investigators pinned him down on the floor, placing his boot on Omer’s neck. Omer began vomiting, and fainted.
When he came round his eyelids were being forcibly opened and his eardrums probed by an Israeli military doctor, who was also armed. He was then dragged along the floor by his feet by the Shin Bet officials, with his head repeatedly banging on the floor, to a Palestinian ambulance which had been called.
“I eventually woke up in a Palestinian hospital with the doctors trying to reassure me,” Omer told IPS.
The Dutch Foreign Ministry at the Hague told IPS that Foreign Minister Maxime Zerhagen spoke to the Israeli ambassador to The Netherlands and demanded an explanation.
The Dutch embassy in Tel Aviv has also raised the issue with the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which in turn has promised to investigate the incident and get back to the Dutch officials.
Ahmed Dadou, spokesman from the Dutch Foreign Ministry at the Hague told IPS, “We are taking this whole incident very seriously as we don’t believe the behaviour of the Israeli officials is in accordance with a modern democracy.
“We are further concerned about the mistreatment of an internationally renowned journalist trying to go about his daily business,” added Dadou.
A spokeswoman at the Israeli Foreign Press Association said she was unaware of the incident.
Lisa Dvir from the Israeli Airport Authority (IAA), the body responsible for controlling Israel’s borders, told IPS that the IAA was neither aware of Omer’s journalist credentials nor of his coordination.
“We would like to know who Omer spoke to in regard to receiving coordination to pass through Allenby. We offer journalists a special service when passing through our border crossings, and had we known about his arrival this would not have happened.
“I’m not aware of the events that followed his detention, and we are not responsible for the behavior of the Shin Bet.”
In the meantime, Omer is still traumatized and in pain. “I’m struggling to breathe and have pain in my head and stomach and will be going back to hospital for further medical examinations,” he said.
Omer, 22, was born and raised in the Rafah refugee camp, in the southern Gaza Strip near the Egyptian border. The oldest of eight children, Mohammed began working to support his family at age six when his father was in an Israeli prison. In time, he landed a job at a backpack factory and since then has built an impressive resume as a translator, journalist, and program coordinator.
At 17, he began translating for Global Exchange delegations to Gaza, traveling dignitaries, and foreign reporters. At 18, he began writing regularly for the international media and Omer’s work can now be found in dozens of newspapers and magazines worldwide such as the Vermont Guardian, The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, ArtVoice Weekly, the online magazine Electronic Intifada, and Norwegian and Swedish dailies.
—————— By: Steve Amsel
To view original article, published by the Palestine Think Tank, click here
My dear friend and brother Mohammed Omer returned to his native Gaza Strip on Thursday… literally unconscious and unable to speak after being beaten and tortured by Israeli troops. He is still unable to speak so I was not able to communicate with him, I will be posting updates on his condition in future posts.
Mohammed was in Britain, where he was the recipient of a prize for journalism. You can read about it HERE in a post I wrote earlier in the week.
Mohammed’s ordeal is written about in an Action Alert issued by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, a journal in which he appears regularly.
At a June 16 ceremony in London, Mohammed Omer, author of the regular Washington Report feature “Gaza on the Ground,” received the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism (a link to the presentation and Omer’s remarks can be found on our home page, www.wrmea.com). He shared the prestigious prize with independent American journalist Dahr Jamail, who was honored for his “unembedded” reports from Iraq.
Before traveling to England to receive his award, Omer spoke in Sweden, the Netherlands and Greece about the situation in Gaza. Dutch MP Hans Van Baalen, head of the parliament’s foreign relations committee, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Pilger spent weeks lobbying Israel to issue an exit permit to allow this young reporter to travel to Europe and London.
Not for the first time, however, getting home was even harder than leaving.
As soon as Omer arrived in Amman, the Dutch diplomats who were helping facilitate his travel arrangements informed him that the Israelis did not want to allow him to return. After further intervention by his Dutch sponsors, Omer finally got the green light, and on the morning of June 26 crossed from Jordan into the occupied territories via the Allenby Bridge. There he was interrogated, strip-searched and manhandled for several hours. After losing consciousness, he finally was taken to a hospital in Jericho, and from there escorted back to Gaza.
MP Van Baalen has demanded that Israel launch an investigation into Omer’s barbaric treatment.
