Tag: Jericho

PMC: Israeli soldiers assault, abuse and torture Palestinian journalist

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.

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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.

PACBI: Facts about the Cancellation of the Jericho-Tel Aviv Normalization Event

October 17, 2007

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and all its partners, individuals and organizations active in art, culture and human rights, regard the cancellation of the Jericho-Tel Aviv event, planned by “One Voice” to take place on October 18th, as a substantial accomplishment for the Palestinian boycott movement. A solid partnership between diverse civil society organizations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has succeeded in thwarting the event’s organizers’ attempt to mislead public opinion and to use deceptive slogans to market a political program that concedes some fundamental Palestinian rights. Without the broad grassroots support among Palestinian and Arab institutions and leading figures for the statement* calling for boycotting the event, the organizers would not have been compelled to cancel this huge production handsomely funded by dubious foreign sources.
PACBI and its partners wish to express their gratitude to all the artists and arts groups that withdrew from the festival after learning the truth about the organizing group’s political program. In particular, we thank Jamil as-Sayeh, Ilham Madfa’i, DAM and Asayel. We also thank everyone who helped spread the word and raise awareness about the event and its sponsors.

The discrepancy in the political language used by the organizers in their Arabic webpage and the main English page was only an indicator of a deeper deception. They falsely claimed, for instance, that the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, was the event’s main patron, a claim that was categorically dismissed in an official statement issued by the President’s office on 11 October; they also included names of well-known national figures as members of various committees of their organization without those individuals’ consent or even knowledge, as was later disclosed.

Most recently, after they were forced to cancel the festival due to the withdrawal of the main artists, the overwhelming support of Palestinian civil society for a boycott of the event, and the President’s distancing himself from the whole festival, the organizers asserted, in Arabic, that the event was cancelled due to “technical reasons,” while the press statement, in English, issued by the main sponsor — who announced the festival cancellation — cited “security reasons” and “threats” by “extremists” against the participating artists as the reason for the cancellation. Despite the obvious falsehood and slander of such assertions, PACBI wishes to stress that, since its inception in 2004, it has embraced civil struggle, non-violent by its nature, in its discourse and action, inside occupied Palestine and outside. Moreover, all of PACBI’s partners who participated in exposing the truth about this event adopted only rational persuasion and awareness-raising in countering the deception and innuendo propagated by the event organizers, a fact that played a key role in widening the circle of public support for the proposed boycott.

This achievement is further proof that a clear majority in Palestinian society continues to insist on the full realization of the inalienable rights of the people of Palestine, paramount among which is the right to self-determination and the right of return for the refugees, as guaranteed by international law. A just peace can only be attained by completely ending the occupation with all its manifestations as well as the various forms of Israeli oppression against the Palestinian people, in compliance with international law and the universal principles of justice and human rights.

Contact: info@BoycottIsrael.ps

The PACBI statement can be read at: http://www.pacbi.org/press_releases_more.php?id=612_0_4_0_C

Another Voice: ONEVOICE CONCERT CANCELLED DUE TO GRASSROOTS MOBILIZATION

ANOTHER VOICE

October 13, 2007

For Immediate Release

ONEVOICE CONCERT CANCELLED DUE TO GRASSROOTS MOBILIZATION

… Another Voice to hold alternate concert on October 24th

Another Voice is proud to have contributed towards the grassroots mobilization that has resulted in the cancellation of OneVoice’s event in Jericho on October 18th. We acknowledge the efforts of all the organizations and individuals that have played a role in generating awareness about the major problems with OneVoice’s campaign and how it undermines Palestinian rights, as well as OneVoice’s fraudulent listing of endorsers and unethical means of collecting signatures.

The problems with OneVoice’s campaign include, but are not limited to, failure to distinguish between occupier and occupied, implicit support of Israel’s retention of settlement blocks, apparent disregard for the refugees right of return, failure to mention of Israel’s illegal separation wall, and the absence of any reference to international law or human rights.

Most of the Arab artists have withdrawn their participation from the concert, including DAM Rap, Reem Talhami, Jamil Al Sayeh, and Al Asayel Group. In addition, many individuals and organizations that have been listed as endorsers, including Bishop Atallah Hanna, have pulled out upon closer examination of what OneVoice is all about. Furthermore, we have learned that several alleged endorsers, including President Mahmoud Abbas, were listed without their prior knowledge or consent. As for collecting signatures, the concert in effect serves as a bribe to the public, as concertgoers would be required to sign OneVoice’s mandate prior to entry.

Another Voice spokesperson Natasha Aruri stated, “A concert for peace is one thing, and asking people to sign away their basic human rights is another. The OneVoice campaign is deceptive, and the reaction of the Palestinian public was a natural result.”

OneVoice claims that the cancellation of their event was due to security issues. However, a source at the President’s Office affirmed that there were no problems regarding security arrangements. OneVoice founder Daniel Lubetzky also claims “threats of violence” by “extremists,” and that he did not want to “endanger people’s lives.” We are disturbed by this slander and challenge OneVoice to provide any evidence or information supporting these outrageous lies.

Another Voice is organizing a concert in Ramallah on October 24th, to sing and chant for freedom, justice, and true peace.

For more information, contact:
Natasha Aruri: +970-599-794-761
Huwaida Arraf: +972-547-473-308 / +970-599-130-426
Web: www.anothervoice-palestine.org
E-mail: info@anothervoice-palestine.org

Giving credit where credit is due

It seems ISM has been accused of being behind another conspiracy theory. This time the backlash to the One Voice Normalization event is the fault of ISM. In fact, the only thing ISM has done about the event is repost a call to boycott from PACBI. Below you will find an excerpt from Mr. Lubetzky’s blog, a response from PACBI, and a response from a solidarity activist.

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Daniel Lubetzky wrote:

The Bad Guys Uncovered…

Per my prior blog post, I could have placed my bet on who is behind the “boycott” of the OneVoice Summit…

…No one other than the “International Solidarity Movement.”

Read the full blog entry here:
http://blog.peaceworks.net/2007/10/the-bad-guys-uncovered/

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PACBI wrote:

Dear Mr. Lubetzky,

This is in response to your having uncovered the bad guys. The statement that has been calling for a boycott of the Jericho Tel Aviv One Voice event was initiated by PACBI, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel in collaboration with several Palestinian cultural centers, and organizations.

The call is not the first call for a boycott of a normalization event, or project, nor will it be the last (please refer to our website www.pacbi.org). It is supported by a general call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions endorsed by over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, better known as the call for BDS.

Our main aim of the statement (https://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/10/03/pacbi-celebrating-peace-or-camouflaging-apartheid/) is to inform the Palestinian public, that might be unaware, that they are being lured into attending a so called “free concert” or festival, when in fact they are being required to “vote” on a ten point mandate that would be the basis for a negotiated Peace.

We believe that your organization’s mandate contributes to the confusion that has been perpetuated by the state of Israel, and its various lobbying efforts all around the world, that aim to blur the distinction between the victim, and the victimizer, the oppressor, and the oppressed, and presents Palestinians and Israelis as equal partners on a bargaining table, with no regard to Palestinian right to self determination, freedom, equality and justice.

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An Activist wrote:

By portraying the conflict as balanced between equal sides with equal responsibilities, and by defining the root of the problem as violence and extremism while ignoring the context of displacement, dispossession, and occupation, in which this violence and extremism occur, you are misrepresenting the conflict in a way that damages the chances of ever achieving a just solution.

The concept of two states has been co opted by the American and Israeli administrations to mean apartheid. The Israeli state annexing the settlement blocs and the Palestinians living in Bantustans. The concept of a just solution for the refugees has been co opted to mean the refugees giving up the right of return for a right to return to Israeli controlled open air prisons. That is the “Peace” that you are supporting.

PACBI: Celebrating Peace or Camouflaging Apartheid?

Boycott the Jericho-Tel Aviv Public Events on October 18th!

On October 18th, One Million Voices, an organization led by Israelis and international figures with the support of some Palestinians, is organizing a public event in Jericho and Tel Aviv, simultaneously. The event will include performances by renowned artists Brian Adams and Ilham Madfa’i. As stated on the organization’s English webpage, the objective of the event is to “mark the first time that massive numbers of Israelis and Palestinians gather simultaneously to unite against violent extremism.”

According to the widely accepted boycott criteria advocated by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), the event falls under the category of normalization projects and violates the call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), endorsed by over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, trade unions, political parties, and grassroots movements, for the following reasons:

1. Participants are required to join the One Voice Movement and sign a mandate — ostensibly based on a “two-state solution,” but without any commitment to international parameters — which assumes equal responsibility of “both sides” for the “conflict,” and suspiciously fails to call for Israel’s full compliance with its obligations under international law through ending its illegal military occupation, its denial of Palestinian refugee rights (particularly the right of return), and its system of racial discrimination against its own Palestinian citizens.

2. The event is sponsored by Israeli institutions (mostly from the private sector) and endorsed by mainstream Israeli political figures from parties including the Likud and Shas. These Israeli “partners” are unquestionably complicit in maintaining Israel ‘s occupation and other forms of oppression.

We believe this event is being organized to promote a “peace” agreement that is devoid of the minimal requirements of justice, and that will leave the Palestinian people as disenfranchised as previous agreements have. The unfortunate and harmful support of Palestinian businessmen, religious and political figures, among others, for this event indicates either ignorance of the hidden agenda inherent in the whole initiative, deceptively camouflaged as a collective call for peace, or willingness to forfeit the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people in return for advancing selfish interests.

We call on the Palestinian public and international supporters of a just peace in Palestine not to take part in this public relations charade that conceals a misleading political program that falls significantly short of international law tenets and the Palestinian national program.

We call on Arab and Palestinian artists, in particular, not to participate in this or any similar event whose real objectives have nothing to do with genuine peace.

We call on Palestinian board members of the One Million Voices to withdraw their support for this movement that only serves to blind the Palestinian public and sidetrack it from struggling, with the solidarity of its international supporters, for its UN-sanctioned rights, for justice, equality and freedom.