Tag: Jerusalem

Israeli forces step-up campaign against Jerusalemite leaders

Ma’an News

20 October 2009

Two Jerusalem leaders were harassed and interrogated by Israeli forces Tuesday, marking a steep increase in targeted detentions and raids of organizers involved in the Al-Aqsa Mosque sit-ins and demonstrations during the Jewish holidays earlier this month.

In the latest incident, Israeli police released senior Fatah official and Jerusalem affairs official Hatem Abdul Qader after detaining him for hours at the Allenby Bridge as he returned to Palestine from Jordan on Tuesday.

Abdul-Qader said authorities on the bridge handed him an order to submit to further interrogation by Israel’s intelligence unit at 12pm on Wednesday, an order he said he intended to refuse.

On Thursday Abdul Qader was taken from his car along with Islamic Movement leader Ali Sheikha. The two reported they had been taken by undercover Israeli agents at the Qalandiya military checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah. He said officers disguised as motorists disabled his car and “kidnapped” the two officials. They were taken to Israel’s Russian Compound prison in West Jerusalem.

At that time he was also given an order to appear in front of Israeli intelligence at 10am the following Wednesday.

Abdul Qader called the latest detention “provocative,” since he was on a “semi-official” visit to Jordan in the capacity of a Palestinian Authority representative.

The official has been interrogated four times in the last two weeks, following the Palestinian protest of Israeli extremist action around the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Jewish holidays earlier this month.


Israeli forces target home of Al-Quds Capital of Arab Culture organizer, seize documents

Prior to Abdul Qader’s detention and interrogation, Israeli Special Forces stormed the home of Al-Quds Capital of Culture organizer and architect Ihab Al-Jallad early Tuesday morning, sources reported.

Al-Jallad was questioned about the Al-Aqsa Mosque sit in that took place more than one week ago, while other masked soldiers ransacked his home and terrified his children, he said. The soldiers took three computers from the home, as well as digital memory devices, CDs and several paper files.

According to Al-Jallad, the Israeli officer questioning him said he and dozens of other Jerusalem leaders were being observed, that all activities in Jerusalem were being monitored – particularly those in the Al-Aqsa Mosque – and that no political or cultural activities would be permitted to go ahead without express permission from Israeli police.

“The officer even mocked our slogan, ‘Al-Aqsa in Danger,’” Al-Jallad said, referring to the campaign launched by Jerusalem religious and community leaders encouraging Palestinians to visit Jerusalem and particularly to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosue in the Old City.

Earlier that morning Israeli forces raided a warehouse used by Jerusalem community groups and event organizers. According to Al-Jallah, Israeli forces vandalized material used for cultural events and seized some goods.

“Israeli forces cannot terrify our children and cannot prevent us from doing our duty for Jerusalem…We will continue our program and activities by God’s will,” Al-Jallal said.

This is the second time in as many months that Israeli forces have broken into Al-Jallad’s home.

Settlers attack Palestinian family in Sheikh Jarrah, injure seven

20 October 2009

The settlers who have recently occupied the house of the Gawi family, forcefully evicted from their home in Sheikh Jarrah on 2 August 2009, launched an attack today on the Palestinians camping outside. According to local sources, seven Palestinians were injured and four arrested.

The attack started between 8 and 8.30pm, when a driver of a lorry delivering furniture to the occupied house, accompanied by four settlers, attacked a five year old boy from the Gawi family who was playing nearby. The settlers then attacked a small tent where the Gawi family have been living since the eviction. The tent was full of mainly women and children at that time. A Palestinian woman who was hit hard by the driver had to be taken to hospital. A fight broke out immediately, involving at least 15 settlers. Several members of the family sustained light injuries and a 15-year old girl from the neighbourhood was hit by a falling TV as the settlers managed to tear down the tent.

When police arrived, they made no attempts to stop the settlers attacking the family and later arrested four Palestinians. Two were released and another two, Khalet Gawi and Saleh Diab have been taken to hospital and told to come back to the police station tomorrow for further questioning. Four settlers were taken for questioning and released immediately.

The Gawi and Hannoun families, consisting of 53 members including 20 children, have been left homeless after they were forcibly evicted from their houses on 2 August 2009. The Israeli forces surrounded the homes of the two families at 5.30am and, breaking in through the windows, forcefully dragged all residents into the street. The police also demolished the neighbourhood’s protest tent, set up by Um Kamel, following the forced eviction of her family in November 2008.

At present, all three houses are occupied by settlers and the whole area is patrolled by armed private settler security 24 hours a day. Both Hannoun and Gawi families, who have been left without suitable alternative accommodation since August, continue to protest against the unlawful eviction from the sidewalk across the street from their homes, facing regular attacks from the settlers and harassment from the police.

The Karm Al-Ja’ouni neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah is home to 28 Palestinian families, all refugees from 1948, who received their houses from the UNRWA and Jordanian government in 1956. All face losing their homes in the manner of the Hannoun, Gawi and al-Kurd families.

The aim of the settlers is to turn the whole area into a new Jewish settlement and to create a Jewish continuum that will effectively cut off the Old City form the northern Palestinian neighborhoods. Implanting new Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank is illegal under many international laws, including Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Act for East Jerusalem

13 October 2009

We as Scandinavians are very concerned about the developments in East Jerusalem. Israel is continuing a policy violating international law towards the Palestinian inhabitants of the area.

We strongly urge our politicians to put pressure on the Israeli Government to end settlement expansion and annexation of Palestinian land and property.

In the case of Sheikh Jarrah two families were recently evicted from their houses and are now in a status of refugee for the second time since the 1948 war between Israel and Palestine. The Ghawi family have been living in a tent in front of their own house since the forced eviction.

Forced displacement affects Palestinian families in many neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, including Silwan and the Mount of Olives, which together with Sheikh Jarrah form part of the Holy Basin surrounding the Old City. From January to July 2009, at least 194 people, including 95 children, were forcibly displaced and another 107, including 46 children, were affected as a result of house demolitions ordered or carried out by the Israeli authorities in East Jerusalem. According to conservative estimates, there are currently over 1,500 pending demolition orders in East Jerusalem alone, potentially affecting several thousand Palestinian residents.

We strongly urge our politicians to put pressure on the Israeli Government in accordance to the following statements (as recommended by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs):

• Prevent the displacement of Palestinian families and communities by putting an immediate stop to forced evictions and house demolitions.

• Facilitate the return to their homes of families that have been displaced as a result of forced evictions and house demolitions in East Jerusalem.

• Protect the rights of Palestinian residents to land and property and ensure respect for international law, including human rights and humanitarian law.

To sign the petition, click here

The petition will be send to the Scandinavian Foreign Ministers and relevant members of the European Parliament:

Anna Ibrisagic, a swedish MP of the comittee for Foreign Affairs, anna.ibrisagic@europarl.europa.eu

Heidi Hautala, a Finnish MP of the comittee for Foreign Affairs and the comittee of Human Rights, heidi.hautala@europarl.europa.eu

Anneli Jäätteenäki, a Finnish MP of the comittee for Foreign Affairs, anneli.jaatteenmaki@europarl.europa.eu

Per Stig Møller, the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, udenrigsministeren@um.dk

Jonas Gahr Støre,the Norwegian Minister for Foreign Affairs, umin@mfa.no

Alexander Stubb, the Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs, umi@formin.fi

Carl Bildt, the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs
http://www.regeringen.se/pub/r…

Israelis flatten Palestinian home

BBC

12 October 2009

Israeli authorities have demolished two Palestinian-owned structures in East Jerusalem, in defiance of international calls to stop such actions.

Palestinian reports say a family of five was forcibly evicted from their home in the Beit Hanina district before the building was demolished.

Israeli bulldozers then destroyed the foundations of another building nearby.

UN officials say such demolitions violate international law and raise serious humanitarian concerns.

Israel says buildings subject to demolition orders have been built without permits.

Palestinians say it is virtually impossible to obtain the necessary approval from Israel’s municipal authorities in Jerusalem.

The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem , says the authorities have demolished about 420 Palestinian-owned houses in East Jerusalem since 2004 saying they were built without permits.

Israel occupied the territory in the 1967 war and annexed it soon afterwards in a move that has not been recognised internationally.

East Jerusalem: military checkpoints prevent Palestinians from entering the Old City and Al-Aqsa

9 October 2009

During the week leading up to 9 October, the Old City of Jerusalem and particularly the Muslim Quarter, were practically under siege and strict control of the Israeli armed forces. For the whole week there was a checkpoint at Damascus Gate which prevented Palestinian men from entering the Old City.

Damascus Gate is the main entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem, to the Muslim Quarter and the souq (market) where many Palestinians live and do business daily. Entering the Old City from Damascus Gate also leads directly to the Al-Aqsa Mosque the third holiest place in Islam. Throughout the week the Israeli border police also guarded the Muslim Quarter from atop its ancient walls and, in addition, it was not permitted to Palestinians and tourists to enter into the Haram al-Sharif where the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosques are. ‘The situation is very tense in there’ I am told by an Israeli policeman ‘not good for tourists’. On Friday morning the atmosphere became truly tense.

The army’s helicopters had been circling overhead from around 7 am. Multiple checkpoints had been set up outside the Old City, including one in the middle of Nablus Road, a major artery leading to the bus station to and from the West Bank. At this checkpoint the Israeli police stopped any non-white man (including children and the elderly), but let women and white men go through without a second glance. Racial profiling continues and becomes stricter as we near the heart of the Old City. At Damascus Gate the Israeli regular police and the border police, fully armed, guarded the barricades and prevented any non-white male under the age of 45 from entering. The rules are unclear, however: in some cases it is under the age of 45 in some other cases under the age of 50. Again, women, white males and Israeli citizens go through with minor or no questioning.

Inside the Old City entrance to the Haram al-Sharif was forbidden to both tourist and non-white young males for Friday and Saturday, we are told this by an Israeli policeman. There are flying checkpoints scattered around the Old City, including one in front of the popular hotel, the Austrian Hospice. All access points to the Al-Aqsa had a heavily guarded checkpoint, manned by the regular police, border police and the army. People of the Jewish faith and with an Israeli citizenship can go into the mosque, however. Many of them are dressed in very traditional clothing and have been patrolling the Old City for several days. Armed men stand at the top of staircases and of the numerous steep alleyways of the Old City, they also stand on roofs and on the walls’ barbican.

The forces patrolling the Old City seem of four kinds: the regular police, the army, the border police and a group dressed in a fully black uniform. All ‘security’ forces in the streets and at the checkpoints carry machine guns, many policemen also carry tear gas. When it was coming up to mid-day prayer some shops opened around the souq simply to play the call to prayer as loud as possible. The call to prayer also came from the Al-Aqsa in a voice broken by despair.

Across the street from Damascus Gate the crowds of banished men gather, there are hundreds of them and they sit or kneel on the ground to pray, many of them use flattened cardboard boxes in place of the prayer rug. The spectacle is devastating. The men pour in the street and they move just slightly, without interrupting their prayer, when garbage trucks and buses drive by. Ten feet away, surrounding the crowd, stand the border police, heavily armed, many are wearing helmets and point their gun at the crowd under the disbelieving eyes of many internationals. Further along the outside walls of the Old City, smaller crowds of men gather outside Herod’s Gate and they pray facing the direction of their shrine.

It is difficult for us to get into Herod’s Gate as the Israeli police cannot understand why internationals would want to go into the Muslim Quarter, but we manage to pass through. In front of one of the checkpoints outside the Mosque, men pray in silence listening to the distant voice of the Imam. Soldiers stand in front of them with their guns, the men do not seem to notice them and bow three times at the end of their prayer in the direction of the Mosque. The prayer is over, soldiers appear from every corner and march towards the checkpoints, rushing the men away in order to prevent loitering. The atmosphere in the souq is demoralised, the men walk in silence away from their shrine with their prayer rugs over their shoulders.

This whole operation seems to have been done to provoke a violent reaction from the Palestinians and to justify the occupation in the eyes of the international community while peace negotiations are going on. But Friday 9 October passed peacefully in Jerusalem, with Palestinians praying in the streets at the prescribed times as many internationals watched in disbelief.