Life under occupation
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| Title | | Description | Date |
| Palestinian worker shot and wounded while trying to get to work in Israel | | IMEMC - Rafat Yasser Salah, 27, from Burqa village, was shot by
Israeli soldiers while trying to cross the "Separation Barrier" aka
"Annexation Wall" and seeking to get to work in Israel. He was shot
with a live round in his left leg, and was rushed to Khalil Suleiman
governmental hospital, in Jenin, suffering a moderate injury. In
fact, the Israeli army and security forces are well aware that every
day tens of thousands of Palestinians cross illegally to work in
Israel, via holes in the Wall whose location is well-known, and that
the Israeli authorities tacitly tolerate this phenomenon as "a
safety valve" ameliorating the economic situation in the Palestinian
territories. However, this is an entirely unofficial policy, and
officially the army is committed to stopping "illegal infiltartors".
[Evidently, Rafat Yasser Salah had the bad luck to be noticed by
soldiers who took their official orders seriously. ak] | 31/12/2020 |
| ... |
| Israel’s vaccine rollout excludes Palestinians | | Omar Karmi - Electronic Intifada - Israel is rolling out its COVID-19 vaccine campaign in haste [but] no provision has been made for the roughly 5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who live under its military occupation [and responsibility!-bz]. Excluding the occupied and besieged Palestinians would seem not just illegal and immoral, but counterintuitive. Vaccine efficacy is directly related to the level of coverage. (...)
Israel’s public security minister Amir Ohana has directed the health ministry not to include so-called security prisoners – all of whom are Palestinian – to be included in the second priority group of inoculations. Health ministry directives have deemed prisoners generally as at high risk of exposure. (...)
Such discriminatory policies have barely been noticed abroad, even in Europe, where it was reported that Germany would allow Israel, a non-EU country, to have special access to its Pfizer vaccine. [bz] | 31/12/2020 |
| ... |
| Gaza airport: The legacy of a Palestinian dream | | Hind Khoudary - Al Jazeera - The Yasser Arafat International Airport, now in
ruins, was more than a project – it was a symbol of Palestinian freedom [ry] | 28/12/2020 |
| ... |
| The Emiratis in Jerusalem are a slap in the face for Palestinians : Emiratis are now allowed to visit Israel with ease, but we still have no freedom of movement in our own homeland. | | Jalal Abukhater - Aljazeera - This past year was full of adversity
and hopelessness for many around the world. But for we Palestinians,
it was even harsher – we were forced to face a deadly pandemic in an
apartheid state, amid a collapsing economy, and a general feeling of
hopelessness and abandonment. In the second half of the year, a
series of Arab states added to our collective misery by announcing
their decision to normalise their relations with Israel. By
effectively abandoning their supposed commitment to supporting
Palestinian self-determination for money, weapons and a few short-
term political gains, they sent us a clear message that our suffering
and struggle for the most basic human rights no longer matter to
them. While every normalisation deal Israel clenched with an Arab
state undoubtedly hurt us, none of them was as painful for us as the
one signed by the United Arab Emirates. After the deals, popular
displeasure was evident on the streets of Morocco, Sudan and even
Bahrain. We knew that the masses in these countries were
overwhelmingly opposed to the decision made by their political
leaders, and this was a consolation for us. But the situation was
different in the UAE. The Emiratis, across every level of their
society from political leaders to regular citizens, came out
forcefully in favour of a warm and cozy relationship with Israel. One
of the most shocking and enraging developments in the fast-paced love
affair between the UAE and Israel was the mutual visa waiver
agreement – a first between Israel and an Arab country. After the
signing of the agreement, Emirati and Israeli airlines were quick to
announce direct flights between the two countries. This is it, we
thought, the Emiratis are coming!(rh)
| 27/12/2020 |
| ... |
| COVID in besieged Gaza: ‘A blockade inside a blockade’ : With infections surging, COVID-19 has exacerbated the Palestinian enclave’s already dire living conditions in 2020. | | Maram Humaid - Aljazeera - Eight years ago, the United Nations warned
that the Gaza Strip would not be a “liveable place” by 2020, urging
Israel to lift its years-long blockade against the Palestinian
coastal enclave and calling for a “herculean effort” to improve basic
services there. But Israel and Egypt have continued the crippling
air, land and sea blockade imposed in 2007, mostly isolating the
territory’s nearly two million residents from the rest of the world.
When 2020 arrived, the conditions in Gaza were marked by water and
medicine shortages as well as a severe power crisis, with residents
of the enclave receiving only up to six hours of electricity per day,
a situation some called “no longer tolerable”. The coronavirus –
which swept across the world this year, infecting tens of millions
and upending life in nearly every country – has only exacerbated
Gaza’s woes. (rh) | 27/12/2020 |
| ... |
| His son was shot to death - and the army will also demolish his home | | IMEMC - The 17-year old Mahmoud Kamil, from Qabatia in the the
northern West Bank, was shot dead by Israeli policemen in the Old
City of Jerusalem, allegedly after opening fire on them. The Israeli
authorities announced that they will be holding his body and not
release it to burial, until Hamas in the Gaza Strip gives back the
bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed in 2014. Though no funeral
could be held. the family went into mourning and received many
condolences visits. In the midst of mourning the boy`s father, Omar
Sadeq Kamil, was summoned to the Salem military base and security
center, near Jenin. There he was informed that the army is going to
demolish the family home, since "His son was a terrorist, and Israel
has a fixed policy of destroying the homes of the families of
terrorists". [ak] | 23/12/2020 |
| ... |
| MAP calls on UK to help Gaza breathe as oxygen supplies dwindle | | Medical Aid for Palestinians - COVID-19 emergency update: MAP calls
on UK to help Gaza breathe as oxygen supplies dwindle - Our team in
Gaza are warning of very urgent shortages to essential materials for
treating COVID-19 patients, and a growing crisis in child
malnutrition. Amid this crisis, we have issued an emergency COVID-19
briefing, calling on the UK Government to help Gaza breathe as oxygen
supplies dwindle.(rh) | 20/12/2020 |
| ... |
| Government plans to legalize dozens of wildcat West Bank outposts, minister says : Tzachi Hanegbi claims PM backs move to regulate illegal communities, many built on Palestinian land, but Blue and White minister says move will require AG backing | | JACOB MAGID - Times of Israel - The government will advance a
proposal to legalize dozens of wildcat outposts in the West Bank,
many of which are built on private Palestinian land, Settlement
Affairs Minister Tzachi Hanegbi announced Wednesday. Responding to a
query on the matter in the Knesset plenum, Hanegbi said that he
received the prime minister’s approval to discuss the matter with
Minister of Civil and Social Affairs in the Defense Ministry Michael
Biton from the Blue and White party.(rh) | 13/12/2020 |
| ... |
| 9-year-old Palestinian Was Hit by Police Fire and Lost an Eye. Israel Closed the Case | | Josh Breiner, Nir Hasson - Haaretz - The case of a 9-year-old
Palestinian boy shot in the face by border police officers in East
Jerusalem has been closed due to lack of evidence, the Justice
Ministry unit that investigates police misconduct announced Thursday.
According to witnesses, Malek Issa entered a shop after getting off
his school bus in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Isawiyah in
February. When he exited the shop and crossed the street, he was shot
in the eye with a sponge-tipped bullet and collapsed. Witnesses said
there were no clashes between Palestinian residents and Israeli
forces at the time. (rh) | 13/12/2020 |
| ... |
| Israeli authorities isolated 108 Palestinian children in solitary confinement | | Ayed Abu Eqtaish - Ha Campus lo shotek - Today, Defense for Children
International - Palestine released a new report: "Isolated and Alone:
Palestinian Children Held in Solitary Confinement by Israeli
Authorities for Interrogation." This research elevates the
experiences of 108 Palestinian children, all boys aged 14-17, who
were held in solitary confinement by Israeli authorities. Evidence
and documentation collected by me and my colleagues overwhelmingly
indicate that the use of isolation for Palestinian child detainees by
Israeli authorities amounts to torture under international law. As
Palestinian children continue to experience widespread ill-treatment
and torture and the systematic denial of rights, it becomes evident
that the Israeli military detention and court system is not
interested in justice. (rh) | 13/12/2020 |
| ... |
| It is Time for the ICC to Finally Open the Investigation on Israel, Palestine | | Raji Sourani - Palestine Chronicle - It took the ICC Prosecutor five
years to conclude her preliminary examination on the Situation in
Palestine, which found “a reasonable basis” to believe that “war
crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including
East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip” and thus to initiate an
investigation. Her statement on December 20, 2019, was met with
widespread enthusiasm by victims and human rights organizations – but
the sighs of relief came too soon. The Prosecutor found that the
standard of proof for the commission of war crimes was met, and that
opening the investigation was appropriate and in the interest of
justice; nevertheless, instead of proceeding, she sought confirmation
on the scope of the Court’s territorial jurisdiction from the Pre-
Trial Chamber. She asked the Chamber to take a decision within 120
days. Nearly a year later, victims are still waiting for that
decision, and remain in limbo. As a Palestinian lawyer in Gaza for
four decades, I have spent thirty years representing victims of war
crimes and crimes against humanity across the occupied Palestinian
territory. Now that I represent the Gaza victims before the ICC, our
last resort to ensure the most serious crimes of concern to the
international community as a whole do not go unpunished, I am
frustrated by the Court’s painfully slow progress.(rh)
| 13/12/2020 |
| ... |
| Palestinian Student Mays Abu Ghosh Released after 15 Months in Prison | | Palestine Chronicle Staff - Mays Abu Ghosh, a 23-year-old
Palestinian student from the refugee camp of Qalandiya, is finally
free. She was released from the Damon Israeli prison after spending
15 months under harsh physical and psychological conditions.
The Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
Addameer wrote in its website: Abu Ghosh was exposed to harsh
interrogations, which included repeated bouts of torture, media, and
human rights organizations reported. Abu Ghosh was released on
Monday, November 30, near the Israeli Jalameh military checkpoint
north of the Palestinian town of Jenin, in the West Bank. Waiting for
her on the other side, were members of her family, freed female
prisoners, and relatives of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.(rh) | 13/12/2020 |
| ... |
| Why the discourse about Palestinian payments to prisoners’ families is distorted and misleading | | Shibley Telhami - Brookings - Standing in the way
of the Palestinians building a new relationship with the
incoming Joe Biden is a PA system of monthly payments to families of
Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, and to families of those
killed in conflict. The "Taylor Force Act", adopted by Congress in
2017, labeled this the system “pay to slay” and conditioned US
assistance on its abolition. "Pay to slay" is a clever and memorable
name tag, but one that’s bigoted and distorted. Are payments to
families really key drivers of violence? Israeli collective
punishment against the families of those accused of "terrorism" can
be swift and severe, involving the demolition of the family home,
rendering elderly parents, siblings, spouses, and children homeless.
Any would-be attacker that might theoretically be motivated by
family support payments would have to take these devastating factors
into account. There is strong public support among Palestinians for
prisoners and their families. The PA has also argued that if
innocent families of those imprisoned or killed are left without
support, more would be radicalized, increasing rather than
decreasing the likelihood of violence. [ak]
| 9/12/2020 |
| ... |
| Including Three Who Suffered Serious Wounds, Soldiers Injure Four Palestinians In Qalandia | | IMEMC News - "Israeli soldiers invaded, earlier on Monday, Qalandia refugee
camp, north of occupied East Jerusalem, shot and injured four Palestinians,
including three who suffered serious wounds, and abducted two young men" [ry] | 7/12/2020 |
| ... |
| Israel kills child and then lies | | Tamara Nassar - EI - "What crime did 15-year-old Ali Ayman Saleh Nasser commit
to be killed by occupation soldiers? Observing a protest, apparently. Israeli forces
fatally shot Nasser in the stomach in the central West Bank village of al-Mughayyir
on Friday during a protest against Israeli land theft in the area" [ry] | 7/12/2020 |
| ... |
| Tired and afraid, Palestinian children report brutal IDF arrests | | Elior Levy - Ynetnews - New testimony by Palestinian minors arrested
by the IDF on suspicion of various crimes paint a grim picture of
Israeli forces demeaning and acting violently towards suspects,
despite their young age. Between 2017-2019, Israeli security forces
in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem arrested 5,000 Palestinian
minors between the ages of 12 and 18, following similar detention
methods to those used in the arrest of adult suspects. One such case
is Issam (not his real name), a 15-year-old Palestinian from the
village of Bil`in west of Ramallah, who was arrested six months ago
by Israeli security forces.
“It was during the month of Ramadan. I went to the store to buy food
around 2:30am. Suddenly an army jeep approached me,” Issam says. ”My
father got out of the jeep and told me that the soldiers had come to
our house to look for me.” Issam says he got in the IDF vehicle “and
a soldier covered my eyes and handcuffed me. The soldiers started
hitting me in the back with the butts of their rifles and cursed at
me. They called me `son of a bitch` and `brother of a bitch`.” (rh)
| 6/12/2020 |
| ... |
| Israeli court rules that Nation State law calls for discrimination against Palestinian citizens | | Yossi Gurwitz - Mondoweiss - Two years ago Israel passed a law
defining the country as the “Nation State of the Jewish People,” and
now the rubber is meeting the road. Yaniv Luzon, a registrar of the
magistrate’s court outside Haifa, dismissed a discrimination suit by
the uncle of two Palestinian children living in the town of Karmiel,
and cited the Nation Basic Law as permitting discrimination, reported
Ha’aretz (Hebrew).
The uncle sued the town on behalf of the children, saying that it
does not have a school for Arabic-speaking children, and therefore it
should reimburse the children for the expenses of sending them to
Arabic-speaking schools in neighboring towns. The suit assessed the
reimbursement at 25,000 NIS (some $7,200) over several years.
In his decision to dismiss the suit, Luzon wrote that “Karmiel, a
Jewish town, was founded in order to support the Jewish settlement of
the Galilee […] The building of an Arabic-speaking school, as well as
funding transportation for Arab students, to anyone and for anywhere,
may change the demographic balance and harm the town’s demeanor (at
this time, 6% of the town’s population is Arab).” So because it’s a
Jewish town, the state has no obligations to meet the needs of its
Palestinian minority.Luzon then grounded his decision in the Nation
State Law. (rh) | 6/12/2020 |
| ... |
| EU calls for probe into Palestinian teen’s killing by Israel | | Aljazeera - The killing of a Palestinian teenager by the Israeli army
in the illegally occupied West Bank has been termed a “war crime” and
the European Union Delegation to the Palestinians has called for an
investigation into the incident. Fourteen-year-old Ali Abu Aliya was
shot in the stomach during a protest on Friday against Israeli land
theft in the al-Mughayyir village near Ramallah. He died in a local
hospital, the Palestinian health ministry said.(rh) | 6/12/2020 |
| ... |
| Israel releases over $1bn of withheld tax funds to Palestinians | | Aljazeera - Israel has released more than $1bn in tax money withheld
from the Palestinian Authority, a Palestinian minister said, weeks
after coordination was renewed between the two sides. “The #Israeli
government transfers all financial dues of the clearance to the
account of the #Palestinian Authority, amounting to three billion and
768 million shekels,” Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh posted
on Twitter on Wednesday, referring to taxes, including customs taxes,
that the Jewish state collects on behalf of the PA.(rh) | 6/12/2020 |
| ... |
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