Humanitarian Issues

[ninathedog]

Free land for Omani women

Saleh al Shaibany, Foreign Correspondent
Last Updated: April 11. 2010 12:24AM UAE / April 10. 2010 8:24PM GMT
The National -- UAE


Eric Feferberg / AFP
In Oman, women are not entitled to half of what their
husbands own in the event of divorce.

MUSCAT // A government decision to grant free land to women to build their own houses has been welcomed by Omanis who say it will give them better control of their marriage and protection from abusive husbands.

In Oman, where traditionally men provide a home for their wife and family, only a small minority of women own properties, according to housing ministry officials.

The sultanate has no automatic divorce settlements where a woman would get half of what the husband owns, including the house. Divorced women always leave the house if the title deed belongs to the man, according to the local laws.

Some women in bad marriages say their husbands use their property ownership as a weapon to make them obedient.

Maryam Hadi, 36, one of the few women in the country to own a house, in which she lives with her second husband and children, said the ownership laws left her humiliated during her first marriage.

“My first husband often used the house he owned as a threat to keep me obeying him. It was never our house but his and he twice packed my bag and sent me back to my parents,” Ms Hadi said.

After three years of being verbally abused by her husband, Ms Hadi packed her bags for good in 2001 and left him. Thanks to her well-paying job as a public relations manager for a telecommunications company, she bought her own house before accepting a proposal for a second marriage.

“My present husband has his own house and we rent it for extra income. I am happy now because no one would dare ask me to pack my bags and go from my own house,” Ms Hadi said.

Many women see the royal decree issued by the Sultan of Oman last year to grant women free plots of land as an opportunity for them to have a bigger say in their marriages.

The grant amended the nearly 40-year-old law that automatically distributed plots of land for building private houses to working men age 25 and above using a low-interest mortgage from a state-run bank. Only in special circumstances would divorced women get a free plot of land.

Local newspapers recently reported government officials saying that about a million plots of lands will be distributed sometime this year to women.

Hannadi al Jenaibi, a 39-year-old housewife and mother of three, said women stand a better chance of protecting their interests and eventually saving their marriages if they own the property, or at least have a share in it.

“In the middle of most marital arguments, men may try to win the argument by saying something like: ‘It is my house and you can leave if you don’t like the arrangement here,’” Ms al Jenaibi said.

“That statement usually shut up the woman and invited further abuse from her husband. Where will she go if she leaves the shelter provided by her husband?”

Those divorced women who tried to claim half of the house always had their plea turned down because the local laws recognise ownership and marriage does not give property rights to a spouse by default, Ms Jenaibi added.

Some men dismissed the claim that husbands use their ownership as a form of abuse. “That’s not true. I think these women blow this out of proportion. In most cases I know, a man sometimes may innocently point out the fact that he owns the house but isn’t that the case of every marriage around the world?” Sound al Mahrizi, an electronics technician at Muscat airport, said.

Other men said the tide would easily turn if women solely owned the house instead.

But Fatma Fallahy, a marriage counsellor, warned that women should not think of property ownership as a way to avoid abusive husbands.

“Men who are violent with or verbally abuse their wives don’t need a house to do so. It will be stupid for women to think that they can tame their cruel husbands by simply holding a piece of paper with their names on it,” she said.

It may give women the comfort of knowing that men will not use the house as a trump card, “but that is just about it”, Ms Fallahy added.

“That’s a big comfort to me,” Saida al Sumri, a 25-year-old single woman working as an administrator in the ministry of education said. “A man will not mess me up if I own the house. Once I get the government free land, I will get the mortgage and build myself a house and then get married.”

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[ninathedog]

Youngsters maimed by discarded bombs
face dark futures in Iraq

Nizar Latif and Phil Sands, Foreign Correspondents
* Last Updated: April 11. 2010 12:50AM UAE / April 10. 2010 8:50PM GMT
The National -- UAE


Nizar Latif / The National
Izzat Ejbala, nine, lost his right eye as a result of
the explosion of a discarded bomb.

It was just five years ago that Murtaja Hussein was playing football next to his house, in a farming village south of Baghdad, when he found the lump of metal that would change his life forever.

It was only after he picked it up, and after it had blown off both of his hands and one side of his face, that Murtaja, then 11, realised he had found a discarded bomb.

Now aged 16, he still cries himself to sleep at night and prays he will die quickly so that his suffering, and the suffering of his family, will end.

“I’ve not been able to come to terms with what has happened to me,” he told The National at his home in a rural area of northern Babil province. “I lost my life when I was young and I’ve been stuck ever since, I know I’m a heavy burden on my family and that makes this existence unbearable.”

There are no official figures for the number of Iraqis seriously injured or maimed since the 2003 US-led invasion, either directly from fighting or from discarded munitions, but it is clear that the numbers are significant and have swamped the war-torn country’s ability to provide proper treatment and rehabilitation.

For Murtaja and his family, that means he was given enough emergency medical care to allow him to survive, but nothing more. He does not go to school, he has not received any physical therapy or psychological care. His mother and father, years after the disaster that crippled their son, were too distraught to talk about the effect it has had on their lives, leaving it to the teenager to explain his circumstances.

“My family have had to spend most of its money on me and every night my mother comes and sits next to me as I go to sleep,” he said. “Sometimes I’ll wake up and she’ll be sitting next to me, crying.

“I’ve tried to kill myself, but it’s hard to do that without hands and my family always stop me. My mother says she thanks God that I’m still alive but I have no future and have destroyed my family’s future.”

The Iraqi government, still fighting a dangerous insurgency, beset by monumental corruption and running a huge budget deficit, has been incapable of meeting anything more than the most basic lifesaving needs for many of its injured.

Charities struggle to fill the gap, providing amputees with crude prosthetics and occasional cash handouts.

Eman Abbas, an Iraqi volunteer in Baghdad, helping to supply medical care for those injured by the war, said services were far short of meeting rising demands.

“We have thousands of distress calls, too many to help,” he said. “There are people needing medicines, money, [psychological] counselling and we’re getting more and more people coming to us in need.”

Next door to Murtaja’s family home in Babil province lives another young boy whose life was shattered by an accidental bombing.

Izzat Ejbala, nine, was tending the family cows in a field when an explosion damaged his right eye two years ago. Iraqi doctors insisted it could not be saved and took it out, putting in a large, round glass replacement.

Now the sight in his surviving eye is deteriorating and, according to Izzat’s family, they have been warned their only son will soon be blind. “He was in a field that was sometimes used by the Americans for blowing up old weapons they had collected,” explained his mother, Umm Izzat.

“There was no warning and so this happened.” It remains unclear exactly what triggered the blast, but his family believe the US military detonated the old material deliberately in order to destroy it.

Convinced that western-standard medical care could save his sight, Umm Izzat said she had made repeated attempts to get aid, all to no avail.

“The government has done nothing, we’ve had a bit of financial help from various people but they cannot give us money forever, it’s just enough to help us get by day-to-day.”

Without a husband to support them – he left the family five years ago – Izzat’s injuries have come as a double blow. As well as healthcare costs, his impending blindness threatens their future income. In Iraq, the eldest male typically acts as the breadwinner.

“We’ve got no idea what will happen to us, we want to save Izzat’s sight but it’s a matter of money and we cannot afford it,” said Umm Izzat. “I don’t know who to blame for it or how to hold them accountable. I suppose I blame the Americans because it would be a small thing for them to help and they came to Iraq saying they would save us.”

The combination of a shattered infrastructure, poverty and cultural taboos over disabilities have added to the problems of the country’s war wounded, according to Tiana Tozer, a volunteer with the United States Peace Corps who worked on disabled peoples’ issues in Iraq.

“They have a huge number of amputees and government services just can’t keep up,” she said in a telephone interview from Basra late last year. “They are dealing with overwhelming emergency needs and they don’t have the bandwidth to deal with aftercare, services, integration [into society].”

* Nizar Latif reported from Babil, Phil Sands from Damascus

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[ninathedog]

Netanyahu pulls out of US nuclear summit

Omar Karmi, Foreign Correspondent
* Last Updated: April 10. 2010 12:33AM UAE / April 9. 2010 8:33PM GMT
The National -- UAE

RAMALLAH // Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, on Thursday decided not to attend a nuclear summit in Washington out of fear, according to Israeli media reports, that pressure will be brought on Israel to sign a treaty that would expose the country’s nuclear capability.

Mr Netanyahu had previously accepted an invitation to attend the two-day summit, which starts on Monday and will be hosted by Barack Obama, the US president. Mr Obama has invited 47 countries to the summit. Dan Merridor, the Israeli intelligence and energy minister, will now attend instead of Mr Netanyahu.


Jim Watson / AFP
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister,
has decided to skip the nuclear summit to be hosted by
(President) Barack Obama in Washington next week.

The summit is being convened in order to attempt to determine effective ways for countries to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons and lessen the danger of nuclear terrorism.

Israel has traditionally pursued an aggressive policy to ensure that any country it saw as a rival in the Middle East did not acquire nuclear weapons, and unilaterally bombed a nuclear enrichment plant in Iraq in the 1980s and another suspected nuclear site in Syria in 2007.

In addition, in the past few years, political and military leaders in Israel have been in constant consultation about whether to strike at Iranian nuclear targets, and a US-hosted summit to address the danger of the spread of nuclear weapons would therefore seem to have been an important event for Israel.

But the decision not to attend was reportedly taken in anticipation of an attempt by Arab countries and Turkey to demand, at the summit, that Israel sign up to the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the NPT.

The 1970 NPT was meant to limit the spread of nuclear weapons while allowing countries to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. As part of the deal, however, countries have to open their nuclear programmes to international inspectors.

Israel has for years followed a policy of ambiguity with regards to its own nuclear programme, but is widely understood to have had nuclear weapons since the 1960s, reportedly developed with French help. As a result, Israel is one of only four countries that have not signed the NPT. The others are India, Pakistan and North Korea, all of whom have openly tested nuclear weapons.

Iran, whose nuclear programme is under intense scrutiny at the moment, is a signatory and has been the subject of international inspection.

Arab countries have openly expressed their dismay at the prospect of a nuclear arms race in the region that many think would be the consequence should Iran join Israel as a nuclear power. At last month’s Arab League summit, Arab countries called for a nuclear weapons-free region, and as part of efforts to secure this, Egypt and Turkey are believed to want Israel to sign the NPT.

Any such attempt, said Ephraim Asculal, an expert in nuclear and arms control policy at the Institute of National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, however, could divert from the main agenda of the summit and may be the reason Mr Netanyahu is staying away.

The summit was important to Israel, Mr Asculal said, “if it sticks to the agenda”. But Israel is not ready to relinquish its policy of nuclear ambiguity. “To change the policy, whatever the declaration, would have a very strong effect.”

Mr Netanyahu’s decision, however, might also have political ramifications, and is likely to be seen in some quarters as a snub by Mr Netanyahu to Mr Obama at a time of US-Israeli tension.

Certainly that was how it was being seen in New Orleans, where hundreds of Republicans, who had gathered for a party meeting, applauded when they were informed Mr Netanyahu had just cancelled his visit and Liz Cheney, daughter of Dick, the former US vice president, criticised Mr Obama for his “shabby” treatment of Mr Netanyahu at the White House recently, saying it was “disgraceful”.

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[ninathedog]

In memory of Tom Hurndall
27 November 1981 – 13 January 2004

Shot in the head by an Israeli sniper while
he was escorting young children from an area of danger

April 11, 2003

Today marks the seventh anniversary of the ultimately fatal shooting of 21-year-old activist Tom Hurndall.

Tom Hurndall --
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Hurndall

.......

7th Anniversary of the shooting of
Thomas Hurndall

Posted on: April 11, 2010 | ShareThis
International Solidarity Movement

11th April 2010

The 11th April marks the seventh anniversary of the ultimately fatal shooting of British ISM activist, Thomas Hurndall. Tom was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper in Rafah, Gaza, whilst attempting to move two young girls out of the line of fire. He went in to a coma, and died in hospital 9 months later, on the 13th January 2004.



Tom was 21 years old when he was shot. A photography student, he had left the UK to volunteer as a ‘human shield’ in Iraq. Here he heard about the ISM, one of whose volunteers, Rachel Corrie, had just been killed by a bulldozer whilst protesting house demolitions in Rafah. He headed there himself, arriving on the 6th April.

On the day of his shooting, Tom was with other ISM activists walking through Rafah when Israeli sniper fire started. Almost everyone ran for safety, but Tom noticed that three children, aged between four and seven, had remained motionless, paralysed with fear. Tom went back for them. He got the little boy to safety, and then went back for the two girls. He was wearing a fluorescent vest, and was clearly unarmed. An Israeli sniper shot him in the head.

There was a two hour delay at the border of the Gaza Strip before an ambulance was able to take him to a hospital in Be’er Sheva. In a coma, he was transferred to a hospital in the UK, where he died the following year.

The soldier who shot him, Taysir Hayb, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eleven and a half years in prison. A British inquest into the killing found that the killing was intentional – in other words, murder.

Tom’s shooting followed the murder of Rachel Corrie, run over by a bulldozer on the 16th March, and the near fatal shooting of Brian Avery, shot in the face in Jenin on April 5th. Later that month, another Brit, filmmaker James Miller, was also killed by a sniper in Rafah. The Israeli military have refused to accept any responsibility for what they did to Rachel, Brian or James.

Updated on April 11, 2010
Posted under: Features
Tags: nonviolence, Tom Hurndall

palsolidarity.org/2010/04/12024

.........

International Solidarity Movement:
Israeli soldier shoots British
ISM activist Tom Hurndall in Gaza

Press Release, International Solidarity Movement, 11 April 2003

Between 4:30 and 5:00 PM today Israeli snipers shot another ISM activist in the head. Tom Hurndall from Manchester Britain is currently in critical condition in a helicopter on his way from Europa Hospital in Khan Younis to a hospital in Bir Sheva.[/li][li] He is 22 years old.

photo (caution if you choose to view):
A British peace activist going only by the name Alice cries for help as she holds her hand over the headwound of British peace activist Thomas Hurndall, who had been shot in the head moments earlier, at the start of a protest, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, April 11, 2003. Hurndall, age 21, from Machester, England, had been standing between Israeli troops and Palestinian children when Israeli soldiers opened fire, according to a fellow activist from the International Solidarity Movement who witnessed the scene.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

According to Laura, the activists were being shot at while protecting some children from Israeli gunfire. Tom was in plain view of the sniper towers and was wearing a bright orange fluorescent jacket with reflective stripes. The nine ISM activists and many children were in the process of leaving the area. Sniper fire from the tower was hitting the wall close beside the children, who were afraid to move. Tom was attempting to bring them to safety when he was shot. There was no shooting or resistance coming from the Palestinian side at all.

According to Laura, the plan had been to put up a tent where a tank parks itself every night in front of a Mosque. The soldiers in the tank shoot down the street, terrorizing people who come to pray. The group had discovered earlier that the tank was already in place and had begun firing into the air. The Palestinian organizers felt the plan had become unworkeable, and the action was abandoned.

Laura and two Palestinians decided to go assess the situation. She soon realized that the tank had moved from where it had been. It was now possible to set up the tent. She spoke to Tom D by phone and they decided to meet at the roadblock. The Israeli snipers in the eastern tower began shooting in Laura's path.

When they arrived at the roadblock, the rest of the group was already there. The snipers began firing again: this time at the wall of the building next to the activists. As a result, the group began the process of leaving.

Tom saw a little boy in an open space, clearly visible to the tower. Tom went to get him out of the way. He looked back and saw two more girls whom he also went to retrieve. As he went to get them, he was shot in the back of the head. He fell to the ground in a pool of blood. The ambulance arrived quickly, after about two minutes.

For years the Israeli army has killed Palestinian civilians with impunity. Now they are targeting unarmed international peace activists and human rights workers. On March 16, Rachel Corrie was run over and killed by a bulldozer operator in Rafah while trying to prevent home demolitions. On April 5, in Jenin, Brian Avery was shot in the face by an APC in an unprovoked attack on a clearly unarmed group of internationals. Six months ago in Jenin, Caoimhe Butterly was shot in the leg and UN official Ian Hook was murdered. (And note that a few weeks following the writing of this article, on May 2, 2003, filmmaker James Miller would be shot dead in Gaza on a quiet night by another Israeli soldier.)

We ask the world community to stand up and demand that Israel honor international agreements protecting civilians, whether they are internationals or Palestinians, and hold Israel accountable for these crimes against humanity. And we demand an end to the illegal and brutal occupation that these murders defend.


*EI UPDATE: As of 10:20AM US CST on Saturday 12 April 2003, Tom Hurndall was in critical condition in an Israeli hospital, after being moved. His friends are by his bedside and his parents are flying to the country.

In a Daily Telegraph report from 13 April 2003, the article's writers asserted: "His condition last night was still serious...Doctors at the Saroka Hospital, in Beer Sheva, say he has severe damage to the left side of his brain but is off the critical list."

Earlier media reports had described him as "brain-dead but still breathing" (BBC, 12 April 2003). On 11 April 2003, the Guardian quoted director of the Rafah hospital, Ali Musa, as saying "that Mr Handoll was 'clinically dead' after sustaining brain damage."

In a 13 April 2003 article in The Independent on Sunday, writers Andrew Johnson and Justin Huggler stated that "During the interview...a doctor treating Tom at the hospital in Israel phoned to say he had come out of an operation that had stemmed the bleeding from the wound and 'cleared up debris'. His condition was stable but it was too early to say if he would be left brain damaged."

Sky News reported on 13 April that "Staff at Soroka Hospital said Mr Hurndall's condition had stabilised and he was not brain dead, as suggested in earlier reports. Nurse Vardit Livent said: 'He is stable and not brain dead. He is still unconscious and we don't know how he will recover and what his condition will be.'"

(He died after nine months in a coma on January 13, 2004)

For more information contact:

Allison 067 742 780; Raf 054 389 466; Nick 055 874 693; Alice 067 857 069; Tom ISM Media Coordinator Beit Sahour, Occupied Palestine 02-277-4602; 067-862-439; 052-360-241



Related Links
# International Solidarity Movement
# ISM Rafah statement on the shooting of Thomas Hurndall (12 April 2003)
# "Not again": Joe Smith writes about the shooting of Tom Harndall
# Protecting Palestinian families in Rafah (11 April 2003)
# The Brian Avery shooting: When will we realise that there can't be this many "accidents"? (5 April 2003)
# Photo story: Israeli bulldozer driver murders American peace activist (16 March 2003)
# Increased targeting of International Solidarity Movement (16 March 2003)

electronicintifada.net/v2/article1358.shtml

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* Idier Wahid Taysir al-Heib

Alternative transliteration(s) and/or alias(es):
Either because of alternative transliterations from Hebrew/Arabic/Cyrillic into English or for some other reason, this person is also known by the following names:
Taysir al-Hayb
Idier Wahid Taysir El-Heyb (Hayb/Heib)

Sergeant Idier Wahid Taysir al-Heib ... a Bedouin citizen of Israel ... shot and killed Tom Hurndall

Taysir el-Heyb, the oldest of six children, was born in July 1983 and lived most of his life in a small, rickety hut with no bathroom. The Israel Lands Administration (ILA) recently razed the hut, saying it had been built without a permit. His father worked as a day worker in agricultural jobs until he became ill, first physically and then mentally, and became unable to support the family. His mother worked cleaning homes in Moshav Migdal, whose luxurious homes are just a few hundred meters away from the Wadi al-Hamam huts that are on the brink of collapsing. A few years ago, she also became ill sick and, like her husband, had to stop working.

Taysir's sister Amira also cleaned homes in Migdal, until her enlistment. Since then, her parents' monthly National Insurance Institute allowance of NIS 2,500 has been the family's only income.

A few years ago, before Amira, Walid and Taysir enlisted and before the ILA razed the hut where they lived, the family started to build a two-story house. In the course of its construction, the parents became ill, stopped working and had to halt the construction. The ground floor still has exposed concrete walls. On the second floor, where they now live, the walls were covered in whitewash, long since peeled, the windows are broken and there are hastily improvised electrical wires hanging exposed and dangerous. Most of the rooms do not have finished floors. Apart from few plastic chairs and an old and empty refrigerator, there is no furniture in the house - no beds, no tables and no closets.

The family sleeps on mattresses on the floor and the few clothes they have are piled in cardboard boxes. The father, whose illness has cut him off from reality and is therefore unaware that his son has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term, roams the rooms all day long, staring at the walls and windows.

The three younger children in the family, who are 14, 16 and 18, have never been to school. "I never had money to buy them books or notebooks," their mother says, adding that the State of Israel's welfare authorities have never asked her why her children are not in school. Taysir did go to school. "Until seventh grade, he went to the school in the village," says Mahmoud Wahib, his uncle, "but it's impossible to say that he learned anything there. He never had books and he never had supplies. Today he barely knows how to read and write in Arabic and he doesn't know how to read and write in Hebrew at all."

From the age of 13 until he joined the Israeli Army, he worked in a metal shop in Tiberias. His enlistment was not a given. The psychological tests determined that his skills were very close to the lower limit, the cutoff below which potential enlistees are not eligible for military service: Colonel Aviram made sure to write in his verdict that el-Heyb "was given a psycho-technical rating of 10 (on a scale of 10 to 90) and was rated 43 in the quality group (on a scale of 42 to 65)." Despite these figures, the IDF agreed to induct him and to send him to serve as a fighter in the desert patrol brigade, known as the Bedouin brigade."

Look for this entity's name in Google
Events involving Idier Wahid Taysir al-Heib:

* Shooting of Tom Hurndall in Rafah (11 Apr 2003)
* Manslaughter conviction of Idier Wahid Taysir al-Heib stemming from death of Tom Hurndall (27 Jun 2005)

[ninathedog]

CAUTION:Upsetting and Graphic.

"Not again": Eyewitness
Joe Smith writes about the shooting of
Tom Hurndall

Joe Smith,
The Electronic Intifada,
12 April 2003
CAUTION:Upsetting and Graphic.
Please not again. We heard the shooting -- we always hear shooting -- but repeated sniper fire like that is especially disturbing. I heard the shot, I heard a scream, and turned to see the fluorescent orange lump lying on the ground, blood coming from his head. I moved back and forth a bit not knowing what to do, and within seconds my medical training clicked in. The Palestinians lifted him to move him from the area. "Set him down!" Alice, the other medic, and I screamed.

Finally we got him down on the pavement, I had my safety pads out and was trying to stop the bleeding. One doesn't consider rubber gloves at times like these. Blood was poring out of the back of his head. I couldn't get it to stop. Seconds later he was lifted again and pulled into a taxi. "Wait for the ambulance!" We tried to convince them, but they were hysterical, and he was torn away from us and rushed to the hospital in a brown Mercedes. The ambulance arrived on the scene minutes later, but it was too late, he was gone.

I looked down to find the bloody safety pad still in my hand. I had a brief instinct to throw it down, like one does any trash on these streets, but was unable to let go of it. I held onto it while in the taxi on the way to the hospital, and still clutched it as I slouched on the ground against the stone walls surrounding his operation room.

He was dead for me from the moment he was set on the ground for us to administer treatment. Alice tried to do mouth to mouth, and I thought it pointless. He was dead for me when he was pulled from our hands and put into the car. Even when he was wheeled out of Al-Najjar Hospital and taken to Europa Hospital in Khan Younis, he was still not alive in my mind.

Now he's on life support in Saroka Hospital in B'ersheva, brain dead but still breathing. No matter how constantly his heart still beats, I continue to speak of him in the past. It took me awhile to accept that Rachel was actually gone, and I think my mind is compensating for that loss by preparing itself for another in advance.

His name was Thomas Hurndall and he was from London. When he arrived, we already had an English guy named Tom so he chose the nickname "Tab", and that is how I knew him. Tab was incredibly passionate about protecting people when and where they needed it most. We were in Yibna, a Rafah refugee camp right on the Egyptian border, because he was aware of the constant Israeli gunfire to which this neighbourhood is victim every day.

He'd learned about the two brothers who'd been shot the previous morning, and was dedicated to maintaining a presence there. He said that he'd gotten extremely angry and determined after listening to gunfire while lying in his bed at the doctor's house Rachel died protecting. He wanted to be in the most dangerous areas, not out of some martyr complex to die but simply because he knew that that is where internationals are most needed.

He was prepared to stay in the house most targeted, and helped us hang large banners on it. He was all about placing a tent in an area in front of a mosque, used every night by an Israeli tank for terrorizing the neighborhood with gunfire. We were on our way to pitch the tent the day he was shot, but had abandoned the project due to the Palestinians' discomfort with the level of gunfire.

The tank was already in its parking spot when we arrived, and was shooting into the area. A nearby security tower had also joined in, and was firing the scary sniper shots. We were positioned behind a large roadblock deciding what to do, and Laura had gone forward with some Palestinians to take a look. She was wearing our trademarked florescent orange jacket with reflective stripes, and was clearly an international.

Despite, or possibly because of this they shot around her. She said that shots were being fired on both sides of her, making it rather difficult for her to move. She had just rejoined us, when the sniper fire from the tower turned onto the roadblock behind which we were standing. There were children playing on the roadblock, as they often do, and many scattered due to the gunfire.

There was one boy, however, that Tab noticed was too frightened to move. Instinctually, he quickly removed him from the area, as he observed shots land around the small and fragile innocent. After successfully evacuating him, he was about to leave when he noticed two small girls down in front of the roadblock, right in the line of fire.

He was going to help them escape when the Israeli soldier in the tower took his aim, and fired a large calibre sniper bullet directly into Tab's head. He was in full view of the tower, and like Laura was wearing the high visibility gear. Our embassies had been informed of our presence in the area, and they had informed the Israeli military.

They knew who he was, they knew what he was, and they knew what he was doing. They knew that he was no threat to their physical safety, but they likely understood the international attention his presence was attracting, and knew how our human shield work had prevented them from adequately terrorizing the Palestinian civilians and demolishing their homes.

In this way, he was a "threat" to them, a threat to the image of Israel it portrays to the world. He was a threat to the validity of the occupation, and a threat to their unquestioned notion of these people as nothing but inhuman terrorists. The sniper couldn't tolerate this kind of challenge, and took lethal measures to end it. We'll only have to see how such an act will backfire.

I didn't know Tab all that well. He'd only been here a week, but planned to stay the full month of his visa. He'd just spent a week doing refugee work in Jordan, before which he'd spent two weeks in Iraq doing human shield and relief work. He was a brilliant photographer, and was passionate about documenting the immense human rights violations being perpetrated on the Arab people.

It was his first trip to the Middle East, but his previous three weeks had made him rather well-versed in this type of work. He was mature and laid back about it all, but incredibly passionate and determined. I was quite surprised to learn that he was only 21 years old, born the same year as I.

I had spent a few hours that day taking him around Rafah to take pictures. We were trying to compile photo images of the city and our presence here for documentation and publicity purposes. The children here love a camera, and would crowd us endlessly. This bothers and overwhelms most people, but Tab thought it a little funny, and would chuckle at the rambunctious children shouting "What's your name" and "How are you". He mentioned that he'd learned some tricks already, like not pulling out his camera until the absolute last minute.

Above: Two young brothers living in the home that Tom Hurndall had
chosen to protect, in a photo taken by Tom on 10 April 2003.
(Tom Hurndall / International Solidary Movement)

We had even had a conversation that day about the dangers of this place, and how none of us really understood them or we wouldn't be here. I said that I still felt confident with my international status even after the recent violence against us. I believed that it was not a calculated targeting of internationals, just an increased amount of recklessness and hostility brought on by the increased effectiveness of our work. I said I wouldn't really be intimidated until they openly target an obvious international. Not until they very intentionally kill one of us would I feel the terror experienced by Palestinians. Fate works in mysterious ways.

I don't know if I can stay here now. I believe that internationals need to stay here, and that the Israeli military should not learn that they can intimidate ISM with such violence. I believe that it only shows how effective our work has become, and that now is the time to stay and establish an even stronger presence.

Above: Rachel Corrie confronts an Israeli bulldozer earlier on the day she was killed, 16 March 2003. (Joe Smith)
But I only have so much energy left. Rachel's death took a lot out of me, but also inspired me to stay longer and throw myself into the Olympia Sister City project and nonviolent direct action against the Israeli occupation of Rafah. I had planned to stay through the end of May to accomplish these goals, and knew that I had at least that left in me. But this incident has aged me quickly, and makes me question if I can now handle this place and this type of work.

Who knows what's going to happen to him now. It seems likely that his family will have to make that dreaded decision about whether or not to take him off life support. I have to leave here if he dies, I can't do the whole shahid thing again. I also cannot participate in another military investigation. There were plenty of Palestinian and international witnesses willing to cooperate.

I'll continue media and legal work regarding Rachel's death, but I can't handle two. I just can't. Learning my limits has been a crucial part of my personal development here. I have learned to say "no", and I'm saying it now. This statement may be used for any media or legal processes, but that's it, khallas!

What a privilege it is for me to be able to say that. How lucky I am that I can just leave when I've had enough, and catalogue the event in my mental register of intense experiences. I can only leave on the condition that I return with a longer-term commitment, as my solidarity with these amazing people has only just begun.


Joe Smith is an American activist from Kansas City, Missouri, based with the International Solidarity Movement in Rafah, occupied Gaza. He was a friend of Rachel Corrie's and was with her when she was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer on 16 March 2003.

additional photos: click link at bottom

first photo: A British peace activist going only by the name Alice cries for help as she holds her hand over the headwound of British peace activist Thomas Hurndall, who had been shot in the head moments earlier, at the start of a protest, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, April 11, 2003. Hurndall, age 21, from Machester, England, had been standing between Israeli troops and Palestinian children when Israeli soldiers opened fire, according to a fellow activist from the International Solidarity Movement who witnessed the scene.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Second photo: Peace activist Tom Hurndall is rushed into Israel's Soroka hospital in Beer Sheva, April 11, 2003, after he was shot and critically wounded by Israeli troops. Israeli troops shot the 21-year-old Briton as he was helping Palestinian children cross a street under gunfire Friday, fellow activists and hospital officials said. Hurndall was one of 12 members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who Thursday went to the Rafah refugee camp on the Egyptian border to protest at continued Israeli shooting in the area, said ISM member Nick Smith. (Reuters)

Third photo: British peace activist Thomas Hurndall, left, sits on the floor of a home with fellow activist Joseph Smith, minutes before they left to participate in a protest at which Hurndall suffered a gunshot wound to the head, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, April 11, 2003. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Related Links
# International Solidarity Movement
# ISM: Israeli soldier shoots British ISM activist Tom Hurndall in Gaza (11 April 2003)
# ISM Rafah statement on the shooting of Thomas Hurndall (12 April 2003)
# Protecting Palestinian families in Rafah (11 April 2003)
# The Brian Avery shooting: When will we realise that there can't be this many "accidents"? (5 April 2003)
# Photo story: Israeli bulldozer driver murders American peace activist (Rachel Corrie)(16 March 2003)
# Increased targeting of International Solidarity Movement (16 March 2003)

electronicintifada.net/v2/article1360.shtml

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Taysir Hayb
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taysir_Hayb

Conviction(s) manslaughter, obstruction of justice
Penalty 8 years imprisonment
Occupation Israel Defense Forces soldier

Idier Wahid Taysir Hayb (or al-Heib) is a sergeant in the Israel Defense Forces who shot International Solidarity Movement civilian activist Tom Hurndall while on duty in Gaza on April 11, 2003. Hurndall died in January 2004. Taysir Hayb was sentenced to eight years for manslaughter.[1][2][3][4]

Investigation and Trial

Initially Hayb claimed he had shot at a man in military fatigues who was firing at soldiers. However photographic evidence clearly showed Hurndall was wearing a bright orange jacket denoting he was a foreigner. Hayb was an award-winning marksman and his rifle had a telescopic sight. He claimed to have aimed four inches from Hurndall's head, 'but he moved'. Hayb said a policy of shooting at unarmed civilians existed at the time.[1][2][3][5]

Subsequently Hayb admitted fabricating his account of events. In May 2004 Taysir Hayb went on trial for manslaughter in the death of Tom Hurndall, obstruction of justice and unbecoming behaviour.[3] In August 2005 he was convicted of manslaughter and obstruction of justice and sentenced to a total of eight years imprisonment.[6]Hayb is of the Bedouin Arab minority living in Israel. [7]
[edit] References

1. ^ a b "As IDF rifle fire hit the mound, the children fled. But three, aged between four and seven, were paralysed by fear". The Guardian Obituary, January 22, 2004.
2. ^ a b Soldier jailed for activist death, BBC News, August 11, 2005.
3. ^ a b c Simon Atkinson, British peace activist was ‘intentionally killed’, The Guardian, April 10, 2006.
4. ^ Dyer, Clare (2006). "Goldsmith flies to Israel to investigate shooting of Britons". The Guardian (22 May). www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/may/22/israelandthepalestinians.foreignpolicy. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
5. ^ "Parents fight to learn why Israeli sniper shot their son". The Observer, 30 January 2005. observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1401737,00.html. Retrieved 27 May 2007.
6. ^ BBC: Soldier jailed for activist death, BBC, August 11, 2005.
7. ^ Israeli guilty of shooting Briton BBC[1]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taysir_Hayb

[ninathedog]

Israeli Order To Expel Thousands of
Palestinians and Internationals From the West Bank

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
Monday April 12, 2010 00:01

The Israeli government is set to start the implementation of a new order that would lead to the expulsion of thousands of Palestinians, and even internationals living in the West Bank. Gazans living the in West Bank will be considered illegal and would be expelled.

The order mainly targets Gaza Strip residents living in the West Bank, some since many years, but were not granted West Bank identity cards or residency permits.

This also includes internationals married to Palestinians, and even Arab residents of Israel who are married to Palestinians, and persons living in the West Bank but Israel never granted them permits.

The Israeli government decided to start the implementation of the new decision on Tuesday.

Israeli daily, Haaretz, said that the order to ambiguous as it is using the term "infiltrator" to describe Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, citizens of other countries and even citizens of countries that have ties and strong relations with Israel such as the United States.

It also gives the army the power to decide who gets to stay and who will be forced out.

Yet, the main targets are Palestinians who hold Gaza ID cards, and the foreign spouses of Palestinians living in the West Bank.

Although Israeli courts previously managed to overrule such expulsions ordered by the military, the new law will grant the Israeli occupation forces a full jurisdiction over the issue.

Israeli human rights groups, Hamoked, which focuses on the freedom of movement, called on the Israeli army to rescind the order.

The group said that most of the people who are now living in the occupied West Bank were never required to have a permit.

It added that using the term “infiltrator” in this context, could in principle even be applied on Israelis and internationals.

Chief Palestinian Negotiator, Dr. Saeb Erekat, described the Israeli decision as an act of ethnic cleansing against dozens of thousands of Palestinians.

He added that this is another Israeli violation and escalation, and that he sent letters to the U.S. Administration and the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.

Fateh Central Committee member, Nabil Shaath, also stated that this is “yet another episode of the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians”.

The Hamas-led government in Gaza also slammed the decision and called on its rival Fateh movement to halt all talks with the occupation.

The main targets of this decision are Gazans, any person who has one parent or both from Gaza, Palestinians who lost residency rights due to Israeli “laws”, and internationals married and living in the West Bank.

It even includes Palestinians from Gaza who moved to the West Bank and were granted family reunification in recent years.

This is in addition to Palestinians from Jerusalem but living in the West Bank and even applies to citizens of countries that have strong ties with Israel such as the United States, and even Jews who chose to love among the Palestinians.

The decision is illegal and violated the International Law as it will lead to the expulsion of thousands of Palestinians and international. Dozens of thousands of Palestinians are married to internationals and this decision will break their families apart.

www.imemc.org/article/58425

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JCESR:
”New Israeli Decision, As Dangerous As
the Nakba of 1948”

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News
Tuesday April 13, 2010 00:50

The Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights (JSCER) issued a press release slamming the Israeli decision to expel thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank, and stated that this decision is part of Israel’s demographic violations against the Palestinians, and is not less dangerous that the Nakba of 1948 when Israel expelled thousands of Palestinians who became refugees.

The center added that the ramifications of this decision will not only affect Gaza Strip residents who are living in the West Bank, but will also affect the Palestinians of Jerusalem, the Arabs in Israel and the Palestinians who carry international citizenships, mainly American and European.

It stated that this is part of the Israeli violations against Jerusalem and as, according to UN figures, at least 165.000 Palestinians became outside the boundaries of Jerusalem. This will lead them to lose their residency rights in Jerusalem while 30.000 already lost their residency rights due to illegal Israeli measures targeting the Arabs and Palestinians.

The JSCER reported that nearly 20.000 Palestinians from the West Bank have spouses from Jerusalem, some of them were deported to the West Bank and others were deported to Jerusalem as they were only granted temporary residency permits.

It said that this new “law” allows ordinary soldiers stationed at roadblocks and crossing points to have the power to regard those residents as “infiltrators” and thus have the power to imprison and prosecute them.

Thousands of families from Jerusalem are now living in the suburbs of the city, such as Abu Dis, Al Ezariyya (Bethany), Al Ram, Dahiat Al Barid, Bir Nibala and Um Al Sharayit, and could easily be deported.

Furthermore, hundreds of Palestinians families living in the West Bank, and even in East Jerusalem, carry American or European citizenships and this new law will have a direct impact on them and will lead to their deportation.

Last year, Israel arrested and deported several Palestinians who carry American or European passports and deported them. The army also arrested and deported internationals living in Ramallah and other Palestinian areas.

The center said that this military order is directly connected to Israel’s illegal attempts to grab the Palestinian “controlled area” and deport thousands of Palestinians as the occupation considers the Arabs and Palestinians, and their international spouses, as demographic threats.

This is happening while Israel is constructing and expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. The issue will lead to a sharp increase in the numbers of Jewish settlers, as the number will reach half a million settlers, 200.000 of them living on Palestinian lands in Jerusalem.

The JCSER further stated that Israel recently issued several orders to annex Palestinian lands to construct the illegal Annexation Wall on them and to construct settlements while fundamentalist Jewish groups are calling for expelling the Palestinians out of the country.

Rabbi Ovadia Yusef, spiritual leader of the extremist Shas movement, stated during the Jewish Pessah that “Jerusalem should only inhibited by the people of Israel”, and that the “Wall ensures the sanctity of the city, only Jews should be living there, while the Messiah will come and burn the rest altogether”.

Furthermore, fundamentalist Jewish groups issued statements calling on all “non-Jews to leave the land of Israel”, and added that “it is written in the Torah that the small land of Israel is the land of the Jewish people, and others cannot and should not be living there permanently”.

www.imemc.org/article/58430

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1O8il0AxSI

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Neturei Karta has a Solution to
the Middle-East Problem

>>edited for length and because I just don't want to go down that road

Consider the following remarks
on religious Jewish thought:

Religious Judaism and
the Land of Israel

Two thousand years ago, the Jews were sent into exile by God's decree, where they must remain until they are redeemed by God, as He has assured them through the prophets. The idea of a return to the country prematurely, without divine redemption, is wrong. In view of this, the Land of Israel belongs to those who have lived there for hundreds of years: the Palestinians.

The idea of a premature return was first conceived of by the Zionists, who at the beginning were a small Godless group, completely rejected by mainstream Jewry. They forced their plan upon the Jewish world through years of political maneuvering. Their slogan was that the Jewish people would finally stop waiting for divine salvation. "It is now time to take our destiny into our own hands," they said. "We must forget our past; we must leave behind the Divine message and the ancient role of the Jewish people in the world. Israel, the people of the Bible, must be transformed into a secular nation."

The majority of the Jewish people resisted this idea vehemently and wanted to know nothing of the Zionists' solution and their Zionist state. Thus Zionism went forward in the face of the strong opposition of the vast majority of Jews.

Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust

The level of anti-Semitism in the world has now reached such proportions as we have known only in the years immediately before the outbreak of World War II. It is fueled by the Zionist atrocities against the Palestinian population. Eighty years ago, anti-Semitism was instigated and fanned by the Zionists. They cleverly organized defamation campaigns against the Jews of Europe, with the aim of causing the ground to burn under their feet, so that they should feel the need to flee and take refuge in the new "Jewish State ". It worked then, and it works again today.

We look at today's Zionist activity in consternation, yet the Zionists tell the world that it is a duty and an honor to support their movement in any way. Whoever is negligent in this duty or, worse yet, exposes something about the Zionists, is branded an 'anti-Semite'.

For this purpose, the Zionists have built a global lobby which, especially armed with the Holocaust card, is able to stifle any attempted criticism of Israel.

How the "Israeli state" was Founded

After the great destruction of the Jews in Europe, the Jews were rootless and bleeding. For the most part, they succumbed to the thoughts and plans of the Zionists and willingly followed them into their so-called Promised Land. Only a small part, in particular the faithfully religious affiliated Jews, did not follow and have remained to this day bitter enemies of their idea and their state.

The international community, out of compassion and a sense of duty, perhaps even a sense of guilt, agreed to the idea of a refuge and permanent homeland for the broken and uprooted Jewish people. For this the international community deserves recognition, praise and gratitude.

The idea to use Palestine for this homeland seemed right and logical at the time, and was implemented in the historic UN decision of 1947. But this decision brought with it an equally historic injustice: the country was simply robbed from the Palestinian residents, who had been there over a thousand years. They abandoned their homes, and Jews settled there instead. The "State of Israel" was born!
Wrongly. And wrongly, it is still standing today, after over 60 years.

The Turning Point

The time has come when the "Zionist redemption" has suffered shipwreck, and the historical error of the Jewish people and the world community must be reversed. The former global enthusiasm about the creation of the "Jewish State" is no longer there. It has dissolved into thin air. The dream has become a nightmare.

More and more people feel unease and opposition to the continued atrocities of the Zionist movement, today "the State of Israel." The truth - that "anti-Zionism" does not equal "anti-Semitism" - is beginning to surface.

Zionism is not Judaism, and
Judaism is not Zionism.

On the contrary, the two concepts stand in stark contrast to each other! The Zionists, now in the dress of the "State of Israel", are not entitled to represent the Jewish people. Nobody has assigned them to this role; they have taken it on their own. Today, fewer and fewer people believe in this fiction. More and more people understand that the whole Middle East, thanks to the existence of the State of Israel, has become one big explosive powder keg, which can ignite at any time and plunge the entire world into the abyss. At the same time people are also beginning to understand, that by dissolving this State that does not belong in this region at all, the situation in the Middle East will finally stabilize.

This solution should actually be undertaken by the Jews who live there themselves, once they understand that it is a sin to break loose from a divinely-imposed exile, and that the way to repent of that sin is to go back to living in exile. However, the Israeli population is far from coming to such a recognition. The majority of the population is firmly rooted in fanatically-held beliefs that they live in the utopia of "redemption", and that they have returned to the land of their fathers.

Meanwhile, however, their state represents a quickly growing threat in its region of the world, threatening to plunge the world into an inferno.

* * *

That our solution is, for the most part, "religiously motivated" is not surprising: Whether we want to admit it or not, the people of Israel since time immemorial have been the people of God and nothing else. We are not "a nation like all nations"; we have received our laws and life goals from God on Mount Sinai, and we have faithfully adhered to and always upheld them. That is, until about one hundred years, when the great catastrophe, the Zionist movement, arose with the aim of transforming the Jewish people into a nation like all nations. They said: "We have no connection with God, no connection with Sinai. But by staying strong, together, we will solve our problems ourselves! We will have one country, one state, one army, one language, and everything a country needs. " And that is unfortunately what they did.

Today, after a hundred years of Zionism, we are facing a big mess. God has begun to show us that there is no escape from Him. The Zionists may have raised an insurrection against Him, but He will never accept it. He has been watching on the side for a long time, but it seems obvious that now He is manipulating world events to lead His people back to where He has always wanted it, and still wants it. Therefore, the solution to this problem is not only politically motivated, but also religiously motivated. Either it will be implemented by man, or by God himself.

This solution can only come about if there is pressure from the outside. The world, especially the UN, the U.S. and the EU, have the duty and the power to carry it out.

It is a political solution, but also a divine duty. Because, again, it is God who declares that the Zionist redemption of His people is not acceptable, and that His people must continue to live uninterrupted in exile, waiting for divine salvation. Redemption can only be left in the hands of the one God, and He will carry it out justly, according to His will. There is no other way to redeem the Jewish people. God will do exactly what He intends to do with His world. Israel will be redeemed by Him (not by the "State of Israel"), and the whole world will recognize God's kingdom.

The "redemption" is not reserved only for the people of Israel. God will redeem all of mankind. Peace will prevail all over the world. Every nation, every country and everyone will recognize God's regime and live in everlasting peace and satisfaction.

Now we are being given a unique, perhaps last chance to end the Zionist state on our own initiative, because if we do not, God will do it - the same God who sent His people into exile. He wants His people redeemed not by the Zionists but by Him alone, as He has repeatedly announced through the prophets. There is no getting around God's plan. Therefore, let us have the insight to put the solution into action under all circumstances. There is no time to lose!

Neturei Karta International – www.nkusa.org – January 2010/Teves 5770

nkuk.org/

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[ninathedog]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdb9SY8WrPY

Israel 'attempts to maintain order'

Israeli authorities have given the country's military unprecedented new powers to jail or deport Palestinians who it deems are in the West Bank illegally.

The new policy could result in the eviction of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, or criminal charges, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported.

Under the Israeli occupation, Palestinians are already required to carry identification cards showing where they live, restricting their movement at the basic level.

But amendments to the existing 1969 order on preventing infiltration could apply to Palestinians living in the West Bank without official ID cards issued by Israel.

Gil Hoffman, a political correspondent and columnist for The Jerusalem Post in Israel, said the policy is an attempt by the Israeli military to maintain order in the West Bank.

"[They] are trying to have regulations at a time when thousands of people from around the world would love to move into the West Bank," he told Al Jazeera.

"They want to be part of the economic prosperity that there is in the West Bank.

"There are people that moving there from the United States, which doesn't have the economic growth that there is in the West Bank in part because it has been the policy of the Israeli government to have mass investment in the West Bank.

"The situation in the West Bank is getting better and better and better."


..............................




Mapping Israeli Apartheid in the Palestinian West Bank:
Israeli settlements, apartheid wall and fence, closures, and territorial fragmentation.

KEY: www.vtjp.org/background/MappingApartheidWestBank.htm

The Palestinian West Bank, bordered by the 1949 Green Line.
• Israeli settlements and settlement blocks established since 1967 in violation of international law and UN Security Council Resolutions.
• Completed and planned sections of Israel's "security fence" - the Wall.
• Sections of the Wall under construction.
• Palestinian areas completely surrounded by the Wall and/or additional barriers.
• Palestinian areas trapped between the Wall and the Green Line.
• Boundaries of Palestinian "enclaves" established by Israel. Travel between "enclaves" controlled by Israeli army.
• Trisection boundaries established by Israel. Permits required to travel between sections.
• Jordan Valley now virtually off-limits to Palestinians.

This animated map is largely based on information from OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)

Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel works to support the survival of the Palestinian people and to end the illegal, immoral, and brutal Israeli occupation through education, advocacy, and action. We are committed to the principles of self-determination for the Palestinian people, the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and full civil and political rights for all Palestinians in order to promote the equality and safety of both Palestinians and Israelis. For more information, e-mail [e-mail]

mission statement continues — www.vtjp.org/aboutus/aboutus.htm

www.vtjp.org/

[ninathedog]

Woman Killed By Unknown Persons in
Beit Lahia to “Maintain Family Honor”

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights Gaza <[e-mail]>
PCHR
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights LTD (non profit)

Field Update
13 April 2010

Woman Killed By Unknown Persons in Beit Lahia to “Maintain Family Honor”

On Monday, 12 April 2010, Sherin Zayed (al-‘Attar), from Beit Lahia town in the northern the Gaza Strip, was killed allegedly to “maintain family honor.”

According to the field follow-up of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 11:50 on Monday, 12 April 2010, the body of Sherin Khamis Zayed (al-‘Attar), 32, was brought to Martyr Kamal ‘ Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, as she was hit by several bullets to the head and the chest. The chief of police in Beit Lahia town, Sameh al-Sultan, told a PCHR fieldworker that the police opened an investigation into the incident and arrested a number of the victim’s relatives, including her father. The father told the police that five masked gunmen raided his house on Monday morning and pulled his daughter outside the house and fired at her. Data provided by the police indicates that this crime was committed allegedly to “maintain family honor.”

PCHR strongly condemns this crime, and:

1. Expresses concern over the recurrence of murders against women in the Occupied Palestinian Territory allegedly "to maintain family honor." Such recurrence may be attributed to the relative impunity granted to murderers, who are often sentenced to less than 3 civil years of imprisonment, equivalent to 24 months of effective imprisonment.

2. Calls for suitable deterrent penalties to be applied to "family honor" murders. These murders must be dealt with in the same manner as other crimes of willful killing, taking into consideration international human rights standards. Many murderers use the claim of maintaining family honor as a justification for the crimes they commit in order to benefit from more lenient sentences.

Public Document


**************************************


For more information please call PCHR office in Gaza , Gaza Strip, on [phone] - 2825893

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights Gaza

PCHR, 29 Omer El Mukhtar St., El Remal, PO Box 1328 Gaza, Gaza Strip. E-mail: [e-mail], Webpage www.pchrgaza.org

-----------------------------------

If you got this forwarded and you want to subscribe, send mail to [e-mail] and write "subscribe" in the subject line.

For assistance: [e-mail]

[ninathedog]

Grassroots organizer targeted
by PA, Israeli forces

Nora Barrows-Friedman,
The Electronic Intifada,
13 April 2010


Israeli authorities pull Mousa Abu Maria away from a visitor during a court
appeal of his administrative detention, Jerusalem, July 2008.
(Oren Ziv/Activestills.org).

Mousa Abu Maria, father of a newborn baby and co-coordinator of the grassroots Palestine Solidarity Project (PSP) in the occupied West Bank village of Beit Ommar, was used to the sound of boots running on the ground and surrounding his home in the middle of the night. Awakened once again at 2:00am on Tuesday, 6 April, Abu Maria told an international volunteer with PSP who was sleeping in his house not to worry but that they should start moving the computers out of the rooms. Weeks earlier, PSP's office was raided by Israeli forces; computer hard drives and printers were confiscated as Abu Maria's entire family was forced to stand outside in the freezing cold. But when Abu Maria looked outside the window this time, it wasn't Israeli forces shouting at him to come outside. It was a squadron of heavily-armed Palestinian Authority (PA) police.

"They told me that they needed to talk with me for just one hour," Abu Maria told EI on the phone from Beit Ommar. "But they kidnapped me, forced me into a jeep, and took me to the Hebron police station where they held me until the next afternoon. They acted exactly like Israeli soldiers, accusing me of hitting a police officer during a demonstration -- a totally fabricated claim."

PSP has been instrumental in coordinating weekly demonstrations in front of Route 60, the "settler road" that runs alongside Beit Ommar and connects Jerusalem to the settlement colonies in the Bethlehem/Hebron area, and Abu Maria has borne the brunt of Israeli backlash for his involvement in the group's nonviolent direct actions. He was abducted by Israeli forces in April 2008 and held in administrative detention -- without charges or conviction -- for an entire year. "In total, I've spent seven years in Israeli prisons on three separate occasions because of my work to challenge the illegal Israeli occupation," Abu Maria said. Members of his family, including his brother, Youssef, have also faced harsh Israeli prison sentences because of their organizing and involvement with civil disobedience actions in the village.

But on 6 April, Abu Maria said that he was made to wait in the Hebron PA police's detention facility overnight. Phone calls from Palestinian community leaders, Israeli activists and internationals poured into the PA government offices headquartered in Ramallah demanding a reason for the arrest and calling for Abu Maria's immediate release. The following afternoon, still held at the police station, Abu Maria said he began to receive a deluge of apologies from police officials, including the head of the Palestinian police department in Hebron who reportedly kissed Abu Maria on the head as he left the station. "They said they made a mistake, and didn't need me for questioning," Abu Maria told EI. "I told them that they should be ashamed for acting like Israeli soldiers, and that if they needed to talk to me, they can meet me in a normal way -- there is no reason to arrest their own people in the middle of the night and terrify Palestinians like this."

Local Palestinian media jumped on the story, since it directly highlights the narrowing differences between the actions of Israeli and PA forces operating in the West Bank. As the PA continues to solidify its militarized presence on the ground in the West Bank -- sending its forces to train with US General Keith Dayton in Amman, Jordan, for internal "counter-insurgency" techniques that are consequentially used against leaders and activists within opposing political parties -- many Palestinians are growing increasingly cynical of the ability of the administration of PA president Mahmoud Abbas to represent all elements of Palestinian civil society in a fair and just way. "They should represent Palestine and its people. I'd respect them if they were working for the Palestinian cause, for the justice that we all deserve," Abu Maria remarked. "But they made me respect the PA even less after what happened to me."

The PA, meanwhile, has recently announced that it has started a campaign to target Israeli settlement products sold within the occupied West Bank. Appointed PA Prime Minister, and former World Bank official, Salam Fayyad launched the campaign with a public bonfire of one million dollars worth of products made in settlements on 5 January 2010. Days later, Fayyad set up a "National Dignity Fund" aimed at supporting locally-grown produce available for distribution in the local and global market. The PA has also started showing up at anti-occupation demonstrations, notably in Bilin, in a campaign marketed as a show of support and solidarity with local grassroots organizers.

However, many Palestinian organizers are skeptical of the PA's show of interest in grassroots initiatives like the burgeoning boycott campaigns and regular demonstrations around the West Bank. Jamal Juma', co-coordinator of the Stop the Wall campaign, told EI that these actions by the PA are marked by hypocrisy, especially in light of the parallel, violent crackdowns by PA forces against other Palestinian parties like Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and independent organizers like Mousa Abu Maria. Additionally, the PA enjoys the continued flow of money and political cooperation from the US, the EU and Israel.

"It's confusing," Juma' said. "The PA is talking about supporting the popular resistance struggle, and they've started a campaign to boycott the products from settlements in the West Bank. These are things we totally support as a people and as a movement. On the other hand, the PA has its own limits. They obviously don't want certain demonstrations and actions to go beyond their control."

Juma' told EI that the PA's move to boycott settlement products, for instance, still doesn't address the underlying need to stop the settlements themselves. "This is a part of the PA's entrenched program of normalization [with the Israeli occupation]," he said. "We as Palestinian civil society cannot afford normalization by the Authority. We won't accept it. The PA should complement the activities of the grassroots movements that are working very hard to expand the popular resistance, not limit them."

At the same time, a new Israeli military law aimed at arresting and deporting tens of thousands of Palestinians, internationals who have married Palestinians and Palestinians with Israeli citizenship who live with their spouses inside the West Bank, may go into effect soon. Veteran Israeli journalist Amira Hass wrote last weekend in the Israeli daily Haaretz: "The new order is the latest step by the Israeli government in recent years to require permits that limit the freedom of movement and residency previously conferred by Palestinian ID cards. The new regulations are particularly sweeping, allowing for criminal measures and the mass expulsion of people from their homes."

Juma' says that this could be a perfect time for the PA to support direct confrontation against this extremely racist military order, as Palestinian committees are gearing up to do. "The PA has condemned the law, but we don't need condemnation," Juma' stressed. "We need them to take practical actions on the ground. They should freeze coordination with the Israelis. They have to do something. The PA should understand and remember that they are not exempt from Israel's target."

On Saturday, 10 April, Mousa Abu Maria was arrested once again -- this time by Israeli occupation forces -- during a regular, pre-planned demonstration in Beit Ommar. Along with nine other Palestinian and Israeli protesters, he was taken to the military compound inside Gush Etzion, the nearby Israeli settlement colony, and held in jail until yesterday. The Israeli protesters were released on the condition that they not enter Beit Ommar for two weeks, and the Palestinians were bailed out by local Palestinian committees, Israeli human rights groups and their families. Undeterred, Abu Maria told EI that the demonstrations will continue as long as Israel's occupation and its apartheid regime continue to uproot peoples' lives all over Palestine.


Nora Barrows-Friedman is the co-host and Senior Producer of Flashpoints, a daily investigative newsmagazine on Pacifica Radio. She is also a correspondent for Inter Press Service. She regularly reports from Palestine, where she also runs media workshops for youth in the Dheisheh refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.



Latest articles on EI:
Palestine : Art, Music & Culture: Film review: Uncovering truth and humor in Edward Salem's "Impunity" (14 April 2010)
Palestine : Human Rights: Grassroots organizer targeted by PA, Israeli forces (13 April 2010)
Palestine : Art, Music & Culture: Film review: Surreal struggle in Michel Khleifi's "Zindeeq" (13 April 2010)
Palestine : Journalists in Danger: Journalist threatened with extradition, arrest by Mossad (13 April 2010)
Palestine : Human Rights: Belgian bank financing Israeli settlements (13 April 2010)
Palestine : Opinion/Editorial: Jerusalem: heart of conflict, beginning of reconciliation (13 April 2010)
Palestine : Activism News: UK's discriminatory criminalization of dissent (13 April 2010)
Palestine : Art, Music & Culture: Sabreena da Witch: the first lady of Palestinian R&B (12 April 2010)
Palestine : Opinion/Editorial: Attack on Berkeley divestment bill dishonest and misleading (12 April 2010)
Palestine : Opinion/Editorial: Talking Palestine to power (12 April 2010)

electronicintifada.net/v2/article11203.shtml

[ninathedog]

The Dangers and Difficulties of Reporting from Gaza:
Two Journalists Recount Their Experiences

April 08, 2010
Democracy Now!

We speak with two journalists who have covered Gaza extensively about the dangers and difficulties of reporting from the Occupied Territories: Mohammed Omer, an award-winning Palestinian journalist who was interrogated and beaten by armed Israeli security guards on his way back home to Gaza after receiving the prestigious Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism in London in July of 2008, and Ayman Mohyeldin, the Gaza correspondent for Al Jazeera English, who was one of the only international journalists reporting from inside Gaza during the twenty-two-day Israeli assault last year. [includes rush transcript]

part one of three

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz6qtBJ7YvM

part two of three

www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1eXRgnvkaQ

part three of three

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKrcQa7PIuo

Transcript

JUAN GONZALEZ: We end today’s show with a discussion of the dangers and difficulties of being a journalist in the occupied Gaza Strip. It’s where 1.4 million Palestinians live under the almost daily threat of Israeli attacks, while surviving a strict blockade imposed for the last four years. Nearly all exports and imports are banned, all entry points are closed, and only a tightly limited supply of food and medical aid is allowed in.

This week, Israeli authorities allowed in the first shipment of clothes and shoes since 2007, but Palestinian businessmen say most of the goods have been ruined and are unusable after remaining in storage for three years.

Meanwhile, even as Palestinians continue to seek accountability for the devastation and deaths caused by Israel’s twenty-two-day assault on Gaza in the winter of 2009, Israeli air raids over the Gaza Strip also continue into the present. Air strikes this past weekend wounded three Palestinian children and destroyed a dairy factory.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined now by two journalists who have covered Gaza extensively. Mohammed Omer is an award-winning Palestinian journalist from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. On his way back home to Gaza after receiving the prestigious Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism in London in July of 2008, Omer was interrogated and beaten by armed Israeli security guards. He’s been living in the Netherlands ever since, receiving medical treatment. Omer is now on a US speaking tour; he’s joining us from Houston, Texas. And joining us here in New York is the Gaza correspondent for Al Jazeera English, Ayman Mohyeldin. He is one of the only international journalists reporting from inside Gaza during Operation Cast Lead last year.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Mohammed Omer, let’s go first to you in Houston. And I’m glad you were able to get into this country. I know you had trouble at the beginning. But describe what happened to you after receiving this prestigious award, the Martha Gellhorn Prize.

MOHAMMED OMER: Well, it was upon my return from London, where I received the Martha Gellhorn Journalism Prize, where I have been taken by the Israeli security personnel and forced to take off clothes under gunpoint. Those who attacked me, they were basically looking for the money that I won from the Martha Gellhorn Journalism Prize, and they wanted to humiliate me by asking me different types of questions.

And before that, I was literally beaten on my chest and neck and ribs, and I was also attacked inside a closed room, where one of the officials, who is called Avi, a man, a tall man who is bald, and he’s trying to grab me from the bones, taking the bones and using his nail fingers beneath under my eyes, trying to pinch, and kicking me in different places in my body. This is because I failed to present the money that I won from the Martha Gellhorn Journalism Prize. That was on the 26th of June, 2008.

After several hours of attack and kicking and beating, I fainted. And after that, I was taken into Jericho Hospital. And from there, I went to the Gaza Strip. It took nearly three months to get me out of the Gaza Strip for medical treatment in the Netherlands.

AMY GOODMAN: And you remain there today. You have—

MOHAMMED OMER: Well, I’m still—

AMY GOODMAN: Go ahead.

MOHAMMED OMER: I’m still attending medical treatment in the Netherlands. I have been living in the last few months with all the speculations from three different hospitals in the Netherlands that I might end up removing some ribs. I’m glad that I don’t have to do that. But still, I have damage that is caused underneath the ribs. The report that I can share with you right now from the Dutch doctors in the Netherlands, who told me that this is a sophisticated case of torture, where those who inflicted the torture on me managed to cause as minimum visible signs of torture and maximum internal damage that may last for the rest of my life.

AMY GOODMAN: Mohammed Omer, among many other photographs that you have taken, you have some very graphic—and I warn the viewers who are watching this now—pictures of Rachel Corrie that we haven’t seen before, the young American woman from Olympia, Washington, who was killed March 16, 2003, when she was run over by an Israeli military bulldozer in the Gaza Strip. You were there that day?

MOHAMMED OMER: I was there. I remember that day quite well. When I called the different news agencies, and I’m giving the news, American citizen Rachel Corrie is killed, in fact it took me nine hours to ten hours to convince the news agencies that American citizen is killed. One of them I remember quite well, in Ramallah, who said to me, “Come on, it can’t be that Israel is that dumb to attack American citizen. This is impossible.” I went to take photos, and I was very close to the situations where she was killed, and immediately I was inside the Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital, where her body was immediately transferred.

What was striking on that day, the children of Gaza, who took the streets and who covered Rachel Corrie with the American flag in Gaza, took the streets calling for the world to investigate and to bring the war criminals into court, because Rachel Corrie was a friend of the Gaza children who took the streets and called immediately on an investigation and to bring the criminals who killed Rachel Corrie into court.

JUAN GONZALEZ: I’d like to ask Ayman Mohyeldin, you are a journalist in Gaza, but not a Palestinian. Could you talk about the difficulties of being able to get out to the rest of the world the news from Gaza?

AYMAN MOHYELDIN: Absolutely. You know, as Mohammed said and as you mentioned, to get into Gaza there’s only really two ways: through Egypt or through Israel. Egypt has an unofficially closed border. It does not allow journalists to travel from Egypt into Gaza. And so, anyone, journalists, who wants to enter is subject to the approval of the Israeli military.

That process is a complicated one. It includes background checks, security clearances, and then ultimately being issued a press card. You do also have to sign censorship agreements with the Israeli government. And then, once you do that, you’re issued a press card, which allows you to enter into the Gaza Strip. That’s just to get into Gaza.

But when you’re in Gaza, you are really suffering and dealing with all the problems that ordinary people are logistically. You have a hard time getting your hands on fuel to power your equipment. At the same time, electricity cuts are rampant, so it makes it very difficult to work and operate there on a systematic basis. And then, of course, there is the threat of daily Israeli air strikes and potential incursions that, you know, endanger everyone’s lives.

AMY GOODMAN: Al Jazeera had an enormous responsibility during the Israeli assault on Gaza. You were the only international news agency within Gaza. The Israeli military did not allow in international journalists.

AYMAN MOHYELDIN: It is, absolutely. In this particular case, since the launch of Al Jazeera International, we have been committed to covering the story of Gaza and the people there under siege. We think it’s the important, if not one of the most important, stories in the region and in the world and has greater implications on the region. So they’ve decided to keep a permanent presence there with a full-time correspondent. So I was there prior to that. I’ve been the only foreign correspondent based in Gaza since May of 2008. So, well before the war began, I was there.

On December 27th, when Israel launched the military campaign, all of the foreign media, Western media, decided then to come into Gaza. Obviously, the Israeli military did not let them in, because it was an ongoing war. So it’s easy for us to sit and blame Israel for not letting in, but there’s also a great deal of blame that falls on Western journalists, who had neglected the Gaza story, neglected the Gaza siege story, until it suddenly became an enriching picture-wise and a lead story around the world.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And do the Hamas authorities in Gaza put any restrictions on your coverage?

AYMAN MOHYELDIN: In my personal experience, I have not had anyone from Hamas telling me I cannot run a story, I should not run a story. There’s no doubt that there have been difficulties for perhaps Arab journalists. Their audience is more of an Arab audience, and there has been pressure put on them, and human rights organizations have documented cases. In my personal experience, I have not experienced it, but there has been growing criticism that Hamas has used that tactic to curb a freedom of expression among journalists inside the Gaza Strip.

AMY GOODMAN: Mohammed Omer, as we wrap up—we’re going to play part two online and continue this conversation after the show—but your final thoughts, as you enter the United States for the first time in the last few years since you were beaten?

MOHAMMED OMER: Well, this is my third speaking tour to the United States. I’m going to be, in a few hours, flying to New Mexico, where I will give lectures. Being a journalist in the Gaza Strip is a quite difficult and different experience for a journalist who is Palestinian. It took me six months to renew a Palestinian passport. This is a Palestinian passport where it took me six months to renew it. When I went to the government in Gaza, Hamas government, and I asked them, “I want to renew the passport,” well, they were telling me that they don’t have ink for passports in the Gaza Strip. And, of course, they don’t have papers in some other periods. I talked to the Ramallah government, and it was very difficult. As it seems, there is a difficulty, no doubt, for Palestinian journalists covering the situations from the Gaza Strip to talk about all these difficulties and to cover the difficult things. It’s very complicated that every side is trying to get you into their sides, and that makes it quite difficult. But I never had any difficulties with the Hamas government.

AMY GOODMAN: Mohammed Omer, we’re going to have to leave it there, but we’ll continue online at democracynow.org. Mohammed Omer and Ayman Mohyeldin, thank you very much for being with us.

www.democracynow.org/2010/4/8/the_dangers_and_difficulties_of_reporting

[ninathedog]

Quake in western China
kills 400, buries more

By Gillian Wong, Associated Press Writer – 29 mins ago

BEIJING – A series of strong earthquakes struck a mountainous Tibetan area of western China on Wednesday, killing at least 400 people and injuring more than 10,000 as houses made of mud and wood collapsed, officials said. Many more people were trapped, and the toll was expected to rise.

The largest quake was recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey as magnitude 6.9. In the aftermath, panicked people, many bleeding from their wounds, flooded the streets of a Qinghai province township where most of the homes had been flattened. Students were reportedly buried inside several damaged schools.

Paramilitary police used shovels to dig through the rubble in the town, footage on state television showed. Officials said excavators were not available. Crews worked to repair the damaged road to the nearest airport and clear the way for equipment and rescue teams. Hospitals were overwhelmed, many lacking even the most basic supplies, and doctors were in short supply.

By nightfall, the airport was operating with emergency power and receiving relief flights carrying medical workers and supplies, state media reported.

Downed phone lines, strong winds and frequent aftershocks hindered rescue efforts, said Wu Yong, commander of the local army garrison, who said the death toll "may rise further as lots of houses collapsed."

With many people forced outside, the provincial government said it was rushing 5,000 tents and 100,000 coats and blankets to the mountainous region, with an altitude of around 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) where night time temperatures plunge below freezing.

Workers were racing to release water from a reservoir in the disaster area where a crack had formed after the quake to prevent a flood, according to the China Earthquake Administration.

The Wednesday quake, which struck at 7:49 a.m. local time (2349 GMT, 7:49 p.m. EDT), was centered on Yushu county, in the southern part of Qinghai, near Tibet, with a population of about 100,000, mostly herders and farmers.

Lightly populated by Chinese standards, the region is remote, making the rescue operation logistically difficult. Relief flights, for example, need to carry in spare jet fuel to augment the limited supplies stored at Yushu's airport, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said.

The USGS recorded six temblors in less than three hours, all but one registering 5.0 or higher. The China Earthquake Networks Center measured the largest quake's magnitude at 7.1. Qinghai averages more than five earthquakes a year of at least magnitude 5.0, Xinhua said. They normally do not cause much damage.

Residents fled as the ground shook, toppling houses made of mud and wood, as well as temples, gas stations, electric poles and the top of a Buddhist pagoda in a park, witnesses and state media said. The quake also triggered landslides, Xinhua said.

"Nearly all the houses made of mud and wood collapsed. There was so much dust in the air, we couldn't see anything," said Ren Yu, general manager of Yushu Hotel in Jiegu, the county's main town. "There was a lot of panic. People were crying on the streets. Some of our staff, who were reunited with their parents, were also in tears."

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100414/ap_on_re_as/as_china_earthquake

[ninathedog]

Apr 13, 2010 18:45:07 GMT 4 @ninathedog said:

Israeli Order To Expel Thousands of
Palestinians and Internationals From the West Bank

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
Monday April 12, 2010 00:01

The Israeli government is set to start the implementation of a new order that would lead to the expulsion of thousands of Palestinians, and even internationals living in the West Bank. Gazans living the in West Bank will be considered illegal and would be expelled.

The order mainly targets Gaza Strip residents living in the West Bank, some since many years, but were not granted West Bank identity cards or residency permits.

This also includes internationals married to Palestinians, and even Arab residents of Israel who are married to Palestinians, and persons living in the West Bank but Israel never granted them permits.

The Israeli government decided to start the implementation of the new decision on Tuesday.

>> edited for length

The decision is illegal and violated the International Law as it will lead to the expulsion of thousands of Palestinians and international. Dozens of thousands of Palestinians are married to internationals and this decision will break their families apart.

www.imemc.org/article/58425

............


JCESR:
”New Israeli Decision, As Dangerous As
the Nakba of 1948”

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News
Tuesday April 13, 2010 00:50

The Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights (JSCER) issued a press release slamming the Israeli decision to expel thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank, and stated that this decision is part of Israel’s demographic violations against the Palestinians, and is not less dangerous that the Nakba of 1948 when Israel expelled thousands of Palestinians who became refugees.

The center added that the ramifications of this decision will not only affect Gaza Strip residents who are living in the West Bank, but will also affect the Palestinians of Jerusalem, the Arabs in Israel and the Palestinians who carry international citizenships, mainly American and European.

It stated that this is part of the Israeli violations against Jerusalem and as, according to UN figures, at least 165.000 Palestinians became outside the boundaries of Jerusalem. This will lead them to lose their residency rights in Jerusalem while 30.000 already lost their residency rights due to illegal Israeli measures targeting the Arabs and Palestinians.

The JSCER reported that nearly 20.000 Palestinians from the West Bank have spouses from Jerusalem, some of them were deported to the West Bank and others were deported to Jerusalem as they were only granted temporary residency permits.

It said that this new “law” allows ordinary soldiers stationed at roadblocks and crossing points to have the power to regard those residents as “infiltrators” and thus have the power to imprison and prosecute them.

>> edited for length

www.imemc.org/article/58430

..........


www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1O8il0AxSI

..........

Neturei Karta has a Solution to
the Middle-East Problem

>>edited for length and because I just don't want to go down that road

Consider the following remarks
on religious Jewish thought:

Religious Judaism and
the Land of Israel

Two thousand years ago, the Jews were sent into exile by God's decree, where they must remain until they are redeemed by God, as He has assured them through the prophets. The idea of a return to the country prematurely, without divine redemption, is wrong. In view of this, the Land of Israel belongs to those who have lived there for hundreds of years: the Palestinians.

The idea of a premature return was first conceived of by the Zionists, who at the beginning were a small Godless group, completely rejected by mainstream Jewry. They forced their plan upon the Jewish world through years of political maneuvering. Their slogan was that the Jewish people would finally stop waiting for divine salvation. "It is now time to take our destiny into our own hands," they said. "We must forget our past; we must leave behind the Divine message and the ancient role of the Jewish people in the world. Israel, the people of the Bible, must be transformed into a secular nation."

The majority of the Jewish people resisted this idea vehemently and wanted to know nothing of the Zionists' solution and their Zionist state. Thus Zionism went forward in the face of the strong opposition of the vast majority of Jews.

Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust

The level of anti-Semitism in the world has now reached such proportions as we have known only in the years immediately before the outbreak of World War II. It is fueled by the Zionist atrocities against the Palestinian population. Eighty years ago, anti-Semitism was instigated and fanned by the Zionists. They cleverly organized defamation campaigns against the Jews of Europe, with the aim of causing the ground to burn under their feet, so that they should feel the need to flee and take refuge in the new "Jewish State ". It worked then, and it works again today.

We look at today's Zionist activity in consternation, yet the Zionists tell the world that it is a duty and an honor to support their movement in any way. Whoever is negligent in this duty or, worse yet, exposes something about the Zionists, is branded an 'anti-Semite'.

For this purpose, the Zionists have built a global lobby which, especially armed with the Holocaust card, is able to stifle any attempted criticism of Israel.

How the "Israeli state" was Founded

After the great destruction of the Jews in Europe, the Jews were rootless and bleeding. For the most part, they succumbed to the thoughts and plans of the Zionists and willingly followed them into their so-called Promised Land. Only a small part, in particular the faithfully religious affiliated Jews, did not follow and have remained to this day bitter enemies of their idea and their state.

The international community, out of compassion and a sense of duty, perhaps even a sense of guilt, agreed to the idea of a refuge and permanent homeland for the broken and uprooted Jewish people. For this the international community deserves recognition, praise and gratitude.

The idea to use Palestine for this homeland seemed right and logical at the time, and was implemented in the historic UN decision of 1947. But this decision brought with it an equally historic injustice: the country was simply robbed from the Palestinian residents, who had been there over a thousand years. They abandoned their homes, and Jews settled there instead. The "State of Israel" was born!
Wrongly. And wrongly, it is still standing today, after over 60 years.

The Turning Point

The time has come when the "Zionist redemption" has suffered shipwreck, and the historical error of the Jewish people and the world community must be reversed. The former global enthusiasm about the creation of the "Jewish State" is no longer there. It has dissolved into thin air. The dream has become a nightmare.

More and more people feel unease and opposition to the continued atrocities of the Zionist movement, today "the State of Israel." The truth - that "anti-Zionism" does not equal "anti-Semitism" - is beginning to surface.

Zionism is not Judaism, and
Judaism is not Zionism.

On the contrary, the two concepts stand in stark contrast to each other! The Zionists, now in the dress of the "State of Israel", are not entitled to represent the Jewish people. Nobody has assigned them to this role; they have taken it on their own. Today, fewer and fewer people believe in this fiction. More and more people understand that the whole Middle East, thanks to the existence of the State of Israel, has become one big explosive powder keg, which can ignite at any time and plunge the entire world into the abyss. At the same time people are also beginning to understand, that by dissolving this State that does not belong in this region at all, the situation in the Middle East will finally stabilize.

This solution should actually be undertaken by the Jews who live there themselves, once they understand that it is a sin to break loose from a divinely-imposed exile, and that the way to repent of that sin is to go back to living in exile. However, the Israeli population is far from coming to such a recognition. The majority of the population is firmly rooted in fanatically-held beliefs that they live in the utopia of "redemption", and that they have returned to the land of their fathers.

Meanwhile, however, their state represents a quickly growing threat in its region of the world, threatening to plunge the world into an inferno.

>> edited for length


Neturei Karta International – www.nkusa.org – January 2010/Teves 5770

nkuk.org/

............

Moscow Warns Against Israel’s
Decision To Deport Thousands of Palestinians

Thursday April 15, 2010 06:26
by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement warning that implementing Israeli order #1650 regarding the deportation of thousands of residents from the West Bank could lead to further escalation and tension in the region.

The new Israeli ruling came into effect on Tuesday April 13. The Ministry said that this ruling raises concern, and could even lead to further escalation in the Palestinian territories and further deterioration in the relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

The Ministry also stated that the Israeli conducts are negatively impacting the efforts of the International Community and the Quartet Committee (The United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia) to resume the stalled peace process.

It called on Israel to reconsider its decision that would lead to deportation thousands of Palestinians in the first stage, and warned that such conducts predetermine the outcome of peace talks and could lead to serious escalation.

The Israeli decision targets Palestinians who were not granted identity cards, international spouses of Palestinians, Palestinian spouses of Arab residents of Israel and any “undocumented” person in the occupied West Bank.

Such documentations is supposed to be granted by Israel after the residents file the proper papers, but Israel refrains from approving such application and in most cases does not even look into them.

category international | israeli politics | news report author email saed at imemc dot org


www.imemc.org/article/58447

[ninathedog]

Apr 14, 2010 19:05:38 GMT 4 @ninathedog said:

Quake in western China
kills 400, buries more

By Gillian Wong, Associated Press Writer – 29 mins ago

BEIJING – A series of strong earthquakes struck a mountainous Tibetan area of western China on Wednesday, killing at least 400 people and injuring more than 10,000 as houses made of mud and wood collapsed, officials said. Many more people were trapped, and the toll was expected to rise.

The largest quake was recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey as magnitude 6.9. In the aftermath, panicked people, many bleeding from their wounds, flooded the streets of a Qinghai province township where most of the homes had been flattened. Students were reportedly buried inside several damaged schools.

Paramilitary police used shovels to dig through the rubble in the town, footage on state television showed. Officials said excavators were not available. Crews worked to repair the damaged road to the nearest airport and clear the way for equipment and rescue teams. Hospitals were overwhelmed, many lacking even the most basic supplies, and doctors were in short supply.

By nightfall, the airport was operating with emergency power and receiving relief flights carrying medical workers and supplies, state media reported.

Downed phone lines, strong winds and frequent aftershocks hindered rescue efforts, said Wu Yong, commander of the local army garrison, who said the death toll "may rise further as lots of houses collapsed."

With many people forced outside, the provincial government said it was rushing 5,000 tents and 100,000 coats and blankets to the mountainous region, with an altitude of around 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) where night time temperatures plunge below freezing.

Workers were racing to release water from a reservoir in the disaster area where a crack had formed after the quake to prevent a flood, according to the China Earthquake Administration.

The Wednesday quake, which struck at 7:49 a.m. local time (2349 GMT, 7:49 p.m. EDT), was centered on Yushu county, in the southern part of Qinghai, near Tibet, with a population of about 100,000, mostly herders and farmers.

Lightly populated by Chinese standards, the region is remote, making the rescue operation logistically difficult. Relief flights, for example, need to carry in spare jet fuel to augment the limited supplies stored at Yushu's airport, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said.

The USGS recorded six temblors in less than three hours, all but one registering 5.0 or higher. The China Earthquake Networks Center measured the largest quake's magnitude at 7.1. Qinghai averages more than five earthquakes a year of at least magnitude 5.0, Xinhua said. They normally do not cause much damage.

Residents fled as the ground shook, toppling houses made of mud and wood, as well as temples, gas stations, electric poles and the top of a Buddhist pagoda in a park, witnesses and state media said. The quake also triggered landslides, Xinhua said.

"Nearly all the houses made of mud and wood collapsed. There was so much dust in the air, we couldn't see anything," said Ren Yu, general manager of Yushu Hotel in Jiegu, the county's main town. "There was a lot of panic. People were crying on the streets. Some of our staff, who were reunited with their parents, were also in tears."

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100414/ap_on_re_as/as_china_earthquake

Bodies pile up after quake
kills 600-plus in China

Anita Chang, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 8 mins ago

MADOI, China – Rescue teams fought gusty winds and altitude sickness Thursday as supplies of food, water and almost everything ran thin after strong earthquakes left more than 600 dead in a mountainous Tibetan area of western China.

Survivors, many of whom spent the night outside in freezing weather, wandered bleeding from their wounds through Jiegu township for a second day, witnesses said. Rescuers, tired from the high winds and thin oxygen, pulled some survivors and many bodies from the pulverized remains of the town flattened by Wednesday morning's quakes.

"We've seen too many bodies and now they're trying to deal with them. The bodies are piled up like a hill. You can see bodies with broken arms and legs and it breaks your heart," said Dawa Cairen, a Tibetan who works for the Christian group the Amity Foundation and was helping in rescue efforts. "You can see a lot of blood. It's flowing like a river."

Grim pictures emerged from several collapsed schools that were the focus of early rescue efforts. Footage on state television and photos posted online showed bodies laid out near the rubble, and the Xinhua News Agency quoted a local education official as saying 66 children and 10 teachers had died, mostly in three schools.

After spending most of Wednesday opening the nearby airport and clearing roads, relief operations quickened. Nearly 2,000 soldiers, police and firefighters arrived in Yushu county, where Jiegu is located, Xinhua said. Joining them were the China Earthquake Administration's professional rescue teams, with sniffer dogs, satellite communications equipment, medicines and food.

As more people and supplies poured in by road and air, the influx was producing unintended effects: taxing the normally scarce resources of the remote Yushu, where the altitude averages around 13,000 feet (4,000 meters).

Supplies of food, water, gas and other necessities were running low, said Pierre Deve, a program director at the Yushu-based community development organization Snowland Service Group. Deve said he waited for hours in a line of some 100 cars at the only open gas station. Most shops in Jiegu remained shut, he said, and local Buddhist monasteries handed out some food while some people scavenged food and other belongings from what was left of their houses.

China Central Television said the death toll had risen to 617 by late morning Thursday, with more than 9,000 injured and around 300 still missing. The Ministry of Civil Affairs said about 15,000 houses collapsed and 100,000 people — nearly the entire population of Yushu — needed to be moved to safety.

Dozens of monks were either dead or missing at the Thrangu monastery, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) outside Jiegu, when all but its main hall collapsed, said Danzeng Qiujiang, a senior cleric at the Xiuma monastery far to the north of town.

"Only 7 or 8 of the monks are left alive. All the rest have gone missing. The rescuers either can't find them or found their bodies. I'm not sure how many deaths have been confirmed yet. But 60 of 70 of them have all gone missing," the cleric said.

Wednesday morning's quakes — the worst of which measured magnitude 6.9 by the U.S. Geological Survey and 7.1 by China's earthquake administration — were the worst to hit the region since the massive Sichuan earthquake two years ago left 90,000 dead or missing.

The destruction of schools was an eerie echo of the Sichuan quake, in which thousands of students died when their poorly built schools collapsed. But unlike in Sichuan — where schools toppled as other buildings stood — everything fell over in Yushu.

Residents in Jiegu described scenes of anguish with the wounded sobbing in pain from lack of medical care. "This feels like a war zone. It's a complete mess. At night, people were crying and shouting. Women were crying for their families," said Ren Yu, general manager of Yushu Hotel in Jiegu, who said he felt at least five aftershocks overnight. "Some of the people have broken legs or arms, but all they can get now is an injection. They were crying in pain."

Ren said hotel staffers returning from assisting in rescue work at night described horrific casualties the quake had caused: "They told me that when some elementary school students were pulled out, their brains had spilled out."

State media said hundreds had been pulled free alive. CCTV showed rescuers picking through the rubble at night aided by flashlights fixed to their safety helmets. A group of workers found a girl trapped for more than 12 hours under a heap of debris.

"I can't feel my arm," said the girl, who was curled up with her back to the workers. The workers talked to her and fed her water as others searched for pieces of wood to prop up the rubble that had entrapped her. As rescuers gingerly pulled her out and carried her to a stretcher, she could be heard saying: "I'm sorry for the trouble. Thank you, I will never forget this."

___

Associated Press Writer Gillian Wong and researcher Zhao Liang contributed to this report from Beijing.


news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100415/ap_on_re_as/as_china_earthquake

[ninathedog]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9r9ACkpFVk
Category: News & Politics
Tags: palestine israel wall west bank gaza middle east



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(many thanks to Mohammed Omer)

[ninathedog]

China earthquake
toll rises to 1,144

By ANITA CHANG, Associated Press Writer Anita Chang, Associated Press Writer – 11 mins ago

JIEGU, China – Tibetan monks prayed Friday over hundreds of bodies at a makeshift morgue next to their monastery after powerful earthquakes destroyed the remote mountain town of Jiegu in western China and left at least 1,144 people dead.

State media on Friday reported that another 417 people remain missing — as rescuers neared the end of the 72-hour period viewed as best for finding people alive. They continued to dig for survivors in the rubble, often by hand.

The official toll was likely to climb further. Gerlai Tenzing, a red-robed monk from the Jiegu Monastery, estimated that about 1,000 bodies had been brought to a hillside clearing in the shadow of the monastery. He said a precise count was difficult because bodies continued to trickle in and some had already been taken away by family members.

Hundreds of the bodies were being prepared for a mass cremation Saturday morning. Genqiu, a 22-year-old monk, said it was impossible to perform traditional sky burials for all. Tibetan sky burials involve chopping a body into pieces and leaving it on a platform to be devoured by vultures.

"The vultures can't eat them all," said Genqiu, who like many Tibetans goes by one name.

China Central Television reported that a 13-year-old Tibetan girl was pulled from the toppled two-story Minzu Hotel on Friday after a sniffer dog alerted rescuers to her location. The girl, identified as Changli Maomu, was freed after a crane lifted a large concrete block out of the rubble, it said. Her condition was good and she was taken to a medical station for treatment, it said.

Relief workers have estimated that 70 percent to 90 percent of the town's wood-and-mud houses collapsed when the earthquakes hit Yushu county, in the western province of Qinghai, Wednesday morning. The strongest of the quakes was measured at magnitude 6.9 by the U.S. Geological Survey and 7.1 by China's earthquake administration.

Xinhua reported that as of Friday evening the confirmed death toll had risen to 1,144, up from 791 in the afternoon. It said 11,477 people were injured, 1,174 severely.

Rescue spokesman Xia Xueping was cited as saying they now had more heavy equipment available — speeding up the process of recovering the dead.

Many survivors shivered through a third night outdoors as they waited for tents to arrive. Hundreds gathered on a plaza around a 50-foot (15-meter) tall statue of the mythical Tibetan King Gesar, wrapped in blankets taken from shattered homes.

Police had to intervene Friday to prevent young men from grabbing tents out of the back of a truck.

"I saw trucks almost attacked by local people because of the lack of food and shelter," said Pierre Deve, a program director at the Yushu-based community development organization Snowland Service Group. "It started yesterday, but you still see some things like this today. It's getting better. Chinese authorities are doing well."

Nonetheless, Deve said his group, which plans to distribute food, medicine, tents, clothes and bedding, was moving out of Jiegu in case things got worse.

"We want to have a place out of the city where we can communicate in a good way, protect the things we need to give to people who need them," he said.

China Central Television reported that about 40,000 tents would be in place by Saturday, enough to accommodate all survivors. Also on the way was more equipment to help probe for signs of life under the debris, it said. The tools include small cameras and microphones attached to poles that can be snaked into crevices as well as heat and motion sensors.

At one collapsed building where people were believed trapped, about 70 civilians, including three dozen Tibetan monks in crimson robes, joined rescue workers.

"One, two, three," the monks chanted as they used wooden beams to try to push away a section of collapsed wall. They later tied ropes to a slab of concrete and dragged it away.

The effort was hampered by the area's altitude, about 13,000 feet (4,000 meters), and Xinhua reported two dozen trained rescuers had to stop working because of altitude sickness. Sniffer dogs were also affected, it said.

Xinhua quoted a local education official as saying 66 children and 10 teachers had died, mostly in three schools, but more remained missing.

Thousands of students died during a massive Sichuan quake in 2008 when their poorly built schools collapsed. But unlike in Sichuan — where schools toppled as other buildings stood — nearly everything fell over in Yushu.

To underline official concern for a Tibetan area that saw anti-government protests two years ago, Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Yushu county Thursday evening to meet survivors. President Hu Jintao, in Brazil after visiting Washington, canceled scheduled stops in Venezuela and Peru to come home.

Wen, the sympathetic, grandfatherly face of the usually distant Chinese leadership, sought to provide comfort and build trust with the mostly Tibetan victims of the quake.

"The disaster you suffered is our disaster. Your suffering is our suffering. Your loss of loved ones is our loss. We mourn as you do. It breaks our hearts," Wen said in remarks repeatedly broadcast on state TV.

Wen also repeated nearly word for word the promise he made during the Sichuan earthquake: "As long as there's a glimmer of hope, we will spare no effort and never give up."

___

Associated Press writers Gillian Wong and Chi-Chi Zhang and researchers Zhao Liang, Yu Bing and Xi Yue in Beijing contributed to this report.


news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100416/ap_on_re_as/as_china_earthquake