a story among many

Majeda Al Saqqa, January 10th
Majeda Al Saqqa, 2009-01-10

Virtual Gaza

Logic is my key for today.
I want to apologize to all the musicians in the world for calling the sounds of bombing an orchestra.
After a horrific night of tank shelling, bombardment by F16s, maybe an Apache too, the drone and, most scary of all, the smell of phosphorus gas reaching the edge of our neighborhood, today, I want to apologize to all musicians.
No, war sounds are far more frightening and ugly.
Today I will not joke.
I will think logic and talk logic.
Not enough food at home.
Children frustrated, wanting out of this prison.
It's not going to end today.
It might last for much longer.
Demands are increasing at all levels and from every side.
So, best is to act.
No safe place in Gaza Strip.
If my own bed is not safe,
then the market is not safe.
But it might be safer than, or at least as safe as my bed could be....
So, I'm up early.
I call the children: "Come we'll all go to the vegetable market."
"Is the war over?" screams Arslan, my 5-year-old nephew happily.
"No, but there will be a ceasefire, a 'safe corridor' from 1 to 3 pm," I tell him.
"Is it 1 pm?" Arslan asks.
"What's a ceasefire?" Wael asks my sister Najat, at the same time.
"Is a safe corridor like the one we use next to our bathroom?"
Najat is exhausted. She hasn't slept for two nights now. She looks at Wael and breaks
out in laughter: "Similar.... it's the shit in the pot!"
I answer Arslan: "It's 8 am now. We'll go now."
For me it seems safer to get out before the ceasefire because it doesn’t seem that there
really is one, or at least that it's observed....
I catch Arslan's eye: "Looks like there's movement in the streets, so we'll try to go
now."
I haven't seen the children so happy. They don't wait for me to get the car out from the garage. Like birds escaping the cage, they all start singing and dancing on the door step of our house.

A woman in the street asks me if I can give her a lift.
"I came here because they are distributing vegetables to poor people," she tells me.
"I'm not at an UNRWA school, I'm with my sister's family. Nobody knows about us.
"We're not registered, we're not refuges, so no one wants to help us. This kind man living in your neighborhood asked me for my ID. I gave it to him yesterday. Today I came and he gave me some vegetables. I have no idea what we will do with them -- we have no wood, no gas and no electricity. We haven't even had water for the last four days."
I looked at her in the rearview mirror and say: "Sell it and buy canned food."
"Who will buy it?"
"Many people will," I assure her.
"Will you take me to the vegetable market?" she asks.
"I'm going there, I'll take you."
She looks out the car window and says to herself: "It's better like this, I'll sell it and
buy milk for the kids and some kerosene."
The market
I decide that I will only look in the mirror or straight in front of me.
I don't want to see anything around me.
I love Khan Younis.
I can't do anything for Khan Younis today but wait patiently and survive, so tomorrow we all can do something.
Halfway to the market, we're the only car in the street.
Wael is laughing and telling Arslan to look at the old man we've just passed.
"He's hiding behind the door and looking.
"But I saw him.
"Look at that woman too! I saw her!
"She's hiding behind the door, peeking out..."
Arslan is looking out on the other side of the road. He screams: "Hey look, our kindergarten! They destroyed the building near our garden!"
Majed, my 6-year-old nephew, asks me "Who did this?"
I answer, "The airplane."
"I know, but who is in the airplane?"
I look at the woman and say: "You can sell your vegetables here."
Majed repeats his question
"Who did this destruction?"
I look at him and say: "The Israelis. But don't ask me who they are now because if you look just in front of you, you'll see where we'll buy our stuff."
There was huge truck distributing flour to people.
We sat and waited until some families got their quota and then they sat in the sun and started selling half of what they'd received.
An old woman was sitting covering her face.
I went to her and asked if I could buy from her.
"Yes, please, I have to get back quickly. If my sons know I am here, they'll be upset with me. I came because we have nothing left at home. And we have twelve children at home who need to eat three times a day."
I asked her why she is selling the flour in this case.
"Because we got two bags from UNRWA, we'll use one and with the money of the other one we'll buy vegetables."
"Ok, then how much is this?"
"NIS180."
"Why? It was 90, I say.
"Everyone in the market is selling at this price."
"Ok then, I will take it."
Some young men come and help me put it in the trunk.
When I switch the car on, Dima asks: "Why did you buy that sack of flour? It's got 'Not for Sale' written on it"
I look at her jokingly: "I bought it, I will not sell it, because it is not for sale."
What else do we need, Dima?"
She looks at the small paper where my mother has listed all her needs.
"We still need everything, you only bought one thing."
"Sugar, my grandmother said: 'don't forget sugar,'" Arslan offers.
We look everywhere but find nothing but vegetables.
So we buy what we like. And then what we don't like, just in case.
And we drive back, with my eyes staring only straight ahead.
I hear Wael, Arslan, Dima and Majed playing their new game "I see something different."
I'm not ready to look.
Shelling starts in Khan Younis.
Strikes somewhere not far, but far.
I drive quickly, passing down the main market road – a road I've not been able to drive down for the past 20 years because it's always so packed full of people and
stands.
Today I can drive as fast as I want.
It's totally empty.
Back home
We reach home and everyone's happy.
Finally, we've managed to get flour, which is most important.
Wael enters the house and announces to my mother:
We brought you flour.
But no sugar.
The toy shop is closed.
The supermarket is closed.
The woman who sells the flour doesn't have any chocolate.
She doesn’t sell cars or airplanes.
She is covering her face.
She didn't want us to know her.
The phone rings.
Wael runs to answer.
"Hello. Who is it?"
He's silent for a moment, then: "No, we don't have any..."
A few more seconds of silence.
"But we need sugar.
"And I want a car and an airplane with a remote control."
I run to pick up the second phone. This boy is out of control. He has to stop asking my friends to buy him things every time they call:
"Hello?..."
It's a recorded message from the Israeli military.
The message repeats:
"If you have guns at home you should get rid of them.
"If you are hiding any of the militias, report them at the following number...
"If you have information you want to share, call the following number…"
I look at Wael. He looks back at me, his eyes are asking my permission to request the caller to buy chocolate for his brothers too. I give him the Ok.
So he adds: "Bring some for Majed and Arslan and Dima too."
Precisely at 1pm, the cease fire starts.
I was right in my calculation and logic.
The military planes are back in the sky, performing their daily shock and awe show, complete with the sound and motion. But today they've added flying balloons and they're drawing lines across the sky with the smoke of the airplanes.
The chorus of kids crying their hearts out starts up across the neighborhood again.
I secretly congratulate myself -- going to the market before the ceasefire was a wise choice. But now it's time to go comfort and hug the kid.

Day by day in every way, the world keeps getting better and better

TOKYO 30/12/2008



JERUSALEM 1/1/2009



MONTREAL



SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA





ATHENS



SYDNEY , INDONESIA



SWEDEN


FRANCE


NEW ZELAND

A for Action: How we can help

Be a comforting hand
Draw a smile
Warm up hearts
Feel content
Love
Share
Shoulder
Ease sorrow
Connect in goodness
Be positive
Plant one seed
For everything kind
Cheerful
Build our home

you can help

it doesn't take much from you

kind people are everywhere, today, there are young people out there who decided to do something, to take an action, they named themselves the action committee and they are thinking about the poor in Jordan

help them out by securing a pack of the basic needs for a family

the pack costs 20 Dinars and contains the following:

3 kg Rice
3 kg Sugar
2 kg Beans
2 kg Lentils
6 Packs of Pasta
2 Cans Tomato Paste
1 kg Tea
2 A’mar Eldin
1 Oil
½ kg Dates
12 packs Maggie

How you can help:

Spread the word, reblog the post, tell your friends
Donate money for a food pack
Help distributing the packs it will start Saturday 20 - 09
take part in organizing an Iftar on 16 - 9 or 24 - 9

The last day for receiving donations is Wednesday 17-09

you can contact Sara @ 079-5154498 or you can Leave your name and number here and Muoffaq will call you back

picture from SOS Children village Jordan website

Palestinian Political Prisoners

There are 9000 Palestinians in the Israeli jails, we should not forget them, inform your surrounding of their current status.

Updated August 2008

No issue highlights Israel’s 41-year denial of Palestinian freedom under military occupation better than that of political prisoners. Israel uses the imprisonment of Palestinians as part of its policy to quash resistance to its occupation of Palestinian land and to intimidate the Palestinian civilian population.

Out of the 3.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, there are few who have not been personally affected by Israel’s imprisonment policy – either through their own imprisonment or that of a family member, friend or colleague. Since 1967, Israel has detained and imprisoned almost 700,000^[3] Palestinians – almost one fifth of the Palestinian population living in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).

Currently, almost 11,000 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons or detention camps, out of which around 9,000 are identified as political prisoners, including 326 minors and 94 women^[4]. Israel, in violation of several international conventions, continuously denies these prisoners their basic internationally recognized rights. Arbitrary arrests, imprisonment with no charges or trials, the absence of fair trials, torture, poor hygienic conditions, prohibition of family visits, and denial of medical treatment are all examples of the tragedy that hundreds of thousands of Palestinian prisoners have suffered during the last 41 years.

The widespread imprisonment of Palestinians, along with the inhumane treatment they receive while imprisoned, has placed the release of all Palestinian prisoners high on the national agenda. Israel’s release of high-profile prisoners during the most recent prisoners swap between Israel and Lebanon shows that Israel is capable of releasing prisoners who it claims are politically sensitive.

Today, the Palestinian people and its leadership aspire to the day when all the Palestinian and Arab political prisoners will be freed from Israeli jails.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. How many Palestinian political prisoners are there in Israeli prisons?

There are approximately 9,000 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons or detention camps, including 94 women and 326 children. All of these have been charged with “security offenses” by Israeli authorities. Israel also detains 47 Palestinian parliamentarians. Of the total, approximately 1,150 are being held without charge^[5].

2. What does Israel consider a “security offense”?

The majority of Palestinian political prisoners are charged with offenses under Israeli military orders. These orders employ a broad definition of “security”, such that they ban, among other things, political expression.

For instance, Military Order 101 states that it is “forbidden to conduct a protest march or meeting (grouping of ten or more where the subject concerns or is related to politics) without permission from the Military Commander.” The order also prohibits the distribution of political articles and pictures with “political connotations.”^[6]

Similarly, Military Order 938 even considers “supporting a hostile organization by holding a flag or listening to a nationalist song” a “hostile action.” Military Orders 101 and 938 are only two amongst numerous orders that restrict Palestinian political life in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Because of the breadth of Israel’s definition of “security,” Palestinians can be arrested and imprisoned for practically any form of public activity, regardless of whether or not they present any legitimate security threat to Israel.

3. Do Palestinian prisoners enjoy minimum standards of due process?

No. International, Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations have thoroughly documented the Israeli military court system’s failures in providing Palestinians with minimum guarantees of due process. Some of the failures of the system include the following:

· Palestinian political prisoners are put on trial in Israeli military tribunals. These military tribunals are made up of judges, prosecutors and translators who are all appointed by the Israeli military commander – the same individual who is empowered to make changes to Israeli military orders. Also, some of the judges appointed by the military commander do not have legal training. As a result, these tribunals fail to meet the standard required by Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, to which Israel is a party, that calls for a “fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.”^[7]

· Lawyers are denied the means necessary to build a proper defense. According to Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Association, it takes an average of 30 to 45 days before a lawyer is able to meet his or her client due to a series of undue bureaucratic obstacles placed by the Israeli authorities.^[8] Additionally, lawyers are often searched at the prison before they are able to meet with their client, and client visits are often monitored by guards such that attorney-client privilege is compromised^[9].

· Palestinian detainees are often tortured, or subjected to cruel and degrading treatment during their interrogation or detention^[10]. The use of torture, combined with the absence of prompt access to an attorney compromise the veracity of confessions obtained through interrogation.

· Palestinians can be held in Israeli jails for 90 days without charge. This period can be extended by another 90 days by Israeli authorities.

· Sentences handed down by the military courts cannot be appealed to courts outside the military court system. Given that all actors within the military court system fall under a single command, and share common institutional allegiances and sets of interests, the military courts review process provides limited recourse, at best. As a result, Palestinians convicted of “security offenses” do not have access to an effective appeals process, and hence are denied the right guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to have a “conviction and sentence … reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law.”^[11]

4. What is “administrative detention”?

Israel has over 1,150 Palestinians locked up in what is called “administrative detention.”^[12] “Administrative Detention” refers to the detention of individuals for preventative purposes.

The practice of administrative detention as exercised by Israel is illegal.

• Israel uses administrative detention as “a quick and efficient alternative to criminal trial”,^[13] circumventing international procedural protections for the accused.^[14] Under Israeli law, administrative detention orders may last for up to six months, with Palestinians held without charge or trial during this period.^[15] Israel routinely renews the detention orders and may do so any number of times, thereby holding Palestinians without charge or trial indefinitely.

• The Israeli military detains Palestinians on a broad definition of “security threat” – a definition so broad as to include “political subversion.”^[16]

• Detainees are not informed of the reason for their detention.

• While detainees may appeal their detention, neither they nor their attorneys are allowed to access the State’s evidence, making it very difficult for them to refute the allegations against them.^[17]

5. Does Israel use Palestinian prisoners as political bargaining chips?

Yes. Israel has often used Palestinian political prisoners as bargaining chips in its history of negotiations with Palestinians. For instance, in 1994, Israel agreed to release 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners within 5 weeks,^[18] but failed to do so. Instead, it made the release of Palestinian political prisoners an issue to be renegotiated, to extract further Palestinian concessions.

In 1999, Israel agreed to release Palestinian prisoners arrested prior to May 4, 1994 in the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum. However, Israel failed to release these prisoners, and opted to hold onto them instead.

A more recent example is the “arrest” of 27 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council on June 29, 2006. These officials were arrested following the capture of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit. Only months before, Israel did not prevent these same people from running and campaigning in Palestinian elections, raising serious doubt that they presented a real security threat to Israel.

6. Is Israel committing violations against the prisoners’ families?

Yes. Families of Palestinian detainees are exposed to frequent violations, including raiding their houses, beating family members, or using family members as human shields during the arrest. In most cases, house raids are conducted after midnight, without providing the reason for the detention and opening fire against the building before entering.

In addition, since most prisoners are held outside the occupied Palestinian territory, their families are prevented from visiting them since Israel does not readily issue the permits required to enter Israel.^[19] This practice is particularly severe when it comes to relatives living in the Gaza Strip, whose right to visit the prisoners has been denied by Israel since 2005.^[20]

7. Do conditions of detention for Palestinian children meet minimum standards?

No. Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Israel is obligated to refrain from imprisoning children except as a measure of last resort and only for the shortest appropriate period of time. Yet, over 6,700 Palestinian children were arrested and detained between September 2000 and August 2008.^[21]

Today, about 326 children remain in Israeli jails, some as young as 12 and 13^[22]. Almost all child detainees have reported some form of torture or mistreatment, whether physical (beatings or being placed in painful positions) or psychological (abuse, threats or intimidation).^[23]

Children are routinely held in detention centers under appalling conditions: In some centers, up to eleven children have been packed into cells as small as five square meters.^[24] Children are also kept in centers with adults, all in contravention of the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child.

A United Nations committee reported:

A few witnesses also drew the attention of the Special Committee to the appalling conditions of imprisoned minors, mixed up with adults, sometimes with women adults. They were allegedly arrested in the same way as adults, at night, taken to military camps and beaten up. They were interrogated without the presence of relatives and could not meet their lawyers for 60 days. They were subjected to various threats such as destruction of their homes, life imprisonment, beheading or rape. One youth had reportedly been confined in an isolated cell for 60 days. They were often kept three to a cell, sleeping on the floor, struggling with cockroaches and suffering poor hygienic conditions owing to lack of water. They were often exposed to ill-treatment when transferred to the court or to another prison. Unlike Israeli detainees, they had no rehabilitation or recreational programmes.^[25]

8. Do conditions of detention for Palestinian women meet minimum standards?

No. In Israel, there is just one prison for women, but no Palestinian female prisoner is held there. On the contrary, most Palestinian women are detained in jails that do not meet the minimum standards for female captives, including old jails that were built for men during the British Mandate.^[26] With bad hygienic conditions, as well as lack of food and basic services, even the two children living with their mothers in Israeli prisons are forbidden from getting toys into the jail.

Punishment against female prisoners, either individual or collective, ranges from confiscation of personal belongings and prohibition of family visits to strip-searching and late-night searches of cells conducted by male jailers. The most recurrent “faults” for which women are punished are:^[27]

a) Chatting and singing together (meaning that it might be a political meeting);

b) Doing physical activities (meaning that they are conducting military training); and

c) “Destroying public property”, which is often simply the result of the poor condition of the jails.

In addition, sexual harassment occurs frequently in Israeli prisons. Female prisoners do not have privacy and are constantly verbally abused with sexual harassment and sexual threats^[28], house demolition, or imprisonment of relatives^[29].

9. Do conditions of detention for Palestinians meet minimum standards?

No. Israel has regularly failed to ensure that the conditions under which Palestinians are detained or imprisoned meet minimum standards.^[30] Prisons and detention centers often provide prisoners little to no protection from the summer heat or the winter cold. They are poorly equipped, poorly maintained and overcrowded. In many cases, prisoners have contracted diseases as a result of poor hygiene.

In January 2006, a report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur found that:

Prison conditions are harsh: prisoners live in overcrowded and poorly ventilated cells which they generally leave for only two hours a day. Allegations of torture and inhuman treatment of detainees and prisoners continue. Such treatment includes beatings, shackling in painful positions, kicking, prolonged blindfolding, denial of access to medical care, exposure to extreme temperatures and inadequate provision of food and water.

Additionally, Israel transfers Palestinian prisoners to facilities in Israel despite its obligation to detain them within occupied Palestinian territory. Moreover, according to the UN Special Rapporteur, “family visits remain a serious problem. As prisons are held in Israel and many Palestinians are denied admission to Israel, a majority of prisoners receive no family visits.”^[31]

---

^[1] GRAFF, James (1991) Palestinian Children & Israeli State Violence. NECEF: Toronto, p. 57.

^[2] Then Israeli Transport Minister Avigdor Lieberman offered to bus Palestinian political prisoners to the Dead Sea to be drowned. Israel Radio, July 7, 2003.

^[3] United Nations, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Commission of Human Rights, Question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine, January 2006 (para. 42).

^[4] Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Palestinians in Israeli Prisons. August 2008.

^[5] Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Palestinians in Israeli Prisons. August 2008.

^[6] Military Order 101, CONCERNING PROHIBITION OF INCITEMENT AND HOSTILE PROPAGANDA (1967).

^[7] Through its ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Israel has accepted the international agreement that sets the standard for the fundamental rights of the accused in a criminal case. The International Court of Justice in its 2004 Advisory Opinion on the Wall affirmed that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights applies to the Occupied Palestinian Territory (See Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion (9 July 2004), para. 111 (I.C.J.).)

^[8] Lawyers often must first find out where their clients are detained. Then they must coordinate the visit with Israeli authorities, and typically can only meet with their clients during three days of the week (other days being reserved for family visits, and visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross). In order to obtain copies of material related to their clients’ cases, lawyers must schedule an appointment to use the coin-operated copy machine at the military court. Files are not translated into Arabic.

^[9] Addameer, Status of Palestinian Political Prisoners In Israeli Prisons, Detention and Interrogation Centers (June 2004), available at: < http://www.addameer.org/resources/reports/addameerSumoud.html >, last checked 6 August, 2008.

^[10] The use of torture by Israeli authorities is widespread. On 6 September 1999, the Israeli High Court ruled that the Israel Security Agency (formerly known as GSS) could no longer use a number of methods of torture (including violent shaking, tying prisoners in contorted positions to a small child’s chair, covering the prisoner’s head with a sack, and sleep deprivation). This ruling was widely reported as an end to Israel’s practice of torture. However, according to the Public Committee against Torture in Israel and B’Tselem, the practice of torture has not ceased. Methods of torture include: sleep deprivation, tying a detainee to a chair in painful positions, beating, slapping, kicking, threats, verbal abuse and humiliation, bending the body in extremely painful positions, intentional tightening of the handcuffs, stepping on manacles, application of pressure to different parts of the body, forcing the detainee to squat in a painful position (“Kambaz”), choking and other forms of violence and humiliation (pulling out hair, spitting etc.). Ill treatment in solitary confinement includes: sleep prevention, exposure to extreme heat and cold, continuous exposure to artificial light, and confinement in inhuman conditions.

See: <http://www.stoptorture.org.il/eng/background.asp?menu=3&submenu=2>; and www.btselem.org, last checked August, 6 2008; and International Federation for Human Rights, Palestinian Detainees in Israel: Inhuman Conditions in Detention, 2003 (21-22), available at: < http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/ps365a.pdf>, last checked August 6, 2008.

According to Amnesty International:

“Among the thousands of Palestinians arrested after 27 February 2002, some hundreds were transferred to full-scale interrogation by the GSS [Israel Security Agency], in centers…. Amnesty International has received reports that some of the detainees interrogated by the GSS were subjected to prolonged sleep deprivation, shabeh (prolonged standing or sitting in a painful position), and being violently shaken.”

Amnesty International, Israel and the Occupied Territories: Mass detention in cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions, May 2002 (14).

^[11] International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 14 (5).

^[12] Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs. “Palestinians in Israeli Prisons”. August 2008.

^[13] B’Tselem, Prisoners of Peace: Administrative Detention During the Oslo Process, July 1997 (13).

^[14] Fourth Geneva Convention, Arts. 64 to 77; and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 14.

^[15] Administrative detentions are currently carried out on the basis of Military Order No. 1229, of 1988. This Order empowers military commanders in the West Bank to detain an individual for up to six months if they have “reasonable grounds to presume that the security of the area or public security require the detention.” Commanders can extend detentions for additional periods of up to six months.

^[16] B’Tselem, Prisoners of Peace: Administrative Detention During the Oslo Process, July 1997 (18).

^[17] B’Tselem, Prisoners of Peace: Administrative Detention During the Oslo Process, July 1997 (31); and Hamoked, Annual Report, 2004 (39). Available at: <http://www.hamoked.org.il/index_en.asp>, last checked August 6, 2008.

^[18] Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area, Article XX (May 4, 1994).

^[19] According to the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees, from the current number of prisoners, just 150 are Palestinians with Israeli citizenship and over 250 are holders of Jerusalem ID. The rest, over 8.000 families, are not able to visit their relatives.

^[20] http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL26333827 last checked August 14, 2008

^[21] Ministry of Detainees and Ex Detainees Affairs. Palestinian Child Detainees in Israeli Prisons. August 2008.

^[22] Ibid.

^[23] Defence for Children International/Palestine Section, Palestinian Children in the Judicial System, http://www.dci-pal.org/english/display.cfm?DocId=171&CategoryId=2 , last checked August 6, 2008.

^[24] Defence for Children International/Palestine Section, Press Release, Israeli Government Fails to Release Child Detainees – 330 Still in Custody, 7 June 2003. See also, International Federation for Human Rights, Palestinian Detainees in Israel: Inhuman Conditions in Detention, 2003 (15-16).

^[25] Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that “every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child's best interest not to do so.”

The Article also states that “[n]o child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” See Convention on the Rights of the Child, available at: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm, last checked August 6 , 2008.

^[26] Fact Sheet “Behind the Bars: Palestinian Women in Israeli Prisons”. Addameer. July 2008. P 1.

^[27] Ibid. P 5.

^[28] UNFPA. Gender-Based Violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. http://www.unfpa.org/women/docs/gbv_opt.pdf. last chequed August 20, 2008.

^[29] Interview with Addameer Advisor. July 23, 2008.

^[30] United Nations, Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, September 26, 2005 (para. 96)

^[31] Ibid. (para. 91-96)

SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS ON ISRAEL’S GOVERNMENT TO HALT SETTLEMENT EXPANSION

The following statement was issued March 10th by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Secretary-General expresses his concern over the Government of Israel’s approval of a resumption of construction of 750 housing units in the West Bank settlement of Givat Zeev. Any settlement expansion is contrary to Israel’s obligations under the Road Map and to international law. The Secretary-General calls on the Government of Israel to halt settlement expansion and reiterates that the fulfilment of Road Map obligations by both parties is an important measure underpinning the political process between them.

Confused: Do i want peace? -- Part 1

I still remember when i was in high school when arab TV stations were spilt on how to address the Israeli army. is it "جيش العدو الصهيوني" or "جيش الدفاع الاسرائيلي" , translation: "The Zionist Enemy Forces" or "Israeli Defence Forces" till the day, i think Arabs don't agree about this term, among several others ofcourse.

you as an individual, what would you choose? how do you see it? are you truly at peace with making peace? i ask you to take a moment to think about it and think of your choice's implications, there is no right and wrong here.

speaking for myself i am so confused, i look at the international facts, agreements and history, thats not what they taught us in history class, all i read about our history even at college was bluffing the days of glory and that they are occupying our Land. i Never and i mean by never NEVER studied history from International Law point of view. hell! i didn't understand what my own rights are!!

as an Arab and Jordanian, i had the curiousity to know who among the world countries admitted to the state of Israel and who didn't?

in ANY Document i came across reading Israel history by Israelis it would start with this:

Some ask the question, "Does Israel have a right to exist?" That is not a proper question since Israel does exist, is recognized by the United Nations and many other countries, and is no more subject to being so questioned than is the United States, Japan, or any other country. Anyone who persists with the question of Israel's right to exist is one whose agenda is to eliminate Israel and its Jewish inhabitants

Israel Declared its independance on May 14, 1948 and The United States announced its recognition of the new nation only 11 minutes later. In the fall of 1948, Israel had applied for membership in the United Nations but failed to win the necessary majority in the Security Council. In February 1949, Israel renewed its application for membership in the United Nations. On March 4, 1949, the Security Council recommended to the General Assembly that it be admitted. On May 11, Israel was admitted, to become the 59th member. Between January 1, 1949 and May 11. 1949, Israel was recognised by 32 States, in addition to the 20 that had accorded it recognition prior to December 31, 1948. Today Israel has full diplomatic relations with most countries of the world, except portions of the Islamic/Arab block that continue to believe that Israel can somehow be eliminated.

Total number of countries with which Israel maintains diplomatic relations: 162. *

Number of states which renewed/established diplomatic relations with Israel from the Madrid Conference (October 1991) until September 13, 1993: 32.

Number of states which renewed/established diplomatic relations with Israel since the signing of the Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles (September 13, 1993): 37.

In addition, Israel maintains:
a mission to the United Nations (New York)
a mission to the United Nations institutions in Geneva
a mission to the United Nations institutions in Paris (in the embassy)
a mission to the United Nations institutions in Vienna (in the embassy)
an ambassdor to the European Union (Brussels)

Number of diplomatic missions:
71 resident embassies
18 consulates general
5 special missions
Total: 94

* Note: Morocco, Tunisia and the Sultanate of Oman closed the Israeli offices in these countries in October 2000 and suspended relations with Israel. Niger, which renewed relations with Israel in November 1996, severed them in April 2002. (link)

As of November 2006, 34 countries do not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel:
Africa: Algeria, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Guinea, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia
(The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic of Western Sahara does not recognize Israel, but is not a member of the United Nations.)
Americas: Cuba
East Asia: (Republic of China), North Korea
South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Maldives
Southeast Asia: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, (Vietnam)
Southwest Asia: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen (link)

The Republic of China (or Taiwan) does recognize Israel, but does not officially conduct relations with it (though there are "unofficial relations") due to Israel's recognition of the PRC

we are a nation of lost rights primarily due to our ignorance of our surrounding. people, take a look at this book and tell me what you think. its called Myths and Facts about the Arab Israeli Conflict

what do we have ready to say in the face of the whole world on behalf of our part of the truth?

WOMEN’S COMMISSION APPROVES RESOLUTION FOR PALESTINIAN WOMEN

7 March UN Economic and Social Council Press Release - Commission on the Status of Women:

Approved by a recorded vote of 33 in favour to 1 against, with 9 abstentions, a resolution on assistance to Palestinian women would have the Economic and Social Council reaffirm that “the Israeli occupation remains a major obstacle for Palestinian women with regard to their advancement, self-reliance and integration in the development of their society, and encourages all women in the region to take an active role in supporting the peace process”. "Taking note of the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights of 31 August 2005, regarding Palestinian women giving birth at Israeli checkpoints owing to denial of access to hospitals, and stressing the need to call for an end to this practice. "

The text calls on the international community to continue providing urgently needed assistance and services in an effort to alleviate the dire humanitarian crisis being faced by Palestinian women and their families. It further calls on “the concerned parties, as well as the international community, to exert all the necessary efforts to support the resumption of the peace process on its agreed basis, taking into account the common ground already gained”.

Reaffirming that hostage-taking, “wherever and by whomever committed, is an illegal act aimed at the destruction of human rights and is, under any circumstances, unjustifiable, including as a means to promote and protect human rights”, the Commission adopted a relevant resolution strongly urging all parties to armed conflicts to fully respect international humanitarian law and take all necessary measures to protect civilian populations as such, “including measures to prevent and combat acts of hostage-taking, and to release immediately all women and children who have been taken hostage”.

Vote on Palestinian Women

The draft resolution on the situation of and assistance to Palestinian women (document E/CN.6/2008/L.3) was approved by a recorded vote of 33 in favour to 1 against, with 9 abstentions, as follows:

In favour: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belize, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Gabon, Ghana, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Lesotho, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Pakistan, Peru, Qatar, Spain, Suriname, Togo, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia.

Against: United States.

Abstain: Belgium, Cameroon, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Netherlands, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom.

Absent: Kazakhstan, Paraguay.

The United States representative said it would vote against the resolution because it was unbalanced. While the document criticized Israel’s military, it ignored the targeting by Palestinian terrorists. She regretted Palestinian loss of life, particularly in recent days, as well as Israeli deaths, which had also occurred in recent days. The resolution was inconsistent with the universal values of the Commission. Refugee issues must be negotiated by talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Israel ’s representative said the resolution had no place in the Commission. It was an overtly partisan and politically motivated resolution. The resolution, as it was, without addressing the internal Palestinian situation of human rights abuse and terrorism, left much to be desired. She called upon Member States to oppose the resolution.

Germany ’s representative, speaking on behalf of the European Union, called on the parties in the region to make every effort to improve the situation of Palestinian women. She acknowledged efforts by the Palestinian delegation to improve the text. The European Union still had reservations, as it did last year, over the appropriateness of the forum in which the resolution was discussed.

Palestine ’s representative, in a general statement after the vote, thanked the “Group of 77” developing countries and China and others who supported the resolution, saying they had sent a strong show of support to Palestinian women and their families. She expressed regret that some European Union members had abstained, except Spain, which had supported the text and demonstrated a principled position. Palestine had deliberated with the European Union in good faith. Support for Palestinian women was crucial, she said, noting that, in the past week, 120 Palestinians, among them dozens of women and children, had been killed by Israel forces.

WHEN JUSTICE FAILS!! IM SO BAFFLED MR SECRETARY GENERAL

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s statement to the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, in New York, 1 March:

Since last Wednesday, there has been a deeply alarming escalation of violence in Gaza and southern Israel, and a terrible civilian death toll. The scenes from Gaza today have been particularly disturbing.

Some 117 rockets have been fired from Gaza at southern Israel, (really is this your opening statement! excuse for killing 90?) including 26 rockets today. These rockets have been fired at several civilian centres and have extended as far north as the Israeli city of Ashkelon. According to press reports and Israeli Government sources (sure they are saying the truth Ban, the holy word of the holy) the rockets fired at Ashkelon are not home-made Qassams, but rather are rockets of advanced Katyusha-like design, allegedly smuggled into Gaza when the border with Egypt was breached. (i bet they have nuclear heads too, sheesh!) One Israeli civilian (Katyusha like design eh?) has been killed in Sederot and five civilians were reported injured in Ashkelon today, including women and children.

During this same period, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has undertaken attacks from the air and by land on targets in the Gaza Strip. An estimated 90 Palestinians have been killed (i guess those were friendly fires?), among them many civilians, and injuries are in the hundreds. According to United Nations estimates, 59 Palestinians have been killed today, including 39 civilians, among them three women and five minors, including an infant. Let me stress that there are many conflicting reports on the numbers of casualties, and these figures are not confirmed (sure if your source is the Israeli government! doncha think?). Additionally, there has been heavy property damage. (no worries, Abbas promissed peggy would fix it!)

Israeli land incursions are taking place near Jabalya and the northern Gaza Strip. Two Israeli soldiers are reported to have been killed in the fighting. The IDF reports that it destroyed a truck carrying 160 rockets. (Katyusha ones too?)

United Nations sources report at least four incidents of Israeli fire against ambulances and medical personnel. The Palestinian Ministry of Health has issued a call for diesel, in order to operate its ambulances. All United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) schools have been closed, and many families are trapped inside their houses by the violence, unable to obtain medical aid or reach safety. I call on Israel to facilitate full access to hospitals and medical centres for the injured.

At the outset of this escalation, I have made clear publicly my deep concern, and I have been diplomatically engaged to press for a calming of the violence. I have spoken today to Palestinian President Abbas, Israeli Foreign Minister Livni and League of Arab States Secretary-General Moussa. (the ones who sealed the deal against Hamas? but are concerned with the consequences?) United Nations agencies on the ground, especially UNRWA, are continuing their efforts to assist people in grave distress. ( shu biddo yla7e2 la yla7e2!)

In light of these deeply disturbing developments (r u kidding me? i guess it could have been worse according to Matan!), I would like to make the following clear:

I condemn Palestinian rocket attacks and call for the immediate cessation of such acts of terrorism, (killing one and injuring 5) which serve no purpose, endanger Israeli civilians and bring misery to the Palestinian people. I call for an end to these attacks. (HOLY COW!! MAN HOW MUCH CORRUPTION IS THERE IN YOUR ORGANISATION)

While recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself, I condemn the disproportionate and excessive use of force (i dont understand how you give excuse for killing in the name of security, i dont think this is what human rights call for) that has killed and injured so many civilians, including children. I call on Israel to cease such attacks. Israel must fully comply with international humanitarian law and exercise the utmost restraint. Incidents in which civilians have been killed or injured must be investigated and accountability must be ensured.

I am deeply concerned at the possibility of the violence escalating. I have offered our strong support for all efforts to bring about an end to the violence and a period of calm. I call on all parties to step back from the brink of even deeper and more deadly clashes.

I am also extremely concerned at the impact of these developments on the negotiation process. (are you questioning your pet Abbas if he feels anything for what have the friendly fires of Israeli did to wipe Hamas?) I call on all members of the international community, important stakeholders and Security Council members to exercise their influence on the parties to stop the violence and to allow humanitarian relief. All parties should rededicate their commitment to the peace process.

is there anything in this world that cannot be bought?? i hope Abbas enjoys his 7.7 billion promises which i doubt he will ever get hands on.

Statement by Bureau of Palestinian Rights Committee

UN Press - Feb 29 The following statement was issued today by the Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People:

The Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People is seriously disturbed by the escalation of violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, especially in the Gaza Strip. During the past two days alone, 31 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been killed by the Israeli occupying forces, including eight children and one infant. Also, an Israeli in Sderot was killed by a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip. Moreover, while overshadowed by the crisis in Gaza, Israeli military incursions into Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank continue unabated resulting in casualties and arrests.

The military attacks on populated areas in the Occupied Palestinian Territory by the Israeli occupying forces that inevitably cause civilian casualties are in clear violation of international law and must end. The vicious cycle of violence must be broken and a ceasefire put into place.

The Bureau reiterates its position that the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territory is the main cause of the conflict. Israel, as the occupying Power, should be held responsible for the well-being of the civilian population under its control. The 1.5 million Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip are no exception, with Israel controlling not only all the border crossings but virtually every single aspect of their life. The Israeli Government must immediately lift the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip, which is causing a serious humanitarian crisis among innocent civilians, amounting to collective punishment, which is a violation of international humanitarian law. Moreover, the suffering of the population is only strengthening the radical elements in the society.

The Bureau calls on the parties to urgently take steps at appreciably improving the daily lives of the Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in accordance with the understandings reached in Annapolis and Paris. It is imperative for the parties to preserve the political momentum gained at the Annapolis Conference. The international community, including this Committee, is doing its utmost to create a climate conducive to the conduct of permanent settlement negotiations. The escalation of violence and military assaults are in stark contrast to these endeavours and can only result in a collapse of the process. The Bureau also calls on the international community, in particular the Security Council of the United Nations, as well as the Quartet, to urgently consider appropriate steps to bring an end to the violence, lift the blockade of Gaza and improve the living conditions of the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Israel of Feb 28th - Killing Intentionally

20 Palestinians Killed in Israeli Attacks on Gaza

In Israel and the Occupied Territories, at least twenty Palestinians have been killed in the latest Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. Gaza’s Interior Ministry building was destroyed in an overnight strike. A six-month-old Palestinian boy was killed and twenty-five people were injured in the densely populated neighborhood nearby. Earlier in the day, at least ten Palestinians, including four civilians, were killed in other Israeli attacks. The victims included a nine-year-old boy and a seventeen-year-old teenager. The strikes followed a Palestinian rocket attack that killed an Israeli college student in the town of Sderot. The victim was the fourteenth Israeli to die in Palestinian rocket attacks in the last seven years. Israeli government spokesperson Aryeh Mekel vowed to continue military attacks on Gaza.

Aryeh Mekel: “Let there be no mistake about it, Israel will take the necessary steps. Our war on terror will continue until we put an end to these murderous attacks by the Hamas and its associates from the Gaza Strip."

A new opinion poll shows 64 percent of Israelis favor a ceasefire with Hamas—the highest majority to date. Hamas has made several proposals for a truce but the Israeli government has rejected its overtures.

more headlines (link)

Feb 28 in Pictures, i hope someone listens to Dugard

I repeat my question: who is the terrorist and on what human measures?