Mark Tran, Guardian Unlimited, Wednesday May 9, 2007
The World Bank today called on Israel to ease its extensive restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to fuel a Palestinian economic revival.
In a harsh report (pdf), the bank criticised Israel for extending legitimate security measures to expand and protect settlement activity and the relatively unhindered movement of settlers and other Israelis in and out of the West Bank.
Wednesday, 9 May 2007
Israeli Central Court acquits border policeman who killed a Jerusalem Palestinian
Saed Bannoura, IMEMC, Thursday April 19, 2007
The Jerusalem District Court acquitted Shmuel Yehezkel, an Israeli border policeman, from charges of manslaughter today. Yehezkel was accused of killing Samir Dari, a Palestinian resident of Al Isawiyya neighborhood in east Jerusalem in November 2005.
Dari was killed when the policeman shot him in the back at close range. The Israeli police stated that Dari was shot as the police were chasing a car thief in the French Hill neighborhood in Jerusalem.
The indictment, filed in January 2006, indicated that Yehezkel fired at Dari at close range.
Yehezkel claimed that the shooting was in self defense and stated in the trial the he and other policemen “were attacked by a crowd at the entrance of the village”, Israeli Ynetnews reported.
The police also claimed that the crowd attempted to grab a detainee who was in their vehicle.
Also, Yehezkel claimed that after he and other policemen fired several warning shots into the air, a vehicle hit him, throwing him into the street. Dari, according to the police report, was in that vehicle.
The officer further claimed that two passengers got out of the vehicle in order to grab Dari who attempted to get into the car.
“I was convinced that they would try to run me over, I was also sure that I and other policemen were in direct danger”, the policeman said.
“I warned him that I will shoot if he didn’t stop”, Yehezkel added, “He didn’t stop”.
But eyewitnesses reported that the statements of the police are false and that Dari was shot in the back.
Moreover, an investigator who questioned the policemen after the incident stated that there was no justification for firing at Dari since he posed no danger to the policemen.
The forensic report also revealed that Dari was shot in his back, apparently as he was stepping out of the car. This contradicts the police report which stated that Dari was in the car when he was shot and that he tried to ram his car into the policemen.
The judge wrote in his ruling that the policeman made a terrible mistake and killed Dari for nothing, but added that “his criminal responsibility is negligible”, Ynetnews reported.
He further wrote that the situation was complicated and included a mix of justification, necessity and self-defense. “There is a reasonable doubt, therefore I acquitted him”.
==================
May 10, 2007
In Israel, Not All Blood is the Same
The Death of Samir Dari
by Neve Gordon and Yigal Bronner
There are conflicting versions about how the events unfolded, but there is no dispute about the following facts: Samir was unarmed and the policeman Shmuel Yechezkel shot him from close range in the back.
The Israeli police were quick to disseminate a fallacious version of the incident which portrayed the killing as an act of self-defense. This is a typical and almost automatic police response, one which inverts the order between victim and aggressor. When an Arab is killed, he is said to have been violent; when he is beaten up, he is said to have struck the policeman first; when he is oppressed, he is the one who is guilty.
Also typical was the lack of public interest in Samir's death. The killing of an Arab is, after all, not the kind of event that makes headlines in Israel.
The Jerusalem District Court acquitted Shmuel Yehezkel, an Israeli border policeman, from charges of manslaughter today. Yehezkel was accused of killing Samir Dari, a Palestinian resident of Al Isawiyya neighborhood in east Jerusalem in November 2005.
Dari was killed when the policeman shot him in the back at close range. The Israeli police stated that Dari was shot as the police were chasing a car thief in the French Hill neighborhood in Jerusalem.
The indictment, filed in January 2006, indicated that Yehezkel fired at Dari at close range.
Yehezkel claimed that the shooting was in self defense and stated in the trial the he and other policemen “were attacked by a crowd at the entrance of the village”, Israeli Ynetnews reported.
The police also claimed that the crowd attempted to grab a detainee who was in their vehicle.
Also, Yehezkel claimed that after he and other policemen fired several warning shots into the air, a vehicle hit him, throwing him into the street. Dari, according to the police report, was in that vehicle.
The officer further claimed that two passengers got out of the vehicle in order to grab Dari who attempted to get into the car.
“I was convinced that they would try to run me over, I was also sure that I and other policemen were in direct danger”, the policeman said.
“I warned him that I will shoot if he didn’t stop”, Yehezkel added, “He didn’t stop”.
But eyewitnesses reported that the statements of the police are false and that Dari was shot in the back.
Moreover, an investigator who questioned the policemen after the incident stated that there was no justification for firing at Dari since he posed no danger to the policemen.
The forensic report also revealed that Dari was shot in his back, apparently as he was stepping out of the car. This contradicts the police report which stated that Dari was in the car when he was shot and that he tried to ram his car into the policemen.
The judge wrote in his ruling that the policeman made a terrible mistake and killed Dari for nothing, but added that “his criminal responsibility is negligible”, Ynetnews reported.
He further wrote that the situation was complicated and included a mix of justification, necessity and self-defense. “There is a reasonable doubt, therefore I acquitted him”.
==================
May 10, 2007
In Israel, Not All Blood is the Same
The Death of Samir Dari
by Neve Gordon and Yigal Bronner
There are conflicting versions about how the events unfolded, but there is no dispute about the following facts: Samir was unarmed and the policeman Shmuel Yechezkel shot him from close range in the back.
The Israeli police were quick to disseminate a fallacious version of the incident which portrayed the killing as an act of self-defense. This is a typical and almost automatic police response, one which inverts the order between victim and aggressor. When an Arab is killed, he is said to have been violent; when he is beaten up, he is said to have struck the policeman first; when he is oppressed, he is the one who is guilty.
Also typical was the lack of public interest in Samir's death. The killing of an Arab is, after all, not the kind of event that makes headlines in Israel.
Mr. Sheridan's Strange Award
Prizes for Supporting Israel?
Sonja Karkar, May 7, 2007
Every now and then, journalists who have shown excellence in their work are rewarded. A prize that recognises their investigative skills and critical thinking is a worthy achievement; a prize that rewards them for using their profession to "conspicuously" support a foreign state in conflict, is not. Rather, it raises questions about their impartiality, good judgment and integrity. Their professionalism can no longer be trusted.
It happened in Australia this past week. Greg Sheridan, billed as "the most influential foreign affairs analyst in Australian journalism" by his newspaper "The Australian" was awarded the annual Jerusalem Prize by the State Zionist Council of NSW. According to its president Frank Levy, "The prize is awarded to someone who fosters and supports the state of Israel and its ideologies, the concept of the Jewish homeland and the Jewish community, particularly in Australia."
Sonja Karkar, May 7, 2007
Every now and then, journalists who have shown excellence in their work are rewarded. A prize that recognises their investigative skills and critical thinking is a worthy achievement; a prize that rewards them for using their profession to "conspicuously" support a foreign state in conflict, is not. Rather, it raises questions about their impartiality, good judgment and integrity. Their professionalism can no longer be trusted.
It happened in Australia this past week. Greg Sheridan, billed as "the most influential foreign affairs analyst in Australian journalism" by his newspaper "The Australian" was awarded the annual Jerusalem Prize by the State Zionist Council of NSW. According to its president Frank Levy, "The prize is awarded to someone who fosters and supports the state of Israel and its ideologies, the concept of the Jewish homeland and the Jewish community, particularly in Australia."
Tuesday, 8 May 2007
Israeli army demolishes a Palestinian disabled children’s society in Jerusalem
(IMEMC)
May 8th, 2007
Ghassan Bannoura
Israeli army bulldozers demolished a Palestinian owned building that host disabled children’s society located in Wadi Al Joze neighborhood in east Jerusalem on Tuesday morning.
Palestinian sources reported that Israeli army troops stormed the neighborhood in the morning then two bulldozers destroyed a building that belongs to Hanni Totah from Jerusalem. The building was used by a Palestinian NGO called Al Nojom ( stars) society that works with physically challenged children.
Israeli authorities used the same excuse that the building was built without needed documents; documents that after Israeli occupied the city of Jerusalem in 1967 rarely gave to Palestinians living in the city.
Human rights organizations in the city stated that since the beginning of the year Israeli have destroyed 48 Palestinian owned buildings and houses under the pretext of built without permits.
--------
April 29, 2007
from ICAHD
Demolition of Centre for Autistic and Special Needs Children in East Jerusalem
May 8th, 2007
Ghassan Bannoura
Israeli army bulldozers demolished a Palestinian owned building that host disabled children’s society located in Wadi Al Joze neighborhood in east Jerusalem on Tuesday morning.
Palestinian sources reported that Israeli army troops stormed the neighborhood in the morning then two bulldozers destroyed a building that belongs to Hanni Totah from Jerusalem. The building was used by a Palestinian NGO called Al Nojom ( stars) society that works with physically challenged children.
Israeli authorities used the same excuse that the building was built without needed documents; documents that after Israeli occupied the city of Jerusalem in 1967 rarely gave to Palestinians living in the city.
Human rights organizations in the city stated that since the beginning of the year Israeli have destroyed 48 Palestinian owned buildings and houses under the pretext of built without permits.
--------
April 29, 2007
from ICAHD
Demolition of Centre for Autistic and Special Needs Children in East Jerusalem
Saturday, 5 May 2007
Audio: Interview with journalist Jonathan Cook
Audio, The Electronic Intifada, 4 May 2007
On 1 May 2007, The Electronic Intifada's Maureen Clare Murphy and Ali Abunimah sat down with Jonathan Cook, EI contributor and author of the new book Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish and Democratic State.
Cook, who resides in Nazareth, discussed the implications of the Israeli Winograd report which faulted the state's handling of last summer's Lebanon war; the probe and resignation of former member of Knesset and Palestinian citizen of Israel Azmi Bishara; as well as his book.
Listen Now [MP3 - 15.3 MB, 33:30 min]
Weekly Report on Human Rights Violations - 3 May 2007
Weekly Report on Human Rights Violations
Report, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, 3 May 2007
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)
· A Palestinian civilian and a member of the Palestinian Presidential Guard were killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, respectively.
· Three Palestinian civilians were wounded by IOF gunfire in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
· A French solidarity activist was wounded by IOF gunfire in Bal'ein village, west of Ramallah.
· IOF conducted 28 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
· IOF arrested 55 Palestinian civilians, including six children and a woman.
· IOF arrested a Palestinian civilian in the Gaza Strip.
· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT.
· IOF have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
· IOF positioned at various checkpoints and border crossings in the West Bank arrested 13 Palestinian civilians, including two children.
· IOF have continued to confiscate Palestinian land for the purpose of the construction of the Annexation Wall in the West Bank.
· IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank.
· Israeli settlers have continued to occupy a house in Hebron for the sixth consecutive week.
· Israeli settlers attacked a family in Hebron.
Report, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, 3 May 2007
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)
· A Palestinian civilian and a member of the Palestinian Presidential Guard were killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, respectively.
· Three Palestinian civilians were wounded by IOF gunfire in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
· A French solidarity activist was wounded by IOF gunfire in Bal'ein village, west of Ramallah.
· IOF conducted 28 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
· IOF arrested 55 Palestinian civilians, including six children and a woman.
· IOF arrested a Palestinian civilian in the Gaza Strip.
· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT.
· IOF have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
· IOF positioned at various checkpoints and border crossings in the West Bank arrested 13 Palestinian civilians, including two children.
· IOF have continued to confiscate Palestinian land for the purpose of the construction of the Annexation Wall in the West Bank.
· IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank.
· Israeli settlers have continued to occupy a house in Hebron for the sixth consecutive week.
· Israeli settlers attacked a family in Hebron.
Friday, 4 May 2007
Israeli Economic Policies towards the Palestinians between 1967 and Today
AUDIO
On Tuesday, the 17th April, 2007 at the offices of the Alternative Information Center in Beit Sahour, AIC Economist Shir Hever discussed these issues in a lecture titled “Israeli Economic Policies towards the Palestinians between 1967 and Today”
The economic policies that Israel enforces, control the lives of Palestinians in the territories occupied since 1967. However, the power structure and the decision-making processes within Israel have changed drastically in recent years.
The policies Israel implemented in the OPT have shifted between centralization and de-centralization of power, between unification of the economies of Israel and the OPT and separation of the two. These policies were not decided by Israeli officials autonomously–they were influenced by pressure from above (i.e., the international community and its financial institutions) and more importantly by pressure from below (i.e., the Palestinian Intifada).
What exactly are the economic policies that sustain the occupation? Who came up with them? What are the reasons underlying the recent changes in the Israeli political-economic policy? How are all of these decisions affected by the economic needs of Israel?
On Tuesday, the 17th April, 2007 at the offices of the Alternative Information Center in Beit Sahour, AIC Economist Shir Hever discussed these issues in a lecture titled “Israeli Economic Policies towards the Palestinians between 1967 and Today”
The economic policies that Israel enforces, control the lives of Palestinians in the territories occupied since 1967. However, the power structure and the decision-making processes within Israel have changed drastically in recent years.
The policies Israel implemented in the OPT have shifted between centralization and de-centralization of power, between unification of the economies of Israel and the OPT and separation of the two. These policies were not decided by Israeli officials autonomously–they were influenced by pressure from above (i.e., the international community and its financial institutions) and more importantly by pressure from below (i.e., the Palestinian Intifada).
What exactly are the economic policies that sustain the occupation? Who came up with them? What are the reasons underlying the recent changes in the Israeli political-economic policy? How are all of these decisions affected by the economic needs of Israel?
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