Palestine Think Tank

Events of the Year 2008, What the dpa and their ilk Chose to Ignore

(in the photo, Israelis destroy Palestinian Olive groves, ruining the landscape and the economy) Last week, while checking the local newspaper, I came across a typical “Main Events of the Year Chronology”. Usually, I usually try to stay away from such listings, because from experience, I know that the only news events connected with Palestine to be mentioned will be portrayed from a Zionist point of view. My eyes went immediately to the source of this list, hoping that it’s a local or non-biased one. But I was much disappointed to see that it was a list prepared by the dpa (Deutsche Presse-Agentur, German News Agency). This “Main Events of the year Chronology” is typical of German, and has a strong western bias (when it comes to the Palestinian/Israeli issue) and is a hypocritical (when it comes to criticism of the violations of human rights around the world) media. Although I wasn’t that enthusiastic to read the list because as they say: you know the message from its title, and I knew the message from its composer, I nevertheless wanted to see if anything, any single word, would be mentioned about Palestine, other than Palestinian “attacks” on Israelis or Palestinian internal fights. The DPA didn’t "disappoint" me and kept the German tradition: despite all the registered violations of Palestinian human rights on the hands of the Zionist state, and despite all the crimes starting from the Gaza siege, the Judaization of Jerusalem, the terrorist attacks carried out by fanatic Jewish settlers throughout the West Bank, the continuous confiscation of Palestinian land, the Palestinians were mentioned only 2 times (other than Bush’s visit to Israel and the Palestinians Territories).

The first time Palestinians were mentioned on the dpa list, was the flooding of around 350,000 Palestinians to Egypt to buy basic necessities, such as food and medicine. At the time, most news-networks reported on the breaking of the years’ old blockade of the Gaza strip on 23.01, when after much suffering, the people decided to take things into their own hands, and the southern borders were pushed down. What the dpa failed to mention in its listing of this event, is the fact that the borders were re-closed soon after, and the blockage continued with devastating effects. The second incident where the dpa mentions the word Palestinian is the attack that killed eight students at the right-wing Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva School in Jerusalem. Condemnations and condolences came from everywhere, starting with the US president to the EU High Representative and the UN Secretary General. The media that covered the Jerusalem attack live and condemned what it called "Palestinian terrorism", ignored to mention that this school is considered "the ideological cradle of the militant, Jewish supremacist settler movement Gush Emunim"(1). Gush Emunim counts among its followers the extremist settlers occupying Hebron; it encourages its followers to join the IOF and considers the murderer Baruch Goldstein, who killed 29 Palestinian worshippers in the Ibrahimi mosque, a hero. Palestinian deaths are met with world silence, and worse, if mentioned, the justification given by the IOF and Israeli politicians is adopted without question. There was no condemnation or media coverage the day before when a baby of 20 days was shot in the head by the IOF in Gaza.

This year, 2008, commemorates 60 years of the Nakba of the Palestinian people, and their ongoing ethnic cleansing on the hands of the Zionist state. The so-called “civilized world” “celebrated” with Israel the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 and its continuation to the present day, the creation of the largest refugee population in the world, the maintenance of an illegal military and brutal occupation worthy of the Nazis, and the racist laws of the “only democracy in the Middle East”, that openly declares it’s a state solely for the Jewish people, thus putting them and itself above all human and international laws, robbing Palestinians of their land, homes, dignity and freedom. While heads of states raced to the congratulate the Zionists leaders on the establishment of the terror state, whose laws are built on the basis of racism, intolerance and hate, Palestinians and their supporters worldwide commemorated the Nakba of 1948, and renewed the oath to never give up on their dreams and hopes and never to forget those who were killed by the Zionist terror, or the villages and towns that were destroyed, and to continue the fight for our legitimate rights, mainly the Right of Return. In a protest action on the 15th of May, the sky over Jerusalem turned black in mourning. Some 21,915 black balloons were released in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Bethlehem, reminding everyone that we are here to remain and though the old might die, the young will never forget.

Needless to say, trivial events such as who won the Grand Prize in Italy were considered by the dpa more important that the suffering of over 3 Million Palestinians. I started going through web sites and blogs and randomly collecting news from Palestine. Before going further, I realized that this will be one very long list, since each and every day Israeli violations and attacks on Palestinians are registered. So, I decided to make a general listing, instead of a monthly one as with the dpa list: a list of the main events of the year from a Palestinian perspective. Events, which were they to take place against any other population in the world, especially against Israelis, the world would have shouted: genocide, murder, racism, etc. but it being the Palestinians who are the victims, these events aren’t even worth mentioning.

Gaza Siege

The world, assisted by the media, chose generally to ignore the inhumane Siege of 1.5 Million people in the Gaza Strip. This siege is one of the Zionist crimes against humanity, a living reminder of the terrorism that should haunt those with a conscience. Despite the inhumanity of the situation afflicted on the people of Gaza and despite the news of the Siege having made it a couple of times to the news headlines during the year, the dpa found it unnecessary to report more Israeli atrocities committed in Gaza, in the same manner it mentions some other countries. According to several reports, 250 Palestinian patients have died due to lack of medication or because they were not permitted by Israel to leave the Gaza strip to get the needed medical treatment. There are 1,562 patients who need treatment outside the Gaza Strip and 322 patients who need urgent treatment. In it’s “Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violation in the OPT” for the week 18-23.12, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights reported that the Gaza power plant has completely stopped operating due to the lack of fuel, and electricity is cut off from 8 to 12 hours daily. Severely hit by the power cut offs are the heath facilities, which need electricity to operate its equipment. In addition to that, there is an acute shortage of the basic needs such food, medicines and water. On 29.01 the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that a chief Israeli rabbi has called for the transfer of Gazans to the Sinai desert. "Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger has been quoted as calling for Gazans to be transferred to the Sinai Peninsula, to a Palestinian state which he said could be constructed for them in the desert"(2). He said that Muslims would be allowed to come and pray in Jerusalem every Friday, adding, “you have another place, Mecca and Medina, you don’t need a third place”(3).

The slow death of Gaza, whether through the starvation of the people or through withholding life-saving medications, wasn’t quick enough for the Zionist state. To hasten matters, the economic siege was accompanied with continuous military offensives and shelling residential areas in the Strip. On 5.3 the “Association of Rabbis for the People and Land of Israel” issued a religious ruling legitimizing the shelling of Palestinian civilian gatherings by the IOF, saying that the “Torah permits the shelling and bombing of Palestinian rocket sources even if there are civilians living there”.(4) In one such offensive 13 Palestinians, including 8 children, were killed on 16.4. Among the dead was the Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana, who was killed by an Israeli tank shell. The soldiers involved were “cleared” of any “wrong doing”. Not mentioned in the dpa list is killing of a mother and her 4 children, aged from 1 to 6, and a 17-year-old boy in one Israeli shelling of a residential house in Beit Hanoun. Another ignored incident is killing of a mother from Khan Younis while among her children by an Israeli tank shelling, that cut her head off. On that same incident, the IOF demolished 5 houses and partially destroyed another 20 in the same neighborhood.

The second Gaza event of the year that made world news, but didn’t make the dpa list, was the arrival of the solidarity ships that challenged the blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip. The first of such siege-breaking trips, organized by the Free Gaza movement, consisted of two boats, “Free Gaza” and “Liberty” that sailed from Cyprus to Gaza in an estimated 30-hour trip, with 46 activists from 14 countries on board. Despite initially threatening the two boats, fearing worldwide criticism, Israel was forced to allow them in. Although Israel announced this was to be a one-time trip, further trips followed, including a Lybian ship that wasn’t allowed into Gaza waters by the Israelis, and a Qatari support boat that managed to reach Gaza.

Jerusalem

Israel goes on with its policies of Judization of Jerusalem using methods such as demolition of Palestinian houses, building new houses for settlers and confiscating Palestinian land. The “Islamic Christian Front for the Defense of Jerusalem” warned of Israeli plans for demolishing the Al Bustan neighborhood of Silwan in Jerusalem, and building a new Jewish neighborhood in its place. More than 88 Palestinian houses are to be demolished, meaning the displacement of over 1,500 Palestinians. According to some reports, the new neighborhood is to include 10 apartments, a synagogue, a kindergarten, a library and a parking lot. In a further violation of international law, last October a Jewish synagogue was inaugurated in the Islamic quarter of the old city and 45 m from Al Aqsa mosque, at a time when Palestinian Muslims and Christians are forbidden from reaching their holy places in Jerusalem. In another case, and to expand its illegal settlements, the Israeli government intends to demolish 450 Palestinian homes in Khallet Al ‘Ein in Jerusalem. The Israeli Jerusalem municipality argued that the residents don’t have permanent licenses for their houses. On the other hand, during this year approval was given for the construction of 884 housing units for settlers in East Jerusalem, for the construction of 920 housing units in the settlement of Har Homa on the Abu Ghneim Mount, and the for construction of 750 new housing units in the settlement of Givat Ze’ev. Yerushalayim newspaper reported in September that 2,000 units were to be built in the settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev. On 25.11 a new re-routing of the apartheid wall was approved, that would lead to the isolation of Shu’fat, Al-Salam Neighborhood, Anata and Ras Khamis from the East Jerusalem. This decision will cause 20,000 Palestinian Jerusalemites to lose their rights in Jerusalem.

A case that drew worldwide solidarity was that of the Al-Kurd family from Sheikh Jarrah. After a 3 and half months of popular campaign against their eviction, the family was forcibly evicted from its home on 9.11. The solidarity tent the Al-Kurds set after their eviction was also destroyed several times by the Israeli authorities. The tragedy does not end here: Mohammad Al-Kurd, the father of the family, who was partially paralyzed and already suffered from diabetes and heart problems, suffered from very high pressure after the eviction, and died of a severe heart attack on 22.11. This was only one of several eviction orders aiming at emptying 26 buildings of their residents, thus making some 500 Palestinians homeless and settling illegal Jewish settlers in their place. The Al-Kurd family members were refugees twice before they were kicked out of their last house, once from Yaffa during the Nakba and another time from West Jerusalem. In 2001, a group of settlers broke into part of the Al-Kurd house and occupied it. The settler groups claimed ownership of the lands, and although their ownership papers have been proved false by Israeli courts, and despite the existence of an eviction order from the Israeli Supreme Court against the settlers, it was the Al-Kurds who were evicted from their home. According to a proposal issued by settler organizations, the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood is to be demolished and 200 settler units are to be built in their place.

Confiscation of Palestinian land and house demolition as collective punishment

Throughout the year, the IOF continued to confiscate Palestinian land, build the apartheid wall and demolish Palestinian houses, all in violation of human rights and international laws. House demolition is a favorite collective punishment of the Israeli government. According to a “Peace Now” report published in 2008, over the past 7 years only 91 building permits were granted to Palestinians living in Area C as to 18,472 building units for Israelis living in the same area. In a number of cases, whole Palestinian neighborhoods received demolition orders from the IOF. One example is the Beqa’a in Hebron, where the Israeli so-called Civil Administration issued on 14.2 a demolition order for 11 houses and a health clinic, despite the fact that this clinic serves around 700 people and the lack of health facilities in the area. In another case, the Israeli authority handed the residents of Azzoun near Qalqilya a demolition order for a playground. Another case is that of Arab Al Ramadin Al Janubi village. After the construction of the apartheid wall, the village was cornered in and became an enclave. The residents of the village were informed by the so-called Civil Administration of the IOF that they will be to demanded to vacate the village and move somewhere else. Of the 45 structures in Aqaba in the Jordan Valley, the residents received demolition orders for 35 structures, including houses, a health center, a mosque and a kindergarten.(5)  Located in one of the most fertile areas of the West Bank, and surrounded by three military camps, the village has been declared a closed military zone since the 1967 war, and continued efforts were made to empty the village of its residents. Now, it is also threatened by the construction of a new Israeli route for the apartheid wall. Houses are also demolished in order to open new settler roads, which are Israeli-only roads built on Palestinian land and on which Palestinian movement is prohibited. This system of settler-only roads contributed to cutting the West Bank into 70 enclaves. On 19.3 the Israeli authorities demolished 15 houses in different places in the West Bank. To build a new road that will connect the Ze’ev settlement with the Karmel settlement, the IOF demolished 6 houses in the Hebron area: 2 houses in the Al Dairat village and another 3 and a hut in Eqwaiqees village. More Palestinians houses are expected to be demolished for this road. Another 6 houses were demolished in Boto’a in Jenin, and another 3 houses in Al Jeeb in Jerusalem. (6)

Ni’lin, a Palestinian town of 5,000 inhabitants, with worldwide reputation for its non-violent resistance against the apartheid wall, didn’t make it on the dpa list. It is only one of the many Palestinian towns and villages under Israeli siege and suffering from the Israeli confiscation policies. 69% of its land was stolen in 1948 and an additional 44% of the remaining land in 1967 to build illegal settlements. Building the illegal wall cost the village a further 25% of its lands and leave it with only 10% of its original lands. Because of the apartheid wall, much of Ni’lin’s land is off limits, and this year, the residents were told by the IOF that they will need permits to be able to access their lands. A popular campaign was launched by the residents of Ni’lin to stop the dispossession of their lands. Weekly demonstrations take place near the apartheid wall, with the participation of Palestinian, Israeli and foreign activists. During various non-violent demonstrations against the wall, where the IOF uses live ammunition, often without prior warning, 13 Palestinians, including 8 children under the age of 18, have been killed by the IOF. According to the Israeli newspaper “Maariv”, March this year, the Israeli authorities gave new orders to the IOF troops operating along the wall, stating that they can open fire directly on Palestinian demonstrators. In case Israeli or international demonstrators are present, sniping is forbidden. One incident that made the news worldwide was the shooting of a blindfolded Palestinian, 27 year old Ashraf Abu Rahma, by the IOF on the 7th of July this year. After being arrested, handcuffed and blindfolded, and beaten, Abu Rahma was shot at from a very close range with a rubber coated bullet by one of the soldiers while held by the shoulder by the commander in charge. The commander in charge was sentenced to 10 day compulsory leave. On 31.8 a mentally disabled Palestinian was shot 3 times by the IOF leaving him in a critical condition. Awwad Srur, 41, was shot once in the chest and twice in the head and lost sight in one eye, despite pleas from the Srur’s son not to shoot. Ni’lin scored a victory when in 2004 it succeeded in having the route of the wall changed so the wall takes up less of the town’s lands. But in 2008 work on the wall was resumed on the other side of the village, dividing the villagers from their lands even more.

Illegal settlement activities and settler attacks on Palestinians

While the media repeatedly criticized the Palestinians and blamed them for the failure of the so-called peace process, they chose to ignore one basic prerequisite for a just peace, the stop of all illegal settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Palestinian and Israeli newspapers were continuously reporting on the on-going expansion of the illegal Jewish settlements and the approval of the constriction of hundreds of new housing units. In 2008 the settler population reached 450,000 settlers living in more than 130 illegal settlements and 102 unauthorized outposts in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Ma’ariv newspaper reported on 6th of October that since the beginning of the year, some 15,000 new Jewish settlers have moved into illegal settlements in the West Bank. Despite continuous “promises” to halt all settlement activities in the OPT, the Israeli government gave green light in July for the construction of “Maskiot”, a new settlement to be built in the Jordan Valley. According to a “Peace Now” report on settlement activity for the period January to May 2008, the Israeli government has nearly doubled the number of homes built in settlements. 2,600 new homes are currently being constructed in 1,000 buildings in Jewish settlements, 55% of which are being built close to Palestinian cities such as Ramallah and Bethlehem. Tenders for new houses increased from 65 in 2007 to 417 this year. In Jerusalem, where 200,000 settlers live, bids for new houses increased by 38% (1,761 housing units). Another 9,700 housing units have been announced. A report of the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics said that construction in settlements increased by a factor of 1.8 compared to 2007 and that nearly 64% of the construction carried out by the Israeli Housing Ministry was taking place in settlements in the West Bank. During the period between 1996 and 2007 settlement expansion increased by 85%. Although the settlers build on only 3%, almost 40% of the West Bank is taken for Israeli infrastructure, such as road networks. These settler-only roads separate Palestinian communities from one another, cause their isolation and hinder their natural growth. Further isolation is caused by the apartheid wall, whose length had to be doubled in order to annex 56 illegal settlements to Israel.

Settler terrorism spread from the south to the north of the West Bank. In the first five months of this year alone, 42 settler attacks were documented. On 27 of September, fanatic settlers from the Itamar settlement lynched an 18-year-old shepherd from Aqraba in Nablus area. Yahya Bani Monia was shot 20 times. During the year, settlers set fire to olive and crop fields belonging to Palestinians in several places in the West Bank. According to one report, alone in the south of Nablus, the settlers burned 3,000 olive trees this year. Groups of settlers also attacked Palestinian families during the olive harvest season, and in several cases the settlers stole the olives. While rockets launched at Israeli towns receive much attention and condemnation, rocket attacks by Jewish settlers at the Awarta village near Nablus in July this year were ignored. Crowning their terror, hundreds of fanatic settlers launched a number of attacks on Palestinian residents of Hebron, burning houses and attacking people after a number were evacuated from a Palestinian house they had occupied. Despite being caught on camera, an attempted execution of Palestinians by the Jewish settlers did not make to the dpa’s list of events of the year. Needless to say, the IOF soldiers stood nearby while Palestinians were being attacked. The attacks spread to other towns and villages of the West Bank, with fanatic settlers attacking Palestinians and destroying their properties and burning up their fields.

Palestinian prisoners

Several reports have been published during this year on the conditions of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisoners, including child prisoners. Some of these reports were described as shocking. There are approximately 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, 2000 of whom are sick and face medical negligence. Alone since September 2000, 6,200 Palestinians have been arrested by the IOF. There are 350 female detainees, 20 of which are children. These prisoners are subjected to systematic torture according to the annual report of the “Coalition against Torture”. Several sources confirm the death of 196 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons since 1967 due to torture and medical negligence, 72 of them since the beginning of the second Intifada in September 2000 (51 who were killed after they were detained). The Palestinian Prisoners Society reported that prisoner Jom’a Mousa, aged 65, died on 24.12 in Ramleh Israeli prison as a result of medical negligence on part of the prison administration. Mousa is the second detainee to die in Israeli prisons this year, raising the number of prisoner who died due to medical negligence to 49.

In its report published on 27.4 on conditions of Palestinian children in Israeli prisons, “Save the Children” revealed that since September 2000, 6,000 children were arrested by the IOF, arrests being made for the simplest reasons, and that annually the IOF detains about 700 children on average. 350 of Palestinian prisoners still in prison today are children, 105 of whom are younger than 15. Of those: 156 have been convicted, 187 waiting trial and 7 under administrative detention, where they are detained without trail, and 80 of the children detainees are very sick and need treatment. In its report published on 9.5 Addameer states that Military rule is enforced in these prisons, under which a child of 16 is treated as an adult.

On 20.12 confrontations broke out in the Israeli Ofer prison near Ramallah, after representatives of the Prison Administration and dozens of IOF soldiers conducted searches in the B Department of the prison, without prior coordination with the representatives of the Palestinian detainees. Some prisoners were violently beaten, and sound bombs, tear gas canisters and hot water were used against the detainees in addition to live ammunition. 8 Palestinians were injured and the detainees declared a hunger strike. Currently there are 1,200 Palestinians detainees in Ofer, some of which suffer chronic disease.

This was only a sample of some of the events that took place in the OPT this year, this sample being chosen randomly. In my opinion, the most used phrase nowadays in Germany is: Nie Wieder, meaning never again. After the atrocities of WWII, they swore and still do, never again to stand still while injustice takes place anywhere around the world, or when people are being judged according to their race, color or religion. But, I suppose this “never again" implies only to a chosen group of people, in the manner of “All human have equal rights, but some have more rights than others”.

Sources: several sources.