-------------------------------------------------------- From: Bill Thomson <•••@••.•••> Subject: The Gaza Crisis The crisis in Gaza and throughout the occupied territories continues. The first two items are "ACTION REQUESTED" -- please respond. The Israeli implementation of collective punishment (a war crime under the Geneva accords) apparently knows no bounds. In addition to significantly reducing the water supply for 1.5 million parched Gazans and live ammunition and sonic boom attacks, it seems clear that Israel is also intent in cutting off personal communication of Palestinians and reporting to the outside world (see Item 6). It would be beyond naive to assume that these oppressive actions had not been planned for some time by the Israeli government. The capturing of the Israeli soldier is merely a convenient pretext. It does not take much of a student of history to see parallels with some of the most tragic periods of the human experience. Peace, Bill *********************************************** 1) Hardship Intensifies in the Palestinian Territories (ACTION REQUESTED) 2) Faculty For Israeli-Palestinian Peace, FFIPP-USA Emergency Bulletin –July 2006 (ACTION REQUESTED) 3) Aggression Under False Pretenses 4) Starvation in Palestine 5) UN Agencies Statements from Gaza/WB 6) Israel bars Palestinian Americans for first time since 1967 (with personal note) 7) Rights groups ask court to prevent harm to Gaza civilians 8) A Jewish Perspective: Israel has Crossed a Moral Boundary 9) Hezbollah seizes Israel soldiers *********************************************** 1) Hardship Intensifies in the Palestinian Territories (ACTION REQUESTED) LIFE is an extremely reputable organization, and you may donate to them without concern. They have worked throughout the Arab world, especially during the Iraq sanctions era, and they sponsored two trips to Iraq that I attended. -- Bill Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2006 21:07:40 -0400 From: •••@••.••• Subject: Hardship Intensifies in the Palestinian Territories Hardship Intensifies in the Palestinian Territories We are all aware of the humanitarian crisis that the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza have been experiencing for decades. This crisis has been exacerbated as a result of recent election outcomes. It appears that these steadily declining living conditions are unlikely to be resolved any time soon. According to the World Bank¹s report on the Palestinian Fiscal Crisis issued May, 2006: ³The Palestinian economy will experience a dramatic decline over the next eight months". To put it simply, the quality of life for the average Palestinian family is terrible. Children there have less food, patients have less medicine, families have less income and the outlook is no better. LIFE, through its office in Nazareth, is distributing food packages to 4,000 families in the West Bank and will be distributing the same packages to 2,000 families in Gaza. The food distribution will be executed throughout 2006 over the course of four consecutive months, including the month of Ramadan. One package will be enough to feed a family of 6 in the West Bank, or a family of 7 in Gaza, for one month. The cost per package per month is $100. Here¹s how you can help: $500: Will feed 5 families for 1 month of distribution. $400: Will feed 1 family for all 4 months of distribution. $200: Will feed 1 family for 2 months of distribution. Your immediate donation will make this humanitarian project possible. To donate, visit our <https://dnbweb1.blackbaud.com/OPXDONATE/donate.asp?cguid=48E56154%2D106E%2D4296%2D863E%2D68057E40EFD2&dpid=7664> secure online donation page or call us at 1-800-827-3543. Legal Note: LIFE recognizes the immensity of the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian Territories and continues to provide humanitarian relief to the poor and needy in that region. We assure our donors that we are aware of the U.S. government rules and regulations that were enacted in the aftermath of the Palestinian elections that regulate humanitarian relief operations in the Palestinian Territories. We fully abide by these rules and regulations and are absolutely committed to continuing our humanitarian efforts within this legal framework. *********************************************** 2) Faculty For Israeli-Palestinian Peace, FFIPP-USA Emergency Bulletin –July 2006 (ACTION REQUESTED) Faculty For Israeli-Palestinian Peace, FFIPP-USA Emergency Bulletin –July 2006 *Gaza Emergency *Gaza Emergency *Gaza Emergency *Gaza Emergency Academics and Intellectuals World-Wide Make a Statement: End the escalating violence in Gaza and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories! Start genuine negotiations for a just peace now! Please join the President and the Chair of the Board of Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace-International, Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj and Dr. Arnon Hadar, and sign the FFIPP-I statement. To sign please go to: <http://www.ffipp.org/>http://www.ffipp.org, click on "GAZA EMERGENCY" (near the top), and sign at the end of the petition. Please share widely with friends and colleagues. ********************************************* Press Release, 7 July 2006 The Freedom Theatre wishes to express its condolences to the Nagnagiyya family for the death of their son Eid (16), who was murdered yesterday, 6 July, by the Israeli army in Jenin refugee camp. The Nagnagiyya family contributed their old house to The Freedom Theatre to host a computer centre. The family offered to renovate the house as a contribution to the children of Jenin. Eid's brother was also killed during the Battle on Jenin in 2002. The Freedom Theatre also wishes to express its condolences to the El Hannoun family for the death of their son Ammar (16), who was murdered in the same incident, yesterday, 6 July, by the Israeli army in Jenin refugee camp. The attack of the Israeli army took place at a memorial tent where many people were expressing their condolences to the Qandil family for the death of their son Fida (22), who was killed by the Israeli army on Tuesday 4 July. Among the people in the tent was Zacharia Zubaidi, the leader of the Al-Aqsa Brigades. According to the army their forces were intending to arrest him. The special forces acted in a crowded place, injuring 30 people and killing two children. Zacharia Zubaidi managed to flee the attempted assassination. The Freedom Theatre www.thefreedomtheatre.org *********************************************************** If you received this email from a colleague and would like to join our email list, please email us at <mailto:•••@••.•••>•••@••.••• to subscribe. If you would like to unsubscribe, please email us at <mailto:•••@••.•••>•••@••.••• *********************************************************** Support FFIPP's work by making a donation. By credit card, go to <http://www.ffipp.org/donate.html> http://www.ffipp.org/donate.html By check, payable to FFIPP-USA, mail to: FFIPP, PO Box 2091, Amherst MA 01004. *********************************************************** FFIPP US: PO Box 2091, Amherst MA 01004 Phone: 413-253-0676 email: <mailto:•••@••.•••>•••@••.••• http://www.ffipp.org *********************************************** 3) Aggression Under False Pretenses From: <mailto:•••@••.•••>Khalil Barhoum To: <mailto:•••@••.•••>•••@••.••• Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 10:37 AM Subject: Aggression Under False Pretenses, By Ismail Haniyeh Aggression Under False Pretenses By Ismail Haniyeh Tuesday, July 11, 2006; Page A17 Washington Post The writer is prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority. GAZA, Palestine -- As Americans commemorated their annual celebration of independence from colonial occupation, rejoicing in their democratic institutions, we Palestinians were yet again besieged by our occupiers, who destroy our roads and buildings, our power stations and water plants, and who attack our very means of civil administration. Our homes and government offices are shelled, our parliamentarians taken prisoner and threatened with prosecution. The current Gaza invasion is only the latest effort to destroy the results of fair and free elections held early this year. It is the explosive follow-up to a five-month campaign of economic and diplomatic warfare directed by the United States and Israel. The stated intention of that strategy was to force the average Palestinian to "reconsider" her vote when faced with deepening hardship; its failure was predictable, and the new overt military aggression and collective punishment are its logical fulfillment. The "kidnapped" Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit is only a pretext for a job scheduled months ago. In addition to removing our democratically elected government, Israel wants to sow dissent among Palestinians by claiming that there is a serious leadership rivalry among us. I am compelled to dispel this notion definitively. The Palestinian leadership is firmly embedded in the concept of Islamic shura , or mutual consultation; suffice it to say that while we may have differing opinions, we are united in mutual respect and focused on the goal of serving our people. Furthermore, the invasion of Gaza and the kidnapping of our leaders and government officials are meant to undermine the recent accords reached between the government party and our brothers and sisters in Fatah and other factions, on achieving consensus for resolving the conflict. Yet Israeli collective punishment only strengthens our collective resolve to work together. As I inspect the ruins of our infrastructure -- the largess of donor nations and international efforts all turned to rubble once more by F-16s and American-made missiles -- my thoughts again turn to the minds of Americans. What do they think of this? They think, doubtless, of the hostage soldier, taken in battle -- yet thousands of Palestinians, including hundreds of women and children, remain in Israeli jails for resisting the illegal, ongoing occupation that is condemned by international law. They think of the pluck and "toughness" of Israel, "standing up" to "terrorists." Yet a nuclear Israel possesses the 13th-largest military force on the planet, one that is used to rule an area about the size of New Jersey and whose adversaries there have no conventional armed forces. Who is the underdog, supposedly America's traditional favorite, in this case? I hope that Americans will give careful and well-informed thought to root causes and historical realities, in which case I think they will question why a supposedly "legitimate" state such as Israel has had to conduct decades of war against a subject refugee population without ever achieving its goals. Israel's unilateral movements of the past year will not lead to peace. These acts -- the temporary withdrawal of forces from Gaza, the walling off of the West Bank -- are not strides toward resolution but empty, symbolic acts that fail to address the underlying conflict. Israel's nearly complete control over the lives of Palestinians is never in doubt, as confirmed by the humanitarian and economic suffering of the Palestinians since the January elections. Israel's ongoing policies of expansion, military control and assassination mock any notion of sovereignty or bilateralism. Its "separation barrier," running across our land, is hardly a good-faith gesture toward future coexistence. But there is a remedy, and while it is not easy it is consistent with our long-held beliefs. Palestinian priorities include recognition of the core dispute over the land of historical Palestine and the rights of all its people; resolution of the refugee issue from 1948; reclaiming all lands occupied in 1967; and stopping Israeli attacks, assassinations and military expansion. Contrary to popular depictions of the crisis in the American media, the dispute is not only about Gaza and the West Bank; it is a wider national conflict that can be resolved only by addressing the full dimensions of Palestinian national rights in an integrated manner. This means statehood for the West Bank and Gaza, a capital in Arab East Jerusalem, and resolving the 1948 Palestinian refugee issue fairly, on the basis of international legitimacy and established law. Meaningful negotiations with a non-expansionist, law-abiding Israel can proceed only after this tremendous labor has begun. Surely the American people grow weary of this folly, after 50 years and $160 billion in taxpayer support for Israel's war-making capacity -- its "defense." Some Americans, I believe, must be asking themselves if all this blood and treasure could not have bought more tangible results for Palestine if only U.S. policies had been predicated from the start on historical truth, equity and justice. However, we do not want to live on international welfare and American handouts. We want what Americans enjoy -- democratic rights, economic sovereignty and justice. We thought our pride in conducting the fairest elections in the Arab world might resonate with the United States and its citizens. Instead, our new government was met from the very beginning by acts of explicit, declared sabotage by the White House. Now this aggression continues against 3.9 million civilians living in the world's largest prison camps. America's complacency in the face of these war crimes is, as usual, embedded in the coded rhetorical green light: "Israel has a right to defend itself." Was Israel defending itself when it killed eight family members on a Gaza beach last month or three members of the Hajjaj family on Saturday, among them 6-year-old Rawan? I refuse to believe that such inhumanity sits well with the American public. We present this clear message: If Israel will not allow Palestinians to live in peace, dignity and national integrity, Israelis themselves will not be able to enjoy those same rights. Meanwhile, our right to defend ourselves from occupying soldiers and aggression is a matter of law, as settled in the Fourth Geneva Convention. If Israel is prepared to negotiate seriously and fairly, and resolve the core 1948 issues, rather than the secondary ones from 1967, a fair and permanent peace is possible. Based on a hudna (comprehensive cessation of hostilities for an agreed time), the Holy Land still has an opportunity to be a peaceful and stable economic powerhouse for all the Semitic people of the region. If Americans only knew the truth, possibility might become reality. The writer is prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/10/AR2006071001108.html> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/10/AR2006071001108.html <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/10/AR2006071001108.html> *********************************************** 4) Starvation in Palestine Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 10:52:21 -0600 From: Lina CCRR <•••@••.•••> Subject: Starvation in Palestine Note: I have known Noah for many years--he has been in the forefront of Palestinian nonviolent resistance to the Israeli occupation. -- Bill Starvation in Palestine – Noah Salameh The world is watching the killing of children and the different shapes of collective punishment against the civilians in Palestine. All of this is done by occupation forces armed with different and modern kinds of weapons produced in the democratic world. For more than 10 days, the Israeli army has totally closed the Gaza Strip preventing anyone from entering or leaving it, even sick people who need treatment outside. They also have prevented any kind of food whether milk for children or flour to enter in addition to their destruction of electricity¹s generators and most of the water resources. The child Rawan Hajaj, a 4 year-old young girl, her mother and her 18 year-old brother were shelled by an Israeli tank in a thorough shelling while they were sitting in their home. Yesterday the United Nations announced through Mr. John Ging, the Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Gaza Field Office that if the area will not be supplied with food, a human disaster will take place. Almost 70,000 persons depend on the United Nations for food, but the supplies in the UNRWA stores are finished as a result of the closure imposed by the Israeli army upon all the entrances to Gaza. It has become a prison for more than one million people, living under daily shelling in the area. What is the fault of those who are living in this area, except that it is their fate that they are Palestinians? And who justifies the continuation of the occupation of the Palestinian people and the control of the military occupation for 50 years? Sometimes they cut off the electricity, sometimes the water, and sometimes the food using various justifications. No matter what are the reasons or the justifications, no force has the right to prevent food, water or electricity from one million people who are not guilty except that they are living under occupation. The ethics and the moral standards of the world have declined that much, so they do not even condemn anymore the violation of human rights of those human beings, that means, if the world recognizes that they are human beings. Why is the world silent regarding the killing of Palestinian children? Why can the world not object to the murder of a Palestinian family on the beach while having a family day there; only one 10-year girl was left alive from this family screaming at the beach about loosing her family? And yesterday, a 4 year-old girl and her family were killed in their home, so where would a child like her find security? Why do the crimes of the occupation continue all these years and the world stays silent? Does the world consider the value of a child¹s life depending upon its color or nationality or religion??! Our children have the right to live, the right to get food, water and electricity just like your children all over the world. Then why do the occupation forces destroy the electricity generators, shell the water tanks, and destroy the Palestinian infrastructure? Is this the human rights law? Why is the world silent and does not listen to the voice of the United Nations and human rights organizations¹ reports? Why is the democratic world keeping silent?? Does all of this happen because of the imprisonment of an Israeli soldier? Do you not know that there are more than 9000 Palestinian prisoners in Israel? Is the life of this soldier more important than the life of all the Palestinians who are living under occupation and are shelled by airplanes, tanks and the navy from all directions? Why does Israel refuse to negotiate or talk and always asks the Palestinians to surrender and only surrender? Why all this militaristic arrogance? Where will this lead us? *********************************************** 5) UN Agencies Statements from Gaza/WB Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2006 10:47:51 -0700 From: Sami Abuhamdeh <•••@••.•••> Subject: UN Agencies Statements from Gaza/WB United Nations Statements by the United Nations Agencies working in the occupied Palestinian territory 8th July 2006 The United Nations Humanitarian Agencies working in the occupied Palestinian territory, are alarmed by developments on the ground, which have seen innocent civilians, including children, killed, brought increased misery to hundreds of thousands of people and which will wreak far-reaching harm on Palestinian society. An already alarming situation in Gaza, with poverty rates at nearly eighty per cent and unemployment at nearly forty per cent, is likely to deteriorate rapidly, unless immediate and urgent action is taken. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which works with 980,000 refugees, believes that Gaza is on the brink of a public health disaster. Since the strike on Gaza¹s only power plant on June 28th, the entire strip is without electricity for between 12 and 18 hours every day. The Coastal Municipality Water Utility is now relying on its own backup generators to operate its 130 water wells and 33 sewage pumping plants. As it only has 5,000 liters of the 18,000 liters of fuel needed, the Water Utility¹s daily operation has been cut by two thirds, resulting in water shortages and a critical situation at the sewage plants. With restrictions on the humanitarian supply lines there is now a backlog of over 230 containers of food awaiting delivery through the Karni Crossing and the bill for surcharges arising from these delays has reached a staggering half a million dollars. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) the public health system is facing an unprecedented crisis. WHO estimates that though hospitals and 50 per cent of Primary Health Care Centres have generators, the current stock of fuel will last for a maximum of two weeks. Those generators which are being used were intended for backup purposes and the malfunctioning of these generators will have grave consequences. According to WHO in the last week, there has been a 160 per cent increase in cases of diarrhea compared with the same period last year. Compounding these problems, WHO estimates that 23 per cent of the essential drug list will be out of stock within one month. WHO is also alarmed by the tightening of restrictions on patients needing to leave Gaza for treatment. Only a handful of extremely critical cases have crossed through Erez since June 25th even though prior to current! developments, an average of 25 cancer patients left through Erez every week. According to WHO, the monthly referral rate of emergency patients stands now at between 500 and 700 people. The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that in June 70 % of the Gaza population were already unable to cover their daily food needs without assistance. The escalation of hostilities has made food an increasingly critical issue. Wheat flour mills, food factories and bakeries, reliant on electricity are being forced to reduce their production due to power shortages; furthermore the loss of capacity to preserve perishable food in the Gaza heat is resulting in high food losses in the home. Supplies of sugar, dairy products and milk are running extremely low due to limited commercial supplies from Israel; as a result food prices have increased by 10% in the past 3 weeks. WFP is assisting 160,000 of the most food insecure non refugees in Gaza and is standing by to respond to additional needs as they emerge as part of a coordinated interagency response. WFP believes it is essential that a humanitarian corridor ! for relief items and personnel remains open to avert a further deterioration in the food security situation at this critical time. According to the United Nations Childrens¹ Fund, (UNICEF) children in Gaza are living in an environment of extraordinary violence, insecurity and fear. Electricity and fuel shortages are leading to a reduction in the quantity and quality of health care and water accessible to children. The ongoing fighting is hurting children psychologically. Caregivers say children are showing signs of distress and exhaustion, including a 15%-20% increase in bedwetting, due to shelling and sonic booms. UNICEF-supported counseling teams also report a large increase in the number of requests for assistance. UNICEF says steady supplies of fuel and electricity are needed to store safely and transport vaccine and drugs, and for operating primary h! ealth care facilities. UNICEF stressed that children are always most v ulnerable to outbreaks of communicable disease brought on by lack of water and sanitation. The use of force by Israel during its military operations into the Gaza Strip has resulted in an increasing number of deaths and other casualties amongst the Palestinian civilian population, and significant damage to civilian property and infrastructure, says the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Whilst Israel has legitimate security concerns, international humanitarian law requires that the principles of proportionality and distinction between civilians and combatants be respected at all times. The prohibition on targeting civilians is also being violated by Palestinian armed groups, launching missiles from the Gaza Strip into Israel, and must therefore end. The deterioration in the current human rights situation requires that measures a! re promptly taken to put an end to these actions and to ensure the protection of civilians. The Office of the Co-Ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is calling for the continuous and unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance and fuel supplies. Nahal Oz and Karni must remain open twenty-four hours a day, if humanitarian need is to be adequately met. In addition, OCHA is calling for the opening of the Rafah Crossing, to allow in 250 passengers stranded in Egypt and to allow the passage of emergency health cases that cannot be treated in Gaza. UN operations to deliver assistance are already being hampered by the fighting. But humanitarian assistance is not enough to prevent suffering. With the bombing of the electric plant, the lives of 1.4 million people, almost half of them children, worsened overnight. The Government of Israel should repair the d! amage done to the power station. Obligations under international humanitarian law, applying to both parties, include preventing harm to civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure and also refraining from collective measures, intimidation and reprisals. Civilians are disproportionately paying the price of this conflict. In the immediate future, OCHA fears that the humanitarian situation could easily deteriorate, with continued Israeli military operations and artillery shelling, which could damage the remaining infrastructure and essential services. The United Nations humanitarian agencies believe that the facts on the ground speak for themselves and carry their own imperatives to all parties. Unless urgent action is taken, we are facing a humanitarian crisis that will have far reaching consequences for the communities we work in and the institutions we work through. __________________ Christopher Gunness Head of Public Information UNSCO Mobile: +972 (0) 545627825 <mailto:•••@••.•••>•••@••.••• _________________ *********************************************** 6) Israel bars Palestinian Americans for first time since 1967 (with personal note) Note: A few minutes ago I received the following message from a close friend here in Ann Arbor. The person in question is a US citizen and a primary school teacher for decades here in Ann Arbor.... R was not allowed by the Israeli Occupiers to enter Palestine, to visit her family in Nablus, yesterday. After spending hours on various bridges, searched and strip searched at many check points, an equivalent of over $ 2500 were confiscated from her and then was refused entry with the claim that she did not declare all the money she had! The fact that they knew what she had at every point of inspection and search (was not asked to fill a form of any sort), did not matter! She started her ordeal at 7 AM from Amman, got as far as the Jordan River and finally was back in Amman, penniless, at around midnight. Now, she will be looking for a way to cut short her trip and come back. -- F Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 07:29:03 -0400 From: Jon Swanson <•••@••.•••> Subject: Israel bars Palestinian Americans for first time since 1967 By Amira Hass < mailto:•••@••.•••>, Haaretz Correspondent For the first time since 1967, Israel is preventing the entry of Palestinians with foreign citizenship, most of them Americans. Most of those refused entry are arriving from abroad, but have lived and worked for years in the West Bank. The Interior Ministry and Civil Administration made no formal announcement about a policy change, leaving returnees to discover the situation when they reach the border crossings. By various estimates, the ban has so far affected several thousand American and European nationals, whom Israel has kept from returning to their homes and jobs, or from visiting their families in the West Bank. This could potentially impact many more thousands who live in the territories - including university instructors and researchers, employees working in various vital development programs and business owners - as well as thousands of foreign citizens who pay annual visits to relatives there. The policy also applies to foreigners who are not Palestinian but are married to Palestinians, and to visiting academics. The first group to suffer are Palestinians born in the territories, whose residency Israel revoked after 1967 while they were working or studying abroad. Some eventually married residents of the territories, or returned to live with aging parents and siblings. Israel rejected their applications for "family reunification" (i.e., requests to have their residency restored). However, until recently Israel permitted them to continue living in the territories on tourist visas, renewable every three months by exiting and reentering the country. In some cases the State also granted them work permits. Citizens of Arab states (whether or not of Palestinian origin) have been barred from entering Israel since 2000. A handful were allowed in as "exceptional humanitarian cases" - mostly when a first-degree relative is dying or has died - but even this practice was suspended in April. One of the demands that Israel has posed in specific cases which attorney Leah Tsemel represented before the High Court of Justice, is that applications for visitation permits be authorized by a low-ranking official from the Palestinian Interior Ministry, who is not affiliated with Hamas. The ministry refuses to comply with this condition. Now it turns out that this policy has been extended to U.S. and European citizens. An Israeli Interior Ministry spokesperson told Haaretz that this is not a new policy, but merely a "procedural updating." But the High Court petitions department at the State Prosecutor's Office, which has been addressing the phenomenon with regard to several specific petitions, wrote Tsemel on May 2, 2006 that a policy on entry of foreign nationals to the West Bank would be formulated only "at the start of next week." Since then Tsemel has not learned whether such a policy was indeed drafted. The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv told Haaretz that no Israeli official informed them of a change in entry policy, and said that the United States cannot intervene in sovereign decisions of another country. Several people who were refused entry and spoke with U.S. representatives said that the consulate and embassy are well aware of the apparently new policy. An e-mail from the department of U.S. Citizen Services in Jerusalem to a U.S. citizen who had inquired about entering the West Bank stated that the consul general had met with a representative from the Israeli Interior Ministry regarding the government's entry policies: "The Israeli official conceded that 90-day visa entry cards, which were once routinely granted in the past, especially to U.S. citizens, are now more difficult to obtain, specifically for Palestinian American citizens traveling to the West Bank and for U.S. nationals affiliated with humanitarian organizations. Both the U.S. Embassy and the Consulate in Jerusalem are pursuing the issue." Israel's Civil Administration stated in response that "the entry to the region of foreigners who are not residents of the territories takes place by means of visit permits issued by the Palestinian Authority and approved by the Israeli side," because coordination stopped after September 2000, and entry was permitted in exceptional humanitarian cases - a practice that was also suspended after the Hamas government was formed. Today, the statement continued, cases "involving special humanitarian need" are being considered. The Civil Administration confirmed that the applications must be conveyed by a low-ranking official who is unaffiliated with Hamas. The Interior Ministry and Civil Administration declined to comment on the fact that for 40 years, Palestinian citizens of Western countries did not required a "visitation permit." *********************************************** 7) Rights groups ask court to prevent harm to Gaza civilians Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 18:53:39 +0200 From: Gush Shalom <•••@••.•••> Subject: Rights groups ask court to prevent harm to Gaza civilians Renew Gaza Fuel Supply and Open Crossings for Humanitarian Supplies Six Human Rights Groups to Israeli High Court: Renew Fuel Supply to Gaza and Open the Crossings for Food, Equipment and Humanitarian Supplies Today, July 11, 2006, six human rights groups petitioned the Israeli High Court demanding that the crossings in Gaza be opened to allow for the steady and regular supply of fuel, food, medicine, and equipment, including spare parts needed to operate generators. The groups – the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, Hamoked: Center for Defence of the Individual, B¹tselem, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel and Gisha - Center for the Legal Protection of Freedom of Movement also asked for an urgent hearing in order to prevent serious harm to the health of the civilian population, especially patients in hospital, and to prevent the breakdown of the water and sewage system in Gaza. During the current military operation in the Gaza Strip the Israeli military has interrupted the supply of fuel to Gaza and kept Gaza`s crossings mostly closed to supply of food and other humanitarian goods. The uninterrupted supply of fuel and equipment is necessary for the functioning of Gaza`s health and sanitation systems, and Gaza requires a steady supply of food and medicine. Since Gaza`s power station was destroyed on June 28, there is an increased need for fuel to power the generators in Gaza and for spare parts to keep the generators running at such a high capacity. The closure of Karni Crossing has led to shortages in food at a time when, given the difficulty of obtaining electricity to prepare and refrigerate foodstuffs, Gaza requires increased shipments of dairy products, meat, flour, and other goods. Without a steady supply of fuel and parts, hospitals cannot perform life-saving surgery and treatment plants cannot pump and treat sewage in Gaza. Gaza hospitals have reduced their activities to life-saving procedures. Since the bombing of the power plant, Gaza`s water utility has been dumping 60,000 cubic meters of raw sewage into the sea each day, for lack of power and equipment to run the treatment plants, and there is concern that untreated sewage will pollute the aquifer or spill into the streets. Because of the electricity shortages, stores in Gaza have stopped selling meat and dairy products. Trucks laden with food and medicine have been stuck at Karni Crossing, which has been closed since July 6, including 230 containers from international aid organizations. Withholding fuel, food, and equipment from Gaza residents constitutes collective punishment, in violation of international law. The petition argues that Israel is not fulfilling its legal obligations to provide for the needs of the civilian population and to distinguish between military and civilian targets. According to Faysal Shawa, a businessman and Gaza resident: "We have been thrown back to the way people lived 100 years ago ... We don`t have water, we don`t have milk for our kids." According to Maher Najer, Deputy Director of Gaza`s Water Company: "We face severe shortages in the electricity, fuel, and spare parts needed to operate Gaza`s water and sewage systems. These shortages threaten to create a public health catastrophe." © All rights reserved to ACRI last updated : 11/07/06 *********************************************** 8) A Jewish Perspective: Israel has Crossed a Moral Boundary Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 01:00:52 -0400 (EDT) From: "•••@••.•••" <•••@••.•••> Subject: Israel Has Crossed a Moral Boundary Although I would disagree with some of the statements that Rabbi Lerner makes below (in particular, describing those who carried out the sophisticated capture of the Israeli soldier as "lunatics"), he makes the valid point that collective punishment of the most onerous sort has been carried out by the Israeli government. Israel has Crossed a Moral Boundary Rabbi Michael Lerner In 2003 I was prevented from speaking at a large demonstration protesting the impending war in Iraq because I was deemed too pro-Zionist by one of the sponsoring organizations. My sin then, as now, is that I believe that both sides have acted with insensitivity and have been oblivious to the needs of the other, and both sides need to repent. I still believe that now, and as late as last week was calling on the tens of thousands of readers of www.tikkun.org to insist to the Palestinians that they would be far more effective if they were to adopt the non-violent strategies of Gandhi, King, and Mandela rather than to imagine themselves capable of militarily defeating Israel. And just as I¹ve critiqued the state terrorism against civilians that the IDF brings to the West Bank occupation, so I¹ve always critiqued the terrorism of some sectors of the Palestinian population. But this week it¹s impossible as a Jew and as an American to not notice that a new human rights violation by Israel has taken place which manages to surpass many of its previous violations in cruelty and in the outrage it has generated. Anyone has ever faced the crippling heat of the desert-like conditions of southern Israel or the Gaza strip knows the desperation for water that comes each summer. So when Israel bombed and destroyed the electricity system for 1.2 million Gazans and thereby made all electric pumps inoperable, they inflicted a collective punishment on the entire Gazan population. The alleged justification was a desire to punish Palestinians for electing a Hamas government, and more immediately to retrieve a soldier who had been ³kidnapped² (the quotes because this was not a civilian but a soldier in uniform, so if Israel sees itself as at war with Hamas, then the only possible description is that their soldier was captured by the other side). The Hamas government, however, has publicly urged the ³kidnappers² whom it does not control to free the captured soldier. Moreover, the outrage in Israel about this ³kidnap² reflects a huge level of systematic denial going on in the consciousness of Israelis and many who support its policiesbecause virtually every human rights group including the various Israeli human rights organizations has chronicled tens of thousands of acts of "kidnap" of this sort by the IDF against Palestinian civilians, who are then kept in detention for as long as six months without a trial, often facing brutal torture, and then released without ever having been charged with any crime. Of course, and I thank God for this because I care for the well being of the people of Israel , and as a Jew I am deeply tied to the success and safety of this particular Jewish society, the Palestinians have never been able to punish hundreds of thousands or millions of Israelis collectively for these systematic violations of human rights. To the extent that they do so through acts of terror, I condemn those acts. This is a defining moment in our relationship with Israel for all Americans of whatever faith. Just as we need to make clear to our own government that its human rights violations in Guantanamo and Iraq are unacceptable, so we need to communicate to the Israeli people that the mass punishment of a million people for the acts of a few is as unacceptable when it comes from a democratic society as when it comes from the willful oppression of entrenched authoritarian dictators. Even if, God forbid, the captured soldier is murdered by the lunatics who captured him, it is only they and their conscious sponsors who should be punished, not random Palestinians, unless you think it equally appropriate to some day punish the entire American public for the three million Vietnamese killed by American action in Vietnam or for the horrendous acts which continue in Guantanamo and Iraq even today. Unfortunately, we can¹t count on our U.S. government to convey this sentiment without qualifying its concerns in ways that essentially communicate that Israel can do whatever it wants and we won¹t interfere. So the onus is upon us as ordinary citizens to act and act decisively. We need to communicate our concerns to legislators and media. We need to organize demonstrations in front of the offices of our elected officials, and also outside Israeli consulates and those Jewish institutions which continue to use their influence to support Israeli policy even at this moment (there are a few which have spoken out in critique, but very very few). And we need to write to those in power in Israel, starting with Prime Minister Olmert, telling them that even those of us who love Israel and will never let it be destroyed find this particular action unconscionable, demand that Israel immediately rebuild the electricity system, and that Israel stop trying to impose its will with military might but instead sit down with the Palestinians and negotiate a lasting peace. Rabbi Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun magazine, the largest circulation liberal/progressive Jewish magazine in the world. He is rabbi of Beyt Tikkun synagogue in San Francisco, national chair of <http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=150325398&url_num=1&url=http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/hq/www.spiritualprogressives.org> The Network of Spiritual Progressives , and the author of ten books, most recently a 2006 national best-seller The Left Hand of God: Taking Back our Country from the Religious Right *********************************************** 9) Hezbollah seizes Israel soldiers BBC: Hezbollah seizes Israel soldiers http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5171616.stm The Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah has captured two Israeli soldiers during clashes across the Lebanese-Israeli border. There has been heavy fighting in the area with Hezbollah firing dozens of rockets and Israel responding with tank and artillery fire, and air strikes. Aircraft struck roads, bridges and guerrilla posts, Lebanese sources say, and there are reports of casualties. Israel's PM said anyone trying to test its resolve would "pay a heavy price". Israel says it is holding the Lebanese government responsible for the fate of the two soldiers, and demands immediate action. Israeli ground troops have entered southern Lebanon to search for the two soldiers, local media report. This operation has taken place as a kind of materialisation to the promise that Hezbollah has kept to the Lebanese Hezbollah TV news editor The news comes as a major Israeli offensive is under way in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli soldier was kidnapped by Palestinian militants in Israel over two weeks ago. Overnight, Israel carried out an air strike on a Gaza City house, killing at least six people and injuring 15. Hezbollah launched dozens of Katyusha rockets and mortar bombs at the Israeli town of Shlomi and at Israeli outposts in the disputed Shebaa Farms area. At least four Israelis were wounded in the clashes, reports say. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has called a special cabinet session later on Wednesday. Eying swap Announcement of the soldiers' capture was made on Hezbollah's television channel, al-Manar. It did not give many details about the capture operation, but the news anchor said more information would be released later. The group says it has captured the soldiers to secure the release of detainees held in Israeli prisons. "This operation has taken place as a kind of materialisation to the promise that Hezbollah has kept to the Lebanese, that they are going to do everything possible to make the swap," the chief news editor of Hezbollah Television, Ibrahim Moussawi, told the BBC's World TV. "[That is] because Israelis still occupy parts of Lebanon, and still hold hostages in their prisons. Some of them have been there more than 25 years." Hezbollah captured three Israeli soldiers in 2000 - they died during the operation, but their bodies were later exchanged for prisoners. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/5171616.stm Published: 2006/07/12 09:50:59 GMT © BBC MMVI *********************************************** -- -------------------------------------------------------- Escaping the Matrix website http://escapingthematrix.org/ cyberjournal website http://cyberjournal.org subscribe cyberjournal list mailto:•••@••.••• Posting archives http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/ Blogs: cyberjournal forum http://cyberjournal-rkm.blogspot.com/ Achieving real democracy http://harmonization.blogspot.com/ for readers of ETM http://matrixreaders.blogspot.com/ Community Empowerment http://empowermentinitiatives.blogspot.com/ Blogger made easy http://quaylargo.com/help/ezblogger.html
