[IMC-IT] urgente: report dalla palestina

[francesca]

da tradurre al + presto, report giornaliero deli internazionali in
palestina...grazie


-------- Messaggio originale --------
Oggetto: [pcraddressbook] ISM Updates July 1st
Da: "Rapprochement Centre" <pcr@p-ol.com>
Data: Mon, Luglio 1, 2002 8:12 am
A: <pcraddressbook@yahoogroups.com>



Part I: reports from ISM activists in Palestine

1-INTERNATIONAL CIVILIANS WITNESS MASS DETENTION
2-INTERNATIONALS STOP TANK ADVANCEMENT WITH BODIES
3-Updates from ISM activists in Palestine

Part II: News and Articles

1-The Qalandiya wall (Ahmad Sub Laban )

****************************************************************************************
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
Sunday, June 30, 2002 1330


INTERNATIONAL CIVILIANS WITNESS MASS DETENTION

[RAMALLAH] 20 international civilians are in Amaari Refugee Camp near
downtown Ramallah and 15 more are being detained by Occupation forces.
They are witnessing Israeli soldiers take men, ages 15 to 50, from their
homes. Soldiers are going house to house, marking those they have
checked.

The internationals are reporting that over 150 men are being held in a
school field under the hot sun. Many of the Palestinian men have been
held since the operation began at 0430. The men have been split into
three major groups, with some smaller groups being held at gunpoint in
other locations. Many of the men are tied and blindfolded. The entire
camp has been sealed off by Israeli tanks and APC's.

The soldiers are interfering with witnesses who are trying to insure that
the Palestinian's human rights are not being violated. Occupation forces
are refusing to give their names or numbers to the international
witnesses and have  fired warning shots over their heads. The soldiers
are denying entry to one group of internationals and have threatened
individuals with arrest.

Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states "No protected person
may be punished for an offense he or she has not committed", and
"collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of
terrorism are prohibited".

For more information in Amaari contact:
Huwaida Arraf 067 473 308
Tamara Rettino 056 489 346
Megan McKenzie 056 367 148
Amy Laura Cahn 056 383 263

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


INTERNATIONALS STOP TANK ADVANCEMENT WITH BODIES
                   Arrest of American peace activist and journalists


[NABLUS] Earlier today international peace activists investigated a home
that local Palestinians believed was seized by the military. After
determining that Israeli soldiers had indeed taken the top floor of the
house they tried to speak with the family. The family is confined to the
top floor and was not allowed to speak freely with the internationals.

In the street internationals made signs warning the local population of
the military presence. One armored personnel carrier (APC), one tank and
a bulldozer rolled down the street towards the house. With local press
from Reuters and other agencies as well as the internationals taping,
four international civilians representing the USA, UK, Canada and Israel
laid down in the street effectively stopping the advancement of the
Israeli military. Israeli forces resorted to violence launching tear gas
and sound grenades at them but the activists held fast.

The military backed away and approached from another direction and the
same situation was replayed.

Israeli army jeeps arrived and arrested the press, forcing them into
jeeps and taking them to an uknown location. The journalists are: Hassan
Titti and Abed Qusini from Reuters. One American peace activist, Eric
Levine, was forced into another jeep and hauled away.

At this point we are trying to determine Eric's condition and
whereabouts. International civilians are still intent on protecting the
family from the Israeli military and will remain in the area.

Video footage may be available.

For more information in Nablus contact:
Rae Levine – 056-382-317
Neta Golan – 059-871-055
Marissa McLaughlin – 067-360-810

For more information on The International Solidarity Movement contact:
Huwaida Arraf – 052-642-709 or 067-473-308
Ghassan Andoni 052 595 319

*****************************************************************************************************************************
Updates from ISM activists in Palestine

1. Update from Rae
2. Update from Cathy
3. Update on Wendy
4. Update on Mary E.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Update from Rae

Yesterday was incredible. We had a great demonstration of about 100
people - 30 internationals and 70 Palestinians. We walked through the Old
City  of Nablus on the main street, and in the main square in defiance of
curfew. It was covered on CNN, BBC, Al Jaazera and by local paper & TV.
Everyone here was so pleased ... it was completely non-violent (young
boys marched with us but did not throw stones) and we were not confronted
by soldiers at any point, so it was a complete victory of breaking
curfew.

Later in the day we went to an apartment building that has been taken
over by Israeli soldiers. They have evicted the residents of the roof
flat to use it as their headquarters, have put an Israeli flag on the
roof, and are holding 6 families with 25 children and 18 adults in house
arrest... We are trying to help them negotiate basic things with the
soldiers, but their main concern is to get the soldiers out. We need to
see about launching a campaign in support of this building and about 9
others like it in Nablus.

Please let everyone know that we are doing fine. The warmth and
hospitality of the people here is beyond anything I have ever
experienced. It will be difficult to leave here in a few days. People
here are very appreciative of our efforts and say that our involvement is
helping to boost their spirits and solidarity with one another.  Can't
write more now. Rae
*****************************

2. Update from Cathy

I arrived in Israel on Thursday without any major difficulty at the
airport, just jet lag from such a long trip and 10 hours time change...
I'm staying at the Faisal Hostel in Jerusalem, right across from the
Damascus Gate into the Old City. It's amazing being here- there are two
completely separate worlds...the Jewish areas which are very modern and
expensive, and the Muslim Quarter which is very poor. There are young
soldiers (18 year olds) walking around everywhere with machine guns,
sometimes stopping cars and harassing people...

So far I've met wonderful people from England, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden,
Germany, Korea, and Japan. There's also a group of Quakers who came to
make a human chain for peace around the old city. On Monday, we will have
a training and then we will be going into the West Bank and/or Gaza. I'll
write again when I know where I'm going. Today I'm going to be a real
tourist and visit historic sites, learn how to work my new camera, and
watch the soccer game at a reasonable hour...2:30 p.m.!

The weather is really hot in the day, but really pleasant in the early
morning or late afternoon evening. We also went yesterday to a
demonstration by Women in Black against the occupation. It was small but
encouraging to see Israeli women having the courage to speak out and call
for an end to the occupation. There was a counter-demonstration by right
wing extremists calling for "transfer" of all Arabs out of Palestine.
Hope you are all well!  Love, Cathy
*****************************
3. Update on Wendy from Greg (support contact)

Yesterday Wendy traveled to a small village called Deir Ibzi, near
Ramallah and the Green Line. In the process, she had the opportunity to
experience first hand the way IDF check points impede travel and isolate
Palestinian communities. This particular village has been cutoff for four
months by the IDF. When villagers attempted to bring in food via car,
soldiers shot the tires out. So villagers now bring food in over the
mountains using donkeys. Similarly, anyone seeking medical care must go
over the mountains to Ramallah.

A German Palestinian is organizing a summer camp for the children of the
village. He has asked that internationals participate hoping this will
discourage the IDF from breaking up the summer camp. Wendy's affinity
group volunteered since several of its members work with children
professionally. The IDF has not been in the village for a couple weeks
and it appears quite safe.

Prior to leaving for Deir Ibzi, Wendy's affinity group had spent the
night sleeping in a hospital waiting room (due to the availability of
accommodations and/or as international witnesses?). The IDF has just
blown up all the cars in the hospital's parking lot. Apparently the IDF
had been crushing Palestinian cars parked on the street with their tanks,
so the Palestinians started parking them in parking lots. The IDF
responded by blowing the cars up. Another example of "Occupation Logic"
presumably.
*****************************
4. Update on Mary E. from Leif (support contact)

The ISM'ers had spent the day ant the night at the hospital...At one
point, a group of ISM'ers were out in the hospital yard doing yoga
together in a circle. The Israelis were really interested, and the tanks
kept driving by to look at them. Whenever they would hear a tank coming,
they'd hold the pose just a little longer to give them a show!  In the
morning they decided to go their separate ways (some went to Nablus to
help with a curfew-breaking, nonviolent protest - a bunch of ISM'ers and
Palestinians took part). A crowd of 12 or so ISM'ers (a bunch came just
for the day, and to help carry art supplies and things for the kids in
Deir Ibzi - Arla brought art stuff!) started out walking toward Deir
Ibzi. Huwaida and Adam (two of the ISM coordinators in Palestine) went
with them.

It was "a little like backpacking, but with burned out cars". They came
across some Israelis in an APC (armored personnel carrier) pretty quickly
(remember, Ramallah's under curfew at this point). They were "like ants
crawling out the of the APC", these young soldiers. But "most of these
kids [the soldiers] don't even know what's going on. They don't read the
news". Their little commander asked the ISM'ers if they had been
"checked." Of course they said "Yes". As they walked through Ramallah,
people started looking out through their windows, saying "Hi", flashing
peace signs, and word spread, more and more people were hanging out of
windows, little kids started following them.

People are so ready for any sign of hope, of something other than curfew
and Israelis with guns. They found a taxi amid the rubble heaps, quite by
chance, and rode until more rubble from destroyed houses blocked the
road. They walked the rest of the way to Deir Ibzi.

Deir Ibzi is near Ramallah on the eastern side of the West Bank. It's an
incredibly beautiful place, overflowing with fig trees, bouganvia, grape
arbors and olive trees. Most of the houses are cement, but they have nice
courtyards. people grow their own vegetables. The building styles are
odd- a funky house with polished granite stairs, or beautiful tilework.
Wendy said that it looked like Guatemala, but with nicer houses. The
dusty and funky town is surrounded by terraced hillsides, and Israeli
settlements-shiningly new-looking, and covered in greenery.

The locals have been locked down by the Israeli army since February. The
town had a checkpoint before that, and people could come and go on a
limited basis. A couple of Palestinians were killed, and quite a few
wounded at the checkpoint over the course of its presence. In February, 6
soldiers were killed at the checkpoint, and in retaliation, the IDF shut
down and instituted a curfew in Deir Ibzi. Since then, the townspeople
have been unable to work, go to school, travel to Ramallah for heath
care, and so on. When the need is very urgent, people can hike for
several hours over a mountain that lies between Ramallah and Deir Ibzi.
In addition to being more strenuous than appropriate for women on the
verge of labor, the seriously ill or the aged, Israeli snipers hide out
in the trees and shoot at Palestinians who try to take this route. It's
quite a cat-and-mouse game apparently-Palestinians hiding in the trees
from the snipers, who are trying to hide from the Palestinians.

There are illegal donkey caravans that cross the mountain on a regular
basis to bring food and other staples. Everything is very tenuous. When
they got into town, a large group of people from the village started
telling the ISM'ers stories of the occupation. Once they got started, it
was clear that there were so many stories that they could have sat there
for many hours. There are 35 families in this town, and about 1800
people. The ISM'ers are going to hold a summer camp for the 120 young
children of the
village.

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

The Qalandiya wall
Published http://www.palestinereport.org on September 16, 2002

by Ahmad Sub Laban

SIXTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD Um Mazen Awad lives in Sameer Amees - just inside the
Qalandiya checkpoint. Her husband Jamil suffers from complete paralysis
and requires regular therapy and checkups. These once took place at home,
or at a Jerusalem doctor registered with their Israeli medical insurance.


But now, says Um Mazen, their insurance is worthless. "Since the
checkpoint was erected, the services once provided to my husband have
stopped and because of the closure, we cannot even get the medicine that
he has been prescribed."

There are a total of 15,000 Jerusalem residents living in the four
quarters of Sameer Amis, Kufr Aqab, the Airport and the Zghayar
neighborhood, all of which fall on the Ramallah side of the Qalandiya
checkpoint. As Israel gradually widened the boundaries of East Jerusalem
north after occupying and annexing it, these neighborhoods were drawn
into the municipality. But since the establishment of the massive
Qalandiya checkpoint nearly two years ago, residents complain that they
pay all the city's taxes and get none of its services.

Some of the families in these neighborhoods went so far as to file a suit
in Israeli courts, claiming that the establishment of the checkpoint was
illegal, and demanding that it be removed.

In response, the Israeli court ordered attorneys for the state to submit
a document outlining changes to be carried out at the checkpoint between
May 7 and June 10. Israeli army officials had argued in court that they
planned to make amends and facilitate passage for Jerusalem residents
living beyond the checkpoint and that the changes had  already begun on
the ground.

Truth is, some changes have been made over the last month. The army set
up a huge canopy on the Ramallah side to shield those in the queue from
the hot sun, and created two separate passages for men and women. Female
soldiers were stationed at the checkpoint in order to search women
travelers. When one inquisitive young Palestinian  asked a soldier why
the canopy was put up, he answered that the army was just responding to
the court's ruling to improve the checkpoint.

Still, most of these changes only underscore that those on the Ramallah
side of Qalandiya must still wait in line to cross the checkpoint and get
to the heart of Jerusalem. The decision essentially legitimizes the
presence of the checkpoint and dismisses the Jerusalem identity card
holders in the four Jerusalem neighborhoods on the other side.

In this last month, the inconvenience of the checkpoint has been stark.
Twice, the Qalandiya checkpoint has been sealed for three consecutive
days. People were neither allowed to cross it nor were they permitted to
use side roads to circumvent it. Young journalist Hiba Tahan, who lives
in Samer Amees, says she missed several days at her job  in Jerusalem
because of the continuous closing of the checkpoint. Twice this month,
she was forced to sleep at a friend's house because the soldiers at
Qalandiya would not let her go home.

Tahan says that she is always late for work because of the morning jam at
the checkpoint. People queue to wait for a sign from the patrolling
soldiers to come forward, have their papers checked and then be permitted
to go on to the other side.

"To get to my house usually only takes me 20 minutes in ordinary times,"
says Tahan. "Now I have to wait more than three hours to cross the
checkpoint." Sometimes, she doesn't make it to work at all.

Duties without rights
What aggravates the Jerusalem residents the most is that they are forced
to pay city taxes, but receive none of their benefits. "For three months
I have not been able to seek treatment in Jerusalem," says 36-year-old
Khalil Nofal, a shop owner in Sameer Amees. "I have been forced to pay
from my own pocket despite that my financial situation is very bad. But I
refuse to humiliate myself before the soldiers."

Jerusalem residents are committed to paying the costs of Israeli health
insurance as part of their residency status. But those who live beyond
Qalandiya have trouble getting to Jerusalem clinics or hospitals because
of the checkpoint delay. Instead, they use Ramallah clinics at their own
expense.

"I would like to know why they set up this checkpoint," Nofal asks
angrily, "They claim that it is for safety reasons. But if that were
true, why did they not put the checkpoint on Jaffa Street in West
Jerusalem to protect them?" Nofal concludes that it is merely unjustified
collective punishment.

Um Mazen Awad agrees. "There are now no services offered to us in our
area. There is no sanitation, no lighting and even the street that the
municipality was repairing has not been completed. They stopped repairs
in the middle of the road."

Awad says that all the Jerusalem neighborhoods that fall beyond the
Qalandiya checkpoint are in the same boat. "It is not just Sameer Amees.
The services that the Jerusalem municipality used to provide to all four
neighborhoods in exchange for the high taxes collected from Jerusalem
residents are now almost non-existent. The municipality  does not do even
the simplest of tasks, like collecting the garbage, maintaining the
streetlights and electricity poles or repairing the streets. And this is
all under the pretext of deteriorating security conditions."

Economic disaster
Mohammed Harhash, 28, owns a pharmacy in the Qalandiya Airport
neighborhood, just meters from the checkpoint. For him, the checkpoint is
not a personal hassle, but an obstacle to keeping his business alive.

"Pharmacies and stores are suffering from a severe shortage of
nutritional products, such as baby formula," says Harhash. "I can no
longer bring medicines from Jerusalem or Bethlehem because of the siege
imposed on all of the Palestinian territories."

He says it is not bad enough that one must go through what he calls
"humiliating" security inspection at the checkpoint, but he is unable to
bring in the goods he needs to sell. Medical supplies as basic as aspirin
are in shortage. "The list of medicines that my pharmacy needs is long
and my supplies are running out faster every day," he laments. He says
the Harhash Pharmacy has incurred losses of 60 percent from a previously
brisk business.

Nofal reflects the same sentiments. A shop owner in Sameer Amees, Nofal
says that things just get worse and worse. "I am living through a
depression. I have a 60 percent loss from my store," he says. He says a
number of his former customers cannot get to him because of the
checkpoint. "Even Jerusalem residents that live on this side of the
checkpoint have decreased their purchases because of their tight
financial situation brought on by unemployment and their inability to
move around. They can't even buy the most basic foods."

Nofal continues, his face twisted in despair. "We can't bring in goods to
our stores because of the checkpoint. We have so much missing. Just look
at the shelves in my store - they're empty." Nofal is waiting for the
staples of milk and yogurt that now sit in the heat at the checkpoint
before making their way to his shelves. "It is the middle of the day and
still the goods have not reached us," he says, eyeing the afternoon sun.

Nofal speaks bitterly of a double standard that is out of his hands. "In
Jaffa Street in West Jerusalem, and all the stores in Jewish settlements
in East Jerusalem, none have been affected one bit by the security
situation that they talk about in Israel. Their stores are open and their
goods get to them and their customers buy whatever they come for."

No exceptions
Kholud Sidr, 21, lives in Kufr Aqab. She was a student in the Amal School
for Special Education in Essawiyeh for two months before she had to quit.
Now, her mother Basema says that not being able to go to school has
affected her mental state. "Kholoud has become very anxious. She is
always screaming because she can't go to school. Every day she waits for
the car to come get her and it never comes because of the checkpoint.
Then Kholoud starts crying."

The entire family is at their wit's end, Basema says. "We called the
school and told them of our situation and they said they would take up
the issue with the municipality. School was a haven for her but now she
is stuck in the house with nowhere else to go," says her mother, tears
welling in her eyes.

Yezen Tahboud, a 17-year-old student, carries a packet of papers as he
crosses the checkpoint every morning to get to school. With him is the
Arnona tax paper proving he lives in the Qalandiya Airport area, his
identification card and even a report card to show that he goes to a
Jerusalem school. "Despite all this, sometimes they still do not let us
cross. Then my friends and I are forced to take a winding dirt road where
we might be shot by the soldiers," says Tahboub. "The Israelis don't care
if we finish our education," he accuses. "Look at what they do to prevent
us from getting to school."

A lawless land
Nor are Jerusalem residents exempt from the destruction that is regular
fare at the Qalandiya crossing. Abed Abu Layla, 38, tried to avoid the
long queue of cars by parking and then crossing the checkpoint on foot.
"When I returned," he remembers, "I found that my car had been demolished
and burned. When I asked the neighbors what had happened, they said the
soldiers had destroyed my car and then burned it along with two other
cars. They also said the soldiers would not allow anyone to put out the
fire."

Abu Layla thought maybe he had some recourse - he went to the Israeli
police station at a nearby settlement to complain. But they sent him to
the army headquarters at Beit El. "Everyone knows that they don't even
let anyone go into this settlement," says Abu Layla. "You can imagine
their response when I wanted to complain about their soldiers."

While a friend whose car was also burned was finally issued a paper
confirming his loss for insurance purposes, Abu Layla says that no
investigation has been opened into the incident. "What can we do?" sighs
Abu Layla in resignation.

The daily travails of living beyond Qalandiya is aggravated by fears that
the Israeli government wants to make the checkpoint a permanent boundary
between Jerusalem and the West Bank, thus cutting off the four Jerusalem
neighborhoods from the city.

Residents do not mince words about this possibility. "This is
unacceptable," says Awad. "No one can dismiss the fact that we are
residents of Jerusalem and that our lives depend on Jerusalem where we
work and where our families are - especially the Israelis who, since the
start of the occupation, have made us pay high taxes to them under the
pretext that they treat us like citizens. They have no right to take our
money and then decide that we are no longer from Jerusalem."-Published
19/06/02 © 2002 Palestine Report. All rights reserved. Republication or
redistribution of Palestine Report or Palestine Report Online content is
expressly  prohibited without the prior written consent of  Palestine
Report.

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

==================================================The Palestinian Centre
for Rapprochement between People 64 Star Street, P.O.Box 24
Beit Sahour - Palestine
www.rapprochement.org
================================The center is a non-profit making NGO,
started in 1988 during the first Intifada. PCR runs community service
programs, youth empowerment and training programs. PCR is also very much
involved in the non-violent resistance against the Israeli Occupation to
Palestine.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
pcraddressbook-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com


Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/



-- 
ciao, francesca