25 may 2016
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) confiscated 1000-meter-long plastic water pipes that belong to the Palestinian farmer Abdulmahdi al-Salamain in al-Hadidiyah hamlet in the Jordan Valley and warned him of extending new water pipes.
The PIC reporter said that the hamlet, which is 33 kilometers far from east of Tubas, has been subjected to ceaseless demolition operations that affected most housing and agricultural facilities in the area by Israeli forces for the purpose of displacing its inhabitants.
The hamlet is inhabited by about 100 Palestinians who depend on agricultural and livestock for their living. They belong to Bsharat and Bani Odeh families who reside in Tammoun town in Tubas governorate.
The PIC reporter said that the hamlet, which is 33 kilometers far from east of Tubas, has been subjected to ceaseless demolition operations that affected most housing and agricultural facilities in the area by Israeli forces for the purpose of displacing its inhabitants.
The hamlet is inhabited by about 100 Palestinians who depend on agricultural and livestock for their living. They belong to Bsharat and Bani Odeh families who reside in Tammoun town in Tubas governorate.
24 may 2016
Israeli soldiers, and personnel of the Jerusalem City Council, invaded earlier on Tuesday the al-‘Eesawiyya town, in the center of occupied Jerusalem, and demolished several strictures. The soldiers also invaded Silwan town, and demolished a storage room.
Raed Abu Ryala (al-‘Eesawy), member of the Follow-Up Committee in al-‘Eesawiyya, said the soldiers demolished the foundations of a home, belonging to Mohammad Hussein Mustafa, in the ath-Thahra neighborhood, in addition to bulldozing a land, belonging to Amin Khallaf, and demolishing its surrounding walls, and some of its interior structures.
Abu Ryala added that a large army force invaded the town, after completely surrounding it, and declared it a closed military zone, leading to clashes with dozens of youths who hurled stones at the invading vehicles.
The soldiers also invaded Silwan town, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and demolished a storage room in Karm the ash-Sheikh neighborhood.
The soldiers also besieged the town, completely isolating it from its surrounding Palestinian communities.
Raed Abu Ryala (al-‘Eesawy), member of the Follow-Up Committee in al-‘Eesawiyya, said the soldiers demolished the foundations of a home, belonging to Mohammad Hussein Mustafa, in the ath-Thahra neighborhood, in addition to bulldozing a land, belonging to Amin Khallaf, and demolishing its surrounding walls, and some of its interior structures.
Abu Ryala added that a large army force invaded the town, after completely surrounding it, and declared it a closed military zone, leading to clashes with dozens of youths who hurled stones at the invading vehicles.
The soldiers also invaded Silwan town, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and demolished a storage room in Karm the ash-Sheikh neighborhood.
The soldiers also besieged the town, completely isolating it from its surrounding Palestinian communities.
Israeli soldiers kidnapped, earlier on Tuesday, two Palestinians in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, while a number of fanatic Israeli colonizers stole furniture of two Palestinian homes that were closed under direct military orders.
The WAFA News Agency has reported that several army vehicles invaded the al-‘Arroub refugee camp, near Hebron, before breaking into and searching many homes, and kidnapped two Palestinians, identified as Bayan Khaled al-Badawi, 27, and ‘Ali Jaber at-Teety, 21.
The soldiers also summoned Mohammad Issa Jawabra, 20, for interrogation in the Etzion military and security base.
On Monday evening, a number of fanatic Israeli colonizers invaded an alley, linking between the Shuhada and Shallala streets, in Hebron city, breaking into two homes, that were forced shut under military orders.
The assailants destroyed furniture in the two homes, and stole furniture from them, before leaving the area.
The two homes are owned by two families, Sayyed Ahmad and Tahboob, and were closed under direct Israeli military orders, and the families are not allowed even to enter them briefly.
The WAFA News Agency has reported that several army vehicles invaded the al-‘Arroub refugee camp, near Hebron, before breaking into and searching many homes, and kidnapped two Palestinians, identified as Bayan Khaled al-Badawi, 27, and ‘Ali Jaber at-Teety, 21.
The soldiers also summoned Mohammad Issa Jawabra, 20, for interrogation in the Etzion military and security base.
On Monday evening, a number of fanatic Israeli colonizers invaded an alley, linking between the Shuhada and Shallala streets, in Hebron city, breaking into two homes, that were forced shut under military orders.
The assailants destroyed furniture in the two homes, and stole furniture from them, before leaving the area.
The two homes are owned by two families, Sayyed Ahmad and Tahboob, and were closed under direct Israeli military orders, and the families are not allowed even to enter them briefly.
23 may 2016
Israeli bulldozers from Beduel settlement on Sunday leveled Palestinian plots of land belonging to Deir Ballut town, west of Salfit province.
Eyewitnesses said that two bulldozers leveled a vast tract of land in the town and prepared it for the building of more housing units.
Specialist in settlement affairs Khaled Maali said that Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu had described the area extending from Ariel settlement to Beduel settlement as the balcony of Tel Aviv.
Maali added that Beduel settlement was founded in 1984 on annexed Palestinian lands belonging to Deir Ballut and Kafr Addik towns.
Eyewitnesses said that two bulldozers leveled a vast tract of land in the town and prepared it for the building of more housing units.
Specialist in settlement affairs Khaled Maali said that Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu had described the area extending from Ariel settlement to Beduel settlement as the balcony of Tel Aviv.
Maali added that Beduel settlement was founded in 1984 on annexed Palestinian lands belonging to Deir Ballut and Kafr Addik towns.
22 may 2016
By Kamel Hawwash
The cricket season is in full swing in England and this was possibly playing on my mind when I read this headline in Haaretz: “Israel seized Palestinian family's East Jerusalem land behind Its back, gave it to settler NGO.”
My immediate reaction was this is simply not cricket, a British term used to describe an act that is unfair, not honest, or immoral.
Israel should know all about this as it has a cricket team and one that is a member of the European Cricket Council. In fact, Israel expropriated the land from the Abu Ta’ah family in East Jerusalem without a tender and against the rules, then handed it over to Amana, an organisation that works to establish settlements and outposts for Jews.
A double whammy! Not only was the land taken from the family, it was given to an organisation that exists to take over as much Palestinian land as possible through any means, especially in occupied East Jerusalem, but worse was that - it will use it to establish its headquarters in the heart of Palestinian East Jerusalem.
Amana was formed as an offshoot of the messianic Zionist movement Gush Emunim and is run by Ze'ev Hever, a convicted terrorist. It has a long and chequered history of fabricating documents to take Palestinian land and property under the pretence that it once belonged to Jews or that it had been bought legally from previous owners. It was formed in 1976 with the goal of "establishing communities" only for Jews in the occupied territories.
An investigation into its subsidiary Al-Watan (Arabic name for homeland), a company run by Hever, revealed that 14 out of 15 supposed real estate acquisitions it made were forged. That isn’t cricket. Elad is another group that works to take over Palestinian property and land in East Jerusalem and settle it with Jews. It received $115 million in donations between 2006 and 2013, which, according to a Haaretz investigation, came mostly from companies registered in global tax shelters such as the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands and the Seychelles, and it is unclear who controls them.
Another group that benefits from these donations is Ateret Cohanim, an Israeli Jewish organisation which works for the creation of a Jewish majority in the Old City and Arab neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem. Two of its main funders are American Jewish businessman Irving Moskowitz and his wife Cherna Moskowitz.
In around 2000, Ateret Cohanim and Elad began to acquire land in Palestinian neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem outside the Old City and particularly around what they call the "City of David" area, which is part of the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan. Stories abound of Palestinian families in Silwan waking up to find Jewish settlers, protected by Israeli security forces, moving into homes in Silwan.
The methods used to take over land or property belonging to, or rented for decades by, Palestinians are many. One is to claim that Jews owned them prior to the establishment of the state of Israel and that they should revert to the state. The Palestinian families are evicted and the property turned over to settler organisations that move Jewish settlers into them, despite the settlers not being descendants of the supposed original Jewish owners. Appeals to the Israeli courts usually fail to reverse the takeover, and the "transfer" stands.
Palestinians not only see this as a deliberate policy to replace them with Jews with no connection to the properties, but as a form of incitement. That isn’t cricket. Another hotspot and focus for settler takeover of Palestinian homes is the Palestinian city of Alkhalil (Hebron). Ever since the first settlement was created there shortly after the Six Day War, and the planting of settlers in the centre of the city, settler groups and organisations have been working to occupy buildings to gently change the "demographics" in its centre.
An example of this was the takeover by dozens of settlers of parts of a Palestinian property on the sensitive Shuhada street, which they claimed they had bought legally. Protected by the Israeli army, the settlers are known to terrorise the local population of 200,000 inhabitants in order to push as many of them as possible to leave. Israel has also divided the Ibrahimi mosque, which it claims as the Cave of the Patriarch, against the will of the almost wholly Muslim population of the city. That isn’t cricket.
The practice of enticing Palestinians with substantial amounts of money to sell their properties to settler organisations is well established, and where the direct approach fails attempts to achieve this through devious and backhanded means are well known to Palestinians. This normally involves using Palestinians as front men to a sale to gain trust, but in reality the sale was always to settler organisations or individuals. Palestinians deal harshly with those who sell their property to settlers and, when found, the rogues who facilitate these shady deals are also targeted.
Another means of taking over Palestinian property and transferring it to Jewish settlers is the use of what is called the absentee property law. This framework allows Israel to confiscate Palestinian property where the owners left or were forced to flee as a result of the establishment of the state of Israel and were not able to (that is not allowed) to return. Initially, Israel had not applied this to East Jerusalem, but this changed in 2015 when the Supreme Court ruled that it could be applied to East Jerusalem, thus making it "legal" for homes to be taken and essentially handed over to settlers by the state.
This is in defiance of international law, which is clear that East Jerusalem is illegally occupied. Estimates of how much of Israel’s territory is confiscated under the absentee law is uncertain. However, the Independent’s Robert Fisk reported that when he interviewed the Israeli Custodian of Absentee Property, he estimated this to be up to 70 percent of the territory of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
What the above demonstrates is that Israel as a state and those organisations set up to increase the population of Jews living in the occupied Palestinian territories together use a combination of laws, forgeries, deceptions and outright brute force to take over Palestinian property to increase the presence of Jews, especially in East Jerusalem and Hebron.
The case of the Abu Ta’ah land in Sheikh Jarrah takes this a step further. The state itself was alleged to have used every trick in the book to complete this transfer, which the Palestinians see as blatant fabrication and theft. As the French work to convene an international peace conference to restart another round of futile talks between Palestinians and Israelis, there will be talk of confidence- and trust-building measures to create an atmosphere that helps both sides make the "necessary concessions".
Israel could start with ending its determined effort to replace Palestinians with settlers, suspend the absentee property law, and return the Abu Ta’ah land to its rightful owners. That would be cricket.
Kamel Hawwash is a British/Palestinian engineering professor based at the University of Birmingham and a long-standing campaigner for justice, especially for the Palestinian people. He is vice chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and appears regularly in the media as commentator on Middle East issues. - This article was published in the Middle East Eye website.
The cricket season is in full swing in England and this was possibly playing on my mind when I read this headline in Haaretz: “Israel seized Palestinian family's East Jerusalem land behind Its back, gave it to settler NGO.”
My immediate reaction was this is simply not cricket, a British term used to describe an act that is unfair, not honest, or immoral.
Israel should know all about this as it has a cricket team and one that is a member of the European Cricket Council. In fact, Israel expropriated the land from the Abu Ta’ah family in East Jerusalem without a tender and against the rules, then handed it over to Amana, an organisation that works to establish settlements and outposts for Jews.
A double whammy! Not only was the land taken from the family, it was given to an organisation that exists to take over as much Palestinian land as possible through any means, especially in occupied East Jerusalem, but worse was that - it will use it to establish its headquarters in the heart of Palestinian East Jerusalem.
Amana was formed as an offshoot of the messianic Zionist movement Gush Emunim and is run by Ze'ev Hever, a convicted terrorist. It has a long and chequered history of fabricating documents to take Palestinian land and property under the pretence that it once belonged to Jews or that it had been bought legally from previous owners. It was formed in 1976 with the goal of "establishing communities" only for Jews in the occupied territories.
An investigation into its subsidiary Al-Watan (Arabic name for homeland), a company run by Hever, revealed that 14 out of 15 supposed real estate acquisitions it made were forged. That isn’t cricket. Elad is another group that works to take over Palestinian property and land in East Jerusalem and settle it with Jews. It received $115 million in donations between 2006 and 2013, which, according to a Haaretz investigation, came mostly from companies registered in global tax shelters such as the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands and the Seychelles, and it is unclear who controls them.
Another group that benefits from these donations is Ateret Cohanim, an Israeli Jewish organisation which works for the creation of a Jewish majority in the Old City and Arab neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem. Two of its main funders are American Jewish businessman Irving Moskowitz and his wife Cherna Moskowitz.
In around 2000, Ateret Cohanim and Elad began to acquire land in Palestinian neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem outside the Old City and particularly around what they call the "City of David" area, which is part of the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan. Stories abound of Palestinian families in Silwan waking up to find Jewish settlers, protected by Israeli security forces, moving into homes in Silwan.
The methods used to take over land or property belonging to, or rented for decades by, Palestinians are many. One is to claim that Jews owned them prior to the establishment of the state of Israel and that they should revert to the state. The Palestinian families are evicted and the property turned over to settler organisations that move Jewish settlers into them, despite the settlers not being descendants of the supposed original Jewish owners. Appeals to the Israeli courts usually fail to reverse the takeover, and the "transfer" stands.
Palestinians not only see this as a deliberate policy to replace them with Jews with no connection to the properties, but as a form of incitement. That isn’t cricket. Another hotspot and focus for settler takeover of Palestinian homes is the Palestinian city of Alkhalil (Hebron). Ever since the first settlement was created there shortly after the Six Day War, and the planting of settlers in the centre of the city, settler groups and organisations have been working to occupy buildings to gently change the "demographics" in its centre.
An example of this was the takeover by dozens of settlers of parts of a Palestinian property on the sensitive Shuhada street, which they claimed they had bought legally. Protected by the Israeli army, the settlers are known to terrorise the local population of 200,000 inhabitants in order to push as many of them as possible to leave. Israel has also divided the Ibrahimi mosque, which it claims as the Cave of the Patriarch, against the will of the almost wholly Muslim population of the city. That isn’t cricket.
The practice of enticing Palestinians with substantial amounts of money to sell their properties to settler organisations is well established, and where the direct approach fails attempts to achieve this through devious and backhanded means are well known to Palestinians. This normally involves using Palestinians as front men to a sale to gain trust, but in reality the sale was always to settler organisations or individuals. Palestinians deal harshly with those who sell their property to settlers and, when found, the rogues who facilitate these shady deals are also targeted.
Another means of taking over Palestinian property and transferring it to Jewish settlers is the use of what is called the absentee property law. This framework allows Israel to confiscate Palestinian property where the owners left or were forced to flee as a result of the establishment of the state of Israel and were not able to (that is not allowed) to return. Initially, Israel had not applied this to East Jerusalem, but this changed in 2015 when the Supreme Court ruled that it could be applied to East Jerusalem, thus making it "legal" for homes to be taken and essentially handed over to settlers by the state.
This is in defiance of international law, which is clear that East Jerusalem is illegally occupied. Estimates of how much of Israel’s territory is confiscated under the absentee law is uncertain. However, the Independent’s Robert Fisk reported that when he interviewed the Israeli Custodian of Absentee Property, he estimated this to be up to 70 percent of the territory of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
What the above demonstrates is that Israel as a state and those organisations set up to increase the population of Jews living in the occupied Palestinian territories together use a combination of laws, forgeries, deceptions and outright brute force to take over Palestinian property to increase the presence of Jews, especially in East Jerusalem and Hebron.
The case of the Abu Ta’ah land in Sheikh Jarrah takes this a step further. The state itself was alleged to have used every trick in the book to complete this transfer, which the Palestinians see as blatant fabrication and theft. As the French work to convene an international peace conference to restart another round of futile talks between Palestinians and Israelis, there will be talk of confidence- and trust-building measures to create an atmosphere that helps both sides make the "necessary concessions".
Israel could start with ending its determined effort to replace Palestinians with settlers, suspend the absentee property law, and return the Abu Ta’ah land to its rightful owners. That would be cricket.
Kamel Hawwash is a British/Palestinian engineering professor based at the University of Birmingham and a long-standing campaigner for justice, especially for the Palestinian people. He is vice chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and appears regularly in the media as commentator on Middle East issues. - This article was published in the Middle East Eye website.
The European Union (EU) condemned the confiscation and demolition operations that have been practiced by Israeli forces against hundreds of Palestinians’ homes in the West Bank and Occupied Jerusalem since the beginning of the year.
In a statement on Saturday, the EU said that the demolition and confiscation operations affected Palestinians' temporary houses and Bedouin compounds funded by the EU.
The statement warned of forced displacement of Palestinians in these areas and stressed the EU’s objection to the Israeli settlement schemes in Area E1 which is located between Occupied Jerusalem and Ramallah.
Israeli authorities confiscated and razed a total of 12 caravans in Jabal al-Baba complex to the east of Alezariya town last week.
The demolition and confiscation in this area aimed at evacuating the zone between Maale Adumim settlement and east of Jerusalem for the implementation of the project called “Great Jerusalem” which is also known as "Jerusalem 2020".
In a statement on Saturday, the EU said that the demolition and confiscation operations affected Palestinians' temporary houses and Bedouin compounds funded by the EU.
The statement warned of forced displacement of Palestinians in these areas and stressed the EU’s objection to the Israeli settlement schemes in Area E1 which is located between Occupied Jerusalem and Ramallah.
Israeli authorities confiscated and razed a total of 12 caravans in Jabal al-Baba complex to the east of Alezariya town last week.
The demolition and confiscation in this area aimed at evacuating the zone between Maale Adumim settlement and east of Jerusalem for the implementation of the project called “Great Jerusalem” which is also known as "Jerusalem 2020".
Israeli navy ships opened fire, on Sunday morning, at several Palestinian fishing boats near the shore in Gaza waters, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, kidnapped ten fishers, and confiscated five boats in two separate attacks.
Zakariyya Abu Bakr, the head of the Fishers Committees of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees said the kidnapped fishers have been identified as Rasem Ishaq Zayed, Mohammad Ishaq Zayed, Saqer Younis Zayed, Ayman Younis Zayed, Khaled Mahmoud Zayed, As’ad Mohammad Sultan, Mohammad Mahmoud Sultan and Ayman Mahmoud Sultan.
The fishers, who were kidnapped in the second attack, have been identified as Ahmad Mohammad Zayed and Ibrahim Zayed.
They were all taken to an unknown destination, after the navy towed their boats.
The attack is part of repeated Israeli violations against the fishers in the besieged coastal region, in addition to its attacks against Gaza farmers and workers, in Palestinian lands close to the border fence.
Zakariyya Abu Bakr, the head of the Fishers Committees of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees said the kidnapped fishers have been identified as Rasem Ishaq Zayed, Mohammad Ishaq Zayed, Saqer Younis Zayed, Ayman Younis Zayed, Khaled Mahmoud Zayed, As’ad Mohammad Sultan, Mohammad Mahmoud Sultan and Ayman Mahmoud Sultan.
The fishers, who were kidnapped in the second attack, have been identified as Ahmad Mohammad Zayed and Ibrahim Zayed.
They were all taken to an unknown destination, after the navy towed their boats.
The attack is part of repeated Israeli violations against the fishers in the besieged coastal region, in addition to its attacks against Gaza farmers and workers, in Palestinian lands close to the border fence.
19 may 2016
The Israeli occupation army on Wednesday afternoon informed Palestinian citizens of its intention to remove their agricultural water tanks in Beit Ummar town, north of al-Khalil city.
Media activist Mohamed Awad reported that an employee from the civil administration of the Israeli army escorted by soldiers handed demolition notices against four water tanks in the areas of Beit Zatta, al-Ferdaws, and Thagrat al-Shabk to the north and east of the town.
Awad told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that those tanks belong to citizens from the families of Abu Mariya and Barghit.
He pointed out that those agricultural tanks were built as part of a project funded by the European Union (EU) to develop Palestinian water sources and agricultural lands in the West Bank.
Media activist Mohamed Awad reported that an employee from the civil administration of the Israeli army escorted by soldiers handed demolition notices against four water tanks in the areas of Beit Zatta, al-Ferdaws, and Thagrat al-Shabk to the north and east of the town.
Awad told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that those tanks belong to citizens from the families of Abu Mariya and Barghit.
He pointed out that those agricultural tanks were built as part of a project funded by the European Union (EU) to develop Palestinian water sources and agricultural lands in the West Bank.
Israeli municipal bulldozers on Wednesday demolished al-Araqeeb village in the Negev and displaced its residents for the 98th time.
Chief of the village Abu Sayyah Attouri said that bulldozers and municipal employees escorted by police forces stormed the village and embarked on removing all homes and structures at the pretext of unlicensed construction.
The Israeli authorities started to demolish the village, which is one of 45 Palestinian villages in the Negev unrecognized by Israel, in July 2010.
Attouri told Quds Press that over the past years, the village had been destroyed 97 times, but "after every demolition, the residents rebuilt their homes to confirm their insistence on not leaving their land."
The Israeli authorities keep demolishing the village to force its residents to leave their land and live in a residential area which was established for the Negev Bedouins displaced from their homes.
Chief of the village Abu Sayyah Attouri said that bulldozers and municipal employees escorted by police forces stormed the village and embarked on removing all homes and structures at the pretext of unlicensed construction.
The Israeli authorities started to demolish the village, which is one of 45 Palestinian villages in the Negev unrecognized by Israel, in July 2010.
Attouri told Quds Press that over the past years, the village had been destroyed 97 times, but "after every demolition, the residents rebuilt their homes to confirm their insistence on not leaving their land."
The Israeli authorities keep demolishing the village to force its residents to leave their land and live in a residential area which was established for the Negev Bedouins displaced from their homes.
18 may 2016
Israeli military bulldozers demolished at dawn Wednesday a Palestinian home in Shufat neighborhood north of occupied Jerusalem.
Media sources said that Israel bulldozers stormed at dawn Wednesday Shufat neighborhood amid heavy presence of Israeli policemen who imposed a tight security cordon on the area.
Israeli forces violently evacuate the house, owned by Rajeh Hawarin, before starting the demolition process. Hawarin stated that his house was built in 2001 on an area of 150 meters, pointing out that his seven family members became homeless.
Israeli authorities issued the demolition order in 2012 under the pretext of establishing a settlement project to link between Ramot Shlomo and Pisgat Ze'ev illegal settlements.
In 2001, Israeli forces demolished another home owned by Rajeh Hawarin for allegedly being built without permit.
Earlier Tuesday, two Jerusalemite homes were demolished under the same pretext. During the last four years, Israel has demolished homes in occupied Jerusalem on an unprecedented scale:
House demolition for alleged "military need," demolition of houses built without permits, and the demolition of houses as punishment. They all have one result - thousands of people, most of them children, made homeless.
Media sources said that Israel bulldozers stormed at dawn Wednesday Shufat neighborhood amid heavy presence of Israeli policemen who imposed a tight security cordon on the area.
Israeli forces violently evacuate the house, owned by Rajeh Hawarin, before starting the demolition process. Hawarin stated that his house was built in 2001 on an area of 150 meters, pointing out that his seven family members became homeless.
Israeli authorities issued the demolition order in 2012 under the pretext of establishing a settlement project to link between Ramot Shlomo and Pisgat Ze'ev illegal settlements.
In 2001, Israeli forces demolished another home owned by Rajeh Hawarin for allegedly being built without permit.
Earlier Tuesday, two Jerusalemite homes were demolished under the same pretext. During the last four years, Israel has demolished homes in occupied Jerusalem on an unprecedented scale:
House demolition for alleged "military need," demolition of houses built without permits, and the demolition of houses as punishment. They all have one result - thousands of people, most of them children, made homeless.
17 may 2016
Israeli navy ships attacked, on Tuesday morning, several Palestinian fishing boats, kidnapped two fishers, and confiscated their boat, before towing it to the Ashdod Port.
The Palestinian Fishers Syndicate said the two kidnapped fishers have been identified as Samer Zayed and his brother Ibrahim.
In related news, the army released eight fishers, who were among ten fishers kidnapped in Gaza territorial waters, northwest of Gaza city, on Sunday. The two other fishers remained held by Israel.
There are approximately 3500 fishers in the Gaza Strip; they own around 700 boats, and provide income to more than 70.000 Palestinians.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) issued a statistical report, just a few days ago, documenting 47 Israeli attacks against the Palestinian fishers since the beginning of this year.
The attacks included 24 incidents of live navy fire against the fishers, leading to the injury of five of them, and the abduction of 35 others, in addition to the confiscation of nine boats.
The Palestinian Fishers Syndicate said the two kidnapped fishers have been identified as Samer Zayed and his brother Ibrahim.
In related news, the army released eight fishers, who were among ten fishers kidnapped in Gaza territorial waters, northwest of Gaza city, on Sunday. The two other fishers remained held by Israel.
There are approximately 3500 fishers in the Gaza Strip; they own around 700 boats, and provide income to more than 70.000 Palestinians.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) issued a statistical report, just a few days ago, documenting 47 Israeli attacks against the Palestinian fishers since the beginning of this year.
The attacks included 24 incidents of live navy fire against the fishers, leading to the injury of five of them, and the abduction of 35 others, in addition to the confiscation of nine boats.
The Israeli police demolished Tuesday morning two homes in occupied Jerusalem for being allegedly built without permit.
According to the PIC reporter, Israeli bulldozers demolished two homes owned by Totah and Tounji families in Sawana neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem for allegedly being built without Israeli permit.
Large numbers of Israeli police imposed at dawn Tuesday a tight military cordon surrounding the area and asked the two families to evacuate their houses before starting demolishing both of them.
16 members of Tounji, the majority of them children, were left homeless after the demolition process of their home.
During the last four years, Israel has demolished homes in occupied Jerusalem on an unprecedented scale: House demolition for alleged "military need," demolition of houses built without permits, and the demolition of houses as punishment.
They all have one result - thousands of people, most of them children, made homeless.
According to the PIC reporter, Israeli bulldozers demolished two homes owned by Totah and Tounji families in Sawana neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem for allegedly being built without Israeli permit.
Large numbers of Israeli police imposed at dawn Tuesday a tight military cordon surrounding the area and asked the two families to evacuate their houses before starting demolishing both of them.
16 members of Tounji, the majority of them children, were left homeless after the demolition process of their home.
During the last four years, Israel has demolished homes in occupied Jerusalem on an unprecedented scale: House demolition for alleged "military need," demolition of houses built without permits, and the demolition of houses as punishment.
They all have one result - thousands of people, most of them children, made homeless.
16 may 2016
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Monday demolished seven prefabricated homes funded by the European Union (EU) in a Bedouin area east of Occupied Jerusalem as well as an agricultural structure in Tulkarem city.
Local sources said that an Israeli municipal crew escorted by soldiers and settlers stormed at about five o'clock in the morning Jabal al-Baba Bedouin community in Alezariya town, east Jerusalem, and embarked on removing EU-funded mobile homes.
56 families of 300 individuals, mostly children, live in Jabal al-Baba community and depend on raising livestock as a main source of income and livelihood.
Since 2014, the Israeli occupation army has carried 20 demolition campaigns against this Bedouin community, which is located in an area that Israel wants to seize for its settlement expansion activities.
In a separate incident, IOF bulldozers demolished an agricultural structure in Deir al-Ghusun plains, north of Tulkarem, belonging to Jalal Ghanem.
Local sources said that an Israeli municipal crew escorted by soldiers and settlers stormed at about five o'clock in the morning Jabal al-Baba Bedouin community in Alezariya town, east Jerusalem, and embarked on removing EU-funded mobile homes.
56 families of 300 individuals, mostly children, live in Jabal al-Baba community and depend on raising livestock as a main source of income and livelihood.
Since 2014, the Israeli occupation army has carried 20 demolition campaigns against this Bedouin community, which is located in an area that Israel wants to seize for its settlement expansion activities.
In a separate incident, IOF bulldozers demolished an agricultural structure in Deir al-Ghusun plains, north of Tulkarem, belonging to Jalal Ghanem.
The Israeli occupation navy on Sunday evening kidnapped 10 fishermen and confiscated two fishing boats off the northern coast of the Gaza Strip.
According to a local committee documenting violations against fishermen, Israeli gunboats chased two fishing boats and rounded up everyone aboard them before towing them to an undeclared place.
The committee identified the detainees as Jamil Adas, Adham Ashwah, Hasan Madi, Khaled Baker, and his brothers, Khamis and Ghaleb, as well as four others from the family of Baker.
In a related context, al-Mizan Center for Human Rights said that the Israeli navy has escalated its violations against Palestinian fishermen since April 3, 2016. Those violations included gunfire attacks, arrests and appropriation of fishing gear and boats.
According to a local committee documenting violations against fishermen, Israeli gunboats chased two fishing boats and rounded up everyone aboard them before towing them to an undeclared place.
The committee identified the detainees as Jamil Adas, Adham Ashwah, Hasan Madi, Khaled Baker, and his brothers, Khamis and Ghaleb, as well as four others from the family of Baker.
In a related context, al-Mizan Center for Human Rights said that the Israeli navy has escalated its violations against Palestinian fishermen since April 3, 2016. Those violations included gunfire attacks, arrests and appropriation of fishing gear and boats.
12 may 2016
The Israeli municipal crews on Thursday handed over al-Issawi family a home demolition notice under the pretext of being built without permit.
Um Tarek al-Issawi, the mother of Samer, Shireen, and Medhat who are held currently in Israeli jails, said that she has received a notice from the Israeli municipality regarding their intention to demolish their house, for being constructed “without an Israeli permit.”
She affirmed that the family’s house was built in 1970. Al-Issawi said the decision to demolish her house was prompted by the Israeli intelligence, and described it as an act of “reprisal” against the entire family.
She said such a decision aims at “breaking the steadfastness” of her three imprisoned sons and daughter. The lawyer Shireen al-Issawi was recently sentenced for four years, while her brother Medhat was sentenced for eight years. Israel re-imposed decades-long sentence against prominent Palestinian political prisoner Samer al-Issawi, who had been released following a prisoner swap in late 2011.
Issawi was first arrested during Israel’s large-scale invasion of the West Bank in 2002 and was sentenced to thirty years imprisonment on charges of possession of weapons and involvement in armed resistance in Jerusalem. He was one of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners released in late 2011 in exchange for an Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza.
But just a few months later, al-Issawi, from the Jerusalem-area village of Issawiyeh, was arrested again after visiting Kufr Aqab, a nearby community within the Israeli-defined municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. Israel claims that he violated the 2011 release deal by leaving the city.
After his arrest in 2012, Issawi launched a 266-day hunger strike protest within Israel’s prison walls. He was released in late December 2013 after 17 months of detention without charge or trial, a practice known as administrative detention. Al-Issawi’s latest arrest came in June 2014, when a large force of Israeli soldiers and officers raided his family’s home.
Um Tarek al-Issawi, the mother of Samer, Shireen, and Medhat who are held currently in Israeli jails, said that she has received a notice from the Israeli municipality regarding their intention to demolish their house, for being constructed “without an Israeli permit.”
She affirmed that the family’s house was built in 1970. Al-Issawi said the decision to demolish her house was prompted by the Israeli intelligence, and described it as an act of “reprisal” against the entire family.
She said such a decision aims at “breaking the steadfastness” of her three imprisoned sons and daughter. The lawyer Shireen al-Issawi was recently sentenced for four years, while her brother Medhat was sentenced for eight years. Israel re-imposed decades-long sentence against prominent Palestinian political prisoner Samer al-Issawi, who had been released following a prisoner swap in late 2011.
Issawi was first arrested during Israel’s large-scale invasion of the West Bank in 2002 and was sentenced to thirty years imprisonment on charges of possession of weapons and involvement in armed resistance in Jerusalem. He was one of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners released in late 2011 in exchange for an Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza.
But just a few months later, al-Issawi, from the Jerusalem-area village of Issawiyeh, was arrested again after visiting Kufr Aqab, a nearby community within the Israeli-defined municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. Israel claims that he violated the 2011 release deal by leaving the city.
After his arrest in 2012, Issawi launched a 266-day hunger strike protest within Israel’s prison walls. He was released in late December 2013 after 17 months of detention without charge or trial, a practice known as administrative detention. Al-Issawi’s latest arrest came in June 2014, when a large force of Israeli soldiers and officers raided his family’s home.
