Archive for May, 2007

The Losers are Too Numerous to Name - by Anna Baltzer

Wednesday, May 30th, 2007
Photo by Anna, IWPS

Palestinian performers depict typical scenes of interrogation, abuse, and torture of Palestinians in Israeli prisons and detention centers.

A few weeks ago I attended an event commemorating Palestinian Prisoner’s Day at Al Far’a Refugee Camp in the Tubas area. To enter the theatrical and cultural spectacle we had to pass through a makeshift checkpoint with soldiers pointing their guns in our faces and screaming in Hebrew for us to get back. Although I knew these were Palestinian actors role-playing the harassment they experience daily, it was very frightening to have men with guns yell at me in a foreign language and stick killing machines in my face. I realized immediately that although I witness harassment at checkpoints constantly, as a white Jewish American woman of extreme privilege I can never really know what it feels like to go through one as a Palestinian. I suspected the actors had been instructed to especially focus on Western attendees to illustrate some of the abusive behavior we remain so shielded from. It was very effective. (more…)

The Children of Al Hadidya Live Here No More - From ISM

Wednesday, May 30th, 2007

The children of Al Hadidiya live here no more by Daphne Banai, 15 May 2007from Daphne Banai

A month ago we went to see the people of El Hadidiya. They have been living in the Israeli Occupied Jordan Valley for over 100 years, but have been expelled - to accommodate the needs of the illegal Israeli settlement that popped up around them. For the last 10 years, Palestinians in Hadidiya have been living near the settlement of Ro’i, growing wheat and tending to their sheep. But their Israeli settler neighbors demanded their removal because they fancied their land.

(more…)

Updates On Hadidya and Fasayil

Thursday, May 24th, 2007

I telephoned Ali in Fasayil and Abu Sacca in Hadidya on Monday.

I think we should try to do this every one or two weeks

Ali Jahalin (the head of the village committee in Fasayil) said that the army had not returned to Fasayil since our visit but the demolition orders remained on the 5 hoses. That they had used the money we donated to clear the land for the new tent school and that they were now only waiting for the tents as they were confident they would be allocated teachers by the education ministry.

Abu Sacca (whose house has a military demolition order in Hadidya) said that the army had been to the village twice since we left but everything was quiet at the moment. He said that Spanish ISM volunteers were currently staying with Abu Arrif (where I stayed). He expressed thanks for the internationals being there. He said that there was nowhere for him to go and that he would not move.

Feature article about delegation in The Argus

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007

Click the link to see Jean Calder’s article in last Saturday’s Argus about the delegation. Another article will be printed in the next couple of weeks.
http://jeancalder.wordpress.com/tag/international-issues/

The circumcision along with the wedding

Sunday, May 20th, 2007

by Jamil Dababat

TUBAS (WAFA) – There was great joy at Shaded Abdel Rahim Hussein Bsharat’s 57, yesterday morning, pending the birth of his 24th daughter Somoud But at the last moment, when he was getting ready to take his wife to hospital, the Israeli army came to his house with a demolition order to be carried out in 48 hours. (more…)

Al Aqaba To Be Turned Into A Ghetto

Thursday, May 17th, 2007

by Stop the Wall, May 15th

The village of al Aqaba in the Jordan Valley and the Bedouin families connected with it are to be confined on less than 0.1 percent of their original lands. Six homes have been given demolition orders and the villagers have been handed out a plan that allows them to reside on not more than 20 dunums.

Above: One of the communities on the lands of Aqaba that will be displaced with the new Occupation plans.

The people of al Aqaba own and reside in an area of some 30 000 dunums of agricultural and grazing land. A small residential area is the focal point for many extended families living within the area. Hundreds of families will be displaced from their homes under the latest Occupation plans which forbid the people of Aqaba from residing outside the 20 dunums representing the center of Aqaba, To make the situation worse, even within the tiny 20 dunums, six homes have already received demolition orders.

The evident aim of the plan is to cleanse the land of Aqaba of its Palestinian population and to colonize and confiscate it in a second stage. Living conditions within the remaining 20 dunum will be impossible and the village will be drastically overpopulated. As a result the villagers and Bedouin will be forced to leave and join the over 6 million Palestinian refugees and displaced.

(more…)

short film about the delegation on YouTube

Thursday, May 10th, 2007

look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8spV71tNaIo

The Abuse of Palestinian Political Prisoners

Thursday, May 10th, 2007

Throughout the decades of Israeli military occupation, Palestinians from all walks of life have been illegally detained by Israel. Since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in 1967, over 650,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel. This forms approximately 20% of the total Palestinian population in the Occupied Territories. Now, considering the fact that the majority of those detained are male, the number of Palestinians detained forms approximately 30% of the total male Palestinian population in the Occupied Territories. (more…)

Big Changes for Al Jiflik School April 2007

Sunday, May 6th, 2007

The Tubas friendship and solidarity group met students, staff and the head teacher from Al Jifflik school for a very productive session. We were astounded when we got there to see not a tent school, but a brick building with a tin roof.

(more…)

Press Release - Witnessing Israeli Apartheid

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007

Press Release

Brighton-Tubas Region Friendship and Solidarity Group Witnessing Israeli Apartheid A group of 17 Brighton residents just returned from a solidarity visit to Tubas in the West Bank, occupied Palestine, are holding a public meeting on Thursday evening from 6.30pm at the Friends meeting House, Ship St, Brighton. (more…)


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