Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Continue to Impose a Total Siege on the Gaza Strip

A Palestinian child standing near the debris of her family's house, which was destroyed by Israeli Occupation Forces in East Jerusalem.

• 20 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children, were wounded by IOF gunfire in the West Bank.

• A number of these civilians were wounded by Israeli settlers during a joint attack with IOF.

• IOF conducted 28 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

• IOF arrested 32 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children.

• IOF halted technical preparations related to a reception site intended for the Pope’s visit.

• IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT and have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.

• IOF imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian Christians during Easter.

• IOF troops positioned at military checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 5 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children.

• IOF have continued measures aimed at the changing the demographic majority of east Jerusalem’s population.

• IOF started to establish a new settlement neighborhood in the al-Sawahra area, southeast of Jerusalem.

• Media reports disclosed a plan to connect "Kidar" settlement with "Ma'ale Adomim" settlement and annex 12,000 donums[1] of Palestinian land.

• IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.

• IOF resumed the establishment of a settler road to the south of Hebron.

• Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers in the north and south of the West Bank.

Summary

Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law escalated in the OPT during the reporting period (23 – 28 April 2009):

Shooting: During the reporting period, 20 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children, were wounded by IOF and Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

On 24 April 2009, 12 Palestinian civilians, including two children, were wounded when Israeli settlers and IOF troops attacked 'Ourif village, south of Nablus. This joint attack was the second of its kind in the West Bank this April; IOF and Israeli settlers launched a similar attack on Safa village, north of Hebron, on 08 April, in which 9 Palestinian civilians were wounded.

On 26 April 2009, an Israeli settler fired at a Palestinian child in Madama village, south of Nablus. The child was seriously wounded by a gunshot that entered the back and exited the chest.

On the same day, a Palestinian civilian was wounded when IOF moved into Rantis village, northwest of Ramallah, and opened fire indiscriminately.

Also on the same day, IOF troops positioned at Tarqoumia crossing, southwest of Hebron, fired at an old Palestinian man, wounding him.

During the reporting period, 5 Palestinian civilians, including two children, were wounded when IOF used force against peaceful demonstrations organized to protest the construction of the Annexation Wall.

Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 28 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. IOF arrested 32 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children.

During the reporting period, IOF stormed the public yard opposite 'Aaida refugee camp, north of Bethlehem. The yard was being readied in advance of the Pope’s intended visit. IOF forced workers to stop technical and construction preparations.

On 24 April 2009, IOF conducted a joint operation with Israeli settlers against 'Ourif village, south of Nablus. Both forces fired at Palestinian civilians, wounding 12 of them.

Restrictions on Movement: IOF have continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.

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Tunnels Become a Lifeline

Erin Cunningham

RAFAH, Apr 29, 2009 (IPS) - Pick-up trucks speed westward on the Barth highway that flanks the Israeli border in Egypt's North Sinai region, stacked high with cartons of petrol. They are headed "for Gaza", the Bedouin residents of Barth village say – through the tunnels that burrow under the Egypt-Gaza border and are filling Gaza's aid gap in the aftermath of Israel's deadly assault on the territory. The hundreds of subterranean passages that have fuelled Gaza's economy since its borders were hermetically sealed by Israel and Egypt in 2007 were one of the primary targets of Israel's three-week Operation Cast Lead. Now largely rebuilt in the wake of a war that destroyed much of the strip's infrastructure and agricultural land, the tunnels that provide Gaza with food, fuel, medicine and other consumer goods may have become even more crucial as an economic lifeline, the World Food Programme (WFP) says. During the war, economic activity in the Gaza Strip came to a grinding halt. Over 20,000 buildings were destroyed, including many factories. Gaza's Private Sector Coordinating Council estimates the losses in the private sector as a result of the war to be 1.5 billion dollars. Since the Jan. 18 ceasefire, Israel has continued to operate its commercial crossings at minimal capacity. Only 35 percent of the 613 million dollars in funding requested by the United Nations (UN) Flash Appeal for Gaza has been received for reconstruction efforts. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that on average 127 aid trucks a day are entering Gaza, compared to 475 per day prior to the Hamas takeover. "If Israel opened the borders, the tunnel business would end in a second," says Abu Hussein, a Palestinian who manages a tunnel on the Gaza side of the border. "But what are we supposed to do? These tunnels feed the people, give them what they need and give us jobs." Before the war smuggling through tunnels, which the UN said last year was so widespread that it amounted to an industry, was generating some 650 million dollars in cash each year. Analysts estimate that at least two-thirds of the goods sold across the Gaza Strip come from the tunnels, and that they employ some 12,000 Palestinians from all over the territory. Gaza's unemployment rate, according to the UN, stood at 45 percent before the war. It is the highest in the world. During the assault, Rafah's underground tunnels were pummelled by Israeli bombs for three weeks. Israel claimed its air force destroyed 80 percent of the tunnels, about 600 of them, used by Hamas to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip. But Palestinians working the tunnels on the Gaza side say while the bombs did damage some of the underground network, they almost always targeted just the entrance of the tunnel and to a depth of just ten metres. Since the tunnels can reach as deep as 25 metres, rebuilding was simply a matter of digging a new entry point a few metres from the original hole, smugglers say. And the reconstruction began the morning after the ceasefire was called Jan. 18. "Before the war, the tunnel began there," says Abu Hussein, pointing to a hole 10 metres behind him. "It cost about 6,000 dollars to dig again here and reinforce the walls." The rest of the tunnel, all the way to Egypt, was unscathed. After the war, food, medical supplies and other goods immediately began to pour in, picking up where the commercial crossings - that allow in only what Israel deems as "essential" - leave off. Click here to read more.

Get up, stand up for Palestinian Rights on May Day and Every Day

Reham Alhelsi

April 30, 2009 Introduction by Mary Rizzo – In many parts of the world, the first of May is an official holiday that celebrates the conquests that workers have achieved following centuries of exploitation. These rights are by no means guaranteed, and anywhere there are other social or political problems, the rights of workers seem more like a luxury than a necessity. In fact, when one looks at some of the old political slogans used throughout the world on this day, one has to realise that there is still so much injustice inflicted upon human beings by other human beings. "Food is not a Luxury" is fitting for today’s Gaza, not just in turn-of-the-century central Europe. The United Nations, in fact, has established that labour should be included in its Declaration of Human Rights stating that: "Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection." The conditions simply don’t exist for Palestinians to revel in any conquests, because they are denied the protection that is at the basis of any just human society. In recent years, Europe has shifted the focus of its May Day to a moment when a focus on other rights might find a bit of attention, and it is not unusual to see demonstrations of support for oppressed people around the world during this commemoration, in the international spirit which makes this day different from all others. It is with this spirit that Palestine Think Tank is honoured to highlight one of our very favourite writers who connects the issues of workers rights, protection and a general call for justice, which is what is reflected in the intent of Article 23 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. When the very existence of the worker is threatened, as this listing of massacres perpetrated against Palestinian workers demonstrates, we realise that the conquests of workers are still at a very early stage. May all who read this reflect upon each name, thinking of the sacrifice that these people made just to bring food home to their families, and promising upon the memory of these men and women that we will not stop to fight for the rights of workers and Palestinians, so that these senseless deaths are in no way in vain. Long live the memory of these martyrs and long live the indomitable spirit of the Palestinian people, which is an inspiration to all who struggle for justice and freedom. Click here to read more.

Physicians offer chilling account of Gaza atrocities
By Marc Abizeid, Special to The Daily Star

April 28, 2009


BEIRUT: Renowned Chinese-English physician Dr. Swee Ang gave a moving testimony on Saturday of Israel's destruction in the Gaza Strip as witnessed in her recent trip to the tiny Palestinian enclave. "Cluster bombs, deliberate assassinations of whole families that they would line up and shoot," Ang said as she listed a number of acts committed by Israel during its 22-day assault on Gaza in December and January that left over 1,400 Palestinians dead.
"The Israelis would wait until the ambulances got the wounded and then attack them, killing and injuring the drivers," she continued.

Ang and Norwegian physician Hans Husum were invited to offer an assessment of the situation in Gaza during the "Wounds of Gaza" lecture at the UNESCO Palace organized by the Sabra Shatila Foundation.

Ang, who bears distinct Asian features, also remarked that Israelis couldn't distinguish her from the Palestinians during her visit - a fact that made her proud.

"The Israelis attacked me in London for saying that 1.5 million tons of bombs had been dropped on Gaza, but I will show you the evidence," she said while presenting nauseating photographs taken during her visit of charred victims burned with phosphorous and large civilian buildings collapsed with vacuum bombs.

"I was very angry when I learned that Israeli tanks would come in front of a house and first fire a normal shell to break open the wall, then shoot a phosphorous shell into it," she said.

Husum, equally angered by the war in Gaza, lashed out at the United States which he said provided Israel with the experimental Dense Inert Metal Explosives, or DIME weapons, to test on the Palestinians.

"This weapon tears the flesh off the bone, it opens up the chest, ... it kills a lot of people," he said, adding that the "new kind of wars" like in Gaza and Israel's summer 2006 war on Lebanon were launched not to make conventional military advancements, but rather with the aim of breaking the will of the people.
He went on to predict that the next war in Lebanon would be an urban one, systematically targeting cities in order to "break society" because, as he put, "humanitarian law is dead - it's out."

"I've been a war surgeon for 30 years. I've seen a lot, but I am shocked," he said. "If the aim of the enemy is to scare us into subjugation and to put us down on our knees, then we have to stand up - we do not bend down."

On celebrating ethnic cleansing
Marcy Newman, body on the line

This week the zionist entity celebrated 61+ years of ethnic cleansing: stealing palestinian land, murdering and massacring palestinians, lebanese, syrians, egyptians, jordanians, iraqis. 61 years of the zionist entity being recognized by the international community, though its colonial regime is 122 years old this year. barack obama rushed to congratulate this murderous thieving regime as quickly as the united states did it back in 1948, a fact which obama is proud of:
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday congratulated Israel on the 61st anniversary of its founding, according to Israel Radio.
In a statement released by the White House, Obama vowed to advance peace talks in the region and pursue the interests of both Palestinians and Israelis.
Obama reportedly noted that the US was the first country to recognize Israel in 1948.
puppet zionist leader of egypt hosni mubarak quickly followed suit:
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak congratulated Israel on its 61st anniversary of statehood Wednesday. In a letter of greeting sent to President Shimon Peres he wrote, "I am pleased to express my congratulations for Independence Day".
Mubarak added, "At this opportunity I would like to express anew my expectation for the return of the Middle East peace process to a path that will lead to an end to the violence and bloodshed, in a manner that will allow the establishment of an independent Palestinian state that will exist alongside Israel in peace and security."
mubarak rushing to congratulate the zionist entity–an entity that exists on the blood of his compatriots as well–led me to find an occasion to publish this mahjoob cartoon that al falasteenyia posted last week, which i just love. the arabic reads: "hezbollah and hamas are tools of the iranians."

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IOF troops arrest Palestinian citizens including child

[ 20/04/2009 - 06:28 PM ]

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces at dawn Monday rounded up ten Palestinian citizens in various West Bank areas including a 15-year-old boy from Arub refugee camp north of Al-Khalil, local sources reported. They said that the ten were arrested in Al-Khalil, Ramallah and Bethlehem districts and were carried to interrogation centers. The sources pointed out that the detainees also included a teen from Sa'eer town northeast of Al-Khalil. The IOF on Sunday night imposed a curfew on Kuful Hares village to the northwest of Salfit to pave the way for entry of thousands of Jewish settlers into the village to visit what they call Jewish sites. Israeli occupation policemen on Sunday rounded up five Palestinians in Askalan on the charge of entering the 1948 occupied Palestine without permits. Meanwhile, Mohammed Saadi, a prisoner in Israeli Megiddo jail, appealed to legal institutions to intervene and save his life, which is threatened in detention. Saadi, who has been in administrative detention without trial or charge for two years, said that he was suffering form heart and kidney disease and was not accorded proper medical treatment. Family of another prisoner in the same jail, Yehya Bilalo, said that he was in need of urgent surgery. They said that Bilalo, who is serving a 13-year imprisonment term, was suffering from acute ulcer and a neurological disease.

Another Obama Disappointment

'It is disappointing to see Obama bend to Israeli pressures and those of the Jewish lobby.'

By Joharah Baker Today, April 20, the United Nations' global conference on racism opens in Geneva. There will be a few empty seats though, namely those reserved for the United States, Israel, Canada, Italy, Holland, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. The United States, the obvious ringleader of the West has been mulling over whether to attend or not, with many of its sidekicks waiting for their cue. Israel of course, announced it would not attend from day one along with Canada and Italy. At this point, I think everyone has guessed what is going on. The UN conference is the second one of its type, the first being the infamous Durban Conference in 2001 in the South African city during which the US and Israel walked out in protest. No surprises as to why. The pair's feathers got ruffled when a draft resolution midway through the conference likened Zionism to racism. How dare they? I mean, how could the "only democracy in the Middle East" be likened to racism? Let's just disregard the fact that it has maintained an illegal, oppressive military occupation over Palestinian territories for the past 40-some years and has delegated Palestinians there to third class citizens for all practical purposes. Even Palestinians inside Israel are treated as second-class citizens because they, unlike the movement that founded Israel, are not Jewish. Anyway, the last conference was during the Bush – that's George W. Bush – administration, so anything short of a boycott in the name of Israel would have been out of character. Today, the situation in the United States is supposedly different. The world's superpower is led now by Barack Obama, a man who espouses openness, inclusiveness and diversity. This time around, the Obama administration did not immediately announce its boycott of the conference but said it would "reconsider attendance" if the document to be adopted by the conference were revised – i.e. if all references to Israel as a racist state were dropped. The subsequent changes to the document by the conference's preparatory committee fulfilled just that. No references to Israel or the Palestinians were made. This, however, was apparently not enough for Obama, who said "references" in the Durban I conference had not been "negated." The document from the 2001 summit, he said, was unacceptable because "folks expressed antagonism toward Israel in ways that were often times completely hypocritical and counterproductive." It's funny that Obama would use the word hypocritical because this whole situation seems the epitome of hypocrisy. What is so sacred about Israel that not even a pinch of criticism can be thrown its way? Now, not only is the US boycotting the conference, Israel is sending a delegation to Geneva to officially protest the gathering, on of its keynote speakers, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinajad and any possible criticisms that might be made of Israel as they come up. I find this entire situation extremely frustrating. Not that we have not grown accustomed to the staunch and blind support Israel receives especially from the United States. On the contrary, we have come to expect it. That is, until President Obama was sworn into office. Perhaps against our better judgment, we hoped that finally the United States would have a leader that could make a real change, especially where we were concerned. But like all hopes that have been raised on false pretenses, they come crashing down around us. Perhaps it was wrong to expect too much from Barack Obama, or perhaps he is not all we hoped he would be. The bottom line is that, despite the bending over backwards for Israel – some even accused Arabs and Palestinians who accepted the revised declaration of kowtowing to US and Israeli pressures – the US still opted for the boycott instead of daring any criticism of its best Middle East friend. click here to read more