Update x2: Clarification from the lawyers:
Khaled Zwahra was detained on 5.6.2011 during Naksa Day protests in Qalandia while blocking an army vehicle that was about to invade further into residential areas of Qalandia. He was taken to Atarot police station (in Qalandia industrial area, operated by the border police), where he was suspected of participating in an unauthorized demonstration and disturbing a policeman/soldier on duty.

Only the following day, 2 border policeman  - one of whom wrote a report on the day of arrest, incriminating Khaled only for the above mentioned offenses , “remembered” that he also threw sones, and gave a very weak statement against him.  Although there are several videos and photographs that show that Khaled was arrested while blocking the army vehicle, and despite the weakness of the border policemen’s testimonies, on June 12th he was indicted and charged also with  ”stone throwing”. The military court in Ofer ordered his arrest until the end of the proceedings. Khaled’s lawyers appealed against the remnand decision and the on June15th there was a hearing in the military court of appeals. We are currently waitingfor the appeals court decision regarding the arrest, and making an effort to get the decision as soon as possible. The first hearing in the trial itself (reading of the indictment and answering) will take place on July 13th.

Update: According to email sources, there was no hearing and the Israeli Army plans to keep into jail at least until July 13th.  At that point the detention could be extended up to 100 days.

From the Occupied Palestine blog comes this report of another nonviolent activist arrested.

Khaled Zawahre’s military hearing has concluded delayed ruling until Sunday they will either release him or keep him in custody for 101 days. We want to ask your support to keep sharing this information widely so the cases of arbitrary arrest by Israel get more media attention. For putting a unarmed civilian on trial for a military court after an arbitrary arrest without any proof is a severe  human rights violation

Khaled Zawahre was arrested in Qalandia while stopping in front of the Skunk Car he has been detained in Ofer prison and Military court extended his emprisonement with another 101 days of arrest until end of investigation they accused him of beating up a soldier and throwing rocks even though the films show he was standing non-violent infront of the car being skunked !

Earlier on May 15 2011, Khaled also got injured during a similar nonviolent demo and was hit with a rubber bullet and lost consciousness twice from the teargas (HRW May 20, 2011 issue) on the same day, Israel answered nonviolent protesters with great and disproportionate violence which caused 15 deaths.

For more photos and videos of Khaled and Qalandia, visit the Occupied Palestine blog. Khaled was previously seen on this blog in the video from the “Naksa day protests.”

From Gisha’s Gaza Gateway, more on the inadequacy of the new Rafah Crossing rules on the Egypt-Gaza border.

The top 10 reasons why the opening of Rafah Crossing just doesn’t cut it

Bassem Tamimi, the subject of an action alert by Jewish Voice for Peace, speaks up for freedom on the 44th anniversary of Israel’s Occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, June 5th, 2011.

Tamimi’s full statement:

Your Honor,

I hold this speech out of belief in peace, justice, freedom, the right to live in dignity, and out of respect for free thought in the absence of Just Laws.

Every time I am called to appear before your courts, I become nervous and afraid. Eighteen years ago, my sister was killed by in a courtroom such as this, by a staff member. In my lifetime, I have been nine times imprisoned for an overall of almost 3 years, though I was never charged or convicted. During my imprisonment, I was paralyzed as a result of torture by your investigators. My wife was detained, my children were wounded, my land was stolen by settlers, and now my house is slated for demolition.

I was born at the same time as the Occupation and have been living under its inherent inhumanity, inequality, racism and lack of freedom ever since. Yet, despite all this, my belief in human values and the need for peace in this land have never been shaken. Suffering and oppression did not fill my heart with hatred for anyone, nor did they kindle feelings of revenge. To the contrary, they reinforced my belief in peace and national standing as an adequate response to the inhumanity of Occupation.

International law guarantees the right of occupied people to resist Occupation. In practicing my right, I have called for and organized peaceful popular demonstrations against the Occupation, settler attacks and the theft of more than half of the land of my village, Nabi Saleh, where the graves of my ancestors have lain since time immemorial.

I organized these peaceful demonstrations in order to defend our land and our people. I do not know if my actions violate your Occupation laws. As far as I am concerned, these laws do not apply to me and are devoid of meaning. Having been enacted by Occupation authorities, I reject them and cannot recognize their validity.

Despite claiming to be the only democracy in the Middle East you are trying me under military laws which lack any legitimacy; laws that are enacted by authorities that I have not elected and do not represent me. I am accused of organizing peaceful civil demonstrations that have no military aspects and are legal under international law.

We have the right to express our rejection of Occupation in all of its forms; to defend our freedom and dignity as a people and to seek justice and peace in our land in order to protect our children and secure their future.

The civil nature of our actions is the light that will overcome the darkness of the Occupation, bringing a dawn of freedom that will warm the cold wrists in chains, sweep despair from the soul and end decades of oppression.

These actions are what will expose the true face of the Occupation, where soldiers point their guns at a woman walking to her fields or at checkpoints; at a child who wants to drink from the sweet water of his ancestors’ fabled spring; against an old man who wants to sit in the shade of an olive tree, once mother to him, now burnt by settlers.

We have exhausted all possible actions to stop attacks by settlers, who refuse to adhere to your courts’ decisions, which time and again have confirmed that we are the owners of the land, ordering the removal of the fence erected by them.

Each time we tried to approach our land, implementing these decisions, we were attacked by settlers, who prevented us from reaching it as if it were their own.

Our demonstrations are in protest of injustice. We work hand in hand with Israeli and international activists who believe, like us, that had it not been for the Occupation, we could all live in peace on this land. I do not know which laws are upheld by generals who are inhibited by fear and insecurity, nor do I know their thoughts on the civil resistance of women, children and old men who carry hope and olive branches. But I know what justice and reason are. Land theft and tree-burning is unjust. Violent repression of our demonstrations and protests and your detention camps are not evidence of the illegality of our actions. It is unfair to be tryed under a law forced upon us. I know that I have rights and my actions are just.

The military prosecutor accuses me of inciting the protesters to throw stones at the soldiers. This is not true. What incites protesters to throw stones is the sound of bullets, the Occupation’s bulldozers as they destroy the land, the smell of teargas and the smoke coming from burnt houses. I did not incite anyone to throw stones, but I am not responsible for the security of your soldiers who invade my village and attack my people with all the weapons of death and the equipment of terror.

These demonstrations that I organize have had a positive influence over my beliefs; they allowed me to see people from the other side who believe in peace and share my struggle for freedom. Those freedom fighters have rid their conscious from the Occupation and put their hands in ours in peaceful demonstrations against our common enemy, the Occupation. They have become friends, sisters and brothers. We fight together for a better future for our children and theirs.

If released by the judge will I be convinced thereby that justice still prevails in your courts? Regardless of how just or unjust this ruling will be, and despite all your racist and inhumane practices and Occupation, we will continue to believe in peace, justice and human values. We will still raise our children to love; love the land and the people without discrimination of race, religion or ethnicity; embodying thus the message of the Messenger of Peace, Jesus Christ, who urged us to “love our enemy.” With love and justice, we make peace and build the future.

Background
Bassem Tamimi is a veteran Palestinian grassroots activist from the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah. He is married to Nariman Tamimi, with whom he fathers four children – Wa’ed (14), Ahed (10), Mohammed (8) and Salam (5).

As a veteran activist, Tamimi has been arrested by the Israeli army 11 times to date and has spent roughly three years in Israeli jails, though he was never convicted of any offence. He spent roughly three years in administrative detention, with no charges brought against him. Furthermore, his attorney and he were denied access to “secret evidence” brought against him.

In 1993, Tamimi was falsely arrested on suspicion of having murdered an Israeli settler in Beit El – an allegation of which he was cleared entirely. During his weeks-long interrogation, he was severely tortured by the Israeli Shin Bet in order to draw a coerced confession from him. During his interrogation, and as a result of the torture he underwent, Tamimi collapsed and had to be evacuated to a hospital, where he laid unconscious for seven days.

As one of the organizers of the Nabi Saleh protests and coordinator of the village’s popular committee, Tamimi has been the target of harsh treatment by the Israeli army. Since demonstrations began in the village, his house has been raided and ransacked numerous times, his wife was twice arrested and two of his sons were injured; Wa’ed, 14, was hospitalized for five days when a rubber-coated bullet penetrated his leg and Mohammed, 8, was injured by a tear-gas projectile that was shot directly at him and hit him in the shoulder. Shortly after demonstrations in the village began, the Israeli Civil Administration served ten demolition orders to structures located in Area C, Tamimi’s house was one of them, despite the fact that it was built in 1965.

We just produced a 5 minute film about Hagar,  our school and Jewish-Arab community in Beersheva. I thought it might be something you would like to distribute as a kind of site of hope and light in these dark times.”

The theater has helped Palestinian youths deal with the hardships of life under Israeli occupation by expressing themselves through the arts—film, photography, art, and most predominantly, the stage. Khamis had recently directed his students in a production of Alice in Wonderland.

Born to a Jewish mother and an Arab Christian father in Israel, Khamis was a well-known actor who appeared in a number of films. He opened the theater after its predecessor, founded by his mother, was destroyed in the 2002 Israeli assault on Jenin. Khamis was carrying his infant son when he was shot to death. He was just steps away from the Freedom Theatre. In addition to his son, he is survived by his wife, who is pregnant with twins.

We’re joined now by two guests. On the line from Jenin, Nabeel Raee is with us. He is the director of the Acting School at the Jenin Freedom Theatre, where he closely worked with Juliano for many years. And here in New York, Constancia “Dinky” Romilly. She is the founder and president of the board of the New York-based Friends of Jenin Freedom Theatre.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Let’s go directly to Jenin. Nabeel, what happened yesterday? First, our condolences.

NABEEL RAEE: First, I want to say that it’s a big loss for Palestine and for the Palestinian culture, artists, the people who believe in art, and big loss for the children of Jenin refugee camp, the students that they are studying at the Acting School of the Freedom Theatre, staff of the Freedom Theatre. It’s is a big blow that we lost Juliano Mer-Khamis, the revolutionary, the thinker and the fighter.

What happened is more than we can imagine. It’s a murder. It’s a crime. The criminal was hiding behind his mask. When Juliano went out of the theater, when he was reading a text for a new play, a new production that we planned to do, and he stepped out of the theater, and like few meters out, the criminal came and shot him while he was holding his son. And next to him was the babysitter. And he got like more than six bullets in his chest. And he was trying to protect his son in the same time. So he died, and he protected his son.

This is more than a crime. This is like unusual. This is unbelievable. And excuse me for my words; I cannot really find words to describe my—the situation more than this. I mean, we’re all in shock, and we all really—this is what happened. It’s a crime. It’s a crime against all of us, against the humanity, against someone who tried to build with us, step by step.

AMY GOODMAN: Is there a sense who did this?

NABEEL RAEE: Sorry. Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: Is there a sense, Nabeel, who did this?

NABEEL RAEE: We don’t know. The Palestinian Authority, the PA, the police, the friends, all the people, they’re investigating, and they’re trying to find out who did it. But until now, nothing is clear. And what I can say is, whoever was the criminal is someone who doesn’t know Juliano Mer-Khamis, doesn’t know—he, this person, I think if he knew this person, he wouldn’t do it. And I’m telling the people who’s behind him that they’re mistaking of killing him, because in this way they are not going to kill the spirit, because the spirit is there, and we’re going to continue after him.

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to turn to Juliano Mer-Khamis in his own words. This was a promotional video he did for the Jenin Freedom Theatre. Juliano talked about the theater’s mission to help Palestinian youth resist occupation in a creative way.

JULIANO MER-KHAMIS: My name is Juliano, and I’m the director of the Freedom Theatre in Jenin refugee camp. The Freedom Theatre is a venue to join the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation. We believe that the Third Intifada, the coming intifada, should be cultural, with poetry, music, theater, cameras and magazines.

This place never had a theater. This place never was exposed to these arts. So, actually, we are building everything from scratch. We are building capacity, building of actors. We are building capacity, people of audience. You know, sometimes it’s easier to create actors than audience. We are dealing with the young generation to expose them to these arts.

The location of the Freedom Theatre—and don’t let this view to deceive you—we are sitting in the mid of the most attacked and poor refugee camp in Palestine: the refugee camp of Jenin. We are talking about almost 3,000 children under the age of 15 suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. It means they pee in their pants when they are 11. It means they cannot concentrate. They cannot deal with each other without violence.

AMY GOODMAN: Yes, that was Juliano Mer-Khamis in his own words. I wanted to turn now to “Dinky” Romilly. She is the president of the board of the New York-based Friends of Jenin Freedom Theatre. You worked closely with Juliano. Your thoughts today?

CONSTANCIA ROMILLY: Well, of course, we are heartbroken and horrified. The young people in the theater came pouring into the theater yesterday. And their message was, they won’t let this stop the important message of the Freedom Theatre, which is fighting against both the occupation, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, and against the negative Islamist culture that is also oppressing people in the Jenin refugee camp and throughout the West Bank. They will carry on, and we will support them.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to end with Nabeel Raee, director of the Acting School there in Jenin at the Freedom Theatre. The latest news, Palestinian Authority security officials arrested a Hamas operative in Jenin suspected of involvement in Juliano’s murder. Several other suspects were arrested Monday night following the murder, many were released, IDF and PA security forces investigating the circumstances. Any more news, Nabeel?

NABEEL RAEE: Amy, I can tell the Palestinian Authority arrested more than 20 person to interrogate them. And I cannot tell—now, really, we cannot say that some of the groups, the Palestinian groups, is behind this, unless we find out who is the person. And through the interrogation, we will find out who did that. But, I mean, without this, you cannot really tell who is behind it, who planned it, and what was the reasons. This is all the news. I mean, we’re holding ourselves as much as we can to know—

AMY GOODMAN: Nabeel Raee, we’ll have to leave it there, and “Dinky” Romilly, thank you so much for being with us. Our condolences, all.

From Gisha’s Gaza Gateway, what it would actually take to end just the closure of Gaza, although not the entire Occupation.

Image from Gisha's photo report one year ago

Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister said last week that the continued smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip threatens further implementation of the “easing” of the closure. Israel of course has the right to prevent the passage of arms shipments (as it did this week at sea). But why weapons smuggling should prevent easing the closure is not entirely clear, as we (and 1.5 million residents of Gaza!) are asking that civilians and civilian goods be permitted to pass through the border crossings (where they undergo Israeli security checks).

So what exactly are we asking for? That the welcome but unfortunately limited measures taken to ease the closure be expanded, so that civilians and civilian goods can enter and leave Gaza. This week, we present three easy steps for how Israel can lift the closure while protecting legitimate security interests:

Step #1: Lift restrictions on exports from Gaza:

Recently, Israel allowed the export of tomatoes for sale in Europe. This was in addition to the permission given in the last two months for the export of strawberries, flowersand peppers, to the tune of an average of four trucks per day of exports – as opposed to the 400 trucks per day promised by Israel in 2005. Israel should now lift restrictions on the export of all goods, subject only to appropriate security checks. Export should be allowed not only to Europe (a market with limited profitability), but also to markets in Israel and the West Bank. Export is vital in order to inject money into the private sector in Gaza and consequently to lower unemployment (currently at 37.4%) and raise consumption. Only then will the entire economy recover – industry, agriculture, trade and services.

Step #2: Cancel the ban on the transfer of construction materials:

As part of the package of measures to ease the closure, presented by Prime Minister Netanyahu a month ago, Israel promised to allow the entry of 40,000 tons of gravel into the Gaza Strip, about 1000 truckloads, as an exception to the ban on the transfer of building materials. Approximately 400 trucks have already entered through the Sufa crossing in the last week. This should only be the first step however: we note that since the “easing” of July 2010, Israel has allowed just 4.4% of the building materials (gravel, cement and steel) needed by Gaza residents – not nearly enough to rebuild.

There is an urgent need in the Gaza Strip to build schools, hospitals and homes, some of which have been in ruins for two years, following Operation Cast Lead. If we really want to rebuild Gaza, we need to end the ban on construction materials and re-open closed crossings to allow for their transfer. Israel argues that Hamas will use cement to build bunkers but meanwhile, the government in Gaza buys cement freely through the tunnels. Rather, it is international organizations and poor families who wish to rebuild their homes who are unable to purchase cement.

Step #3: Allow people to travel into and out of the Gaza Strip subject only to individual security checks:

In the last few months, Israel has indeed allowed more businessmen (but not women!) to leave the Gaza Strip for commercial purposes, which certainly aids the recovery of Gaza’s economy. However apart from businessmen, travel between Gaza and the West Bank remains limited to “exceptional humanitarian cases”. Israel must now increase the number of exit permits for all kinds of commercial purposes (men and women alike!), allow students to travel to study in the West Bank, let educators and academics travel for professional courses and training and, in fact, allow travel between Gaza and the West Bank subject only to individual security checks.

Guest Post by Aharan Eviatar

The recent ghastly events in Arizona, especially the killing of Christina Greene, gunned down by a political lunatic at age nine, lead one to think of the phenomenon of political killing of children and what it implies for society. In particular, I would like to bring up along with Christina, two other cases of killing of little girls, one in Arizona and the other in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The story of Christina is well known and documented in all its horror by the media. The other two cases are less well known.

• Brisenia Flores, like Christina Greene was 9 years old, and she also lived in Pima County, Arizona, not far from Tucson. Like Christina, she was gunned down in cold blood by killers with strange ideas about society and politics. A quote of some detail from Will Bunch in his blog County Fair on the site Media Matters:

‘As her mother tells it, 9-year-old Brisenia Flores had begged the border vigilantes who had just broken into her house, “Please don’t shoot me.” But they did — in the face at point-blank range, prosecutors allege, as Brisenia’s father sat dead on the couch and her mother lay on the floor, pretending that she too had been killed in the gunfire.”

• Abir Aramin was 10 years old and lived in the town of Anata in the Occupied West Bank. In January 2007 she was killed by a rubber bullet to the head fired by an Israeli Border Policeman (the Border Police are really ordinary soldiers who serve in this capacity) as she was going home from school. The Army has consistently denied that she was killed by a soldier despite pathology reports and concocted a cock and bull story that she was hit by a rock during a riot. In fact there was no riot at the time.

It might appear to the cursory glance that these cases are similar. In fact, there are important differences between them, While the seriously warped mind of Christina’s Tucson murderer, Jared Lee Loughner, is beyond a layman’s understanding, the motives of one of Brisenia’s alleged killers– a woman named Shawna Forde — are pretty clear: She saw herself as the leader of an armed movement against undocumented immigrants, an idea that was energized by her exposure to the then-brand-new Tea Party Movement. The anonymous killer of Abir was motivated purely by blood lust and while Loughner and Forde are in custody awaiting or facing trial, the murderous soldier is being shielded by his commanders and by the legal and military establishment in Israel.

Arizona is not the loveliest state in the Union. For decades it refused to recognize the birthday of Martin Luther King as a legal holiday and last year enacted racist legislation against immigrants. Nonetheless, it has put Forde on trial for murder despite the fact that the victims are of Mexican origin. Even Arizona, fascist and racist as it may be, has red lines with respect to the rule of law that it refuses to cross.

In Israel, on the other hand, it took Bassem and Salwa Aramin, Abir’s parents, three years to fight the Israeli court system with the aid of the Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din and a devoted human rights lawyer, Michael Sfard. Eventually they won some semblance of justice for Abir. Initially police investigators closed the file on their daughter’s death without attributing blame for it.The child’s mother, Salwa, who had always contended that her child had been killedby a police rubber bullet, broke down in tears when she heard that there was to be no prosecution, feeling “that they had killed her again”. Then, when they contested the police decision in the High Court, it refused to re-open the case on the grounds that she could have been killed by a stone thrown by Palestinian rioters.

The family’s subsequent civil suit succeeded last August when Jerusalem District Judge Orit Efal-Gabai declared unequivocally in open court:

“Abir and her friends were walking down a street where there were no rock-throwers; therefore there was no reason to shoot in their direction. It is clear that Abir’s death, caused by a rubber bullet shot by border guards, was due to negligence…”

Judge Efrat-Gabai gives the Border Police the benefit of the doubt with respect towhy Abir was shot and the Army will certainly continue to drag its feet forever in investigating the case. Let us all pray for the day when Israel progresses to the level of Arizona in terms of respect for the rule of law and the accountability of the holders of power for the lives of those of the “wrong” ethnicity.

It seemed that there were “red lines” even for the police brutality against the Bedouins of the Israeli Negev – while destroying homes that had no possibility for acquiring building permits, arresting people on their village lands in order to make room for JNF trees, beating activists who dared request to see the official papers allowing the brutality – all that seemed to be “ok”. but until today – even for the police – the cemetery and the people waiting in the cemetery for the police to leave – were off limits. no more.

After destroying the tents of the village – yet again, the JNF (yes!) bulldozer approached the gate of the cemetery attempting to run it down and destroy it.this was too much for the village people, who are sitting in their community’s cemetery, watching as their village is once more destroyed. As the bulldozer approached the gate, the people went to stop it with their bare hands. several are injured, including children. they are being evacuated at this moment by ambulances.

The bulldozer has backed away from the gate, and the police and bulldozers are now a few yards away from the cemetery, re-thinking their next move.
For more info, join  RCUV”s google group.

Ed’s note: The bulldozers in the past  demolitions  belonged to the Israeli Lands Administration, but are clearly working together. We wil call Yeela to follow up on this latest outrage.

Last week brought four consecutive days of demolitions in Al Arakib. For the first time on February 9 we witnessed bulldozers clearly marked as belonging to the Jewish National Fund (JNF-KKL), destroying tents that had been erected overnight by the residents. The JNF can no longer claim to have no involvement in the repeated destruction of Al Arakib.

On the fourth day there were violent clashes between the residents and the police who responded with a heavy hand and resorted to the use of tear gas, pepper spray and sponge tipped bullets despite the fact that there were women and children in the crowd. Several residents were hurt with many refusing to go to the hospital. Three residents (including a youth) and three activists, including Gadi Algazi, were also arrested in the scuffle. The minor and three activists were released soon after, however, the two residents were detained and their hearing is set for today. All three activists were ordered not to enter the village for two weeks.

Many of the women and children continue to live in the cemetery which is still untouched and some returned to where the village formerly stood to rebuild temporary structures after each demolition.

The JNF is continuing to prepare the ground in the village for planting through building mounds of earth for the young trees, levelling areas and digging dams.

Following this week of conflict, the Negev Coexistence Forum in collaboration with the Recognition Forum and others held a solidarity visit in Al Arakib on Saturday, February 12. We enjoyed a strong turn out with approximately 150 people attending to show their support for the residents who continue to show their resilience.

Here are some interesting links from the past week:

• Video footage of the protest held front of the JNF office in Jerusalem on January 1;
• The Forward – A JNF Drive to Make the Desert Bloom Means Destruction for a Bedouin Village, dated February 9;
• Video footage of a KKL-JNF bulldozer demolishing a tent in Al Arakib on February 9;
• Video footage of resident-police clashes in Al Arakib on Thursday, February 10;
• Haartez article about the Christian network, God TV, planting activities in cooperation with the Jewish National Fund (in Hebrew), dated February 11;
• Press release issued by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, dated February 11. During a meeting on February 8, the High Commissioner was briefed about the ongoing demolitions of unrecognised villages in the Negev.  In the press release, Navi Pillay expresses her concern of the repeated destruction and after meeting one man who told her his village had just been demolished for the 15th time, she sent two members of her team to visit.