The Only Democracy? » Archive
Palestinian Right to Education: The Case of Awarta
Itamar, the settlement where a family of five was brutally murdered in early March, borders the village of Awarta near Nablus, and is illegally built on village land. Immediately following the murder, and continuing for weeks thereafter, the Israeli military carried out pogrom-like incursions into the village—raiding homes, making mass arrests, destroying property, beating and torturing residents, and imposing extended curfews during which villagers could not leave even to procure food or seek medical attention. A just-released report from the UNESCO Chair on Human Rights at An Najah National University in Nablus focuses on the impact of this policy of collective punishment on the right to education of over 100 University students from Awarta. The Israeli military operations carried out in Awarta over the past month and a half have left the … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
How the Shabak Use the Children of Palestine
Ed. Note: The following is a report from Bi’lin resident Yasser Awad Yasin on his interrogation by Israeli security forces. My name is Yasser Awad Yasin. I am 27 years old and I’m from the village of Bil’in. I’m married and I have two sons and one daughter. The Shabak (Israeli security ) had called me on the phone and told me to go to their office. I didn’t go, so the army raided my house. I was … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
Expanded Military Powers of Deportation in West Bank; Palestinian Leaders Charge “Ethnic Cleansing”
A military order to take effect April 13th so drastically expands the IDF’s power to deport people from the West Bank that it threatens mass arrests and exile, according to Hamoked Center for the Defense of the Individual in Israel. In a request to the military commander, Hamoked asks that implementation of the order be delayed until there is input from the non-military sector of Israel, including human rights organizations like Hamoked. In order to clarify the extremity of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination, Featured
NYT Bronner Tries A Less Biased Path to Reporting on Palestine –and Trips Up
As the New York Times long-standing Jerusalem bureau chief, with primary responsibility for reporting on the Israel-Palestine conflict, Ethan Bronner has endured bruising criticism for pro-Israeli bias, recently exacerbated by charges of conflict of interest upon the revelation that his son has been inducted into the Israeli army. So Bronner craned his journalistic neck to peek at things from another perspective with a front-page story called “Palestinians Try a Less Violent Path to Resistance,” and you know right away from that headline … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
No Such Thing As Israeli Nationality
There are currently over 130 different nationalities that have been recognized by the State of Israel for use in registering for an ID card. “Arab” and “Unknown” are, uniquely in the world, recognized as a form of nationality — but “Israeli” is not. On the other hand, if you are Jewish it matters not what nationality you are –Israel recognizes you as belonging to “the Jewish nation”. Now Jonathan Cook reports on a group of Jews and Arabs who are petitioning the Israeli Supreme Court to be recognized as “Israelis,” in a case that officials fear may threaten the country’s self-declared status as a Jewish state. Israel refused to recognize an Israeli nationality at the country’s establishment in 1948, making an unusual distinction between “citizenship” and “nationality.” Although all Israelis qualify as “citizens of Israel,” the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Wife and Nine Children of Bil’in Political Prisoner: Life Without Adeeb
Adeeb Abu Rahma, a taxi driver from the West Bank Village of Bil’in, is known for his firm committment to nonviolence during the weekly demonstrations against the Wall. At the July 10, 2009 demonstration, he was grabbed by Israeli soldiers as he walked away from them, his message of resistance on a sign he held. He has been imprisoned ever since, without trial. Adeeb is the sole provider for his nine children, wife and mother. Bil’in Village reports on an interview with Adeeb’s … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
Israeli Military Offers “Cartoon” Theories to Explain Fatal Shooting of Bi’lin Protester, and Declines to Investigate
Ha’aretz reports that a year after Bassem Abu Rahmeh was fatally shot in the chest by a tear gas grenade as he stood unarmed at the weekly protest against the Wall in the West Bank village of Bi’lin, the military prosecution has decided that it would not investigate his death. Although ballistic experts had concluded that the grenade was fired directly at Abu Rahmeh based on footage of the shooting from three separate video cameras, the military found … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
In West Bank Palestinian Childhood Is Cut Short – It’s the Law
Palestinian Child Being Arrested In the West Bank, there is a two-tiered system of justice, including for minors. For settler children, justice is administered according to Israeli domestic law, with all the due process protections that affords. They cannot be charged as adults until they reach 18, in accordance with the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a signatory. For Palestinian children, military law applies, and that pretty much means due … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
At-Tuwani: Where Walking to School is An Act of Resistance
Here is another report from the Christian Peacemaker Team, who look out after the children in the area of the At-Tuwani village in the southern Hebron hills as they try to make their way to school. Once again, the Israeli military fails to patrol the children as they are required to do to protect them from attacks by adult settlers. And once again, the children and their parents manage to overcome the dangers and make … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
Shedding Light on Discrimination Against Arab Citizens of Israel
Some of you may remember the relentless attacks on Jimmy Carter after publication of his book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. To deflect some of the criticism, Carter was at pains to distinguish the situation between Arabs in the Occupied Territories and Arab-Israeli citizens. Regarding the latter, he assured his audiences that within Israel proper “democracy prevails and citizens live together and are guaranteed equal status.” Like Carter, many of us are ill-informed or confused about … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Interactive Video
“You have a choice! Israeli Anti-Militarists Speak”
Four Israelis—Dorothy Naor, Sergeiy Sander and Eli Fabrikant, and Ofer Golani—talking about their personal histories, political views and activism in 132 short films.