The Only Democracy? » Archive
Palestinian Child, 12 years old, To Be Tried as Adult By Israeli Military Court
The International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC) reports that Israeli Authorities have decided to file charges against al-Hasan al-Mohtasib, a 12-year-old Palestinian child from the southern West Bank city of Hebron, who was arrested and charged with throwing stones at the Israeli military. The boy’s seven-year-old brother was also detained and released after 10 hours. As the boys’ father, Faydel, frantically searched for his sons after witnesses told him they were kidnapped by soldiers, the children were moved from … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination, Featured
A Day in the Life of an Israeli Rabbi for Human Rights
Rabbi Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights reports on witnessing the army uproot olive trees in Beit Jala, calling for supporters to demonstrate with the farmers and help plant new trees, and then moving on to Jerusalem to demonstrate against Ezra Nawi’s conviction order and to be present at court proceedings for the appeal of that conviction: I am returning now from Beit Jala, where yesterday the army started cutting down/uprooting olive trees on both sides of the tunnel road, apparently for the extention of the Separation Barrier. It is hard to describe the stumps of ancient trees screaming to the heavens, or what is happening to the garden of one family, that will have the Barrier come within a meter of their house. The army eventually declared the area a closed military area … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
Tulkarem Radio Director Imprisoned
Ma’an, a leading Palestinian news source, reports that the director of a Tulkarem radio station was seized in his home last night, and later sentenced to 50 days in prison. The radio station is affliated with the Ma’an network. The Director has not been charged with any crime, and the reasons for his detention remain unclear. Ten other Palestinians were also seized the same night, and all were described as “wanted” by Israeli officials. . … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
Hass: IDF Preventing Cars of Israeli Activists From Entering West Bank Villages
We have been posting articles about the participation of Israeli human rights activists in protests against the Wall in villages such as Bi’lin and Nai’lin. Today, Amira Hass reports that Israeli Defense Forces have recorded the license plates of these protesters, and are using the information to bar their entry through checkpoints. A document was presented to a number of left-wing activists during the last three demonstrations. The activists were forbidden from crossing the Rantis checkpoint on their way to the two villages. In the document entitled “Data of vehicles used by left-wing Israeli activists and anarchists to reach demonstrations in Na’alin and Bil’in,” registration numbers of 11 vehicles are listed. Advertisement The activists assume that the details were sent to the IDF by police who were present at recent demonstrations. Shai Gorsky, one … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
Al Tuwani schoolchildren chased by settlers, then detained by Israeli military
The Christian Peacemaker Team reports on the repeated failure of the Israeli military police to escort Palestinian schoolchildren in the Al Tuwani area from school back to their villages to protect them from settler violence, and a recent incident where, after waiting an hour for the escort, the children attempted to make their way home themselves, were assailed by the settlers, and then detained by the military. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
“Sleepless in Gaza and Jerusalem”: YouTube Series on Palestinian Women
PINA TV Production and Radiant Circle Productions announce the March 1st opening of the premier episode of a 90-part series, “Sleepless in Gaza…and Jerusalem”, that will be launched on YouTube. It will be a video diary about four young Palestinian women, Muslim and Christian, two living in Gaza and two in Arab Jerusalem/West Bank. The series will follow Ashira Ramadan, a broadcast journalist based in Jerusalem; Ashira’s friend in Gaza, the documentary film maker Nagham Mohanna; Donna Maria Mattas, a 17 year-old student at the Holy Family school in Gaza who dreams of growing up to be a journalist, and Ala’ Khayo Mkari who works with Caritas in Jerusalem. The intention of this series is neither rant nor rhetoric. It is rather an opportunity for all of us, who do not live in Gaza, occupied … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
UN: Israel’s “Heritage Sites” Are On Palestinian Land
Following Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement on Sunday that the biblical Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem and the Tomb of the Patriarch in Hebron would be added to the list of Israel’s “Heritage sites”, a chorus of officials condemned the plans as confiscatory, and derailing peace efforts. United Nations top Mideast Envoy, Robert Serry, said: Those sites are in Palestinian territory and bear an importance not only in Judaism but in Islam as well…Implementation of the government’s decision could harm trust between the two sides and hurt the efforts to renew talks PLO Chief Negotiator Saeb Ekekat issued a statement saying: The unilateral decision to make Palestinian sites in Hebron and Bethlehem part of Israel shows there is no genuine partner for peace, but an occupying power intent on consolidating Palestinian land …Netanyahu is actively working to sabotage the two-state … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination
Villages Group Finds A Local Hero in Umm Daraj
With all the bad news about the fierce apparatus of “Separation” in the West Bank, it is inspiring to learn about the work of the Villages Group –a small group of Israelis who have regularly traveled to cut-off villages in the West Bank since 2002. With their Palestinian partners, they seek to renew direct interaction between the two peoples, with frequent, open, and mutually respectful contact. Recently the group visited the Beduin village of Umm Daraj in the Judean desert, where … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
Israeli Think Tank Says Global Anti-Occupation Movement Is The Problem; Sabotage Is The Cure
Reut Institute, a leading Israeli national security and socioeconomic policy think tank, has released its preliminary report on “The Delegitimization Challenge: Creating a Political Firewall” In an extraordinary exercise in doublethink, Reut scratches its head over Israel’s declining diplomatic status in the aftermath of its assault on Gaza and the Goldstone Report, and concludes that, yet again, it is the victim. The culprits here are twofold: The Resistance Network – which operates on the basis of Islamist ideology and includes Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas; and the Delegitimization Network – which operates in the international arena in order to negate Israel’s right to exist and includes individuals and organizations in the West, which are catalyzed by the radical left. The Report’s analysis is drenched in the language of victimization: the Resistance Network is “rooted in, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
Proposed Legislation Targets Israeli Human Rights NGOs
Jeremiah Haber of the Magnes Zionist reports on proposed legislation endorsed by the Israeli government that would place onerous reporting burdens on human rights non-governmental organizations within Israel, and strip them of their status as public institutions. If passed, Haber warns, “it will be a black day for what is left of Israeli democracy.” Indeed, if anything it makes “the only democracy” in the Middle East fit in with other governments in the region: civil society NGOS are subjected to similar reporting requirements in Iran, and are harassed in Egypt. Why Bomb Iran When You Can Be Iran? That seems to be the thinking behind the Israeli government’s endorsement of legislation that will require human rights NGOs in Israel (e.g., B’Tselem, Machsomwatch, Breaking the Silence, Adalah, etc.) to publicize contributions from foreign governments, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
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.