The Only Democracy? » Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
Today in Jayyous
A picture of tear gas being shot by the Israeli army on unarmed protesters in the Palestinian village of Jayyous, who are holding Friday demonstrations to protest their land being taken by Israel. Photo by Mohammed Othman. You can follow what’s happening in Jayyous here. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs, On The Ground Reports
Protest around the world today for Ziad Jilani
I have written early in an attempt to draw parallels between Trayvon Martin and the killing of Palestinian youths by settler vigilantes. Today we are protesting a killing done by “Border Police” in Israel. The name suggest an obvious link to police brutality in the United States: with an added twist, the people killed do not have full citizenship that their surviving loved ones can use to fight on their behalf. So it’s up to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs, On The Ground Reports
Video: Israeli Army Invades and Closes University Community Media Center
Sent to us by a reader. Click here for the Facebook page of Al Quds educational TV (mostly in Arabic.) Dr. Jamal Nusseibeh Vice President for Jerusalem Affairs Al-Quds University April 2, 2012 For the second time in two months, the Israeli authorities have invaded, searched and prevented the functioning of Al-Quds University’s Institute of Modern Media. This time, they prevented skype contact for an event taking place simultaneously in Jerusalem and Ramallah. Today, at 12:55 pm local time, plain clothes police arrived at … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
Video: Israeli Soldiers Violently Evict Hebron House
From the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee Tuesday, 3 April 2012 “Youth Against Settlements’” Badia Dweik: “While we were violently evicted, the army treats settlers with kid gloves.” While Israeli PM and his ministers scramble to prevent the eviction of a Palestinian-owned house in Hebron that was taken over by Jewish settlers last week, a video documenting the violent eviction of Palestinian activists from a nearby house owned by the Hebron municipality two days ago, shows extensive use of force. The eviction, which took place on Sundayy in the Old City of Hebron, was carried out by a large force of Israeli Border Police officers. During the eviction, the force heavily employed the use of tear-gas and a foul smelling liquid called “The Skunk”. Additionally dozens were physically assaulted, with at least five of the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
New young Israeli Refusers
For decades hundreds of Israeli youth have declared at different times and for different reasons that they will refuse to serve in the Israeli military as they see its actions as immoral. Many times, these conscientious objectors (COs) are imprisoned for refusing to serve in the army, as the military service is mandatory in Israel for all youth at the age of 18 for a period of 3 years for men and 2 years for women … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs, Victories for Democracy
Winter at Salem: Music Center Annual Concert – and Military Raid on Center Director’s Home
The first part of this post, an account of Salem’s music center 2011 end-of-year concert held recently in the village municipality building, was written by Ikhlas (Yasmin) Gebara, the young poet from Salem (a village just outside of Nablus). Ikhlas is sitting to the left of Erella and Ehud in the picture below. ————————————— Music is a gift for our minds and our hearts. It is a jewel that we lost and we feel happy when we … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs, On The Ground Reports
IDF Investigations: Will There Be Justice for Tamimi?
IDF policy requires a criminal investigation be launched immediately when military operations in the occupied Palestinian territories cause death. But a defective system essentially ensures that the investigation will not be conducted in a fair and impartial manner, enabling soldiers to continue to act with impunity. This article was first published in The Jerusalem Post and is reprinted with permission. The death of 28-year-old Mustafa Tamimi of the village of Nabi Saleh last month raises questions about the Israeli military establishment’s investigative processes. Tamimi was only the latest casualty of the IDF’s abundant use of tear gas to disperse Palestinian popular protest. Dozens of people have been seriously injured or killed in recent years, including Bassem Abu Rahma, who died in 2009 after being shot in … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs, On The Ground Reports
Who’s Afraid of Women’s Song?
Who’s Afraid of Women’s Song? The following is a testimony of one of the women, out of the 23 activists, who were arrested in this week’s Nabi Saleh demonstration (above video). This demonstration was the first after Mustafa Tamimi’s murder. It was extremely brutal, which is a relative term, considering the continuous repression that the demonstrations against the apartheid wall face, and the village of Nabi Saleh in particular. Out of the 23 activists, many were physically assaulted while handcuffed behind their backs, as Mohammed Khatib, one of the leaders of the Bil’in popular committee, describes in his own testimony. Mustafa Tamimi’s sister, Ola, who was prevented from being with her brother as he took his last breaths, was pepper sprayed in the eyes, from a few … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination, Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs, On The Ground Reports
Updated: A year bookended by the death of unarmed activists
On January 3rd, 2011 protester Jawaher Abu Rahmah was killed by a tear gas inhalation at an earlier march in Bil’in. At the time, the Israeli Army made some bizarre claims that her death was caused by cancer, which they later retracted. Now almost a year later on December 9th, another nonviolent marcher has been killed in their own village, this time Mustafa Tamimi. You can read eyewitness testimony of his shooting here. The short version … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs
Statement of the Palestinian Freedom Riders
As of now, 6 Palestinian Freedom Riders are about to be arrested just inside Jerusalem. Read why the Palestinian human rights activists boarded segregated buses below. My name is Hurriyeh Ziadah. I am the media spokeswomen for the Palestinian Freedom Rides campaign. Thank you all for being here today. Fifty years ago brave African American civil rights activists challenged the racist and unjust laws of Jim Crow by boarding buses to the segregated South, thereby embarking on … Read entire article »
Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs, On The Ground Reports
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.