18 apr 2017
Israeli Intelligence and Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz demanded on Tuesday the execution of convicted Palestinian prisoners.
Katz tweeted Monday evening that Marwan al-Barghouti should have been given the death penalty instead of been sentenced to life imprisonment, where he is currently leading a hunger strike to improve prisoners detention conditions.
Katz calls on Israeli leaders including Army Minister Avigdor Lieberman to vote for enforcing the law bill that allows the death penalty to be applied against Palestinian prisoners.
On Monday, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners began a mass hunger strike scheduled to coincide with Palestinian Prisoner Day, an annual event held in solidarity with the more than 6,000 Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in Israeli jails.
Katz tweeted Monday evening that Marwan al-Barghouti should have been given the death penalty instead of been sentenced to life imprisonment, where he is currently leading a hunger strike to improve prisoners detention conditions.
Katz calls on Israeli leaders including Army Minister Avigdor Lieberman to vote for enforcing the law bill that allows the death penalty to be applied against Palestinian prisoners.
On Monday, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners began a mass hunger strike scheduled to coincide with Palestinian Prisoner Day, an annual event held in solidarity with the more than 6,000 Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in Israeli jails.
15 apr 2017
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Amhad Abu Rahma, the brother of the late Bassem Abu Rahma, who killed by a high-velocity tear gas canister fired at his chest at close range in 2009, spoke with the IMEMC Friday about the current status of the family’s court case against the Israeli military.
The lawyer spoke to the family on Friday and told them that they have reached the end of the legal appeals in the case of Bassem’s killing. The Israeli court admits that Bassem was killed, and that it was the soldier’s fault. Despite having one officer and three soldiers called for questioning, the court claims that it had done what it could. But the court has said there is nothing it can do, because they allegedly don’t know the name of the solider who shot Bassem, or even the name of the officer. |
Court officials told the family’s lawyer that the file of Bassem Abu Rahma was stolen from the court, and that for that reason, they have an incomplete file on the case.
The Israeli court also says that there was never a clear investigation into the case of Bassem’s death, and that now, due to the stolen file, they do not have enough evidence to continue the prosecution.
The court will not accept any appeal to its decision, or any separate case against the soldiers. They have said that they will not push for any further investigation.
But the family says they are not giving up in the struggle for justice for Bassem Abu Rahma. They want to expose the hypocrisy of the Israeli court system, by exposing this case through the media.
There is no ambiguity in the case, according to Bassem and other family members. The soldier who shot him clearly aimed and shot, and the Israeli military has admitted to this fact.
“We will take the case to international court, if we are unable to achieve justice in the Israeli court”, Ahmad told the IMEMC.
After the Israeli High Court closes the case, there is no further appeal possible in the Israeli court system.
Ahmad noted that the Israeli Court System has no practice or intention of prosecuting the soldier who shot his brother, adding that the Israeli Court System is meant to protect the soldiers, not to hold them responsible for their crimes. Despite the fact that the military admits that they killed Bassem, they will not hold any soldier responsible for the crime.
The family says that the identity of the soldier can be clearly ascertained from the video that shows Bassem being killed. But because the file was ‘stolen’ from the court, no soldier will be prosecuted.
Ahmad Abu Rahma stated, “For seven years this case has been ongoing – the Israeli military has dragged its feet at every step, and delayed every court appearance until this point was reached. And now, after all this time, they are dismissing the case based on the bogus claim that they cannot determine the identity of the soldier who shot him.
The Israeli court also says that there was never a clear investigation into the case of Bassem’s death, and that now, due to the stolen file, they do not have enough evidence to continue the prosecution.
The court will not accept any appeal to its decision, or any separate case against the soldiers. They have said that they will not push for any further investigation.
But the family says they are not giving up in the struggle for justice for Bassem Abu Rahma. They want to expose the hypocrisy of the Israeli court system, by exposing this case through the media.
There is no ambiguity in the case, according to Bassem and other family members. The soldier who shot him clearly aimed and shot, and the Israeli military has admitted to this fact.
“We will take the case to international court, if we are unable to achieve justice in the Israeli court”, Ahmad told the IMEMC.
After the Israeli High Court closes the case, there is no further appeal possible in the Israeli court system.
Ahmad noted that the Israeli Court System has no practice or intention of prosecuting the soldier who shot his brother, adding that the Israeli Court System is meant to protect the soldiers, not to hold them responsible for their crimes. Despite the fact that the military admits that they killed Bassem, they will not hold any soldier responsible for the crime.
The family says that the identity of the soldier can be clearly ascertained from the video that shows Bassem being killed. But because the file was ‘stolen’ from the court, no soldier will be prosecuted.
Ahmad Abu Rahma stated, “For seven years this case has been ongoing – the Israeli military has dragged its feet at every step, and delayed every court appearance until this point was reached. And now, after all this time, they are dismissing the case based on the bogus claim that they cannot determine the identity of the soldier who shot him.
13 apr 2017
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Stones thrown at a Palestinian home in Burin.
The cameras weren’t checked, the file wasn’t opened, the testimonies were shelved - that’s how the police investigate Palestinian complaints The Israel Police force in the West Bank closes investigations into complaints by Palestinians of violence committed against them by Israelis, even in the face of solid evidence. A review of case files shows that the police often invest only minimal effort in the investigations, resulting in a failure to prosecute even violent offenses. |
In one case examined by the human rights organization Yesh Din, the Judea and Samaria District Police closed an investigation of an attack by Jewish settlers on a Palestinian home, even though Israeli soldiers witnessed the incident and it was recorded on video. In another instance, the police closed an investigation into the attempted kidnapping of a Palestinian child without checking security cameras at the scene. Another time, the police closed a case against Israeli teens who sprayed a Palestinian with pepper spray, even though the teens’ claim of self-defense was contradicted by statements by soldiers who were witnesses as well as a physical examination of the victim.
In August 2014, stones were thrown at the home of Bilal Eid, a Palestinian resident of Burin. The house stands apart from other homes in the village, and is about 900 meters from the Givat Ronen outpost. Three Jewish minors smashed flood lights near the home and, according to Eid’s police complaint, tried to break in. Video obtained by Yesh Din showed the lights being broken, the faces of the attackers and a number of soldiers standing near the perpetrators. Nevertheless, the investigation was closed; the police never watched the video.
“I tried to watch the flash drive the complainant attached to the file to check if we could identify the suspects in the incident,” read an investigation memo. We couldn’t watch it.”
According to investigation paperwork, the police requested a replacement flash drive a year after the original complaint was submitted, but Eid said he did not have another copy of the video. The police asked army officers in Samaria to check if the army had documentation of the incident. There was a report that “settlers messed with the electricity poles,” but searches did not turn up anything. The case was closed.
Haaretz had no problem watching the video, which clearly shows settlers sabotaging the home’s light poles. Soldiers are seen standing next to them without trying to stop them. Yesh Din filed an appeal in September against the closing of the investigation, a ruling on which is pending.
“An investigator cannot write something like this and throw the flash drive into the trash,” a senior officer who once served in the Judea and Samaria District told Haaretz. “He can’t run the investigation any way he wants to. It is much more complex and supervised,” said the senior officer, who was speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Indeed, the case of Bilal Eid is not the only one in which the police handling of claims of violence against Palestinians raised question marks. In December 2014, for example, a Palestinian man, whose name remains confidential, complained that some Israelis had tried to snatch his son through the open window of his car, while he stopped next to a grocer in Hawara. The man described in his complaint in detail the car in which the attackers drove — a red Subaru Justy with a license number ending in 03.
According to an appeal by Yesh Din, the complainant said there were security cameras in the area, and that a man named Karem was an eyewitness to the incident. However, the investigation files show that the cameras were never checked, and the eyewitness was never called in. Police closed the case, and an appeal was filed in August 2015.
The complainant’s lawyer, Michal Pasovsky, called the police’s attention to an interesting coincidence in a letter she sent two weeks after filing the appeal. An indictment filed against an Israeli for torching a Palestinian-owned car and painting graffiti indicated that he was the owner of the red Subaru Justy with the license plate ending in 03. While the car’s owner was acquitted, Pasovsky suggested it was worth checking out the coincidence.
“Closing and opening a case doesn’t sound so good,” said a retired senior officer. “At the same time, you have to see what the reasons are.” He stressed that the fact that the complainant did not cooperate with the police is no good reason to close the case. “We don’t need cooperation,” he said. “The moment he filed a complaint, it’s all over from our perspective. You don’t need his cooperation anymore.”
Even when police did make some effort to investigate, cases were often closed for reasons that appeared unjustifiable. In January 2015, for instance, a Palestinian man complained of being beaten and sprayed with pepper spray near his home in Hebron by 14 Jewish teenagers. When he shouted for soldiers at a nearby checkpoint to come help, the teens fled toward the Tel Rumeida neighborhood, he said.
The soldiers spotted the teens at the checkpoint and arrested two, one of whom was carrying pepper spray. The teen said he had used it in self-defense, but the soldier who arrested the boys told the police he saw no signs of injury on them and that the two had coordinated their stories while he was standing there listening.
When questioned by police, one of the teens reiterated that he used the spray in self-defense and the other denied any connection to the incident. But the Palestinian identified both boys as his assailants. Moreover, while the boys showed no signs of injury, a policeman noted that the Palestinian had bruises on his arm and upper body; that his left eye was swollen shut, apparently due to repeated rubbing after being hit by the pepper spray; and that he smelled strongly of the spray.
Yet two months later, the complainant was questioned again — this time, as the suspect in an assault. And in May of that year, both cases were closed without charges being filed.
In March, Haaretz reported that of 89 assault complaints filed by Palestinians against Israelis in 2015, only four, or 4.5 percent, resulted in indictments.
The police responded by saying that "investigation of complaints on the issue of politically motivated crime is carried out professionally, and the police invest great effort in discovering evidence and establishing an evidentiary infrastructure. In the past year, dozens of indictments were filed, and the police works and will continue to work to catch the criminals and bring them to justice."
In August 2014, stones were thrown at the home of Bilal Eid, a Palestinian resident of Burin. The house stands apart from other homes in the village, and is about 900 meters from the Givat Ronen outpost. Three Jewish minors smashed flood lights near the home and, according to Eid’s police complaint, tried to break in. Video obtained by Yesh Din showed the lights being broken, the faces of the attackers and a number of soldiers standing near the perpetrators. Nevertheless, the investigation was closed; the police never watched the video.
“I tried to watch the flash drive the complainant attached to the file to check if we could identify the suspects in the incident,” read an investigation memo. We couldn’t watch it.”
According to investigation paperwork, the police requested a replacement flash drive a year after the original complaint was submitted, but Eid said he did not have another copy of the video. The police asked army officers in Samaria to check if the army had documentation of the incident. There was a report that “settlers messed with the electricity poles,” but searches did not turn up anything. The case was closed.
Haaretz had no problem watching the video, which clearly shows settlers sabotaging the home’s light poles. Soldiers are seen standing next to them without trying to stop them. Yesh Din filed an appeal in September against the closing of the investigation, a ruling on which is pending.
“An investigator cannot write something like this and throw the flash drive into the trash,” a senior officer who once served in the Judea and Samaria District told Haaretz. “He can’t run the investigation any way he wants to. It is much more complex and supervised,” said the senior officer, who was speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Indeed, the case of Bilal Eid is not the only one in which the police handling of claims of violence against Palestinians raised question marks. In December 2014, for example, a Palestinian man, whose name remains confidential, complained that some Israelis had tried to snatch his son through the open window of his car, while he stopped next to a grocer in Hawara. The man described in his complaint in detail the car in which the attackers drove — a red Subaru Justy with a license number ending in 03.
According to an appeal by Yesh Din, the complainant said there were security cameras in the area, and that a man named Karem was an eyewitness to the incident. However, the investigation files show that the cameras were never checked, and the eyewitness was never called in. Police closed the case, and an appeal was filed in August 2015.
The complainant’s lawyer, Michal Pasovsky, called the police’s attention to an interesting coincidence in a letter she sent two weeks after filing the appeal. An indictment filed against an Israeli for torching a Palestinian-owned car and painting graffiti indicated that he was the owner of the red Subaru Justy with the license plate ending in 03. While the car’s owner was acquitted, Pasovsky suggested it was worth checking out the coincidence.
“Closing and opening a case doesn’t sound so good,” said a retired senior officer. “At the same time, you have to see what the reasons are.” He stressed that the fact that the complainant did not cooperate with the police is no good reason to close the case. “We don’t need cooperation,” he said. “The moment he filed a complaint, it’s all over from our perspective. You don’t need his cooperation anymore.”
Even when police did make some effort to investigate, cases were often closed for reasons that appeared unjustifiable. In January 2015, for instance, a Palestinian man complained of being beaten and sprayed with pepper spray near his home in Hebron by 14 Jewish teenagers. When he shouted for soldiers at a nearby checkpoint to come help, the teens fled toward the Tel Rumeida neighborhood, he said.
The soldiers spotted the teens at the checkpoint and arrested two, one of whom was carrying pepper spray. The teen said he had used it in self-defense, but the soldier who arrested the boys told the police he saw no signs of injury on them and that the two had coordinated their stories while he was standing there listening.
When questioned by police, one of the teens reiterated that he used the spray in self-defense and the other denied any connection to the incident. But the Palestinian identified both boys as his assailants. Moreover, while the boys showed no signs of injury, a policeman noted that the Palestinian had bruises on his arm and upper body; that his left eye was swollen shut, apparently due to repeated rubbing after being hit by the pepper spray; and that he smelled strongly of the spray.
Yet two months later, the complainant was questioned again — this time, as the suspect in an assault. And in May of that year, both cases were closed without charges being filed.
In March, Haaretz reported that of 89 assault complaints filed by Palestinians against Israelis in 2015, only four, or 4.5 percent, resulted in indictments.
The police responded by saying that "investigation of complaints on the issue of politically motivated crime is carried out professionally, and the police invest great effort in discovering evidence and establishing an evidentiary infrastructure. In the past year, dozens of indictments were filed, and the police works and will continue to work to catch the criminals and bring them to justice."
3 apr 2017
Yedioth Ahronoth Hebrew newspaper reported on Monday that a new Israeli bill submitted to the Knesset last week would allow Israel to deduct NIS1 billion from the Palestinian Authority (PA) tax revenues, the equivalent amount that the PA pays to families of martyrs and prisoners.
The legislation was proposed by lawmaker MK Elazar Stern who claimed that it was set up because the PA supports “terrorism”. He says that in 2016, the PA paid out some NIS 1.1 billion ($303 million) in stipends and other benefits to the families of Palestinian martyrs and prisoners in Israeli jails.
According to the bill, financially supporting Palestinian families of martyrs and prisoners is a violation of Oslo Accords.
“The PA’s payments glorify terrorism, part of a broader trend of incitement blamed for fueling a surge of violence last year”, MK Stern said.
The legislation was proposed by lawmaker MK Elazar Stern who claimed that it was set up because the PA supports “terrorism”. He says that in 2016, the PA paid out some NIS 1.1 billion ($303 million) in stipends and other benefits to the families of Palestinian martyrs and prisoners in Israeli jails.
According to the bill, financially supporting Palestinian families of martyrs and prisoners is a violation of Oslo Accords.
“The PA’s payments glorify terrorism, part of a broader trend of incitement blamed for fueling a surge of violence last year”, MK Stern said.
The Israeli Knesset plenum passed on Sunday evening the second and third readings of a bill pushing for speeding up the demolition of Palestinian homes.
A so-called Kaminitiz bill will enable the Israeli forces to demolish Palestinian homes in 1948 Occupied Palestine (Green Line) with greater ease, after the Knesset (Israeli parliament) passed the bill.
The law will be brought to final vote on Wednesday.
The law will impose heavy fines, legalize confiscation of construction materials, impede the construction of Palestinian homes, and expedite the demolition of unregulated houses.
Critics called the law “racist” and “biased” because it fails to address the issue of illegal settlement construction in the occupied territories.
MK Abdullah Abu Maaruf told Haaretz the bill was "yet another law that expresses the continued policy of the Netanyahu government of discrimination against Israel's Arab citizens.”
National and international NGOs regularly report that it is almost impossible to receive a building permit for Palestinians to construct houses across the Green Line.
According to Palestinian sources, 50,000 homes are threatened with demolition in 1948 Occupied Palestine under the unlicensed construction pretext, besides thousands of other homes in Negev.
A so-called Kaminitiz bill will enable the Israeli forces to demolish Palestinian homes in 1948 Occupied Palestine (Green Line) with greater ease, after the Knesset (Israeli parliament) passed the bill.
The law will be brought to final vote on Wednesday.
The law will impose heavy fines, legalize confiscation of construction materials, impede the construction of Palestinian homes, and expedite the demolition of unregulated houses.
Critics called the law “racist” and “biased” because it fails to address the issue of illegal settlement construction in the occupied territories.
MK Abdullah Abu Maaruf told Haaretz the bill was "yet another law that expresses the continued policy of the Netanyahu government of discrimination against Israel's Arab citizens.”
National and international NGOs regularly report that it is almost impossible to receive a building permit for Palestinians to construct houses across the Green Line.
According to Palestinian sources, 50,000 homes are threatened with demolition in 1948 Occupied Palestine under the unlicensed construction pretext, besides thousands of other homes in Negev.
21 mar 2017
Amid a fierce Israeli crackdown on Palestinian freedom of expression, occupation authorities have prosecuted two Palestinians over Facebook posts, according to Days of Palestine.
Israeli authorities issued a list of charges, including “Facebook incitement” against Palestinian journalist Mohamed Batroukh, from Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem-based human rights group, Wadi al-Hilweh Information Centre, said that this is a “clear and flagrant violation” of rights to impart information and free speech.
Batroukh was kidnapped by Israeli forces during a night raid on March 7, Safa news agency said.
Meanwhile, an Israeli judge sentenced Walid Rajabi to 10 months of actual imprisonment and a suspended probation sentence of seven months for three years, on charges of incitement on Facebook.
Tens of Palestinians had been kidnapped, charged and sentenced by the Israeli occupation over expressing their opinions on social media during the last six months.
Israeli authorities issued a list of charges, including “Facebook incitement” against Palestinian journalist Mohamed Batroukh, from Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem-based human rights group, Wadi al-Hilweh Information Centre, said that this is a “clear and flagrant violation” of rights to impart information and free speech.
Batroukh was kidnapped by Israeli forces during a night raid on March 7, Safa news agency said.
Meanwhile, an Israeli judge sentenced Walid Rajabi to 10 months of actual imprisonment and a suspended probation sentence of seven months for three years, on charges of incitement on Facebook.
Tens of Palestinians had been kidnapped, charged and sentenced by the Israeli occupation over expressing their opinions on social media during the last six months.
