8 july 2020
In Tel Aviv on Tuesday, an Israeli court rejected an appeal by the Islamic Council of Jaffa to preserve a 200-year old Muslim cemetery, ruling instead that the municipality of Tel Aviv can move forward with plans to build a homeless shelter on the site. video
The ruling followed weeks of protests, in which Israeli police beat Palestinian citizens who challenged the plan to demolish the cemetery. They said it was part of the Israeli government’s policy to erase Palestinian heritage, just as the Israeli government had erased and demolished so many Palestinian towns, villages and historic sites over the past 72 years that Israel has existed.
In addition to ruling that the cemetery could be destroyed, Judge Limor Bibi ordered the Jaffa Islamic Council to pay $2,200 in legal fees.
The case evoked memories of a similar fight that took place in Jerusalem several years ago, in which Palestinians resisted the Israeli plan to demolish a Muslim cemetery in order to build a ‘Museum of Tolerance’. They lost that fight, and the cemetery was destroyed in order to construct the Museum.
In the current case, the Islamic Council had managed to get an Israeli court to temporarily halt construction on the site when they proved that the Tel Aviv municipality had no legal permit to destroy the 200-year old Al-Isaaf cemetery. The original hearing was supposed to be July 22nd. But lawyers for the city of Tel Aviv argued that the city’s finances were being negatively impacted, and the court agreed to move the hearing up to July 7th.
The municipality argued that the site was not a place of special significance to Jaffa’s Muslim community, claiming that it had been abandoned for decades until their construction equipment dug up the skeletons of thirty people while doing excavation on the site.
The director of the Islamic Council, Tarek Ashkar, called the court ruling “legal acrobatics”, and said it was a blatant example of anti-Palestinian discrimination in Israel.
The judge appeared to make the decision based on a technicality – the fact that construction had continued on the site, and had not ceased for an entire year – because of the continuation of the work, Judge Bibi said that the permit was never invalidated, and so the municipality should not have to apply for a new permit.
According to Middle East Eye, the Al-Isaaf cemetery, which lies just north of the walls of Old Jaffa near the Hassan Bek Mosque, was built almost 200 years ago. Despite not being in active use for nearly 90 years, the cemetery holds hundreds of Palestinian tombs.
Middle East Eye points out that Jaffa was once an epicentre of the Palestinian economy, with some 120,000 people living in and around the flourishing city on the Mediterranean Sea in 1948. Almost 95 percent of the Palestinian population of Jaffa and its surrounding villages were expelled by Zionist militias during the Nakba, or the catastrophe, that year, during the formation of the state of Israel.
Over the decades, Jaffa’s historic neighbourhoods were progressively demolished and the city shrank into a small town that was then absorbed by the municipality of Tel Aviv.
The ruling followed weeks of protests, in which Israeli police beat Palestinian citizens who challenged the plan to demolish the cemetery. They said it was part of the Israeli government’s policy to erase Palestinian heritage, just as the Israeli government had erased and demolished so many Palestinian towns, villages and historic sites over the past 72 years that Israel has existed.
In addition to ruling that the cemetery could be destroyed, Judge Limor Bibi ordered the Jaffa Islamic Council to pay $2,200 in legal fees.
The case evoked memories of a similar fight that took place in Jerusalem several years ago, in which Palestinians resisted the Israeli plan to demolish a Muslim cemetery in order to build a ‘Museum of Tolerance’. They lost that fight, and the cemetery was destroyed in order to construct the Museum.
In the current case, the Islamic Council had managed to get an Israeli court to temporarily halt construction on the site when they proved that the Tel Aviv municipality had no legal permit to destroy the 200-year old Al-Isaaf cemetery. The original hearing was supposed to be July 22nd. But lawyers for the city of Tel Aviv argued that the city’s finances were being negatively impacted, and the court agreed to move the hearing up to July 7th.
The municipality argued that the site was not a place of special significance to Jaffa’s Muslim community, claiming that it had been abandoned for decades until their construction equipment dug up the skeletons of thirty people while doing excavation on the site.
The director of the Islamic Council, Tarek Ashkar, called the court ruling “legal acrobatics”, and said it was a blatant example of anti-Palestinian discrimination in Israel.
The judge appeared to make the decision based on a technicality – the fact that construction had continued on the site, and had not ceased for an entire year – because of the continuation of the work, Judge Bibi said that the permit was never invalidated, and so the municipality should not have to apply for a new permit.
According to Middle East Eye, the Al-Isaaf cemetery, which lies just north of the walls of Old Jaffa near the Hassan Bek Mosque, was built almost 200 years ago. Despite not being in active use for nearly 90 years, the cemetery holds hundreds of Palestinian tombs.
Middle East Eye points out that Jaffa was once an epicentre of the Palestinian economy, with some 120,000 people living in and around the flourishing city on the Mediterranean Sea in 1948. Almost 95 percent of the Palestinian population of Jaffa and its surrounding villages were expelled by Zionist militias during the Nakba, or the catastrophe, that year, during the formation of the state of Israel.
Over the decades, Jaffa’s historic neighbourhoods were progressively demolished and the city shrank into a small town that was then absorbed by the municipality of Tel Aviv.
7 july 2020
Jaffa Gate property of the Greek Orthodox Church sought after by Jewish settlement organizations
Church leaders in Jerusalem said today in a joint statement that an Israeli court’s ruling on property of the Greek Orthodox Church at Jaffa Gate of the occupied old city of Jerusalem threatens Christian presence in the holy city.“
We, the Heads of the Churches and Christian Communities in Jerusalem, stand united in our commitment to safeguard the historical Status Quo of the Holy Sites and rights of the Churches which are universally recognized,” said the church leaders.
“The case of Jaffa Gate threatens this Status Quo. We are concerned by the recent judgment of the District Court of Jerusalem, which dismissed evidence demonstrating the Greek Orthodox Church case. We strongly support the efforts of the Greek Orthodox Church in their plea for justice.”
The Greek Orthodox Church is battling in court Jewish settlement organizations seeking to take over its Jaffa Gate property under the pretext of ownership, a claim strongly contested by the church.
“We don't see this case as a mere property dispute. We see the undertaking of radical groups to take control of properties at Jaffa Gate as a systematic attempt to undermine the integrity of the Holy City, to obstruct the Christian pilgrim route and to weaken the Christian presence in Jerusalem,” said the 13 church leaders.
They called on the Israeli government “to act in order to safeguard the integrity of the Christian heritage and patrimony in the Old City, as well as the Holy Sites and the rights of the residents of the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem.”
“These are places which over two billion Christians around the world look at as the very heart of their faith; which millions of Christian pilgrims visit each year; and in which the local Christians live out their faith,” they said.
The statement was signed by Patriarch Theophilos Ill, Greek Orthodox, Patriarch Nourhan Manougian, Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Patriarchate, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Apostolic Administrator, Latin Patriarchate, Fr. Francesco Patton, ofm, Custos of the Holy Land, Archbishop Anba Antonious, Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, Jerusalem, Archbishop Gabriel Daho, Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate, Archbishop Aba Embakob, Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarchate, Archbishop Yaser AL-Ayash, Greek-Melkite-Catholic Patriarchate, Archbishop Mosa El-Hage, Maronite Patriarchal Exarchate, Archbishop Suheil Dawani, Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East, Bishop Ibrahim Sani Azar, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, Father Ephram Samaan, Syrian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate, and Rt Rev. Joseph Nerses Zabarian, Armenian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate.
Church leaders in Jerusalem said today in a joint statement that an Israeli court’s ruling on property of the Greek Orthodox Church at Jaffa Gate of the occupied old city of Jerusalem threatens Christian presence in the holy city.“
We, the Heads of the Churches and Christian Communities in Jerusalem, stand united in our commitment to safeguard the historical Status Quo of the Holy Sites and rights of the Churches which are universally recognized,” said the church leaders.
“The case of Jaffa Gate threatens this Status Quo. We are concerned by the recent judgment of the District Court of Jerusalem, which dismissed evidence demonstrating the Greek Orthodox Church case. We strongly support the efforts of the Greek Orthodox Church in their plea for justice.”
The Greek Orthodox Church is battling in court Jewish settlement organizations seeking to take over its Jaffa Gate property under the pretext of ownership, a claim strongly contested by the church.
“We don't see this case as a mere property dispute. We see the undertaking of radical groups to take control of properties at Jaffa Gate as a systematic attempt to undermine the integrity of the Holy City, to obstruct the Christian pilgrim route and to weaken the Christian presence in Jerusalem,” said the 13 church leaders.
They called on the Israeli government “to act in order to safeguard the integrity of the Christian heritage and patrimony in the Old City, as well as the Holy Sites and the rights of the residents of the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem.”
“These are places which over two billion Christians around the world look at as the very heart of their faith; which millions of Christian pilgrims visit each year; and in which the local Christians live out their faith,” they said.
The statement was signed by Patriarch Theophilos Ill, Greek Orthodox, Patriarch Nourhan Manougian, Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Patriarchate, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Apostolic Administrator, Latin Patriarchate, Fr. Francesco Patton, ofm, Custos of the Holy Land, Archbishop Anba Antonious, Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, Jerusalem, Archbishop Gabriel Daho, Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate, Archbishop Aba Embakob, Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarchate, Archbishop Yaser AL-Ayash, Greek-Melkite-Catholic Patriarchate, Archbishop Mosa El-Hage, Maronite Patriarchal Exarchate, Archbishop Suheil Dawani, Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East, Bishop Ibrahim Sani Azar, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, Father Ephram Samaan, Syrian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate, and Rt Rev. Joseph Nerses Zabarian, Armenian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate.
25 june 2020
Israel’s Ofer military court on Wednesday sentenced Palestinian detainee Asem al-Barghouti to four life sentences, according to Asra Media. video
Al-Barghouti, a resident of Kobar village north of Ramallah, was convicted by an Israeli court on 28 November 2019 of murder after carrying out two separate shooting attacks in which two Israeli soldiers and a settler were killed.
Al-Barghouti also faced charges of attempting to kill 12 soldiers and settlers in the same attacks.
Al-Barghouti had previously served an 11-year prison term in Israeli jails, on charges of being a member of al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, before he was released in April 2018.
His father is an ex-prisoner who had served a total of 26 years in Israeli jails, and his brother Saleh was assassinated by Israeli occupation forces in 2018 over a shooting attack on Israeli soldiers and settlers near Ramallah.
Al-Barghouti, a resident of Kobar village north of Ramallah, was convicted by an Israeli court on 28 November 2019 of murder after carrying out two separate shooting attacks in which two Israeli soldiers and a settler were killed.
Al-Barghouti also faced charges of attempting to kill 12 soldiers and settlers in the same attacks.
Al-Barghouti had previously served an 11-year prison term in Israeli jails, on charges of being a member of al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, before he was released in April 2018.
His father is an ex-prisoner who had served a total of 26 years in Israeli jails, and his brother Saleh was assassinated by Israeli occupation forces in 2018 over a shooting attack on Israeli soldiers and settlers near Ramallah.
18 june 2020
Military says soldier reached plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to charges of negligence and reckless endangerment; serviceman receives suspended sentence and demoted to rank of private
An IDF soldier who shot and killed a Palestinian fisherman near the Gaza frontier in 2018 has been given 45 days of community service after an army investigation concluded he fired without authorization, the military said Thursday.
The military said a group of Palestinians had approached the fence but were far away when the soldier opened fire, striking one of them. Its statement did not identify the soldier or the Palestinian, or say whether he was killed.
Nawaf al-Attar, a 23-year-old fisherman was shot and killed by Israeli troops near the northern beach frontier on Nov. 14, 2018, when the military said the shooting occurred.
It happened a few hours after a ceasefire took effect following a brief round of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants. The area near the fence had seen weekly protests at the time that often turned violent, but there were no demonstrations that day.
The military said the soldier reached a plea bargain in which he pleaded guilty to charges of negligence and reckless endangerment. He received a suspended sentence and was demoted to the rank of private.
Gaza has been under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces there in 2007.
Since then, Hamas and other militant groups have fought three wars and engaged in numerous smaller battles with Israel.
Rights groups have accused Israel of using excessive force and of failing to adequately investigate the killing of civilians. Israel says it makes every effort to avoid civilian casualties and accuses Palestinian militants of using civilians as human shields.
“Enforcing a military occupation on millions of people for decades requires exorbitant violence and impunity for the soldiers who sustain it,” the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said in a statement.
“Forty-five days of community service for killing a man is but the latest example of how the military law enforcement system is designed to protect perpetrators, not their victims.”
An Associated Press investigation last year found that the military had opened investigations into 24 potentially criminal shootings of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the previous year. None of the cases at that time had yielded convictions or even indictments, and in most cases, the army had not interviewed key witnesses or retrieved evidence from the field.
The Palestinian Authority has asked the International Criminal Court to probe alleged Israeli war crimes, including allegations related to violence in Gaza. Israel has sought to rally the international community against any investigation, arguing that the Palestinians lack legal standing and that its own courts investigate and punish any misconduct.
Israel does not recognize the ICC, but any charges could put Israeli officials at risk of arrest in other countries.
An IDF soldier who shot and killed a Palestinian fisherman near the Gaza frontier in 2018 has been given 45 days of community service after an army investigation concluded he fired without authorization, the military said Thursday.
The military said a group of Palestinians had approached the fence but were far away when the soldier opened fire, striking one of them. Its statement did not identify the soldier or the Palestinian, or say whether he was killed.
Nawaf al-Attar, a 23-year-old fisherman was shot and killed by Israeli troops near the northern beach frontier on Nov. 14, 2018, when the military said the shooting occurred.
It happened a few hours after a ceasefire took effect following a brief round of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants. The area near the fence had seen weekly protests at the time that often turned violent, but there were no demonstrations that day.
The military said the soldier reached a plea bargain in which he pleaded guilty to charges of negligence and reckless endangerment. He received a suspended sentence and was demoted to the rank of private.
Gaza has been under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces there in 2007.
Since then, Hamas and other militant groups have fought three wars and engaged in numerous smaller battles with Israel.
Rights groups have accused Israel of using excessive force and of failing to adequately investigate the killing of civilians. Israel says it makes every effort to avoid civilian casualties and accuses Palestinian militants of using civilians as human shields.
“Enforcing a military occupation on millions of people for decades requires exorbitant violence and impunity for the soldiers who sustain it,” the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said in a statement.
“Forty-five days of community service for killing a man is but the latest example of how the military law enforcement system is designed to protect perpetrators, not their victims.”
An Associated Press investigation last year found that the military had opened investigations into 24 potentially criminal shootings of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the previous year. None of the cases at that time had yielded convictions or even indictments, and in most cases, the army had not interviewed key witnesses or retrieved evidence from the field.
The Palestinian Authority has asked the International Criminal Court to probe alleged Israeli war crimes, including allegations related to violence in Gaza. Israel has sought to rally the international community against any investigation, arguing that the Palestinians lack legal standing and that its own courts investigate and punish any misconduct.
Israel does not recognize the ICC, but any charges could put Israeli officials at risk of arrest in other countries.
A Palestinian man who went to the Israeli High Court today to appeal a decision to demolish his house in Jerusalem's Jabal al-Mukabber neighborhood hoping to get justice from the highest court in Israel, was instead told by the court that he has until Sunday to tear down his house or he will be fined $30,000.
Abdullah Zaatra said that his brother, Yasin, appealed through his lawyer to the High Court against a decision by the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem to demolish his house in five days for construction without permit.
To his surprise, the Court quickly ruled on the matter and ordered Zaatra to either demolish his house with his own hand by Sunday or he will be fined $30,000 if the municipality goes ahead with the demolition.
Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem say they are forced to build without a permit because getting one is an almost impossible task in light of Israel's discriminatory building policy in the occupied city which favors Jewish construction and presence to Palestinian.
Abdullah Zaatra said that his brother, Yasin, appealed through his lawyer to the High Court against a decision by the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem to demolish his house in five days for construction without permit.
To his surprise, the Court quickly ruled on the matter and ordered Zaatra to either demolish his house with his own hand by Sunday or he will be fined $30,000 if the municipality goes ahead with the demolition.
Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem say they are forced to build without a permit because getting one is an almost impossible task in light of Israel's discriminatory building policy in the occupied city which favors Jewish construction and presence to Palestinian.
15 june 2020
From injury and treatment in the intensive care rooms to the cellars of the investigation and imprisonment until the issuance of a 10-year prison sentence, this is how the boy Mohammad Al-Sheikh spent the last months of his life, hoping that his suffering would end soon.
The story of the 16-year-old Mohammad Al-Sheikh, from the village of Ezaryeh, east of Jerusalem, began in mid-August, while he was accompanied by his friend Moukafih Abu Roumi 14, where heavy fire was opened towards them near Al-Silsileh Gate - one of Al-Aqsa Mosque’s gates - on the pretext of trying to carry out a stabbing attack against police individuals, which led to seriously injuring Al-Sheikh and Abu Rumi’s martyrdom.
Khader Al-Sheikh, Mohammad’s father, explained that the District Court sentenced his son last Sunday to an actual imprisonment for 10 years, pointing out at his health condition still needed follow-up and medical observation especially that one of the bullets settled below the heart, expressing his concern for his health in the future and the extent of the impact of the bullet on his life.
Al-Sheikh added that his son remained in the hospital for about 3 months, then he was transferred to Ofer Prison. During this period, his mother was able to visit him only once, while his father is still banned from visiting him until today, while awaiting a permit to visit him to check on him.
The suffering of the Al-Sheikh family does not stop at the injury and arrest of their son, Mohammad, as his brother Shawkat, 19, was also arrested days after Mohammad’s injury and sentenced to one year in prison. His parents were not allowed to visit him.
The story of the 16-year-old Mohammad Al-Sheikh, from the village of Ezaryeh, east of Jerusalem, began in mid-August, while he was accompanied by his friend Moukafih Abu Roumi 14, where heavy fire was opened towards them near Al-Silsileh Gate - one of Al-Aqsa Mosque’s gates - on the pretext of trying to carry out a stabbing attack against police individuals, which led to seriously injuring Al-Sheikh and Abu Rumi’s martyrdom.
Khader Al-Sheikh, Mohammad’s father, explained that the District Court sentenced his son last Sunday to an actual imprisonment for 10 years, pointing out at his health condition still needed follow-up and medical observation especially that one of the bullets settled below the heart, expressing his concern for his health in the future and the extent of the impact of the bullet on his life.
Al-Sheikh added that his son remained in the hospital for about 3 months, then he was transferred to Ofer Prison. During this period, his mother was able to visit him only once, while his father is still banned from visiting him until today, while awaiting a permit to visit him to check on him.
The suffering of the Al-Sheikh family does not stop at the injury and arrest of their son, Mohammad, as his brother Shawkat, 19, was also arrested days after Mohammad’s injury and sentenced to one year in prison. His parents were not allowed to visit him.
