4 apr 2018
The Palestinian Special Commission to follow up Israeli crimes decided to prosecute Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over killing unarmed Palestinian protesters during the first day of the Great Return March.
Secretary-General of the Palestinian Al-Haq Foundation, Shawan Jabarin, said that the Palestinian committee to oversee ICC cases is to exert its utmost efforts to prosecute the Israeli soldiers and military leaders over committing war crimes against unarmed civilians.
All documents, images and videos that prove the Israeli army’s crimes against unarmed Palestinian protesters to be submitted to the court, he underlined.
Jabarin denied Israeli allegations claiming that the killed protesters are members of Hamas Movement, confirming that they were unarmed civilians who were peacefully protesting without posing any threat to life.
At least 18 Palestinian civilians have been deliberately killed and over 1,500 injured by Israeli gunfire while taking part in the peaceful Great March of Return in the Gaza Strip.
Secretary-General of the Palestinian Al-Haq Foundation, Shawan Jabarin, said that the Palestinian committee to oversee ICC cases is to exert its utmost efforts to prosecute the Israeli soldiers and military leaders over committing war crimes against unarmed civilians.
All documents, images and videos that prove the Israeli army’s crimes against unarmed Palestinian protesters to be submitted to the court, he underlined.
Jabarin denied Israeli allegations claiming that the killed protesters are members of Hamas Movement, confirming that they were unarmed civilians who were peacefully protesting without posing any threat to life.
At least 18 Palestinian civilians have been deliberately killed and over 1,500 injured by Israeli gunfire while taking part in the peaceful Great March of Return in the Gaza Strip.
29 mar 2018
Israeli army chief Benny Gantz, center, photographed on 20 July 2014, is being sued by Ismail Ziada for the bombing of his family’s home in Gaza that same day, resulting in the deaths of seven people including Ziada’s mother.
A Palestinian-Dutch citizen is suing two senior Israeli military commanders for the bombing of his family’s home during Israel’s 2014 attack on the Gaza Strip.
On 20 July of that year, without warning, an Israeli airstrike destroyed the house in the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, killing six members of Ismail Ziada’s family and a seventh person who was visiting them.
Ziada, who lives in the Netherlands where he is married to a Dutch citizen, could not attend the funerals of his family members due to Israel’s blockade on Gaza.
He lost his mother, 70-year-old Muftia Ziada, three brothers, a sister-in-law and a 12-year-old nephew.
Ziada holds Benny Gantz and Amir Eshel, respectively the Israeli chief of staff and the chief of the air force at the time of the attack, responsible for the decision to drop the bomb.
This month, Ziada’s lawyers, Liesbeth Zegveld and Lisa-Marie Komp with human rights law firm Prakken d’Oliveira, filed a complaint in a Dutch court.
The same lawyers recently filed another case in the Netherlands on behalf of a Palestinian severely injured when the Israeli army used Dutch-trained dogs to attack him in the occupied West Bank.
In Ziada’s case, Gantz and Eshel have been summoned to appear on 27 June. If they don’t show up or send attorneys, the court could enter a default judgment in Ziada’s favor.
Ziada is suing the Israeli generals for more than $600,000 in damages plus court costs.
Among the witnesses the complaint cites is a neighbor of the Ziada family who described “how the image of the destroyed house and the mutilated bodies shocked him.”
Last year, Ziada sent a letter to Gantz and Eshel holding them liable for the devastating harm he suffered from the Israeli attack. Although the Israeli justice ministry confirmed receipt, it has still offered no substantive response.
Assault on GazaThe attack on the Ziada home was part of what the complaint calls Israel’s “policy to bomb civilian residential buildings” in “breach of international humanitarian law.”
During 51 days in the summer of 2014, Israel carried out thousands of airstrikes on Gaza, including targeted attacks on residential and other civilian buildings, an independent investigation commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council found.
In total, 2,251 Palestinians were killed – about one in every 1,000 of Gaza’s residents – including 1,462 civilians, among them 551 children. More than 11,000 Palestinians were injured, the majority women and children.
The UN inquiry found that Israel’s destruction and killing often amounted to war crimes and “may have constituted military tactics reflective of a broader policy, approved at least tacitly by decision-makers at the highest levels of the Government of Israel.”
According to the complaint, Gantz and Eshel were among the top leaders who “designed the policy of bombing residential buildings” and are “fully responsible for the decision to bomb the Ziada family residence.”
Dutch jurisdictionA key claim in the complaint is that the Dutch courts have jurisdiction over the case both because of Ziada’s connections to the Netherlands and because there is no way for him to obtain justice in Israeli courts.
It points out that Israel’s Military Advocate General (MAG) investigated the attack and concluded that the pilots who dropped the bomb would not be prosecuted, noting that they acted with the approval of military commanders.
The MAG claimed that the Ziada home served as a command center of the military branch of Hamas and that the “military advantage” of carrying out the attack without giving any warning outweighed the risk of civilian casualties.
But the complaint points out that MAG provided no evidence to support the decision not to open a criminal investigation and tried to use information allegedly obtained after the attack to justify it in retrospect.
International law requires that a decision about whether an object is a legitimate military target be made with information available before the attack.
The MAG’s handling of this case is part of its well-documented role in whitewashing hundreds of complaints filed by Palestinians through lawyers and human rights groups for alleged war crimes during the attack on Gaza.
As Ziada’s complaint notes, MAG cannot credibly investigate the Israeli army since it is not independent and directly advises the army on attacks in the midst of military operations.
The complaint also details how Ziada cannot gain justice in Israel’s civil and criminal courts since Israeli law doesn’t incorporate provisions to prosecute war crimes. Israel’s civil law also includes an “act of war” exception, which has been interpreted by judges to give the military blanket immunity for damage it causes to Palestinians.
Moreover, Israel imposes insurmountable legal and practical restrictions on Palestinians pursuing justice, including an unrealistically short 60-day period in which to file a complaint, exorbitant and discriminatory financial guarantees and bans on travel that prevent Palestinians meeting with lawyers or appearing as witnesses.
“Unpoliticized justice”Shortly after the deadly attack on the Ziada family home, 91-year-old Dutch citizen Henk Zanoli expressed his shock and pain by returning his Righteous Among the Nations medal to Israel.
Ziada is married to Zanoli’s great-niece.
Zanoli and his mother were given the medal by Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial for hiding a Jewish child from Nazi occupation forces from 1943 until the Netherlands was liberated in 1945.
They took a great risk because they were already under suspicion from the Nazis. Zanoli’s father was sent to a concentration camp in 1941 for opposing the German occupation. He died at Mauthausen a few months before the war ended.
“It’s a political statement,” Zanoli, a former judge, told Dutch media in 2014. “I want to show that I disagree with the actions of the Israeli government towards the Palestinians.”
In a letter he sent to the Israeli embassy along with the medal, Zanoli wrote that Israel’s actions in Gaza had already resulted in serious accusations of war crimes.
He added that as a retired jurist, “it would be no surprise to me that these accusations could lead to possible convictions if true and unpoliticized justice is able to have its course.”
Ziada’s lawsuit will test whether that kind of justice, unavailable in Israel, can be found in the Netherlands.
A Palestinian-Dutch citizen is suing two senior Israeli military commanders for the bombing of his family’s home during Israel’s 2014 attack on the Gaza Strip.
On 20 July of that year, without warning, an Israeli airstrike destroyed the house in the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, killing six members of Ismail Ziada’s family and a seventh person who was visiting them.
Ziada, who lives in the Netherlands where he is married to a Dutch citizen, could not attend the funerals of his family members due to Israel’s blockade on Gaza.
He lost his mother, 70-year-old Muftia Ziada, three brothers, a sister-in-law and a 12-year-old nephew.
Ziada holds Benny Gantz and Amir Eshel, respectively the Israeli chief of staff and the chief of the air force at the time of the attack, responsible for the decision to drop the bomb.
This month, Ziada’s lawyers, Liesbeth Zegveld and Lisa-Marie Komp with human rights law firm Prakken d’Oliveira, filed a complaint in a Dutch court.
The same lawyers recently filed another case in the Netherlands on behalf of a Palestinian severely injured when the Israeli army used Dutch-trained dogs to attack him in the occupied West Bank.
In Ziada’s case, Gantz and Eshel have been summoned to appear on 27 June. If they don’t show up or send attorneys, the court could enter a default judgment in Ziada’s favor.
Ziada is suing the Israeli generals for more than $600,000 in damages plus court costs.
Among the witnesses the complaint cites is a neighbor of the Ziada family who described “how the image of the destroyed house and the mutilated bodies shocked him.”
Last year, Ziada sent a letter to Gantz and Eshel holding them liable for the devastating harm he suffered from the Israeli attack. Although the Israeli justice ministry confirmed receipt, it has still offered no substantive response.
Assault on GazaThe attack on the Ziada home was part of what the complaint calls Israel’s “policy to bomb civilian residential buildings” in “breach of international humanitarian law.”
During 51 days in the summer of 2014, Israel carried out thousands of airstrikes on Gaza, including targeted attacks on residential and other civilian buildings, an independent investigation commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council found.
In total, 2,251 Palestinians were killed – about one in every 1,000 of Gaza’s residents – including 1,462 civilians, among them 551 children. More than 11,000 Palestinians were injured, the majority women and children.
The UN inquiry found that Israel’s destruction and killing often amounted to war crimes and “may have constituted military tactics reflective of a broader policy, approved at least tacitly by decision-makers at the highest levels of the Government of Israel.”
According to the complaint, Gantz and Eshel were among the top leaders who “designed the policy of bombing residential buildings” and are “fully responsible for the decision to bomb the Ziada family residence.”
Dutch jurisdictionA key claim in the complaint is that the Dutch courts have jurisdiction over the case both because of Ziada’s connections to the Netherlands and because there is no way for him to obtain justice in Israeli courts.
It points out that Israel’s Military Advocate General (MAG) investigated the attack and concluded that the pilots who dropped the bomb would not be prosecuted, noting that they acted with the approval of military commanders.
The MAG claimed that the Ziada home served as a command center of the military branch of Hamas and that the “military advantage” of carrying out the attack without giving any warning outweighed the risk of civilian casualties.
But the complaint points out that MAG provided no evidence to support the decision not to open a criminal investigation and tried to use information allegedly obtained after the attack to justify it in retrospect.
International law requires that a decision about whether an object is a legitimate military target be made with information available before the attack.
The MAG’s handling of this case is part of its well-documented role in whitewashing hundreds of complaints filed by Palestinians through lawyers and human rights groups for alleged war crimes during the attack on Gaza.
As Ziada’s complaint notes, MAG cannot credibly investigate the Israeli army since it is not independent and directly advises the army on attacks in the midst of military operations.
The complaint also details how Ziada cannot gain justice in Israel’s civil and criminal courts since Israeli law doesn’t incorporate provisions to prosecute war crimes. Israel’s civil law also includes an “act of war” exception, which has been interpreted by judges to give the military blanket immunity for damage it causes to Palestinians.
Moreover, Israel imposes insurmountable legal and practical restrictions on Palestinians pursuing justice, including an unrealistically short 60-day period in which to file a complaint, exorbitant and discriminatory financial guarantees and bans on travel that prevent Palestinians meeting with lawyers or appearing as witnesses.
“Unpoliticized justice”Shortly after the deadly attack on the Ziada family home, 91-year-old Dutch citizen Henk Zanoli expressed his shock and pain by returning his Righteous Among the Nations medal to Israel.
Ziada is married to Zanoli’s great-niece.
Zanoli and his mother were given the medal by Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial for hiding a Jewish child from Nazi occupation forces from 1943 until the Netherlands was liberated in 1945.
They took a great risk because they were already under suspicion from the Nazis. Zanoli’s father was sent to a concentration camp in 1941 for opposing the German occupation. He died at Mauthausen a few months before the war ended.
“It’s a political statement,” Zanoli, a former judge, told Dutch media in 2014. “I want to show that I disagree with the actions of the Israeli government towards the Palestinians.”
In a letter he sent to the Israeli embassy along with the medal, Zanoli wrote that Israel’s actions in Gaza had already resulted in serious accusations of war crimes.
He added that as a retired jurist, “it would be no surprise to me that these accusations could lead to possible convictions if true and unpoliticized justice is able to have its course.”
Ziada’s lawsuit will test whether that kind of justice, unavailable in Israel, can be found in the Netherlands.
13 mar 2018
The Israeli Health Ministry is imposing Jewish religious law on Arab citizens with no legal authority: ‘No law in the State of Israel prevents citizens from carrying leavened foods into hospitals.’
Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel is fighting an Israeli government ban that prevents Arab citizens from bringing leavened bread products into hospitals during the Jewish holiday of Passover.
Jewish religious law forbids Jews from consuming leavened bread products during Passover, which commences on 30 March and lasts for a week.
Archive IMEMC post 05/09/14 — Netanyahu: Talmud Will be the Basis of Israeli Law
Adalah filed a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court on 27 February 2018 against the Health Ministry’s ban on bringing leavened bread products into hospitals or eating bread in hospitals for the duration of the holiday.
According to this policy, which has been enforced in hospitals nationwide over the past several years, all individuals – including non-Jewish Arab citizens – must undergo strict searches at hospital entrances. Any leavened bread products found are confiscated or destroyed. In a number of past cases, individuals who refused to hand over their bread products to security guards were prevented from entering hospitals and visiting admitted family members.
The Israeli Health Ministry is imposing this ban on leavened bread products without any legal authority, Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher wrote in the petition:
“There is no law in the State of Israel that prevents citizens from bringing leavened foods into hospitals and there is no law in the State of Israel that prevents them from bringing non-kosher food for their hospitalized relatives to eat.”
Further, this policy humiliates Arab patients and visitors and violates Israel’s Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty.
“The aggressive intervention of public authorities in private decisions regarding what to eat and where – particularly when an individual is in a vulnerable situation as is the case with hospitalized patients or visiting family members – is a violation of human liberty and personal dignity.”
The ban also constitutes religious coercion of hospitalized Arab citizens and their visiting family members during the Passover holiday.
In the wake of numerous complaints received over the past number of years, Adalah has written to the Health Ministry and the Attorney General but received no appropriate response.
Last year, the Attorney General’s office informed Adalah that he was working with the Health Ministry to find a solution to the issue but no decision on the matter has yet been issued.
Adalah demands the Supreme Court either issue an interim order preventing the Health Ministry from enforcing its ban this upcoming Passover, or schedule an urgent hearing in order to secure a solution prior to the holiday.
Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel is fighting an Israeli government ban that prevents Arab citizens from bringing leavened bread products into hospitals during the Jewish holiday of Passover.
Jewish religious law forbids Jews from consuming leavened bread products during Passover, which commences on 30 March and lasts for a week.
Archive IMEMC post 05/09/14 — Netanyahu: Talmud Will be the Basis of Israeli Law
Adalah filed a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court on 27 February 2018 against the Health Ministry’s ban on bringing leavened bread products into hospitals or eating bread in hospitals for the duration of the holiday.
According to this policy, which has been enforced in hospitals nationwide over the past several years, all individuals – including non-Jewish Arab citizens – must undergo strict searches at hospital entrances. Any leavened bread products found are confiscated or destroyed. In a number of past cases, individuals who refused to hand over their bread products to security guards were prevented from entering hospitals and visiting admitted family members.
The Israeli Health Ministry is imposing this ban on leavened bread products without any legal authority, Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher wrote in the petition:
“There is no law in the State of Israel that prevents citizens from bringing leavened foods into hospitals and there is no law in the State of Israel that prevents them from bringing non-kosher food for their hospitalized relatives to eat.”
Further, this policy humiliates Arab patients and visitors and violates Israel’s Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty.
“The aggressive intervention of public authorities in private decisions regarding what to eat and where – particularly when an individual is in a vulnerable situation as is the case with hospitalized patients or visiting family members – is a violation of human liberty and personal dignity.”
The ban also constitutes religious coercion of hospitalized Arab citizens and their visiting family members during the Passover holiday.
In the wake of numerous complaints received over the past number of years, Adalah has written to the Health Ministry and the Attorney General but received no appropriate response.
Last year, the Attorney General’s office informed Adalah that he was working with the Health Ministry to find a solution to the issue but no decision on the matter has yet been issued.
Adalah demands the Supreme Court either issue an interim order preventing the Health Ministry from enforcing its ban this upcoming Passover, or schedule an urgent hearing in order to secure a solution prior to the holiday.
3 mar 2018
Preschool children in the Naqab Bedouin village of Al-Sira prepare to board a school bus during the brief period between March and June 2017 when the Education Ministry provided school transportation.
Israeli authorities have twice violated a court decision to provide school buses for 3- and 4-year-old Bedouin preschool children from villages in the desert south.
Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel filed a motion for contempt of court yesterday, 28 February 2018, against Israeli authorities for twice violating court decisions to provide school buses for Bedouin preschool children from villages in the southern Naqab (Negev) desert region.
The motion, filed in Be’er Sheva District Court on behalf of parents from the unrecognized Bedouin villages of Al-Jaraf and Umm Namila, is against the Israeli Education Ministry and Al-Qasoum Regional Council.
During the past year, the Education Ministry and Al-Qasoum Regional Council have twice promised the court in two separate legal proceedings that they would act to provide transportation for 3- and 4-year-old preschool children from unrecognized villages in the Naqab desert. This commitment was approved by a court’s decision but Israeli authorities have violated the decision on two separate occasions and preschool-age children still have no way to get to school.
The second court decision was approved on 10 January 2018, during a hearing which was held at the Be’er Sheva Administrative Court on a petition filed by Adalah in which it demanded that the Education Ministry and regional councils fulfill their obligation to arrange a system of transportation for Bedouin children.
Following the hearing, a notice was submitted to the court on behalf of the Ministry of Education and the regional councils stating that transportation services would immediately be provided for children from Al-Sira and Al-Jaraf, and concurrently for other affected children.
However, authorities never followed through on this commitment.
Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher wrote in her motion that the authorities are in contempt of court due to their failure to abide by the two court decisions:
“Failure to abide by the court decisions amounts to a lack of good faith on the part of the Education Ministry and Al-Qasoum Regional Council. Indeed, [our] petitions were withdrawn in the wake of [authorities’] commitments that were subsequently validated by the court. The petitioners anticipated – and with reason – that the authorities would abide by their commitments.”
Attorney Zaher stressed that the authorities’ violation of the court decisions constitute a serious, ongoing violation of the most basic rights of the children and their parents:
“Due to the conduct of the respondents, the petitioners have been forced time and again to appeal to the legal system in order to obtain basic services – services which no one is disputing their right to receive, and which they have been repeatedly promised would be provided.”
Israeli authorities have twice violated a court decision to provide school buses for 3- and 4-year-old Bedouin preschool children from villages in the desert south.
Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel filed a motion for contempt of court yesterday, 28 February 2018, against Israeli authorities for twice violating court decisions to provide school buses for Bedouin preschool children from villages in the southern Naqab (Negev) desert region.
The motion, filed in Be’er Sheva District Court on behalf of parents from the unrecognized Bedouin villages of Al-Jaraf and Umm Namila, is against the Israeli Education Ministry and Al-Qasoum Regional Council.
During the past year, the Education Ministry and Al-Qasoum Regional Council have twice promised the court in two separate legal proceedings that they would act to provide transportation for 3- and 4-year-old preschool children from unrecognized villages in the Naqab desert. This commitment was approved by a court’s decision but Israeli authorities have violated the decision on two separate occasions and preschool-age children still have no way to get to school.
The second court decision was approved on 10 January 2018, during a hearing which was held at the Be’er Sheva Administrative Court on a petition filed by Adalah in which it demanded that the Education Ministry and regional councils fulfill their obligation to arrange a system of transportation for Bedouin children.
Following the hearing, a notice was submitted to the court on behalf of the Ministry of Education and the regional councils stating that transportation services would immediately be provided for children from Al-Sira and Al-Jaraf, and concurrently for other affected children.
However, authorities never followed through on this commitment.
Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher wrote in her motion that the authorities are in contempt of court due to their failure to abide by the two court decisions:
“Failure to abide by the court decisions amounts to a lack of good faith on the part of the Education Ministry and Al-Qasoum Regional Council. Indeed, [our] petitions were withdrawn in the wake of [authorities’] commitments that were subsequently validated by the court. The petitioners anticipated – and with reason – that the authorities would abide by their commitments.”
Attorney Zaher stressed that the authorities’ violation of the court decisions constitute a serious, ongoing violation of the most basic rights of the children and their parents:
“Due to the conduct of the respondents, the petitioners have been forced time and again to appeal to the legal system in order to obtain basic services – services which no one is disputing their right to receive, and which they have been repeatedly promised would be provided.”
30 jan 2018
Moein Haja 56
Moein Haja was injured in a workplace accident in Israel and then hospitalized in Beilinson Hospital; his employer would not confirm he was employed in Israel, so he was transferred to a dilapidated hospital in Nablus, where he passed away; 'Was it not clear transferring him will lead to his death?'
Son demands; Beilinson claims authorization for transfer was received.
A Palestinian family is suing Israel for damages over alleged negligence that led to the death of the family's father, who was employed in construction in Israel and was injured in a workplace accident.
The man, Moein Haja, 56, from the village of Burqa near Ramallah, was fatally injured during his job as a construction work in Tayibe, an Arab city in central Israel, and was hospitalized in the Beilinson Hospital at the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva.
Despite his condition, Haja was transferred eight days later to the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, where he passed away two days later, with the family claiming it was because of the hospital's deplorable conditions. His swift transfer out of Beilinson, his family maintains, was a cost-saving measure.
Attorney Pesach Stamler, who represents the family, told Ynet, "It's unclear how Beilinson dared to cast off someone who was on a respirator and under general anesthesia. Was it not clear halting treatment to transfer him to the territories will lead to his death?"
Replying to the Haja family's claims, Beilinson Hospital said authorization to transfer the patient was received from "other authorities."
The family further added that hospitals in the Palestinian Authority were not equipped to provide the requisite care to people in Moein's condition. One of his sons said, "This is negligence of the highest order. Instead of treating him, they threw him away to die. We have to find out who decided to transfer him to a hospital that couldn't save his life. It's utter disrespect towards human life."
Another son, Salim Haja, said, "We're in shock. This is a nightmare. Dad went to work, and then we got a call saying he was hurt and taken to Beilinson Hospital. We arranged for my brother and mother to be issued three-day entry permits into Israel. They used them for two days and then the hospital wouldn't sign off on our dad being hospitalized there.
"Several days later, people from the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus called us. They said dad was in intensive care there. Two days later doctors pronounced him dead. We didn't sign any transfer form and were not told of an official intention to transfer him. They did it without our knowledge. How do you move someone so grievously wounded from place to place? I can't explain it. Dad had rights, and we want answers."
A visit to the Nablus hospital where Moein Haja who hospitalized, which was captured on a hidden camera, showed the premises suffer from severe neglect. The bathrooms, counter and refrigerator in the emergency room were completely rusted, while malodorous aroma permeated the halls.
The floor was strewn with papers, food waste and medical equipment. In the waiting room and near the entrance to other departments, visitors smoked and threw cigarette butts in the halls without sparing a thought to patients.
Near the pediatrics ward, there was a dirty stairwell, broken chairs, walls with water damage and a dirty water cooler.
One of the patients hospitalized there told Ynet, "We only come here because we have no choice. Instead of receiving treatment, I may get an infection. This is the situation of many other West Bank hospitals unfortunately. Only government officials receive the best care here."
Attorney Stamler added, "It's also unclear why Moein Haja's employer refused to sign forms confirming he was under his employ, which would allow him to continue to receive care in Israel. The employer's signature would have also allowed the deceased to be recognized as someone who suffered a workplace injury for the National Insurance Institute's purposes, going towards paying medical expenses."
"A person who was employed in Israel for years was cast away to die because there was no way of forcing his employer to confirm the injury by filling out a form, and no way to instruct the police to force him to do so despite the fact he admitted (to employing Haja)," Stamler continued.
"It's unclear why there's no way of instructing the hospital to continue treating a patent at least until a preliminary inquiry into the circumstances of his injury is undertaken. Everything is done out of financial considerations."
Providing its own version of events, Beilinson Hospital said, "A fatally wounded patient arrived to the hospital with multisystemic injuries. He was treated by the trauma staff and later hospitalized in the intensive care ward. He received all medical treatment in accordance with his condition.
"After exhausting all treatment options, he was transferred to the hospital nearest to his residence in coordination with the appropriate authorities in Israel. Transferring patients from the territories does not require their families' signatures and is carried out in coordination with other authorities."
Moein Haja was injured in a workplace accident in Israel and then hospitalized in Beilinson Hospital; his employer would not confirm he was employed in Israel, so he was transferred to a dilapidated hospital in Nablus, where he passed away; 'Was it not clear transferring him will lead to his death?'
Son demands; Beilinson claims authorization for transfer was received.
A Palestinian family is suing Israel for damages over alleged negligence that led to the death of the family's father, who was employed in construction in Israel and was injured in a workplace accident.
The man, Moein Haja, 56, from the village of Burqa near Ramallah, was fatally injured during his job as a construction work in Tayibe, an Arab city in central Israel, and was hospitalized in the Beilinson Hospital at the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva.
Despite his condition, Haja was transferred eight days later to the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, where he passed away two days later, with the family claiming it was because of the hospital's deplorable conditions. His swift transfer out of Beilinson, his family maintains, was a cost-saving measure.
Attorney Pesach Stamler, who represents the family, told Ynet, "It's unclear how Beilinson dared to cast off someone who was on a respirator and under general anesthesia. Was it not clear halting treatment to transfer him to the territories will lead to his death?"
Replying to the Haja family's claims, Beilinson Hospital said authorization to transfer the patient was received from "other authorities."
The family further added that hospitals in the Palestinian Authority were not equipped to provide the requisite care to people in Moein's condition. One of his sons said, "This is negligence of the highest order. Instead of treating him, they threw him away to die. We have to find out who decided to transfer him to a hospital that couldn't save his life. It's utter disrespect towards human life."
Another son, Salim Haja, said, "We're in shock. This is a nightmare. Dad went to work, and then we got a call saying he was hurt and taken to Beilinson Hospital. We arranged for my brother and mother to be issued three-day entry permits into Israel. They used them for two days and then the hospital wouldn't sign off on our dad being hospitalized there.
"Several days later, people from the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus called us. They said dad was in intensive care there. Two days later doctors pronounced him dead. We didn't sign any transfer form and were not told of an official intention to transfer him. They did it without our knowledge. How do you move someone so grievously wounded from place to place? I can't explain it. Dad had rights, and we want answers."
A visit to the Nablus hospital where Moein Haja who hospitalized, which was captured on a hidden camera, showed the premises suffer from severe neglect. The bathrooms, counter and refrigerator in the emergency room were completely rusted, while malodorous aroma permeated the halls.
The floor was strewn with papers, food waste and medical equipment. In the waiting room and near the entrance to other departments, visitors smoked and threw cigarette butts in the halls without sparing a thought to patients.
Near the pediatrics ward, there was a dirty stairwell, broken chairs, walls with water damage and a dirty water cooler.
One of the patients hospitalized there told Ynet, "We only come here because we have no choice. Instead of receiving treatment, I may get an infection. This is the situation of many other West Bank hospitals unfortunately. Only government officials receive the best care here."
Attorney Stamler added, "It's also unclear why Moein Haja's employer refused to sign forms confirming he was under his employ, which would allow him to continue to receive care in Israel. The employer's signature would have also allowed the deceased to be recognized as someone who suffered a workplace injury for the National Insurance Institute's purposes, going towards paying medical expenses."
"A person who was employed in Israel for years was cast away to die because there was no way of forcing his employer to confirm the injury by filling out a form, and no way to instruct the police to force him to do so despite the fact he admitted (to employing Haja)," Stamler continued.
"It's unclear why there's no way of instructing the hospital to continue treating a patent at least until a preliminary inquiry into the circumstances of his injury is undertaken. Everything is done out of financial considerations."
Providing its own version of events, Beilinson Hospital said, "A fatally wounded patient arrived to the hospital with multisystemic injuries. He was treated by the trauma staff and later hospitalized in the intensive care ward. He received all medical treatment in accordance with his condition.
"After exhausting all treatment options, he was transferred to the hospital nearest to his residence in coordination with the appropriate authorities in Israel. Transferring patients from the territories does not require their families' signatures and is carried out in coordination with other authorities."
9 jan 2018
An Israeli human rights report has revealed that the majority of Israelis are not convicted of attacks committed against Palestinians or Palestinian property, in the occupied territories.
Israel’s Yesh Din: Volunteers for Human Rights issued a report saying that “From the beginning of 2014 to the end of August 2017, Yesh Din monitored 225 new investigation files.”
“At the time of publication, investigation and prosecutorial bodies had completed the processing of 185 of these investigations. Twenty-one (11.4 per cent) of these investigations resulted in indictments, and 118 (64 per cent) were closed under circumstances attesting to police investigative failure,” it added.
The organization did not reveal the result of the other cases.
Yesh Din listed data suggesting the Israeli authorities’ lenience with Israelis attacking Palestinians.
In this regard, the organization said that it monitored over 1,200 investigations into Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2005.
According to the data, only three per cent of investigations regarding ideologically motivated crime against Palestinians have resulted in a conviction.
In addition, only 8.1 per cent of the investigation files monitored by Yesh Din, during this period (94 of 1,163 concluded files), have led to indictments.
Israel’s Yesh Din: Volunteers for Human Rights issued a report saying that “From the beginning of 2014 to the end of August 2017, Yesh Din monitored 225 new investigation files.”
“At the time of publication, investigation and prosecutorial bodies had completed the processing of 185 of these investigations. Twenty-one (11.4 per cent) of these investigations resulted in indictments, and 118 (64 per cent) were closed under circumstances attesting to police investigative failure,” it added.
The organization did not reveal the result of the other cases.
Yesh Din listed data suggesting the Israeli authorities’ lenience with Israelis attacking Palestinians.
In this regard, the organization said that it monitored over 1,200 investigations into Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2005.
According to the data, only three per cent of investigations regarding ideologically motivated crime against Palestinians have resulted in a conviction.
In addition, only 8.1 per cent of the investigation files monitored by Yesh Din, during this period (94 of 1,163 concluded files), have led to indictments.
24 dec 2017
A group of Palestinian human rights institutions on Sunday called on international organizations to investigate the nature of the gas used lately by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) against Palestinian civilians.
The institutions called in a statement on the International Criminal Court to open investigation into the IOF toxic gas attacks against Palestinians which are considered "war crimes" in accordance with Rome Statute.
The statement highlighted previous statements by the spokesman for Gaza's Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Qedra, in which he said that the IOF soldiers excessively fire an "unfamiliar gas" at protesters near Gaza's eastern border causing a notable increase in the suffocation cases during demonstrations.
Qedra has confirmed that this is the first time that medical crews in Gaza have dealt with this kind of gas which causes almost complete paralysis to the person who inhales it accompanied by vomiting, breathing difficulty and convulsions.
A number of Palestinians have been killed and hundreds injured as a result of Israel's excessive use of force against the Palestinian demonstrators protesting on a daily basis near Gaza's eastern border against the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on 6th December.
The Palestinian human rights institutions urged local and international media platforms to expose the Israeli occupation's crimes against the Palestinian people, affirming that they will continue to follow up this file with the relevant international organizations.
The institutions called in a statement on the International Criminal Court to open investigation into the IOF toxic gas attacks against Palestinians which are considered "war crimes" in accordance with Rome Statute.
The statement highlighted previous statements by the spokesman for Gaza's Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Qedra, in which he said that the IOF soldiers excessively fire an "unfamiliar gas" at protesters near Gaza's eastern border causing a notable increase in the suffocation cases during demonstrations.
Qedra has confirmed that this is the first time that medical crews in Gaza have dealt with this kind of gas which causes almost complete paralysis to the person who inhales it accompanied by vomiting, breathing difficulty and convulsions.
A number of Palestinians have been killed and hundreds injured as a result of Israel's excessive use of force against the Palestinian demonstrators protesting on a daily basis near Gaza's eastern border against the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on 6th December.
The Palestinian human rights institutions urged local and international media platforms to expose the Israeli occupation's crimes against the Palestinian people, affirming that they will continue to follow up this file with the relevant international organizations.
25 nov 2017
A Palestinian citizen on Saturday won a court decision to remove four mobile houses set up by Israeli settlers on his land in al-Khader town to the south of Bethlehem, Palestinian sources reported.
Representative of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee, Hasan Breijia, told Quds Press that a group of Jewish settlers a few months ago placed the caravans by force on a land owned by the Palestinian citizen Ibrahim Sbeih in preparation for the establishment of a new settlement outpost in the area.
Breijia said that Sbeih, who had filed a complaint at an Israeli court refusing to give up his land, won a court order to remove the caravans and their infrastructure.
The Palestinian activist affirmed that the court decision does not reflect any decline in Israel's policy of land confiscation, but it seems that the settlers did not coordinate this time with the Israeli authorities in their plan to seize the land.
He noted that the Israeli settlers have recently stepped up their attack on Palestinian lands in al-Khader village, urging the Palestinian citizens to take all necessary legal arrangements to protect their lands.
Representative of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee, Hasan Breijia, told Quds Press that a group of Jewish settlers a few months ago placed the caravans by force on a land owned by the Palestinian citizen Ibrahim Sbeih in preparation for the establishment of a new settlement outpost in the area.
Breijia said that Sbeih, who had filed a complaint at an Israeli court refusing to give up his land, won a court order to remove the caravans and their infrastructure.
The Palestinian activist affirmed that the court decision does not reflect any decline in Israel's policy of land confiscation, but it seems that the settlers did not coordinate this time with the Israeli authorities in their plan to seize the land.
He noted that the Israeli settlers have recently stepped up their attack on Palestinian lands in al-Khader village, urging the Palestinian citizens to take all necessary legal arrangements to protect their lands.
20 nov 2017
A hearing is expected to be held on Monday by Israel’s Central Court in Occupied Jerusalem to decide on appeals filed by the Wadi Hilweh Committee, in Silwan, over an Israeli settlement project near al-Aqsa Mosque.
A few years ago, the Wadi Hilweh Committee objected Israel’s so-called Kedim settlement project, slated to be carried out in front of holy al-Aqsa Mosque.
In 2015, the bid failed to receive official approbation.
In March 2016 a new committee approved the settlement scheme, turning down all appeals submitted to the Israeli courts and authorities to cancel the plan.
Lawyer Sami Ersheid has proceeded with another objection to Israel’s Central Court. The latter will decide on the case on Monday.
A few years ago, the Wadi Hilweh Committee objected Israel’s so-called Kedim settlement project, slated to be carried out in front of holy al-Aqsa Mosque.
In 2015, the bid failed to receive official approbation.
In March 2016 a new committee approved the settlement scheme, turning down all appeals submitted to the Israeli courts and authorities to cancel the plan.
Lawyer Sami Ersheid has proceeded with another objection to Israel’s Central Court. The latter will decide on the case on Monday.
19 oct 2017
Eight European Union (EU) states have written an official protest letter to Israel, demanding over €30,000 in compensation for confiscating equipment and demolishing structures and infrastructure funded by their countries for Palestinian communities in Area C of the occupied West Bank, which is under Israeli control.
A senior European diplomat told Haaretz newspaper that the letter, which is the first of its kind, would be delivered to senior foreign ministry officials within a few days.
According to the European diplomat, Belgium was leading the move. The other countries involved in drafting the letter are France, Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg, Italy, Ireland and Denmark. All eight countries are members of the West Bank Protection Consortium, a body through which they coordinate humanitarian assistance for Palestinian natives in Area C.
The countries were protesting the confiscation of solar panels they had installed in Bedouin communities and the demolition of mobile structures that were financed in various Bedouin communities to serve as school classrooms, according to Haaretz.
The protest letter was first disclosed by the French newspaper Le Monde.
The Hebrew newspaper quoted the diplomat as saying that the eight states stressed in their letter that if Israel does not unconditionally return the equipment it seized, they would demand compensation.
“The demolition and seizure of humanitarian equipment, including school infrastructure, and the interference in the transfer of humanitarian assistance contravenes Israel’s obligations under international law and causes suffering to the Palestinian residents,” the letter is expected to emphasize.
The letter is the second step these countries have taken on this issue. A month and a half ago, diplomats from the eight countries came to meet with the head of the Israeli foreign ministry’s Europe desk, Rodica Radian-Gordon, to protest Israel’s violations against Bedouin communities in Area C, Haaretz said.
According to a senior Israeli foreign ministry official, Belgian ambassador to Israel Olivier Belle said during that meeting that if Israel did not return the equipment it had seized, his country would formally demand compensation.
Belle was the only one at that meeting to raise the issue of compensation, but in the ensuing weeks he apparently managed to persuade his European counterparts to turn the demand into a joint position that would be officially conveyed to Israel.
Israel categorically rejects the demand for compensation, according to Haaretz, and claims that the European activity in Area C is not humanitarian assistance but illegal development that is done without coordination and with the aim of strengthening the Palestinians’ hold on Area C.
However, the European position affirms that under the Geneva Convention, Israel is responsible for dealing with the everyday needs of the Palestinian population in Area C, and since it is not doing so, the European states are stepping in with humanitarian aid.
A senior European diplomat told Haaretz newspaper that the letter, which is the first of its kind, would be delivered to senior foreign ministry officials within a few days.
According to the European diplomat, Belgium was leading the move. The other countries involved in drafting the letter are France, Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg, Italy, Ireland and Denmark. All eight countries are members of the West Bank Protection Consortium, a body through which they coordinate humanitarian assistance for Palestinian natives in Area C.
The countries were protesting the confiscation of solar panels they had installed in Bedouin communities and the demolition of mobile structures that were financed in various Bedouin communities to serve as school classrooms, according to Haaretz.
The protest letter was first disclosed by the French newspaper Le Monde.
The Hebrew newspaper quoted the diplomat as saying that the eight states stressed in their letter that if Israel does not unconditionally return the equipment it seized, they would demand compensation.
“The demolition and seizure of humanitarian equipment, including school infrastructure, and the interference in the transfer of humanitarian assistance contravenes Israel’s obligations under international law and causes suffering to the Palestinian residents,” the letter is expected to emphasize.
The letter is the second step these countries have taken on this issue. A month and a half ago, diplomats from the eight countries came to meet with the head of the Israeli foreign ministry’s Europe desk, Rodica Radian-Gordon, to protest Israel’s violations against Bedouin communities in Area C, Haaretz said.
According to a senior Israeli foreign ministry official, Belgian ambassador to Israel Olivier Belle said during that meeting that if Israel did not return the equipment it had seized, his country would formally demand compensation.
Belle was the only one at that meeting to raise the issue of compensation, but in the ensuing weeks he apparently managed to persuade his European counterparts to turn the demand into a joint position that would be officially conveyed to Israel.
Israel categorically rejects the demand for compensation, according to Haaretz, and claims that the European activity in Area C is not humanitarian assistance but illegal development that is done without coordination and with the aim of strengthening the Palestinians’ hold on Area C.
However, the European position affirms that under the Geneva Convention, Israel is responsible for dealing with the everyday needs of the Palestinian population in Area C, and since it is not doing so, the European states are stepping in with humanitarian aid.
14 oct 2017
by Ibrahim Husseini, Days of Palestine/Al Jazeera
Three young Palestinian women are suing two Israeli airlines, El Al and Arkia, for an “intrusive body search” for racial profiling by Israeli security personnel in Belgrade Airport.
The three women, who are Palestinian citizens of Israel, told Al Jazeera that the body search – which took place last October – went well beyond a pat-down and amounted to sexual assault. The incident exceeded two hours, during which the women say they were threatened with being denied permission to board the plane if they did not agree to a strip search.
The defence has until October 20 to answer to the charges, after which the court will appoint a trial date in Tel Aviv.
“I overheard the chief security officer tell [a female officer] that if I did not take off my bra I will not get on the plane,” one of the plaintiffs, who asked that her name not be published, told Al Jazeera. “I couldn’t speak. It was a shock. I completely undressed the upper part of my body. It was painful.”
Awni Bana, the lawyer representing the three women, told Al Jazeera that his clients were subjected to a strip search simply because they were Arab.
“The search was unwarranted,” Bana said. “The women were not acting in a suspicious manner and there was no intelligence suggesting that the women posed a security threat.”
Illegal under international law, racial and ethnic profiling is defined [PDF] by the United Nations as “reliance by law enforcement, security and border control personnel on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin as a basis for subjecting persons to detailed searches, identity checks and investigations”.
The trip to Belgrade was meant to be a short break for the three young women before they resumed their Masters’ studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. They bought their tickets from Arkia Airlines, but El Al handles security checks for all Israeli airlines, including flights bound to Israel.
Not new policy
The women say they were the only passengers pinpointed for extra screening. One of the women fainted during the strip search.
John Coyne, an expert on border security, told Al Jazeera that strip searches “should be a security measure of last resort and should be underpinned by an evidence-based assessment that on the balance of probabilities, the person is concealing something that represents a threat. It should also be undertaken in a respectful manner that seeks to protect the subject’s modesty and by a person of the same gender.”
In a response to questions from Al Jazeera, El Al said in a statement that its security procedures were in accordance with all relevant laws and regulations, noting: “Every action taken by any El Al security employee is closely monitored and debriefed. It goes without saying, that El Al does its very best to keep every security procedure respectful and tolerant.”
However, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), an Israeli NGO active in the defence of human rights, noted that the policy of ethnic profiling by Israeli airlines is “not new.”
ACRI lawyer Shatha Amer told Al Jazeera that the NGO has been in the process of gathering testimonies of passengers subjected to “discriminatory practices” at Ben Gurion Airport, with an ultimate goal of going to court to argue for a policy change.
“By default, you are put under suspicion if you are an Arab,” Amer said.
Petition to Supreme Court
In 2007, ACRI filed a legal petition asking the Supreme Court to rule against ethnic profiling at airports and arguing for the “implementation of uniform and equal criteria for all security processes”.
“[The essential issue is whether it should] be permitted to sweepingly declare a minority group of Israeli citizens as a security threat,” ACRI’s petition stated. The group added during a court hearing on the matter: “A democratic country cannot consent to the humiliation of 20 percent of its citizens.”
But in 2015, Israel’s high court annulled the petition, effectively avoiding a ruling on the practice of ethnic profiling. The high court said that new measures adopted at Israeli airports, which allowed for the screening of travellers away from the public eye, made it unnecessary to rule on the matter.
A “hold baggage screening” system was introduced two years ago at Ben Gurion Airport, providing an “automatic security check system for inspection of passenger luggage”, according to the Israel Airports Authority’s website.
Three young Palestinian women are suing two Israeli airlines, El Al and Arkia, for an “intrusive body search” for racial profiling by Israeli security personnel in Belgrade Airport.
The three women, who are Palestinian citizens of Israel, told Al Jazeera that the body search – which took place last October – went well beyond a pat-down and amounted to sexual assault. The incident exceeded two hours, during which the women say they were threatened with being denied permission to board the plane if they did not agree to a strip search.
The defence has until October 20 to answer to the charges, after which the court will appoint a trial date in Tel Aviv.
“I overheard the chief security officer tell [a female officer] that if I did not take off my bra I will not get on the plane,” one of the plaintiffs, who asked that her name not be published, told Al Jazeera. “I couldn’t speak. It was a shock. I completely undressed the upper part of my body. It was painful.”
Awni Bana, the lawyer representing the three women, told Al Jazeera that his clients were subjected to a strip search simply because they were Arab.
“The search was unwarranted,” Bana said. “The women were not acting in a suspicious manner and there was no intelligence suggesting that the women posed a security threat.”
Illegal under international law, racial and ethnic profiling is defined [PDF] by the United Nations as “reliance by law enforcement, security and border control personnel on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin as a basis for subjecting persons to detailed searches, identity checks and investigations”.
The trip to Belgrade was meant to be a short break for the three young women before they resumed their Masters’ studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. They bought their tickets from Arkia Airlines, but El Al handles security checks for all Israeli airlines, including flights bound to Israel.
Not new policy
The women say they were the only passengers pinpointed for extra screening. One of the women fainted during the strip search.
John Coyne, an expert on border security, told Al Jazeera that strip searches “should be a security measure of last resort and should be underpinned by an evidence-based assessment that on the balance of probabilities, the person is concealing something that represents a threat. It should also be undertaken in a respectful manner that seeks to protect the subject’s modesty and by a person of the same gender.”
In a response to questions from Al Jazeera, El Al said in a statement that its security procedures were in accordance with all relevant laws and regulations, noting: “Every action taken by any El Al security employee is closely monitored and debriefed. It goes without saying, that El Al does its very best to keep every security procedure respectful and tolerant.”
However, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), an Israeli NGO active in the defence of human rights, noted that the policy of ethnic profiling by Israeli airlines is “not new.”
ACRI lawyer Shatha Amer told Al Jazeera that the NGO has been in the process of gathering testimonies of passengers subjected to “discriminatory practices” at Ben Gurion Airport, with an ultimate goal of going to court to argue for a policy change.
“By default, you are put under suspicion if you are an Arab,” Amer said.
Petition to Supreme Court
In 2007, ACRI filed a legal petition asking the Supreme Court to rule against ethnic profiling at airports and arguing for the “implementation of uniform and equal criteria for all security processes”.
“[The essential issue is whether it should] be permitted to sweepingly declare a minority group of Israeli citizens as a security threat,” ACRI’s petition stated. The group added during a court hearing on the matter: “A democratic country cannot consent to the humiliation of 20 percent of its citizens.”
But in 2015, Israel’s high court annulled the petition, effectively avoiding a ruling on the practice of ethnic profiling. The high court said that new measures adopted at Israeli airports, which allowed for the screening of travellers away from the public eye, made it unnecessary to rule on the matter.
A “hold baggage screening” system was introduced two years ago at Ben Gurion Airport, providing an “automatic security check system for inspection of passenger luggage”, according to the Israel Airports Authority’s website.
