31 oct 2019
Palestinian legal efforts have succeeded in frustrating an Israeli attempt to appropriate a vast tract of Palestinian-owned land in Salfit province for settlement expansion purposes.
Waleed Assaf, head of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, said on Thursday that the commission’s legal crew was able to foil an Israeli attempt to seize 37 dunums of land in Khelat Hassan area in Biddya town, west of Salfit.
There are more than 25 illegal settlements and outposts in Salfit, and the Israeli occupation authority always plans to expand them through annexing more lands.
Waleed Assaf, head of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, said on Thursday that the commission’s legal crew was able to foil an Israeli attempt to seize 37 dunums of land in Khelat Hassan area in Biddya town, west of Salfit.
There are more than 25 illegal settlements and outposts in Salfit, and the Israeli occupation authority always plans to expand them through annexing more lands.
30 july 2019
Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, called on the Israeli authorities to conduct a thorough, effective, impartial and independent investigation into the Israeli forces’ shooting of nine-year-old Palestinian child, Abdul Rahman Shteiwi on 12 July, and to make sure that those responsible for any wrongdoing are held accountable.
“We are very concerned by the critical condition of a nine-year-old Palestinian child, Abdul Rahman Shteiwi, after he was shot in the head by the Israeli Security Forces (ISF) on 12 July, in what appears to have been an example of excessive use of force.”
The incident occurred during a weekly protest in the village of Kafr Qaddum, near Nablus. While protesters were burning tires and throwing stones at the ISF, Israeli soldiers -- after initially responding with rubber bullets and stun grenades – reportedly resorted to using live ammunition, without apparent reason to justify the move to use of lethal force, said the spokesman in a press briefing note.
According to several credible sources, this nine-year-old child, Abdul Rahman, was not taking an active part in the protest. He was reportedly over 100 metres away from the clashes, and manifestly did not present an imminent physical threat to Israeli forces.
The shot to his forehead resulted in a large hole and multiple skull fractures. Initially taken to a hospital in Nablus, he was later transferred to an Israeli hospital, where he remains alive but in a critical condition. Scans show dozens of fragments in the child’s head resulting in serious brain damage, from which he is unlikely to recover, even if he survives.
“The shooting of Abdul Rahman is one of the latest in a long list of incidents in the occupied Palestinian Territory in which children and juveniles have been injured or killed in circumstances that strongly suggest excessive force was used by the ISF.”
At the Israel-Gaza fence, after 10 weeks had passed without fatalities at the demonstrations, a 22-year old man was shot and killed by live ammunition on 26 July. However, over the same period, 102 children, mostly teenagers, have been injured by live ammunition fired by the ISF at the fence, he said.
“Use of force must be exceptional, and lethal force should only be used in circumstances where there is an imminent threat of death or serious injury to security forces or other individuals, and in strict application of international human rights standards*. Once again, we urge Israel to review the rules of engagement of its security forces, and ensure they are in line with international standards, applicable in all countries.”
“Children must be afforded special protection. They must not be targeted, and must not be put at risk of violence nor encouraged to participate in violence,” he concluded.
“We are very concerned by the critical condition of a nine-year-old Palestinian child, Abdul Rahman Shteiwi, after he was shot in the head by the Israeli Security Forces (ISF) on 12 July, in what appears to have been an example of excessive use of force.”
The incident occurred during a weekly protest in the village of Kafr Qaddum, near Nablus. While protesters were burning tires and throwing stones at the ISF, Israeli soldiers -- after initially responding with rubber bullets and stun grenades – reportedly resorted to using live ammunition, without apparent reason to justify the move to use of lethal force, said the spokesman in a press briefing note.
According to several credible sources, this nine-year-old child, Abdul Rahman, was not taking an active part in the protest. He was reportedly over 100 metres away from the clashes, and manifestly did not present an imminent physical threat to Israeli forces.
The shot to his forehead resulted in a large hole and multiple skull fractures. Initially taken to a hospital in Nablus, he was later transferred to an Israeli hospital, where he remains alive but in a critical condition. Scans show dozens of fragments in the child’s head resulting in serious brain damage, from which he is unlikely to recover, even if he survives.
“The shooting of Abdul Rahman is one of the latest in a long list of incidents in the occupied Palestinian Territory in which children and juveniles have been injured or killed in circumstances that strongly suggest excessive force was used by the ISF.”
At the Israel-Gaza fence, after 10 weeks had passed without fatalities at the demonstrations, a 22-year old man was shot and killed by live ammunition on 26 July. However, over the same period, 102 children, mostly teenagers, have been injured by live ammunition fired by the ISF at the fence, he said.
“Use of force must be exceptional, and lethal force should only be used in circumstances where there is an imminent threat of death or serious injury to security forces or other individuals, and in strict application of international human rights standards*. Once again, we urge Israel to review the rules of engagement of its security forces, and ensure they are in line with international standards, applicable in all countries.”
“Children must be afforded special protection. They must not be targeted, and must not be put at risk of violence nor encouraged to participate in violence,” he concluded.
29 july 2019
Ahead of the UN Human Rights Council meeting on 18 March 2019, on the findings of the UN commission of inquiry into the 2018 Gaza protests, B’Tselem has issued a position paper [pdf] explaining that Israel’s promise to “investigate” 11 incidents in which protesters were killed is mere propaganda.
In a letter [pdf], B’Tselem’s director, Hagai El-Ad called upon the head of the commission, Santiago Canton, to reject the tapestry of lies Israel has woven while killing more unarmed protesters: “A real change in Israeli policy will only take place if the international community demands it clearly and unequivocally, and if it stops allowing Israel to do no more than offer hollow promises of ‘investigation’.”
In the position paper, B’Tselem explains why announcing investigations is a standard ploy that Israel employs to ease international pressure whenever its unlawful policy elicits criticism.
For the past year, Israel has implemented an unlawful open-fire policy towards Palestinians protesting near the Gaza perimeter fence, which permits live fire at unarmed protesters who pose no danger to anyone. Mere days after the protests began, in response to an international outcry over the dozens of fatalities, Israel employed its tried-and-true tactic in such situations and swiftly announced it would “investigate exceptional incidents”.
Recently, leading up to the scheduled publication of the conclusions by the UN Human Rights Council international commission of inquiry on the matter, the IDF Spokesperson has again begun to flaunt this fig leaf: eleven Military Police investigations regarding “specific incidents,” all still pending. Meanwhile, the regulations remain unchanged and are still being implemented in the field. People are still being killed or wounded, and no one is questioning the policy or being held to account for it.
Israel’s announcement has, at least so far, achieved its goal: welcomed by the international community, it has eased pressure on Israel, enabling the policy that has led thus far to 200 persons killed and more than 6,300 injured to continue unchanged.
Earlier this year, Israel’s High Court of Justice found this hollow promise satisfactory in ruling on a petition against the open-fire policy, and refused to order that it be changed. In their ruling the justices relied, among other things, on the assurance that the military would investigate “exceptional incidents”, while Israel continues to implement its lethal policy.
The “investigations” carried out by the military whitewashing mechanism, under the leadership of the Military Advocate General (MAG), are meaningless other than their role in aiding Israel’s effort to silence international criticism. They do not lead to adopting any measures against any of the people responsible for harm to Palestinians, as from the very outset the investigations do not probe the responsibility at the level of officials who set out and approved the policy or the unlawful orders.
The investigations do not deter the troops serving on the ground, as they are so few and far between, and even in cases in which an investigation was actually launched, it was then almost invariably closed without any further measures. Nor do the investigations achieve justice for the victims or their families.
This is standard procedure for Israel:
In Operation Cast Lead, which ran from December 2008 to January 2009 in the Gaza Strip, Israel killed 1,391 Palestinians. At least 759 (55%) had been uninvolved in the hostilities, including 318 children under 18. Injured people bled to death while the military denied them passage to hospital.
Palestinians were shot while waving a white flag. The MAG Corps “examined” over 400 incidents, and ordered the launching of at least 52 “investigations.” Soldiers were convicted in three cases only – on charges of theft, using a child as a human shield, and unlawful use of a weapon.
In Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014, Israel killed 2,203 Palestinians, including 1,392 (63%) who were uninvolved in the hostilities; 528 were under 18. Entire families were killed when their homes were hit in an air strike.
The MAG Corps established a “special examination mechanism” to examine and investigate instances defined as “exceptional” and then conveyed its recommendations to the MAG. As before, it was found that all had been lawful and above board, apart from one case in which three soldiers were convicted of stealing NIS 2,420. This episode of whitewashing is not yet complete: some of the “investigations” are still underway.
None of this is a random fluke: Israel does not wish to truly investigate, and therefore has created mechanisms that are incapable of carrying out full investigations. Israel’s sole purpose is to create a façade of an intention to investigate in order to silence criticism.
However, investigations and accountability are no merely theoretical issue or one of image. They are a matter of life and death. Investigations are necessary so that senior officials realize that they cannot give unlawful orders, and to demonstrate to the troops in the field the parameters of the use of force. When propaganda diversion tactics succeed in preventing accountability, there is a price to pay, and it is measured in human lives.
The international community must stop buying into Israel’s propaganda ploys concerning so-called “investigations”. There is no rational basis to expect Israel to carry out a real investigation. It does not have the slightest interest in investigating the policy itself, condemning it or demanding accountability from those responsible.
Therefore, the international community must make the most of its power and influence to compel Israel to change its policy and immediately cease the gunfire at protesters who pose no danger.
In a letter [pdf], B’Tselem’s director, Hagai El-Ad called upon the head of the commission, Santiago Canton, to reject the tapestry of lies Israel has woven while killing more unarmed protesters: “A real change in Israeli policy will only take place if the international community demands it clearly and unequivocally, and if it stops allowing Israel to do no more than offer hollow promises of ‘investigation’.”
In the position paper, B’Tselem explains why announcing investigations is a standard ploy that Israel employs to ease international pressure whenever its unlawful policy elicits criticism.
For the past year, Israel has implemented an unlawful open-fire policy towards Palestinians protesting near the Gaza perimeter fence, which permits live fire at unarmed protesters who pose no danger to anyone. Mere days after the protests began, in response to an international outcry over the dozens of fatalities, Israel employed its tried-and-true tactic in such situations and swiftly announced it would “investigate exceptional incidents”.
Recently, leading up to the scheduled publication of the conclusions by the UN Human Rights Council international commission of inquiry on the matter, the IDF Spokesperson has again begun to flaunt this fig leaf: eleven Military Police investigations regarding “specific incidents,” all still pending. Meanwhile, the regulations remain unchanged and are still being implemented in the field. People are still being killed or wounded, and no one is questioning the policy or being held to account for it.
Israel’s announcement has, at least so far, achieved its goal: welcomed by the international community, it has eased pressure on Israel, enabling the policy that has led thus far to 200 persons killed and more than 6,300 injured to continue unchanged.
Earlier this year, Israel’s High Court of Justice found this hollow promise satisfactory in ruling on a petition against the open-fire policy, and refused to order that it be changed. In their ruling the justices relied, among other things, on the assurance that the military would investigate “exceptional incidents”, while Israel continues to implement its lethal policy.
The “investigations” carried out by the military whitewashing mechanism, under the leadership of the Military Advocate General (MAG), are meaningless other than their role in aiding Israel’s effort to silence international criticism. They do not lead to adopting any measures against any of the people responsible for harm to Palestinians, as from the very outset the investigations do not probe the responsibility at the level of officials who set out and approved the policy or the unlawful orders.
The investigations do not deter the troops serving on the ground, as they are so few and far between, and even in cases in which an investigation was actually launched, it was then almost invariably closed without any further measures. Nor do the investigations achieve justice for the victims or their families.
This is standard procedure for Israel:
In Operation Cast Lead, which ran from December 2008 to January 2009 in the Gaza Strip, Israel killed 1,391 Palestinians. At least 759 (55%) had been uninvolved in the hostilities, including 318 children under 18. Injured people bled to death while the military denied them passage to hospital.
Palestinians were shot while waving a white flag. The MAG Corps “examined” over 400 incidents, and ordered the launching of at least 52 “investigations.” Soldiers were convicted in three cases only – on charges of theft, using a child as a human shield, and unlawful use of a weapon.
In Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014, Israel killed 2,203 Palestinians, including 1,392 (63%) who were uninvolved in the hostilities; 528 were under 18. Entire families were killed when their homes were hit in an air strike.
The MAG Corps established a “special examination mechanism” to examine and investigate instances defined as “exceptional” and then conveyed its recommendations to the MAG. As before, it was found that all had been lawful and above board, apart from one case in which three soldiers were convicted of stealing NIS 2,420. This episode of whitewashing is not yet complete: some of the “investigations” are still underway.
None of this is a random fluke: Israel does not wish to truly investigate, and therefore has created mechanisms that are incapable of carrying out full investigations. Israel’s sole purpose is to create a façade of an intention to investigate in order to silence criticism.
However, investigations and accountability are no merely theoretical issue or one of image. They are a matter of life and death. Investigations are necessary so that senior officials realize that they cannot give unlawful orders, and to demonstrate to the troops in the field the parameters of the use of force. When propaganda diversion tactics succeed in preventing accountability, there is a price to pay, and it is measured in human lives.
The international community must stop buying into Israel’s propaganda ploys concerning so-called “investigations”. There is no rational basis to expect Israel to carry out a real investigation. It does not have the slightest interest in investigating the policy itself, condemning it or demanding accountability from those responsible.
Therefore, the international community must make the most of its power and influence to compel Israel to change its policy and immediately cease the gunfire at protesters who pose no danger.
11 july 2019
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Dear friends,
On Sunday, 14 July 2019, Adalah's attorneys will argue before the Nazareth District Court that the municipality of Afula in northern Israel must cancel a ban on non-residents from entering a public park in the city. We know that this policy is aimed at blocking residents of nearby Arab communities from using the facility – because the municipality told us so. Earlier this month, Adalah Attorney Nareman Shehadeh-Zoabi and her infant son arrived at the park and found a new large sign at the entrance reading: "The park is open … to Afula residents only". Upon learning that they are from the nearby Arab city of Nazareth, a security guard at the park entrance forbade them from entering. "I felt deeply humiliated by the situation," said Attorney Shehadeh-Zoabi. "Jewish residents freely walked past me into the very park that I so often enjoyed with my son while I was prevented from entering and forced to leave – simply because I am from the Arab city of Nazareth". The ban was issued following an explicit election promise by Afula Mayor Avi Elkabetz to act against what he deigned the "conquest of the park" by residents of surrounding Arab towns. He called on the city's Jewish residents to "proudly hoist Israeli flags throughout the park and play music in Hebrew". |
The ban was also made public just days after Mayor Elkabetz took part in a protest against the sale of a home in the city to Palestinian citizens of Israel, and after newly-elected city council members were sworn into office pledging to act to preserve the city's Jewish character.
Afula is not the only city endorsing such racial discrimination. In March 2018, the northern town of Kfar Vradim canceled the sale of land for new housing construction after it became clear that more than 50 percent of those purchasing the plots were Palestinian citizens.
Meanwhile, hundreds of small communities in Israel are operating "admissions committees", which are authorized by law – in towns no larger than 400 households – to reject applicants based on the criteria of "social suitability" and the towns' "social and cultural fabric", and work in practice to keep Palestinian citizens out. Dozens of them, in towns that have now grown larger than 400 households, are operating these committees illegally.
Such discriminatory practices have been spurred further by the Jewish Nation-State Law, enacted by the Knesset one year ago, which commits in Article 7 to promoting Jewish settlement as a "national value" – thus giving constitutional backing to decades of racist Israeli land and housing policies.
Adalah has launched new legal challenges against all of the above laws and policies, and is continuing to fight against all forms of discrimination, displacement and segregation in Israel to secure just land and housing rights for Palestinian citizens of the state.
Afula is not the only city endorsing such racial discrimination. In March 2018, the northern town of Kfar Vradim canceled the sale of land for new housing construction after it became clear that more than 50 percent of those purchasing the plots were Palestinian citizens.
Meanwhile, hundreds of small communities in Israel are operating "admissions committees", which are authorized by law – in towns no larger than 400 households – to reject applicants based on the criteria of "social suitability" and the towns' "social and cultural fabric", and work in practice to keep Palestinian citizens out. Dozens of them, in towns that have now grown larger than 400 households, are operating these committees illegally.
Such discriminatory practices have been spurred further by the Jewish Nation-State Law, enacted by the Knesset one year ago, which commits in Article 7 to promoting Jewish settlement as a "national value" – thus giving constitutional backing to decades of racist Israeli land and housing policies.
Adalah has launched new legal challenges against all of the above laws and policies, and is continuing to fight against all forms of discrimination, displacement and segregation in Israel to secure just land and housing rights for Palestinian citizens of the state.
1 july 2019
Sixteen apartment buildings, home to more than 100 Palestinian families, will have their homes destroyed by Israeli authorities in Jerusalem after a ruling Sunday by the Israeli Supreme Court allowing the demolition.
The High Court accepted the argument of the Israeli government that the homes were “too close to the Israeli ‘security wall’”, despite the fact that these homes were constructed on Palestinian land and were permitted by the Palestinian Authority – and the fact that the Wall was constructed on Palestinian land with no consultation with the Palestinian Authority as to its route.
The Israeli Annexation Wall, as it is known to Palestinians, illegally confiscates hundreds of acres of Palestinian land and annexes it into Israel, in direct violation of international law and signed conventions.
According to the Palestinian Wafa News Agency, the Israeli Supreme Court dismissed the appeal which was filed by Palestinian residents against the demolition of 16 apartment buildings in Wadi al-Hummus area of Sur Baher neighborhood, southeast of occupied Jerusalem.
Wafa reporters said that Hamada Hamada, the head of Wadi al-Hummus Committee, told them that the buildings slated for demolition are located in areas classified as (a), under the full control of the Palestinian Authority, where building permits are obtained from the Palestinian Ministry of Local Government.
The Palestinian owners of the buildings have until July 18th to demolish the buildings themselves, or Israeli officials will send the army to demolish them, and send the Palestinian owners the bill, along with massive fines.
The High Court accepted the argument of the Israeli government that the homes were “too close to the Israeli ‘security wall’”, despite the fact that these homes were constructed on Palestinian land and were permitted by the Palestinian Authority – and the fact that the Wall was constructed on Palestinian land with no consultation with the Palestinian Authority as to its route.
The Israeli Annexation Wall, as it is known to Palestinians, illegally confiscates hundreds of acres of Palestinian land and annexes it into Israel, in direct violation of international law and signed conventions.
According to the Palestinian Wafa News Agency, the Israeli Supreme Court dismissed the appeal which was filed by Palestinian residents against the demolition of 16 apartment buildings in Wadi al-Hummus area of Sur Baher neighborhood, southeast of occupied Jerusalem.
Wafa reporters said that Hamada Hamada, the head of Wadi al-Hummus Committee, told them that the buildings slated for demolition are located in areas classified as (a), under the full control of the Palestinian Authority, where building permits are obtained from the Palestinian Ministry of Local Government.
The Palestinian owners of the buildings have until July 18th to demolish the buildings themselves, or Israeli officials will send the army to demolish them, and send the Palestinian owners the bill, along with massive fines.
