19 july 2015
The occupying Forces arrested 3 Jerusalemites early Sunday morning (19 – 07 – 2015) – the Third day of Eid Al Fiter – by breaking into their houses in Ras Al Amoud neighborhood in the town of Silwan.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center learnt that the Israeli Forces arrested Ahmad Al Ghoul 17 years old, Fathi Nasser 18 years and Nour Al Zaghal 17 years after breaking into their houses in Ras Al Amoud neighborhood noting that the forces arrested them early this month and were released after several hours.
‘WHIC’ stated that the Judge at the Magistrate Court extended the detention period of Ahmad Al Ghoul until next Tuesday.
In addition the detention period for Nour Al Din Al Zaghal is until tomorrow Monday.
The lawyer of Al-Damir Institution Mohammad Mahmoud stated that Fathi Nasser’s was also extended until tomorrow Monday.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center learnt that the Israeli Forces arrested Ahmad Al Ghoul 17 years old, Fathi Nasser 18 years and Nour Al Zaghal 17 years after breaking into their houses in Ras Al Amoud neighborhood noting that the forces arrested them early this month and were released after several hours.
‘WHIC’ stated that the Judge at the Magistrate Court extended the detention period of Ahmad Al Ghoul until next Tuesday.
In addition the detention period for Nour Al Din Al Zaghal is until tomorrow Monday.
The lawyer of Al-Damir Institution Mohammad Mahmoud stated that Fathi Nasser’s was also extended until tomorrow Monday.
Leader of cell is Hamas operative released in Shalit deal; terror cell also behind shooting at MDA ambulance.
Israeli security forces have arrested the terror cell responsible for the murder of Malachi Rosenfeld last month near Shvut Rachel in the West Bank, it was cleared for publication on Sunday.
This terror cell was also behind a shooting two days earlier at a Magen David Adom ambulance and other Israeli vehicles near Beitin, which ended without casualties. The cell members admitted to have committed these attacks and attempting to commit another attack on June 6, 2015.
The brains behind the terror cell, Ahmad Najar, a Hamas operative, was not among the suspects arrested. He was imprisoned in Israel several times in the past, most recently from December 2003 until October 2011 over his involvement in a shooting attack that claimed the lives of six Israelis. After his release as part of the Shalit deal and expulsion to Gaza, Najar moved to Jordan, where he has been working to organize and fund terror attacks.
His brother, Amjad Najar, also a Hamas operative, was arrested on July 7. In his interrogation he admitted to facilitating the transfer of instructions, weapons and funding from his brother in Jordan to the West Bank for the attack. He was previously arrested in the 1990s for involvement in terror activities.
Abdallah Ischak was also arrested on July 7. In his interrogation, he admitted to being directly involved in the two attacks, saying he drove the car used by the cell and participated in other armed activity. He was previously in Israeli jail in 2010-2011 for arms trade and terror activities. In 2006, he was involved in the planning of a terror attack.
Fa'ez Hamed, a Hamas commander, was arrested on July 9. In his interrogation, he admitted to planning the attacks and being involved in another attempted attack. He was arrested several times in the past for his activity within Hamas.
Jamal Younes, Ahmad Najar's father-in-law, was arrested on July 10. In his interrogation, he admitted to scrapping the car used in the attack, mediating on an arms deal for the attack, and to meeting Ahmad Najar in Jordan.
Some of the cell members were arrested by the Palestinian security forces, among them Mu'ad Hamed, who led the terror cell and committed the shooting in both attacks and Ahmad Shibrawi, who helped plan the attacks and provided the weapons used. Both Hamed and Shibrawi, Hamas operatives, were arrested several times in the past for his involvement in planning terror attacks.
The Palestinian Authority has recently conducted the largest wave of arrests in years against Hamas operatives in the West Bank. Arrests were made all across the West Bank and included 170 Hamas operatives. Two weeks ago, a Palestinian security official told Ynet that there was a direct link between the series of recent shooting attacks in the West Bank and the wave of arrests.
Israeli security forces have arrested the terror cell responsible for the murder of Malachi Rosenfeld last month near Shvut Rachel in the West Bank, it was cleared for publication on Sunday.
This terror cell was also behind a shooting two days earlier at a Magen David Adom ambulance and other Israeli vehicles near Beitin, which ended without casualties. The cell members admitted to have committed these attacks and attempting to commit another attack on June 6, 2015.
The brains behind the terror cell, Ahmad Najar, a Hamas operative, was not among the suspects arrested. He was imprisoned in Israel several times in the past, most recently from December 2003 until October 2011 over his involvement in a shooting attack that claimed the lives of six Israelis. After his release as part of the Shalit deal and expulsion to Gaza, Najar moved to Jordan, where he has been working to organize and fund terror attacks.
His brother, Amjad Najar, also a Hamas operative, was arrested on July 7. In his interrogation he admitted to facilitating the transfer of instructions, weapons and funding from his brother in Jordan to the West Bank for the attack. He was previously arrested in the 1990s for involvement in terror activities.
Abdallah Ischak was also arrested on July 7. In his interrogation, he admitted to being directly involved in the two attacks, saying he drove the car used by the cell and participated in other armed activity. He was previously in Israeli jail in 2010-2011 for arms trade and terror activities. In 2006, he was involved in the planning of a terror attack.
Fa'ez Hamed, a Hamas commander, was arrested on July 9. In his interrogation, he admitted to planning the attacks and being involved in another attempted attack. He was arrested several times in the past for his activity within Hamas.
Jamal Younes, Ahmad Najar's father-in-law, was arrested on July 10. In his interrogation, he admitted to scrapping the car used in the attack, mediating on an arms deal for the attack, and to meeting Ahmad Najar in Jordan.
Some of the cell members were arrested by the Palestinian security forces, among them Mu'ad Hamed, who led the terror cell and committed the shooting in both attacks and Ahmad Shibrawi, who helped plan the attacks and provided the weapons used. Both Hamed and Shibrawi, Hamas operatives, were arrested several times in the past for his involvement in planning terror attacks.
The Palestinian Authority has recently conducted the largest wave of arrests in years against Hamas operatives in the West Bank. Arrests were made all across the West Bank and included 170 Hamas operatives. Two weeks ago, a Palestinian security official told Ynet that there was a direct link between the series of recent shooting attacks in the West Bank and the wave of arrests.
By Nadezhda Kevorkova
Seven journalists, several activists and the crew of the Freedom Flotilla ship were kidnapped by the Israeli Army in international waters. An RT journalist was searched six times and detained for a week without charge or trial.
The Swedish boat Marianne, bought and equipped with donations collected across Sweden, left the port of Gothenburg in early May. On her way to Gaza, the Marianne docked at several European ports, and on June 19, it continued on its journey from Messina, Sicily.
From then on my colleague Richard and I were on different boats according to our assignments. I was issued accreditation in Israel (Russian citizens don’t need a visa to enter Israel). I have been to the Gaza Strip on numerous occasions; I was once even a guest at a Zionist congress.
Freedom Flotilla III consisted of four boats, with a total of 47 people from 17 countries on board. The Marianne, with 18 people on board (citizens of Sweden, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia and Russia), was far ahead of the rest. The boats that trailed behind carried all of the most valuable cargo – a deliberate step by the activists to prevent the Israeli forces from seizing the humanitarian aid. Experience from the 2010 flotilla showed that Israel doesn’t deliver any medicine, equipment or household goods to Gaza.
From time to time a military helicopter, drone or plane would fly over the boat. Once, a plane flew parallel to the Marianne for some time, hovering right above the water. Sometimes there would be no satellite connection.
“Come what may, we are going to Gaza. When they start preparing for an attack they’ll cut off all our communication. Until they seize the command bridge, we will continue on our way to Gaza”, said Dror Feiler, a musician who was born in Israel and served in the IDF. He left the country at 22 and renounced his Israeli citizenship.
Dror’s 92-year-old mother still lives there and supports the Palestinians. She can’t visit her son because of her advanced age, while he is not allowed to visit her because of his anti-Israeli stance. Dror had taken part in all the Freedom Flotillas, so he understood the nuances of what was to come better than anyone else.
While there still was some reception, however weak, I got phone calls and emails from Gaza. The phone calls dropped. People in Gaza were waiting for the flotilla like no one in the world has ever waited. Many aboard the Marianne believed that in the end Israel would choose not to notice the flotilla and let it pass.
The sun sets. All of us, including the former President of Tunisia, famous journalists, politicians, key figures in science and arts, were busy cleaning up on the vessel.
The captain said, “We are going to Gaza. Tomorrow, when we arrive, the boat has to be immaculately clean.”
At 1:20 am lights suddenly started flickering all around the boat.
With 105 nautical miles (about 170 km) left to go to the Israeli shore, the Marianne was surrounded by four Israeli military vessels and nine coast guard boats. Thus the pirate attack on Freedom Flotilla III began.
Bear in mind that the coast guard can only legally operate in territorial waters, i.e. within 12 nautical miles from the shore. Three days prior to being captured, the crew, activists and journalists saw an example of how an ordinary coast guard acts when observing the law.
On June 26, former Tunisian President Dr. Moncef Marzouki, Knesset member Dr. Basel Ghattas, an Al Jazeera crew, and Ohad Herno, a journalist from Israeli TV Channel 2, arrived onboard the Marianne from Crete. The coast guard, having spotted the Marianne, asked whether the crew needed anything, never leaving their territorial waters despite requesting that we approach closer. The captain thanked them and refused, so the coast guard left.
The Israeli Navy and “coast guard” acted in a different way.
One of the Israeli boats approached the Marianne and directed its search light at the vessel. A man in military uniform holding a loudspeaker told the crew, the passengers and the journalists that the blockade of Gaza was lawful and demanded that the crew should stop the engine and let three Israeli servicemen on board for negotiations.
Captain Joel Opperdoes said he deemed the blockade unlawful and there was nothing to talk about. He declined both the negotiations and the very idea of an ultimatum that a private vessel let someone on board in international waters.
Captain Joel explained to me that such actions can be considered piracy, and when a vessel is attacked, it is the captain’s duty to prevent pirates from seizing it by putting up unarmed resistance and voicing disagreement with the capture. Any other actions, including voluntary surrender of the vessel, are considered professional misconduct.
One of the oldest nautical rules adopted 500 years ago and endorsed by the UNO, reads that no nation can extend its sovereignty to or claim control of open seas. And no one has the right to encroach on the navigational freedom of a vessel unless it is involved in human trafficking, piracy or unauthorized TV and radio broadcasting. The Swedish boat Marianne was not in any way related to any of these three crimes.
It should be noted that in the long history of trying to break the blockade from the sea there have been a number of successful attempts. In August and October of 2008 two small ships managed to reach the port of Gaza. It didn’t cause any repercussions in the media, unlike vessel captures by Israel, all of which are widely discussed.
It is unclear why Israel persistently prevents the Freedom Flotilla from entering Gaza year after year and makes a theatrical performance out of the vessel’s capture. All this naturally does not add to the reputation of the country. Everyone surely remembers the notorious seizure of the Turkish ship, Mavi Marmara, with 700 passengers on board, which took the lives of nine activists. Two others died of wounds later.
When the captain finished, the Israeli military spokesman said that the one person he cared about was the Knesset MP on board. Dr. Basel Ghattas, one of the two Palestinian members of the Israeli parliament, wrapped in a Palestinian scarf, was prepared for this scenario. He took the loudspeaker from the captain and the conversation went on in Hebrew. He said that the blockade was unlawful, just like limiting the boat’s freedom of navigation, let alone its seizure.
Very soon the Israeli spokesman lost any interest in the Knesset MP and switched to the former President of Tunisia. Dr. Marzouki, a human rights advocate who has been in the trade for years, said that the claims made by the Israeli Army were illegitimate.
Finally, the spokesman tried to approach Dror Feiler, an Israeli-born musician who had rejected his Israeli citizenship 40 years ago.
The Marianne was still heading for Gaza, as was promised by all those who spoke to the Israelis.
At 2:30 am the first soldiers came on board. Watch how the Marianne’s capture was carried out, filmed by Israeli journalist Ohad and aired on Israel’s Channel 2. This video shatters the Israeli army’s official report that the vessel was seized peacefully.
The soldiers were armed with stun guns, which they used to fight the crew. I was in the front of the boat and heard Herman, a Norwegian, and Charlie, a Swede, screaming. It took the Israelis 52 minutes to engage the crew and the captain took the ship’s wheel away from them. Finally, they captured the command bridge.
At that moment, the Marianne was 90.5 nautical miles away from the Israeli shore, according to the vessel’s measurements.
After that, the soldiers searched the entire ship. They tossed the kitchen, the hold, the saloon, the water storage and the sleeping quarter. They broke off all the hooks which secured the furniture in place and kept its doors closed, so all the contents were now free to fall out and scatter around making loud noises as the vessel rocked on the sea waves.
They soon discovered that the engine was broken and the hold was full of water. They failed to fix the engine and threatened to keep beating up the captain until the engine was fixed.
They searched everyone on board including the journalists. I was searched in the crew’s quarters by two women wearing masks. Cooking pots, cutlery and buckets rolled loose around the floor.
“What are you looking for,” I asked. “Tiny chips,” they answered.
“Do you believe I put some chips in the seams of my clothing?”
“This is just a procedure,” came the response.
Israeli military escorts Gaza-bound aid flotilla flagship to port of Ashdod
It was also just a procedure for them to offer everyone fruit and water. The military could use some footage showing them treating the boat passengers to the produce of the Israeli land. But everyone refused.
By about 07:00, the soldiers finally managed to fix the engine, yet they couldn’t properly maneuver the vessel. Instead of moving, it was shaking, rocking and going in circles.
They decided to try full throttle. Captain Joel responded with a melancholy remark that the only thing they were going to achieve that way was to kill the engine. They slowed down. Their orders were to deliver the vessel to port, but they had no tugboat.
Some of the soldiers were ordered to clear the vessel of the Palestinian colors and slogans that sent a clear message that this was a “ship to Gaza.”
Most of the Israeli soldiers were seasick by that time. We were sitting in the shade under a canopy as that was the only place they could hold all of us at gunpoint – but the soldiers themselves had to stay in the sun.
In the evening, two helicopters flew over the trawler. We finally saw the lights of Ashdod when it was already dark. The port was full of military, there were no reporters. The only cameras rolling were with the military, too.
They called us out by name, one by one. The first to go were Knesset member Ghattas, ex-president Marzouki, and European Parliament member Ana Miranda as we applauded them. They were searched and let go after their phones were confiscated. The next was the Israeli journalist.
When I was finally let off the boat I said that I refused to answer any questions, provide my identity, have my fingerprints taken, or be photographed until I had received consular and legal assistance, and that this was an illegal abduction of an accredited journalist accompanied by theft of my property, i.e. my satellite and mobile phone.
I was asked to take off the cap featuring my TV company’s logo that I was wearing. I refused to do so.
“Well, if you don’t want it the easy way…”
“No, I don’t.”
“Then we’ll have to do it the hard way.”
“Ok, go on.”
But they didn’t. Two young soldiers, male and female, were assigned to guard me. As I went on through the procedure they were growing more and more sympathetic towards me.
And then I saw that all of this - all the tents, desks and flags. It was brought and put up here only for us. There were no other passengers coming ashore at the port. Hundreds of soldiers came here for us and our small single-deck vessel.
I was searched again, as were the contents of my small bag. They went through my garments and undergarments several times feeling them thoroughly and even scrutinizing them against the light.
During the search my cellular phone charger was taken.
Then I was taken to a tent where a young man and a young woman made themselves look like doctors. I refused to give them my name yet again, demanding a lawyer and a consul.
“For your own good we want to find out if you have any diseases,” they said.
“I do not need it. My company takes care of me, I am insured,” I responded.
“You have no diseases or refuse to collaborate?”
I broke into laughter. The word “collaborate” has but one connotation to the Russian ear: it means “collaboration with your enemy”.
When my visit to the so-called doctors was over, I refused to move any further before the company’s property – the cellular and mobile phones – were returned to me. The military people started fussing around. Some of them tried to explain that it would not be possible. Others called for their bosses. The bosses also explained that it could not be done at the moment, but maybe sometime later… But I was unperturbed.
Of course it was not fair on my part – to mock at the exhausted people on duty. But it was they who had kidnapped me right in the middle of the Mediterranean, not the other way around. It was they who had explained to me for an hour that the blockade was legal, and my journalistic presence on the boat was not legal at all. It was they who handed me a welcome letter from Netanyahu in Ashdod, in which the prime minister of Israel rushed to explain to me: Gaza was not blocked at all. It was they who brought me to Ashdod against my will and contrary to my task as a journalist. It was they who had searched me three times demanding that I sign a paper stating that I had come to Israel illegally and therefore had no objections to being deported…
I stood right in the middle of the port with my RT cap on and demanded a lawyer, a consul and my corporate telephones. In the long run they agreed to give me a paper testifying to the fact that the property had been taken by the Israeli army. It was signed, dated and contained the property list. I asked for my charger, and it was given back to me.
Another search followed. They asked me to remove my cross. I said “no”. They took away all my cash, bank cards, a nail file, a pen, chargers, a brooch. And – strange! – RT stickers.
Then I was placed into a police wagon. There I found Ana, the Swedish journalist. Soon we were joined by a New Zealand journalist, named Ru.
Their case was even more interesting than mine. The Israelis tried to convince Ru that she was not a journalist, but an activist. And to Ana they explained that it would be better for her to write books on female circumcision than neo-capitalism.
At 4:00 am we were brought to the Givon jail facility and searched again. This time I was deprived of my white gloves and some other trifles. My shampoo disappeared without trace.
Our cell contained three iron bunk beds, a close-stool behind a little iron door, a shower behind a similar door and opaque windows under the ceiling with a camera installed in it.
We were placed in a special one-story building in a special section of the jail. The walls boasted all sorts of graffiti about freedom for Gaza and Palestine.
So the three of us were grouped together in a cell and had no idea about the others. From somewhere upstairs, someone kept screaming.
At about 06:00 (none of us had a watch) the door violently clanked opened and in came several guards, who shouted“Stand up!”
It was a standard procedure at 6 am and 10 pm. Every time they asked us to stand up, and every time we demanded a consul and a lawyer.
“Are we arrested? Are we convicted? What are the charges?”
“No, you are simply here. It’s nothing more than a check to see that you are fine and healthy,” they said.
We didn’t have TV, fridges, books, paper, pens, watches, or phones. They wouldn’t give us the bible or any other books. We had no right to make a phone call. We could not buy anything, and neither the consuls nor the lawyers could send us anything - not even candy or water. We are given tap water to drink, but they refused to give us things like milk or salt and pepper, not that we need the latter. But Ana requests milk three times a day. She also insists that they give her a drive around Tel Aviv:
“This is my first time in Israel, and all I get to see is a jail,” she remarked.
Ru signs papers and leaves the next day with her cameraman. Now there are two of us left in our cell, and I cannot just go leaving Ana behind. She cannot leave either. The Swedes cannot go leaving Dror Feiler behind. He was the one threatened before the flotilla’s departure, and during the interrogation.
The woman responsible for booking tickets tries to persuade us that we agree to leave one by one. She tries to talk us into signing papers. Sometimes she speaks in the sweetest tone; other times, she promises that we will be taken away in handcuffs. We’d rather go for handcuffs. However she does turn her tone down each time. She is no longer saying that we had illegally penetrated the Israeli territory. It’s not clear anymore how we got here and what we’re doing here.
“Don’t you want to go back home?”
“Personally, I want to go to Gaza. My job was to get to Gaza, together with my phones.”
Back in 2012, when the Estella boat was seized, they stole Dror Feiler’s saxophone, and locked him up separately from the others. When the others left for home, he was being beaten in his cell.
Ana and I are playing hopscotch and battleship. We have already discussed Lenin, Trotsky, Marx, Brezhnev, Gorbachev, Yeltsin, the Greece situation, the Sweden situation, the Middle East conflict, the history of Russia starting from the Varangian princes (were they Swedish or not?), Ikea, Swedish writers, Norwegian writers, Russian writers, fairy tales, composers, and film directors.
Turns out Ana has read Velimir Khlebnikov’s poetry. Not many Russians could say likewise.
We laughed together. On one occasion we were laughing so much that a guard ran over screaming:
“Are you crying there?”
We are willing to stay here as long as it takes them to realize that we are only leaving this place together. Ana asks me to teach her to pray in Russian. Now we pray together, then we do some work out, and then Ana sings songs about freedom in Greek.
Israel intercepts & escorts Gaza flotilla flagship, RT columnist aboard
I’ve heard that Russia’s favourite book by Lindgren is Karlsson. But her best book is about Pippi Longstocking.
The lawyers show up; and we win. We will all be sent home together on the same day, and the Swedes will not have to leave one by one. And they will take my phones to the embassy.
Now that we have got it our way the guards break into our cells at night and light their flashlights in our faces for some reason.
Sunday, July 5. They return our belongings according to the lists. This time, they had stolen 300 Euros from Dror alone.
A female guard says: “I will miss you, really.”
Sure she will. When else is she getting inmates who’d be discussing Trotsky for hours?
We are now riding a large bus, with windows rather than bars. Then we undergo another search.
“What’s this for? What do you think I could’ve taken from prison?”
“It’s just a procedure.”
We are then placed in a deportation jail near the airport. They never change sheets here; they serve food that’s expired a month ago; and you cannot get them to bring you water or tea.
I am escorted onboard several minutes before take-off. My passport bears no evidence that I’ve spent time in Israel.
Nadezhda Kevorkova has worked at RT since 2010, before which she was a special correspondent for ‘Novaya gazeta,’ ‘Nezavisimaya gazeta,’ and ‘Gazeta.’ She covered the ‘Gaza Freedom Flotilla’ in 2008, 2010 and 2011; she also visited Gaza several times during the blockade. In 2010, Kevorkova was nominated for the ‘International Women of Courage’ award.
Seven journalists, several activists and the crew of the Freedom Flotilla ship were kidnapped by the Israeli Army in international waters. An RT journalist was searched six times and detained for a week without charge or trial.
The Swedish boat Marianne, bought and equipped with donations collected across Sweden, left the port of Gothenburg in early May. On her way to Gaza, the Marianne docked at several European ports, and on June 19, it continued on its journey from Messina, Sicily.
From then on my colleague Richard and I were on different boats according to our assignments. I was issued accreditation in Israel (Russian citizens don’t need a visa to enter Israel). I have been to the Gaza Strip on numerous occasions; I was once even a guest at a Zionist congress.
Freedom Flotilla III consisted of four boats, with a total of 47 people from 17 countries on board. The Marianne, with 18 people on board (citizens of Sweden, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia and Russia), was far ahead of the rest. The boats that trailed behind carried all of the most valuable cargo – a deliberate step by the activists to prevent the Israeli forces from seizing the humanitarian aid. Experience from the 2010 flotilla showed that Israel doesn’t deliver any medicine, equipment or household goods to Gaza.
From time to time a military helicopter, drone or plane would fly over the boat. Once, a plane flew parallel to the Marianne for some time, hovering right above the water. Sometimes there would be no satellite connection.
“Come what may, we are going to Gaza. When they start preparing for an attack they’ll cut off all our communication. Until they seize the command bridge, we will continue on our way to Gaza”, said Dror Feiler, a musician who was born in Israel and served in the IDF. He left the country at 22 and renounced his Israeli citizenship.
Dror’s 92-year-old mother still lives there and supports the Palestinians. She can’t visit her son because of her advanced age, while he is not allowed to visit her because of his anti-Israeli stance. Dror had taken part in all the Freedom Flotillas, so he understood the nuances of what was to come better than anyone else.
While there still was some reception, however weak, I got phone calls and emails from Gaza. The phone calls dropped. People in Gaza were waiting for the flotilla like no one in the world has ever waited. Many aboard the Marianne believed that in the end Israel would choose not to notice the flotilla and let it pass.
The sun sets. All of us, including the former President of Tunisia, famous journalists, politicians, key figures in science and arts, were busy cleaning up on the vessel.
The captain said, “We are going to Gaza. Tomorrow, when we arrive, the boat has to be immaculately clean.”
At 1:20 am lights suddenly started flickering all around the boat.
With 105 nautical miles (about 170 km) left to go to the Israeli shore, the Marianne was surrounded by four Israeli military vessels and nine coast guard boats. Thus the pirate attack on Freedom Flotilla III began.
Bear in mind that the coast guard can only legally operate in territorial waters, i.e. within 12 nautical miles from the shore. Three days prior to being captured, the crew, activists and journalists saw an example of how an ordinary coast guard acts when observing the law.
On June 26, former Tunisian President Dr. Moncef Marzouki, Knesset member Dr. Basel Ghattas, an Al Jazeera crew, and Ohad Herno, a journalist from Israeli TV Channel 2, arrived onboard the Marianne from Crete. The coast guard, having spotted the Marianne, asked whether the crew needed anything, never leaving their territorial waters despite requesting that we approach closer. The captain thanked them and refused, so the coast guard left.
The Israeli Navy and “coast guard” acted in a different way.
One of the Israeli boats approached the Marianne and directed its search light at the vessel. A man in military uniform holding a loudspeaker told the crew, the passengers and the journalists that the blockade of Gaza was lawful and demanded that the crew should stop the engine and let three Israeli servicemen on board for negotiations.
Captain Joel Opperdoes said he deemed the blockade unlawful and there was nothing to talk about. He declined both the negotiations and the very idea of an ultimatum that a private vessel let someone on board in international waters.
Captain Joel explained to me that such actions can be considered piracy, and when a vessel is attacked, it is the captain’s duty to prevent pirates from seizing it by putting up unarmed resistance and voicing disagreement with the capture. Any other actions, including voluntary surrender of the vessel, are considered professional misconduct.
One of the oldest nautical rules adopted 500 years ago and endorsed by the UNO, reads that no nation can extend its sovereignty to or claim control of open seas. And no one has the right to encroach on the navigational freedom of a vessel unless it is involved in human trafficking, piracy or unauthorized TV and radio broadcasting. The Swedish boat Marianne was not in any way related to any of these three crimes.
It should be noted that in the long history of trying to break the blockade from the sea there have been a number of successful attempts. In August and October of 2008 two small ships managed to reach the port of Gaza. It didn’t cause any repercussions in the media, unlike vessel captures by Israel, all of which are widely discussed.
It is unclear why Israel persistently prevents the Freedom Flotilla from entering Gaza year after year and makes a theatrical performance out of the vessel’s capture. All this naturally does not add to the reputation of the country. Everyone surely remembers the notorious seizure of the Turkish ship, Mavi Marmara, with 700 passengers on board, which took the lives of nine activists. Two others died of wounds later.
When the captain finished, the Israeli military spokesman said that the one person he cared about was the Knesset MP on board. Dr. Basel Ghattas, one of the two Palestinian members of the Israeli parliament, wrapped in a Palestinian scarf, was prepared for this scenario. He took the loudspeaker from the captain and the conversation went on in Hebrew. He said that the blockade was unlawful, just like limiting the boat’s freedom of navigation, let alone its seizure.
Very soon the Israeli spokesman lost any interest in the Knesset MP and switched to the former President of Tunisia. Dr. Marzouki, a human rights advocate who has been in the trade for years, said that the claims made by the Israeli Army were illegitimate.
Finally, the spokesman tried to approach Dror Feiler, an Israeli-born musician who had rejected his Israeli citizenship 40 years ago.
The Marianne was still heading for Gaza, as was promised by all those who spoke to the Israelis.
At 2:30 am the first soldiers came on board. Watch how the Marianne’s capture was carried out, filmed by Israeli journalist Ohad and aired on Israel’s Channel 2. This video shatters the Israeli army’s official report that the vessel was seized peacefully.
The soldiers were armed with stun guns, which they used to fight the crew. I was in the front of the boat and heard Herman, a Norwegian, and Charlie, a Swede, screaming. It took the Israelis 52 minutes to engage the crew and the captain took the ship’s wheel away from them. Finally, they captured the command bridge.
At that moment, the Marianne was 90.5 nautical miles away from the Israeli shore, according to the vessel’s measurements.
After that, the soldiers searched the entire ship. They tossed the kitchen, the hold, the saloon, the water storage and the sleeping quarter. They broke off all the hooks which secured the furniture in place and kept its doors closed, so all the contents were now free to fall out and scatter around making loud noises as the vessel rocked on the sea waves.
They soon discovered that the engine was broken and the hold was full of water. They failed to fix the engine and threatened to keep beating up the captain until the engine was fixed.
They searched everyone on board including the journalists. I was searched in the crew’s quarters by two women wearing masks. Cooking pots, cutlery and buckets rolled loose around the floor.
“What are you looking for,” I asked. “Tiny chips,” they answered.
“Do you believe I put some chips in the seams of my clothing?”
“This is just a procedure,” came the response.
Israeli military escorts Gaza-bound aid flotilla flagship to port of Ashdod
It was also just a procedure for them to offer everyone fruit and water. The military could use some footage showing them treating the boat passengers to the produce of the Israeli land. But everyone refused.
By about 07:00, the soldiers finally managed to fix the engine, yet they couldn’t properly maneuver the vessel. Instead of moving, it was shaking, rocking and going in circles.
They decided to try full throttle. Captain Joel responded with a melancholy remark that the only thing they were going to achieve that way was to kill the engine. They slowed down. Their orders were to deliver the vessel to port, but they had no tugboat.
Some of the soldiers were ordered to clear the vessel of the Palestinian colors and slogans that sent a clear message that this was a “ship to Gaza.”
Most of the Israeli soldiers were seasick by that time. We were sitting in the shade under a canopy as that was the only place they could hold all of us at gunpoint – but the soldiers themselves had to stay in the sun.
In the evening, two helicopters flew over the trawler. We finally saw the lights of Ashdod when it was already dark. The port was full of military, there were no reporters. The only cameras rolling were with the military, too.
They called us out by name, one by one. The first to go were Knesset member Ghattas, ex-president Marzouki, and European Parliament member Ana Miranda as we applauded them. They were searched and let go after their phones were confiscated. The next was the Israeli journalist.
When I was finally let off the boat I said that I refused to answer any questions, provide my identity, have my fingerprints taken, or be photographed until I had received consular and legal assistance, and that this was an illegal abduction of an accredited journalist accompanied by theft of my property, i.e. my satellite and mobile phone.
I was asked to take off the cap featuring my TV company’s logo that I was wearing. I refused to do so.
“Well, if you don’t want it the easy way…”
“No, I don’t.”
“Then we’ll have to do it the hard way.”
“Ok, go on.”
But they didn’t. Two young soldiers, male and female, were assigned to guard me. As I went on through the procedure they were growing more and more sympathetic towards me.
And then I saw that all of this - all the tents, desks and flags. It was brought and put up here only for us. There were no other passengers coming ashore at the port. Hundreds of soldiers came here for us and our small single-deck vessel.
I was searched again, as were the contents of my small bag. They went through my garments and undergarments several times feeling them thoroughly and even scrutinizing them against the light.
During the search my cellular phone charger was taken.
Then I was taken to a tent where a young man and a young woman made themselves look like doctors. I refused to give them my name yet again, demanding a lawyer and a consul.
“For your own good we want to find out if you have any diseases,” they said.
“I do not need it. My company takes care of me, I am insured,” I responded.
“You have no diseases or refuse to collaborate?”
I broke into laughter. The word “collaborate” has but one connotation to the Russian ear: it means “collaboration with your enemy”.
When my visit to the so-called doctors was over, I refused to move any further before the company’s property – the cellular and mobile phones – were returned to me. The military people started fussing around. Some of them tried to explain that it would not be possible. Others called for their bosses. The bosses also explained that it could not be done at the moment, but maybe sometime later… But I was unperturbed.
Of course it was not fair on my part – to mock at the exhausted people on duty. But it was they who had kidnapped me right in the middle of the Mediterranean, not the other way around. It was they who had explained to me for an hour that the blockade was legal, and my journalistic presence on the boat was not legal at all. It was they who handed me a welcome letter from Netanyahu in Ashdod, in which the prime minister of Israel rushed to explain to me: Gaza was not blocked at all. It was they who brought me to Ashdod against my will and contrary to my task as a journalist. It was they who had searched me three times demanding that I sign a paper stating that I had come to Israel illegally and therefore had no objections to being deported…
I stood right in the middle of the port with my RT cap on and demanded a lawyer, a consul and my corporate telephones. In the long run they agreed to give me a paper testifying to the fact that the property had been taken by the Israeli army. It was signed, dated and contained the property list. I asked for my charger, and it was given back to me.
Another search followed. They asked me to remove my cross. I said “no”. They took away all my cash, bank cards, a nail file, a pen, chargers, a brooch. And – strange! – RT stickers.
Then I was placed into a police wagon. There I found Ana, the Swedish journalist. Soon we were joined by a New Zealand journalist, named Ru.
Their case was even more interesting than mine. The Israelis tried to convince Ru that she was not a journalist, but an activist. And to Ana they explained that it would be better for her to write books on female circumcision than neo-capitalism.
At 4:00 am we were brought to the Givon jail facility and searched again. This time I was deprived of my white gloves and some other trifles. My shampoo disappeared without trace.
Our cell contained three iron bunk beds, a close-stool behind a little iron door, a shower behind a similar door and opaque windows under the ceiling with a camera installed in it.
We were placed in a special one-story building in a special section of the jail. The walls boasted all sorts of graffiti about freedom for Gaza and Palestine.
So the three of us were grouped together in a cell and had no idea about the others. From somewhere upstairs, someone kept screaming.
At about 06:00 (none of us had a watch) the door violently clanked opened and in came several guards, who shouted“Stand up!”
It was a standard procedure at 6 am and 10 pm. Every time they asked us to stand up, and every time we demanded a consul and a lawyer.
“Are we arrested? Are we convicted? What are the charges?”
“No, you are simply here. It’s nothing more than a check to see that you are fine and healthy,” they said.
We didn’t have TV, fridges, books, paper, pens, watches, or phones. They wouldn’t give us the bible or any other books. We had no right to make a phone call. We could not buy anything, and neither the consuls nor the lawyers could send us anything - not even candy or water. We are given tap water to drink, but they refused to give us things like milk or salt and pepper, not that we need the latter. But Ana requests milk three times a day. She also insists that they give her a drive around Tel Aviv:
“This is my first time in Israel, and all I get to see is a jail,” she remarked.
Ru signs papers and leaves the next day with her cameraman. Now there are two of us left in our cell, and I cannot just go leaving Ana behind. She cannot leave either. The Swedes cannot go leaving Dror Feiler behind. He was the one threatened before the flotilla’s departure, and during the interrogation.
The woman responsible for booking tickets tries to persuade us that we agree to leave one by one. She tries to talk us into signing papers. Sometimes she speaks in the sweetest tone; other times, she promises that we will be taken away in handcuffs. We’d rather go for handcuffs. However she does turn her tone down each time. She is no longer saying that we had illegally penetrated the Israeli territory. It’s not clear anymore how we got here and what we’re doing here.
“Don’t you want to go back home?”
“Personally, I want to go to Gaza. My job was to get to Gaza, together with my phones.”
Back in 2012, when the Estella boat was seized, they stole Dror Feiler’s saxophone, and locked him up separately from the others. When the others left for home, he was being beaten in his cell.
Ana and I are playing hopscotch and battleship. We have already discussed Lenin, Trotsky, Marx, Brezhnev, Gorbachev, Yeltsin, the Greece situation, the Sweden situation, the Middle East conflict, the history of Russia starting from the Varangian princes (were they Swedish or not?), Ikea, Swedish writers, Norwegian writers, Russian writers, fairy tales, composers, and film directors.
Turns out Ana has read Velimir Khlebnikov’s poetry. Not many Russians could say likewise.
We laughed together. On one occasion we were laughing so much that a guard ran over screaming:
“Are you crying there?”
We are willing to stay here as long as it takes them to realize that we are only leaving this place together. Ana asks me to teach her to pray in Russian. Now we pray together, then we do some work out, and then Ana sings songs about freedom in Greek.
Israel intercepts & escorts Gaza flotilla flagship, RT columnist aboard
I’ve heard that Russia’s favourite book by Lindgren is Karlsson. But her best book is about Pippi Longstocking.
The lawyers show up; and we win. We will all be sent home together on the same day, and the Swedes will not have to leave one by one. And they will take my phones to the embassy.
Now that we have got it our way the guards break into our cells at night and light their flashlights in our faces for some reason.
Sunday, July 5. They return our belongings according to the lists. This time, they had stolen 300 Euros from Dror alone.
A female guard says: “I will miss you, really.”
Sure she will. When else is she getting inmates who’d be discussing Trotsky for hours?
We are now riding a large bus, with windows rather than bars. Then we undergo another search.
“What’s this for? What do you think I could’ve taken from prison?”
“It’s just a procedure.”
We are then placed in a deportation jail near the airport. They never change sheets here; they serve food that’s expired a month ago; and you cannot get them to bring you water or tea.
I am escorted onboard several minutes before take-off. My passport bears no evidence that I’ve spent time in Israel.
Nadezhda Kevorkova has worked at RT since 2010, before which she was a special correspondent for ‘Novaya gazeta,’ ‘Nezavisimaya gazeta,’ and ‘Gazeta.’ She covered the ‘Gaza Freedom Flotilla’ in 2008, 2010 and 2011; she also visited Gaza several times during the blockade. In 2010, Kevorkova was nominated for the ‘International Women of Courage’ award.
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) banned 25 Palestinian citizens, in a week’s time, from traveling through the Palestine-Jordan al-Karama border crossing under the security pretext, police said Sunday.
The border police in Jericho said in a press statement over 42,000 citizens passed through the border crossing last week.
Some 17,642 gained access out of the border crossing and some 23,420 passengers gained access into.
Passengers spoke out against Israeli ongoing endeavors to block Palestinians’ free movement out of and into the crossing.
In a related context, the IOA arrested a Palestinian citizen as he headed for a trip and a pilgrim on his way back home from al-Hejaz.
The border police in Jericho said in a press statement over 42,000 citizens passed through the border crossing last week.
Some 17,642 gained access out of the border crossing and some 23,420 passengers gained access into.
Passengers spoke out against Israeli ongoing endeavors to block Palestinians’ free movement out of and into the crossing.
In a related context, the IOA arrested a Palestinian citizen as he headed for a trip and a pilgrim on his way back home from al-Hejaz.
The Israeli intelligence issued an order to renew the administrative detention of Akram Fasisi for another four month-term for the third time in a row, Muhjat al-Quds Foundation said Saturday.
Akram, a father of four, was arrested on 24/11/2014 and held in administrative detention without trial or charge.
The 32-year-old Akram, an Islamic Jihad activist, served three years in Israeli jails over the past few years.
He began an open hunger strike in protest at his unlawful imprisonment during his previous detention on September 19, 2013, to which the IPS and Israeli intelligence responded immediately and transferred him to solitary confinement, where he suffered ill-treatment.
After two months of hunger strike the Israeli prison service agreed not to renew his detention in return for ending his strike.
Akram, a father of four, was arrested on 24/11/2014 and held in administrative detention without trial or charge.
The 32-year-old Akram, an Islamic Jihad activist, served three years in Israeli jails over the past few years.
He began an open hunger strike in protest at his unlawful imprisonment during his previous detention on September 19, 2013, to which the IPS and Israeli intelligence responded immediately and transferred him to solitary confinement, where he suffered ill-treatment.
After two months of hunger strike the Israeli prison service agreed not to renew his detention in return for ending his strike.
Mohamed Allan
Prisoners Mohamed Allan and Alaa Estiti on Saturday entered the second month of their hunger strike in Israeli jails in protest at their administrative detention.
Recently, the Israeli jailers in Eshel prison imposed severe punitive measures against prisoner Estiti, a resident of Jenin refugee camp, according to an informed source.
Prisoners Mohamed Allan and Alaa Estiti on Saturday entered the second month of their hunger strike in Israeli jails in protest at their administrative detention.
Recently, the Israeli jailers in Eshel prison imposed severe punitive measures against prisoner Estiti, a resident of Jenin refugee camp, according to an informed source.
Among the measures taken against him, the prisoner, who is locked up in an isolation cell, has not been allowed to bathe for more than two weeks, have new clothes or possess a holy book of Qur'an.
The jailers also refused to provide Estiti, who suffers from severe pains in his joints, with a wheelchair.
Prisoner Allan, in turn, is also administratively detained in solitary confinement and being exposed to similar punitive measures to pressure him to break his hunger strike.
Allan is a lawyer from Einabous town near Nablus city and has already served several prison terms in Israel jails before his recent administrative detention.
The jailers also refused to provide Estiti, who suffers from severe pains in his joints, with a wheelchair.
Prisoner Allan, in turn, is also administratively detained in solitary confinement and being exposed to similar punitive measures to pressure him to break his hunger strike.
Allan is a lawyer from Einabous town near Nablus city and has already served several prison terms in Israel jails before his recent administrative detention.
18 july 2015
The Police released the child Mohammad Basem Hijazi 11 years old on Friday evening (17 – 07 – 2015) after arresting and interrogation him for several hours.
Majdi Hijazi stated that the occupation Police arrested his brother Mohammad (on the first day of Eid Al Fiter) near his house that is located in Al-Sa’adi neighborhood in the old city of Jerusalem, they took him to the police station in “Saladin Street” then he was moved to “Al-Qishleh” police station with charges of “breaking security camera’s in the old city”.
Majdi Hijazi also added that the occupation police moved Mohammad to Al-Qishleh police station and was interrogated for almost 4 hours.
Hijazi said the police arrested his brother Mohammad at about 10:00 in the evening and was released at 03:00 early morning; noting that his brother felt very tired before and during the interrogation and the detective refused to release him until he finished the interrogation then he was released unconditionally.
Majdi Hijazi stated that the occupation Police arrested his brother Mohammad (on the first day of Eid Al Fiter) near his house that is located in Al-Sa’adi neighborhood in the old city of Jerusalem, they took him to the police station in “Saladin Street” then he was moved to “Al-Qishleh” police station with charges of “breaking security camera’s in the old city”.
Majdi Hijazi also added that the occupation police moved Mohammad to Al-Qishleh police station and was interrogated for almost 4 hours.
Hijazi said the police arrested his brother Mohammad at about 10:00 in the evening and was released at 03:00 early morning; noting that his brother felt very tired before and during the interrogation and the detective refused to release him until he finished the interrogation then he was released unconditionally.
Israeli forces, late Friday, shot and injured two Palestinians; one was shot in Gaza and the other to the east of Qalqilia.
Meanwhile, dozens suffocated as Israeli forces violently suppressed two peaceful demonstrations in West Bank, according to WAFA correspondence.
Israeli army stationed at borderline military watchtowers opened gunfire at a Palestinian youth, injuring him the foot.
He was transferred to hospital for treatment where his condition was described as moderate.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian youth was also shot and injured late Friday as Israeli forces quelled a peaceful demonstration to the east of Qalqilia in protest of the Israeli wall and settlements, while dozens suffocated due to inhaling tear gas fired at them by the Israeli army.
The youth was transferred to hospital after being shot with live ammunition in his arm, where his medical condition was described as moderate.
In the meantime, dozens of Palestinians suffered from excessive tear gas suffocation during clashes with Israeli army in the village of Bilin to the west of Ramallah, after the latter violently suppressed a similar peaceful demonstration.
Furthermore, fire broke out in Palestinian-owned land after tear gas canisters, which were fired by the army towards demonstrators, exploded near the scene of the clashes.
Israeli troops routinely open fire at Palestinian farmers and other civilians if they approach borderline lands. Israel has unilaterally declared a buffer zone extending between 500 meters and 1500 meters into the Strip, effectively turning local farms into no-go zones.
According to a United Nations’ OCHA, 17 percent of Gaza's total land area and 35 percent of its agricultural land lie within the buffer zone as of 2010, directly affecting the lives and livelihoods of more than 100,000 Gaza residents.
“Israeli forces’ use of live ammunition has placed up to 35 percent of Gaza’s agricultural land off-limits to farmers,' it said.
Attacks by Israeli military and navy on farmers and fishermen come despite the signing of a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Palestinian factions on August 26 2014. The deal was supposed to put an end to all kinds of hostilities, however, multiple breaches by Israel have been reported.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), The Israeli military has issued directives prohibiting any Palestinian presence on land within Gaza abutting the territory’s perimeter fence, currently up to 300 meters from the fence, but Israeli forces have frequently shot at Palestinians beyond that distance.
According to UN figures Israeli military forces have killed four and wounded more than 60 civilians near the perimeter fence with Gaza since the beginning of 2014.
Human Rights Watch investigated seven incidents between January 2 and March 1 2014, in which Israeli forces shot civilians in the vicinity of the fence; Four were killed, including a high school student on a picnic and a woman with an intellectual disability who was lost.
Five others were wounded, including two journalists and two demonstrators planting olive trees, none of whom posed a threat to the soldiers or others, said HRW.
The Israeli military has not claimed that any of the victims in the seven cases were engaged in military operations or that armed groups were in the area when the shooting occurred, said HRW.
'Month after month, Israeli forces have wounded and killed unarmed Palestinians who did nothing but cross an invisible, shifting line that Israel has drawn inside Gaza's perimeter,' said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East director.
“It’s appalling that soldiers have shot men, women, and children apparently for simply crossing a line,” Said Whitson.
“Shooting at civilians is not a lawful policy near Gaza’s perimeter fence or anywhere else,” Whitson said. “Israeli commanders need to change their policies and practices to abide by international law, not flaunt it.”
Under international human rights law, “lethal force may only be used when strictly necessary to prevent an imminent threat to life. Israeli soldiers do not face an imminent lethal threat from unarmed Palestinian civilians in areas of Gaza near the perimeter fence.”
“In violation of international humanitarian law (or the laws of war) which prohibits attacks on civilians, Israeli soldiers have repeatedly shot at civilians near the fence on the Palestinian side.”
HRW noted that under the laws of war, attacks may only be directed at military objectives, such as enemy combatants.
“Forces must do everything feasible to verify that targets are military objectives, and if there is doubt, must cancel the attack. While civilians who take a direct part in hostilities are subject to attack, merely entering a prohibited area does not meet that requirement. Military personnel who willfully kill civilians are committing a war crime.”
HRW noted that the economy of the Gaza Strip has been severely harmed by Israel’s and Egypt’s border closures, with unemployment at almost 40 percent and more than 70 percent of the population receiving humanitarian assistance.
Israel has imposed a tightened blockade since 2007 after Hamas won the democratic legislative elections and took over power in the strip.
Also late Friday, as Palestinians marked the first day of Eid, abducted three Palestinians near the village of Jaba’ to the east of Jerusalem, according to local sources.
Sources told WAFA that forces arrested three Palestinians at a flying checkpoint while they were on their way back home. Forces further confiscated their car.
They were identified as Sa’eb Abahreh, 28, Fadi, 25, and Yasir Jarrar, 28.
The Israeli authorities have kidnapped 1545 Palestinians since the beginning of 2015 year, reported Abdel Nasser Ferwana the director of the Bureau of Statistics in the commission of detainees' affairs.
The rate of arrests since January till April is 9.6% which exceeds the rate documented for the same period last year, said Ferwana.
A total of 258 Palestinian under the age of 18 are among the arrested in addition to 77 Palestinians women, the statement reported.
Meanwhile, dozens suffocated as Israeli forces violently suppressed two peaceful demonstrations in West Bank, according to WAFA correspondence.
Israeli army stationed at borderline military watchtowers opened gunfire at a Palestinian youth, injuring him the foot.
He was transferred to hospital for treatment where his condition was described as moderate.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian youth was also shot and injured late Friday as Israeli forces quelled a peaceful demonstration to the east of Qalqilia in protest of the Israeli wall and settlements, while dozens suffocated due to inhaling tear gas fired at them by the Israeli army.
The youth was transferred to hospital after being shot with live ammunition in his arm, where his medical condition was described as moderate.
In the meantime, dozens of Palestinians suffered from excessive tear gas suffocation during clashes with Israeli army in the village of Bilin to the west of Ramallah, after the latter violently suppressed a similar peaceful demonstration.
Furthermore, fire broke out in Palestinian-owned land after tear gas canisters, which were fired by the army towards demonstrators, exploded near the scene of the clashes.
Israeli troops routinely open fire at Palestinian farmers and other civilians if they approach borderline lands. Israel has unilaterally declared a buffer zone extending between 500 meters and 1500 meters into the Strip, effectively turning local farms into no-go zones.
According to a United Nations’ OCHA, 17 percent of Gaza's total land area and 35 percent of its agricultural land lie within the buffer zone as of 2010, directly affecting the lives and livelihoods of more than 100,000 Gaza residents.
“Israeli forces’ use of live ammunition has placed up to 35 percent of Gaza’s agricultural land off-limits to farmers,' it said.
Attacks by Israeli military and navy on farmers and fishermen come despite the signing of a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Palestinian factions on August 26 2014. The deal was supposed to put an end to all kinds of hostilities, however, multiple breaches by Israel have been reported.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), The Israeli military has issued directives prohibiting any Palestinian presence on land within Gaza abutting the territory’s perimeter fence, currently up to 300 meters from the fence, but Israeli forces have frequently shot at Palestinians beyond that distance.
According to UN figures Israeli military forces have killed four and wounded more than 60 civilians near the perimeter fence with Gaza since the beginning of 2014.
Human Rights Watch investigated seven incidents between January 2 and March 1 2014, in which Israeli forces shot civilians in the vicinity of the fence; Four were killed, including a high school student on a picnic and a woman with an intellectual disability who was lost.
Five others were wounded, including two journalists and two demonstrators planting olive trees, none of whom posed a threat to the soldiers or others, said HRW.
The Israeli military has not claimed that any of the victims in the seven cases were engaged in military operations or that armed groups were in the area when the shooting occurred, said HRW.
'Month after month, Israeli forces have wounded and killed unarmed Palestinians who did nothing but cross an invisible, shifting line that Israel has drawn inside Gaza's perimeter,' said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East director.
“It’s appalling that soldiers have shot men, women, and children apparently for simply crossing a line,” Said Whitson.
“Shooting at civilians is not a lawful policy near Gaza’s perimeter fence or anywhere else,” Whitson said. “Israeli commanders need to change their policies and practices to abide by international law, not flaunt it.”
Under international human rights law, “lethal force may only be used when strictly necessary to prevent an imminent threat to life. Israeli soldiers do not face an imminent lethal threat from unarmed Palestinian civilians in areas of Gaza near the perimeter fence.”
“In violation of international humanitarian law (or the laws of war) which prohibits attacks on civilians, Israeli soldiers have repeatedly shot at civilians near the fence on the Palestinian side.”
HRW noted that under the laws of war, attacks may only be directed at military objectives, such as enemy combatants.
“Forces must do everything feasible to verify that targets are military objectives, and if there is doubt, must cancel the attack. While civilians who take a direct part in hostilities are subject to attack, merely entering a prohibited area does not meet that requirement. Military personnel who willfully kill civilians are committing a war crime.”
HRW noted that the economy of the Gaza Strip has been severely harmed by Israel’s and Egypt’s border closures, with unemployment at almost 40 percent and more than 70 percent of the population receiving humanitarian assistance.
Israel has imposed a tightened blockade since 2007 after Hamas won the democratic legislative elections and took over power in the strip.
Also late Friday, as Palestinians marked the first day of Eid, abducted three Palestinians near the village of Jaba’ to the east of Jerusalem, according to local sources.
Sources told WAFA that forces arrested three Palestinians at a flying checkpoint while they were on their way back home. Forces further confiscated their car.
They were identified as Sa’eb Abahreh, 28, Fadi, 25, and Yasir Jarrar, 28.
The Israeli authorities have kidnapped 1545 Palestinians since the beginning of 2015 year, reported Abdel Nasser Ferwana the director of the Bureau of Statistics in the commission of detainees' affairs.
The rate of arrests since January till April is 9.6% which exceeds the rate documented for the same period last year, said Ferwana.
A total of 258 Palestinian under the age of 18 are among the arrested in addition to 77 Palestinians women, the statement reported.
“You have no idea how it feels like to have a son of your own incarcerated behind Israeli bars while Muslims in other corners of the globe are marking the holy Eid al-Fitr,” a prisoner’s mother said as her eyes shed the tears of bitterness and sorrow.
Speaking to a PIC journalist, Hajja Eisha lamented the tragic state of affairs endured by her son Udai Estiti, locked up in the solitary lock-down of Eshel.
“This year we marked the Eid with deep sadness overwhelming our hearts and souls,” she said.
“How on earth can we enjoy ourselves while our son is starving? How can we enjoy family gatherings while our son is living on drops of water?” she wondered.
“My son is one among thousands of others languishing in Israeli jails”, Estiti’s father said. “The hearts of at least 6,000 prisoners’ families are just as broken on the Eid day.”
Not so far from Estiti’s family home, the family of prisoner Abu Mos’ab voiced their great sorrow over the excruciating experience endured by their son for the 40th Eid.
“My husband has been held for over 15 years in Israeli prisons,” Mos’ab’s wife said with a heart-wrenching tone. “The wounds inflicted by Mos’ab’s absence on the Eid day can only be healed by his release.”
Over 6,000 Palestinian detainees are marking Muslims’ Holy Eid al-Fitr in Israeli jails.
An iron will shows on their faces and is echoed in their brave-pitched voices as they chanted “Allah the Greatest” in congregation.
“As long as there’s life, there’s hope,” a prisoner yelled from behind the bars.
Speaking to a PIC journalist, Hajja Eisha lamented the tragic state of affairs endured by her son Udai Estiti, locked up in the solitary lock-down of Eshel.
“This year we marked the Eid with deep sadness overwhelming our hearts and souls,” she said.
“How on earth can we enjoy ourselves while our son is starving? How can we enjoy family gatherings while our son is living on drops of water?” she wondered.
“My son is one among thousands of others languishing in Israeli jails”, Estiti’s father said. “The hearts of at least 6,000 prisoners’ families are just as broken on the Eid day.”
Not so far from Estiti’s family home, the family of prisoner Abu Mos’ab voiced their great sorrow over the excruciating experience endured by their son for the 40th Eid.
“My husband has been held for over 15 years in Israeli prisons,” Mos’ab’s wife said with a heart-wrenching tone. “The wounds inflicted by Mos’ab’s absence on the Eid day can only be healed by his release.”
Over 6,000 Palestinian detainees are marking Muslims’ Holy Eid al-Fitr in Israeli jails.
An iron will shows on their faces and is echoed in their brave-pitched voices as they chanted “Allah the Greatest” in congregation.
“As long as there’s life, there’s hope,” a prisoner yelled from behind the bars.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at dawn Saturday kidnapped three young Palestinian at a flying checkpoint pitched near the village of Jaba’ to the east of Occupied Jerusalem.
The arrestees were identified as Sa’eb Abahreh, 28, Fadi Jarrar, 25, and Yasir Jarrar, 28 on their way back home.
The Israeli soldiers further confiscated their car moments before they dragged them to an unidentified destination.
Since Friday, which marked the first day of Muslims’ Holy Eid al-Ftr holiday, the Israeli occupation army tightened grip around Palestinians necks, deploying soldiers and checkpoints at the main entrances to local towns and villages.
The arrestees were identified as Sa’eb Abahreh, 28, Fadi Jarrar, 25, and Yasir Jarrar, 28 on their way back home.
The Israeli soldiers further confiscated their car moments before they dragged them to an unidentified destination.
Since Friday, which marked the first day of Muslims’ Holy Eid al-Ftr holiday, the Israeli occupation army tightened grip around Palestinians necks, deploying soldiers and checkpoints at the main entrances to local towns and villages.
An Israeli military court on Friday extended the administrative detention of prisoner Diya al-Horoub, from al-Khalil city, for six additional months.
The family of the prisoner told Quds Press that the administrative detention of its son was extended for the third consecutive time, adding that Diya has been in jail without any indictment leveled against him for a whole year.
The family condemned the extension order against its son as a crime aimed at depriving it of enjoying the days of Eid al-Fitr holiday.
There are about 480 Palestinians administratively detained with no trial or indictment.
The family of the prisoner told Quds Press that the administrative detention of its son was extended for the third consecutive time, adding that Diya has been in jail without any indictment leveled against him for a whole year.
The family condemned the extension order against its son as a crime aimed at depriving it of enjoying the days of Eid al-Fitr holiday.
There are about 480 Palestinians administratively detained with no trial or indictment.
The Israeli occupation police have claimed they arrested recently a Palestinian cell active in helping citizens from the West Bank to cross into Jerusalem and other occupied areas through the separation wall.
15 members of this cell were allegedly arrested and would be indicted for their smuggling of Palestinians from the West Bank to Jerusalem and the 1948 occupied lands, according to a press release issued by the police on Thursday.
The police claimed this cell was able to make millions of shekels from using wooden ladder to help Palestinians climb over the security wall.
A week ago, the Israeli police confiscated a number of wooden ladders that had been used by Palestinian young men to climb the wall and enter Jerusalem to pray at the Aqsa Mosque.
15 members of this cell were allegedly arrested and would be indicted for their smuggling of Palestinians from the West Bank to Jerusalem and the 1948 occupied lands, according to a press release issued by the police on Thursday.
The police claimed this cell was able to make millions of shekels from using wooden ladder to help Palestinians climb over the security wall.
A week ago, the Israeli police confiscated a number of wooden ladders that had been used by Palestinian young men to climb the wall and enter Jerusalem to pray at the Aqsa Mosque.
Israeli soldiers attacked, on Friday, the weekly nonviolent protest against the Annexation Wall and settlements in Nabi Saleh village, northwest of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and kidnapped one teenager.
Nabi Saleh television reported that the soldiers kidnapped Walid Dhifallah, 18 years of age, and took him to an unknown destination.
The army attacked the weekly protest and fired several rounds of live ammunition, in addition to rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas bombs.
Soldiers also attacked the weekly protest in the al-Ma’sara village, in the West Bank district of Bethlehem, and assaulted the villagers and their supporters at village entrance and, then, forced them back using rifle butts and batons; no injuries were reported.
Also on Friday, the soldiers attacked the weekly nonviolent protest in Bil’in, near Ramallah.
One Palestinian was shot with a live round, after the soldiers attacked the weekly protest in Kufur Qaddoum, in the northern West Bank district of Qalqilia.
Nabi Saleh television reported that the soldiers kidnapped Walid Dhifallah, 18 years of age, and took him to an unknown destination.
The army attacked the weekly protest and fired several rounds of live ammunition, in addition to rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas bombs.
Soldiers also attacked the weekly protest in the al-Ma’sara village, in the West Bank district of Bethlehem, and assaulted the villagers and their supporters at village entrance and, then, forced them back using rifle butts and batons; no injuries were reported.
Also on Friday, the soldiers attacked the weekly nonviolent protest in Bil’in, near Ramallah.
One Palestinian was shot with a live round, after the soldiers attacked the weekly protest in Kufur Qaddoum, in the northern West Bank district of Qalqilia.
17 july 2015
The Israeli occupation police on Thursday kidnapped a Palestinian kid from his home in occupied Jerusalem, claiming he caused damage to an Israeli vehicle.
The police said in a press release that a 12-year-old boy from Jerusalem was arrested on a charge of throwing stones at an Israeli car and damaging it in Silwan district, south of the Aqsa Mosque.
On Wednesday, a 10-year-old child was also detained and interrogated for several hours on allegations of throwing stones in Silwan.
The police said in a press release that a 12-year-old boy from Jerusalem was arrested on a charge of throwing stones at an Israeli car and damaging it in Silwan district, south of the Aqsa Mosque.
On Wednesday, a 10-year-old child was also detained and interrogated for several hours on allegations of throwing stones in Silwan.
An Israeli settler sustained moderate injuries in an alleged stabbing attack in Occupied Jerusalem city, Israeli police claimed Friday morning.
The Israeli occupation police said in a press statement that “an Israeli settler was stabbed by a suspect, apparently a Palestinian, at Neve Jacob neighborhood in Occupied Jerusalem.”
The settler was reportedly transferred to hospital to be treated for the moderate injuries sustained in the alleged incident.
The suspect was then arrested, the statement pointed out, without giving any further details.
Stabbing attacks by Palestinian youths have been on the rise in Occupied Jerusalem city, which observers said have been primarily acted in response to the preplanned vandalism and frequent hit-and-runs perpetrated by Israeli fanatic settlers against Palestinian children and civilian youths.
The Israeli occupation police said in a press statement that “an Israeli settler was stabbed by a suspect, apparently a Palestinian, at Neve Jacob neighborhood in Occupied Jerusalem.”
The settler was reportedly transferred to hospital to be treated for the moderate injuries sustained in the alleged incident.
The suspect was then arrested, the statement pointed out, without giving any further details.
Stabbing attacks by Palestinian youths have been on the rise in Occupied Jerusalem city, which observers said have been primarily acted in response to the preplanned vandalism and frequent hit-and-runs perpetrated by Israeli fanatic settlers against Palestinian children and civilian youths.
At least 6,000 Palestinians are still prisoners in 18 Israeli jails and detention center, according to a report released by the Palestinian commission for detainees and ex-detainees on Thursday.
480 of those prisoners are serving life sentences and 67 others are being jailed for prison terms exceeding 20 or 25 years.
The detainees also include 24 women, 250 children and minors, and eight lawmakers.
Describing 2014 as the year of disaster for the Palestinian people, the report stated that the number of arrest incidents increased by 56 percent during that year compared to 2013.
480 of those prisoners are serving life sentences and 67 others are being jailed for prison terms exceeding 20 or 25 years.
The detainees also include 24 women, 250 children and minors, and eight lawmakers.
Describing 2014 as the year of disaster for the Palestinian people, the report stated that the number of arrest incidents increased by 56 percent during that year compared to 2013.
