27 nov 2016
Yair Grinshpan
Thirty persons have been arrested on suspicion of arson and five for incitement, including a 37-year-old resident of Ganei Tikva who was granted conditional release.
Yair Grinshpan, a 37-year-old resident of Ganei Tikva near Petach Tikvah, was arrested on Saturday night after calling on his Facebook page “to burn Arab villages,” one of five persons arrested thus far for online incitement to violence following the recent wave of fires.
Grinshpan was granted conditional release by the Tel Aviv Magistrates' Court for of his suspected offenses of incitement to violence. He was ordered not to use his mobile phone or computer for the next month.
The suspect was arrested at midnight Sunday after writing, among other things: "What happened in Haifa and Jerusalem will happen in Umm al-Fahm," he wrote in reference to the Arab town located northwest of Jenin, "to burn the sons of bitches back."
"Just burning Arab villages in return; this is war," read another of his inflammatory posts. "To all the leftists who believe in piece, know that in the Palestinian Authority they're happily calling to burn more places here."
The accused's lawyer, Limor Bramli, claimed that her client was not permitted to consult with a lawyer before his arrest and protested the fact that his computer was taken without a warrant. "My client expressed his opinion on Facebook with a group of a lot of other people who expressed their opinion," she told Ynet. "There were opinions that were a lot more extreme than his opinions, but he was chosen as a scapegoat without a justified reason. He expressed an opinion and didn't tell others to commit a physical act. He wrote words in the framework of freedom of expression."
At the time of publication, the Israel Police have arrested 23 suspects for arson relating to the wave of fires that plagued the country over the past week, 18 of whom are Arab Israelis, with the rest being Palestinians. Twenty-three of them remain jailed. They have also arrested five persons—three Jews, including Grinshpan, and two Arabs—for online incitement.
The arrests for online incitement were carried out following the instructions of Interior Minister Gilad Erdan, who called on the police to work to curtail this trend.
The police reported to the government in the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday that some residents of Deir Hanna and Umm al-Fahm confessed to having intentionally started fires, the first admissions of guilt in the investigation.
Thirty persons have been arrested on suspicion of arson and five for incitement, including a 37-year-old resident of Ganei Tikva who was granted conditional release.
Yair Grinshpan, a 37-year-old resident of Ganei Tikva near Petach Tikvah, was arrested on Saturday night after calling on his Facebook page “to burn Arab villages,” one of five persons arrested thus far for online incitement to violence following the recent wave of fires.
Grinshpan was granted conditional release by the Tel Aviv Magistrates' Court for of his suspected offenses of incitement to violence. He was ordered not to use his mobile phone or computer for the next month.
The suspect was arrested at midnight Sunday after writing, among other things: "What happened in Haifa and Jerusalem will happen in Umm al-Fahm," he wrote in reference to the Arab town located northwest of Jenin, "to burn the sons of bitches back."
"Just burning Arab villages in return; this is war," read another of his inflammatory posts. "To all the leftists who believe in piece, know that in the Palestinian Authority they're happily calling to burn more places here."
The accused's lawyer, Limor Bramli, claimed that her client was not permitted to consult with a lawyer before his arrest and protested the fact that his computer was taken without a warrant. "My client expressed his opinion on Facebook with a group of a lot of other people who expressed their opinion," she told Ynet. "There were opinions that were a lot more extreme than his opinions, but he was chosen as a scapegoat without a justified reason. He expressed an opinion and didn't tell others to commit a physical act. He wrote words in the framework of freedom of expression."
At the time of publication, the Israel Police have arrested 23 suspects for arson relating to the wave of fires that plagued the country over the past week, 18 of whom are Arab Israelis, with the rest being Palestinians. Twenty-three of them remain jailed. They have also arrested five persons—three Jews, including Grinshpan, and two Arabs—for online incitement.
The arrests for online incitement were carried out following the instructions of Interior Minister Gilad Erdan, who called on the police to work to curtail this trend.
The police reported to the government in the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday that some residents of Deir Hanna and Umm al-Fahm confessed to having intentionally started fires, the first admissions of guilt in the investigation.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Saturday arrested a Palestinian young farmer in Battir town, west of Bethlehem in the West Bank, claiming he ignited a fire in an open area.
The farmer, Jawad Qattoush, was normally working on his own plot of land near his house in the town when soldiers arrested him, his family told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC).
The family explained that Qattoush was cleaning the field and disposing of waste by burning it as farmers usually do.
“Does it make sense that a sane person triggers a fire maliciously on his own land and near his house?", the family rhetorically questioned.
More than 20 Palestinians have been arrested recently on allegations of causing brush fires that spread to other areas.
The farmer, Jawad Qattoush, was normally working on his own plot of land near his house in the town when soldiers arrested him, his family told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC).
The family explained that Qattoush was cleaning the field and disposing of waste by burning it as farmers usually do.
“Does it make sense that a sane person triggers a fire maliciously on his own land and near his house?", the family rhetorically questioned.
More than 20 Palestinians have been arrested recently on allegations of causing brush fires that spread to other areas.
Israeli soldiers abducted, overnight and at dawn Sunday, at least eight Palestinians, including former political prisoners, in different parts of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has reported.
The Jenin office of the PPS, in the northern part of the West Bank, said the soldiers invaded and violently searched many homes, and abducted three Palestinians, identified as Tareq Oweiss and Mohammad Zeidan al-Jada’, both are former political prisoners, in addition to Akram Malalha.
In Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank, the soldiers also searched homes and abducted Mohammad Jamil Khatatba, from Beit Forik town, south of Nablus city.
In Jerusalem, the soldiers abducted Monther Suleiman, 19, after holding him under house arrest for two years.
In Bethlehem, the soldiers abducted Omran Yousef Najajra and Abdul-Karim Mohammad Shakarna, after invading their homes and searching them.
In Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, the soldiers abducted Mohammad Ahmad Najjar, from the al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of the city, after searching his home.
Najjar is a former political prisoner who spent many years in Israeli prisons, and is a known activist in detainees’ rights.
The PPS stated that the soldiers have abducted more than eleven Palestinians over the past two days, in different parts of the West Bank.
The Jenin office of the PPS, in the northern part of the West Bank, said the soldiers invaded and violently searched many homes, and abducted three Palestinians, identified as Tareq Oweiss and Mohammad Zeidan al-Jada’, both are former political prisoners, in addition to Akram Malalha.
In Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank, the soldiers also searched homes and abducted Mohammad Jamil Khatatba, from Beit Forik town, south of Nablus city.
In Jerusalem, the soldiers abducted Monther Suleiman, 19, after holding him under house arrest for two years.
In Bethlehem, the soldiers abducted Omran Yousef Najajra and Abdul-Karim Mohammad Shakarna, after invading their homes and searching them.
In Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, the soldiers abducted Mohammad Ahmad Najjar, from the al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of the city, after searching his home.
Najjar is a former political prisoner who spent many years in Israeli prisons, and is a known activist in detainees’ rights.
The PPS stated that the soldiers have abducted more than eleven Palestinians over the past two days, in different parts of the West Bank.
Israeli soldiers abducted, on Saturday evening, five Palestinians, including a child, from Barta’a town, isolated behind the Annexation Wall, southwest of Jenin, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.
The Jenin office of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said the soldiers invaded the town, and abducted Badran Ahmad Sa’id, 36, Mahmoud Ahmad Sa’id, 30, Omran Mahmoud Sa’id, 19, Omar Mahmoud Said, 14, and Mohammad al-Hajj Sa’id, 58.
The soldiers searched many homes during the invasion, and interrogated several Palestinians while inspecting the ID cards.
Child among 5 family members kidnapped by IOF from Jenin
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Saturday evening kidnapped five Palestinian civilians from Jenin’s western town of Bertaa, in the northern West Bank.
A PIC news correspondent said heavily-armed IOF troops cordoned off Bertaa town, near the apartheid fence, and sealed off all access roads into the area with military checkpoints, before they kidnapped five Palestinians from the same family.
14-year-old minor Omar Mahmoud al-Haj Sai’d was among the five captives.
The other arrestees were identified as Badran, 36, Mahmoud, 30, Umran, 19, and their elderly uncle Mohamed al-Haj Sa’id, 58.
The IOF further pitched a military checkpoint on the main road between Yabad and eastern Bertaa, where Palestinian passengers and vehicles have been subjected to exhaustive inspection.
A home to a large central market frequently visited by Palestinians living in 1948 occupied territories for commercial trade, Bertaa town has been the permanent target of abrupt assaults by the Israeli occupation army.
The Jenin office of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said the soldiers invaded the town, and abducted Badran Ahmad Sa’id, 36, Mahmoud Ahmad Sa’id, 30, Omran Mahmoud Sa’id, 19, Omar Mahmoud Said, 14, and Mohammad al-Hajj Sa’id, 58.
The soldiers searched many homes during the invasion, and interrogated several Palestinians while inspecting the ID cards.
Child among 5 family members kidnapped by IOF from Jenin
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Saturday evening kidnapped five Palestinian civilians from Jenin’s western town of Bertaa, in the northern West Bank.
A PIC news correspondent said heavily-armed IOF troops cordoned off Bertaa town, near the apartheid fence, and sealed off all access roads into the area with military checkpoints, before they kidnapped five Palestinians from the same family.
14-year-old minor Omar Mahmoud al-Haj Sai’d was among the five captives.
The other arrestees were identified as Badran, 36, Mahmoud, 30, Umran, 19, and their elderly uncle Mohamed al-Haj Sa’id, 58.
The IOF further pitched a military checkpoint on the main road between Yabad and eastern Bertaa, where Palestinian passengers and vehicles have been subjected to exhaustive inspection.
A home to a large central market frequently visited by Palestinians living in 1948 occupied territories for commercial trade, Bertaa town has been the permanent target of abrupt assaults by the Israeli occupation army.
Despite a total lack of evidence of any human cause of the wildfires that have burned in Israel for nearly a week, Israeli troops have detained 23 Palestinians. This follows a statement Thursday by Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who claimed “only someone who this land does not belong to would be capable of setting fire to it”.
By this statement, he pointed blame at Palestinians, who have continuously lived on the land and had connection to it for thousands of years prior to the displacement of hundreds of thousands when Israel was created on their land in 1948.
Both Israeli and Palestinian fire crews have come together to fight the wildfires, which have broken out in several parts of Israel and the West Bank. On Saturday, new fires ignited in the Nablus area, in the northern part of the West Bank, endangering the homes of a number of Palestinian families from the village of Qousin.
On Friday, Israeli journalist Meron Rapoport opined on the Middle East Eye website that “the wave of fires has certainly shown how ready the Israeli leadership is to use any opportunity to portray the Palestinian minority as the enemy within, without waiting for evidence or even trying to pretend that it seeks cooperation with its 1.5 million Arab citizens.”
Also Friday, Israeli troops detained a Palestinian citizen of Israel following a mistranslation of a Facebook post he had made, and charged him with “incitement”.
Anas Abu Daabis, 24, had posted a statement in Arabic that was critical of Arabs who had praised the wildfires. Abu Daabis pointed out the “idiocy” of some Arabs who believed that the wildfires were God’s revenge on Israel for considering a ban on the Muslim call to prayer inside Israel.
“It’s a wonder”, Abu Daabis wrote, “when the brain stops working and turns into an idiot”. Israeli authorities stormed his home in the southern Negev and arrested him, claiming that somehow his post was inciting people to start fires.
Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have had to evacuate their homes since the fires began, and at least 12 people have been injured, mainly due to smoke inhalation.
In early November, Israeli authorities warned that the country was on the cusp of an unprecedented drought, with the water flowing from the Jordan River into the Sea of Galilee at a record low.
This is the third year in a row of extreme, record-breaking drought in the region. The rainy season is about to begin, but very little rain has been reported so far. Last year, during the winter rainy season, the Sea of Galilee rose just 8.6 inches, which is seven times below the average rise of 63 inches each winter, according to the Israeli Water Authority.
By this statement, he pointed blame at Palestinians, who have continuously lived on the land and had connection to it for thousands of years prior to the displacement of hundreds of thousands when Israel was created on their land in 1948.
Both Israeli and Palestinian fire crews have come together to fight the wildfires, which have broken out in several parts of Israel and the West Bank. On Saturday, new fires ignited in the Nablus area, in the northern part of the West Bank, endangering the homes of a number of Palestinian families from the village of Qousin.
On Friday, Israeli journalist Meron Rapoport opined on the Middle East Eye website that “the wave of fires has certainly shown how ready the Israeli leadership is to use any opportunity to portray the Palestinian minority as the enemy within, without waiting for evidence or even trying to pretend that it seeks cooperation with its 1.5 million Arab citizens.”
Also Friday, Israeli troops detained a Palestinian citizen of Israel following a mistranslation of a Facebook post he had made, and charged him with “incitement”.
Anas Abu Daabis, 24, had posted a statement in Arabic that was critical of Arabs who had praised the wildfires. Abu Daabis pointed out the “idiocy” of some Arabs who believed that the wildfires were God’s revenge on Israel for considering a ban on the Muslim call to prayer inside Israel.
“It’s a wonder”, Abu Daabis wrote, “when the brain stops working and turns into an idiot”. Israeli authorities stormed his home in the southern Negev and arrested him, claiming that somehow his post was inciting people to start fires.
Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have had to evacuate their homes since the fires began, and at least 12 people have been injured, mainly due to smoke inhalation.
In early November, Israeli authorities warned that the country was on the cusp of an unprecedented drought, with the water flowing from the Jordan River into the Sea of Galilee at a record low.
This is the third year in a row of extreme, record-breaking drought in the region. The rainy season is about to begin, but very little rain has been reported so far. Last year, during the winter rainy season, the Sea of Galilee rose just 8.6 inches, which is seven times below the average rise of 63 inches each winter, according to the Israeli Water Authority.
26 nov 2016
Israel Prison Service (IPS) threatened to force feed two Palestinian hunger strikers held in Assaf Harofeh hospital in an attempt to break their hunger strike against their will, the PA committee for Prisoners and Ex-prisoners revealed Saturday.
Head of the PA committee Issa Qaraqe held the Israeli government, courts, and IPS responsibility for the hunger strikers Anas Shadeed and Ahmed Abu Fara’s lives.
Qaraqe called on international community and human rights institutions to intervene immediately for saving their lives before it is too late.
He warned that they may die at any moment as they entered a very serious stage of hunger strike.
They lost their ability to speak, to hear, and to normally breath, Qaraqe continued.
Shadeed and Abu Fara have been on hunger strike since September 25, 2016 in protest at their detention administratively, with no indictment or trial.
Head of the PA committee Issa Qaraqe held the Israeli government, courts, and IPS responsibility for the hunger strikers Anas Shadeed and Ahmed Abu Fara’s lives.
Qaraqe called on international community and human rights institutions to intervene immediately for saving their lives before it is too late.
He warned that they may die at any moment as they entered a very serious stage of hunger strike.
They lost their ability to speak, to hear, and to normally breath, Qaraqe continued.
Shadeed and Abu Fara have been on hunger strike since September 25, 2016 in protest at their detention administratively, with no indictment or trial.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested Saturday morning two Palestinians for allegedly trying to infiltrate the border fence with Gaza.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that Israeli forces arrested two Gazan youths Saturday morning near the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Israeli sources claimed the two detainees were planning to illegally enter the Eshkol community near the Gaza borders.
Since the beginning of the year 2016, 200 Gazans were arrested while trying to enter Israel illegally to look for work.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that Israeli forces arrested two Gazan youths Saturday morning near the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Israeli sources claimed the two detainees were planning to illegally enter the Eshkol community near the Gaza borders.
Since the beginning of the year 2016, 200 Gazans were arrested while trying to enter Israel illegally to look for work.
Hunger-striking prisoner Anas Shadeed was transferred to the intensive care unit at Assaf Harofeh Hospital on Friday evening following a sharp decline his health condition, according to lawyer Ahlam Haddad.
Lawyer Haddad told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that Shadeed and his fellow hunger striker Ahmed Abu Fara had been exposed to pressures since Friday morning by doctors and jailers to force them to break their hunger strike.
Haddad said that doctors separated the hunger strikers from each other after they refused to take vitamin injections, adding that Shadeed was carelessly put on his bed in one of the hospital’s corridors before he suffered health complications and was taken to the intensive care unit.
As for Abu Fara, she said, another prisoner escorted by three guards was brought to his room.
Lawyer Haddad had filed on Friday morning a petition with the Israeli high court of justice, calling for transferring the two hunger strikers to a Palestinian hospital in Ramallah due to the seriousness of their health conditions.
The prisoners have been on hunger strike since September 25, 2016 in protest at their detention administratively, with no indictment or trial.
Lawyer Haddad told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that Shadeed and his fellow hunger striker Ahmed Abu Fara had been exposed to pressures since Friday morning by doctors and jailers to force them to break their hunger strike.
Haddad said that doctors separated the hunger strikers from each other after they refused to take vitamin injections, adding that Shadeed was carelessly put on his bed in one of the hospital’s corridors before he suffered health complications and was taken to the intensive care unit.
As for Abu Fara, she said, another prisoner escorted by three guards was brought to his room.
Lawyer Haddad had filed on Friday morning a petition with the Israeli high court of justice, calling for transferring the two hunger strikers to a Palestinian hospital in Ramallah due to the seriousness of their health conditions.
The prisoners have been on hunger strike since September 25, 2016 in protest at their detention administratively, with no indictment or trial.