Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Palestine: A Day of Occupation

See if you can find to which post this picture belongs.

A relative mourns next to the lifeless body of the child Riyad al-Owais, lying on the bed at his family house in al-Bureij refugee camp, Gaza Strip, 11 April 2008. (Wissam Nassar/MaanImages)

"Shin Bet admits using relatives to pressure jailed Palestinians

"The Shin Bet security services on Sunday admitted to arresting relatives of individuals under interrogation to extract confessions from the prisoners.... Shin Bet makes unjustified arrests of family members, or creates the pretense of such arrests to pressure suspects. The report further states that such methods are used against individuals who are already subjected to severe physical torture...."

"MORE ON THE TORTURE OF PALESTINIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS BY THE ZIONIST GESTAPO

"All three branches of the zionist Gestapo - the Shabak (GSS), the Shin Bet (SS), and the Mossad - have been using systematic torture against political prisoners for many years now...."

""When I saw my mother being brought into the cell with handcuffs, I tell you, I would have told them anything just to save her, anything," he said"

"The muscular, but shy and inarticulate teenager says he regularly suffered violent treatment as interrogators tried to get him to own up to crimes he says he didn't commit - but one of his arrests stands out from the others.

"When I saw my mother being brought into the cell with handcuffs, I tell you, I would have told them anything just to save her, anything," he said."

My emphasis

"JOBSEEKERS IN ISRAEL HUMILIATED BY SOLDIERS AT CHECKPOINTS"

"Why were 46 Palestinians detained for 46 hours at a checkpoint for no reason by Israeli troops? Why were their tires punctured? Why were they denied access to available restrooms during their detention?

WHY ~~ WHY ~~ WHY ??? WHY DID ISRAEL TROOPS DO THIS???

Simply, BECAUSE THEY CAN!

They treat the Palestinians as if they were subhumans, a common practice and attitude throughout the Occupied Territories…. BUT, at the checkpoints their actions are monitored by a group of dedicated activists belonging to a group called ‘Machsom Watch’..."

"WOULD YOU WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO YOUR GRANDMOTHER?"

"Palestinian sources reported on Sunday that an Israeli soldier attacked an 80-year old Palestinian woman as she was trying to cross the Huwwara Israeli military roadblock near Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank....

The soldier pushed her with excessive force and she fell to the ground suffering minor bruises. When she managed to stand up, she hit the soldier with her cane.

Several youth were angered by this violation and started cursing the soldier for his assault against the 80-year old woman...."

God bless the Palestinian youths!!!


"NO KIDS IN SIGHT ~~ ‘LET’S BEAT UP THE OLD FOLKS INSTEAD’"

"I reported earlier about an 80 year old woman being attacked at a checkpoint in the Occupied West Bank yesterday…. it seems that is the newest ‘game’ for the Israeli soldiers…. Same checkpoint, most likely same soldier also beat up an 80 year old man. Big heroes these Israelis… pretty much the same abuse my grandparents experienced in Auschwitz.

"Elderly man beaten at Huwara Checkpoint"

Nablus / Amin Abu Wardeh – .... Yesterday at noon a soldier occupying one of the checkpoints in Nablus attacked an 80 year old Palestinian man.... The sun was high and the elderly man suffering from fatigue while waiting in the long line to pass.

Others who were also waiting allowing him to go ahead of them and as he tried to move through an Israeli soldier began to severely beat the man. He was knocked to the ground and the soldier continued to hurl insults.

Several in the crowd of people rushed to try to help the man and attack the soldier. They were unable to reach the soldier as several others rushed in as well.... The people still waiting shouted insults and the soldier and said they pray to God for retaliation against Israel."

Zionist beasts! Beating up 80-YEAR-OLDS?!?

Israel just keeps sinking deeper into that quicksand of depravity, don't they?

The next article should answer that question:


"Israel kills seven, mostly civilian teenagers, in Gaza invasion"

" At approximately 4am 11 April 2008, a special unit of the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) penetrated on foot into the Gaza Strip. The force mobilized at the Gaza border and moved one kilometer into northeastern al-Bureij refugee camp, where it broke into a number of houses and took positions atop them. This force was backed by many tanks, military vehicles, and drones. IOF tanks opened fire indiscriminately in the area and bulldozed fields planted with olive trees. At approximately 1pm, IOF opened fire at a group of children, who are residents of the nearby area. As a result, 13-year-old Riyad Sherif al-Owais was killed and five other children were injured. In all, seven people were killed in this incursion.

At approximately 2:20pm later that day, IOF fired an artillery shell at a group of children and teenagers who gathered to watch the incursion. As a result, four of them were killed immediately and were identified as:
  • 18-year-old Shihab Mohammad Ahmad Abu Zubeida of al-Bureij refugee camp;
  • 19-year-old Jihad Mohammad Salem Abu Zubeida of al-Bureij refugee camp;
  • 18-year-old Yousif Ali al-Maghari of al-Bureij refugee camp; and,
  • 18-year-old Abdul-Raziq Atta Nofal of al-Nuseirat refugee camp.
Three others were injured and one, 15-year-old Yousif Sarhan, sustained serious injury. He was transferred to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for treatment, where medical sources later pronounced his death. He was from al-Bureij refugee camp.

IOF continued to fire at crowds, causing injury to 31 people including 15 children. The injured were transferred to al-Shadha'a al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah for treatment. Due to the seriousness of their wounds, eight of those injured were transferred to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Later that day, at approximately 8pm, an IOF warplane fired one missile at a group of armed resistance members. As a result, 28-year-old Munzir Abu Howeshl, from al-Nuseriat refugee camp, was killed.

At approximately 10:30am on 12 April 2008, IOF began to withdraw and pulled out completely by 2pm that afternoon.

Al Mezan documented that IOF bulldozed 50 dunams of olive trees and one water well. The forces destroyed three homes and one private vehicle. In what appears to be random, indiscriminate detention of civilians, IOF arrested 17 Palestinians during the incursion. They were interrogated and all but one were released later that day. This represents a standard policy practiced by IOF that humiliates and encroaches upon the dignity of Gazans.

In addition, IOF continue to deny the entry of fuel into the strip and this severely delays medical treatment for the wounded. During this incursion, medical crews had severe difficulty transferring the critically injured from al-Shadha'a al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. It is noteworthy that the hospital in Deir al-Balah cannot treat severe injuries due to lack of medicines and specialized health care.

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns strongly IOF's escalation of acts of murder in the Gaza Strip, particularly civilians and children. As this press release shows, the majority of people killed in the al-Bureij incursion were civilian children and teenagers. Furthermore, homes were targeted and farms were bulldozed, denying hundreds of people their source of livelihood. Al Mezan emphasizes that IOF's conducts constitute grave breaches of the rules of international humanitarian law (IHL).

The Center demands immediate action to investigate IOF's conducts and to lift the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip. The ongoing blockade of goods, particularly fuel, harms peoples' lives and threatens to stop the work of hospitals and medical crews. Al Mezan warns that the international community's ongoing silence in regard to IOF's crimes will have major consequences on the civilian population, especially since the Israelis repeatedly threaten to launch severe, brutal attacks on Gaza.

Al Mezan calls on the international community to act effectively and urgently to stop Israel's grave breaches of IHL and provide international protection for the civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In addition, as part of their legal and moral obligations towards these civilians, they must act urgently to end the siege on the Gaza Strip that affects their humanitarian needs.


Related Links

Did you find which link came with the photograph at the top of this post, readers?!