Two Arrested For Attacks On Settlers On The Susiya Settlement

You may remember seeing these images recently of Palestinians being apparently attacked by Israeli settlers:

The pictures were captured as a result of B'Tselem's 'Shooting Back' scheme that provided video cameras for Palestinians to record the abuses they suffer at the hands of settlers. Amazingly, these pictures were posted on the BBC, amazing because it is very rare for a major media organisation to reproduce such footage. Usually such incidents are portrayed as mythical events in the imagination of so-called anti-Semites and are therefore disregarded.

In this instance, however, it would appear that the Israeli police have actually arrested two settlers that they suspected were responsible for the attack. B'Tselem reports [this link also provides further links to individual testimonies and further videos]:

Today [17 June 2008], the Israeli police arrested two settlers suspected of attacking Palestinians in the Southern Hebron Hills. On 8 June 2008, four masked settlers with clubs attacked three members of the Nawaj’ah family who were grazing their flock on private Palestinian land south of the Susiya settlement. The victims suffered severe injuries and required hospitalization. A fourth member of the family documented the beginning of the assault with a video camera she had received from B'Tselem.

The Nawaj’ah family lives in Khirbet Susiya, a small encampment in the Southern Hebron Hills just south of the Susiya settlement. They live in tents and support themselves by grazing their flock and working their land. As they are the object of frequent attack by settlers, B'Tselem has given the family a video camera as part of its "Shooting Back” project.

On 8 June 2008, ‘Imran a-Nawaj’ah, 32, went with two of his children to graze his flock south of the settlement, on a plot of land belonging to a resident of the nearby Samu’ Village. Although an Israeli court has declared the land a military zone closed to Israelis, two settlers drove up to the shepherds on a tractor and tried to drive them off the land. When a-Nawaj’ah refused and told the settlers he had court permission to be on the land, they threatened him and then drove off toward the settlement. Fearing an attack, A-Nawaj’ah sent his son to the encampment to call for reinforcement. Khalil, 61, Tamam, 60, and Rabiha A-Nawaj’ah, 29, came quickly to the spot along with Muna, 25, who managed to film the settlers leaving the site....

If you want to find out more about the 'Shooting Back' scheme, click here and see what other materials have been captured here. Sadly, most of these incidents will not be replayed on the BBC. Such exposure is clearly an isolated incident to provide 'balance' rather than to broaden understanding of the tensions in the region.

Israel - Former President Spared Rape Charges

Once again, Israel lives up to it's description as "the most corrupt country in the West". The following is taken from Haaretz:

At least 20,000 protesters, outraged over the plea bargain that spared outgoing president Moshe Katsav rape charges and possible jail time, gathered in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to demand that he stand trial.

Over the past year, Katsav had been accused of a range of sexual offenses, including rape. Under the plea bargain signed Thursday, the rape charges were dropped and a suspended sentence was agreed by the prosecution. The president will plead guilty to sexual harassment, forcible indecent assault and harassing a witness as part of the deal.

The rally was attended by Education Minister Yuli Tamir, MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz), MK Shelly Yachimovich (Labor) and former MK and member of Tel Aviv's municipal council Yael Dayan.

Dayan said that Katsav's plea deal turns the victims into criminals, and paid tribute to the women who went to the police with their accusations against the president.

"We must not incriminate the bravest of women, who deserve a medal for the courage to complain," she said.

"Now there is no law and no justice," Tamir told the rally. "These people [the protesters] came here out of pain, and out of desire to see a just trial in the State of Israel."

Ah, justice is alive and well in Israel. In other Israeli news:

.....prominent Israeli human rights group on Wednesday criticized an Israel Defense Forces probe that decided not to press charges in an errant artillery attack that killed 21 Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip in November 2006.

The Military Advocate General announced late Tuesday that it was closing the case after its investigation determined the deaths were the result of a "rare and severe" technical malfunction.

In a statement, the human rights group B'Tselem questioned whether the inquiry met proper legal standards: an investigation which is independent, effective, open to review and timely.

The group also called on the IDF to take measures that would prevent similar incidents in the future, and urged it to compensate relatives of the dead.

The shelling was part of a large-scale IDF ground operation in northern Gaza against Palestinian rocket squads, and the civilian deaths provoked the wrath of international groups and human rights organizations. Since then, Israel has rarely used artillery against Gaza.

Fawzi Barhoum, spokesman for the ruling Hamas militant group in Gaza, said the results of the Israeli probe were not surprising.

"This decision is not strange, because every day and every minute dozens of innocent Palestinians are subject to this, either by shelling or by siege or by bullets," he said.

And, from B'Tselem:

Heart patient dies after not being allowed to cross checkpoint

On 14 February 2008, Fawaziyeh a-Dark suffered a heart attack. Soldiers at a flying checkpoint prevented the passage of the ambulance summoned for her. When her husband tried to take her by taxi, soldiers at another checkpoint blocked their passage. He was forced to take her home, by which time she died.

B'Tselem to Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip: Bring to Trial Those Responsible for War Crimes

From B'Tselem:

This last week, intense fighting erupted between Hamas and Fatah in the Gaza Strip. According to various estimates, approximately 160 people, including many children and civilians who were not participating in the fighting, were killed in the course of these clashes. This wave of violence ended with a victory for Hamas, who took control of all the bases of power in the Gaza Strip and established a separate leadership there.

During the events of this week, both parties committed severe violations of customary international humanitarian law, acts that constitute war crimes. These included summary execution of people identified with the opposing party, some of whom were civilians not involved in the fighting. In some of the cases serious abuse was reported to have preceded the summary executions.

According to media reports, on June 10, 2007, members of Hamas captured 28-year old Muhammed a-Sawirki, who apparently belonged to the Fatah-affiliated Presidential Guard and threw him to his death from a high-rise building in Gaza City , with his hands and legs bound. In response, armed Fatah men kidnapped Sheikh Muhammed A-Rafati, an imam identified with Hamas, and shot and summarily executed him. In another incident that occurred on June 11, 2007, Hamas members surrounded the home of Jamal Abu al-Jidyan, from the Fatah leadership in the northern Gaza Strip, firing missiles and mortars that injured Abu al-Jidyan .When his neighbors tried to bring him to the nearby hospital, Hamas men captured Abu Jidian and shot and summarily executed him. On June 14, 2007, in an incident that was broadcast on the Hamas television station in Gaza , Samih al-Madhun, a leader of Fatah's military wing, was captured in the a-Nuseirat refugee camp. al-Madhun was then strapped to the hood of a car and the nearby crowd stabbed him in every part of his body until he was died.

Another serious phenomenon that occurred in the course of the fighting was deliberate attacks on hospitals and their use as military targets. For example, on June 10, 2007, Fatah members shot mortars and grenades at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City , where armed Hamas men had barricaded themselves, and the Hamas men fired back from inside the hospital.

International humanitarian law recognizes several fundamental rules that apply to all states, organizations or individuals taking part in fighting, without regard to the nature of the conflict in the framework of which the fighting is taking place (international or internal). Among these rules is the absolute prohibition on summary execution of non-involved civilians, or of combatants who have been captured or laid down their weapons, and the absolute prohibition on committing any act of cruelty toward a member of one of these groups. These rules also grant special protection to hospitals and medical personnel, and forbid attacks on the latter. Acts of this nature are defined as war crimes under international law and impose personal criminal responsibility on those involved in their commission.

B'Tselem calls on the Palestinian leadership of Hamas in the Gaza Strip to investigate each incident that occurred during the fighting with Fatah that raises a suspicion of a war crime having been committed, including those noted above, and to bring the suspects to criminal trial.

In addition, B'Tselem warns against illegal injury to people or institutions affiliated with Hamas in the West Bank , whether through acts of revenge by individuals or groups identified with Fatah, or in the course of arbitrary arrests by the Palestinian Authority. Preliminary signs of such acts have appeared in the last few days, and the security forces of the Palestinian Authority bear the responsibility to use all means at their disposal to prevent such attacks.

B'Tselem also reminds the Israeli government, which has effective control in the West Bank, that it bears overarching responsibility for the human rights of all people in the West Bank, including for acts committed by agencies operating with Israel 's agreement, including the Palestinian Authority.

The Innocence Broken With Lies

Remember I posted about the Palestinians used as human shields by the Israeli army? According to B'Tselem's report that was posted on their website today, the victims include a fifteen-year-old boy and an eleven-year-old girl. The following is an extract from their findings:

According to the testimonies, on the first day of the operation, around five o'clock in the morning, soldiers came to the house of the 'Amirah family, in the Old City , and removed all the occupants from the house and took them to a nearby house, where other Palestinians were also being held. Then the soldiers ordered one of the family, 15-year old 'Amid to accompany them in their search of three other houses. According to 'Amid's testimony, the soldiers pushed him with the barrels of their rifles and forced him to enter rooms of the house in front of them, open cabinets and empty out the contents, and open windows. In one instance, according to the testimony, a soldier shot several shots into the room.

In its letter to the Judge Advocate General, B'Tselem pointed out that this was the fourth time since June 2006 (when "Operation Summer Rains," in Gaza , took place), that the organization had documented Israeli soldiers' use of Palestinian civilians as human shields. As far as B'Tselem knows, in only one of these cases did the JAG order a Military Police investigation. That investigation has not yet been completed. In light of these cases, B'Tselem expressed its concern that the military order prohibiting this practice is not property communicated to soldiers, and that the delay in investigating these incidents conveys a message of lenience in the military's treatment of soldiers who engage in such practices. [emphasis mine]

It goes without saying that it is entirely unacceptable for children to be used in this way. It reflects a wider trend for children to be treated as combatants in war. After all, Israel's biggest backer has children locked up at Guantanamo as 'enemy combatants'. There was a time when the militarisation of children was abhorred by civilised states. Now, it would appear, treating children as a part of the wartime environment is par for the course. It is about time all civilised people came together and called for an end to the growing use of children in the battlefield. Whatever happened to innocence?

Further information: B'Tselem's investigation.
Related: B'Tselem have also released a study on the infringement of the human rights of the tens of thousands of Palestinian workers staying in Israel without a permit. You can read more here.

IDF Prohibits Fishing Off Gaza Coast

From B'Tselem:

B'Tselem's research indicates that, since the abduction of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, on 25 June 2006 , Israel has forbidden boats, including fishing boats, to sail off the Gaza coast. The prohibition has struck a severe blow to the fishing sector, which provides a livelihood for tens of thousands of residents of the Gaza Strip. Lacking other means of employment, and despite the Israeli navy's patrol of the coast and occasional shooting at Palestinian fishermen, some fishermen have risked their lives and violated the prohibition.

Read the full report here.

Attention Scum!

That was the underlying message from Melanie Phillips' when interviewed by Glenn Beck a couple of days back. Her breathtaking attack on the people of this country was matched only by the utter deceit of the reality of the situation at the moment. This will come as no shock to those who have been watching Phillips closely of late. After all, she does have previous for throwing wild accusations at whole communities on the basis of the flimsiest of evidence.

In her interview with Beck, Phillips spends a lot of time describing what the alleged kidnappers would do with their victim. According to Phillips, the victim would be:

'forced to grovel.....wring out of people the desire for our government to change it's policy.........finally, behead these unfortunate people.'

Perhaps Phillips has missed her calling in life, her talents would be better served as a writer of fantastical fiction. I'm not quite sure how we get from an allegation of a kidnap plot, to some horrific, televised beheading. Of course, there is an obvious reason for this melodrama, the attempts by the establishment (of which she is a part) to crank up the fear factor. Phillips is merely re-producing the kind of nonsense normally found in the tabloid press. And, like the tabloid press, she simply reinforces what the Home Office want people to believe. The Home Office want you to believe that there is a terrorist lurking on every street corner, so that they can continue to erode the liberties we all enjoy. Phillips is simply a megaphone through which the established order deliver their message to the fearful masses. However, the story from the police is very much different.

Last Saturday, The Guardian produced an interesting piece on the reality of the arrests in Birmingham. Within the piece, one counter-terrorism official claimed that:

"an awful lot of inaccuracies" had appeared in the media.

Amongst these inaccuracies were the claims that two British Muslim soldiers had agreed to act as 'live bait' (as reported in The Sun) and that the police had uncovered a list of 25 intended victims. In fact, there were suspicions amongst many in the police that the leaks to the press were more insidious than might first appear. According to Paul Snape, vice chair of West Midlands Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers:

"The police force is asking the question, where did it all come from? There may be political reasons for it, such as what was going on at the Home Office and at Downing Street."

So where did Phillips get her fanciful interpretation of the facts? One can only presume she just accepted the Home Office line. Instead of acknowledging the amount of uncertainty surrounding the case (after all, investigations were ongoing), Phillips presented a skewed view of what the police actually believed. But then, we expect that from someone keen to defend the establishment line. After parroting the Home Office line, she then moves onto the Iraq war.

The disdain on Phillips' face for her compatriots is plain to see. When talking about Iraq she claims there is a:

'hysteria about the Iraq war, hysterical denunciations of Tony Blair for supporting President Bush, a ferment of hatred of America and Israel.'

Hysteria? Hysterical denunciations? If there is a hysteria surrounding the war, wouldn't the media reflect this hysteria? A hysteria suggests that every facet of our lives is dominated by those who oppose the war in Iraq. The implication is that every time we pick up a paper, or switch on the television, we are confronted with hysterical images of the anti-war movement. Only three newspapers actually opposed the Iraq war, the rest gave their wholehearted support, particularly the Murdoch based press. Furthermore, as Justin Lewis found in his studies on the media's reporting on the war in Iraq:

...while the BBC's "anti-war bias" has become an article of faith for many, we found no evidence of this. Indeed, like most other broadcasters, the BBC generally leaned towards pro-war assumptions. The least pro-war broadcaster was Channel 4.

By presenting the anti-war view as 'hysteria', Phillips is suggesting that our media (alongside the populace) is consumed by an anti-war agenda. Although there clearly is a growing anger towards the Iraq war, to call it 'hysteria' is pretty wide of the mark. However, there is no doubt that, when watching this interview, Phillips herself is consumed by some fearful 'hysteria' (just click on the label 'Mad Mel' to see how hysterical she really is). As for the hatred of America and Israel, once more Phillips uses the old right-wing trick of confusing hatred of a government, with hatred of a population. There is certainly a hatred of the actions of the American and Israeli governments, but there is no evidence that there is a 'ferment of hatred of America and Israel' as a whole.

Phillips then moves on to perhaps her most disgusting remarks of the interview:

'...if you have a population that is showing such weakness...' [meaning the UK population]

I'm sorry, 'weakness'? Is it weak to question what your government tells you? Is it weak to disbelieve the mainstream media? Is it weak to stand up to the established order and attack their mechanisations? Is it weak to say that you do not accept the views of the elites? I would argue that a large chunk of the British population have shown the complete opposite. It is Phillips and her ilk that have shown weakness. Weakness in the face of an unprecedented attack on our society by a state eager to play upon the fears of the populace. Too weak to stand up to the government and challenge their ongoing demonisation of an entire community. In the face of such a vicious onslaught by the media and the government, I am amazed that so many people in this country have the strength to question what they are told, to be suspicious of the motives of those in authority. There is no weakness. There is only strength. Strength when the odds are stacked against ordinary citizens through a vicious campaign of mis-information and deceit, led by the likes of Phillips.

The interview ends with a typical comment on the 'political correctness' agenda that dominates both the US and the UK. Of course, this is the very same political correctness of which Phillips herself plays a massive part (although she would never admit it). As was shown a couple of days ago, any criticism of Israel is broadly condemned by Phillips as symptomatic of an underlying anti-semitism. Despite her public proclamations to the contrary, she is quick to attack any group, whether Jew, Christian or Muslim, that censures the Israeli government. What is this if not political correctness?? You cannot condemn the actions of the Israel government without fear of offending somebody. And yet, many on the right argue that one cannot condemn Muslims in public, because of a climate of political correctness. As far as the right are concerned, 'political correctness' is an affliction that only affects the left, yet there are those on the right that use political correctness as a tool to undermine legitimate criticism of the Israeli government.

This interview with Glenn Beck proves that Phillips is nothing more than a self-hating Brit. She despises the British public for their refusal to believe the lies and distortions of the government, the media and various commentators. She has proven time and time again to be a hateful, vicious columnist who, even when presented with the facts, refuses to tone down her attacks on an entire community. Thankfully, the majority of the British population are not taken in by her hysterical denunciations and continue to show their strength in standing up to the established order. In the face of such an onslaught, the population should be praised rather than viciously condemned.

Philips Gets A Fisking

At the end of Newsnight on Monday, Jeremy Paxman chaired a debate between Melanie 'Fuck the Muslims' Phillips and Rabbi David Goldberg. During the 'debate' Paxman put it to Phillips that anyone who criticises Israel is smeared as an anti-semite. Phillips, putting on her friendly, media face expressed her dislike of these tactics (not to mention her claim that there are no human rights abuses by Israelis - take a look at B'Tselem to see how deceitful that is). In fact, here's the proof:

Imagine my surprise (or not), when I click on her site to read this headline:


'Jews for Genocide'. A typical Phillips smear. Thankfully, Davide at Nether-World takes her to task.