PCHR.org

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) warns against the rapid deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, especially after Israeli officials’ statements to broaden the scope of attacks and their calls upon thousands of residents across the Gaza Strip to evacuate their houses amid airstrikes targeting residential towers and civilian houses.

UNRWA has declared receipt of 20,000 persons in 44 of its schools across the Gaza Strip, except Khan Yunis. According to UNRWA, only 28 schools have been equipped to be used as shelters in emergencies while the rest 16 have not. Meanwhile, three UNRWA schools sustained partial damage due to the Israeli airstrike. As a result of the ongoing aggression, UNRWA has announced that the distribution of foodstuffs is on hold until further notice.

PCHR condemns the Israeli collective punishment policy and inhumane and illegal reprisals against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip following the decision of the Israeli Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Yisrael Katz, to stop electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip. Moreover, the Israeli companies halted water supplies to the Gaza Strip, depriving the population of 50% of their water needs. This policy has inflicted catastrophic repercussions on all service and health sectors, which already suffer from continuous and serious deterioration due to 17 years of closure. Therefore, this violates all international conventions, particularly Article (33) of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

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William A. Cook

There he stands in his pin striped suit, Israeli star embossed on the US flag pin, glistening in the podium lights, smiling delightedly as he mouths lie after lie to the delighted listeners, including some 400 Congress members who find it a bit awkward as the klieg lights get brighter and brighter shining on them as stooges for this foreign government that commands them how to vote regardless of the desires of the American people. Netanyahu cannot preach truth to falsehood, he is the very face of falsehood.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the 2014
AIPAC Policy Conference

“Ladies and gentlemen, peace is Israel’s highest aspiration. I’m prepared to make a historic peace with our Palestinian neighbours — a peace that would end a century of conflict and bloodshed. Peace would be good for us. Peace would be good for the Palestinians” (B. Netanyahu before the 2014 AIPAC Conference)

There are those who stand in regal splendor in halls resplendent with brilliantly colored flags and emblems of rank testifying to their positions as leaders in the world, acknowledged with respectful applause, as the audience standing in adulation of that position, witness the entrance of the announced Lord of the realm as he ascends to the podium to declare his moral righteousness before the world spread out through the nations in the Temple of Television, and boldly, shamelessly lie before all humankind—they are the face of falsehood.

Yesterday that face was George W. Bush addressing the joint sessions of Congress as he announced vengeance against an unknown enemy as lie after lie fell from his lips. Today it is Netanyahu declaring his love for peace when he speaks for a nation led by Zionist ideology that has never sought peace as that word is known to the entire world and thus masks truth in obfuscation, for “peace” to the Zionist has been and continues to be “greater Israel” achieved by power not by peace as we know it.

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Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

Safaa Al-Hasanat's Identity (ID) card request was submitted in 1997, as part of the last wave of applications accepted by Israel prior to 2000; since that date, and disregarding its obligations as an Occupying Power, Israel has refused to process applications for unregistered Palestinians. After Israel took over the Gaza Strip as an Occupying Power, hundreds of thousands of Gazans who left the Gaza Strip were not registered, preventing them from returning to Gaza and obtaining the ID card to which they are entitled. However, despite being part of the formal application process, Safaa -like many other Palestinians - has still not received an ID card, a reality which has a profound impact on her quality of life.

Safaa moved to the Gaza Strip in 1997, when she came to study journalism. After her marriage to a Palestinian man in late 1997, she applied to the Israeli Authorities for the ID card to which she is legally entitled.

Despite the fact that Safaa applied before 2000, she has yet to receive her ID: “My application was never rejected. My husband inquired and I am on the list of people that are supposed to get an ID card. Yet, until today, I have received no information and no ID card.” This means that Safaa, like so many other Gazans, is trapped within the borders of the Gaza Strip.

Not having an ID card in the Gaza Strip has an enormous effect on every facet of life: “I cannot travel to see my family. I cannot get [specialized] medical care. I cannot fully develop myself at work. I am a prisoner in Gaza. If I had my ID card, my entire life could change.” Unfortunately, in the current situation, there is little anyone can do to help. There is no recourse for her and so many others. The situation has recently become even worse.

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Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno
Ocampo (Photo: David Kawai / Postmedia News)

ICC Office of the Prosecutor decides not to open investigations into situation of Palestine.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) wishes to express its extreme disappointment following the decision by the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) not to open an investigation in the situation Palestine. This situation has been under examination by the Court for more than 3 years; in response to the suspected commission of grave war crimes and possible crimes against humanity in the context of Israel’s 27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009 offensive on the Gaza Strip (Operation ‘Cast Lead’), Palestine lodged a declaration recognizing the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in accordance with Article 12(3) of the Court’s Statute on 22 January 2009.

Following all parties’ proven failure to fulfil their obligations to effectively investigate the crimes committed in the context of Operation Cast Lead, the ICC represented the most appropriate forum to pursue accountability. This was in fact one of the key recommendations of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, which triggered a complex (and as yet uncompleted) follow-up process at the UN level.

The conclusions of the UN Fact-Finding Mission regarding the suspected commission of international crimes during Operation Cast Lead were substantiated by a number of reports from independent human rights organisations, such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and FIDH, as well as the Report of the Fact-Finding Commission mandated by the Arab League. The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC received hundreds of complaints and requests by victims of the attacks on the Gaza Strip seeking the urgent opening of independent investigations at the international level. PCHR and its partners submitted numerous case files on victims’ behalf to the Office of the Prosecutor.

PCHR believes that the ICC Prosecutor has completely failed to address this issue in an appropriate manner.

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Anna Baltzer

Dear friends,

A Palestinian man named Khader Adnan is now on his 65th day of a hunger strike since December 18th, 2011. He could die at any moment--he is in "immediate danger of death." Yesterday, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association published this update . Here is one exerpt:

Israel's High Court of Justice has today scheduled a petitions hearing regarding the case of Khader Adnan to take place Thursday, 23 February 2012 at 11:30am. The petition was filed by Khader Adnan's lawyers on 15 February. The High Court of Justice was provided with a detailed medical report prepared on 14 February by an Israeli-accredited doctor on behalf of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel). Despite the elaborate medical report, which confirmed that Khader Adnan "is in immediate danger of death," and that "a fast in excess of 70 days does not permit survival," the Israeli High Court appointed the petition session for 23 February with no guarantees that a decision will be made on the same day. By then, Khader Adnan—if alive—will have reached the 69th day of his ongoing hunger strike.

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Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the decision taken by the Israeli Prisons Administration on Wednesday, 20 July 2011, to stop the higher education program provided to the Palestinian prisoners. PCHR calls on the international community to exert pressure on Israel and compel it to respect international law and put an end to the systematic and continued inhumane and degrading treatment of more than 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and detention centres.

The gravity of this decision is that it forms part of a series of measures taken by Israeli occupation authorities against Palestinian prisoners following actual orders given to the Israeli Prisons Administration by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the end of last month to reduce what he termed as "advantages granted" to Palestinian prisoners. Other measures taken against prisoners include intensifying searching prisoners after forcing them to take off their clothes and placing Palestinian leaders, in Israeli jails, in solitary confinement. Palestinian prisoners have responded by declaring a set of actions in protest of such escalations. Prisoners went on a hunger strike for 10 sporadic days over the past two months.

This decision by the Israeli Prisons Administration is part of a general policy adopted by Israeli occupation authorities against Palestinian prisoners who are subjected to cruel living conditions as well as inhumane and degrading treatment, including torture, deteriorating health conditions and medical negligence towards prisoners - including those suffering from serious illnesses. This has, in some cases, led to death. This decision is extremely serious because it is based on instructions given from the top of the Israeli political establishment.

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Stephen Lendman

Israeli soldiers shot and killed on Sunday 24 protesters who gathered on
the Syrian side of the border of the Israeli occupied Golan Heights marking
the Naksa Day, while at least 350 were injured. (Al-Qassam)

Supported, funded and armed by Washington, Israelis terrorize Palestinians daily. From late May to early June alone, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), Palestine News Network, and others reported:

● an Iraq Bourin village child wounded;
● in Bil'in village, one resident wounded, another 15 arrested, including eight international human rights activists against Israel's illegal Separation Wall, stealing up to 12% of Palestinian land when completed;
● on May 29 at 1AM, Israeli forces stormed Bil'in village, panicking residents with sound bombs while they slept;
● on June 3, IDF troops attacked weekly Bil'in anti-Wall protesters with tear gas, sound bombs, rubber bullets, and sprayed sewage water, injuring six and many others from asphyxiating fumes;
● Israel conducted 47 incursions into West Bank communities and one in central Gaza, arresting 29, including four children and two women;
● two Jenin charitable organizations were closed and eight artisan wells destroyed;
● a Qalqilya construction materials shop was bulldozed;
● Israeli vessels fired on Palestinian fishermen, crashing into and destroying one boat in Gazan waters, injuring its occupant, rescued by others nearby;
● Israeli tanks, military vehicles and bulldozers breached Gaza's border east of the al-Buriage refugee camp, terrorizing residents and razing agricultural land gratuitously;
● Israeli soldiers shot and wounded a Gazan man in Gaza City's al-Zeitoun neighborhood;
● extremist Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian shepherd in Madma village, burning four dunams of farmland there;
● other settlers attacked a Palestinian youth in central Hebron's al-Dbuya area, injuring him;
● almost daily other settler attacks occur, protected by Israeli soldiers; and
● IDF forces conduct regular West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza incursions any time day or night, terrorizing nonviolent civilians, including women and children.

Alarmed by Netanyahu's extremism, former Mossad chief Meir Dagan went public on concerns he finds most alarming, saying when still in office with other recently retired top officials, they "could block any dangerous adventure. Now I am afraid that there is no one to stop Bibi and Barak."

It's not the Iranians or Palestinians who worry him. It's Israel's leadership, in recent comments made to journalists and a Tel Aviv University audience, calling these no ordinary times. In his view, it's one minute to midnight, a frightening thought by someone well versed on policy who knows.

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Stephen Lendman

On April 15, International Solidarity Movement (ISM) members grieved for one of their own, their press release headlining, "Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank unite in mourning of slain activist Vittorio Arrigoni," saying:

"People will gather in Al Manara square in Ramallah and at Al Jundi al Majhull, (Gaza's) unknown soldier park," honoring the death of their comrade, slain and abandoned in a house north of Gaza. More on his death below.

Other events took place throughout Palestine, including protests following Friday's prayers across from the UN's Gaza headquarters. Bil'in and Al Masara also dedicated their weekly demonstrations to Vittorio, Vic to his friends.

On Saturday, the Popular Committee in Nablus held a commemoration with political parties in Nablus center, celebrating his work and condemning his killing.

ISM explained his activism for Palestinian liberation and justice for almost 10 years, including the past two and a half years in Gaza with ISM:

● monitoring Israeli human rights violations;
● supporting Palestinian resistance against occupation, and siege; and
● daily violations of international law and democratic values.

Moreover, as a journalist, he wrote for the Italian newspaper Il Manifesto and Peacereporter, providing information about Gaza to a worldwide audience. The next Freedom Flotilla was renamed "Stay Human," honoring him and his book titled, "Gaza Stay Human."

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Stephen Lendman

Despite no legitimate provocation, Israel began terror bombing Gaza on December 27, 2008. Invasion followed, attacking innocent civilian men, women and children for over three weeks, using missiles, bombs, shells, and illegal weapons against defenseless people. Mass slaughter and destruction ensued.

Brazen crimes of war and against humanity were committed. No culpable officials were held responsible. Security Council no-fly zone protection wasn't ordered. International community leaders approved or were silent. Washington was complicit by supplying Israel with weapons, munitions, and encouragement. Obama acts the same as Bush, waging a quartet of lawless wars and using proxies in others.

Operation Cast Lead remains one of history's greatest crimes. Yet Israel was green-lighted to wage it with impunity, what it's done numerous times in its history, besides terrorizing Palestinians by:

● illegal military occupation;
● collective punishment and intimidation;
● air and ground attacks;
● isolating Gaza illegally under siege;
● intermittently bombing and shooting its residents, including noncombatant farmers, fishermen and children;
● regular residential neighborhood incursions;
● bulldozing homes;
● dispossessing residents;
● land seizures;
● arbitrary arrests;
● torture as official policy, including against women and children;
● targeted assassinations;
● denying refugees their right of return;
● movement and free expression restrictions;
● violence, not peaceful coexistence;
● confrontation, not diplomacy;
● war, not peace; and
● denying Palestinian sovereignty, as well as equal justice, human rights and civil liberty protections.

Israel is a rogue terror state, a democracy in name only affording rights solely to Jews. Remember Cast Lead, one of history's greatest crimes. Justice Richard Goldstone documented them convincingly in his 575 page report titled, "Human Rights in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict."

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Stephen Lendman

Israel is an equal opportunity abuser, treating women, old men, invalids, and children like young adults because they're Palestinians, not Jews, so they're fair game, vilified as national security threats or terrorists for wanting freedom, equality, justice and peace.

Numerous previous articles discussed it, several specifically on children, accessed through the following links, here, here, here, here and here.

Defence for Children International (DCI) Palestine

"is a national section of the international non-government child rights organisation and movement (dedicated to) promoting and protecting the rights of Palestinian children,"

according to international law principles.

Each year, hundreds, under 18, are arrested, detained, interrogated, tortured, and prosecuted, around 6,500 since 2000 alone.

In June 2009, DCI/Palestine's report [.pdf] titled, "Palestinian Child Prisoners," documented their systematic, institutionalized torture and abuse, including testimonies providing chilling evidence, including from Mahmoud speaking for others saying:

"I went from having a normal life at home to handcuffs, deprivation of sleep, shouting, threats, rounds of interrogation, serious accusations," beatings and other abuse. As a result, "life (is now) dark, filled with fear and pessimism - tough days that words cannot describe."

On January 6, DCI/Palestine issued an "urgent appeal (for the) children of Silwan," an Arab village adjacent to Jerusalem's Old City, one of 28 such communities incorporated into the city.

Evidence of serious forms of abuse were documented. In 2010, sharp increases in child arrests occurred. According to Israeli police data, 1,267 criminal files were opened between November 2009 and October 2010, accusing children of throwing stones, based solely on unconfirmed suspicions.

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