Das Palästina Portal
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Palästinenserkind im Schwitzkasten - Von Inge Günther - (...) Viele Israelis indes sind empört, wie besagter Soldat und mit ihm die ganze Armee sich hätten vorführen lassen. Miri Regev, strammrechte Kulturministerin, machte sich sogleich dafür stark, dass Soldaten im ähnlichen Fall besser schießen sollten. Wohlgemerkt, zu keinem Moment bestand für den Soldaten Lebensgefahr. Ohnehin ist die Liste palästinensischer Zivilisten, die bei anderen Zusammenstößen erschossen wurden, erschreckend lang.

Aber das Bedürfnis, nach der Schmach von Nabi Saleh ein Exempel zu statuieren, ist groß. Einige israelische Eltern forderten, wenigsten einen linken Lehrer, der mit den Palästinensern demonstrierte, zu suspendieren. Die Frage, warum Soldaten überhaupt Kindern hinterher jagen, stellten nur wenige. Vielleicht aus Scham, vielleicht auch, weil die Antwort mit der seit bald fünf Jahrzehnten währenden Besetzung der palästinensischen Gebiete zu tun hat Und die, so „Haaretz“-Kommentator Anshel Pfeffer, „zerfrisst unsere Armee und unsere Gesellschaft“. Man möchte sich gerne als tapferer David sehen und ähnelt doch immer mehr Goliath. >>>

Debatte um Gewalt israelischer Soldaten : Die Hilflosigkeit der Besatzer - Christoph Sydow - Ein Video aus dem Westjordanland zeigt, wie ein israelischer Soldat einen palästinensischen Jungen würgt. Die Regierung beklagt eine "Pallywood"-Inszenierung - doch die Bilder belegen schlicht das Ungleichgewicht im Nahostkonflikt.

Die Bilder gingen um die Welt: Ein israelischer Soldat hält einen elfjährigen Jungen im Schwitzkasten. Der linke Arm des Kindes steckt in einem Gipsverband, es weint und schreit. Zwei Frauen und ein Mädchen versuchen, den Jungen aus dem Würgegriff des Soldaten zu befreien. >>>

Leserbrief zum Artikel "Ein Bild mit zwei Geschichten" von Peter Münch in der SZ vom 31.08.2015 - Karin Nebauer - Ein Video von der brutalen Festnahme eines 12-jährigen Buben mit Gipsarm im Anschluß an eine friedliche Demonstration gegen Landraub in Nabi Saleh/Westbank durch einen israelischen Soldaten ist weltweit online zu sehen.

Zu dem Artikel von Peter Münch und dem dazu ausgewählten Bild aus dem Video gibt es allerdings mehrere Geschichten, nicht nur zwei. Um sich der Geschichte dieser Festnahme zu nähern, sollte man sich das ganze Video anschauen: ein schwer bewaffneter Soldat jagt nach der Demonstration einen Jungen mit einem Gipsarm, erwischt ihn und drückt ihn mit Würgegriff gegen einen Felsbrocken. Der Junge schreit, Frauen scharen sich dann um den Soldaten und zerren an ihm und dem Kind, um das Kind zu befreien.

Peter Münch schreibt, der Junge habe nach Armee-Angaben Steine geworfen. Dazu weitere Geschichten: Die Demonstration in Nabi Saleh findet seit mehreren Jahren jeden Freitag statt und ist eine friedliche. Sie wird regelmäßig von schwerbewaffneten israelischen Soldaten mit Tränengas, Blendgranaten, Gummigeschossen und auch scharfer Munition aufgelöst. Es geht darum, Widerstand gegen Besatzung, Landenteignung, Häuserzerstörungen und Siedlungbau zu unterdrücken und möglichst schon bei der jungen Generation. So sind seit mehr als 20 Jahren sind Kinder und Jugendliche ein bevorzugtes Ziel der Gewalt der israelischen Streitkräfte.

In der Westbank werden jedes Jahr 700 bis 800 palästinensische Kinder festgenommen und inhaftiert, 2012 waren es 881, 2014 bereits 1.266. Meistens wird ihnen vorgeworfen, Steine geworfen zu haben, was als schweres Sicherheitsdelikt gilt und mit bis zu 20 Jahren Haft bestraft werden kann. Die Anklage gründet sich auf die Aussagen der israelischen Armee oder Polizei, andere Beweise oder Zeugen werden nicht zugelassen. Unter dem Druck verbaler und physischer Mißhandlungen bekennen sich die meisten Kinder schuldig und unterschreiben ein Geständnis, das oft in hebräisch abgefasst ist und sind damit vorbestraft.

Israelische Soldaten haben der Organisation 'Breaking the Silence' erzählt, wie sie palästinensische Kinder gejagt, festgenommen, mißhandelt, oder sogar getötet haben, oft willkürlich und ohne zur Verantwortung gezogen zu werden. Dazu gibt es viele Bericht von B'Tselem, Defense for Children International, Unicef, Amnesty International, Human Right Watch u.a.

Die Strafen für palästinensische Kinder sind hart, viel härter als für jüdische Kinder. Monate und Jahre lange Haftstrafen, Isolationshaft, Schlafentzug, Mißhandlungen.. Siedler dagegen, die Palästinenser - Erwachsene und Kinder - angreifen, bleiben in der Regel straflos. Bis jetzt hat die Polizei auch noch keinen für die letzten beiden Brandanschläge auf palästinensische Häuser in Kafr Duma bei Nablus verdächtigen Siedler vor Gericht gebracht. Neun verdächtige Siedler waren zwar in Administrativhaft (ohne Anklage, ohne Prozess) genommen worden, aber wenige Tage später wieder freigelassen.

Westjordanland - Ein Bild mit zwei Geschichten - >>>

Meet the teenage girls behind the viral photo from Nabi Saleh - Allison Deger - “The pictures went viral. That’s important,” Ahed Tamimi, 14, said, “so the world can see what happens.” Ahed is the blond teen on the far left of the widely-published photo of a violent confrontation between Palestinian women and children, and an Israeli soldier in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. In the frame Ahed is seen biting the soldier after he hits her in the face. Since the now infamous images were first published, the Tamimis, and Ahed in particular, have been visited by droves of journalists wanting to know how the Palestinian family felt when they saw 12-year old Mohammed Tamimi, also known as Abu Yazan, slammed to the ground. >>>

 

Israel arrests parents of boy beaten at Friday rally - Self-proclaimed Jewish state arrests father of 12-year-old Palestinian boy beaten on Friday by Israeli soldier

Israel on Tuesday arrested Palestinian activist Basil al-Tamimi, the father of 12-year-old Mohamed al-Tamimi, who was beaten by an Israeli soldier during a Friday demonstration in the occupied West Bank.

“The Israeli army arrested Basil and his wife, Nariman, as they tried to cross an army checkpoint at the entrance of Nabi Saleh village north of Ramallah,” Bassam al-Tamimi, another Palestinian activist, told Anadolu Agency. “Soldiers arrested Basel and his wife and prevented us from communicating with them.” >>>

Nabi saleh 28 8 2015

Mehr zum Thema auf einer Sonderseite >>>

UN erstellt erschütternde Prognose - Gazastreifen könnte unbewohnbar werden - Die Situation der Palästinenser im Gazastreifen verschlechtert sich nach UN-Angaben dramatisch. Es gebe kaum Arbeit, keinen Strom und die Menschen seien auf Nahrungsmittelhilfen angewiesen. Halte Israel die Blockade aufrecht, heißt es, kämen auch UN-Hilfen zu spät.

Der von Israel mit Krieg und Blockade überzogene Gazastreifen droht nach Einschätzung einer UN-Organisation bis 2020 "unbewohnbar" zu werden. In ihrem in Genf veröffentlichten Jahresbericht schreibt die Handels- und Entwicklungskonferenz der Vereinten Nationen (Unctad), die drei israelischen Militäroffensiven seit dem Jahreswechsel 2008/2009 hätten in dem Palästinensergebiet wirtschaftliche Verluste in fast dreifacher Höhe des Wirtschaftsvolumens im Gazastreifen verursacht.

Die 2006 von Israel verhängte Blockade habe die "bereits geschwächte Infrastruktur des Gazastreifens verwüstet, keine Zeit für vernünftigen Wiederaufbau oder wirtschaftliche Erholung gelassen" und zur weiteren Verarmung der palästinensischen Bevölkerung im Gazastreifen beigetragen. >>>

PRESS RELEASE - UNCTAD - For use of information media - Not an official record - Gaza could become uninhabitable in less than five years in wake of 2014 conflict and ongoing de-development, according to new UNCTAD report

EMBARGO - The contents of this press release and the related Report must not be quoted or summarized in the print, broadcast or electronic media before 01 September 2015, 19:00

​UNCTAD’s report on assistance to the Palestinian people states that Gaza could become uninhabitable by 2020 if current economic trends persist. In addition to eight years of economic blockade, in the past six years, Gaza has endured three military operations that have shattered its ability to export and produce for the domestic market, ravaged its already debilitated infrastructure, left no time for reconstruction and economic recovery, and accelerated the de-development of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, a process by which development is not merely hindered but reversed.

The report highlights the severe crises in Gaza related to water and electricity, as well as the destruction of vital infrastructure during the military operations in July and August 2014. For example, Gaza’s 1.8 million inhabitants rely on coastal aquifers as their main source of freshwater, yet 95 per cent of this water is not safe to drink.

The report also estimates the direct losses (excluding people killed) of the three military operations that took place from 2008 to 2014 to be close to three times the size of Gaza’s local gross domestic product. However, the total cost may be substantially higher once indirect economic losses are included and lost future income streams from destroyed productive capacities are added.

In addition to the 500,000 people who have been displaced in Gaza as a result of the most recent military operation, the report estimates significant economic losses, including the destruction or severe damage of more than 20,000 Palestinian homes, 148 schools and 15 hospitals and 45 primary health-care centres.

As many as 247 factories and 300 commercial centres were fully or partially destroyed. Serious damage was inflicted on Gaza’s sole power plant. The agricultural sector alone suffered $550 million in losses.

It is estimated that, even before the military operations in July and August 2014, Gaza’s electricity supply capacity was not enough to meet 40 per cent of the demand (2012 figures). The electricity and energy crisis is exacerbated by the fact that the Palestinian National Authority is not permitted to develop and use the offshore natural gas fields discovered since the 1990s on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast. >>>

Produkte aus dem Westjordanland - Cactus in der Klemme - Laut „Comité pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient“ (CPJPO) wird Cactus kein Obst und Gemüse mehr verkaufen, dass möglicherweise aus dem israelisch besiedelten Westjordanland stammt.

Seit einigen Tagen ist das luxemburgische Unternehmen Cactus in vielen israelischen und jüdischen Medien präsent, nachdem in den Supermärkten angeblich keine Waren mehr aus den israelischen Siedlungen im Westjordanland verkauft werden. Aus vielen der Medienberichte spricht eine gewisse Empörung heraus. Cactus sei demnach eingeknickt und habe sich den Forderungen des luxemburgischen „Comité pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient“ (CPJPO) gebeugt, das pro-palästinensisch eingestellt sei und monatelang lautstark vor den Cactus-Filialen protestiert habe, um das Unternehmen unter Druck zu setzen.

Gedankenaustausch per Brief - „Wir haben niemanden unter Druck gesetzt“, sagte Nathalie Oberweis vom CPJPO am Dienstag dem „Luxemburger Wort“. Man habe lediglich verschiedene Akteure der Lebensmittelbranche wegen Produkten aus dem Westjordanland informiert und versucht zu sensibilisieren, darunter sei eben auch Cactus gewesen. Es habe einen Gedankenaustausch per Brief gegeben. >>>

In West Bank, Speculation Abounds Over Mahmoud Abbas’s Plans - Jodi Rudorensept -  Mahmoud Abbas, the aging Palestinian president, may be paving the way for his exit from political life — or he may be trying to consolidate power by crippling all his rivals.

Mr. Abbas is said to be preparing a major speech outlining a new strategy for the Palestinian national struggle, though people close to him say that even they are not sure exactly what he might say. Or he might simply be trying to restore legitimacy to moribund institutions by replacing longtime cronies with fresh, younger faces.

The political class in Ramallah is rife with conflicting interpretations of Mr. Abbas’s latest moves, which center on his call for a meeting this month of the Palestinian National Council, a body of 700-plus members that has not had a regular session since 1996.

On Tuesday, Amin Maqboul, a leader of the president’s Fatah faction, said Mr. Abbas, who turned 80 this year, had informed the council’s central committee that he would not run again to be chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization. But even that seemingly straightforward statement was parsed. >>>

How Israel withholds labour rights from the West Bank’s Palestinian workers - Amir Paz-Fuchs - Amir Paz-Fuchs does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.

As Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories edges towards its 50th year, violent incidents in the West Bank remain fairly sporadic. The political and economic reality of coexistence in the Palestinian territories has made Palestinians and Israelis deeply interdependent – and especially Palestinian workers and Israeli employers and corporations.

That relationship has always been legally tangled, but in recent weeks, there’ve been new developments that could make things even worse.

To begin with, the Israeli National Labour Court found that Israeli law does not apply to Palestinians working for Israelis in the Jordan Valley, an area of the West Bank that has become infamous for child labour. >>>

Has Amnesty International Lost Its Way? (Part 4) - Norman G. Finkelstein - A forensic analysis of Amnesty's reports on Operation Protective Edge

Hospitals (cont.)c. Shuhada al-Aqsa. Israel shelled Shuhada al-Aqsa hospital, killing at least four people and wounding dozens. Noting that Israel alleged it had targeted a cache of antitank missiles stored “in the immediate vicinity of the hospital,” Amnesty states that it “has not been able to confirm this” incident and calls for it to be “independently investigated.” Insofar as it obligingly reported Israel’s pretext for this atrocity, shouldn’t Amnesty also have cited credible eyewitness testimony from a nurse at her station, according to which, after four Palestinians were killed in vehicles parked outside, “the hospital was then hit 15 times in quick succession by tank strikes”? Whereas in Amnesty’s assessment, both Hamas and Israel might equally be culpable of violating international law,[1] the Medical Fact-Finding Mission concludes, “what is important here is that [al-Aqsa] was attacked by the Israeli military while patients were admitted, health professionals were at work and civilians were seeking refuge from attacks in the surrounding area.” >>>

Has Amnesty International Lost Its Way? (Part 1)
Has Amnesty International Lost Its Way? (Part 2)
Has Amnesty International Lost Its Way? (Part 3)

Israeli forces demolish 25 Bedouin structures north of Jerusalem -  Israeli forces on Monday demolished at least 25 structures, including several homes, belonging to Palestinian Bedouins near the village of Jaba northeast of Jerusalem on Monday morning, an Israeli human rights group said.

B'Tselem said that Israeli forces arrived at the al-Khdeirat Bedouin community and demolished 25 structures which serve 11 families for residential and other purposes. "Around 100 persons were left homeless, including about 70 minors, some of whom began the school year a few days ago," the group said.

Israeli forces claimed the structures had been constructed without the necessary permits, a press statement issued by the Palestinian committee against the wall and settlements said. It added that some of the structures were built in 1975 and 1976. "These demolitions take part in the context of efforts by the military and the Civil Administration to push Palestinian communities out of Area C," B'Tselem said. >>>

Surge in Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes condemned by 31 international organizations  - Various Authors - Thirty-one aid, faith, human rights, and development organizations are calling on world leaders to take urgent action to halt ongoing demolitions and hold the government of Israel accountable for the wanton destruction of Palestinian property and of projects funded by international aid in the occupied West Bank.

During a surge in demolitions this week, the Israeli army demolished at least 63 homes and basic structures across 10 Palestinian communities in Area C, the 60 percent of the West Bank where Israel has maintained full military and civil control. Among the demolished structures were 12 basic humanitarian necessities, including a solar panel, a portable latrine, animal pens, and tents financed by the European Union.


The organizations said that international donors should seek to recover the financial costs of their destroyed structures and commit to resupplying the aid. In May 2012, the European Union stated publicly that it expected the government of Israel to protect its aid in Area C. Since then, hundreds of aid items funded by European and other donors have been demolished or seized. At least 356 structures, including 81 internationally funded aid items, have already been demolished in Area C this year. >>>

The right of return; a forgotten issue . - Dr Ghada Karmi - Dr Ghada KarmiNo issue has been so much at the heart of the Palestine cause, or so resistant to resolution, as the right of return. Palestinians world wide see it as the basis of their case. Enshrined in international law and historical precedent, it has acquired an almost sacred quality for Palestinians, an untouchable right that no one can dispute. Generations of refugees have been reared on the expectation of return to their homeland. Their position derives not only from natural justice, but is also underpinned legally by UN Resolution 194, passed by the General Assembly in December 1948. It called on the newly-formed Israeli state to repatriate the displaced Palestinians “wishing to live in peace with their neighbours... at the earliest practicable date”, and to compensate them for their losses. A Conciliation Commission was set up to oversee the repatriation of the returnees. Though never implemented and frequently ignored since then, Resolution 194 has remained the legal basis for the “right of return”.

Yet, far from this fundamental plank of the Palestinian case being recognised as such and forming the core of any final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ignoring it has become the norm in political discourse. It simply either does not feature any more, or if it does, it is mostly as a bargaining chip in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. The marginalisation of this fundamental right is not new; it started soon after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, when the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) began to consider the possibility of setting up “an authority” on any liberated part of Palestine. Prior to that date, Palestine’s total liberation had been the PLO’s aim and this would mean the return to the homeland of all displaced Palestinians. By the late 1970s, though, the idea of partial liberation had developed into the aim to create a Palestinian state. In 1988, the independent “State of Palestine” was declared by the PLO on the 1967 territories, confirming the official Palestinian acceptance of the two-state solution that has been with us ever since. >>>

First national trade union in the US votes to endorse BDS - United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America 28, August — The final session of the UE 74th National Convention on Thursday morning, August 20, discussed and approved several more resolutions, including “Stop the Dismantling of Public Education”, “Build Union Co-ops”, “Justice and Peace for the Peoples of Palestine and Israel,” “For Peace, Jobs, and a Pro-Worker Foreign Policy”, “Defend Civil Liberties”, “Support the Family Farmer”, “Fight Workplace Closings,” “For a Safe and Healthy Workplace, Fix OSHA Now”, and “Workplace Struggle.” >>>

Why the mainstream media is still ignoring Max Blumenthal’s excellent book on Gaza - James North - Once you finish Max Blumenthal’s gripping, indispensable, first-hand account of last year’s Israeli attack on Gaza, you can better understand why the mainstream U.S. media is afraid to review it. The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza repudiates the conventional history so decisively that readers of the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other major outlets would be stunned into asking some pointed questions about the myths they are being fed.

Blumenthal was brave enough to actually travel inside Gaza during part of the ferocious Israeli air and land assault, (accompanied by Dan Cohen, one of this site’s colleagues), and his eyewitness testimony and chilling, wrenching interviews with Palestinians will form a valuable part of the historical record.

Even those of us who followed Israel’s attack as it happened will still learn plenty from this rushed but still well-crafted account — which is carefully footnoted and is strengthened by Cohen’s photographs.

Blumenthal starts by devastating the mainstream myth about why Israel invaded in the first place. The Israeli rationale, with de facto endorsement by New York Times reporters, is that on June 12, 2014 “Hamas” kidnapped and murdered 3 Jewish teens in the West Bank and then launched thousands of rockets from Gaza as part of an effort to “kill Jews” and “destroy Israel.” Israel was forced to invade to protect itself. As Blumenthal writes, “The violence in Gaza has become a ritual that has confounded many outsiders, leading to the rise of simplistic explanations for the bloodshed as the product of religious extremism, endemic anti-Semitism and intractable conflict.” Instead, Blumenthal calmly provides an accurate timeline with facts. >>>