PALESTINA/IZRAEL:
Fundamentalist Coalition Members Threaten To Quit Netanyahu Government
Fundamentalistička stranka prijeti da će izaći iz Netanyahuove vlade (8. studeni 2011.)
Izraelska fundamentalistička stranka Nacionalna unija zaprijetila je da će izaći iz koalicije sa strankom Likud premijera Netanyahua ako vlada uništi divlje izgrađena ilegalna kolonistička naselja na okupiranoj Zapadnoj obali. Izraelska je policija u utorak 8. studenog srušila 3 objekta u divljem ilegalnom kolonističkom naselju Oz Zion istočno od Ramalle u središnjem dijelu Zapadne obale. Izbili su sukobi između kolonista i vojske, uhićeno je 12 kolonista, uključujući 7 maloljetnika. Netanyahu je prije ove reakcije Nacionalne unije članovima Likuda rekao da vlada treba ukloniti neka divlja ilegalna kolonistička naselja na Zapadnoj obali i spriječiti gradnju na zemlji u privatnom palestinskom vlasništvu. Skupina od 150 kolonista prosvjedovala je ispred Knesseta protiv rušenja nekoliko divljih ilegalnih kolonističkih naselja na Zapadnoj obali do kraja ove godine. Ta su divlja ilegalna kolonistička naselja izgrađena na zemlji u privatnom palestinskom vlasništvu. Prema 4. ženevskoj konvenciji sva su izraelska kolonistička naselja izgrađena na palestinskom teritoriju koji je Izrael okupirao 1967. (Zapadna obala, uključujući Istočni Jeruzalem, i Pojas Gaze) ilegalna. Četvrta ženevska konvencija zabranjuje naseljavanje građana okupacijske zemlje na okupirani teritorij.
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We are here because we exist. The story of a shoemaker living in Hebron's H2
Ovdje smo jer postojimo. Priča postolara koji živi u zoni H2 u Hebronu (3. studeni 2011.)
Tamir ili Abu Taleeb je postolar koji živi u zoni H2 u gradu Hebronu. Tamiru i njegovoj obitelji u berbi maslina ove su godine pomagali mladi palestinski i međunarodni aktivisti jer obitelj živi praktički okružena izraelskim kolonistima. Hebron je podijeljen u 2 zone: H1 koja je pod palestinskom kontrolom i H2 koja je pod izraelskom kontrolom. Zone su odvojene vojnom kontrolnom točkom kroz koju mora proći svatko tko želi ući u zonu H2. Trenutno oko 400 kolonista živi u zoni H2, a štiti ih između 2500 i 3000 vojnika. Na tom području živi i oko 30 000 Palestinaca. Ove su godine Tamirova obitelj i aktivisti masline brali u potpunosti okruženi izraelskim vojnicima, policajcima i kolonistima koji su stalno provocirali Palestince i strane aktiviste. Tijekom proteklih godina u doba berbe maslina Tamir i njegova obitelj bili su metom čestih napada kolonista koji su ih gađali kamenjem dok su radili na svojoj zemlji. Kolonisti također kradu Tamirove masline. Napadi kolonista ne događaju se samo u sezoni berbe maslina, nego se mogu dogoditi u bilo kojem trenutku na bilo kojem mjestu. Vojnici često upadaju u Tamirovu kuću, obično kasno u noći tijekom radnih dana. „Ulaze u kuću i naprave nered posvuda, razbijaju stvari i ne dopuštaju mojoj djeci da spavaju čak i kad drugi dan idu u školu, uništavaju namještaj. Uđu u kuću i natjeraju cijelu obitelj u jednu sobu. Kad god se to dogodi moja se djeca slijedeći dan boje izlaska iz kuće i susreta s kolonistima“, tvrdi Tamir. Tamir i njegova obitelj, osim s vojnicima, imaju problema i s kolonistima. Kolonisti prljaju njihovo čisto oprano rublje. Prošle su godine izraelske vlasti Tamiru izdale dozvolu za branje maslina samo za jedan dan i nekoliko sati, pod izlikom da na taj način za vrijeme berbe neće doći do kolonističkih napada. To je razdoblje naravno prekratko, pa je Tamir nastavio brati masline i u vrijeme za koje nije imao dozvolu, sve dok ga nisu uhitili. Uhitili su ga jer je brao svoje masline u vrijeme kad za to nije imao dozvolu od izraelskih vlasti. Tamir napominje da brine svaki put kad njegova djeca odlaze iz kuće zbog mogućnosti kolonističkog napada. Tamir je nekada živio u jednoj drugoj kući u sjevernom Hebronu, sve dok Izrael nije konfiscirao 30 dunuma njegove zemlje, a vojnici i kolonisti ga natjerali da je napusti. Sada živi u kući koju je unajmio. „Kolonisti nas žele uplašiti i učiniti očajnima, žele da napustimo ovo područje, zato sve ovo rade. Ali mi nećemo otići. Zato smo ovdje, jer postojimo i nećemo im dopustiti da nas izbace iz naše zemlje. Ovo je naša zemlja i nećemo odustati“, rekao je Tamir te upozorio da je međunarodna zajednica Palestince prepustila samima sebi: „Gdje su sve te velike međunarodne organizacije za ljudska prava, UN? Već 40 godina živimo pod okupacijom, a gdje su oni? Što rade?“
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Occupy Boston Occupies Israeli Consulate (video)
Miles of Smile aid convoy arrives in Gaza
Humanitarni konvoj Miles of Smiles stigao u Gazu (5. studeni 2011.)
U petak (4. studenog) u zoru međunarodni humanitarni konvoj Miles of Smiles ušao je iz Egipta u Pojas Gaze kroz granični prijelaz Rafah nakon oko 9 sati odugovlačenja od strane egipatskih vlasti. U konvoju je bilo više od 100 aktivista iz različitih arapskih i europskih zemalja, koji su u Gazu dostavili više od 30 vrsta lijekova čija nestašica vlada u Pojasu Gaze, te druge medicinske potrepštine, 12 električnih invalidskih kolica i posebna kola hitne pomoći za invalide.
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Development or normalization? - A critique of West Bank development approaches and projects
This document is an examination of West Bank development proposals, in particular the joint projects that have been trumpeted by international development institutions and pushed forward by the Fayyad government. It is a combination of four briefings. The first focuses on the general approach to development taken by the World Bank, DFID and the Fayyad government. The rest focus on different projects and proposals, examining they will be implemented in the West Bank. The second takes up the Quick Impact Project that was proposed for Bethlehem. The third deals with the Jenin industrial estate and the fourth with JICA's development proposals for the Jordan Valley.
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Football France-Israël : BDS 5 - Apartheid 0 (Vidéo)
Nogomet Francuska-Izrael: BDS 5 – Aparthejd 0 (video) (28. listopad 2011.)
Na linku možete pogledati snimku ometanja nogometne utakmice između ženskih reprezentacija Francuske i Izraela u francuskom gradu Troyes 26. listopada 2011. Aktivisti su s tribina mahali palestinskim zastavama i ulazili na igralište obučeni u majice na kojima je s prednje strane pisalo „Slobodna Palestina“, a straga „Bojkotirajte Izrael“. Dok izraelske sportaše u zemljama EU-a primaju uz počasti, a oni slobodno putuju i natječu se u cijelom svijetu, palestinskim je sportašima onemogućeno da nastupaju, vježbaju, natječu se; stavljaju ih u zatvore ili ubijaju. Izraelske kontrolne točke, blokade i onemogućavanje kretanja unutar i izvan palestinskog područja već dugo omogućuju Izraelu da palestinskim sportašima uskrati bavljenje sportom. Na primjer, Mahmoud al-Sarsark (22), koji je u sastavu palestinske nogometne reprezentacije, otet je od strane izraelske vojske kad je napuštao Pojas Gaze kako bi sudjelovao na jednom sportskom događaju na Zapadnoj obali. Nakon 8 sati ispitivanja, odveden je u zatvor u Aškelonu. Ovakvih je primjera mnogo. 2004. Izrael je 5 nogometaša iz palestinske reprezentacije onemogućio da sudjeluju u kvalifikacijskoj utakmici za svjetsko nogometno prvenstvo koju su trebali odigrati protiv Uzbekistana. Ostali igrači reprezentacije kažnjeni su po povratku: 40 su sati putovali 100 metara od graničnog prijelaza Rafah (na egipatskoj granici) do izraelske kontrolne točke, a jednom od igrača, Ziadu Al Kourdu, izraelska je vojska srušila kuću u Deir Al-Balahu u Pojasu Gaze. Izrael je 2003. jednom palestinskom sportašu onemogućio da otputuje i sudjeluje na Paraolimpijskim igrama koje su se održavale u Irskoj. Palestinska se nogometna reprezentacija ne može ni sastaviti zbog izraelskih ograničenja kretanja na Zapadnoj obali i blokade Pojasa Gaze. Ženska nogometna ekipa imala se priliku po prvi puta okupiti u Jordanu na prvenstvu ženskog nogometa Zapadne Azije 2007. Nogometašice su igrale utakmicu bez da su znale imena ostalih nogometašica u ekipi. Nogometašica palestinske reprezentacije Navin Kleib zbog kontrolnih točaka i aparthejdskog zida na Zapadnoj obali ne može do nogometnog terena udaljenog samo 20 km, pa je primorana nogomet igrati na betonu. Izrael također uništava nogometne stadione na palestinskom području, na primjer u Gazi 2006. Izrael ubija sportaše poput Tareka Al-Qutoa na Zapadnoj obali. Nisu pošteđena ni djeca. Mnoga su ubijena dok su igrala nogomet, poput Alija (11) kojeg je 18. lipnja 2001. na nogometnom stadionu ubio izraelski snajperist. Izraelski sportaši to znaju, ali ne samo da ne prosvjeduju protiv toga, već i sami sudjeluju u tim zločinima. U vrijeme masakra u Jeninu 2002. pokazalo se da 21 od 22 igrača tadašnje izraelske nogometne reprezentacije služi u okupacijskoj vojsci.
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Why is an Israeli soldier worth more than a Palestinian child?
A life is a life, and a human being is a human being. So, many now ask why Gilad Shalit's life is worth 1,027 Palestinian lives. To ask that is to not understand Israel. An Israeli life's value cannot be estimated, whereas a Palestinian life is of very little to no value. I think I speak for most Palestinians when I say, I'm glad Gilad Shalit is home, safe and with his family, that Palestinians more than anyone understand what it's like to lose a father, mother, brother, sister, daughter and son. More than anyone, Palestinians understand the joy he and his family must feel now that he's back.
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EGIPAT:
Egypt: Military 'Virginity Test' Investigation a Sham
On the afternoon of March 9, soldiers and men in civilian clothing destroyed a tent camp belonging to demonstrators in Tahrir Square's central garden, where people had camped off and on since January 28. Military officers arrested at least 20 women, along with at least 174 men, took them all to the grounds of the Egyptian Museum where the military had set up a temporary base since the January protests, and tortured them. Human Rights Watch has documented how military officers beat, whipped, and kicked the men and beat the women, chained them to the iron fence, and gave them electric shocks. Rasha Azab, a 28-year-old journalist for Al-Fajr Weekly, told Human Rights Watch she was handcuffed to an outside wall in a museum courtyard: "They were kicking me in my stomach and hitting me with wooden sticks and slapping my face. They called me dirty names. At one point, one of them came and tied my hands even more tightly. I stood there for four hours. I saw dozens of men being dragged on the floor, being whipped. All of them were the people who had stayed in the square. I heard people screaming from inside the museum, and [the soldiers] said, “You should thank God you are not inside.”" ... It was at the military prison that the sexual assaults took place under the guise of virginity tests. ... Ibrahim told Human Rights Watch: "Two men in military uniform came into the cell. They asked us which of us was unmarried and then told the seven of us that they were going to examine us to see if we were really virgins. They took us out one by one. When it was my turn they took me to a bed in a passageway in front of the cell. There were lots of soldiers around and they could see me. I asked if the soldiers could move away and the officer escorting me tasered me. The woman prison guard in plain clothes stood at my head and then a man in military uniform examined me with his hand for several minutes. It was painful. He took his time. It was clear he was doing it on purpose to humiliate me."
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NO MILITARY TRIALS FOR CIVILIANS
Call-Out for Solidarity with Egypt: Defend the Revolution (video)
Again and again the army and the police have attacked us, beaten us, arrested us, killed us. And we have resisted, we have continued; some of these days we lost, others we won, but never without cost. Over a thousand gave their lives to remove Mubarak. Many more have joined them in death since. We go on so that their deaths will not be in vain. Names like Ali Maher (a 15 year old demonstrator killed by the army in Tahrir, 9th of April), Atef Yehia (shot in the head by security forces in a protest in solidarity with Palestine, 15th of May), Mina Danial (shot by the Army in a protest in front of Masepro, 9th of October). Mina Daniel, in death, suffers the perverse indignity of being on the military prosecutor's list of the accused. Moreover, since the military junta took power, at least 12,000 of us have been tried by military courts, unable to call witnesses and with limited access to lawyers. Minors are serving in adult prisons, death sentences have been handed down, torture runs rampant. Women demonstrators have been subjected to sexual assault in the form of “virginity tests” by the Army. On October 9th, the Army massacred 28 of us at Maspero; they ran us over with tanks and shot us down in the street while manipulating state media to try and incite sectarian violence. The story has been censored. The military is investigating itself. They are systematically targeting those of us who speak out.
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Egypt's Military Widens Crackdown as Prominent Blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah Remains Imprisoned (video)
The biggest blow came last month, when the army killed as many as 28 civilians, most of them members of the country's Coptic Christian minority. On the evening of October 9th, tens of thousands were gathered outside the state media headquarters, known as Maspero, when the shooting began. Eyewitnesses filmed military vehicles running over crowds of people, but the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces continues to deny any responsibility for the killings.
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SAUDIJSKA ARABIJA:
Why is no one protecting Saudi Arabia's child brides?
Atgaa, 10, and her sister Reemya, 8, are about to be married to men in their 60s. Atgaa will be her husband's fourth wife. Their wedding celebrations are scheduled for this week and will take place in the town of Fayaadah Abban in Qasim, Saudi Arabia. The girls are getting married because their financially struggling father needs the money that their dowries will provide: young girls of this age can fetch as much as $40,000 each. Many readers might be shocked at this news. How can it be legal? The answer is that Saudi Arabia has no minimum age for marriage, and it is perfectly legal to marry even an hour-old child. ... Camel festivals, held at his time of the year in Saudi Arabia, witness the practice called akheth ("taking") in which girls aged 14 to 16 are "gifted" to the usually elderly members of the monarchy for a few days or weeks. This practice, reminiscent of the infamous droit du seigneur in medieval Europe, is maintained to this day with the monarchy's protection. Saudi Arabia has probably the highest number of child marriages in the Middle East and yet there has been almost no international outrage or objection directed at the practice. ... So far, no UN body, such as Unicef or the human rights council, has issued a single statement condemning child marriages in Saudi Arabia [see footnote]. In fact, not one country has made a statement in the human rights council on this issue, and not a single western government has asked the Saudi monarchy to stop the practice.
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