Informacije iz članka WEST BANK: Palestinian Christians denied access to holy places in Jerusalem during Easter novinara Mahera Abukhatera koji u cijelosti na engleskom možete pročitati na linku.
16. travanj 2011.
Za razliku od kršćana iz ostatka svijeta, palestinski kršćani koji žive na Zapadnoj obali i u Pojasu Gaze ne mogu posjetiti sveta kršćanska mjesta u Jeruzalemu.
Otkad je Izrael Istočni Jeruzalem početkom 1990-tih odsjekao od ostatka okupiranog palestinskog teritorija, palestinski stanovnici Zapadne obale i Pojasa Gaze moraju od izraelske vojske dobiti dozvolu da smiju ući u Jeruzalem.
Situacija se dodatno pogoršala nakon 2000. godine, a ograničenja se postrožila nakon što je oko Istočnog Jeruazelma izgrađen 6 metara visok betonski zid koji palestinskim muslimanima i kršćanima onemogućava pristup svetim mjestima i staroj gradskoj jezgri u Jeruzalemu.
„Za kršćane Sveti tjedan u Jeruzalemu ima posebno duhovno značenje“ navodi se u izjavi kršćanske zajednice na Zapadnoj obali. „Stari grad, njegova vrata i ceste, Maslinska gora, Via Dolorosa i Bazilika Svetog groba, koje posjećuju hodočasnici iz cijelog svijeta, jednako su tako važni i palestinskim kršćanima iz Gaze i sa Zapadne obale, koji žele zajedno sa svojom jeruzalemskom braćom sudjelovati u liturgijskim obredima koji prethode uskrsnuću, najsvetijoj kršćanskoj svetkovini.“
Pristup Jeruzalemu za Palestince sa Zapadne obale i iz Pojasa Gaze, umjesto vjerskog prava, postao je povlastica. Da bi došao u Jeruzalem svaki Palestinac iz Zapadne obale ili Pojasa Gaze mora najprije za to dobiti dozvolu izraelskih vojnih vlasti.
Te se dozvole ne dobijaju lako. Obično se izdaju bolesnim osobama radi liječenja u Jeruzalemu ili izraelskim bolnicama ili poduzetnicima. Često ih dobivaju i radnici jer Izrael iskorištava palestinsku jeftinu radnu snagu. No osobama koje žele posjetiti članove svoje obitelji koji žive u Istočnom Jeruzalemu ili prošetati Starim gradom ili moliti na svetim mjestima, te se dozvole rijetko izdaju.
„U svakoj zemlji koja poštuje slobodu vjeroispovijesti, vjernici različitih religija žive u skladu sa svojom vjerom i mogu moliti bez da ih vlasti u tome sputavaju“, navodi se u izjavi kršćana. „U Jeruzalemu već nekoliko desetljeća nemamo takvu situaciju. Okupacijska sila kršćanima i muslimanima onemogućava slobodan pristup svetim mjestima u nekoliko važnih prilika“, stoji u izjavi.
„Ograničenja nametnuta lokalnim vjernicima predstavljaju kršenja njihovih temeljnih ljudskih prava, vjerskih sloboda i stoljetnih vjerskih tradicija autohtonih kršćanskih stanovnika ove zemlje“, dodaje se u izjavi.
Izrael je nedavno počeo izdavati između 2000 i 3000 dozvola za kršćane koji tijekom Božića i Uskrsa žele posjetiti sveta mjesta u Jeruzalemu, no te su brojke i dalje relativno male u usporedbi s brojem palestinskih kršćana. Uz to, dozvole se izdaju samo starijim osobama u braku, a mlađima i samcima ne. Kršćani također moraju dozvolu zatražiti preko svojih crkava.
„Sustav izdavanja dozvola koji je nametnuo Izrael predstavlja očigledno kršenje Opće deklaracije o ljudskim pravima i drugih međunarodnih ugovora i povelja koje je Izrael potpisao“, tvrde u kršćanskoj zajednici. „Neovisno o broju osoba iz lokalne kongregacije kojima je dopušteno da sudjeluju u svetkovinama, odbacujemo nametanje sustava izdavanja dozvola i kvota kako bismo mogli doći u naše crkve.“
Na nesreću palestinskih kršćana, Uskrs se podudara sa židovskim blagdanom Pasha. Izrael obično zatvara okupirana palestinska područja tijekom židovskih blagdana, što znači da dozvole automatski ne vrijede i da čak ni oni koji su dobili dozvole neće moći prijeći kontrolne točke na ulazu u Istočni Jeruzalem.
Izvor: WEST BANK: Palestinian Christians denied access to holy places in Jerusalem during Easter
DODATNI LINKOVI:
Palestina/Izrael:
Brod „Srebrenica“ prevozit će pomoć palestinskom narodu
Glavni organizator akcije nazvane „Freedom Flotilla Two“ je Evropska kampanja za deblokadu Gaze (ECESG), a među 1.000 organizacija koje učestvuju u akciji je i Udruženje „Solidarnost“ iz Bihaća. Prošle godine već smo sakupili oko 25.000 KM i uplatili smo ih na račun ECESG-a, a oni koji žele još mogu pomoći uplatama na naš ili direktno na žiroračun ECESG-a - kazala nam je predsjednica Udruženja „Solidarnost“ Zemira Gorinjac, uz objašnjenje da su detaljnije informacije dostupne na njihovoj web-stranici www.solidarnost-bosnia.com Gorinjac je dodala da bi, na inicijativu „Solidarnosti“, jedan od 15 brodova koji budu plovili ka Gazi trebao nositi naziv „Srebrenica“. Za sada je sigurno da će sa 1.000 aktivista iz raznih krajeva svijeta konvojem putovati i četvero građana iz BiH. Još četvero njih, među kojima su i dva demobilisana borca Armije RBiH, također je voljno ići u Gazu, ali još nije osiguran novac. Zemira Gorinjac objašnjava da će brodovi prevoziti isključivo građevinski materijal koji je stanovnicima Gaze prijeko potreban, jer oko 50.000 ljudi živi pod šatorima. Česti su i slučajevi ranjavanja djece koja u blizini tampon-zone sakupljaju kamenje.
Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni found dead in Gaza after kidnap (video)
Tribute to Vittorio (video)
Another country
A Palestinian who is summoned to the court cannot arrive by traveling on the main road, Highway 443, the route you followed just an hour ago. That road is limited to ordinary travelers, like yourself. The High Court actually ruled that Palestinians can travel on it, but they can only travel on its less useful stretches. In order to reach the court, Palestinians must travel on a different, longer road, which features two checkpoints (Bitunia and Qalandiyah ). A Palestinian reaches the court and is placed on the left side of the fence. An Israeli who travels to the court on the fast highway, positions himself on the right side. Right now, the Palestinian and the Israeli stand relatively close to one another; neither looks the other in the eye; each tries to stay in his own world. ... A 19-year-old woman is standing in the hall, declaring "I am sorry, your honor, I've learned my lesson. I won't do it again." I look at her; she has put on a lot of makeup and is holding a handbag. She looks like an Israeli teenager a few months before her army service. I wonder, what is she sorry about? What lesson has she learned? The judge says: "I accept the plea bargain. I believe that S. has decided to rehabilitate herself and go on with her life. She expresses regret about what she did, and claims that she has learned her lesson. For this reason, I sentence her to a month's suspended sentence, and an NIS 800 fine." Here's the story: It turns out that S. has a Palestinian father and an Israeli mother. One day, loneliness overcame her, and she decided to visit her mother in Jerusalem. She traveled there and was apprehended by security forces. She was put on trial for this offense. The judge now trusts that she will rehabilitate herself, that she will change her ways. If not, next time she will spend a month in prison. ... In most cases, the discrimination precedes the stage in which the detainee is brought to court. For example, when Abdallah Abu Rahmah was arrested several years ago, during a demonstration in Bil'in, six persons were detained - Abdallah Abu Rahmah, Ratab Abu Rahmah, and four Israeli Jews. All were charged with disturbing public order. The two Palestinians were interrogated, issued denials, and were imprisoned. Ratab was held in custody for two weeks. An indictment was issued against him, along with a request that he be held in remand until proceedings in his case were completed. Abdallah was held for a similar period, and an indictment was filed against him. In contrast, the four Israeli detainees did not cooperate with investigators. In the police station, investigators offered to release three, with restrictive conditions. One agreed; two refused the offer, as an act of solidarity with their Palestinian comrades. The three Israelis who were held in custody were released by the courts after spending one night in jail. Files on all four were closed.
ISM GAZA: We Will Not Go Away from Gaza
As we had done when Vittorio was with us, we will continue to stand alongside the Palestinian people, we will continue to struggle against the occupation, we will continue to accompany farmers to their lands along the border, we will continue to participate in demonstrations, and we will continue to tell the world what happens here in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. We think that Victor would agree with Che Guevara when he said, “Don’t cry for me if I die, do what I was doing and I will live on in you.” The best way to honor Vik is to continue the work that he was doing. In particular we will soon begin crewing a boat whose mission is to monitor the violation of human rights in Palestinian waters. This boat will have its maiden voyage on April 20: Vik had strongly backed this project and he had enthusiastically participated in its realization. Vik has been an inspiration to all of us, we all hope to live up to his example. In a documentary about him, Vik said he would have liked to be remembered by Nelson Mandela's quote; “A victor is merely a dreamer who never stops dreaming.” Your dreams are our dreams; we will never forget you, Vik.
Israel: Netanyahu Warns 2nd Freedom Flotilla May Spark Middle East Situation
(11. travanj 2011.) Netanyahu je na sastanku s europskim veleposlanicima neistinito tvrdio da u Pojasu Gaze ne postoji humanitarna kriza i zatražio od europskih vlada da zabrane isplovljavanje međunarodne humanitarne Flotile slobode 2 koja za Gazu namjerava ploviti u svibnju ove godine. Netanyahu je ocijenio da je međunarodni civilni konvoj brodova koji u Gazu namjerava prevesti humanitarnu pomoć „provokacija“.
Itamar Killers Found?
According to Haaretz, the teens decided on a whim to go to Itamar armed with nothing but wire cutters and a prayer. They walked across the buffer zone without being noticed by the cameras, security guards, soldiers or residents of the colony. They reached the electrified fence, where they spent ten minutes cutting the wire. The automatic cameras and sensors seemed, by a stroke of anti-semitic fortune, to be asleep that day. Once they’d cut the fence, the two teenagers walked into the colony, where again nobody noticed them. They found a house which by sheer luck was 1) unlocked, 2) empty and 3) had an M16 rifle and ammunition lying about. Amjad and Hakim picked up the gun and the bullets, and stepped out of the empty house. There, they moved to the Fogels’ residence. They walked in, and killed four family members-one with the gun, the others with a knife. Having defied all odds, the teenagers now left the house and went back outside. They still hadn’t been noticed. Neither the gun shot nor the screams had been heard (the security services here explain that the weather wasn't conducive to carrying sound waves that evening). While realizing they STILL hadn't been noticed by any of the residents, soldiers, security guards or cameras, Amjad and Hakim spotted the Fogels' 3 month old baby through the window. So they decided to go back inside and kill the baby. Insatiable Arab thirst for blood and all that. Now the teens, armed with a big stolen M16 rifle, ammunition, and a knife simply walked back out of the colony, again unnoticed by the cameras, soldiers, guards, colonists, sensors and maybe even God himself. They walked across the buffer zone, back to their village, and thought they had gotten away with their dastardly crime. ... And before the seething masses of indignant Zionists could finish wringing their hands, out comes the family of Hakim Awad with the inconvenient revelation that their son had recently undergone testicular surgery that made it impossible for him to walk long distances and needing the toilet every hour, and was at home recovering the night the Fogels were killed. Oops. Zionism really is losing its lustre: They decided to frame a guy who can barely walk for trekking across a buffer zone, through an electrified fence, breaking into two houses, killing an entire family then jogging merrily home.
Vittorio, never more alive than now
This lost child of mine is more alive than ever before, like the grain that has fallen to the ground and died to bring forth a plentiful harvest. I see it and hear it already in the words of his friends, above all the younger among them, some closer, some from afar. Through Vittorio, they have known and understood, and now even more, how one can give 'Utopia' a meaning, like the thirst for justice and peace, how fraternity and solidarity still stand and how, as Vittorio used to say, 'Palestine can also be found at your doorsteps'. We were a long way from Vittorio, but now we are closer than ever, with his living presence magnified at every passing hour, like a wind from Gaza, from his beloved Mediterranean, blowing fierily to deliver the message of his hope and of his love for those without a voice, for the weak and the oppressed, passing the baton. Stay human.
Thousands of Gazans participate in slain Italian activist's funeral
Tisuće Palestinaca u Gazi sudjelovale u sprovodu ubijenog talijanskog aktivista (19. travanj 2011.)
Političari, pripadnici nevladinih organizacija i aktivisti sudjelovali su u ponedjeljak u sprovodu Vittorija Arrigonija kojeg je prošli petak u Gazi ubila jedna salafijska skupina. Palestinski policajci nosili su lijes s Arrigonijevim tijelom i priključili se sprovodu. Okupljeni su uzvikivali „Smrt teroristima!“ Arrigonijevo je tijelo prebačeno iz grada Gaze na granični prijelaz Rafah kako bi ga u Egiptu preuzela Arrigonijeva obitelj. Policija je medijima izjavila da se istraga Arrigonijevog ubojstva nastavlja i da će ubojice biti privedeni pravdi.
State funeral for Italian activist slain in Gaza
Državni sprovod za talijanskog aktivista ubijenog u Gazi (19. travanj 2011.)
Palestinski civili, policija i pripadnici sigurnosnih snaga u ponedjeljak su ispratili tijelo ubijenog aktivista do graničnog prijelaza Rafah. Oko lijesa su se okupili ožalošćeni građani i prijatelji s transparentima na kojima je pisalo „Ostanimo humani“, Vittorijev moto. Tijelo je do Rafaha prevezeno u povorci dok su ostali građani stajali uz cestu sa slikama Arrigonija u rukama. U Rafahu su nosači lijesa plakali. Lijes je iz Rafaha prevezen u Kairo u skladu sa željama Arrigonijeve obitelji. Hamasove sigurnosne snage do sada su uhitile 4 osobe u vezi s ovim ubojstvom, no tvrde da su najmanje još 3 osumnjičenih na slobodi. Oni su identificirani kao Bilal Al Omari, Jordanac Abdul-Rahman Al Breizat, i Hamasov policajac Mohammed Al Salfiti.
To those who murdered Juliano & Vittorio in cold blood
To the Palestinian People, We need to protect every soul who is in solidarity with us and therefore I call on Palestinians to make April 'International Activist Month'. Hold events in mosques, churches, schools, community centers and workplaces to highlight what international activists are doing and the important role those people have in defending the human rights and cultural rights of Palestinians. Talk about the high price that many have paid to defend our schools, our hospitals, our olive trees, our homes, our land, our families, our rights and our lives. Some paid the price twice, within their own communities and tragically within our community. It is our community’s responsibility to protect them, as they have come to join our struggle for freedom. Many of us did not get a chance to tell Vittorio and Juliano how much we love them. Take a minute today to tell any international activists you know that you love them. To all the international Palestine activists, I love you all.
2 dead in clash with murder suspects
Ubijena 2 osumnjičenih za ubojstvo Vittorija Arrigonija (19. travanj 2011.)
Sigurnosne snage Hamasove vlade u Gazi upale su u utorak u jednu zgradu u gradu Gazi kako bi uhitile osumnjičene za ubojstvo talijanskog aktivista Vittorija Arrigonija. Policija je prije bezuspješno pokušavala nagovoriti osumnjičene da se predaju. Poginula su 2 osumnjičenika, a treći je ranjen i uhićen. Policija tvrdi da je osumnjičenik Abdul-Rahman Al-Breizat na drugog osumnjičenika, Bilala Al-Umarija bacio granatu, te potom vatrenim oružjem izvršio samoubojstvo. Treći osumnjičenik, Mahmoud Muhammad Nimir Salfiti je ranjen i uhićen. Prije racije, sigurnosne su snage opkolile kuću u središtu Gaze u kojoj su se trojica osumnjičenih skrivala, a okolni stanovi su evakuirani. Vlasnik kuće, Amer Abu Ghulah, se predao policiji. Premijer vlade u Gazi Haniyeh je policiji ponudio nagradu za uhićenje odgovornih za otmicu i ubojstvo talijanskog aktivista, a neki su dijelovi Pojasa Gaze bili zatvoreni kako bi se spriječio bijeg osumnjičenih.
R.i.P Vittorio Arrigoni (video)
Reflections on the death of Vittorio Arrigoni - Eva Bartlett
Vik, ever determined to witness Gaza, returned on Free Gazas 5th successful mission, arriving just weeks before Israel began the 23-day assault on the entire Gaza Strip. During the war, ISM and Free Gaza rode with ambulances, documenting Israel's war crimes and crimes against civilians. Vik managed to both accompany ambulances and race back along darkened, drone and F-16 targeted roads, to Gaza Citys Ramattan News Agency -the only place we were able to report from-to give non-stop phone interviews and write for his blog, Guerilla Radio as well as Italian and international media, including IL Manifesto and Peacereporter. In those horrifying 23 days, Vik's humor and compassion matched that of our Palestinian medical colleagues, with whom we rode. Vik was a counselor to many of us, with an empathetic ear, wise words, and always a "yalla" (lets go) to get things going. His lack of mastering Arabic didn't matter, he peppering his English speech with Italian curses and Arabic adjectives. To say he was eccentric in some ways would be an understatement, but it would also be irrelevant. He was a fully-conscious humanist and used his political readings and personal experience to advocate clearly, intelligently, often humorously, and humanely for Palestinian justice. He was always ready to go out with the fishermen or get up before dawn to accompany farmers facing similar threats from the Israeli army. Many a sleepy morning we would meet to take a shared taxi Vik had arranged for our accompaniment work in the southeast or north, Vik always in good humor. He always documented our accompaniments with his hand-held camera, along with one or two of us, and would quickly have the footage transferred to computer and uploaded to the internet.
