[Peace] Palestine Newsletter Issue 2

Fri Nov 2 18:45:46 UTC 2012

Recently In Palestine...

Channel Two News (Israel's highest-rated news program) published a
statement by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) that the
reports during the 2008-2009 "Gaza War" saying that militants were using
schools to fire rockets into Israel were "misinformation" and "falsehood"
and that "there has never been any evidence produced to show that that
during the Gaza war militants were firing rockets into Israel from UNRWA
installations". The ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) issued an
apology and retraction last week and these retractions are 2 of 3 that have
been made recently by large news corporations. Palestinian activists see
these retractions and apologies as victories that illustrate that
misinformation is used by the IDF to attack Palestinians without
provocation.
These reports were used during Operation Cast Lead to justify the bombing
of schools in Gaza which resulted into the destruction of 18 schools and
damage being done to 280 schools. These attacks also resulted in the death
of 250 students (86 from UNRWA schools and 164 from government schools),
the death of 15 teachers (3 from UNRWA schools and 12 from government
schools), the injury of 856 students (402 from UNRWA schools and 454 from
government schools) and the injury of 19 teachers (14 from UNRWA schools
and 5 from government schools).
Source 1 <http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=532419>
Source 2<http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/failing-gaza-no%20rebuilding-no-recovery-no-more-excuses.pdf>
Source 3<http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israeli-tv-admits-no-rockets-were-ever-fired-unrwa-schools-gaza-during-cast-lead>

Muslim Odeh, a 12 year old Palestinian child, was recently arrested for the
10th time in Israel in the last 3 years under accusations of throwing
stones and molotov cocktails. He is one of more than 8000 children arrested
and detained by Israel since the year 2000. These children often report
physical and psychological violence being committed against them during
interviews, and Israel has refused to video record these interrogations as
recommended by the UN. Until 2009 Israel tried people over the age of 16 as
adults despite the UN declaration that anyone under 18 years old was to be
tried as a minor.  Many children who have been detained by Israel report
fear of dogs (dogs are used during Israeli Arrests), bed wetting, night
mares, eating disorder and other stress related illnesses. Arrests of Odeh
and children like him raise questions about the practices of the Israeli
military and whether or not these methods actually to serve and protect
Israelis or whether to further terrorize Palestinians.
Source<http://electronicintifada.net/content/twelve-year-old-arrested-10-times-israel-three-years/11791>

A letter was recently sent to the US congress by a group of fifteen
Protestant religious leaders that requested that the government look into
its unconditional support to Israel. This letter acknowledged that both
sides have legitimate security concerns but postulated that the human
rights violations committed by Israel are in clear violation of the U.S
policy of not sending military support to any regime involved in humans
rights abuses. The letter was met with much criticism and labelled
anti-Semitic by many prominent Zionist groups. While appeals like these are
often quickly silenced and labelled "anti-Semitic" in the United States, it
shows a growing support for the Palestinian movement in the U.S.
Movements like these and even student activism in universities has been a
driving force in changing the public opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian
issue and is the first step in changing U.S. foreign policy in Israel and
Palestine.
Source 1<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-zogby/efforts-to-silence-an-app_b_1992396.html>
Source 2<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/21/us/church-appeal-on-israel-angers-jewish-groups.html?_r=1&>
Source 3<http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/10/20121021112143407608.html>
(This
is an article on the growing popularity of the Israel-Palestine issue in
the U.S.)

Palestinian Authority members have begun striking in Ramallah over the
"late and incomplete payment of their salaries". The PA cabinet has urged
Arab countries that donate to the PA to continue their support.
These strikes have also begun in the UNRWA to protest the dismissal of 130
workers and the cuts made to agency services. These cuts have raised the
prices of services for Palestinians who cannot afford them.
 Source <http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=531502>

On Tuesday, October 24th, the Israeli military said its aircraft had
targeted two rocket-launching squads in northern Gaza. This attack killed
two militants from the military wing of Hamas (Al-Qassam) and wounded two
others. In an 8 hour period afterwards 65 rockets were fired into Israel
from Gaza and Israel responded with another airstrike in Gaza early
Wednesday, October 24th, killing two people and seriously wounding 9 others.
The Palestinian rocket strikes wounded three workers in Israel. Israel's
prime minister Netanyahu has threatened that further attacks will lead to
escalation on their part.
Three days after these attacks an Israeli Airstrike killed a Palestinian
fighter and wounded another after Palestinians fired mortars at Israeli
Tanks involved in an Incursion near the town of Khan Yunis. Tanks had
entered into east Khan Yunis and opened fire on civilian homes according to
Gaza security forces which prompted the mortar fire by Palestinian
fighters.
This conflict ended a brief ceasefire between Israel and Palestine which
had been brokered by Egypt.
Source 1 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17348103>
 Source 2 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17343600>
Source 3 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18534424>
 Source 4 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20120505>
Source 5<http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/10/2012102852911952870.html>

A survey performed by the Yisraela Goldblum Fund found that the majority of
the Jewish public in Israel wants preferences for Jews over Arabs in
admission to jobs in the government. The survey also found that nearly 50%
of Jewish citizens polled believed Jewish citizens should be treated better
by the state. The survey presented much more disturbing data about how
Jewish citizens in Israel viewed their Arab counterparts. The study has
drawn criticism, however, for having a small sample size of 503
interviewees.
Source 1<http://www.haaretz.com/polopoly_fs/1.471827.1351511042!/image/1004082658.jpg>
Source 2<http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/survey-most-israeli-jews-wouldn-t-give-palestinians-vote-if-west-bank-was-annexed.premium-1.471644>
Another article that discusses this issue and the general Apartheid
policies of Israel can be found here:
Source 3<http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/10/20121027145235386715.html>

On Saturday, October 20th, Israel intercepted a Swedish ship attempting to
bring humanitarian aide to Gaza. The ship had five serving parliamentarians
from Spain, Norway, Sweden and Greece and a former parliamentarian from
Canada. The activists on the boat alleged that the commandos used tasers to
subdue them while the IDF issued a statement that their commandos did not
use force.
Similar seizures have been deemed legal but heavy handed by a UN commission
that was created to investigate these actions. Israel's policy of
intercepting humanitarian aide ships was brought into the public eye in
2010 when 9 activists on a humanitarian aide flotilla were killed by
Israeli soldiers.
Israel also accused the activists of attempting to illegally enter Israel
even though the stated mission of the ship was to support Gaza. Ten of the
activists were deported on Sunday and Monday while seventeen of the
activists were deported on October 24th. Three of the activists are Israeli
and were placed under house arrest in Israel.
Source 1<http://dailynewsegypt.com/2012/10/20/ship-to-gaza-boarded-by-idf-forces/>
Source 2<http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/10/24/3110251/israel-deports-estelle-activists>

A recent Israeli Court decision forced the Israeli government to release
documents that discuss studies done by the government on the amount of food
needed in Gaza to ensure the survival of Gazans. This report has met much
criticism because it shows that the Israeli Government has
used civilians to pressure militants in Palestine to comply with their
demands. This report, according to the Israeli government, is largely
irrelevant because these methods were never even used but Palestinians
argue that they've received far less resources than they need in Israel.
Since the beginning of the blockade in Gaza Palestinians have struggled to
receive necessary resources because of Israel's strict rules on what is
allowed in and out of Gaza and because of Israel's unwillingness to let
human rights groups help in the region.
Source 1<http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DbL_ViP8dks#!>
Source 2<http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/17/us-palestinians-israel-gaza-idUSBRE89G0NM20121017>
Source 3<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/17/israeli-military-calorie-limit-gaza>
Source 4<http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCoQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2012%2F10%2F17%2Fworld%2Fmeast%2Fisrael-calorie-count-gaza%2Findex.html&ei=G7-SUNuuO_Cu0AGm6YGgCg&usg=AFQjCNHK5duiE7ruPsZHEGYan3WkUX2n8Q&sig2=vPrIlBmemWUw1_NoqGf1IQ>

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, visited the Gaza
Strip in October, making him the first head of state to visit Gaza since
the international Boycott of the Palestinian territories in 2006. Qatar
seeks to invest in building 1000 homes for poor families in the southern
Gaza strip, an area that suffered extreme damage in Operation Cast Lead,
and has pledged to raise the Qatari aide to Palestine from 254 million
dollars to 400 million dollars.
 Source 1<http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/10/2012102353137370247.html>
Source 2<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-mednicoff/qatar-palestine_b_2010282.html>

The Palestinian Economy has begun to benefit greatly from the IT boom we've
experienced here in the west. IT businesses contributed 50 million dollars
to the Palestinian economy last year and it is a sector that is expected to
grow by 20 percent per year. Growths in industries like this
provide Palestinians with a way to make the Palestinian territory more
economically successful in lieu of the trade blockades being experienced by
Palestinians.
Source<http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middleeast/2012/10/2012102953949546447.html>

A recent "price-tag" movement has arisen in Israel where Israeli Zionists
vandalize, and at times violently attack, both religious sites and homes in
occupied territories. While the illegality of these settlements is still
contested by the Israeli government, the movement shows a growing hatred
within the Israeli civilian population. Movements like these show very
clearly that the region is moving farther and farther from political
stability and that both sides (Zionists and Palestinians) are growing more
radicalized. They also demonstrate that the hatred felt in the region is
not one sided as the Western media presents it.
Source <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19601311>

Two articles discussing the effects of a barrier being built by Israel in
the West bank can be found here<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16656978>
 and here <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18012895>. Both of these
articles do a very good job of explaining the effects of this action by
Israel.

A very detailed account of the recent Russel Tribunals can be found here.
It is recommended reading/viewing for all members and AlJazeera does a far
better job of coverage on the tribunals than we
can.<http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/palestinians-lost-representation-0022363>

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*Students for Justice in Palestine *
*University of Illinois-Urbana*
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