APRIL2006
"Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law" (From Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Israel is a signatory)
Palestinians are not allowed to drive their cars between the northern and southern West Bank (through the Abu Dis checkpoint east of Jerusalem). Private vehicular traffic to and from Nablus is prohibited. Passage by car through the Qalandiyah checkpoint north of Jerusalem is limited to bearers of Jerusalem residency cards, in cars with Israeli license plates. At the Zaatara checkpoint south of Nablus entry is frequently denied to all south-bound residents of the northern West Bank as part of the IDF "differ according to a recently released report by the United Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a horizontal trisection of the West Bank has been affected by checkpoint at bottle-necks in Zaatara (south of Nablus), Qalandiyah (south of Ramallah) and Abu Dis (east of Jerusalem). On the other hand, the blocking of access to the east and west of the West Bank has created a vertical narrowing of the Palestinian territory.
The OCHA report notes that movement within the three areas is less restricted than movement between them. However, follow-up by Haaretz, Machsom-Watch, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and OCHA reveal that even within the areas limitations on movement are frequently imposed on a specific city or village or on Palestinians in various age groups.
Despite growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the West Bank and Gaza in 2005 of between eight and nine percent, the per capita GDP has dipped by about 30 percent since 1999, according to the World Bank. The fact that the Palestinian economy is functioning well below its potential, according to the World Bank, is first and foremost the result of restrictions on the movement of people and goods.
The economist Hisham Awartani believes that limitations of Palestinian traffic has raised the cost of the transport of goods and raw materials five-fold. The relay of goods back-to-back in Nablus and Ramallah, long waits at internal checkpoints and travel on poor, bumpy roads damages goods and agricultural produce. In a meeting two weeks ago between Palestinian business people and World Bank representative David Craig and diplomats, Awartani said the restrictions were impairing the competitive edge of Palestinian manufacturers and farmers.
According to Awartani, Palestinian export to Israel is 50 percent below its 2000 rate. Israeli import to the Palestinian areas has fallen by about 34 percent since 2000 because of the decline in Palestinian buying power. According to the World Bank, in the first third of 2005, unemployment in the Palestinian Authority was 23 percent (20 percent in Gaza and 29 percent in the West Bank) - more than double the rate before the intifada. Joblessness in the 20-24 age group was 35 percent, with 43 percent of the population below the poverty line.
ARE WE TO CALL THIS JUSTICE?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3748054.stm
Saed Bannoura-IMEMC - Friday, 24
March 2006, 04:55
http://www.imemc.org/content/view/16795/1/
The killer of 13-year old Iman Al Hams, a girl who was
cowering behind a stone and positively identified as a
child before she was shot, and then was shot multiple
times to 'confirm the kill', according to the Israeli
military transcript of the incident, has received 80,000
NIS (about $15,000) compensation for the 'trouble' of
having gone to court.
Iman Al Hams, a 13-year old Palestinian girl, was shot by
more than 23 bullets near the Girit Israeli military
military outpost in Rafah, in October 2004. The soldier
who fired at her, and completed the 'confirm kill'
procedure by firing at her dead body, was not only
acquitted of all charges, but recently received a
promotion to the rank of major.
The soldier, identified as captain “R”, who
repeatedly fired at the child, is a Druze captain in the
Israeli army. He did have a trial for the event, but was
acquitted of all charges.
On Thursday February 16, 2006, the Israeli military
police internal investigations revealed that there had
been major failures in the investigation of the killing.
According to a report published by the Israeli online
daily Haaretz, Israeli Military Police Commander
Brigadier General Roni Benny recently appointed two
reserve officers to examine the military police's conduct
during the investigation.
The examination conducted by the two officers revealed
that the investigators acted unprofessionally and with
negligence. They criticized the decision not to appoint a
special investigation team for the case. The team was
supposed to have been led by higher-ranking and more
experienced officials.
Radio recordings which documented the communication
between the soldiers at the outpost and their leaders
revealed that the incident was in fact a cold-blooded
murder.
During Captain “R”'s trial, which ultimately
resulted in his acquittal, the Israeli military
prosecution charged Captain “R” of misusing his
arms by emptying his magazine in the dead body of Al
Hams, even after confirming she had been killed.
The prosecution also accused “R” of obstruction
of court proceedings after asking his soldiers to alter
testimonies they provided to military investigators
probing the incident. Israeli media sources reported that
Yoav Meni and Elad Eisenberg, the two lawyers
representing “R”, managed to outline
contradictions in the testimonies of the
“witnesses”. The witnesses, soldiers under the
command of Captain “R”, said that they lied
during interrogation, and lied in the sworn testimonies
that they had supplied to the court in order to oust
“R” from the division.
Captain “R”'s lawyer argued the “confirm
kill” of the girl’s death is a known practice
used by the Israeli army to “eliminate
threats”, which in this case was a terrified,
unarmed, crying Palestinian child.
The 13-year-old school girl was on her way to school when
she was killed on October 5, 2004. Although she is just
one of 850 children killed by the Israeli army since the
start of the current stage of conflict in 2000, her death
became one of the few that was widely publicized, due to
the leak of a tape of the incident. The following is a
transcription of the radio transmission between troops
and their commander:
“we identified an Arab female 100m from the gate of
the outpost”
“what did you see?”
“Root, we saw one on "two legs" 100m away
from the post.”
“Sfard, can you see her?”
“positive, a little girl running, the target is
moving to the east.”
“define the position.”
“north of Morshah”
“position not correct”
“she is now behind the digger, she is dying of fear,
shots passed few centimeters from her.”
“they are shooting at her; our soldiers are 70m away
from her.”
“I believe one of our posts ‘brought her
down'”
“what? Did you see that she was hit? did she fell
down?”
“yes, and she is not moving.”
“received.”
“I and Jefro are moving forward to confirm the
killing, cover for us. The situation is as follows: we
conducted orders and fired at her, she wears jeans, a
T-shirt, and a head cover. Killing confirmed.”
“received”
“any thing that moves in this domain, even if a
three year old should be killed.”
After the killing of Al-Hams, the lawyers of ‘R'
Elad Eisenberg and Yoav Meni tried to focus of the system
itself and the rules of engagement used by the army.
“Instead of putting ‘R' on trial, an entire
system was on trial. This system allows the army to
conduct lethal action in
Instead, the officer was acquitted, rewarded, promoted
and continues to serve in the
22% of the Palestinians killed by the Israeli army during
Al Aqsa Intifada which erupted late 2000 were children.
They were killed in the streets, schools, and at home
during military shelling to Palestinian houses.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that the
number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army since
the beginning of the Intifada until February 13, 2006 is
3,808 residents, and 29,456 were injured.
The number of children killed by Israeli military fire
since the beginning of the Intifada is 851, including 160
who were under the age of 12.
Apparently, the so-called 'failure to investigate' cases
of Palestinian civilians killed by the Israeli military
seems to be a recurrent issue.
The case of Al-Hams did not carry any criminal
proceedings because the investigators themselves were
involved in the shooting which lead to the death of the
girl. Now, the army says that there was a failure in
probing the 'confirm kill' case that claimed the life of
a 13-year old Palestinian child.
Apparently, the lives of the Palestinians, including
children, are not even worth a thorough investigation by
the state of