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Category: Palestinian territories

  • Impact of Israeli strike in Gaza akin to chemical weapons, NGO report finds

    Shells fired at agrochemical warehouse created toxic plume that has left residents with health problems

    An Israeli airstrike on an agrochemical warehouse during last year’s war in Gaza amounted to the “indirect deploying of chemical weapons”, according to a report analysing the attack and its impact.

    Incendiary artillery shells fired by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) hit the large Khudair Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Tools warehouse in the north of the Gaza Strip on 15 May last year, setting fire to hundreds of tonnes of pesticides, fertilisers, plastics and nylons. The strike created a toxic plume, which engulfed an area of 5.7 sq km and has left local residents struggling with health issues, including two reports of miscarriages, and indications of environmental damage.

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  • Boris Johnson’s endorsement of JCB is shameful | Letters

    Amnesty International’s report JCB Off Track gives evidence that the company’s equipment has been used in the destruction of Palestinian homes, writes Stuart Penny

    Boris Johnson’s recent visit to a JCB factory in India inadvertently highlighted the use of JCB vehicles in the destruction of mainly Muslim settlements (Outcry in India as Boris Johnson visits JCB plant amid demolitions row, 21 April).

    These are not the only abuses of human rights committed using JCB equipment. Amnesty International’s report JCB Off Track, published in November last year, gives evidence of the use of JCB equipment in the destruction of Palestinian homes, agricultural land and other property in the occupied Palestinian territories. The report explains the steps that Amnesty says the company could take to prevent this.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Calling the Sydney festival boycott ‘censorship’ is a disingenuous attempt by those in power to silence Palestinians | Randa Abdel-Fattah

    Those who attack cultural boycotts in the name of ‘free speech’ are conveniently missing when Palestinians are routinely bullied for speaking their truth

    In early December 2021, Palestinians and Arabs representing a diversity of creative, activist and academic practice approached the board of Sydney festival after it was revealed the board had accepted $20,000 funding from the Israeli embassy for the presentation of Sydney Dance Company’s realisation of Decadance, a work created by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin of the Batsheva Dance Company of Tel Aviv. The amount gave the embassy “star partnership” status with Sydney Festival.

    We made three requests: divest from the star partnership, end all relations with the State of Israel, and remove any Israeli government emblem from Sydney festival’s promotional material.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • JCB failed to do checks over potential use of equipment in Palestine

    UK government watchdog finds lack of due diligence over human rights in occupied territories

    JCB, the British tractor firm, has been found by a UK government watchdog to have failed to carry out due diligence human rights checks over the potential use of its equipment to demolish homes in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT).

    The watchdog ruled: “It is unfortunate that JCB, which is a leading British manufacturer of world-class products, did not take any steps to conduct human rights due diligence of any kind despite being aware of alleged adverse human rights impacts and that its products are potentially contributing to those impacts.”

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Hacking of activists is latest in long line of cyber-attacks on Palestinians

    Analysis: while identity of hackers is not known in this case, Palestinians have long been spied on by Israeli military

    The disclosure that Palestinian human rights defenders were reportedly hacked using NSO’s Pegasus spyware will come as little surprise to two groups of people: Palestinians themselves and the Israeli military and intelligence cyber operatives who have long spied on Palestinians.

    While it is not known who was responsible for the hacking in this instance, what is very well documented is the role of the Israeli military’s 8200 cyberwarfare unit – known in Hebrew as the Yehida Shmoneh-Matayim – in the widespread spying on Palestinian society.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Palestinian activists’ mobile phones hacked using NSO spyware, says report

    Investigation finds rights activists working for groups accused by Israel of being terrorist were previously targeted by NSO spyware

    The mobile phones of six Palestinian human rights defenders who work for organisations that were recently – and controversially – accused by Israel of being terrorist groups were previously hacked by sophisticated spyware made by NSO Group, according to a report.

    An investigation by Front Line Defenders (FLD), a Dublin-based human rights group, found that the mobile phones of Salah Hammouri, a Palestinian rights defender and lawyer whose Jerusalem residency status has been revoked, and five others were hacked using Pegasus, NSO’s signature spyware. In one case, the hacking was found to have occurred as far back as July 2020.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Lebanon sentenced me to 10 years in prison for helping sick Palestinian children – I consider my work a badge of honour | Jamal Rifi

    As a doctor, I believe turning away from desperately ill kids – be they in Palestine or elsewhere – is a far greater crime

    I have never walked away from a fight involving the wellbeing of children. I have never abandoned the right for Palestinian health workers to train in Israel for the benefit of those same children.

    Why is this something I need to speak about publicly now?

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • By banning six Palestinian NGOs, Israel has entered a new era of impunity | Raja Shehadeh

    I founded al-Haq in 1979. Israeli now considers it to be a terrorist group, along with other vital humans rights organisations

    • Raja Shehadeh is a Palestinian writer and lawyer

    I was one of the founders of the human rights organisation Al-Haq in 1979 and remain proud of its work over the past four decades in defending human rights in the Israeli occupied territories. I was horrified when it was declared to be a terrorist organisation by the Israeli defence minister on 19 October, along with five other Palestinian NGOs.

    During the many years of direct Israeli occupation, from 1967 to 1995, there was a long and expanding list of proscribed groups issued by the Israeli military commander under “emergency” regulations first put in place by the British in 1945. Al-Haq was never on this list.

    Raja Shehadeh is a Palestinian writer and lawyer. His most recent book, Going Home: A Walk Through Fifty Years of Occupation, won the 2020 Moore prize

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  • Israel labels Palestinian human rights groups as terrorist organisations

    Defence ministry says the six groups have undercover links to militant PFLP movement

    Israel has accused six prominent Palestinian human rights groups of being terrorist organisations, saying they have undercover links to a militant movement.

    Most of the groups document alleged human rights violations by Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Nizar Banat’s death highlights brutality of Palestinian Authority

    Killing of the strident Fatah critic has underlined the PA’s complicity with Israel and how far Mahmoud Abbas will go to crush dissent

    Nizar Banat knew he was going to die. As he grew bolder calling out corrupt members of Fatah, the party which controls the Palestinian Authority, the death threats mounted. In May, his home near Hebron was attacked by masked gunmen on motorbikes, in an incident which left his children traumatised.

    After that, the political activist decided it wasn’t safe to stay home. “He went to his cousin’s house in H2 [an area of Hebron city controlled by the Israeli military] because he hoped Fatah and the PA could not reach him there, but he knew they were coming for him,” said Jihan, Banat’s widow, as she hugged their youngest son in the family’s reception room in the village of Dura. The front of the house is still pockmarked with bullet holes. “He told me: ‘I don’t want to be killed in front of the children.’”

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Nizar Banat’s death highlights brutality of Palestinian Authority

    Killing of the strident Fatah critic has underlined the PA’s complicity with Israel and how far Mahmoud Abbas will go to crush dissent

    Nizar Banat knew he was going to die. As he grew bolder calling out corrupt members of Fatah, the party which controls the Palestinian Authority, the death threats mounted. In May, his home near Hebron was attacked by masked gunmen on motorbikes, in an incident which left his children traumatised.

    After that, the political activist decided it wasn’t safe to stay home. “He went to his cousin’s house in H2 [an area of Hebron city controlled by the Israeli military] because he hoped Fatah and the PA could not reach him there, but he knew they were coming for him,” said Jihan, Banat’s widow, as she hugged their youngest son in the family’s reception room in the village of Dura. The front of the house is still pockmarked with bullet holes. “He told me: ‘I don’t want to be killed in front of the children.’”

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Israel and Hamas attacks in May could be war crimes, says rights body

    HRW report focuses on three Israeli strikes that killed civilians during Gaza war

    Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out attacks that could amount to war crimes during the latest round of hostilities in the Gaza Strip, a report from Human Rights Watch has found.

    The international rights watchdog’s investigation, published on Tuesday, focused mainly on three Israeli airstrikes that killed scores of civilians in areas where “there were no evident military targets”.

    Related: Life inside Gaza during 11 days of bombardment

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Malawi Pride and press freedoms in Palestine: human rights this fortnight – in pictures

    A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Chile to Cambodia

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Amnesty: ‘catalogue of violations’ by Israeli police against Palestinians

    Palestinians face repression from Israel and Palestinian Authority, human rights watchdog says

    The latest flare-up of violence in the Gaza Strip has been accompanied by a “catalogue of violations” committed by Israeli police against Palestinians in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, according to research from Amnesty International.

    Arab citizens of Israel have been subjected to unlawful force from officers during peaceful demonstrations, sweeping mass arrests, torture and other ill-treatment in detention, and police have failed to protect Palestinians from premeditated attacks by rightwing Jewish extremists, the human rights watchdog said on Thursday.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • British backing for Israel helps to sustain the unbearable status quo | Rafeef Ziadah

    Diplomatic and military support – and a thriving arms trade – make the UK complicit in the oppression of Palestinians

    I often tell my first-year politics students that the study of politics is the study of power. And what we saw last month, above all, was the glaring disparity in power between Israel and the Palestinians.

    When Palestinians in Gaza and around the world celebrated the news of a ceasefire, breathing a sigh of relief, many commentators hailed it as a return to calm. For Palestinians, however, “calm” means a status quo of occupation, blockade, and repression.

    Related: The conflict in the Middle East is sustained by the silencing of Palestinians | Ghada Karmi

    Related: Why Israel fears the ICC war crimes investigation

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Myanmar school strikes and a plane diverted to Minsk: human rights this fortnight – in pictures

    A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Colombia to China

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Why Israeli progressives have started to talk about ‘apartheid’ | Michael Sfard

    When I first heard this argument from Palestinians 20 years ago, I rejected it. But the evidence is mounting before our eyes

    The latest chapter in the Israel-Palestine conflict unfolded in many locations, all at once. In the Gaza Strip, civilian population centres were heavily bombarded by Israeli fighter planes and artillery, bringing death, injuries and massive damage to property. Towns in Israel were targeted by Palestinian rockets launched from Gaza; those that get past Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defence system also kill and destroy. In Jerusalem, settlers are attempting to forcibly displace Palestinians from their homes and worshippers have clashed with Israeli forces in one of the holiest sites for Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

    In Israeli cities, the tension between Palestinians and Jews is rising. Anger and frustration from decades of dispossession, neglect and discrimination – coupled with images that for many represent the desecration of al-Aqsa – sparked eruptions of street violence by Palestinians, mostly from the margins of their society, against Jews.

    Related: Renewed diplomacy is urgently needed to prevent another Gaza war | Jane Kinninmont

    Michael Sfard is an Israeli human rights lawyer

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • ‘One name in a long list’: the pointless death of another West Bank teenager

    Obaida Jawabra was weeks from turning 18 when he was shot by an Israeli soldier, after a life shaped by arrests and imprisonment

    Route 60, the north-south artery that carves its way through the West Bank, is both the lifeblood of the region and a source of daily fear.

    Flanked in parts by 2.5-metre-high (8ft) separation barriers, military checkpoints and watchtowers crewed by Israeli snipers, the 146-mile highway that starts and finishes in Israel but passes Hebron and Bethlehem in the West Bank, has been the scene of many fatal attacks and violent clashes.

    Additional reporting by Kaamil Ahmed

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UN to launch inquiry into ‘systematic discrimination’ in Israel and Palestine

    UN rights chief says Israel attacks on Gaza could constitute war crimes and accuses Hamas of firing indiscriminate rockets

    The UN’s main human rights body will launch an investigation into “systematic discrimination and repression” in Israel and Palestine, with the aim of identifying what it said were the root causes of recent Gaza bloodshed.

    The proposal for unprecedented levels of scrutiny of alleged abuses, called at the request of Muslim states, was passed by the 47-member UN human rights council on Thursday.

    Related: Ireland condemns ‘de facto annexation’ of Palestinian land by Israel

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Gaza damage and Glasgow raids: human rights this fortnight in pictures

    A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Myanmar to Peru

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • ‘Can you postpone nightfall?’ Every call from Gaza with my family could be the last | Samiha Olwan

    As the days pass, it gets harder to stay in touch. My friends send me photos of their children sleeping under tables, covering their ears and eyes against death

    I haven’t seen my younger brother, Abdallah, in person for more than four years. It takes a few minutes to end our video calls these days. With a shaky voice and a reluctant smile, he blinks away his tears to reassure me he is strong, despite the constant explosions that rock his home. When I ask if there is anything I can do, he answers: “Can you postpone nightfall?” I conceal my anxiety as I say “Goodbye!” and “Take care!” again and again. I prolong the conversation because I am terrified this could be the last time I speak to him.

    Two days later, 5am in Perth, midnight in Gaza, I message him frantically. I’ve learned over the past few days that this is about the time Israeli bombing intensifies. Bombs raze buildings to the ground while residents are trying to sleep inside. I urge him and my other younger brother to move to where my older brother is staying in Khan Younis, in the southern part of Gaza which seems to be hit less frequently. I think if they stick together under one roof then they can console each other as the bombs fall.

    Related: I live in Sheikh Jarrah. For Palestinians, this is not a ‘real estate dispute’ | Lucy Garbett

    Related: ‘They know they’re going to die’: Australians fear for their relatives in Gaza as fighting escalates

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Israel-Palestine: Avoiding antisemitic and Islamophobic hate speech

    Talking about what’s happening in Israel-Palestine is vital, now and always.

    But: we have to do it without falling back on antisemitic and anti-Muslim tropes and speech.

    Think before you post!

    1. Be clear about what you mean when using labels:

    • Jewish or Muslim refers to people all over the world who are part of a religious group
    • Palestinian or Israeli are national identities 
    • Zionism is the belief in the right of the Jewish people to self-determination (and not all people who call themselves Zionist share the same opinion about the exact territory, principles, etc. of the state of Israel). ‘Zionist’ or ‘Zio’ should not be used as a term of abuse
    • Arab is a grouping of people whose mother tongue is Arabic and there is great diversity across the Arab World (i.e. Jordan can’t simply become Palestine just because they are Arabs)
    • Islamism is an academic term with French origins that refers to a broad spectrum of political ideologies. Islamism is not a synonym for terrorism and should not be used as such

    2. Do not hold Jews responsible for the decisions of the Israeli leaders, or Muslims responsible for the decisions of the Palestinian leaders

    3. Do not demand that Jews or Muslims must take a certain political position on the issue

    4. Do not assume that all Palestinians or Israelis support the actions of their governments

    5. Anti-Zionism is not always antisemitic (for example if someone is generally anti-nationalism and believes in abolishing nation-states)

    However, it can be, for example if criticism of Israel goes beyond that of its government policies and uses antisemitic tropes

    Pro-Palestinian protestors shouting antisemitic rhetoric: “Khaybar Khaybar, ya yahud, Jaish Muhammad, sa yahud” (“Jews, remember Khaybar the army of Muhammad is returning”), London (May, 2021).

    6. Do not state that Muslims should leave Palestine because they have the whole of the rest of the Middle East or that Israeli Jews should ‘go back to where they came from’

    7. Israel is not a conspiracy to take over the Middle East or the World, and Palestine is not a conspiracy to enforce a Caliphate on Israel/Europe/the World

    These are two national identities who both want to exist on the same piece of land

    8. Israel is not Nazi Germany. Palestine is not Daesh

    9. Israelis and Palestinians are human beings, celebrating their suffering and death is not acceptable

    10. Be sensitive towards people who are pro-Israel or pro-Palestine at this time

    They may have friends/family involved in the situation, or Israel/Palestine may represent something important to them such as their own sense of struggle or a place of safety in times of persecution

    Solidarity with one side or the other is not a crime, they can be pro-Israel/pro-Palestine and still be pro-solution

    If you want any advice, contact us at Solutions Not Sides. If you’re a teacher or school leader and want to know more about discussing this issue with your students, you can find out more here.

    Credits:

    This blog was written and first published by Solutions Not Sides (May 2021). Tweet was later added by Voice of Salam (May 2021).

    Solutions Not Sides is an education programme that exists to provide humanising encounters, diverse narratives and critical-thinking tools in order to empower young people with the knowledge, empathy and skills to promote dialogue and conflict resolution, and to challenge prejudice in the UK.

    Disclaimer:

    The views expressed in this blog are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of Voice of Salam.

    This post was originally published on Voice of Salam.

  • We must all mobilise to stop Israel’s crimes | Letter

    Emilie Tant from the Overseas Development Institute says solidarity in the international community is the only way to end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories

    We don’t need the Israeli army to tell us that it is not particularly interested in a ceasefire (Israel-Gaza violence: death toll rises as UN envoy warns over escalation, 12 May) to recognise that these fresh UN warnings against escalating violence will not be heeded. For years the UN has been clear on Israel’s crimes against international law, yet the settler colonial project of successive Israeli governments has expanded unabated. Perhaps this is why the United Nations is referred to as the United Nothing by Palestinians across the West Bank.

    The balance of power in the occupied Palestinian territories is one of coloniser against the colonised, of the oppressor against the oppressed, and of perpetrator against victims. Only widespread solidarity from the international community, rooted in sustained strategies of digital and direct action, will force Israel to face the consequences of its crimes. To end the occupation, people around the world must mobilise together to draw a line in the sand. Mirroring strategies that built pressure against South Africa’s regime will do far more than diplomatic statements of condemnation that have so far failed to restrain Israel.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Human rights groups call on Australia to drop pursuit of Israel trade deal over Palestine conflict

    Morrison government told it ‘must not neglect major human rights concerns’ as it considers increasing trade with Israel

    Australian and Palestinian human rights groups have urged the federal government to stop pursuing a potential free trade agreement with Israel and condemn its actions in Gaza and East Jerusalem.

    The Australian government is considering strengthening its trade relations with Israel, including through a possible FTA, hoping such a deal would boost defence, cybersecurity and innovation.

    Related: Israeli city of Lod descends into ‘civil war’ as violence escalates

    Related: UN warns of ‘full-scale war’ amid Israel-Gaza violence | First Thing

    Related: ‘Our children are getting killed’: the human cost of Israel-Gaza violence

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • The Guardian view on Jerusalem and Gaza: old struggles bring fresh violence | Editorial

    The new outbreak is the predictable result both of recent grievances and accumulated injustices

    Ten children were among 28 killed in Gaza in the Holy month of Ramadan, while two Israeli women were killed as Israeli air strikes pounded the territory and Palestinian militants fired rockets. In Jerusalem, Israeli police fired stun grenades, teargas and rubber bullets at one of Islam’s holiest sites, leaving 300 Palestinians injured. Could this get worse? Yes. The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has vowed to increase the intensity of attacks. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars as well as periodic battles. Though they often prepare their exits, events can have a momentum of their own.

    The tinder was the decision of Israeli authorities to prevent Palestinians from gathering at the Damascus Gate following night-time prayers during Ramadan, as they normally do; a spate of intercommunal violence; and plans to evict hundreds of Palestinians from the homes they have lived in for decades in Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem, giving them to Jewish settlers. Under Israeli law, Jews who can prove a title from before the 1948 war can claim back properties in the city. This cannot be justified when no similar law exists for the Palestinians who lost their homes. The evictions have been described by a UN rights body as a possible war crime. Aggressive tactics used by police there and at the al-Aqsa mosque reflect a culture of impunity. And only at the 11th hour, when the damage had already been done, was Monday’s provocative ultra-right march rerouted away from the Muslim quarter of the Old City.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Refugees and the Armenian genocide: human rights this fortnight in pictures

    A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Colombia to China

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Israel is committing the crime of apartheid, rights group says

    Human Rights Watch calls on international criminal court to investigate ‘systematic discrimination’ against Palestinians

    Human Rights Watch has accused Israeli officials of committing the crimes of apartheid and persecution, claiming the government enforces an overarching policy to “maintain the domination by Jewish Israelis over Palestinians”.

    In a report released on Tuesday, the New York-based advocacy group became the first major international rights body to level such allegations. It said that after decades of warnings that an entrenched hold over Palestinian life could lead to apartheid, it had found that the “threshold” had been crossed.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • ‘Kill the bill’ and trans visibility: human rights this fortnight in pictures

    A round-up of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Mexico to China

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Israel’s military courts for Palestinians are a stain on international justice | Sahar Francis

    I’ve defended people in this profoundly discriminatory judicial system. It needs dismantling – and the UK can help

    The overwhelming majority of Palestinians in the West Bank were born into, and have spent their entire lives under, an Israeli military occupation that violates their right to self-determination. A new report by the UK charity War on Want exposes how a core part of what sustains that occupation is a military judicial system characterised by violations of international law.

    The report – Judge, Jury and Occupier – is a deep dive into the diverse ways in which Palestinians’ rights are being violated – from arrest, through interrogation, conviction and jail time. It reflects the experiences of Palestinian lawyers and human rights groups. The prisoners’ rights organisation I lead, Addameer, was proud to contribute evidence.

    Sahar Francis is director of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Artists like me are being censored in Germany – because we support Palestinian rights | Brian Eno

    A 2019 parliamentary resolution has had a chilling effect on critics of Israeli policy. Now the cultural sector is speaking up

    I am just one of many artists who have been affected by a new McCarthyism that has taken hold amid a rising climate of intolerance in Germany. Novelist Kamila Shamsie, poet Kae Tempest, musicians Young Fathers and rapper Talib Kwelli, visual artist Walid Raad and the philosopher Achille Mbembe are among the artists, academics, curators and others who have been caught up in a system of political interrogation, blacklisting and exclusion that is now widespread in Germany thanks to the passing of a 2019 parliamentary resolution. Ultimately this is about targeting critics of Israeli policy towards Palestinians.

    Recently, an exhibition of my artwork was cancelled in its early stages because I support the nonviolent, Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The cancellation was never publicly declared, but I understand it to have been the consequence of cultural workers in Germany fearing that they and their institution would be punished for promoting someone labelled as “antisemitic”. This is the work of tyranny: create a situation where people are frightened enough to keep their mouths shut, and self-censorship will do the rest.

    Brian Eno is a musician, artist, composer and producer

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.