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This week in Palestine -- a service of the International Middle East Media Center -- imemc dot org -- The week of December 4 to 10, 2004.
Egypt-Israel relations appeared to warm considerably this week, with a surprising prisoner exchange of Israeli spy Azzam Azamm for 6 Egyptian students detained in Israel, in addition to an announcement by Egypt that a deal to solve the Palestinian-Israeli crisis is being finalized. The deal would begin with a cease-fire but Israeli officials warn that calling it an 'agreement' would be premature.
Meanwhile, the announcement by a leader of the Palestinian armed resistance group Hamas that the group would "consider ... a long-term truce [with Israel]" was completely dismissed by Israel.
Sheikh Hasan Yousef:
"Hamas committed to a truce ten years ago, and put that truce into practice on the ground. But the Israeli occupation continued its aggression against the Palestinian People. Arrests, invasions, assassinations and all other aspects of the occupation continued.
Therefore, the problem is not Hamas, or any of the other resistance factions, the problem is the Israeli occupation that turns its back on all
good will gestures by Hamas and the other active resistance factions.
The world must pressure Israel to end its occupation in Palestine and all forms of aggression against the Palestinian people.
We can talk about a truce, but it will be irrelevant as long as Israeli aggression and occupation continue. When the aggression and occupation end, we'll have a better chance to talk about a truce."
A controversial report issued by the Israeli army this week claims that only 29 of the 148 Palestinian civilians killed in the West Bank in 2004 were "innocent". Critics call the report 'misleading', as it includes children throwing stones as 'armed militants', and fails to include the Gaza Strip, where the vast majority of fatalities took place this year.
Sarit Michaeli of the Israeli organization B'Tselem:
<:45>
B'Tselem's numbers show that 187 Palestians were killed in the West Bank this year, two thirds of whom did not participate in fighting.
Since the beginning of the current intifada in September 2000,
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society has confirmed 3,465 Palestinian deaths and 28,230 injuries .
This past week, December 4th to 10th, saw at least 10 Palestinians killed, 19 injured and at least 49 adults and 12 children arrested. Major checkpoints were closed on at least eight occasions, inhibiting Palestinians' right to travel, and military invasions were made into Palestinian cities and towns at least 14 times.
One of the injuries is documented in the following recording, from Beit Sahour Tuesday evening, when Nizai Awad was shot in the leg:
<20 sec>
The Israeli army had invaded the town to make an arrest -- their usual method of making arrests is to invade the town with at least ten army vehicles and surround the home of the person they are arresting; people nearby can be targeted. In this case, the soldiers shot concussion grenades and live bullets at people who happened to be in the area.
Anwar is a neighbor who witnessed the event.
<30 sec>
Similar scenes are repeated daily throughout the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip. A few examples from this week:
15 year old Ghalib Abu Sneinah from the old city of Hebron, sustained critical head wounds and had to have at least three fingers amputated, when Israeli settlers hurled a grenade at a group of children in the old city on Tuesday, December 7.
Israeli soldiers arrested six Palestinian policemen Tuesday at the Al-Matahin checkpoint, forcing the policemen to remove their clothes and raise their hands for a long period of time.
On Tuesday a number of children were arrested, including Six children age 12 to 14 who were arrested in Zabbouya and charged with throwing stones at security cameras installed on the Israeli annexation wall and cutting some sections of a "security fence" near the Wall.
High school student Ya'coub Thalji Al-Khateeb was arrested and taken to a military post in the illegal Israeli settlement of Halmesh, near Ramallah. This is Ya'coub's second experience with the Halmesh facility -- several months ago he was interrogated and tortured there, and then thrown onto a nearby street and left unconscious. Five other teenagers, including one girl, from Qarawa Bani Zeid, were also taken to the Hamesh facility on Tuesday.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society issued a report the same day, detailing violations of Palestinian women prisoners in Israeli detention centers, including torture, beatings, sexual abuse and humiliation, especially during interrogation.
Also on Tuesday, 41 Israeli acitivists were arrested in Budrus, in the West Bank, in an act of civil disobedience opposing the construction of the annexation wall in that town.
Mansour Mansour, an organizer in Budrus:
<20 sec>
Jonathan, one of the Israelis participating:
<12 sec>
The Israeli army also demolished a number of Palestinian homes this week, and uprooted at least 120 acres of olive and citrus groves.
In East Jerusalem, Israeli soldiers destroyed the home of ahran Al-Lawzy without allowing him time to remove his belongings. Human rights organizations in Israel have said that the home demolitions in East Jerusalem are “[part of a ] continuous effort to empty the city of its Palestinian inhabitants”.
Meanwhile, on the Palestinian presidential campaign, ten candidates remain on the ballot, with elections scheduled for January 9, although rumors persist that imprisoned activist Marwan Barghouti, the current favorite in the polls, will rescind his candidacy to avoid internal conflict within the Fateh party.
The Hamas organization has decided to boycott January's election -- Sheikh Hasan Yousef:
<20 sec>
On Wednesday, Palestinian presidential candidate Mustapha Barghouti (not to be confused with fellow candidate Marwan Barghouti) was beaten by Israeli soldiers while returning from a campaign trip in the northern part of the West Bank.
Friday morning, Basam Sa'lhay, candidate for the People's Party, was arrested at a checkpoint near Jerusalem and is still being held.
The assaults on candidates have raised doubts among Palestinians as to whether free and democratic elections are indeed possible under military occupation.
This week in Palestine -- a service of the International Middle East Media Center -- imemc dot org
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