Reuters still looking for answers

A month after journalist Fadel Shana was killed by an Israeli tank crew in the Gaza Strip, Reuters renewed its demand on Thursday for a prompt explanation from the Israeli army of why it fired on its cameraman.

Shana, a 24-year-old Palestinian, was killed on April 16 along with eight mostly teenage bystanders by darts known as flechettes that burst out of a tank shell in mid-air. Shana had been filming about 1.5 km (a mile) from two Israeli tanks.

The Israeli army said it had completed an initial field investigation that had determined the soldiers had followed orders and acted appropriately. But military lawyers still had to study the case before the army could give a full account.

“A month has passed since Fadel Shana was killed by Israeli forces while responsibly going about his professional duties,” said Reuters Middle East Managing Editor Mark Thompson.

“We urge the IDF to release its report on the incident now so that media organisations and the military can cooperate on ways ensure journalists can continue to cover this conflict.”

Independent investigators commissioned by Reuters have prepared their own preliminary report on the incident, which raises serious questions over why the tank opened fire.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli Defence Forces, Major Avital Leibovich, said: “We are working as quickly as possible to complete the investigation at all levels.”

The IDF’s Advocate General’s office, the military judiciary, was now looking at a field-level inquiry which, she said, had already concluded the soldiers had done no wrong.

Confirming that the tank crews involved had not been suspended and were still operating around the Gaza Strip, Leibovich said: “They acted according to their orders.

“This is the conclusion of the field level investigation.”

She added: “We can say for sure that the soldiers weren’t able to detect that it was a member of the press. The IDF has no intention of targeting press people.”

Both Shana and soundman Wafa Abu Mizyed, who was wounded in the wrist, were wearing blue body armour bearing the word “Press” on fluorescent strips. Their vehicle also bore “TV” and “Press” markings. They had been working in open view, on a quiet road off Gaza’s main highway for some time before the tank is seen opening fire in the final moments of Shana’s videotape.

Media groups operating in the Palestinian enclave have been urging the Israeli military to improve troops’ awareness of the presence of journalists and to coordinate where possible.

Rejecting a request that IDF officers relay information to field commanders from journalists about their movements in Gaza to avoid media crews being inadvertently targeted, the army said in a statement last week: “There will be no coordination of press movement and activity in the areas of IDF operations”.

Letter from the black balloon organizers

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for your participation in the Justice is the Key to Tomorrow:
21,915 Black Balloons Over Jerusalem event on May 15, 2008, commemorating 60 years of our dispossession. Whether you are outside of Palestine and made a financial contribution to the action or sent a message of support, or whether you are in Palestine, wrote a letter, helped collect letters from children, spent hours blowing balloons, or were in one of the launch locations at lift off, your participation helped make this action a success. Balloons were launched from the Qalandia refugee camp (Ramallah / Jerusalem), from the Aida refugee camp (Bethlehem), and from various locations inside Jerusalem, including the Old City, the Hebrew University, and Shuafat / Sahel.

Many of the things that could go wrong when planning such a big action, did go wrong, including the first batches of balloons deflating as we worked through the night to inflate the many thousands, and the direction of the wind not carrying the balloons from the camps into Jerusalem as we hoped. Nevertheless, we feel that this symbolic action helped send a strong message to the world. We sent up messages of hopes and dreams from thousands of Palestinian youth. Some of these messages were politically sophisticated, and others were as simple as “I hope to someday be able to swim in the sea.”

See pictures of the event here: http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=11892661164&view=all <http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=11892661164&view=all>

We wish that we could stop the count at 21,915, but the current situation on the ground in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is bleak. To us, this only means that we must intensify our efforts at fighting the occupation. We are encouraged by the wonderful local and international support for our action and we look forward to continuing to work together towards justice.

In solidarity & struggle,
Gaza 3ala Bali and the Black Balloons Launch Team

Black Balloons and Protests all over Israel

I while ago I passed on a message about 21,915 black balloons flying over Jerusalem and now I have pictures as well as other pictures of the protest held in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and at the The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I will caption some of the important ones, enjoy!
An Israeli Police office attempting to take a flag away from students at the Hebrew University

The same office grabbing the face of one of the protesters (All Israeli citizens)

Another angle

The balloons being released

There is that officer again, this time hitting a Jewish student

Students outside the university

 

As Israel celebrates, Palestinians mourn

JERUSALEM – Women screaming and children trying to escape a village on fire.
These are just two of the images that two Palestinian sisters, Fatima and Zeinab Jaber, 65 and 71, live with from an event they witnessed 60 years ago.
They are haunted, too, by the memory of their mother, Nuzah, who they recall crying as she rushed members of their family to safety.
And they are their last recollections of their home, the village of Deir Yassin, as it was being overrun and destroyed by armed Jewish militant groups.

AP

Palestinian relatives of residents of the Arab village of Deir Yassin stand over plaques listing the names of more than 100 people killed by pre-state Israeli paramilitant groups, as they mark the 60th anniversary of the attack on April 10, 2008, at the site where the village stood in 1948, which is currently in Jerusalem.

The attack on Deir Yassin in April 1948 is one of the most well-documented in a series of expulsions the former British Mandate of Palestine that led up to the foundation of Israel – an episode that Palestinian recall bitterly as “Nakba” (”the Catastrophe”).
So while Israelis are celebrating 60 years of independence on May 14, many Palestinians will be commemorating what they call “Catastrophe Day” on May 15 – an annual day of remembrance for the hundreds of thousands of Arabs who were displaced as Israel was being born.

‘I still hear my brother’s voice screaming’
As a result of fighting leading up to Israel’s declaration of independence and the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, approximately 700,000 Palestinians were forced off their land. They were either expelled by the Haganah, a military force which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and other paramilitary groups, or they fled under the threat of more violence.

Up to 418 Arab villages in Palestine were taken over by Israelis during the period, and the massacre at Deir Yassin is remembered as one of the most brutal episodes of the time. 
“I still hear my brother’s voice screaming before they killed him, my grandmother was begging them to leave him alone,” said Fatima Jaber, while her sister nodded in silent agreement during a recent interview. (Fatima married, but kept her family name). They now live in a tiny house in Beit Hanina, a predominantly Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
“We lost all our family. The Jews killed my father, grandmother and my brother before we ran away with my mother that day. After a while we knew that 47 relatives were killed,” said Zeinab, as she started crying like a child. “My brother was about to get married the same week.  He was 22 years old. [Now] we are living alone without any family.”
The Deir Yassin village was located in the hills next to the Jewish neighborhood of Givat Shaul, on the outskirts of what is now West Jerusalem. There are various accounts of what happened in Deir Yassin, but there is agreement on the essentials – that two underground Jewish paramilitary groups, the Lehi and the Irgun – the latter by headed by Menachem Begin, a future Israeli prime minister – attacked the village on April 9, 1948. 
According to most reliable reports, a force of 132 men from these units killed between 107-120 villagers – including men, women and children. (For years the death toll was cited as 254, but Bir Zeit University, a prominent Arab university on the West Bank, published a comprehensive study in 1987 and found that the death toll did not exceed 120).  

Campaign of terror
The massacre is considered by many historians to be part of a strategy to terrify the Palestinian populations enough so that they would leave their homes and land, thus enabling them to be occupied by Jews.
Benny Morris, an Israeli historian who has written extensively about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his books “The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-49,” first published in 1988, and this year’s “1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War,” has documented  at least 24 massacres, including Deir Hassin, committed by Israeli forces against Palestinians between 1947-49. 
Fatima and Zeinab say that Deir Yassin left their mother a broken woman. “She kept crying until she died. She was only 45 years old,” said Fatima. “I will never forget it. She was missing my father and brother all the time. The memories killed her.”
David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s founding father, noted that the Deir Yassin massacre was a trigger for other evacuations of Palestinians, without which the Israeli state could not have been born. “I support compulsory transfer,” he insisted at the time. “I don’t see in it anything immoral,” Ben-Gurion is quoted as saying in Morris’ book ”Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-2001.” In the Arab world, though, the perception hardened that the birth of Israel came at the expense of the Palestinian refugee problem.

Refugee problem persists
Today, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), at least 5 million Palestinians and their descendants are registered as refugees. The figure includes hundreds of thousands who became refugees as a result of the Six-Day War in 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. As refugees, those living in other countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, are not recognized as citizens and have few rights, despite living there for decades. In effect they are stateless unless and until a Palestinian state is created.
The fate of the Jaber family is typical of many Palestinians. They lived in Jordan for two years, then moved to Jericho and after five years moved to Jerusalem, when the sisters’ mother wanted to be close to what was once their home.
Many have given up hope of returning to the homes they lost in 1948; instead, they watch with bitterness and sadness the celebrations for Israel’s 60 years of statehood, which they feel came at their expense.
“I feel ashamed to be a refugee,” said Zeinab. “Three months ago we went to Deir Yassin; our house is used as a storage place for hospital workers. I want my family house back,” she said.
And as the U.S. struggles to keep Israel and the Palestinian Authority committed to making an arrangement that will lead to the creation of a two-nation state, it is the plight of the refugees – most particularly, whether they should be allowed to return to their original homes or what is sufficient compensation – that still proves to be one of the biggest obstacles for a lasting peace.
“How can Israel celebrate when we still have this refugee problem?” said Fatima, who is the mother of 11 children.
“They created it, and now it’s worse. This is the question my children are now asking.”

Students at UC Berkley

Absentee’s Property Laws = Discrimination

Most people who claim to know things about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have never heard of these laws, and why would they? Many “scholars” simply ignore the foundation of Israel as a nation and simply begin to talk about the anti-semitic nature of Arab culture and how Islam is unable to accept the freedoms of the West. The Absentee’s Property Laws are something that rival the Jim Crow Laws that used to be in place in the United States. I would argue even worse.

‘Absentees’ property’ laws were several laws which were first introduced as emergency ordinances issued by the Jewish leadership but which after the war were incorporated into the laws of Israel. These laws were passed in an effort to gain as much land from the indigenous people as possible while circumventing International Law. Here are the Absentee’s Property Laws as they passed and enforced :

FULL TEXT OF LAWS

So lets break this down piece by piece. The first section defines “absentee” as anyone who lived in British Mandate Palestine and held citizenship to any of the following countries :Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, SaudiArabia, Trans-Jordan, Iraq or the Yemen. It also extended this terminology to anyone who was in one of these countries or in any part of Palestine outside the area of Israel, or was a Palestinian citizen and left his ordinary place of residence in Palestine during, before or after Israel’s war of independence. Notice how this law did not apply to Immigrants or land owners residing in non-Arab countries. So if a British citizen had owned land in Palestine, he would not be subject to this law. People who lived in Palestine were, and we can assume a vast majority of them were of Arab ethnicity and from any number of different religions (at least 5 large ones). (Click Here for Story about land given back to British Owner)

The definition of “absentee” in the law was framed in such a way as to ensure that it applied to every Palestinian or resident in Palestine who had left his usual place of residence in Palestine for any place inside or outside the country after the adoption of the partition of Palestine resolution by the UN.

So these people had left their homes for numerous reasons during this time period. The reason cited most often by survivors of the time was for safety. There was, of course, a war going on in the immediate area and like all peace loving civilians, they fled to safer regions to protect their lives and the lives of their children. Can anyone blame them after hearing about the massacres at Deir Yassin, Al-Tantura, and the Lod/Ramla killings?

These people had their homes and land taken from them and put into the custody of the The Minister of Finance who can appoint inspectors to designate whether a house has an absent owner. Once declared absent every right an absentee had in any property shall pass automatically to the Custodian at the time of the vesting of the property; and the status of the Custodian shall be the same as was that of the owner of the property. Meaning that if you were Arab and not home (because a war perhaps) you no longer had any rights to your property. Furthermore:

The fact that the identity of an absentee is unknown shall not prevent his property from being absentees’ property, vested property, held property or released property.

This part was created to ensure that no knowledge or documentation would be necessary when confiscating the land.

Now we can move onto those Palestinians who chose not to leave their homes.

Where vested property of the category of immovable property is occupied by a person who, in the opinion of the Custodian, has no right to occupy it, the Custodian may confirm such fact by a certificate under his hand describing the property. The certificate shall have the effect of a judgment in favour of the Custodian for the expulsion of the occupier of the vested property.

So, even if you chose to stay in your home and tend to your land the Israeli government could arbitrarily expel you from your home and claim it under these laws.  Sub-Section A under this heading also states that any homes deemed to be immovable and built without the authorization of the Minister of Finance should be demolished (no matter if the home was built before the foundation of Israel).

Section 35 of the law states that any Israeli citizen who fails to report land that is not currently occupied by its owner is subject to two years imprisonment and a fine of 500 pounds (remember this is 1947-1951).

As a result, two million dunams were confiscated and given to the custodian, who later transferred the land to the development authority. This law created the novel citizenship category of “present absentees” (nifkadim nohahim), that is, Israeli Arabs who enjoyed all civil rights-including the right to vote in the Knesset elections-except one: the right to use and dispose of their property”. About 30,000-35,000 Palestinians became “present absentees” - persons present at the time but considered absent.

How much of Israel’s territory consists of land confiscated with the Absentee Property Law is uncertain and much disputed. Robert Fisk interviewed the Israeli Custodian of Absentee Property, who estimates this could amount to up to 70% of the territory of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

The absentee property played an enormous role in making Israel a viable state. In 1954, more than one third of Israel’s Jewish population lived on absentee property and nearly a third of the new immigrants (250,000 people) settled in urban areas abandoned by Arabs. Of 370 new Jewish settlements established between 1948 and 1953, 350 were on absentee property (Peretz, Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, 1958).

The Land Acquisition (Validation of Acts and Compensation) Law, 5713-1953 legalised expropriations (retroactively in many cases) for military purposes or for the establishment of (Jewish) settlements.

The law allows the Government to claim the property of lands which are not in the possession of its owner as of 1 April 1952. Article 2 (a) states:

Property in respect of which the Minister certifies by certificate under his hand–

(1) that on the 6th Nisan, 5712 (1st April, 1952) it was not in the possession of its owners; and

(2) that within the period between the 5th Iyar, 5708 (14th May, 1948) and the 6th Nisan, 5712 (Ist April 1952) it was used or assigned for purposes of essential development, settlement or security; and

(3) that it is still required for any of these purposes

The Prescription Law was first enacted in 1958 and amended in 1965. It repeals critical provisions of, and reverses British practices in relation to, the Ottoman Land Code (1858).

According to COHRE and BADIL (p. 44), the Prescription Law is one of the most critical to understanding the legal underpinnings of Israel’s acquisition of Palestinian lands. Although not readily apparent in the language of the law, the purpose behind this legislation was to enable Israel to claim as ‘State lands’ areas where Palestinians still predominated and where they could still assert their own claims on the land (for example, in the north of the country). The authors claim that this law, in conjunction with the Land (Settlement of Title) Ordinance (Amendment) Law, 5720-1960, the Land (Settlement of Title) Ordinance (New Version), 5729-1969 and the Land Law, 5729-1969, was designed to revise criteria related to the use and registration of Miri lands – one of the most prevalent types in Palestine – and to facilitate Israel’s acquisition of such land.

Under this law, farmers are required to submit documentation proving uninterrupted cultivation of designated plots of land

over a 15-year period (the ‘prescription’ period). Article 5 states:

The period within which a claim in respect of which an action has not been brought shall be prescribed (such period being hereinafter referred to as “the period of prescription”) shall be

(1) in the case of a claim not relating to land - seven years;

(2) in the case of a claim relating to land - fifteen years or, if the land has been registered in the land register after settlement of title in accordance with the Land (Settlement of Title) Ordinance(1), twenty-five years.

The law adds the proviso that lands purchased after 1 March 1943 would be subject to a 20-year verification period. The law also specifies a five-year hiatus between 1958 and 1963 that would not be counted toward this ‘prescription’ period. According to COHRE and BADIL, by 1963, much of the lands in question had still not been surveyed. Therefore, calculations of the requisite 20-year verification period were in effect halted, and the State was in a position to press its own claims to these lands. The authors consider that the Prescription Law had even more complex ramifications. For example, Israel decided that British aerial photographs of 1945 would be used to verify cultivation. Arab farmers who had not yet begun tilling their lands at the time the photographs were taken found they were by definition unable to meet the requisite 15-year ‘prescription’ period. Also, as Israel did not accept other evidence of cultivation, such as tax records, many Palestinians fell victim to a ‘Catch-22’: in the process of trying to establish their legal ownership they (retroactively) lost their lands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_and_Property_laws_in_Israel#The_.27Absentees_Property_Law.27

Here is a somewhat complete list of the villages taken over and demolished during the enforcement of these laws (ie: The past 60 years)

District of Acre

al-Amqa Arab al-Samniyya al-Bassa al-Birwa al-Damun Dayr al-Qassi al-Ghabisiyya Iqrit Iribbin, Khirbat Jiddin, Khirbat

al-Kabri Kafr Bir’im Kafr ‘Inan Kuwaykat al-Manshiyya al-Mansura Mi’ar al-Nabi Rubin al-Nahr al-Ruways

Suhmata al-Sumayriyya Suruh al-Tall Tarbikha Umm al-Faraj al-Zeeb

District of Baysan

Arab al-’Arida Arab al-Bawati Arab al-Safa al-Ashrafiyya al-Bira Danna Farwana al-Fatur al-Ghazzawiyya al-Hamidiyya

al-Hamra Jabbul Kafra Kawkab al-Hawa al-Khunayzir Masil al-Jizl al-Murassas Qumya al-Sakhina al-Samiriyya

Sirin Tall al-Shawk al-Taqa, Khirbat al-Tira Umm ‘Ajra Umm Sabuna, Khirbat Yubla Zab’a al-Zawiya, Khirbat

District of Beersheba

• al-Imara
• al-Jammama
• al-Khalasa

District of Gaza

Arab Suqrir Barbara Barqa al-Batani al-Gharbi al-Batani al-Sharqi Beit Daras Bayt ‘Affa Bayt Jirja Bayt Tima Bil’in Burayr Dayr Sunayd Dimra al-Faluja Hamama

Hatta Hiribya Huj Hulayqat Ibdis Iraq al-Manshiyya Iraq Suwaydan Isdud al-Jaladiyya al-Jiyya