Europa & Palestine News « Europa & Middle East News

Europa & Palestine News « Europa & Middle East News

Letter to President Abbas: The Ball Is Now In The Court Of Palestine

Dear President Abbas,

We, the undersigned Palestinian and international human rights organizations, write to urge you to ensure that Palestine pursues the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) by promptly acceding to the Rome Statute and/or filing a further declaration accepting the Court’s jurisdiction over crimes committed on Palestinian territory from 1 July 2002.

Taking such steps could ensure access to international justice for victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on Palestinian territories, and would send an important message that such crimes cannot be committed with impunity.

As you know, following the UN General Assembly’s decision in November 2012 to upgrade Palestine’s status to “non-member observer state”, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor stated that the decision “does not cure the legal invalidity of [Palestine's] 2009 declaration” which accepted the ICC’s jurisdiction over acts committed on its territory since 1 July 2002, and that “at this stage, the Office has no legal basis to open a new preliminary examination.”

The Office stated that it was, therefore, not in a position to consider allegations of serious crimes committed in Palestine without further steps by your government. On this basis, the current ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, has said that “the ball is now in the court of Palestine” to seek the court’s jurisdiction.

We understand the pressure that Palestine is under from Israel and the United States not to pursue the jurisdiction of the ICC, whether during or after the current US-sponsored negotiations with Israel. We are aware that even countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Canada, which are states parties to the ICC treaty and purport to seek its universal ratification, have, at times, opposed Palestine seeking access to the ICC.

We oppose these efforts to politicize justice for victims of serious crimes under international law, and urge you to resist them. Justice is an important end in its own right, preserving the rights of victims and affected communities regardless of the uncertain prospects for peace. The commission of war crimes with impunity has regularly undermined the peace process. A credible prosecution threat would help to advance the cause of peace.

Palestine’s accession in April to 20 international treaties and conventions was a significant and positive step, obliging the Palestinian government to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights, and requiring Palestinian forces to abide by international rules on armed conflict. Accession to the Rome Statute would be a vital further step towards protecting human rights by ensuring that the ICC can step in to address impunity when domestic authorities are genuinely unable or unwilling to do so.

Seeking the ICC’s jurisdiction over serious crimes committed on Palestinian territory should therefore be seen as an apolitical step towards ending impunity and could help deter future abuses.

The ICC represents an important tool for justice and effective remedies for victims. We urge you to seize it without any further delay.

Sincerely,

Sahar Francis, Executive Director
Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
Khalil Abu Shammala, Executive Director
Al Dameer Association for Human Rights
Shawan Jabarin, General Director
Al-Haq
Issam Younis, General Director
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
Munir Nuseibah, Director
Al-Quds University Human Rights Clinic
Salil Shetty, Secretary General
Amnesty International
Nidal Azza, Director
Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights
Rifat Kassis, Director
Defense for Children International – Palestine
Shawqi Issa, Director
Ensan Center for Human Rights and Democracy
Ken Roth, Executive Director
Human Rights Watch
Helmi al-Araj, General Director
Hurryyat Centre for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights
Said Benarbia, Director, Middle East and North Africa Programme
International Commission of Jurists
Karim Lahidji, President
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Issam Aruri, Director
Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center
Raji Sourani, Director
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Iyad Barghouti, Director
Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies
Maha Abu Dayyeh, General Director
Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling

Source: Al-Mezan for Human Rights

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Europa & Palestine News « Europa & Middle East News

Europa & Palestine News « Europa & Middle East News

UK, It's Time To Apologise, International Balfour Campaign

المخابرات الإسرائيلية تحقق معنا في فندق ماريوت في العاصمة الألمانية برلين
الدورة التاسعة والعشرين لأتحاد الأطباء العرب في أوروبا في صور
رئيس الدورة 29 وأعضاء إتحاد الأطباء العرب في أوروبا يشكرون ويعلنون ولائهم لصحيفة دنيا الوطن

Meeting at British Parliament: Britain, It’s Time To Apologize, International Balfour Campaign – The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) is organizing a seminar at the British parliament to mark the 96th anniversary of Balfour declaration and provide an update on our campaign “Britain, It’s Time To Apologize, International Balfour Campaign”

The seminar will take place on Monday, 4th of November 2013, at Houses of Parliament, Portcullis House, Wilson Room, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. It will be hosted by Jeremy Corbyn MP.

Palestinian Ambassador in Britain, Manuel Hassassian, will be a key speaker at the event. The three signatories of the campaign Baroness Jenny Tonge, Lord Ahmed Nazir, Jeremy Corbyn MP, will also be speaking at the event. Sameh Habeeb, head of PRC media department and the coordinator for the campaign in Europe will join the panelist. A number of other MPs, politicians and activists will also speak.

PRC with other partners around the world collected thousands of emails in its global campaign to mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration.

The campaign will run for five years to galvanize international support in seeking an apology from British authorities, for the many human rights violations in Palestine during British Mandate.

General Director of PRC and the campaign general coordinator Majed Alzeer stated that activities of the campaign are expanding and more politicians and decision makers are joining, in Britain and worldwide.

Alzeer called on all organisations working for Palestine to join the campaign as equal partners.

Meanwhile, Campaign coordinator in the Arab region, Ali Hewidi, added that there is great momentum for the campaign across the many communities of Palestinian people as well as Arabs.

Hewidi said that key Lebanese politician, former PM, Selim al-Hoss signed and joined the campaign.

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Europa & Palestine News « Europa & Middle East News

Europa & Palestine News « Europa & Middle East News

Egypt’s Disastrous Bloodshed Requires Urgent Impartial Investigation

Amnesty International – There must be a full and impartial investigation into the violent dispersal of sit-in protests in Cairo this week, where security forces used unwarranted lethal force and broke promises to allow the wounded to exit safely, Amnesty International said today on the basis of its research on the ground.

Unprecedented levels of violence have left more than 600 dead around Egypt. The Ministry of Interior reported 43 fatal casualties among security forces. The death toll is expected to climb further as bodies are transferred to official hospitals and morgues.

“Based on the initial testimonies and other evidence we’ve gathered, there seems to be little doubt the security forces have been acting with blatant disregard for human life, and full investigations that are both impartial and independent are urgently needed,” said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International.

“While some protesters used violence, the authorities’ response was grossly disproportionate, seemingly not differentiating between violent and non-violent protesters. Bystanders were also caught-up in the violence.

“Security forces resorted to lethal force when it was not strictly necessary to protect lives or prevent serious injury – this is a clear violation of international law and standards. Previous promises to use graduated force when dispersing the sit-ins and provide ample warning and safe exits were quickly broken.”

On 14 and 15 August, Amnesty International researchers visited numerous hospitals and field hospitals in Cairo, as well as the city’s Zeinhum morgue and a mosque temporarily housing dozens of the dead. They documented scores of deaths, and eyewitness reports from medical staff who described how many of the injured and dead had sustained bullet wounds to the upper body.

“There were dozens of dead bodies and hundreds of injured people. They mostly sustained live ammunition wounds to the upper part of the body,” a doctor told Amnesty International.

A medical student described how Rabaa al-Adawiya hospital had to be evacuated after security forces entered the building amid heavy tear gas fire, and its first floor was set alight:

“The security forces were attacking the hospital. The doctors ordered us to close the curtains and windows to avoid the tear gas. I saw snipers on the roofs of buildings near the hospital, they were dressed in black. Then another doctor told us that the security forces got into the first floor. … . One security officer hit me with the rifle-butt on my back and pushed me towards the stairs. I got out of the hospital. The security forces then told us to take the bodies and patients. The first floor was on fire.”

Other eyewitnesses reported that the heavy gunfire outside the hospital prevented the safe exit of the wounded, and led to the death of a hospital security guard.

A nurse at a field hospital at the Rabaa al-Adawiya sit-in told the organization how men in black uniforms threatened her at gunpoint:

“There was a gun pointing at me through the window. There were three men, two in black uniforms and one in civilian dress. The civilian screamed at me telling me to open the door, and asking if we had weapons inside… I pleaded with them that there were only injured and dead inside.”

Amnesty International is calling for UN experts – especially the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions – to be given access to the country to investigate the circumstances of the violence and the pattern of excessive and unwarranted lethal force used by the Egyptian authorities since the “25 January Revolution”.

Given the Egyptian authorities’ poor track record in holding members of the security forces accountable for using excessive, and unwarranted, lethal force against protesters since the “25 January Revolution”, Amnesty International is concerned about the ability of the Public Prosecution to conduct full, impartial and independent investigations.  

      
Background

As of Friday morning, Egypt’s Health Ministry reported 638 deaths across Egypt. Of these, 288 were in the Nasr City neighbourhood, the site of the main pro-Morsi sit-in at Rabaa al-Adawiya Square. This makes it the bloodiest single incident since the outbreak of the “25 January Revolution” more than two years ago.

By contrast, during the 18 days of the “25 January Revolution” in 2011, a total of 846 people were killed, according to official statistics.

The dispersal followed repeated threats by the Egyptian authorities to remove pro-Morsi protesters described as “terrorists” endangering “national security”. The smaller Nahda sit-in by Cairo University was cleared relatively quickly, while the operation to disperse the Rabaa al-Adawiya sit-in took about 10 hours of protracted clashes.  

Around Cairo, three media workers were among the dead, and to Amnesty International’s knowledge, at least three female protesters and one child were killed on 14 August. Clashes were reported in Giza and numerous other neighbourhoods across Egypt.

Members of the armed forces denied Amnesty International access to the Ta’min al-Sihi Hospital, which reportedly received 52 corpses of those killed in the clashes, including at least one woman. It also dealt with more than 200 injuries – at least half of which required the injured to be hospitalized for treatment.

Workers at Cairo’s Zeinhum morgue told Amnesty International that by 10 am on Thursday, 108 autopsies had been carried out, and the facility was overflowing with corpses.

On 15 August, Amnesty International researchers visited the Iman Mosque, which was converted into a makeshift morgue after family members brought in relatives killed in the Rabaa al-Adawiya sit-in, as well as some of those evacuated from Rabaa al-Adawiya hospital.

At the time of the visit, there were 98 dead bodies inside, among them eight charred corpses – it is unknown whether they were burnt alive or after dying. Lists with names of 265 people had been hung on the mosque’s walls. Volunteers said that two more unidentified bodies had been brought in.

Egypt’s Minister of Interior justified the security forces’ conduct, claiming that protesters used violence, and that 43 members of the security forces, including 18 officers, were killed across the country, with more than 200 injured. He claimed that the security forces provided warnings, and only used teargas until fired upon by pro-Morsi protesters.

Particularly following the dispersals of the sit-ins, some Morsi supporters did use violence, including firearms, and launched attacks on the Giza Governorate building, police stations and security personnel. Police stations in Waraq and Kerdassa were attacked, with police officers captured, killed and beaten. In several instances, members of the security forces were captured and beaten, and one grieving relative told Amnesty International that her cousin, a police officer, was decapitated on 14 August in Giza.

Protesters at Rabaa al-Adawiya told Amnesty International that they used rocks and Molotov cocktails and set police vehicles alight in an attempt to prevent the dispersal.

Amnesty International also called on the Egyptian authorities to take immediate measures to improve security for Christians and other minorities amid an alarming rise in sectarian violence against Coptic Christians, seemingly in retaliation for their alleged support of the decision to oust Mohamed Morsi – including attacks on churches, businesses and homes in several governorates. The organization has documented previous instances where the security forces have failed to protect Coptic Christian communities from such attacks.

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Europa & Palestine News « Kawther Salam

Europa & Palestine News « Kawther Salam

The Humanitarian Impact Of Israeli-Declared Ethnic Cleansing - Firing Zones - In The West Bank

 The UN Report As PDF

1. In the 1970s, Israel declared large swathes of the West Bank as “firing zones”, which are distinct from other closed military areas, such as those declared around Israeli settlements and between the Barrier and the Green Line. A Palestinian presence is formally prohibited in these zones without permission from the Israeli authorities, which is rarely granted. These declarations have had a serious humanitarian impact on Palestinian civilians and dramatically reduced the land available to them for residential and livelihood uses.

2. The firing zones, the boundaries of which are not clearly marked on the ground, have remained largely the same since their establishment, despite significant changes to the security situation. Many residents report that there is little or no military training in their areas.

3. Firing zone residents are among the most vulnerable in the West Bank, with high levels of humanitarian need. Most residents have limited or difficult access to services (such as education and health) and no service infrastructure (including water, sanitation and electricity infrastructure).

4. The Israeli authorities regularly carry out demolitions in these communities, either in the context of demolition orders or when executing eviction orders. Many of the communities have sustained multiple waves of destruction. Israeli settlement outposts established in the firing zones do not normally face demolitions of their structures.

5. Most of the families residing in or near the firing zones are herders, who rely on grazing land for their livelihood. They routinely face restrictions on grazing livestock in these areas and are subject to substantial fines and/or imprisonment. Reduced access to grazing areas has resulted in increased dependency on fodder and the overgrazing of some areas, both of which contribute to diminished livelihoods.

6. Residents of firing zones face a range of other difficulties including the confiscation of property, settler violence, and harassment by soldiers, access and movement restrictions and/or water scarcity. Combined, these conditions contribute to a coercive environment that creates pressure on Palestinian communities to leave these areas.

7. Israel, as an occupying power, has an obligation to protect Palestinian civilians and to administer the territory in a manner that ensures their welfare and basic needs. If restrictive measures respect basic civilian rights and meet a proportionality test, the humanitarian situation can be improved. International law also prohibits the destruction or confiscation of private or public property, unless for reasons of military necessity, as well as the forced displacement or transfer of civilians.

 

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Europa & Palestine News « Kawther Salam

Europa & Palestine News « Kawther Salam

EU Mission Heads visit Communities facing Ethnic Cleansing in Hebron

A group of European Union Heads of Mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah visited today communities facing the threat of demolition and displacement in the Southern Hebron Hills. The objective of this field trip was to gain a first-hand impression of developments in the area, to demonstrate concern at the humanitarian impact of any house demolitions and forced transfer of population, and to express the EU’s commitment to a sustainable future for the Palestinian communities in Area C. During the visit, the group met with Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad at Mufaqara village who briefed them about the PA efforts and work to support the people of this area.

The group started its visit at Jinba community where it met representatives from several communities in Area C and were briefed on recent developments in the Southern Hebron Hills, including the proceedings in the Israeli High Court with regard to communities situated in the designated “Firing Zone 918”.

The intention by the Israeli Ministry of Defence to prohibit permanent residence in the firing zone and thus to evacuate 8 communities (al-Majaz, a-Tabban, a- Sfay, al-Fakhit, al-Halaweh, al-Mirkez, Jinba, and al-Kharuba, all of which have been in existence from before the Firing Zone was declared) would – if upheld by the High Court of Justice – entail the forced transfer of up to 1800 people, contrary to Israel’s obligations as the Occupying Power.

The designation of the area as a live firing zone would thus reduce further the opportunities for Palestinian communities to live and work in Area C and reduce further any potential of economic and social development for the Palestinians in this area of the occupied Palestinian territory. Later on, the group met Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad, at Mufaqarah village. The group reaffirmed to the Prime Minister the strong commitment of the EU for the well being of the Palestinian people in Area C, and particularly those communities under the threat of demolition in the South Hebron Hills.

In the Council Conclusions on the Middle East Peace Process of 14 May 2012, the EU recalled the applicability of international humanitarian law in the occupied Palestinian territory, including the applicability of the fourth Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilians. The EU calls upon Israel to meet its obligations regarding the living conditions of the Palestinian population in Area C, by a policy shift entailing accelerated approval of Palestinian master plans, halting forced transfer of population and demolition of Palestinian housing and infrastructure, simplifying administrative procedures to obtain building permits, ensuring access to water and addressing humanitarian needs. Social and economic developments in Area C are of critical importance for the viability of the future Palestinian state since Area C is its main land reserve.

The EU and its Member States will continue to provide financial assistance for Palestinian development in Area C and expects such investment to be protected for future use. The EU will continue to engage with the Government of Israel to work out improved mechanisms for the implementation of the donor funded projects for the benefit of the Palestinian population in Area C.

Ethnic Cleansing in Jerusalem

Ethnic Cleansing in Jerusalem

Aug 9th, 2009 by kawther.salam

See more Photos

Yesterday August 8 2009 at noon, about 40 ultra-orthodox jewish squatters, the Israeli terrorists generally known as “Siknaj”, attacked the tent of the Al-Ghawi family and beat and wounded four members of these families, who were forcibly expelled from their own house on last 2 August 2009.
The criminal settlers, or “Siknaj”, were wearing black talars and hats, and used stones, sticks, and chairs in their criminal attack. The victims were three children aged between 10 – 13 and a woman. One of them was left bleeding in critical condition.

Naser Al-Gawi, one of those robbed of his house by the israeli government, said that a large detachment of Israeli police came to the place of the assault, and that rather than preventing the criminal attacks of the Siknaj, they protected them and arrested Khaled Al- Gawi, aged 40, another victim of the israeli theft. Al-Gawi denied that his family had provoked the Siknaj settlers. He said that the settlers wanted to remove their tents, which they set up near their houses, which are now occupied by the siknaj. He confirmed that he will not leave the area until he is able to return to his house.

On August 2 2009, the Israeli criminal forces forcibly terrorized and expelled two Palestinian families, Al-Gawi and Hannoun from their houses in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem after they demolished the gates of the houses (11 houses, eight houses belong to Aberd Al-Fattah Hannoun and his sons, and three houses belong to Maher Hannoun and his brothers), and forced the families to get out under the threat of murdering them. The criminal armed Israeli police pointed their guns at the civilians and denied them the right to take the necessary things for their children, or to remove from their furniture and other belongings.

Few hours after the Palestinian family’s expulsion, a truck of ultra orthodox jews, Siknaj, came to live in the Palestinian houses. The Siknaj and the criminal forces of Israel threw the furniture of the two families out of their homes and moved their belonging of the Siknaj to the Palestinian houses, while the Israeli police stood to guard to protect them from any attempt from the Palestinian families to recover their property. Before that, on November 2008, the Israeli military border police forcibly expelled Mahmoud Al-Kurd, an old paralyzed man on a wheelchair, his wife Fawzia, Um Kamel, and their five children and their families, from their home in Sheikh Jarrah in the East of Jerusalem.

Mohammed Al-Kurd had lived in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood from 1956 until the morning of November 9, 2008 when the Israeli police enforced a court order that evicted them. Few days after this expulsion, Mahmoud Al-Kurd died of heart attack in his protest tent in the neighborhood of his house. The criminal Israeli Zionist organization police has since then destroyed the tent of the Al-Kurd family several times.

The Vice President of the European Parliament, Luisa Morgantini, had sent a letter for Al-Kurd family after their expulsion from their house in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem. The same text of the letter was sent to all MEs of the European Parliament. Morgantini wrote:

Dear all,

you may remember that last Thursday during the plenary session we passed a urgency resolution on the expulsion of the Al Kurd family from the house they bought and lived in since 1956 in East Jerusalem. A group of extremist settlers claimed ownership to that house and 26 other houses in the same neighbourhood, on the basis of an Ottoman title deed dating from 1880, the authenticity of which is doubtful and which is also disputed by United States. The project of the Jewish associations is to build 200 hundreds colonial units that will replace the Palestinian homes.

Mohammed Kamal Al Kurd, the husband of Umm Kamal, did not survive, yes he was already ill, but the expulsion from the house, and the destruction by the Israeli police of the tents where they were staying after being expelled from their home , has been unbearable to him. He died in the Hospital.
Best regards,

Luisa Morgantini
Vice President of the European Parliament

Currently, a total of around 28 Palestinian families of East Jerusalem face Israeli expulsion from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. The Palestinian families had lived in their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood since the days when east Jerusalem was under Jordanian control. The United Nations, upon contract with Jordan allotted them the land after they became refugees when they were expelled from their homes in west Jerusalem by Zionists during the 1948 war.

Despite the UN and the Palestinian denials, and despite the fact that the lawyer of the Sheikh Jarrah families found that there is no evidence in the Turkish archives that the Siknaj are the owners of the land and the houses, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the expulsion of the Palestinian families following an appeal by the Zionists Nahalat Shimon settler group, which claimed that the Siknaj lived in, or bought plots in these areas before the establishment of Israel itself and by the partition resolution of 1948.

Two third of the houses in the West of Jerusalem belong to Palestinian families whose owners are denied the right to retake them. Some of these owners have appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court to regain their property, but always this court has always rejected their appeals, thus in fact creating injustice and supporting crimes.

What the Israeli Supreme Court and the Zionists organization “State of Israel” must remember and never forget is that we, all the Palestinians will NEVER give up and never forget, and that FOR EVER there are tens of thousands, millions of us who have their land and the homes in occupied Palestine, since 1948 and prior to that, and that we have the documents which prove our ownership.

Over 750.000 of us Palestinians were forcibly expelled in 1948 by the Israeli Zionists, turning us into refugees in Arab countries and in the Diaspora, and that also millions of us live in the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip. We all have the right to return and to demand our property back. The Siknaj will be institutionalized or worse, and the whole criminal enterprise called “Israel” will go, and after that ALL jews of the world will be forever held in contempt everywhere, even in countries where today they are highly respected. Not we, but your crimes against us will destroy you. [Kawther]

There are many houses and land belonging to Palestinians, which since 1948 – and until now, have been stolen and occupied by these European and American jews, which today are occupied by Israeli ministers. One of these thieves is the current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who lives in a house stolen from a Palestinian family in the Al-Talibia Arab district in the west of Jerusalem.

The Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem was built by the UN and Jordanian government in 1956 to house Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war. In 1967 Israel captured and illegally annexed Jerusalem during the six day war. We Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a future state that includes the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and so it will be with or without the consent of the Siknaj, who better start packing.