13.4% of Palestinians Were Victims of Criminal Offenses « Kawther Salam

13.4% of Palestinians Were Victims of Criminal Offenses

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) conducted the fifth round of the Victimization Survey of 2012. Data collection was conducted during the fourth quarter of 2012 (04/10/2012 – 31/12/2012).

The main objective of the survey is to monitor key indicators concerning current status of households and individuals subjected to criminal offenses. The survey was based on a questionnaire completed by a random sample of 7,704 households: 5,168 in the West Bank and 2,536 in Gaza Strip.

Criminal Offenses against Households

In the survey, offenses against households were 9.6% of Palestinian households in Palestine: 7.1% in the West Bank and 13.4% in Gaza Strip. The offenses cited in the survey were including: theft, (excluding vehicles) (3.2%), theft of a vehicle or part of it (4.3%), damage to property (0.5%), threats to property (0.3%), and assault on property (0.7%).

In addition, 4.4% of households had been subjected to harassment or assault by Israeli soldiers or settlers.

In general the results showed that crime against households was higher in Gaza Strip than in the West Bank.

Criminal Offenses against Individuals

1.8% of individuals in Palestine had been victims of a criminal offense: 1.4% in the West Bank and 2.3% in Gaza Strip.

Criminal offenses against individuals in Palestine were as follows: 37.8 % theft (43.5%  in the West Bank and 32% in Gaza Strip);  6.2% assaults (8.4% in the West Bank and 3.9% in Gaza Strip); 3.0% damage to property (4.2% in the West Bank and 1.9% in Gaza Strip); and 42.2% of individuals had been harassed or assaulted by Israeli soldiers or settlers (24.8% in the West Bank and 59.7% in Gaza Strip), out of victimized individuals.

49.4% of criminal offenses in Palestine took place inside the home, 19.0% near to the home, 12.8% outside the locality and 17.2% took place elsewhere in the locality. The percentage of criminal offenses occurring inside the home in Gaza Strip was 71.1% compared with 27.6% in the West Bank.  The number of criminal offenses that were taken place outside the locality was low in Gaza Strip at 4.2% compared with 21.2% in the West Bank.

Reported crime by victims of offenses in Palestine increased to 55.8% in 2012 compared to 53.0% in 2008.

The percentage of criminal offenses against individuals causing actual bodily harm was 5.5%; and it was higher in the West Bank at 7.6% compared with 3.3% in Gaza Strip.

The results showed that 20.6% of the criminal offenses against individuals in Palestine caused tangible losses of more than 1000 Jordanian dinars.

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Female Students Not Allowed to Continue Their Academic Studies In The West Bank « Kawther Salam

Female Students Not Allowed to Continue Their Academic Studies In The West Bank « Kawther Salam

Female Students Not Allowed to Continue Their Academic Studies In The West Bank

On September 24, 2012, the Supreme Court rejected a petition filed by human rights groups Gisha and Al Mezan (HCJ 495/12 Izzat v. Minister of Defense) on behalf of five female students from the Gaza Strip who had asked to travel to the West Bank to continue their academic studies. The five students were enrolled in gender, democracy and law programs at Birzeit University. Israel banned Gaza students from studying in the West Bank in 2000, and since then, only three students from Gaza were able to take up academic studies in the West Bank in the framework of an American scholarship program.

Four of the petitioners are women over the age of 37. They are leading civil society leaders in Gaza and run women’s organization that work toward empowering women both socially and economically. They began their Master’s studies at Birzeit University but were unable to complete their programs because of the travel ban. The programs they wish to complete are unique in the Middle East. They are tailored to the circumstances of Palestinian society and are available only at Birzeit University.

In a majority opinion, against the dissenting opinion of Justice Rubinstein, Justices Naor and Zylbertal held that the state was not obligated to set up an exceptions committee that would pave the way for the petitioners to study in the West Bank for a number of reasons (according to the opinion of Justice Naor):

1. Foreign nationals have no vested right to enter Israel.
2. There is no room for intervention in the respondents’ policy whereby only applications that present exceptional humanitarian grounds are individually examined.
3. There is no way to individually screen people who seek entry into Israel from Gaza.
4. Establishing an exceptions committee will lead to allegations of discrimination. The fact that Israel makes “exceptions” that allow entry into its territory for policy related issues, does not constitute a departure from the respondents’ policy.

Justice Zylbertal added that:
1. Establishing criteria without a mechanism for exceptions constitutes a reasonable policy.
2. Compelling the state to establish a mechanism for exceptions would be a material change in the respondents’ policy.
3. A mechanism for exceptions would undermine the “separation policy”, which is based on political and security grounds – a policy that was not found to be unreasonable.

By contrast, Justice Rubinstein thought that a mechanism for exceptions should be established, as ruled in a 2007 HCJ judgment (HCJ 1120/07 Hamdan v. OC Southern Command), based on the respondents’ own official policy. Justice Rubinstein ruled that an order absolute instructing the state to establish an exceptions committee should be issued. He believed that it was possible to establish such a committee as part of the existing policy of reducing the number of Gaza residents entering Israel and in the framework of what is called the separation policy.

For the sake of argument, Justice Rubinstein presumed that Israel’s humanitarian obligations toward Palestinian residents did not include upholding the right to study in the West Bank and to travel through Israel. Yet, even given this premise, Justice Rubinstein found that there was room to establish an exceptions committee because the state had declared that all applications, not just humanitarian ones in the narrow sense, are reviewed in any event; and, since there may be exceptions to the criteria for passage stipulated by the state, there ought to be an official exceptions committee to which individuals can turn.

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Palestine Cry: On the 4th Day of the Zionist Agression: Casualties on the Rise « Kawther Salam

Palestine Cry: On the 4th Day of the Zionist Agression: Casualties on the Rise « Kawther Salam


On the 4th Day of the Zionist Agression: Casualties on the Rise « Kawther Salam

On the 4th Day of the Zionist Agression: Casualties on the Rise

بيان صادر عن الجمعية العربية النمساوية
بيان صادر عن التجمع الفلسطيني في ألملنيا
إفتتاح فعاليات التضامن مع الشعب الفلسطيني في العاصمة الألمانية برلين بإعتصام جماهيري حاشد

During four days of the israeli zionist war crimes in Gaza, 40 Palestinians have been killed and over 400 injured, among them many in serious conditions, one third of the killed and injured Palestinians were children. Several houses and buildings have been completely destroyed and leveled to the ground, among them the building of the Prime Minister offices.

In the West Bank, demos broke out in support to Gaza against the Israel aggression and war crimes. Dozens of Palestinians were injured, among them several seriously like Ahmad Suboh who suffered serious head injuries. At least 12 demonstrators were arrested by the Israeli occupation forces.

In Gaza and according to a press release from Al Mizan for Human Rights: (Note: the number of the causalities, the murdered and injured Palestinians, increased after this press release). Israeli occupation forces (IOF) launched an air strike on a house, in a serious escalation of its aggression on the Gaza Strip.

IOF warplanes struck and completely destroyed the building hosting the Council of Ministers in Gaza City. As of the time this press release is issued, IOF attacks have left 37 Palestinians killed; including 6 children and 2 women, and 398 injured; including 133 children and 67 women. This escalation of IOF attacks and the nature of their targets raise the concerns that military operations are developing into an operation similar to Operation Cast Lead in December 2008 and January 2009. Al Mezan condemns the IOF violations of international law and calls for international intervention to protect Palestinian civilians.

According to the monitoring of Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights, at approximately 6 am on 17 November, IOF warplanes fired three missiles at the 2-story house of Solaiman Salah, 59, which is located near THE Khlofaa’ Mosque in the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp, in the North Gaza district. The house was inhabited by 12 persons; six of whom children and 4 women. The attack destroyed the house completely.

Solaiman Salah and his son, Mohammed, 13, sustained critical injuries. His wife, Fayza Salah, 53, and her son Zakariya, 19, and daughter, Safaa, 23, sustained moderate injuries. Al Mezan filed workers noted that the northern part of the family house collapsed completely, but the back part of the house remained standing with partial damage. The family were in the back part of the house when the attack took place. Al Mezan’s field workers witnessed the rescue operation at the house by the civil defense and neighbors. Two women and two children were rescued from under the rubble. This attack damaged 10 adjacent homes; 4 of which seriously, and left 33 injuries; 13 of them children and 7 women.

IOF continued its violent attacks on Gaza throughout the day. Several attacks targeted government offices located in residential neighborhoods; including an air strike on the building hosting the Council of Ministers. These attacks have resulted in damages to hundreds of homes and civilian institutions, such as schools, mosques and NGO offices.

Al Mezan highlights that IOF’s attacks as Israel’s over five-year-old closure and naval blockade of the Gaza Strip continue. The situation of basic services in Gaza has deteriorated seriously during these years; especially for the health, water and sanitation sectors. The Israeli closure to the Gaza’s last crossing point, through which trade and humanitarian aid can be supplied, will further deteriorate the humanitarian situation in

IOF has also intensified the attacks on smuggling tunnels, which have allowed for basic commodities to enter Gaza under the closure. Fuel supplies are threatened and, if cut, will spark an immediate humanitarian crisis. Water, sanitation, and health sectors depend heavily on fuel supplies under the lack of electricity in the Strip.

As IOF continues its aggression and its disregard to its obligations under IHL by targeting civilians and civilian objects, Al Mezan asserts that IOF commits grave breaches of international law that could amount to war crimes. Al Mezan therefore reiterates its strong condemnation of the IOF aggression on the Gaza Strip and deplores the inability of the international community to intervene to halt the IOF violations of international law.

Al Mezan strongly denounces the statements made by the EU, the Quartet, and several states in Europe and the US, which justify Israel’s aggression on the ground that Palestinian armed factions initiated the attacks on Israel. This position is both based on false information and condoning on aggression by an occupying Power in ways that violate international law.

International community has a responsibility to act to prevent serious violations of international law and human rights. Al Mezan calls on the international community to promptly intervene to stop the Israeli aggression; including by convening an urgent session of the Human Rights Council.

Al Mezan reiterates its call on the international community; including international humanitarian organizations, to ensure that the IOF abides by the obligation to allow and facilitate the effective entry of basic needs into the Gaza Strip

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Kawther Salam Europa >> Palestine News >> €9.8 Million Aid from EU at Risk of Disappearing

€9.8 Million Aid from EU at Risk of Disappearing

سفارة فلسطين أم بعثة فلسطين – هل هي حقيقة أم وهم أم ضحك على الشعب الغلبان؟؟؟
الرئيس عباس يقترح تسليم سوريا لنكرة وصعلوك علوي جديد
خالي جمال عبد الناصر / شيخة حليوى

Friday 5 October 2012 – European Union and Belgium contribute €9.8 million to support Palestinian families living in extreme poverty in the West Bank and Gaza.

The European Union and the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium are joining forces to make this year’s third contribution to the Palestinian Authority’s quarterly payment of social allowances to poor Palestinian families in the West Bank and Gaza. The contribution, channeled through PEGASE, amounts to €9.8 million, including €9 million from the Government of Belgium and €0.8 million from the European Union.

Eligible beneficiaries, identified in cooperation with the PA Ministry of Finance, are households living in extreme poverty receiving assistance in the framework of the national Cash Transfer Programme (CTP), run by PA Ministry of Social Affairs. Introduced in 2010, the CTP is designed to provide basic safety net to the poorest and most vulnerable Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, through cash and in-kind assistance.

The Representative of the Government of Belgium, Mr Geert Deserranno, said: “The main objective of the Belgian Development cooperation is to realize sustainable development through combating poverty. The PEGASE mechanism is perfect to advance towards reaching this goal”.

The European Union Representative, Mr. John Gatt-Rutter said: “Our longstanding contribution to the payment of social allowances underlines the EU’s commitment to work closely with the Palestinian Authority to ensure that those Palestinian families who struggle to make ends meet are not forgotten. This is complementary to our work with the PA Ministry of Social Affairs to develop a social protection scheme that cares for those facing real economic or social hardship.

This is all the more essential in periods of deepening fiscal crisis, as the one Palestine is currently witnessing”, said the EU Representative. “Following the last donors meeting in New York, where the financial difficulties of the PA were at the centre of the discussion, I take this opportunity to reiterate the need for all donors to maintain their support and ensure that the PA can continue to provide essential public services to Palestinian citizens”, he added.

The contribution, equivalent to €9.8 million, will reach 59,599 Palestinian families in need – with over half of the target population living in Gaza.

Payments are made across a network of local banks. In Gaza, where payments are processed over-the counter, beneficiaries may collect their allowance at the bank branch indicated by their social worker from 6 October to 1 November 2012. Beneficiaries living in the West Bank may collect their allowance, directly from their individual bank accounts, as of 7 October.

Background:

Most of the European Union’s assistance to the Palestinian Authority is channeled through PEGASE, the financial mechanism launched in 2008 to support the PA Reform and Development Plan (2008-2010) and the subsequent PA Palestinian National Plan (2011-2013). As well as helping to meet a substantial proportion of its running costs, European funds support major reform and development programmes in key ministries, to help prepare the PA for statehood in line with the plan put forward by Prime Minister Salam.

Fayyad in August 2009. Since February 2008, €1.34 billion have been disbursed through the PEGASE Direct Financial Support programmes. In addition, the EU has provided assistance to the Palestinian people through UNRWA and a wide range of cooperation projects.

The global amount of Belgian assistance for oPt from 2008 to 2011 was about €20 million per year, most of which is channeled through agreements with the PA and UNRWA. After the new cooperation agreement of November 2011, the global Belgian assistance for oPt increased to about €30 million per year. Belgium mainly finances the sectors of education and local governance.

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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

Urgent Appeal From Al-Aqaba Village

The destruction of Al-Salam street in Al-Aqaba


International Solidarity Movement  July 25, 2012

To the embassies, consulates, and international, Arab, and Islamic representative offices;
To domestic and international humanitarian and human rights organizations;
To all domestic and international media outlets that have visited the steadfast village of Aqaba, and to those that have not visited;
To Israeli humanitarian and human rights organizations;

Al-Salam (Peace) Street remains closed before your eyes and to the residents of Al-Aqaba village since 18 April 2012.

Al-Aqaba is a Palestinian village in the northeastern West Bank, which is being targeted for demolition by theIsraeli “Civil” Administration (the IDF agency responsible for controlling the West Bank). Surrounded by two Israeli military bases and a ‘virtual wall’ of checkpoints. Al-Aqaba’s connections to neighboring communities, markets and the Jordan Valley have been gradually severed: since 1967, al-Aqaba’s population has decreased by 85%, dropping from around 2,000 to 300 today. While many al-Aqaba residents no longer live in the village itself, they still hope to return to their land, and still send their children to the local school. The village is located in Area (C) of the West Bank on the edge of the Jordan Valley, the village is under complete Israeli military control and civil jurisdiction.

The people of Al-Aqaba village call upon you to intervene to open Al-Salam Street, which was destroyed and then closed by the Israeli military on 18 April 2012. Israel knows that the people of this small village call for peace despite the injuries and the harassment inflicted upon them and despite the fact that they are deprived of vital services, particularly drinking water; they are denied the right to build; are isolated and blockaded; and they are frequently served with demolition orders for their homes, their roads, their agricultural land, and the entrances to their village.
We place this sacred trust in each and every one of your hands, without exception, to immediately intervene to open Al-Salam Street in Al-Aqaba, in order to help the isolated residents, particularly the farmers, the students, and the sick.

We reiterate our call for a resolution to the problem of Al-Salam Street.

The destruction of Al-Salam street in Al-Aqaba

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Arafat's Widow Demands Exhumation Of Late President

من قاتل عرفات يا عباس؟؟؟

According to Al-Jazeera “An investigation that lasted 9 months revealed that high levels of the radioactive and toxic of substance Polonium was found in the personal belongings used shortly before his death of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, president of Palestine Liberation Organization and none of the rumors published before revealed that Arafat might have been killed by cancer or cirrhosis of the liver. Even allegations that he was infected with HIV were published. Actually, Arafat was in good health until he suddenly fell very ill on October 12, 2004”.

The late President Arafat was besieged by the criminal Israeli ground forces and tanks in his compound in Ramallah. During this siege, many jewish zionist groups visited him and even spent long time with him under the pretense of being “peace activists” offering themselves as human shield in his defence.

After the deterioration of Arafats’s health, he was transferred for medical tests to a French military hospital near Paris, where he spent his final days alone with his wife Suha and undergoing medical tests and examinations. The hospital did not reveal anything about the cause of Arafat’s death, the report of the French ONLY mentions the names of the different poisons they tested while trying to pinpoint the exact substance used to poison Arafat.
The toxic substance Polonium was detected in the clothes of Arafat after laboratory tests conducted by the prestigious SwissInstitute of Radiation Physics in Lausanne. Tests made included the clothing worn by Arafat before his death, among the items tested were his hat and his Kaffiyeh, according to Al-Jazeera. The tests were done on clothes of the late President which were given by Suha to the doctors. They did not show any signs of toxic heavy metals or conventional poisons, what led the interest of the doctors towards making tests for more exotic materials, including Polonium, a highly radioactive substance used to provide energy for the spacecraft and which is only produced in meaningful quantities in nuclear reactors.

“I can confirm to you that we measured an unexplained, elevated amount of unsupported polonium-210 in the belongings of Mr. Arafat that contained stains of biological fluids,” said Dr. Francois Bochud, the director of the Swiss institute. The press release states that Polonium got its fame in 2006 after it was revealed that Russian spy Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko was killed with Polonium in London. The full press release of the Swiss Institute of Radiation Physics in French is here http://www.chuv.ch/ira/ira_home/actu-xml-list/actueve_detail.htm?id=3278

Suha Arafat, the widow of the late President Arafat, demanded in her talk to Al-Jazeera that the body of her late husband be exhumed for examination in order to ascertain the radiation poisoning. She said: “I demand that the Palestinian Authority collaborate to extract the remains of Arafat, who is buried in Ramallah in the West Bank, to verify the radiation poisoning”. The Central Committee of Fatah expressed its willing to cooperate to investigate the details of Arafat’s death.

Suha commented on the Al-Jazeera report: “We have reached the extremely painful result and this at least will take part of the burden heaped over my chest. At least I did something to say to the Palestinian people, the Arabs and Muslims all over the world that Arafat’s departure was not a natural death. It was a crime”.

She added: “The results, that they discovered the polonium in his blood, and radioactive polonium in his clothing, on his hat, on the hair, in his underwear, and it’s not the quantity that they found – polonium, it’s all over actually, it’s a substance – but they found a very high quantity of polonium. It means that it’s not a natural death”. Read more.

Here, I’m seeing a crime. And if I tell you that this laboratory is the best laboratory in the world, in Switzerland, they put their name in this, and their reputation.

Suha noted that she expects support from the Palestinian Authority, President Abu Mazen and the Yasser Arafat Foundation, to uncover the truth after the this important issue was disclosed. She demanded that the Palestinian attorney general give his approval to the competent authorities to extract the remains of Arafat. She also called on the Islamic scholars to release a Fatwa of allowing the exhumation. She requested from the League of Arab States and the United Nations to cooperate to investigate the dimensions of what she called the assassination of Arafat.

Suha said that the Palestinian leader’s daughter Zahwa collaborated with the respected scientific team, which has taken a sample of DNA to compare with the DNA of Arafat. She stated that this was the discharge of her responsibility to the coming generation of Palestinians. Read the full report on Al-Jazeera.