Israel/Palestine roundup

[Partridge]

Palestinian militant killed in botched West Bank grenade attack
Haaretz

A Palestinian militant was killed on Sunday when a grenade he tried to throw at Israel Defense Forces troops exploded prematurely in the Balata refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus, witnesses and the IDF said.

They said 18-year-old Ayad Hashash, member of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, attempted to attack soldiers scouring Balata refugee camp in Nablus for militants.

Later on Sunday afternoon, soldiers in Nablus shot and wounded a Palestinian who tried to throw a concrete block at them. Another Palestinian sustained burns also in the Nablus area when he tried to throw a firebomb at IDF troops.

Earlier, it was reported that IDF troops fired at a Palestinian who was throwing an explosive device and at other Palestinians who were firing at the soldiers.

The exchanges of fire lasted three hours before the IDF left Balata.

Near Jenin early on Sunday evening, Palestinians opened fire and threw a grenade at IDF soldiers. There were no reported casualties.

A total of 17 Palestinians were arrested in the West Bank overnight, Palestinians and the IDF said.

Israel has arrested dozens of militants in the West Bank since a Palestinian suicide bomber from the area killed five Israelis last week in the coastal city of Netanya.

Air strike takes life
Palestinian hospital officials reported that Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant Khader Rayana, 27, died Satuday of wounds incurred in an Israel Air Force missile strike in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday after the suicide bombing in Netanya last Monday.

Two other militants died immediately after missiles struck a house near the northern Gaza town of Jabalya, where members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades were hiding.

[Partridge]

Violence and Racism: Murder in Jerusalem
By NEVE GORDON and YIGAL BRONNER - Counterpunch

A short article posted on the Web site of Israel's most popular newspaper, Yedioth Ahronot, described the killing of a Jerusalem resident. According to the article, the man, a young father of two, was shot down by police after he tried to run over one of the officers. Following the killing, his enraged friends and neighbors filled the streets, burning tires and torching a parked car.

The readers' reaction to the news item was immediate. Within hours there were 150 responses on the Web page, almost all of which reiterated a similar viewpoint: "Come on police, take care of them" (signed Zionist); "Hit them without delay" (an Israeli with high blood pressure); "No mercy" (a Sabra); "Bomb the rioters with a few missiles, it's not France here"; and finally, "Arabs beware, Israel is not Europe."

The readers' reactions were not surprising considering that the dead man's name was Samir Ribhi Dari and not, for example, Joseph Cohen. The actual killing did not even warrant a response, since incidents like this have become routine. It was only the spontaneous protest that drew the readers' attention. Angry Arabs in the streets? We must respond rapidly and with force, "bomb them with a few missiles."

The readers, however, were right about one crucial point: Israel is neither France nor Europe, since in Israel police violence toward Arabs tends to be much more lethal. Indeed, both Samir's killing and the readers' responses reflect some of the most disturbing and dangerous aspects of contemporary Israeli culture. Most prominent among these is the deep-seated racism that encourages violence.

This racism is inextricably linked to Israel's repetition compulsion, which transforms the victim into the aggressor. A Palestinian is killed and immediately he is described as violent; the police beat a Palestinian and he, not they, is portrayed as brutal; Israel occupies and represses the Palestinian people, but they are to blame. Thus, it is no surprise that after Samir Dari was shot in the back from just a few yards away the police instantly claimed that he was trying to run them over. It is almost as if lying has become an involuntary reflex for the authorities.

But in order for the culture of deceit to be effective it needs the assistance of the culture of dissimulation and suppression. If the past is any indication of the future, then the policeman who shot Samir Dari can rest easy. The internal affairs department did not indict a single policeman following the killings of 13 Arab citizens in October 2000, nor did it indict any of the policemen who gave false evidence regarding their illegal behavior during protests against the separation barrier.

The cultures of deceit and suppression fan the flames of violence. The clear message -- that Jews are eternal victims, and therefore they cannot be found guilty regardless of the brutal means they employ -- renders Palestinian life cheap and encourages a trigger-happy attitude. We have accordingly reached a stage where we can predict that the Israeli security forces will continue killing Palestinians. The only unknown variable is the identity of the next victim. We could not have known, for example, that the policeman would shoot our friend Samir.

Samir liked the nights. His days would begin in the early afternoon, and in the evening he would sit in his car, driving clients, talking on his cell phone and instructing the other drivers employed by his taxi company. He was a patient man, and in the four years that we worked with him -- often under extremely stressful conditions -- we found him to be a bit shy, but always resourceful. And most important, he was forever willing to offer help to those in need.

We would like to believe that the person who shot Samir will be brought to a fair trial. We would like to believe that Samir's death will begin undermining the patterns of deceit, suppression and racism that have served as the propelling force of the culture of violence. We would like to believe that Samir's children will be the last ones orphaned by the Israeli security forces. But no. We cannot deceive ourselves.

Neve Gordon teaches human rights at Ben-Gurion University in Israel and is the editor of From the Margins of Globalization: Critical Perspectives on Human Rights. He Can be reached at nevegordon@gmail.com.

Yigal Bronner teaches in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. Until this year, he taught in Tel Aviv University's Department of East Asian Studies.

=============================

Wall, What Wall? - My Bethlehem Experience
By ALISON WEIR - CounterpunchLast night at something called "The Bethlehem Experience", a local church's reenactment of Bethlehem 2000 years ago, I handed out "Bethlehem Christmas cards" designed by Quakers in Michigan. These wonderful cards have a photo of the Israeli wall imprisoning Bethlehem on one side and information on the situation in Bethlehem on the other, including the website openbethlehem.org. The wall photo shows a painting on the wall of a small girl holding balloons that are carrying her aloft and over the towering concrete wall to freedom. There were only three others with me (plus one young girl), and we tried to act as respectfully and mildly as possible, endeavoring not to interfere with the event, the commemoration of a birth that holds deep meaning for us. The idea was simple: we would approach people in their cars as they joined the line inching toward the church's drive-through experience, wish them a Merry Christmas, explain that we were not part of the official event (while commenting that it was a wonderful event), and tell them that we were there to provide information about Bethlehem today, during which we would hand them one of our cards.

We felt this was a valuable addition to what otherwise would have been a breathtakingly hypocritical and exploitative event: a pageant in which American Christians would dress up as people in a far-off land, while ignoring the pleas of those people today for help against their oppression, oppression being funded by their costumed imitators. Having personally visited Bethlehem and having seen the wall with which Israel is imprisoning and devastating the people through the use of our tax money, I felt morally obligated to be there.

Most people took our cards with the good will with which they were being proffered and began to read them immediately. When we mentioned that we were there to tell about what was happening to people in Bethlehem today they would look surprised and ask, "What's happening?" When two people mentioned that they had visited Bethlehem and we asked if they had seen the wall, they responded: "What wall?" It turned out that they had visited many years before and, like most Americans, had no idea that Israel was building a wall around Bethlehem.

Sadly, the church's pastor was furious at our efforts, and sent an assistant to try to prevent us from handing out our Christmas cards. Somewhat frantic, this woman began running up to cars, telling people to ignore us, that we were "solicitors," and compared us to the poor people of Tijuana who apparently ask to clean people's windshields in return for small sums of money.

While most people seemed to maintain their civility, her actions caused a few people, most of whom identified themselves as members of the church, to be somewhat rude to us. Sadly, several times I would then respond in disgust, a lapse I'm unhappy about. For example, one woman said that we were being "inappropriate." I asked her the verse in the New Testament that speaks about being "appropriate," and told her that I thought the message brought 2,000 years ago was about helping the poor and oppressed and caring about others.

Another member of the church, the official greeter (interestingly, dressed as a Roman Centurion), periodically came over to me when I was standing alone, towering over me, and would call me extremely obscene names and make crude sexual comments. I learned later that he did this with the other woman as well. I was sorry to discover this morning that some of this was done within earshot of the young girl who had been to Bethlehem some months ago and was at this event with her father.

A couple in one car that I approached to give a card turned out to be Israeli. While the woman was wonderfully open and spoke of wanting peace, her husband shouted at her to "shut up," said he had been in the Israeli Army, and stated that he wished he could go back and "shoot more people."

If I had been more alert I should have suggested that he help me put on a reenactment of Bethlehem today to accompany the church's reenactment of Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.

The church is holding this event again tonight. We had originally planned to go both nights. At this point I'm undecided about whether to return, and I doubt anyone else will want to come. I still have cards left over, however, and Bethlehem is still under siege. I'll probably go.

Alison Weir is executive director of If Americans Knew. She can be reached at: alisonweir@yahoo.com

[Partridge]

Palestinian shot dead in West Bank
BBC

A Palestinian was killed and at least 20 were wounded in clashes during an Israeli operation in the West Bank city of Nablus, medical sources said. Two Israeli soldiers were also injured by a bomb during the raid.

There have been several raids in the West Bank since an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber killed five Israelis in Netanya earlier this month. Israeli forces entered the city at dawn and were attacked by youths throwing stones and, later, by gunmen.

A 22-year old Palestinian, Hussam Sakir, was shot in the head while throwing stones near the Balata refugee camp on the outskirts of the city, medical sources said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman told the AFP news agency that Israeli troops had fired live rounds, but not at protesters. "There have been numerous incidents of Palestinian gunmen shooting at the forces. In some cases the forces returned fire," she said. "In addition there have been numerous incidents of Palestinians throwing rocks, but the forces have not returned fire in those instances."

[Partridge]

Gaza gunmen fire on PA security compound, storm election HQ
Reuters

Palestinian gunmen from Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah party stormed election offices and battled police in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in a flare-up of violence that could disrupt next month's parliamentary ballot.

The violence prompted the Central Elections Committee to close all its offices in the West Bank and Gaza. Employees would not return to work until the Interior Ministry provided them with security, the Palestinian official news agency reported.

About 100 Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades gunmen fired in the air as they burst into election headquarters in Gaza City shortly before rival Hamas militants were expected to register their candidate lists for the vote, election officials said.

At the same time, gunmen raided election offices in the West Bank city of Nablus, and in Rafah and Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. There were heavy clashes with police in Khan Younis but no immediate reports of casualties.

The militants, worried they will not be fairly represented
on Fatah's ticket following complaints about the handling of the ruling party's primary elections, are demanding a delay in the Jan. 25 legislative poll. Abbas vowed to hold the vote on time. {snip}

=====================

Diplomats: Israel violating specific obligations made to Rice
Haaretz

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said Tuesday that Israel would not implement an agreement allowing bus convoys between Gaza and the West Bank until the Palestinian Authority cracked down on rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

"Israel has no intention of allowing passage to Palestinian convoys from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank... while the PA is not acting against Qassam rocket fire," Halutz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Halutz's comments raised the ire of those participating in a conference of donors to the Palestinian Authority slated to open Wednesday in London.

A Western diplomatic source said the suspension of the Gaza-West Bank bus convoys is a violation of Israel's agreement with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Diplomats at the London conference expressed hope Israel would understand the strategic ramifications of reneging on explicit obligations it had made to the U.S. administration at this critical time.

The U.S. and other Quartet nations over the weekend stepped up pressure on Israel to implement an agreement it signed with the PA last month to facilitate the border crossings even before the conference kicks off. {snip}

[Partridge]

Israel to Build More Homes in West Bank
AP



Israel has approved construction of hundreds of new homes in West Bank settlements, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday, confirming what would be a violation of the U.S.-backed peace plan.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon scrambled to contain a political uproar following a Newsweek report quoting a Sharon aide as saying the prime minister would be willing to cede 90 percent of the West Bank and part of Jerusalem. Sharon's aides denied the report, but his hard-line opponents said it revealed the prime minister's true intentions.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz approved the new settlement homes in the past week, a defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Mofaz made the decision shortly before leaving the hard-line Likud Party to join Sharon's new centrist party, Kadima. The Yediot Ahronot daily said Mofaz initially approved the housing to shore up support within Likud at a time when he was seeking party leadership. But he ended up joining Kadima after trailing badly in Likud polls.The U.S.-backed road map peace plan aims for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. In the interim, Israel is required to freeze construction in all Jewish settlements, including the largest ones that it says it wants to hold onto under a future peace deal.

However, Israel has not fulfilled this commitment, and construction has continued since the road map was approved in June 2003. The Palestinians also have failed to meet their obligation to dismantle armed militant groups.

Asked for comment, U.S. Embassy spokesman Stewart Tuttle reiterated Washington's position that Israel must "stop the settlement expansion in addition to removing illegal outposts."

Sharon left Likud, his political home for 30 years, last month to form Kadima, saying he would have more flexibility to negotiate a peace agreement on the basis of the road map.While this would mean ceding West Bank territory to the Palestinians, Sharon also has said he intends to retain large blocs of settlements - most of them near the boundary with Israel.

The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank along with the Gaza Strip, which Israel evacuated in September, as part of a future state.

In Gaza City, fighting erupted ahead of a midnight deadline for all Palestinian parties to announce their lists of candidates.

Gunmen exchanged fire outside the headquarters of the ruling Fatah Party, as tensions heightened within Fatah over candidate selection for Jan. 25 parliament elections.

Three people were wounded in the firefight, in which gunmen from rival Fatah groups ran up and down a Gaza City street, shooting wildly into the air. The incident began when a group of armed Fatah activists took over party headquarters in Gaza City, demanding government jobs. Bodyguards of a local Fatah leader arrived and drove the protesters out of the building.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Israel's new construction "undermines the vision of a two-state solution."

"This is a clear-cut violation of the road map ... and I really hope that President Bush will personally take note of that," he said.

Nearly all of the new housing approved by Mofaz lies within the blocs that Sharon wants to retain, though they also include dozens of homes in smaller communities of Bracha and Nokdim deep in the West Bank.

The other houses include 200 homes in Maaleh Adumim, Israel's largest settlement, and 40 trailers in Ariel, another large settlement deep in the West Bank, ministry officials said. In addition, Mofaz agreed to advance construction plans in Givat Zeev and Beitar Illit, two large settlements near Jerusalem, the ministry said.

Sharon's new party is expected to win elections in March, with Likud trailing far behind in opinion polls. Critics in the Likud say Sharon is planning major concessions to the Palestinians.

[Partridge]

Israeli Missile Strike Kills Four in Gaza
AP

The Israeli military fired a missile Wednesday at a car in northern Gaza it said was packed with militants about to carry out an attack. Four Palestinians were killed and four were wounded, Palestinian hospital officials said.

Witnesses said an Israeli drone was overhead at the time of the attack outside Karni, Gaza's main cargo passage.

The Israeli military said it targeted members of the Popular Resistance Committees on their way to carry out an attack against Israel. The vehicle was loaded with explosives, the military said.

The military would not say where it believed the car was headed. The Karni passage in northern Gaza has been the site of militant attacks in the past.

The military did not elaborate.

Dozens gathered in an angry crowd outside the hospital morgue and emergency room, chanting, "God is Great!" and "Destroy Israel!"

[Partridge]

Palestinian elections threatened
BBC

January's Palestinian parliamentary elections have been plunged into crisis after Israel decided to prevent Palestinians in Jerusalem from voting. Israeli prime minister's spokesman Raanan Gissin told the BBC it was concerned that the Palestinian militant group Hamas might gain power. [Democracy, baby!]

The Palestinian Authority condemned the decision and said it would cancel the poll if voting in Jerusalem is barred.

This election will be only the second since the PA was established in 1995.

Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Shaath said that if there was no voting in Jerusalem, "there will be no elections at all". "For us, Jerusalem is more important than any other thing," he added. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the 25 January election would be sabotaged if Palestinians resident in East Jerusalem were prevented from voting.

"If these elections don't take place, it will be a catastrophe for the Palestinians," he said. "I know what the Israelis have on their minds. They don't want a partner. They want unilateralism." Hamas spokesman Sami Abu-Zuhri has told reporters that his group wants the election held as scheduled.

Mr Gissin told the BBC that the Israeli government had changed its stance since last January's presidential election, when voting had been permitted. Under special voting arrangements for East Jerusalem - which Israel has annexed and sees as its exclusive domain, while international law decrees it to be occupied territory - Palestinians have previously been allowed to vote in Israeli post offices.

Mr Gissin said these had been exceptions, and stressed the government would not help what he called a terrorist organisation, Hamas, come to power. In October, Israel pulled back from a policy of opposing the participation of Hamas in January's elections.

Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said it was not in Israel's interest to oppose Hamas' participation. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had said earlier that his government would hinder voting in the West Bank if Hamas candidates stood in the election. {snip}

[Partridge]

Palestinians shot dead in Nablus
BBC

Three Palestinians have been shot and killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian medical sources say. The men were shot dead as they tried to flee a building that had been sealed off by Israeli troops, witnesses said.

Meanwhile five Israeli soldiers were slightly wounded by a Qassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip at their base in southern Israel, the army said.

A Palestinian man was killed when the army responded by firing shells.

Palestinian medical officials said Ibrahim Naana, 21, had been killed by shrapnel after a shell landed east of the Jabaliya refugee camp.

The Israeli Army said that it had fired at rocket-launching sites, and that it had thought the area was empty.

Two other rockets were fired into Israel on Thursday, but no damage or casualties were reported.

The attacks came amid increasing tension along the border of the Gaza Strip, from which Israel withdrew in September.

Israeli forces have retaliated against Palestinian rocket attacks with artillery fire and air strikes on suspected militants.

On Sunday, Israel said it shot dead a militant trying to plant mines near the Erez Crossing.

West Bank raid

In Nablus, soldiers had entered the four-storey building in the city searching for wanted militants, the Israeli army said.


When the three tried to flee they were shot, officials said. The operation at the building was continuing.

Local people said one of the dead men was Bashar Khanani, the leader of the Nablus branch of the small militant group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The Israeli army said overnight raids across the West Bank had resulted in the arrest of 14 suspected militants.

Israel has stepped up military activity against militant groups since a suicide bombing killed five people at a shopping centre in Netanya on 5 December.

[Partridge]

Israel death toll lowest in years
BBC

Forty-five Israelis were killed in Palestinian militant attacks in 2005, the Israeli internal security agency Shin Bet has reported. [Partridge: Meanwhile, in the same timeframe, 306 Palestians have been killed by the IDF - source]

This is 60% fewer than the number killed in 2004, and the lowest since the start of the intifada in 2000. The main reason for the decline, Shin Bet said, was the informal truce observed by some Palestinian groups.

However, Israel says Palestinian groups have smuggled a number of anti-aircraft missiles into Gaza. These were smuggled in the aftermath of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra said. For a few days in September the border with Egypt was open and not under the control of Israel or the Palestinian Authority. Mr Ezra also said that more than 3,000 anti-tank missiles have entered Gaza. [Partridge: Translation - Palestinians are not allowed to have the means to defend themselves from Israeli tank incursions and air strikes]

Israel withdrew its settlers and army from Gaza, which it had occupied since 1967, in the summer of 2005. Mr Ezra said that Israel must ensure that Palestinian militants do not transfer the weapons to the West Bank, where they would be closer to Israeli cities.

Israel's Shin Bet security agency believes that the Palestinians also brought thousands of rifles and several tons of explosive material into Gaza, Israel Radio said. Mr Ezra stressed, however, that Israel's prime security concern was preventing suicide bombings inside Israel.

Truce ends

Of the 45 Israelis killed in 2005, 37 were civilians. A further 406 Israelis were injured in attacks, down from 589 in 2004. Militant Palestinian groups launched approximately 2,990 anti-Israeli attacks in 2005, including 377 attacks using Qassam rockets, Shin Bet said. [Partridge: In the same time frame 993 Palestinians have been injured - source. Come on BBC, some balance please!]

Shin Bet says Israeli security forces arrested 160 Palestinian militants trying to carry out suicide attacks. In all, five suicide attackers got through Israeli security measures in 2005.

Palestinian militant groups formally ended their truce on Sunday.