Gaza starves as 'talks' pantomime sets up again

Things are as bad as they have ever been in Gaza - all supplies are reportedly very low due to the Egyptian army closing  the tunnels. To re-enter peace negotiations while this collective "punishment" proceeds is begging the question - big time.

 

http://www.gisha.org/item.asp?lang_id=en&p_id=2045
 

Human rights groups to DM Ya'alon: Respect Gaza residents' right to freedom of movement

July 22, 2013. A group of Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations wrote to Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Monday 22 July demanding Israel take action to allow Gaza residents affected by the new restrictions at Rafah Crossing to exit and enter Gaza.

Recent turmoil in Egypt has brought new restrictions on passage via Rafah Crossing. Since July 1, exit via Rafah has been reduced to less than one third its usual scope. As a result, more than 10,000 people are stranded in Gaza. An unknown number of others cannot exercise their basic human right to return to their homes, and they are forced into paying for involuntary stays in airports and hotels in foreign countries.

Currently, only medical patients with referrals from the Palestinian Ministry of Health and holders of a foreign citizenship or residence are allowed to enter Egypt from Gaza. Gaza residents present in Egypt are allowed to return home, but those still abroad are not being permitted to land at Egyptian airports. Because Israel does not allow passage to and from Gaza via the air or sea and limits passage via land crossings with Israel, Gaza residents have become dependent on Egypt as their gateway to travel abroad.

Students needing to reach universities abroad, Palestinian residents needing to return to their work places outside Gaza, businesspeople and medical patients without official referrals are all stuck.

Due to Israel's control over the Gaza Strip, it has an obligation, under the law of occupation and human rights law, to enable Gaza residents to lead normal lives, including the opportunity to leave Gaza and return to it. If travel through Rafah is inadequate, Israel must allow Gaza residents to exercise their right to freedom of movement through other crossings, whether on land through the border crossings between Israel and Gaza or by sea and air, to the outside world.

In the past, when traffic at Rafah was restricted, Israel allowed individuals to enter and leave the Strip via crossings with Israel, as part of a shuttle bus system and on an individual basis.

As the situation in Egypt remains volatile, and restrictions at Rafah continue, the undersigned human rights groups calls upon Israel’s defence minister to immediately institute arrangements that will allow Palestinian residents of Gaza to exercise their fundamental right to freedom of movement.
Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of MovementPCHR – Palestinian Centre for Human RightsHamoked – Center for the Defence of the IndividualPHR-Israel – Physicians for Human Rights – IsraelAl Mezan Center for Human Rights

 http://www.gisha.org/UserFiles/File/LegalDocuments/YaalonLetter-21.7.13/stuckinrafah-letter-21.7.13-en.pdf

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2 women arrested for being in "wrong" place

First published in +972mag.com
The IDF’s Ofer Military Court in the West Bank held its first hearing on Tuesday 9th in the trial of Nariman Tamimi and Rana Hamadah, two Palestinian women who were arrested on Friday, June 28 at the weekly demonstration against the occupation in Nabi Saleh.
The two women were held in Sharon Prison, in Israel, for more than three days before being brought before a military judge and indicted for entering a “closed military zone.” Rana Hamadah was also charged with obstructing a soldier in the execution of his duty.
Hamadah told +972 that during her arrest she asked the IDF soldier why she was being handcuffed, to which he replied: “Because I feel like it.” Hamadah said the pair were left handcuffed and blindfolded for nine hours, and were driven around in a vehicle with two male soldiers for seven more hours before being booked in Sharon Prison.

The arrest (Activestills)

“Seeing the prisoners’ struggle from the inside gives an incredible urgency to their cause,” she said, adding that, “what we don’t see, and easily forget, is that the prisoners really must struggle for every passing minute.”
Nariman Tamimi told +972 this was the fifth time she has been arrested. She speculated that her arrest was part of the IDF’s efforts to crack down on the village’s right to protest, saying that Israel is “trying to make an example out of the village” by inflicting collective punishment.
A foreign national arrested along with the two Palestinian women was released later the same night and barred from entering the village for 15 days.
According to Israeli military law, under which Palestinians live, there is no such thing as a legal protest without permission from a military commander, which is rarely if ever granted (which is why arrests for stone throwing or organizing protests are so rampant).
http://972mag.com/when-non-violence-is-criminal-palestinian-women-stand-trial-for-west-bank-protest/75350/

Repression in US and Israel: tail wags dog

For most of us, but especially the Baby Boomers, America has long been seen as an immutable presence, always reliably in the money (Okay; apart from the Great Depression and the more recent Crash) and the source of all the 20th Century's popular culture. That corner-stone has been chipped away as the USA keeps afloat on credit, to a great extent from China, arguably the new Top Nation which may by default thus have the last say in the future of Israel/Palestine. as there is a limit to how much cash the US can throw at its Zionist colony, and if China says 'no more credit' it could have a direct effect on Israel's military capabilities despite those exports - or because of them if the US is  a major customer. America's status takes another hard knock as the International Jewish AntiZionist Network has published a plea for support for both prisoners in Israel/Palestine, and the US. Israel is already known  to be supplying arms (tested on Gaza) to the US, which is increasingly dependent on imports, of everything from corn to cars which it spent the twentieth century exporting.
          " Israel plays a significant role", states the Network, " in the training of police forces in the United States and elsewhere in population control and Israel and the US share technologies and strategies of surveillance and repression across borders ). As people who support the liberation of all peoples, and oppose all forms of racism, it is imperative that we stand behind striking prisoners, who are willing to risk their lives organizing for their rights and dignity."