'Settlers', army, stop Hebron shops opening

e 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al Khalil Team | Al Khalil, Occupied Palestine

Around 8:30 this morning on Shuhada street in Hebron, Israeli settlers, soldiers, and border police arrived and put up a breakfast tent right outside of two shops owned by a Palestinian man. The settlers remained in front of his shops for around three and a half hours under Israeli police and army protection.

The owner of the shops, which will be used to grind wheat into flour, is Ghassan Azzedine Abu Hadid. HRC has been working with him to facilitate the restoration of his two shops. Because of the presence of the settlers, he has been prevented from working on his shops in order to make them ready for opening.

International Solidarity Movement activists were present and asked Ghassan for a statement on what was happening to which he replied “I cannot say anything, I just want to open my shops and continue my work.”

ISM report

Hunger strikers face torture

Khader Adnan: 'The more they torture me, the more determined I become'
 http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=765991
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 16 June -- Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan, who is now
on his 42nd day on hunger strike against the Israeli practice of
administrative detention, said Tuesday that "the more [the Israelis torture me, the stronger and more determined I become." Adnan, 37, made the comments to the chief lawyer of the Palestinian prisoner’s society Jawad Bulous, who was visiting him at Israel’s Assaf Harofeh medical center. Bulous said that "new dangerous symptoms" had appeared indicating that Adnan's health has seriously deteriorated. "He suffers severe pains all over his body with blue spots on his shoulder and clear speaking problems."
Bulous said that despite Adnan’s sufferings, there has so far been no discussion about his case, although he said officers from the Israeli prison service visited Adnan on Monday to see how dangerous his condition was. "Despite his complaints about detention conditions in hospital, wardens made these conditions worse by fixing a curtain at the outer door of his room and three wardens were sent to his room while his hand and his leg were tied to his bed," said Bulous. Adnan also told the lawyer that a delegation representing the International Committee of the Red Cross had attempted to visit him several days ago, but that they canceled the visit after Israeli officers insisted on attending and keeping Adnan tied to the bed. On Friday, the director of the prisoner's society, Rafat Hamduna, said that Adnan's weight was dropping to dangerous levels and he was no longer
able to stand up or move.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=765991

 Israel seeks force-feeding powers as hunger striker enters danger zone
< http://972mag.com/israel-seeks-force-feeding-powers-as-hunger-striker-enters-danger-zone/107901/>
+972 mag 16 June by Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man -- The head of the Israeli
Medical Association says he will instruct physicians to ignore the new law
if it is passed, saying it contradicts medical ethics -- *The Israeli
parliament is expected to soon vote on a bill that would permit authorities
to force feed Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike; the cabinet gave the
measure its seal of approval on Sunday. Although no direct correlation has
been shown, the move comes as Israel/Palestine’s most famous repeat hunger
striker, Khader Adnan, has gone more than 40 days without food or
nutrients. Adnan is protesting being held under administrative detention,
which means he has no access to due process, has not formally been accused
of any crime, and has no way of defending himself. He is currently being
held in a hospital in central Israel where he is reportedly shackled to his
bed and is refusing to be treated by hospital medical staff. Adnan has said
he will only agree to be treated by a doctor from Physicians for Human
Rights Israel (PHR), who is expected to see him on Wednesday 17th. Force feeding hunger strikers is extremely inhumane and painful for the "patient", described by the ACLU
< http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-prisoners-rights-human-rights/video-yasiin-bey-mos-def-undergoes-force>
as “cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.” In the *video above Yasiin
Bey (aka Mos Def) volunteers to undergo the “treatment”   ... By force feeding hunger striking Palestinian prisoners,Israel hopes to undercut the only non-violent path prisoners have to protest against their treatment and denial of due process. Hunger strikers have
gained significant support on the Palestinian street, and Israeli authorities have long warned that letting high-profile hunger strikers die could spark unrest. Israeli politicians also believe that Israel would face international pressure over its practice of administrative detention if
hunger strikes go on for too long. Opposition to the bill came from an unexpected corner this week when former foreign minister MK Avigdor Lieberman said his party, which is in the opposition, would oppose the bill.  “[Israel] should learn from what happened to the Irish underground during the time of Margaret Thatcher,” Haaretz quoted
< http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel/.premium-1.661301> 
well.”

West bank: Palestinian prisoner suffers breakdown

 NABLUS (Ma‘an) 16 Aug -- On July 18, 30-year-old Muath Dureidi crossed the
Allenby Bridge into the West Bank, excited to take a job in his native
Palestine after receiving word that a local company had accepted his
application. His excitement turned to horror, however, after Israeli forces
detained him and kept him isolated from the outside world for the next 28
days. By the end of his ordeal, Dureidi had suffered a complete mental
breakdown, and today sits completely mute in the Arab Specialized Hospital
in Nablus. It was not supposed to turn out this way for Dureidi, a native
of the Tulkarem-area village of Beit Lid in the northern West Bank. His
father Nasr told Ma‘an that before his arrest, Muath had travelled to the
United Arab Emirates in his quest for a job, completing in-person
interviews with a number of companies in the wealthy Persian Gulf state.
Shortly after arriving in the UAE, however, Muath received word from a West
Bank company he had previously applied to that he had been accepted. He
subsequently flew back to Jordan in order to return to his homeland, since
Palestinians are forbidden by Israel from using the more direct route
through Ben Gurion Airport. After disembarking at the airport near the
Jordanian capital Amman and making his way to the Allenby Bridge over the
Jordan River, his father said Muath made a short call home in which he said
Israeli intelligence services had detained him....
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=720921

Jerusalem: No room for the prophet

In Jerusalem's Old City on Saturday 19th April, Israeli troops and police blocked all entrances to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to journalists and foreign pilgrims, preventing thousands of Christians from participating in the annual ceremonies

MaanImages/Alex Shams

.

In recent years, Christian celebrations in Jerusalem have been subject to intense Israeli restrictions, as extra checkpoints have been erected through the Old City and worshipers have been subjected to police brutality during their gatherings.

In 2013, Israel even issued an official apology to Egypt after video footage captured a Coptic priest being attacked by Israeli police.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=691301

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."

Palestinian hunger striker beaten unconscious

A Palestinian hunger striker in Israel's Ramleh prison was knocked unconscious by prison guards earlier this week in the most recent abuse of prisoners, a coalition of human rights groups said on Thursday.

Hassan Safadi, who has gone 57 days without food, had his head slammed against the steel door of his prison cell during an assault on him and another hunger striker, Samer al-Barq.

The assault occurred after they refused to be transferred to a new cell, Addameer, al-Haq and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said in a joint statement.

"During the attack, Mr Safadi’s head was slammed against the iron door of the cell two times, causing him to fall to the ground, unconscious. Prison guards then dragged him through the hall to be seen by all the other prisoners," it said.

Safadi announced after the beating that he would no longer be drinking water.

The two prisoners are refusing food to protest their detention without trial under a system Israel calls administrative detention.

Over 2,000 Palestinian prisoners ended a mass hunger strike in May after reaching a deal with Israel.

The deal specifically stipulated that Safadi would be released following the expiration of his detention order, but the agreement was not upheld.

Two other Palestinian prisoners, Ayman Sharawna and Samer al-Issawi, have also been refusing food for 47 and 16 days, respectively.

Israel's draconian administrative detention allows for the imprisonment of Palestinians without charge or trial for renewable six month periods.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have slammed the policy as a violation of international humanitarian law.

Published  by Al Akhbar, Thursday, August 16, 2012 http://english.al-akhbar.com/search/node/hunger%20striker

Hunger striker near death

Reuters - Mohamad Torokman

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Palestinian hunger-striker Samer Issawi is on the verge of death according to a statement from his sister Shirine Issawi Thursday, a day after he decided to refuse both liquids and vitamins.

The statement was given to the web magazine Palestine Online.

Palestine’s prisoners’ rights group Addameer had reported Wednesday that Issawi was suffering from severe heart problems, the latest in a series of illnesses Issawi has contracted since the start of his 236 day hunger strike.

Issawi has lost 45 kilograms and his condition is reported to have deteriorated significantly since his hearing on February 21, which ruled that he would be released on March 6. Issawi remains in police custody, and his legs are said to be shackled to his hospital bed.

Addameer also said that Issawi’s doctors summoned his lawyer Jawad Boulos to convince the 33 year old to resume taking liquids.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have slammed Israel’s refusal to grant Issawi bail as a violation of international humanitarian law.

Issawi was first arrested ten years ago on charges of arms possession, and was released in a Hamas-Israel prisoner exchange deal in October 2011. On 7 July 2012, Israel rearrested him extrajudicially, in direct violation of the deal's terms, and was told he would he would have to be imprisoned for 20 years, completing his original sentence. He was charged with violating the conditions of his release by leaving Jerusalem.

Three other Palestinian prisoners are currently refusing food: Ayman Sharawneh, Jaafar Ezzedine, and Tarek Qa'adan. Sharawneh is in critical condition, according to Addameer.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/palestinian-hunger-striker-issawi-verge-death

(Al-Akhbar)