13 dec 2019
The Gaza Strip Christians have been banned by the Israeli occupation authorities from visiting holy cities like Bethlehem and Jerusalem to celebrate Christmas this year.
A spokeswoman for Israel's military liaison has said that Gazan Christians are allowed to have permits to travel abroad but none will be allowed to go to the 1948 occupied territories or the West Bank.
The spokeswoman added that based on "security orders" Gazans would be allowed to travel abroad through Allenby (King Husein Bridge) with Jordan but not to visit cities in the 1948 occupied territories or the West Bank. video
The case last year was different as Israel issued permits for about 700 Gazan Christians to travel to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and other holy cities that draw thousands of pilgrims each holiday season.
A spokeswoman for Israel's military liaison has said that Gazan Christians are allowed to have permits to travel abroad but none will be allowed to go to the 1948 occupied territories or the West Bank.
The spokeswoman added that based on "security orders" Gazans would be allowed to travel abroad through Allenby (King Husein Bridge) with Jordan but not to visit cities in the 1948 occupied territories or the West Bank. video
The case last year was different as Israel issued permits for about 700 Gazan Christians to travel to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and other holy cities that draw thousands of pilgrims each holiday season.
11 dec 2019
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As 2020 approaches, we are just weeks away from the deadline by which the UN has warned the Gaza Strip could become uninhabitable.
The UN and other aid agencies have issued many subsequent reports warning of a humanitarian disaster in this densely populated, isolated enclave. Last year, Michael Lynk, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, noted that with 70 percent youth unemployment, a collapsed healthcare system and widely contaminated drinking water, Gaza was already unfit to live in. |
The UN’s warning seven years ago was meant to inspire change, but for Palestinians inside Gaza, our daily realities have only grown grimmer.
Isolated in Gaza
As a direct result of Israel’s blockade on Gaza, the territory has been isolated from the outside world for more than a decade.
Despite Israel’s claim that it withdrew from the area in 2005, it is still the main dominating force over Gaza’s people.
Israel still surrounds most of the Gaza Strip, and it highly restricts the ability of Palestinians and foreign visitors to leave or enter the territory. Special permission may be granted, but it is rare.
Israel also controls what goods enter or leave the territory - everything from construction materials to medical devices. All of this undermines Israel’s claim to have disengaged from Gaza.
The blockade has severely damaged the mental health of Palestinians in Gaza. The territory has long been likened to an open-air prison, where residents are deprived of their basic rights.
Young people are unable to travel or meet people from different countries and cultures. Most have never been on a plane, train or ship. They have never seen mountains or rivers, visited the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories, or been given the opportunity to pray at al-Aqsa Mosque - one of the holiest sites for Muslims - even though the mosque is located on their land, just around 100 kilometres from the Gaza fence.
Most young people in Gaza cannot find work to support their basic needs, forcing them to accept 15-hour days for just a few dollars of pay. Rampant unemployment has paralysed their ability to secure housing, marriage and stability, which has increased their psychological distress, leading to suicide in some cases.
The sense of desperation gripping youth in Gaza today is a direct consequence of the collective punishment Israel practises against Palestinians.
Israel has destroyed Palestinians’ lives over and over again. In 1948, some 750,000 Palestinians were forced into exile; today, around two-thirds of the Gaza Strip’s inhabitants are refugees.
Israel has massacred the Palestinian population and occupied their lands, and in Gaza, the blockade has shut the door to their futures.
The conditions that Palestinians in Gaza live with daily - including deprivations of food, medicine and employment - have led to a general sense of creeping despair.
And Israel wants it this way: it is part of the state’s decades-long strategic plan to eliminate Palestinians.
Earlier this year, a government source reportedly acknowledged that Israel was pushing Palestinians to leave Gaza permanently, and that the government was even willing “to arrange transportation” to help them reach other countries.
International pressure
The fundamental problem facing Palestinians in Gaza is a political one, manifested in Israel’s ongoing policies of transfer, occupation and defying international law. We need more international pressure on Israel to end its siege and give Palestinians their right to self-determination.
The UN’s warning of how bad things would be by 2020 was clearly not enough.
Gaza is eagerly awaiting real intervention from the international community, which could open a window of hope and break the territory’s isolation.
Knowing that we have reached this deadline of 2020 - a time when the international community must acknowledge the dire conditions we are living in - Gaza needs an emergency programme to open a humanitarian route linking it to the outside world, creating jobs, and providing the type of economic opportunities that could finally rescue our youth from despair.
Ahmed Abu Artema
Ahmed Abu Artema is a Palestinian journalist and peace activist. Born in Rafah, in 1984, Abu Artema is a refugee from Al Ramla village. He authored the book "Organized Chaos".
Isolated in Gaza
As a direct result of Israel’s blockade on Gaza, the territory has been isolated from the outside world for more than a decade.
Despite Israel’s claim that it withdrew from the area in 2005, it is still the main dominating force over Gaza’s people.
Israel still surrounds most of the Gaza Strip, and it highly restricts the ability of Palestinians and foreign visitors to leave or enter the territory. Special permission may be granted, but it is rare.
Israel also controls what goods enter or leave the territory - everything from construction materials to medical devices. All of this undermines Israel’s claim to have disengaged from Gaza.
The blockade has severely damaged the mental health of Palestinians in Gaza. The territory has long been likened to an open-air prison, where residents are deprived of their basic rights.
Young people are unable to travel or meet people from different countries and cultures. Most have never been on a plane, train or ship. They have never seen mountains or rivers, visited the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories, or been given the opportunity to pray at al-Aqsa Mosque - one of the holiest sites for Muslims - even though the mosque is located on their land, just around 100 kilometres from the Gaza fence.
Most young people in Gaza cannot find work to support their basic needs, forcing them to accept 15-hour days for just a few dollars of pay. Rampant unemployment has paralysed their ability to secure housing, marriage and stability, which has increased their psychological distress, leading to suicide in some cases.
The sense of desperation gripping youth in Gaza today is a direct consequence of the collective punishment Israel practises against Palestinians.
Israel has destroyed Palestinians’ lives over and over again. In 1948, some 750,000 Palestinians were forced into exile; today, around two-thirds of the Gaza Strip’s inhabitants are refugees.
Israel has massacred the Palestinian population and occupied their lands, and in Gaza, the blockade has shut the door to their futures.
The conditions that Palestinians in Gaza live with daily - including deprivations of food, medicine and employment - have led to a general sense of creeping despair.
And Israel wants it this way: it is part of the state’s decades-long strategic plan to eliminate Palestinians.
Earlier this year, a government source reportedly acknowledged that Israel was pushing Palestinians to leave Gaza permanently, and that the government was even willing “to arrange transportation” to help them reach other countries.
International pressure
The fundamental problem facing Palestinians in Gaza is a political one, manifested in Israel’s ongoing policies of transfer, occupation and defying international law. We need more international pressure on Israel to end its siege and give Palestinians their right to self-determination.
The UN’s warning of how bad things would be by 2020 was clearly not enough.
Gaza is eagerly awaiting real intervention from the international community, which could open a window of hope and break the territory’s isolation.
Knowing that we have reached this deadline of 2020 - a time when the international community must acknowledge the dire conditions we are living in - Gaza needs an emergency programme to open a humanitarian route linking it to the outside world, creating jobs, and providing the type of economic opportunities that could finally rescue our youth from despair.
Ahmed Abu Artema
Ahmed Abu Artema is a Palestinian journalist and peace activist. Born in Rafah, in 1984, Abu Artema is a refugee from Al Ramla village. He authored the book "Organized Chaos".
28 nov 2019
Israeli soldiers stationed at the Erez (Beit Hanoun) Terminal, in northern Gaza, abducted a Palestinian man who was accompanying his ailing brother to a hospital in the occupied West Bank.
Media sources said the soldiers abducted Mousa Marzouq Abu Taha, 47, from Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, west of Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, while he was accompanying his brother who was heading to the West Bank to undergo an eye surgery.
The incident took place Tuesday, when the soldiers informed Mousa that he needs to be interviewed at 9 in the morning at the terminal, so that he can obtain a permit to accompany his brother, however, once he went there, he was instantly detained.
According to official documentation by the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, Israeli soldiers have abducted 11 Palestinians at Erez Terminal this year, including eight merchants, and two who were accompanying patients.
It said that such violations are carried out against basic rights of the freedom of movement and the right to receive medical care, and are serious breaches of International Law, in addition to all laws regarding the protection of civilians without discrimination.
Al-Mezan said that Israel, who is also a signatory to these laws and agreements, is violating the civilian, economic, social and cultural rights, and all laws regarding the political rights of the Palestinian people, including the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which calls for the protection of civilians.
It strongly denounced Israel for its ongoing attempts to blackmail the patients and their families, by trying to turn them into collaborators, informing on their own people, to be allowed to cross or receive the medical care they urgently need.
Media sources said the soldiers abducted Mousa Marzouq Abu Taha, 47, from Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, west of Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, while he was accompanying his brother who was heading to the West Bank to undergo an eye surgery.
The incident took place Tuesday, when the soldiers informed Mousa that he needs to be interviewed at 9 in the morning at the terminal, so that he can obtain a permit to accompany his brother, however, once he went there, he was instantly detained.
According to official documentation by the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, Israeli soldiers have abducted 11 Palestinians at Erez Terminal this year, including eight merchants, and two who were accompanying patients.
It said that such violations are carried out against basic rights of the freedom of movement and the right to receive medical care, and are serious breaches of International Law, in addition to all laws regarding the protection of civilians without discrimination.
Al-Mezan said that Israel, who is also a signatory to these laws and agreements, is violating the civilian, economic, social and cultural rights, and all laws regarding the political rights of the Palestinian people, including the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which calls for the protection of civilians.
It strongly denounced Israel for its ongoing attempts to blackmail the patients and their families, by trying to turn them into collaborators, informing on their own people, to be allowed to cross or receive the medical care they urgently need.
18 nov 2019
Israeli soldiers abducted, on Sunday at night, a Palestinian merchant while trying to cross the Erez Terminal with the besieged Gaza Strip.
Media sources in Gaza said the merchant, identified as Adel Mohammad Hussein, headed to Erez and was interrogated for some hours before he was taken prisoner.
They added that his abduction brings the number of merchants, who were taken prisoner at the Israeli controlled Erez Terminal since the beginning of the year to seven.
The soldiers also abducted three other Palestinians, including one who was accompanying a patient, seeking treatment in Jerusalem.
Media sources in Gaza said the merchant, identified as Adel Mohammad Hussein, headed to Erez and was interrogated for some hours before he was taken prisoner.
They added that his abduction brings the number of merchants, who were taken prisoner at the Israeli controlled Erez Terminal since the beginning of the year to seven.
The soldiers also abducted three other Palestinians, including one who was accompanying a patient, seeking treatment in Jerusalem.
12 nov 2019
Germany’s ZDF television outlet broadcast a text in large Hebrew letters that stated “End the Occupation” during the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Middle East Monitor reported.
The public-service television station displayed the statement on the 18th-century neoclassical monument Brandenburg Gate, reported German newspaper Bild.
This was followed by criticism from Jeremy Issacharoff, Israel’s ambassador to Germany, suggesting that it is disgraceful that people consider this a useful time to exploit this event for political goals against Israel, adding that Germany was commemorating the anniversary of the collapse of the communist East German state.
Germany celebrated the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall, Saturday, a decisive event in the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.
It was during the live broadcasting of the actress and singer Anna Loos that the clear and critical message against Israel’s occupation of Palestine was aired.
It came abruptly in the sequence of images and excerpts of videos that were reminding the thousands of people present of worldwide protest movements.
Issacharoff told Bild: “On 9 November, we celebrated the fall of the Wall, but also dignifiedly recalled the pogrom night 81 years ago, which is also symbolic of the horrors of at the time approaching Holocaust.”
The newly elected head of the German-Israel association Uwe Becker, stated that ZDF provided “a stage for “anti-Israel antisemitism,” and expects an explanation on how it came to this “totally unacceptable crossing of a line” and must apologize.
He told the Jerusalem Post: “Against the background of the historical significance of 9 November, 1938, as the beginning of the systematic mass murder of six million European Jews, dealing with the joy of the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November, 1989, must be done in a sensitive manner.”
He added “The ZDF has done exactly the opposite.”
Event organizer Kulturprojekte Berlin has apologized on Facebook.
Moritz van Dülmen, head of the agency, claims the slogan was not noticed prior to its display and took to Facebook to post: “It was a mistake, for which I carry the responsibility.”
The public-service television station displayed the statement on the 18th-century neoclassical monument Brandenburg Gate, reported German newspaper Bild.
This was followed by criticism from Jeremy Issacharoff, Israel’s ambassador to Germany, suggesting that it is disgraceful that people consider this a useful time to exploit this event for political goals against Israel, adding that Germany was commemorating the anniversary of the collapse of the communist East German state.
Germany celebrated the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall, Saturday, a decisive event in the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.
It was during the live broadcasting of the actress and singer Anna Loos that the clear and critical message against Israel’s occupation of Palestine was aired.
It came abruptly in the sequence of images and excerpts of videos that were reminding the thousands of people present of worldwide protest movements.
Issacharoff told Bild: “On 9 November, we celebrated the fall of the Wall, but also dignifiedly recalled the pogrom night 81 years ago, which is also symbolic of the horrors of at the time approaching Holocaust.”
The newly elected head of the German-Israel association Uwe Becker, stated that ZDF provided “a stage for “anti-Israel antisemitism,” and expects an explanation on how it came to this “totally unacceptable crossing of a line” and must apologize.
He told the Jerusalem Post: “Against the background of the historical significance of 9 November, 1938, as the beginning of the systematic mass murder of six million European Jews, dealing with the joy of the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November, 1989, must be done in a sensitive manner.”
He added “The ZDF has done exactly the opposite.”
Event organizer Kulturprojekte Berlin has apologized on Facebook.
Moritz van Dülmen, head of the agency, claims the slogan was not noticed prior to its display and took to Facebook to post: “It was a mistake, for which I carry the responsibility.”
The Palestinian ministry of education announced all schools will be closed on Tuesday morning in the Gaza Strip because of the Israeli military escalation.
The Israeli occupation army at dawn Tuesday launched a deadly aerial attack on Gaza, killing a senior Islamic Jihad commander and his wife.
Later, the Israeli army announced the closure of all the crossings with Gaza and the reduction of the fishing zone.
The Israeli occupation army at dawn Tuesday launched a deadly aerial attack on Gaza, killing a senior Islamic Jihad commander and his wife.
Later, the Israeli army announced the closure of all the crossings with Gaza and the reduction of the fishing zone.
7 nov 2019
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Wednesday night arrested a Palestinian businessman at the Beit Hanoun (Erez) border crossing, north of the Gaza Strip.
A Palestinian official from the crossings and border authority said that Israeli intelligence officers arrested a businessman called Jamal al-Zaini after he went to the Israeli side of the crossing for an interview.
He added that Zaini had submitted a request asking for a travel permit to enter the 194 occupied lands.
Apart from Zaini, the IOF has arrested eight citizens since the beginning of the current year after they applied for permission to travel through the crossing for medical and commercial purposes.
A Palestinian official from the crossings and border authority said that Israeli intelligence officers arrested a businessman called Jamal al-Zaini after he went to the Israeli side of the crossing for an interview.
He added that Zaini had submitted a request asking for a travel permit to enter the 194 occupied lands.
Apart from Zaini, the IOF has arrested eight citizens since the beginning of the current year after they applied for permission to travel through the crossing for medical and commercial purposes.
5 nov 2019
The Israeli authorities’ decision to prevent an Amnesty International staff member from travelling abroad for “security reasons”, apparently as a punitive measure against the organization’s human rights work, is another chilling indication of Israel’s growing intolerance of critical voices, Amnesty International said, Thursday.
“The Israeli authorities claim that they have security reasons for banning Laith Abu Zeyad from travelling is totally absurd. Their failure to provide any details to justify the ban reveals its true intent. This is a sinister move imposed as punishment for his work defending human rights of Palestinians,” said Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
“As well as violating Laith’s rights to freedom of movement and association, this travel ban further illustrates the Israeli authorities’ chilling resolve to silence human rights organizations and activists who are critical of the government. It also highlights the cruel and inhuman nature of their policies.”
Laith Abu Zeyad, Amnesty International’s Campaigner on Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), was stopped at the Allenby/King Hussein crossing between Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank on 26 October, while on his way to attend a relative’s funeral. He was kept waiting for four hours before being informed he has been banned from travelling by Israeli intelligence for undisclosed “security reasons.”
According to Al Ray, Laith Abu Zeyad was previously denied a humanitarian permit to enter Israel from the occupied West Bank, in September, to accompany his mother for chemotherapy treatment in Jerusalem.
As well as cruelly infringing on his family life, these arbitrary travel restrictions are interfering with his human rights work, as they will prevent him from entering East Jerusalem and Israel or travelling abroad for essential activities, including advocacy at the UN and other international organizations, as well as participation in conferences and other events.
Naidoo added that Israeli authorities must immediately lift arbitrary travel bans on Laith Abu Zeyad and all other Palestinian human rights defenders who are being punished for daring to speak out about Israel’s systematic discrimination and human rights violations against Palestinians.
According to international human rights standards, restrictions on the right to freedom of movement may only be imposed exceptionally, and must be necessary for a legitimate purpose, proportionate and based on clear legal grounds. The reasons must be made clear, and the restrictions should be open to legal challenge.
The refusal of the Israeli authorities to make public any evidence to substantiate the reasons for this travel ban means Laith Abu Zeyad has also been denied a meaningful opportunity to challenge the ban in court.
“The Israeli authorities claim that they have security reasons for banning Laith Abu Zeyad from travelling is totally absurd. Their failure to provide any details to justify the ban reveals its true intent. This is a sinister move imposed as punishment for his work defending human rights of Palestinians,” said Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
“As well as violating Laith’s rights to freedom of movement and association, this travel ban further illustrates the Israeli authorities’ chilling resolve to silence human rights organizations and activists who are critical of the government. It also highlights the cruel and inhuman nature of their policies.”
Laith Abu Zeyad, Amnesty International’s Campaigner on Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), was stopped at the Allenby/King Hussein crossing between Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank on 26 October, while on his way to attend a relative’s funeral. He was kept waiting for four hours before being informed he has been banned from travelling by Israeli intelligence for undisclosed “security reasons.”
According to Al Ray, Laith Abu Zeyad was previously denied a humanitarian permit to enter Israel from the occupied West Bank, in September, to accompany his mother for chemotherapy treatment in Jerusalem.
As well as cruelly infringing on his family life, these arbitrary travel restrictions are interfering with his human rights work, as they will prevent him from entering East Jerusalem and Israel or travelling abroad for essential activities, including advocacy at the UN and other international organizations, as well as participation in conferences and other events.
Naidoo added that Israeli authorities must immediately lift arbitrary travel bans on Laith Abu Zeyad and all other Palestinian human rights defenders who are being punished for daring to speak out about Israel’s systematic discrimination and human rights violations against Palestinians.
According to international human rights standards, restrictions on the right to freedom of movement may only be imposed exceptionally, and must be necessary for a legitimate purpose, proportionate and based on clear legal grounds. The reasons must be made clear, and the restrictions should be open to legal challenge.
The refusal of the Israeli authorities to make public any evidence to substantiate the reasons for this travel ban means Laith Abu Zeyad has also been denied a meaningful opportunity to challenge the ban in court.
