Posts Tagged ‘israel’
Documentary: Mother Courage
February 22nd, 2010 • Awareness, Film & Documentary
Tags: checkpoint, israel, mother courage, palestine
A powerful and moving documentary about the women of Machsom (Checkpoint) Watch:
A fresh perspective from those who know best: mothers. These Israeli women risk their lives monitoring life at the checkpoints in the West Bank. We see them learn to get to grips with their core beliefs, true motivations and fears, in a bold insight into the troubled Middle East.
Every morning and afternoon, shifts of Israeli women go out to some 30 checkpoints within the West Bank and on the seam-line between Israel and Palestine, to monitor and document IDF and Border Police conduct, whilst attempting to protect basic Palestinian human rights.Known as Machsom Watch, they are a dedicated group of Jewish mothers focused on monitoring and recording how the Israeli soldiers treat Palestinians and reporting the results of their observations to the widest possible audience, from decision-makers to the general public.
“Our strength is in our weakness. We come unguarded and offer trust and belief in people. We offer some kind of innocence and just want to bring it back to this tormented place” says one member of the activist group.
Shown on Al Jazeera’s Witness. Originally from Journeyman Pictures in 2008.
MAP’s New Film: The Silent War
February 17th, 2010 • Awareness, Film & Documentary
Tags: blockade, film, gaza, israel, map, palestinian, the silent war, uk
Medical Aid for Palestinians’ new film:
The Silent War: Israel’s Blockade of Gaza
Israel’s blockade of Gaza has been in place for almost three years.
Building on existing closures and restrictions, the blockade means the delay or denial of a broad range of items – food, industrial, educational, medical – deemed “non-essential” for a population largely unable to be self-sufficient at the end of decades of occupation. The blockade prevents access by sea, land and air, effectively closing off a population of 1.5 million Palestinians from the outside world.
This short film examines what the blockade means for the people of Gaza, as they struggle to rebuild their lives over a year after Operation Cast Lead.
Israel: One law for all?
January 14th, 2010 • Awareness, Film & Documentary, News
Tags: arab, israel, law
from Al Jazeera’s People & Power:
In 1948, Israel’s founding fathers issued a manifesto declaring among other things that the new state would uphold the equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race or creed.
Six decades later that is not a principal that many of Israel’s Arab citizens – who make up about 20 per cent of the population – believe applies to them, especially in matters involving law and order.
In his film, One Law for All?, filmmaker Tony Stark investigates whether Israeli Arabs are regularly the victims of legal double standards.
Israeli Attacks on Palestinian Disabled Persons in the Gaza Strip
December 29th, 2009 • Awareness, News
Tags: attack, disabled, gaza, israel, Palestinian Center for Human Rights, report
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) has published a new report: “Israeli Attacks on Palestinian Disabled Persons in the Gaza Strip.” The report documents crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces against disabled Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the period (1 September 2003 – 30 November 2009).
The report presents information regarding the killing of Palestinian civilians with disabilities by Israeli forces, it presents cases wherein Palestinian civilians suffered disabilities as a result of Israeli actions. Of particular concern are Israeli attacks against Palestinian disabled persons during the latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip. Finally, the report details the impacts of the illegal closure that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip for over 2 and a half years; the closure has negatively affected the performance of rehabilitation institutions dedicated to the care of persons with disabilities and these institutions’ ability to offer health, social and educational services to all sectors of society, including women and children.
During the reporting period, 31 Palestinian disabled persons were killed, including 4 women and 6 children; 4 of whom were killed during the latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip. The killings of disabled persons varied; 9 persons were mentally disabled, 14 were physically disabled, 7 were suffering from psychological disorders, and one person was deaf and dumb.
During the reporting period (excluding the Israeli offensive), 5,496 civilians in the Gaza Strip were wounded. Hundreds of them sustained injuries, which resulted in permanent disabilities. Disabilities ranged from amputation of the upper or lower limps or both of them, due to which, most of them resulted in total or partial physical disabilities. A lot of them are suffering from loss of hearing or vision.
The latest 23-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip on 27 December 2008 led to an unprecedented increase in the number of the wounded and disabled persons. 5,300 Palestinians were wounded, including 600 ones who sustained permanent – mostly physical – disabilities.
The Israeli closure imposed on the Gaza Strip, which has been illegally imposed for over 2 ½ years, has negatively affected the performance of institutions of rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. These institutions have not been able to properly offer health, social and educational services to all sectors of the society, including women and children. Moreover, IOF have imposed restrictions on the movement of persons with disabilities to receive medical treatment abroad or to have access to equipment necessary for their training and rehabilitation. At the same time, foreign medical and technical personnel have not been able to enter the Gaza Strip to assist the disabled and provide them with necessary medical and rehabilitation services.
The report is currently available in Arabic – an English version will be available soon.
Vigil at Israeli Embassy in London
December 28th, 2009 • Action, Events
Tags: embassy, gaza, israel, london, PSC, stop the war, vigil
The vigil organised by PSC and Stop the War held outside the Israeli Embassy in London went ahead yesterday. Here are a couple of videos from the street:
Interview with UK MP Jeremy Corbyn
Interview with supporters.
Subsidies, Commandos & Private Contractors.
December 23rd, 2009 • News
Tags: contractor, illlegal, israel, legal, private, security, settlement, subsidies, west bank
A few news reports from Al Jazeera English…
Israel floods settlements with subsidies
Israel has announced a partial moratorium on settlement construction. Yet, at the same time, it has invested in those already established in a bid to solidify their existence.
In the Jordan Valley there are 22 settlements viewed as illegal under international law.
But, as Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston reports, they benefit from a system of Israeli funding specifically focused on kick-starting settler economies.
Israel vows action against settlers
Give with one hand (above) and take with the other:
The Israeli army is planning to use special commando units, unmanned spy planes and mobile phone-jamming equipment to prevent new settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, according to a leaked report.
Army officials said the plan is only a “first draft” for potential measures to enforce a 10-months settlement suspension announced last month.
Inspectors tasked with monitoring the suspension have been repeatedly clashing with settlers since the halt and the leaked document is expected to raise tensions further.
Israel ‘outsourcing’ the occupation
Right from the Pentagon/BlackwaterXe playbook:
Concern is growing among Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as Israel steps up its use of private security contractors to patrol Palestinian territories.
The private firms are being used to help patrol checkpoints and protect illegal settlements in what has become a multi-billion dollar business for Israeli security companies.
But as Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston reports, some Palestinians are concerned that the private companies are using a different set of rules than the army, and this has raised new legal issues.
The Absurdity and Intention of Israeli Policy
December 22nd, 2009 • 1 comment Awareness, News
Tags: gaza, israel, khan younis, palestine, policy, refugee, uk
One family’s powerful and moving story.
by Mohammad Alsaafin
Khan Younis Refugee Camp
I am a Palestinian refugee, from the village of Fallujah which lies between Gaza, Hebron and Asqalan. I’ve never been allowed to visit Fallujah; my grandparents were exiled from there in 1949 (a year after the founding of Israel) and took refuge in the Gaza Strip. My father and I were both born in the Khan Younis refugee camp-he a few years before Gaza was occupied by Israel, and I in 1988, a month after the outbreak of the first intifada. My dad married a woman from the West Bank-they had met and fallen in love while they were both studying at Birzeit University, and when I was two years old we emigrated to the UK where he received his Phd.
Fourteen years later, in 2004, we all returned to Palestine to live in Ramallah. Now British citizens, my parents were determined that my three siblings and I would forge a stronger connection to our homeland than we ever could living abroad. At first, the transition was made easier by the fact that our foreign passports gave us the freedom of movement that was denied to other Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. For me, this reality was shattered when in late 2005 I attempted to cross the River Jordan from the West Bank to visit my aunt in Amman. The Israeli border agents told me that I could not pass, because I had an Israeli issued Gaza ID. Under Israeli military rules, this meant that I could not ‘legally’ be present in the West Bank because the Israeli occupation had mandated that Palestinians from Gaza could not enter the West Bank, and Palestinians from the West Bank could not enter Gaza. This policy had been in force since the early 1990’s, but was applied with increasing severity after the outbreak of the second intifada.
I lived the next four years under constant fear of arrest by the Israeli military, because that would have resulted in almost certain deportation to Gaza, and isolation from my family. For those four years, I never left the confines of Ramallah, so as to avoid the Israeli checkpoints on every one of the town’s entrances-but even this couldn’t give me a sense of security because I had to commute daily to Birzeit University, on a route frequently patrolled by Israeli forces from the nearby settlement of Bet El.
TV: Inside Britain’s Israel Lobby
November 15th, 2009 • Events
Tags: channel 4, israel, lobby, politics, tv, uk
Channel 4: Monday November 16, 2009 @ 8pm
Dispatches investigates one of the most powerful and influential political lobbies in Britain, which is working in support of the interests of the State of Israel.
Despite wielding great influence among the highest realms of British politics and media, little is known about the individuals and groups which collectively are known as the pro-Israel lobby.
Political commentator Peter Oborne sets out to establish who they are, how they are funded, how they work and what influence they have, from the key groups to the wealthy individuals who help bankroll the lobbying.
He investigates how accountable, transparent and open to scrutiny the lobby is, particularly in regard to its funding and financial support of MPs.
The pro-Israel lobby aims to shape the debate about Britain’s relationship with Israel and future foreign policies relating to it.
Oborne examines how the lobby operates from within parliament and the tactics it employs behind the scenes when engaging with print and broadcast media.
http://www.channel4.com/dispatches/
Phone Your Supermarkets Tomorrow!
November 10th, 2009 • Action
Tags: bigcampaign, boycott, israel, supermarket
Please circulate to friends and contacts:
Phone in Wednesday 11th November.
Morrisons Customer Services: 0845 611 6111
Waitrose Customer Services: 0800 188 884
It is time to step up the supermarket boycott campaign which calls for consumers to reject Israeli goods as long as Palestinians rights are denied by the apartheid regime. We must especially oppose the stocking of produce from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank which is stolen land. The settlements are illegal under international law and goods originating there should not be on sale in the UK. The label ‘West Bank’ is grossly misleading, some shoppers think that they are buying Palestinian produce. PSC and other organizations are targetting Waitrose and Morrisons supermarkets in particular as both refuse to discuss the question of settlement goods. We aim to inundate them with phone calls on Wednesday 11th November.
So please ring and complain on the above numbers. Lots more info on:
