Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Youth Views: Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli?
For those of us alarmed by the recent civilian death toll in Gaza, our obligation as concerned global citizens has been to promote the end of the war, provide humanitarian aid and press Israel and Hamas to reach a sustainable ceasefire agreement. With these weighty issues surrounding us, it might seem frivolous to harp on the nitty-gritty issue of language as part of this work, but language has the power to exacerbate – or heal – violent conflicts.
This war in particular revealed the power of language. In discussions and protests around the world, it was impossible for concerned citizens to express their dissatisfaction without being labelled "pro-Palestinian" or "pro-Israeli" – two homogenising, seemingly mutually exclusive terms.
"Pro-Palestinian" and "pro-Israeli" protests held on the streets of several countries left no room for those who were decisively against Hamas rocket attacks and those who were vociferously opposed to the IDF military campaign. No public space remained for the discerning. Demonstrations in Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands did not focus on the achievable and the pragmatic – a negotiated ceasefire – but on the blood and ideological allegiances.
At the demonstration in Trafalgar Square in London, for example, protests against the Israeli government for the mounting Palestinian civilian deaths were not accompanied by calls for peace between Israel and Hamas; and yet, protestors were blaming the latter for the war.
In Paris and Amsterdam, chants condemning one group or the other not only squandered the public potential to influence policy makers, but also fuelled fears of possible domestic terrorism and violence in European communities already grappling with questions of integration.
Demonstrators that focus on the problems and not the solutions only polarise the conflict further and isolate issue-oriented protesters who are committed to peace.
The language issue also filters down to one-on-one conversations. Being raised in a family that straddles religious divides, I am fed up with hearing the question, "So, are you pro-Israeli? Or pro-Palestinian?" and of the scrutiny that follows in the hope of pegging me as one or the other.
Neither term adequately describes or reflects my own positions, nor those of many others who rely more heavily on cross-cultural concepts of justice and humanity like those articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In times of war, however, these concepts entail exhausting non-violent efforts of mediation, avoiding civilian casualties and indiscriminate killing, distributing humanitarian aid regardless of political circumstances and resisting the call for collective punishment.
My criticism of the policies of Israel in each of these areas does not absolve those of Hamas and vice versa. Making it clear that neither criticism nor victimhood is the exclusive domain of one side proves challenging, though.
A new language of public outcry is desperately needed, especially in Europe and North America, where "pro-Israeli" and "pro-Palestinian" groups frequently clash with each other on the streets.
I call for an outcry that advocates the use of clear and constructive terminology to express achievable goals. Slogans such as "Death to [insert nation/country/people]" are a far cry from being realistic – or productive. Only a pragmatic kind of public language in public discourse will unite peacemakers in both "pro-Israeli" and "pro-Palestinian" camps that share a common vision for peace.
Thus, a more constructive language that bridges both camps might have entailed widespread calls for a ceasefire, a truce, a window to deliver humanitarian aid, an end to the Gaza bombings, an end to Qassam rockets, Israel-Hamas talks, Fatah-Hamas talks, etc. Using simple slogans with simple demands such as "Close tunnels, open borders", "No drones, build homes", and "Justice without borders" can achieve more peaceful results.
Adopting this kind of specific, more inclusive, constructive language is the responsibility of all peacemakers to disseminate prior to protests, through print and electronic circulation. It is also the responsibility of educators to teach it to children. And it is the responsibility of all concerned citizens to practice ways of voicing dissent without resorting to a rhetoric that kills.
This war in particular revealed the power of language. In discussions and protests around the world, it was impossible for concerned citizens to express their dissatisfaction without being labelled "pro-Palestinian" or "pro-Israeli" – two homogenising, seemingly mutually exclusive terms.
"Pro-Palestinian" and "pro-Israeli" protests held on the streets of several countries left no room for those who were decisively against Hamas rocket attacks and those who were vociferously opposed to the IDF military campaign. No public space remained for the discerning. Demonstrations in Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands did not focus on the achievable and the pragmatic – a negotiated ceasefire – but on the blood and ideological allegiances.
At the demonstration in Trafalgar Square in London, for example, protests against the Israeli government for the mounting Palestinian civilian deaths were not accompanied by calls for peace between Israel and Hamas; and yet, protestors were blaming the latter for the war.
In Paris and Amsterdam, chants condemning one group or the other not only squandered the public potential to influence policy makers, but also fuelled fears of possible domestic terrorism and violence in European communities already grappling with questions of integration.
Demonstrators that focus on the problems and not the solutions only polarise the conflict further and isolate issue-oriented protesters who are committed to peace.
The language issue also filters down to one-on-one conversations. Being raised in a family that straddles religious divides, I am fed up with hearing the question, "So, are you pro-Israeli? Or pro-Palestinian?" and of the scrutiny that follows in the hope of pegging me as one or the other.
Neither term adequately describes or reflects my own positions, nor those of many others who rely more heavily on cross-cultural concepts of justice and humanity like those articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In times of war, however, these concepts entail exhausting non-violent efforts of mediation, avoiding civilian casualties and indiscriminate killing, distributing humanitarian aid regardless of political circumstances and resisting the call for collective punishment.
My criticism of the policies of Israel in each of these areas does not absolve those of Hamas and vice versa. Making it clear that neither criticism nor victimhood is the exclusive domain of one side proves challenging, though.
A new language of public outcry is desperately needed, especially in Europe and North America, where "pro-Israeli" and "pro-Palestinian" groups frequently clash with each other on the streets.
I call for an outcry that advocates the use of clear and constructive terminology to express achievable goals. Slogans such as "Death to [insert nation/country/people]" are a far cry from being realistic – or productive. Only a pragmatic kind of public language in public discourse will unite peacemakers in both "pro-Israeli" and "pro-Palestinian" camps that share a common vision for peace.
Thus, a more constructive language that bridges both camps might have entailed widespread calls for a ceasefire, a truce, a window to deliver humanitarian aid, an end to the Gaza bombings, an end to Qassam rockets, Israel-Hamas talks, Fatah-Hamas talks, etc. Using simple slogans with simple demands such as "Close tunnels, open borders", "No drones, build homes", and "Justice without borders" can achieve more peaceful results.
Adopting this kind of specific, more inclusive, constructive language is the responsibility of all peacemakers to disseminate prior to protests, through print and electronic circulation. It is also the responsibility of educators to teach it to children. And it is the responsibility of all concerned citizens to practice ways of voicing dissent without resorting to a rhetoric that kills.
By Shayna Zamkanei
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), www.commongroundnews.org
A new day for Israeli policy
Israel is in the midst of voting in general elections, so it is no surprise that its people are not focusing on whether or not the Gaza war was worth the price. Of course, the price was mostly paid by Gazans rather than by Israelis.
In that sense, Israel was the clear "winner" while Gaza, still burying its dead, was the loser. Unfortunately, it is not clear that Hamas lost – a critical distinction. The people of Gaza are not Hamas. They are just people; many of the dead were children. Hamas, however, is surviving.
In one area, Israel clearly lost: public opinion. In the past, a distinction could be made between how America reacted to a Middle Eastern war and how the rest of the world did. Judging from media coverage, this time there was little difference between America and everywhere else.
The media focus was on the humanitarian disaster, not on who was or wasn't responsible for the war. The blogosphere – now as influential as the mainstream media – was almost uniformly opposed to Israel's position. The prevalent view there was that Israel's blockade of Gaza was no less a casus belli than the Qassam rockets.
The impact on public opinion has been striking. Except from within the more conservative segment of the pro-Israel community, there was little show of support for this war. In New York, a city where crowds of 250,000 have come out for "solidarity" rallies in the past, only 8,000 came to Manhattan for a community demonstration on a sunny Sunday. The same scepticism about the war was true elsewhere and Israelis noticed the break with past patterns.
So did the media. The current issue of Newsweek features a story called: "Israel Has Fewer Friends than Ever, Even in America."
Then came 60 Minutes. Last Sunday, the highest rated programme in the United States ran a scathing Bob Simon segment on the occupation. One part stood out. Simon and his crew filmed a private home in Nablus, which the Israeli army seized so that its soldiers could use the upper floor as a lookout post.
The episode was pretty incredible television, at least for the United States (not so in Israel where these issues are freely discussed). But this type of analysis is becoming more and more common. Just check out Jon Stewart's Daily Show, on which the brilliant and hugely influential Jewish comedian consistently takes on the safe and conventional wisdom about the Middle East.
The American approach to the Middle East is changing and the shift in the media is just one sign of it. Most important of all, America has changed.
Could anyone have imagined in the first years following 9/11 that the very next President of the United States would be an African American named Barack Hussein Obama, who makes a point of addressing Muslims in his inaugural address and telling Al Arabiya about his Muslim relatives?
Obama's America is going to be even-handed in the Middle East not only because that is what Obama is, but because it is what most Americans today expect and want. Younger people, in particular, cannot even imagine that anyone would suggest that even-handedness is bad. To them, that is like saying that the best referee is one who bends the rules to favour one team.
I also have more faith in Israel. It seems to grasp what Obama's election signifies. Every major front page in Israel ran Obama's interview with Al Arabiya, his first with any foreign media since his inauguration. Israelis heard him endorse the Saudi plan and state that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is central to our problems in the region. They recognise a clean break with the past when they see it. And they are beginning to realise that Obama is a friend, even if he does not mouth simple-minded rhetoric about the Middle East and what will fix it.
Even Benjamin Netanyahu is eager to convey that he gets Obama. He has moderated his tone since Obama's election and has made it clear that the last thing he wants is a difficult relationship with America's most popular president in a generation.
I would expect that, no matter who is elected as Israel's prime minister, he or she would get along with our new president. They know that George W. Bush, whose "support" for Israel was ultimately destructive, is gone. It's a new day and, for Israel, that will mean dialling down the rhetoric. Far more significantly, it means changing policies – starting with an end to the settlement enterprise.
That is what Israel's friends here want – an end to the occupation and the full implementation of the two-state solution now, before it is too late.
In that sense, Israel was the clear "winner" while Gaza, still burying its dead, was the loser. Unfortunately, it is not clear that Hamas lost – a critical distinction. The people of Gaza are not Hamas. They are just people; many of the dead were children. Hamas, however, is surviving.
In one area, Israel clearly lost: public opinion. In the past, a distinction could be made between how America reacted to a Middle Eastern war and how the rest of the world did. Judging from media coverage, this time there was little difference between America and everywhere else.
The media focus was on the humanitarian disaster, not on who was or wasn't responsible for the war. The blogosphere – now as influential as the mainstream media – was almost uniformly opposed to Israel's position. The prevalent view there was that Israel's blockade of Gaza was no less a casus belli than the Qassam rockets.
The impact on public opinion has been striking. Except from within the more conservative segment of the pro-Israel community, there was little show of support for this war. In New York, a city where crowds of 250,000 have come out for "solidarity" rallies in the past, only 8,000 came to Manhattan for a community demonstration on a sunny Sunday. The same scepticism about the war was true elsewhere and Israelis noticed the break with past patterns.
So did the media. The current issue of Newsweek features a story called: "Israel Has Fewer Friends than Ever, Even in America."
Then came 60 Minutes. Last Sunday, the highest rated programme in the United States ran a scathing Bob Simon segment on the occupation. One part stood out. Simon and his crew filmed a private home in Nablus, which the Israeli army seized so that its soldiers could use the upper floor as a lookout post.
The episode was pretty incredible television, at least for the United States (not so in Israel where these issues are freely discussed). But this type of analysis is becoming more and more common. Just check out Jon Stewart's Daily Show, on which the brilliant and hugely influential Jewish comedian consistently takes on the safe and conventional wisdom about the Middle East.
The American approach to the Middle East is changing and the shift in the media is just one sign of it. Most important of all, America has changed.
Could anyone have imagined in the first years following 9/11 that the very next President of the United States would be an African American named Barack Hussein Obama, who makes a point of addressing Muslims in his inaugural address and telling Al Arabiya about his Muslim relatives?
Obama's America is going to be even-handed in the Middle East not only because that is what Obama is, but because it is what most Americans today expect and want. Younger people, in particular, cannot even imagine that anyone would suggest that even-handedness is bad. To them, that is like saying that the best referee is one who bends the rules to favour one team.
I also have more faith in Israel. It seems to grasp what Obama's election signifies. Every major front page in Israel ran Obama's interview with Al Arabiya, his first with any foreign media since his inauguration. Israelis heard him endorse the Saudi plan and state that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is central to our problems in the region. They recognise a clean break with the past when they see it. And they are beginning to realise that Obama is a friend, even if he does not mouth simple-minded rhetoric about the Middle East and what will fix it.
Even Benjamin Netanyahu is eager to convey that he gets Obama. He has moderated his tone since Obama's election and has made it clear that the last thing he wants is a difficult relationship with America's most popular president in a generation.
I would expect that, no matter who is elected as Israel's prime minister, he or she would get along with our new president. They know that George W. Bush, whose "support" for Israel was ultimately destructive, is gone. It's a new day and, for Israel, that will mean dialling down the rhetoric. Far more significantly, it means changing policies – starting with an end to the settlement enterprise.
That is what Israel's friends here want – an end to the occupation and the full implementation of the two-state solution now, before it is too late.
By M.J. Rosenberg
Source: Israel Policy Forum, www.ipforum.org.
Don’t Try This at Home
In recent days, some have questioned whether Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was making a big mistake in appointing so many “special envoys,” such as George Mitchell, to handle key trouble spots, like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I think they are right to question Mrs. Clinton about this plethora of envoys. But I don’t think the problem is that she has too many; it’s that she doesn’t have enough. In the case of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, she may need at least a half-dozen envoys. Actually, this conflict is now broken into so many different pieces it may take a whole State Department of its own to resolve it.
In addition to Mitchell, Hillary may want to enlist Bill and Chelsea to take a crack at solving this one, definitely Jim Baker and Jimmy Carter, too. Why, heck, she might want to even ask some perfect strangers she meets in the halls at Foggy Bottom: “Hey, would you like a free trip to the Middle East?” Sure, it helps to know some history, but a grasp of biology now is even more useful — like how an amoeba reproduces by constantly splitting itself in half.
Where to begin? Palestinians are now divided between the West Bank and Gaza, with a secular Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah in the West Bank and a fundamentalist Hamas government based in Gaza. But Hamas is further divided between a military and political wing, and the political wing is further divided between a Gaza-based leadership and a Damascus-based leadership, with the latter taking orders from both Syria and Iran.
Are you still with me?
Best I can tell, the Palestinians from Gaza are simultaneously negotiating a cease-fire with Israel in Cairo, pursuing war-crimes charges against Israel in Europe, digging new tunnels in the Sinai to smuggle more rockets into Gaza to hit Tel Aviv and trying to raise money for reconstruction from Iran. Meanwhile, the West Bank Palestinian leaders are busy publicly collecting food and blankets to help all those Palestinian civilians brutalized by the Israeli incursion into Gaza, while privately demanding to know from senior Israeli officials why they wimped out and didn’t wipe Hamas in Gaza off the face of earth — casualties be damned.
Israel, meanwhile, has a government in which the prime minister, foreign minister and defense minister each has a different peace plan, war strategy and cease-fire conditions for Gaza, and the foreign minister and defense minster are running against each other in Israel’s election on Tuesday. Speaking of that election, a whole new party, Yisrael Beiteinu, led by Avigdor Lieberman, which has been accused of having “fascist,” viciously anti-Arab leanings, appears headed to make the biggest gains and possibly become the kingmaker of Israel’s next government. The other day, the Labor Party leader, Ehud Barak, was quoted in the newspaper Haaretz as criticizing Lieberman as a lamb in hawk’s clothing, asking: “When has he ever shot anyone?”
How did this conflict get so fragmented? For starters, it’s gone on way too long. The West Bank is so chopped up and divided now by roads, checkpoints and fences to separate Israel’s crazy settlements from Palestinian villages that a Palestinian could fly from Jerusalem to Paris quicker than he or she could drive from Jenin, here in the northern West Bank, to Hebron in the south.
Another reason is that every idea has been tried and has failed. For the Palestinians, Pan-Arabism, Communism, Islamism have all come and gone, with none having delivered statehood or prosperity. As a result, more and more Palestinians have fallen back on family, clan, town and tribal loyalties. In Israel, Peace Now’s two-state solution was blown up with the crash of the Oslo peace accords, the rising Palestinian birthrate made any plans to annex the West Bank a mortal threat to Israel’s Jewish character, and the rockets that followed Israel’s withdrawals from both Lebanon and Gaza made a mockery of those who said unilateral pullouts were the solution.
All of this has led to a resurgence of religiosity. According to Haaretz, the following questions were posed by a well-known rabbi in one of the pamphlets distributed by the Israeli Army’s Office of Chief Rabbi before the latest Gaza fighting: “Is it possible to compare today’s Palestinians to the Philistines of the past? And if so, is it possible to apply lessons today from the military tactics of Samson and David? A comparison is possible because the Philistines of the past were not natives and had invaded from a foreign land.”
Who in the world would want to try to repair this? I’d rather herd cats, or become John Thain’s image adviser, or have a colonoscopy, or become chairman of the “bad bank” that President Obama might create to hold all the toxic mortgages. Surely, any of those would be more fun. If Mitchell is still up for it, well, then God bless him.
By Thomas L. Friedman, Op-Ed Columnist
Source: The New York Times.
In addition to Mitchell, Hillary may want to enlist Bill and Chelsea to take a crack at solving this one, definitely Jim Baker and Jimmy Carter, too. Why, heck, she might want to even ask some perfect strangers she meets in the halls at Foggy Bottom: “Hey, would you like a free trip to the Middle East?” Sure, it helps to know some history, but a grasp of biology now is even more useful — like how an amoeba reproduces by constantly splitting itself in half.
Where to begin? Palestinians are now divided between the West Bank and Gaza, with a secular Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah in the West Bank and a fundamentalist Hamas government based in Gaza. But Hamas is further divided between a military and political wing, and the political wing is further divided between a Gaza-based leadership and a Damascus-based leadership, with the latter taking orders from both Syria and Iran.
Are you still with me?
Best I can tell, the Palestinians from Gaza are simultaneously negotiating a cease-fire with Israel in Cairo, pursuing war-crimes charges against Israel in Europe, digging new tunnels in the Sinai to smuggle more rockets into Gaza to hit Tel Aviv and trying to raise money for reconstruction from Iran. Meanwhile, the West Bank Palestinian leaders are busy publicly collecting food and blankets to help all those Palestinian civilians brutalized by the Israeli incursion into Gaza, while privately demanding to know from senior Israeli officials why they wimped out and didn’t wipe Hamas in Gaza off the face of earth — casualties be damned.
Israel, meanwhile, has a government in which the prime minister, foreign minister and defense minister each has a different peace plan, war strategy and cease-fire conditions for Gaza, and the foreign minister and defense minster are running against each other in Israel’s election on Tuesday. Speaking of that election, a whole new party, Yisrael Beiteinu, led by Avigdor Lieberman, which has been accused of having “fascist,” viciously anti-Arab leanings, appears headed to make the biggest gains and possibly become the kingmaker of Israel’s next government. The other day, the Labor Party leader, Ehud Barak, was quoted in the newspaper Haaretz as criticizing Lieberman as a lamb in hawk’s clothing, asking: “When has he ever shot anyone?”
How did this conflict get so fragmented? For starters, it’s gone on way too long. The West Bank is so chopped up and divided now by roads, checkpoints and fences to separate Israel’s crazy settlements from Palestinian villages that a Palestinian could fly from Jerusalem to Paris quicker than he or she could drive from Jenin, here in the northern West Bank, to Hebron in the south.
Another reason is that every idea has been tried and has failed. For the Palestinians, Pan-Arabism, Communism, Islamism have all come and gone, with none having delivered statehood or prosperity. As a result, more and more Palestinians have fallen back on family, clan, town and tribal loyalties. In Israel, Peace Now’s two-state solution was blown up with the crash of the Oslo peace accords, the rising Palestinian birthrate made any plans to annex the West Bank a mortal threat to Israel’s Jewish character, and the rockets that followed Israel’s withdrawals from both Lebanon and Gaza made a mockery of those who said unilateral pullouts were the solution.
All of this has led to a resurgence of religiosity. According to Haaretz, the following questions were posed by a well-known rabbi in one of the pamphlets distributed by the Israeli Army’s Office of Chief Rabbi before the latest Gaza fighting: “Is it possible to compare today’s Palestinians to the Philistines of the past? And if so, is it possible to apply lessons today from the military tactics of Samson and David? A comparison is possible because the Philistines of the past were not natives and had invaded from a foreign land.”
Who in the world would want to try to repair this? I’d rather herd cats, or become John Thain’s image adviser, or have a colonoscopy, or become chairman of the “bad bank” that President Obama might create to hold all the toxic mortgages. Surely, any of those would be more fun. If Mitchell is still up for it, well, then God bless him.
By Thomas L. Friedman, Op-Ed Columnist
Source: The New York Times.
In Shattered Gaza Town, Roots of Seething Split
EL ATATRA,
The bomb, which international weapons experts identified as phosphorus by its fragments, was intended to mask troop movements outside. Instead it breathed its storm of fire and smoke into Sabah Abu Halima’s hallway, releasing flaming chemicals that clung to her husband, baby girl and three other small children, burning them to death.
The Israeli military says that it is unaware of the family’s disaster, or of any other civilian deaths in this farming village in northwest
The war in El Atatra tells the story of
In El Atatra, neither version appears entirely true, based on 50 interviews with villagers and four Israeli commanders. The dozen or so civilian deaths seem like the painful but inevitable outcome of a modern army bringing war to an urban space. And while Hamas fighters had placed explosives in a kitchen, on doorways and in a mosque, they did not seem to be forcing civilians to act as shields.
The gaps reflect not only a desire to shape public opinion, but also something more significant: a growing distance between two peoples who used to have daily interactions, but who are being forced apart by violence, mutual demonization and a policy of separation.
Palestinians almost never question the legitimacy of firing rockets at Israeli civilians as a form of resistance, and seemed shocked that
On one hand, it made clear that it was furious over the years of rocket fire and would not restrain its reaction. On the other, it argued that it took an exceptionally humane approach to the civilians of
Unlike most Gazans, many people in this village are not refugees from the 1948 independence war, but farmers and landowners, who for years sold strawberries to
“I figured it would be like all the other times when they dropped leaflets, so we went inside and waited,” said Rafiq Gambour, 45, a car mechanic who worked in
So when disaster struck at the Abu Halima house on Jan. 4, a Sunday, many did the only thing they thought might save them: They got on the phone with their Israeli friends. As the sun set and the bodies burned, a crowd of panicked villagers waited as a village elder and farmer, Mahmoud Khlaiyel, and another farmer made frantic phone calls to merchants on the other side of the border.
“There was no one I didn’t call,” Mr. Khlaiyel said.
A man who identified himself as Danny Batua, a 54-year-old Israeli Jewish businessman whose family has been friends with the Abu Halima family for years, said by telephone that he believed the Abu Halimas were not involved with Hamas, and that their suffering was a result of inaccurate intelligence on the part of the Israeli military.
“What can I tell you?” Mr. Batua said. “The army has no idea.”
But according to Captain E., an Israeli military commander whose men took the western sector of the village on the first night of the ground war, most houses in that area were empty of civilians. What is more, he said, militants had remained and had begun gun battles with his soldiers.
The military made the commander available for an interview in
“We faced fire mostly from snipers,” he said. “We found tunnels, maps, Kalashnikovs, uniforms from our army and many large explosives throughout the houses we searched,” he added, showing photographs of what his men had collected. “We also found a bucket of grenades inside a mosque.”
Some of what the army contends is clearly real. Rockets were launched from near the town’s elementary school, and from many of its fields, Israeli commanders and several residents said.
Hamas leaders were in the village and Israeli commanders displayed evidence of four tunnels throughout the village, though not the extensive network that higher-level commanders had reported. The militants also had weapons, but while the commanders said they had destroyed houses that corresponded only to weapons caches, that did not always seem to have been true.
“My principle for blowing up houses was not to destroy a house that just had one AK-47, but only if we found real infrastructure or large amounts of explosives,” said the brigade commander for the area, Col. Herzl Halevy, by telephone from
“I checked this out personally,” he added. Between 40 and 50 houses were destroyed.
But when the platoon of another commander, Captain Y., took over the neighborhood where a family named Ghanem lived, it blew up their house without going inside, he made clear in a phone interview. A search of it two weeks later by a correspondent for The New York Times joined by a 20-year veteran of the British Army, Chris Cobb-Smith, a weapons consultant for Amnesty International, showed no evidence of explosive material or of a secondary blast.
So why was the house destroyed?
“We had advance intelligence that there were bombs inside the house,” Captain Y. said. “We looked inside from the doorway and saw things that made us suspicious. I didn’t want to risk the lives of my men. We ordered the house destroyed.”
That seemed to be the guiding principle for a number of the operations in El Atatra: avoid Israeli casualties at all cost.
The elementary school was a similar story. Intelligence suggested that there were explosives inside, and an F-16 dropped a bomb on it, producing a house-size hole. When the Israelis inspected later, they found written material from Hamas but no explosives, Captain Y. said. Now the school is unusable, its giant metal flower decorations lying on their sides.
For the Ghanem family’s 23-year-old son, Bakr, the act will not easily be forgotten.
“A house is something physical, but also something in your heart,” he said as he stood outside his collapsed home, taken over by cats and putrid odors. “The place in our heart has also been injured. There can be no peace after this.”
This talk pains some of the older villagers, like Tamam Abu Halima, 65, who wants to return to the past she shared with Israeli neighbors, when she would fix dinners of fish and figs, and accepting an invitation was as easy as getting in the car.
Her grandson, Hamza, who grew up in a time when boundaries were stricter, has no fond memories of Israelis.
“The only ones I know shoot and kill,” he said.
Many here believe that Israelis feel the same about them, and that they were treated with suspicion and contempt, as would-be fighters. That might help explain what happened, they say, when Omar Abu Halima and his two teenage cousins tried to take the burned body of his baby sister and two other living but badly burned girls to the hospital on that Sunday.
The boys were taking the girls and six others on a tractor, when, according to several accounts from villagers, Israeli soldiers told them to stop. According to their accounts, they got down, put their hands up, and suddenly rounds were fired, killing two teenage boys: Matar Abu Halima, 18, and Muhamed Hekmet, 17.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said that soldiers had reported that the two were armed and firing. Villagers strongly deny that. The tractor that villagers say was carrying the group is riddled with 36 bullet holes.
The villagers were forced to abandon the bodies of the teenage boys and the baby, and when rescue workers arrived 11 days later, the baby’s body had been eaten by dogs, her legs two white bones, captured in a gruesome image on a relative’s cellphone. The badly burned girls and others on the tractor had fled to safety.
Matar’s mother, Nabila Abu Halima, said she had been shot through the arm when she tried to move toward her son. Her left arm bears a round scar. Her son came back to her in pieces, his body crushed under tank treads.
“Those who came this time were not Israelis,” Mr. Gambour, the car mechanic, said of the attackers. “They were not even human.”
The question of how
Israeli officers said they took special care not to harm civilians.
“I can promise you that throughout the war, there were many times that civilians walked by us and we never shot at them,” said a commanding officer in a part of El Atatra, Major E.
That statement draws a hollow laugh from villagers.
“They think everybody in
Both sides engage in their own denials.
Israelis argue that this war was especially tough because they had waited so long before taking action in response to the thousands of rockets fired from
Yet after Israelis withdrew their settlers and soldiers from Gaza in late 2005, they killed, over the next three years in numerous military actions here, the same number of Gazans as those killed in this war — about 1,275.
For their part, few Palestinian villagers even acknowledged the existence of fighters here. Hamas is now asserting that it achieved a victory.
But here in the ruins of El Atatra, perhaps the biggest damage has been to any memory of a shared past and any thought of a shared future.
“We used to tell fighters not to fire from here,” said Nabila Abu Halima, looking over a field through her open window. “Now I’ll invite them to do it from my house.”
By Ethan Bronner and Sabrina Tavernise.
Source: New York Times.
Fatah fears Shalit deal will bring down Abbas
Concerned voices have been heard in the Muqata in Ramallah over the past few days: Senior Palestinian Authority and Fatah officials are speaking openly of the end of an era if an agreement to free abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit is reached.
Palestinian officials say a Shalit deal would bring about early elections in the territories, and Hamas would win again - but this time it would win the Palestinian presidential election, too. Israel would then be forced to deal with a Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip, they say.
The latest poll from the Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre conducted in the territories shows the recent war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip afforded the Islamic organization unprecedented popularity.
Palestinian officials say a Shalit deal would bring about early elections in the territories, and Hamas would win again - but this time it would win the Palestinian presidential election, too. Israel would then be forced to deal with a Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip, they say.
The latest poll from the Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre conducted in the territories shows the recent war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip afforded the Islamic organization unprecedented popularity.
For the first time, Hamas is leading Fatah in the polls: 28.6 percent for Hamas compared to 27.9 percent for Fatah. Despite the euphoria in Israel over the Gaza operation, on the Palestinian side at least, some 46.7 percent view the Gaza fighting as a Hamas victory and only 9.8 percent deemed Israel the victor. Some 37.4 percent thought there was no winner.
The reports first published in Haaretz, that there was a breakthrough in the deal for Shalit's return, bode ill for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The immediate significance of a Shalit agreement would be the assembly of the Palestinian parliament again, including all the Hamas representatives now sitting in Israeli prisons. This has Fatah concerned, as Hamas would apparently claim a large majority in the parliament and could therefore render Salam Fayyad's government illegal. Hamas could also pass a law stating Abbas's term had ended on January 9 and he now had to resign and hold new elections.
It is not at all clear if any or all of these events would transpire. Egypt, which is mediating the contacts to free Shalit, will try to receive guarantees from Hamas that it will not take such steps, but nothing can truly prevent the organization from making use of its majority in the parliament.
Before the war in Gaza, Hamas did not seek early elections for either the parliament or the presidency as it feared it would lose power; however, after securing a Shalit deal and a "victory" against Israel in Gaza, it would expect increased support.
Arab papers have mentioned Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti as one of the prisoners who could be freed in the Shalit deal. However, even though Barghouti enjoys wide support among the Palestinian public, he would have a difficult time lashing out against those who secured his release. Such a move might provide Fatah with a future leader, but even Barghouti could not stop the wave of support for Hamas.
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent.
The reports first published in Haaretz, that there was a breakthrough in the deal for Shalit's return, bode ill for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The immediate significance of a Shalit agreement would be the assembly of the Palestinian parliament again, including all the Hamas representatives now sitting in Israeli prisons. This has Fatah concerned, as Hamas would apparently claim a large majority in the parliament and could therefore render Salam Fayyad's government illegal. Hamas could also pass a law stating Abbas's term had ended on January 9 and he now had to resign and hold new elections.
It is not at all clear if any or all of these events would transpire. Egypt, which is mediating the contacts to free Shalit, will try to receive guarantees from Hamas that it will not take such steps, but nothing can truly prevent the organization from making use of its majority in the parliament.
Before the war in Gaza, Hamas did not seek early elections for either the parliament or the presidency as it feared it would lose power; however, after securing a Shalit deal and a "victory" against Israel in Gaza, it would expect increased support.
Arab papers have mentioned Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti as one of the prisoners who could be freed in the Shalit deal. However, even though Barghouti enjoys wide support among the Palestinian public, he would have a difficult time lashing out against those who secured his release. Such a move might provide Fatah with a future leader, but even Barghouti could not stop the wave of support for Hamas.
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent.
Le juif, coupable universel
Depuis l'entrée de Tsahal dans la bande de Gaza, les médias parlent benoîtement d'"importation du conflit", de "violences intercommunautaires". Elles sont tout de même un peu à sens unique, les violences "intercommunautaires". Cela consiste, en gros, à ce que des jeunes gens d'origine arabo-musulmane s'en prennent à des juifs, manifestant par là leur soutien à leurs "frères" palestiniens opprimés. Ils n'ont d'ailleurs pas attendu le conflit de Gaza pour pratiquer ce sport, et l'agression ou l'injure adressée aux juifs est devenue un phénomène récurrent.
La mort de centaines de femmes et d'enfants palestiniens est un désastre humain qui doit susciter en tout homme l'horreur et la compassion. En conséquence de quoi, il est légitime d'aller casser la figure à un juif de France qui n'y est pour rien. Sans doute parce que ces gens-là, c'est bien connu, forment un lobby. Tout juif est complice.
Que soutiennent-ils, en tant que quoi manifestent-ils, ceux qui cassent du juif, et ceux qui manifestent contre l'opération israélienne ?
Soutiennent-ils le Hamas ? Savent-ils que les textes de référence de ce mouvement n'ont rien à envier à ceux du Parti nazi ? Que son objectif déclaré est de tuer les juifs et de détruire Israël ? Veulent-ils qu'Israël reçoive éternellement ses missiles sans réagir ? Savent-ils que l'intrication des combattants et des civils est telle, à Gaza, que faire le tri lors d'une opération militaire est d'une extrême difficulté ?
Réagissent-ils en tant qu'Arabes ? Mais ils sont français, et en quoi un Français est-il impliqué dans un conflit international, sinon au nom de la justice universelle ? Réagissent-ils alors au nom de la justice universelle ? En tant qu'êtres humains ? Mais alors, pourquoi ne se révoltent-ils pas quand on massacre les Indiens du Chiapas, les Tibétains ? Pourquoi les centaines de milliers de morts, les inconcevables cruautés perpétrées au Darfour ne les jettent-ils pas dans les rues ? Tout de même pas parce qu'elles sont le fait des milices d'un régime islamiste ? Pourquoi ne trouvent-ils pas étrange que les communautés juives aient quasiment disparu de tous les pays arabes, après persécutions et spoliations ? Pourquoi ne réclament-ils pas, au nom de la justice, le droit au retour des juifs chassés ?
PROPAGANDE PARANOÏAQUE
S'ils réagissent en tant qu'Arabes, où étaient-ils quand les Syriens ou les Jordaniens massacraient dix fois plus d'Arabes, palestiniens ou non, que Tsahal ? Savent-ils que l'un des rares endroits du Moyen-Orient où les Arabes bénéficient de droits démocratiques, c'est Israël ? Savent-ils que, pour la liberté, la démocratie, les droits de l'homme, il vaut infiniment mieux être arabe en Israël que juif dans un pays arabe, et, à bien des égards, qu'arabe dans un pays arabe ?
Savent-ils qu'Israël soutient financièrement la Palestine, soigne les Palestiniens dans ses hôpitaux ? Que les deux millions d'Arabes israéliens ont leurs députés ? Savent-ils que, si la haine antijuive et le négationnisme se déchaînent dans les pays arabes, attisés par une propagande paranoïaque, qui n'hésite pas à faire usage du faux antisémite des Protocoles des Sages de Sion, la réciproque n'est pas vraie ? Que si de nombreux Israéliens défendent les droits des Arabes, rarissimes sont les Arabes qui défendent des juifs ?
Réagissent-ils en tant que communauté opprimée ? Mais alors, pourquoi les Noirs de France ne s'en prendraient-ils pas aux Arabes qui les exterminent au Soudan ? Pourquoi la communauté indienne ne manifesterait-elle pas contre les régimes arabes du Golfe qui traitent leurs "frères" comme des esclaves ? Voilà qui mettrait de l'ambiance dans la République !
Réagissent-ils en tant que musulmans ? Mais où étaient-ils quand on les massacrait en Bosnie, en Tchétchénie, en Inde ? Leur silence ne s'explique tout de même pas parce que les massacreurs n'étaient pas des juifs, n'est-ce pas ? Savent-ils que les musulmans d'Israël pratiquent librement leur culte ? Que l'université hébraïque de Tel-Aviv abonde en jeunes filles voilées ? Combien de juifs en kippa au Caire, à Damas, à Bagdad ? L'exigence de justice est-elle à sens unique ?
On finit donc par se dire que ces manifestations, les violences et les cris de haine qui les accompagnent ne sont motivés ni par la compassion envers les victimes palestiniennes, ni par le souci de la justice, ni même par la solidarité religieuse ou communautaire, mais bien par la bonne vieille haine du juif. On peut massacrer et torturer à travers le monde cent fois plus qu'à Gaza, le vrai coupable, le coupable universel, c'est le juif.
Une poignée de juifs qui transforment un désert en pays prospère et démocratique, au milieu d'un océan de dictatures arabes sanglantes, de misère, d'islamisme et de corruption, une poignée de juifs qui, en outre, décident de ne plus être victimes, voilà qui est insupportable. Il faut donc bien que les juifs soient coupables, sinon où serait la justice ?
*Ecrit par: Pierre Jourde, romancier, critique littéraire, professeur à l'université de Grenoble-III
Source: Le Monde.
The Calmness Agreement Report
The Center for Democracy and Community Development
Jerusalem/Gaza
Gaza Calmness between illusion...and reality
by
Ali AbuShahla
Gaza
Monitoring Report on
The Calmness Agreement (Lull) Between
Israel and Hamas
19/6/2008 - 19/12/2008
December 23rd, 2008
Reviewed By Dr.Riad Al-Ailah & Walid Salem
Reedited by: Martijn Dekker
Jerusalem/Gaza
Gaza Calmness between illusion...and reality
by
Ali AbuShahla
Gaza
Monitoring Report on
The Calmness Agreement (Lull) Between
Israel and Hamas
19/6/2008 - 19/12/2008
December 23rd, 2008
Reviewed By Dr.Riad Al-Ailah & Walid Salem
Reedited by: Martijn Dekker
The Calmness Agreement: summary
On Thursday the nineteenth of June 2008, at six in the morning, Egypt officially declared the start of the Calmness Agreement between Israel and Hamas. It was mediated by Egypt (in the person of the Minister of Intelligence –Omar Suleiman), and welcomed by the PA and president Mahmoud Abbas. It was implemented in Gaza only and at a later stage in the West Bank. In the agreement, Hamas agreed to stop rockets being fired at southern Israel for six months, whether these rockets would come from Hamas or any other Palestinian faction or party. In turn, Israel approved to stop its aggressions in the Gaza Strip and to stop attacking the leaders and fighters of Hamas and its offices (as declared by the Israeli PM Ihud Olmert to the BBC on 18/6/2008, adding that such an agreement will be a fragile one and that Israel is ready to respond to any breach of the agreement by Hamas side.)
It was also agreed that Israel will reopen the border crossings and exceed gradually the transportation of food and several other goods, necessary for the Palestinians in Gaza. However, Israel has not fulfilled this condition. According to statistics by Paltrade, COGAT (Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories), and other institutions, Israel increased the number of trucks to Gaza by 10% only, and also Israel is still controlling date, type and quantities of goods transported to Gaza, including gas and fuel. Due to the commencement of the month of Ramadan on 1 September 2008, Israel increased the quantities of gas somewhat, although still not in required quantities.
Israel accepted the agreement to stop rockets being fired on the southern towns of Israel, because it had started to put the Israeli government in a critical internal position, which led to losing its popularity. On the other hand, Hamas wanted to have a rest by preventing Israeli attacks on its fighters, leaders and centers, also to reinforce its arsenal in Gaza through smuggling weapons from Egypt. All this to be ready in case of a breach of the Calmness Agreement, leading to an Israeli invasion, and also to give more attention to the internal situation in Gaza, as Hamas begun to lose its popularity among the Palestinians in Gaza. Hamas also entered the agreement to improve the harsh conditions and lift the closures that Gaza's people endure.
Rafah crossing was not included in the unwritten agreement between the two parties, as Israel linked the reopening of Rafah crossing with the release of the captive Israeli soldier Gila'ad Shalit . Only after his release will it be reopened according to the treaty signed in this regard in 2005 between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. However, although Hamas agreed on this fundamental condition, it is still rejecting to give a major role to the PA and presidential guard at Rafah border crossing and other Gaza crossings.
The majority of Arab countries as well as Western countries, including USA welcomed the Calmness Agreement. Arab countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan asked the Palestinians to benefit of the Agreement in order to achieve internal dialogue and reconciliation between the different Palestinian factions, especially between Hamas and Fatah.
This report is based on information collected from newspapers, internet web-sites, radio and TV news broadcasts, statements and declarations of both sides and others, and from information from civil society organizations and local/international human rights organizations, since the commencement of the Calmness Agreement up to 19/12/2008.
It was also agreed that Israel will reopen the border crossings and exceed gradually the transportation of food and several other goods, necessary for the Palestinians in Gaza. However, Israel has not fulfilled this condition. According to statistics by Paltrade, COGAT (Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories), and other institutions, Israel increased the number of trucks to Gaza by 10% only, and also Israel is still controlling date, type and quantities of goods transported to Gaza, including gas and fuel. Due to the commencement of the month of Ramadan on 1 September 2008, Israel increased the quantities of gas somewhat, although still not in required quantities.
Israel accepted the agreement to stop rockets being fired on the southern towns of Israel, because it had started to put the Israeli government in a critical internal position, which led to losing its popularity. On the other hand, Hamas wanted to have a rest by preventing Israeli attacks on its fighters, leaders and centers, also to reinforce its arsenal in Gaza through smuggling weapons from Egypt. All this to be ready in case of a breach of the Calmness Agreement, leading to an Israeli invasion, and also to give more attention to the internal situation in Gaza, as Hamas begun to lose its popularity among the Palestinians in Gaza. Hamas also entered the agreement to improve the harsh conditions and lift the closures that Gaza's people endure.
Rafah crossing was not included in the unwritten agreement between the two parties, as Israel linked the reopening of Rafah crossing with the release of the captive Israeli soldier Gila'ad Shalit . Only after his release will it be reopened according to the treaty signed in this regard in 2005 between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. However, although Hamas agreed on this fundamental condition, it is still rejecting to give a major role to the PA and presidential guard at Rafah border crossing and other Gaza crossings.
The majority of Arab countries as well as Western countries, including USA welcomed the Calmness Agreement. Arab countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan asked the Palestinians to benefit of the Agreement in order to achieve internal dialogue and reconciliation between the different Palestinian factions, especially between Hamas and Fatah.
This report is based on information collected from newspapers, internet web-sites, radio and TV news broadcasts, statements and declarations of both sides and others, and from information from civil society organizations and local/international human rights organizations, since the commencement of the Calmness Agreement up to 19/12/2008.
The Calmness Agreement Report - Continued - Calmness Agreement: The Sequence of Events
The Calmness Agreement agreed upon between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Egypt, covers the Gaza Strip only and does not include the West Bank. Indeed, after 4 days after of the commencement of the Agreement, Israel arrested militants of the Islamic Jihad movement in the Rafidya area ( Nablus in the West Bank) on 23/6/2008, which led to a reaction by Islamic Jihad in Gaza. In response they launched 3 rockets to Sederot in Southern Israel the next day.
This act by Islamic Jihad led to a complete closure of the border crossings by Israel until 30/6/2008, during which Israel permitted only the entry of small quantities of fuel, particularly which was needed to for the only power station in Gaza.
On 25/6/2008, the Interior Minister in the Hamas government, Sa’eid Siam, called for a meeting with the leaders of Palestinian factions in Gaza, excluding Fatah, but including the Islamic Jihad. At the meeting it was agreed that all of the Palestinian factions in Gaza were to stop launching rockets towards the towns in southern Israel.
After almost 5 months of Calmness, all Palestinian factions in Gaza, who agreed to stop launching all types of rockets toward southern Israel, formed a committee to be engaged in monitoring the number of Israeli violations to the Calmness Agreement. On November 4th 2008, Israel launched an attack on the middle Gaza Strip area, in pretext demolishing a tunnel that had been dug to capture Israeli soldiers. Israel closed all Gaza border crossings on 5/11/2008 as a respond to the missiles launched on Israeli south towns as a result of the Israeli attack on the same day. The attack of 4/11/2008 was followed by an air strike against Hamas/Qassam fighters, which caused 6 victims, followed by 4 victims on 12/11/2008, and 3 victims from other factions -Popular resistance committees- on 15/11/2008 and was followed by another 4 victims of the same faction on 16/11/2008.
After each attack carried out by the Israeli side, Hamas and other factions retaliated by launching rockets, including 4-6 GRAD missiles on Ashkelon. Israel announced on 19/1/2008 (Voice of Israel) that the number of rockets launched from Gaza towards Israel reached 170, in interval rocket barrages. Most of the Palestinian factions participated in launching rockets.
On 21/11/2008 the Prime Minister of the deposed government, Isma’el Haneyya, stated after meeting with the Palestinian factions, that all Palestinian factions agreed to maintain the Calmness Agreement with Israel, as long as Israel will respect the agreement.
Since 4/11/2008 it had become normal to launch at least one or two rockets every day from Gaza to the southern Israel, as a respond to the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
On the night of 28-29/11/2008 8 Israeli soldiers were injured due to a rocket which hit their military camp at Nahal Oz. This missile was a response to an Israeli attack on 28/11/2008 in East Khan Younis, killing one and injuring 2 of the Popular Resistance committees. These committees later published a statement taking responsibility for the rocket barrage on the Israeli camp.
Matan Velna’ee (Israeli vice Minister of Defense) stated on 29/11/2008, that Israel will never accept to have armed persons within the buffered zone which Israel had determined (a 300m wide strip along the Israeli borders). Also he stated to Voice of Israel – Reshet Bit that a big operation on Gaza against Hamas and other armed activists became essential for Israel to stop the rockets, although such an operation would cost the Israeli army victims.
In the meantime, due to the Israeli closing of border crossings, since 5/11/2008 no more foodstuffs and fuel derivatives were transported to Gaza's 1.5 million citizens, except for some small amounts of food donations. UNRWA stated on 15/11/2008 that it stopped the distribution of food for about 750000 refugees in Gaza, as a result of closures and a lack of fuel.
Such actions and reactions rendered the Calmness Agreement meaningless and could lead to a brake down. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri declared on 26/6/2008 that if the closures on the Gaza Strip continue, it will indeed render the deal of Calmness meaningless.
Israel continued controlling the opening and closing of the commercial border crossings the same as it did in the past, despite the Calmness Agreement. They closed crossings for 2-3 days each time Palestinians launched a rocket or missile from Gaza towards Israeli towns in the south. This was continued by Israel through June and July 2008, but in August and September 2008, Hamas security forces well controlled Gaza borders with Israel, and almost no rockets were launched at the Israeli southern towns.
On 14/9/2008 Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak ordered to close all Gaza border crossings (except Erez crossing which was kept open for humanitarian cases and foreigners only) as a result of a rocket fired at Sederot, the day before (no casualties). On 17/9/2008 Israel opened only Keerem Shaloom crossing, where Sofa (the main crossing) was opened on 18/9/2008, although only partly. The total number of trucks transporting goods to Gaza remained almost the same (70-80/day), whether they came through Sofa or Kerem shalom, or divided between both.
The Israeli authorities reported the launch of a rocket from Gaza towards Kissofeem border crossing on Thursday evening (9/10/2008). Israelis claims that the rocket hit the center of the crossing but caused no casualties.
On 11/9/2008 a new Palestinian fighting faction (called Saraya Al-Tawheed) declared in a press statement, the responsibility for blowing up an Israeli vehicle east to Khan Younis. There was no response from the Israeli side, and it remains the question whether this event was to be considered as a Palestinian violation of the Calmness Agreement, because that mainly dealt with rockets and missiles.
According to Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot (as translated by Al-Quds newspaper on 23/9/2008) Brigadier General Yossi Bidts, Head of the Research Division of Intelligence, in the Israeli cabinet meeting on Sunday 21/9/2008, warned that Hamas may exploit the Calmness in order to enlarge its forces.
He stated that there is a relative Calmness, since Hamas and other factions had launched only 15 Qassam rockets and 13 shells since 19/6/2008, but he predicted the depletion of the Calmness. He also added that the Palestinian organizations will continue their attempts to smuggle their activists through the tunnels with Egypt (Sinai), in order to sneak to Israel and carry out attacks there. Also, in the meantime these organizations are still trying to implement attacks and operations in the West Bank against Israelis.
Breg.General. Bidets said that Hamas and the other Palestinian organizations (factions) are using the Calmness Agreement to increase their strength in preparation for the next round. There was a qualitative increase in the number of daily exercises to prepare for facing the Israeli soldiers in residential areas, in addition to the increase of their stocks of rockets, which were better developed where it concerned range and accuracy.
It is noted also that Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon had explained in his statement, released on 22/9/2008 that he puts all the blame on Defense Minister Ihud Barak being responsible for the approval of the Calmness Agreement with Hamas, which he opposed.
Tzipi Livni (head of the Kadima party) and Eli Ishay (Head of the Shass party) both declared that Israel was not in favor to extend the Calmness Agreement with Hamas (Voice of Israel 14/12/2008).
Amos Gila’ad an military Israeli official left to Cairo on 14/12/2008 (Voice of Israel) to hand a message to Hamas, through Egyptian minister of intelligence Omer Suliman, which stated the Israeli willingness to extend the Calmness between Hamas and Israel, taking into consideration that Israel is considering the attacks of other small factions no threat to the agreement, while Israel will respond to each attack locally and limitedly, confined to the area from where the attack was executed.
Amos Gila'ad, when he returned from his one day visit to Cairo on 14/12/2008, stated on the early morning of 15/12/2008 to Voice of Israel, that Israel sees no beginning nor final dates for the Calmness. It is considering the Calmness valid as long as there are no rockets fired, or other attacks on Israel. In the mean time, however, Israel is ready to retaliate on any hostile attack.
Prime Minister Isma’el Haneyya of the deposed Hamas government announced no position of Hamas for the extension of the Calmness at the ceremony which took place in Gaza on 14/12/2008, celebrating the 21s, anniversary of the founding of the Hamas movement. Haneyya said, however, that all other Palestinian factions are not in favor to extend the Calmness agreement with Israel after 19/12/2008. After a meeting with former US President Jimmy Carter in Damascus around the same time (14/12/2008), he stated that Hamas would not extend the Calmness Agreement with Israel.
A source in the Hamas movement said to the Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat on Sunday 14/12/2008 that Hamas prefers constructive ambiguity. The Guardian learned that the major Palestinian factions held a crucial meeting on Thursday night to discuss the issue of calmness, and the intention was the refusal to respond to the Israeli demands to extend the Calmness.
Palestinian sources stressed that the Calmness would not be extended without improving the present conditions, and to continue in accordance with the current conditions is impossible.
Israeli Minister of Defense Barak said that Israel was not deterred from carrying out a military operation in the Gaza Strip, although he was not eager to carry out such an attack (Haaretz newspaper 16/11/2008).
The Hamas leadership held a meeting on Thursday night (16/12/2008) and unanimously agreed to refuse to extend the Calmness. It is also reported by the London-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, quoting high-level Palestinian Gaza Strip security sources, that armed Palestinian factions formed a joint operations room in anticipation of Israeli forces to launch large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip with the approach of the end of Calmness on 19/12/2008.
On 17/12/2008 about 16 rockets been launched from Gaza, according to Voice of Israel. One of them hit the center of the town Sderot, causing two light injuries and crushing many cars. Most of the rockets had been launched by Islamic Jihad in revenge of the death of its activist in Jenin, who was killed by special Israeli forces. PM Olmert threatened that this situation was unbearable, and promised to react.
In the Ha'aretz of 17/12/2008, correspondent Yanir Yagna wrote: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stopped short of pledging retaliation for a surge of Qassam rockets (20) that pelted the western Negev on Wednesday, saying "there can't be a situation where there is a truce, but the situation on the ground is very different." "This demands a response, and there will be a response," he added.
Olmert spoke just days before the six-month cease fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the rulers of the Gaza Strip, was set to expire.
In response to the rockets Israel launched 2 air strikes on Northern Gaza (demolishing a house, killing 1 and injuring 2), and on Khan Younis, where Israeli helicopters demolished a workshop.
On the other side, Hamas leader in Gaza Mahmoud Zahar said on Tuesday 16/12/2008, that the six-month Gaza truce with Israel would not be renewed unless Israel lets more food, fuel, and other goods into the Gaza strip.
"Until Friday 19/12/2008, we're still committed, but after that, no one can tell," Zahar said in an interview with Bloomberg News at his Gaza home, referring to the truce's December 19 expiration (Ha'aretz 17/12/2008).
Hamas official Ismail Redwan said in statements to a pro Hamas website in Gaza Strip: "Next Friday (19/12/2008) will be the last day for a calm deal achieved with Israel six months ago by Egyptian mediation,” pointing out that the calmness will not be renewed under any circumstances. He added that they have gone through a tough experience with the Israeli occupation over the past six months, yet the enemy did not commit to any of the Calmness's obligations. Moreover, the truce was not transferred to the West Bank as it was supposed.
He denied any communications on part of Hamas officials for renewing the Calmness or negotiating on it. Redwan confirmed that his movement will respond to all the Israeli attacks in a way which serves the interests of the Palestinian people.
On 18/12/2008 (one day before the expiration of the Calmness agreement) Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for launching 12 rockets on Southern Israel, followed by 2 Israeli air strikes on Gaza City and Khan Younis, causing 8 injuries.
According to Ha’aretz Staff and News Agencies of 19/12/2008, 3 Qassams hit the Negev, as Israeli officials threaten with a Gaza offensive. Gaza militants fired three Qassam rockets into Israel on Friday, shortly after senior Israeli officials warned that a military offensive in the coastal territory would be "unavoidable” if the rocket fire continues. The rockets struck the western Negev on Friday morning, causing neither casualties nor damage. The government officials' warning, came after Hamas announced Thursday evening (18/12/2008) that the cease-fire with Israel in Gaza was officially over.
Ha’aretz added that Jerusalem ordered the Israel Defense Forces to refrain from offensive operations for now, saying it wants to see how the situation develops.
"We will not be the ones to violate the cease-fire," a senior defense official said Thursday night. "If Hamas wants to escalate, we will know how to act - and it will be clear to the international community who is behind the renewed fighting."
However, a senior government official warned, "if Hamas doesn't come to its senses and calm the situation, there will be no choice other than an Israeli military response."
Egypt, meanwhile, said on Friday it had received no requests that it try to patch up the Gaza truce, which it mediated earlier this year. Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hussam Zaki said: "We have not so far been asked to exert [truce] efforts as we did in the past."
In the meantime and for the first time there were many appeals from USA Secretary of States Condoleezza Rice, UN secretary General Ban Ki Moon and from the Russian government asking Hamas to agree on the Calmness extension.
The days just after the expiration of the Calmness Agreement (i.e. after 19/12/2006) saw the same actions and reactions; rockets fired from Gaza on Israel with no major casualties, and Israeli air strikes on Gaza targeting bases and activists launching such rockets.
According to Voice of Israel on 21/12/2008, both the head of the Likud party (Netanyahu), and Kadima party (Tzipi Livni), used the conflict with Hamas in their elections propaganda, promising to end the Hamas regime in Gaza when any of them would become the PM of Israel after the coming elections.
This act by Islamic Jihad led to a complete closure of the border crossings by Israel until 30/6/2008, during which Israel permitted only the entry of small quantities of fuel, particularly which was needed to for the only power station in Gaza.
On 25/6/2008, the Interior Minister in the Hamas government, Sa’eid Siam, called for a meeting with the leaders of Palestinian factions in Gaza, excluding Fatah, but including the Islamic Jihad. At the meeting it was agreed that all of the Palestinian factions in Gaza were to stop launching rockets towards the towns in southern Israel.
After almost 5 months of Calmness, all Palestinian factions in Gaza, who agreed to stop launching all types of rockets toward southern Israel, formed a committee to be engaged in monitoring the number of Israeli violations to the Calmness Agreement. On November 4th 2008, Israel launched an attack on the middle Gaza Strip area, in pretext demolishing a tunnel that had been dug to capture Israeli soldiers. Israel closed all Gaza border crossings on 5/11/2008 as a respond to the missiles launched on Israeli south towns as a result of the Israeli attack on the same day. The attack of 4/11/2008 was followed by an air strike against Hamas/Qassam fighters, which caused 6 victims, followed by 4 victims on 12/11/2008, and 3 victims from other factions -Popular resistance committees- on 15/11/2008 and was followed by another 4 victims of the same faction on 16/11/2008.
After each attack carried out by the Israeli side, Hamas and other factions retaliated by launching rockets, including 4-6 GRAD missiles on Ashkelon. Israel announced on 19/1/2008 (Voice of Israel) that the number of rockets launched from Gaza towards Israel reached 170, in interval rocket barrages. Most of the Palestinian factions participated in launching rockets.
On 21/11/2008 the Prime Minister of the deposed government, Isma’el Haneyya, stated after meeting with the Palestinian factions, that all Palestinian factions agreed to maintain the Calmness Agreement with Israel, as long as Israel will respect the agreement.
Since 4/11/2008 it had become normal to launch at least one or two rockets every day from Gaza to the southern Israel, as a respond to the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
On the night of 28-29/11/2008 8 Israeli soldiers were injured due to a rocket which hit their military camp at Nahal Oz. This missile was a response to an Israeli attack on 28/11/2008 in East Khan Younis, killing one and injuring 2 of the Popular Resistance committees. These committees later published a statement taking responsibility for the rocket barrage on the Israeli camp.
Matan Velna’ee (Israeli vice Minister of Defense) stated on 29/11/2008, that Israel will never accept to have armed persons within the buffered zone which Israel had determined (a 300m wide strip along the Israeli borders). Also he stated to Voice of Israel – Reshet Bit that a big operation on Gaza against Hamas and other armed activists became essential for Israel to stop the rockets, although such an operation would cost the Israeli army victims.
In the meantime, due to the Israeli closing of border crossings, since 5/11/2008 no more foodstuffs and fuel derivatives were transported to Gaza's 1.5 million citizens, except for some small amounts of food donations. UNRWA stated on 15/11/2008 that it stopped the distribution of food for about 750000 refugees in Gaza, as a result of closures and a lack of fuel.
Such actions and reactions rendered the Calmness Agreement meaningless and could lead to a brake down. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri declared on 26/6/2008 that if the closures on the Gaza Strip continue, it will indeed render the deal of Calmness meaningless.
Israel continued controlling the opening and closing of the commercial border crossings the same as it did in the past, despite the Calmness Agreement. They closed crossings for 2-3 days each time Palestinians launched a rocket or missile from Gaza towards Israeli towns in the south. This was continued by Israel through June and July 2008, but in August and September 2008, Hamas security forces well controlled Gaza borders with Israel, and almost no rockets were launched at the Israeli southern towns.
On 14/9/2008 Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak ordered to close all Gaza border crossings (except Erez crossing which was kept open for humanitarian cases and foreigners only) as a result of a rocket fired at Sederot, the day before (no casualties). On 17/9/2008 Israel opened only Keerem Shaloom crossing, where Sofa (the main crossing) was opened on 18/9/2008, although only partly. The total number of trucks transporting goods to Gaza remained almost the same (70-80/day), whether they came through Sofa or Kerem shalom, or divided between both.
The Israeli authorities reported the launch of a rocket from Gaza towards Kissofeem border crossing on Thursday evening (9/10/2008). Israelis claims that the rocket hit the center of the crossing but caused no casualties.
On 11/9/2008 a new Palestinian fighting faction (called Saraya Al-Tawheed) declared in a press statement, the responsibility for blowing up an Israeli vehicle east to Khan Younis. There was no response from the Israeli side, and it remains the question whether this event was to be considered as a Palestinian violation of the Calmness Agreement, because that mainly dealt with rockets and missiles.
According to Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot (as translated by Al-Quds newspaper on 23/9/2008) Brigadier General Yossi Bidts, Head of the Research Division of Intelligence, in the Israeli cabinet meeting on Sunday 21/9/2008, warned that Hamas may exploit the Calmness in order to enlarge its forces.
He stated that there is a relative Calmness, since Hamas and other factions had launched only 15 Qassam rockets and 13 shells since 19/6/2008, but he predicted the depletion of the Calmness. He also added that the Palestinian organizations will continue their attempts to smuggle their activists through the tunnels with Egypt (Sinai), in order to sneak to Israel and carry out attacks there. Also, in the meantime these organizations are still trying to implement attacks and operations in the West Bank against Israelis.
Breg.General. Bidets said that Hamas and the other Palestinian organizations (factions) are using the Calmness Agreement to increase their strength in preparation for the next round. There was a qualitative increase in the number of daily exercises to prepare for facing the Israeli soldiers in residential areas, in addition to the increase of their stocks of rockets, which were better developed where it concerned range and accuracy.
It is noted also that Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon had explained in his statement, released on 22/9/2008 that he puts all the blame on Defense Minister Ihud Barak being responsible for the approval of the Calmness Agreement with Hamas, which he opposed.
Tzipi Livni (head of the Kadima party) and Eli Ishay (Head of the Shass party) both declared that Israel was not in favor to extend the Calmness Agreement with Hamas (Voice of Israel 14/12/2008).
Amos Gila’ad an military Israeli official left to Cairo on 14/12/2008 (Voice of Israel) to hand a message to Hamas, through Egyptian minister of intelligence Omer Suliman, which stated the Israeli willingness to extend the Calmness between Hamas and Israel, taking into consideration that Israel is considering the attacks of other small factions no threat to the agreement, while Israel will respond to each attack locally and limitedly, confined to the area from where the attack was executed.
Amos Gila'ad, when he returned from his one day visit to Cairo on 14/12/2008, stated on the early morning of 15/12/2008 to Voice of Israel, that Israel sees no beginning nor final dates for the Calmness. It is considering the Calmness valid as long as there are no rockets fired, or other attacks on Israel. In the mean time, however, Israel is ready to retaliate on any hostile attack.
Prime Minister Isma’el Haneyya of the deposed Hamas government announced no position of Hamas for the extension of the Calmness at the ceremony which took place in Gaza on 14/12/2008, celebrating the 21s, anniversary of the founding of the Hamas movement. Haneyya said, however, that all other Palestinian factions are not in favor to extend the Calmness agreement with Israel after 19/12/2008. After a meeting with former US President Jimmy Carter in Damascus around the same time (14/12/2008), he stated that Hamas would not extend the Calmness Agreement with Israel.
A source in the Hamas movement said to the Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat on Sunday 14/12/2008 that Hamas prefers constructive ambiguity. The Guardian learned that the major Palestinian factions held a crucial meeting on Thursday night to discuss the issue of calmness, and the intention was the refusal to respond to the Israeli demands to extend the Calmness.
Palestinian sources stressed that the Calmness would not be extended without improving the present conditions, and to continue in accordance with the current conditions is impossible.
Israeli Minister of Defense Barak said that Israel was not deterred from carrying out a military operation in the Gaza Strip, although he was not eager to carry out such an attack (Haaretz newspaper 16/11/2008).
The Hamas leadership held a meeting on Thursday night (16/12/2008) and unanimously agreed to refuse to extend the Calmness. It is also reported by the London-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, quoting high-level Palestinian Gaza Strip security sources, that armed Palestinian factions formed a joint operations room in anticipation of Israeli forces to launch large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip with the approach of the end of Calmness on 19/12/2008.
On 17/12/2008 about 16 rockets been launched from Gaza, according to Voice of Israel. One of them hit the center of the town Sderot, causing two light injuries and crushing many cars. Most of the rockets had been launched by Islamic Jihad in revenge of the death of its activist in Jenin, who was killed by special Israeli forces. PM Olmert threatened that this situation was unbearable, and promised to react.
In the Ha'aretz of 17/12/2008, correspondent Yanir Yagna wrote: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stopped short of pledging retaliation for a surge of Qassam rockets (20) that pelted the western Negev on Wednesday, saying "there can't be a situation where there is a truce, but the situation on the ground is very different." "This demands a response, and there will be a response," he added.
Olmert spoke just days before the six-month cease fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the rulers of the Gaza Strip, was set to expire.
In response to the rockets Israel launched 2 air strikes on Northern Gaza (demolishing a house, killing 1 and injuring 2), and on Khan Younis, where Israeli helicopters demolished a workshop.
On the other side, Hamas leader in Gaza Mahmoud Zahar said on Tuesday 16/12/2008, that the six-month Gaza truce with Israel would not be renewed unless Israel lets more food, fuel, and other goods into the Gaza strip.
"Until Friday 19/12/2008, we're still committed, but after that, no one can tell," Zahar said in an interview with Bloomberg News at his Gaza home, referring to the truce's December 19 expiration (Ha'aretz 17/12/2008).
Hamas official Ismail Redwan said in statements to a pro Hamas website in Gaza Strip: "Next Friday (19/12/2008) will be the last day for a calm deal achieved with Israel six months ago by Egyptian mediation,” pointing out that the calmness will not be renewed under any circumstances. He added that they have gone through a tough experience with the Israeli occupation over the past six months, yet the enemy did not commit to any of the Calmness's obligations. Moreover, the truce was not transferred to the West Bank as it was supposed.
He denied any communications on part of Hamas officials for renewing the Calmness or negotiating on it. Redwan confirmed that his movement will respond to all the Israeli attacks in a way which serves the interests of the Palestinian people.
On 18/12/2008 (one day before the expiration of the Calmness agreement) Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for launching 12 rockets on Southern Israel, followed by 2 Israeli air strikes on Gaza City and Khan Younis, causing 8 injuries.
According to Ha’aretz Staff and News Agencies of 19/12/2008, 3 Qassams hit the Negev, as Israeli officials threaten with a Gaza offensive. Gaza militants fired three Qassam rockets into Israel on Friday, shortly after senior Israeli officials warned that a military offensive in the coastal territory would be "unavoidable” if the rocket fire continues. The rockets struck the western Negev on Friday morning, causing neither casualties nor damage. The government officials' warning, came after Hamas announced Thursday evening (18/12/2008) that the cease-fire with Israel in Gaza was officially over.
Ha’aretz added that Jerusalem ordered the Israel Defense Forces to refrain from offensive operations for now, saying it wants to see how the situation develops.
"We will not be the ones to violate the cease-fire," a senior defense official said Thursday night. "If Hamas wants to escalate, we will know how to act - and it will be clear to the international community who is behind the renewed fighting."
However, a senior government official warned, "if Hamas doesn't come to its senses and calm the situation, there will be no choice other than an Israeli military response."
Egypt, meanwhile, said on Friday it had received no requests that it try to patch up the Gaza truce, which it mediated earlier this year. Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hussam Zaki said: "We have not so far been asked to exert [truce] efforts as we did in the past."
In the meantime and for the first time there were many appeals from USA Secretary of States Condoleezza Rice, UN secretary General Ban Ki Moon and from the Russian government asking Hamas to agree on the Calmness extension.
The days just after the expiration of the Calmness Agreement (i.e. after 19/12/2006) saw the same actions and reactions; rockets fired from Gaza on Israel with no major casualties, and Israeli air strikes on Gaza targeting bases and activists launching such rockets.
According to Voice of Israel on 21/12/2008, both the head of the Likud party (Netanyahu), and Kadima party (Tzipi Livni), used the conflict with Hamas in their elections propaganda, promising to end the Hamas regime in Gaza when any of them would become the PM of Israel after the coming elections.
The Calmness Agreement Report - Continued - Internal issues in Gaza during the Calmness
Security Situation: Hamas Crackdown
In spite of the Calmness, the security situation in Gaza started to deteriorate as a result of operations by some groups against private and public institutions from Hamas. For example an explosion in a café in Gaza City on 24/7/2008, where the person who carried out the bombing was killed (it was said that he was an Islamic militant), in addition to the explosion at the entrance of the house of parliament member Dr. Marwan AbuRass, representing the Hamas movement, on the early morning of 25/7/2008. Hamas claimed that it had arrested the ones who caused the explosions and the persons who assisted them, claiming that Fatah activists were involved.
The most serious and dangerous of operations against Hamas was the assassination of a group of Qassam Brigades persons of Hamas, at the seashore on 25/7/2008 evening. Their parked car exploded the minute they wanted to open the doors, killing 5 in addition to a six years old child girl and wounding at least 22 citizens.
Hamas claimed Fatah movement responsibility in all previous operations and immediately started a wide range process against many institutions belonging to Fatah and civil society organizations by confiscating equipment, furniture, other devices, and vandalizing the buildings of such institutions. These organizations included sport clubs and clinics. Hamas also took control of the 5 Governorates of Gaza by deposing their governors and appointing new Hamas Governors, even though governors and governorates are attached directly to the President's office. Also Hamas arrested many Fatah members in Gaza, despite categorical denials from the Fatah movement (at the highest levels) that they didn't have any involvement in the bombings.
According to the Mizan Center For Human Rights (on 27/7/2008 and 31/7/2008), the number of centers and institutions which had been targeted by Hamas until 27/7/2008 was 173. Among them 33 belonged to Fatah and the rest (140) belonged to civil society organizations. The number of detained Fatah members and other civilians was 153 - a direct reaction to the attack against the Qassam members.
On 2/8/2008 Hamas security and its executive forces sieged the Shajaeyya quarter, claiming that some of the wanted Fatah activists were given shelter there, by a large clan called Hilles, headed by an active high Fatah leader, Ahmed Hilles - AbuMaher.
A big incursion in Shajaeyya quarter, using machineguns, missiles, and heavy weaponry, resulting in the following:
• During the invasion, 8 persons of the Hilles family were killed, in addition to one citizen of another family. 2 officers from Hamas security forces also died during the attack. Another 4 injured persons from the Hilles family died in the hospital (a total of 15 victims).
• 100 people were wounded from both sides, some of them seriously (ICHR Human Rights report, August 2008).
• 180 Hilles activists had been arrested and blindfolded by the soldiers of the Ministry of Interior of the Deposed Hamas Government.
• 150 Hilles activists (fighters) fled to the Israeli side (Nahal Oz border crossing) and surrendered to the Israeli army, for fear of being arrested by Hamas forces. (These actions had been facilitated by the request of President Mahmoud Abbas to Israeli Defense Minister Barak). Israel returned 32 people, for them to be arrested by Hamas security forces, and sent 87 persons to Jericho in the West Bank, keeping their leader Ahmed Hilles, who was wounded during the invasion, in Israel for further interrogation. He had been freed and sent to Jericho in the West Bank on 24/9/008 – Voice of Israel.
• Some of the fled persons remained at the border between Gaza and Israel, waiting for the approval of Israel to move to the West bank, while they are afraid to go back to Gaza, fearing they will be arrested by Hamas.
The minister of interior Sa’eid Siam, declared at the end of the day that the attack on the Hilles family was essential, in order to arrest several wanted Fatah persons, accused because of the bombings in Gaza, including the sea shore incident on 25/7/2008. He added that Shajaeyya quarter will still be under siege (meaning no people are allowed in nor out, except for Hamas security forces) for at least 3 days to enable the security Hamas forces to inspect every house and every place for weapons, artillery, and wanted persons.
In the night of 31/7-1/8, the Hamas Authorities in Gaza arrested more high level personalities from PLO and Fatah, including:
• Dr. Zakareyya Agha; Fatah leader and member of the PLO executive committee (released on 4/8/2008).
• Mr. Ibrahim AbuElNaja; Fatah leader (released after 2 days)
• Mr. Mohammed AlQudwa; Gaza Governor (released on 28/9/2008)
• Mr. Abdullah AbuSamhadana; Middle Camps Area governor (released on 7/8/2008 with 150 Fatah activists, coinciding with the reopening of 20 NGOs as a gesture from Dr. Ahmed Bahar (Vice Chairman of PLC) as stated by Hamas.)
• Dr. Usama AlFarra; Khan Younis Governor. He was given 3 days vacation from prison to spend with his family during the feast (Eid-El-Fitr) 29-30/9 and 1/10/2008, but he didn’t go back until the date of the report.
• Dr. Hazem AbuShanab; Fatah Spokesman in Gaza (released on 28/9/2008).
• All main regional Fatah leaders in the 5 Governorates of the Gaza Strip (still imprisoned).
Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri stated on 1/8/2008 to Al-Jazeera TV that the arrests had been made in reaction to the similar arrests on the West Bank against Hamas activists. Mr. AbuZuhri added that the minute Hamas activists would be freed in the West Bank, as President Mahmoud Abbas had declared, the Hamas Authorities in Gaza would do the same.
On 28/9/2008 Hamas released 30 Fatah activists as a good gesture from the deposed Hamas government, on the occasion of the Muslim feast (Eid-El-Fit). Hamas expected the same step to be taken by the PA in Ramallah, to free Hamas activists there.
As a reciprocal step, a PA high security official stated on 1/10/2008 that PA authorities upon a request from President Mahmoud Abbas, freed 38 Hamas activists on the West bank because of the feast (as published by www.palpress.ps on 1/10/2008).
One Hamas leader in a private meeting stated that there are still 300 Fatah activists in Hamas security centers in Gaza (This was before the strikes announced by the employees of both the Ministry of Education (on 28/8/2008) and Ministry of Health (on 30/8/2008) in Gaza).
The briefing from the International Crisis Group on 11/9/2008, describes the events that saw Hamas battle and bring to heel one of Gaza’s most potent families. It also showed how the Islamist movement had been turning the territory into a model of internal security and bureaucratic consolidation.
“Hamas’s takeover of Gaza is increasingly complete, and both it and Fatah seem intent on consolidating their gains. The crisis of the Palestinian national movement is only worsening”, says Robert Blecher, Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst for the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. “Palestinians are fed up with the feuding and many are looking for a way out. But they find none”.
The scenario of the assault on the Hilles clan had been repeated with another large clan in Gaza, called Doghmosh. On 15/9/2008 two Hamas security persons went to arrest a wanted person of the Doghmosh family while he was at the Gaza Municipality office but he escaped, leaving one of the guards killed and injuring the other. Hamas security forces went to search for him, carrying out a big raid on the whole area where the family lived, in order to arrest the suspect, in addition to other wanted Doghmosh family members. An eye witness living adjacent to the area where the Doghmosh family lives, stated that both sides used dozens of missiles and heavy machine guns in a big battle, which lasted up to the morning of the next day (16/9/2008). Eventually the wanted man was killed, and so where 3 of his brothers, in addition to six other members of the family, which Hamas authorities declared wanted. A baby girl was among the Doghmosh family victims and so was one policeman. A total of 12 persons had been killed, among them 9 of the Doghmosh family, one person living in the same area, and 2 police men.
40 persons were injured from both sides, as declared by Islam Shahwan (Police forces spokesperson), who added that the raid was a successful one. The raid ended on 16/9/2008 in the morning and was not supposed to include the whole Doghmosh family, but it was addressed only to the wanted persons of the family (the police forces spokesperson didn’t mention the number of killed persons or injured from Doghmosh family , also he didn’t mention the number of people arrested in the raid (Ma’an news & Al-Quds daily on 16/9/2008).
Aldameer Human Rights center in Gaza (on 16/9/2008) as well as The Independent commission for Human Rights (on 17/9/208), made separate declarations asking for a full investigation of the raid, claiming that Hamas security forces used excessive and deadly force against the family, while they were also able to arrest them and take them to court.
It is well known that the chief of the family (Mumtaz Doghmosh) is the head of a Palestinian armed faction called “The Islam Army”. Such faction participated with Hamas in the operation in which the Israeli soldier Gila'ad Shalit was captured on 25/6/2006, and the same faction was responsible for kidnapping foreigners, of whom the latest was Reuters reporter Alan Johnston. He was however freed by Hamas, just after the takeover of mid-June 2007. A press statement from The Islam Army claimed that 6 people from the Doghmosh family who were active members of the Army died in the raid. Most of the reporters considered “The Islam Army” as a faction close to Al-Qaeda.
The most serious and dangerous of operations against Hamas was the assassination of a group of Qassam Brigades persons of Hamas, at the seashore on 25/7/2008 evening. Their parked car exploded the minute they wanted to open the doors, killing 5 in addition to a six years old child girl and wounding at least 22 citizens.
Hamas claimed Fatah movement responsibility in all previous operations and immediately started a wide range process against many institutions belonging to Fatah and civil society organizations by confiscating equipment, furniture, other devices, and vandalizing the buildings of such institutions. These organizations included sport clubs and clinics. Hamas also took control of the 5 Governorates of Gaza by deposing their governors and appointing new Hamas Governors, even though governors and governorates are attached directly to the President's office. Also Hamas arrested many Fatah members in Gaza, despite categorical denials from the Fatah movement (at the highest levels) that they didn't have any involvement in the bombings.
According to the Mizan Center For Human Rights (on 27/7/2008 and 31/7/2008), the number of centers and institutions which had been targeted by Hamas until 27/7/2008 was 173. Among them 33 belonged to Fatah and the rest (140) belonged to civil society organizations. The number of detained Fatah members and other civilians was 153 - a direct reaction to the attack against the Qassam members.
On 2/8/2008 Hamas security and its executive forces sieged the Shajaeyya quarter, claiming that some of the wanted Fatah activists were given shelter there, by a large clan called Hilles, headed by an active high Fatah leader, Ahmed Hilles - AbuMaher.
A big incursion in Shajaeyya quarter, using machineguns, missiles, and heavy weaponry, resulting in the following:
• During the invasion, 8 persons of the Hilles family were killed, in addition to one citizen of another family. 2 officers from Hamas security forces also died during the attack. Another 4 injured persons from the Hilles family died in the hospital (a total of 15 victims).
• 100 people were wounded from both sides, some of them seriously (ICHR Human Rights report, August 2008).
• 180 Hilles activists had been arrested and blindfolded by the soldiers of the Ministry of Interior of the Deposed Hamas Government.
• 150 Hilles activists (fighters) fled to the Israeli side (Nahal Oz border crossing) and surrendered to the Israeli army, for fear of being arrested by Hamas forces. (These actions had been facilitated by the request of President Mahmoud Abbas to Israeli Defense Minister Barak). Israel returned 32 people, for them to be arrested by Hamas security forces, and sent 87 persons to Jericho in the West Bank, keeping their leader Ahmed Hilles, who was wounded during the invasion, in Israel for further interrogation. He had been freed and sent to Jericho in the West Bank on 24/9/008 – Voice of Israel.
• Some of the fled persons remained at the border between Gaza and Israel, waiting for the approval of Israel to move to the West bank, while they are afraid to go back to Gaza, fearing they will be arrested by Hamas.
The minister of interior Sa’eid Siam, declared at the end of the day that the attack on the Hilles family was essential, in order to arrest several wanted Fatah persons, accused because of the bombings in Gaza, including the sea shore incident on 25/7/2008. He added that Shajaeyya quarter will still be under siege (meaning no people are allowed in nor out, except for Hamas security forces) for at least 3 days to enable the security Hamas forces to inspect every house and every place for weapons, artillery, and wanted persons.
In the night of 31/7-1/8, the Hamas Authorities in Gaza arrested more high level personalities from PLO and Fatah, including:
• Dr. Zakareyya Agha; Fatah leader and member of the PLO executive committee (released on 4/8/2008).
• Mr. Ibrahim AbuElNaja; Fatah leader (released after 2 days)
• Mr. Mohammed AlQudwa; Gaza Governor (released on 28/9/2008)
• Mr. Abdullah AbuSamhadana; Middle Camps Area governor (released on 7/8/2008 with 150 Fatah activists, coinciding with the reopening of 20 NGOs as a gesture from Dr. Ahmed Bahar (Vice Chairman of PLC) as stated by Hamas.)
• Dr. Usama AlFarra; Khan Younis Governor. He was given 3 days vacation from prison to spend with his family during the feast (Eid-El-Fitr) 29-30/9 and 1/10/2008, but he didn’t go back until the date of the report.
• Dr. Hazem AbuShanab; Fatah Spokesman in Gaza (released on 28/9/2008).
• All main regional Fatah leaders in the 5 Governorates of the Gaza Strip (still imprisoned).
Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri stated on 1/8/2008 to Al-Jazeera TV that the arrests had been made in reaction to the similar arrests on the West Bank against Hamas activists. Mr. AbuZuhri added that the minute Hamas activists would be freed in the West Bank, as President Mahmoud Abbas had declared, the Hamas Authorities in Gaza would do the same.
On 28/9/2008 Hamas released 30 Fatah activists as a good gesture from the deposed Hamas government, on the occasion of the Muslim feast (Eid-El-Fit). Hamas expected the same step to be taken by the PA in Ramallah, to free Hamas activists there.
As a reciprocal step, a PA high security official stated on 1/10/2008 that PA authorities upon a request from President Mahmoud Abbas, freed 38 Hamas activists on the West bank because of the feast (as published by www.palpress.ps on 1/10/2008).
One Hamas leader in a private meeting stated that there are still 300 Fatah activists in Hamas security centers in Gaza (This was before the strikes announced by the employees of both the Ministry of Education (on 28/8/2008) and Ministry of Health (on 30/8/2008) in Gaza).
The briefing from the International Crisis Group on 11/9/2008, describes the events that saw Hamas battle and bring to heel one of Gaza’s most potent families. It also showed how the Islamist movement had been turning the territory into a model of internal security and bureaucratic consolidation.
“Hamas’s takeover of Gaza is increasingly complete, and both it and Fatah seem intent on consolidating their gains. The crisis of the Palestinian national movement is only worsening”, says Robert Blecher, Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst for the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. “Palestinians are fed up with the feuding and many are looking for a way out. But they find none”.
The scenario of the assault on the Hilles clan had been repeated with another large clan in Gaza, called Doghmosh. On 15/9/2008 two Hamas security persons went to arrest a wanted person of the Doghmosh family while he was at the Gaza Municipality office but he escaped, leaving one of the guards killed and injuring the other. Hamas security forces went to search for him, carrying out a big raid on the whole area where the family lived, in order to arrest the suspect, in addition to other wanted Doghmosh family members. An eye witness living adjacent to the area where the Doghmosh family lives, stated that both sides used dozens of missiles and heavy machine guns in a big battle, which lasted up to the morning of the next day (16/9/2008). Eventually the wanted man was killed, and so where 3 of his brothers, in addition to six other members of the family, which Hamas authorities declared wanted. A baby girl was among the Doghmosh family victims and so was one policeman. A total of 12 persons had been killed, among them 9 of the Doghmosh family, one person living in the same area, and 2 police men.
40 persons were injured from both sides, as declared by Islam Shahwan (Police forces spokesperson), who added that the raid was a successful one. The raid ended on 16/9/2008 in the morning and was not supposed to include the whole Doghmosh family, but it was addressed only to the wanted persons of the family (the police forces spokesperson didn’t mention the number of killed persons or injured from Doghmosh family , also he didn’t mention the number of people arrested in the raid (Ma’an news & Al-Quds daily on 16/9/2008).
Aldameer Human Rights center in Gaza (on 16/9/2008) as well as The Independent commission for Human Rights (on 17/9/208), made separate declarations asking for a full investigation of the raid, claiming that Hamas security forces used excessive and deadly force against the family, while they were also able to arrest them and take them to court.
It is well known that the chief of the family (Mumtaz Doghmosh) is the head of a Palestinian armed faction called “The Islam Army”. Such faction participated with Hamas in the operation in which the Israeli soldier Gila'ad Shalit was captured on 25/6/2006, and the same faction was responsible for kidnapping foreigners, of whom the latest was Reuters reporter Alan Johnston. He was however freed by Hamas, just after the takeover of mid-June 2007. A press statement from The Islam Army claimed that 6 people from the Doghmosh family who were active members of the Army died in the raid. Most of the reporters considered “The Islam Army” as a faction close to Al-Qaeda.
The Calmness Agreement Report - Continued - Human Rights & Human Security
Human Rights Watch declared that both sides in Gaza and The West Bank (Hamas and PA) have been violating Human rights, and torturing detainees even worse than the Israelis did against Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas also used the Calmness to keep confiscating the Presidency premises and seizing its property, in addition to Fatah property in the Gaza Strip. Hamas also confiscated equipment and furniture, and vandalized on 25/7/2008 the office of the PLC member in the Palestinian parliament Dr. Ziad Abu Amr (who had been elected in the parliamentary elections due to his clear and direct support of Hamas movement). Such step was considered contrary to the policy announced by Hamas on its desire to National Reconciliation (Dr. Abu Amr was very active in National Reconciliation Process).
According to ICHR-Human rights center, they received 15 complaints from Gaza citizens in August for being tortured while they were detained or interrogated in the security centers of the deposed government.
The center also received 56 complaints against the deposed government's Ministry of Interior in the Gaza Strip. In these complaints, citizens claimed that security agencies (namely the Internal Security and the Police) detained them without applying fair, legally prescribed procedures.
The new crackdowns and arrests are considered as the most dangerous and the biggest operations applied by the Deposed Government and Hamas movement against Fatah activists and their supporters in Gaza, since the military coup carried out by Hamas in June 2007. Such actions could lead to further operations against Fatah, and possible retaliatory operations against Hamas by the Fatah movement on the West bank, especially when Hamas would declare banning the Fatah movement in the Gaza Strip.
On 23/9/2008, through a press statement, Hamas accused the PA on the West Bank of arresting 159 Hamas activists (names and positions are listed in the statement), in addition to storming 5 civil society organizations and others associations close to Hamas.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs (close to Fatah) groups in the West Bank issued a statement warning Hamas to stop the continuing arresting of Fatah persons, and threatened Hamas to take similar actions against members and institutions of Hamas on the West Bank. In fact this process had already been started, with the arrest of some Hamas activists.
It is expected that Al-Aqsa Martyrs and even the Palestinian Authority on the West Bank will increase their operations against Hamas activists in response to the policy of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Quds, Palestinian daily newspaper, issued on 2/9/2008 that a Reuters reporter was invited for a live military demonstration of a group of armed fighters in Gaza, belonging to a new Palestinian faction, which had been established in Gaza 8 months ago, called “Army of the Nation”. The faction was considered to be very close to Al-Qaeda, according to Al-Hayat newspaper from London.
On 4/9/2008 Hamas announced that its security forces captured Sheikh Abu Hafs Al-Maqdesy, the leader of “The Army of the Nation“, followed by the arrest of 3 persons of the same faction when they launched a press conference threatening Hamas to free their leader. Later on, a spokesperson of the Army threatened Hamas that his group will do all required actions to free their leader, with the fighters using all means possible (Voice of Israel 8/9/2008).
Al-Dameer Human Rights Center in Gaza in a press statement on 20/9/2008 asked the Ministry of Interior of the deposed government to investigate the murder of 3 persons in Gaza in one day (15/9/2008) :
• Faheem awad Goma'a Alsha'er (28 years), from Gaza- Nasr quarter, had been shot dead on 15/9/2008 in an assault on the building of the family by Hamas security forces, during an internal, armed family conflict (the family were considered to be Islamic jihad supporters).
• Ra'ed Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Harazeen (32 years), from Shaja’eyya quarter, was kidnapped on 15/9/2008. A relative of the victim said the Qassam brigades (Hamas) were behind it. On 17/9/2008 Ra'ed was found on the ground near his residence, suffering from several fractures and torture marks on his whole body, including red paint all over his body. His family took him to the hospital where he died after 2 hours.
• Mohammed Reyadh Batreekhi was killed in an armed family conflict on 15/9/2008. The suspected killer is a police man working for the deposed government.
Al-Dameer Human Rights Center warned the deposed government not to go back to the chaos and disorder, and asked for an immediate investigation of these cases and others.
Hamas also used the Calmness to keep confiscating the Presidency premises and seizing its property, in addition to Fatah property in the Gaza Strip. Hamas also confiscated equipment and furniture, and vandalized on 25/7/2008 the office of the PLC member in the Palestinian parliament Dr. Ziad Abu Amr (who had been elected in the parliamentary elections due to his clear and direct support of Hamas movement). Such step was considered contrary to the policy announced by Hamas on its desire to National Reconciliation (Dr. Abu Amr was very active in National Reconciliation Process).
According to ICHR-Human rights center, they received 15 complaints from Gaza citizens in August for being tortured while they were detained or interrogated in the security centers of the deposed government.
The center also received 56 complaints against the deposed government's Ministry of Interior in the Gaza Strip. In these complaints, citizens claimed that security agencies (namely the Internal Security and the Police) detained them without applying fair, legally prescribed procedures.
The new crackdowns and arrests are considered as the most dangerous and the biggest operations applied by the Deposed Government and Hamas movement against Fatah activists and their supporters in Gaza, since the military coup carried out by Hamas in June 2007. Such actions could lead to further operations against Fatah, and possible retaliatory operations against Hamas by the Fatah movement on the West bank, especially when Hamas would declare banning the Fatah movement in the Gaza Strip.
On 23/9/2008, through a press statement, Hamas accused the PA on the West Bank of arresting 159 Hamas activists (names and positions are listed in the statement), in addition to storming 5 civil society organizations and others associations close to Hamas.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs (close to Fatah) groups in the West Bank issued a statement warning Hamas to stop the continuing arresting of Fatah persons, and threatened Hamas to take similar actions against members and institutions of Hamas on the West Bank. In fact this process had already been started, with the arrest of some Hamas activists.
It is expected that Al-Aqsa Martyrs and even the Palestinian Authority on the West Bank will increase their operations against Hamas activists in response to the policy of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Quds, Palestinian daily newspaper, issued on 2/9/2008 that a Reuters reporter was invited for a live military demonstration of a group of armed fighters in Gaza, belonging to a new Palestinian faction, which had been established in Gaza 8 months ago, called “Army of the Nation”. The faction was considered to be very close to Al-Qaeda, according to Al-Hayat newspaper from London.
On 4/9/2008 Hamas announced that its security forces captured Sheikh Abu Hafs Al-Maqdesy, the leader of “The Army of the Nation“, followed by the arrest of 3 persons of the same faction when they launched a press conference threatening Hamas to free their leader. Later on, a spokesperson of the Army threatened Hamas that his group will do all required actions to free their leader, with the fighters using all means possible (Voice of Israel 8/9/2008).
Al-Dameer Human Rights Center in Gaza in a press statement on 20/9/2008 asked the Ministry of Interior of the deposed government to investigate the murder of 3 persons in Gaza in one day (15/9/2008) :
• Faheem awad Goma'a Alsha'er (28 years), from Gaza- Nasr quarter, had been shot dead on 15/9/2008 in an assault on the building of the family by Hamas security forces, during an internal, armed family conflict (the family were considered to be Islamic jihad supporters).
• Ra'ed Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Harazeen (32 years), from Shaja’eyya quarter, was kidnapped on 15/9/2008. A relative of the victim said the Qassam brigades (Hamas) were behind it. On 17/9/2008 Ra'ed was found on the ground near his residence, suffering from several fractures and torture marks on his whole body, including red paint all over his body. His family took him to the hospital where he died after 2 hours.
• Mohammed Reyadh Batreekhi was killed in an armed family conflict on 15/9/2008. The suspected killer is a police man working for the deposed government.
Al-Dameer Human Rights Center warned the deposed government not to go back to the chaos and disorder, and asked for an immediate investigation of these cases and others.
The Calmness Agreement Report - Continued - Freedom of Expression and Movement
Hamas prevented the entry of the daily newspapers (AlQuds, AlHayat Aljadeeda, AlAyyam) to Gaza as of 28/7/2008, accusing these newspapers of not being neutral in the conflict underway between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas declared on 23/8/2008 that it will permit only the entry of Al-Quds newspaper to Gaza, on the condition that their articles on Hamas are neutralized. Furthermore, they closed the radio of PFLP for 3 days.
On 28/8/2008 the syndicate of teachers announced a strike including the Ministry of Education employees and teachers in Gaza (initially for 4 days), because of the maltreatment they suffer from the Hamas regime. On 30/8/2008 the employees of the Ministry of Health announced a strike because of the same reason (also initially for 4 days).
As stated by both syndicates and due to the harsh and tough treatment and reactions of Hamas against the employees of both ministries, their syndicates instructed the employees to continue their strike. Both strikes been extended week after week (up to 21/10/2008).
The Islamic Jihad arranged for a peaceful gathering on 5/9/2008, rejecting the way Hamas dealt with the teachers who went on strike, as some of them had been captured. Indeed, security forces of the Ministry of Interior of the deposed government had forcefully dispersed the gathering and captured some of the teachers for interrogation. It is worth mentioning that among the teachers who had been captured, was Mohammed Abdullah Shallah (Brother of Islamic Jihad leader).
Spokesperson of the ministry of interior Eihab Ghussain claimed that the organizers of the gathering didn't apply for a permit from the ministry.
On 9/9/2008 it was declared by both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, that their leaders had a joint meeting on 8/9/2008 in Damascus, to resolve the flare-up between the two movements, where both movements asserted their strategic relations, adding that minor disagreements and events on the ground will not affect the depth of their relations. Also they agreed on solving all disputes between both sides in a peaceful manner, and to concentrate on the armed resistance against the Israeli occupation (According to the American Task Force on Palestine ATFP – 11/9/2008).
Regarding the strikes of the governmental employees in Gaza, The Palestinian NGOs net (PNGO) declared on 9/9/2008 that they don’t agree for politicizing the service of civil society departments and asked for the following.
• An end to all types of strikes
• Asking the PA government in Ramallah not to cut governmental employees salaries for political reasons.
• Asking Hamas deposed government, not to fire, detain, or put aside any governmental employee due to his political convictions.
The Hamas deposed government in Gaza was still forbidding any Fatah activity and even prohibited raising flags or other signs on Fatah centers. In Gaza one can see only Hamas banners in the streets, even during the Ramadan holy month for Muslims. Years before, one could notice banners from all Palestinian factions on public, religious, political or other occasions.
In the mean time and after the Calmness Agreement took place, Hamas stationed a check point at Erez, for Gaza citizens leaving Gaza to Israel or to the West Bank or coming to Gaza from there. This check point had limited the movement of Fatah persons who wanted to leave to the West Bank and in most cases they were asked by Hamas security officers to go back to Gaza, as they should get a permit from the Ministry Of Interior of the Hamas Deposed Government. These actions included 2 members of the PLO executive committee, Dr. Zakareyya Agha and Dr. Reyadh Khoudary, who were not able to join the meetings of the committee. However on 19/9/2008, Dr. Agha and Ibrahim Abu Naja left Gaza through Erez to join the Fatah delegation for the dialogue with the Egyptian officials for Palestinian reconciliation without problems.
One can wonder if the creation or restoring of activities by new Islamic extremist parties in Gaza can be considered a matter of freedom of expression. Early September 2008, a press statement announced the restoration and the commencement of the activities of an Islamic party called Hezb Al-Tahreer (Party for Liberation) which was established in the year 1953. On 4/10/2008 a press statement announced the creation of a new organization called "Hezbollah Brigades in Palestine", which was established in the Palestinian territories to resist the occupation.
The statement explained that the organization's goals were the Jihad for the sake of God and to resist the enemies of Islam, adding that it was a Sunni organization, dealing with the resistance only, having nothing to do with political affairs. But in the meantime it will not get out of the public interest. Regarding the relationship with the Lebanese organization Hezbollah, the statement emphasized on the strategy of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance, and denied any organizational links to the Lebanese Democratic Party, adding that "all that binds us is our love for Islam and the style of resistance."
The new organization emphasized the national reconciliation process, saying that it will not be a party to any internal strife. They furthermore will stand with the prisoners, and promised that the top priority of the organization will be to follow the steps of martyrs and promised to walk in their footsteps, recalling the martyrs "Hajj Radwan (Emad Mughneyyie of Hezbollah), Yasser Arafat, Ahmed Yassin, Fathi Shikaki, and Sheikh Abbas Musawi."
On 17/10/2008 Luisa Morgantini (Vice Chairman of The EU Parliament) sent two questions to the EU Parliament concerning the Israeli prevention of the Palestinian students who are registered to study at European and foreign universities. The formal answers came on 8 and 10/12/2008 that the questions were formally raised with the Israeli authorities at the meeting of the EU-Israel sub-committee on political dialogue and cooperation, on 28 October 2008, in the context of Council's repeated calls for greater freedom of movement and improved access. Also, the EU Commission is continuing to pursue the goal of ensuring that the movement of persons in and out of Gaza, including of course students without scholarships, is normalized.
On 28/8/2008 the syndicate of teachers announced a strike including the Ministry of Education employees and teachers in Gaza (initially for 4 days), because of the maltreatment they suffer from the Hamas regime. On 30/8/2008 the employees of the Ministry of Health announced a strike because of the same reason (also initially for 4 days).
As stated by both syndicates and due to the harsh and tough treatment and reactions of Hamas against the employees of both ministries, their syndicates instructed the employees to continue their strike. Both strikes been extended week after week (up to 21/10/2008).
The Islamic Jihad arranged for a peaceful gathering on 5/9/2008, rejecting the way Hamas dealt with the teachers who went on strike, as some of them had been captured. Indeed, security forces of the Ministry of Interior of the deposed government had forcefully dispersed the gathering and captured some of the teachers for interrogation. It is worth mentioning that among the teachers who had been captured, was Mohammed Abdullah Shallah (Brother of Islamic Jihad leader).
Spokesperson of the ministry of interior Eihab Ghussain claimed that the organizers of the gathering didn't apply for a permit from the ministry.
On 9/9/2008 it was declared by both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, that their leaders had a joint meeting on 8/9/2008 in Damascus, to resolve the flare-up between the two movements, where both movements asserted their strategic relations, adding that minor disagreements and events on the ground will not affect the depth of their relations. Also they agreed on solving all disputes between both sides in a peaceful manner, and to concentrate on the armed resistance against the Israeli occupation (According to the American Task Force on Palestine ATFP – 11/9/2008).
Regarding the strikes of the governmental employees in Gaza, The Palestinian NGOs net (PNGO) declared on 9/9/2008 that they don’t agree for politicizing the service of civil society departments and asked for the following.
• An end to all types of strikes
• Asking the PA government in Ramallah not to cut governmental employees salaries for political reasons.
• Asking Hamas deposed government, not to fire, detain, or put aside any governmental employee due to his political convictions.
The Hamas deposed government in Gaza was still forbidding any Fatah activity and even prohibited raising flags or other signs on Fatah centers. In Gaza one can see only Hamas banners in the streets, even during the Ramadan holy month for Muslims. Years before, one could notice banners from all Palestinian factions on public, religious, political or other occasions.
In the mean time and after the Calmness Agreement took place, Hamas stationed a check point at Erez, for Gaza citizens leaving Gaza to Israel or to the West Bank or coming to Gaza from there. This check point had limited the movement of Fatah persons who wanted to leave to the West Bank and in most cases they were asked by Hamas security officers to go back to Gaza, as they should get a permit from the Ministry Of Interior of the Hamas Deposed Government. These actions included 2 members of the PLO executive committee, Dr. Zakareyya Agha and Dr. Reyadh Khoudary, who were not able to join the meetings of the committee. However on 19/9/2008, Dr. Agha and Ibrahim Abu Naja left Gaza through Erez to join the Fatah delegation for the dialogue with the Egyptian officials for Palestinian reconciliation without problems.
One can wonder if the creation or restoring of activities by new Islamic extremist parties in Gaza can be considered a matter of freedom of expression. Early September 2008, a press statement announced the restoration and the commencement of the activities of an Islamic party called Hezb Al-Tahreer (Party for Liberation) which was established in the year 1953. On 4/10/2008 a press statement announced the creation of a new organization called "Hezbollah Brigades in Palestine", which was established in the Palestinian territories to resist the occupation.
The statement explained that the organization's goals were the Jihad for the sake of God and to resist the enemies of Islam, adding that it was a Sunni organization, dealing with the resistance only, having nothing to do with political affairs. But in the meantime it will not get out of the public interest. Regarding the relationship with the Lebanese organization Hezbollah, the statement emphasized on the strategy of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance, and denied any organizational links to the Lebanese Democratic Party, adding that "all that binds us is our love for Islam and the style of resistance."
The new organization emphasized the national reconciliation process, saying that it will not be a party to any internal strife. They furthermore will stand with the prisoners, and promised that the top priority of the organization will be to follow the steps of martyrs and promised to walk in their footsteps, recalling the martyrs "Hajj Radwan (Emad Mughneyyie of Hezbollah), Yasser Arafat, Ahmed Yassin, Fathi Shikaki, and Sheikh Abbas Musawi."
On 17/10/2008 Luisa Morgantini (Vice Chairman of The EU Parliament) sent two questions to the EU Parliament concerning the Israeli prevention of the Palestinian students who are registered to study at European and foreign universities. The formal answers came on 8 and 10/12/2008 that the questions were formally raised with the Israeli authorities at the meeting of the EU-Israel sub-committee on political dialogue and cooperation, on 28 October 2008, in the context of Council's repeated calls for greater freedom of movement and improved access. Also, the EU Commission is continuing to pursue the goal of ensuring that the movement of persons in and out of Gaza, including of course students without scholarships, is normalized.
The Calmness Agreement Report - Continued - Internal socioeconomic conditions
The Calmness and the economy
Before the military coup in June 2007, traders from Gaza used to import all materials and equipment through Israeli ports. However, after the coup Israel removed the Gaza Strip Code from Israeli ports, making it impossible for importers from the Gaza Strip to import anything from abroad.
This action by Israel posed a threat to Gaza commercial agencies, leading to the closing down of their companies, because they haven't been able to manage any imports since mid-June 2007 and still. It seems that the Palestinian negotiators from Hamas were not interested in this issue when they dealt with the Calmness Agreement with Israel, while they were interested to open the crossings only, particularly Rafah. On the other hand, PA President Mahmoud Abbas and his team of negotiators with Israel also didn't pay enough attention to this very important case.
According to the Calmness Agreement, the Israeli side agreed to increase the quantities of materials to be imported to the Gaza Strip from Israel, as an attempt to contribute to the halt of huge inflation, taking into consideration that the annual GDP in the Gaza Strip is not exceeding $ 600, compared to about $ 1200 on the West Bank and to about $30000 in Israel. However, the Palestinian citizen in the Gaza Strip (before the war on Gaza that erupted on 27/12/2008) finds himself compelled to pay very high prices for many basic commodities and foodstuffs, medicine, fuel and milk compared to prices in Israel and in the West Bank. A certain kind of children's food sold in Gaza at a price of $6, can be bought on the West Bank for $3.5. Furthermore, the official price of one liter of gasoline is about 2 $, while in Gaza it is sold on the black market( smuggled from Egypt) at a price of $ 8 per liter.
Another serious violation of the agreement concerns the Gaza Fishermen. The Israeli Coast Guard Patrols forbid them to fish further than 3 miles off the shore, while it used to be 21 miles. According to a declaration by Mezan Human Rights Center in Gaza on 14/9/2008, the fishermen suffer from the continuous military abuse by the Israeli war ships. The harassment includes demolishing, the confiscating of goods, arresting fishermen, and shooting at the Palestinian boats, which in some cases caused damage of the boats and injuries among the fishermen.
According to www.Palpress.Ps on 14/9/2008, the number of Israeli violations against Palestinian fishermen in Gaza since the commencement of the Calmness Agreement came to 200. Such violations included the following :
• Partial damage of 20 boats
• Complete demolishing of 4 boats
• Confiscating 2 boats with all including equipment
• Detaining 10 fishermen
• Arresting 15 fishermen for interrogations
According to Ma'an News on 10/9/2008, the assistant Deputy Minister of National Economy, Mr. Nasser Sarraj, declared that Israel cut the quantity of containers carrying clothes and shoes on that date by 50% (15 instead of 30) without any prior notice. This action caused big losses to traders who already had the goods on the Israeli side of the borders of Gaza (costs of the goods and transportation had already been paid). What makes it worse is that the traders anticipated to sell these goods before the feast, at beginning of October 2008, an occasion when many Muslims buy new clothes and shoes.
There continued to be a lack of hard currency in Gaza, while local banks of the Gaza Strip were to obtain a special permit from the Israeli Defense Ministry each time they wished to bring bank notes from their branches in the West Bank to Gaza. Sometimes there also was a shortage of dollars and Jordanian dinars (all goods smuggled from Egypt were purchased with dollars).
During the revising of this report (23/12/2008) , there was an extreme shortage of Israeli shekels in cash in PA banks operating in the Gaza Strip. These banks were paying governmental salaries in dollars instead of the Israeli shekel. Also there was a reasonable amount of deteriorated Israeli bank notes, which needed to be changed from the central Bank of Israel, but Israel did not agree to that, even though the Israeli Shekel used in the Palestinian territories since 1967, is the official currency of Israel.
On 25/9/2008, the Israeli coordinator of Government Work in the Palestinian territories, Major General Amos Gila'ad, said that the promise to transfer $ 50 million shekels to the Gaza Strip recently, was aimed at preventing the collapse of the banking system (the Israeli Shekel bank notes arrived Gaza on 28/9/2008).
The parents of Israeli captive soldier Gila'ad Shalit had told the Israeli government a week before that the money would serve Hamas and the kidnappers of their son, in addition to the transfer of the money not being approved by the Cabinet yet (Voice of Israel) Amos Gila'ad explained in a letter sent to the parents of Shalit, that Defense Minister Barak approved the transfer of the money on 22/9/2008 after the study of the topic on a regular basis. He said rescue Gila'ad Shalit is still the main objective of the security departments in Israel.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights stressed in a report which covers the period from 9-16/7/2008 (Report 29/2008) the continued deadlock on all elements of the national economy, including trade, industry, construction, agriculture and services (IT, Engineering, tourism, restaurants, and hotels), while Gaza traders are not allowed to import any type of raw materials and oil derivatives, while Israel also prevents completely the export from the Gaza Strip to Israel and abroad (flowers, vegetables, furniture, garments & textiles). The border crossings continued to operate with the same capacity as they did before the Calmness, a rate of about 85 truck loads per day, while Gaza normally was importing about 750 truck loads of all types of materials per day before the military coup in June 2007.
Mr. John Ging, director of UNRWA operations in the Gaza Strip, stated on 24/7/2008 that after about 40 days of the Calmness Agreement, the economic situation had not improved in the Gaza Strip since Israel only marginally increased the allowed quantities of food and fuel, and did not allow the entry of raw materials and building materials.
The most important issues stated by Mr. Ging were the following.
• 52% of the Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip are living below the poverty line, compared to 19% in the West Bank.
• The unemployment rate in the Palestinian territories at end of December 2007 reached 29.5%, while it was 45.3% in the Gaza Strip and 22.5% in the West Bank. It is certain that such high rates of poverty and unemployment are not contributing to the maintaining of the Calmness Agreement.
• The complete stoppage of any type of investment and the cancellation of the construction of vital projects in the Gaza Strip are causing damage, especially where it concerns the construction of thousands of new residential houses and apartments for refugees and those who lost their homes due to the repeated Israeli incursions, especially in Rafah.
In addition to what Mr. Ging declared, tens of thousands have their interests damaged because they could not travel abroad, including the inability of Palestinian workers from abroad to visit their families in the Gaza Strip for fear of losing their jobs, as happened with others who came for vacation and couldn't go back.
At the end of November 2008, 77000 of Gaza governmental employees didn't receive their salaries , which comes to about 200 million Shekel per month. This amount is paid by the government of Ramallah every month since the take over in June 2007.
Everybody in Gaza was waiting for the salaries, due to the fact that the Grand Feast for Muslims (Eid – ElAdha) took place in the first week of December (8/12/2008). But with no salaries, the deteriorated economic situation had caused even more difficulties for every person in the Gaza Strip. The majority of the employees didn't buy new clothes for their kids, even they didn't buy a sheep to slaughter, which is a tradition during the feast, according to Islam.
Several traders prepared themselves, buying a lot of clothes and shoes smuggled from Egypt through the tunnels. These clothes and shoes couldn't be sold, however.
Even private sector employees and others couldn't withdraw their money deposited in the banks, to spend during the Feast, due to the sudden closure of all local banks on 4/12/2008. The reason was that the banks had no hard cash (bank notes), while the Israeli authorities didn't agree to transfer money from the West Bank to Gaza.
Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak, stated on 10/12/2008 that he agreed to give permission to transfer only 100 million shekel from the West Bank to Gaza, taking into consideration that this sum would not be satisfactory, it being half of the required amount.
2. The Calmness and health issues
In spite of the Calmness Agreement, a European campaign to lift the siege on the Gaza Strip, led to a report on 16/7/2008, warning of a health catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, since it had been besieged for almost 3 years. It also warned that many medicines were not allowed in (370 types of medicine were on the verge of running out) and that drugs found in health warehouses of the Ministry of health would be satisfactory for 1-3 months only. The number of deprived patients who need treatment outside the Gaza Strip is growing day by day; the number of persons who died as a result of not being allowed to get treatment outside Gaza ( Israel – Egypt – Jordan) reached around 300 by the end of August.
The report also stated that the Rafah border crossing with Egypt remained closed for patients who needed treatment in Egypt and abroad. According to Mr. Khaled Radi, spokesman of the Ministry of Health of the deposed government, 1500 patients (and this number had been growing every day) in Gaza are in bad need of treatment, but are forbidden to cross the borders of The Gaza Strip to get treatment abroad.
Movement of medical personnel and patients from Gaza to Israel and the West Bank through Erez crossing had not changed after the Calmness Agreement, and the process of preventing many of them to leave for the West Bank, whether for business or for treatment, continued, as Gaza was considered as a hostile entity by Israel.
What is more, due to the strike of doctors and health employees in Gaza, which started on 30/8/2008, the health situation in Gaza became even worse.
3. The Calmness and education
The Calmness Agreement also didn't provide solutions to Palestinian students stuck in Gaza, whose number amounts to 2000. These students are prevented by Israel from leaving the Gaza Strip, either through Erez or through Rafah border crossing, to join their universities abroad.
A delegate from the campaign "Let Palestinian students learn" handed an appeal to the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown during his visit to the Palestinian city of Bethlehem on 20/7/2008, requesting his contribution and support to lift the Israeli ban on travel for these students. Some of the students were already studying at British universities and some of them wanted to start a study there, taking into consideration that most of these students were accepted at the universities and already got the required visa to travel for study abroad.
The delegate reported in the appeal that preventing them from having the possibility to leave the Gaza Strip to join their universities would lead to unexpected results due to suffering and loss of hope.
What is more, due to the strike of teachers and the Ministry of Education employees in Gaza schools, which started on 28/8/2008, the education situation in Gaza was even more badly affected. Hamas made a statement on 14/10/2008, firing all the education employees who joined the strike.
This action by Israel posed a threat to Gaza commercial agencies, leading to the closing down of their companies, because they haven't been able to manage any imports since mid-June 2007 and still. It seems that the Palestinian negotiators from Hamas were not interested in this issue when they dealt with the Calmness Agreement with Israel, while they were interested to open the crossings only, particularly Rafah. On the other hand, PA President Mahmoud Abbas and his team of negotiators with Israel also didn't pay enough attention to this very important case.
According to the Calmness Agreement, the Israeli side agreed to increase the quantities of materials to be imported to the Gaza Strip from Israel, as an attempt to contribute to the halt of huge inflation, taking into consideration that the annual GDP in the Gaza Strip is not exceeding $ 600, compared to about $ 1200 on the West Bank and to about $30000 in Israel. However, the Palestinian citizen in the Gaza Strip (before the war on Gaza that erupted on 27/12/2008) finds himself compelled to pay very high prices for many basic commodities and foodstuffs, medicine, fuel and milk compared to prices in Israel and in the West Bank. A certain kind of children's food sold in Gaza at a price of $6, can be bought on the West Bank for $3.5. Furthermore, the official price of one liter of gasoline is about 2 $, while in Gaza it is sold on the black market( smuggled from Egypt) at a price of $ 8 per liter.
Another serious violation of the agreement concerns the Gaza Fishermen. The Israeli Coast Guard Patrols forbid them to fish further than 3 miles off the shore, while it used to be 21 miles. According to a declaration by Mezan Human Rights Center in Gaza on 14/9/2008, the fishermen suffer from the continuous military abuse by the Israeli war ships. The harassment includes demolishing, the confiscating of goods, arresting fishermen, and shooting at the Palestinian boats, which in some cases caused damage of the boats and injuries among the fishermen.
According to www.Palpress.Ps on 14/9/2008, the number of Israeli violations against Palestinian fishermen in Gaza since the commencement of the Calmness Agreement came to 200. Such violations included the following :
• Partial damage of 20 boats
• Complete demolishing of 4 boats
• Confiscating 2 boats with all including equipment
• Detaining 10 fishermen
• Arresting 15 fishermen for interrogations
According to Ma'an News on 10/9/2008, the assistant Deputy Minister of National Economy, Mr. Nasser Sarraj, declared that Israel cut the quantity of containers carrying clothes and shoes on that date by 50% (15 instead of 30) without any prior notice. This action caused big losses to traders who already had the goods on the Israeli side of the borders of Gaza (costs of the goods and transportation had already been paid). What makes it worse is that the traders anticipated to sell these goods before the feast, at beginning of October 2008, an occasion when many Muslims buy new clothes and shoes.
There continued to be a lack of hard currency in Gaza, while local banks of the Gaza Strip were to obtain a special permit from the Israeli Defense Ministry each time they wished to bring bank notes from their branches in the West Bank to Gaza. Sometimes there also was a shortage of dollars and Jordanian dinars (all goods smuggled from Egypt were purchased with dollars).
During the revising of this report (23/12/2008) , there was an extreme shortage of Israeli shekels in cash in PA banks operating in the Gaza Strip. These banks were paying governmental salaries in dollars instead of the Israeli shekel. Also there was a reasonable amount of deteriorated Israeli bank notes, which needed to be changed from the central Bank of Israel, but Israel did not agree to that, even though the Israeli Shekel used in the Palestinian territories since 1967, is the official currency of Israel.
On 25/9/2008, the Israeli coordinator of Government Work in the Palestinian territories, Major General Amos Gila'ad, said that the promise to transfer $ 50 million shekels to the Gaza Strip recently, was aimed at preventing the collapse of the banking system (the Israeli Shekel bank notes arrived Gaza on 28/9/2008).
The parents of Israeli captive soldier Gila'ad Shalit had told the Israeli government a week before that the money would serve Hamas and the kidnappers of their son, in addition to the transfer of the money not being approved by the Cabinet yet (Voice of Israel) Amos Gila'ad explained in a letter sent to the parents of Shalit, that Defense Minister Barak approved the transfer of the money on 22/9/2008 after the study of the topic on a regular basis. He said rescue Gila'ad Shalit is still the main objective of the security departments in Israel.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights stressed in a report which covers the period from 9-16/7/2008 (Report 29/2008) the continued deadlock on all elements of the national economy, including trade, industry, construction, agriculture and services (IT, Engineering, tourism, restaurants, and hotels), while Gaza traders are not allowed to import any type of raw materials and oil derivatives, while Israel also prevents completely the export from the Gaza Strip to Israel and abroad (flowers, vegetables, furniture, garments & textiles). The border crossings continued to operate with the same capacity as they did before the Calmness, a rate of about 85 truck loads per day, while Gaza normally was importing about 750 truck loads of all types of materials per day before the military coup in June 2007.
Mr. John Ging, director of UNRWA operations in the Gaza Strip, stated on 24/7/2008 that after about 40 days of the Calmness Agreement, the economic situation had not improved in the Gaza Strip since Israel only marginally increased the allowed quantities of food and fuel, and did not allow the entry of raw materials and building materials.
The most important issues stated by Mr. Ging were the following.
• 52% of the Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip are living below the poverty line, compared to 19% in the West Bank.
• The unemployment rate in the Palestinian territories at end of December 2007 reached 29.5%, while it was 45.3% in the Gaza Strip and 22.5% in the West Bank. It is certain that such high rates of poverty and unemployment are not contributing to the maintaining of the Calmness Agreement.
• The complete stoppage of any type of investment and the cancellation of the construction of vital projects in the Gaza Strip are causing damage, especially where it concerns the construction of thousands of new residential houses and apartments for refugees and those who lost their homes due to the repeated Israeli incursions, especially in Rafah.
In addition to what Mr. Ging declared, tens of thousands have their interests damaged because they could not travel abroad, including the inability of Palestinian workers from abroad to visit their families in the Gaza Strip for fear of losing their jobs, as happened with others who came for vacation and couldn't go back.
At the end of November 2008, 77000 of Gaza governmental employees didn't receive their salaries , which comes to about 200 million Shekel per month. This amount is paid by the government of Ramallah every month since the take over in June 2007.
Everybody in Gaza was waiting for the salaries, due to the fact that the Grand Feast for Muslims (Eid – ElAdha) took place in the first week of December (8/12/2008). But with no salaries, the deteriorated economic situation had caused even more difficulties for every person in the Gaza Strip. The majority of the employees didn't buy new clothes for their kids, even they didn't buy a sheep to slaughter, which is a tradition during the feast, according to Islam.
Several traders prepared themselves, buying a lot of clothes and shoes smuggled from Egypt through the tunnels. These clothes and shoes couldn't be sold, however.
Even private sector employees and others couldn't withdraw their money deposited in the banks, to spend during the Feast, due to the sudden closure of all local banks on 4/12/2008. The reason was that the banks had no hard cash (bank notes), while the Israeli authorities didn't agree to transfer money from the West Bank to Gaza.
Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak, stated on 10/12/2008 that he agreed to give permission to transfer only 100 million shekel from the West Bank to Gaza, taking into consideration that this sum would not be satisfactory, it being half of the required amount.
2. The Calmness and health issues
In spite of the Calmness Agreement, a European campaign to lift the siege on the Gaza Strip, led to a report on 16/7/2008, warning of a health catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, since it had been besieged for almost 3 years. It also warned that many medicines were not allowed in (370 types of medicine were on the verge of running out) and that drugs found in health warehouses of the Ministry of health would be satisfactory for 1-3 months only. The number of deprived patients who need treatment outside the Gaza Strip is growing day by day; the number of persons who died as a result of not being allowed to get treatment outside Gaza ( Israel – Egypt – Jordan) reached around 300 by the end of August.
The report also stated that the Rafah border crossing with Egypt remained closed for patients who needed treatment in Egypt and abroad. According to Mr. Khaled Radi, spokesman of the Ministry of Health of the deposed government, 1500 patients (and this number had been growing every day) in Gaza are in bad need of treatment, but are forbidden to cross the borders of The Gaza Strip to get treatment abroad.
Movement of medical personnel and patients from Gaza to Israel and the West Bank through Erez crossing had not changed after the Calmness Agreement, and the process of preventing many of them to leave for the West Bank, whether for business or for treatment, continued, as Gaza was considered as a hostile entity by Israel.
What is more, due to the strike of doctors and health employees in Gaza, which started on 30/8/2008, the health situation in Gaza became even worse.
3. The Calmness and education
The Calmness Agreement also didn't provide solutions to Palestinian students stuck in Gaza, whose number amounts to 2000. These students are prevented by Israel from leaving the Gaza Strip, either through Erez or through Rafah border crossing, to join their universities abroad.
A delegate from the campaign "Let Palestinian students learn" handed an appeal to the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown during his visit to the Palestinian city of Bethlehem on 20/7/2008, requesting his contribution and support to lift the Israeli ban on travel for these students. Some of the students were already studying at British universities and some of them wanted to start a study there, taking into consideration that most of these students were accepted at the universities and already got the required visa to travel for study abroad.
The delegate reported in the appeal that preventing them from having the possibility to leave the Gaza Strip to join their universities would lead to unexpected results due to suffering and loss of hope.
What is more, due to the strike of teachers and the Ministry of Education employees in Gaza schools, which started on 28/8/2008, the education situation in Gaza was even more badly affected. Hamas made a statement on 14/10/2008, firing all the education employees who joined the strike.
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