May
4
2010
By Deepak Adhikari
KATHMANDU, Nepal – On the afternoon of April 16, I was driving back from my 94-year-old grandma’s house on the outskirts of Kathmandu to my office in the downtown. Driving on the dusty road on the edge of Nepal’s only international airport, I came upon an unusually high number of vehicles. The hitherto empty road was busy with traffic.
My wife, Kabita, who was riding behind me, suspected that something was wrong, saying maybe there’s a strike (called bandh in the local dialect). I dismissed her comment. But as we entered the newly constructed six-lane highway, the situation began to get clearer. The road was a picture of chaos – a blockade had caused a huge back up of traffic. Several vehicles were turning around and many passengers were stranded. In a situation like this, no one can tell you what’s going on. Everyone seems in a hurry either to get beyond the barricade or return to safety.
Protests like this are increasingly common in Nepal as anger over lack of devleopment and bad government increases.
I displayed my press ID and explained to him that it was media people like me who often risked their lives to support their cause. It was merely my trick to persuade him to let me go through, though I am always a supporter of peaceful protests against injustice. But I never approve such unruly acts that create disarray for hundreds of travelers. He did allow me to go forward, but, sensing that the unrest could get worse farther ahead, I asked my wife to get off the bike.
An intersection ahead looked like a battlefield, with stone carrying, and visibly angry protesters on the one side and baton wielding policemen on the other. I was sure from my previous experiences that if I could convince one of the protesters, I would be able to safely cross the tense area. But as I drove my bike, a group of protesters started to throw stones at me. Luckily, a police inspector came to rescue me from the attack and escorted me for a few minutes. I left the area unhurt. But the incident shook me in a way I had never experienced.
I’m narrating the incident in detail not only because impromptu protests like these have become common occurrences in Nepal, but also because it shows how angry and frustrated Nepalese are. Also, my hunch is that the fury was directed less at the law enforcement agency that was unable to punish the guilty (in this case the driver) and more at the way the country is (mal) functioning. Indeed, the country is gradually sliding towards anarchy and lawlessness.
Everyone agrees that it’s not easy being Nepal. It has a herculean task ahead. In less than a month, the deadline to draft a constitution ends. A 601 member constituent assembly that was elected two years ago is tasked with writing the constitution. A decade-long Maoist insurgency and government counterinsurgency has claimed 13,000 lives with thousands injured and hundreds disappeared. Not a single person (neither from the Army nor from the Maoists) has been punished for numerous wartime crimes. Transitional justice is still only in words not in deeds and a culture of impunity has and is likely to prevail.
Thus, Nepalese have paid a heavy price. And peace seems ever elusive with the former rebels threatening to carry out revolt and the political party leaders upon whom the people have placed high hopes have fallen back on their role of bickering and infighting. Corruption is rampant and unemployment is rising.
The largely mountainous country which is bordered in the north by China and elsewhere by India, both emerging Asian powers, has lagged far behind the rest of the world. It still is one of the poorest countries in the world. While the citizens of our neighboring countries are having what seems like a party (with double digit growth and rapid development), we feel like poor cousins who were not uninvited.
But it’s our own making. In Nepal, the hereditary Rana family ruled the country with an iron fist for over a century while India’s infrastructure was laid by the British. Even the end of Rana rule in 1950 could not ensure freedom and democracy, a prerequisite for inclusive growth and overall development. King Mahendra snatched power from a democratically elected government and introduced a party less and autocratic Panchayat system that ruled Nepal for the next 30 years until 1990.
The ruling elite and the Kathmandu bourgeois were the ones who took maximum advantage of those three decades of tyranny. During this period, I grew up in the eastern hills of Nepal, on the margins, reading the regime’s propaganda in the name of text books.
With the reinstitution of democracy in the spring of 1990 came the promise of a new Nepal. But a ‘People’s War’ waged by Maoists in mid-1990s dashed those hopes. The hope was revived after the mass protests in the spring of 2006 that was instrumental in ending both the Maoist insurgency and the 240-year-old monarchy, thereby paving the way for the world’s youngest republic.
But like everything else in Nepal, uncertainty looms large vis-à-vis the dramatic decisions taken during the crucial and transitional period that have had far reaching consequences. The changes have taken place have occurred only as part of negotiations among the various political parties. Therefore, the likelihood of these transformations being retracted (due to lack of commitment and institutionalizing) cannot be fully ruled out. Also, some of the changes are seemingly cosmetic.
And it’s not like Nepal’s lack of social and economic growth can be blamed on a lack of resources. It is, in fact, endowed with immense resources – hydropower, tourism, the export business and agriculture are some of the many untapped sectors. But this is a country whose main exports are human beings. Two million of Nepal’s 28 million people are working on foreign shores. Nepalese migrant workers toil in often sub-human conditions in the Gulf countries and the country’s fragile economy hinges on the remittances they send.
For a country that prides itself in never being colonized when the entire Indian sub-continent was in the grip of the British, its dependence on the international community and the southern neighbor India is an unpleasant fact. So is the fact that one of world’s oldest nation states is grappling with issues like drafting a constitution, restructuring the state and ensuring their deserved place in the new state apparatus to the hitherto marginalized communities.
On that April afternoon, after I arrived at my company office which is the publisher of one of Nepal’s leading dailies, I sat at my desk and gave the incident a hard thought. After a while, I shared my experience – where else? – on my facebook page. Several comments soon popped up with my friends suggesting to me to be careful and play it safe.
Indeed, these are apt suggestions for our leaders and common people alike, in whose hands remain the future of the struggling nation.
Deepak Adhikari is a Kathmandu-based journalist whose stories have appeared in Time magazine, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, OpenDemocracy and others. I met him in the United States when he came here on an Alfred Friendly Press Fellowship.
April
30
2010
(The background on this letter is that the Seattle-based group, Living Judaism, is bringing wounded Israeli soldiers to Seattle in May as part of an ongoing “Hope for Heroism” program.)
I don’t know much but I know this . . . if the cause is not good, then all these guys with their arms and legs chopped off, all these wounded—the king is to blame for that shit.
–Lt. Col. Al Gill, US Army
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
As American Veterans for Peace we welcome you to Seattle this May. We understand you are visiting here as wounded combat veterans. We regret that you were wounded. Based on our experiences we believe it is right and natural for a soldier who has been injured in war to question whether the price paid was worth the reasons given in justification for risking life and limb. Additionally, there are the mental and psychic wounds one experiences by inflicting harm or even death upon another human being.
We have good reason to believe your hosts in Seattle wish to instill or reinforce in you the sense that the wounds you received were for a good cause–to protect Jews in Israel and here from an existential threat. From the safety of Seattle, far from the battlefield, they want to bolster your morale so that you won’t go too far with your questions. They would like you to bury those questions deep down in the recesses of your mind but please consider a letter in the United Nations archives from rabbis of the “old yishuv” in Jerusalem. It is July 1949, less than two years after the proclamation of the State of Israel and less than nine months after the conclusion of armistice agreements. Jerusalem is still divided with the Old City, Gaza, and the West Bank under Arab control. Yet, who do these orthodox Jewish rabbis complain about and appeal for protection from? Not Arabs, not Christians or Muslims, but Zionists and the Zionist state–Israel.
We have learned that in every war wounded and traumatized soldiers return home and the people who start and perpetuate wars worry that those returning soldiers will arrive at the awful truth about war. They worry you will start telling the awful truth to others who are fodder for the meat grinder of modern warfare. They fear you will expose their game. In the simple words of one of America’s most decorated Marines, Major General Smedley Butler: “War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious.”
Our message to you is simple: Your wars against the Palestinians and other people in the countries near Israel are wrong, just as wrong as the wars American troops fight in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. As you fight because of the poisonous ideology of Zionism, Americans go to war because of the poisonous ideology of Empire. Physical courage in battle is noble but it is no substitute for the ethical courage that is required of veterans and all of us to end the killing. The self-interested fawning praise of others far from the battlefield will never bring real healing to you for the things you have done and experienced in combat. We bring a message of real hope and healing — not a false “Hope for Heroism” — but hope and healing through reconciliation and understanding.
Signed,
Michelle J. Kinnucan
On behalf of Veterans for Peace, Greater Seattle, Chapter 92
April
19
2010
With all of the bad news about Iran-U.S. relations these days, it was nice to get an email from Abdi Sami, a Seattle-area Iranian-American who leads tours to Iran (among many other things) and who always seems to be in an upbeat mood.
Dear Larry,
I hope you are well. Here I am in Iran once again with a group of seventeen wonderful people. They are so present, curious and engaged. This trip has just been amazing. Something new has unfolded every day.
The group has just loved the trip and the warmth and hospitality of the people. In Yazd our hotel manager put a U.S. flag on the reception desk to greet us. In a restaurant four soldiers who were dining near us, came to our table to welcome us and wish us peace. In Persepolis we had the most beautiful, charming and helpful guide!
A hotel added a U.S. flag to make American visitors feel more welcome.
The Mausoleum of Hafez was magnificent at night and we gathered around Hafez’s tomb reciting poetry. Brooke, our eighteen year old tour member has been the center of attention.
In a restaurant Iranian soldiers at a nearby table introduced themselves and welcomed the tour group.
Yesterday we toured the magnificent mosques of Esfahan. Last night under the Khajoo bridge the youth entertained us with their songs and dance!
What an amazing journey!
Here are some photos for you.
Peace,
Abdi
The photos used here are a couple of the ones he sent.
And here is some info about Abdi, taken from his travel web site: www.solhtours.com
“Five years before the Islamic Revolution, I left my native Iran for the United States, where I studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California.
“I have always had great love of documentary filmmaking, although most of my professional career has been in film production and studio management… Recently, I returned to my documentary roots when I traveled to Iran with Rick Steves to help produce a documentary for PBS. View my photo essay about the making of this film.
“I have also had a longstanding interest in peacemaking, which I have pursued as a consultant to Mercy Corps, a non-profit organization committed to turning crisis into opportunity around the world…
“Having traveled to more than 30 countries around the world, I know firsthand the transformative power of travel. I offer only a few tours every year and accompany every tour myself. This way, I can make sure that every tour nurtures travelers on many levels, providing deeply meaningful interaction with the friendly people of Iran and stimulating dialogue among tour group members. ”
Anyone interested in travel to Iran can contact Abdi at abdi@solhtours.com or call him at 206-709-9552.
And, no, this isn’t an ad for Abdi. It’s just a post about a nice guy doing some nice things.
April
16
2010
There is good news. The University of Washington’s Odegaard Undergraduate Library and Amineh Ayyad, the curator of the “Global to Local: Narratives of War, Resilience and Peace” exhibit, have come to an agreement on getting it back up on the library walls starting Wed., April 21st.
Also, I’m happy to report that there was nothing sinister about the removal of the artwork. The library’s position was that all of the art should be displayed at once, and, apparently, there was one section of the exhibit that had not been posted yet. So, the library took down the work on display until Ayyad could get the remainder of the art ready.
“It breaks my heart to see this (the exhibit) take off this way,” Library Director Jill McKinstry said late this afternoon, adding that Ayyad had been working very hard to make this project work. She said the library certainly had made mistakes in posting the artwork without resolving all of the issues.
McKinstry said the “war” part of the exhibit was up but not the “resilience and peace” part, and she said there were concerns about traumatizing students who have to use the library and who have no choice about what they see on display.
“We didn’t want to throw it in their faces,” she said.
Ayyad, who has been doing all of the grunt work of getting the exhibit ready, said today that she is pleased that the library director “has finally met with her in person to bring forward a comprehensive list of the library’s concerns though I am unhappy about the unnecessary ongoing requests to change content of the exhibit and to omit educational contextual information.
“I am glad we reached an agreement to bring the exhibit back on display,” Ayyad said.
“Despite the fact that there will be fewer photos than were on display the past two weeks and other altered content, the exhibit will provide information to students that is rarely presented at the university,” she said.
“It is of great importance to spread knowledge about the devastating effects of war and health, especially mental health, and peacebuilding through health,” Ayyad said. “I apologize to the university and the larger community for not having the exhibition on display temporarily, and hope they will come and view it after April 21.
“I’m very thankful to the library staff for their support and for sharing their concerns with me.”
April
15
2010
The art exhibit I wrote about on Wednesday that is, for the most part, about Gaza has been abruptly removed from the University of Washington Odegaard Undergraduate Library. The exhibit curator, Amineh Ayyad, wrote me in an email this afternoon: “Confirming that the UW library has taken down the entire exhibition… . I will be going to the meeting with officials at the library by myself at 4:30PM today… . I will work with the group on producing in writing a comprehensive list of their concerns and requests to put the exhibit back on display, and so I can share with you and other supporters/sponsors.”
For now, however, please disregard the previous post. There is nothing to see at the UW library. As soon as the exhibit is back up, I will post about it here. Meanwhile, if anyone has any questions or concerns, it probably would be helpful to direct them to the library. The administration phone number is 206-685-3752. The general information number is 206-543-2990.
April
14
2010
An art exhibit featuring photos about the Gaza war and blockade by award-winning Palestinian photojournalists, paintings from refugee children of different countries and Jewish & Palestinian artists, a photo-essay about medical relief and peace building efforts in Palestine, and a sculpture created by an Iraqi-American artist is now on display at the University of Washington’s Odegaard Undergraduate Library and can be seen through June 15.
The exhibit, “Global to Local: Narratives of War, Resilience and Peace,” is curated by Palestinian-American Seattle area artist and public health worker, Amineh Ayyad, a UW graduate. The show features four separate exhibits (to view exhibits, please click on titles below): “The Way I see It,” “Fragile and So Strong,” “Besieged,” and “Where Should We Go After the Last Frontiers?”
The art exhibit is timed to be on display during the 8th Annual Western Regional International Health Conference: War & Global Health which runs April 23-25 at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Amineh Ayyad, right, with Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, during community solidarity work in the Palestinian village of Nilin. Barghouthi, president of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society and one of the most prominent leaders of the Palestinian struggle, has been nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.
“I wanted to curate an art exhibit as a way to display qualitative and quantitative data about war, siege and displacement and their impact on health,” Ayyad says. “I believe this is an effective method to communicate such information to the university community, especially to the thousands of undergraduate students who visit the library daily.
“I choose diverse mediums deliberately, in an attempt to capture the visible and invisible narratives of people,” she says. “Photojournalism to show a portrait of daily life realities in Gaza through the lenses of Gazan photographers, encaustic paintings of refugee youth to tell narratives of war and its cross-generational effects, a photo-essay documenting the delivery of health services and peace building amidst conflict through the perspective of a health worker; and a stone sculpture of the mythological character, Icarus, to give meaning to an attempt to escape imprisonment and defy limitations.”
The images from “The Way I See It” are from award winning Palestinian photojournalists Khalil Hamra and Eman Mohammed. Hamra and Mohammed’s work document the events in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead, the 23-day attacks launched by the Israeli military in December 27, 2008 and the continuing Israeli blockade.
Ayyad included the original captions to weave a narrative of the realities of daily life in Gaza, the way Khalil and Eman see them, but she has had to make a number of changes to the captions to satisfy various people connected to the exhibit. While Khalil’s work depicts more of the ravaged Gaza, Eman’s work captures the resilience and determination of people to carry on with their lives amidst destruction in the aftermath of war and ongoing violence and siege.
The photo exhibit is accompanied by educational panels on Gaza, and the mental health effects of war and siege on civilians, but the exact language of those panels or whether they will even be included in the exhibit, is the subject of ongoing discussions with those in charge of the library.
“Fragile and So Strong” includes the work of refugee youth from Bhutan, Bosnia, Burma, Kenya, Somalia, and Ukraine. The purpose of this project is to empower refugee youth and to create peace and healing through health and art programs. Ayyad has been working with Jewish-American artist Janet Nechama Miller. Ayyad and Miller use unique mixed-media encaustic painting methods to capture the diverse narratives of the participants, as well as Ayyad and Miller’s own expressions.
In “Besieged,” Ayyad writes about the Palestinian Medical Relief Society’s (PMRS) teams in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The essay captures the bravery and camaraderie of a group of doctors, community health workers and volunteers who are determined to reach the most remote villages under siege. Ayyad says her essay shows PMRS’s commitment to peace and justice through empowering communities at the village level, and collaborating on medical relief & health research with diverse groups including the Israeli Physicians for Human Rights. In addition, she says her narrative sheds light on the psychological impact of war on these medical teams.
Ayyad is trying to raise money to bring Khalil to Seattle from April 24th to the 28th from New York where he will have just picked up the 2010 Robert Capa Gold Medal for his photography. To make a donation, contact Amineh Ayyad at amineh.ayyad@gmail.com.
Ayyad is a public health worker, filmmaker and artist whose work and research interests include international understanding and peacebuilding through health, and cultural and art exchange programs. She is currently working on Peace Through Health collaborative training curriculum for community health workers in Palestine and is the founder and director of Adapt International, a nonprofit organization that aims to design, deliver and evaluate community-based psychosocial interventions serving refugee youth through health and art programs locally and in the Middle East.
April
7
2010
A British nonprofit group working to help prisoners – from death row to Guantanamo – sent out the following press release. It speaks for itself.
Reprieve
April 6, 2010
Reprieve launches emergency legal action for Guantánamo prisoner Ahmed Belbacha as US government makes worrying deal with Algeria
Lawyers for former British resident Ahmed Belbacha yesterday submitted an emergency plea to the US courts seeking to prevent his forced return to persecution and torture in Algeria.
Ahmed’s legal team is deeply concerned by the Obama Administration’s Easter weekend announcement of a deal with the Algerian government.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will travel to Algiers tomorrow (Wed., April 7) “to discuss cooperation on combating terrorism and enhancing law enforcement coordination” and to sign a “mutual legal assistance treaty” with the Algerian Minister of Justice.
Ahmed, a 39 year-old accountant, was visibly terrified during his attorney visit last week and remains a tragic figure in Guantánamo. Cleared of all charges by the Bush Administration, he has consistently chosen to stay imprisoned rather than face his fate in Algeria, a country he originally fled after threats on his life by the terrorist group Group Islamique Armé (GIA).
Ahmed’s plight, together with his gentle nature, has attracted private offers of help from both sides of the Atlantic, but no government has come to his rescue. Reprieve is appealing worldwide – to the governments of Britain, Ireland and Luxembourg – for help.
Ahmed’s attorney, Reprieve’s Tara Murray said:
“As Attorney General Holder travels to Algeria, all signs now point towards Ahmed’s imminent forced transfer to torture and persecution. We implore the European nations of Ireland, Luxembourg and the UK to stand up and put an end to Ahmed’s agony.”
BACKGROUND:
Ahmed Belbacha lived for years in the seaside town of Bournemouth, UK, where he studied English and worked; during a Labour conference he was responsible for cleaning the hotel room of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, from whom he received a healthy tip and note of appreciation. He is now in his eighth year of imprisonment without charge in Guantánamo Bay.
Ahmed’s fears about Algeria were confirmed by an alarming “conviction” delivered in absentia by an Algerian court last November. In a disgraceful show trial, where no lawyer was appointed to defend Ahmed, the court sentenced him to 20 years in prison for belonging to an “overseas terrorist group.” Despite repeated requests and extensive investigation, Reprieve’s lawyers have been unable to discover what exactly Ahmed is supposed to have done. No evidence has been produced to support his “conviction,” which appears to be retaliation against Ahmed for speaking out about the inhumane treatment he would be subjected to if sent to Algeria.
Ahmed had been protected by an injunction barring the U.S. government from repatriating him against his will, but a U.S. judge dissolved the injunction in February. Reprieve immediately requested the decision be reversed, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s ongoing consideration of a related case, Kiyemba v Obama (Kiyemba II), in which it was decided that U.S. courts could not prevent the Obama Administration from forcibly repatriating prisoners to countries where they face persecution. Worryingly, on Monday, 22nd March, the Supreme Court decided not to review Kiyemba II; Reprieve then submitted another plea to D.C.’s federal district court on 24th March, followed by an emergency motion over the Easter weekend following Holder’s announcement.
Ahmed has been given a room in a flat by a Bournemouth resident, and the Massachusetts town of Amherst has offered him refuge in defiance of Congress. So far, however, no government has come forward to help.
For more information please contact Katherine O’Shea at Reprieve’s Press Office: katherine.oshea@reprieve.org.uk 020 7427 1099/ 07931592674 or go to http://www.reprieve.org.uk/ahmedbelbacha.
(Reprieve, a legal action charity, uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantánamo Bay. Reprieve investigates, litigates and educates, working on the frontline, to provide legal support to prisoners unable to pay for it themselves. Reprieve promotes the rule of law around the world, securing each person’s right to a fair trial and saving lives. Clive Stafford Smith is the founder of Reprieve and has spent 25 years working on behalf of people facing the death penalty in the USA. Reprieve’s current casework involves representing 33 prisoners in the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay, working on behalf of prisoners facing the death penalty, and conducting ongoing investigations into the rendition and the secret detention of “ghost prisoners” in the so-called “war on terror.”)
April
5
2010
An Institute for Public Accuracy email brought a link to a chilling video, released today by Wikileaks – a “classified U.S. military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad – including two Reuters news staff. Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack.
“The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-sight, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded.”
The Guardian reported today that, “The footage of the July 2007 attack was made public in a move that will further anger the Pentagon, which has drawn up a report identifying the whistleblower website (Wikileaks) as a threat to national security. The US defence department was embarrassed when that confidential report appeared on the Wikileaks site last month alongside a slew of military documents.
“The release of the video from Baghdad also comes shortly after the US military admitted that its special forces attempted to cover up the killings of three Afghan women in a raid in February by digging the bullets out of their bodies.”
WARNING: This video shows graphic violence.
According to the Institute for Public Accuracy, Beau Grosscup, the author of the book “Strategic Terror: The Politics and Ethics of Aerial Bombardment” and a professor of international relations at California State University in Chico, said today: “The video demonstrates that, with helicopter gunships flying overhead, the people below (allegedly armed fighters) show no fear nor any attempt to run or hide. This should be strong evidence that they were engaged in normal peaceful activities yet the gunners choose to assume otherwise. If the rules of engagement allow the shooting of wounded recovery efforts as clearly demonstrated here, then those rules need changing. There was a clear intent to attack – ‘engage’ – the recovery vehicle and personnel. The chatter of U.S. military demonstrates … excessive attitude of lethal intent; anxiousness to shoot while being under no threat whatsoever; blaming Iraqis for wounded children …”
March
31
2010
I’ve been posting a lot about Gaza and Israel lately, and, yes, I do know there are many more issues out there worthy of consideration. But I just can’t seem to help myself. It is, after all, one of the most important conflicts the United States is involved in, along with Iraq and Afghanistan.
And, if you don’t think we are up to our necks into this conflict, then I can’t tell you much. You shouldn’t even be here. Israel receives around $3 billion in direct foreign assistance every year from the United States, about one-fifth of our foreign aid budget.
That said, I do plan to write about some other countries – right after this.
There has been a growing movement in Canada and Europe, mostly, to boycott goods made in Israel in an effort to get the Israeli government to restart serious negotiations toward a lasting peace in the Middle East. So far, efforts by some groups here in the United States haven’t gained the momentum seen elsewhere.
Click here to view the site for the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. It has links to boycott sites around the world.
Meanwhile, yesterday, the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), a Canadian group, staged some creative nonviolent, and sometimes very entertaining, demonstrations to focus public attention on a couple of companies who deal in Israeli products.
Here is a video of those demos:
While I’m posting, I should mention the International Campaign in Support of Palestinian Political Prisoners. Addameer and other human rights and activist groups are calling for “days of action” during the week of April 11 – 17 in support of Palestinian political prisoners.
April 17, 2010 marks the 34th anniversary of Palestinian Political Prisoners Day. Several Palestinian organizations and solidarity groups feel it is a critical time to focus on these sometimes forgotten “heroes” of the struggle to liberate Palestine.
There are a total of 7,300 Palestinian prisoners, including 33 women and 300 children.
For more information visit:
www.freepalestinianprisoners.com
March
22
2010
The news out of Gaza and the West Bank usually focuses on major events – visits by U.S. dignitaries, rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel or major air raids or other attacks from Israel into Gaza or the West Bank. The daily struggle is rarely mentioned.
This note from Huwaida Arraf, an American lawyer with the Al Quds Human Rights Law Clinic at Al Quds University in Jerusalem, shows what Palestinians face on almost any given day:
Dear friends,
Thanks so much for your concern, solidarity and support. I was released last night (Saturday, March 20) at around 6:45pm from Neve Tirtze prison in Ramle. Save for minor cuts and bruises, I am OK. I haven’t gotten a chance to see Ellen Stark (the ISM volunteer shot in the arm) yet. I hear she has a broken wrist but is doing OK. (Huwaida also is a co-founder of ISM, the International Solidarity Movement, through which she has helped train thousands of volunteers in human rights documenting and reporting.)
Huwaida Arraf
When I got on the road the soldiers turned their guns on me but I just get talking and walking towards them. “We have a woman that has been shot; she needs help. Stop shooting. There is no reason to be shooting at people like this. You are in THEIR village.” For this I was handcuffed and thrown in a jeep, later accused of: (1) attacking a police officer; (2) cursing at the military and police; (3) obstructing the operations of the military; and (4) being in a closed military zone.
Instead of being taken to a police station, as Israeli citizens and foreigners are supposed to be, I was taken to the illegal settlement of Halamish where I was held for nearly eight hours outside in the cold. Two other Palestinians from Nabi Saleh, Omar who is 23 and Amjad, 22 were also arrested and brought there. The soldiers and border police were particularly abusive to Omar and Amjad, pushing them around, forcing them to stand for hours, handcuffed and blindfolded and every few minutes yelling at them to lift their heads, so they couldn’t rest or fall asleep. When I protested this abuse I was told to “shut the f*** up” and if I didn’t, I would get the same treatment. I responded, “I don’t really care, but it’s sad that you feel you have to treat people so inhumanely.” “Shut the f*** up!”
At one point, when Omar couldn’t feel his hands or move his fingers anymore (a combination of tight plastic cuffs and the cold, we were taken into a building supposedly to be checked by a doctor. The same officer who kept telling me to shut up, abusing his power because he can, ordered us to stand facing the wall. I refused this unnecessary measure and show of machoism, and was dragged back outside, lifted by my arms, while still cuffed behind my back, and then thrown on the ground. The dehumanization of Palestinians was not only evident amongst the soldiers, but also the Jewish settlers. Since we were held outside in the settlement, we were exposed to settler youth who surrounded and hurled profanities at us.
The ISM lawyer says that my arrest was illegal; that I should have been taken before a judge the same day I was arrested. Israeli citizens and internationals have that right. Palestinians don’t. I was separated from Omar and Amjad at about 2:00 in the morning as after we were interrogated I was taken to a women’s prison in Ramle, and they to the Ofer military prison.
In the end I was detained for 31 hours then released. If I had not been released I would have come before a judge last night. It will likely be at least another week before Omar and Amjad will be allowed to see a judge. At that point they will be accused of violence because they were protesting, unarmed, against the confiscation of their land. The heavily armed soldiers that invaded their village, immediately began shooting tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets; the soldiers that damaged 10 Palestinian homes and injured 25 people in Nabi Saleh aren’t the violent ones. We are. Omar and Amjad are likely to have to pay a fine and/or post a hefty bail to be released, if they are not held for months first.
The police released me right before I was scheduled to come before a judge. This is likely because they had nothing to bring before a judge. I probably should have refused release and challenged their actions in court, but I really didn’t want to make a big deal out of my arrest, when so many other worse things are happening.
That said, so many good things are happening also. Solidarity actions around the world are on the rise, the BDS movement is gaining more support every day, and the spirit of the Palestinian people is high. Israel expects to be able to continue stealing land and resources, subjugating the indigenous people, and using violence to subdue any kind of protest from the colonized and their supporters. We don’t have the weapons Israel has to fight back, but we have our spirit and our voices with which we will fight. Israel should be under no illusion that it can intimidate or break us.
Thanks so much again for your concern and support!
In solidarity & struggle,
Huwaida Arraf
In another village Saturday, the Israeli military killed 16-year old Mohammad Qadus from Iraq Burin, a village south of Nablus, with a live round on his heart. A second youth, Asaud Qadus, 19 years old, was critically injured after being shot in the head. Mohammad was trying to carry Asaud to safety when he was hit, according to a report by Stopthewall.org. The Associated Press also moved a brief story about the shootings.
From Stopthewall.org:
Today, just as every Saturday in the last few weeks, settlers from the settlement of Bracha attacked the village of Iraq Burin. The community of around 600 people has lost over 100 dunum to the settlers who claim more land.
Eyewitnesses report that today the number of settlers and Israeli military was unusually high. At around noon, settlers and soldiers invaded the village.
People stepped out of their homes to defend their village and a struggle ensued. The military took up positions with several jeeps at strategic points and chased the youth in the streets of Iraq Burin.
They shot tear gas, sound grenades and life ammunition randomly at homes and people. Asaud Qadus was shot by live ammunition in the head. Young Mohammad ran to carry the injured youth to safety but was himself targeted in the heart by live ammunition.
Medics and ambulances were prevented from entering the small community. Only after a long time both youth were allowed to be carried out of the village and to a hospital in private cars. Mohammad was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital in Nablus while Asaud is still in critical condition.
Two people were arrested but no further details are known about them yet.
Shoot-to-kill policy
Mohammad was the latest victim shot while protesting since Bassem Abu Rahmah, 31, was killed by a high velocity tear gas canister in Bi’lin last April. His death comes only two weeks after Ehab Barghouti, a 14-year-old boy from Nabi Saleh village near Ramallah was shot in the head with a rubber-coated steel bullet by the Israeli military on 5 March 2010. He is still in critical condition.
Killing children with live ammunition is not an accident, It is a crime. Of the 16 people killed by the Israeli military in connection with anti-Wall protests since 2002, half were under the age of 18.
The pattern of killings related to anti-Wall protests shows that the occupation forces engage in killings cycles: during a wave of killings in 2004/2005 8 were killed, then again between July 2008/ April 2009 6 were killed. This is very likely just the start of yet another wave of killings.
This systematic criminal policy against our people is a war crime and supports the settlers in stealing Palestinian land. Israel will continue with its shoot-to-kill policy against our children and youth until the international community starts to hold it accountable for its crimes.