Dear friends,

The occupation corrupts! It was a common slogan in our demos since 1967, and it is true now. In the following small compilation of stories from the holy land, you will find that argument confirmed. More and more cases of violence for the sake of violence, brutality for the sake of brutality, leak to the media. A Palestinian is captured by Israeli troops, and is shot dead while lying on the ground; A Palestinian boy is killed while IDF soldiers fire “playful” shots during a march; A Palestinian claims he was requested to play his violin at a check point, while a long line of Palestinians is waiting behind him; A young Palestinian girl is taken for medical treatment in Israel, but her mother is not allowed to join her; The IDF admits 29 INNOCENT Palestinians were killed during military operations during last year. The investigation of all such cases is carried out by – the army itself! PM Sharon says the soldiers of the IDF are the most moral soldiers in the world; The Deputy Defense Minister says on TV it’s our policy to separate terrorists from innocent Palestinians, punishing only the former. What does he have to say about demolishing the houses of the suicide bombers’ families? Do read the following stories: a drop in the sea. Tali Fahima, a young woman who volunteered to serve as a “human shield” for a Palestinian activist marked by the IDF as a target for killing, is still detained for months, before trial, while brutal settlers, who attack, rob and harass Palestinians on their occupied land, enjoy extreme leniency by the authorities. Indeed, the occupation corrupts.
It’s time it were ended.

For better days,
A. Oz

Professor Avraham Oz
Department of Hebrew and Comparative Literature
University of Haifa
2105 Eshkol Tower, Mount Carmel, 31905 Haifa, Israel
Office Tel +972-4-8240672 Office Fax +972-4-8249713
Home Telefax +972-3-5609627 Mobile +972-50-7220783
Email: avitaloz@research.haifa.ac.il

1.
IDF: 29 Palestinian civilians killed in W. Bank in 2004

By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service

The Israel Defense Forces released figures Wednesday showing that since the beginning of the year, 148 Palestinians have been killed by IDF fire in the West Bank, at least 29 of them, by army count, innocent bystanders, Israel Radio reported Wednesday.

The remaining 119 casualties include armed militants, along with firebomb and rock throwers.

B’Tselem, the Israeli center that monitors human rights in the territories, said that the majority of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since the start of the year were civilians who were not involved in combat and that only about one-third of those killed were militants.

According to B’Tselem figures, 187 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank since the start of the the year. Of these casualties, 111 were not involved in fighting, 52 were armed militants, and the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the remaining 13 Palestinians were unclear.

According to B’Tselem, 33 of those killed were minors under tha age of 18.

The IDF has been under intense scrutiny in recent weeks over allegations of use of excessive and improper force in operations aimed at curbing terrorism.

A senior IDF officer released military figures at a press briefing held at the army headquarters compound near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

According to the figures, militant groups tried to send 343 suicide bombers, six of whom managed to execute their missions. In comparison, in 2003 militants tried to launch 436 suicide bombers, of which 18 culminated in an attack, IDF figures indicated.

The IDF has reduced the number of checkpoints from 400 to 70 recently, a senior IDF officer said Wednesday, Israel Radio reported.

More than 100 terror attacks have been averted, and about 3000 Palestinians have been arrested since the start of the year, the official said. In addition, there were 250 shooting attacks since the start of the year, 60 percent less than last year.

2.

IDF probes death of Palestinian teen during soldiers’ hike

By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent

Last Update: 08/12/2004 07:31

Israel Defense Forces troops killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy last March while on a hike in the Gaza Strip marking their graduation from basic training.

The Ynet Web site of the Yedioth Aharonoth daily reported Tuesday that the case is under investigation by military prosecutors and awaits a verdict by the Military Advocate General.

The IDF Spokesman announced that Military Police had investigated the incident, but no decision has been reached in the matter by the military prosecution.

In the course of the hike, near the Morag settlement in the south of the Strip, the Givati Brigade soldiers fired live rounds, hitting Khaled Mahdi, who was in a field at the time with his father.

The boy’s father, Suleiman Mahdi, claims the gunfire was not accidental.

“Seven bullets pierced Khaled’s head, so you can’t talk here about a mistake or random gunfire. This was an act of direct and clear sharpshooting.”

The Mahdi family lives in Khan Yunis. According to the father, he was working with Khaled and two of his other sons out in the open in the family’s field. Ground-clearing operations had previously been conducted in the area, so there could not have been any hidden danger to the soldiers who passed by not far away.

“The area is wide open and contains nothing special. The only thing was the shooting at us, which killed Khaled,” the father said.

According to one report, the boy was hit in the head by a heavy IDF machine gun.

Soldiers and officers involved in the incident admitted there was no justification for shooting the boy, since he posed no threat, and the gunfire in question was not for operational purposes.

Lieutenant Colonel A., who was battalion commander at the time, was recently promoted to a staff posting in the Land Forces Command. According to Ynet, this officer’s promotion was not hampered by the affair because the military police investigation had not flagged him as a candidate for indictment. Being flagged in this manner ordinarily prevents officers from moving up to more senior posts because they could be convicted in the future. However, the fact the A. was not flagged does not prevent the military prosecution from trying him.

Suleiman Mahdi does not plan on filing charges against the IDF. As in many other cases, the Palestinians harmed by IDF action in the territories feel helpless in the face of what they term “the occupation machine.”

“I only hope the Israeli army takes care such an event does not recur,” the father said. “There are lots of children here who work with their parents, and I hope Khaled was the last casualty.”

Ynet’s report comes on the heels of other episodes alleging unethical IDF behavior in the territories.

Several weeks ago there was the affair of an officer in the Gaza Strip who “confirmed the killing” of 13-year-old Iman al-Hams, which the chief of staff conceded was not properly investigated in the IDF’s initial probe.

On Monday, the human rights group B’Tselem reported that IDF soldiers had killed an Islamic Jihad militant, Mahmoud Qamail, near Jenin last Friday when he lay wounded on the ground after being disarmed.

The high-level team set up to investigate the Qamail case will begin collecting testimony Wednesday from the naval commando unit involved and commanders in the sector. It will also rely on testimony B’Tselem collected from Palestinians.

3.

B’Tselem: High Court ‘rubber stamp’ for IDF house demolitions
By Haaretz Service and Itim

The Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem slammed the High Court of Justice on Monday, accusing it of acting as a “rubber stamp” for government policy regarding demolitions of Palestinian homes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

According to the group’s annual report published Monday, the Israel Defense Forces has been responsible for demolition of 4,100 homes in the territories since the start of the intifada in September 2000, leaving 28,000 Palestinians homeless.

The report says that 628 housing units, which were home to 3,983 people, were demolished as a punitive measure, which constitutes a breach of international law and is therefore a war crime. The report also states that 295 of the 628 buildings – almost half – were never home to anyone suspected of involvement in attacks against Israelis.

Thus, the group says, 1,286 innocent people were made homeless.

The report also claims that “contrary to its argument before the High Court of Justice that prior warning is given except in extraordinary cases,” the IDF only gave advance notice of demolition in less than 3 percent of cases.

4.

For all those who forgot, Tali Fahima is still in jail…after a month of interrogation in the Shabak wing of the Petakh Tikva prison, and three months of solitary confinement under administrative detention in Neve Tirtza.

Next Monday, December 6th 2004, at 13:00 Tali will be brought to a court hearing about the continuation of her administrative detention at the Tel Aviv District Court (on Weizmann St.).

We shall be there, at 12:30 in the afternoon, to show Tali that she is not alone- and that behind all the letters written, the money which reaches the cantina, and the signatures on the petitions- there are faces, sympathetic faces and not just the hostile environment of the judges, policemen and jailers.

We shall be there to express our solidarity with Tali, who paid with her freedom for her struggle for peace. We shall be there to protest the very existence of the so-called “administrative” detentions- which allow the imprisonment of a human being, without any evidence or even charges brought against her, only based on the words of people with hidden faces, without accusations and without hearings.

5.

Bill proposing Jewish-only communities narrowly defeated

By Haaretz Service

The Knesset plenum on Wednesday rejected legislation that would grant the Israel Land Authority permission to build Jewish-only communities.

The bill, sponsored by National Union Party MK Zvi Hendel, received 38 votes in favor and 40 against.

The proposed bill sparked a heated debate in the Knesset, with left-wing MKs calling the bill racist and asking the High Court to intervene.

A majority of cabinet ministers decided two weeks ago that they were opposed to the legislation, and worked to ensure that it would not pass.

According to the bill, the government would be able to establish a “small community” for “one particular sector,” terms that Hendel had reworded in an effort not to appear racist.

Labor MK Ophir Pines-Paz said that the bill was racist and anti-constitutional, and would not stand up in the High Court. He also accused Hendel of trying to turn Israel into a racist state.

Yahad MK Zahava Gal-On also called Hendel’s bill racist and anti-democratic.

Hendel’s proposal attempts to reverse the situation created after a March 2000 court ruling that determined that the arrangement through which state lands are transferred to the Jewish Agency, for the establishment of towns for Jews only, is illegal. This decision came in response to a petition submitted by an Arab family wishing to reside in the town of Katzir, in Wadi Ara.

Another petition was filed recently against a tender for allocating land in Givat Hamachosh, in Carmiel, to Jews only. In light of the petition, the state cancelled the tender.