Israeli Occupation Forces order Palestinian farmers in Deir Istiya to uproot 1,400 olive trees

Israeli Occupation Forces order Palestinian farmers in Deir Istiya to uproot 1,400 olive trees

by Allison Deger

Villagers relaxing in Deir Istiya, 2009. (Photo: Genevieve Long) Major olive producing village ordered to uproot 1,400 trees by May 1 April 28, 2012 Earlier this week, Israel ordered Palestinian farmers in Deir Istiya, a major West Bank olive producing village, to uproot 1,400 trees by the end of this month. By comparison, this order is 400 more trees than the total number uprooted in all of 2011. "This is the largest order for uprooting trees that the farmers of Wadi Qana have ever been given," said the International Women's Peace Service (IWPS). And Amal Salem, 63, from Deir Istiya, but now living in St. Louis says unearthing olive trees effects everyone in the village, "When I visited last year, every house I went to has had uprooted trees." Amal's family has farmed olive for five generations.  It was their livelihood, and afforded her to attend school in Cairo. "I went to school because of the olive trees. I went to school because in Cairo because of the trees. My father had no other income but the olive trees." In Amal's family, Israeli authorities uprooted 300 trees of her 83-year old uncle's land. Amal described them as ancient growth, "1,000 years old," stemming from the Roman period. The day the bulldozers arrived, her cousins protested, clinging to the trees, although they were uprooted regardless. But within a day or two, her family proudly re-planted what was unearthed. Yet Amal's uncle has night terrors from this incident, stirring over the sight of seeing his child nearly smashed by a bulldozer. Since the Mamluk period, Deir Istiya has been one of the largest olive producing regions in the West Bank. But, even with 10,000 dunums of agricultural land, the village's full farming capacity is weakened by Israel's military and civilian occupation. Nearby, eight settlements are built on, or adjacent to, a total of 15,000 dunums of Palestinian land. "From my parents' house we can see were they built a settlement on our land," says Amal. And from the outposts, wastewater seeps into and is illegally dumped into a natural spring used by Palestinians producing olives.  Amal says the wastewater flows down from the settlements like a river, "but it isn't a river." At times, the wastewater overflows from the dumping site to onto Palestinian orchards. Last fall, over 100 trees in Deir Istiya were destroyed by flooded wastewater. Additionally, the settlers themselves cause problems to Deir Istiya's farmers through acts of harassment and violence, including arson to agricultural lands and "price tag" attacks. Amal has seen them holding guns a schoolchildren and earlier this year, settlers desecrated a mosque during a wave of price tag actions sparked by the demolition of an illegal Israeli outpost.  And devastatingly, Amal says a few years ago a settler ran over one villager with a car. Today IWPS held an action in support of the farmers and released the following statement: On April 25, 2012 nine farmers of Deir Istiya, Salfit were given orders to uproot 1400 olive trees in the Wadi Qana agricultural area by May 1, 2012. This is the largest order for uprooting trees that the farmers of Wadi Qana have ever been given. Most of the trees were planted approximately 5 years ago on privately owned Palestinian property. The orders, placed on retaining terraces, rocks and fences in the vicinity of the trees, state that if the farmers do not uproot their trees they will face punishment which could, according to Deir Istiya mayor Nazmi Salman include large fines and imprisonment.

Mossad, Blackwater, CIA Led Operations in Homs

AL MANAR NEWS AGENCY

Mossad, Blackwater, CIA Led Operations in Homs

Israa Al-Fass “The crisis is at its end” is no longer a relieving statement made by some political analysts, as the crisis is really close to its end. Baba Amro is now under the control of the Syrian army… and so are the armed groups of which a big number escaped to the Lebanese borders dubbing their retreat “tactical”. Around 700 Arab and Western gunmen surrendered in Baba Amro, well-informed sources told Al-Manar website, adding that “huge and critical surprises will be uncovered in the coming few days… such as the kinds of arms seized, as well as the military tactics the armed groups followed, and the sides that supervised the operations.” The sources further assured to the news website that the security operation in Homs will be over in a maximum of five to eight days. Weapons from Israel used for First Time in Baba Amro For his part, Syrian expert in strategic affairs Salim Harba pointed out that Baba Amro neighborhood and the areas surrounding it were emptied from the armed groups’ organizational as well as command structures with minimum army and civilian casualties, as the area was mainly concentrated by gunmen. Speaking to Al-Manar website, Harba said that “the captured gunmen held Arab nationalities, including Gulf, Iraqi, and Lebanese… among them were also Qatari intelligence agents and non-Arab fighters from Afghanistan, Turkey, and some European countries like France. “The Syrian army also uncovered tunnels and equipments there,” he added, pointing out that “advanced Israeli, European, and American arms that have not yet been tested in the countries of manufacture, in addition to Israeli grenades, night binoculars, and communication systems were confiscated by the security forces.” Harba went on saying that “communication stations where established on the Lebanese borders to oversee the military operations in Baba Amro, and to ensure contact between field commanders and a coordination office led by members of information in the Qatari capital Doha.” He clarified that “the escape of British journalists from Homs through the Lebanese-Syrian borders was the result of this coordination.” In parallel, the Syrian strategic expert revealed that “the communication stations were being operated by Lebanese figures; some of them were members of the Future parliamentary bloc,” and considered that “these figures worked on transforming Wadi Khaled region into a strategic depth for Baba Amro.” Mossad, Blackwater Directed from Qatar Operations in Homs Additionally, Salim Harba revealed to Al-Manar website that “a coordination office was established in Qatar under American-Gulf sponsorship. The office includes American, French, and Gulf –specifically from Qatar and Saudi Arabia- intelligence agents, as well as CIA, Mossad, and Blackwater agents and members of the Syrian Transitional Council.” “Qatar has also made deals with Israeli and American companies to arm the armed groups, and Gulf countries have been financing the agreements,” he added. The Syrian expert pointed out that “the significance of the security operation in Homs is due to the high expectations that regional and international sides had from the armed gangs in Baba Amro … they wanted Homs to be turned into a new Benghazi.” Indicating that the operation was implemented with high professionalism and accuracy, Harba reassured that documents will be exposed at the right time. “The authority will not reveal everything it has now… the Syrian security forces have documents and confessions that could harm everyone who conspired against Syria, and could make a security and political change, not just on the internal Syrian level, but also on the regional level,” he assured. In the same context, Harba considered that all the conferences and meetings by what he referred to as the “enemies of Syria” were aimed at paving the way for an American initiative under a “humanitarian” title. He concluded: “At the end, the US will submit to the Russian initiative after it realized that confrontations will only result in its defeat, and that the Syrian regime is still strong enough to deal with any conspiracy.” http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?fromval=1&cid=31&frid=31&eid=47719

Eviction in Beit Hanina: New site of East Jerusalem settlement

Eviction in Beit Hanina: New site of East Jerusalem settlement

By Moriel Rothman

The women of the family evicted from their home, Beit Hanina (Photo: Moriel Rothman) April 18, 2012 A family in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina has now joined the story of the families in Sheikh Jarrah, evicted from their home with the same legal tactics, in order to make way for a new Jewish settlement. Beit Hanina – Wednesday morning, a Palestinian family of 11, the Natche family, was evicted from their home in Beit Hanina (Hebrew report). The legal process behind the eviction was launched by Aryeh King, the head of a group known as "The Israel Lands Fund." Their claim to the property was based, like in the cases in Sheikh Jarrah, on land deeds held by Jews before 1948. Last month, King and his group posted a notice looking for "strong men" to carry out this eviction. According to the notice, if the police did not carry out the eviction, "the Jews will do without the police." In the end, "the Jews" (note: as a religious Jew myself, I am incensed by King’s collective language) did not have to do it themselves, and the police carried out the eviction. Beit Hanina is a neighborhood in the north of East Jerusalem. Unlike the neighborhoods closer to the Old City, like  Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, Beit Hanina has not been an epicenter of conflict between the settlers/state and the Palestinians. However, King and his Israel Lands Fund are looking to change that. According to a notice in the media in Hebrew, King and his group are planning a series of evictions in Beit Hanina, which they are calling "Nof Shimon," as well as in Sheikh Jarrah, which they call "Shimon HaTzadik." The eviction itself was carried out early Wednesday morning by the police, who detained or arrested all of the male members of the Natche family, leaving only the mother, who is pregnant, and her daughters to watch as a rented moving company loaded all of the family’s belongings onto a truck and drove off. The settlers are expected to move into the Natche house as early as Wednesday evening. Moriel Rothman is an American-Israeli currently living in Jerusalem and active with Rabbis for Human Rights and the Solidarity Movement.

Settlers Chop Down 250 Olive Trees Near Ramallah

Settlers Chop Down 250 Olive Trees Near Ramallah

Saed Bannoura

Palestinian Woman Lamenting Destruction Of Her Olive Trees – Palinfo April 17, 2012 Israeli settlers chopped down 250 Palestinian owned olive trees on Tuesday, belonging to residents of Betello village northwest of the central West Bank city of Ramallah. Orchard owner Fawzi Dar Bazar discovered that his olive trees had been chopped down and destroyed when he and his family went to their orchard on Tuesday. He added that this was not the first time his orchard and several others belonging to other residents of his village had been attacked. He added that Israeli settlers of the nearby Nahleel illegal settlement carried out repeated attacks against Betello residents and their land, seemingly encouraged by the lack of action on the part of the Israeli army. He further stated that in his view settlers are trying to force the residents off their land so that they can expand their illegal settlement. Last month, Israeli settlers chopped down at least 1576 olive trees across the West Bank - in three Palestinian villages near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Al-Kahder town near Bethlehem, the towns of Sa’ir and Beit Ummar near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Beit Ello village near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, Far’ata village near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia and Mas-ha village near the central West Bank city of Salfit. In addition five Dunams (1.23 Acres) of farmland have been uprooted near Qalqilia.

Photos of US troops defiling corpses expose Afghan war’s savagery

Photos of US troops defiling corpses expose Afghan war’s savagery

By David Walsh

April 19, 2012 On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times published horrific photographs of American troops in Afghanistan posing with dead and dismembered insurgents. The grisly images expose Washington’s claim that the occupation of the country is aimed at liberating the Afghan people. They reflect the savage reality of the US-led operation, intended to crush popular opposition to foreign rule and establish Afghanistan as a base from which the US ruling elite can pursue its efforts to dominate the geo-strategically critical region. The Los Angeles Times photos, recently supplied to the newspaper by an unnamed US soldier, were apparently taken on two separate occasions in 2010. Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division were first dispatched to a police station in Zabul Province in southern Afghanistan in February 2010 to examine the remains of a suicide bomber for identification purposes. As the newspaper describes it: "The paratroopers posed for photos next to Afghan police, grinning while some held—and others squatted beside—the corpse’s severed legs." A few months later, in April 2010, the same platoon was sent to a morgue in Qalat, Zabul’s capital, to investigate the remains of three insurgents who had blown themselves up. The soldiers again posed with the body parts, "grinning and mugging for photographs." Describing this set of photos, the Times wrote: "Two soldiers posed holding a dead man’s hand with the middle finger raised. A soldier leaned over the bearded corpse while clutching the man’s hand. Someone placed an unofficial platoon patch reading 'Zombie Hunter’ next to other remains and took a picture." The images are an indictment of the American political and military establishment, which has unleashed untold humiliation, death and destruction on the Afghan people for more than a decade. The soldiers involved deserve to be prosecuted, but the principal criminals are to be found in the White House, the Pentagon and the US Congress. After the exposure of each US atrocity—including the slaughter of civilians, the abuse and torture of prisoners, the mutilation of corpses for trophies, Marines urinating on the Afghan dead, the desecration of the Koran—American officials express dismay and describe the incidents as the actions of "individuals" who have perverted a righteous cause. This is a lie. First, considering the unprecedented level of censorship of the war in Afghanistan, the episodes that come to light are undoubtedly only the tip of the iceberg. It can be asserted without hesitation that these sorts of crimes occur on virtually a daily basis. The exposure of the Qalat desecrations depended entirely on one soldier’s courageous act. Second, the incidents that have been publicized make clear a pattern of barbaric behavior on the part of US and allied troops. This flows inevitably from the predatory character of the war and the situation in which American and other occupying forces find themselves: resented and hated by the Afghan population (the brigade lost 35 members during the year-long deployment, 23 of them to homemade bombs or suicide bombers), the soldiers’ increasing demoralization finds expression in acts of brutality. How many individual atrocities have to take place before it becomes clear that an entire operation is criminal to its core? The military and the White House claim an investigation will be launched. Why should anyone place the slightest confidence in this transparent effort to placate Afghan and American public opinion? There have been inquiries before into various murderous incidents. No one responsible has been punished and the atrocities continue and grow worse. An Afghan human rights activist in Kabul, Nadir Nadiry, told the New York Times, "Each time they [American and NATO officials] say they will conduct a thorough investigation, but these investigations are not being made public so the results are not known to the Afghan people. So it’s hard for them to believe the investigations were real and that measures were taken to change things." The various mainstream media outlets cautioned nervously Wednesday that the new scandal comes at a "particularly sensitive moment" for already "strained" and "tense" US-Afghan relations, as talks continue on how to ensure the long-term US and foreign presence beyond the official deadline for withdrawal in 2014. The US television network evening news programs relegated the atrocity to third spot, following the death of television and music business personality Dick Clark and the ongoing Secret Service prostitution scandal. The Los Angeles Times has published only a few of the images, withholding the more graphic ones. According to the newspaper, the soldier who provided the 18 photos served in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne’s 4th Brigade Combat Team from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He told the Times that the photos "point to a breakdown in leadership and discipline that he believed compromised the safety of the troops." The newspaper added, "The Qalat photos were circulated among several members of the platoon, the soldier said, and soldiers often joked about them. Most of the soldiers in the photos were low-ranking—including six specialists or privates." This type of sadism and backwardness is consciously cultivated by the US military, whose global operations require a mercenary force devoid of conscience and humanity. The Times has come under attack from the Obama administration, the Pentagon and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the official occupying force in Afghanistan, for its decision to release a small portion of the photos. The US military, which was first consulted and shown the pictures, asked the Times not to publish them. In a defensive statement, Times editor Davan Maharaj explained, "After careful consideration, we decided that publishing a small but representative selection of the photos would fulfill our obligation to readers to report vigorously and impartially on all aspects of the American mission in Afghanistan." The various comments by government and military officials in response to the publication of the Afghan images express imperialist arrogance and hypocrisy. While feigning shock over the soldiers’ actions, the White House and Pentagon spokesmen made clear that they were angered, above all, by the exposure of further crimes. White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters on board Air Force One that President Barack Obama considered the behavior demonstrated in Qalat by the US soldiers to be "reprehensible" and insisted, "Those responsible will be held accountable." On behalf of Obama, however, Carney added that he was "very disappointed" that the Los Angeles Times had published the photos. In Brussels, US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta declared that the conduct revealed in the photos "absolutely violates" American regulations and values. "This is not who we are, and it’s certainly not who we represent when it comes to the great majority of men and women in uniform who are serving there," Panetta asserted. The degraded behavior captured in the photos certainly is who the American ruling elite and its hacks like Panetta are. The defense secretary explained that he had personally called on the Times to suppress the photos, noted CNN, "because the enemy uses these kinds of images to incite violence. Lives have been lost due to publication of similar images in the past, he said." Panetta told the media that he was not excusing the soldiers involved, "but neither do I want these images to bring further injury to our people or to our relationship with the Afghan people." Other spokesmen for the Pentagon, as well as for NATO, ISAF and the US embassy in Kabul, echoed these sentiments. The reasoning is fantastic. If we let the Afghan people know the truth about what we are doing in their country, Panetta and the others are saying, they will be more outraged and have even more reason to want to drive us out. True, and they will be completely justified in fighting to oust their foreign oppressors. Even more to the point, this is an argument for concealing the reality of the war from the American people, in whose name it is being waged. This underscores the link between imperialist aggression abroad and the destruction of democratic rights at home. The source of American officials’ anxiety is not simply or even primarily the state of public opinion in Afghanistan, but the growing disgust with the war within the American population. Polls indicate mass opposition in the US to the war, with a majority of Republican voters for the first time indicating they feel the conflict has not been worth fighting. This will not stop whichever big business politician is elected in November from continuing the bloody neocolonial occupation.

America’s drone sickness

America’s drone sickness

By Glenn Greenwald

General David Petraeus in Kabul, Afghanistan on July 18, 2011 April 19, 2012 This headline and first paragraph from today’s Washington Post scoop by Greg Miller speaks volumes about so many things:

There are many evils in the world, but extinguishing people’s lives with targeted, extra-judicial killings, when you don’t even know their names, based on "patterns" of behavior judged from thousands of miles away, definitely ranks high on the list. Although the Obama White House has not approved of this request from CIA Director David Petraeus, these so-called "signature strikes" that "allow the agency to hit targets based solely on intelligence indicating patterns of suspicious behavior" are already robustly used in Pakistan — having been started by George Bush in 2008 and aggressively escalated by Barack Obama. There is much to say on this new report, but in order for me to focus on three discrete points, permit me to highly recommend two superb articles that highlight other vital aspects of this policy: (1) this article from my Salon colleague Jefferson Morley this morning on why this form of drone-targeting is pure American Terrorism, and (2) this essay from Chris Floyd about a recently published Rolling Stone article by Michael Hastings on Obama’s love of drones and secret wars and how the military’s slang for drone victims — "bug splat" — reflects the sociopathic mindset that drive them.

Initially, it’s critical to note how removed all of these questions are from democratic debate or accountability, thanks to the Obama administration’s insistence that even the basic question of whether the CIA has a drone program is too secret to permit it to publicly acknowledge, even though everyone knows it exists — especially in the countries where it routinely kills people. Recall that Obama officials refused to tell the ACLU, in response to a FOIA request, whether any documents relating to a CIA drone program even exist because even that is too much of a secret to address, and when the ACLU then sued the Obama administration — seeking the most basic information about why the Obama administration thinks it has the power to kill people this way and how it decides who will die — the Obama DOJ again insisted in court that it cannot even acknowledge that such a program exists, let alone provide any basic disclosure or transparency about it.
So here we have this incredibly consequential policy adopted in total secrecy by the Obama administration, one that empowers the President to secretly target people, including American citizens, for instant, due-process-free death. They have placed the policy beyond the rule of law — by insisting that it’s too secret for courts to examine — and shielded it completely from democratic debate. The only time we are permitted even to hear about it is when the President, his aides and loyalists politically exploit the corpses they create by strutting around with chest-beating, tough-guy boasting about how Strong it shows Obama to be (because, really, what is more courageous, more embodying of the noble American warrior spirit, than killing people by remote-controlled video game while the killers are ensconced in secure bunkers in the U.S.?).
And the only time we are permitted glimpses of the debate over these policies is when someone decides to leak it anonymously to reporters like Greg Miller. So here’s a policy — CIA drone strikes — which anonymous administration officials are defending yet again on the front page of The Washington Post at the very same time the Obama DOJ tells courts that it cannot explain itself in a judicial proceeding because it cannot even safely confirm that such a program exists. Earlier this week, Hillary Clinton spoke at an "Open Government" conference in Brazil, and — while serving in an administration that is waging an unprecedented war on whistleblowers and is fixated with self-mocking levels of secrecy — had the audacity to say things like this, apparently with a straight face:

In the 21^st century, the United States is convinced that one of the most significant divisions among nations will not be north/south, east/west, religious, or any other category so much as whether they are open or closed societies. We believe that countries with open governments, open economies, and open societies will increasingly flourish. They will become more prosperous, healthier, more secure, and more peaceful. . . .
I know we don’t need to make the case for openness to you. You’re here. But what we have to do is make a convincing case that those of us who have joined up to the Open Government Partnership really mean what we say. It’s not enough to assert that we are committed to openness. We have to deliver on the commitments that we have made. 
Let me mention a few examples of how that is already occurring. . . .  I want to commend the Slovak Republic and Montenegro for also introducing whistle-blowing protection laws to ensure that those who expose corruption are not punished or harmed. . . .
These initiatives are designed to reduce corruption because we know corruption kills a country’s potential. It drains resources. It protects dishonest leaders. It takes away people’s drive to improve themselves or their communities. So the cure for corruption is openness, and by belonging to the Open Government Partnership, every country here is sending a message to their own people that we will stand for openness. And we’re going to hold ourselves accountable. . . 
So we now have a chance to set a new global standard for good governance and to strengthen a global ethos of transparency and accountability. . . .[W]e intend to do all we can to help make the Open Government Partnership a leader in ensuring that the 21^st century is an era of openness, transparency, accountability, freedom, democracy, and results for people everywhere. Thank you. (Applause.)

Last week, the Obama administration indicted its 7th whistleblower on charges of espionage — more than double the number of such cases under all prior Presidents combined — and it continues to insist that its CIA drone program is too secret even to acknowledge for purposes of court cases or public debate, even as it boasts of that same program on the front pages of newspapers. That’s apparently what Clinton means when she trumpets the "global ethos of accountability and transparency."
Secondly, one can never emphasize enough how the U.S., through the policies undertaken in the name of the Terorrist Threat, is principally responsible for sustaining and continuously increasing that threat. In February, Jeremy Schaill returned from Yemen and documented how U.S. drone attacks are the primary source of Al Qaeda’s strength in that country. In March, David Rohde — the former New York Times reporter who was kidnapped and held in Pakistan by the Taliban for seven months — documented how Obama’s "signature strikes" in Pakistan are also "backfiring":

From Pakistan to Yemen to post-American Iraq, drones often spark deep resentment where they operate. When they do attack, they kill as brutally as any weapon of war. The administration’s practice of classifying the strikes as secret only exacerbates local anger and suspicion. Under Obama, drone strikes have become too frequent, too unilateral, and too much associated with the heavy-handed use of American power.

Rohde also noted: "after promising to make counterterrorism operations more transparent and rein in executive power, Obama has arguably done the opposite, maintaining secrecy and expanding presidential authority." Last night, in response to this Post article, Yemen expert Gregory Johnsen wrote: "At some point – as the bombs continues to fall – people are going to come to the conclusion that Yemen is under western military attack" and "signature strikes in Yemen could easily expand the war well beyond one the US could ever kill its way out of." He observed that "signature strikes" are likely to kill far more civilians since "in Yemen just because it has a beard, carries a gun, and talks about Islamic law doesn’t mean its al-Qaeda" and then asked: "If US has been carrying out strikes in Yemen since Dec. 2009 then why does AQAP keep getting stronger?"
In late 2009, an Obama-approved attack with Tomahawk cruise missiles and cluster bombs killed dozens of innocent Yemenis, including 21 children. In May, 2010, a U.S. drone attack killed a popular Deputy Governor of a Yemeni province. In October of last year, two weeks after Obama successfully ordered the death of U.S. citizen Anwar Awlaki, a U.S. drone strike killed his 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman (today’s Post article asserted, seemingly without any basis, that that killing was "inadvertent," even though the alleged target was apparently nowhere near the scene). It’s not hard to imagine what ordinary Yemenis think of the U.S., and whether they’d be more sypmathetic to Al Qaeda’s message after all of this.
So here we have — yet again — the U.S. doing more than anyone else could to increase the threat of Terrorism with the very policies it claims are necessary to combat Terrorism. It’s impossible to know whether that outcome is a feature or a bug for U.S. policy makers, but what is certain is that the threat that continues to fuel impenetrable American secrecy, massive erosions of civil liberties, the proliferation of the Surveillance State, and the ongoing expansion of endless war and militarism, is the very same threat which the American National Security State — as it well knows — is primarily responsible for sustaining with its actions.
Finally, none of this will matter politically. That’s because, as both Hastings and Floyd highlight, most Democrats are now fully on board with whatever policies of slaughter and secrecy Obama endorses. As Hastings put it:

A recent poll shows that most Democrats overwhelmingly support the drone program, and Congress passed a law in February that calls for the Federal Aviation Administration to "accelerate the integration of unmanned aerial systems" in the skies over America. Drones, which are already used to fight wildfires out West and keep an eye on the Mexican border, may soon be used to spy on U.S. citizens at home: Police in Miami and Houston have reportedly tested them for domestic use, and their counterparts in New York are also eager to deploy them.

Indeed, one Obama-loyal writer at a popular Democratic blog — echoed by another — recently explained that he has little interest "in civil liberties" and what he euphemistically called "a less bellicose foreign policy." That’s because he instead "is primarily interested in the well-being of the American middle-class" — not poor brown Muslims in Yemen whose children are being wiped out of existence by the Democratic Nobel Peace Prize winner whom he adores — as well racism on U.S. soil (but not, obviously, outside of it). To the extent Democratic groups talk about any of these things at all, it is, disgustingly, to hail them as glorious "Obama foreign policy successes." Put another way, there is now about as much objection to these ongoing policies of rampant slaughter, secrecy and lawlessness in most Democratic and progressive venues as there was at The Weekly Standard and Fox News during the Bush years (though at least The Weekly Standard and Fox are consistent and intellectually honest about it: they supported these things under Bush and now do the same under Obama).
It’s unclear whether Obama will approve Petraeus’ request for the use of "signature strikes" in Yemen, so most Democrats will avoid taking a position until that happens (I still so fondly recall when Democratic partisans cheered Obama for transparency when he announced he’d disclose torture photos in the possession of the U.S., then cheered him again for Protecting Our Troops when, two weeks later, Obama reversed himself and said he would instead conceal the photos). But whatever else is true, the policies of rampant drone slaughter — and the secrecy and radical executive power theories that shield them from legal and political scrutiny — are well entrenched, now more so than ever.

Iraq snapshot - April 19, 2012

Iraq snapshot - April 19, 2012

The Common Ills

Thursday, April 19, 2012.  Chaos and violence continue, Iraq is slammed with violence, former US Ambassador to Iraq Chris Hill mocked the assassination of JFK (while being paid by US taxpayers), Tareq al-Hashemi talks to the BBC about future steps in Iraq, Nouri continues his war with ExxonMobil, and more.     As dust storms swept many areas today, AGI notes "a wave of attacks" slammed Iraq.  Al Arabiya reports, "More than 20 bombs hit cities and towns across Iraq on Thursday, killing at least 36 and wounding more than 100, police and hospital sources said, raising fears of sectarian strife in a country keen to show it can now maintain security." Adnkronos International quotes Baghdad security chief Diya al-Wakil saying of the attacks, "It's an attempt to cause our efforts to return security to the country to collapse.  It's a way to make the Iraqi people have a bad opinion about our work." Jane Arraf (Al Jazeera) explains "The blasts were a series of co-ordinated attacks in Baghdad and northern cities but mostly within Shia neighbourhoods." Prensa Latina notes, "An Interior Ministry's spokesman said the first explosion occurred at rush hour this morning, when a car bomb exploded in the Shiite neighborhood of Kazimiyah, in northern Baghdad, killing three and injuring 11."  The Belfast Telegraph adds, "Extremists launched 12 attacks in the Iraqi capital and in the cities of Kirkuk, Samarra, Baqouba, Dibis and Taji. Mortars were fired into the northern cities of Beiji and Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, but no injuries were reported there." UPI counts 35 dead and over seventy-three injured while the Voice of Russia counts 36 dead and over one hundred dead. ITV also goes with 36 killed.  Salam Faraj (AFP) counts it out this way, "Twenty-two civilians, eight police, three members of an anti-Qaeda militia and two soldiers were killed in dozens of attacks, including 14 separate car bombings."  Alsumaria puts the number injured at over 146.  As the day ended, AFP noted the death toll -- per security officials -- had risen to 38 with over one-hundred and sixty people wounded.   The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq issued the following:   The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for Iraq, Mr. Martin Kobler, condemned in the strongest terms the series of bomb attacks that took place today across Iraq and that have reportedly resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries. SRSG Kobler expressed concern at the continuation of violence in the country and the targeting of security officials and personnel as well as the indiscriminate attacks on civilians. "These horrendous crimes being committed against the Iraqi people need to stop for Iraq to achieve the prosperous and secure future its people duly deserve," SRSG Kobler said. SRSG Kobler reiterated the need for all Iraqis to work together to end the hideous crimes being committed against the Iraqi people to hamper its success as a democratic, stable and prosperous nation. SRSG Kobler extends his condolences to the families of those who were killed and his wishes for the speedy recovery of those who were injured, and called on the Iraqi people to remain steadfast in the face of the attempts to derail Iraq's quest for a better future.     This would be a good place to note the lousy performance of the US State Dept, but we'll pick that up after the day's violence.   The Los Angeles Times explains, "The attacks drew sharp criticism of the country's security apparatus, with Maysoon Damalooji, spokeswoman for the Iraqiya political bloc, saying they reflected planning weakness. Parliament Speaker Usama Nujaifi demanded that leaders of the security forces bear responsibility."  Peter Cave (Radio Australia News)quotes Maysoon al-Damaluji stating, "The continuation of bloody explosions, although it has been already announced that tight security measures have been taken, reflects the weak security plans and the necessity to reconsider them.  The commander of the armed forces [Nouri al-Maliki] is responsible for providing security and complete safety for citizens."  Alsumaria reports that the Kirkuk Provincial Council is calling for all security plans to be reviewed stating that the plans clearly are not preventing attacks or providing security.  John Glaser (Antiwar.com) offers, "Many criticize Maliki with being preoccupied with his own authority instead of ensuring security in the country."  Al Bawaba also stresses that perception, "These attacks occur amid a highly tense political climate. Several political parties have accused Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is in office since 2006, of seeking to impose a new dictatorship in Iraq."   Last month, Iraq Body Count reported at least 295 people died from violence in Iraq. And that March total came about only after Baghdad was under lockdown for a full week in the days leading up to the Arab League Summit. Already this week, Xinhua has reported 13 dead in Monday's violence alone (nine injured). BBC News (link is text and video) breaks down today's violence as follows: In Baghdad, a series of at least five blasts struck in various Shia neighbourhoods Police say two car bombs went off in Kirkuk, 180 miles (290km) north of Baghdad A suicide bomber killed a police officer in Baquba, an army officer said Two car bombs targeted security forces in Samarra A parked car exploded killing passers-by in Dibis A roadside device exploded in Taji Rami Ruhayem declares, "The targets have been varied. Some of them are civilian targets such as shops, Iranian pilgrims in Baghdad and also army and police forces." Richard Spencer (Telegraph of London) observes, "Five members of the Sahwa, or Awakening Council, a Sunni militia formed by the American forces before they left the country to combat Al-Qaeda in their own areas, were killed in a bomb attack on a checkpoint in Samarra."  Deutsche Welle adds, "The blasts unfolded closely, over an hour and a quarter." Xinhua notes there were car bombs, roadside bombs, suicide bombs and shootings. Press TV states, "Police officials in the provincial capital city of Mosul in Nineveh said three people sustained injuries in a bomb attack carried out in a restaurant." ITN quotes a wounded police officer in Kirkuk stating, "I was trying to stop traffic to let a police patrol pass. When it passed, a car bomb exploded and I fell on the ground and police took me to the hospital."   In addition to the above, Alsumaria notes a Baiji refinery came under a mortar attack causing minor damage to the refinery and fence but leaving one worker injured.     While the UN spoke clearly, the US State Dept continued its role as eternal disappointment. Spokesperson Mark C. Toner handled the breifing today and wouldn't have even raised the issue of Iraq if, in the last five, the issue of Iraq and a meeting with Iran May 23rd to discuss nuclear issues, hadn't been raised. Once the issue was raised, the spokesperson suddenly remembered Iraq.     Mark C. Toner: Oh, absolutely. We are -- first of all, I want to strongly condemn today's attacks. Targeting of innocent civilians is unacceptable; it's cowardly. And we obviously offer our condolences to the victims. But we are -- they just hosted a very successful Arab League Summit and we have every confidence that they can host this meeting.     The State Dept spends more on Iraq than any other country. They claim they need 6 billion dollars yearly and aren't prepared to say when that 'need' might end but admit to Congress that it will be "years." Yet as violence sweeps Iraq today, they can't even think to weigh in on the subject? They have to be asked to remember? And that's in the last three minutes of a lengthy press conference?     Someone needs to explain it to the State Dept. First, if you ask the American people if the State Dept needs $6 billion annually just for Iraq, the answer back is going to be NO. Not by a plurality but by a strong majority. Second, if you're spending taxpayer money, taxpayers have a right to expect updates. Under Barack Obama (US President) and Hillary Clinton (Secretary of State), the State Department has become as secretive as the Department of Justice under Bully Boy Bush -- and that's nothing to be proud of. The secrecy is evident in the continued attacks on Foreign Service Officer Peter Van Buren. At his blog today, Van Buren's notes the violence in this post and the US Embassy in Baghdad's silence as well as including a photo that was also up in a post yesterday while everyone was focused on the US official who received a blow job on a Baghdad roof. The photo is of former US Ambassador to Iraq Chris Hill. It's Halloween and some woman has dressed as then-Jackie Kennedy which is in poor taste since she and Chris Hill are a 'couple' (at least for Halloween). Hill's dressed as? A Secret Service bodyguard of JFK's. That's not funny. I hate Bill Maher, but if he did it, I wouldn't care. I wouldn't care about any private citizen. But Hill was the US Ambassador to Baghdad and he thought it was hilarious to mock the day JFK was assassinated? What kind of leadership did this asshole provide?     All the manic depressive kook did was rip apart the diplomtic ground work Ryan Crocker had established. Hill was afraid of Nouri al-Maliki. Gen Ray Odierno had to repeatedly calm the fretful Chris Hill down. So not only was he not up to the job (as we said in real time after he appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee), he was a total creep. What he did was disgusting and that he did it an Embassy Halloween function? Chris Hill needs to be loudly condemned. I knew he was an ass and I knew he was an idiot but I was passed his personnel file before he was confirmed. Based on that record alone, he shouldn't have been confirmed.     But to now find out that the ass thought it was appropriate to mock one of the worst days in American history? To dress up as a Secret Service agent who wasn't able to protect Kennedy and some State Dept Woman (referred to as SDW from this point on) who thought she could dress up as Jackie Kennedy from the same day?  Cause what's funnier than seeing your husband shot dead before your eyes?  What's funnier than have bullets flying all around you?    Did Jacqueline Kenney Onassis really deserve that 'joke'?  She conducted herself on the day and the immediate days after in a manner that still sets a standard for First Ladies.  And some employee of the State Dept thinks they can go to a department party mocking her?  Mocking her on what was one of the scariest and saddest days of her life?     (FYI, SDW is an idiot for many reasons including her pink ensemble isn't what Jackie was wearing that day -- Jackie had on a pink skirt, a black top, a pink jacket and a pink hat, the idiot doesn't even the outfit right.)   And Chris Hill didn't just give it a thumbs up which would have been bad enough, he actively participated in the sick 'joke' by dressing as a Secret Service agent.  (In fairness to the Secret Service which is under fire right now, it should be noted that the 'joke' was in poor taste to their efforts that November day as well.)   That is disgusting. That is offensive and grasp, please grasp, that Hill was supposed to be a diplomat. He's an idiot and he owes the American people an apology. That little stunt wasn't funny and it wasn't cute. Apparently, if he'd remained in government service, he'd be dressed as a 9-11 victim this year and his date as the Twin Towers. This was beyond tasteless. Chris Hill needs to answer for this.  And I think Hillary does as well.  What did the White House think when they learned Chris Hill, at a party in Baghdad, thought it would be funny to lampoon the assassination of JFK?    That is beyond tacky, it's beyond offensive, there's no excuse for it. Chris Hill is trash, 100% trash.     Tacky?  Offensive?  Nouri al-Maliki.   As he's pushed his power-grab, he's targeted nearly every classification in Iraq.  In December, he was targeting Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq (demanding he be stripped of his post) and Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi (demanding he be arrested for 'terrorism.'  Until recently, al-Hashemi was in the KRG which provided him with asylum.  He is currently on a diplomatic mission and has visited Qatar, Saudi Arabia and now Turkey.    From Turkey, he spoke with the BBC (link is text and audio) today and explained, "The difference is now between me and Maliki.   It's the difference between somebody who is interested in democratic model in the Middle East and somebody else who's still very much interested in divert the political process into some sort of autocractic regime.  This is the basic difference, in fact."  He also stated that he intends to return to the KRG and that, whent he political crisis is over, he intends to return to Baghdad.     Al Sabaah notes the National Alliance's call for a return to the Erbil Agreement. The Erbil Agreement ended Political Stalemate I, eight months of gridlock following the March 2010 elections. The US-brokered agreement managed that feat by getting all sides to make concessions. The White House wanted Nouri al-Maliki to have a second term as prime minister so that was the biggest concessions after Nouri's State of Law came in second place in the elections. But Nouri agreed to minor concessions to hold onto the post. This was November 2010. By the end of December, after he was named prime minister for a second term, he trashed the agreement. This is Political Stalemate II and the current crisis. National Alliance MP Hassan Sinead notes they remain committed to the Erbil Agreement, they have not rejected it and the agreement is an example of solidarity for Iraq so it is the responsibility of the political blocs, the Parliament, the executive branch and the judicial branch to implement the agreement. Kitabat notes Moqtada al-Sadr's call for his followers to direct their questions about the political impasse towards Nouri. As noted yesterday, these events may indicate some motion in the impasse. Dar Addustour notes that the National Alliance has postponed a scheduled meeting; however, one component of the National Alliance, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, has announced that they aren't opposed to someone from the Sadrist bloc being nominated for prime minister (that refers to Moqtada). An MP from State of Law and one from Sadr's bloc are both quoted insisting that there's no move to hold a vote to withdraw confidence in the current government.  With BBC today, Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi declared of his meeting in Istanbul with KRG President Massoud Barzan:       I'm scheduled to meet Mr. Barzani this afternoon.  We had an agreement on various steps and this step is going to be escalated depending on the reaction of Maliki.  If Maliki responded positively we will be very much happy to sit down and negotiate in a courageous way.  If he declined to attend then definitely we have to go into other options.  And the other option could be a vote for confidence. This has already been agreed principally to.  This  could be a political opportunity to sort out our political differences.     Elsewhere,  Salah Nasrawi (Al-Ahram) concludes of the current crisis,  "What happens next is largely al-Maliki's choice.  He could respond to the pressure for change by sharing power with others, or he could go his own way.  His record in government and rhetoric suggest that he will lean towards the second course."  Rebwar Karim Wali (Rudaw) offers this reflection on the political crisis:   Iraq is in deep crisis and it is nothing new. It is not that Iraq has started moving toward dictatorship and totalitarianism just now. No! And in fact the Americans and Kurds have contributed to the creation of the dictator. The constitution of the "New Iraq" does not stipulate a just power sharing among the country's various components. That is the main reason as to why the situation has ended up where it is now. The Kurds thought they were able to devolve the powers through the Erbil agreement of 2010, but that agreement only gave legitimacy to the current system. Iraq's constitution was violated the day Ayad Allawi's Iraqiya bloc won the elections and was not allowed to form the government. Instead, it was Maliki's bloc that formed the government. Both then and now, the Kurds were part of creating a new dictator in Iraq. Daniel Fineren (Reuters) reports that, at this point, ExxonMobil is not on Iraq's "list of 47 pre-qualified bidders for the next round of Iraq energy exploration rights." For any wondering, Total is among the 47. In the press release, the Ministry of Oil notes: The Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate (PCLD) at the Ministry of Oil announced Thursday (20/4/2012) that Iraq's Fourth Petroleum Licensing Round will take place as scheduled on May 30-31, 2012. The Final Tender Protocol and the final model Exploration, Development and Production Service Contract (EDPSC) were sent Thursday to all prequalified companies. The final list of prequalified companies includes a total of 47 entities, split between operators and non-operators. "We are happy to announce that the next bid round is on schedule. The Final Tender Protocol and the definitive model Contract have been issued to all prequalified companies" said Abdul Mahdy Al-Ameedi, director general of the PCLD. Iraq is offering 12 large exploration blocks of an average size of 6,500 square kilometers for bidding. Winning companies, or consortia of companies, will carry out exploration, appraisal, development and production activities within the 12 Contract Areas. The aim of the fourth round is primarily to expand Iraq's natural gas production capacity to satisfy the power generation sector and create gas-based industries, as well as increase the country's oil reserves. "We are looking forward to welcoming all participating companies in Baghdad. The fourth licensing round will be conducted in a transparent and public manner and according to the same procedures as the first three rounds," Al-Ameedi said. Since launching the first licensing round in 2008, Iraq has awarded 14 service contracts for the development of discovered oil and gas fields in three licensing rounds in addition to the Ahdeb contract. It also signed a major joint venture with a consortium of Royal Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi to capture and monetize associated natural gas produced in southern Iraq. The press release continues with a list of the 47 companies. AP speaks with Sabah al-Saidi ("Deputy head of the Oil Ministry's Licensing and Petroleum Contracts Department") who states, "Exxon has been removed from the list of qualified companies because it refused to abandon the deals with the Kurdish region as requested by the Ministry of Oil." Dropping back to yesterday's snapshot: Reuters reports, "Exxon Mobil has told Baghdad it will not break ground on its oil blocs in the semi-autonomous Kurdish north until the centeral government approves the contracts, Iraq's top energy official said on Wednesday." The official is Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain al-Shahristani. That alone makes the claim questionable -- remember, April 3rd, he was in the news for insisting the Kurds were secretly selling oil to Iran. He's not seen as someone impartial or particularly honest. And apparently for good reason, he's not seen as someone impartial or particularly honest. So we're pleased with ExxonMobil one day for allegedly promising it won't "break ground" with regards to that contract and the next day we're punishing it? Iraq better figure out where they stand on ExxonMobil real quick because this isn't about ExxonMobil, this is about how Iraq looks on the world stage. Contracts were signed months ago. Are they valid or not? If they're not valid, then they don't exist. If they don't exist, then why is ExxonMobil being punished? The punishment phase would indicate that the contracts are valid (the KRG certainly considers them valid). It's petty and indicates the Baghdad-based government has no eral power so they just lash out. Iraq needs to diversify its economy and it needs to do so quickly. It also keeps insisting it needs international investment. If that's true, they need to stop alienating businesses and looking so ridiculous. A contract's legal or it's not. Clearly for all the bluster, Baghdad can't cancel the contract ExxonMobil signed with the KRG. So they think they'll pick a fight. ExxonMobil's not going to be hurt by any of this. They're a multi-national corporation that managed to survive the Exxon Valdez disaster.  Whether Nouri will survive is a political question.  But everything he's currently doing on the world stage -- from the power grab to the nonsense on the ExxonMobil contracts, is bad for Iraq and creates the wrong image for the country.   In the US, Senator Patty Murray chairs the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.  Her office notes:     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, April 19, 2012 Contact:  Murray Press Office (202) 224-2834   Senator Murray's Statement on VA Hiring Announcement (Washington, D.C.) -- Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, made the following statement after the VA announced that it would be moving to hire 1,600 mental health care professionals.  The announcement comes just days before the findings of a major VA Inspector General report that Senator Murray requested on long wait times for VA mental health care are expected to be announced.  VA's action is welcome news to Senator Murray who has held multiple hearings over the past year on overcoming barriers to VA mental health care.  Murray will hold a third hearing on this subject in order to hear the Inspector General's findings on Wednesday, April 25th.   "I am pleased that the VA has taken this desperately needed step toward providing timely access to mental health care.  Too often we have seen staff vacancies, scheduling delays, and red tape leave those veterans who have been brave enough to seek help in the first place left with nowhere to turn. With suicide rates that continue to be high and an influx of new veterans into the system these barriers to mental health care are completely unacceptable.  I look forward to fighting for the resources needed to meet this staffing request as it is clearly a cost of the decade of war that has taken such a toll on our veterans and their families."

Israel is to establish an unprecedented spy centre to eavesdrop on, and meddle with, post-revolutionary Egypt

Working behind the scenes
Israel is to establish an unprecedented spy centre to eavesdrop on, and meddle with, post-revolutionary Egypt

Saleh Al-Naami

April 19, 2012 Although more than one month has passed since the recommendations of the Arab Affairs Committee in Egypt's People's Assembly were issued, 12 March, regarding Egypt's foreign policy in the coming phase, the impact of these recommendations continues to echo in statements by Israeli commentators and experts. They view the statement read by the committee's chairman, Mohamed Idris, as a clear indicator of the changes that have occurred in Egypt -- most significantly, that the committee statement avoided using the name "Israel" and instead used the term "Zionist entity", and that the parliamentary committee asserted that Israel is "the primary enemy that threatens Egypt's national security". It also called on the Egyptian government to support and assist the Palestinian people in their armed struggle against Israeli occupation forces. Yehuda Halevi, an expert at the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs, said that if the new regime in Egypt adopts the committee's recommendation that Israel is "the primary enemy that threatens Egypt's national security" this would mean that Egypt would be required to rebuild its military power to confront this threat. This includes in the nuclear domain, which would make Egypt's actions an existential threat for Israel. Halevi suggested that Tel Aviv should consider the transformations taking place in Egypt and prepare and take necessary precautions to confront any action by Egypt in the future that threatens Israel. The government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did not wait for such recommendations to be issued by Egypt's parliament and has already taken steps to confront what it views as the threat of Egypt becoming an enemy state. It decided to build what it described as the "largest intelligence compound" in the Negev Desert, at a location close to Sinai, whose main mission will be to spy on and conduct intelligence gathering on Egypt in the coming phase. The compound will be the largest espionage and surveillance station in the world. Its mission will include intercepting telephone calls, electronic messages and data sent via satellite and marine communication cables in the Mediterranean Sea. It will also gather electronic data and monitor communications by the government, organisations, firms and individuals, and will include buildings on an area of more than 600,000 square metres. The decision to build the new intelligence compound was based on a recommendation by the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) that highlighted the need for Israel to know what is taking place in Egypt, especially after the revolution. This would forewarn Israel before Egypt takes any action (military or diplomatic) against Israel, so it can take the necessary measures to counter it and not be victim to surprise. The INSS stressed that Israel should pay more attention to intelligence matters and called on decision- makers in Tel Aviv to accumulate both traditional and non- traditional military power to ensure Israel's victory in any future confrontation with Egypt. The INSS called on the Israeli army's leadership to revive methods and practices used by the army in the past that gave Israel an edge over its enemies, especially Egypt. These include covert work behind "enemy" lines since this is one of the main lessons it learnt from the Arab Spring revolutions. The military leadership has adopted this recommendation, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced the formation of a military leadership in the army called "Depth Leadership" that is responsible for organising and plotting operations by the Israeli army in the heart of Arab states after the Arab revolutions. Recommendations to decision-makers also included markedly increasing the size of the armed forces, especially infantry and naval forces, as well as rebuilding military power and investing in anti-missile systems whether in the fields of research or development. At the same time, former deputy chief of staff of the Israeli army Ozi Dayan urged Tel Aviv not to hesitate in ordering the army and Israeli special units to carry out operations inside Sinai under the pretext of foiling operations against Israel being launched from there. But Israel is not only taking military precautions to confront various possible scenarios in Cairo. There are clear indications that Tel Aviv is working behind the scenes to influence Egypt's political reality in coordination with the US. They are trying to force the next Egyptian government to adhere to the policies of Mubarak's regime on the Arab-Israeli conflict. One of the most pertinent recommendations sent to Netanyahu's government is that it should ask the US administration to pressure Arab Gulf states to use their financial aid to Egypt to remanufacture the Mubarak regime, or at least to link Arab aid with commitment by the new regime in Cairo not to deviate from Mubarak's policies and strategies, especially in the last decade of his rule. Since the Israelis are aware that the world economic crisis prevents the US from allocating any funds to influence events in Cairo, the Israelis are suggesting that President Obama should urge the leaders of Gulf states to use some of the massive profits from the surge in oil revenues to influence the future of events in Cairo. Israeli television revealed that Netanyahu's office and the Israeli Foreign Ministry are working in secret with Washington about how to influence the future of events in Cairo. It also reported that over the past months there has been an exchange of many "creative" ideas between Tel Aviv and Washington about how best to discreetly influence the Egyptian regime in the future. Steps taken by Israel along with its advice to the US administration are mostly based on the recommendations of hundreds of studies by Israeli research centres that were encouraged by decision-makers in Tel Aviv. For example, a study conducted by US and Israeli researchers published by the Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University in Israel suggested that the West -- especially the US -- should link all types of aid to Egypt in the future to how much the military leadership maintains its status and powers. The military is viewed as upholding the approaches and policies of the Mubarak regime. General Ron Tira (retired), who held senior positions in Israeli intelligence, believes that the greatest strategic threat to Israel as a result of the Egyptian revolution is that future governments would renege on the commitments of the Camp David Agreement that ended hostilities between Egypt and Israel. Tira added that the agreement removed Egypt from Israel's circle of enemies, which enabled the Israeli government to improve the position of Israel in the conflict with other Arab parties as Tel Aviv was able to focus its military attention on other fronts. He further noted that Camp David helped formulate a strategic partnership between Israel and Mubarak's regime that enabled Israel to carry out several military operations against other Arab parties under ideal circumstances. According to Tira, the strategic partnership with Mubarak's regime peaked during the war Israel launched against Hizbullah in July 2006, and the war on Gaza at the end of 2008. The Mubarak regime provided a favourable regional climate for Israel to continue its strikes, with minimal Arab and international objections. Hence, Israel needs the post-revolution Egyptian regime to follow Mubarak's policies. An indicator of how closely Israel is following developments in Cairo is its great disappointment with the failed presidential candidacy of Omar Suleiman, vice president to ousted autocrat Mubarak. The disappointment was so strong that political and media figures focussed their anger on former Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer for praising Suleiman after the latter submitted his candidacy papers. Many Israeli officials and commentators believe that praise by Ben-Eliezer -- who once described Mubarak as "a strategic treasure for Israel" -- was counterproductive. They suggest that the statements incited Egyptian public opinion against Suleiman, which upset decision-making circles in Tel Aviv. Netanyahu then issued strict orders to his ministers and advisers not to comment on the domestic situation in Egypt out of concern that such statements would fuel debate in Egypt against figures of the Mubarak regime who are planning to contest the upcoming presidential elections. Israeli Radio reported that Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said: "Every Israeli official must realise that any positive remark made by us about any candidate will be counterproductive. We naturally hope and pray that a candidate who believes in Mubarak's policies will win the Egyptian presidential elections, but we cannot express this in a way that would be counterproductive." Israel is holding its breath. Its leaders hope against hope that the new regime will not deviate from Mubarak's strategic outlook.

Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (12 – 18 April 2012)

Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (12 – 18 April 2012)

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)

Israeli security forces fire tear gas towards Palestinian protesters during clashes outside Ofer prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah April 17, 2012. April 19, 2012 Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) IOF use force to disperse peaceful protest organized by Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. 15 demonstrators, including two children and two Israeli human rights defenders, were wounded.  Dozens of civilians suffered from tear gas inhalation. Two Palestinian civilians, including a woman, were wounded by IOF in the Gaza Strip. IOF conducted 56 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and a limited one into the central Gaza Strip.    IOF continued to attack Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip. IOF arrested 3 fishermen and confiscated their boat. Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world. IOF arrested 7 Palestinian civilians at various checkpoints in the West Bank. IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property. IOF destroyed 4 rooms, 3 water wells and 6 barnyards in Kufor al-Dik village, west of Salfit.  IOF destroyed 3 water wells and two dunums of agricultural land in Dur village near Hebron. Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers and shepherds. Israeli settlers destroyed 250 olive trees in Bitillu village near Ramallah. Summary Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (12 – 18 April 2012): Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF wounded 19 civilians, including two children and two Israeli human rights defenders, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, IOF wounded 17 civilians, including two children and two Israeli human rights defenders, during the dispersion of peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to the construction of the annexation wall and settlement activities in the West Bank.  Dozens of civilians also suffered from tear gas inhalation.   In the Gaza Strip, on 17 and 18 April 2012, two Palestinian civilians, including a woman, were wounded when IOF positioned at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel opened fire at Palestinian houses and agricultural land in Khuza’a village, east of Khan Yunis.  On 13 April 2012, Israeli naval troops arrested 3 Palestinian fishermen and confiscated their boat in the northern Gaza Strip.  The fishermen were released later, but the boat remained in custody.  Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 56 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank   In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted one limited incursion into the central Gaza Strip. Restrictions on Movement: Israel had continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. The illegal Israeli-imposed closure of the Gaza Strip, which has steadily tightened since June 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip. The illegal closure has caused not only a humanitarian crisis but a crisis of human rights and human dignity for the population of the Gaza Strip.  Measures declared recently to ease the blockade are vague, purely cosmetic and fail to deal with the root causes of the crisis, which can only be addressed by an immediate and complete lifting of the closure, including lifting the travel ban into and out of the Gaza Strip and the ban on exports. Palestinians in Gaza may no longer suffer from the same shortage of goods, but they will remain economically dependent and unable to care for themselves, and socially, culturally and academically isolated from the rest of the world. IOF have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians throughout the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Thousands of Palestinian civilians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip continue to be denied access to Jerusalem. Settlement Activities:   Israel has continued its settlement activities in the OPT in violation of international humanitarian law, and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.  On 12 April 2012, a number of Israeli settlers from "Eitamar" settlement, southeast of Nablus, attacked 5 Palestinian farmers.  As a result, the farmers sustained bruises.  Soon, IOF arrived at the area and arrested the five farmers for questioning. On 13 April 2012, a number of Israeli settlers from "Kiryat Arba" settlement, southeast of Hebron, violently beat and old man and his son, while the two civilians were on their land in Jabal Jales area in Hebron.  The old man was evacuated to a hospital in Hebron as he was moderately injured.  The settlers also uprooted dozens of olive trees.  On 15 April 2012, a number of Israeli settlers from "Nahal’eil" settlement, northwest of Ramallah, destroyed at least 250 olive trees belonging.  On 15 April 2012, a number of Israeli settlers from "Ma’oun" settlement to the east of Yatta village, south of Hebron, attacked and fired at some Palestinian farmers and shepherds in al-Litwana area.  On 16 April 2012, IOF, accompanied by bulldozers, moved into Kufor al-Dik village, west of Salfit.  They demolished 4 agricultural rooms, 6 barnyards and 3 water wells belonging to Palestinian farmers from Rafat village, west of Salfit.  Palestinian farmers attempted to reach the area, but IOF prevented them. Also on 16 April 2012, IOF, accompanied by bulldozers, moved into al-Majnouna area in the south of Dura town, southwest of Hebron.  They destroyed 3 old water wells and a number of agricultural pools and razed a two-dunum area of agricultural land planted with vegetables belonging.     On 18 April 2012, at least 3,000 Israeli settlers, escorted by IOF, broke into Kufol Hares village, north of Salfit, and performed biblical rituals.  They attacked and insulted Palestinian civilians on the streets.  IOF also arrested a Palestinian civuilian.     Israeli Violations Documented during the Reporting Period (12 – 18 April 2012) 1. Incursions into Palestinian Areas and Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip Thursday, 12 April 2012 At approximately 01:30, IOF moved into Tayaseer village, east of Tubas.  They raided two houses belonging to the families of Mohammed Jameel Jaber, 24, and 'Aamer Ahmed al-Dik, 22, and summoned them for interrogation. At approximately 07:40, IOF moved into al-'Ouja village, north of Jericho.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 08:00, IOF moved into Fassayel village, north of Jericho.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. Also at approximately 08:00, IOF moved into al-Jiftlek village, north of Jericho.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 09:00, IOF moved into al-Fundoq village, east of Qalqilya.  They raided a house belonging to Lu’ai As’ad Tayem and turned it into a military site.  They also imposed a curfew on the village and forced closure of shops on both saided of Qalqilya-Nablus road to allow Israeli settlers to celebrate the Jewish Easter.  IOF withdrew from the village at approximately 13:00. Also at approximately 09:00, IOF moved into Deir Dibwan village, northeast of Ramallah.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 10:00, IOF moved into Qibya village, west of Ramallah.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. Also at approximately 10:00, IOF moved into Deir Ebzei’ village, west of Ramallah.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 17:30, IOF moved into 'Azzoun village, east of Qalqilya.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. Friday, 13 April 2012 At approximately 00:30, IOF moved into Nabi Saleh village, northwest of Ramallah.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 01:30, IOF moved into Jericho.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 06:00, Israeli gunboats stationed to Beit Lahia beach in the northern Gaza Strip opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats.  Palestinian fishermen were forced to sail back to the beach and neither casualties nor damage were reported. At approximately 09:00, IOF moved into Kufor Malek village, northeast of Ramallah.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 11:00, IOF moved into Beit 'Aur al-Tahta village, west of Ramallah.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 13:40, IOF moved into Nabi Elias village, east of Qalqilya.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 14:30, IOF moved into al-'Araqa village, west of Jenin.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 15:00, IOF moved into Beit Leed village, east of Tulkarm.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 17:00, IOF moved into 'Izbat Shoufa village, southeast of Tulkarm.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 21:50, IOF moved into Bidya village, northwest of Salfit.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 22:00, IOF moved into Zbbouba village, northwest of Jenin.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 22:05, IOF moved into al-Zawia village, northwest of Salfit.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 22:45, IOF moved into 'Azzoun village, east of Qalqilya.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. Saturday, 14 April 2012   At approximately 00:30, IOF moved into al-Yamoun village, northwest of Jenin.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 01:00, IOF moved into Beit Qad village, east of Jenin.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 09:30, IOF moved into Marj Na’ja village, north of Jericho.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 10:00, IOF moved into Jericho and the neighboring 'Aqabet Jaber refugee camp.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. Also at approximately 10:00, IOF moved into 'Allar village, north of Tulkarm.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 11:00, IOF moved into Jayous village, northeast of Qalqilya.  They raided and searcghed a number of houses, but no arrests were reported. Also at approximately 11:00, IOF moved into Saida village, north of Tulkarm.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 11:30, IOF moved into Jalboun village, east of Jenin.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 16:30, IOF moved into al-Jiftlek village, north of Jericho.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 17:00, IOF moved into Zabbouba village, northwest of Jenin.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 20:50, IOF moved into 'Izbat al-Tabib village, east of Qalqilya.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 21:00, IOF moved into Sliwad village, northeast of Ramallah.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 22:30, IOF moved into Beit Liqya village, west of Ramallah.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 23:00, IOF moved into Nabi Elias village, east of Qalqilya.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. Also at approximately 23:00, IOF moved into Zeita village, north of Tulkarm.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. Also at approximately 23:00, IOF moved into 'Arraba village, southwest of Jenin.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. Sunday, 15 April 2012 At approximately 00:30, IOF moved into 'Anabta village, east of Tulkarm.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. Also at approximately 00:30, IOF moved into Tulkarm.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 01:30, IOF moved into Jayous village, northeast of Qalqilya.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 09:00, the Israeli navy arrested 3 Palestinian fishermen who were fishing nearly 3 nautical miles from the beach:  Salah Murad Miqdad, 63; Ahmed Salah Miqdad, 24; and 'Ali Nafez al-Akhsham, 31.  They transferred the three fishermen to the Israeli harbor of Ashdod and from there to Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing.  The three fishermen were interrogated about the reasons for their presence in a restricted area, according to Israeli claims.  They were released at approximately 17:00 on the same day, but their boat remained in custody.  Also at approximately 09:00, IOF moved into Burham village, northwest of Ramallah.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 11:00, IOF moved into Jericho.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 13:15, IOF moved into Qalqilya.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 14:30, IOF moved into Kharabtha al-Misbah village, west of Ramallah.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 15:00, IOF moved into Habla village, east of Qalqilya.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. Also at approximately 15:00, IOF moved into Ras Teera village, south of Qalqilya.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 17:00, IOF moved into Beit 'Aur al-Tahta village, west of Ramallah.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 19:40, IOF moved into al-'Ouja village, north of Jericho.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 21:20, IOF moved into Koubar village, northwest of Ramallah. They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. Monday, 16 April 2012 At approximately 00:15, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at an open area near the car market in al-Zaytoun neighborhood in the southeast of Gaza City.  No casualties were reported. At approximately 09:35, IOF moved into Qalqilya.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 18:45, IOF moved into Jeet village, northeast of Qalqilya.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 20:00, IOF moved into Hijja village, east of Qalqilya.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 21:00, IOF moved into Qalqilya.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 22:55, IOF moved into Kufor Qaddoum village, northeast of Qalqilya.  They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later.  Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. Tuesday, 17 April 2012 At approximately 07:30, IOF positioned at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis opened fire at Palestinian houses and agricultural areas in Khuza’a village, east of the town.  As a result, Hassan Waleed Eshnainu, was wounded by a bullet to the right thigh, when he was nearly 2,000 meters away from the border. At approximately 22:00, IOF moved into Shwaika suburb, north of Tulkarm, and patrolled in the streets.  A number of Palestinian boys gathered and threw stones at Israeli military vehicles.  Immediately, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas canisters and sound bombs at the boys.  At approximately 23:00, IOF raided a house belonging to Eyad Husni Nasser and questioned members of the family.  They withdrew later and no arrests were reported. Wednesday, 18 April 2012 At approximately 07:00, IOF moved nearly 100 meters into the east of al-Boreij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, amidst gunfire.  They moved back to the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel an hour later. At approximately 07:40, IOF positioned at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis opened fire at Palestinian houses and agricultural areas in Khuza’a village, east of the town.  As a result, Ranad Salem Qudaih, 34, was wounded by a bullet to the head, when she was nearly 1,000 meters away from the border. 2. Use of Excessive Force against Peaceful Demonstrations Protesting Settlement Activities and the Construction of the Annexation Wall During the reporting period, IOF used force against peaceful demonstrations organized by Palestinian civilians and international and Israeli human rights defenders in protest to the construction of the Wall and settlement activities in the West Bank.  As a result, 18 demonstrators, including 3 children and two Israeli human rights defenders, were wounded, and dozens of others suffered from tear gas inhalation and other sustained bruises. Following the Friday Prayer on 13 April 2012, dozens of Palestinian civilians, including local activists from Hebron and Ramallah, and international and Israeli human rights defenders organized a peaceful demonstration in Bil'ein village, west of Ramallah, in protest to the construction of the annexation wall and in commemoration of the third anniversary of killing Bassem Abu Rahma by IOF.  The demonstration followed an international conference on public resistance organized in the village.  The demonstrators raised the Palestinian flag and called for ending the political split.  They then moved towards areas of annexation wall.  Israeli soldiers stationed in the area fired rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at the demonstrators.  As a result, 5 demonstrators, including a child, were wounded, and others suffered from tear gas inhalation (PCHR keeps names of the wounded). Also following the Friday Prayer on 13 April 2012, dozens of Palestinian civilians and international and Israeli human rights defenders organized a peaceful demonstration in Ne’lin village, west of Ramallah, in protest to the construction of the annexation wall and settlement activities.  The demonstrators raised the Palestinian flag and called for national unity and for the release of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails.  They moved towards areas of the annexation wall.   Immediately, Israeli soldiers stationed in the area fired rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at the demonstrators.  As a result, dozens of demonstrators suffered from tear gas inhalation. Also following the Friday prayer on 13 April 2012, dozens of Palestinian civilians and Israeli and international human rights defenders gathered in the center of Nabi Saleh village, northwest of Ramallah, to start the weekly peaceful protest against the construction of the annexation wall and settlement activities.  The protesters walked towards the gate erected by IOF near the entrance of the village and leading to Palestinian lands that Israeli settlers from the nearby "Halmish" settlement are trying to seize.  Israeli soldiers who had been extensively deployed in the area and near all the entrances of the village since the morning, began to confront the protesters who wanted to walk towards the affected lands.  Israeli soldiers fired live and rubber-coated bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at the protesters.  A result, 8 demonstrators, including a child and two Israeli human rights defenders, were wounded, and other demonstrators suffered from tear gas inhalation (PCHR keeps names of the wounded). At approximately 01:25 on Friday, 13 April 2012, dozens of Palestinian civilians and international human rights defenders organized a peaceful demonstration in Kufor Qaddoum village, northeast of Qalqilya, in protest to continued closure of the eastern entrance of the village by IOF.  IOF fired tear gas canisters and sound bombs at the demonstrators.  As a result, two demonstrators, including a child, were hit directly by tear gas canisters.  Additionally, a number of demonstrators suffered from tear gas inhalation. On Saturday noon, 14 April 2012, IOF used force to disperse a peaceful demonstration organized by Palestinian civilians and a number of international human rights defenders near "Karmi Tsur" settlement to the south of Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron.  IOF prevented the demonstrators from reaching Khillat al-Kutla area.  They violently beat a number of demonstrators and fired sound bombs at them.  As a result, 'Emad Ahmed Abu Maria, 22, was hit by a sound bomb to the hand.  Other Peaceful Demonstrations At approximately 09:00 on Saturday, 14 April 2012, 400 Palestinian civilians and 150 international human rights defenders participated in a bicycle march in al-'Ouja village, north of Jericho, organized by Sharek Youth Forum, in cooperation with the Governorate of Jericho, the Municipality of Jericho, the Ministry of Tourism, al-Quds Open University, al-Istiqlal University and some other organizations.  The march was organized in solidarity with the Palestinian people and the population of the Jordan Valley.   The march started in al-'Ouja village and moved then to Fassayel and al-Jiftlek villages, north of Jericho.  IOF stopped the participants for more than two hours at the entrance of al-'Ouja village and prevented them from riding their bicycles on road #90.  They also beat a number of the participants.  As a result, 5 participants, including a woman and 3 international human rights defenders, were injured. At approximately 13:00 on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, dozens of Palestinian civilians and families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails organized a peaceful demonstration near 'Ofar Prison, southwest of Ramallah, in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.  IOF fired live and rubber-coated metal bullets, tear gas canisters and sound bombs at the demonstrators.  As a result, two demonstrators were wounded, and other suffered from tear gas inhalation.   3. Continued Closure of the OPT Israel has continued to impose a tightened closure of the OPT and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Gaza Strip Israel has continuously closed all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for nearly 5 years. The illegal Israeli-imposed closure of the Gaza Strip, which has steadily tightened since June 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.   IOF have tightened the closure of the Gaza Strip and practically made Karm Abu Salem crossing as the sole commercial crossing of the Gaza Strip although it is not proper for commercial purposes in terms of its distance and operational capacity. IOF have continued to apply their policy aimed at tightening the strangulation of the commercial movement in the Gaza Strip, including imposing total control over the flow of imports and exports. The total closure of al-Mentar "Karni" crossing on 02 March 2011 has created a bitter situation that has seriously affected the Gaza Strip.  Following this closure, all the economic and commercial establishments in Gaza Commercial Zone were shut off.  It should be noted that al-Mentar crossing is the biggest crossing in the Gaza Strip in terms of its operational capacity to absorb the flow of imports and exports.  The decision of al-Mentar crossing was the culmination of a series of decisions to totally close Sofa crossing, east of the Gaza Strip, in the beginning of 2009, and Nahal Oz crossing, east of Gaza City, which was dedicated for the delivery of fuel and cooking gas to the Gaza Strip, in the beginning of 2010. IOF have continued to impose total ban on the delivery of raw materials to the Gaza Strip, except for very limited items and quantities.  The limited quantities of raw materials allowed into Gaza do not meet the minimal needs of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. The cooking gas crisis which has erupted last November has continued to affect the Gaza Strip.  This crisis was created when the Israeli occupation authorities totally closed, on 04 January 2010, Nahal Oz crossing, which used to be dedicated for the delivery of fuel and cooking gas supplies to Gaza, and shifted fuel and cooking gas supplies to Karm Abu Salem crossing which is not technically equipped to receive Gaza's needs of fuel.  Karm Abu Salem crossing, with its maximum absorptive capacity, can receive only 200 tons of cooking gas per day. Approximately 80% of Gaza civilians have continued to depend on alimentary aid provided by UNRWA and other relief agencies, rates of families who are living below poverty line have continued to be on the rise and approximately 40% of Gaza's manpower has continued to suffer from permanent unemployment as a result of shutting down the majority of Gaza's economic establishments. IOF have continued to impose a total ban on the exportation of Gaza's products, especially industrial products, leading to undermining any real chances to rerun economic establishments.  The situation has been aggravated especially after making Karm Abu Salem crossing as Gaza sole commercial crossing and the repeated closure of this crossing which negatively affected the quantity of Gazan products which were allowed to be exported during last April. For approximately four consecutive years, IOF have continued to ban the delivery of construction materials to Gaza. During the reporting period, IOF approved the delivery of limited quantities of construction materials for a number of international organizations. Israel has continued to close Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing for Palestinian civilians from the Gaza Strip.  IOF only allow the movement of limited groups amidst severe restrictions, including long hours of waiting in the majority of cases.  IOF have also continued to adopt a policy aimed at reducing the number of Palestinian patients allowed to move via Beit Hanoun crossing to receive medical treatment in hospitals in Israel or in the West Bank and Jerusalem.  IOF denied new categories of Gazan patient permission to have access to hospitals via the crossing. Israel has imposed additional access restrictions on traders, international diplomats, journalists and humanitarian workers seeking to enter the Gaza Strip.  On Wednesday evening, 14 March 2012, IOF arrested Ahmed Subhi al-Kahlout, 40, a trader from Gaza City, when he was traveling via Beit Hanoun crossing. For approximately 57 months, IOF have continued to deny approximately 700 Palestinian prisoners from Gaza detained in Israeli jails their visitation rights without providing any justification to this measure, which violates the rules of the international humanitarian law. Movement at Border Crossings during the Reporting Period: Movement at Rafah International Crossing Point 11 – 17 April 2012 Day Date Traveling abroad Coming into Gaza Returned into Gaza Wednesday 11 April 2012 222 517 3 Thursday 12 April 2012 880 706 50 Friday 13 April 2012 -- -- -- Saturday 14 April 2012 830 679 47 Sunday 15 April 2012 739 472 64 Monday 16 April 2012 -- -- -- Tuesday 17 April 2012 874 1,005 2 Movement at Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) Crossing 10 – 17 April 2012 Imports: Date Imports Category Amount Tons Number Liters 10 April 2012 Foodstuffs 417 Agricultural materials 836 Various goods Cartons of shoes Refrigerators Cartons of shoes 885 1,410 343 546 Humanitarian aid 4,588 Cooking gas 117.170 Industrial fuel 281,631 Diesel 75,995 11 April 2012 Foodstuffs 447 Agricultural materials 1,309 Various goods Cartons of clothes Refrigerators Water tanks Cartons of shoes Refrigerators 990 2,372 256 317 507 Humanitarian aid 2,745 Cooking gas 115.280 Industrial fuel 536,044 15 April 2012 Foodstuffs 366 Agricultural materials 1,101 Various goods Cartons of clothes Electricity generators Refrigerators Cartons of clothes Glass boards 745 1,260 18 165 956 520 Humanitarian aid 112 Cooking gas 187.700 Industrial fuel 462,257 Benzene 35,004 16 April 2012 Foodstuffs 639 Agricultural materials 1,368 Various goods Cartons of clothes Refrigerators Water tanks Cartons of shoes Cars 1,057 447 412 147 655 20 Humanitarian aid 766 Cooking gas 201.880 Industrial fuel 403,973 Diesel 105,612 17 April 2012 Foodstuffs 639 Agricultural materials 1,556 Various goods Cartons of clothes Cartons of shoes Refrigerators Glass boards    Cars Birds Car tires  1,062 2,110 266 346 1,040 20 147 1,446 Humanitarian aid 5,123 Cooking gas 184.530 Industrial fuel 512,040 Diesel 70,021 Movement at Beit Hanoun (Erez) Crossing 11 – 17 April 2012 Date 11 April 12 April 13 April 14 April 15 April 16 April 17 April Patients 20 Nil Nil Nil 49 29 29 Companions 21 Nil Nil Nil 48 30 26 Arabs from Israel 9 Nil Nil Nil 45 3 3 Diplomats Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil 1 International Journalists 3 Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil 2 International Workers 27 Nil Nil Nil 28 8 19 Travelers abroad 2 Nil Nil Nil 2 2 Nil Business People 55 Nil Nil Nil 101 87 85 Economic Meetings Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil 4 Security Interviews Nil Nil Nil Nil 2 2 Nil VIP's Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Ambulances to Israel 2 Nil Nil Nil 2 3 1 Ambulances from Israel 1 Nil Nil Nil 2 3 2 The West Bank Israel has imposed a tightened closure on the West Bank. During the reporting period, IOF imposed additional restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians. There are approximately hundreds of permanent roadblocks, and manned and unmanned checkpoints across the West Bank. When complete, the illegal annexation wall will stretch for 724 kilometers around the West Bank, further isolating the entire population. 350 kilometers of the wall have already been constructed. Approximately 99% of the wall has been constructed inside the West Bank itself, confiscating more Palestinian land. Many of the main roads that lead to Palestinian communities in the West Bank are closed or fully controlled by IOF. IOF have continued to restrict access of Palestinian civilians from the West Bank to East Jerusalem, through a strict system of permits and a network of checkpoints. IOF have completed controlled access to the Jordan Valley through 4 permanent checkpoints established at its entrances.  Palestinians living outside the area are not allowed to enter it without permits. Settlement activities and expansion of settlements impose additional restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians.  IOF have continued to restrict access to gunfire areas and natural reserves, which constitute about 26% of the total area of the West Bank. Israeli military checkpoints restrict the movement of goods throughout the West Bank. Palestinian civilians continue to be harassed by IOF in Jerusalem, and across the West Bank, including being regularly stopped, searched and even arrested in the streets by IOF. Israel has imposed a tightened closure on the West Bank. During the reporting period, IOF imposed additional restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians: Jerusalem: IOF have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians to and from the city. Thousands of Palestinian civilians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been denied access to the city. IOF have established many checkpoints around and inside the city.  Restrictions of the movement of Palestinian civilians often escalate on Fridays, preventing young Muslim Palestinians from praying at al-Aqsa Mosque Ramallah: IOF have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians.  At approximately 13:30 on Thursday, 12 April 2012, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance of Beit Liqya village, southwest of Ramallah.  At approximately 15:40, IOF re-established their presence at 'Attara checkpoint, north of Ramallah.  At approximately 07:30 on Friday, 13 April 2012, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance of Nabi Saleh village, northwest of Ramallah.  At approximately 09:00, IOF established a checkpoint under Kharabtha al-Misbah Bridge, southwest of Ramallah.  At approximately 10:00 on Saturday, 07 April 2012, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance of al-Mazra;a al-Qibliya village, northwest of Ramallah.  At approximately 16:30, IOF re-established their presence at 'Attara checkpoint, north of Ramallah.  At approximately 07:30 on Monday, 16 April 2012, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance of Nabi Saleh village, northwest of Ramallah.  At approximately 10:00, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance of Silwad village, northeast of Ramallah.  At approximately 15:30, IOF re-established their presence at 'Attara checkpoinr, north of Ramallah.  At approximately 09:30 on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, IOF established a checkpoint under 'Ein Yabroud Bridge, northeast of Ramallah.  At approximately 13:30, they established a checkpoint between Turmosiya and Khirbat Abu Falah villages, northeast of Ramallah.  At approximately 14:30, they re-established their presence at 'Attara checkpoint, north of Ramallah.  Qalqilya:  IOF have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians.  On Thursday, 12 April 2012, IOF established 5 checkpoints around the town.  On Friday, 13 April 2012, IOF established 6 checkpoints around the town.  On Saturday, 14 April 2012, IOF established 6 checkpoints around Qalqilya.  On Sunday, 15 April 2012, IOF established 3 checkpoints around the town.  On Monday, 16 April 2012, IOF established two checkpoints around the town.  Jenin: IOF have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians.  At approximately 16:00 on Saturday, 14 April 2012, IOF established a checkpoint on Jalboun – Beit Qad road, northeast of Jenin.  Tulkarm:  IOF have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians.  On Friday noon, 13 April 2012, Israeli soldiers positioned at Ennab checkpoint on Tulkarm-Nablus, east of Tulkarm, impose additional restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians.  At approximately 13:30 on Monday, 16 April 2012, Israeli soldiers positioned at Ennab checkpoint on Tulkarm-Nablus, east of Tulkarm, impose additional restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians.At approximately 12:30 on Saturday, 07 April 2012, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance of Qiffin village, north of Tulkarm.  At approximately 13:00 on Monday, 09 April 2012, IOF established a checkpoint at 'Allr intersection, north of Tulkarm.  Jericho:  IOF have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians.  At approximately 10:30 on Thursday, 12 April 2012, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance of al-Zbaidat village, north of Jericho.  At approximately 11:40, they established a checkpoint at the southern entrance of Jericho.  At approximately 08:30 on Saturday, 14 April 2012, IOF established a checkpoint at the western entrance of al-'Ouja village, north of Jericho.  At approximately 09:30, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance of Fassayel village, north of Jericho.  At approximately 10:00, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance of al-Zabaidat village, north of Jericho, and another one at the entrance of al-Jiftlek village, north of the town.  At approximately 11:30, IOF established a checkpoint at the southern entrance of Jericho.  At approximately 11:00 on Monday, 16 April 2012, IOF established a checkpoint at the southern entrance of Jericho.  At approximately 10:30 on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance of Fassayel village, north of Jericho.  At approximately 11:30, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance of al-'Ouja village, north of the town. Arrests at Military Checkpoints: On Thursday morning, 12 April 2012, Israeli soldiers positioned at Za’tara checkpoint, south of Nablus, arrested Lu’ai Younis Bani 'Ouda, 22, from Tammoun village southeast of Tubas. On Sunday morning, 15 April 2012, Israeli soldiers positioned at a checkpoint at the eastern entrance of Beit Ummar village, north of Hebron, arrested 'Odai Khalil Nemer, 18, from al-'Arroub refugee camp.  At approximately 07:45 on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance of Kufor Qaddoum village, northeast of Qalqilya.  They arrested 3 Palestinian civilians: Mohammed Maher Jom’a, 22; 'Aqel Mahmoud Eshtaiwi; and Mohammed Mahmoud Eshtaiwi.  The latter was released several hours later. On Tuesday, 17 April 2012, an IOF undercover unit arrested 'Emad Ahmed Abu Hashem, 22, and Mohammed Yasser Za’aqiq, 19, at the entrance of Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron.  Abu Hashem was injured by a sound bomb when IOF used force to disperse a peaceful demonstration in Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron.  4. Settlement Activities and Attacks by Settlers against Palestinian Civilians and Property Israel has continued its settlement activities in the OPT in violation of international humanitarian law, and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property. At approximately 09:00 on Thursday, 12 April 2012, a number of Israeli settlers from "Eitamar" settlement, southeast of Nablus, attacked 5 Palestinian farmers.  As a result, the farmers sustained bruises.  Soon, IOF arrived at the area and arrested the five farmers for questioning: Ashraf, Lu’ai and Ahmed Yousef Bani Jaber; and Ibrahim and Fu’ad Ghazi Bani Jame’. On Friday morning, 13 April 2012, a number of Israeli settlers from "Kiryat Arba" settlement, southeast of Hebron, violently beat Shaker al-Zaru al-Tamimi, 63, and his son Muhannad, 19, while the two civilians were on their land in Jabal Jales area in Hebron.  The old man was evacuated to a hospital in Hebron as he was moderately injured.  The settlers also uprooted dozens of olive trees.  On Sunday morning, 15 April 2012, a number of Israeli settlers from "Nahal’eil" settlement, northwest of Ramallah, destroyed at least 250 olive trees belonging to Fazwi Mousa Bazzar in Bitillu village.  On Sunday evening, 15 April 2012, a number of Israeli settlers from "Ma’oun" settlement to the east of Yatta village, south of Hebron, attacked and fired at some Palestinian farmers and shepherds in al-Litwana area.  At approximately 08:00 on Monday, 16 April 2012, IOF, accompanied by bulldozers, moved into Kufor al-Dik village, west of Salfit.  They moved towards Zaher Subeh area, where they demolished 4 agricultural rooms, 6 barnyards and 3 water wells belonging to Palestinian farmers from Rafat village, west of Salfit.  Palestinian farmers attempted to reach the area, but IOF prevented them. On Monday morning, 16 April 2012, IOF, accompanied by bulldozers, moved into al-Majnouna area in the south of Dura town, southwest of Hebron.  They destroyed 3 old water wells and a number of agricultural pools and razed a two-dunum area of agricultural land planted with vegetables belonging to the 'Amru family.  These destructions and demolitions are aimed to vacate the area to expand an Israeli military post in the area in the context of a plan to reinforce Israeli military and settlement presence in the area.      At approximately 00:00 on Wednesday, 18 April 2012, at least 3,000 Israeli settlers, escorted by IOF, broke into Kufol Hares village, north of Salfit, and performed biblical rituals.  They attacked and insulted Palestinian civilians on the streets.  IOF also arrested Jalal Mahmoud Abu Ya’qoub, 34, from his shop.  The settlers and IOF left the village at approximately 06:00.