Human Rights

NEWS

• Electronic Intifada: Harvard Fellow calls for genocidal measure to curb Palestinian births Report (22 February 2009).
• Times of London - Red Cross and humanitarian life-saving action by Jakob Kellenberger (President of the ICRC) (21 January 2009), quote – “The humanitarian cost of this conflict and the civilian suffering need not have been so high…”.
• Christian Science Monitor: Israel’s slipping democracy: This beacon of freedom is becoming more like its authoritarian neighbors, by Nir Eisikovits (24 September 2008).
  This article by an Israeli lawyer describes various ways Israel has been compromising its democratic nature.
• Washington Post
  Around the World: UNITED NATIONS – World Food Program Targets 16 Needy Spots, from News Services (13 August 2008) – the UN has included the Palestinian occupied territories amongst the most neediest spots for food assistance.
• Washington Post
  Campaign to silence dissent in West Bank, Gaza, by Mohammed Daraghmeh, Associated Press (12 August 2008) – describes human rights violations by bot Fatah and Hamas in order to stifle descent..
• Washington Post: Gazans’ Access To Care Faulted, by Linda Gradstein (5 August 2008).
  This article describes in very diplomatic terms how Israel blackmails Gazans with medical needs to spy for Israel in exchange for medicine and treatment.
• Chicago Tribune
  Gaza Palestinians to spy in exchange for treatment,
  Washington Post:
  Activists: Israel bullying ill Palestinians to spy:
  both articles by Diaa Hadid, Associated Press (4 August 2008).
• Chicago Tribune
  In demographic race for Jerusalem, Palestinian discovers home is no longer home,
  Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
  Boston Globe,
  Washington Post:
  For Jerusalem Palestinians, home not always home,
  all 3 article versions by Karin Laub, Associated Press (2 August 2008) – this article describes how Israel is attempting to win the demographic race for Jerusalem using inhumane methods such as land policy, home demolitions, wall, discrimination in building permitting, etc., and yet is still losing.
• Washington Post: Rights Group Reports Torture by Palestinian Security Forces, by Linda Gradstein (30 July 2008).
• Boston Globe,
  Washington Post:
  Official: Palestinian boy killed by live round, by Mohammed Daraghmeh, Associated Press (30 July 2008).
• Boston Globe
  Boy dies by Israeli gunfire in West Bank, witnesses say (30 July 2008),
  Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
  Washington Post:
  Boy killed by Israeli fire in West Bank (29 July 2008),
  both articles by Diaa Hadid, Associated Press.
• Chicago Tribune
  Parched Palestinians plead with Israel for water to drink,
  Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
  Boston Globe,
  Washington Post:
  Palestinians call on Israel to rethink water deal,
  these articles by Mohammed Daraghmeh, Associated Press (27 July 2008).
• Washington Post
  Israeli soldier filmed shooting near Palestinian, by Diaa Hadid, Associated Press (21 July 2008).
• Washington Post
  Israeli army probes shooting of bound Palestinian, Reuters (21 July 2008).
• BBC News: Who are the Mid-East prisoners? (16 July 2008).
  This article describes the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, many without charges or trial, and how they are often used as political pawns.
• Chicago Tribune: Israel bans former DePaul professor (25 May 2008).
  Professor Norman Finkelstein is a strong critic of the Israeli government. Israel blocks his entry into the country, which is supposed to be open to all Jews. Isn’t Israel supposed to be a democracy?
• New York Times: “Israel’s tactics thwart attacks, with trade-off”, by Isabel Kershner (3 May 2008).
  This article sides with Israel on the debate between security vs. civil rights. What the author of the article ignores or misunderstands is that the Palestinians and international human rights groups claim that Israel applies its security measures way beyond what is necessary for security to the extent that suggests that Israel has alternative motives to actually destroy Palestinian society, not to just halt terrorism.
• Boston Globe
  Medical chaos, delays cost ill Gazans’ lives: UN agency cites border snarls, by Diaa Hadid, Associated Press (2 April 2008) – “Dozens of Gaza residents have died waiting for medical treatment because of delays in obtaining permits to enter Israel, combined with a crumbling health system in Gaza, the World Health Organization said yesterday”.

ONLINE REPORTS

• Palestinian Centre for Human Rights - “Two Persons kidnapped and tortured by Gunmen in Gaza and Khan Yunis” (5 April 2010).
• Hamoked - “HaMoked cautions against the entering into effect of the Order regarding Prevention of Infiltration (Amendment No. 2) and the Order regarding Security Provisions (Amendment No. 112)” (28 March 2010).
• Palestinian Centre for Human Rights - “PCHR Expresses Deep Concern Regarding Official Statements on Death Penalty Application in the Gaza Strip” (25 March 2010).
• Al-Haq - “Al-Haq at the Human Rights Council’s 13th Session” (24 March 2010).
• Gisha - “13 Human Rights Organizations Petition the Supreme Court: Israel Should Not Determine Which Parent a Palestinian Child Lives with” (15 March 2010).
• Arab Association for Human Rights - “Human rights defender’s freedom of movement and right to a fair trial violated” (13 March 2010).
• Adalah - “Restricting The Space Of Israeli Human Rights Defenders And Organizations Working In Israel And The OPT” (10 March 2010).
• Al-Haq - “European Parliament Supports Goldstone Report and Demands Accountability for International Crimes Committed during Operation Cast Lead” (10 March 2010).
• Human Rights Watch - “Israel: End Crackdown on Anti-Wall Activists – Peaceful Advocates Detained on Spurious Charges, Denied Due Process” (5 March 2010).
• Al-Haq - “Excessive Use of Force and Willful Killing in Hebron” (3 March 2010).
• Al-Haq - “In the Pursuit of Accountability for ‘Operation Cast Lead’; An Analysis on the follow-up GA Resolution adopted on 26 February 2010″ (3 March 2010).
• Amnesty International (Israel) - “Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel”.
• B’Tselem - “Knesset takes steps to silence human rights organizations” (28 February 2010).
• B’Tselem - “Soldiers disturb and assault B’Tselem’s video photographers in the West Bank despite army’s declaration that filming is permitted” (28 February 2010).
• Human Rights Watch - “Israel: Attacks on New Israel Fund, Critical Groups, Threaten Civil Society” (7 February 2010).
• B’Tselem - “Israel’s report to the UN misstates the truth” (4 February 2010).
• B’Tselem - “Targeting of Human Rights Organizations Destroys Israeli Democracy” (2 February 2010).
• Physicians for Human Rights - “Palestinian, Israeli and International Human Rights NGOs Deplore Politically-Motivated Claims Aimed at Discrediting Human Rights Defenders” (1 February 2010).
• Adalah - “Politics without law: The attack on human rights organizations”, by Hassan Jabareen (February 2010).
• Human Rights Watch - Gaza: Hamas Report Whitewashes War Crimes (28 January 2010).
• Association for Human Rights in Israel - “HR Organizations: Establish Independent Inquiry into Cast Lead” (26 January 2010) – quote – “one year after the war in Gaza and before the UN will debate the Goldstone report, organizations urge Prime Minister to conduct impartial inquiry into Israel’s actions”.
• Human Rights Watch - World Report: Abusers Target Human Rights Messengers – Rights-Respecting Governments Should Speak Up to Protect Defenders (20 January 2010) – quote – “The 612-page report, the organization’s 20th annual review of human rights practices around the globe, summarizes major human rights trends in more than 90 nations and territories worldwide…. local and international human rights groups working in Israel have experienced a more hostile climate than ever before after documenting abuses committed by Israel, as well as Hamas, during the December 2008 – January 2009 fighting in Gaza and Israel and in connection with Israel’s ongoing blockade of Gaza.”
• Palestinian Centre for Human Rights - “War Crimes against Children: A PCHR investigation into Palestinian children killed by Israeli Forces in the Gaza Strip” (18 January 2010).
• Amnesty International - “Israeli detention of Palestinian activists must end – The activists were detained following their protests against the fence/wall”, by Martina Waiblinger (8 January 2010).
• Human Rights Watch - Israel: Court Should Halt Forced Returns of Migrants to Egypt – Avoid Complicity in Serious Egyptian Violations (12 December 2009).
• Association for Civil Rights in Israel - “ACRI’s State of Human Rights Report 2009: Rights on Condition”, by Tal Dahan (6 December 2009) – quote – “annual survery finds conditioning of rights affects all members of society, weakens Israeli democracy”.
• Human Rights Watch - Israel: End Arbitrary Detention of Rights Activist – Mohammed Othman Held without Charge for 72 Days (4 December 2009).
• B’Tselem - “The Hidden Agenda: The Establishment and Expansion Plans of Ma’ale Adummim and their Human Rights Ramifications”, by Nir Shalev (December 2009).
• Amnesty International - “Detainees in Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories must be treated humanely” (24 November 2009).
• United Nations – Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (6 November 2009).
• B’Tselem - “Testimony: Soldiers beat and abuse Palestinian student at the Za’tara checkpoint and nearby” (November 2009).
• United Nations Human Rights Council - Human Rights in Palestine and other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (advance edited version) (15 September 2009) – popularly known as the “Goldstone Report”.
• United Nations - HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN PALESTINE AND OTHER OCCUPIED ARAB TERRITORIES: The grave violations of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly due to the recent Israeli military attacks against the occupied Gaza Strip (10 August 2009).
• International Committee of the Red Cross - ICRC Annual Report 2008: Israel, the occupied territories and the autonomous palestinian territories (27 May 2009).
• Human Sciences Research Council - Occupation, Colonialism, Apartheid: A reassessment of Israel’s practices in the occupied Palestinian territories under international law by Virginian Tilley (May 2009).
• UNICEF - Situation of children in Gaza remains precarious 100 days after end of conflict (28 April 2009).
• United Nations - Children and armed conflict: Report of the Secretary-General (26 March 2009).
• B’Tselem - “Human rights community to Israeli Prime Minister: Time is running out. Establish independent inquiry into Operation Cast Lead” (26 January 2009).
• Palestinian Centre for Human Rights - War Crimes Against Children: A PCHR investigation into Palestinian children killed by Israeli Forces in the Gaza Strip, 27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009.
• UNICEF - Life in the midst of Gaza conflict, through the eyes of a Palestinian teenager (5 January 2009).
• B’Tselem - “Testimony: Soldier fires rubber-coated metal bullet at head of ten-year-old boy in Ni’lin” (January 2009).
• Human Rights Watch - Internal Fight – Palestinian Abuses in Gaza and the West Bank (29 July 2008), quote – “This report documents serious human rights abuses over the past year by the competing Palestinian authorities in Gaza and the West Bank, run by Hamas and Fatah, respectively. Over the past 12 months, Palestinians in both places have suffered serious abuses at the hands of their own security forces, in addition to persistent abuses by the occupying power, Israel.”.
• If Americans Knew – Letting AP in on the Secret: Israeli Strip Searches (July 29, 2008).
• International Commission of Jurists – Palestine – Attacks on Justice 2005 – Independence of Judges and Lawyers (11 July 2008).
• International Committee of the Red Cross – Israel/Gaza: 23 years’ solitary for a detainee’s wife (26 May 2008) – Tahani is one of hundreds of Palestinian wives whose husbands are held in Israeli prisons. For the past 23 years, she has had to raise their six children alone. In June 2007, the Israeli authorities suspended all family visits; she is desperate to see him once again.
• Association for Civil Rights in Israel – An Introduction to Human Rights (15 May 2008) – covers human rights and international law, and democracy and in basic Israeli legislation.
• Human Rights Watch – Israel: Independent Probe Needed in Gaza Killings – Military-Only Investigations Into Civilian Deaths Inadequate (2 May 2008).
• Human Rights Watch – Letter to IDF JAG on Investigation into Deaths of Four Civilians (30 April 2008).
• Human Rights Watch – Equal Citizens?, by Lucy Mair (31 March 2008).
• Adalah – SPECIAL REPORT: Israeli Military Attacks on the Occupied Palestinian Territories – describes 6 Supreme Court petitions filed by Adalah describing massive human rights violations in the OT.
• Adalah – SPECIAL REPORT: Human Shields – Use of Palestinian Civilians as Human Shields by the Israeli Army.
• Adalah – SPECIAL REPORT: Movement Restrictions on Sheikh Ra’ed Salah – Ban on Foreign Travel.
• International Commission of Jurists – Palestine – Israel – 7th Session of the UN Human Rights Council: ICJ Intervention on the Human Rights Situation in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories – Administration of Justice – Independence of Judges & Lawyers (6 March 2008).
• International Committee of the Red Cross – Gaza: opening the road to new possibilities (29 February 2008) – life is made easier in the Palestinian village of Wadi Salqa, an agricultural community, after the ICRC helps rebuild a vital road.
• Association for Civil Rights in Israel – ACRI’s State of Human Rights Report 2005 (19 February 2008).
• Human Rights Watch – Human Rights Watch oral statement on Gaza to the UN Human Rights Council (24 January 2008).
• COHRE – On the Occassion of the Sixth Special Session of the Human Rights Council: Concerning Violations of the Fundamental Rights caused by the Blockade and Sanctions on Gaza – On the Matter of Human Rights Violations taking Place in the Occupied Palestinian Territory including Recent Actions in Gaza and Nablus (23 January 2008) – On 23 & 24 January 2008, the United Nations Human Rights Council held a Special Session on the oPt. At this session COHRE released the findings of its position paper Hostage to Politics and raised its concern about the impact that sanctions and the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip are having on the water and sanitation sectors and hindering the realization of a number of rights for residents of Gaza.
• Human Rights Watch – Human Rights Watch written statement on Gaza to the UN Human Rights Council. Human Rights Watch advocacy document for the sixth special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council addressing the human rights situation in Gaza and West Bank town of Nablus. (22 January 2008).
• United Nations Human Rights Council – Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, John Dugard (21 January 2008).
• Amnesty International – Amnesty International 2008 Report: The State of the World’s Human Rights: Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (2008).
• B’Tselem – Human Rights in the Occupied Territories: Annual Report 2007 (January 2008).
• Human Rights Watch – Human Rights Watch 2008 Report: Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) Events of 2007 (31 January 2008)
• International Committee of the Red Cross – The occupied Palestinian territories: Dignity Denied (13 December 2007) – Throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, in the Gaza Strip as well as the West Bank, Palestinians continuously face hardship in simply going about their lives; they are prevented from doing what makes up the daily fabric of most people’s existence. An ICRC report.
• Association for Civil Rights in Israel – The State of Human Rights in Israel and the Occupied Territories: 2007 Report (December 2007).
• International Committee of the Red Cross – Gaza: date palms and olive trees on levelled land (19 November 2007) – “Over the past two decades, farmers of the community of El Qarara in the Gaza Strip have seen their land levelled and some of it taken over completely as security zones were expanded. The ICRC is helping the farmers rehabilitate their land, livelihoods – and community spirit.”
• Human Rights Watch – Why They Died – Civilian Casualties in Lebanon during the 2006 War (5 September 2007), quote – “In this report, Human Rights Watch examines military operations by Israeli and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon during the armed conflict that lasted from July 12 until August 14, 2006.”.
• Human Rights Watch – Civilians under Assault – Hezbollah’s Rocket Attacks on Israel in the 2006 War (28 August 2007), quote – “During its armed conflict with Israel from July 12 until August 14, 2006, Hezbollah claimed at various times that its rockets were aimed primarily at military targets in Israel, or that its attacks on civilians were justifiable as a response to Israel’s indiscriminate fire into southern Lebanon and as a tool to draw Israel into a ground war.”.
• International Commission of Jurists – Palestine – Israel – Global inquiry concludes assessment of counter-terrorism laws, policies and practices in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories – Counter Terrorism and Human Rights, by (27 August 2007).
• International Committee of the Red Cross – West Bank: food parcels for Hebron families (27 August 2007) – One woman describes how she and her family survive in the West Bank town of Hebron – just one of more than 1,700 families supported by the ICRC through the monthly distribution of food parcels… with the establishment of Israeli settlements in the Old City in 1979, a long economic decline began. A series of curfews and closures imposed since the beginning of the second Intifada has now turned the pulsing heart of Hebron into a ghost town.
• International Committee of the Red Cross – Occupied Golan: stories of separation (5 June 2007) – Quote from website – “Israel’s occupation of the Golan severely restricts the ability of its Arab residents to go about their daily lives. In addition, many have relatives across the demarcation line in Syria that they have not seen for years.”
• United Nations - Children and Armed Conflict: Middle East – Lebanon, Israel and occupied Palestinian territory (9-20 April 2007).
• Amnesty International Annapolis talks must lead to immediate, concrete action on human rights (2007).
• Adalah – SPECIAL REPORT: The State of Israel v. MK Dr. Azmi Bishara – protection of freedoms of speech and of association (with Syria).
• Adalah – SPECIAL REPORT: Official Commission of Inquiry into the October 2000 Events.
• International Committee of the Red Cross – Declining health services in the Palestinian territories: an ICRC report (15 November 2006) – Quote from website – “Since the beginning of 2006, the ICRC has repeatedly warned of the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories. An ICRC report issued today documents the tragic consequences that the interruption of essential health services has had on the Palestinian population. A key finding is that it is the poor, whose numbers are increasing because of the overall economic decline, who are predominantly affected by the current interruption of health services.
• Human Rights Watch - A Question of Security – Violence against Palestinian Women and Girls (6 November 2006), quote-”A significant number of women and girls in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) are victims of violence perpetrated by family members and intimate partners.”.
• UNICEF - At A Glance: Occupied Palestinian Territory (11 September 2006).
• Human Rights Watch - Promoting Impunity: The Israeli Military’s Failure to Investigate Wrongdoing (21 June 2005).
• Association for Civil Rights in Israel – Law Denies Palestinians the Right to Compensation (2005).
• Human Rights Watch – Erased In A Moment: Suicide Bombing Attacks Against Israeli Civilians (15 October 2002), quote-”More than 415 Israeli and other civilians have been killed, and more than two thousand injured, as a result of attacks by armed Palestinians between September 30, 2000 and August 31, 2002. The majority of these deaths and injuries were caused by so-called suicide bombings carried out by Palestinians.”.
• United Nations - Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Report on Jenin (1 August 2002).
• Human Rights Watch – In the Dark Hour: The Use of Civilians during IDF Arrest Operations (18 April 2002), quote-”This report documents the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) practice of coercing civilians to assist military personnel and operations, a serious violation of international humanitarian law (IHL).”

OFFLINE REFERENCES

• Dugard, John. “Enforcement of Human Rights in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip”, in Playfair, Emma (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (1992), p 461.
• Kuttab, Jonathan. “Avenues Open for Defence of Human Rights in the Israeli-Occupied Territories”, in Playfair, Emma (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (1992), p 489.