[GushShalom] Officer caught red-handed / Report Neta vigil / Court session
Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)
info at gush-shalom.org
Tue Feb 4 18:31:25 IST 2003
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Gush Shalom
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[] Officer reports on TV on what amounts to human rights violation
Gush Shalom lodges complaint with Brig. Gen. Menachem Finkelstein
[] Neta Golan vigil made it into Israel Plus news
[] Help the Egyptian Fareg Ibrahim stay with wife an child -
Wednesday, 11.30, at the Supreme Court
\\//
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[] Officer reports on TV on what amounts to human rights violation
Gush Shalom sends letter to Brig. Gen. Menachem Finkelstein
Tel-Aviv, Feb. 4, 2003
To
Brigadier-General Menachem Finkelstein
Judge-Advocate General
IDF, Israel
Fax 972-3-5694370
Dear Sir
On Thursday, January 30, 2003, the media reported an IDF invasion of the city of Hebron, with
infantry and armoured forces on a scale not previously seen in that city during the present
confrontation, while imposing and enforcing a total curfew on the city. On the evening news of
both Channel 1 and Channel 2 of the Israeli television, there were repeated interviews with one
of the officers leading this invasion, at the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel - an officer who was
identified only by his first name, Eran, and by his function as
commander of the Shaham Battalion. In the various TV interviews, Lieutenant-Colonel Eran
repeatedly stated: "It is our intention to apply strong pressure on the population in order to
make it expel the terrorists from its midst".
Indeed, on that and following days reports in the Israeli and international media, the findings of
human rights organizations and what we heard directly in phone calls with Hebron inhabitants,
all give a grave picture of acts whose greater part seems designed solely to harm the civilian
population and severely hamper its daily life.
Among other things, we hear of blocking the streets of Hebron to traffic by piling mounds of
earth or huge concrete cubes at distances of about a hundred metres from each other,
effectively cutting the city into a series of isolated enclaves; the wholesale closing of local radio
and TV stations, exactly at the time when the curfew-imprisoned population needs them most;
the invasion by soldiers of civilian offices of the Palestinian Authority, which fulfil purely civilian
functions vital for the population, the destruction of computers and furniture, expulsion of the
staff and welding shut the doors; the bulldozing of Hebron's vegetable market, destruction of at
least a hundred stalls, and spoiling of much food-stuff in an already very impoverished city; and
the latest - the demolition of twenty-two homes on one day, mostly on land which Israeli
settlers have long coveted for extension of their armed enclaves, with the excuse that they have
been "illegally built".
The combination of the explicit words of the above-mentioned officer - interviewed, presumably,
under authorization of the army spokesperson - with the testimonies from the ground clearly
and unequivocaly indicates a policy of collective punishment against the 200,000 strong
population of Hebron. This constitutes a clear violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention to
which Israel is a signatory. We ask you to make clear to the above-mentioned officer the gravity
of his acts and the possible severe consequences to himself, to the IDF and to the state of
Israel, consequent upon his taking personal responsibility on the airwaves for the violating of
International Law, with his picture and his voice even if his family name was kept secret.
Furthermore, I would like you to make clear their responsibility to that officer's superiors. Either
the policy announced by him is implemented with their knowledge and at their command, or he
is implementing it at his own initiative and without his superiors stopping him. In either case,
the superiors fully share in responsibility for these severe violations of International Law.
We hope that you will fulfil your duty in this matter, as the officer charged with law-abiding by
members of the Israeli armed forces.
[] Neta Golan vigil made it into Israel Plus news
Yesterday, Feb. 3, Neta Golan was interrogated by the police for her human shield work in
Arafat's Moqata'a. Some twenty activists were there at the call of Gush Shalom demonstrating
in front of the police station in Tel-Aviv. Signs: Neta - we are proud of you! / Neta Golan - a great
peace activist / Warmongers go free - peace activists interrogated. Ma'ariv published it, as well
as the Russian-language TV Israel Plus, who interviewed Neta Golan before she entered the
police station, and invited Gush Shalom spokesperson Adam Keller to a simultaneously-
translated discussion on their evening
[] Help the Egyptian Fareg Ibrahim stay with wife an child -
Wednesday, 11.30, at the Supreme Court
--------------------forwarded message follows-------------------
From: " lawyers Shamai" <lawyers at goldmail.net.il>
To: <info at gush-shalom.org>
On Wednesday, February 5, at 11:30, The Supreme Court in Jerusalem will hold a hearing
concerning the deportation of Fareg Ibrahim, an Arab-Egyptian resident of Israel, married to an
Israeli woman, father of one-month old baby, who has been detained for the past seven months
awaiting his deportation.
He did not commit any crime, and was not arrested for any crime. The Ministry of Interior
issued a deportation order for no palpable reason other than their policy of getting rid of as
many Arabs as possible.
Only after his lawyer, Shamai Leibowitz, filed a petition to the Supreme Court, they suddenly
came up with a new reason - "secret evidence that he is a security threat". This is just a fig leaf
intended to impress the judges in the Supreme Court, and convince the judges to hold secret
KGB-style hearings where false, incorrect information will be presented to the Judges in order
to deceive them.
Participation of a large audience can help prevent this miscarriage of justice.
Shamai Leibowitz, Attorney-At-Law
Arlozorov St. 21
Ramat Gan 52481
Tel: 972-3-6704170
---
Protest against repeated and unlimited imprisonment of draft resisters at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/091202/
---
The film 'Jenin Jenin' with Hebrew subtitles can be purchased from Yael Lerer.
To get a copy, send a check for NIS 100. and mail it to:
Andalus
P.O. Box 53036
Tel Aviv 61530
For English undertitling contact:
info at arabfilm.com / www.arabfilm.com
---
On our site:
http://www.gush-shalom.org/ (òáøéú)
http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html (English)
\\photo's - of action or otherwise informative
\\the weekly Gush Shalom ad - in Hebrew and English
\\the columns of Uri Avnery - in Hebrew, Arab and English
\\and an archive full of interesting documents
N.B.:
On the Gush Shalom website links for:
Articles and documents in German
Articles and documents in French
Articles and documents in Spanish
In order to receive our Hebrew-language
press releases [mostly WORD documents -
not always same as English] mail to:
gush-shalom-heb-request at mailman.gush-shalom.org
+ NB: write the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
To get forwarded reports and announcements which we receive + a selection of English-language artic
les,
send one blank mail to: TOI_Billboard-subscribe at topica.com
If you want to support Gush Shalom's activities you can send a cheque or cash, wrapped well in an e
xtra
piece of paper to:
Gush Shalom
pob 3322
Tel-Aviv 61033
Israel
or ask us for charities in your country which receive donations on behalf of Gush Shalom
Please, add your email address where to send our confirmation of receipt.
More official receipts at request only.
NB: Via http://www.HelpPalestine.Org you can donate from remote locations used but valuable goods.
"Help Palestine" offers to take care of selling & transporting - profits to be sent to Palestine Re
d Crescent
Society.
" ~ " ~ " ~ " ~ " ~ " ~ " ~ " ~ " ~ " ~ "
President Bush has agreed that war should be the very last resort. Let's hold him and his adminis
tration to
those words, by signing:
http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar/
" ~ " ~ " ~ " " ~ " ~ "
---
Protest against repeated and unlimited imprisonment of draft resisters at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/091202/
The film 'Jenin Jenin' with Hebrew subtitles can be purchased from Yael Lerer.
To get a copy, send a check for NIS 100. and mail it to:
Andalus
P.O. Box 53036
Tel Aviv 61530
For English undertitling contact:
info at arabfilm.com / www.arabfilm.com
---
On our site:
http://www.gush-shalom.org/ (òáøéú)
http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html (English)
\\photo's - of action or otherwise informative
\\the weekly Gush Shalom ad - in Hebrew and English
\\the columns of Uri Avnery - in Hebrew, Arab and English
\\and an archive full of interesting documents
N.B.:
On the Gush Shalom website links for:
Articles and documents in German
Articles and documents in French
Articles and documents in Spanish
In order to receive our Hebrew-language
press releases [mostly WORD documents -
not always same as English] mail to:
gush-shalom-heb-request at mailman.gush-shalom.org
+ NB: write the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
To get forwarded reports and announcements which we receive + a selection of English-language artic
les,
send one blank mail to: TOI_Billboard-subscribe at topica.com
If you want to support Gush Shalom's activities you can send a cheque or cash, wrapped well in an e
xtra
piece of paper to:
Gush Shalom
pob 3322
Tel-Aviv 61033
Israel
or ask us for charities in your country which receive donations on behalf of Gush Shalom
Please, add your email address where to send our confirmation of receipt.
More official receipts at request only.
NB: Via http://www.HelpPalestine.Org you can donate from remote locations used but valuable goods.
"Help Palestine" offers to take care of selling & transporting - profits to be sent to Palestine Re
d Crescent
Society.
" ~ " ~ " ~ " ~ " ~ " ~ " ~ " ~ " ~ " ~ "
President Bush has agreed that war should be the very last resort. Let's hold him and his adminis
tration to
those words, by signing:
http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar/
" ~ " ~ " ~ " " ~ " ~ "
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