[GushShalom] Avnery: Justice, Gas and Tears + more

Mon Jul 5 01:20:39 IDT 2004

GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033  www.gush-shalom.org/

International release, July 4, 2004

[] Justice, Gas and Tears - Avnery on police violence & court verdict
[] Petition for lifting restrictions against Mordechai Vanunu
[] Five imprisoned refusniks to face parole board & more refusnik updates
[] Az Zawiya needs you: Wall construction continues despite Supreme Court
[] Johns Hopkins University research: severe  malnutrition in Gaza
[] Collection of toys, computers and clothes for Palestinian Children

P.S. See our calendar links & announcements
   - new maps, brochures, eye-witness reports 
   - films, expositions, refusnik links  
   - Gush Shalom details re website, donations, subscription to               
email
					~~~
[] Justice, Gas and Tears - Avnery on police violence & court verdict 

 www.gush-shalom.org òáøéú áàúø

Uri Avnery
3.7.04

Justice, Gas and Tears

In the silence of the courtroom, there was an audible gasp of surprise and
shock when Supreme Justice Aharon Barak, reading the court’s decision, reached
the words: “The military commander did not use his discretion in a
proportional way, as required.”
At that moment the veteran peace activists who filled the room realized that
they had won. 
Four days before, we could not have dreamt of that. We were far from the
sterile silence of the beautiful Supreme Court building: a distance of a few
kilometers geographically, a distance of light-years mentally.
At that time we were running through clouds of tear gas, choking  and
coughing, in the center of A-Ram.
It began, surprisingly, in an atmosphere of friendliness. We came in a convoy
of buses from all over the country in order to join the inhabitants
demonstrating against the wall, on the eve of the Supreme Court decision.
We expected to be held up at the roadblock across the entrance to A-Ram. The
demonstration was not secret, we had announced it in the media. We were ready
to leave the buses quickly and continue around the roadblock on foot. We were
surprised, therefore, when the border-policemen were all smiles. The one who
entered our bus spoke like a sympathizer. “Do you know what you are getting
into?” he asked in a friendly way. When we answered that we did, he said “have
a nice day” and waved us on.
In the center of A-Ram, thousands of Palestinians were waiting for us. We
intended to march on the main road, along the planned path of the wall that
will cut the densely populated urban area in two. The big concrete slabs of
the wall were already lying in the ground, waiting for the moment when the
court would lift the temporary injunction that is holding up the building
activity.
The demonstration was intended, of course, to be completely non-violent. The
proof: in the first line there marched a Christian Orthodox priest, a senior
Muslim sheikh, local dignitaries and present and past members of the Knesset
and the Palestinian parliament. In front of us walked the A-Ram youth
orchestra.
As a symbolic act we had brought five big hammers, and some of the
demonstrators were asked to use them to strike concrete slabs lying on the
ground.
We advanced slowly in the burning sun.  Suddenly a row of border-policemen
appeared on top of the hill overlooking the road. Before we realized what was
happening, a salvo of teargas grenades – one, two, three … dozens – were shot
at us. In a few moments we were enveloped by a dense cloud of gas that covered
all escape routes.
We dispersed in all directions, but the gas grenades continued to explode
around us. Those of us who made it to the central square of the town were
attacked with tear gas, water cannon and rubber-coated bullets. 
The place resembled a real battlefield – clouds of gas, the sound of exploding
stun grenades and shooting, the screaming sirens of the Palestinian
ambulances, burning boxes along the street, abandoned posters, shuttered
shops. When the Palestinian paramedics started to run with their stretchers
towards the ambulances, local boys emerged from the alleys to throw stones at
the border-policemen (a mercenary force universally hated in the Palestinian
territories). From time to time groups of border-policemen ran towards us,
grabbing demonstrators of both sexes and dragging them towards the armored
jeeps. One of the ambulances was burning. Undercover policemen in plain
clothes, pistols in their hands - beat people and dragged them along the
ground.
All this continued for more than two hours. All that time, a question was
nagging me: Why was this happening? Clearly we had walked into a well-prepared
trap. But what was the aim?
On the way back we listened to the news on the radio. A police spokesman
announced that the border-police had been attacked by demonstrators who threw
axes and hammers at them.  In our bus, everybody burst out laughing.
The mystery was solved two days later in court, when the judges were dealing
with A-Ram. The government attorneys demanded that the temporary injunction
that was holding up the wall in A-Ram be lifted. They had a crushing argument:
two days ago, they said, the border-policemen guarding the machinery had been
viciously attacked by demonstrators. Their life was in danger. Therefore, in
order to save the policemen from the evildoers (us), the building of the wall
must be speeded up. 
The judges, so it seems, were not impressed. They announced that in another
two days, on Wednesday, the court would publish a set of principles that
would, from now on, apply to he whole length of the barrier, including A-Ram.
And indeed, on Wednesday the decision that caused the audience to gasp was
delivered. We knew in advance that the court could not forbid the wall
altogether. That would have been a challenge to the government, the army and
the national consensus. Neither did we expect a decision that would have
decreed that the wall should be set up on the Green Line (the internationally
recognized pre-1967 border).
We thought that the court would, at most, change the path of the wall a few
kilometers here and there. But the actual decision went much further: it
demands big changes all along the 750 kilometers of the barrier, in order to
remove it from the vicinity of Palestinian villages and release their land.
The judges accepted, in fact, most of the arguments that we had been voicing
in dozens of demonstrations: (a) that the path of the wall violates
international law, (b) that it destroys the fabric of life of the Palestinian
population and turns their life into hell, and (c) that this path does not
emanate from security considerations, but rather from a desire to enlarge the
settlements, annex territory to Israel and drive the Palestinians out.
Judge Barak, the president of the Supreme Court who drafted the decision, was
walking a tightrope. On one side he risked provoking the powerful military
establishment and a large section of public opinion. On the other side, he
wanted to keep his considerable reputation in the international judicial
community.
Years ago I interviewed him at length. One of the things he told me is
engraved in my memory: “The court has no divisions to enforce its decisions.
Its power is based solely on the confidence of the public. Therefore, the
court cannot distance itself too much from the public.” That was shown again
this week: Barak went very far, but knew where to stop – half way between the
planned path and the green Line. In this he was helped by the Council for
Peace and Security, a pro-peace group of retired senior army officers, who
proposed an alternative path. 
Barak knows well that he is taking a considerable risk: if a suicide attack
now takes place inside Israel, the right-wing will surely put the blame on the
court.
Actually, something similar has already happened. Only a few minutes after the
court decision was read out, Colonel (res.) Danny Tirzeh, the skull-capped
officer with responsibility at the Ministry of Defense for the building of the
wall, said that the court’s decision will cause Jews to be murdered. The man
was not fired on the spot, God forbid, but only rebuked by his minister.
Ariel Sharon may well be satisfied with the court’s decision. True, the path
of the wall will have to be planned anew, costing more money and time. But in
a week the International Court of Justice in The Hague will deliver its
decision on the wall and the matter will return to the UN. There the Israeli
and American representatives will argue that the Israeli court has already
rectified the inequities that needed to be addressed.
In A-Ram and the other suburbs of Jerusalem, too, the path will have to be
changed. I hope that it will be removed from the highway where we were
demonstrating last Saturday. I have inhaled enough gas to last me a while.    

[] Petition for lifting the restrictions from Mordechai Vanunu

From:    Rayna Moss <legalese at netvision.net.il>

òáøéú îäùåìç äî÷åøé

Mordechai Vanunu is released, but not free. Oppressive restrictions have
been placed on him by Israeli authorities, based on 1945 British Mandate
emergency regulations. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)
is representing Vanunu in an appeal challenging the draconian restrictions to
Israel's High Court. 

The restrictions include: not being allowed to leave Israel, not being allowed
to come within a certain distance of embassies, ports, and borders; not being
allowed to travel within Israel beyond the city of his residence without
advance permission; not being allowed to speak about his work at Dimona; not
being allowed to speak to the foreign press; and limits on and monitoring of
his phone and internet use. 

The injustice of not being allowed to leave Israel is compounded by the
fact that, following a massive campaign whipped up against him in the mass
media, with the active participation of several cabinet minsters,  Vanunu has
received threats on his life from ultra-right wing Israeli extremists. A
Ma'ariv newspaper internet poll two days after his
release asked the question, "What should be done with Vanunu?" and listed
"kill him" as one of several choices. 

Under such circumstances, It is obviosuly out of the question for Vanunu to
simply stroll down the street of any Israeli city. It is a particularly
vicious policy to expose a man to such hatred and hostility among the general
Israeli public - and at the same time force him to stay on in Israel and
forbid him to go anywhere else.  

Thanks very much for your support.

PETITION

To 
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, 
Justice Minister Yosef ("Tommy") Lapid 
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz:

LET MORDECHAI VANUNU GO! 
He has served his full sentence, and is not charged with any offenses.
Lift all the restrictions. 
Allow him to leave Israel immediately. 

Signature:

Affiliation (if any): 

Send to Rayna Moss <legalese at netvision.net.il> 

[] Five imprisoned refusniks to face parole board & more refusnik updates

Compiled from messages sent by Nssim Duek (Refusnik Parents' Forum,
<nissim at unik.co.il>) and Ram Rahat (Yesh Gvul, <rahat at bezeqint.net>).

òáøéú îäùåìç äî÷åøé

Noam Bahat, Adam Maor, Haggai Matar, Shimri Zameret and Matan Kaminer are
awaiting the parole board hearing on July 6, where it willedecided whether or
not to reduce the year-longterm imposed on them by the Jaffa Military Court.
Ahead ofthe hearing, dozens of Israeli lawyers and jurists signed a petition,
due to be published in Ha'aretz tomorrow (July 5). The lawyers, having
different opinions on the issue of conscientious refusal of military service
in itself, point out the punishment is disproptionally heavy, that it did not
take into accout the five's idelistic motivation and their stated willingness
to perform alternative civil sevice, and also considering the lighter
punishment meted out for more serious offences and the widespread exemptions
from miltiary service granted to other sectors of Israeli society.     

Link for details: http://www.refuz.org.il/News.html

* On July 9, CO Yoni Ben Artzi and his lawyer Michael Sfard will appear at the
Miltary Appeals Court in Tel Aviv, to appeal the verdict of the Jaffa Miltary
Court. Despite the fact that that the army already dischaged Ben Artzi from
all militay sevice and recognised him as being a civilian, the court still
found Ben Artzi guilty of "disoeying the order of his commanding officer", the
mostmilitary of all criminal offences,  and imposed the term of two months in
the military prison system.  
Ahead of this week's appeal by Ben Artzi, the army took the highly unusual
stepof increasing the panel which will hear his appeal from three judges to
five, four (!) of them generals. 

* On Monday, June 28 Captain (res.) Eitan Lerner, from Tel Aviv, was sentenced
to 28 days in Military Prison 6, for refusing to take part in the occupation.
Letters of support to him via : yeshgvul at yahoogroups.com

* Daniel Tsal, refuser  going through his fourth consecutive prison term, was
this week transfered from Military Prison 4 to Training Base 13, which means
some improvement in daily conditions. 
The big question, as yet unanswered: when finding that repeated terms of a
month or so don't break Tsal's resolve, will the authorities place him (like
the Five) before a court-martial, empowered to impose a much heavier 
punishment. To some degree, the answer depends on the amount of solidarity and
support. 
Letters of support to Daniel Tsal via:  Jehoshua at freud.tau.ac.il

Other ways of expressing solidarity: 
- Sign a petition: http://www.refuz.org.il/petition.php

- Adopt a refusenik:
<http://www.yeshgvul.org/english/article/?id=8811d70502372c03cb5023c51eb9f3ee>

- Participate in solidarity actions later this month, details via Yesh Gvul. 

[] Az Zawiya needs you: Wall construction continues despite Supreme Court 
From:           	"IWPS" <iwps at palnet.com>

URGENT ALERT: On Friday, the Israeli DCO (District Coordinating Office)
informed its Palestinian counterpart and the mayor of Az Zawiya that despite
the injunction and the court ruling on the path of the Wall, the army intends
to continue working on the Wall in Az Zawiya and Deir Balut. 
They military claim that the injunction allows them to continue working in
areas where they have already begun uprooting and cutting trees.
The villagers in return made clear that they will continue demonstrating until
the work stops.
PLEASE JOIN THE PEOPLE OF AZ ZAWIYA IN NONVIOLENT PROTEST:
Demonstrations are scheduled every morning at  10:00 a.m. until the work is
stopped (meeting point by the old Mosque) .
For updates call IWPS (International Women's Peace Sevice) 09-2516644 or
067-387806; for details on how to arrive from Israel call Anarachists Against
The Wall  066-327736, 067-724519, 064-494030.       
Please remember appropriate dress: no shorts (men or women), cover arms, wear
longer, looser clothing. Also, bring plenty of water and something to
counteract tear gas (onions, cologne or vinegar are all effective).

[] Johns Hopkins University research: severe  malnutrition in Gaza 

By Laila El-Haddad, Aljazzera coorespondent in Gaza, 29 June 

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1D105487-229E-42A6-B58B-6B4E7A1AAC64.htm

Malnutrition affects a child's ability to concentrate

At the entrance to the Ard al-Insan clinic in Gaza, also known as the 
Palestinian Benevolent Association, Iman Jilawi was pleading with 
programme director Itimad Ghabil.

Her daughter had just been released from the hospital after 
intestinal surgery, she said, and she did not have the money to pay 
for a change of the dressing, let alone for her taxi ride home. She 
was here, though, for another reason: in addition to being ill, her 
daughter was severely malnourished. And she was not alone.

A cacophony of wails could be heard from within the teeming waiting 
room. Together with their weary mothers, tens of infants waited to be 
examined by nurses and nutritionists. 

There was Mahmud Sukar, who at eight months weighed in at a mere 4.5 
kilograms, and whose family has been surviving on United Nations food 
coupons set to expire in a few weeks. 

And Farah Khalifa, who at 18 months weighed six kilograms.

"I can't even remember the last time I tasted meat," said her 
mother. "My fridge is empty, and my daughter is surviving on my 
breast milk."

The problems faced by the visitors to the clinic are confounded by a 
vicious circle of poverty and unemployment, which makes Ghabil's job 
all the more frustrating.

"I don't know what to do. I can't help them every time they come in 
here," said Ghabil. "They need continuous help."

Deteriorating nutrition

In the summer of 2002, a landmark study initiated by Care 
International and Johns Hopkins University, in coordination with Al-
Quds University in Jerusalem, found a major problem with the quality 
of food intake as well as a worrying level of acute malnutrition in 
children in the Gaza Strip. 

The clinic is overrun with mothers seeking care for their children

The figures showed that one-fifth of Palestinian children were 
suffering from malnutrition - a rate more than four times above that 
of a normally nourished population, according to the study.

"In humanitarian terms it was a percentage that was high enough to 
trigger some kind of intervention - and that's what the aid agencies 
were most interested in," said project coordinator Dr Gregg Greenough 
of Johns Hopkins University in an interview with Aljazeera.net. 

Chronic malnutrition undermines the immune system and affects the 
body's ability to resist and respond to infections and infectious 
diseases. 

It is of particular concern in places where populations are already 
vulnerable, as those in the Gaza Strip are. 

Last month, Greenough returned to Gaza to conclude a follow-up study, 
with mixed results. While malnutrition in Gaza had gone down, the 
daily intake of essential macro and micro nutrients had decreased to 
alarming levels.

"This is something unprecedented. We actually see that as they get 
older [Palestinian] children are taking in less calories per day. It 
drops off the charts," he said.

Poverty

Greenough and his colleagues say the decrease in quality of food 
intake is directly related to poverty: "Bread is cheap, and tea is 
cheap," he says. Malnutrition is not immediately evident in such 
children, however, because of the body's self-sustaining nature. 

Some kitchens contain little more than bread and water

"You can feed yourself filler food, such as bread, and preserve your 
weight and height," said Greenough. 

"What the body will do is lose weight, but not lose height right 
away. And before you lose weight and height, you decrease energy 
intake. You might be less attentive at school, for example."

According to Ard al-Insan, malnutrition prevalence is a late 
indicator of a crisis precisely because of these reasons. As a 
result, a significant proportion of Palestinian children may very 
well be at high risk of malnutrition. 

Tenuous relief

While the study did have some promising results - it found that acute 
levels of malnutrition had dropped in the Gaza Strip to 13% - 
Greenough is not holding his breath. 

Food assistance is a temporary measure for relief, he says, and if 
taken away, hundreds of vulnerable families will find themselves back 
in the malnutrition loop. 

Children suffer weight loss and a weakened immune system

"My concern is that it's still tenuous, and acute malnutrition could 
still rise," said Greenough.

With unemployment steadily on the rise, and income levels for those 
who are employed decreasing dramatically, Greenough has good reason 
to worry.

By some estimates, unemployment in general is in excess of 60% in the 
Gaza Strip, while around 80% of the population is living under the 
poverty line, with an income of under $2 a day.

In addition, the median monthly income for those who are employed has 
decreased from $550 before the second intifada to $267 during the 
first quarter of 2004, a drop of nearly 52%, the Palestinian Central 
Bureau of Statistics found.

There are also more mouths to feed, according to the World Bank and 
the United Nations. Whereas in 2000, one worker supported four people 
in the West Bank and six in the Gaza Strip, the ratios are now seven 
and nine respectively. 

Future prospects

All this has the executive director of Ard al-Insan, Itidal al-
Khatib, worried about the future. 

Although malnutrition may pose a greater health risk in other 
countries, in Gaza the situation is aggravated by a military 
occupation and a jobless economy with the living standard of a 
developed country.

"With declining incomes and declines in the access to public 
services, it would not be surprising if we would see evidence of 
deteriorating nutrition in a short time," she said.

"Mothers of malnourished children are usually also malnourished 
themselves and absolutely exhausted" says Itidal al-Khatib,
executive director of Ard al-Insan.

None the less, the clinic has continued with its work, which al-
Khatib says revolves around nutritional security from the grassroots 
up. Active mothers are given training and a certificate upon 
completion of a nutrition course, and go on to form a support group 
in their neighbourhood with other vulnerable women. 

"Mothers of malnourished children are usually also malnourished 
themselves and absolutely exhausted. 

"It affects her mental capacity. Most mothers that come in here have 
depression, and their coping mechanisms are not developed, which 
affects their relationship with their families and children. We try 
to counsel the entire household so it's useful without being 
stigmatic."

Forced to cope

But Palestinian families have had to resort to severe measures just 
to ensure their survival, according to recent studies. 

Such coping mechanisms have ranged from forgoing medical needs, to 
decreasing the numbers of meals per day.

Mothers skimp on clothes for their offspring and fuel bills

The new Johns Hopkins study has found that two-thirds of the 
population is not paying or paying less on utility bills in order to 
purchase food. More than half have given up buying clothes for their 
children, and 20% forgo buying medications needed for chronic 
diseases. 

And according to Ard al-Insan's annual report, nine per cent of 
families in Gaza eat only one meal a day, and another 40% rely on 
money borrowed from relatives in order to buy their food. Dairy 
intake has decreased by more than 80%, due to the rising cost of milk.

Some 46.8% of all Palestinian households receive food assistance from 
agencies. In Gaza, the number is a startling 72%. 

Greenough says the situation will not improve in the long-term unless 
the underlying cause is addressed: poverty. 

"I've been in some homes and all I've seen is water, parsley, and 
bread," he said. 

"The problem isn't the food - there's food out there, but people just 
can't buy it. It's very, very sad."

[] Collection of toys, computers and clothes for Palestinian Children 

From:           	"yafit biso" <g_b42 at hotmail.com>

òáøéú îäùåìç äî÷åøé

Dear everybody

The school holidays which began a few days ago are not always a time of
pleasure for children in the besieged West Bank villages, who are often
feeling bored and frustrated. Me and several of my friends are trying to help
children of different ages by collecting old toys, as well as old computers to
which we fit programs in Arabic and give them especially to sick children who
can't leave home to play. Children's cloths are also welcome.
Anyone who can donate such items, please contact  Yafit-Jamilah Biso 
03-9568061 or 064341840

P.S. See our calendar links & announcements
   - new maps, brochures, eye-witness reports 
   - films, expositions, refusnik links  
   - Gush Shalom details re website, donations, subscription to email 

# Truth against Truth - opposite views on the history of the conflict
  in 101 steps 

Hebrew / òáøéú
http://www.gush-shalom.org/Docs/Truth_Heb.pdf

English
http://www.gush-shalom.org/Docs/Truth_Eng.pdf

# Palestinians draw the map for understanding the Disengagement Plan
  http://www.nad-plo.org/images/maps/pdf/gaza.pdf

# Boycott List of Settlement Products (newly updated)

Hebrew / òáøéú
http://gush-shalom.org/Boycott/boycheb.htm

English
http://gush-shalom.org/Boycott/boyceng.htm

# Eye-witness reports from the Occupied Territories:

http://www.machsomwatch.org 
  (Israeli women monitoring the checkpoints)
http://www.palsolidarity.org/pressreleases/pressreleases.php
  (internationals throughout OT)

   - films, expositions, refusnik links 
   \/

# The "Breaking the Silence" soldiers' exhibition 

   photo gallery at:
   http://www.shovrimshtika.org/hebrew/modules.php?name=coppermine

   stories (Hebrew only)
   http://www.shovrimshtika.org/hebrew/modules.php?name=News

   article in English: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/440348.html

# Refusniks 

Constantly-updated refusniks lists:

English - http://www.yesh-gvul.org/english/prison/
Hebrew / òáøéú - http://www.yesh-gvul.org/prison/

English - http://www.newprofile.org/default.asp?language=en
Hebrew / òáøéú - http://www.newprofile.org/

Help us free our children from the military prison! (parents of The
Five)
          For ENGLISH details please click
http://www.refuz.org.il/help.html 
          For HEBREW please click http://www.refuz.org.il/hebrew/help.html
          Homepage with lots of information: 
http://www.refuz.org.il/

-- Gush Shalom website, how to donate / subscrie to emails etc.:

http://www.gush-shalom.org/ (òáøéú/Hebrew)
http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html (English)
http://www.gush-shalom.org/arabic/index.html (selected articles in
Arabic)

with
\\photos of recent actions 
\\the weekly Gush Shalom ad 
\\the columns of Uri Avnery 
\\Gush Shalom's history & action chronicle  
\\position papers & analysis (in "documents")
\\and a lot more

N.B.: 
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