Human Rights Watch On Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT)
Never again I`ll be a brainwashed bigot against Hamas. Now since I read about "THE PROTOCOLS OF ZION",I`m convinced that Israel and Zionists are real Terrorists not Hamas or The Islamic Resistance.Reading and searching for Zionism I read the whole truth and I won`t change my mind about Satanic Zionism.
I am now totally Convinced that Israelis poisoned Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat and very skeptical of the Bible which was written By Zionists as one Journal entry here states that.I mean how could the Bible praise Zionists when they Crucify Jesus?.
Honestly,some shocking Images here(by Truthhurtshypocrisyrules) about the Gaza war tell all about Israeli Cruelty.
How could we love Zionist Jews when they crucified our Holy Savior Jesus?.Furthermore,they falsified the Holy Bible to serve their aims.The Pope remains so weak and unable to condemn those Jews who crucified Jesus!.
It is an easy mission for Zionists to slaughter & crucify Palestininas just as they crucified Jesus.
Which Zionist Jews still living crucified your savior??? Show me one person (Jew or gentile) alive today that had anything at all to do with crucifying Christ. Friend, I am very sorry to say that you missed the entire point of the gospels. The question you ask is easily answered. Love will always defeat hate. Only through this means can anyone make any progress towards a world of fairness, respect and equality. Christ went to the cross willingly, we shouldn't forget that. He did this simply because he loved the very people who were persecuting him. I promise he wants everyone to enter Heaven.
Gandhiji once remarked when asked what he thought about a conspirator who attempted to assassinate him something to the effect of: 'I should deserve praise only if I hold no malice or ill-will towards my assassin.' He was perhaps the most Christian human being since Christ himself, and Gandhiji was a Hindu.
Let's see where to start. Both sides are wrong and have been for a long time. Isreal who occupies Gaza which doesn't belong to them. These people living in Gaza are tormented daily by the people living in Isreal that call themselves Zionists. THERE WILL NEVER BE PEACE IN THE REGEION SO LONG AS THE ISRAELIS CONTROL GAZA. They need to stop Fighting and do some Talking. I don't feel sorry for a country like Isreal which doesn't care about human life. Oh sorry except for when they are MURDERING People. These Rockets that are sent into Israel have killed a few people where as Isreal doesn't care how many women and children they kill. We as human beings need to start putting our diffenences aside and start looking at things in a diffent light. Stop all the fighting over petty problems. Let people Govern themselves. Stop spreading all this hate in the world. You people make me sick since when did whatever God you believe in tell you that The Muslims are wrong. YOU ALL NEED TO GROW UP AND STOP THIS FOOLISH FIGHTING OVER THE GOD YOU BELIEVE IN AND ALLOW PEOPLE TO LIVE FREE WITHOUT OCCUPATION. IF Isreal would just let these people live in peace without trying to control them there would probably be peace within the region. So long as you Governments such as Isreal and the Bush adminatration there will NEVER be peace. So long as the Zionists are in control there will never be Peace. I don't condone what Humas is doing however I cannot condone what Isreal is doing either. I say if they want to fight let them fight alone no more support for ISREAL. If they try and do what the us did in Iraq it will fail. It will cause more instability in the region. However I believe this is what the Bush admin and Isreal plotted so that when Obama takes over He will have one hell of a hard time fixing it. Obama reminds me of JFK and the Zionists around the world are scared because it's the first time since JFK that we have a President that might be able to bring peace and Harmony to the world and the Powers that be that are in control don't want to give it up. This is my opinion and I am entilied to it. If you like it Don't read it.
I have to say I don't agree with everything, but am pleasantly surprised by what you say Marc. I don't share your faith in Obama, but I do tend to hope he does a great job and makes this world a little better.
Also if I don't like something I still read it.
I am so sick of these lies regarding Israel, it is Israel that has tried to make the so called Palastinians lives better while the other Arab governments have contributed to their missery. Lets not forget that Yasser stole not millions but billions of dollars for his fat ugly wife.
Who can blame the Isrealis for anything, while they try to make peace, giving something physical such as "Jewish" land, all the Israelis get in return is dead, murdered children, teenager, mothers and fathers and grandparents while the murderers families rejoice over murders of Jewish Children. The dirty Palastians deserve nothing short of death for their murders. Lets not forget that in five other arab host countries the palastinians tried to over throw their governments and are no longer welcome there. How about Quate who murdered and killed and then exiled over a million of these discusting subhuman pigs...so tell the fucking truth for once without your personal anti-Semetic views and bias...may G-d grant to you all that you deserve.....FUCK YOU
I lived in Egypt for 2 years and was married to an muslim Egyptian for 14 years.
From VERY early childhood the muslims are taught to hate the Jews. That's a fact of life. And ugly as hell. My X husband (Mohamed) being the eldest of 6 boys had that responsibility.
My mother-in-law had a friend stay over. She was in Tanta Egypt to buy weapons for Palestinians, and trying to recruit university students to go and fight against the Jews. I WAS THERE. The subject of my sister in law who had her tubes tied came up. and this woman (My sister in law's mother in law) went nuts because she (my sister in law) would not bare male babies to grow up and kill the Jews. So my sister in law had the surgery reversed. To make that savage happy. How sick is that?
The Palestinians constantly bombard Israel with their rockets. It's a daily thing.And it's non stop.Jews are being killed every single day. And we tell them to NOT retaliate. They are far more patient with the Palestinians then I would be. Why is it none of you ever mention this fact? Cause you're all ignorant brain dead idiots who open their big fat yaps about something they know dick squat about. None of you have ever been there to testify to what is REALLY going on. So shut the hell up till you know the facts. Of course some of you would just let them come here and kill their families and do nothing. Hell in my world it’s not okay if they kill my dog. The Jews are doing EXACTLY what Canada would do under attack or even under remotely similar circumstances. You can NOT make peace with muslims. They hate peace. They can't even get along amongst themselves.Nice people do not cut off a person’s head with a knife on TV to make a statement. Or invade each other's countries. NOR make plans to invade and kill our military personal on bases here and in the USA. Or constantly terrorize the world and keep the whole freaking world captive because of 'MUSLIN THUGS'.EVERY single time they have come to the table and made peace with Israel, Hamas or some other MUSLIM faction has broken the truce within days.
Everyone is entitled to a home land. It's a mighty big planet. Are the Jews less entitled to have a country then rest of us? Unlike you and I, they have paid the price... 6 million Jewish men, women and children's lives is what it cost. YOU sure are good at turning your heads and ignoring that fact. The MUSLIMS want to do the very same thing. Have you all gone mad thinking this is okay? Or is it okay until they come here and kill one of your own family members? OR maybe in some cases your WHOLE family? Shame on you. You selfish self-absorbed self-centered asses. Nothing like sitting in your comfortable chairs on your fat ass safe and sound in your living rooms. Condemning a people trying to save themselves from yet another annihilation attempt. The muslims will settle for nothing less than the Jews leaving Israel, "a mass exodus." You think 911 was big?These people aren't done with us yet. If you want to shake hands with the devil be my guest. But the day I allow them to make me MUSLIM is the day you can eat ice cream in hell. And that’s what they want...they want us to convert the world to all MUSLIMS, that’s the goal.
And Dan I think you meant Kuwait. And it was Iraq who invaded Kuwait. Thus the war started and again no thanks to Bin Laden and other terrorist Leaders we are once AGAIN at war with them.. I hope that FU comment at the end of your comment was not directed at me poopsy.. You would be pleasantly surprised at how many agree with you..The bottom line is right now the Jews can’t stop their attacks on Palestine. They would be foolish it’s the only thing these people understand and that's putting the fear of God in them. And showing no fear and mighty force. You might want to thank the Jews one day. It will be the Jews who stop them from coming to Canada and the USA.
Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT)
Following the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in November 2004, Palestinians held their second-ever national elections on January 9, 2005. The main contender, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), became the second Palestinian president with 62.52% of the vote. The Palestinian Authority (P.A.) postponed Legislative Council elections, which were due to take place in 2005, until January 2006, but held first-ever municipal elections in four stages across the West Bank and Gaza, with Hamas gaining a substantial leadership role in local politics, especially in Gaza. The P.A. has postponed a fifth and final round of voting, which includes fifty-nine local councils, until 2006.
On February 8, 2005 Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met in Sharm el-Sheikh for the first Israeli-Palestinian summit in four years. The summit ended in a loose ceasefire agreement “that all Palestinians will stop all acts of violence against all Israelis and at the same time Israel will cease its military activity against all Palestinians everywhere." While Islamic Jihad and Hamas said they were not bound by the ceasefire, they did commit to respecting a mutual period of calm.
As part of the ceasefire, Israel agreed to release nine hundred Palestinian prisoners, which it did in February and June. Approximately eight thousand Palestinian political and security prisoners remain imprisoned by Israel. Israel also currently holds more than six hundred Palestinians under administrative detention (detention without trial or charge, which can be indefinitely renewed).
In August and September 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew approximately eight thousand settlers, along with military personnel and installations, from the Gaza Strip and four small settlements in the northern West Bank near Jenin. While Israel has since declared the Gaza Strip a “foreign territory” and the crossings between Gaza and Israel “international borders,” under international humanitarian law (IHL), Gaza remains occupied, and Israel retains its responsibilities for the welfare of Gaza residents. Israel maintains effective control over Gaza by regulating movement in and out of the Strip as well as the airspace, sea space, public utilities and population registry. In addition, Israel declared the right to re-enter Gaza militarily at any time in its “Disengagement Plan” Since the withdrawal, Israel has carried out aerial bombardments, including targeted killings, and has fired artillery into the northeastern corner of Gaza.
While the total number of Israeli and Palestinian casualties fell in 2005 following the February ceasefire, the overall human rights situation in Israel and the OPT remained grave. Since the beginning of the current intifada in September 2000, Israel has killed nearly three thousand Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, including more than six hundred children. During the same period, Palestinian fighters have killed more than nine hundred Israelis inside Israel and in the OPT. Most of those killed on both sides were civilians.
The Israeli authorities continue a policy of closure, imposing severe and frequently arbitrary restrictions on freedom of movement in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, contributing to a serious humanitarian crisis marked by extreme poverty, unemployment, and food insecurity. The movement restrictions also have severely compromised Palestinian residents’ access to health care, education, and other services. As of August 1, 2005, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported 376 closure obstacles, down from 605 in February. However, this decrease, a result of the Sharm summit and the subsequent decrease in fighting, is offset by an increase in the number of “flying checkpoints” (currently an average of sixty each month), which usually consist of a military jeep blocking a road and checking all traffic for an undisclosed period of time; an increase in concrete military towers and “road protection barriers”, which block Palestinian traffic from entering settler-only roads through the OPT; and the increased movement restrictions associated with the “separation barrier” or “wall” that Israel is building mostly inside the West Bank.
During 2005, Israel continued with its construction of the wall, notwithstanding the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion declaring the construction of the wall inside the OPT a violation of IHL, and demanding that Israel cease further construction inside the OPT. While the stated Israeli security rationale for the wall is to prevent Palestinian armed groups from carrying out attacks in Israel, 85 percent of its route extends into the West Bank, facilitating the eventual annexation to Israel of most of the large illegal Jewish settlements constructed over the past several decades as well as some of the most productive Palestinian farmlands and key water resources.
In July 2005, the Israeli Knesset approved legislation that effectively bars Palestinians from the OPT from suing Israel for death, injury or damages caused by Israeli security agents. The amendment to the Civil Wrongs (Liability of State) Law, 5712-1952 further strips Palestinians of an effective remedy for serious human rights abuses, which is required under international human rights law. The Knesset passed the bill at a time when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had criminally investigated fewer than ten percent of the Palestinian civilian deaths since September 2000, and have convicted only a handful of IDF soldiers for causing death or injury. In August, an Israeli court handed down an eight year sentence, by far the longest of the past five years, to the soldier found responsible for lethally shooting Briton Tom Hurndall in Gaza in 2002. The IDF maintains the policy that killings of Palestinians will be investigated only under “exceptional circumstances,” which neither the IDF nor the government has ever defined. The Israeli authorities’ failure to bring perpetrators to justice fosters a culture of impunity.
The Knesset also passed legislation in July 2005 barring family reunification between Israeli citizens (mostly Palestinians) and their Palestinian spouses from the OPT, except in certain age categories. Since 2002 Israel has frozen family reunification and forced thousands of married couples and their children to live apart or live together illegally. This law violates the right not to be subjected to arbitrary interference with one’s family as set out in international human rights treaties ratified by Israel.
In the OPT, despite Abbas’ pledges of restored law and order and his reorganization of the security services, including firing long-standing officials who P.A. authorities deemed inept or corrupt, control of the Palestinian Authority over Palestinian population centers is frequently nominal at best, and conditions of lawlessness have increased in the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank in 2005. Palestinian gunmen carried out several assassinations against persons alleged to have collaborated with Israeli security forces, and fighting between various Palestinian factions, security services and armed groups has led to armed clashes on the streets, vigilante killings and even the kidnapping of foreigners on several occasions in Gaza.
Since taking office, Abbas has overseen the execution of five death row inmates. At least twenty-two people remain on death row, many of them tried in the notorious Palestinian security or military courts where minimum standards of due process are not met. On June 22 Abbas ordered that the Palestinian justice system retry those whom the State Security Court had sentenced to death. It is unclear whether this process has begun.
Unlawful Use of Force
The Israeli army and security forces continued to carry out daily arrest raids and military operations in Palestinian areas during 2005. There have been over two thousand IDF incursions into Palestinian population centers this year. The IDF often carried out the operations in a manner that failed to demonstrate that it had used all feasible measures to avoid or minimize harm to civilians and their property. In one such incident, an August 24 arrest raid in the Tulkarem refugee camp, the IDF shot and killed five unarmed Palestinians, including three seventeen-year-olds. This incident reflects a growing pattern of IDF “arrest operations” in which security forces kill the target of arrest or bystanders rather than seeking to apprehend the target. More than 20 Palestinians were killed in assassinations or extra-judicial killings in 2005.
In 2005, the number of Palestinian suicide bombings and similar attacks targeting civilians inside Israel reached their lowest point since the beginning of the current intifada in 2000. Palestinian armed groups carried out three lethal suicide bombing attacks inside Israel in 2005, killing fifteen Israelis and injuring scores more. Armed groups also carried out several roadside shootings and bomb attacks in the OPT, killing several Israeli civilians. In addition, on several occasions, Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip fired home-made rockets, known as Qassams, and mortar shells into Israel and at Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip (up until the withdrawal in August), which killed several Israelis, Palestinians, and foreign workers. These weapons are inherently indiscriminate and are generally fired at civilian areas, in contravention of IHL. Abbas publicly denounced such tactics and called for an end to the armed uprising. Yet the Palestinian Authority appeared unable to stop those who have ordered or organized such attacks.
The Wall
On February 20, 2005 Israel modified the planned route of the wall. While the new route runs closer to the Green Line in some areas, such as the southern West Bank, in other areas it will run far inside the West Bank in order to capture key Israeli settlements such as Ariel (twenty-two kilometers inside the West Bank), the Gush Etzion bloc (with fifty thousand settlers) near Bethlehem and the Maaleh Adumim settlement east of Jerusalem. The new route is 670 km, twice the length of the “Green Line” (the 1949 armistice line between Israel and Jordan which served as the de facto border between Israel and the West Bank after Israel’s 1967 occupation); only about one-fifth of the route follows the Green Line itself. During 2005 Israel still failed to make the case why a wall constructed entirely on the Israeli side of the Green Line would not have been at least as effective in providing security inside Israel. Instead, the current wall will bring over three hundred thousand West Bank and East Jerusalem settlers and a minimum of 135,000 acres of West Bank territory over to the Israeli side. Despite Israel’s contention that the wall is a “temporary” security measure, it captures settlements that Israel has vowed to hold onto permanently. On July 21 Sharon said that the Ariel bloc of settlements “will be part of the State of Israel forever.”
The construction of the wall and settlement expansion essentially have cut off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. In June the Israeli cabinet approved the final details of the 60-kilometer fence around Jerusalem that will cut off some fifty-five thousand Palestinian Jerusalem residents from their city. Israel also has announced plans to build in the three thousand acre piece of West Bank land between Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim, known as E-1, and to surround the entire area with the wall. This will effectively sever the northern and southern West Bank.
Key International Actors
In April 2005, after meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, U.S. President George Bush “reiterated that the United States supports the establishment of a Palestinian state that is viable, contiguous, sovereign and independent.” Yet while the Bush administration expressed displeasure at Israel’s decision to build in the E-1 area of the OPT, and paid lip service to the call for a freeze in settlement expansion, it provided no political or economic sanctions on Israel’s continued building. Sharon publicly vowed to continue building despite U.S. displeasure.
Israel remained the largest recipient of U.S. military and economic aid, receiving almost U.S.$3 billion in 2005. In contrast, after a May meeting between Bush and Abbas, Bush pledged U.S.$50 million in aid to the P.A. for housing and other construction following the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. However Congress later earmarked part of this money to be used to beef up “border crossings” along the wall, which are mostly located on occupied West Bank land. In September 2005, following the Israeli withdrawal, the United States approved disbursement of a U.S.$3 million supplemental grant to the P.A. security services.
Also in September, the Quartet (the United Nations, Russia, the European Union and the United States) foreign ministers met to welcome the successful conclusion of the Israeli withdrawal and call for renewed efforts to return to the Road Map (a performance-based plan with three phases which is supposed to build confidence in preparation for final status negotiations to end the conflict). Their final statement read: “The Quartet reaffirms that any agreement on final status issues must be reached through negotiations and that a new Palestinian State must be truly viable, with contiguity in the West Bank and connectivity to Gaza.” The Quartet also called for an end to settlement expansion and expressed concern regarding the route of the wall.
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/18/isrlpa12224.htm