Monday, September 25, 2006

Photographier l'attente (1) / Photographing the waiting moments (1)



(c) Anne Paq/tourbillonphoto.com
Container checkpoint; September 2006.
Voir aussi les photos ci-dessous/ See also pics below.

25 septembre 2006.

Comment photographier l’attente?
L’attente que vit tous les jours aux Palestiniens aux checkpoints;
Ces heures perdues pour rien.
Ce week end a cause de la fête juive de la nouvelle année, les territoires palestiniens etaient bouclés. Les checkpoints etaient beaucoup plus nombreux et difficiles à passer, aloes que le Ramadan commence pour les Palestiniens et qu’ils veulent rendre visite à leur famille.
Je me souviens d’un dialogue entre un Palestinien et un Israelien auquel j’ai assisté lors d’une précédente fête juive « Alors parce vous voulez faire la fête, nous devons rester à la maison ».
Comment photographier ces heures perdues ; ces parties de vie gachées ?
Au checkpoint de container (entre Abu Dis et Bethlehem), entre deux villes de Cisjordanie (pourquoi alors mettre un checkpoint la), nous avons passé une heure. Embouteillage monstre, accident entre un bus et un taxi (il n’y a pas assez de place pour toutes les files de voitures), soldats qui font passer les voitures au compte-goutte ; chaleur et poussiere ; tout etait reuni pour assurer une frustration et exasperation maximales.
Comment photographier tout cela ?- me demandais-je alors que je photographiais la scene chaotique du taxi.
Mettre un effet dans les photos- somme toutes banales de gens qui attendent- comme pour dire- Hey ces photos banales ne doivent pas etre considerees comme annodines, elles representent la quintessence de l’occupation. Les couleurs et les traits sont saturés, comme le sont les Palestiniens. Saturés de toute cette attente, qui les ronge chaque jour. S’il vous plait, regardez les.

ENGLISH
How to photograph the fact of waiting?
Waiting, and waiting- this is what Palestinians have to do everyday at checkpoints.
Hours wasted for nothing, lost forever.
This week end was the beginning of the Jewish Celebration for the New Year. As a result, a siege had been imposed on the Palestinian territories. More checkpoints had been set up and it was much more difficult- if not impossible- to circulate whereas it coincided with the beginning of Ramadan, during which Palestinians have to visit each other.
I remember a small dialogue between a Palestinian and an Israeli concerning another Jewish celebration: “So because you guys want to have a party, we are supposed to stay at home?!!!”.
How to photograph these hours lost, these wasted parts of life?
At container checkpoint (located between Abu Dis and Bethlehem) right in the middle of the West Bank (so why do we need a checkpoint between Palestinian villages there?); we spent around one hour. Giant traffic jam; incident between a bus and a taxi (there is not enough space for all the queues of cars); soldiers who randomly let cars go or not one by one and check them; the heat and the dust…everything seemed to have been diesigned to produce maximal frustration and exasperation.
How to photograph all that?- I was wondering as I was photographing the scene from the taxi?
What if I put some effects on these banal pictures- as to say: hey! These pictures should not be considered as banal; they deserve your attention. They represent the essence of the occupation. The colours and traits must be saturated, as the Palestinians are. Saturated from all this waiting; which eat them piece by piece, day after day.
Please look at them.

Photographier l'attente (2) / Photographing the waiting moments (2)








(c) Anne Paq/tourbillonphoto.com
Container checkpoint, between Abu Dis and Bethlehem, september 2006.
Voir texte au dessus/ see text above

Friday, September 22, 2006

buy Palestinian- a cool shoes shop in Ramallah



(c) Anne Paq/ tourbillonphoto.com
Ramallah; September 2006

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

They robbed the money...again

Maannews-
Israeli army breaks into money exchange shops across West Bank and steals US $1.38 million
Date: 20 / 09 / 2006 Time: 14:59
تكبير الخط تصغير الخط
Palestinians inspect damaged shops (MaanImages)
West Bank - Ma'an - In a robbery that is the largest of its kind, the Israeli forces confiscated early on Wednesday morning millions of Israeli shekels from money exchange shops in the West Bank cities of Ramallah, Nablus, Tulkarem and Jenin. The Israeli troops also detained a number of shop owners.

Israeli sources estimated the value of the confiscated funds at NIS 6 million (US $1.38 million). They said that the confiscated money had been intended for operations against Israeli targets.

In the northern city of Nablus, the Israeli forces confiscated about NIS 500,000 from money exchange shops and arrested one shop owner. After failing to open the central treasury of the National Bank of Jordan in Nablus, the Israeli troops also destroyed the first floor of the bank.

The manager of the National Bank of Jordan, Abdul Latif Nasif, told our correspondent in Nablus that "the bank will raise a case against the Israeli army, which destroyed the first floor of the bank completely, including the computers of the bank".

He added that the cost of the destruction of the bank exceeded $ 500,000, in addition to other damages. The Israeli forces did not confiscate any funds from the National Bank of Jordan because they failed to open the bank's treasury as a result of the latest equipment employed by the bank.

Nasif added that the archives of the bank and the funds of the citizens are fine, but the bank needs more than a month before it can resume work due to necessary maintenance and repair work.

In a money exchange shop in Nablus, Hussam Alian, 45, said that the Israeli forces confiscated about NIS 250,000 in various currencies from his shop.

Alian added that the Israeli forces dynamited the main entrance to his shop and broke in. They opened the safe using dynamite and confiscated the money with no reasons.

Alian said that the Israeli army's allegations that these funds are used in hostile activities are incorrect. He added, "I do not deal at all with the remittances whether foreign or domestic".

In the same regard, the owner of the Al Karamah exchange shop in Nablus, Muhammad Hijjah, 33, said, "The Israeli army confiscated what valued NIS 250,000 of cash and checks after blowing up the main entrance of the shop early on Wednesday morning".

Meanwhile, the Israeli forces arrested the owner of the Swidan exchange shop, Ghalib Swidan, 40, in the city of Nablus after they broke into his house in the Rafidia neighbourhood in the west of the city.

In the city of Ramallah, our correspondent reported that the Israeli forces broke into two exchange shops, Al Hurani and Al Ajjoli.

The owner of the Al Hurani shop, Muhammad Al Hurani, said that "around 2:15 am on Wednesday the Israeli forces broke into the shop and blew open the door; entered the shop and confiscated all of its contents. They then threw a bomb inside".

The Israeli forces also broke into the house of the owner of the Al Ajjoli shop, Ghazi Al Ajjoli and confiscated a computer from his house, files related to his customers, money and the keys of the shop. The soldiers then broke into his shop and confiscated its contents before arresting him and his two sons.

In the Tulkarem governorate, the Israeli forces broke into two exchange shops belonging to Mustafa Awad, 40 and Nihad Awad, 26.

Our correspondent in Tulkarem reported that a large number of Israeli troops broke into the houses of the two shop owners, inspected them and confiscated their computers before forcing them to take them to their shops and open up. The soldiers then confiscated money, cheques and documents.

The correspondent added that the Israeli forces arrested the two shop owners for several hours and then released them after confiscating their money.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Amjad, 8 ans, blessé par balles a Gaza/ Amjad, 8 years old, injured by dumb dumb bullets in Gaza
















(c) Amjad- les deux premieres photos prises par Anne Paq/tourbillonphoto.
Amjad- the first two pictures taken by Anne Paq/ tourbillonphoto.com
see text below

Les deux photos suivantes ont été prises par Amajd lui-meme; dans sa chambre d'hopital/
The two last pîctures were taken by Amjad himself; in his hospital room.

Amjad, 8 ans, blessé par balles a Gaza/ Amjad, 8 years old, injured by dumb dumb bullets in Gaza

Dimanche 17 Septembre, 2006

Aujourd’hui je me suis rendue à l’hopital Maquassed de Jerusalem pour visiter une amie palestinienne. Dans la chambre j’ai été très touchée par Amjad, un enfant très beau de 8 ans de Gaza. Il a été fauché par des balles tirées d’un tank israélien lors d’une incursion israelienne. Les balles «dumb dumb » ont des effets devastateurs, elles explosent en des centaines de fragments et dechiquent les membres et les os. Il a été touché aux jambes alors qu’il se trouvait au pas de sa porte. Un des jambes a pu être sauvé mais pas l’autre. Il est ravi que je le prenne en photo et se saisit de mon appareil ; tres vite il comprend et mitraille de photo les autres dans la chambre. J’adore son sourire et ses yeux rieurs. Ironiquement il joue avec des tanks. Sa grand-mere nous explique la vie à Gaza. Depuis le kidnapping d’un soldat israélien, l’armée israélienne a mené une operation d’envergure qui vise à punir toute la population de Gaza. Elle nous explique qu’ils n’ont l’electricité que quelques heures par jour(l’armée israélienne a deliberement ciblé et detruit les centrales electriques), et comme les pompes à eau dependent aussi de l’electricité, l’eau aussi se fait rare. Elle nous a aussi expliqué combien les hopitaux manquent de tout, pour venir la famille a dû payer 2,000 NIS à l’ambulance israélienne, soit 400 euros le prix d’un billet d’avion Tel-Aviv-Paris !
Depuis le début de l’opération, les chiffres sont alarmants. ce sont pres de 270 civils qui ont été tués, dont un cinquieme sont des enfants. Plus de 1200 palestiniens ont été blessés, et il y a un nombre très élevé d’amputations (60). Gaza, la plus grande prison à ciel ouvert, s’enfonce chaque jour en silence. Le sourire de Amjad est beau et dechirant à la fois.


Today I have been visiting one of my Palestinian friends at the Maquassed located in East Jerusalem. In the room I have been moved by Amjad, a beautiful kid from Gaza. He was shot by Israeli soldiers from a tank during an incursion in Gaza. The “dumb dumb” bullets have devastating effects. They explode into thousands of pices that tear down the flesh and bones. Amjad was injured in both legs while he was just standing in his doorstep. One leg has been saved but not the other one. He was so pleased that I was taken pictures of him and he offered me his gorgeous smile. But soon enough he took my camera, and took some pictures around. I love his smile and smiling eyes. Ironically he was playing with tanks. Her grandmother who came with him told us about the hard life in Gaza. Since the kidnapping of an Israeli soldiers, the Israelis launched a massive military operation in Gaza aiming at punishing the whole population. She told us how they now have electricy only a few hours a day (the Israelis targeted the power stations). The water depends also of the electricity, so they also lack water. The hospitals lack of everything so they decided to send Amjad to Jerusalem. The journey is costly. They had to pay 2,000 NIS, around 400 euros to the Israeli ambulance. This is the equivalent of a return ticket, Tel-Aviv- Paris!
Since the beginning of the military operation, at the end of June, the statistics are alarming. Around 270 civilans have been killed, and 20% are children. More than 1,200 Palestinians have been injured. Among them the number of amputations has worsened (around 60). The situation in Gaza, the biggest prison on earth, is becoming worse and worse, turning into something else than the West Bank. The media stay silence while Gaza and its people are suffocating. The smile of Amajd is beautiful and hurting at the same time.

See also articles below…



Subject: [alef] Prof. Pappe: Genocide in Gaza
Date: Monday 04 September 2006 23:58


Genocide in Gaza

By Ilan Pappe

The Electronic Intifada
2 September 2006

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5656.shtml

A genocide is taking place in Gaza. This morning, 2 September,
another three citizens of Gaza were killed and a whole family
wounded in Beit Hanoun. This is the morning reap, before the end of
day many more will be massacred. An average of eight Palestinian die
daily in the Israeli attacks on the Strip. Most of them are
children. Hundreds are maimed, wounded and paralyzed.

The Israeli leadership is at lost of what to do with the Gaza Strip.
It has vague ideas about the West Bank. The current government
assumes that the West Bank, unlike the Strip, is an open space, at
least on its eastern side. Hence if Israel, under the ingathering
program of the government, annexes the parts it covets - half of the
West Bank - and cleanses it of its native population, the other half
would naturally lean towards Jordan, at least for a while and would
not concern Israel. This is a fallacy, but nonetheless it won the
enthusiastic vote of most of the Jews in the country. Such an
arrangement can not work in the Gaza enclave - Egypt unlike Jordan
has succeeded in persuading the Israelis, already in 1948, that the
Gaza Strip for them is a liability and will never form part of
Egypt. So a million and half Palestinians are stuck inside Israel -
although geographically the Strip is located on the margins of the
state, psychologically it lies in its midst.

The inhuman living conditions in the most dense area in the world,
and one of the poorest human spaces in the northern hemisphere,
disables the people who live it to reconcile with the imprisonment
Israel had imposed on them ever since 1967. There were relative
better periods where movement to the West Bank and into Israel for
work was allowed, but these better times are gone. Harsher realities
are in place ever since 1987. Some access to the outside world was
allowed as long as there were Jewish settlers in the Strip, but once
they were removed the Strip was hermetically closed. Ironically,
most Israelis, according to recent polls, look at Gaza as an
independent Palestinian state that Israel has graciously allowed to
emerge. The leadership, and particularly the army, see it as a
prison with the most dangerous community of inmates, which has to be
eliminated one way or another.

The conventional Israeli policies of ethnic cleansing employed
successfully in 1948 against half of Palestine's population, and
against hundred of thousand of Palestinians in the West Bank are not
useful here. You can slowly transfer Palestinians out of the West
Bank, and particular out of the Greater Jerusalem area, but you can
not do it in the Gaza Strip - once you sealed it as a
maximum-security prison camp.

As with the ethnic cleansing operations, the genocidal policy is not
formulated in a vacuum. Ever since 1948, the Israeli army and
government needed a pretext to commence such policies. The takeover
of Palestine in 1948 produced the inevitable local resistance that
in turn allowed the implementation of an ethnic cleansing policy,
preplanned already in the 1930s. Twenty years of Israeli occupation
of the West Bank produced eventually some sort of Palestinian
resistance. This belated anti-occupation struggle unleashed a new
cleansing policy that still is implemented today in the West Bank.
The Gaza imprisonment in the summer of 2005, which was paraded as an
Israeli generous withdrawal, produced the Hamas and Islamic Jiahd
missile attack and one abduction case. Even before the abduction of
Giald Shalit, the Israeli army bombarded indiscriminately the Strip.
Ever since the abduction, the massive killing increased and became
systematic. A daily business of slaying Palestinians, mainly
children is now reported in the internal pages of the local press,
quite often in microscopic fonts.

The chief culprits are the Israeli pilots who have a field day now
that one of them is the General Chief of Staff. In the 1982 Lebanon
war, the Israeli airforce issued orders to its pilots to abort
mission if within 500 square meters of their target they spotted
innocent civilians. Not that these orders were kept, but the
pretense for internal moral consumption was there. It is called in
the Israeli airforce, the 'Lebanon Procedure' [Nohal Levanon]. When
the pilots asked a year ago if the 'Lebanon procedure' is in tact
for Gaza, the answer was no. The same answer was given to the pilots
in the second Lebanon war.

The Lebanon war provided the fog for a while, covering the war
crimes in the Gaza Strip. But the policies rage on even after the
conclusion of the cease-fire up in the north. It seems that the
frustrated and defeated Israeli army is even more determined to
enlarge the killing fields in the Gaza Strip. There are no
politicians who are able or willing to stop the generals. A daily
killing of up to 10 civilians is going to leave few thousands dead
each year. This is of course different from genociding a million
people in one campaign - the only inhibition Israel is willing to
undertake in the name of the Holocaust memory. But if you double the
killing you raise the number to horrific proportions and more
importantly you may force a mass eviction in the end of the day
outside the Strip - either in the name of human aid, international
intervention or the people's own desire to escape the inferno. But
if the Palestinian steadfastness is going to be the response, and
there is no reason to doubt that this will the Gazan reaction then
the massive killing would continue and increase.

Much depends on the international reaction. When Israel was absolved
from any responsibility or accountably for the ethnic cleansing in
1948, it turned this policy into a legitimate tool for its national
security agenda. If the present escalation and adaptation of
genocidal policies would be tolerated by the world, it would expand
and used even more drastically.

Nothing apart from pressure in the from of sanctions, boycott and
divestment will stop the murdering of innocent civilians in the Gaza
Strip. There is nothing we here in Israel can do against it. Brave
pilots refused to partake in the operations, two journalists - out
of 150 - do not cease to write about it, but this is it. In the name
of the holocaust memory let us hope the world would not allow the
genocide of Gaza to continue.

Ilan Pappe is senior lecturer in the University of Haifa Department
of political Science and Chair of the Emil Touma Institute for
Palestinian Studies in Haifa. His books include among others The
Making of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (London and New York 1992), The
Israel/Palestine Question (London and New York 1999), A History of
Modern Palestine (Cambridge 2003), The Modern Middle East (London
and New York 2005) and forthcoming, Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
(2006)


-------------
Leading article: A brutal siege the world must ignore no longer
The Independent.

Published: 08 September 2006


Gaza is being slowly strangled. This small strip of land on the eastern
shores of the Mediterranean has been under siege by the Israeli
military for
three months. Its 1.5 million inhabitants have been subject to more
than 270
air strikes, numerous ground raids, and a severe artillery
bombardment.
Since Gaza's sole power plant was bombed in June, its people have been
forced to survive by candlelight after dark. Hospitals use electric
generators to keep essential services running. The strip's water mains
have
been destroyed, causing serious supply problems and increasing the
risk of
disease. Bridges have been bombed and checkpoints closed. No
Palestinians
are allowed in or out of what has in effect become a prison.

This has brought the Palestinian economy to its knees. The majority of
Gazan
families have been forced to rely on United Nations food aid. Yet even
support from the outside world for these people has been severely cut
back.
When Hamas won the Palestinian elections in January, the United States
and
the European Union decided to stop their funding of the governing
institutions of the Palestinian Authority until the militant
organisation
renounced violence and accepted Israel's right to exist. An adviser to
the
Israeli Prime Minister referred to this jokingly as "putting the
Palestinians on a diet". But the result has been the complete
breakdown of
Palestinian society. The civil service, which supports one-quarter of
the
population, has been paid no wages in six months.

According to the United Nations, $30m-worth of damage has been
inflicted on
Gaza since this operation began. But the far graver cost has been in
human
life. In July and August, some 251 Palestinians were killed by Israeli
military action, half of them civilians. The dead have included women,
children and the elderly. Hundreds more have been wounded.



And yet while all of this has been going on - the bloodshed, the
hunger, the
social collapse - the world has turned away. The international
community has
been preoccupied with the worsening situation in Iraq, Afghanistan or
Israel's war with Lebanon. Yet while the people of Lebanon were able
to flee
Israel's bombardment, Gazans have had no such freedom.



The Israeli government claims the purpose of its blockade is to secure
the
return of Corporal Gilad Shalit, a soldier kidnapped in June after a
raid by
a faction of Hamas. Another objective is, we are told, to prevent
militants
firing Qassam rockets across the border into Israeli towns and
villages by
militants. Even if we accept this intention, the methods have been
grossly
disproportionate. Five Israelis have been killed by Qassams in the
past six
years. Does this justify such a lethal response in Gaza? The operation
is
also deeply questionable from a practical perspective. Does the
Israeli
government truly expect degrading all Gazans in this fashion to secure
the
release of Corporal Shalit?



Ultimately we must accept that the return of the Israeli military to
Gaza is
less about stopping rocket attacks, winning the release of Corporal
Shalit,
or even removing Hamas, than it is about imposing a collective
punishment on
the Palestinian people, in the belief that it is in the interests of
the
state of Israel to do so. It is not. The long-term interest of Israel
lies,
as it always has, in progress towards a two-state solution. The great
prize
is the normalisation of relations between Palestinians and Israelis.
Every
day that the people of Gaza are denied their dignity - every time more
innocent Palestinians are killed by stray Israeli rockets - such a
settlement is pushed further away.


'Gaza is a jail. Nobody is allowed to leave. We are all starving now'


By Patrick Cockburn in Gaza


Published: 08 September 2006


Gaza is dying. The Israeli siege of the Palestinian enclave is so tight
that
its people are on the edge of starvation. Here on the shores of the
Mediterranean a great tragedy is taking place that is being ignored
because
the world's attention has been diverted by wars in Lebanon and Iraq.

A whole society is being destroyed. There are 1.5 million Palestinians
imprisoned in the most heavily populated area in the world. Israel has
stopped all trade. It has even forbidden fishermen to go far from the
shore
so they wade into the surf to try vainly to catch fish with
hand-thrown
nets.

Many people are being killed by Israeli incursions that occur every day
by
land and air. A total of 262 people have been killed and 1,200
wounded, of
whom 60 had arms or legs amputated, since 25 June, says Dr Juma
al-Saqa, the
director of the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City which is fast running
out of
medicine. Of these, 64 were children and 26 women. This bloody
conflict in
Gaza has so far received only a fraction of the attention given by the
international media to the war in Lebanon.

It was on 25 June that the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was taken
captive and
two other soldiers were killed by Palestinian militants who used a
tunnel to
get out of the Gaza Strip. In the aftermath of this, writes Gideon
Levy in
the daily Haaretz, the Israeli army "has been rampaging through Gaza -
there's no other word to describe it - killing and demolishing,
bombing and
shelling, indiscriminately". Gaza has essentially been reoccupied
since
Israeli troops and tanks come and go at will. In the northern district
of
Shajhayeh they took over several houses last week and stayed five
days. By
the time they withdrew, 22 Palestinians had been killed, three houses
were
destroyed and groves of olive, citrus and almond trees had been
bulldozed.

Fuad al-Tuba, the 61-year-old farmer who owned a farm here, said: "They
even
destroyed 22 of my bee-hives and killed four sheep." He pointed sadly
to a
field, its brown sandy earth churned up by tracks of bulldozers, where
the
stumps of trees and broken branches with wilting leaves lay in heaps.
Near
by a yellow car was standing on its nose in the middle of a heap of
concrete
blocks that had once been a small house.

His son Baher al-Tuba described how for five days Israeli soldiers
confined
him and his relatives to one room in his house where they survived by
drinking water from a fish pond. "Snipers took up positions in the
windows
and shot at anybody who came near," he said. "They killed one of my
neighbours called Fathi Abu Gumbuz who was 56 years old and just went
out to
get water."

Sometimes the Israeli army gives a warning before a house is destroyed.
The
sound that Palestinians most dread is an unknown voice on their cell
phone
saying they have half an hour to leave their home before it is hit by
bombs
or missiles. There is no appeal.

But it is not the Israeli incursions alone that are destroying Gaza and
its
people. In the understated prose of a World Bank report published last
month, the West Bank and Gaza face "a year of unprecedented economic
recession. Real incomes may contract by at least a third in 2006 and
poverty
to affect close to two thirds of the population." Poverty in this case
means
a per capita income of under $2 (£1.06) a day.

There are signs of desperation everywhere. Crime is increasing. People
do
anything to feed their families. Israeli troops entered the Gaza
industrial
zone to search for tunnels and kicked out the Palestinian police. When
the
Israelis withdrew they were replaced not by the police but by looters.
On
one day this week there were three donkey carts removing twisted scrap
metal
from the remains of factories that once employed thousands.

"It is the worst year for us since 1948 [when Palestinian refugees
first
poured into Gaza]," says Dr Maged Abu-Ramadan, a former
ophthalmologist who
is mayor of Gaza City. "Gaza is a jail. Neither people nor goods are
allowed
to leave it. People are already starving. They try to live on bread
and
falafel and a few tomatoes and cucumbers they grow themselves."

The few ways that Gazans had of making money have disappeared. Dr
Abu-Ramadan
says the Israelis "have destroyed 70 per cent of our orange groves in
order
to create security zones." Carnations and strawberries, two of Gaza's
main
exports, were thrown away or left to rot. An Israeli air strike
destroyed
the electric power station so 55 per cent of power was lost.
Electricity
supply is now becoming almost as intermittent as in Baghdad.

The Israeli assault over the past two months struck a society already
hit by
the withdrawal of EU subsidies after the election of Hamas as the
Palestinian government in March. Israel is withholding taxes owed on
goods
entering Gaza. Under US pressure, Arab banks abroad will not transfer
funds
to the government.

Two thirds of people are unemployed and the remaining third who mostly
work
for the state are not being paid. Gaza is now by far the poorest
region on
the Mediterranean. Per capita annual income is $700, compared with
$20,000
in Israel. Conditions are much worse than in Lebanon where Hizbollah
liberally compensates war victims for loss of their houses. If Gaza
did not
have enough troubles this week there were protest strikes and marches
by
unpaid soldiers, police and security men. These were organised by
Fatah, the
movement of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu
Mazen, which lost the election to Hamas in January. His supporters
marched
through the streets waving their Kalashnikovs in the air. "Abu Mazen
you are
brave," they shouted. "Save us from this disaster." Sour-looking Hamas
gunmen kept a low profile during the demonstration but the two sides
are not
far from fighting it out in the streets.

The Israeli siege and the European boycott are a collective punishment
of
everybody in Gaza. The gunmen are unlikely to be deterred. In a bed in
Shifa
Hospital was a sturdy young man called Ala Hejairi with wounds to his
neck,
legs, chest and stomach. "I was laying an anti-tank mine last week in
Shajhayeh when I was hit by fire from an Israeli drone," he said. "I
will
return to the resistance when I am better. Why should I worry? If I
die I
will die a martyr and go to paradise."

His father, Adel, said he was proud of what his son had done adding
that
three of his nephews were already martyrs. He supported the Hamas
government: "Arab and Western countries want to destroy this
government
because it is the government of the resistance."

As the economy collapses there will be many more young men in Gaza
willing to
take Ala Hejairi's place. Untrained and ill-armed most will be killed.
But
the destruction of Gaza, now under way, will ensure that no peace is
possible in the Middle East for generations to come.

The deadly toll

* After the kidnap of Cpl Gilad Shalit by Palestinians on 25 June,
Israel
launched a massive offensive and blockade of Gaza under the operation
name
Summer Rains.

* The Gaza Strip's 1.3 million inhabitants, 33 per cent of whom live in
refugee camps, have been under attack for 74 days.

* More than 260 Palestinians, including 64 children and 26 women, have
been
killed since 25 June. One in five is a child. One Israeli soldier has
been
killed and 26 have been wounded.

* 1,200 Palestinians have been injured, including up to 60 amputations.
A
third of victims brought to hospital are children.

* Israeli warplanes have launched more than 250 raids on Gaza, hitting
the
two power stations and the foreign and Information ministries.

* At least 120 Palestinian structures including houses, workshops and
greenhouses have been destroyed and 160 damaged by the Israelis.

* The UN has criticised Israel's bombing, which has caused an estimated
$1.8bn in damage to the electricity grid and leaving more than a
million
people without regular access to drinking water.

* The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem says 76 Palestinians,
including 19
children, were killed by Israeli forces in August alone. Evidence
shows at
least 53 per cent were not participating in hostilities.

* In the latest outbreak of violence, three Palestinians were killed
yesterday when Israeli troops raided a West Bank town in search of a
wanted
militant. Two of those killed were unarmed, according to witnesses.

Friday, September 15, 2006

"We don't want more Palestinians here!"

"We don't want more Palestinians here!"
Nadia Hasan writing from Amman, Jordan, Live from Palestine, 15 September 2006

(Image: Nadia Hasan/EI illustration)

Yesterday I came to Aqaba, Jordan, and today I went to the border at 8 am.

I was nervous, but at the same time I felt good, doing something that I had been anticipating for a long time.

I crossed the Jordanian border without any problem, only 15 minutes later I picked up my bag again and started walking to the Palestinian side which is controlled by Israel. Two armed guys were waiting there and asked me for my passport. They look each other and asked me "Where are you from?" despite that one of them had my Chilean passport in his hand. After that I went to the questioning room, and two other officers were there and asked me the normal questions -- well, normal by Israeli standards. All the questions were about my family name, why my name is Nadia Hasan, if I am Muslim. I answered no, I am Christian. "But why do you have a Muslim name; why don't you change it?" Twenty minutes more of that and they let me pass. They even told me, "Welcome to Israel, enjoy your time here."

I got to passport control and a big group of tourists were there. Everyone got their visa in less that five minutes. When was my turn, I saw a familiar face, the woman in the control office was the same one as last year, who gave me a one-month visa told me, "If you don't like it, go back to Chile. We don't want more Palestinians here!"

This time, everything was normal. She asked me for my passport, and checked my name at the computer. She was looking at it for more that two minutes. At that moment I knew that my name was there, but what kind of information they have, I don't know. She called in a guy, then another woman, and then another guy. All of them were talking in Hebrew, sometimes glancing over at me, then reading again -- I don't know for how long, I was so nervous.

A different officer came to me and started to speak in Arabic. I told him that I did't understand, but he continued to speak in Arabic. After that he told me "good luck" and asked me to go to the check room again. Well, he didn't ask such as order me "move now."

I entered in the questioning room and I had all the Israeli security with me, more than 15 persons, all of them not older than 22, playing an important game in their life, with power in their hands and with a terrorist in front of them. I saw excited eyes, waiting for the orders of the oldest man, the guy with the largest M16 in his hand.

They opened all my bags, put everything on a table and start to check all it, every last item. A young woman told me that she need to check my body, and with a smile on my face I answered, "OK, no problem" When she was checking me she whispered to me, "I am sorry, but is my work -- can you take of all your clothes?" I replied yes, but I want to keep my t-shirt on (I didn't want to show my tattoo). However, she checked all of me -- open your legs, close your legs, sit here, up and open your legs again, etc. Just like last year.

After the woman from last year came and asked me if I was in Israel before, I answered yes. "Why are you coming again?" I have friends here. "Arabic friends?" No, Israeli friends. "Israelis?" Her face changed. Yes, Israeli friends. She asked me their names and I gave them to her.

I was then asked for my other passport, a passport that I of course don't have. I was asked about Gaza, about Nablus, about other Arab countries, about my name again ...

She then left me alone, I checked the time, was 10:30 am. I was thinking that my future in Palestine will depend on her decision. I wanted to smoke, but of course I was not allowed to do do so, and told sit there and wait.

I continued to wait, nervous but quiet at the same time. I had been waiting for this moment since I was refused from my homeland last year, six long months before. I was there once more, ready to experience it all again.

I checked the time, it was 12:15. I asked if I could use the bathroom, but they told me no, to sit and wait. After ten minutes the woman came back. I wanted to cry; I knew that she held my dreams in her hands. She gave me back my passport, I took my bags (after putting everything back inside) and I started to walk away.

Tears filled my eyes as all my memories from Palestine flooded my head and my heart. I thought about every person that I met in Nablus, how much I wanted go back, how close I was.

One man stopped me and told me something that I had heard before and didn't want to hear again: "Welcome to Jordan."

I was back in Aqaba, with Palestine in front of me but farther away than ever.

I went through the Jordanian border once again, my bags feeling lighter than before. The tears were still in my eyes, but my legs were stronger. What the Israelis on the other side don't understand that every time that they refuse a Palestinian at the border they recognize that the Palestinians are there. They use those guns to keep something that doesn't belong to them. They are afraid to see us through our eyes, to acknowledge that we are here, near, and always will be near. For the truth is that Palestine exists.


Nadia Hasan lives in Amman, Jordan, where she waits to return to
Palestine. She was first deported by Israel in September of 2005,
and this essay was written in March 2006, after third attempt to
return to Palestine.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Pousser les Palestiniens à l'exil

L’État hébreu fait barrage à l’entrée des étrangers dans les territoires palestiniens

« Israël a décrété que j’ai vécu assez longtemps avec ma famille »

L'article d'Émilie SUEUR

Depuis quelques mois, Israël a mis en place une nouvelle politique qui rend l’accès des territoires palestiniens aux étrangers et aux Palestiniens non résidents de plus en plus difficile.

Alors que la société palestinienne n’en finit plus de sombrer politiquement et économiquement, Sam Bahour, un citoyen américain d’origine palestinienne, est de ceux qui entreprennent et construisent. En 2003, c’est avec une grande fierté qu’il inaugurait, en tant que directeur général, le Plaza Shopping Center de Ramallah, premier édifice du genre dans les territoires palestiniens. À l’époque, il avait accroché dans son bureau un petit panneau sur lequel était inscrit : « Construis pour l’éternité, sois prêt à partir en 24 heures ». Toute sa vie durant, il s’est concentré sur la première partie de cette devise. Aujourd’hui, Sam Bahour, 43 ans, pourrait avoir à subir la deuxième partie de cette phrase.

À l’origine de cette situation, une nouvelle politique israélienne visant à empêcher les étrangers et les membres de la diaspora palestinienne d’entrer dans les Territoires. Selon l’organisation israélienne de défense des droits de l’homme B’Tselem, l’État hébreu a rejeté, depuis l’an 2000, 120 000 demandes de regroupement familial présentées par des Palestiniens mariés à des étrangers. Généralement, les époux non dotés de la nationalité palestinienne pouvaient entrer avec un visa de tourisme renouvelé régulièrement. Toutefois, depuis mars dernier, selon B’Tselem et le Ipcri (Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information), Israël refuse systématiquement le renouvellement de ces visas. Pour le plus grand malheur de Sam Bahour.

« L’occupant israélien a décrété que j’ai vécu assez longtemps avec ma femme et mes deux filles », explique-il, interrogé par mail. « Après m’avoir donné un visa d’un mois pour entrer dans les territoires palestiniens à partir de la frontière israélienne, les Israéliens ont rejeté ma demande de prolongation de trois mois de ce visa. À la place, ils m’ont donné une prolongation d’un mois sur laquelle est inscrit, en arabe, en hébreu et en anglais “Dernier permis”. »

Sam Bahour est né aux États-unis. Il y a quelques années, il s’est marié avec une Palestinienne qui lui a donné deux filles, Areen, 12 ans, et Nadine, 6 ans. Depuis 13 ans, il entre des territoires palestiniens et en sort afin de renouveler le visa qui lui permet de vivre, 10 mois sur 12, avec sa famille et de poursuivre son travail à Ramallah. Face au refus israélien de prolonger de trois mois son visa, il pourrait envisager de sortir d’Israël et de reformuler une demande de visa, comme d’habitude. « Israël a refusé à des milliers d’étrangers d’origine palestinienne mais non dotés de cartes d’identité palestiniennes, le droit d’entrée dans les Territoires ces derniers mois », explique toutefois cet homme qui a présenté en 1994 une demande de regroupement familial, systématiquement rejetée.

Sam Bahour n’est qu’un cas parmi d’autres. Dans les colonnes du quotidien israélien Haaretz, Amira Hass relatait la semaine dernière l’histoire de Enayeh Samara, née en 1950 en Cisjordanie. En 1967, deux mois avant le début de la guerre des Six- Jours, Enayeh s’est rendue aux États-Unis. Après avoir occupé la bande de Gaza et la Cisjordanie, Israël a procédé à un recensement de la population palestinienne duquel étaient exclus tous ceux qui n’étaient pas présents physiquement dans les Territoires. « Comme des milliers de Palestiniens, Enayeh a alors perdu son statut de résidente palestinienne », explique Amira Hass. Il y a 30 ans, lors d’un voyage dans les territoires palestiniens, Enayeh a rencontré Adel et s’est marié avec lui. Ils ont eu deux enfants. Trente ans durant, Enayeh a vécu avec sa famille sur un visa touristique, entrant et sortant des Territoires avant que le visa israélien apposé sur son passeport américain n’expire. Le 26 mai dernier, les autorités israéliennes ont toutefois refusé de la laisser entrer par le terminal de Cheikh Hussein. Deux jours plus tard, elle essuyait un nouveau refus au pont Allenby. En désespoir de cause, Enayeh est retournée aux États-unis, à des milliers de kilomètres de sa famille.

Selon le Jerusalem Post, citant des sources diplomatiques américaines, une douzaine de citoyens américains sont empêchés chaque jour d’entrer en Israël.

Pour Sam Bahour, la stratégie israélienne est claire : pousser les Palestiniens à l’exil en empêchant la réunion des familles. Avec, en résultat final, « une terre sans peuple pour un peuple sans terre ». Sur le plan économique, cette politique est également perverse. « J’étais sur le point de lancer un nouveau projet dans le domaine des médias. Aujourd’hui, je dois revoir mon planning », explique M. Bahour. Lors d’une conférence organisée par le Ipcri, Zahi Khouri, un entrepreneur de la diaspora palestinienne, soulignait également que cette politique va poser un problème aux hommes d’affaires qui vont désormais hésiter à voyager par peur de ne plus pouvoir revenir.

Sabine Haddad, porte-parole du ministère israélien de l’Intérieur, citée par le Jerusalem Post, a démenti qu’Israël ait mis en vigueur une nouvelle politique. « Haddad a expliqué que les demandeurs n’auraient pas de problème pour obtenir un permis si la demande était présentée à l’avance, mais le Ipcri et B’Tselem ont confirmé que ce permis était devenu quasiment impossible à obtenir », lit-on dans le quotidien israélien.

Face à cette situation, Sam Bahour est entré en campagne et dit espérer qu’Israël et les États-Unis mettront rapidement fin « à cette politique stupide ». « Mais ma famille et surtout ma petite fille de 12 ans vivent très mal cette situation. Le 1er octobre (date à laquelle son visa expire) tombe en plein milieu du ramadan, un moment où être en famille est très important. » Que compte-t-il faire pour que le cauchemar ne devienne pas réalité ? « Franchir chaque obstacle dès qu’il se présente devant moi. »

Émilie SUEUR

http://www.lorientlejour.com/page.aspx?page=article&id=321580

Israeli politician openly called to expel Palestinians

w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
>
>
> Last update - 15:53 11/09/2006
> Leftist MKs blast Eitam's statements on Arabs, urge AG to investigate
>
>
> By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
>
> Left-wing lawmakers reacted furiously Monday to statements made by
> rightist Knesset Member Effi Eitam against Israeli Arab politicians
> and Palestinians in the West Bank, and called for attorney general
> Menachem Mazuz to open an investigation into Eitam's comments on
> grounds of incitement to racism.
>
> Eitam, a member of the right-wing National Union-National Religious
> Party sparked a political firestorm Monday when he said that the
> great majority of Palestinians in the West Bank should be expelled,
> and that Arabs should be ousted from Israeli politics as a fifth
> column and "a league of traitors."
>
> The remarks, broadcast Monday on Army Radio, were made during a
> Sunday speech at a memorial service for a soldier killed in Lebanon
> during the recent war.
>
> It was the first time that Eitam, who heads the Religious Zionism
> faction within the National Union, has publicly supported deportation
> of Palestinians, a concept espoused by assassinated National Union
> founder
> Rehavam Ze'evi as "transfer."
>
> "We will have to expel the great majority of the Arabs of Judea and
> Samaria," Eitam urged, referring to the whole of the West Bank.
>
> According to Eitam, experience showed that Israel cannot give up the
> area of the West Bank. "It is impossible with all of these Arabs, and
> it is impossible to give up the territory. We've already seen what
> they're doing there."
>
> Turning to the subject of Israeli Arabs, Eitam said, "We will have to
> take another decision, and that is to sweep the Israeli Arabs from
> the political system. Here, too, the issues are clear and simple.
>
> "We've raised a fifth column, a league of traitors of the first rank.
> Therefore, we cannot continue to enable so large and so hostile a
> presense within the political system of Israel."
>
> Beilin: Bring Eitam to trial
>
> Yossi Beilin, the leader of the left-wing Meretz party, urged
> Attorney General Menachem Mazuz Monday to bring Eitam to trial on
> charges of incitement to racism.
>
> Beilin's call was based on an amendment to the law which grants
> lawmakers immunity from prosecution. The amendment lifts the immunity
> from legislators who incite to racism or ethnic prejudice. Earlier in
> the day, Meretz MK Avshalom Vilan called on Mazuz to open an
> investigation against Eitam, on suspicion of incitement and sedition.
>
> Arab MK Ahmed Tibi (Ra'am-Ta'al) said Monday that "Eitam's remarks
> would have been more authentic, had they been delivered in German."
>
> "These are irresponsible statements," Tibi told the radio, "directed
> at the lowest level of the racism surging within Israeli society."
>
> "A long time ago the racists and fascists moved from the Israeli
> street to the Israeli government and the halls of power" added Tibi.
>
> Peace Now leader Yariv Oppenheimer said that the words of Eitam "show
> that the dogma of [slain extreme right-wing Rabbi Meir] Kahane is
> alive and well. In a moment of candor, the mask was removed from
> Eitam's face, exposing him as a leader of fantasy and racism."
>
> Arab MK Mohammed Barakeh said that the attack on the representatives
> of Arab citizens of Israel was an attempt to "delegitimize the Arab
> population entirely and to negate their right to voice their opinions
> and participate in the political process."
>
> According to Barakeh, the measures proposed by Eitam are already
> being implemented, as the Palestinians, "are witness to many steps to
> push them aside and expel them from their homeland, among them the
> security fence in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The policies of siege,
> starvation, and negation of the basic right of human dignity are a
> means of extremely dangerous ethnic expulsion.
>
> "You don't need trucks to transfer Palestinians."

War crimes in Lebanon

w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m

Last update - 14:20 12/09/2006

IDF commander: We fired more than a million cluster bombs in Lebanon


By Meron Rappaport

"What we did was insane and monstrous, we covered entire towns in
cluster
bombs," the head of an IDF rocket unit in Lebanon said regarding the
use of
cluster bombs and phosphorous shells during the war.

Quoting his battalion commander, the rocket unit head stated that the
IDF
fired around 1,800 cluster bombs, containing over 1.2 million cluster
bomblets.

In addition, soldiers in IDF artillery units testified that the army
used
phosphorous shells during the war, widely forbidden by international
law.
According to their claims, the vast majority of said explosive
ordinance was
fired in the final 10 days of the war.

The rocket unit commander stated that Multiple Launch Rocket System
(MLRS)
platforms were heavily used in spite of the fact that they were known
to be
highly inaccurate.

MLRS is a track or tire carried mobile rocket launching platform,
capable of
firing a very high volume of mostly unguided munitions. The basic
rocket
fired by the platform is unguided and imprecise, with a range of about
32
kilometers. The rockets are designed to burst into sub-munitions at a
planned
altitude in order to blanket enemy army and personnel on the ground
with
smaller explosive rounds.

The use of such weaponry is controversial mainly due to its inaccuracy
and
ability to wreak great havoc against indeterminate targets over large
areas
of territory, with a margin of error of as much as 1,200 meters from
the
intended target to the area hit.

The cluster rounds which don't detonate on impact, believed by the
United
Nations to be around 40% of those fired by the IDF in Lebanon, remain
on the
ground as unexploded munitions, effectively littering the landscape
with
thousands of land mines which will continue to claim victims long after
the
war has ended.

Because of their high level of failure to detonate, it is believed that
there
are around 500,000 unexploded munitions on the ground in Lebanon. To
date 12
Lebanese civilians have been killed by these mines since the end of the
war.

According to the commander, in order to compensate for the inaccuracy
of the
rockets and the inability to strike individual targets precisely, units
would
"flood" the battlefield with munitions, accounting for the littered and
explosive landscape of post-war Lebanon.

When his reserve duty came to a close, the commander in question sent a
letter
to Defense Minister Amir Peretz outlining the use of cluster munitions,
a
letter which has remained unanswered.

'Excessive injury and unnecessary suffering'

It has come to light that IDF soldiers fired phosphorous rounds in
order to
cause fires in Lebanon. An artillery commander has admitted to seeing
trucks
loaded with phosphorous rounds on their way to artillery crews in the
north
of Israel.

A direct hit from a phosphorous shell typically causes severe burns and
a
slow, painful death.

International law forbids the use of weapons that cause "excessive
injury and
unnecessary suffering", and many experts are of the opinion that
phosphorous
rounds fall directly in that category.

The International Red Cross has determined that international law
forbids the
use of phosphorous and other types of flammable rounds against
personnel,
both civilian and military.

IDF: No violation of international law
In response, the IDF Spokesman's Office stated that "International law
does
not include a sweeping prohibition of the use of cluster bombs. The
convention on conventional weaponry does not declare a prohibition on
[phosphorous weapons], rather, on principles regulating the use of such
weapons.

"For understandable operational reasons, the IDF does not respond to
[accounts
of] details of weaponry in its possession.

"The IDF makes use only of methods and weaponry which are permissible
under
international law. Artillery fire in general, including MLRS fire, were
used
in response solely to firing on the state of Israel."

The Defense Minister's office said it had not received messages
regarding
cluster bomb fire.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Le grand cirque diplomatique- le recit irrespectueux et non-officiel de la venue de Blair à Ramallah



Le grand cirque diplomatique
(c) Anne Paq/tourbillonphoto.com


Dimanche, 10 Septembre 2006

(ENGLISH TEXT IN POST BELOW)

Cette semaine j’ai appris que Tony Blair allait venir visiter la Muquata pour rencontrer Abu Mazen. D’habitude je ne suis pas trop friande de ce genre d’événement mais la je me suis dit – pourquoi pas ? En tant que photographe je dois aussi m’entraîner à ce genre d’exercice. En fait j’étais plus intéressée par la manifestation prévue contre sa venue. Des Palestiniens ont écrit une lettre affirmant que Blair n’est pas le bienvenue en Palestine. Il ne faut pas être un grand analyste pour voir que Blair ne fait que suivre aveuglement la politique étranger désastreuse au Moyen-Orient. Il a notamment soutenu Israël dans son attaque contre le Liban.

Je me suis rendue à l’entrée de la Muquata ne heure avant l’arrivée prévue de Blair. Un citoyen britannique essayait de négocier avec les soldats pour rentrer, en vain. Quant à moi je me suis contentée d’annoncer fermement que j’étais une photographe française tout en ouvrant mon sac. Je suis passée sans problème ; on ne m’a pas demandé de carte de presse, ni mon passeport. Cela tombe bien puisque je n’ai pas de carte de presse.

A l’intérieur de la Muquata, je constate les démolitions qui datent de 2002. Il y a beaucoup de gros 4/4 avec des grosses lettres TV. Des journalistes, photographes et caméramans attendent déjà devant la porte. Bientôt d’autres arrivent avec leurs grosses cameras, leurs énormes zooms. J’en connais beaucoup de vue que je croise souvent sur le terrain. Il y a aussi des nouvelles têtes, ou des têtes connues de la BBC ou de CNN. Certains journalistes britanniques ont fait spécialement le voyage de Londres pour suivre le Premier Ministre lors de son séjour. Tous se pressent afin d’entrer en premiers et de pouvoir prendre une bonne place pour filmer l’arrive de Blair. Nous sommes vaguement fouillés et un chien fait le tour des sacs et des cameras. Puis nous allons prendre positions derrière des rambardes. Les cameras de télévisions sont au premier rang, tandis que les photographes sont derrières, perches sur des trépieds. J’arrive à me faufiler entre la camera de je pense la BBC et une équipe de Dubaï. Le soleil tape. Je regarde cet armada de cameras et le tapis rouge et je commence à imaginer que je me trouve au festival de cannes- ah si au moins Tony pouvait se transformer en Johnny Deep ! Uhmm… peut-être n’est-il pas si bon de rester ainsi sous le soleil. J’observe l’équipe à côté de moi. Ils sont tous affairés à savoir quand ils vont pouvoir filmer le correspondant. Il faut qu’ils vérifient avec « London ». Un Palestinien qui semble organiser toute la logistique se diriger vers nous et exigent que l’équipe bouge car il a trois cameras d’importants medias qui viennent. L’équipe à côté de moi s’indigne : « mais nous aussi, on doit faire un live pour LONNNNDONNNN » disent-ils en insistant bien sur le London.
Bon alors le Palestinien me regarde, moi et pointe à l’endroit où se trouvent mes pieds : « il me faut la place là ». Il semble que les gros bonnets peuvent se permettre d’arriver tard et d’obtenir une bonne place. Je proteste et exige au moins d’une chaise. Mais bon avec mon petit Canon 20D je ne peux pas vraiment protester en expliquant que je vais faire une intervention Live pour PAAAARIIIIIS. Je me refaufile entre deux cameras.

Tout le monde est prêt. Un Palestinien qui doit être chargé des relations publiques pour le Président vient nous voir et nous demande de bien se comporter en se retenant de hurler. Les soldats se mettent en place pour la haie d’honneur. Mahmoud Abbas sort et passe devant nous pour se mettre aussi en position pour accueillir Blair. Silence Silence. Quelques coups de sirènes et Blair arrive enfin. Des son arrivée, j’entends des centaines clics qui se déclenchent en rafales, comme le bruit atténué de mitraillettes. Les photographes ne pensent pas, ne regardent pas, ils « shootent » comme on dit. Blair et Abbas s’approchent vers nous et s’arrêtent gentiment pour répondre au « la poignée de main ! la poignée de main » scandée par les photographes. Ils disparaissent pour discuter en privée et toit le monde se rue dans la salle où va se tenir la conférence de presse. Je décide de ne pas me placer avec les photographes au fond de la salle mais devant, avec les journalistes. Je veux aussi ecouter. Tous les journalistes paraissent très occupés et importants. J’essaye de paraître de même et commence à écrire sur mon cahier comme si j’ecrivais l’ebauche d’un important article pour le Monde ! Je commence cependant à discuter avec un journaliste de l’Arabie Saoudite sur les questions que nous pourrions poser. « Monsieur Blair, pouvez-vous nous expliquer pourquoi vous ne voulez pas parler avec le gouvernement démocratiquement élu du Hamas ? » ; « Comment pouvez-vous parler encore de la relance de la feuille de route, quant la politique menée par Israel sur le terrain a rendu impossible l’avenement d’un Etat Palestinien viable ? » ; « Monsieur Blair, avez-vous protester devant le Premier Ministre contre la contruction du Mur, qui devrait être finin en 2007, en violation du droit international ? ». Mais le monsieur Relations Publiques nous annonce que seulement quatre questions pourront être posées, deux pour les Palestiniens, deux pour les Britanniques. Que quatre questions ; je n’arrive pas à la croire !
Bientôt Blair et Abbas rentrent, ce qui ne manque pas de redéclencher le mitraillage de clics.
On s’installe et s’en suit le blah blah diplomatique attendu. Abbas annonce qu’il va se rendre à Gaza pour discuter avec Hamas de la formation d’un nouveau gouvernement pour sortir de l’impasse actuelle. Blair le soutien, et assure que si le nouveaun gouvernement répond aux criteres établis par le Quartet, il devrait être soutenu. Blah Blah Blah. Le temps de question arrive. Le premier journaliste britannique de la BBC je crois pose une tres bonne question et demande à Blair s’il pense que Israël peut être tenu responsable pour les difficultés du processsus de paix et des actes illegaux. Blair evidemment se refuse à condamner Israël : « je ne suis pas ici pour blamer tel ou tel parti mais pour apporter mon aide ». langue de bois toute diplomatique. Le type à côté de moi de Channel 4 s’apprête à poser la deuxième question et je n’en crois tout simplement pas mes oreilles. Il a osé poser une question sur la situation politique instable de Blair. Lui aussi est étonné : « vous avez plein d’occasions de me poser ce genre de questions, ceci n’est pas approprié je suis là pour parler de la situation en Palestine ». Quel manque de respect pour les Palestiniens d’avoir posé une question pareille, surtout quand il n’y en avait que quatre !

La conference de presse est déjà finie, Blair et Abbas disparaissent ainsi que tous les photographes et journalistes, à part les journalistes britanniques qui se font offrir un repas avant de reprendre leur navette pour les raccompagner dans leur hotel Kind David à Jerusalem Ouest. Au final je suis sûre qu’ils n’auront rien vu de la Palestine et pas rencontré de Palestinisn hormis les journalistes. Le cirque diplomatique se referme, jusqu’aun prochain numero.

Retour à la maison. Je regarde une nouvelle fois les nouvelles sur Internet. En parlant de route- voila ce qui se passe sur les routes palestiniennes. A Hebron un garçon de 15 ans a été renversé par une jeep militaire qui a continué son chemin. Pres de Qalkiliya, c’est un garçon palestinien de huit ans qui aussi a été renversé par une voiture israélienne. Mais personne n’est à blamer. La feuille de route ne mène nulle part et la diplomatie n’est qu’un cirque.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Blair in Ramallah



"I've got you in my pocket"

"Je vous ai dans la poche"

(c) Anne Paq/tourbillonphoto.com

Blair in Ramallah



10 Setembre 2006, Ramallah

La Muquata à Rammallah, encore a moitie detruite.

The Muquata in Ramallah, still half destroyed

(c) Anne Paq/tourbillonphoto.com

Blair in Ramallah- The diplomatic circus






Reporting to "LONNNNDONNNN"

(c) Anne Paq/ tourbillonphoto.com

Blair in Ramallah- The diplomatic circus (1)



Ready to shoot.

(c) Anne Paq/tourbillonphoto.com

See Text and Pictures below

Blair in Ramallah- The diplomatic circus (2)









(c) Anne Paq/tourbillonphoto.com

See Text below

The Diplomatic circus- an unofficial account of Blair's visit to Ramallah



The diplomatic circus
(c) Anne Paq/ tourbillonphoto.com

Ramallah, 10 Sept 2006

The big diplomatic circus…..(French will follow shortly)

I heard this week that Toni Blair was coming to Ramallah to talk with the President Abu Mazen in the Muquata. Usually I am not too keen on going to this kind of events but it has been a long time so I said to myself- why not.? Why not training myself to that kind of exercise? I was actually more interested in the demonstration that was supposed to greet Blair here. many prominent Palestinians wrote a letter to Blair saying that he was not welcomed in Palestine. There is no need to be an acute specialist in international relations to see that Blair has merely been a follower of the disastrous American foreign policy in the Middle East. Especially Blair stronly supported the Israeli war against Lebanon…

But still I decided to go…so here I was at the Muquata 1 hour before his arrival. One British guy at the entrance was trying to convince the soldiers to let him in. As a British citizen he wanted to see his Prime Minister. But in vain. I just claimed in a very strong way that I was a French photographer while opening my bags for checking and I was in. No press card was asked, which was great as I do not have one.

¨Part of the Muquata is still destroyed. Many big four wheel cars with TV written in big were parked everywhere. Some journalists were already there. And soon they all arrived with their big cameras; everybody wanted to be the first to enter to have the best spots. They are always the same people; although they were also some British journalists that were especially coming from Great-Britain to follow the Prime Minister. Some faces were familiars; the faces from BBC and CNN.

We finally entered, a dog checked our bags and cameras; then we all had to find a good spot in front of the red carpet. The TV crews were in front, the photographers were standing on chairs above them. I managed to squizz myself between a TV crew from Dubai and the BBC. The BBC screw was all worried about where to shoot and when the journalist had to speak…the guy from the Muquata that seemed to organize all this logistic came to them and tell them to move because some other important TV crews were coming (the big shots can afford themselves to come late and still manage to find a good spot). The crew screamed: “but we have to report, live to lonnnndonnnn”, insisting on the “london” part. Then the guy looked at me and at my feet saying: “well I need the space here”. Ok ok I could not really claim to report live with my not-so-impressive Digital camera. So I moved and managed to squeeze again and even to have a chair (which is quite convenient when you are lonely 1.60 tall). Another guy who must be the public relations officer of the President's Office tells us to behave and not to shout when Blair arrives...Looking at all the cameras and the red carpet I was beginning to feel like in Cannes film festival, arrh if only Blair was turning into Johnny Deep! The Palestinian soldiers arrived and took positions, Abu Mazen passed us and all took position and then Blair finally arrived. As soon as he appeared, I heard all the clicking from the cameras. There were so many clicks. The photographers do not think, do not look; they just shoot.

Blair and Abbas walked together and stopped in front of us to kindly answer to the request “hand shaking, hand shaking!”. Here we go, sure it will be the picture of tomorrow’s newspapers. Then Blair and Abbas disappeared (well a few priviledged photographers and TV crews could go in). So we all went again very fast to take position in the conference press room. I decided that I would not go at the back with all the photographers and TV crews but rather to sit with the journalists so I can got closer and actually listened. So here I am, sitting with all these journalists who looked very important. They were following the Prime Minister around and obviously had not have the opportunity to see anything that is happening here nor actually meet some Palestinians apart from the other photographers and journalists.I tried to actually looked very busy writing some great analysis on my notebook. With the guy behind me who works for media of Saudi Arabia, we began to think about questions to ask:
“So Mister Blair, why you do not want to talk to a democratically elected gouvernment?” or “how can you speak again about the road map when the road map is effectively dead (Israel policy on the ground is making the two-state solution impossible) ?”, “Did you say anything to Olmert about the Wall, which is announced to be completed by 2007 and violates international law?”. But the Palestinian public relations guy announced that there will be only four questions, two for the Palestinians and two for the British journalists! Only 4??? I could not believe it. The Press conference started and needless to say it was all about paying lip service. When asked of how much responsibility he thought Israel bore regarding solving the crisis and various illegal acts, Blair refused to blame Israel and said that he has not come "to place blame but to offer help". Blah blah blah. Abbas announced his willingness to form a new government. The second British question was asked by the guy next to me from Channel 4… I could not believe me. He asked a stupid question about the uncertainty of Blair’s political situation!!! What a shame; only two questions and one of them not on the situation in Palestine…Blair dismissed him and refused to answer...anyway time was already over. Blair and Abbas gent away…as all the photographers and journalists. rushing to the laptops to send pics and reports. Except for the British journalists that were offered lunch and a shuttle back to King David’s hotel.

Back home; I am reading the news of today. Speaking of roads; this is what is happening on Palestinian roads: A 15 years old boy was run over by a Israeli military jeep in Hebron, the jeep just run away. Near Qalqilia; an 8-years old boy was also run over by an Israeli car. But nobody is to blame. Roadmap to nowhere and diplomacy sucks.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Repas en solidarité d'un Palestinien qui refuse d'abandonner son restau/ Meal in solidarity of a Palestinian that refuses to give up







































(c) Anne Paq/ www.tourbillonphoto.com
Bethlehem, 1 Septembre 2006.

Organisation d'un picnique en soutien a Khalil, un restaurateur palestinien dont le restaurant, qui se situe juste a coté de la tombe de Rachel à Bethlehem, est completement entouré par le Mur. Nous avions l'intention d'aller manger dans son restaurant mais le jour precedent notre venue; l'armée israelienne ont completement fermé l'accés à son restaurant en mettant une enorme porte metallique là ou on pouvait encore passer. Le matin meme Khalil a été bousculé; insulté et poussé dehors par les soldats israeliens. Apres negociations, nous avons obtenu qu'il puisse aller chercher la nourriture qu"il avait preparé pour nous et nous avons picniquer a l'ombre du Mur. Chacun a donné une contribution financiere afin de soutenir Khalil qui avec courage continue a ouvrir et essayer de se rendre dans son restaurant.
Selon le Maire de Bethlehem; Israel est en train d'annexer illegalement 14% de Bethlehem, particulierement autour de la tombe de Rachel...et je me demande: mais ou sont les chretiens ?

(voir aussi les articles et blogs precedents et suivants).

ENGLISH

Organization of a meal in solidarity with Khalil; a Palestinian whose restaurant is now totamlly surrounded by the Wall. The restaurant is located close to Rachel's tomb. We wanted to support him bgy going to his restaurant. However the day before the scheduled visit the Israelis totally closed the access to the restaurant by putting a big metallic gate. We tried to go but we were prevented by the soldiers. We negociate so that Khalil could go and take the food out for us. We then had a picnic just next to the Wall and each of us gavce a financial contribution to Khalil to suppprt him. Since months he has continued to open his restaurant despite the lack of customers and pressures from the soldiers and the Wall.
According to the mayor of Bethlehem; Israel has illegally annexed 14 % of Bethelehem 's lands and I am wondering: where are the Christians?

See also texts, articles below, the reaction of the director of Al Rowwad theater and pictures in previous posts.

*


Protest held in solidarity with a Bethlehem resident who lost his shop to the Israeli Wall



Saed Bannoura - IMEMC - Friday, 01 September 2006, 22:08


Friday, a group of Palestinian residents of Bethlehem and international peace activists held a solidarity act in the city in support of a poor resident who lost his small shop for the construction of the Israeli Annexation Wall. The shop was the only source of livelihood for the man and his family.


As the army continued the construction of the Wall, the area around the man's shop was annexed and isolated because his shop is close to the already walled Rachel Tomb, which is frequently visited by religious Jews.

Troops installed a gate and closed the uncompleted section of the Wall, the owner of the shop and his costumers used to cross through the gate to reach the shop, but recently soldiers attacked him and forced him to leave the area.

The purpose of Friday's protest was to enable as many residents and internationals to be able to reach the shop and by their food from there as a means to support the man and to enable him keep his store opened.

Soldiers stationed in the area barred the residents and internationals from reaching the shop but agreed after negotiations that the man enters the area alone, go to his shop and bring the food out to the protesters.

The Annexation Wall Israel is construction in the occupied West Bank is being constructed in a way that enables settlement expansion, annexes as thousands of Dunams of Palestinian orchards and bars the framers from reaching the remaining isolated o



Text fromAbdelFattah Abu-Srour, PhD
Director of Al-Rowwad Cultural and Theatre Training Center



In the complete silence, except that of the Bulldozers and the Cranes
The Israeli democratic state without any legal authority, and without democracy
Take about 14% of the surface area of Bethlehem Governorate
and annexe them to the Occupying State of Israel. A whole area of houses, shops, industries and main entrance of the city of Christ... It is now permitted land to Israeli religious fanatics and to all Israelis in fact since this Palestinain area is now considered part of Israel.
Teh wall around Aida, surrounding the northern part of Bethlehem and the whole eastern and northern and partly western sides of Aida camp is now complete.
The atmosphere is suffocating
and the Horizon is burried behind a 9 meters high wall
and Silence is Gold
All of you, or most of you want to be rich
Enjoy your richness
in the Baths of injustce
wherever you go, whatever you do
Don't ever forget that you probably had a chance to make a change in your life
Be that change and do not say what can I do...
Shout it loud and high, to you family as well as your representatives
to your children as well as your students
Injustce is one face... as well as justice...
there isn't 200 hundred faces for human rights... there isn't 200 faces for the values of the humanity
but there are thousands of faces for the occupation and humiliation of a whole nation...
Do not be part of it

Help us keep faith and hope that humanity is not doomed forever in the darkness of lost causes.

love you all as much as I love Justice and freedom and hope and peace


"Make injustice Visible" Ghandi

--
AbdelFattah Abu-Srour, PhD
Director of Al-Rowwad Cultural and Theatre Training Center




Israel formally annexes 14% of northern Bethlehem




Palestine News Network - Saturday, 02 September 2006, 05:34


Israel has both effectively and officially overtaken northern Bethlehem, swallowing the entire Rachel’s Tomb area. The process was slow enough, ongoing for the past two years, however it all occurred with very little fuss. Those that did protest were gassed, shot at, imprisoned, or ignored.


Now historic Bethlehem is entirely cut off from its twin city Jerusalem by a kilometer stretch of the Wall. Hundreds of shops, factories, cultural institutions, religious and social centers, and residential homes were either confiscated or annexed to Jerusalem and under complete Israeli control.

Although Rachel’s Tomb has been a military installation for years, it looks quite different now surrounded by the Wall and higher sniper towers. The Israeli government confiscated what was once northern Bethlehem and is converting it into a militarized Jewish enclave like any settlement in the West Bank.

An official Israeli spokesperson announced Friday that control of the region has been transferred from army control into the custody of border guards and police overseen by the Israeli controlled Jerusalem Municipality. This indicates that the confiscation is complete. Israelis no longer need obtain permits from their government in order to travel into the West Bank if they want to go to Rachel’s Tomb.

Northern Bethlehem is no longer in the West Bank according to the Israeli announcement and the new facts on the ground. Northern Bethlehem is not even in Bethlehem. It is now in Israel where Jerusalem is, the future capital of the Palestinian state.

Bethlehem’s Mayor, Dr. Victor Batarsa denounced the Israeli actions as contravening international law and any sense of justice. There is no logic in the international silence in a world that refers to itself as “free,” yet stands by and watches without a word. The Israeli government just confiscated 14 percent of the birthplace of Christ.

Dr. Batarsa explained that the Bethlehem Municipality sent formal protests to foreign consuls in the region alerting them to the Israeli unilateral steps that converted the city of Bethlehem into a closed canton, confined and surrounded all sides.

Fourteen percent of the historic city was confiscated for the sole benefit of the occupying Israeli state. This damages all Christians, the Mayor continued. We have all been raped, including the Vatican, the Pope, Arab states, and all the mayors and their cities worldwide that are sister cities with Bethlehem. He stressed that once again a major obstacle is thrown in the face of the so-called peace process.

Hassan Abed Rabbo of the Factional Coordinating Committee maintains that the Israeli procedures in overtaking northern Bethlehem were done in relative silence. The Wall takes a chunk, the new “border crossing” checkpoint takes another, the soldiers and settlers occupying even more space. All of it was done under the auspices of “security,” and northern Bethlehem has become southern Jerusalem, according to the Israeli government. And it has already overtaken Jerusalem.