BBC Panorama - A Walk In The Park [ Part 1/3 ]

Playing for the prison wardens?

BRICUP’s Open Letter to Elton John

Night Raid in Bilin 01.02.2010 By Haitham Al Katib

UN impatient as blockade stalls Gaza building

There is a place of strange quiet in the cramped and crowded Gaza Strip.

It looks, from the roof of a nearby United Nations school, like a film set, or perhaps an army's urban warfare training ground.
Ranged across the sandy earth of Khan Younis is a large housing estate: 151 apartments, with space for a further 450.
Most are three-quarters complete. All are uninhabited.
The project is one of 26 schemes, ranging from houses to schools to medical clinics, that have been years in the making.
They all made good progress until June 2007. At that point, the Islamist Hamas movement - which has fired hundreds of rockets at southern Israeli towns - took control of the Gaza Strip after months of violent struggle with its more secular rival, Fatah.
In response, Israel and Egypt tightened their blockade of the Gaza Strip, allowing in little more than basic food and medicine.
For the past 10 months, the UN has been holding intensive, high-level negotiations with Israel, seeking permission to bring in materials such as doors, windows, pipes and tiles to complete these 26 projects.
But UN officials say they have made no headway. Their expressions of dismay are growing stronger.
Fouad Faqawi, a Gazan who works for the United Nations relief agency Unrwa, strides up the rough concrete staircase of one of the Khan Younis housing blocks.
"Nobody can live here," he says, pausing to look inside the shell of a family home for six. "No way - how can people live without plumbing or sewage, or windows or doors?"

Read more @ BBC

Israel Cracks Down on the Press

Jared Malsin, the editor of the English edition of Maan News Agency, has been detained by Israeli authorities.

Malsin, a Jewish-American who lives and works in the West Bank, was picked up on Tuesday at Ben Gurion International Airport, as he and his partner returned from vacation in the Czech Republic. After being subjected to eight hours of interrogation, Malsin was deemed a security threat and was slated to be deported to Prague Thursday morning.

Why?

Maan states: Hebrew-language interrogation transcripts obtained by Ma'an reveal that Malsin was deemed a security risk on the apparent basis of his political beliefs. Interrogators gathered online research into the journalist's writing history, which the transcripts indicate included news stories "criticizing the State of Israel," among other allegations that he "authored articles inside the territories."

Although Bethlehem-based Maan is identified as a Palestinian news service, it is widely known as an independent media outlet--free of political agendas and noted for its unbiased reporting. As such, it is attracting a steadily growing readership, receiving over 3 million visitors a month.

Malsin appealed the deportation order and was scheduled to stand before a judge in Tel Aviv on Thursday morning. But according to Maan's lawyer, Castro Daoud, the hearing has been delayed until Sunday for unknown reasons.

In the meantime, Daoud says, Malsin remains in the custody of Israeli authorities.

Since his detainment, which Israeli officials initially denied, Malsin has had little contact with the outside world. Daoud has had only one brief meeting with his client and Malsin has made a short phone call to Maan staff writer and sub-editor, George Hale.

Speaking to The Huffington Post, Hale reports that Malsin was shocked by the detainment. Malsin was also surprised that Israeli security officials were questioning him about the International Solidarity Movement, an activist group that Malsin has no affiliation with.

"He [Malsin] is the last person who would be involved with the ISM. He is a journalist," Hale says, "and his reporting is impartial."

Hale adds: "I think that there are a lot of assumptions about Maan and the people who work here--that we're here to demonize Israel. We're not."

Despite the fact that the Israeli Government Press Office [GPO] refuses to issue press passes to Maan employees, Hales says that both Malsin and Maan enjoy good working relationships with the Israeli Defense Forces [IDF] and other governmental bodies.

"We [Maan] talk to the IDF and include the Israeli point of view [in our articles]," Hale says, "Destroying our English department is destroying [that] side of the story."
Hale states that Malsin's partner, Faith Rowold, who does not have legal representation, was deported to Prague.

When considered within a larger context, Malsin's detention seems to point to a government intent on silencing dissent.

In September, the prominent Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions [BDS] activist Mohammed Othman was picked up by the IDF as he attempted to enter the West Bank via Jordan. Othman was returning from a visit to Norway, a country whose government had recently divested from an Israeli corporation directly involved in the occupation. Othman was widely credited as having been a crucial player in Norway's decision to divest.

After months in administrative detention without charges, held on the basis of evidence that neither Othman nor his lawyer was allowed to see, Othman was finally released yesterday, January 13.

Recently, the IDF has also arrested various leaders of non-violent grassroots movements against the separation barrier. In December, Abdallah Abu Rahmah, coordinator of the Bil'in Popular Committee Against the Wall was arrested on charges of incitement and stone throwing. Abu Rahmah is also accused of arms possession for displaying empty tear gas canisters and discharged rubber bullets--both shot at him and other protestors during the weekly non-violent demonstrations held in his village.

On January 12, Ibrahim Amirah, the coordinator of the Ni'ilin Popular Committee Against the Wall was arrested. Amirah has been detained and released without charges twice in the past.

Additionally, the IDF conducted a night raid on the West Bank home of the ISM's media coordinator, Eva Novakova. While Novakova was arrested and deported on the grounds that she had overstayed her visa, critics of her deportation point out that it's unusual for the IDF to go to such lengths due to an expired visa.

Hale says that, to the best of his knowledge, Malsin has a valid Israeli visa. Malsin's detention is "arbitrary," Hale says. "It's a violation of press freedom."

Mya Guarnieri

The Huffington Post

Tibi: Israel trains dogs to attack anyone saying 'Allahu Akbar'

Palestinian-Israeli lawmaker Ahmad Tibi on Monday alleged that the Israeli military trains dogs to attack anyone saying Allahu Akbar, Arabic for “God is great.”

According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, Tibi told Knesset members on Monday that at a canine unit ceremony held the day before, parents of the soldiers witnessed demonstrations proving these allegations.

"IDF dogs are trained to pounce and attack any Arab who shouts Allah Hu Akbar, as a Pavlovian reaction," said Tibi. "So here I say: Allahu Akbar. Are there any dogs here to attack me?"

The Israeli military denied the charges, telling Haaretz in a statement, "One of the canine unit's many capabilities is to train the dogs at locating the enemy when dressed both in uniform and as civilian. This is an ability that has proven itself in many cases."

Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies

My Husband: Jailed for Protesting Israel's Wall

On International Human Rights Day in last year, my husband Abdallah Abu Rahmah was in Berlin receiving a medal from the World Association for Human Rights. This year on the same day, December 10th, Abdallah was taken away at 2am by Israeli soldiers who broke into our West Bank home. Abdallah was arrested for the same reasons he received the prize - his nonviolent struggle for justice, equality and peace in Israel/Palestine.

My husband is a school teacher and farmer from the Palestinian village of Bil'in. When Israel built its apartheid wall here, it separated Bil'in from more than half of its land, in order to facilitate the expansion of the illegal settlement Mattityahu East. In response, Abdallah and fellow villagers began a campaign of nonviolent resistance. Every Friday for the past five years, we've marched, with Israeli and international supporters, to protest the theft of our land and livelihoods.

In September, 2007 Israel's Supreme Court ruled that the route of the wall in Bil'in was illegal and should be changed. Two years later, the wall remains, unmoved. Many were discouraged, but Abdallah told them that the pressure of our campaign and international support could bring down the wall.

As the grassroots struggle grows here, the efforts to end our actions have intensified. The army has been instructed to use weapons against the protesters and arrest participants. Our beloved friend, Bassem Abu Rahmah, was murdered by Israeli soldiers as he tried to talk with them, while participating in a demonstration. Seventy-seven others have been arrested in violent night raids.

Among the other arrestees is Abdallah's cousin Adeeb Abu Rahmah, who, like Abdallah, never missed a demonstration and was never violent. Adeeb, a father of nine, has been in prison for five months, with no end in sight. Since the first time our home was invaded, our seven year-old daughter Luma has been waking up screaming, and five year-old Layan wetting her bed. Only our nine month-old son Laith still smiles and giggles, but I cry when he calls for his father.

Leaders like former President Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of the leaders of South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle, have visited our village. They stood with Abdallah at Bassem's grave last August. Mr. Tutu told us, "Just as a simple man named Gandhi led the successful nonviolent struggle in India and simple people such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King led the struggle for civil rights in the United States, simple people here in Bil'in are leading a nonviolent struggle that will bring them their freedom."

The afternoon before his arrest, Abdallah prepared a speech to be read on his behalf to the World Association for Human Rights since Israel would not allow him to travel to Germany for the ceremony. Abdallah wrote:

"I wish I could be with you to share in the joy of our colleagues receiving this year's prize and to celebrate with you the 20th anniversary of the removal of the Berlin Wall. But the occupation not only robs us of statehood, land, and so often of our lives, it also deprives us of many beautiful moments."

"My mother passed away in a hospital in occupied East Jerusalem, our historic capital, in August but the Israeli occupation refused me a permit to be with her. An Israeli friend held a mobile phone to my mother's ear so that I could say good bye to her and thank her for all the love she has given me. In the darkness of all these difficulties the occupation imposes on us, the solidarity of justice-seeking people like you all over the world gives us strength."

"Unlike Israel, we have no nuclear weapons, and no army, but we do not want or need those things. With your support and the justice of our cause, we will bring down Israel's apartheid wall."

Twelve hours after Abdallah was taken to a military jail from our home, I listened as President Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize and spoke of "the men and women around the world who have been jailed and beaten in the pursuit of justice." I thought of Bassem, Adeeb and my husband, and wondered if President Obama will take action to support our struggle for freedom.

Majida Abu Rahmah

School teacher / Huffingtonpost

"Is Al Jazeera English, Another Fox News?"

London, December 28, 2009 (Pal Telegraph) - Al Jazeera English broadcasted a news report yesterday, 27th December 2009, on the first anniversary of Gaza War. Ayman Mohye El Din, Al Jazeera reporter in the Gaza Strip who covered the last war and worked there over the past 2 years, prepared a news report from Gaza.

The report done by Mohye El Din focused on the Palestinian military factions and their ability to face the Israeli army a year after the War.

Shockingly, the report seemed to me to be very "FOX NEWS" in its style. Ayman put much emphasis on the Palestinian military group Hamas and its military wing, Ez Eldin Al Qasam brigades in terms of rockets made in Gaza.

The report showed some men manufacturing home-made rockets. It showed a factory-like space with some missile heads lying around the place while some turning machines operate. If one has no idea about what is going on in Palestine, from this report you might think we are a real state that has military bodies and establishments that could prepare an army for a war.

The report was lacking some aspects of professionalism to the point it could be considered misleading. This is due to the deliberate ignoring of facts that could clarify the ramifications and repercussions of these rockets. In addition, El Din didn't even refer to them as home-made but only as rockets. This will of course give people a mistaken impression about the nature and results of these rockets.

The report should have mentioned the outcomes of these rockets over the past 5 years, especially the last war. The reporter should have said that these rockets are ineffective by the military definition as they don't have destructive power. Israeli security services issued a report after the war saying that 4 Israelis killed since 2005 by thousands of these home-made rockets.

Sadly, the reporter failed to mention that from 2001 through to this moment, Qassam rockets have claimed the lives of 13 Israelis. In the past war in Gaza thousands of these "play" fire, so-called Qassam rockets, injured few people in Israel. While in Gaza, more than 1445 mostly civilian Palestinians were killed and 5000 injured by the deadly military attacks launched by Israel.

Meanwhile, only a few Israelis were killed, mostly 15 soldiers while few Israeli civilian, 3, killed by thousands of these s-called rockets.

The Qasam rocket is between 79 cm to 200 cm. long with a diameter between 6 cm to 7 cm. The explosives payload could be 500G to 7 Kilograms. Such small technicality should have been mentioned by the report. Otherwise, the audience will think these rockets are the same as the American weapons used in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Al jazeera should have said clearly that these rockets are useless and virtually meaningless. When Al Jazeera describes such rockets in every report as relentless, that is the kind of reporting that has brought death to thousands of Palestinians while it has achieved nothing on the political arena.
Although we can't be cynical about the professionalism of the reporter, we should be aware of the negative impact of such a one-sided report. It has unthinkingly portrayed the Palestinians as busy people who are well-experienced of manufacturing arms, while flagrantly failing to mention that Gazans are living under harsh siege where basics of life unavailable.

The report indeed gave the impression that Palestinians don't suffer from siege every day and night, while showing the factories of weapons operating 24 hours in every day. Besides, it emphasized and supported the false Israeli narrative published in the media that Palestinians massively smuggle weapons through Rafah tunnels.

Many Palestinians oppose these rockets as they are considered to be a pretext to Israeli army to keep on its attacks against Gaza.

Indeed such reports, can mainly be found on FOX NEWS, which all the time tries to depict Palestinian factions as organized army. It's the same FOX which always portrays Israel as a victim of the massive Palestinian rockets. This kind of reporting helps FOX a lot, and goes right along with serving the Israeli interest on the rocket issue. Israelis repeatedly use this issue in the media saying Palestinians used thousands of rockets against civilians. The Israelis never talk about the real effects and ramifications of these rockets and neither does Fox News and now Al Jazeera English.

Truly, it will not be difficult for expert and journalists to classify Al jazeera along with the rest of controlled Media. Al jazeera performance and staff is a new copy of CNN, FOX, BBC, and Sky News.

By Sameh Habeeb
Founder and Editor of The Palestine Telegraph Newspaper

UK court 'issued warrant for Livni'

A British court reportedly issued an arrest warrant for Israel's former foreign minister on charges relating to Israel's 22-day war on Gaza, before apparently withdrawing it after it was found she was not in the country.

Tzipi Livni, the leader of the opposition Kadima party, had been expected to travel to London this week for an event organised by the Jewish National Fund, followed by meetings with British government officials.
Livni cancelled the visit two weeks before the event was due to take place.
Israeli media reported on Monday that Livni had called off the trip fearing that she would be arrested after a pro-Palestinian group won a warrant for her arrest.
But Livni's office said in a statement after the reports that she had declined a request to attend the event in London due to a scheduling conflict and not because of fears of being arrested.

'Threat of prosecution'

The British foreign office issued a statement on Monday saying it was looking into the incident and its possible effect on the peace process.

"The UK is determined to do all it can to promote peace in the Middle East and to be a strategic partner of Israel," it said.

"To do this, Israel's leaders need to be able to come to the UK for talks with the British government. We are looking urgently at the implications of this case."Bill Bowring, a professor of law at the University of London, said the threat of prosecution is making international travel increasingly difficult for Israeli officials.

"This has happened before. It's under quite old legislation, under the fourth Geneva Convention of 1949," he told Al Jazeera.

"Basically what it says is that if a person anywhere in the world commits grave breaches against civilians then that person should be arrested and prosecuted wherever they turn up in the world."Israeli land, air and naval forces began bombarding the Gaza Strip last December, saying that it wanted to stop rocket attacks by Palestinian fighters.

Read more @ Aljazeera.net

Israel 'confirms organ harvesting'

Israel has confirmed that its forensic scientists in the 1990s took organs from dead bodies, including those of Palestinians, without their families’ consent, an Israeli television report said.

Israel’s Channel 2 TV aired an interview on Saturday with the former director of the Abu Kabir forensic institute, Dr Yehuda Hiss, in which he admitted to taking skin, corneas, heart valves, and bones from Israeli soldiers, Israeli civilians, Palestinians and foreign workers.
The report appeared to confirm the premise of an article in the Swedish daily Aftonbladet, which caused an explosive controversy when it appeared in August. The article quoted Palestinians alleging that Israel returned their relatives bodies with their chests sewn up, suggesting organ harvesting.
Israeli officials denounced the report at the time, labeling it "anti-Semitic," but did not comment on the specific allegations.
The interview with Hiss was filmed in 2000 by an American academic, Nancy Sheppard-Hughes, a professor of anthropology at the University of California-Berkeley, who said she released the footage in the wake of the Aftonbladet controversy.

In a response to the TV report, the Israeli military confirmed that the practice took place. "This activity ended a decade ago and does not happen any longer," the military said in a statement quoted by Channel 2.
In the interview, Hiss describes the steps he and other scientists took to conceal the thefts.
"We used to take corneas without plucking out the eyes. We used to glue them shut. We did that for the purpose of scientific advancement," Hiss said in the interview.
"We used to take skin from the backs of dead people, and the families wouldn’t notice that because they buried the dead without turning them over," another pathologist is quoted as saying in the report.
Hiss said he ignored Israeli law that prohibits harvesting organs without a family’s consent.
"We used to send organs to Israeli hospitals, particularly Tel Hashomer in Tel Aviv, because many doctors there were friends of mine. We didn’t ask for money in return, but four years later, the hospital gave us a microscope. We also sent organs to Hadassah Hospital, and in return they gave us a video camera that can film corpses from inside," Hiss was quoted as saying.

According to Channel 2, In 1986, Israel established a skin bank. Skin supplied by the Abu Kibir institute was used in transplants for wounded soldiers and burn patients.

The right-wing Israeli Knesset member Aryeh Eldad, a plastic surgeon, was also quoted on the program saying, “We had orders to harvest organs without families consent.”
Former Israeli MK Arieh Eldad who is a surgeon specialized in plastic surgery and burns said, according to Israeli TV report, "We had orders to harvest organs without families consent."
Lawsuits were filed against the institute, however, including by the families of Israeli soldiers. One of these came from the father of a soldier, who appeared on the Channel 2 report saying that he opened his son’s coffin to find that his neck was cut and his eyes plucked out.
Under mounting pressure, Hiss was fired in 1998.
Israel’s Health Ministry told Channel 2 that all harvesting had been done with permission and, "For the last 10 years, Abu Kabir has been working according to ethics and Jewish law."

Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies

Israeli settler running over a Palestinian with his car!!

Arab press say Swiss neutrality is failing

Following Switzerland’s decision to ban new minarets, reaction in the Arab media has ranged from calls for sanctions to the need for self-critical reflection.

“Shame”, “Holocaust”, “Islamophobia”, “humiliation” – words that have appeared regularly in Arab press since 57.5 per cent of Swiss voters said yes on November 29 to a ban on the construction of minarets.

Most commentators wondered what could have pushed the Swiss to vote as they did, and what the consequences would be for a country that found itself attracting criticism from all sides, including from the United Nations and the European Union.
The Qatari newspaper Al-Raya was amazed at the voting behaviour of a country known for its freedom of speech and democratic principles.
According to the Assabah newspaper in Tunisia, “the stigmatisation of Islam in the West is no longer a question of mere media provocation – from now on it genuinely threatens the Muslim minority”.
Al-Quds Al-Arabi, edited in London, observed: “If Switzerland – known for its neutrality, quality of life and very high levels of education – is foundering with Islamophobia, one can no longer blame certain other European countries which appear sensitive because of unemployment and the financial crisis.”

September 11

“Why do they hate us and what does the minaret ban hide?” asked Al-Dostour in Jordan, for whom the vote reflected the rise of the European far right. It added that this was the result of a campaign against Islam led by Western political authorities and media since September 11, 2001.

The Kuwaiti daily Al-Watan said the vote was the sign of “European mental regression, a return to the Middle Ages and a desire to eliminate others”.

For a columnist in Egypt’s Al-Ahram, everything being said about creeping Islamicisation and the introduction of sharia law was “pure fantasy”.

The comments of Al-Shourouq in Algeria were hardly more flattering. Under the headline “Four minarets rock Switzerland and tear down its neutrality”, it blamed the Swiss government for allowing the vote to be put to the people. It also placed responsibility on Swiss Muslims, “who failed to unite and speak under one banner and let themselves be distorted”.

Sanctions

Some media called for a boycott of Switzerland or other sanctions. The Palestinian website Dounia Al-Watan demanded rich Arabs withdraw their money from Swiss banks.
Al-Dostour in Egypt drew comparisons between Islamophobia and anti-Semitism and pointed out how the hatred of Jews slowly gained ground in Germany, resulting in the Holocaust.
Alam Al-Akhbar, an Arab site in Turkey, invited Muslims to deposit their money in Turkish banks.
In London Al-Sharq Al-Awsat believed there was a connection between the minaret vote and the two Swiss businessmen sentenced to 16 months in prison three days later by a Libyan court for visa irregularities and tax evasion.

Dialogue

Less harsh words were found on the London-based Elaph website, which wondered whether the Swiss vote was not ultimately linked to the poor image offered to the West by Muslims in Western countries.
Similarly Al-Ittihad, a newspaper in the United Arab Emirates, said one shouldn’t “insult” a democratic and sovereign country which was free to adopt whatever measures it deemed necessary.
It added: “Maybe [the Swiss voted like that] because they fear for their Christianity?”
The Moroccan daily Al-Alam asked whether the vote didn’t throw back into question the issue of interreligious dialogue – precisely what Al-Watan in Kuwait was calling for, suggesting conferences to fight Islamophobia.
The appeal for dialogue was also made on IslamOnline, a moderate site that recognises a serious crisis between the West and Muslims.
The problem, it said, “is the absence of a reasonable voice ... it falls to Arabs and Muslims to be responsible for preventing problems and protecting their beliefs and customs”.

Abdelhafidh Abdeleli, swissinfo.ch (Translated from French by Thomas Stephens)

Intel unveils 48-core cloud computing silicon chip

Intel has unveiled a prototype chip that packs 48 separate processing cores on to a chunk of silicon the size of a postage stamp.

The Single-chip Cloud Computer (SCC), as it is known, contains 1.3 billion transistors, the tiny on-off switches that underpin chip technology.
Each processing core could, in theory, run a separate operating system.
Currently, top-end chips for desktop computers typically contain four separate processors.
Intel and rival AMD will both launch new six-core devices in 2010, allowing computers to simultaneously tackle a number of complex tasks, such as processing graphics.

The chip has won the "cloud" name because it brings together the computing resources typically filling several racks in a data centre.
The SCC is made up of 24 "tiles" each one of which is effectively a dual-core processor.
The chip maker said the research that had gone into the chip suggests that it could, eventually, cram 100 cores onto a single piece of silicon.
In 2007, the firm showed off an 80-core processor, whilst earlier this year a US firm called Tilera announced a 100-core chip. Also graphics chip maker Nvidia has previewed its next-generation processor that has 512 cores.
However, unlike both of these, the SCC is based on Intel's X86 architecture, meaning it can run operating systems found in normal desktop computers such as Windows and Linux.
Microsoft said it had already put SCC into its development pipeline so it could exploit it in the future.
Intel said it had already demonstrated Linux running on each core. It has also found a way to slash the management overhead required to keep the processors crunching data in synch.
In a bid to keep power consumption down, the tiles making up the chip can be divided into islands of different sizes that run at separate voltages.
"Over time, I expect these advanced concepts to find their way into mainstream devices, just as advanced automotive technology such as electronic engine control, air bags and anti-lock braking eventually found their way into all cars," said Justin Rattner, Intel's chief technology officer.
Intel said the SCC would be made officially available during the first half of 2010. More details will be released at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco on 8 February, 2010. BBC

The situation on the border! معبر رفح

Certainly the situation on the border hasn't changed in the slightest: for aid, all of which, despite assurances to the contrary, is still rotting in El Arish; for Palestinians, most of whom cannot pass, or can pass with difficulty - see below; and for exports, which are simply not allowed. Pity that the Egyptians only want to keep the parts of agreements that don't involve doing nice things to Palestinians.

I arrived again on foot on Monday Morning, was processed with a friendly cup of coffee, and put on the bus to Egypt. This bus only travels about 500 metres, but you must be on it, you cannot walk. The bus took 12 hours to cover this 500 metres the day before, during which time everyone got on and off several times, scrambling to get back on when it moved forward 100 meters, then getting off again to sit in exactly the same place as before, or walk back to the departure lounge to use the toilet.

يصف رود كيف سافر خلال معبر رفح ويقول:عدت مرة اخرى يوم الاثنين وركبت الباص المتجه لمصر الذى يقطع مسافة 500متر فقط ولكن يجب ان تركبه وقد استغرق 12 ساعة فى قطع مسافة ال500 متر فى اثنائها كان الناس ينزلون ويصعدون عدة مرات عندما يتحرك 100 متر اخرى لينزلوا و يجلسوا فى نفس المكان او يرجعوا للذهاب للحمام

On the Monday we got through to Egypt at an early 3pm, only 5 hours after arrival. The delay is caused by the Egyptians, who call through the buses when they want them.

يوم الاثنين لم نستغرق الا 5 ساعات فقط وكان التأخير من الجانب المصرى حيث يناودن على الباصات عندما يريدون ذلك!

Because I am the last of the convoy, travelling alone, I will be transitted with the Palestinians.

They, many having been down this route before, tell me that we will be put on buses, taken under police escort to Cairo airport and deported - sorry, transitted to our country of destination. All, or nearly all, Palestinians seem to be treated this way. Most of my group are travelling to Saudi where they used to work, until the border was sealed. now after several attempts by most of them, they are being allowed to go back there, but the Egyptians have not, and seemingly will not, grant them visas for Egypt, so they have to travel by escorted transit, which is, to be fair, a not uncommon procedure, and is one that I have certainly experienced widely.

لانى كنت اخر المغادرين من قافلة جالوى فساكون مع الفلسطينيين المرحلين لمطار القاهرة والفلسطينيون يعرفون كيف تسير الامور فسيتم وضعهم فى باصات تحت حراسة وبمصاحبة سيارات الشرطة

معظم المرحلين ذاهبين لاعمالهم فى السعودية بعد عدة محاولات غير ناجحة من قبل للسفر وهذا الاجراء المتبع بان يتم مصاحبة الشرطة لهم امام و خلف الباصات ساقوم باختباره بنفسى

I moved to the transit lounge at about 7pm, after only three hours waiting! A further 5 hours or so lolling about there saw us being loaded up in to the buses which were not totally uncomfortable, and a further 4 hours on the parked bus, about 3 or 4 am found us begin slowly moving towards Cairo. Daylight found us stopping for half an hour at a cafe, the first opportunity to buy food other than sweets since entering the whole system, and the first opportunity to use the toilet in about 8 hours, and then onward to Cairo Airport where we arrived at 10 am or so. We were then processed through passport control twice, making a total of perhaps six times on the journey, and were led outside the terminal building to our Transit Lounge.

استغرق التحرك و الصعود للباصات لكى تبدأ بالتحرك لمطار القاهرة 12 ساعة بدأ نور الصبح يظهر ووقفنا نصف ساعة فى استراحة و هى المرة الاولى التى استطعنا فيها الذهاب للحمام بعد 8 ساعات و لشراء بعض الطعام و المياة

وصلنا مطار القاهرة العاشرة صباحا وتم مراجعة جوزات سفرنا للمرة الثامنة خلال الرحلة ثم ذهبنا لمقر انتظارنا فى المطار

لم يعتقد الفلسطينينون انى سأكون معهم فى هذا المكان فلما رأونى رحبوا بى و اعطونى بعض الخبز و الجبن الذى كانوا يحتفظون به خلال الرحلة. وقالوا لى بارتياح اخيرا سيتمكن احد الاجانب من مشاركتنا هذه التجربة مع اشفاقهم على منها ولكن الان استطيع ان افهم احوال الفلسطينين!

The collection of rooms was a maximum of 13 metres by 27 metres, but this was divided into rooms in haphazard fashion, some of which were locked and a large one of which was a toilet and shower room, the only one. The only windows were the double entrance doors, at the end of a corridor leading into the complex. The ceiling was low, about 8 feet, although there did at least seem to be some ventilation. There was no facility for rubbish disposal, and internally, the rooms were entirely unsupervised, so that any intimidation or racketeering could not have been controlled.

مجموعة الحجرات هذه كانت مساحتها 13 فى 27 متر على اقصى تقدير ومقسمة لعدة

حجرات عشوائية بعضها مغلق وكانت هناك واحدة كبيرة عبارة عن حمام وهو الحمام

الوحيد. النوافذ الوحيدة كانت بوابات الدخول فى نهاية ممر يؤدى الى مجمع المطار. كان

سقف الغرفة منخفضا حوالى 8 اقدام ولكنه على الاقل كان به تهوية. لم يكن هناك سلال

للقمامة والحجرات لا تخضع لاى اشراف او متابعة لتنظيفها مما يعنى انه فى اى حالة

طوارئ لا يمكن السيطرة على الموقف.

Our buses deposited about 150 people into this space, but it was not empty when we arrived, there were people there who had spent days, and one man claimed a month, though I could not verify it. These long termers had staked out scraps of prayer mats as beds on the dirty stone flagged floor, and sat there guarding their spaces. I took a couple of photos, but was warned against it. But here they are.

كان عددنا نحن الذين حضروا فى الباصات 150 ولكن المكان كان به ناس عندما حضرنا هناك من قد امضى اياما قبلنا و هناك رجل قال ان له شهرا ولكن لم يكن لدى وسيلة للتأكد من ذلك. هؤلاء القدامى كان بعضهم قد فرش سجادات الصلاة واتخذوها اسرة للنوم و الجلوس على الارضية الحجرية القذرة و قد صورت عدة صور وقد حذرونى من التقاط الصور و لكن ها هى ذى صور من حجز مطار القاهرة

The problem for the Saudi workers was that they had expired visas, and no-one has political representation in Gaza (except the UK!), so to get a new visa, Palestinians must travel to the embassy in Cairo!!!! They cannot get into Egypt to do this however, without convincing the Egyptian authorities that they will, indeed get one, so they have to get a pre-visa pass authorised by the Palestinian representation in Cairo and passed to the Egyptians, and then keep turning up at the Rafah crossing until, magically, one day their name is on a list. When they get to Cairo, they are kept in this dungeon until the Palestinian representative meets them gets some paperwork, takes it the Saudi Embassy, and then returns it to them, usually two days later. But even when you get the visa, or work permit, or if you already have it, you must still stay in the hole until it is time for your flight.

ثم يحكى عن مأساة العائدين لاعمالهم عندما تنتهى تأشيراتهم بسبب الحصار ومنعهم من السفر و كيف انهم يرسلون طلبات وينتظرون معجزة للرد لانهم غير مسموح لهم بالذهاب بانفسهم للقاهرة لتجديد التأشيرة فيرسلون للسفارة و ينتظرون معجزة الرد و ان يأتى اسمهم فى الكشوف ثم يأتى احد من السفارة الفلسطينية للمطار ليجدد تأشيراتهم و يستغرق ذلك عدة ايام وهم فى حجز المطار وحتى عندما تحصل على التأشيرة فيجب ان تستمر فى البقاء فى هذا الجحر حتى يحين موعد سفرك

In my group there was one American citizen, and apart from me, two British subjects, but no-one took any notice of them! Why?, because they were joint Palestine nationals, and thus 'Palestinians' as far as the Egyptians are concerned. The Brits contacted the Embassy, and were actually allowed to sit outside the dungeon in the sun 'because they had a small child', although I noticed that other mothers with small children did not manage to achieve this, so maybe being British does have its use.

كان معى امريكى و بريطانيان من ذوى الجنسية المزدوجة و لكن لم يلاحظهم احد لانهم كانوا فى نظر المصريين مجرد فلسطينيين. اتصل البريطانيين بسفارتهم و سمح لهم بالجلوس خارج الزنزانة "لان معهم طفل صغير" على الرغم من ملاحظتى امهات اخريات معهن اطفال صغار ولم يتمكنوا من الفوز بالجلوس خارج الزازانة فربما كان هناك فائدة من كونك بريطانيا.

They had already booked a flight - for Sunday, five days time, and they were to be detained until then. I asked why they booked so far ahead, and they answered that they had no idea how long their processing would be, and indeed, it had taken three days already, so taking a gamble on an earlier flight would have been foolhardy. They had rung the Embassy to try and get the flight re-arranged, but were not being allowed to go to the real transit lounge to do it by themselves. This means that they were under arrest, as far as I can see, by any meaningful definition.

وقد حجزوا للسفر بعد 5 ايام كاملة و عندما سألتهم لمذا كل هذا الوقت قالوا انهم لم يعرفوا ما مقدار الوقت الذى قد يستغرقونة فى انهاء اجرائاتهم و لم يريدوا المقامرة بالحجز مبكرا و عندما ارادوا تقديم الحجز لم يتمكنوا لانه غير مسموح لهم بالخروج من هنا للقيام بذلك بانفسهم وهذا يعنى حسب ما رأيت انهم محتجزين او مقبوض عليهم لانه لا يوجد تفسير للموقف غير ذلك.

I do not know by what rules a married couple with a child of 2 can be detained in a mixed *** prison for five days without beds, separate bathing, child facilities, rubbish disposal, daylight, privacy, or even food, unless they can afford the inflated prices charged by the runner who goes to the local cafe and brings food back. They are under arrest, not in any sense in transit, and their only crime, as usual, is that they are Palestinian -(even if they are British as well)

لا اعلم بأى حق وقانون يتم حتجز زوجان معهم طفل عمره سنتان فى سجن مشترك يضم نساء ورجال ولمدة 5 ايام بدون اسرة للنوم ولاحمامات منفصلة للجنسين ولا مرافق للاطفال، و لامكان لرمى القمامة ولا ضوء شمس ولاخصوصية او حتى طعام الا اذا كان لديهم المقدرة على الشراء بالاسعار الخيالية التى يشترى لهم بها احد السعاه من الكافيتريا. انهم مقبوض عليهم و محتجزين قصرا وليسوا فى ترانزيت" صالة انتظار" باى حال من الاحوال وجريمتهم الوحيدة كما هو المعتاد هى – كونهم فلسطينيين – حتى ولو كانوا ايضا بريطانيين

we were all taken under the supervision of a single policeman, to the real transit lounge. Getting my ticket was an interesting experience, but the main point was that I had no freedom of action. Sit here, stand there, bags here, go there, that's the flight and price, take it or leave it and go back to prison.

I was very sorry to leave my acquaintances there:

تم اصطحابنا جميعا مع ظابط واحد الى صالة الانتظار الحقيقية و الحصول على تذكرة السفر وكانت تجربة مشوقة بالنسبة لى ولكن الموضوع الاساسى انه لم يكن لدى حرية الحركة – قف هنا، اجلس هناك، الحقائب هنا، اذهب هناك، هذه رحلتك و سعرها اما ان تقبلها او تتركها و تذهب للسجن مرة اخرى.

Ali, the American citizen with an open ticket to Dallas, who had had to wait months for permission from the Egyptians to leave Gaza. The American Emabassy had efused to co-ordinate his exit throough Rafah, insisting that he go through Israel. He agreed and duly filled out an application for a crossing through Erez, he received an acknowledgement from the embassy that they were processing it, but in five months he had heard nothing else, so had made his own way to Rafah; Sahal, who had been working in Saudi for 30 years and who had not been able to make his annual visit to his parents and family in Gaza for two years before he gave up everything to go back nine months ago, for his daughter's wedding and because his father was 90. He realised that he risked never going back, and indeed his return was after a gap of nine months, and three attempts at the border; and Mahmoud, also a Saudi worker, also waiting for his renewed visa from the Saudia embassy, and the man in charge of the battered fragments of Bread and cheese that I was regaled with on arrival.


These men, sat disconsolately in a shallow side corridor, on their scraps of carpet, because they had staked out these quieter spots the day before. Along the end of the wall was a row of 'lifers', the long term residents who had been there for up to a month. One of these men had a family, the woman staying in a side room that had become women only, and joining him only when someone got some food. They had a girl of about 10 who carried things between them with a skip in her step.

عودة لحجز المطار- هؤلاء الرجال يجلسون بتعاسة فى الممر الضيق على سجادات الصلاة. على طول الممر حتى نهاية الجدار كان يجلس مجموعة من المسجونين مدى الحياة او الموجودين من مدة طويلة لمدة تقارب الشهر من هؤلاء من لديه عائلتة معه وزوجتة تجلس فى غرفة جانبية اتخذوها كغرفة للنساء وتأتى لتجلس معه عندما يأتى احد ما بطعام و لديهم بنت عمرها 10 سنوات تعمل كمرسال بينهم و تمشى ببعض العرج فى خطوتها

People saw me taking photographs and measuring the size of the room, and some at least rallied round and helped. All asked that I 'Tell the World About this", while many more were resigned and weary, but at least looked with a flutter of interest.

عندما رأنى الناس اصور و اقيس الغرفة اسرع البعض لمساعدتى وكلهم طلبوا منى ان "انقل للعالم ما يحدث هنا"، بينما كان اخرين لا يفعلون شئ و يبدو متعبين و لكنهم على الاقل بدوا مهتمين.

بقلم رود / منقول عن شبكة فلسطين للحوار

Why Egypt's young dream of life abroad

Every day hundreds of Egyptians pay large amounts of money to smugglers to embark on an often perilous journey in unseaworthy boats to Europe, mainly via Libya.

Some never make it to their final destination, perishing at sea because the overcrowded boats capsized or sank in bad weather.

Yet despite the dangers many people don't seem to be put off. Some who made it to Europe but were later deported have even tried going back again. In fact, according to a recent study by the Earth Centre for Studies almost half a million (460,000) Egyptians have successfully entered Europe illegally in the last decade, and 90,000 live in Italy alone. Another study into attitudes towards migration by the Arabic Labour Organisation is equally revealing.

It found that 50% of students who take up postgraduate studies in Europe or the United States don't return to Egypt, meaning the country is losing some of its brightest and most talented pupils. Two thousand young people took part in the study and when asked whether they would like to live and work abroad, 50% said yes.

Rasha Mohammed, an unemployed law graduate, does not think she will find work any time soon. "Jobs are very scarce and if you want to work you have to know someone important," she says. Ms Mohammed has set her sights on working in another country. "Saudi Arabia would be a good place,'' she says. "Or maybe London."

She admits that she is afraid of living on her own in Europe. But she would still go if the chance arose, despite the fact that the British economy is still in recession. Read more @ BBC

Amnesty International accuse Israël de priver les Palestiniens d'eau

Israël limite sévèrement l'accès à l'eau dans les territoires palestiniens "en maintenant un contrôle total sur des ressources communes", selon un rapport d'Amnesty International rendu public mardi 27 octobre. L'organisation internationale appelle d'ailleurs Israël à "mettre fin à ses politiques discriminatoires et à lever immédiatement toutes les restrictions imposées aux Palestiniens".

"Israël ne laisse les Palestiniens accéder qu'à une fraction des ressources communes en eau, qui se situent surtout en Cisjordanie occupée, alors que les colonies israéliennes illégales reçoivent des quantités pratiquement illimitées", écrit Amnesty. Les Israéliens consomment quatre fois plus d'eau que les Palestiniens, selon le rapport. Cette "inégalité" est encore plus criante dans certaines régions de Cisjordanie où des colonies utilisent 20 fois plus d'eau par tête d'habitant que les Palestiniens des localités voisines, qui survivent avec 20 litres par jour.
"Piscines, pelouses bien arrosées et vastes exploitations agricoles irriguées dans les colonies contrastent avec les villages palestiniens voisins dont les habitants doivent se battre quotidiennement pour assurer leurs besoins en eau", poursuit le rapport. Les Palestiniens ne seraient pas autorisés à creuser des nouveaux puits ou à restaurer les anciens sans permis des autorités israéliennes. Amnesty évalue entre 180 000 et 200 000 le nombre des Palestiniens qui n'ont pas accès à l'eau courante en Cisjordanie. Mais selon le ministère israélien des affaires étrangères, Israël partage équitablement les ressources en eau avec les Palestiniens.
Dans la bande de Gaza, l'offensive israélienne de l'hiver dernier a endommagé les réservoirs d'eau, les puits, les égoûts et les stations de pompage, des dégâts qui s'ajoutent à l'impact du blocus israélien et égyptien du territoire. Le système de traitement des eaux usées à été particulièrement touché car Israël interdit l'importation des tuyaux et autres équipements métalliques de crainte qu'ils ne servent à fabriquer des roquettes artisanales. Le Monde

Report: Palestinians denied water

Israel is denying Palestinians access to even the basic minimum of clean, safe water, Amnesty International says.

In a report, the human rights group says Israeli water restrictions discriminate against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
It says that in Gaza, Israel's blockade has pushed the already ailing water and sewage system to "crisis point".
Israel says the report is flawed and the Palestinians get more water than was agreed under the 1990s peace deal.
In the 112-page report, Amnesty says that on average Palestinian daily water consumption reaches 70 litres a day, compared with 300 litres for the Israelis.

It says that some Palestinians barely get 20 litres a day - the minimum recommended even in humanitarian emergencies.
While Israeli settlers in the West Bank enjoy lush gardens and swimming pools, Amnesty describes a series of Israeli measures it says are discriminating against Palestinians:
Israel has "entirely appropriated the Palestinians' share of the Jordan river" and uses 80% of a key shared aquifer
West Bank Palestinians are not allowed to drill wells without Israeli permits, which are "often impossible" to obtain
Rainwater harvesting cisterns are "often destroyed by the Israeli army"
Israeli soldiers confiscated a water tanker from villagers who were trying to remain in land Israel had declared a "closed military area"
An unnamed Israeli soldier says rooftop Palestinian household water tanks are "good for target practice"
Much of the land cut off by the West Bank barrier is land with good access to a major aquifer
Israeli military operations have damaged Palestinian water infrastructure, including $6m worth during the Cast Lead operation in Gaza last winter
The Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza has "exacerbated what was already a dire situation" by denying many building materials needed for water and sewage projects.
The report also noted that the Palestinian water authorities have been criticised for bad management, quoting one audit that described the sector as in "total chaos".
"Water is a basic need and a right, but for many Palestinians obtaining even poor-quality, subsistence-level quantities of water has become a luxury that they can barely afford," Amnesty's Donatella Rovera said.
"Israel must end its discriminatory policies, immediately lift all the restrictions it imposes on Palestinians' access to water."

Ms Rovera also urged Israel to "take responsibility for addressing the problems it created by allowing Palestinians a fair share of the shared water resources".
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said "the idea that we're taking water away from someone else is simply preposterous".
He argued that Israeli fresh water use per capita had gone down since 1967 due to efficiency and new technologies, while the Palestinians' use had increased and more than a third of their water was wasted.
If there were allegations of military wrongdoing, those would be investigated, he said.
He also rejected the claim that Israel was preventing Palestinians from drilling for water, saying Israel had approved 82 such projects but the Palestinians had only implemented 26 of them.
"They have received billions of dollars in international aid over the last decade and a half, why have they not invested that in their own water infrastructure>?" he asked.
The report also criticised the Oslo Accords, which the Palestinians agreed to in 1993.
It said that under them, the Palestinians gained the responsibility for managing an "insufficient" water supply and maintaining "long neglected" water infrastructure.
Also, the deal left the Palestinians paying Israel for half of the domestic water used in the West Bank, despite the fact it is extracted from the shared aquifer.
Mr Regev said Israel provides the Palestinians with more water than it was required to under the accord. BBC

Burning down the house

We see it happening every few months. An amazing Jerusalem ritual; glorious haredi pyromania – burning down the house.

They are quite good at it, especially the residents of the Mea Shearim and Geula neighborhoods, aged 7 to 70, including – on the sidelines, of course, and separately – their modest wives.

In the spectrum of their reactions, burning down the house is the decisive answer; the first and second blow; the beginning and end of the dialogue; a shining negotiations session.

It starts with announcements posted on walls, urging the public to join. This week it was about the starving mother – whose son’s shocking photograph, all skin and bones, was published by Yedioth Ahronoth Thursday.

They say she “treated him with such great devotion that her hands swelled up.” The announcement was signed by the “Association for Curbing the Persecution of the Haredi Public,” a heart-breaking text pertaining to the terrible injustice done to the mother, the result of a blood libel concocted by the welfare department, which along with the medical establishment “experiments on humans.”

The Orthodox public – “a handful of radicals” as some of their functionaries claim – is well practiced. Within minutes, all the garbage in the neighborhood is gathered for the sake of the cause. The skilled youngsters – there is no replacement for experience acquired under fire – turn municipal garbage dumpsters into a glorious arsenal of weapons. A flammable combination of homemade garbage and public waste: Plastic bags, paper bags, cardboard boxes, Styrofoam cups, leftovers from breakfast-lunch-dinner, eggshells and rotten vegetables.

A little drop of fuel and it goes up in flames. The fire of God that blinds everyone.

While doing that, a moment after the police and firefighters and municipal inspectors arrive, we see a little fridge flying down and landing on top of a fire truck, along with leftovers from the Shabbat meal, glass bottles, stones, and fruit that withered in the heavy heat.

So much depression hides there. So much anger, fury, and self-righteous rage that burns anything in its course. Residents of the haredi state hit the streets time after time to desperately fight the Zionist state, by burning its green garbage dumpsters. Read more

Ariella Ringel-Hoffman

ynetnews.com

Ex-hostage could face massive bill

Who should pay for dramatic rescues? Werner Greiner, who returned to Switzerland on Tuesday after being held for six months in Mali, is hoping it's not the victim.

However, the government has revealed that its SFr300,000 ($275,000) budget for "consular protection" has been drained by recent kidnappings and it is discussing whether hostages or tour operators should pay for the "supplementary loan". Greiner's case has also raised the issues of self-responsibility and of kidnap and ransom insurance. "This operation obviously cost more than foreseen, but I think it's up to the authorities of Switzerland and Mali to find an appropriate solution," Stephan Müller from the Touring Club of Switzerland told swissinfo.ch. Read more @ Swissinfo