Ras Atiya Checkpoint

Ras Atiya Checkpoint:

"The checkpoint of Ras Atiya separates the villages in the seam line enclave of Ras A-Tira from the rest of the West Bank. At 6:30 AM a truck with a permit to transport building materials arrives at the checkpoint. The truck is loaded with building stones. The soldiers detain the truck for long hours and eventually force the truck owner to unload the truck at the checkpoint. The truck owner then has to pay for reloading the truck."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Shachaf Polakow - Anarchists Against the Wall

Shachaf Polakow - Anarchists Against the Wall:

1:35:12 - Feb 12, 2009
pdxjustice Media Productions - www.pdxjustice.org

"Israeli photographer and activist, Shachaf Polakow, provides photos and vivid discriptions of the work of Anarchists Against the Wall, an Israeli organization working in solidarity with Palestinians to oppose the Apartheid Separation Wall and to bring an end to the Israeli occupation."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Arson in the Fields of Burin Village

Arson in the Fields of Burin Village:

"The village of Burin is located close to two Israeli settlements: Har Bracha and Izhar. The settlers from these settlements often pester the people living in Burin. The fields of the village are set on fire, most likely by settlers, and the army does not let the fire brigade cars get to these fields for fear of settler violence."

Or is it for fear of the settlers violence? I doubt it is. Israeli army has been known to support and collaborate with such violence.



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Landscapes of Occupation in Palestine

Landscapes of Occupation in Palestine:

"Ex-Communicated tells the story of Israeli occupation in Palestine through the genre of landscape and the perspective of a camera lens. In his series of remarkable photographs, Gary Fields, a professor of communication at the University of California, San Diego takes us behind the walls, gates, and fences of this deliberately fragmented geography in revealing Palestinian life under Israeli military rule. What he shows in these images is how the forces of occupation use the landscape as an instrument of control over Palestinians and a mechanism for dispossessing them of land and property. Much of this story is untold and largely unseen. These photos convey forcefully how the process of enclosure on the landscape has “ex-communicated” Palestinians, immobilizing them into ever-diminishing spaces, while at the same time inspiring them into heroic acts of peaceful resistance."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Israeli Soldiers Attack UN Employee

Israeli Soldiers Attack UN Employee:

"Israeli Soldiers attack UN employee at Kalendia Checkpoint on the last Friday of Ramadan 2008."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Qalandia Checkpoint, last Friday of Ramadan, (2 parts)

Qalandia Checkpoint, last Friday of the Ramadan, part 1:

"Palestinians from the West Bank wishing to get to El Aksa to pray need to go through the Qalandia Checkpoint. Before being checked at the checkpoint itself, they had to go though several other checking procedures. This was filmed on the last Friday of Ramadan."

Part 1


Part 2


Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Diana Buttu - Separate Is Never Equal: Stories of Apartheid from South Africa to Palestine - Nov.10.2008-

Diana Buttu Nov.10.2008 part 1 of 3:

"Separate Is Never Equal: Stories of Apartheid from South Africa to Palestine

A national speaking tour featuring a South African reverend and Palestinian lawyer started off at the Palestine Center on Monday, 10 November 2008. The tour, sponsored by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (www.endtheoccupation.org), draws on the parallels between the South African and Israeli systems of apartheid.

Apartheid, according to the International Criminal Court, refers to “an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.�

Ms. Diana Buttu formerly worked with the Negotiations Support Unit of the PLO. She currently does media outreach with the Institute for Middle East Understanding and teaches at Birzeit University in Ramallah."

Also see:
Rev. Eddie Makue - Separate Is Never Equal: Stories of Apartheid from South Africa to Palestine (2 parts)

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

One more child born dead at checkpoint as mother denied access to a hospital

arab life vs. jewish life:

On 4 Sept. '08, Naheel Abu Ridah, seven months pregnant, was rushed to hospital in severe pain. When she reached Huwara checkpoint with three relatives, soldiers refused to let them cross by car despite the family's pleas.

Related Report:
Testimony: Soldiers prevent pregnant, bleeding woman from crossing checkpoint and she gives birth to a stillborn baby, September 2008

Source: B'Tselem September 17, 2008

Naheel Abu Rideh, 21

I married Muaiad Abu-Rideh two years ago, and had a baby girl, Shadah, a year ago. She was born in my seventh month of pregnancy but is fine now.

Seven months ago, I became pregnant again. Last Thursday [4 September], I had sharp stomach pains and I started to bleed badly. Around 7:00 P.M. I went to Dr. Fathi ‘Odeh in Jawarish, because our village doesn’t have any specialist physicians. He gave me medication and told me I’d be all right, but I didn't feel any improvement and the pains even got worse.

Around midnight, I couldn’t bear the pain any more. I woke my husband and asked him to take me to the hospital. When he saw how much I was suffering, he called to get his brother ‘Udai, who lives in the center of the village, to drive us in his car. ‘Udai arrived, with my mother-in-law, in a couple of minutes. My husband picked me up and carried me to the car. I was in so much pain, I couldn’t walk.

We started on our way to the hospital in Nablus at about 12:50 A.M. At the Za’tara checkpoint, we told the soldiers I was pregnant and had to get to the hospital, and they let us cross without a problem. When we got to the Huwara checkpoint, the soldiers didn’t let us pass. They said we didn't have a permit to cross by car. We told them my brother has a permit to cross the Ma’ale Efraim checkpoint because he works at settlements in the Jordan Valley, but that didn’t help.

The pain got worse. I felt as if I was going to give birth any moment. Now and then, the soldiers came over to the car and looked at me lying in the back seat. I was really worried about the fetus, and couldn’t stop thinking that I’d have to give birth in the car while the soldiers watched.

I kept screaming and crying and calling for help. I don’t know how much time passed, but suddenly I felt the fetus coming out. I shouted to my mother-in-law and to ‘UdaI, who were outside the car: “I think he’s coming out!” I took off my clothes. I was afraid they’d see me naked and that something would happen to the fetus. My mother-in-law shouted: “Yes, here’s his head, he’s coming out.” I asked her to pull him, and she said, “Breathe! Push!” I felt as the baby move, as if he was calling for help and asking us to help him come out. My mother-in-law covered me with my clothes. I shouted to my husband, ”The baby is out!” He shouted to the soldiers something in Hebrew that I didn't understand.

I don’t remember exactly what happened then, but when the medics arrived, they picked me up with the car seat and put me in the ambulance. I didn’t feel the baby moving any more and realized he was dead. The medics took away the dead baby and took me to the hospital. My husband and mother-in-law came with me in the ambulance. At the hospital, the doctors operated on me to clean my uterus. They discharged me the next day.

It hurts me a lot when I remember how the baby moved inside me and what happened to him. What did he do wrong? I also gave birth to my daughter in my seventh month, and now she is healthy. This poor baby died because there wasn’t anybody to help me deliver him.

Naheel 'Awni 'Abd a-Rahim Abu Rideh, 21, married with one child, is a homemaker and a resident of Qusra in Nablus District. Her testimony was given to Salma a-Deba'i on 8 September 2008 at the witness's home.

Background:

Source: B'Tselem

Infringement of the right to medical treatment in the West Bank

The army's severe restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank gravely affect the ability of Palestinians to obtain proper medical treatment.

The hundreds of physical obstructions and dozens of checkpoints result in very limited access to medical treatment, and sometimes none at all. The problem is especially grave among residents of villages and outlying areas who need to get to hospitals in the large cities. For example, persons living in villages around Jerusalem who need to get to hospitals in East Jerusalem for treatment require a permit to enable them to reach their destination. To obtain a permit, patients have to provide medical documents testifying to their illness, as well as confirmation that they have an appointment at the specific hospital and that it is the only facility where the needed treatment is available.

The need for a permit is especially problematic for pregnant women, who need to get to the hospital in time to give birth. Even though the delivery date is uncertain, the permit given to women about to deliver is valid for only one or two days, as is the case for most sick persons. Therefore, women in their ninth month of pregnancy must go to the DCO every few days to renew the permit. As a result, in some instances, the mother gave birth at the checkpoint after her crossing was delayed because she did not have a valid permit. In 2007, at least five women gave birth at a checkpoint, three of them at a checkpoint at the entrance to Jerusalem.

The hardships entailed in obtaining medical treatment involve more than the bureaucracy of the permit regime. In many cases, the way to the hospital is blocked, so the sick and injured have to travel on long, winding, and worn roads. These alternate roads often lead to a staffed checkpoint, where they are forced to wait and undergo checks. In other cases, access to medical treatment is prevented and ill and wounded persons are unable to receive emergency medical treatment when checkpoints are closed at night, and whole Palestinian communities are blocked from entering or leaving by vehicle, including by ambulance. This situation exists primarily in enclaves in the “seam zone” and in a number of isolated areas, among them Beit Furik and Beit Dajan, in the Nablus area. In 2007, there was an increase in the number of persons needing medical treatment who were delayed at checkpoints, and B'Tselem documented five cases in which ill or wounded persons died after being delayed at a checkpoint.

Following a petition that Physicians for Human Rights filed in 1996, the State Attorney's Office announced two procedures instituted by the army regarding the crossing of checkpoints on grounds of medical need. The two procedures were intended to regulate the crossing of Palestinians in case of medical emergency, when a permit would not be needed, and in non-emergency cases. These procedures were supposed to apply at all the checkpoints in the West Bank, but recent testimonies given to B'Tselem indicate that this is not always the case. Frequently, the soldiers, who have no medical training that would enable them to evaluate the medical condition of the person, err in judgment.

The many restrictions on movement have also impaired the ability of West Bank hospitals to function properly. Indeed, the level of service in these hospitals has suffered greatly because of the absence or delay in arrival of doctors and staff as a result of checkpoint delays. Finally, the restrictions on movement also impair the development and expertise of medical professionals in the Palestinian health system: it is almost impossible for physicians and staff to get to in-service training or students to university, and many students are either unable to complete their studies or receive a lower quality of professional training.

International law grants special protection to the sick, wounded, the infirm, and pregnant women, and states that medical teams and sick and wounded persons must be allowed open passage. The many restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank and the extensive period in which these restrictions have been imposed have resulted in a systematic, protracted breach of the law and in grave harm to the health of West Bank Palestinians and to the Palestinian health system.

Al Mazra’a ash Sharqiya - Palestinians dismantle roadblock

Palestinians dismantle road blockade:
"the Al-Mazraa ash Sharqiya village dismantle roadblock as symbol of resistance"

Related News Item:
Residents of Al-Mazra'a ashSharqiya remove road block that prevents their access to Rout 60

Source: ISM

Thursday, October 16, around 150 residents of the village of Al-Mazra’a ash Sharqiya, joined by Israeli and international activists, gathered in an effort to remove four roadblocks from a road connecting the village of Al Mazra’a ash Sharqiya to Route 60.

At eleven in the morning, cars from the center of town drove towards the congested road. The demonstrators physically removed numerous big stones blockading the access road. They proceeded to the last block, closest to Route 60, and continued their work. Around noon, an Israeli army jeep arrived and attempted to halt the work of the residents. Soon after, three more army jeeps alongside two police jeeps showed up at the scene. Several activists and members of the village tried to negotiate the peaceful removal of the barriers, but the soldiers refused.

While the activists remained close to the soldiers, hoping to block them, Palestinians worked hard to finish clearing the road. With the help of a tractor, the road was cleared. Two cars drove from the top of the hill towards Route 60 as a symbol of the day’s success, but were prevented by the Israeli soldiers. The entire event remained completely non-violent and those gathered to restore the road marched back to the village around two in the afternoon. After leaving, the Israeli army brought in a bulldozer and reformed two blockades.

This road is essential in connecting Al Mazra’a ash Sharqiya and the neighboring villages of Silwad, Deir Jarir, Rammun, and At Tayba to a more efficient path via route 60 into Nablus. According to the 2007 Census of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, an estimated 19,385 residents of the villages that are likely to use this road, Al Mazra’a ash Sharqiya (4,495 residents), Silwad (6,123 residents), Deir Jarir (3,986 residents), Rammun (2,626 residents) and At Tayba (2,155 residents) have been prevented access since the 2nd Intifada. The residents must instead drive south closer to Ramallah to get unto route 60. However, the residents’ drive to Ramallah is also hindered by their inability to use this road. According to the Applied Research Institute in Jerusalem (ARIJ) and the Land Research Center (LRC), the blocked road lengthens the drive between Al Mazra’a ash Sharqiya and Ramallah from 22 kilometers to 40 kilometers.

Given the importance of this road in connecting the surrounding villages to the key commercial areas of Ramallah and Nablus, those participating in removing the blockades today hope to repeat the action until the road is permanently open.

Heart patient dies after soldiers prevent her evacuation to Hospital

Heart patient dies after soldiers prevent her evacuation to:

"In February 2008, Fawziyah a-Dark suffered a heart attack and died after soldiers prevented her passage to hospital. in his video testimony, her husband describes the events leading up to her death."

In the early afternoon of 14 February 2008, Fawziyeh a-Dark, 66, had a heart attack at her home in Deir al-Ghuson, Tulkarm District. Her husband, Mahmud Qab, called the Red Crescent offices to summon an ambulance. The Red Crescent official told him an ambulance would be sent to their house.

At 1:45 P.M., the ambulance left Red Crescent headquarters in Tulkarm and headed to Deir al-Ghuson. Recently, there has been one permanent checkpoint between Tulkarem and the village, al-Jarushiyah Checkpoint, through which vehicles are usually allowed to pass. On the day of the incident, the army set up a surprise checkpoint about five kilometers south of the permanent checkpoint. When the ambulance arrived at this surprise checkpoint, the soldiers did not let it pass. The ambulance driver called Red Crescent headquarters and asked them to coordinate the pasasge of the ambulance. He also called the patient’s husband, asked him to bring his wife to al-Jarushiyah Checkpoint, and said they would meet there.

It was not until 2:35 that the ambulance driver was informed that passage along the road had been arranged. Despite the coordination, soldiers at the surprise checkpoint still refused to allow the ambulance to pass. In the meantime, the patient and her husband had arrived by taxi at al-Jarushiyah Checkpoint. The soldiers at the checkpoint refused to let her pass, even though the standing procedure is that persons in an urgent medical condition are to be allowed to cross checkpoints, with no need for prior coordination. Mahmud Qab described in his testimony to B'Tselem how he begged the soldiers to let him take his wife to hospital:

"There were three soldiers standing near boulders that blocked the road, and alongside them was an army jeep. I got out and went over to them. I spoke with the one who looked as if he was in charge and told him my wife was in very bad condition. I pointed to the taxi she was in and told him that I wanted to take her to the hospital. . . The soldier was dark-skinned and of average build, I didn’t see him carrying a weapon. I begged him to let me take my wife across, but he said, “Let her die, let her die, it doesn’t interest me, it is forbidden to cross.”

I tried to kiss the chin of the soldier to get him to let my wife cross. I said, “For god's sake, let me pass and take her to the ambulance,” but it didn’t help. He refused and told me to go back where I had come from. I begged him for fifteen minutes and I realized the soldiers would not let me cross. My begging didn’t make them feel an ounce of compassion."

The taxi took the couple back to Deir al-Ghuson, to a local physician, who gave her an first aid and said that she had to be taken to the hospital immediately. The taxi driver took the couple home. Fawziyeh A-Dark died a short time later.

B'Tselem and other human rights organizations have warned numerous times that the hundreds of physical obstacles and dozens of checkpoints in the West Bank severely delay access of sick persons to medical treatment, and in some cases prevent this access altogether.

In 2007, there was an increase in the number of cases where people requiring medical care were delayed at checkpoints. Moreover, B'Tselem documented five cases in the West Bank in which sick or injured persons died following delay at checkpoints. B'Tselem has requested the authorities to open a criminal investigation into all of these cases, but to the best of our knowledge no such investigations have been opened.

In a Video Added May 22, 2007
Palestinian pregnant woman stopped at checkpoint by israelis:

Huwwara Checkpoint: A Violent Checkpoint Commander

Huwwara Checkpoint: A Violent Checkpoint Commander:

"Machsom Watch activists saw the checkpoint commander beating up Palestinians in the detention cell.
After one activist tried to film what the checkpoint commander is doing in the detention cell, the commander and his soldiers turned their violence towards her"

Al-Haq interview with RAM FM

Al-Haq interview with RAM FM:

"Al-Haq interview with RAM FM radio station in Ramallah regarding Israeli checkpoints, 17 June 2008."

About Gaza - Israel/Palestine

About Gaza - Israel/Palestine:

"Aug 2003
Hassan Abu-Sitta left his well-paid job as a surgeon in England to return to his homeland of Palestine and care for victims of the occupation."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Human Rights and Politics in Israel-Palestine | MIT World

Human Rights and Politics in Israel-Palestine | MIT World:

Anat Biletzki
Jeff Halper
October 22, 2007
Running Time: 2:28:28

"Human rights are central to the fraught politics between Israelis and Palestinians, these two panelists argue. Any conceivable solution to such an endless conflict must begin by acknowledging the current bleak realities of Palestinian life under Israeli rule, they say.

Anat Biletzki and the group B'Tselem have conducted painstaking studies of how Israel’s longstanding agenda of allowing its civilians to settle on Palestinian occupied land constitutes an infringement of the Palestinians’ basic equality, property rights, freedom of movement, their very “right to self-determination.” The settlements were given a “cloak of legality,” sanctioned as they were by one Israeli government after another. Geographically, the settlements break up what might have been a contiguous Palestinian state.

Biletzki ties the settlements together with other work by the Israelis conducted in the name of security to demonstrate the existence of a forbidding, two-tier society : a system of roads off limits to Palestinians in the occupied territories, or permitted only via carefully guarded checkpoints; the wall (or separation barrier), which runs through Palestinian land; and the total control of Gaza, from the economy to communications, which increasingly makes it “a big prison.” This barricading of Palestinians has become a “routine phenomenon” –and not worthy of the headlines, in the way bombs and torture are, says Biletzki. She insists that “our political conversation must become a human rights conversation,” and hopes that she can make an impact on American Jews and policy makers, who don’t believe in the possibility of making a deal with the Palestinians: “If we give them the land, they’ll throw us into the sea.”

Jeff Halper describes the current situation for Palestinians as apartheid, knowing full well the awful resonance of the term. He sees the system of settlements, roads and the wall as a deliberate land grab, “imprisoning tens of thousands of Palestinians within cities, towns and villages.” The word apartheid “cuts through -- immediately you get it.” This is important because the situation in Israel “is a global issue that affects everyone. It’s the epicenter of instability in the entire region…one of the reasons you can’t take toothpaste onto an airplane.”

Reframing the issue will bring the kind of negative attention that South Africa once drew, as well as international sanctions, and corporate divestment. While Halper believes Israel has essentially foreclosed a viable two-state solution, he still imagines that the U.S. might persuade Israel to pull out of the settlements, so Palestinians can move back in. “There would be dancing in the streets of Tel Aviv,” Halper predicts, because so many Israelis “want this albatross off their back.”."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Sarra village roadblock removal

Sarra village roadblock removal:

"Palestinian villagers, Israeli, and international activists remove an illegal roadblock from the village of Sarra. Four internationals were arrested."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog