jfjfp logo

P.O.Box 37402, London N3 2XG jfjusticefp@yahoo.co.uk

 

The news  15-21 March 2004

under occupation


The Palestinian Authority’s distaste for mass action is triggering a mass movement against the wall. The Palestinian villagers of Budrus have won a victory for non-violent resistance. Another protest against the wall has united Palestinian villagers with their Jewish neighbours.

The IDF wounded 30 demonstrators protesting at continued work on the Wall at Dir Kadis, undertaken in defiance of an assurance given to Israel’s High Court.

Helena Cobban reported from Ramallah on how movement controls are stifling Palestinian life and making democratisation and elections impossible.

Factional fighting intensified in Gaza with the prospect of Israeli withdrawal.

Israeli troops in Gaza demolished 31 houses in 24 hours.

An all-party group of British Parliamentarians was in Gaza when Israel launched a retaliation raid. The MPs condemned Israel’s conduct.

Reuven Pedatzur denounces the decline of Israel’s military chiefs into mere provocateurs and revenge killers.

Palestinian security forces in Gaza clashed with Hamas in a significant step forward in plans to assure PA control.

Arafat and the Palestinian Authority are preparing security plans for the possibility of Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. But they admit that disarming Hamas and other groups is physically impossible without provoking a civil war. Arafat rejected a call from members of his Cabinet to crack down on paramilitary groups.

PA authority in Gaza was reported to be collapsing as key militants defected to Hamas.

The Times interviewed Abdel Aziz Rantisi, second in command of Hamas, and found him in intransigeant mood.

A 12-year old boy was intercepted carrying a suicide bomb.

Psychiatrist Iyaad al-Saraj had some horrific background material on the psychological state of youngsters in Gaza, in reaction to the news that the two tenage Ashdod suicide bombers had come from the Jabalya refugee camp there [scroll down for this item].

Britain has been working with the PA on security measures to be taken in the Gaza Strip after any withdrawal. But Israel is refusing to cooperate as long as Arafat is involved.

Gunmen evicted a Palestinian family at dawn in Jerusalem.

West Bank residents with Jerusalem papers are moving into East Jerusalem in what amounts to a major demographic shift, according to a report which makes it clear that the IDF has not thought through the implications of the Wall.

Tom Paulin reviews poetry on the theme of exile by Mourid Barghouti.

inside Israel


The Israeli right is strengthening ties with pro-Israel Christian groups in Europe.

Sharon used the latest terrorist attacks as an excuse for calling off further talks with Palestinians. Israel also declared open season for assassinating leading Palestinian militants.

But there were sceptical voices in the Israeli press about the effectiveness of Sharon’s response

Rightist politicians are preparing to quit the Cabinet if Sharon’s withdrawal plans go through. The extra-parliamentary settler right are preparing civil disobedience to prevent the removal of settlements, and are justifying the right of soldiers to disobey orders on grounds of conscience in terms which echo the arguments of the refuseniks.

A new report from a human rights organisation of Israeli Arabs documents charges of systematic discrimination.

Israel is preparing a ‘morning after’ strategy for the expected verdict of the International Court of Justice at the Hague. Interestingly, Alan Baker, legal adviser to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, concedes that unlike other UN Organs, the ICJ ‘retains a good reputation’.

Yossi Beilin was elected leader of the new left-wing party Yahad. Avraham Tirosh, writing in Maariv, told the new party some home truths.

Rabbis are mobilising to defend Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights, on trial in Jerusalem for obstructing house demolitions.

Nuclear whistleblower Mordecai Vanunu has been assaulted in prison, and faces a ban on going abroad after his impending release.

Israeli police are pursuing a right-wing terrorist group preparing attacks on Arabs and Jews in Haifa. The chief suspect sought the blessing of rabbis.

The commander of an armoured battalion is to be charged with ‘negligence’ in connection with an incident in Jenin two years ago, when he fired a tank shell into a market square.

Parents of the five jailed refuseniks report on their visit to the European Parliament.

An 18-year old refusenik tells why he has left Israel.

elsewhere


US Jewish organisations are backing the witch-hunt against US Middle Eastern Studies departments.

Rightist Israeli Minister Effi Eitam is encouraging American Jews to oppose Sharon’s Gaza withdrawal plan.

Fawaz Turki, in the Saudi English-language paper Arab News, dissects the Arab notion of shame as a root cause of terrorism in the Arab world and argues that democracy, even as an American import, is a worthwhile antidote.

Morocco’s Jewish community is still vigorous despite declining numbers, and a model of Jewish-Muslim co-existence.

A Jewish woman was running for Le Pen’s party in the recent French regional elections, on an ‘antiMuslim’ ticket.

Grigory Reles is the last Yiddish writer in Belarus.

Rachel Corrie one year on


On the anniversary of the killing of Rachel Corrie, Ha’aretz looked at the attitude of the IDF to foreign observers and activists. Hanan Ashrawi paid her tribute.

Huweida Arraf of the ISM replied in the Jerusalem Post to the slander campaign against Rachel’s memory.

Cindy Corrie reflected on the anniversary of the killing of her daughter Rachel.

Adam Shapiro drew lessons from the killing. ISM member Justin Podur paid his tribute.

Laurie King-Irani, a leading activist in the campaign to bring Sharon to trial for the Sabra and Chatilla massacre, draws some universal conclusions from Rachel’s life and death.

2002

 

 

 

 


 

 

add Refusnik Watch auto-updatee to your site The Combattants' Letter Yesh Gvul Shministim add Refusenik Watch autoupdate to your site
add this to your site