Newsletter 30 Jun. 2014

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	NEWSLETTER 30 Jun. 2014 B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories

Roadblock at entrance to Hebron. Photo: Baz Ratner, Reuters, 15 June 2014. Israel imposed severe travel restrictions on Hebron District residents, including roadblocks and not permitting Palestinians to enter Israel for work.

Roadblock at entrance to Hebron. Photo: Reuters. Israel imposed severe travel restrictions on Hebron District residents, including roadblocks and not permitting Palestinians to enter Israel for work.

Dear Friends,

The military operation in the Hebron District following the recent abduction of three Israelis takes us back to the bad old days of the second intifada: blocking entrances to Hebron and nearby villages, not allowing people to enter Israel for work, and preventing travel abroad. There is a sense of siege coupled with anxiety over what the future holds.

Like many others in Hebron and elsewhere in the West Bank, we felt that the current operation far exceeds its stated goal. It harmed the daily life of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, apparently holding them responsible for an offense they did not commit and which most do not condone.

As B’Tselem field researchers in the area, we found ourselves scrambling to document as many as possible of the violations attendant to the operation. We were inundated with calls. We ignored our own families as we tried to reach sites of violations in order to inform people in Israel, Palestine and the world of the present situation. We weren’t on hand to support our children as they sat their high school matriculation exams, nor were we truly available when they couldn’t fall asleep for fear of nearby military activity.

We hope that the search for the abductees won’t result in additional measures of collective punishment against the Palestinian public, and that the measures already imposed be withdrawn soon.

Manal al-Ja’bari and Musa Abu Hashhash,
B’Tselem field researchers, Hebron District

Wishing our Muslim friends a "Ramadan Karim"

نرجو لجميع أصدقائنا المسلمين رمضان كريم

Those holding the three yeshiva students must release them at once; Israeli security forces must uphold human rights and avoid collective punishment

Praying for the safety of the missing yeshiva students at the Mekor Chaim Yeshiva, where two of them studied, in the settlement of Kfar Etzion. Photo: Orezn Ziv, Activestills.org, 15.6.14

B’Tselem shares the great concern and worry over the fate of the three abducted yeshiva students, two of them minors, and the hope that they will be returned safe and sound to their homes. Deliberate attacks against civilians are absolutely prohibited. Those holding the teens must release them without delay. Along with the efforts to locate the abducted youths and bring them safely home, the authorities must adopt every possible measure at their disposal to uphold human rights. Israeli authorities must refrain from meting out collective punishment and must take whatever steps necessary to prevent violence directed at Palestinians.

Children look out window of room in their home emptied in preparation for demolition. Photo: Manal al-Ja'abri, B'Tselem.

The plan to demolish the home of the two Palestinians charged with the killing of Baruch Mizrahi means adopting an official policy of harming the innocent. The two suspects will be tried for the attack and are expected to be given long prison sentences. Their relatives, who are not suspected of any offence, are the ones who will suffer the loss of their home. Further to an objection by Israeli NGO HaMoked, the military stated it would demolish only a portion of the house. A HaMoked petition against the demolition is to be heard by the HCJ later today. If rejected, the demolition may be carried out already today.

Exploiting the situation to other ends

Israel is exploiting its efforts to locate the abducted Israeli teenagers to implement unrelated actions which intensify harm to Palestinian human rights. Intimidating Palestinians and trampling their rights does not serve to advance investigation of the abduction. Israel is hitching a ride, so to speak, on the current situation by placing dozens more Palestinians in administrative detention; imposing sweeping travel restrictions on tens of thousands of people; and barring visits to Palestinian prisoners. B’Tselem launched Facebook campaign to raise public awareness of this conduct.

His name was Nadim Nuwara

Nadim Nuwara, photo courtesy of the family.

The autopsy on Nadim Nuwara shows he was killed by live ammunition. Rather than casting aspersions on those calling for a thorough investigation of the incident, Israeli security should focus on locating and bringing to justice the parties responsible. B’Tselem Director Hagai El-Ad wrote an op-ed in Israeli daily Haaretz: "Jews in Israel and the territories are very attentive […] to the horrible suffering of three families hanging between despair and hope, and if only that hope could win. But […] what hope is this, and what humanity is this if it is so completely blind to Palestinian suffering? […] When not documented on video it interests almost no one, and when it is […] it is repressed as a conspiracy".

On 17 June 2014, in view of sweeping travel restrictions, extensive arrests and other measures, B’Tselem called on Israeli authorities searching for the abducted teens not to resort to prohibited collective punishment, to uphold detainees’ rights and to refrain from abuse and torture as prohibited by international law. On 22 June B’Tselem and other human rights organizations wrote an urgent letter to Israeli security officials, demanding that collective punishment not be used and expressing concern that many of the military’s actions are unrelated to finding the abductees and result in needless harm to basic human rights.

Ktziot Prison, where some of the administrative detainees are held. Photo: Yosi I

On 9 June 2014, a bill to force feed prisoners passed first reading in the Israeli Knesset. The bill was initiated by the Ministry of Public Security in response to a hunger strike by Palestinian inmates. Force feeding hunger strikers is a violation of their dignity, right to autonomy over their body and right to protest by whatever means they choose. It also violates medical ethics. Instead of punishing people protesting their unlawful detention, Israel should change its administrative detention policy, which defies international law. An amended version of the bill is scheduled for second- and third-reading votes today.