Updates

The Supreme Court of the Occupation

High Court sanctions looting: Israeli quarries in the West Bank

The natural resources of an occupied territory must be used to benefit local residents, unless they are needed for urgent military purposes. Yet on 26 Dec. '11, an Israeli High Court of Justice ruling given by President Justice Dorit Beinisch allowed the state and Israeli entrepreneurs to loot West Bank quarries. The judgment blatantly contradicts the principles laid out by the Court over 30 years, as well as international law. It may enable Israel to treat the West Bank and its resources as annexed territory, while ignoring Palestinians' rights.

16 January 2012

Demonstrations

Judge holds confession of Palestinian minor admissible, despite breach of his rights

On 9 Jan. '12, an Israeli Military Youth Court judge held that a confession given to the police by a 14-year-old Palestinian boy suspected of stone-throwing was admissible, although the minor's rights had clearly been breached under Israel’s Youth Law. In doing so, Judge Rivlin-Ahai forwent an important opportunity to set a standard for protecting the rights of Palestinian minors interrogated by police.

15 January 2012

Area C

Video: Bedouin community near settlement faces forced relocation

Israel's Civil Administration is planning to forcibly relocate some 27,000 Bedouins living in Area C in the West Bank. At first, 20 communities, comprising some 2,300 people, will be uprooted from the area of the Ma'ale Adummim settlement and relocated to a site next to the Abu Dis garbage dump, east of Jerusalem. Members of the Khan al-Ahmar community explain how the move will affect them.

12 January 2012

The Gaza Strip

Army bombs targets in middle of civilian area, killing civilians

In two incidents in December 2011, the Israeli air force bombed ammunition storages in the middle of a civilian area in Gaza. Secondary explosions caused nearby homes to collapse. In the first bombing, two civilians were killed, one of them a 10-year-old, and an 8-year-old was severely injured. In the second, an 11-year-old was severely injured. Hamas breached international law by storing the weapons in a civilian area. Israel failed to take all feasible means to minimize harm to civilians, and did not warn civilians to evacuate the area.

5 January 2012

Beating and Abuse

B'Tselem 2011 Camera Project Summary

January 2012In 2011, volunteers in B'Tselem's camera project filmed over 500 hours of footage in the West Bank. There are two minutes we collected from it, in order to sum up the passing year.

2 January 2012

Settler Violence = State Violence

Settler violence against Palestinians and their property, December 2011

In December, B'Tselem documented ten cases of settler violence against Palestinians or Palestinian property in the West Bank. The recent wave of violence results from a longstanding policy of lax law enforcement in cases of settler violence against Palestinians. The Israeli authorities must take action to apprehend and prosecute lawbreakers, while safeguarding the suspects' rights to due process.

29 December 2011

Harassment

Video: Border policeman in Hebron aims loaded weapon and threatens child

On 26 November 2011, a volunteer in B'Tselem’s camera project filmed a border policeman aim a loaded weapon at the photographer’s 13-year-old son. The family related that Border policemen also harassed the boys, who were playing across from their house and beat one of them. B'Tselem demanded that the authorities conduct an immediate investigation.

22 December 2011

Settler Violence = State Violence

The Authority Already Exists – What’s Needed Is a Willingness to Act

Reports in the Israeli media in recent days claim that the security forces will soon be given new powers to combat settler violence. According to the reports, soldiers will be authorized to detain and arrest Israelis in the Occupied Territories. The reports are misleading. Israeli soldiers stationed in the West Bank are already authorized to detain Israeli citizens, if it is suspected that they have committed or are about to commit a criminal offense.

21 December 2011

Settler Violence = State Violence

B'Tselem researchers report from the field on Ynet

Following the public outrage regarding settler violence against soldiers, B'Tselem’s field researchers describe the daily settler violence Palestinians have suffered for years, which the law-enforcement authorities have met with tacit consent.

18 December 2011

Settler Violence = State Violence

Declaring extreme rightwing activists as terrorist organization is illegitimate way to deal with settler violence

In response to media reports that the government is considering declaring extreme rightwing Israeli activists as a terrorist organization, B'Tselem states that this is an illegitimate way to deal with the phenomenon of violence by Israeli citizens in the Occupied Territories. Such violence must be dealt with through the criminal justice system. The recent violence toward the military results from of Israel's lax law-enforcement toward settlers who harm Palestinians and their property.

14 December 2011

Detainees & Prisoners

Military court partially acquits Palestinian due to forced confession

On 30 Nov. '11, the military court in Ofer ruled that a confession given by Ayman Hamidah during an ISA (Shabak) interrogation was inadmissible, since it had not been given willingly. In an unusual step, the court acquitted Hamidah of the charges that were based solely on the confession. In fact, the interrogation methods that Hamidah described have been used against hundreds of Palestinians, and are classified in international law as torture or maltreatment, which are absolutely prohibited.

13 December 2011

No Accountability

Soldier kills Palestinian demonstrator Mustafa Tamimi, 28, by shooting tear-gas canister at him

On Friday, 9 Dec. '11, at the end of the weekly demonstration in the West Bank village of a-Nabi Saleh, a soldier killed demonstrator Mustafa Tamimi by firing a tear-gas canister directly at his face. For several years, B'Tselem has been alerting officials to security forces' repeated illegal firing of tear-gas canisters directly at persons. Despite the army’s declarations that such firing is forbidden, the practice continues.

11 December 2011

General

Interns needed

B'Tselem is seeking interns for our communication department. Candidates should be fluent in English. A working knowledge of Hebrew is a benefit. Internships include field work and study tours to of human rights issues in the West Bank. For further information please contact Zvi Shulman at: zvi@btselem.org.

7 December 2011

General

Israel prevents Al-Haq director from leaving West Bank to receive award with B'Tselem

Today (29 Nov. '11), the Danish PL Foundation will award B'Tselem and Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq with a joint human rights award. Al-Haq director Shawan Jabarin will not attend the ceremony in Copenhagen as Israel has banned him from leaving the West Bank since 2006. In a joint statement, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and B'Tselem call on Israel to lift the travel ban and enable Jabarin to leave the Occupied Territories.

29 November 2011

General

New Hebrew Facebook page

Our response to the attempts to silence B'Tselem and other human rights organizations in Israel is to amplify our voice. We invite you to join our new page, in Hebrew only, and to invite as many friends as possible. Our regular page will continue operating in English. To join, click here.

27 November 2011

Legislation

The anti-democratic initiatives only strengthen our resolve

Jessica Montell, B'Tselem's Executive Director calls on all those who are concerned about human rights and the Israeli democracy to speak out against efforts to stifle Israeli civil society. "I have full confidence that, working together, champions of democracy both inside Israel and around the world will overcome these dangerous initiatives."

21 November 2011

General

B'Tselem awarded Danish human rights award jointly with Palestinian organization Al-Haq

Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations B'Tselem and Al-Haq were jointly awarded the annual human rights award given by the Danish PL Foundation this year. The award has been given since the 1980s to individuals and organizations who struggle non-violently for the values embodied by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The PL Foundation and the annual human rights award were established by Poul Lauritzen, a Danish businessman and member of the Danish resistance during World War II.

21 November 2011

Demonstrations

Video: Soldiers let settlers assault Palestinian demonstrators

On 29 Oct. '11, Palestinian residents of Beit Ummar demonstrated on part of their land against theft of their lands. A B'Tselem volunteer documented settlers entering the security buffer strip surrounding the adjacent Carmei Tzur settlement, and throwing stones at the demonstrators. Soldiers at the scene did not try to stop the assault; instead, they removed the Palestinians by shooting tear gas and throwing stun grenades.

21 November 2011

Hebron City Center

No religious conflict in Hebron

B'Tselem's Hebron field-researcher Musa Abu Hashhash published an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post in anticipation of a mass pilgrimage of Jews to Hebron this Saturday. If we continue to allow the extremists to use religion to divide us, our conflict will be bloody and intractable. When we focus on basic rights we can build a future based on dignity for us all.

17 November 2011

Settler Violence = State Violence

Settler violence against Palestinian farmers in Ramallah area

On 24-26 Oct. '11, B'Tselem documented four cases of attacks on farmers from Beitillu, a Palestinian village near Ramallah, and their property. In three cases, the perpetrators damaged olive trees. In one case, settlers assaulted farmers who had come to their land to pick olives. The army failed to provide the farmers with adequate protection.

1 November 2011