Wednesday November 5th 2003
1) Invasion in Balata Camp _ Danielle
2) Lowdown from Jenin _ Ben J.
3) Toronto Man Sues Israelis _ Toronto Star
=========================================
1) Invasion in Balata Camp _ Danielle
2) Lowdown from Jenin _ Ben J.
3) Toronto Man Sues Israelis _ Toronto Star
=========================================
1)
Invasion in Balata Camp
Nablus, West Bank
November 4, 2003 1:45PM Palestine Time
Danielle
Today, the Israeli Army entered the Balata Refugee Camp around
3:30am and
began building roadblocks on the southern and eastern entrances to
the
camp. Throughout the day, the army has shot both live and rubber
ammunition, tear gas, and sound grenades. The military presence in
the
camp is made up of three jeeps, one hummer, one armoured bulldozer,
and
two tanks, although there were eyewitness reports recieved from
Huwara
cheackpoint of five more tanks entering Nablus. Soldiers have
consistently engaged in provacative behavior, taunting groups of
rock-throwing, Palestinian youth by driving their vehicles closer to
them
and then retreating a few dozen meters after attacking with their
weapons.
So far, nine Palestinians, mostly youths, have been shot with live
fire
in the legs, arms, back, and torso regions. Ulrika Andersson, a 25
year
old International Solidarity Movement female volunteer from Sweden,
was
shot in the collarbone with a rubber bullet while standing on the
street
in front of a group of children. Later today, other ISM volunteers
had
been centimeters away from being hit with live fire as well. The
injured
have been treated by UPMRC and Red Crescent workers. On multiple
occasions, female ISM volunteers tried to engage with the soldiers in
jeeps in verbal dialogue pertaining to the reason for the invasion
but
were met either with flirting or orders to leave the area. The
Israeli
military has seized control of and occupied at least two homes in the
southern and eastern entrances to the camp, although this number may
be as
high as four. Balata residents speculate that this behavior from the
Israeli Occupying Forces is indicative of what potentially may be a
larger
invasion, since previous roadblock constructions in the same area
have
never before been accompanied by tanks. By 11:00am all international
media was expelled from the area. As of the time of this writing,
the
invasion still continues.
=============================================2) Lowdown from Jenin
November 4, 2003
Ben J.
Jenin
...Last night, after saying hellos and being welcomed back, we went
and had a
visit at a friends' home. Much of the talk revolved around his
families
experience during the Jenin Camp invasion in spring 2002. After
awhile his
older brother, around 35 presented himself. He immediately struck
me as a
rather strange and haunted man. We learned why, in painful detail,
and it
all stemmed from his experience during the invasion, in which his
home was
first attacked by an Apache helicopter, 2 rockets and many dozens of
rounds
of 5 inch long bullets, as he huddled in the back bathroom with his
wife, 2
small kids and 2 day old daughter.
Read the full account at:
http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/writings/4Nov03_14_29_06JeninBen
J.htm
=============================================3) Toronto man sues Israelis
Canadian activist held for 30 hours Blames his arrest
on racial profiling
JOSH MITNICK
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Tel Aviv—Canadian political activist Mustafa Henaway testified in a
Tel Aviv court yesterday he was the victim of racial profiling by
Israeli police when they detained him for 30 hours last month
without producing an arrest warrant.
The testimony was part of a hearing in a $6,700 suit Henaway has
launched against the government of Israel. The 24-year-old political
science major at York University accuses Israeli security
authorities of false arrest, negligence and causing him emotional
stress.
"Because of my ethnic background, I was clearly singled out and
targeted," said Henaway, who spoke with the help of a Hebrew
translator. "I looked like the archetype suicide bomber."
Henaway was born in Canada to parents who immigrated from Egypt.
Attorney Shamai Leibowitz said yesterday's proceedings marked the
first time a foreign humanitarian worker had sued the Israeli
government for false arrest and emotional abuse during questioning.
The government plans to respond formally to the accusations within
45 days. No date has been set for a continuation of the trial.
Henaway arrived in the country July 8 as a volunteer for the
International Solidarity Movement, a group that brings in foreign
nationals — mostly from North America and Europe — who agree to
serve as "human shields" to protect Palestinian civilians in the
West Bank and Gaza from the Israeli army.
Israel views International Solidarity Movement volunteers as a band
of meddlers who make the army's job more difficult by inserting
themselves in the middle of a war zone.
Henaway spent most of his time in the West Bank city of Jenin,
escorting Palestinians who were breaking curfew in an area known as
a beehive of militant activity.
On Oct. 14, Israeli police and soldiers forced him to leave the West
Bank, declaring the Palestinian village in which he was staying
a "closed military zone."
The following day, as Henaway and two colleagues boarded a taxi in
northern Israel, police appeared and took the Canadian into custody
after noticing his visa had expired. "They just pulled up and said
that I looked suspicious," he said.
Over the next day, Henaway was interrogated by agents of Israel's
Shin Bet security service as well as police, who accused him of
involvement in terrorist activities. Henaway said his Israeli
minders used demeaning insults like "Arab dog," but he wasn't
physically abused.
Henaway, a Toronto native, was released Oct. 16 but ordered to leave
the country by today. Yesterday's court proceedings were held to
gather his testimony before his departure.
Leibowitz, who usually defends international activists against
Israeli efforts to deport them, said Henaway's suit could set a
precedent that would force authorities to treat the activists
differently.
"Dozens of them are arrested, and here is a guy who decided to sue,
and not just take this abuse and go back to his country," he said.
At yesterday's hearing, government attorney Yariv Ligumsky tried to
expose inconsistencies between Henaway's testimony and an affidavit
he signed.
===================================================INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
www.palsolidarity.org
Invasion in Balata Camp
Nablus, West Bank
November 4, 2003 1:45PM Palestine Time
Danielle
Today, the Israeli Army entered the Balata Refugee Camp around
3:30am and
began building roadblocks on the southern and eastern entrances to
the
camp. Throughout the day, the army has shot both live and rubber
ammunition, tear gas, and sound grenades. The military presence in
the
camp is made up of three jeeps, one hummer, one armoured bulldozer,
and
two tanks, although there were eyewitness reports recieved from
Huwara
cheackpoint of five more tanks entering Nablus. Soldiers have
consistently engaged in provacative behavior, taunting groups of
rock-throwing, Palestinian youth by driving their vehicles closer to
them
and then retreating a few dozen meters after attacking with their
weapons.
So far, nine Palestinians, mostly youths, have been shot with live
fire
in the legs, arms, back, and torso regions. Ulrika Andersson, a 25
year
old International Solidarity Movement female volunteer from Sweden,
was
shot in the collarbone with a rubber bullet while standing on the
street
in front of a group of children. Later today, other ISM volunteers
had
been centimeters away from being hit with live fire as well. The
injured
have been treated by UPMRC and Red Crescent workers. On multiple
occasions, female ISM volunteers tried to engage with the soldiers in
jeeps in verbal dialogue pertaining to the reason for the invasion
but
were met either with flirting or orders to leave the area. The
Israeli
military has seized control of and occupied at least two homes in the
southern and eastern entrances to the camp, although this number may
be as
high as four. Balata residents speculate that this behavior from the
Israeli Occupying Forces is indicative of what potentially may be a
larger
invasion, since previous roadblock constructions in the same area
have
never before been accompanied by tanks. By 11:00am all international
media was expelled from the area. As of the time of this writing,
the
invasion still continues.
=============================================2) Lowdown from Jenin
November 4, 2003
Ben J.
Jenin
...Last night, after saying hellos and being welcomed back, we went
and had a
visit at a friends' home. Much of the talk revolved around his
families
experience during the Jenin Camp invasion in spring 2002. After
awhile his
older brother, around 35 presented himself. He immediately struck
me as a
rather strange and haunted man. We learned why, in painful detail,
and it
all stemmed from his experience during the invasion, in which his
home was
first attacked by an Apache helicopter, 2 rockets and many dozens of
rounds
of 5 inch long bullets, as he huddled in the back bathroom with his
wife, 2
small kids and 2 day old daughter.
Read the full account at:
http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/writings/4Nov03_14_29_06JeninBen J.htm
=============================================3) Toronto man sues Israelis
Canadian activist held for 30 hours Blames his arrest
on racial profiling
JOSH MITNICK
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Tel Aviv—Canadian political activist Mustafa Henaway testified in a
Tel Aviv court yesterday he was the victim of racial profiling by
Israeli police when they detained him for 30 hours last month
without producing an arrest warrant.
The testimony was part of a hearing in a $6,700 suit Henaway has
launched against the government of Israel. The 24-year-old political
science major at York University accuses Israeli security
authorities of false arrest, negligence and causing him emotional
stress.
"Because of my ethnic background, I was clearly singled out and
targeted," said Henaway, who spoke with the help of a Hebrew
translator. "I looked like the archetype suicide bomber."
Henaway was born in Canada to parents who immigrated from Egypt.
Attorney Shamai Leibowitz said yesterday's proceedings marked the
first time a foreign humanitarian worker had sued the Israeli
government for false arrest and emotional abuse during questioning.
The government plans to respond formally to the accusations within
45 days. No date has been set for a continuation of the trial.
Henaway arrived in the country July 8 as a volunteer for the
International Solidarity Movement, a group that brings in foreign
nationals — mostly from North America and Europe — who agree to
serve as "human shields" to protect Palestinian civilians in the
West Bank and Gaza from the Israeli army.
Israel views International Solidarity Movement volunteers as a band
of meddlers who make the army's job more difficult by inserting
themselves in the middle of a war zone.
Henaway spent most of his time in the West Bank city of Jenin,
escorting Palestinians who were breaking curfew in an area known as
a beehive of militant activity.
On Oct. 14, Israeli police and soldiers forced him to leave the West
Bank, declaring the Palestinian village in which he was staying
a "closed military zone."
The following day, as Henaway and two colleagues boarded a taxi in
northern Israel, police appeared and took the Canadian into custody
after noticing his visa had expired. "They just pulled up and said
that I looked suspicious," he said.
Over the next day, Henaway was interrogated by agents of Israel's
Shin Bet security service as well as police, who accused him of
involvement in terrorist activities. Henaway said his Israeli
minders used demeaning insults like "Arab dog," but he wasn't
physically abused.
Henaway, a Toronto native, was released Oct. 16 but ordered to leave
the country by today. Yesterday's court proceedings were held to
gather his testimony before his departure.
Leibowitz, who usually defends international activists against
Israeli efforts to deport them, said Henaway's suit could set a
precedent that would force authorities to treat the activists
differently.
"Dozens of them are arrested, and here is a guy who decided to sue,
and not just take this abuse and go back to his country," he said.
At yesterday's hearing, government attorney Yariv Ligumsky tried to
expose inconsistencies between Henaway's testimony and an affidavit
he signed.
===================================================INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
www.palsolidarity.org
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