The occupation paradox

A state claiming to be democratic and enlightened does not issue military orders to deport peace activists, who wish to protest against the iniquities of the occupation.

The Israel Defense Forces top brass did not wait for the cabinet’s decision regarding the report issued this week by the Edmond Levy committee. ‏(The report ruled that the entire West Bank is not occupied territory and therefore rendered the Oslo Accords null and void.‏)

GOC Central Command Nitzan Alon has signed an order enabling the Immigration Police to operate in the occupied territories, including Area A ‏(which is under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority‏). Chaim Levinson reported in Friday’s Haaretz that the Immigration Police are permitted to search Palestinians’ houses and detain any person the officer has “reasonable cause” to suspect of being there without a permit.

The IDF spokesman commented that the order authorizes the officers to transfer foreigners staying in the territories illegally ‏(according to Israeli law‏) to Israel’s territory for the continuation of law enforcement procedures in their case.

More on Haaretz

West Bank: 5 Broken Cameras

In 2005, Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat bought his first video camera. Originally intending to record the birth of his son, Burnat ended up capturing five years of turmoil and non-violent resistance in Bil’in, a West Bank village under increasing threat from Israeli settlements. Burnat uses his five cameras — each one broken successively during conflicts between villagers and the occupying forces — to document the struggle for Bil’in, as farms are bulldozed, new Israeli homes are built, and protests intensify. “I know they may knock on my door at any moment,” says Burnat, “But I’ll just keep filming. It helps me confront life and survive.”

Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters - More video on YouTube

Israel allows shooting at Palestine protesters

Israel allows security forces to shoot at Palestinian protesters who are preparing to march in support of their bid for statehood at the UN later this month. Tel Aviv claims its trying to prevent bloodshed by arming settlers in the West Bank for self-defence. RussiaToday

Paris 'flytilla' activists grounded

Nearly 100 French activists en route to Israel have been stopped from boarding their flights by French authorities in Paris. Stranded at Charles De Gaulle Airport, the activists have staged a protest denouncing the French authorities' action.

"They have staged a noisy protests at the airport, shouting 'Collaborators, collaborators!' to condemn the French authorities for their action," our correspondent said on Friday.

The Welcome to Palestine campaign planned to send an estimated 600 people to the West Bank town of Bethlehem. Around half of the activists involved are reportedly French nationals.

Al Jazeera's Cal Perry, reporting from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion international airport, said: "Across airports in Europe, we understand that a blacklist of passengers has been released. The Israelis are asking airlines to stop people from boarding planes. But the Israelis are saying those people will be deported anyway." Following the warnings, airlines had "already refused to take on board around 200 of these passengers", Sabine Hadad, an Israeli immigration spokeswoman, told the AFP news agency.

More on Al Jazeera

Israel arrests at least 100 women in West Bank village

The IDF arrested more than 100 women from the Awarta village in the West Bank in connection to the ongoing investigation into the deaths if a couple and three of their children, including one baby, in the Itamar settlement last month, AFP reported Thursday. Awarta lies close to the Itamar settlement and Nablus.

The local council head told AFP that the IDF had stormed Awarta shortly after midnight, imposing a curfew and beginning to round up women. Though the IDF has been conducting consistent raids in the last four weeks since the Itamar murders, this is the first time the IDF has arrested women, the local council head added. The IDF was yet to comment on the operation.
According to one witness from Awarta, IDF forces entered several homes in the village, ordered different women out of their houses and took them to an undisclosed location for questioning. The IDF arrested at least 100 women, the witness told Ma'an. Last week, the IDF carried out a widescale operation in Awarta, imposing a curfew and arresting at least 60 village residents. As yet, no one has been charged in the murder of the five Fogel family members.

Jerusalem Post

Five days of Terror in the West Bank

According to eyewitnesses, around 300 Israeli settlers, of whom some were masked, entered the village on saturday the 12th of March and threw stones at windows, injuring two Awarta residents by breaking their arms. Villagers tried to protect homes while israeli soldiers responded by shooting teargas at the villagers.

During the five day curfew in the village of Awarta, south of Nablus, the Israeli military raided homes and detained around 300 people, the youngest 14 years old. Some of the men were taken to the local boy school were they had to leave their finger prints and DNA and some were taken to the military base at Huwwra checkpoint. According to mayor, Qays Awwad, 55 men are still in Israeli custody. Some of the detainees reported that they had been abused by the soldiers while they were detained and handcuffed. It has been reported that a 75 year old woman was handcuffed and had to sit on the ground while the soldiers went through her home, and that an 80-year-old woman was beaten by soldiers.

Full article on Desertpeace