JERUSALEM NEWS
NEWS AND INFORMATION
Events, happenings, and Opinions Concerning
Israel, Israelites, Judah, and Everyone Else
Jerusalem News-784
Jerusalem News-784
28 Sivan 5768, 1 July 2008
Contents:
1. Palestinian West Bank torturers funded by Britain
2. Recent Postings on the Arab Issue Worth Noting
(concern Subjects that often surface in political debate)
3. Bill Mandating Referendum on Land Concessions Passes First Vote
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1. Palestinian West Bank torturers
funded by Britain
Marie Colvin The Sunday Times June 29, 2008
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article4232022.ece
Millions of pounds of British government money is going to Palestinian
security forces which use methods of torture including hanging prisoners by
their feet and putting them in "stress" positions for hours at a time.
Evidence to be published next month in a report by Human Rights Watch was
corroborated last week in interviews by The Sunday Times with victims in the
West Bank, ruled by President Mahmoud Abbas's western-backed Palestinian
Authority.
Prisoners who have emerged from Palestinian Authority jails - many of whom
have never been charged with any offence or even seen a lawyer - said they
had been subjected to mock executions, kicked, punched and beaten with
sticks, plastic pipes and hoses.
The disclosures came at the end of a week in which a Berlin conference of 40
donor nations, including Britain, pledged GBP121m over the next three years
to bolster the Palestinian security forces and judicial system in the West
Bank.
Of this total, about GBP20m will come from Britain, which is already
committed to spending GBP2.7m on the training of Palestinian security forces
this year. A British brigadier based in the West Bank city of Ramallah is
involved in the training. Britain has set aside a further ?4.5m for reform,
civil justice and public prosecution over the next three years.
A total of GBP4 billion overall has been promised to the government of
Abbas, who is the commander-in-chief of the Palestinian security forces.
Western support for Abbas's security forces is part of a strategy to isolate
Hamas fundamentalists who seized control of Gaza last year.
However, many of those detained on suspicion of links to Hamas described a
form of torture called "shabah" in Arabic - being forced to hold stress
positions for prolonged periods.
Some have been made to stand with one leg and one arm raised for hours.
Others have had to sit on the edge of a chair with their hands tied to their
feet.
Amar al-Masri, 43, a Nablus businessman who is married to Kholoud al-Masri,
an elected Hamas municipal official, has been held since last month in
al-Jenid prison in Nablus. Last Thursday, his son Abdullah, 13, crossed off
day 54 on a calendar on the family's refrigerator.
"What is shocking me is that no charge has been addressed against my
husband," Kholoud said last week, sitting in her home in Nablus, a hijab
(head-scarf) covering her hair.
"He is in a Palestinian jail, but we don't know why." She has been allowed
to visit him only once.
"He said he was hung by his two legs by a rope connected to the ceiling,"
Kholoud said. The prisoner's lawyer said he had seen puffy wrists and legs
that supported the testimony, as well as scabs on his legs and hands.
A former prisoner, interviewed at a coffee shop near his third-floor flat in
Nablus after he was released at the end of a 50-day spell in prison,
described similar experiences.
"They arrested me on fantasy charges that I had rockets," said the
29-year-old law student, who did not want his name used out of fear the
security forces would come after him.
"They tied my hands behind my back, and the rope was connected to a pipe,"
he said. "They would stress the rope every 20 seconds. They said if they did
it more I would be paralysed."
He was eventually released without charge. "They [the security forces] told
me, 'You have been steadfast under torture so we have decided you are clean.
We will not bother you again.' " The Palestinian Authority denied using
torture in detention centres. "They are prisoners. We do not give them
chocolate and roses," said Akram Rajoub, head of preventive security in
Nablus. "But I can assure you that we don't use torture methods or shabah
methods."
The Foreign Office expressed concern at the Human Rights Watch revelations.
"The UK is concerned to hear reports of human rights violations in the
occupied Palestinian territories," a spokesman said. "We are committed to
reforming the Palestinian security sector."
British officials confirmed that the aid money pledged last week would be
going to the West Bank security forces, which locals said were engaged in a
crackdown on their political opponents in Hamas.
Although Hamas, a conservative Islamic party, was elected to power in
January 2006, it has been largely shunned by the West because it refuses to
recognise Israel or renounce violence.
Palestinian territory is virtually divided by internal disputes; Hamas's
writ runs in Gaza, while Abbas has appointed an emergency government
composed mostly of officials from his Fatah party in the West Bank.
A spokesman for the Department for International Development, which
administers the funds paid to the Palestinian Authority, confirmed that
money was going to West Bank security forces but said some of it would be
used to root out abuses.
"People are aware of irregularities in their behaviour . . . and that's why
we are investing in making them a more professional outfit and a more
accountable police force," the department said.
Human Rights Watch last week called for the aid going to the Palestinian
Authority security forces to be made conditional on effective efforts to
reduce arbitrary arrests and torture and on improving the system of justice.
Additional reporting: Nicola Smith in Brussels
2. Recent Postings on the Arab Issue
Worth Noting
(concern Subjects that often
surface in political debate)
Arabs Want to Leave
http://www.britam.org/jerusalem/jerusalem716.html#716
2. 34% of Palestinians want to leave already
www.neareastconsulting.com
http://www.britam.org/jerusalem/jerusalem758.html#80
3. 80% of Gaza Residents Considering Emigrating
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125903
Israeli Arabs Not Suffering!
http://www.britam.org/jerusalem/jerusalem783.html#Study
2. Study conducted by Harvard University reveals Israeli Arabs would
rather live in Jewish state than in any other country in world
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3559045,00.html
Jewish Inhabitants of Arab Countries Did Suffer!
http://www.britam.org/jerusalem/jerusalem691to720.html#691Jewish
1. Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries Deliberately Ignored by UN!
http://www.britam.org/jerusalem/jerusalem774.html#Jewish
2. Jewish Refugees from Arab Lands
The Nakba of Arabic Jews
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxKcFo_h5Eg&feature=related
The Silent Exodus - Jews Thrown Out from Arab Lands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlE5sa2dv4w&feature=related
Palestinian Refugees
http://www.britam.org/jerusalem/jerusalem769.html#Is
3. Lenny Ben-David Blog: Articles worth Noting:
http://lennybendavid.com/
Looking for a Solution to the Palestinian Refugee Problem?
Close UNRWA
http://lennybendavid.com/2008/04/looking-for-solution-to-palestinian.html
Palestinians Persecute Christians
http://www.britam.org/jerusalem/jerusalem727.html#727Palestinian
2. Palestinian Muslims Persecute Christians
Palestinians Less Numerous than Claimed
http://www.britam.org/jerusalem/jerusalem732.html#732Demographics
3. Demographics- Palestinian Census a Bluff.
Israel Not so Bad a Place to Live in!
4. Is Israel the Happiest Country in the World?
Why Israel Is the World's Happiest Country
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JE13Ak01.html
3. Bill Mandating Referendum on Land
Concessions Passes First Vote
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/126694
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Extracts:
(IsraelNN.com) The Knesset approved on Monday the first reading of
a bill that would mandate a national referendum on any future Israeli
territorial concessions. The Knesset's Golan Lobby sees the vote as a tremendous
success, with 65 Knesset Members supporting the bill and only 18 opposed.
According to the bill, a Knesset vote and a nationwide referendum would be
required for any agreement to cede
territory currently under Israeli jurisdiction. The referendum, to be held 90
days after the Knesset vote, would include the wording of the relevant
government decision and would offer voters the chance to approve or reject the
proposed concession.
In the event that 80 MKs or more approve the government decision, however, no
referendum would be required. An additional caveat is that if national elections
are to be held within 180 days of the Knesset vote on the proposed concession,
the election results would be considered equivalent to a referendum.
MKs opposing the bill included the far-left Meretz party, a Communist party
spin-off (Hadash), and the Arab parties.
"The Knesset has given a message to the Prime Minister and to President Assad
that Israel will not withdraw from the Golan Heights," said MK Yisrael Katz (Likud).
"
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