Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967

Tuesday, 26 October 2010 14:13

By Richard Falk

Summary
The present report considers developments relevant to the obligations of Israel under international law, as well as the situation of people living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Emphasis is given to the cumulative impact of Israeli policies in the West Bank and East Jerusalem arising from prolonged occupation, which exhibits features of colonialism and apartheid, as well as transforming a de jure condition of occupation into a circumstance of de facto annexation.

These developments encroach on the inalienable Palestinian right of self-determination in fundamentally detrimental ways. Attention is also devoted to habitual concerns involving settlement growth in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the problems posed by the continued construction of the separation wall, issues of collective punishment, and a variety of other human rights concerns, including concern over the health-related and other adverse impacts of the continuing blockade of the 1.5 million residents of Gaza, consideration of the "Freedom Flotilla" incident of 31 May 2010 and the continuing effort to assess whether Israel and the responsible Palestinian authorities have carried out adequate investigations of war crimes allegations arising from the Gaza conflict of 2008-2009.

Download the full report

http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/resources/reports-and-publications/1683-report-of-the-special-rapporteur-on-the-situation-of-human-rights-in-the-palestinian-territories-occupied-since-1967

The Zionist Organization of America’s Effort to Criminalize Campus Activism through Federal Civil Rights Legislation

Posted on MuzzleWatch on October 29 2010 by Cecilie Surasky under Educational Institutions.  

By Eyal Mazor

Under the leadership of Mort Klein, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is celebrating its success in its efforts to expand federal anti-bullying guidelines stipulated under the US Civil Rights Act of 1964.  So why in the world would Mort Klein and his pro-occupation and pro-settlement ZOA be interested in federal civil rights and anti-bullying policy in the first place? Perhaps a new-found interest in protecting religious practice and reigning in on all instances of discrimination? Of course not. Read on and prepare yourself to be outraged.

Images

Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi Declares An Alternative To Failing Negotiations

Editor Palestine Monitor

12 October 2010

Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI), MP and runner-up in the 2005 presidential election declared in a press conference in Ramallah yesterday that failed negotiations are threatening the last opportunity of peace based on a two-state solution. He argued that negotiations are meaningless and damaging while Israeli settlement building continues, and proposed an initiative to surpass the intractable impasse in the so called peace process.

Israel conducts population transfer training exercises

Jonathan Cook, The Electronic Intifada, 14 October 2010

Israel secretly staged a training exercise last week to test its ability to quell any civil unrest that might result from a peace deal with the Palestinian Authority requiring the forcible transfer of many Palestinian Arab citizens, the Israeli media has reported.

Obama letter confirms Palestinian fears

Jonathan Cook, The Electronic Intifada, 4 October 2010


The disclosure of the details of a letter reportedly sent by US President Barack Obama last week to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, will cause Palestinians to be even more skeptical about US and Israeli roles in the current peace talks.

A new Israeli colonial outpost and more

By Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD, posted on Academics and Researchers for Justice

A new Israeli colonial outpost appeared near the colonies of Nokdim, Tekoa and Kfar El-David in the past few weeks.  The new outpost consists of several caravans and semi-permanent structures in a valley to the east of the El-David colonial settlement.  It sits on land belonging to people from Jib Atheib, Zaatara, and Dawahra.  We toured the site October 1, 2010 with locals Hassan Breijiya and Mubarak Zawahra and two international observers from EAPPI.  This video summarizes the situation in the area. 

In defense of South African academics' boycott call

by RONNIE KASRILS, Electronic Intifada -- OCT. 1, 2010


When African National Congress leader Chief Albert Luthuli made a call for the international community to support a boycott of apartheid South Africa in 1958, the response was a widespread and dedicated movement that played a significant role in ending apartheid. Amid the sporting boycotts, the pledges of playwrights and artists, the actions by workers to stop South African goods from entering local markets and the constant pressure on states to withdraw their support for the apartheid regime, the role of academics also came to the fore.

The Rich Tapestry of Israeli Apartheid

by JONATHAN COOK, Mondoweiss — JULY 30, 2010


The recent announcement that Palestinian communities in Israel will be provided with a bus service for the first time since Israel’s founding – that is, in 62 years – surprised observers who had not realised second-class citizenship also extends to being deprived of a bus line.

Robert Fisk returns to the Sabra and Shatila

Sabra and Shatila



Comments from the YouTube post:

Journalist Robert Fisk returns to the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. Fisk recounts how Lebanese Christian militias who were under the control of the Israeli military murdered over 2000 Palestinians in the camps. Fisk also points to a building in the distance from where he insists the Israeli forces could witness the massacre. The Israeli government's own Kahan Commission found that future Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was personally responsible for the massacre. This is from a documentary Fisk made about "why so many Muslims have come to hate the West." But we know the real reason is because they hate our freedom, right?

Norman Finkelstein in Edmonton

Edmonton


Even more valuable are Finkelstein's responses during the Q&A session following his talk:

American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein

If you haven't seen American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein yet, then you need to right away to get a sense of the Israel propaganda industry and the ways in which it seeks to demonize anyone—especially Jews—who criticize Israeli apartheid and brutality.

Here is the trailer:


Organize viewings of the film on your campus, at your church, in your union hall, in your living room.

—OUSJP

Getting Started

This is the future blog site for Ohio University's Students for Justice in Palestine.