- 2 nov 2010
Silwan Extends Harsh Welcome to "Racist" Mayor Barkat
Jerusalem Maysa Abu Ghazala PNN - Neither with roses and smiles nor with congratulations and blessings did the people of Jerusalem's Ras al-Umud neighborhood welcome Mayor Nir Barkat on his Tuesday morning visit to open the Ras al-Umud Comprehensive Girls School.
Writing on the walls of the school called for Barkat to get out, next to Palestinian flags and national slogans. On the floor of the school was a Star of David next to a swastika, surrounded by trash.
Fakhry Abu Diab of the Committee to Defend Silwan said that the people of Ras al-Umud welcomed Barkat as he deserved to be welcomed, as a mayor in an occupation state. He said they didn't want to see him in the same neighborhood whose residents he has threatened to displace.
We consider Barkat's visit to Silwan today a provocative attempt to impose control over the area, said Abu Diab, as if Ras al-Umud were not part of Silwan. There was no one in the school today except teachers, administrators, and schoolgirls who don't live in Silwan.
We had a general strike during his visit, continued Abu Diab, explaining that Barkat had decided to visit the school at 10 a.m. but showed up instead at 8 a.m.
Murad Abu Shafa, another member of the Committee to Defend Silwan, said it was illogical for an occupying mayor to come to open up a school while simultaneously threatening to raze the homes of the girls who would be attending it.
Is this the face of Israeli democracy? he asked. The occupation only deals with East Jerusalemites in three ways: they capture our children, they kill us, and they raze our homes. He added that the rise in settler attacks with government aid was intended to make them leave their land.
Abu Shafa also called for unity between Fatah and Hamas to protect East Jerusalem.
Protest Tent Demolition Meeting Delayed
In related news, the Jerusalem municipal government delayed a police meeting to discuss the demolition of a protest tent and the homes therein.
Abu Diab said the meeting was delayed on the orders of the Public Prosecutor, but speculated, It seems that tension and public pressure were the reasons for the delay.
Jawad Sayyam, director of Wadi Helwa Information Center, called for vigilance among Palestinians and warned that homes in Silwan and particularly the neighborhood of al-Bustan might be destroyed.
http://bit.ly/bkfplY 15 jan 2012, 15:01 , Respect -
Maria 3 nov 2010
Israeli police arrest five Palestinian children in Silwan
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation policemen stormed the Silwan town, south of the Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, on Wednesday and arrested five Palestinian children including two brothers.
Eyewitnesses reported that the policemen took away the children from their homes after spraying gas at their families.
The children are 13 to 18 years old.
Silwan is the target of a ferocious Israeli campaign and has recently witnessed many raids by policemen who focus on arresting children claiming they throw stones at Jewish settlers.
http://bit.ly/aqf97L 15 jan 2012, 15:01 , Respect -
Maria p 15 jan 2012, 15:01 , Respect -
Maria 5 nov 2010
Clashes Reported In East Jerusalem
Palestinian sources reported that clashes took place on Thursday evening between dozens of residents of Silwan town, south of the Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, and Israeli soldiers invading the area.
Clashes were also reported in Ayyoub Well area and Ein Al Louza, no injuries were reported.
Local sources reported that the army tried to force the residents out of their protest tent in Silwan.
Soldiers fired gas bombs and rubber-coated bullets at the residents while dozens of local youths hurled stones at military vehicles invading their neighborhoods.
On Wednesday, soldiers stormed Silwan and kidnapped five Palestinian children, including two brothers.
The army claimed that the children were involved in throwing stones at Israeli soldiers and policemen. The children are between the ages of 13 and 18.
The protest tent in Silwan was installed several months ago to protest the demolishing of Palestinian homes in the city and the ongoing settler occupation of Arab homes.
On Thursday, the Jerusalem Municipality appealed Israeli courts to allow them to dismantle the large protest tent in Silwan immediately. The courts instated an eight-month delay on removing the tent.
The Jerusalem Municipality claims that the protest tent became a source of inciting violence, clashes with the army and the settlers, and an act that disturbs the peace.
In June this year, the court decided that the owners have until June 2011 too remove the tent that was described as an illegal structure.
http://bit.ly/bDjRp2 15 jan 2012, 15:02 , Respect -
Maria p 15 jan 2012, 15:02 , Respect -
Maria 7 nov 2010
MK: Remove memorial for Silwan riots instigator
Memorial in Mugrabi Gate
Barkat asked to get rid of 'illegal' monument commemorating Palestinian shot while throwing stones.
Knesset Member Miri Regev (Likud) sent a letter to Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat Sunday
demanding he remove a memorial set up in Silwan for a Palestinian man who was shot to death by an Israeli security guard. The incident led to riots in east Jerusalem last September.
In her letter, MK Regev claimed that the memorial is illegal and "perpetuates the legacy of a Fatah militant who headed a terrorist organization."
Memorial for Sarhan in Jerusalem Samer Sarhan was shot to death by a Jewish security guard in September 22. A police inquiry indicated that residents blocked the guard's way and pelted him with stones. Feeling threatened, he drew his hand gun and fired, causing Sarhan's death. Police were familiar with Sarhan from previous criminal activity. A screwdriver and a knife were found on his body.
"I learned that a monument was recently set up in memory of the shahid Samer Sarhan near the Mugrabi Gate in Jerusalem," MK Regev noted in her letter. Sarhan, she said, "was involved in an attempted lynch of an Israeli security guard as he guarded the legal traffic of passers-by in Jerusalem."
Regev claimed that the unauthorized installation of monuments was illegal and that failure to enforce this will once again be construed as weakness and disregard for the rule of law. She added that it would also encourage more illegal monuments.
September riots in Silwan
The MK mentioned that requests for commemoration by bereaved parents are usually subject to the approval of various municipal planning committees and noted no such request was put forth in Sarhan's case.
She also pointed to a recently approved Knesset law aimed at withdrawing burial fees in cases of nationalistically motivated crimes. "This law was meant to send a clear message to all those seeking to harm state citizens," she wrote. "I am confident that this can be applied to matters pertaining to memorials in a broader context."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3981064,00.html 15 jan 2012, 15:02 , Respect -
Maria p 15 jan 2012, 15:22 , Respect -
Maria p 15 jan 2012, 15:22 , Respect -
Maria 10 nov 2010
Flag of Hamas laid at Temple Mount; protests at Silwan
Dozens of people initiated a procession after praying at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Friday and laid a flag of Hamas in the area.
At the same time, protests were held at the east Jerusalem village of Silwan.
Security forces were in the area to restore calm after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a security post.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=198892
Jerusalem: Dozens wave Hamas flags on Temple Mount
Dozens of people embarked on a procession at the end of the Friday prayer at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, waving Hamas flags. Meanwhile, dozens of youths marched in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.
The security forces are preparing for a possible riot. Two firefighting teams are putting out a Molotov cocktail thrown at a guarding post in Silwan. There have been no reports of injuries.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3997226,00.html 15 jan 2012, 15:22 , Respect -
Maria p 15 jan 2012, 15:22 , Respect -
Maria p 15 jan 2012, 15:22 , Respect -
Maria 17 nov 2010
AG: Seal Jewish home in east Jerusalem
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein orders municipality to carry out court order to evacuate, seal Jewish building in east Jerusalem suburb of Silwan, in keeping with rule of law principle.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein ordered Jerusalem Town Hall and police to carry out the court's order to evacuate and seal Beit Yonatan in east Jerusalem's Silwan suburb. He noted it should be carried out as soon as possible, in coordination with law enforcement agencies and the police.
The attorney general also requested that other buildings in the area be checked for legal infringements.
"This is important for sake of the appearance of justice and in light of claims that the law is being enforced selectively," he said.
A letter sent to Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, the municipality's legal advisor and Jerusalem police commander noted, "After carefully considering the issue, the attorney general remains convinced that the principle of the rule of law demands the application of the evacuation and seal order against Beit Yonatan in Silwan, as soon as possible. As the court ruled as it did, there is no room for further consideration but to fulfill the order without deviating from the instructions."
Beit Yonatan. Not an irreversible step
Therefore, the attorney general requested that the police assist in any way necessary for the application of the order, noting that the municipality must bear its share regarding logistics.
Weinstein also noted that the order requires only that the building be sealed a step that can be reversed. When a program is approved which includes the building, it can be reopened for residency, he said.
He said that just as the principle of the rule of law demands that the order be carried out, it also demands that steps are taken against other legal infringements in construction, according to egalitarian criteria. In this, Weinstein was responding to right-wing activists who claimed the State fails to enforce the law against other illegal buildings in the area inhabited by Palestinians.
Weinstein said this issue should be investigated, noting that in addition to the principle of the rule of law, it was important for the sake of the appearance of justice and to counter claims of selective enforcement of the law.
Beit Yonatan is a seven-floor building constructed without a permit in 2004 in the Silwan suburb, and is inhabited by Jewish settlers linked to the Ateret Cohanim movement. At the beginning of the year, Barkat tried to promote a plan that would retrospectively have approved some illegal construction of both Jewish and Arab buildings, but later he said he would carry out the court's evacuation orders.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3986174,00.html 15 jan 2012, 15:22 , Respect -
Maria 17 nov 2010
IOA banishes Jerusalemite boy from his home for two weeks
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) decided to banish a 17-year-old Palestinian boy from his parent's home in Silwan, occupied Jerusalem, for two weeks.
The Palestinian prisoner's committee denounced such a method in dealing with Jerusalemite children in a statement on Monday.
It called on human rights groups to intervene and demand a halt to the new deportation policy practiced by the IOA against Palestinian citizens, describing it as the severest kind of punishment and a violation of human rights.
The committee noted that the IOA arrested the boy, Suhaib Al-Rajabi, from his home and put him under arrest for two days on the charge of throwing a firebomb at the Israeli occupation police before ordering him to stay away from his parent's home for two weeks.
It noted that Rajabi was sent to his brother's home in Enata, north of occupied Jerusalem, adding that such a policy of banishing children ran contrary to human rights.
http://bit.ly/9wRWk5
- 23 nov 2010
Settlers seize Palestinian building in Silwan area, displace Qara'ein family
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Extremist Jewish settlers seized Tuesday morning under military protection a Palestinian building in Al-Farouq neighborhood in Al-Makhbar Mount overlooking Silwan district, south of the old city of occupied Jerusalem.
Local sources said that the Israeli police helped the settlers to take over a three-floor building belonging to the family of a deceased Palestinian citizen called Ali Qara'ein in this neighborhood, adding that 20 members of this family are living in this building including children.
Member of the committee for defending homes in Silwan area Fakhri Abu Diyab stated that the family living in this building received an evacuation order from the Israeli occupation authority three months ago at the pretext that these settlers purchased it from the owner Ali Qara'ein. The family categorically denied that.
http://bit.ly/hCuaLN
Palestinian Family Forced From Their Home, Acquired by Jewish Settlers in East Jerusalem
Israeli settlers have been moved into, on Tuesday, houses in the al-Farouq neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber in occupied East Jerusalem, resulting in the expulsion of twenty eight Palestinians.
It has been reported, by local news agencies, that when the notice was delivered to the residents, more than forty police officers and a dozen settlers were waiting outside the building.
The Wohl Investment group has reportedly purchased the house, and evicted the Palestinian residents with help from the Israeli police force. although the evicted Palestinians reject that claim.
They have stated that the sale of the property can not be valid, as the former owner and landlord of the house, Ali Kara'in, shown to be the seller in the transaction has been deceased since the 1990s and had left the property to the evicted family in his will.
The El-Ad group, a property development conglomerate in Israel with subsidiaries in the U.S., works on behalf of settlers, and has stated that the family had agreed to leave the property having sold it.
The group explains its activity as a way to strengthen the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and renew the Jewish community in the area, and has been at the centre of disputes in the village of Silwan, which is predominately Arab, where the group is attempting to have homes demolished to make way for it's City of David park. Current excavation work has caused subsidence in the Palestinian neighborhood, leading to structural problems with a local girls school.
Today's eviction led to protest by Israeli activists from the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement, two of whom were assaulted by a settler, according to eye witnesses, leading to his arrest.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59984 15 jan 2012, 15:24 , Respect -
Maria p 15 jan 2012, 15:28 , Respect -
Maria 25 nov 2010
'Child protection laws broken during Silwan interrogations'
60 professionals write to PM, A-G about concerns that police conduct in east J'lem affects physical, emotional well-being of youths.
The police have been ignoring laws meant to protect minors during a yearlong crackdown on children who throw rocks at Israeli targets in the capital's Silwan neighborhood, a group of 60 medical professionals, psychologists, educators, social workers, legislators and children's book writers complained on Wednesday in a letter to Israeli political leaders.
We are writing to express our deep concern for the physical and emotional well-being and the proper development of children and youths in east Jerusalem in the face of police conduct during the interrogation and detention of minors in this area, the correspondents wrote.
Among those who signed the letter were former Tel Aviv District Court judge Saviona Rotlevi, author Yehuda Atlas, Tel Aviv University professor Daniel Bar- Tal, retired Hebrew University criminologist Leslie Sabba, former deputy attorney- general Yehudit Karp and founder and president of Physicians for Human Rights Israel, psychiatrist Ruhama Marton.
The letter was addressed to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, Attorney- General Yehuda Weinstein and others, and was timed to coincide with the week in which the International Day of the Child is marked.
Over the past year, police have interrogated more than 1,200 children and youths up to the age of 18 in east Jerusalem on suspicion of throwing rocks, according to the letter.
Some of those arrested have been under the age of 12, the lower limit for criminal responsibility.
The correspondents wrote that over the past year, and especially over the last few months, there has been an increasing number of testimonies by minors and their families pointing to gross violations of the rights of detainees who are minors and the use of violence in their interrogation.
They said they were especially concerned about the treatment of children under the age of 12.
Despite their young age, they were not spared harsh and injurious interrogation, the writers charged.
For example, an eight-yearold child testified that he was taken from his bed in the middle of the night and held in jail at the police station for four hours. Another child, aged 10, returned from an interrogation with bruises on his back which, he said, he sustained during his arrest and interrogation.
The laws protecting minors specify that children should be interrogated by specially trained juvenile investigators, in the presence of their parents or other relatives, in daylight and without violence.
They must not be handcuffed and detention must only be a last resort.
Requests to deviate from these regulations may only be made in exceptional circumstances and in writing.
Regretfully, based on testimony we have received, it seems that there is not a sign of any of this in the encounter between many east Jerusalem children and the police, the correspondents wrote.
Graciela Karmon, who has been a doctor and child psychiatrist for 36 years, told The Jerusalem Post that she signed the letter because she knew what this kind of treatment can lead to in children.
There can be immediate reactions such as fears, severe anxiety attacks, inability to function, bedwetting, withdrawal from society, depression, outbursts of anger in other words, a wide variety of symptoms, she said.
Karmon added that while police failed to observe child protection laws when it came to Palestinian children, they did not treat Jewish children the same way when they broke the law.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=196692
Israeli police blasted for abusing Jerusalem children
JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israeli police were accused of "flagrant violations" of the law Thursday over their harsh and at times violent treatment of Palestinian children suspected of stone-throwing in east Jerusalem.
The allegations were detailed in a letter sent to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by a group of 60 Israeli professionals, among them experts in medicine, psychology, education, social work and law -- all of whom work with children.
The letter expresses concern about the growing number of testimonies submitted by Palestinian minors who have been arrested by police in occupied and annexed east Jerusalem, notably in the flashpoint neighbourhood of Silwan.
"We are writing ... to express our deep concerns about the physical and emotional welfare and proper development of children and young people in east Jerusalem in the light of police behaviour during the investigation and arrest of minors in this area," it said.
"Over the last few months, there has been a growing number of testimonies of minors and their families which point to flagrant violations of the rights of detained minors, and of the use of violence during the investigation of children and young people who are suspected of throwing stones in Silwan."
Youngsters have testified how they were dragged out of bed in the dead of the night, cuffed and taken for investigation without being accompanied by their parents -- and sometimes without their family even being informed, it said.
During the investigation, "they suffered threats and humiliation at the hand of the investigators .. which sometimes involved substantial physical violence," it said, noting with concern that even children under the age of 12 were being detained.
The crumbling neighbourhood of Silwan, which lies just south of Jerusalem's Old City, is the focal point of regular clashes between locals and hardline Jewish settlers, with police frequently arresting youngsters on charges of stone-throwing.
The Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state and oppose any attempts to extend Israel's control over the part of the city that was captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its "eternal and indivisible" capital, a status not recognised by the international community.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=336046
Palestinian Child Hospitalized After Being Violently Attacked By Israeli Policemen
A 7-year-old Palestinian child from Silwan town, south of the Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, was hospitalized, Wednesday, after a number of policemen violently attacked, kicked and punched him.
The child, Adam Mansour Al Rishiq, was moved a Jerusalem hospital and was immediately sent to the Intensive Care Unit due to the seriousness of his condition.
Fakhri Abu Diab, member of the local committee for defending Silwan lands and property, stated that clashes were reported Wednesday between the police and local residents in Silwan, especially near the protest tent in the areas of Jacob Wells and Ein Al Lowza.
The tent was installed several months ago to protest Israeli illegal demolition and confiscation of Palestinian and Arab homes in occupied East Jerusalem.
Abu Diab stated that Border Guard Policemen chased a number of youths before violently attacking the seven-year-old child, and striking him with their batons on different parts of his body.
Adam's father stated that his child was moved to the hospital unconscious and heavily bleeding, and was directly sent to the Intensive Care Unit suffering several fractures and bruises.
In related news, a number of extremist settlers of the Qadumim settlement, near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, opened fire on Wednesday at night at several Palestinian homes in the nearby village of Qaddoum; no damage or injuries were reported, and the Israeli army failed to intervene or to locate the assailants.
The settlement itself was built on lands mainly confiscated from Kufr Qaddoum Palestinian village.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60007 - 2 dec 2010
Children in Silwan
(5:15) Children in Silwan
The Palestinian village of Silwan sits just south of the Old City walls in East Jerusalem. It counts 55,000 residents, 50 percent of whom are below the age of 18. It is estimated that 75 percent of these children live below the poverty line. Since mid-September, approximately 50 Palestinian youth have been arrested from Silwan under the auspices that they threw stones at Israeli soldiers or settler security guards. These arrests, residents say, have paralyzed the neighborhood's children and directly violate their human rights. - 6 dec 2010
B'Tselem: Jerusalemite children tortured by Israeli interrogators
NAZARETH, (PIC)-- The Israeli information center for human rights in the occupied territories B'Tselem said in a report that Palestinian children in Silwan town, occupied Jerusalem, were severely tortured at the hands of Israeli interrogators.
The report published on Sunday by the Israeli channel 7 said that the Israeli police had arrested children suspected of committing violations in a way contrary to Israeli laws and were subjected to questioning by border policemen and plain clothed security men.
The report said that tens of minors were recently apprehended in Silwan while the overall number of detained children since the start of 2010 in occupied Jerusalem had reached 81 all suspected of throwing stones.
It said that the children, some of whom only 12 years old, were being questioned in the absence of their parents in violation of the law, adding that a number of them told B'Tselem that they were physically abused.
http://bit.ly/hyQkYP
Israel attacked for arrests of hundreds of children
Israeli riot police arrest a Palestinian youth last month as scuffling erupts following the demolition of a Palestinian house by Jerusalem municipality workers in the Silwan district.
JERUSALEM // Israeli police have been criticised over their treatment of hundreds of Palestinian children, some as young as seven, arrested and interrogated on suspicion of stone-throwing in East Jerusalem.
In the past year, criminal investigations have been opened against more than 1,200 Palestinian minors in Jerusalem suspected of hurling rocks at Israeli soldiers or Jewish settlers, according to police statistics gathered by the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). That was nearly twice the number of children arrested last year in the much larger Palestinian territory of the West Bank.
Most of the arrests have occurred in the Silwan district, close to Jerusalem's Old City, where 350 extremist Jewish settlers have set up heavily guarded illegal enclaves among 50,000 Palestinian residents.
Late last month, in a sign of growing anger at the arrests, a large crowd in Silwan was reported to have prevented police from arresting Adam Rishek, a seven-year-old boy accused of stone-throwing. His parents later filed a complaint claiming he had been beaten by the officers.
Tensions between residents and settlers have been rising steadily since the Jerusalem municipality unveiled a plan in February to demolish dozens of Palestinian homes in the Bustan neighbourhood to expand a Bible-themed archeological park run by Elad, a settler organisation.
The plan was on hold after US pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.
Fakhri Abu Diab, a local community leader, warned that the regular clashes between Silwan's youths and the settlers, termed a "stone intifada" by some, could trigger a full-blown Palestinian uprising.
"Our children are being sacrificed for the sake of the settlers' goal to take over our community," he said.
In the purge on stone-throwing, the police were riding roughshod over children's legal rights and leaving many minors with profound emotional traumas, concluded ACRI in a recent report, titled Unsafe Space.
Testimonies collected by the rights groups revealed a pattern of children being arrested in late-night raids, handcuffed and interrogated for hours without either a parent or lawyer being present, which was a violation of their rights under Israeli criminal law. In many cases, the children have reported physical violence or threats.
Last month, 60 Israeli childcare and legal experts, including Yehudit Karp, a former deputy attorney general, wrote to Mr Netanyahu condemning the police behaviour.
"Particularly troubling," they wrote, "are testimonies of children under the age of 12, the minimal age set by the law for criminal liability, who were taken in for questioning, and who were not spared rough and abusive interrogation." Unlike in the West Bank, which is governed by military law, children in East Jerusalem suspected of stone-throwing are supposed to be dealt with according to Israeli criminal law.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem following the Six-Day War of 1967, in violation of international law, and its 250,000 Palestinian inhabitants are treated as permanent Israeli residents. Minors, defined as anyone under 18, should be questioned by specially trained officers and only during daylight hours. The children must be able to consult with a lawyer and a parent should be present.
Ronit Sela, a spokeswoman for ACRI, said her organisation had been "shocked" at the large number of children arrested in East Jerusalem in recent months, often by units of undercover policemen.
"We have heard many testimonies from children who describe terrifying experiences of violence during both their arrest and their later interrogation," she said.
Muslim, 10, lives in the Bustan neighbourhood and in a house that Israeli authorities have ordered demolished. His case was included in the ACRI report, and in an interview with The National he said he had been arrested four times this year, even though he was under the age of criminal responsibility. On the last occasion, in October, he was grabbed from the street by three plain-clothes policemen who jumped out a van.
"One of the men grabbed me from behind and started choking me. The second grabbed my shirt and tore it from the back, and the third twisted my hands behind my back and tied them with plastic cords. 'Who threw stones?' one of them asked me. 'I don't know,' I said. He started hitting me on the head and I shouted in pain."
Muslim, who spoke on condition that only his first name be used, was taken into custody and released six hours later. A local doctor reported that the boy had bleeding wounds to his knees and swelling on several parts of his body.
Muslim's father, who has two sons in prison, said the boy was waking with nightmares and could no longer concentrate on his school studies. "He has been devastated by this," he said.
Last month, police announced that house arrests would be used against children more regularly and financial penalties of up to US$1,400 (Dh5,100) would be imposed on parents.
B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, reported the case of AS, a 12-year-old child taken for interrogation following an arrest at 3am.
"I sat on my knees facing the wall. Every time I moved, a man in civilian clothes hit me with his hand on my neck. The man asked me to prostrate myself on the floor and ask his forgiveness, but I refused and told him that I do not bow to anyone but Allah. All the while, I felt intense pain in my feet and legs. I felt intense fear and I started shaking."
"It is hard to believe that the security forces would have acted similarly against Jewish minors," B'Tselem said in a statement.
Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, denied that the police had violated the children's rights, adding: "It is the responsibility of parents to stop this criminal behaviour by their children."
The 60 experts who wrote to Mr Netanyahu warned the children's abuse led to "post-traumatic stress disorders, such as nightmares, insomnia, bed-wetting, and constant fear of policemen and soldiers". They also said that children under extended house arrest were being denied the right to schooling.
http://bit.ly/gZIzHw
Report: Police dealings with Palestinian minors illegal
B'Tselem report accuses police of arresting Palestinian minors as young as five in East Jerusalem and dealing with them in ways that violate the law.
An Israeli human rights group is accusing the police of arresting Palestinian minors as young as five in East Jerusalem and dealing with them in ways that violate the law.
In a report released on Monday, B'Tselem says Israeli police arrested at least 81 Palestinian minors between November 2009 and October 2010 on suspicion of throwing stones at Israelis in the flashpoint Silwan neighborhood near Jerusalem's Old City.
The report says police arrested many minors in their homes in Silwan at night, seizing some from their beds. Undercover officers nabbed others on the street. At least 30 of the 81 detained were younger than 15, the report said. Four were younger than 12 and the youngest was five.
They were detained from a few hours to a few days and interrogated, sometimes without parents present, the report said. Some said police roughed them up. The report also says some were released after paying fines as high as $1,300. Others were placed under house arrest for up to two months, allowed only to go to school accompanied by a parent.
B'Tselem said arresting and interrogating minors at night or without a parent present violates Israeli laws that protect minors.
Israeli police say the arrests are not only legal but necessary to stamp out stone throwing, which often targets police or West Bank settlers. It's especially common in parts of East Jerusalem, where tensions run high between Palestinian residents and Israeli police, settlers and their security guards.
Earlier this month, sixty Israeli childcare experts and literary figures sent an open letter to the prime minister and attorney general calling on the authorities to monitor more closely police interactions with minors suspected of stone throwing in East Jerusalem.
The letter came amid recent complaints that the police have been making illegal arrests and using questionable interrogation methods in their campaign against stone throwing.
According to the letter, police have acknowledged arresting around 1,200 minors in East Jerusalem on suspicion of stone throwing. But critics say that more troubling than the absolute number is the manner in which youths are being detained and questioned.
"Children and youth have reported being taken from their beds in the middle of the night or apprehended by undercover detectives and special forces in their neighborhoods," the letter said. "They were brought in for questioning without a parental escort and sometimes without having been able to notify their families in time. Some were required to give names or to implicate their friends and relatives as conditions for their release."
The letter also noted a growing trend of underage suspects suffering from symptoms of post-traumatic stress including nightmares, sleepwalking and bedwetting.
Detainees, it said, were subjected to "threats and humiliation by interrogators, and their transfer and detention were sometimes accompanied by considerable physical violence. Particularly alarming are the testimonies showing that a number of children under the age of 12 - the age of criminal liability - were interrogated by police, who despite their age were forced to endure harsh methods of interrogation."
http://bit.ly/e205cT
B'Tselem: Police ignoring minors' rights
Israeli human rights group says police take Palestinian minors from east Jerusalem who are suspected of stone-throwing from their beds in the middle of the night; use unnecessary violence against them. 'Hooded men put me in a car; I was so scared I wet my pants,' one of them recalls.
A severe report from Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, released Sunday evening, highlights a range of shortcomings in Jerusalem police regarding the detention of minors. According to the human rights organization, the police opened 1,267 files last year against Palestinian minors from east Jerusalem on suspicion of stone throwing, and ignored laws and regulations governing the questioning of minors in some cases.
According to the report, some of the minors were arrested at night and even taken from their beds, and taken to the Russian Compound, even though according to the law all efforts must be made to avoid detaining minors during the night. In many cases minors were questioned without their parents being present, which is also against the law. Some of the young detainees even say violence was directed against them, and they were cuffed for no reason.
"The police behavior against Palestinian minors from Silwan amounts to serious contempt for special protections granted them as minors," states the report, which is based on interviews with 30 detainees. "B'Tselem calls on Jerusalem police to uphold the law in letter and spirit when dealing with cases of stone throwing in east Jerusalem."
Yazan (14) relates what happened to him during interrogation. "At a certain stage, the interrogator noticed the handcuffs round my wrists were not tight and he tightened them hard," he said. "During the questioning, the interrogator didn't let me go to the bathroom or drink anything. In the end I couldn't take the slaps and the pressure and admitted to throwing stones at Beit Yonatan."
The report mentioned that in at least four instances police detained children under the age of 12 the age of criminal responsibility. "In one case an eight-year-old boy was taken from his bed in the middle of the night only because he had the same name as another boy who was suspected of throwing stones," said the report.
'Door open to file complaints'
Nasr, 13, was detained near a mosque in Silwan in October. "A masked man dressed in black grabbed me by the neck and hit my chest," he recounts. "Then he put me on the ground and hit my face. I had a bloody lip.
"Later, a 'Mistaarev' (Israeli soldier disguised as an Arab) put me in a white Toyota. There was another boy named Hassan inside (the car). The 'Mistaarev' threw me on top of him and we were both on the car's floor. Together with us in the back were two hooded men. Two officers sat in the front. The masked men beat us inside the car, and we both began to cry. I was so scared I wet my pants," Nasr says.
According to the B'Tselem report, the minors' complaints of violence were either ignored or treated with contempt, and in the few cases in which an investigation was launched, it was closed without any legal action against those responsible.
Jerusalem Police said in response, "In our activity against minors who violate the law, we act in accordance with the law, and in cases where people complained that their rights had been violated or that police violated the law, we opened the door for them to file their complaints with the appropriate authorities.
"Most of the parents are present during their children's interrogation, but in some cases parents choose not to be present," according to Jerusalem Police.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3998140,00.html
Rally in Silwan protesting Israeli practices
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) Palestinians and peace activists from Israel and abroad rallied Friday in the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem protesting settlements and other Israeli procedures there and in the Old City.
Demonstrators denounced practices of the Israeli government and settlers against Palestinians. Participants marched in the neighborhood reaching a protest tent in the Al-Bustan neighborhood where they held speeches.
One of the main speakers was Adnan Jith, the secretary of Fatah movement in Silwan and a member of the committee to defend Al-Bustan. He affirmed that the population would continue to struggle until they reversed Israel's decision to expel him from Jerusalem.
The Israeli military ordered him out of the city for four months for allegedly organizing protests against Israeli settlement there, the army and media said Thursday.
Jith, 34, has 14 days in which to appeal the order and has said he plans to do so, a military statement said.
It said the army received "security and intelligence information linking Jith with activity liable to cause a breach of public order within the city of Jerusalem."
The banishment order is based on a rarely used emergency statute from 1945, when Britain ruled Palestine prior to the establishment of Israel in 1948. It was often used against clandestine Jewish groups battling the British.
The military statement did not detail the suspicions against Jith but the daily Haaretz said that he had been arrested several times for allegedly encouraging violent protest against Israeli security forces in Silwan.
The rundown neighborhood next to the walled Old City has been the scene of sporadic clashes that peaked in September when an Israeli security guard shot dead a local man he said attacked him.
At the heart of the conflict is a plan by Jerusalem city council to build a new biblical tourism park called the King's Garden, which would involve demolishing 22 Silwan homes it says were built illegally.
Palestinian residents are also angry at the continued presence of an illegally built seven-storey building housing Jewish settlers, despite a 2007 Israeli court order for its demolition.
AFP contributed to this report
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=345051
Palestinian youth shot, clashes sweep through Silwan
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) -- Clashes erupted in Silwan in the early afternoon yesterday, 24 December, and continued throughout the day.
Tensions were sparked when a young Palestinian was shot by a rubber bullet by an Israeli soldier or police officer. Young protesters set tires and garbage cans alight and hurled stones at Israeli soldiers as the clashes spread to several neighborhoods throughout the village. Witnesses report that one Palestinian was arrested by Israeli police.
http://silwanic.net/?p=9530 - 10 dec 2010
Lawyer: Settlers planning to seize Jerusalem home
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Settler groups are planning to take over another house in Silwan, a flashpoint neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, a presidential legal advisor said Friday.
Ahmad Ar-Ruweida, Jerusalem legal affairs advisor, said his office has received information that settler organizations, supported by right-wing parties and Israeli police, plan to seize a Palestinian property in the Batn Al-Hawa area of Silwan.
The home would be the fifth property seized by settlers in the last three months, the lawyer said, and the 40th home in Silwan to be occupied by settlers.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=340849 - 25 dec 2010
Palestinian youth shot, clashes sweep through Silwan
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) -- Clashes erupted in Silwan in the early afternoon yesterday, 24 December, and continued throughout the day.
Tensions were sparked when a young Palestinian was shot by a rubber bullet by an Israeli soldier or police officer. Young protesters set tires and garbage cans alight and hurled stones at Israeli soldiers as the clashes spread to several neighborhoods throughout the village. Witnesses report that one Palestinian was arrested by Israeli police.
http://silwanic.net/?p=9530
Rally in Silwan protesting Israeli practices
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) Palestinians and peace activists from Israel and abroad rallied Friday in the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem protesting settlements and other Israeli procedures there and in the Old City.
Demonstrators denounced practices of the Israeli government and settlers against Palestinians. Participants marched in the neighborhood reaching a protest tent in the Al-Bustan neighborhood where they held speeches.
One of the main speakers was Adnan Jith, the secretary of Fatah movement in Silwan and a member of the committee to defend Al-Bustan. He affirmed that the population would continue to struggle until they reversed Israel's decision to expel him from Jerusalem.
The Israeli military ordered him out of the city for four months for allegedly organizing protests against Israeli settlement there, the army and media said Thursday.
Jith, 34, has 14 days in which to appeal the order and has said he plans to do so, a military statement said.
It said the army received "security and intelligence information linking Jith with activity liable to cause a breach of public order within the city of Jerusalem."
The banishment order is based on a rarely used emergency statute from 1945, when Britain ruled Palestine prior to the establishment of Israel in 1948. It was often used against clandestine Jewish groups battling the British.
The military statement did not detail the suspicions against Jith but the daily Haaretz said that he had been arrested several times for allegedly encouraging violent protest against Israeli security forces in Silwan.
The rundown neighborhood next to the walled Old City has been the scene of sporadic clashes that peaked in September when an Israeli security guard shot dead a local man he said attacked him.
At the heart of the conflict is a plan by Jerusalem city council to build a new biblical tourism park called the King's Garden, which would involve demolishing 22 Silwan homes it says were built illegally.
Palestinian residents are also angry at the continued presence of an illegally built seven-storey building housing Jewish settlers, despite a 2007 Israeli court order for its demolition.
AFP contributed to this report
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=345051 15 jan 2012, 15:36 , Respect -
Maria 26 dec 2010
Tensions high in east al-quds over evictions
(2:49) Tensions high in east al-quds over evictions
Palestinians in the Silwan neighborhood of east Jerusalem al-Quds are served with demolition orders almost on a regular basis. With each demolition come clashes and protests.
On Sunday Israeli Police intended to evict 11 Palestinian families from a building so that it can be turned over to the settlers to make way for a synagogue that existed in 1948 on part of the land, where the building stands today.
The Israeli police also evacuated Jewish occupants of a settlement unit in Silwan, because it was built without a proper permit.
But Palestinians who see the international law on their side want an end to such illegal practices.
However, Palestinian residents of Silwan supported by International solidarity members managed to foil the Israeli police plan to carry out the eviction, by clustering around the building.
The UN relief agency UNRWA has said Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank including east Jerusalem/al-Quds has increased by 45 percent in 2010. Hundreds of Palestinians have been displaced as a result of such demolitions.
While Israel has granted thousands of permits for settlement construction on Palestinian lands in the last few months, Palestinians find it extremely difficult to get a construction permit on their own land. As a result at least 28% of all homes have been built without a permit.
And as the UN says nearly a quarter of the 250,000 Palestinians living in east Jerusalem are at risk of having their homes demolished by the Israeli authorities.
Meanwhile, on Sunday the Israeli police handed Adnan Geith, a Palestinian activist, an expulsion order and an ultimatum to leave Jerusalem Al Quds and its environs by nightfall for a period of four months.
The banishment order is based on a law from 1945, when Palestine was still under British mandate.
Under this law, the authorities can expel anyone without being criminally charged.
But Adnan Geith has vowed to resist the order. Israel annexed East Jerusalem which is considered occupied territory under international law in 1981, but Palestinians want to make it the capital of their future state.
Tensions remain high in Silwan in east Jerusalem al-Quds, but Palestinians have won the round as they have effectively confronted the Israeli police in a bid to resist eviction and expulsion orders. 15 jan 2012, 15:36 , Respect -
Maria 27 dec 2010
Palestinian girl hit by Israeli Police car during Silwan clashes
On Sunday, an Israeli police patrol car hit a five-year-old Palestinian girl in Silwan, after clashes erupted between Palestinian teenagers and Israeli forces.
The incident occurred in the Wad Hilweh neighborhood and according to locals, the child was sent to a hospital with light injuries.
The Wad Hilweh Information Center reported that the incident happened just after a large number of Israeli police officers deployed in the neighborhood to issue an eviction order for the home of Abdullah Abu Nab, which was recently taken over by Israeli settlers.
The invasion of police led to clashes between Palestinian teenagers and Israeli forces.
In addition, the Israeli police detained several Palestinian youth and established checkpoints around the area on Sunday. Brothers Firas (25) and Anan (15) Shwieki were detained at the entrance of Wad Hilweh, and remained in Israeli Administrative Detention overnight.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60273