Posted by: Sammi Ibrahem Chair of West Midland PSC
Dear Friends,
Of the 6 items below, 3 are about Israel, 2 about Egypt, the final one about protests in other Arab countries following on the heals of Tunisia and Egypt.
It gives me great pleasure to distribute the first brief item below, which displays a rare commodity in Israel: an honest judge. I won’t spoil your satisfaction by telling you why.
However, item 2 is nothing to crow about. It reveals that settler violence is seldom probed (and one might add, even less seldom punished).
Item 3 is about holocaust survivors, Imagine! Imagine that in Israel—the country that has a holocaust industry, using that unhappy event to work on the conscience of governments and on the emotions of people for political purposes—can’t or won’t tend to the “more than 60,000 Holocaust survivors live below the poverty line, though thousands more are perilously close”! No! instead the government leaves the job to private companies, which, when money runs out, have to quit. Meanwhile, the government which has no time or money to care for its elderly holocaust survivors has plenty of money to continue building in East Jerusalem and elsewhere in the OPT! Shame! shame! shame!
Item 4 turns from Israel to Egypt, and the last 3 items are about current affairs there and elsewhere in the Middle East.
Court releases Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement protesters
The Jerusalem District Court has rejected an appeal by police regarding its decision to release without conditions protesters belonging to the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement, who were arrested demonstrating in front of city hall.
On Monday four protesters were arrested for demonstrating against the approval of 16 new Jewish homes in the east Jerusalem neighborhood. (Aviad Glickman)
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1b
Ynet,
February 16, 2011
Court orders police to help leftists protest
Judge releases Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement protesters, slams police for needless arrests
The Jerusalem District Court rejected an appeal by police Wednesday regarding its decision to release without conditions protesters belonging to the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement, who were arrested demonstrating in front of city hall.
The four protesters were arrested Monday for demonstrating against the approval of 16 new Jewish homes in the east Jerusalem neighborhood.
Judge Moshe Drori criticized police for their behavior towards the protesters, saying that its policies did not match the orders of the law. In its previous decision, the court ruled that there was no call for the arrests as the protest had not been violent and demonstrators were not disturbing the peace.
In their appeal, representatives of the police claimed the protest was illegal and that riots had broken out. But the attorney representing the protesters, Leah Tzemel, said her clients had not needed a permit because there had been fewer than 50 people present.
Judge Drori accepted the claim, criticizing the police for the lack of legal knowledge it displayed in the appeal. “The solidarity movement can continue to protest uninterrupted while police, after internalizing this decision, will help them to protest whenever they wish,” he wrote in the verdict.
“When a permit is needed police will consider it positively and allow rallies and marches as well.”
The movement issued a statement in response to the verdict, saying it was “unfortunate that Israel Police would insist upon shaming itself in court once again, in an attempt to suppress legitimate political activities”.
“It is even more unfortunate because in doing so, the police are wasting public funds and placing a needless burden on the courts. In order to help, we volunteer to provide the police with Social Studies classes free of charge.”
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1c Reason for Protest
13 Jewish homes approved in Sheikh Jarrah / Ronen Medzini
Construction plans drawn up ‘with sole aim of creating trouble,’ says Meretz councilman, but head of Israel Land Fund argues, ‘Arabs should thank Jews for letting them stay free of charge on land that belongs to them’
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2. Ynet,
February 16, 2011
Report: Settler violence not probed
Rights group report shows 91% of Palestinian complaints end without indictments. ‘People who lack rights under our rule are abandoned to their fates, and this carries both moral and legal consequences,’ says Yesh Din legal advisor. Police: We’re looking into report’s findings
An organization identified with Israel’s Left released a report Wednesday saying that 91% of cases in which Palestinians complain of violent acts against them are closed without indictments.
Yesh Din organization presented in its report cases which have been under its charge from 2005 until today, in which Israelis were accused of behaving violently towards Palestinian residents of the West Bank. It found that less than 10% of these cases ended with an indictment.
Most of the cases in which Palestinians complained of physical violence against them or property damage by Israelis were closed due to lack of evidence or police inability to track down suspects, Yesh Din says.
The report provides data showing that 488 of the 539 cases, or 91%, filed by Yesh Din were closed without indictments. In 315 cases, police cited “assailant unknown” as the reason for this and in 33 cases “no criminal culpableness” was found.
One of these cases was filed in 2009 by a Palestinian who claimed three men attacked him, two of them masked. He said they beat him with sticks and axe-handles, after which he was taken to a Qalqilya hospital and then filed a report with Ariel Police.
Yesh Din says the Palestinian provided a description of the unmasked man and subsequently recognized him in a lineup. However the suspect was not interrogated by police and the case was closed and filed under “assailant unknown” less than a month later.
An appeal filed by the organization caused the court to reopen the case and order police to investigate once more.
Attorney Michael Sfard, Yesh Din’s legal advisor, called the police’s failure to protect West Bank residents “a mark of Cain upon the brow of Israeli society”.
“The data show that the people who lack rights under our rule are abandoned to their fates, and this fact has both moral and legal consequences,” Sfard said.
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3. Jerusalem Post Wednesday, February 16, 2011 22:44 IST
Association begins to receive donations; 30 companion cats are in need of new home following building’s sale.
A non-profit organization dedicated to providing elderly holocaust survivors with basic needs like food, laundry, and electrical appliances may have to close its doors next week after their current building was sold and the organization hasn’t found an affordable alternative. The 12-year-old Association for the Immediate Help of Holocaust Survivors, which is completely run by volunteers, assists over 3,000 survivors across the country. But director Tamara More is worried that this could be the end for the organization.
An article earlier this week in The Jerusalem Post about the fate of the organization elicited responses and outcry from around the world, including donors from as far away as Australia and a 1,000 LE donation from the British Embassy. But the main challenge is finding a new building for the organization’s heavy machinery, including their industrial-sized washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, and freezers. The organization is considering closing for a few months to reorganize, but can’t even afford rental storage. Last month, they had less than NIS 600 in their account.
According to government statistics, more than 60,000 Holocaust survivors live below the poverty line, though thousands more are perilously close, More told the Post. Her organization aims to provide for the immediate needs of the survivors—a handyman for basic repairs, a space heater in the winter—that often fall between the cracks of the government services.
More said she has no ill feelings towards the previous owner of the building who “desperately needed the money,” or the new owner who wants to tear down the dilapidated buildings and rebuild. “They bought private land and they are not to blame, the body to blame is the Israeli government,” said More. She accused the government of neglecting the survivors, denying them reparation funds from the German government, and failing to recognize them as survivors for years, forcing them to lose years of benefits.
She explained that her small volunteer organization faced an uphill battle trying to provide better housing and other solutions that should be the responsibility of the government.
Even more pressing than finding a building for the equipment is finding homes for the 30 cats and two dogs that the organization gives to Holocaust survivors to alleviate the sometimes unbearable loneliness of elderly survivors living alone. “These are cats that have served the country as friends to holocaust survivors,” said More. “Some of the survivors were so depressed they would say, ‘I wish I didn’t wake up today,’ but after we gave them a cat they would be so excited to have someone waiting for them at home when they came back from the doctor’s office.”
The organization is looking for people to adopt the cats or provide donations for their upkeep. They are also appealing to the public to help them find a place to move in the center of the country, anywhere from Hadera to the airport, or donations to help with paying the rent. .
Interested parties can contact the organization at (03) 525- 7888 or israelnow@gmail.com.
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4. Haaretz,
February 16, 2011
With Mubarak gone, Egypt journalists get first taste of freedom
In its commitment to keep its promises to the protesters about constitutional changes, Egypt’s army seems to have forgotten is the vow to change the Media Law.
Until just a week ago, Ibrahim Nafa, the former editor-in-chief of the Cairo daily, Al-Ahram, was still writing his dull column. He wrote about the national conscience, about the speeches delivered by (then ) Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his deputy and how they indicated their genuine intention to fulfill their promises, and he praised them for accepting all the demands of the Egyptian people. He forgot to mention just one thing.
Nafa is perhaps the ultimate symbol of journalistic corruption. When he took leave of the Al-Ahram media conglomerate, he left behind hundreds of millions of dollars in debts to the government and suppliers. Yet he managed to get away with roughly $3 billion — the accumulated sum of cuts he earned over the years on almost every deal the newspaper made, from commissions on paper purchases to downright bribes, allegedly paid to him by contractors who built the elevators in the newspaper’s luxurious headquarters. His salary was roughly $200,000 a month, while other journalists at the newspaper were earning between $20 and $500. He hired members of his family to staff the newspaper’s bureaus in the Gulf states and, needless to say, was always loyal to those who signed his paycheck.
This past weekend, while the revolution was gaining momentum in the streets and outside the presidential palace, Al-Ahram’s editorial board published a special supplement called “The Youth of Al-Tahrir” and distributed it for free.
On Saturday, another revolution took place at the newspaper when a bigger-than-usual headline in red proclaimed: “The people have deposed the regime.” The spirit of revolt was also evident in other government newspapers, which for years had supported Mubarak and his regime. At Rose al-Youssef, reporter demonstrated against the editor, Abdullah Kamal, demanding his ousting and that of the chairman of the board, Karam Jaber. They also demanded the immediate closure of another newspaper, The Seventh Day, which is edited by the son of the former Information Minister, Safwat al-Sharif.
The next targets on the list are state-run newspapers and television, as well as Information Minister Anas Al-Faqi, currently under house arrest and awaiting a criminal investigation. Together, they’ve received hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money to help create a positive narrative about the regime, to praise its achievements and to promote Gamal Mubarak as the next president. As the arm of the ruling party, they were also used by it to disseminate fear about the Muslim Brotherhood.
They’ve quickly come around, though, understanding the urgency of changing course. By Saturday, they were already referring to the “Muslim Brothers” explicitly, deleting the requisite phrase, “the forbidden organization.”
Rectifying the damage
It is doubtful whether this turnaround will help those news organizations that had supported the continuation of Mubarak’s regime. The myth regarding circulation figures of 2 million a day has long been shattered, the real number closer to one-tenth of this. At the same time, in the television building on the banks of the Nile, some of the senior staff have begun packing up, with hundreds of others uncertain where their next paycheck will come from. It’s unlikely, though, that these government organs will be shut down in the near future.
The army needs them to publish its directives, and the temporary government cannot allow itself at one fell blow to fire thousands of people who work in the media. The real news will continue to flow through the Internet, but it’s possible that freedom from censorship will give these news organization the chance to rectify in some way the journalistic corruption of generations.
These were the organizations that created an entire generation of journalistic elites who enjoyed a high economic and social status, but at the same time, they were also responsible for the great gap that existed between what ordinary citizens knew and what the regime wanted them to know.
“The regime apparently believed its media even though it was the source that provided them with the lies it itself had invented, and for this reason, it wasn’t ready for this revolution,” an Egyptian blogger wrote me. “Now we have to hope for a regime that knows how to read blogs and take a peek at Facebook.”
The media revolution this week took another stride forward when hundreds of journalists – to date – signed a petition urging new elections at the Journalists’ Association, which was headed by the talented and veteran reporter Makrem Mohammed Ahmed. In 1987, Islamic extremists tried to assassinate him, and he was one of a handful of journalists prepared to support Ibrahim Issa, the editor of Al-Dustour, who was tried for publishing information about Mubarak’s health. In conversations we had long before the revolution, Ahmed never minced words when it came to criticizing the regime. At the same time, he admitted that he had to earn a living and to maintain his status. Last week, dozens of journalists prevented him from entering the building where the Journalists’ Association’s offices are located and demanded his resignation.
There was one thing the army forgot in its broad commitment to keep its promises to the protesters about constitutional changes – including changes in the way the president is elected and in election supervision, as well as an end to the emergency regime: It was the promise to change the Media Law, which also seems to have been forgotten by the protesters. The law was in fact amended in 2006, and ever since, a journalist who slanders a senior public figure is subject to a heavy fine rather than a prison sentence. But this still does not jibe with the demand for democratization.
According to the law, private individuals cannot set up a newspaper; only corporations with capital of at least one million Egyptian pounds can ask for a license to do so. The law also prohibits insulting foreign countries or leaders who have friendly relations with Egypt and besmirching the name of the state. What is considered slanderous or insulting? That is not defined specifically in the law, and the courts are authorized to rule whetherjournalists have committed crimes in this regard.
It isn’t only the media law, though, that the press will want to change now, but dozen of laws relating to censorship. That will be the heart of the revolution.
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5. Haaretz Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Latest update 00:58 16.02.11
Egypt protesters remind army who is really in charge
‘January 25th coalition’ seeking repeal, within 10 days, of the law restricting the establishment of new political parties, along with a new law that ensures political rights.
CAIRO – The political demands of the coalition that fomented the recent revolution in Egypt appeared yesterday in a position paper published in numerous Egyptian newspapers.
The “January 25th coalition” of civil groups sought to remind the army – which has taken over the running of the country in the meantime – that it derives its legitimacy to do so from the revolution.
According to Al Jazeera’s Arabic website, representatives of the “January 25th coalition” told a press conference on Monday that they do not agree to the army’s call that the demonstrations and protests be stopped.
The coalition called on the Egyptian army to dismiss the cabinet, whose members belong to the National Democratic Party of deposed President Hosni Mubarak, and to ensure democratic reforms. They also called on the army to establish a government of technocrats within a month, to be headed by “a patriotic citizen whom people respect and trust.”
The demand issued yesterday marks the first public response from those who started the revolution to the army’s announcement that the cabinet in its current makeup, which Mubarak had set up in a desperate attempt to hold on to power, would remain in office until a new government is formed.
Delegates from the coalition are to meet again today with representatives of the military council; their first meeting took place on Sunday. The coalition representatives said Sunday’s meeting amounted to an exchange of opinions rather than negotiations.
Other ongoing demands of the coalition, which were formulated in a position paper released in the press yesterday, include the following: lifting the state of emergency; cancelling military laws and special courts; dismantling Mubarak’s National Democratic Party and nationalizing all of its assets; dismantling the hated state security apparatus; and releasing all political prisoners.
The coalition is also seeking repeal, within 10 days, of the law restricting the establishment of new political parties, along with a new law that ensures political rights.
The group also called on the army to respect past court rulings, which Mubarak had ignored, including the order to stop the export of natural gas to Israel. The export of natural gas to Israel at what is widely described as a “ridiculously low price” represented a major loss to the Egyptian treasury.
Yesterday was a national holiday in Egypt, as in other Muslim countries, in honor of the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed. It was welcomed by the activists of the “youth revolution,” much in need of a rest after three intense weeks of protest. Activists say many got sick at the beginning of the week with the flu, fever and muscle pain, finally able to allow the tension to express itself in physical symptoms.
The holiday temporarily delayed the expected confrontation between the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces now running the country (which has called for an end to strikes and demonstrations ) and workers from dozens of factories. The latter have already begun striking with various demands, such as salary increases and the dismissing of directors.
Schools in Egypt are expected to reopen on Saturday, considered a return to normal which people are looking forward to with both curiosity and trepidation – wondering how, if at all, schools will adjust to the change.
The Central Bank of Egypt has ordered banks to remain closed today, in response to strikes threatened by employees of some banks.
Yesterday evening, a rumor had spread via Facebook and text messages that Mubarak was dead. “Our first slogan was ‘the people want the regime to fall.’ Gradually we forgot it and concentrated on Mubarak,” a university lecturer and activist told Haaretz yesterday. “What is important is not his personal fate, but the democratic changes the country will undergo.”
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6. Haaretz,
February 16, 2011
Protests in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen as unrest sweeps Arab world
Mideast experiencing wave of anti-government demonstrations after massive protests unseat Tunisia and Egypt rulers.
Inspired by revolts that have toppled Arab rulers in Tunisia and Egypt, protesters in Bahrain, Libya and Yemen have taken to the streets to demand the resignations of their own heads of state.
Protesters in Bahrain poured into the Gulf kingdom’s capital on Wednesday to mourn a demonstrator killed in clashes with security forces. Over a thousand joined a funeral procession for the man, who was shot dead Tuesday when fighting broke out at the burial of another protester.
Some 2,000 were camped out at a major road junction in the centre of Manama, hoping to emulate the rallies on Cairo’s Tahrir Square and demanding a change of government.
Bahrainis have a history of protest and the current unrest, in its third day, has been driven by familiar complaints of economic hardships, lack of political freedoms and sectarian discrimination by the Sunni rulers against the Shi’ite majority.
Protesters want the removal of the prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, who has governed since British rule ended in 1971. For now, they have not sought change at the very top – his nephew, King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has ultimate control over the 1.3 million people in Bahrain, half of them foreigners.
“We are requesting our rights in a peaceful way,” said Bakr Akil, a 20 year-old student. He wore a sheet stained with red ink which he said showed he was willing to die for freedom.
The Bahraini Interior Ministry has promised to take legal action over the two deaths if it finds police used “unjustifiable” force. King Hamad went on television to express his condolences for “the deaths of two of our dear sons,” and said a committee would investigate. Last week, apparently seeking to defuse discontent, he offered cash payouts of some $2,500 to every local family.
Though itself only a minor oil exporter, Bahrain’s stability is important for neighboring Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter and a key supporter of Bahrain’s royal family. An upset in Bahrain could embolden marginalized Shi’ites in Saudi Arabia.
At 750 square kilometers, Bahrain is about the size of Singapore. Bahrain is also a hub for banking and financial services in the Gulf and is home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
Bahrain is considered the most vulnerable among Gulf Arab states to popular unrest in a region where, in an unwritten pact, rulers have traded a share of their oil wealth for political submission. Discontent has been expressed in sporadic unrest since the mid-1990s, well before popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt emboldened activists across the region.
Libya protesters take to the streets
Hundreds of Libyan protesters took to the streets of the country’s second largest city on Wednesday demanding that the government be ousted, in a sign that the unrest of the region has spread to the North African Arab nation.
Protesters in the port city of Benghazi chanted slogans demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, witnesses said, clashing with government supporters.
There were no calls for longtime leader Muammar Gadhafi to step down. On Monday, however, several opposition groups in exile called for the overthrow of Gadhafi and for a peaceful transition of power in Libya.
As in the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings, Libyans are using social networking websites like Facebook in calling for a nation-wide day of protests on Thursday.
The online edition of Libya’s privately-owned Quryna newspaper reported that a crowd of people angry at the arrest of a rights campaigner had gathered armed with petrol bombs and stones.
It said they protested outside a local government office to demand the release of the human rights activist, and then went to the city’s Shajara square where they clashed with police and government supporters.
The rioting ended by morning, said the website, and government supporters had taken over the square. Fourteen people were reportedly wounded, including 10 police officers, but none of the injuries were serious.
Yemen protesters clash, police unable to regain calm
Government loyalists wielding batons and daggers clashed with anti-government protesters in the Yemeni capital on Wednesday. Police were unable to keep the two sides apart as protesters gathered for a demonstration at Sanaa University to demand the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state for more than 30 years.
Hundreds of Saleh backers charged at protesters, who quickly fled. One student was wounded, a Reuters reporter said. A few hundred more student demonstrators emerged from inside the university to try and restart the rally. When police locked them inside the campus, they began throwing rocks at the government loyalists from the campus gate.
Recent protests have been smaller than in preceding weeks, when tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets. But they are erupting more spontaneously and violently, and have become more strident in calling for Saleh’s resignation.
The threat of turmoil in Yemen, which is struggling to quash a resurgent wing of al-Qaida and keep rebellions at bay in its north and south, pushed Saleh to promise to step down in 2013 and offer dialogue with the opposition. On Tuesday Saba news reported that Saleh would open his office to Yemenis who wanted to come air their grievances.
The opposition coalition has agreed to negotiate with Saleh, but many young protesters are getting frustrated. “We want change and we want to make that change the way the Egyptians and Tunisians did,” said Meshaal Sultan, a Sanaa University student, referring to the revolts that ousted the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia over the last month.
Many say any uprising in Yemen would unfold slowly and with more bloodshed, in a country where one in two people own guns. Analysts have said protests could become more threatening to Saleh if they draw in southern secessionists or northern rebels, whose war with the government last year briefly drew in neighboring oil exporter Saudi Arabia.
Of the 23 million people in Yemen, often close to collapsing into a failed state, 40 percent live on less than $2 a day and a third suffer from chronic hunger.
