The following report illustrates Israeli violations during the Coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Israeli occupation forces continued their violations against the Palestinian people in every part of Palestine and in Jerusalem in particular. They did not halt raids into cities, villages and camps, conducting arrests, confiscating land, closing institutions and targeting official Palestinian figures.
It is clear that the violations Israel perpetrated in Jerusalem stem from a permanent and systematic policy based on two focal points:
First: resistance and rejection of any show of Palestinian national sovereignty in occupied Jerusalem through every means possible, under the pretext of ”breaching Israeli sovereignty”. Israeli authorities also accuse Palestinians of violating the so-called “interim agreement” in reference to the Oslo Accords, which prohibits the PA from holding any activity in the city without an Israeli permit.
Second: the Israelization and Judaization of every aspect of life in Jerusalem through disrupting the demographic balance in order to impose a new reality on the ground.
Throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, Israel escalated these policies and the following measures taken against Jerusalemites.
Arrests:
During this period, arrests were focused on curtailing any efforts in Jerusalem aimed at protecting Palestinian residents from the dangers of the epidemic. Israel considers such efforts a violation of Israeli law, which culminated in the arrest of over 20 activists from various parts of Jerusalem. Some were put under house arrest and prohibited from contacting Palestinian officials in the city. Arrests included Palestinian Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, Fadi Hidmi and Jerusalem Governor Adnan Ghaith. These are two of the most prominent national Palestinian symbols in Jerusalem, which prompted Israel to use an iron fist with them, humiliating and mistreating them during their arrest. Hidmi, for example mistreated during his arrest and later said he had been violently assaulted at the detention facility. The two officials were arrested on charges of being responsible for aid distribution to needy Jerusalemite families.
According to the Wadi Helwa Information Center, throughout March until the date of this report (April 9) a total of 193 arrests were made by Israeli authorities, including four women and 33 minors. A total of 73 arrests were made in the Old City and inside and around the Aqsa Mosque Compound; 57 Palestinians were arrested in Essawiyeh, 35 in Silwan and several others in various parts of the city.
Furthermore, Israeli intelligence services summoned Jerusalem governor Adnan Ghaith, Aqsa Mosque Director Sheikh Omar Kiswani and Deputy Director Sheikh Najeh Bkeirat for questioning. They also summoned and arrested several Fatah members under the pretext of ”violating Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem” and arrested three Jerusalemite activists at the Allenby Bridge en route to Jordan.
Attorney Mohammed Mahmoud, who is handling the detentions in Israeli courts, says there has been a noticeable escalation in Israeli measures against youth in Jerusalem during the pandemic. “Several preventative measures have been taken in courts since mid-March against the virus. Courts are conducted via Skype where the prisoner is connected by a phone and monitor in a special room in the prisons. There are some prisons that do not have television monitors and the sessions are conducted only by phone. This makes communication difficult between the prisoner and defense team. It is hard to fully explain what is going on in the session to the prisoner. These sessions also lack the confidentiality and immunity between lawyer and client. However, the lawyers try as much as possible to clarify certain rights and points to the prisoner. What more, the glass partition in front of the judge is another impediment in terms of hearing what he is saying,” Mahmoud said.
He also mentioned how difficult these procedures were for the families waiting outside the courtroom since only one person is allowed in and the families are barred from speaking to their imprisoned children. He accused Israeli authorities of taking advantage of the Coronavirus crisis and their preventative measures to further oppress Palestinians, maintaining that several cases of abuse and arrest were recorded for supposedly violating these measures. A number of fines were also imposed, ranging from NIS500-NIS5000.
Confiscation of food packages and relief assistance:
Another aspect of Israel’s policy against Palestinians is focusing on measures against them instead of measures to combat the virus. Israeli authorities have actively pursued Palestinians, including volunteers and institutions which provide relief aid and food packages to poor families. They assaulted many of the volunteers, arrested them and confiscated the aid. In Sur Baher at the end of March, Israeli soldiers assaulted six volunteers, beating them and throwing teargas at them before confiscating a truckload of relief and food assistance.
Prior to this, Israeli forces arrested three teams disinfecting Silwan, Suwwana and the Old City and confiscated the cleaning products being used to disinfect public and vital facilities in these areas. They also arrested four others for distributing and hanging up posters to raise awareness about the coronavirus, barring them entry into the Old City.
Violation and desecration of places of worship This was apparent from the closure of the Aqsa Mosque Compound and barring entry to Muslim worshippers, including its guards and caretakers. At the same time, it assumed a much more relaxed policy with Jews in synagogues. They were able to move freely in their places of residence contrary to the policy imposed against Jerusalemites whose movement was much more limited. What’s more, Palestinians were heavily fined, ranging from NIS500 to NIS5000.
By targeting the Aqsa Mosque, Islamic Waqf officials say Israeli occupation authorities are attempting to interfere and impose Israeli sovereignty under the pretext of preventing the spread of the virus. In this regard, Israeli authorities closed the doors to Al Aqsa with the exception of “Hutta” and “Chain” Gates and kept “Dung Gate” open, the keys to which Israel has held since its occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, and which allows in settlers to the compound.
On March 20, Israeli authorities closed the gates to Al Aqsa and prevented anyone from entering both the mosque and the Old City just before Friday prayers. They claimed this was a preventative measure against the coronavirus. That day, according to Waqf estimates, only 500 Muslim worshippers prayed at the mosque even though Waqf authorities had taken the necessary measures and precautions against the epidemic. They had fully sanitized and disinfected the grounds and mosques and distributed instructions to worshippers before Friday. In addition, there were employees sanitizing worshippers’ hands inside the compound.
Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces cracked down on worshippers who tried to pray in the streets and allies of the Old City, firing stun grenades, striking them with nightsticks and pushing them away from the Aqsa gates. Similar incidents occurred in other areas of the city, especially Wadi Joz, Musrara, Ras Al Amoud/Silwan and outside of Dung Gate.
Israeli police also issued penalties to worshippers for praying outside of the Aqsa’s gates and to youths as they walked in the city on claims they ”were not abiding by preventative measures.”
Israeli authorities took their policies up a notch when they raided the home of President of the Islamic Waqf Council, Sheikh Abdel Atheem Salham and issued him a penalty of NIS5000 on claims he ”did not abide by police orders and allowed more than the permitted number of people to enter the Aqsa grounds.” They also summoned Aqsa Mosque Director Sheikh Omar Kiswani and Aqsa Mosque Imam Amer Abdeen for questioning.
Furthermore, Israeli forces stormed the Bab Al Rahmeh prayer site and threatened to impose fines on the worshippers for ”not adhering to health ministry instructions”, also threatening worshippers that they would be fined if they gathered in the Aqsa courtyard for prayer.
Israeli authorities continued to issue orders banning Palestinians from entering the Old City and the Aqsa Mosque Compound. Eight Palestinian youths were banned from the Aqsa and seven from the Old City and travel ban orders were issued against four other Jerusalemites.
In order to avoid any further interference into Aqsa affairs by Israeli authorities, the Islamic Waqf , which is the caretaker of the Aqsa Mosque, closed the compound until further notice as a protective measure against the novel coronavirus. The same was applied to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher with only members of the clergy allowed entry.
Isolating the Old City:
Under the pretext of responding to the coronavirus pandemic, Israeli occupation authorities isolated the Old City from its surroundings. Approximately 40,000 Jerusalemites live in the Old City of Jerusalem and were suddenly cut off from the rest of East Jerusalem, whose Palestinian population is around 360,000. Only those who live within the Old City walls were allowed entrance while Jewish settlers living in settlement enclaves inside or outside it were allowed to enter and exit freely. This policy of isolation led to huge losses for shops owned by Jerusalemites many of whom could not reach their stores.
Figures provided by the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights and the Jerusalem Merchants Committee indicate that this constrictive Israeli policy, which has been implemented for the past three years, has led to the closure of an increasing number of shops in the Old City. Today around 300 shops are shuttered, a number which is likely to grow with this recent isolation.
Expansion and acceleration of settlements
It is clear that Israeli authorities have been exploiting this pandemic to continue settlement projects in Jerusalem and in the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories. This includes approval for the construction of tens of thousands of housing units in the settlement of “Atarot, north of Jerusalem, approval to start construction in the “E1” settlement project in Tur, Zaayem, Essawiyeh and Ezzariyeh where over 10,000 housing units will be built, approval for the construction of hundreds of thousands of settlement units in “Givat Hamatos” south of Jerusalem and the establishment of a new settlement neighborhood in Beit Hanina. Plans have also been put in place to build a wall separating the village of Sheikh Saad from Jabal Mukkaber. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities are floating a plan to push Shufat camp and Kufr Aqab out of Jerusalem’s municipal borders as a means of dealing with the concerning ”demographic problem” in the city.
Impeding the work of health centers
While Israel rushed to stymie coronavirus outbreaks in its own residential and settlement centers in Jerusalem, it assumed a policy of discrimination when it came to Palestinian Jerusalemites. Israeli forces purposely delayed the opening of Covid-19 testing centers in Palestinian areas. Furthermore, the majority of Jerusalemites do not speak Hebrew, the language spoken in the various Israeli health insurance funds, not to mention that over 40,000 Jerusalemites do not have access to Israeli health care services under the pretext that they live outside of the unilaterally-designated Jerusalem municipal borders.
This policy came in tandem with the crisis already felt by the Palestinian health sector in Jerusalem, reflected in the lack of necessary equipment and medical supplies in the six East Jerusalem hospitals, making them incapable of accommodating dozens of potential Covid-19 patients. The current patients have been distributed in nearby hotels for monitoring while hospitals only have 60 beds available, not to mention the lack in medicines and medical staff they suffer from.
Discriminatory measures against the prisoner movement The medical negligence towards Palestinian prisoners during the pandemic is evident by how prison services failed to take the necessary precautionary measures in response to the coronavirus. What’s more, they continued to prohibit anyone from being informed about the conditions of quarantined prisoners in the Megiddo Prison. Israeli prisoner services also banned the entry of over 140 products from the prison commissary, including basic food products such as meat, vegetables, fruit and spices. Cleaning products and disinfectants necessary for prisoners to protect themselves from Covid-19 infection were also banned.
Mistreatment of Palestinian laborers
There have been several testimonies about Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinian workers inside the Green Line, including returning workers to the Palestinian territories after suspecting they contracted Covid-19. Last month, Israeli soldiers dumped a Palestinian laborer showing symptoms of Covid-19 at the Beit Sira checkpoint without providing him with any treatment. This behavior was repeated at the Hizma military checkpoint, north of Jerusalem. Laborers are returned to the Palestinian territories on an almost daily basis without being tested, which has resulted in the spread of the virus in Palestine. At the same time, Israel unofficially opened its crossings to workers as a way to circumvent Palestinian preventative measures. They offered laborers incentives such as higher daily wages, thus exploiting their difficult living conditions and avoiding any legal obligations towards them.
Uprooting residents from their land and homes
At the height of the Coronavirus crisis, the Israeli ”civil administration” continued with its policy of confiscating Palestinian land, homes and tents. Some of these facilities were being used as emergency clinics to meet the needs of locals. On March 26, Israeli occupation forces raided Khirbet Ibzeiq in the northern Jordan Valley, confiscating steel rods and canopies designed for setting up eight tents, two equipped as clinics and four as emergency shelters for residents who were forced out of their homes. Two other tents were to be used as a mosque. Israeli forces also confiscated a corrugated-iron trailer that had been in the area for over two years, an electric generator, sand and cement bags and four loads of brick to lay the ground inside the tents.
In Ein Diyouk, west of Jericho, Israeli forces demolished three buildings which Jerusalemite farmers use as seasonal residences.
In Hebron, Israeli forces tore down a wall separating Wadi Haseen from Wadi Nasara in preparation for closing the entire area and in Deir Ballout in the Salfeet area, they demolished a farm room and water well.
It should be noted that in contrast to its measures taken in the occupied Palestinian territories, the Israeli government suspended all demolitions inside Israel during the state of emergency.
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انتهاكات الاحتلال في ظل جائحة كورونا
تاريخ النشر: 11/04/2020
بقلم: مفتاح
يرصد التقرير الذي بين أيدينا أبرز انتهاكات الاحتلال في ظل جائحة كورونا وانشغال العالم أجمع في كيفية مواجهة هذا الفيروس الذي يهدد البشرية جمعاء.
وبينما انشغل العالم بأسره في مواجهة هذا الفيروس، كان الاحتلال يركز جلّ انشغاله على مجابهة شعبنا الفلسطيني ومواصلة انتهاكاته بحقه في مجمل أراضي دولة فلسطين، وبالتحديد في مدينة القدس، حيث لم يتوقف عن اقتحاماته للمدن والبلدات والأحياء، وتنفيذ الاعتقالات، ومصادرة الأراضي، وإغلاق المؤسسات واستهداف رموز السيادة الفلسطينية.
وبدا واضحاً من انتهاكاته في مدينة القدس، انطلاقه من سياسة ثابتة وممنهجة تقوم على ركيزتين:
الأولى: مقاومة ورفض أية مظاهر سيادية وطنية فلسطينية في القدس المحتلة، ومحاربتها بكل الوسائل الممكنة متذرعاً ب"خرق سيادته" المزعومة، واتهام الفلسطينيين بانتهاك ما يسميه "اتفاق الوسط" في إشارة إلى اتفاقية أوسلو، التي حظرت على السلطة الفلسطينية القيام بأية أنشطة سلطوية دون تصريح منه.
أما الركيزة الثانية، فتتمثل في فرض الأسرلة والتهويد لكافة مناحي الحياة في القدس من خلال الاخلال بالتوازن الديمغرافي لفرض أمر واقع جديد على الأرض.
ومن المتابعة لهذه السياسة التي بلغت ذروتها في ظل جائحة كورونا، اتبع الاحتلال جملة من الإجراءات في حربه المجنونة على المقدسيين من خلال:
أولا: الاعتقالات
اتخذ الاعتقال هذه المرة شكلاً ذا صلة بمكافحة الجهود الشعبية في المدينة المقدسة لحماية المواطنين من أخطار الإصابة بفيروس كورونا، معتبراً هذه الجهود مخالفة سياسية للقوانين السائدة، وقام على إثرها باعتقال أكثر من 20 ناشطاً مقدسياً من مختلف أحياء المدينة المقدسة، وفرض على بعضهم الحبس المنزلي وعدم التواصل مع شخصيات ورموز وطنية، فيما طال الاعتقال وزير شؤون القدس في الحكومة الفلسطينية فادي الهدمي، ومحافظ القدس عدنان غيث، وهما من الرموز الفلسطينية في المدينة المقدسة، وإحدى مرجعياتها الوطنية الأساسية، متبعاً سياسة القبضة الحديدية وتعمد إهانة هؤلاء المسؤولين وإساءة معاملتهم كما حدث مع الوزير الهدمي في اعتقاله الرابع الأخير، حيث تعرض للضرب والمعاملة الوحشية داخل مركز الاعتقال الذي نقل إليه، ووصف الوزير الفلسطيني ما جرى له بأنه اعتداء همجي غير مسبوق. وتم اعتقال هذين المسؤولين على خلفية اتهامهما بالوقوف وراء تقديم مساعدات لعائلات مقدسية محتاجة.
ووفقاً لمركز معلومات وادي حلوة، فقد تم خلال شهر آذار المنصرم ولغاية اليوم تسجيل 192 حالة اعتقال، بينهم 4 نساء، و33 قاصراً، حيث تركزت هذه الاعتقالات في القدس القديمة والمسجد الأقصى وعند أبوابه بـ 73 حالة اعتقال،57 حالة اعتقال في العيسوية، 35 اعتقالا من بلدة سلوان، إضافة الى اعتقالات متفرقة من بلدات وأحياء المدينة.
بينما استدعت مخابرات الاحتلال محافظ القدس عدنان غيث، ومدير الأقصى الشيخ عمر الكسواني، ونائب مدير أوقاف القدس الشيخ ناجح بكيرات، كما استدعت واعتقلت العديد من كوادر حركة فتح بحجة "خرق السيادة الإسرائيلية في القدس"، واعتقلت كذلك 3 ناشطين مقدسيين عن الجسر خلال سفرهم الى الاردن.
ويشير المحامي محمد محمود الذي تابع في محاكم الاحتلال اعتقالات تنفذها سلطات الاحتلال بحق مقدسيين إلى تصعيد نوعي جديد في إجراءات الاحتلال ضد الشبان في القدس، خاصة في ظل انشغال العالم أجمع بمكافحة فيروس كورونا. يقول:" إن إجراءات متعددة في المحاكم اتخذت منذ منتصف شهر آذار الماضي للوقاية من الفيروس، حيث تتم المحاكم عبر تقنية "السكايب"، من خلال ربط الأسير بالجلسة عن طريق الهاتف والتلفاز، بعد أن جهزت غرف خاصة في السجون مدعمة بالتقنية، وبالتالي يحضر الأسير جلسته، باستثناء بعض السجون التي لا يتوفر التلفاز، فيتم الاتصال به هاتفياً. وبالتالي هذه الآلية والاجراءات الوقائية فيها صعوبة كبيرة في التواصل بين الأسير وطاقم الدفاع، ومن الصعب شرح الجلسة ومجرياتها كاملة للأسير. كما تفتقد الجلسات للسرية والحصانة بين المحامي وموكله، ولكن المحامي يحاول قدر المستطاع توضيح بعض الحقوق وتوضيح عدة نقاط للأسير. في حين أن الفاصل الزجاجي الذي وضع أمام القضاة يشكل عائقا آخر في سماع القضاة".
ولفت المحامي محمود إلى صعوبة هذه الإجراءات على الأهالي الذين ينتظرون خارج القاعة حيث يمنع دخول أكثر من شخص ويمنع الأهل من الحديث مع أبنائهم الأسرى". متهماً سلطات الاحتلال باستغلال أزمة الكورونا وإجراءات الوقاية، حيث سجلت عدة حالات اعتقال واعتداء على الشبان بحجة مخالفة الإجراءات، كما سجلت عدة مخالفات مالية لهم وتتراوح قيمتها بين 500-5000 شيكل
ثانيا: مصادرة طرود غذائية ومساعدات إغاثية
كان من أوجه سياسة الاحتلال الأخرى في ملاحقة المقدسيين وانشغاله بحربه المفتوحة ضدهم، دون انشغاله بمكافحة الفيروس، ملاحقة النشطاء والمتطوعين وحتى المؤسسات التي وقفت وراء تقديم مساعدات ومعونات إغاثية لعائلات فقيرة جدا، والاعتداء على العديد من المتطوعين بالضرب والاعتقال ومصادرة تلك المعونات، كما حدث في بلدة صور باهر نهاية آذار المنصرم، حيث اعتدى الجنود على 6 متطوعين بالضرب واستخدام قنابل الغاز المسيّل للدموع وصادروا حمولة شاحنة من المواد التموينية والإغاثية.
وكان سبق ذلك، اعتقال قوات الاحتلال 3 فرق تعقيم في بلدات وأحياء سلوان والصوانة والقدس القديمة، وصادرت منهم أدوات ومواد التعقيم، وذلك خلال قيامهم بتعقيم المرافق العامة والحيوية في المناطق المذكورة، كما اعتقلت 4 آخرين لأنها وزعوا وعلقوا ملصقات توعوية حول الفيروس وأبعدتهم عن البلدة القديمة.
ثالثاً: انتهاك أماكن العبادة وتدنيسها
وقد تمثل ذلك، في اغلاق المسجد الأقصى، ومنع المصلين من الدخول اليه، بما في ذلك منعها الحراس والسدنة من خدمة طيور وبساتين المسجد، في الوقت الذي اتبعت فيه سياسة متساهلة وليّنة مع اليهود في الكنس، وممارسة طقوسهم وصلواتهم، بل والتحرك بحرية في مناطق سكناهم على خلاف السياسة التي اتبعتها ضد المقدسيين من تقييد للحركة، وفرض الغرامات المالية الباهظة عليهم، والتي تراوحت ما بين 500 شيكل إلى 5000 شيكل.
ومن خلال استهدافها للمسجد الأٌقصى، كما أكد مسؤولون في الأوقاف الإسلامية، حاولت سلطات الاحتلال التدخل وفرض السيادة الاحتلالية عليه، بحجة الوقاية من فيروس كورونا، وفي هذا الإطار، أغلقت سلطات الاحتلال أبواب الأقصى باستثناء أبواب "حطة والمجلس والسلسلة"، فيما أبقت على فتح باب المغاربة والذي تسيطر على مفاتيحه منذ احتلال مدينة القدس وسمحت للمستوطنين بالاقتحام من خلاله.
وبتاريخ 20/3/2020 أغلقت سلطات الاحتلال أبواب الأقصى ومنعت الدخول إليه والى القدس القديمة، قبل موعد صلاة الجمعة بساعة، تحت ذريعة الوقاية من فيروس كورونا، وأدى صلاة الجمعة حسب تقديرات دائرة الأوقاف 500 مصل فقط، رغم إعلان واتخاذ مديرية الأقصى التدابير والإجراءات اللازمة للوقاية من الفيروس بتعقيم كامل للأقصى ونشر تعليمات للمصلين قبيل يوم الجمعة، إضافة إلى قيام متطوعين بتعقيم أيادي المصلين.
في حين، قامت قوات الاحتلال بقمع المصلين الذين حاولوا أداء الصلاة في الشوارع والطرقات، بالقنابل الصوتية والضرب والدفع على أبواب الأقصى، وحدث الشيء ذاته في بلدات وأحياء المدينة، خاصة في حي واد الجوز، المصرارة، رأس العامود/ سلوان، وباب المغاربة من الجهة الخارجية.
وحررت شرطة الاحتلال مخالفات مالية لمصلين لأدائهم الصلوات على أبواب الأقصى من الخارج ولشبان خلال سيرهم داخل أحياء المدينة بحجة "عدم الالتزام بإجراءات الوقاية من كورونا" على حد زعمها.
وصعّدت سلطات الاحتلال من سياستها تلك باقتحام منزل رئيس مجلس الأوقاف الإسلامية الشيخ عبد العظيم سلهب وحررت له مخالفة قيمتها 5 آلاف شيكل، بحجة "عدم الالتزام بقرارات الشرطة بإدخال مصلين أكثر من العدد المسموح به الى الأقصى"، كما استدعت مدير المسجد الأقصى الشيخ عمر الكسواني وإمام المسجد الأقصى عامر عابدين.
في حين اقتحمت تلك القوات مصلى باب الرحمة، وهددت بفرض غرامات مالية على المصلين بحجة "عدم الالتزام بإجراءات وزارة الصحة"، كما هددت المصلين خلال توافدهم الى الصلاة عدة مرات بتحرير مخالفات لهم في حال التجمع في ساحات الأقصى للصلاة.
كما واصلت سلطات الاحتلال إصدار قرارات الإبعاد عن البلدة القديمة والمسجد الأٌقصى، حيث تم إبعاد 8 شبان فلسطينيين عن الأقصى، و7 عن البلدة القديمة، وأصدرت قرارات تقضي بمنع 4 مقدسيين آخرين من السفر.
وتلافيا لأية تدخلات احتلالية إضافية في شؤون المسجد الأٌقصى قررت دائرة الأوقاف الإسلامية صاحبة الإشراف على المسجد بإغلاقه حتى إشعار آخر، حماية للمصلين من فيروس كورونا، وانطبق الأمر ذاته على كنيسة القيامة حيث قررت الكنائس المسيحية إغلاقها، واقتصار التواجد فيها على رجال الدين فقط.
رابعا: عزل البلدة القديمة عن محيطها:
متذرعة بمكافحتها لفيروس كورونا، ودون أي اعتبار لوجود نحو 40 ألف مقدسي يقطنون البلدة القديمة من القدس من أصل 360 الفاً يقطنون القدس في حدودها البلدية المصطنعة من قبل الاحتلال، قامت سلطات الاحتلال بعزل البلدة القديمة عن محيطها، ولم تسمح إلا لقاطنيها بدخولها، في حين سمحت للمستوطنين اليهود من قاطني البؤر الاستيطانية داخل أسوار المدينة المقدسة أو من خارجها بالتجوال الحر. وقد أدت سياسة العزل هذه إلى إلحاق أفدح الضرر بالمحلات التجارية التي يملكها مقدسيون، وعدم تمكنهم من الوصول إليها ما فاقم من معاناتهم الاقتصادية.
وتشير معطيات مركز القدس للحقوق الاجتماعية والاقتصادية، ولجنة تجار القدس، إلى أن سياسة التضييق التي اتبعتها سلطات الاحتلال على مدى ثلاث سنوات خلت، أدى إلى إغلاق المزيد من المحال التجارية داخل الأسوار حتى وصل عدد المحال المغلقة إلى نحو 300 محل، في حين أن إجراءات الاحتلال الأخيرة بالعزل ستؤدي إلى مزيد من الأضرار.
خامساً: تعزيز وتكثيف الاستيطان
لقد ظهر واضحاً أن الاحتلال استغلّ أيضا جائحة كورونا ليواصل تنفيذ مشاريعه الاستيطانية سواء في القدس أو في سائر أراضي دولة فلسطين المحتلة، لفرض أمر واقع على الأرض، مثل المصادقة على بناء عشرات الاف الوحدات السكنية في مستوطنات: "عطروت" المقامة على أراضي المواطنين في قرية قلنديا شمال القدس، وفي المصادقة على البدء بتنفيذ مشروع "E1" الاستيطاني على أراضي الطور، الزعيم، العيسوية، والعيزرية، حيث ستبنى هناك أكثر من عشرة آلاف وحدة استيطانية، بالإضافة إلى مصادقته على بناء مئات الوحدات الاستيطانية في مستوطنة "جفعات همتوس" جنوب القدس، واقامة حي استيطاني جديد في بيت حنينا، وإنشاء جدار يفصل قرية الشيخ سعد عن حي جبل المكبر. في مقابل ذلك طرح الاحتلال مؤخرا مخططا لإخراج مخيم شعفاط وكفر عقب من حدود القدس لمعالجة مشكلة التوازن الديمغرافي المقلق في القدس.
سادساً: إعاقة عمل المراكز الصحية
وفيما كانت جهود الاحتلال تنصب على مكافحة الفيروس داخل تجمعاته السكانية والاستيطانية خاصة في القدس، انتهجت سلطاته سياسة التمييز العنصري بحق المقدسيين، حيث تعمدت تأخير افتتاح مركز لاجراء الفحوص للكشف عن هذا الفيروس في المنطقة العربية، اضافة لعدم معرفة الغالبية العظمى من المقدسيين اللغة العبرية التي يتحدث بها موظفو صناديق التأمين الصحي الاسرائيلية المختلفة، وحرمان أكثر من 40 ألف مقدسيّ من الخدمات الصحية لوزارة الصحة الاسرائيلية، بذريعة إقامتهم خارج حدود بلدية الاحتلال المصطنعة في القدس.
ترافقت هذه السياسة مع الأزمة التي يعانيها أصلا قطاع الصحة الفلسطيني في القدس، والمتمثلة في نقص المعدات والمستلزمات الطبية الضرورية لستة من مستشفيات القدس غير قادرة على استقبال عشرات الحالات المصابة بالكورونا، مع أنها وزعت مرضى الحالات الصعبة على الفنادق المجاورة، علماً بأن هذه المستشفيات لا تحتوي إلا على 60 سريراً في إضافة إلى النقص بالأدوية والكادر الطبي وباقي الاحتياجات الضرورية.
سابعا: إجراءات تمييزية ضد الحركة الأسيرة
وفيما يتعلق بسياسة الاحتلال ضد الحركة الأسيرة في ظل أزمة كورونا، كان واضحاً أيضاً سياسة الاهمال بحق هؤلاء الأسرى، من خلال عدم اتخاذ إدارة سجون الاحتلال الإجراءات الوقائية اللازمة والضرورية لمواجهة وباء كورونا، واستمرارها في عدم السماح لأي جهة الاطلاع على أحوال الأسرى المحجور عليهم صحياً في سجن مجدو، إضافة إلى قرارها بمنع أصناف أساسية من الدخول عبر "الكنتين"، وسحب أكثر من 140 صنفاً من احتياجاتهم الأساسية والغذائية والمنظفات من "الكنتين"، كاللحوم والخضار والفواكه والبهارات والمنظفات في ظل الظروف الاستثنائية القائمة بمواجهة فيروس كورونا.
ثامنا: سوء معاملة العمال الفلسطينيين
وكانت رصدت على مدى الأسابيع القليلة الماضية عدة حالات كشفت عن سوء معاملة الاحتلال للعمال الفلسطينيين العاملين لديها، ومحاولتها نشر مرض الكورونا بشكل علني في الأراضي الفلسطينية من خلال تخلصها من عمال اشتبهت بإصابتهم بفيروس الكورونا.
وفي هذا السياق كان جنود الاحتلال ألقوا الشهر الفائت بعامل فلسطيني مصاب بأعراض الكورونا على حاجز بيت سيرا دون تقديم أي علاج له. والشيء ذاته تكرر عند حاجز حزما العسكري شمالي القدس المحتلة. في حين تقوم على نحو يوميّ بإعادة العمال دون فحصهم ونشرهم على الحواجز مما يتسبب في نشر الفيروس داخل الأراضي الفلسطينية. بينما تفتح حدودها للعمال بطريقة التفافية على الإجراءات الفلسطينية وتقدم إغراءات لهم بزيادة الراتب اليومي مستغلة ظروفهم المعيشية الصعبة، والتنصل من دفع مستحقاتهم القانونية.
تاسعا: اقتلاع المواطنين من أراضيهم ومساكنهم
وفي أوج أزمة الكورونا، لم تتوقف سلطات الاحتلال عبر ما يسمى ب"الإدارة المدنيّة" عن مصادرة أراض ومساكن وخيام يقطنها مواطنون فلسطينيون ويستخدم بعضها كعيادات طوارئ لتلبية احتياجات السكان. من ذلك مداهمة ضباط الاحتلال بتاريخ 26.3.20 خربة إبزيق في الأغوار الشماليّة. ومصادرة قضبان وشوادر جُلبت لإقامة ثماني خيام، اثنتان منها معدّة للاستخدام كعيادة وأربع للاستخدام كملاذ للطواريء للمواطنين الذين أُخرجوا من منازلهم وخيمتان معدّتان لاستخدامهما كمسجد. كذلك صادرت القوّات بركس من الصّفيح قائما هناك منذ أكثر من سنتين ومولّد كهرباء وأكياس رمل وإسمنت وأربع قوالب (مشطاح) من أحجار طوب جُلبت لتبليط أرضيّة الخيام. إضافة إلى ذلك حطّمت آليّات الإدارة المدنيّة أربعة قوالب (مشطاح) من أحجار الطّوب.
كما قامت تلك القوات بهدم ثلاثة مبانٍ يستخدمها مزارعون من سكّان القدس لأغراض السّكن الموسميّ في عين الديوك التحتا الواقعة غربيّ أريحا.
وفي بلدة دير بلوط بمحافظة سلفيت هدمت قوات الاحتلال غرفة زراعية وبئرا لتجميع المياه، حيث تم الاعتراض على اخطارات بلدة دير بلوط من قبل المركز لحظة توكيل محامي الدفاع عنه، لكن الاخطار صادر بموجب الأمر العسكري 1797.
أما في مدينة الخليل، فقد هدمت قوات الاحتلال جدارا يفصل منطقة واد الحصين عن واد النصارى تمهيدا لاغلاق المنطقة بالكامل.
ومما يذكر أن الحكومة الاسرائيلية اوقفت عمليات الهدم داخل اسرائيل خلال اوقات الطوارئ، لتؤكد أن التمييز والعنصرية لا تتأثر بالطوارئ ولا بالأوضاع الانسانية.
Protection of Women from Violence in Times of Armed Conflict: Palestinian Women as a Case Study
Date posted: August 18, 2020
By Tamara Tamimi
Abstract
Violence against women in Palestine at the hands of Israeli occupation forces and settlers is part and parcel of the wider framework of violence against the Palestinian people. Violence by occupation forces takes many different forms, some are evident and clear such as targeted killing and injury, as well as imprisonment. Other forms of violence are less pronounced but equally important as they pertain to the forcible displacement of Palestinians; these include house demolitions, house evictions, revocation of residency, land and property confiscation and imposition of restrictions on the registration of newborns.
While this violence is targeted against the entirety of the Palestinian people, including women, children and the elderly, it has a disproportionate impact on women due to reinforcement of patriarchy, traditional gender roles and stereotypes, as well as the reproduction of the cycle of violence by the stronger social group against the weaker social group, and signifying diminishing acceptance and tolerance to diversity and difference.
Violence against the Palestinian people as a whole has persisted for over fifty years despite the multitude of instruments and mechanisms to protect from violence in times of armed conflict. This includes instruments within the framework of international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international criminal law, as well as the women, peace and security agenda. Notwithstanding the multitude of instruments and mechanisms, their effectiveness remains constricted by a large number of factors including the absence of enforcement mechanisms due to the alleged primacy of state sovereignty, provided that this does not contravene the economic and geopolitical interests of a few select states. Another important factor is that these instruments are not designed to appreciate the impact of protracted occupation, and are instead tailored to armed conflicts that do not give rise to protracted military occupation and that are time-bound even if they persist for a long period of time, such as the wars in Yugoslavia and Rwanda. This paper seeks to highlight forms of Israeli violence against the Palestinian people, describe their disproportionate impact on women, analyse why violence persists against women in times of armed conflict, and identify stakeholders and recommendations to increase protection of women from violence in times of armed conflict.
Israeli violations during the Coronavirus pandemic
Date posted: April 18, 2020
By MIFTAH
The following report illustrates Israeli violations during the Coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Israeli occupation forces continued their violations against the Palestinian people in every part of Palestine and in Jerusalem in particular. They did not halt raids into cities, villages and camps, conducting arrests, confiscating land, closing institutions and targeting official Palestinian figures.
It is clear that the violations Israel perpetrated in Jerusalem stem from a permanent and systematic policy based on two focal points:
First: resistance and rejection of any show of Palestinian national sovereignty in occupied Jerusalem through every means possible, under the pretext of ”breaching Israeli sovereignty”. Israeli authorities also accuse Palestinians of violating the so-called “interim agreement” in reference to the Oslo Accords, which prohibits the PA from holding any activity in the city without an Israeli permit.
Second: the Israelization and Judaization of every aspect of life in Jerusalem through disrupting the demographic balance in order to impose a new reality on the ground.
Throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, Israel escalated these policies and the following measures taken against Jerusalemites.
Arrests:
During this period, arrests were focused on curtailing any efforts in Jerusalem aimed at protecting Palestinian residents from the dangers of the epidemic. Israel considers such efforts a violation of Israeli law, which culminated in the arrest of over 20 activists from various parts of Jerusalem. Some were put under house arrest and prohibited from contacting Palestinian officials in the city. Arrests included Palestinian Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, Fadi Hidmi and Jerusalem Governor Adnan Ghaith. These are two of the most prominent national Palestinian symbols in Jerusalem, which prompted Israel to use an iron fist with them, humiliating and mistreating them during their arrest. Hidmi, for example mistreated during his arrest and later said he had been violently assaulted at the detention facility. The two officials were arrested on charges of being responsible for aid distribution to needy Jerusalemite families.
According to the Wadi Helwa Information Center, throughout March until the date of this report (April 9) a total of 193 arrests were made by Israeli authorities, including four women and 33 minors. A total of 73 arrests were made in the Old City and inside and around the Aqsa Mosque Compound; 57 Palestinians were arrested in Essawiyeh, 35 in Silwan and several others in various parts of the city.
Furthermore, Israeli intelligence services summoned Jerusalem governor Adnan Ghaith, Aqsa Mosque Director Sheikh Omar Kiswani and Deputy Director Sheikh Najeh Bkeirat for questioning. They also summoned and arrested several Fatah members under the pretext of ”violating Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem” and arrested three Jerusalemite activists at the Allenby Bridge en route to Jordan.
Attorney Mohammed Mahmoud, who is handling the detentions in Israeli courts, says there has been a noticeable escalation in Israeli measures against youth in Jerusalem during the pandemic. “Several preventative measures have been taken in courts since mid-March against the virus. Courts are conducted via Skype where the prisoner is connected by a phone and monitor in a special room in the prisons. There are some prisons that do not have television monitors and the sessions are conducted only by phone. This makes communication difficult between the prisoner and defense team. It is hard to fully explain what is going on in the session to the prisoner. These sessions also lack the confidentiality and immunity between lawyer and client. However, the lawyers try as much as possible to clarify certain rights and points to the prisoner. What more, the glass partition in front of the judge is another impediment in terms of hearing what he is saying,” Mahmoud said.
He also mentioned how difficult these procedures were for the families waiting outside the courtroom since only one person is allowed in and the families are barred from speaking to their imprisoned children. He accused Israeli authorities of taking advantage of the Coronavirus crisis and their preventative measures to further oppress Palestinians, maintaining that several cases of abuse and arrest were recorded for supposedly violating these measures. A number of fines were also imposed, ranging from NIS500-NIS5000.
Confiscation of food packages and relief assistance:
Another aspect of Israel’s policy against Palestinians is focusing on measures against them instead of measures to combat the virus. Israeli authorities have actively pursued Palestinians, including volunteers and institutions which provide relief aid and food packages to poor families. They assaulted many of the volunteers, arrested them and confiscated the aid. In Sur Baher at the end of March, Israeli soldiers assaulted six volunteers, beating them and throwing teargas at them before confiscating a truckload of relief and food assistance.
Prior to this, Israeli forces arrested three teams disinfecting Silwan, Suwwana and the Old City and confiscated the cleaning products being used to disinfect public and vital facilities in these areas. They also arrested four others for distributing and hanging up posters to raise awareness about the coronavirus, barring them entry into the Old City.
Violation and desecration of places of worship This was apparent from the closure of the Aqsa Mosque Compound and barring entry to Muslim worshippers, including its guards and caretakers. At the same time, it assumed a much more relaxed policy with Jews in synagogues. They were able to move freely in their places of residence contrary to the policy imposed against Jerusalemites whose movement was much more limited. What’s more, Palestinians were heavily fined, ranging from NIS500 to NIS5000.
By targeting the Aqsa Mosque, Islamic Waqf officials say Israeli occupation authorities are attempting to interfere and impose Israeli sovereignty under the pretext of preventing the spread of the virus. In this regard, Israeli authorities closed the doors to Al Aqsa with the exception of “Hutta” and “Chain” Gates and kept “Dung Gate” open, the keys to which Israel has held since its occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, and which allows in settlers to the compound.
On March 20, Israeli authorities closed the gates to Al Aqsa and prevented anyone from entering both the mosque and the Old City just before Friday prayers. They claimed this was a preventative measure against the coronavirus. That day, according to Waqf estimates, only 500 Muslim worshippers prayed at the mosque even though Waqf authorities had taken the necessary measures and precautions against the epidemic. They had fully sanitized and disinfected the grounds and mosques and distributed instructions to worshippers before Friday. In addition, there were employees sanitizing worshippers’ hands inside the compound.
Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces cracked down on worshippers who tried to pray in the streets and allies of the Old City, firing stun grenades, striking them with nightsticks and pushing them away from the Aqsa gates. Similar incidents occurred in other areas of the city, especially Wadi Joz, Musrara, Ras Al Amoud/Silwan and outside of Dung Gate.
Israeli police also issued penalties to worshippers for praying outside of the Aqsa’s gates and to youths as they walked in the city on claims they ”were not abiding by preventative measures.”
Israeli authorities took their policies up a notch when they raided the home of President of the Islamic Waqf Council, Sheikh Abdel Atheem Salham and issued him a penalty of NIS5000 on claims he ”did not abide by police orders and allowed more than the permitted number of people to enter the Aqsa grounds.” They also summoned Aqsa Mosque Director Sheikh Omar Kiswani and Aqsa Mosque Imam Amer Abdeen for questioning.
Furthermore, Israeli forces stormed the Bab Al Rahmeh prayer site and threatened to impose fines on the worshippers for ”not adhering to health ministry instructions”, also threatening worshippers that they would be fined if they gathered in the Aqsa courtyard for prayer.
Israeli authorities continued to issue orders banning Palestinians from entering the Old City and the Aqsa Mosque Compound. Eight Palestinian youths were banned from the Aqsa and seven from the Old City and travel ban orders were issued against four other Jerusalemites.
In order to avoid any further interference into Aqsa affairs by Israeli authorities, the Islamic Waqf , which is the caretaker of the Aqsa Mosque, closed the compound until further notice as a protective measure against the novel coronavirus. The same was applied to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher with only members of the clergy allowed entry.
Isolating the Old City:
Under the pretext of responding to the coronavirus pandemic, Israeli occupation authorities isolated the Old City from its surroundings. Approximately 40,000 Jerusalemites live in the Old City of Jerusalem and were suddenly cut off from the rest of East Jerusalem, whose Palestinian population is around 360,000. Only those who live within the Old City walls were allowed entrance while Jewish settlers living in settlement enclaves inside or outside it were allowed to enter and exit freely. This policy of isolation led to huge losses for shops owned by Jerusalemites many of whom could not reach their stores.
Figures provided by the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights and the Jerusalem Merchants Committee indicate that this constrictive Israeli policy, which has been implemented for the past three years, has led to the closure of an increasing number of shops in the Old City. Today around 300 shops are shuttered, a number which is likely to grow with this recent isolation.
Expansion and acceleration of settlements
It is clear that Israeli authorities have been exploiting this pandemic to continue settlement projects in Jerusalem and in the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories. This includes approval for the construction of tens of thousands of housing units in the settlement of “Atarot, north of Jerusalem, approval to start construction in the “E1” settlement project in Tur, Zaayem, Essawiyeh and Ezzariyeh where over 10,000 housing units will be built, approval for the construction of hundreds of thousands of settlement units in “Givat Hamatos” south of Jerusalem and the establishment of a new settlement neighborhood in Beit Hanina. Plans have also been put in place to build a wall separating the village of Sheikh Saad from Jabal Mukkaber. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities are floating a plan to push Shufat camp and Kufr Aqab out of Jerusalem’s municipal borders as a means of dealing with the concerning ”demographic problem” in the city.
Impeding the work of health centers
While Israel rushed to stymie coronavirus outbreaks in its own residential and settlement centers in Jerusalem, it assumed a policy of discrimination when it came to Palestinian Jerusalemites. Israeli forces purposely delayed the opening of Covid-19 testing centers in Palestinian areas. Furthermore, the majority of Jerusalemites do not speak Hebrew, the language spoken in the various Israeli health insurance funds, not to mention that over 40,000 Jerusalemites do not have access to Israeli health care services under the pretext that they live outside of the unilaterally-designated Jerusalem municipal borders.
This policy came in tandem with the crisis already felt by the Palestinian health sector in Jerusalem, reflected in the lack of necessary equipment and medical supplies in the six East Jerusalem hospitals, making them incapable of accommodating dozens of potential Covid-19 patients. The current patients have been distributed in nearby hotels for monitoring while hospitals only have 60 beds available, not to mention the lack in medicines and medical staff they suffer from.
Discriminatory measures against the prisoner movement The medical negligence towards Palestinian prisoners during the pandemic is evident by how prison services failed to take the necessary precautionary measures in response to the coronavirus. What’s more, they continued to prohibit anyone from being informed about the conditions of quarantined prisoners in the Megiddo Prison. Israeli prisoner services also banned the entry of over 140 products from the prison commissary, including basic food products such as meat, vegetables, fruit and spices. Cleaning products and disinfectants necessary for prisoners to protect themselves from Covid-19 infection were also banned.
Mistreatment of Palestinian laborers
There have been several testimonies about Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinian workers inside the Green Line, including returning workers to the Palestinian territories after suspecting they contracted Covid-19. Last month, Israeli soldiers dumped a Palestinian laborer showing symptoms of Covid-19 at the Beit Sira checkpoint without providing him with any treatment. This behavior was repeated at the Hizma military checkpoint, north of Jerusalem. Laborers are returned to the Palestinian territories on an almost daily basis without being tested, which has resulted in the spread of the virus in Palestine. At the same time, Israel unofficially opened its crossings to workers as a way to circumvent Palestinian preventative measures. They offered laborers incentives such as higher daily wages, thus exploiting their difficult living conditions and avoiding any legal obligations towards them.
Uprooting residents from their land and homes
At the height of the Coronavirus crisis, the Israeli ”civil administration” continued with its policy of confiscating Palestinian land, homes and tents. Some of these facilities were being used as emergency clinics to meet the needs of locals. On March 26, Israeli occupation forces raided Khirbet Ibzeiq in the northern Jordan Valley, confiscating steel rods and canopies designed for setting up eight tents, two equipped as clinics and four as emergency shelters for residents who were forced out of their homes. Two other tents were to be used as a mosque. Israeli forces also confiscated a corrugated-iron trailer that had been in the area for over two years, an electric generator, sand and cement bags and four loads of brick to lay the ground inside the tents.
In Ein Diyouk, west of Jericho, Israeli forces demolished three buildings which Jerusalemite farmers use as seasonal residences.
In Hebron, Israeli forces tore down a wall separating Wadi Haseen from Wadi Nasara in preparation for closing the entire area and in Deir Ballout in the Salfeet area, they demolished a farm room and water well.
It should be noted that in contrast to its measures taken in the occupied Palestinian territories, the Israeli government suspended all demolitions inside Israel during the state of emergency.
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