1_March 2019, Ramallah – On the occasion of the International Women’s Day (8 March), a week-long joint campaign “My Rights, Our Power” was launched today in Palestine to raise awareness on women’s fundamental human rights. The joint effort, with participation from over 30 national and international partners from civil society organizations, media outlets, and international development agencies, targets youth, women, and men in various geographic areas in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza to promote women’s human rights in Palestine.

The campaign comes at a crucial moment when the anticipated adoption of the Family Protection Bill is at a standstill, raising concerns among national and international stakeholders about the consequences of such delay on safeguarding women’s fundamental human rights in Palestine. According to the Palestine report of the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), nearly one in five Palestinian men (17 percent) surveyed said they had perpetrated act of physical intimate partner violence against female partners, while 21 per cent of women surveyed reported having experienced such violence.

“Family violence, usually committed by a family member who has social or economic power over others in the family, causes enormous pain and suffering to all members of the family, especially the women and children,” said a spokesperson from civil society, which has vigorously initiated the development of the Family Protection Bill (FPB), and has strongly pushed its adoption since 2004.

“The violation of women’s human rights manifests in various levels and should be also understood from economic, cultural, and social aspects,” the spokesperson added, highlighting the lack of opportunities and freedom of choice, as well as limited access to justice and services that women in Palestine still experience.

The joint campaign aims to raise awareness of the general public, especially youth, women, and men on women’s fundamental rights in line with international standards and embedded in the Family Protection Bill draft endorsed by the previous Cabinet at the end of December 2018. Five key messages, addressing women’s right to a life free of violence, right to achieve justice and seek help in case of violation of such life, as well as the right to equal opportunities and right to make one’s own choices, will be distributed through various channels such as radio, social media, helpline (121), outreach activities, and on-site events. The closing event of the joint campaign will take place on 8 March in Jerusalem and will celebrate women’s achievements using TED-style talks, followed by art performances.

“My Rights, Our Power” joint campaign is part of the global International Women’s Day 2019 campaign under the theme of “Think equal, build smart, innovate for change”. The theme focuses on innovative ways in which we can advance gender equality and the empowerment of women, particularly in the areas of social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure, echoing the theme of the 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 63) taking place in New York on 11-22 March 2019.

The participating organizations of the “My Rights, Our Power” are (in alphabetical order): 17 Palestinian women’s organizations represented by Al-Muntada (coalition), British Consulate-General, Business Women Forum, CARE International, Consulate General of Sweden, Consulate General of Belgium, EUPOL COPPS, EU Representative Office, FAO, General Union of Palestinian Women, Government of Japan, CowaterSogema/GROW Project, International Labour Organization, Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Ma’an TV, MIFTAH, Netherlands Representative Office, Nisaa FM, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development, Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association, Representative Office of Canada, Representative Office of Denmark, SAWA, Sawasya II, Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, Sports for Life, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Representative Office of Norway, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNOPS, UN Women, Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counseling, Women’s Studies Center.

For more information, please contact Eunjin Jeong at UN Women via eunjin.jeong@unwomen.org or 059 2321 308, Majd Beltaji at UNESCO via m.beltaji@unesco.org or 059 4501 506.

Mr. President,

We thank France for organizing this important meeting and extend our appreciation to the Chef de Cabinet of the Secretary General, the Executive Director of UN Women, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security and the Secretary-General of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie for their efforts and important briefings.

The issue before us is of relevance not only for half the planet, but to all, given the role and contribution of women in the fields of peace and security and the untapped potential that could be unleashed by mainstreaming their participation. Since the adoption by consensus of resolution 1325 by this Council, a lot has happened, and yet we are still far from the goal of full and equal participation, including in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building, and from ensuring the protection and empowerment of women. Gender equality and non-discrimination remain prerequisites for the fulfilment of the purposes and principles of this organization and all of our lofty, collective commitments, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The State of Palestine welcomes the Secretary General’s report and his commitment to implementing the women and peace and security agenda, including by placing gender at the centre of his prevention platform and surge in diplomacy. We appreciate all efforts by the UN in this regard, including by UN Women, OHCHR and UNDP, notably in the field of human rights, capacity building, employment and rule of law. We urge UN bodies, notably those operating in Palestine, including the Special Representative, to intensify their engagement and collaboration with women organizations.

Mr. President,

I wish to highlight some of Palestine’s own important efforts in this regard. The Palestinian women’s movement is one of the oldest and strongest in the region and beyond, with institutional and representative structures established as early as the 19th century. Within the PLO, the General Union of Palestinian Women was among the first unions to be established. A coordination of women frameworks within PLO political parties and other organizations has also been established as the “Women’s Affairs Technical Committee” in the aftermath of the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference.

There have been many achievements thereafter. Among them: In 2012, Palestine inaugurated a High-Level National Committee for the implementation of resolution 1325, led by the Ministry of Women Affairs in partnership with relevant Ministries and NGOs. In 2016, the State of Palestine was among the 68 countries and areas that adopted a National Action Plan on women, peace and security.

This Action Plan (2017-2019), adopted by both the Government and civil society organizations, identifies three primary objectives: 1. ensuring protection for women and girls both domestically and in the face of the Israeli occupation; 2. ensuring accountability through national and international mechanisms, with a particular focus on crimes and violations committed by the occupation; and 3. furthering women’s political participation in decision making at the national and international level. The State of Palestine also joined core IHL and human rights instruments, including CEDAW, without reservations. Women’s participation and empowerment are also important and cross-cutting objectives in the context of the National Policy Agenda (2017-2022).

We are, however, conscious that, despite all these efforts, much more work remains to be done. Only in 2009 was a women elected to the highest executive body of the PLO. Quotas are still decisive in allowing women’s election to Parliament and local councils. And while women organizations were among the strongest advocates of national reconciliation, they have been unfairly absent from reconciliation talks. The relevant legislative framework applicable in Palestine is also outdated and must be revised to ensure consistency with Palestine’s international commitments and obligations and avail women the protection and rights they are entitled to and the opportunities they deserve.

Mr. President,

The Palestinian women’s movement since its establishment over a century ago pursued the struggle on two fronts – the struggle for the independence of Palestine and the struggle for women’s rights and empowerment – a dual struggle the movement continues to pursue to this day. The Israeli occupation remains the main source of the violations of our women’s rights and their vulnerability and violence against their person. We have repeatedly called for protection of the Palestinian people, especially women and children. We have also called for accountability, a key element of resolution 1325, the first resolution to address the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women, as the only way to put an end to violations and crimes.

While Palestine stands ready to do its part to advance women rights and the role of women in the fields of peace and security, it is clear that the enjoyment of these rights in our country necessitates ending the Israeli occupation. We will thus continue to work for an end of the occupation and true progress on the path to independence, justice and peace, with the equal and full involvement of women, leading to an independent State of Palestine ensuring human rights for all its citizens without discrimination.

On the occasion of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office to Palestine, the Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325, which consists of twelve different Palestinian women’s organisations, is urging the Prosecutor’s Office to take concrete actions towards investigating war crimes committed against Palestinians. The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom remains deeply concerned with the complete impunity of Israeli war crimes and firmly supports the Coalition’s call for a just accountability mechanism for Palestinian victims. WILPF also calls on the international community to recognise and fully support Palestinian women’s organisations substantial role in paving the paths to justice, accountability and peace. Read the statement of the Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325 below.

We, the Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325,welcome the visit of the delegation of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office as a step in the right direction. But we are deeply disappointed that the purpose of this visit was restricted to preliminary examination, while Palestinian victims of Israeli war crimes, including women, continue to suffer and urgently await justice and an end to Israel impunity.

We do not understand the decision to exclude the Gaza Strip from this visit, when Gaza has been the site of the most war crimes and where women have been most systematically impacted by Israeli collective punishment policies; a prolonged imposed siege and a severe humanitarian deterioration resulting from Israeli military aggressions .

We are further disappointed that women who have been systematically impacted, and their women’s organisations, have been excluded from the delegation’s agenda.

We call upon all future delegations of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office to include on their agenda meetings with women’s organisations and women who have experienced direct and indirect impacts of Israeli crimes.

We, the Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325, have seen in UNSCR 1325, 2242, and other UN Resolutions a commitment to hold the Israeli perpetrators accountable for their war crimes.

We look to the ICC as the most important mechanism to end impunity for all war crimes committed, finally bringing justice for the Palestinian people. Yet, we are very concerned that the preliminary examinations will be an endless process.

Therefore, we urge, Ms. Fatou Bensouda, the Prosecutor of the ICC, to conclude the preliminary examination and move to investigations into Israeli war crimes, bringing justice to Palestinians.

We have paid the price of non-accountability and impunity of Israeli war crimes for too long. “Delaying justice is justice denied.”

Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325: The General Union of Palestinian Women (GUPW), the Women’s Affairs Technical Committee (WATC), Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD), MIFTAH, Filastinyat, Women Media and Development (TAM), Women Stu Dies Center, Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling (WACLAC), the National, YWCA of Palestine, Center for Women’s Legal Research and Consulting (CWLRC), the Culture and Free thought Association(CWLRC) and Women’s Affairs Center (GWAC).

Occupied Palestine

October 11, 2016

WHERE: Tel Aviv District Court, Weitzmann Street at corner of Shaul Hamelech (Judge Tal)

WHEN: January 16, 2005 at 2:00 PM

On Sunday January 16 at 2:00 PM, US Jewish lesbian activist Kate Raphael Bender will go to court after five weeks in an Israeli immigration prison. Raphael Bender, a resident of San Francisco, CA, will argue that she should not be deported from Israel because her activities against the segregation wall defend international law and the Jewish people. She has no lawyer and will present her own case with the help of a translator.

Raphael Bender is petitioning against the Israeli authorities' intention to expel her from Israel for the second time in a year as a result of her work in opposition to Israel's West Bank segregation wall. She argues that her activities are consistent with positions of the world's highest legal body, the International Court of Justice, which has ruled that the construction of the wall on Palestinian land violates international law.

In her petition, Raphael Bender quotes Israeli Minister Gideon Ezra who indicated that rightwing foreigners who want to protest disengagement are to be given preferential treatment by the government over left-wing activists who come to support non-violent resistance in the Occupied Territories. Ezra stated in the Jerusalem Post: "We will not prevent them (Jews) from entering, even if we know they are coming to resist the plan. There are people who come for worse causes such as to break down the security fence and participate in ISM radical left wing activities."

Raphael Bender, who holds a legal tourist visa stated: "I am here as a Jew to promote solutions that are best for Jews and non-Jews. This policy is an undemocratic way of silencing dissent from world Jewry. Jews who are coming to block disengagement from Gaza are opposing an effort to move Israel closer to compliance with international law. In contrast, my activities support Israeli compliance with international law."

Israeli authorities claim that Raphael Bender was inside a closed military zone and that she participated in violent demonstrations there. Raphael Bender argues in her petition that Israeli military forces never announced to the demonstrators that they were in a closed military zone in Arabic or in English, as is required by law. Also, the soldiers used violence and made exaggerated claims about what happened at the demonstration. She plans to introduce videotape supporting her account of the events. She also will introduce an invitation from the Palestinian Authority for her to remain in Palestinian territory.

Raphael Bender is arguing for a legal precedent to ensure that no one should be excluded because they oppose government policy.

Israeli and international supporters of Raphael Bender will hold brief protests before the hearing at the Tel Aviv District Court.

The International Solidarity Movement upholds the legitimate right of Palestinians to resist an illegal colonial occupation. This right is enshrined in international law and applies to all peoples under foreign occupation, including Palestinians.

In the last two weeks hundreds of Palestinians, and dozens of internationals, including Israelis, have protested non-violently the destruction and theft of Palestinian lands for the construction of the Israeli Apartheid Wall found illegal by the International Court of Justice.

The response to peaceful, non-violent resistance from the Israeli army and border police has been escalating violence in the form of beatings, arrests, tear gas, bullets and concussion grenades. Numerous injuries have resulted.

The Israeli government condemns violence and simultaneously brutally oppresses any form of non-violent resistance. In addition, the Israeli legal system criminalizes non-violent resistance and is targeting internationals, and especially Israelis who join Palestinians in their peaceful demonstrations to protest the Wall.

Please call or fax the officials below and demand the brutal repression of non-violent resistance and protest stop immediately and that all arrested Palestinians, Israelis and internationals be released without charges.

If you outside of occupied Palestine or Israel, please contact your local representatives and media channels.

For more information: ISM Media Office: 972-2-277-4602 or 547-358-579

ISM Activist Beaten and Arrested While Attempting to Help Palestinian

15 Israeli Activists Arrested

Today, at 1:00PM, residents of Budrus, joined by internationals and at least 15 Israelis marched to protest the Wall and to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the second Intifada.

At approximately 3:00PM the ISM Media office received calls that a Palestinian non-violent protest organizer was badly beaten and arrested. A young woman from Germany, and ISM activist, attempted to come to his aid and was beaten and arrested by the Israeli soldiers.

In addition, at least 15 Israeli activists have been arrested. Unconfirmed reports claim several were also beaten while being arrested.

At the time of this report, eyewitness accounts have reported that the Israeli army is shooting live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas. A group of ISM activists have are attempting to reach the school. A detailed report will follow.

I visited Hebron between the dates of September 13th and 20th 2004, part of a group of 10 ISM activists which included 5 Buddhists from the UK. Tariq was our local coordinator. He is 24 years old, a student of engineering. I learnt that his father had been detained without trial by the Israeli army for the past 2.5 years, the rest of his family had emigrated to Jordan but that he was refused exit from Israel because of his father - who he is not allowed to visit.

His top two projects for us were first to help local villages resist the Israeli Apartheid Wall that was being built on their land, and second to help the situation in the Old City, now almost a ghost town because of the great number of soldiers there and the difficulty of living so close to the aggressive Israeli settlers. This report focuses on the Old City not the Wall. Topics:

Closure of Shuhadda Street to Palestinians Checkpoints and Soldiers patrols - Freedom of movement

Army closure of shops Continuous curfew for 3 years Death of the Old City market Settlers' harassment Process of colonization, extension of illegal settlements Tit-for-Tat violence Collective punishment Water rights – Economic warfare Settlers' propaganda / Media blackout

Hebron is presently unique in the West Bank because it has a substantial illegal Israeli settlement (Beit Hadassah) right in the very centre of the Old City, creating a situation where the lives of some 60,000 Palestinians are systematically disrupted by some 4,000 soldiers for the sake of some 400 settlers. It is a ludicrous situation and would almost be funny if it was not so real and the cause of so much suffering for so many people. It is also a part of a much larger process of gradual illegal invasion and colonization.

During the time we were in Hebron the situation was relatively quiet and there was little for us to do except walk about the Old City meeting people and speaking with them. Most people were very friendly as soon as we said "Salaam Al-e-Qum" and smiled, however there was clearly a lot of tension in the air and some suspicion - probably because the settlers are in the habit of walking up and down 'their' city and there is a real fear of them extending their territory.

We were staying for a night in one of the further suburbs of Hebron, and when leaving in the morning, passed a little girl who started crying violently - we learnt later that she thought we were settlers! In general though we were made very welcome indeed - very few friendly foreigners find their way to Hebron these days.

Quiet it might have been, but I should emphasize very strongly that 'quiet' does not mean 'all right'. Once or twice in the silent streets I found myself thinking "this seems all right" and had to remind myself of the facts of the matter.

•Closure of Shuhadda Street to Palestinians

Despite Hebron being a part of Palestine and not Israel, the main street of the town (Shuhadda Street) is now completely closed to Palestinians, except for the very few who live there. This means the town is effectively cut into two halves, to cross those few yards means a detour of several kilometers. The town's graveyard is on the wrong side of the road, this means local people are unable to visit their family tombs.

Shuhadda Street has become a sort of mid-Western film set - hot, dusty, and empty, with guns never very far away. The only people who walk up and down it now are the settlers, who generally carry machine guns, even the young teenagers, strange to see them toting machine guns and their Jewish kippa caps on. This is quite scary to see, even for me, who was less likely to be shot at.

We were not able to speak to any settlers although we could probably have arranged it if we had wished, being Internationals. It was clear however that there is absolutely no communication between locals and settlers. The soldiers are supposed to be there to keep the peace between the two sides but this seems to mean keeping the locals firmly to the edges and allowing the settlers to walk where they please. Certainly the Palestinians do not see the soldiers there to keep the peace, rather to dominate them.

•Checkpoints and Soldiers patrols

Behind the main street are a maze of smaller streets leading up to the Old City. These can only be reached by passing an army checkpoint continuously manned by soldiers with machine guns, making passage into the Old City a nerve-wracking affair.

Most days however, what is in a way worse than the machine guns is the arbitrariness of the soldiers: they can detain any Palestinian at any time for any or no reason, and often do, making them sit at the side of the road in the hot sun for many hours at a time.

Not surprisingly people have chosen to avoid the area, and the town's main market has moved about 1km away.

In addition to the checkpoints, in the narrow streets of the Old City there are frequent 6-man soldiers' patrols, before they enter you can hear them lifting their machine guns into firing position and cocking the trigger. No doubt they are afraid themselves but it is very intimidating to hear.

Hebron is well-known among international aid agencies, we met CPT (the Christian Peacemaker Team) and TIPH (the Temporary International Presence in Hebron) while there. TIPH's job is to monitor and report on the situation, CPT intervenes more actively if local people are being harassed.

• Army closure of shops

As well as the checkpoints and the patrols, about 200 of the Old City shops have been summarily closed by military order, and many houses have had their front doors welded closed by the army. This means that in some cases the owners can only enter and leave their homes through a window at the rear of the house, or over the rooftops.

• Continuous curfew for 3 years

In addition to the checkpoints, the patrols, and the closed shops, the Old City has suffered from a strict curfew for three of the past four years. An Israeli army curfew generally means that the soldiers have orders to shoot to kill on sight, it creates an extremely dangerous situation for any person to go anywhere at any time, even outside the official curfew hours. This includes delivery of basic supplies of food and medicine, and also the movement of children, who are as likely to be shot as adults under a curfew.

Who can blame the shopkeepers and market stallholders for moving?

Although the curfew is not presently in force, evidence of the effects of Army violence and repression is everywhere - bullet holes in shopfronts, cobwebs on the fronts of shops...

Although things were quiet, the Army has retained all its observation and sniper positions around the city - many of the most strategic buildings have camouflage netting draped over the top balcony or steel observation posts perched on the roof. We were told that in reality sniper positions are often concealed, but occupied or not, the visible ones create a constant and frightening reminder that the city is under armed occupation and that curfew can be reimposed at any time.

• Settlers harassment

In addition to the checkpoints, the patrols, the closed shops and the curfew, we heard a great many reports of vandalism and verbal abuse by the settlers.

In many cases the houses of the settlers directly overhang the streets of the Old City, and here the locals have had to fit thick metal mesh across the streets to catch the rubbish that has been thrown out of the settler's windows onto the street - and the Palestinians - below. In several cases the metal mesh was sagging due to the weight of debris above. It is of course impossible for me to say what motives the settlers may have for throwing rubbish in this way - had they wished to continue being malicious t hey could have thrown foul water, but I did not hear of this being done. Nonetheless they must have known full well that the streets below their windows were Palestinian streets. A lot of Palestinian windows were smashed, apparently by stones often thrown by settlers' children.

These all combined - together with the real violence of recent years - have made the whole of the Old City into a ghost town. The reason given by the Army is always "security", but one feels the real aim is colonization, certainly the effect is depopulation of the Old City through fear and strangulation.

These processes of displacement and harassment have not ended yet.

• Process of colonization, extension of illegal settlements

On the outskirts of Hebron is the much larger illegal Israeli settlement of Qiryat Arba. For those interested, this means 'Town of the Four', referring to the four biblical couples reported to be buried here in the Cave of Machpelah under the Ibrahami Mosque - Adam and Eve (!), Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah. This biblical fame explains a good deal of why the city has become such a battleground and focus for extremist Israeli settlers - it is the no.2 site in Palestine for both Jews and Muslims. The locals probably wish it had never been mentioned! It was a women from Qiryat Arba who in 1979 illegally occupied the old Jewish hospital of Beit Hadassah in Hebron's Old City, leading directly to its present death-like state.

• Settlers' harassment

Walking up to Qiryat Arba, and along the road which marks the border between Israeli and Palestinian areas, one sees graffiti which has been sprayed on the doors of many Palestinian homes - Stars of David and angry writing in Hebrew (which I have not yet been able to translate but will). The feeling I get is that the graffiti is saying "you're next..." and I can imagine that it is extremely intimidating to receive. It is in fact eerily similar to tactics used by the Nazis in Germany, not a happy thought.

Of course you can dismiss provocative graffiti as being 'only' spray paint, more concretely there are plans afoot for a new Israelis-only road to link Qiryat Arba with the Cave of Machpelah and one can be sure that it will not be long before it is extended a few yards further to the illegal settlement in the heart of the city. Up on the border road, there are plans to construct a new Jewish synagogue on the Muslim side immediately adjacent to Muslim homes. This is presently being blocked by the Israeli authorities - but it is probably only a matter of time until they arrange the necessary military cover - ie a new Army checkpoint or base - and it goes ahead!

Hebron has a long history with ownership moving between Jews and Muslims many times over the centuries. For this reason, since the Jews started their illegal settlements in the area there have been major propaganda efforts to justify their right to be here, an Internet search looking for 'Hebron' or 'Beit Hadassah' will quickly lead you to some of these.

They consider their occupation of Hebron to be legitimate because there were Jews living there in the past, most recently in 1929 and most anciently when Abraham purchased the cave of Machpelah for his burial site sometime around 1,800 B.C! Their desire to live here would not be so bad if it was based on a desire to peacefully co-exist. Instead the settlers have gone on record as aiming to completely expel the Palestinians from Hebron or at least from its Old City. This is no idle threat as the 4,000 soldiers based here constantly remind one.

• Tit-for-Tat violence

Over the years there has been a great deal of violence in Hebron, not least in 1994 when Baruch Goldstein, a settler, entered the mosque and massacred 29 Muslims while they were at prayer, wounding a further 200. According to my guidebook, there is now a shrine to him in the adjacent illegal Israeli settlement of Qiryat Arba. The guidebook (Lonely Planet) describes him as "a popular settler hero". Not surprisingly there has been a good deal of tit-for-tat violence over the years, but with the massive army presence in town it is mostly Palestinian civilians who are injured or killed.

Palestinian suicide bombers have certainly killed settlers over the years, and this led to an Israeli Army invasion of whole district & city in 2002 - after similar invasions of Jenin, Tulkarm, etc. We were told that the Israeli Army becomes nervous if it is not able to operate inside a city. The invasion is partly a tactic to expose & kill - to 'flush out' - the most active resistance fighters.

• Collective punishment

As well as being in the Old City, we spent some time in other areas of Hebron, and it was here that it was most obvious that what is happening on Hebron's Old City is part of a much larger violent occupation of the whole country. The reality of the situation is not immediately apparent to the naked eye, you have to have things explained by a local. For instance, there are many gaps or piles of rubble between the houses. Why?

Collective punishment has been very much used by the Army, this usually takes the form of blowing up or bulldozing the family home of anyone who has been discovered to be a suicide bomber or other form of fighter. To give an example, we stayed in a house in the suburbs, next door there was an empty space with a big pile of rubble. On asking, we were told that this house was blown up by the Israeli Army some three months ago, the explosion was so violent that it blew in all the doors and windows on that side of our host's house. The family were living in a makeshift tent in one corner of the space. Across the small valley we could see a bulldozer working, we were told that was a house which had been blown up only last week. On the corner of the street was a small corrugated iron shop, the owner used to occupy a five-storey house on the site before that was blown up some years ago.

These are examples of collective punishment, which is specifically outlawed under international law and the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit the punishment of innocent people who may be connected with a 'guilty' party. Israel and her Supreme Court have consistently refused to uphold the Geneva Conventions and the illegality of its collective punishment, using a variety of reasons but notably that the Occupied Palestinian Territories (ie the West Bank) never constituted a sovereign state so Israel's invasion and occupation of Palestine do not count as the invasion and occupation of another country - and so international humanitarian law does not apply!

• Water rights – Economic warfare

Besides collective punishment, there is lower-level but on-going economic warfare being waged by Israel against the Palestinians. An example of this is water - Hebron has many natural springs, but local people are not allowed to use them. Instead they have to buy water at considerable cost, often delivered by tankers, while Israel helps itself to 80% of the water in the underground aquifers for intensive agriculture and 'modern' plumbing. .

• Conclusion

We went to Hebron at Tariq's invitation, inspired by his vision of bringing life back into the Old City. He thought that our presence might give locals confidence to re-enter it in greater numbers. Maybe we had some effect, it is hard to be sure. One idea he had was to organize a daily 'boy's march' through the checkpoint (children below a certain age do not need ID) to generate momentum and confidence in entering the Old City, followed by us or others putting on a concert or other entertainment to draw in the locals.

One thing we realized while there was just how hard it is to actually DO anything faced with such overwhelming odds and where people have more-or-less got used to the wrongness of the situation. We felt very strongly Tariq's - and I am sure, thousands of others') acute frustration and yet puzzlement what to do.

ISM has now established a flat for volunteers in the centre of the Old City, as we left five others arrived, and hopefully they will build on what we have done so far. One day, Palestine will be free …

WE DEMAND AN INVESTIGATION!

ISRAELI ARMY KILL FIVE MEN EXECUTION STYLE According to medical examinations

One child dead, three more in critical condition

At 1:00am the Israeli Army attacked homes on Old Najav Street in Nablus, West of the old city. Five young men were killed and one eleven year-old girl. Medical examination evidence suggests the five men were executed.

These are war crimes.

International Solidarity activists, who are presently accompanying UPMRC medical teams in the area, interviewed the Director of Rafidia Hospital, Dr. Samir Abu Srour, where the five men and the young girl were taken.

According to Dr. Srour, four of the five men were shot in the head at close range. The bullets did not pass through their skulls and instead exploded the young men's heads, indicating that they were shot at close range.

One man had a boot print on his chest, further suggesting that he was restrained before being shot. In addition, one man had a bullet entering in his neck and exploding upwards, leaving blood stains high up on the wall. This angle and evidence strongly suggests he was shot after being detained, also at close range.

Another man had knife cuts on his arm. All five were found in close proximity of each other.

The eleven year-old girl was shot in the cheek while in her home by a soldier occupying a near-by house.

Another eleven year-old boy is in critical condition after being shot in the head with a rubber bullet at close range, dislodging part of his brain.

One thirty-five year-old, mentally challenged man, was shot in the head and a thirty-three year-old man was shot in the femur. Both are in the intensive care unit.

The number of dead is expected to rise.

THESE ARE WAR CRIMES!

According to eye-witness reports the Israeli army also occupied several homes and a church. They detained members of the church, including 13 disabled children and elderly men and women who are living in the centers belonging to the church. When the priest attempted to enter the church to check on the condition of the people, an Israeli soldier pointed his machine gun at his head and threatened to shoot him. They were forced to remain in one room without food or water until 12:00pm.