Britse TUC versterkt actie tegen nederzettingen, een rapport en oproep

The UK can lawfully ban goods from the illegal Israeli settlements, concludes a legal opinion from Professor James Crawford SC, TUC 9-7-2012.

• The TUC is calling on the UK government to bring in such a ban following a successful consumer-led campaign that has seen most supermarkets take settlement goods off their shelves. But consumer pressure is unable to reach all parts of the settlement trade into Britain, with wholesale and catering industries being especially difficult, says the TUC.
• Volledig TUC-bericht: UK government can legally ban Israeli settlement goods, 9-7-2012
• Het rapport op de TUC-site: Legal Opinion Israeli Settlements (James Crawford)

En Israeli settlements can face trade bans, says counsel (Independent 9-7-2012)

European governments, including Britain's, have received legal opinion from a leading international counsel who argues they would be fully within their rights to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The formal opinion from James Crawford, professor of international law at Cambridge University, is likely to inject fresh momentum into campaigns in the United Kingdom and elsewhere for a ban, at a time when some EU member states are examining ways of hardening their position on the imports of settlement produce.
...........

Palestijnse Agrarische Vakbond doelwit van Israelische arrestatiecampagne

Agriculture union says targeted by Israeli arrest campaign, 1-8-2012
 

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Wednesday detained the projects coordinator of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees in Jericho, the union said.

The union, which provides assistance to farmers, said in a statement that its employee Moad Bsharat was detained. An Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma'an that forces had arrested a Palestinian in the Jericho district overnight.

The union accused Israel of waging a campaign against the organization. The union's engineers Fuad Abu Seif and Muhammad Nujum were also recently detained by Israel, it said.

Meanwhile, Israel has extended the administrative detention of Ahmed Soufan three times. Soufan is a member of the union's board of directors and is being held without charge or trial.

The union's financial director Abdel Razek Farraj and board member Youssef Abdul Haq both served long terms in Israeli prisons and were never charged or tried.

 

Bron: Vakbondskader door Israel gearresteerd (Ma'an 1-8-2012)

VN-rapport over mensenrechten in Bezet Palestijns Gebieden

Uit het rapport, te lezen met vakbondsbril (Decent Work, Decent Life):

• After a fact-finding tour of the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip — and following hearings in Jordan and Egypt — a three-member United Nations committee has lambasted Israel for the harsh treatment of Palestinian children held in custody. The Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices in the Occupied Territories has described the continued denial of fundamental human rights of the Palestinians as totally “unacceptable.”
• The special committee has not been permitted to visit Israel, the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem or the occupied Golan. Israel has a policy of not cooperating with the committee.
• And Israel’s near total ban on exports from Gaza stifles economic growth and makes job opportunities scarce. Between 30 and 40 percent of Gazans are unemployed. Over 1.2 million Gazans received food aid from the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
  And 90 percent of the water in Gaza is unsafe for drinking. Business has ground to a standstill with little possibility of importing new equipment or exporting products.
  Unemployment stands at around 31 percent and the poverty level at 39 percent, according to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Het gehele artikel: 90% Gaza water unsafe for drinking says UN

ISRAELISCH CHECKPOINT IN BEELD

De foto staat bij dit artikel van Jonathan Cook: Is Israel preparing to annex most of West Bank, 18-7-2012.

Vakbonden in VK over gevangen Palestijnse kinderen

UK unions call for an end to the forcible transfer of Palestinian children

• On 25 June 2012, two unions wrote to the UK’s Foreign Secretary requesting his urgent intervention to prevent the forcible transfer of Palestinian children to prisons inside Israel in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
• In a further development, on 27 June 2012, the UK’s largest union, UNITE, voted to campaign on behalf of Palestinian child prisoners.

Zie UK Unions call for an end to forcible transfer of Palestinian children

Israël belet Palestijnse ontwikkeling in de Jordaanvallei

BRUSSEL , 6 juli 2012 (MO)

De Jordaanvallei komt steeds meer in handen van Israël. Palestijnse gebouwen worden massaal gesloopt om militaire oefenterreinen aan te leggen. Dat bevestigt een verslag van Oxfam. Veel Palestijnen verliezen hun huis en krijgen geen kansen om zich te ontwikkelen.

Volgens het Oxfamverslag dat op 5 juli openbaar is gemaakt, zijn de gevolgen van het Israëlisch nederzettingenbeleid steeds dramatischer voor de Palestijnse bevolking. Ondertussen zou slechts 6% van de Jordaanvallei nog een leefbaar gebied vormen voor hen. De rest valt onder strenge militaire controle die de overige 62 Palestijnse gemeenschappen verhindert zich te ontwikkelen.

Lees verder Israel belet Palestijnse ontwikkeling in de Jordaanvallei, en Oxfam-Novib-bericht.

Hier het rapport plus de aanbevelingen !

Aanbevelingen: As Israel’s largest trading partner and the biggest donor to the Palestinians, the European Union should:

• Move beyond statements and take urgent action to press the Government of Israel to end the construction of settlements and comply with its responsibilities under international law, in line with the 2004 Advisory Opinion given by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legal consequences of the construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which the EU has endorsed.
• Take immediate steps to ensure the implementation of the May 2012 EU Foreign Affairs Council conclusions and the recommendations of the recent EU Heads of Diplomatic Mission reports on Area C and East Jerusalem.
• Press for conditions that will allow for the full implementation of the EU–Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Association Agreement, which provides real opportunities for Palestinian produce to access European markets, including urgently pushing for an end to Israeli restrictions on the movement and transport of goods.
• In the absence of an Israeli planning regime which seeks to alleviate poverty amongst the Palestinian population, initiate and support development projects in the Jordan Valley and other parts of Area C, including building new schools, community centers, clinics, municipal buildings, roads, irrigation, and other infrastructure projects.

Water: Israelisch leger steelt watertank

Lees in Jordan valley: Palestinian familys water confiscated (25-6-2012) over

• ... The illegal occupation of water resources has made water access an urgent problem. The United Nations declares water a basic human right. The World Health Organization has declared that each individual need access to 100 litres of water per day...
• ... The Palestinian family dependent on the confiscated water tank now has no access to water as the driest season of the year has just begun...

Zie hierbij ook The right to Water - A Policy of Denial and Forced Displacement in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Al Haq, 29-11-2011)
Palestinian Council of Human Rights Organisations (PCHRO) contribution to European External Action Service regarding implementation of EU-Israel Action Plan in 2011.

• ... For many years the Palestinian population of the OPT has suffered from a shortage of clean, safe water. Water is not scarce in the region, which contains several productive aquifers as well as the Jordan River and other natural water sources. However, the problem of water scarcity for Palestinians is a direct result of Israel’s water policies and practices in the OPT. These policies allow Israel to appropriate and exercise control over Palestinian water sources, ensuring that a vastly unequal allocation of water resources benefits Israeli citizens living in Israel and those residing in settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which were established in contravention of international humanitarian law. This systematic discrimination continues to result in widespread violations of the right to water for Palestinians, which in turn has severe impacts on the rights to life, to adequate food and housing, to work and to health...