organization:ministry of health

  • 79 Palestinians Injured by Israeli Forces in Great March of Return
    June 21, 2019 10:29 PM – IMEMC News
    https://imemc.org/article/79-palestinians-injured-by-israeli-forces-in-great-march-of-return

    Israeli forces have once again opened fire on Palestinians taking part in the 63rd Friday of the peaceful “Great March of Return” protests, along the separation fence between the besieged Gaza Strip and occupied territories, injuring at least 79 peaceful protesters.

    According to Days of Palestine, the Ministry of Health reported that 79 citizens have been injured. (...)

    #marcheduretour 63

  • Death toll rises to 27: Married couple found dead under rubble in Gaza
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=783380


    May 6, 2019 2:23 P.M. (Updated: May 6, 2019 2:27 P.M.)

    GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Palestinian Civil Defense and ambulance crews were able to recover the bodies of a married Palestinian couple from the rubble of the completely destroyed buildings, which were targeted by Israeli warplanes, bringing the death toll in the Gaza Strip to 27, on Monday.

    The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed that the two bodies recovered from under the rubble were husband and wife, identified as Talal Abu al-Jadyan and Raghda Muhammad Abu al-Jadyan.

    Talal and Raghda’s 12-year-old son, Abdul Rahman al-Jadyan, was also killed several hours earlier due to the Israeli airstrikes.

    The bodies of Talal and Raghda were transferred to the Indonesian Hospital, in northern Gaza, were they were pronounced dead.

    #Palestine_assassinée

  • » Reports that 18 Palestinians, 4 Israelis Killed on Sunday
    May 6, 2019 12:47 AM - IMEMC News
    https://imemc.org/article/reports-that-18-palestinians-4-israelis-killed-on-sunday

    Palestinian and Israeli media sources are reporting that up to 18 Palestinians and 4 Israelis have been killed on Sunday, as Israeli forces escalated their bombardment of the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian resistance groups fired more rockets into Israel.
    (...)
    According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Abdel Rahim Mustafa Taha Al-Madhoun and Hani Hamdan Abu Sha’ar , 37, were killed by Israeli missiles in the northern Gaza Strip.

    Four civilians, including a pregnant woman and her two children, were killed in an overnight raid on the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. They were identified as: Abdullah Abdul Rahim Al Madhoun, 22, Fadi Ragheb Badran, 31, and Shahida Amani Al-Madhoun (33 years old), who was killed along with her unborn baby – she was nine months pregnant.

    In addition to the three killed, eight others were reportedly injured in the Israeli airstrike, which targeted Al-Faraj Sheikh Zayed in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.

    Two Palestinian civilians were reportedly killed in the shelling of Rafah. They were identified as Musa Muammar, 24, and Ali Abdul Jawad, 51 years old . Three people were seriously injured in that same airstrike, which targeted a residential building in the city of Rafah.

    The Israeli airforce reportedly targeted the home of the Director General of the Internal Security Forces in Gaza, Major General Tawfiq Abu Naim in Nuseirat central Gaza Strip.

    Two apartments were destroyed in Tower No. 10 in the Sheikh Zayed Towers in the northern Gaza Strip.

    The Ministry of Health also announced that two citizens were martyred in a bombardment targeting agricultural land behind Ibrahim al-Maqadma Mosque in Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

    Two Palestinians were killed in that airstrike, they were identified as Mohammad Abdul Nabi Abu Armaneh, 30, and Mahmoud Samir Abu Armanah, 27.

    Both were taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in Deir Al-Balah .

    Israeli airstrikes destroyed the internal security building inside the governor’s palace west of Gaza City, following the destruction of another house belonging to the Mashtah family in central Gaza and a house belonging to the Abu Qamar family in al-Sina’a Street in Tel al-Hawa neighborhood in the west of Gaza City. (...)

    #Palestine_assassinée

    23 Palestinians, Including Infant & 12-Year Old, Killed by Israeli Airstrikes
    May 6, 2019 12:47 AM IMEMC News

    Palestinians killed (confirmed) :
    May 5, 2019

    Maria Ahmad al-Ghazali, 4 months
    Ahmad Ramadan al-Ghazali, 31 (Maria’s father)
    Eman Abdullah Mousa Usrof al-Ghazali, 30 (Maria’s mother)
    Abdul-Rahim Mustafa Taha al-Madhoun, 61
    Abdul-Rahman Talal Atiyya Abu al-Jedian, 12
    Eyad Abdullah al-Sharihi, 34
    Mohammad Abdul Nabi Abu Armaneh, 30
    Mahmoud Samir Abu Armanah, 27
    Mousa Moammar, 24
    Ali Ahmad Abdul-Jawad, 51
    Hani Hamdan Abu Sha’ar, 37 (Rafah)
    Abdullah Abdul Rahim al-Madhoun, 22
    Fadi Ragheb Badran, 31
    Amani al-Madhoun (Abu al-Omarein), 33/Ayman al-Madhoun(her fetus), northern Gaza
    Abdullah Nofal Abu al-Ata, 21
    Bilal Mohammad al-Banna, 23
    Hamed al-Khodari, 34
    Mahmoud Sobhi Issa, 26
    Fawzi Abdul-Halim Bawadi, 24

  • Comment #Big_Pharma pénalise-t-il le traitement de l’épidémie des opiacés ? - Actualité Houssenia Writing
    https://actualite.housseniawriting.com/sante/2017/08/09/comment-big-pharma-penalise-t-il-le-traitement-de-lepidemie-des-opiaces/23013

    Traduction d’un article de The Conversation par Robin Feldman, professeure de propriété intellectuelle à l’université de Californie.

    Les grandes entreprises pharmacologiques (Big Pharma) utilisent de nombreuses tactiques pour retarder l’arrivée des #génériques et on peut prendre l’exemple des traitements contre l’épidémie des #opiacés.

    • En 2015, 80 % de la croissance des bénéfices des 20 plus grandes entreprises technologiques provenaient de l’augmentation des prix. Et les médicaments aux États-Unis sont largement plus chers que dans d’autres pays. Par exemple, le Syprine, un médicament contre l’insuffisante hépatique, coute moins de 400 dollars pour un an de traitement dans de nombreux pays. Aux États-Unis, ce médicament coute 300 000 dollars. Sovaldi, le médicament contre l’hépatite C de Gilead, coute environ 1 000 dollars à l’étranger. Aux États-Unis, il coute 84 000 dollars.

      Il faudra un motif d’inculpation pour trainer les gens qui décident cela devant la justice. Un truc du genre crime contre l’humanité.

    • Un des aspects intéressants des câbles diplomatiques américains, publiés par Wikileaks, c’était justement qu’une des activités principales des ambassades ricaines dans monde consiste à défendre les intérêts des grands groupes pharmaceutiques américaines.

      Par exemple (quasiment au hasard), ce câble de 2005 à ce sujet au Brésil :
      https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/05BRASILIA1567_a.html

      1. (C) Summary. Ambassador Hugueney of Brazil’s Foreign Ministry (Itamaraty) told Ambassador June 6 that U.S. pharmaceutical companies should improve their offers on pricing and/or voluntary licenses for AIDS treatment drugs so as to avoid compulsory licensing by the Ministry of Health (MoH). Hugueney believed movement in the Chamber of Deputies of legislation that would deny patentability to AIDS drugs was likely intended to provide greater leverage to the Ministry of Health in its negotiations with the pharmaceutical companies. The bill’s broad political backing, he observed, makes a presidential veto unlikely should the legislation pass. On the WTO Doha Round of trade negotiations, Hugueney said Brazil will submit a “substantially improved” revised services offer the week of June 6. Hugueney expects to take up the post of Brazil’s Ambassador to the WTO by late August or early September. Hugueney confirmed Brazil’s plan to attend the June 21 to 22 US-EU International Conference on Iraq. End Summary.

      2. (SBU) On June 6, Ambassador met with Clodoaldo Hugueney, Itamaraty’s Under Secretary for Economic and Technological Affairs, to discuss a number of trade issues, principally, pending legislation that would render drugs to prevent and treat AIDS un-patentable, and the continuing threat of compulsory licensing facing the U.S. pharmaceutical companies Gilead Sciences, Abbott Laboratories, and Merck, Sharp & Dohme for their AIDS treatment drugs (ref A). Hugueney was accompanied by his assistant, Miguel Franco, and Otavio Brandelli, Chief of the Ministry’s IPR Division. Ecouns, Commoff, and Econoff accompanied Ambassador.

      AIDS Drugs - Compulsory License Threat and Patent Legislation

      3. (C) Hugueney, who had just returned from Doha negotiations in Geneva, said Itamaraty is following MoH negotiations with the pharmaceutical companies closely and described them as boiling down to issues of pricing or voluntary license/royalty payments. He noted the intense pressure the GoB is under from civil society, particularly NGOs, to issue compulsory licenses. Hugueney agreed the best outcome would be to avoid compulsory licenses, but opined that to do so would require improved offers on price or voluntary licensing from the companies. (Upon relaying this message to the companies, the Merck representative here told us his company was in the process of preparing a more detailed offer, although he did not say that it would be more forthcoming on prices. As for Gilead and Abbott, they have taken Hugueney’s suggestion “under advisement.”) Hugueney further advised the companies to maintain a dialog with the MoH to forestall precipitous, politically motivated action by that Ministry, and encouraged them to explain/present their proposals to a wide array of GoB interlocutors.

  • Committee : Israel testing medicines on Palestinian prisoners – Middle East Monitor
    April 3, 2019
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190403-committee-israel-testing-medicines-on-palestinian-prison

    Head of High Follow up Committee for Arabs in Israel Mohammad Baraka has warned that Palestinians being held in Israeli jails are being used as guinea pigs for new medical trials, Arab48 reported yesterday.

    “This is a clear war against humanity and international rights groups must take Israel to the ICC over its crimes against prisoners,” Baraka said.

    He added: “There are reports that the Ministry of Health issued licenses to several international companies to carry out medical tests on Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails without their knowledge.”

    OPINION: Netanyahu turns to ‘ethnic cleansing’ and sophistry to justify Israel’s criminal acts

    He concluded: “This crime is added to the record of crimes against the Palestinians, mainly the prisoners inside Israeli jails, who are being denied their basic rights.”

    In February, Israeli Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian revealed that the Israeli occupation authorities had issued permits to large pharmaceutical firms to carry out tests on Palestinian and Arab prisoners.

    #prisonniers

  • Israeli forces suppress weekly Gaza protests, injure 83 Palestinians
    April 6, 2019 9:49 A.M. (Updated: April 6, 2019 12:08 P.M.)
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=783119

    GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — At least 83 Palestinians were shot and injured by Israeli live fire, including one critical injury, on the 53rd Friday of the weekly protests across the besieged Gaza Strip, on Friday evening.

    The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed that 83 Palestinians with various injuries arrived to the hospitals of the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces suppressed protesters at the eastern borders the Gaza Strip.

    Israeli forces surrounded several Palestinian youths in eastern Gaza City and targeted them with “red gas” and live fire. (...)

    #marcheduretour 53

  • MOH: 270 killed, including 52 children, in 1st year of Gaza protests
    April 3, 2019 3:51 P.M. (Updated: April 4, 2019 11:34 A.M.)
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=783091

    GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — According to data collected by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, 270 Palestinians were killed by Israeli live fire, including 52 children, six women, and one elderly man, while 16,556 were injured, including 3,310 children, and 1,088 women, since the outbreak of “The Great March of Return” protests along the Gaza border on March 30th 2018 until the March 30th 2019, on Wednesday.

    The data said that 551 of the injuries were considered critical, 7024 moderate, 8616 minor and 365 were unclassified.

    Among the injuries, 6846 were from live bullets, 865 from rubber-coated steel bullets, 2426 suffocation from tear-gas, 6419 from shrapnel and other injuries.

    The data confirmed 1567 were injuries in the head and neck, 761 in the chest and back, 654 in the abdomen and pelvis, 2322 in the upper limbs, 7941 in the lower limbs, 371 various parts, and 2922 others.

    It also recorded 136 amputations, including 122 in the lower limbs and 14 upper limbs.

    #marcheduretour #bilan

  • » Palestinian Succumbs to Wounds Incurred during Land Day Protests
    April 4, 2019 6:05 AM - IMEMC News
    https://imemc.org/article/palestinian-succumbs-to-wounds-incurred-during-land-day-protests

    A Palestinian youth who was shot and critically injured by Israeli forces, during Land Day protests in the besieged Gaza Strip, succumbed to his wounds, late Tuesday.

    The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed that Fares Youssef Abu Hajras , 26, from Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, succumbed to his wounds on Tuesday evening.

    Abu Hajras is the fifth Palestinian to be killed by Israeli forces during protests along the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip, last Saturday, in commemoration of the 43rd anniversary of Land Day and the 1st anniversary of “The Great March of Return.”

    The ministry confirmed that, with Abu Hajras’ death, the total number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of “The Great March of Return” is 271, while 16,556 others were injured.

    Palestinian Dies From Serious Wounds Suffered Saturday
    April 3, 2019 1:01 AM
    https://imemc.org/article/palestinian-dies-from-serious-wounds-suffered-saturday

    The Health Ministry said the Palestinian, Fares Abu Hajras , 26, was shot with a live round in the abdomen, and remained in a critical condition until he succumbed to his wounds.

    Hajras was shot, Saturday, east of Khuza’a town, east of Khan Younis, while the Palestinians were marking the first anniversary of the Great Return March, and the 43rd anniversary of Palestinian Land Day.

    #Palestine_assassinée #marcheduretour

  • Palestinian succumbs to wounds sustained in Gaza night protests
    March 30, 2019 8:43 A.M.
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=783039

    GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A 20-year-old Palestinian succumbed to his wounds, on Saturday morning, that he had sustained during Friday night protests, also known as “Night Confusion,” east of Gaza City in the central besieged Gaza Strip.

    The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed, in a statement, that Muhammad Jihad Saad, 20, was injured in the head with bullet shrapnel, and transferred to the al-Shifa Hospital for medical treatment, where he was pronounced dead on Saturday morning.

    At least 11 Palestinians were injured alongside the eastern border fence of the Gaza Strip during “Night Confusion” protests.

    For several weeks, hundreds of Palestinian protesters, have been organizing, as well as participating in night protests, during which they set tires on fire and chant slogans through loud speakers, while marching towards the border with Israel. These protesters are also known as the “Night Confusion” unit.

    #Palestine_assassinée #Night_Confusion

  • Palestinian youth killed by Israeli forces near Bethlehem
    March 21, 2019 11:15 A.M.
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=782937

    BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A 22-year-old Palestinian succumbed to wounds he had sustained after Israeli forces opened heavy fire towards a vehicle that he was riding in, near the al-Nashash checkpoint in the southern occupied West Bank district of Bethlehem, on late Wednesday.

    The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that Ahmad Jamal Mahmoud Munasra, 22, a resident from Wadi Fukin village, in the Bethlehem district, was shot with Israeli live fire in the chest, shoulder, and hand.

    The ministry said that Munasra was transferred to the Beit Jala Governmental Hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds.

    The ministry mentioned that another Palestinian was shot and injured in the stomach.

    #Palestine_assassinée

    • Gideon Levy // Even for the Wild West Bank, This Is a Shocking Story

      A young Palestinian’s attempt to help a stranger shot by Israeli troops costs him his life
      Gideon Levy and Alex Levac Mar 28, 2019
      https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-even-for-the-wild-west-bank-this-is-a-shocking-story-1.7066087

      Jamal, Ahmad Manasra’s father. A mourning poster for Ahmad is in the background. Credit : Alex Levac

      It was appallingly cold, rainy and foggy on Monday of this week at the southern entrance to Bethlehem. A group of young people stood on the side of the road, gazing at something. Gloomy and toughened, they formed a circle around the concrete cube in which are sunken the spikes of a large billboard – an ad for Kia cars that stretches across the road. They were looking for signs of blood, as though they were volunteers in Zaka, the Israeli emergency response organization. They were looking for bloodstains of their friend, who was killed there five days earlier. Behind the concrete cube they found what they were looking for, a large bloodstain, now congealed. The stain held fast despite the heavy rain, as though refusing to be washed away, determined to remain there, a silent monument.

      This is where their friend tried, in his last moments, to find protection from the soldiers who were shooting at him, probably from the armored concrete tower that looms over the intersection a few dozen meters away. It was to here that he fled, already wounded, attempting to take cover behind the concrete cube. But it was too late. His fate was sealed by the soldiers. Six bullets slashed into his body and killed him. He collapsed and died next to the concrete cube by the side of the road.

      Even in a situation in which anything is possible, this is an unbelievable story. It’s 9 P.M. Wednesday March 20. A family is returning from an outing. Their car breaks down. The father of the family, Ala Raida, 38, from the village of Nahalin, who is legally employed paving roads in Israel, steps out of his Volkswagen Golf to see what has happened. His wife, Maisa, 34, and their two daughters, Sirin, 8, and Lin, 5, wait in the car. Suddenly the mother hears a single shot and sees her husband lean back onto the car. Emerging from the car, she discovers to her astonishment that he’s wounded in the stomach. She shouts hysterically for help, the girls in the car are crying and screaming.

      Another car, a Kia Sportage, arrives at the intersection. Its occupants are four young people from the nearby village of Wadi Fukin. They’re on the way home from the wedding of their friend Mahmoud Lahruv, held that evening in the Hall of Dreams in Bethlehem. At the sight of the woman next to the traffic light appealing for help, they stop the car and get out to see what they can do. Three of them quickly carry the wounded man to their car and rush him to the nearest hospital, Al-Yamamah, in the town of Al-Khader. The fourth young man, Ahmad Manasra, 23, stays behind to calm the woman and the frightened girls. Manasra tries to start the stalled car in order to move it away from the dangerous intersection, but the vehicle doesn’t respond. He then gets back out of the car. The soldiers start firing at him. He tries to get to the concrete cube but is struck by the bullets as he runs. Three rounds hit him in the back and chest, the others slam into his lower body. He dies on the spot.

      The army says that stones were thrown. All the eyewitnesses deny that outright. Nor is it clear what the target of the stones might have been. The armored concrete tower? And even if stones were thrown at cars heading for the settlement of Efrat, is that a reason to open fire with live ammunition on a driver whose car broke down, with his wife and young daughters on board? Or on a young man who tried to get the car moving and to calm the mother and her daughters? Shooting with no restraint? With no pity? With no law?

      We visit the skeleton of an unfinished apartment on the second floor of a house in Wadi Fukin. It’s an impoverished West Bank village just over the Green Line, whose residents fled in 1949 and were allowed to return in 1972, and which is now imprisoned between the giant ultra-Orthodox settlement of Betar Ilit and the town of Tzur Hadassah, which is just inside the Green Line. A wood stove tries to rebuff the bitter cold in the broad space between the unplastered walls and the untiled floor. A grim-looking group of men are sitting around the fire, trying to warm themselves. They are the mourners for Manasra; this was going to be his apartment one day, when he got married. That will never happen now.

      Only the memorial posters remain in the unbuilt space. A relative and fellow villager, Adel Atiyah, an ambassador in the Palestinian delegation to the European Union, calls from Brussels to offer his shocked condolences. One of the mourners, Fahmi Manasra, lives in Toronto and is here on a visit to his native land. The atmosphere is dark and pained.

      The bereaved father, Jamal, 50, is resting in his apartment on the ground floor. When he comes upstairs, it’s clear he’s a person deeply immersed in his grief though impressive in his restraint. He’s a tiler who works in Israel with a permit. He last saw his son as he drove along the main street in Bethlehem as his son was going to his friend’s wedding. Jamal was driving his wife, Wafa, home from another wedding. That was about two hours before Ahmad was killed. In the last two days of his life they worked together, Jamal and his son, in the family vineyard, clearing away cuttings and spraying. Now he wistfully remembers those precious moments. Ahmad asked to borrow his father’s car to drive to the wedding, but Jamal needed it to visit the doctor, and Ahmad joined the group in Wahib Manasra’s SUV.

      Wahib Manasra, who witnessed the gunfire. Credit: Alex Levac

      Quiet prevails in the shell of the unfinished apartment. Someone says that Manasra was already planning the layout of his future home – the living room would be here, the kitchen there. Maisa Raida, the wife of the wounded driver, is at her husband’s bedside at Hadassah Medical Center, Ein Karem, Jerusalem, where he’s recovering from his severe stomach wound. He was brought there from Al-Khader because of the seriousness of his condition. Major damage was done to internal organs in his abdomen and he needed complicated surgery, but he seems to be on the mend.

      Maisa told a local field investigator from a human rights group that at first she didn’t realize that her husband was wounded. Only after she stepped out of the car did she see that he was leaning on the vehicle because of the wound. She yelled for help, and after the young men stopped and took her husband to the hospital, she got back into the car with Manasra, whom she didn’t know. While they were in the car with her daughters, and he was trying get it started, she heard another burst of gunfire aimed at their car from the side, but which didn’t hit them.

      She had no idea that Manasra was shot and killed when he got out of the car, moments later. She stayed inside, trying to calm the girls. It wasn’t until she called her father and her brother-in-law and they arrived and took her to Al-Yamamah Hospital that she heard that someone had been killed. Appalled, she thought they meant her husband but was told that the dead person had been taken to Al-Hussein Hospital in Beit Jala.

      Eventually, she realized that the man who was killed was the same young man who tried to help her and her daughters; he was dead on arrival. Before Maisa and her daughters were taken from the scene, an officer and soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces came to the stalled car and tried to calm them.

      Manasra was dead by then, sprawled next to the concrete cube. He was a Real Madrid fan and liked cars. Until recently he worked in the settlement of Hadar Betar, inside Betar Ilit. His little brother, 8-year-old Abdel Rahman, wanders among the mourners in a daze.

      After Jamal Manasra returned home, his phone began ringing nonstop. He decided not to answer. He says he was afraid to answer, he had forebodings from God. He and his wife drove to the hospital in Beit Jala. He has no rational explanation for why they went to the hospital. From God. “I was the last to know,” he says in Hebrew. At the hospital, he was asked whether he was Ahmad’s father. Then he understood. He and his wife have two more sons and a daughter. Ahmad was their firstborn.

      We asked the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit a number of questions. Why did the soldiers shoot Ala Raida and Ahmad Manasra with live ammunition? Why did they go on shooting at Manasra even after he tried to flee? Did the soldiers fire from the armored watchtower? Do the security cameras show that stones were indeed thrown? Were the soldiers in mortal danger?

      This was the IDF’s response to all these questions: “On March 21, a debriefing was held headed by the commander of the Judea and Samaria Division, Brig. Gen. Eran Niv, and the commander of the Etzion territorial brigade, Col. David Shapira, in the area of the event that took place on Thursday [actually, it was a Wednesday] at the Efrat junction and at the entrance to Bethlehem. From the debriefing it emerges that an IDF fighter who was on guard at a military position near the intersection spotted a suspect who was throwing stones at vehicles in the area and carried out the procedure for arresting a suspect, which ended in shooting. As a result of the shooting, the suspect was killed and another Palestinian was wounded.

      T he West Bank settlement of Betar Ilit is seen from the rooftop of Wadi Fukin, a Palestinian village. Credit : \ Alex Levac

      “The possibility is being examined that there was friction between Palestinians, which included stone-throwing.

      “The inquiry into the event continues, parallel to the opening of an investigation by the Military Police.”

      After the group of young people found what they were looking for – bloodstains of their friend, Ahmad – they reconstructed for us the events of that horrific evening. It was important for them to talk to an Israeli journalist. They’re the three who came out alive from the drive home after the wedding. One of them, Ahmad Manasra – he has the same name as the young man who was killed – wouldn’t get out of the car when we were there. He’s still traumatized. Wahib Manasra, the driver of the SUV, showed us where the stalled VW had been, and where they stopped when they saw a woman shouting for help.

      Soldiers and security cameras viewed us even now, from the watchtower, which is no more than 30 meters from the site. Wahib says that if there was stone-throwing, or if they had noticed soldiers, they wouldn’t have stopped and gotten out of the car. Raida, the wounded man, kept mumbling, “My daughters, my daughters,” when they approached him. He leaned on them and they put him in their car. By the time they reached the gas station down the road, he had lost consciousness. Before that, he again mumbled, “My daughters.”

      Wahib and the other Ahmad, the one who was alive, returned quickly from the hospital, which is just a few minutes from the site. But they could no longer get close to the scene, as a great many cars were congregated there. They got out of the car and proceeded on foot. A Palestinian ambulance went by. Looking through the window, Wahib saw to his horror his friend, Ahmad Manasra, whom they had left on the road with the woman and her girls, lying inside. He saw at once that Ahmad was dead.

    • Israeli army seeks three months community service for soldier who killed innocent Palestinian
      Hagar Shezaf | Aug. 16, 2020 | 1:25 PM- Haaretz.com
      https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israeli-army-seeks-community-service-for-soldier-who-killed-innoce

      The Military Advocate General is to seek a sentence of three months’ community service for an Israeli soldier who shot and killed an innocent Palestinian, as part of a plea bargain signed with the solider.

      The 23-year-old victim, Ahmad Manasra, was helping a man who had been shot by the same soldier and seriously wounded. The soldier who killed Manasra was charged with negligent homicide, but was not charged for wounding the other man, although the first shooting is mentioned in the indictment.

      According to an eyewitness, the soldier fired six bullets at Manasra.

      The soldier has since been released from the Israel Defense Forces. The army did not respond to Haaretz’s query as to whether the soldier had continued in his combat role after the shooting.

      The plea bargain, which states that the soldier will be given a three-month prison sentence that he will serve as community service, will be brought before the military court in Jaffa on Monday. The deal also states that the soldier will be given a suspended sentence and will be demoted to the rank of private.

      This is the first time an indictment has been served against a soldier following the killing of a Palestinian since the case of Elor Azaria, who shot and killed a wounded and incapacitated assailant in Hebron in 2016.

      According to the July indictment, in March of 2019 Alaa Raayda, the 38-year-old Palestinian who was shot in the stomach and seriously wounded, was driving his car together with his wife and two daughters when another car crashed into them at a junction near the village of El-Hadar in the southern West Bank. The other car fled the scene, and Raayda left his vehicle and waved his hands at the other car. The indictment states that the solider thought that Raayda was throwing stones at Israeli vehicles and proceeded to shout warnings and fire into the air before shooting at him.

      However, in Raayda’s affidavit, he states that he was shot outside his vehicle without warning, which is an infraction of the rules of engagement.

      The indictment then states that Manasra came to Raayda’s aid, with three friends who had been on their way home with him after a wedding in Bethlehem. The three helped evacuate the wounded man to the hospital, while Manasra remained at the scene with Raayda’s wife and daughters to help them start their car. According to the indictment, Manasra was shot when he exited the car, and then shot again when he tried to flee the scene.

      The indictment also states that the soldier started shooting when he “mistakenly thought" that Manasra “was the stone-thrower he has seen earlier… although in fact the man who was killed had not thrown stones.”

      In response to the plea bargain, Manasra’s father, Jamal, told Haaretz: “In our religion it says you have to help everyone. Look what happened to my son when he tried to help – they shot him dead. It doesn’t matter how much I talked to Israeli television and newspapers, nothing helped.”

      Attorney Shlomo Lecker, who is representing the families of Raayda and Manasra, asked to appeal the plea bargain when it was issued last month. To this end, he asked for a letter summarizing the investigation, the reason the soldier had not been charged for shooting and wounding Raayda, and that the case had been closed. However, Lecker said the prosecutor in the case and the head of litigation, Major Matan Forsht, refused to give him the document. On Thursday, Lecker submitted his appeal against the plea bargain based on the facts in the indictment, but his request to postpone the hearing until after a decision on his petition was rejected.

      According to Lecker: “The higher echelons of the army convey a message to soldiers in the occupied territories that if they shoot Palestinians for no reason, killing and wounding them, the punishment will be three months of raking leaves” at the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv.

      The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that on the day of the shooting, “a warning had been received shortly before the shooting of a possible terror attack in the area,” adding that “the indictment was filed in the context of a plea bargain after a hearing. In the framework of the plea bargain the soldier is expected to take responsibility and admit to the facts of the indictment before the court."

      The plea agreement is subject to the approval of the military court and will be presented to it in the near future. In coming to a decision regarding the charges and the sentence, complex evidentiary and legal elements were taken into consideration, as well as the clear operational circumstances of the event, and the willingness of the soldier to take responsibility, the IDF said.

      The statement said that “contrary to the claims of the representative of the families of the killed and wounded men,” there has been an ongoing dialogue with him for a long time … thus the representative was informed of the negotiations and he was given the opportunity to respond. He also received a copy of the indictment and it was explained that he could convey any information he saw fit with regard to his clients, which would be brought before the military court when the plea bargain was presented. The hearing was also put off for a week at the request of the parties, which was filed at [Lecker’s] request.”

  • Palestinian youth shot, killed by Israeli forces near Jericho
    March 10, 2019 10:29 A.M.
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=782802

    JERICHO (Ma’an) — A 22-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces, on predawn Sunday, while passing an Israeli checkpoint on road 90, near the occupied West Bank city of Jericho.

    The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the Palestinian as Salameh Salah Kaabneh , 22, was shot and killed as he attempted to pass an Israeli checkpoint near Jericho City.

    According to Hebrew-language news outlets, Israeli forces opened fire towards Kaabneh after he allegedly refused to pullover the vehicle at the checkpoint and attempted to pass through.

    Sources added that another two Palestinian youths were present in the vehicle with Kaabneh, however, fled the scene immediately.

    No injuries were reported among Israeli soldiers.

    #Palestine_assassinée

  • Palestinian teen succumbs to wounds sustained in Gaza protests
    Feb. 13, 2019 11:02 A.M. (Updated: Feb. 13, 2019 2:58 P.M.)
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=782536

    GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A Palestinian teen succumbed, late Tuesday, to wounds he had sustained by Israeli forces last Friday during protests at the eastern borders of the al-Breij refugee camp in the central besieged Gaza Strip.

    Spokesperson of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qidra, confirmed that 17-year-old Hasan Nabil Nofal , who was hit with a tear-gas bomb in the head, died of his injury on Tuesday evening.

    Nofal had been receiving treatment at the al-Shifa Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

    According to the ministry’s latest numbers, 266 Palestinians, including more than 45 children, were killed by Israeli forces during the protests along the Gaza border.

    #Palestine_assassinée #marcheduretour

  • UPDATE: Palestinian teen shot dead by Israeli forces for alleged stab attempt
    Jan. 30, 2019 11:13 A.M. (Updated: Jan. 30, 2019 2:39 P.M.)
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=782391

    BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli security forces shot and killed a Palestinian teen at the al-Zaayim checkpoint, on a road that leads to the entrance of the illegal Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, east of occupied Jerusalem, on Wednesday morning.

    Hebrew-language news sites reported that Israeli soldiers deployed at the checkpoint opened fire at a Palestinian teen who was allegedly wielding a knife and running towards them.

    The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the killed teen as 16-year-old Samah Zuheir Mubarak , a resident from Ramallah City.

    An Israeli police spokesperson said in a statement that the Palestinian teen attempted to stab one of the Israeli soldiers situated at the checkpoint, when security forces intervened and opened fire.

    The teen was critically injured, however, succumbed to her injuries within a few minutes.

    No injuries were reported among Israelis.

    #Palestine_assassinée

    • Soldiers Kill A Palestinian Teenage Girl Near Jerusalem
      January 31, 2019 1:04 AM
      http://imemc.org/article/soldiers-kill-a-palestinian-teenage-girl-near-jerusalem

      Israeli soldiers shot and killed, Wednesday, a Palestinian teenage girl, only 16 years of age, at the Zaim military roadblock, east of occupied Jerusalem, reportedly after she “attempted to stab them.”

      The Israeli Police claimed that the child, Samah Zoheir Mubarak, 16, was carrying her schoolbag when she “pulled a knife and attempted to stab the soldiers,” when the officers fired several live rounds at her and killed her.

      Furthermore, the police later abducted Samah’s father, and moved him to the al-Maskobiyya interrogation center in Jerusalem.

      Media sources said the Samah was wearing an Islamic Niqab, and that the soldiers ordered her to uncover her face, but she refused before the soldiers shot and killed her, alleging that she attempted to stab them.

      She was walking in an area of the military roadblock only designated for vehicles and not pedestrians when she was fatally shot from a close range. The Border Police examined her schoolbag, which was filled with books, and school stationary.

      Samah was left bleeding on the ground and died from her wounds. She is from Nusseirat in Gaza, but her family moved to Umm ash-Sharayet neighborhood in the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and was an eleven-grade school student.

      It is worth mentioning that Samah has just returned from Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, a few days ago, after performing pilgrimage.

    • 36 Days After Killing Her, Israeli Army Transfer Corpse Of Child To Her Family
      March 9, 2019 9:37 AM
      http://imemc.org/article/36-days-after-killing-her-israeli-army-transfer-corpse-of-child-to-her-family

      The Israeli Authorities handed, late of Friday evening, the corpse of a Palestinian child to her family, 36 days after killing her and holding her body.

      Media sources in Ramallah said the soldiers delivered the corpse of Samah Zoheir Mubarak, 16, to the Palestinian Red Crescent, before it was sent to a local hospital.

      Her body was transferred from the Israeli side to the Palestinians at the Ofar military roadblock, west of Ramallah, in central West Bank.

      It is worth mentioning that Mubarak was killed by Israeli soldiers, on January 30 2019, after the soldiers claimed that she attempted to stab them.

  • Child Inmates of South Korea’s Immigration Jail

    Helene* had a challenge that no mother would want. She, with her husband, was a refugee in a foreign land with a foreign language, trying despite all odds to raise her children as best she could. If this weren’t enough of a challenge, Helene was in jail, locked up in a 10-person cell with others she didn’t know. The only time she could leave her cell was for a 30-minute exercise time each day. But her task was more daunting still. Her children were locked up with her.

    Helene’s jail was an immigration detention facility, and her crime was not having enough money to begin refugee applicant proceedings. She spent 23 days in that cell with her two sons. Her oldest, Emerson, was three years and eight months old, and her youngest, Aaron, was only 13 months old. She watched their mental health and physical health slowly deteriorate while her pleadings for help fell on deaf ears.

    *

    In June, American news media were shocked by the revelation that migrant children, who were only guilty of not possessing legal migrant status, were being held in large-scale detention facilities. This was something new—a part of President Donald Trump’s ‘tough on immigration’ stance.

    In South Korea, detaining children simply due to their migration status, or the migration status of their parents, is standard practice.

    Children make up a very small percentage of the total picture of unregistered migrants in South Korea. However, as the nation’s foreign population reaches 2 million and beyond, that small percentage becomes a large number in real terms. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) doesn’t keep statistics on the exact number of unregistered child migrants in the country.

    Most unregistered child migrants in South Korea fall into one of two broad categories: teenagers who come alone, and infants or toddlers brought by their parents or born to migrants already living in the country. In both cases, the majority of children (or their parents) come from other parts of Asia seeking work in the industrial sector.

    These children often end up in detention facilities when immigration authorities carry out routine crackdowns targeting workplaces in industrial districts or transportation routes workers use to get to these districts. Authorities, by policy, detain any unregistered migrant who is 14 or older. Younger children are technically exempt from detention orders, but parents are often caught in crackdowns while with their children. The parents can’t leave their children on the street to fend for themselves, and so, left with no other options, they choose to bring their children with them into the detention facilities.

    Helene’s case was different. She and her husband brought their sons to South Korea with them when they fled religious persecution in their home country of Liberia. The South Korean government rejected their refugee applications, and the family only had enough money to begin a legal challenge for one person. Emerson and Aaron, along with Helene, became unregistered migrants.

    How they were detained would be comical if their case were not so tragic. After a trip to a hospital, the family was trying to board a subway to return home. Their stroller could not fit through the turnstiles, and after a brief altercation an upset station manager called the police. The police asked to see the family’s papers, but only Helene’s husband had legal status. The police were obligated to arrest Helene due to her unregistered status and turn her over to immigration authorities. Because her children were very young – the youngest was still breastfeeding – she had no viable option but to bring her children with her.

    *

    Helene and her sons were sent to an immigration detention facility in Hwaseong, some 60 kilometers southwest of Seoul. Inside and out, the facility is indistinguishable from a prison. Detainees wear blue jumpsuits with the ironic Korean phrase “protected foreigner” printed in large white letters on the back. They live in 10-person cells with cement walls and steel bars at the front. Each cell has a small common area up front with tables, a sleeping area in the middle, and a bathroom at the back.

    For detainees, these cells become the entirety of their existence until they are released. Food is delivered through a gap in the bars, and the only opportunity to leave the cell is for a brief 30-minute exercise period each day.

    These facilities were never intended to house children, and authorities make little to no effort to accommodate them. Young children have to live in a cell with a parent and as many as eight other adults, all unknown to the child. The detention center doesn’t provide access to pediatricians, child appropriate play and rest time, or even food suitable for young children.

    Government policy states that education is provided only for children detained for more than 30 days. Children have no other children to interact with, and no space to play or explore. During daytime, when the sleeping mats are rolled up and stored, the sleeping area becomes a large open space where children could play. According to Helene, whenever her sons entered that area guards would shout at them to come back to the common area at the front of the cell.

    Emerson’s fear of the guards’ reprimand grew to the point that he refused to use the toilets at the back of the cell because that would mean crossing the sleeping area, instead choosing to soil himself. Even after the family was eventually released, Emerson’s psychological trauma and his refusal to use bathrooms remained.

    The stress and anxiety of being locked in a prison cell naturally takes a severe toll on children’s wellbeing. Like the adults they’re detained with, they don’t know what will happen to them or when they will be released. Unlike the adults, they don’t understand why they are in a prison cell to begin with. Without any way to alleviate the situation, the stress and anxiety they feel turn into mental disorders. These conditions can include depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and even increased rates of suicide and self-harm.

    Kim Jong Chul has seen many examples of these symptoms firsthand. Kim is a lawyer with APIL, a public interest law firm, and he’s worked to secure the release of many migrant children held in detention.

    In one such case, May, a 5-year-old migrant from China, spent 20 days in a detention facility with her mother. Over those 20 days, May’s extreme anxiety produced insomnia, a high fever, swollen lips and more. Despite this, her guards never brought a doctor to examine her.

    For most migrants in immigration custody, children included, their release comes only when they are deported. In 2016, authorities held 29,926 migrants in detention, and 96 percent of them were deported. The whole deportation process, from arrest to boarding a plane, typically takes ten days.

    But for children, ten days in detention are enough to develop severe stress and anxiety. Special cases, including refugee applications or a migrant laborer with unpaid wages, can take much longer to process. South Korea’s immigration law doesn’t set an upper limit on migrant detention, and there are cases of migrants held for more than a year. The law also doesn’t require regular judicial review or in-person checks from a case worker at any point in the process. According to Kim from APIL, the longest child detention in recent years was 141 days.

    Existing children’s welfare services would benefit migrant children, but the MOJ opposes any such idea. In the view of the MOJ and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, welfare facilities should be reserved only for citizens and foreigners with legal status.

    Children between the ages of 14 and 18 are yet another matter. The MOJ’s stance is that most of these children are physically similar to adults, highly likely to commit crimes and in general a danger to society, and they need to be detained.

    Kim argues that it’s hard to interpret the MOJ’s stance that migrant teenagers are all potential criminals as anything other than institutional racism. South Korean citizens who are under 18 are considered minors and treated differently in the eyes of the law.

    International treaties ban detaining children, including teenagers, due to migration status, and the South Korean government has signed and ratified each of the UN treaties that relate to children’s rights. It means that under the country’s constitution, the treaties have the same power as domestic law. And yet abuses persist.

    Lawmaker Keum Tae-seob from the ruling Minjoo Party—often called one of the most progressive members of the National Assembly— is fighting this reality. He has proposed a revision to the current immigration law that would ban detention of migrant children, but it has met opposition from the MOJ. Ironically, the ministry argues that because South Korea has signed the relevant international treaties, there is no need to pass a separate domestic law that would ban such detention. This is despite the fact that immigration authorities, who belong to the MOJ, have detained over 200 children over the past 3 years, including many under the age of 14.

    To rally support for a ban on detaining migrant children, APIL and World Vision Korea launched an awareness campaign in 2016, complete with a slick website, emotional videos and a petition. As of this writing, the petition has just under 9,000 signatures, and APIL is hoping to reach 10,000.
    Back in June of last year, another petition received significant media attention. A group of Yemeni refugee applicants—fewer than 600—arrived on the island of Jeju, and in response a citizen’s petition against accepting refugees on the office of the president’s website garnered over 714,000 signatures. A collection of civic groups even organized an anti-refugee rally in Seoul that same month.

    APIL’s campaign has been underway for more than two years, but the recent reaction to Yemeni refugees in Jeju has unveiled how difficult it will be change the government’s position on asylum seekers. A Human Rights Watch report released on Thursday also minced no words in critiquing the government policies: “even though [South Korean president] Moon Jae-in is a former human rights lawyer,” he “did little to defend the rights of women, refugees, and LGBT persons in South Korea.”

    For now, Keum’s bill is still sitting in committee, pending the next round of reviews. Helene’s family has been in the UK since her husband’s refugee status lawsuit failed.

    *Helene is a pseudonym to protect the identity of her and her family.

    https://www.koreaexpose.com/child-migrant-inmates-south-korea-immigration-jail-hwaseong
    #enfants #enfance #mineurs #rétention #détention_administrative #Corée_du_Sud #migrations #sans-papiers #réfugiés #asile

  • “These displaced people live in fear of being attacked at any time”

    After increased insecurity in the Tillabéry region of Niger caused large numbers of people to flee their homes, MSF carried out an emergency response in early January 2019.

    MSF deputy head of mission Boulama Elhadji Gori describes the situation.
    Why did MSF carry out an emergency response in the rural area of #Dessa in the #Tillabéry region last week?

    A state of emergency was declared recently in the department of Tillabéry, in the region of the same name. Like many other departments in the region, Tillabéry faces many security challenges.

    The people living in this border area between Mali and Niger find themselves trapped in violence that comes from two directions: on one side, the community conflict; on the other, the activities of non-state armed groups.

    After receiving information about people being displaced in the region, an MSF team visited the immediate area, where they saw first-hand the precarious situation in which the displaced people were living.

    We are talking about a total of 1,287 people at three sites within a five-kilometre radius. These people were already vulnerable, having been displaced several times already.

    What were people’s main needs?

    These people had been forced to leave their homes, their fields and often their animals in order to escape the violence orchestrated by armed groups and other opportunists. Because of the hostilities in the area, basic services such as schools and health centres have been closed.

    The displaced people lack shelter, food, healthcare and protection. They are also drinking untreated river water, which brings the risk of various diseases.

    Given the urgency of their needs, and in the absence of other humanitarian organisations, the MSF team decided to launch a response.
    What did MSF’s response involve?

    Our medical team conducted 170 medical consultations, mainly for respiratory infections, malaria, dermatitis and severe malnutrition, as well as 20 antenatal consultations.

    We also assessed the nutritional status of children and vaccinated nearly 130 children against measles. Five mental health promotion sessions were organised for approximately 160 people.

    Several patients were referred to the health centre for follow-up care, which MSF was also involved in. Our team distributed essential relief items to 220 families, including blankets, cooking utensils, washing kits, mosquito nets and jerry cans.

    To make sure that people have safe drinking water, the teams distributed 4,000 water purification tablets, and ran sessions on how to use them.

    Who are the displaced people?

    “Most of the people who fled the violence are women, children and the elderly, of different ethnicities, living in the border area between Mali and Niger. There are also a number of young people who reject violence and want to settle in places that are considered more secure.

    The displaced include refugees from Mali and internally displaced people from Niger.

    The majority of the displaced people live in fear of being attacked at any time, because of what they have already experienced – their villages being attacked, assassinations, their markets burned down, their animals stolen, and living with the threat of death.

    Other than this emergency response, what is MSF doing in Tillabéry region?

    MSF has been working in Niger’s Bani-Bangou department, near the border with Mali, since November 2018. Long before the state of emergency was declared, schools, health centres and other social infrastructure were not functioning because of the violence.

    MSF is working in the area to ensure access to free quality medical care for displaced people and local communities. We support two health centres and five health posts.

    We are also monitoring the situation in other areas which could potentially receive newly displaced people, or where there are needs not covered by other organisations, particularly in the area around Innates. MSF also supports medical services, from health posts to hospitals, in Bani-Bangou and Ouallam.

    Our teams work in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. In December 2018, we treated 4,599 people, provided 452 antenatal consultations and assisted 22 births. In addition, 588 children under the age of two received routine immunisations, and 34 women of childbearing age were vaccinated against tetanus. We also referred to hospital seven patients in need of emergency treatment.
    What are people’s main needs in this region? And what are the challenges of assisting them?

    People in this region need food, essential relief items, physical and mental healthcare, clean water, good sanitation and hygiene, and protection.

    The main challenge we face is the climate of insecurity in the region, which can make it difficult to reach the people who need assistance.

    https://www.msf.org/displaced-people-tillabery-niger-living-fear
    #IDPs #déplacés_internes #réfugiés_maliens #Mali #Niger #migrations #réfugiés

  • Al-Qassam fighter succumbs to wounds sustained in accident
    Jan. 17, 2019 11:01 A.M. (Updated : Jan. 17, 2019 11:01 A.M.)
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=782280

    GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A member of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, succumbed on Thursday morning to wounds he had sustained earlier in a gun accident.

    Al-Qassam confirmed in a statement that fighter, Ahmad Samih al-Fayumi , 20, succumbed to wounds he had sustained in a gun accident during a mission.

    ““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““

    Al-Qassam fighter dies of wounds sustained in accident
    Jan. 16, 2019 1:32 P.M. (Updated : Jan. 17, 2019 11:01 A.M.)
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=782276

    GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A member of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, succumbed on Wednesday to wounds he had sustained in an accidental explosion.

    Al-Qassam said in a statement that fighter Hamdi Abed al-Karim Hijazi succumbed to wounds he had sustained last week.

    The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed Hijazi’s death.

    #résistancearmée
    #Palestine_assassinée

  • Palestinian teen killed, 40 others injured in Gaza protests
    Dec. 21, 2018 4:43 P.M. (Updated: Dec. 21, 2018 5:28 P.M.)
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=782146

    GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A Palestinian teen was shot and killed by Israeli forces, while at least 40 others sustained injuries with Israeli live fire, and dozens suffered tear-gas inhalation as Israeli forces suppressed the 39th Friday of the return marches across the eastern borders of the besieged Gaza Strip.

    The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that Muhammad Muin al-Jahjouh ,16, was shot and killed by Israeli forces at the eastern borders of Gaza, while 40 Palestinians were injured with Israeli bullets.

    The ministry added that a journalist and a paramedic were among those injured.

    Palestinian protesters had gathered at the eastern borders of Gaza.

    Israeli forces opened live fire and tear-gas bombs directly targeting Palestinian protesters gathered at the eastern borders of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, and in Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip. (...)

    #Palestine_assassinée

  • Palestinian teen shot, killed by Israeli forces in al-Bireh
    Dec. 14, 2018 5:39 P.M. (Updated: Dec. 14, 2018 5:55 P.M.)
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=782092

    RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — A 16-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces during clashes that erupted in the al-Jalazun refugee camp north of al-Bireh in the central occupied West Bank, on Friday evening.

    The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that a Palestinian from the al-Jalazun refugee camp arrived to the Palestine Medical Center in a critical condition.

    Sources added that the teen was injured with live bullets in the abdomen.

    The ministry identified the killed teen as Mahmoud Youssef Nakhleh.

    Israeli forces opened fire at the teen from a very close range; from less than 10 meters away.

    Israeli soldiers attempted to detain Nakhleh afterwards, however, Palestinian Red Crescent paramedics were able to take him and transfer him to the Palestine Medical Center after having to quarrel Israeli soldiers for more than 30 minutes.

    Nakhleh was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

    #Palestine_assassinée

    • After Shooting a Palestinian Teen, Israeli Troops Dragged Him Around – and Chased an Ambulance Away

      A Palestinian from the Jalazun refugee camp was shot in the back and died after soldiers kept him from receiving medical care
      Gideon Levy and Alex Levac Dec 20, 2018
      https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium--1.6765800

      What goes through the head of soldiers, young Israelis, after they shoot an unarmed Palestinian teenager in the back with live ammunition, prevent him from getting medical treatment, move him around, putting him on the ground and then picking him up again – and chase away an ambulance at gunpoint? For 15 minutes, the Israel Defense Forces soldiers carried the dying Mahmoud Nakhle , pulling him by his hands and feet, it’s not clear why or where, before allowing him to be evacuated. They had already shot him and wounded him badly. He was dying. Why not let the Palestinian ambulance that arrived at the site rush him to the hospital and possibly save his life? Nakhle died from a bullet in his liver and loss of blood. He was two weeks after his 18th birthday, the only son of parents who are descendants of refugees, and he lived in the Jalazun refugee camp adjacent to Ramallah, in the West Bank.

      Nakhle was killed last Friday, December 14.

      Getting to Jalazun took a long time this week; it was a long and stressful trip. Overnight, terror attacks and other sights of the intifada had returned simultaneously: innumerable surprise checkpoints, such as we hadn’t seen for years; long lines of Palestinian vehicles, forced to wait for hours; drivers emerging from their cars and waiting in desperation by the side of the road, anger and frustration etched on their faces; roads blocked arbitrarily, with people signaling each other as to which was open and which was closed; some cars making their way cross-country via boulder-strewn areas and dirt paths to bypass the roadblocks, until those options, too, were sealed off by the army. And also aggressive, edgy, frightened soldiers, carrying weapons that threatened just about anyone who made a move near them.

      Welcome back to the days of the intifada, welcome to a trip into the past: Even if only for a moment, the West Bank this week regressed 15 years, to the start of the millennium.

      The wind blows cold at the Jalazun camp. A throng of thousands of children and teenagers is streaming down the road, heading home from their schools run by UNRWA, the United Nations refugee agency. The two schools, one for boys and one for girls, are situated at the camp’s entrance, on both sides of the main Ramallah-Nablus road. We were here a year and a half ago, after IDF soldiers shot up a car stolen from Israel when it stopped outside the settlement of Beit El, spraying it with at least 10 rounds, and killing two of its passengers. About half a year ago, we returned to the camp to meet Mohammed Nakhle, the bereaved father of 16-year-old Jassem, one of those fatalities. The father cried through our entire meeting, even though this was a year after he had lost Jassem.

      Mahmoud Nakhle, who was killed last week, was a relative of Jassem’s.

      Last Friday, there was stone throwing in the valley between Jalazun’s boys’ school and the first houses of Beit El, across the way. The soldiers fired tear-gas canisters and rubber-coated bullets at the young Palestinians. Quite a few of the camp’s residents have been killed at this spot, which has become a main arena of the struggle against the large, veteran settlement that looms through every window in poverty-stricken, overcrowded Jalazun, situated below.

      The stone throwing had slowed down in the afternoon and had just about stopped when an IDF force, arriving in two vehicles, began chasing after the youths, who were now on their way back to the camp, at about 4 P.M. The latter numbered about 15 teens, aged 14 to 18. Suddenly the soldiers started shooting, using live ammunition – even as calm was apparently about to be restored. A video clip, one of several that captured the event, shows the soldiers walking along the road and firing into the air.

      The wail of an ambulance slashes the air now, as we stand at the site of the incident with Iyad Hadad, a field investigator for the Israeli human-rights organization B’Tselem, who collected testimony from eyewitnesses. Nakhle chose to return home by way of a dirt path that passes above the camp. The soldiers ran after him and one of them shot him once, in the lower back. Nakhle fell to the ground, bleeding.

      The occupant of the first-floor apartment in the closest building in Jalazun, just meters from the site of the incident, heard the shot, the groans and a call for help. She assumed someone had been wounded, but wasn’t sure where or who he was. From her window she saw a group of soldiers standing in a circle, though she couldn’t see the wounded person who lay on the ground between them. A second eyewitness saw one soldier nudge Nakhle with his foot, apparently to see if the teen was still alive. They then pulled up his shirt and pulled down his pants, apparently to check whether the stone-throwing youth was a dangerous, booby-trapped terrorist. As the video accounts show, he was left lying like that, exposed in his blue underwear. The woman from the apartment rushed out to summon help, but the soldiers fired toward her to drive her off. One bullet struck her husband’s car.

      The soldiers lifted Nakhle up and carried him a few dozen meters from where he’d fallen, laying him down at the side of the road. One of the eyewitnesses related that they carried him “like you haul a slaughtered sheep.” The video clip shows them carrying him not in the prescribed way for moving someone who is seriously wounded, but by his hands and his feet, his back sagging.

      Before the soldiers shot at the first eyewitness – whose identity is known to the B’Tselem investigator – to scare her off, she shouted at them to let the wounded person be and to allow him to be taken to hospital in an ambulance. “Leave him alone, do you want to kill him… give him aid.” She also shouted at the soldiers that she was his mother – apparently hoping that the lie would stir pity in them – but to no avail. In the video shot by her daughter on her cell phone, the woman sounds overwrought, gasping for breath as she cries out, “In God’s name, call an ambulance!”

      After five to seven minutes, the soldiers again lifted Nakhle, once more by his extremities, and carried him a few dozen meters more, in the direction of the main road, and again laid him by the roadside. A Palestinian ambulance that had arrived at the scene was chased off by the soldiers, who threatened the driver with their rifles. As far as is known, the soldiers did not give Nakhle any sort of medical aid. The woman from the house again shouted, now from her window: “In God’s name, let the ambulance take him away.” But still to no avail.

      It was only after a quarter of an hour, during which Nakhle continued to bleed, that the soldiers allowed an ambulance to be summoned. A video clip shows Nakhle raising one hand limply to the back of his neck, proof that he was still alive. Half-naked, he’s placed on a stretcher and put in the ambulance, which speeds off, its siren wailing, to the Government Hospital in Ramallah.

      The teen apparently breathed his last en route, arriving at the hospital with no pulse. Attempts were made to resuscitate him in the ER and to perform emergency surgery, but after half an hour, he was pronounced dead. Dr. Muayad Bader, a physician in the hospital, wrote on the death certificate that Mahmoud Nakhle died from loss of blood after a bullet entered his lower back, struck his liver and hit a main artery, damaging other internal organs.

      A group of children is now standing at the site where Nakhle fell, practicing stone throwing on the way back from school. They hurl the stones to the ground in a demonstrative fit of anger. In the mourning tent that was erected in the courtyard of the camp, adorned with huge posters of the deceased, the men sit, grim-faced, with the bereaved father, Yusuf Nakhle, 41, in the center. Disabled from birth, he is partially paralyzed in his left arm and leg. We asked him to tell us about Mahmoud’s life.

      “What life? He hadn’t yet lived his life, they robbed him of his life,” he replies softly. Mahmoud attended school until the 10th grade and then studied electrical engineering at a professional college in Qalandiyah. He completed his studies and afterward a year of apprenticeship, and was waiting to find a job as an electrician. His father was waiting for him to help provide for the family. Yusuf is a technician at a pharmaceuticals company in Bir Zeit, near Ramallah. He and his wife, Ismahan, 45, have two more daughters, aged 14 and 4. Mahmoud was their only son.

      In response to an inquiry, the IDF Spokesman’s Office gave Haaretz the following statement this week: “On December 14, 2018, there was a violent disturbance adjacent to Jalazun, during which dozens of Palestinians threw rocks at IDF soldiers. The soldiers responded with demonstration-dispersal measures.

      “During the disturbance, a Palestinian holding a suspicious object approached one of the soldiers. The soldier fired at him. Later, it was reported that the Palestinian had been killed. The Military Police have launched an investigation into the incident. Upon its completion, the findings will be transferred to the military advocate general’s office.”

      The spokesman’s office did not respond to a question regarding the denial of medical assistance to Mahmoud Nahle.

      Last Friday, the hours passed normally in the home of Nakhle family in the Jalazun camp. Breakfast, a shower; the son asks his father if he needs anything before going out around midday. Never to return. At 4:30, Yusuf’s brother called to inform him that his son had been wounded and was in the Government Hospital. By the time his father arrived, Mahmoud had been pronounced dead.

      “We are human beings and it is our right to live and to look after our children. We too have feelings, like all people,” says Rabah, Mahmoud’s uncle, the brother of his father. Yusuf has watched the video clips that document the shooting and the hauling of his dying son dozens of times, over and over. Ismahan can’t bring herself to look at them.

  • 4-year-old boy succumbs to wounds sustained in Gaza
    Dec. 12, 2018 10:35 A.M. (Updated : Dec. 12, 2018 1:00 P.M.)
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=782048

    GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A 4-year-old Palestinian child succumbed to his wounds, on Tuesday, that he had sustained as Israeli forces suppressed a peaceful protest, east of Khan Younis district, in the southern besieged Gaza Strip.

    Ashraf al-Qedra, the spokesperson of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, confirmed that 4-year-old Ahmad Abu Abed succumbed to wounds he had sustained last Friday as Israeli forces opened fire towards Palestinian protesters near the border security fence.
    Ahmad was hit by Israeli bullet shrapnel in the face, chest, and stomach, sustaining critical wounds.

    Thirty Palestinians were also wounded during the same protest.

    #Palestine_assassinée #marcheduretour

  • At least 40 Palestinians injured in Gaza protests
    Nov. 16, 2018 5:28 P.M.
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=781820

    GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — At least 40 Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces’ live fire during the 34th Friday of “The Great March of Return” protests alongside the eastern borders of the besieged Gaza Strip.

    Spokesperson of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qidra, confirmed that 40 injuries arrived to hospitals for treatment.

    Palestinian protesters had arrived at the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip to take part in protests of the 34th Friday of return and breaking the siege protests.

    Israeli soldiers deployed at the borders opened live fire at protesters in the return camp of eastern al-Breij refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip, and in return camps in eastern Rafah of the southern Gaza Strip.

    #Gaza #marcheduretour

  • Un Palestinien tué par des tirs israéliens à la frontière (ministère à Gaza)
    AFP / 14 novembre 2018 14h09
    https://www.romandie.com/news/Un-Palestinien-tu-par-des-tirs-isra-liens-la-fronti-re-minist-re-Gaza/971440.rom

    Gaza (Territoires palestiniens) - Un Palestinien a été tué mercredi dans le nord de la bande de Gaza par des tirs israéliens à la frontière, a annoncé le ministère de la Santé de l’enclave.

    Nawaf al-Aatar , 20 ans, a été tué alors qu’il pêchait les pieds dans l’eau près de la frontière, ont indiqué des sources de sécurité palestiniennes. Interrogée par l’AFP, l’armée israélienne ne s’est pas prononcée sur les faits dans un premier temps.

    #Palestine_assassinée

    • Gaza fisherman shot, killed by Israeli navy
      Nov. 14, 2018 4:57 P.M. (Updated : Nov. 14, 2018 4:57 P.M.)
      http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=781796

      GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A Palestinian fisherman was shot and killed by Israeli naval forces, on Wednesday evening, off the coast of the northern besieged Gaza Strip.

      Spokesperson of the Gaza Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Qidra, confirmed that one Palestinian fisherman was killed, identifying him as Nawwaf al-Attar , 20, from Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip.

      Al-Qidra added that al-Attar arrived dead to the Indonesian Hospital with an explosive bullet in his abdomen.

      Israeli naval forces had opened fire at Palestinian fishermen working at three nautical miles off the coast of the northern Gaza Strip, forcing them to head back to work at one nautical mile.

      Head of the Fishermen Committees in the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Zakaria Bakr, had confirmed earlier Wednesday, that the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture informed fishermen to resume work along the besieged Gaza Strip’s coast.

  • Violence escalates: 6 Palestinians killed, 20 injured in Israeli airstrikes
    Nov. 13, 2018 11:36 A.M. (Updated: Nov. 13, 2018 12:48 P.M.)
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=781772

    GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Six Palestinians were killed and at least 20 others were injured during a campaign of Israeli airstrikes from overnight Monday until predawn Tuesday across the northern besieged Gaza Strip.

    Medical sources in Gaza reported that six Palestinians were killed and 20 others were injured during continuous Israeli airstrikes over various parts of Gaza.

    The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza identified the six killed as Muhammad Zacharia al-Tatri, 27, Muhammad Zahdi Awda, 22, Mousa Iyad Ali Abed al-Aal, 22, Hamed Muhammad al-Nahal, 22, and Khaled Riad Ahmad Sultan, 26, and Musaab Hawas, 20.

    In addition, Mahmoud Abu Usba, 40, was killed after a residential building was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza towards the Ashkelon Regional Council, in southern Israel, on late Monday.

    Abu Usba was a Palestinian resident of Halhoul City, north of the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron, and was a worker in Israel.

    Hebrew-language news outlets reported that two Israeli women, who were present in the same residential building were reported to be in critical conditions, due to the hit.

    The sites additionally confirmed that some 550 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards the Israeli communities surrounding Gaza, which led to 70 Israelis injured and the destruction of several buildings in the communities.

    Israeli warplanes targeted and fired at over a hundred Hamas movement and Islamic Jihad movement sites, including an intelligence compound, which is located in the center of Gaza City near a school, a mosque and other diplomatic facilities, an Israeli army spokesperson confirmed.

    The entire complex itself includes a kindergarten and a warehouse, however, the Israeli army claimed that it is used for intelligence gathering, research and development.

    A Ma’an reporter said that Israeli warplanes had targeted and demolished three residential buildings, which were home to three Palestinian families, and another five commercial buildings, including a hotel, in Gaza City.

    Following the violent escalation overnight, Hamas’ military wing spokesperson said in a statement that Beer Sheva and Ashdod would be targeted next if “Israel persisted in its aggression.”

    The Jihad reiterated the statement by Hamas, saying Gaza factions have the capacity to continue their offensive.

    It is noteworthy that Israel is currently not working with the United Nations nor Egypt to reduce tensions.

    #Palestine_assassinée

    • Flambée des tensions à Gaza suite à une opération mortelle des forces israéliennes dans l’enclave
      MEE - 13 novembre 2018
      https://www.middleeasteye.net/fr/reportages/flamb-e-des-tensions-gaza-suite-une-op-ration-mortelle-des-forces-isr

      Des dizaines de frappes aériennes israéliennes sur la bande de Gaza ont tué six Palestiniens, tandis que des tirs de roquettes du Hamas ont tué un Palestinien en Israël

      Quatre Palestiniens ont été tués ce lundi, et deux autres sont décédés aujourd’hui, alors que l’armée israélienne a lancé des dizaines de frappes aériennes sur la bande de Gaza, tandis que plusieurs centaines de roquettes ont été tirées depuis l’enclave assiégée.

      Le ministère gazaoui de la Santé a identifié les six Palestiniens tués : Mohammed Zakariya al-Tatari (27 ans), Mohammed Zuhdi Odeh (22 ans), Hamad Mohammed al-Nahal (23 ans), Moussa Iyad Abd al-Aal (22 ans), Khaled Riyadh al-Sultan (26 ans) et Musaab Hoss (20 ans) . Vingt-cinq autres Palestiniens ont été blessés depuis lundi après-midi.

      Un Palestinien a également été tué après qu’une roquette tirée depuis Gaza a touché sa maison dans la ville israélienne d’Ashkelon, a rapporté Haaretz, qui a ajouté que la roquette avait gravement blessé deux femmes qui se trouvaient dans la maison.

      La mort du quadragénaire, un Palestinien originaire de la ville de Hébron en Cisjordanie, est le premier décès confirmé causé par le déluge de roquettes tirées de Gaza depuis lundi après-midi ; cette flambée des tensions a fait suite à une opération mortelle menée par les forces spéciales israéliennes dans l’enclave.

      L’armée israélienne a touché au moins 70 cibles à Gaza, tandis que 300 roquettes ont été tirées du territoire palestinien vers Israël tout au long de la journée de lundi, ont rapporté les médias israéliens.

      Une nouvelle frappe israélienne a également tué un Palestinien ce mardi, a annoncé le ministère de la Santé de Gaza, faisant s’élever le bilan à cinq morts dans l’enclave en moins de 24 heures.

      Un témoin oculaire à Gaza a déclaré à Middle East Eye que l’armée israélienne avait bombardé lundi le bâtiment qui abrite Al-Aqsa TV à Gaza, une chaîne de télévision liée au Hamas.

      Des médias locaux et internationaux ont rapporté que le bâtiment avait été complètement détruit lors de l’attaque et que des édifices voisins avaient également été endommagés. (...)

  • » Updated: Army Kills One Palestinian, Injures At Least 37 In Gaza
    IMEMC News - November 10, 2018 1:10 AM
    http://imemc.org/article/at-least-37-injured-at-gazas-borders

    The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip has confirmed that one Palestinian was killed by Israeli army fire, Friday, while 37 others were injured, during the Great Return March processions near the eastern borders of the besieged Gaza Strip.

    Dr. Ashraf al-Qedra, the spokesperson of the Health Ministry in Gaza, has reported that a young man, identified as Rami Wael Ishaq Qahman, 28, was shot and seriously injured, before he was rushed to the Gaza European Hospital, where he died from his wounds.

    The Palestinian was shot with a live round in the neck, east of Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip., Dr. al-Qedra added.

    He also confirmed that at least 37 Palestinians were injured with Israeli live ammunition, including six children, nine women and one female paramedic, identified as Falasteen Qdeih, who was shot in the leg.

    Hundreds of Palestinian protesters held protests close to the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip; tires were set on fire across several areas while Israeli forces fired live ammunition and tear-gas bombs to suppress protesters.

    According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, 221 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of “The Great March of Return” on March 30th, while more than 24,000 others have been injured.

    #Palestine_assassinée #marcheduretour

  • Brazil new President will open Amazon indigenous reserves to mining and farming

    Indigenous People Bolsonaro has vowed that no more indigenous reserves will be demarcated and existing reserves will be opened up to mining, raising the alarm among indigenous leaders. “We are in a state of alert,” said Beto Marubo, an indigenous leader from the Javari Valley reserve.

    Dinamam Tuxá, the executive coordinator of the Indigenous People of Brazil Liaison, said indigenous people did not want mining and farming on their reserves, which are some of the best protected areas in the Amazon. “He does not respect the indigenous peoples’ traditions” he said.

    The Amazon and the environment Bolsonaro campaigned on a pledge to combine Brazil’s environment ministry with the agriculture ministry – under control of allies from the agribusiness lobby. He has attacked environmental agencies for running a “fines industry” and argued for simplifying environmental licences for development projects. His chief of staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, and other allies have challenged global warming science.

    “He intends that Amazon stays Brazilian and the source of our progress and our riches,” said Ribeiro Souto in an interview. Ferreira has also said Bolsonaro wants to restart discussions over controversial hydroelectric dams in the Amazon, which were stalled over environmental concerns.

    Bolsonaro’s announcement last week that he would no longer seek to withdraw Brazil from the Paris climate agreement has done little to assuage environmentalists’ fears.

    http://www.whitewolfpack.com/2018/10/brazil-new-president-will-open-amazon.html
    #réserves #Amazonie #Brésil #extractivisme #mines #agriculture #forêt #déforestation (probablement pour amener ENFIN la #modernité et le #progrès, n’est-ce pas ?) #aires_protégées #peuples_autochtones #barrages_hydroélectriques

    • Un leader paysan assassiné dans l’Amazonie brésilienne

      Le leader paysan, #Aluisio_Samper, dit #Alenquer, a été assassiné jeudi après-midi 11 octobre 2018 chez lui, à #Castelo_de_Sonhos, une ville située le long de la route BR-163 qui relie le nord de l’État de #Mato_Grosso, la principale région productrice de #soja du Brésil, aux deux fleuves Tapajós et Amazone.

      Il défendait des paysans qui s’accrochaient à des lopins de terre qu’ils cultivaient pour survivre, alors que le gouvernement les avaient inclues dans un projet de #réforme_agraire et allait les attribuer à des associations de gros producteurs.


      https://reporterre.net/Un-leader-paysan-assassine-dans-l-Amazonie-bresilienne
      #assassinat #terres #meurtre

    • As Brazil’s Far Right Leader Threatens the Amazon, One Tribe Pushes Back

      “Where there is indigenous land,” newly elected President Jair Bolsonaro has said, “there is wealth underneath it.”

      The Times traveled hundreds of miles into the Brazilian Amazon, staying with a tribe in the #Munduruku Indigenous Territory as it struggled with the shrinking rain forest.

      The miners had to go.

      Their bulldozers, dredges and high-pressure hoses tore into miles of land along the river, polluting the water, poisoning the fish and threatening the way life had been lived in this stretch of the Amazon for thousands of years.

      So one morning in March, leaders of the Munduruku tribe readied their bows and arrows, stashed a bit of food into plastic bags and crammed inside four boats to drive the miners away.

      “It has been decided,” said Maria Leusa Kabá, one of the women in the tribe who helped lead the revolt.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/10/world/americas/brazil-indigenous-mining-bolsonaro.html

    • Indigenous People, the First Victims of Brazil’s New Far-Right Government

      “We have already been decimated and subjected, and we have been victims of the integrationist policy of governments and the national state,” said indigenous leaders, as they rejected the new Brazilian government’s proposals and measures focusing on indigenous peoples.

      In an open letter to President Jair Bolsonaro, leaders of the Aruak, Baniwa and Apurinã peoples, who live in the watersheds of the Negro and Purus rivers in Brazil’s northwestern Amazon jungle region, protested against the decree that now puts indigenous lands under the Ministry of Agriculture, which manages interests that run counter to those of native peoples.

      Indigenous people are likely to present the strongest resistance to the offensive of Brazil’s new far-right government, which took office on Jan. 1 and whose first measures roll back progress made over the past three decades in favor of the 305 indigenous peoples registered in this country.

      Native peoples are protected by article 231 of the Brazilian constitution, in force since 1988, which guarantees them “original rights over the lands they traditionally occupy,” in addition to recognising their “social organisation, customs, languages, beliefs and traditions.”

      To this are added international regulations ratified by the country, such as Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of the International Labor Organisation, which defends indigenous rights, such as the right to prior, free and informed consultation in relation to mining or other projects that affect their communities.

      It was indigenous people who mounted the stiffest resistance to the construction of hydroelectric dams on large rivers in the Amazon rainforest, especially Belo Monte, built on the Xingu River between 2011 and 2016 and whose turbines are expected to be completed this year.

      Transferring the responsibility of identifying and demarcating indigenous reservations from the National Indigenous Foundation (Funai) to the Ministry of Agriculture will hinder the demarcation of new areas and endanger existing ones.

      There will be a review of the demarcations of Indigenous Lands carried out over the past 10 years, announced Luiz Nabhan García, the ministry’s new secretary of land affairs, who is now responsible for the issue.

      García is the leader of the Democratic Ruralist Union, a collective of landowners, especially cattle ranchers, involved in frequent and violent conflicts over land.

      Bolsonaro himself has already announced the intention to review Raposa Serra do Sol, an Indigenous Land legalised in 2005, amid legal battles brought to an end by a 2009 Supreme Court ruling, which recognised the validity of the demarcation.

      This indigenous territory covers 17,474 square kilometers and is home to some 20,000 members of five different native groups in the northern state of Roraima, on the border with Guyana and Venezuela.

      In Brazil there are currently 486 Indigenous Lands whose demarcation process is complete, and 235 awaiting demarcation, including 118 in the identification phase, 43 already identified and 74 “declared”.

      “The political leaders talk, but revising the Indigenous Lands would require a constitutional amendment or proof that there has been fraud or wrongdoing in the identification and demarcation process, which is not apparently frequent,” said Adriana Ramos, director of the Socio-environmental Institute, a highly respected non-governmental organisation involved in indigenous and environmental issues.

      “The first decisions taken by the government have already brought setbacks, with the weakening of the indigenous affairs office and its responsibilities. The Ministry of Health also announced changes in the policy toward the indigenous population, without presenting proposals, threatening to worsen an already bad situation,” she told IPS from Brasilia.

      “The process of land demarcation, which was already very slow in previous governments, is going to be even slower now,” and the worst thing is that the declarations against rights “operate as a trigger for violations that aggravate conflicts, generating insecurity among indigenous peoples,” warned Ramos.

      In the first few days of the new year, and of the Bolsonaro administration, loggers already invaded the Indigenous Land of the Arara people, near Belo Monte, posing a risk of armed clashes, she said.

      The indigenous Guaraní people, the second largest indigenous group in the country, after the Tikuna, who live in the north, are the most vulnerable to the situation, especially their communities in the central-eastern state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

      They are fighting for the demarcation of several lands and the expansion of too-small areas that are already demarcated, and dozens of their leaders have been murdered in that struggle, while they endure increasingly precarious living conditions that threaten their very survival.

      “The grave situation is getting worse under the new government. They are strangling us by dividing Funai and handing the demarcation process to the Ministry of Agriculture, led by ruralists – the number one enemies of indigenous people,” said Inaye Gomes Lopes, a young indigenous teacher who lives in the village of Ñanderu Marangatu in Mato Grosso do Sul, near the Paraguayan border.

      Funai has kept its welfare and rights defence functions but is now subordinate to the new Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, led by Damares Alves, a controversial lawyer and evangelical pastor.

      “We only have eight Indigenous Lands demarcated in the state and one was annulled (in December). What we have is due to the many people who have died, whose murderers have never been put in prison,” said Lopes, who teaches at a school that pays tribute in indigenous language to Marçal de Souza, a Guarani leader murdered in 1982.

      “We look for ways to resist and we look for ‘supporters’, at an international level as well. I’m worried, I don’t sleep at night,” she told IPS in a dialogue from her village, referring to the new government, whose expressions regarding indigenous people she called “an injustice to us.”

      Bolsonaro advocates “integration” of indigenous people, referring to assimilation into the mainstream “white” society – an outdated idea of the white elites.

      He complained that indigenous people continue to live “like in zoos,” occupying “15 percent of the national territory,” when, according to his data, they number less than a million people in a country of 209 million inhabitants.

      “It’s not us who have a large part of Brazil’s territory, but the big landowners, the ruralists, agribusiness and others who own more than 60 percent of the national territory,” countered the public letter from the the Aruak, Baniwa and Apurinã peoples.

      Actually, Indigenous Lands make up 13 percent of Brazilian territory, and 90 percent are located in the Amazon rainforest, the signatories of the open letter said.

      “We are not manipulated by NGOs,” they replied to another accusation which they said arose from the president’s “prejudices.”

      A worry shared by some military leaders, like the minister of the Institutional Security Cabinet, retired General Augusto Heleno Pereira, is that the inhabitants of Indigenous Lands under the influence of NGOs will declare the independence of their territories, to separate from Brazil.

      They are mainly worried about border areas and, especially, those occupied by people living on both sides of the border, such as the Yanomami, who live in Brazil and Venezuela.

      But in Ramos’ view, it is not the members of the military forming part of the Bolsonaro government, like the generals occupying five ministries, the vice presidency, and other important posts, who pose the greatest threat to indigenous rights.

      Many military officers have indigenous people among their troops and recognise that they share in the task of defending the borders, she argued.

      It is the ruralists, who want to get their hands on indigenous lands, and the leaders of evangelical churches, with their aggressive preaching, who represent the most violent threats, she said.

      The new government spells trouble for other sectors as well, such as the quilombolas (Afro-descendant communities), landless rural workers and NGOs.

      Bolsonaro announced that his administration would not give “a centimeter of land” to either indigenous communities or quilombolas, and said it would those who invade estates or other properties as “terrorists.”

      And the government has threatened to “supervise and monitor” NGOs. But “the laws are clear about their rights to organise,” as well as about the autonomy of those who do not receive financial support from the state, Ramos said.

      http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/01/indigenous-people-first-victims-brazils-new-far-right-government

  • Teenage Gazan dies of injuries sustained in 2014 Israeli airstrike
    Nov. 3, 2018 11:35 A.M.
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=781673

    GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A Palestinian 14-year-old boy died, on Saturday morning, of wounds he had sustained in an Israeli airstrike that targeted his family home in the besieged Gaza Strip in 2014.

    The al-Wafaa Hospital for Rehabilitation and Specialized Surgery announced that Muhammad al-Rifi, 14, died of his injuries on Saturday morning.

    The hospital pointed out that al-Rifi had sustained a critical injury in his cervical vertebrae, which left Muhammad Quadriplegic and on ventilators for four years.

    Muhammad had sustained his injury in an Israeli airstrike that targeted his family home in the al-Tuffah of eastern Gaza City during the Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip in 2014.

    Muhammad’s father, brother and four of his cousins were killed in that same airstrike.

    According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, at least 2,147 Palestinians were killed during the 51-day Israeli offensive on Gaza in 2014, including 72 who later succumbed to their wounds.

    #Palestine_assassinée