Read about Rachel Corrie here-

10th July, 2011

AFP - HAIFA, Israel — A key witness in a civil case brought by the family of US activist Rachel Corrie, killed by an Israeli bulldozer during a demonstration in Gaza, said on Sunday that she had caused her own death.

Retired Colonel Pinhas Zuaretz, a former brigade commander in Gaza, said a military police investigation into the March 2003 incident found no fault with the behaviour of the bulldozer driver or the officers supervising him.

“Their operational behaviour was correct,” he told the Haifa courtroom, as Corrie’s parents Craig and Cindy listened intently through interpreters.

He said the massive, armoured D9 bulldozer was demolishing buildings from which shots had been fired at Israeli soldiers in a highly dangerous zone near the Gaza-Egypt border.

Zuaretz was giving evidence on the last day of hearings in the action brought by the Corries, who are dissatisfied with the outcome of the Israeli military investigation.

They are suing the state of Israel and the defense ministry for one dollar plus costs.

The retired colonel said the bulldozer operator did not see Corrie because she was behind a pile of rubble, and that a concrete pillar among the debris had struck and killed her.

“She was killed in an accident caused by her own negligence,” he said. “Anyone who runs toward the fire either has very deep ideology or is stupid.”

Activists who witnessed the 23-year-old’s death said she and others were acting as human shields to prevent a house demolition in the Gaza border town of Rafah for more than two hours and were clearly visible to the bulldozer driver.

Cindy Corrie told AFP that the military investigation was wound up despite inconsistencies in witness testimony.

“The two people inside the bulldozer disagree about where her body was placed after the incident happened,” she said. “That was never reconciled yet they closed their investigation and found no fault.”

Craig Corrie said that former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon had promised then US president George W. Bush “a thorough, credible and transparent investigation.”

“It’s still the opinion of our government as well as our family that that has never happened,” he said. “I think this trial has brought forward a number of cases where we can show explicitly how poor that investigation was.”

Judge Oded Gershon said he would deliver his verdict next April. AFP

wardasahra:

June 29th, 2011

The law will now be passed to the full Knesset for a final reading, where it is expected to pass due to the current makeup of the Knesset.

Since 1967, Israeli forces have demolished 24,813 Palestinian homes. 90% of these homes were destroyed for ‘administrative’ reasons – because they either lacked a permit or were in an area designated for expansion by the Israeli military. No permits have been issued by Israeli authorities for Palestinian construction in the Occupied Territories since 1967. The remaining 10% of the demolitions have been ‘punitive’ demolitions of the homes of Palestinians accused of attacking Israel, or of their families’ homes.

In the first five months of 2011, Israeli forces demolished more Palestinian homes than in the entire year of 2010, rendering homeless 706 Palestinians, including 341 minors. This is according to the most recent numbers released by the Israeli Civil Administration.

If the law passes the full Knesset, any Palestinian whose home is destroyed by the Israeli military will have to pay thousands of dollars to cover the cost of the demolition. Already, many Palestinian homeowners, mainly in Jerusalem, have been forced to pay for the forced demolition of their homes.

Read more

How fucking twisted is this- can you imagine watching your own home being demolished by an occupying force and then having to pay for your own home’s destruction.

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)

1) A Palestinian was wounded and arrested by IOF in Qalqilya.

2) Israeli warplanes bombarded a chicken farm in the central Gaza Strip, killing 3,500 chicks.

3) IOF continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank.

- 4 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded.

- IOF arrested 6 international human rights defenders.

4) Israeli gunboats opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats in the Gaza Strip.

- Two fishing boats were damaged.

5) IOF conducted 38 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and two limited ones into the Gaza Strip.  

- IOF arrested 12 Palestinian civilians, including two children.

6) Israel has continued to impose a total siege on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.

- IOF arrested two Palestinian civilians, at military checkpoints in the West Bank.

7) IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.

- IOF demolished 8 houses to the south of Hebron.

- At least 30 dunums of agricultural land planted with olives were burnt.

- Israeli settlers damaged two houses and a car in Kufor Hares village, north of Salfit.

- Israeli settlers violently beat a Palestinian civilian in Hebron..

To read more in detail click here

verbalresistance:

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — In the first six months of 2011, a report from the Israeli rights group B’Tselem said Wednesday, Israeli forces have demolished more homes than in the 12 months of the year before.

“Last week alone, 33 residential structures were demolished in the Jordan Valley and southern Hebron hills,” the report said, and cataloged the displacement of 706 individuals, including 341 minors.

The report noted that the figures released included only residential structures, and not the dozens of animal shelters, water wells, storage and business structures that were also forcibly taken down.

Most of the homes demolished, the report said, were in Area C, a zone declared under the Oslo Accords to be under Israeli military and civil control.

In 2010, it noted, Israel’s Civil Administration demolished 86 residential structures. In 2008, the figure was 28.

“Israel continues to control all aspects of Palestinian life in Area C, including planning and building. Yet few Civil Administration outline plans have been made for Palestinian communities, and they do not enable any construction or development beyond what already exists, making it impossible for Palestinians to build legally in these areas,” the report comments.

Ma’an

youcantoccupyasmile:

’..Women of the Bedouin herding hamlet of Khirbet Amniyr sat on the earth and watched Israeli forces demolish their 12 tent homes for the third time on Thursday morning. 

The women said they were waiting for the soldiers to leave so they could rebuild their tent homes and once again re-establish their lives and livelihoods….’