From Occupied Palestine

Non-violence frightens the army
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 10 November 2004

Awad, 42, is a high school teacher, father of six and one of the leaders of the Committee for the Popular Struggle against the Separation Fence, which went up in the village of Burdus. The activity by the residents of that village a year ago signaled the start of a grass-roots, non-violent Palestinian struggle against the route of the fence and its accompanying bulldozers, guards, military jeeps and soldiers.

Is everything his fault?
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 3 November 2004

Wide circles of Palestinian politicians were partner to the colossal failure during the Oslo years, when the worship of the symbolism of an airport and postage stamps and the easing of restrictions on movement that they received from Israel prevented them from seeing in time that Israel was aiming at a new kind of control, not at a peaceful solution.

Harassment as a military duty
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 20 October 2004

Every day soldiers confiscate the identity cards of West Bank Palestinians even though this is prohibited by the law - even by military orders, except under very specific conditions.

It looks like a concentrated mass violation of army instructions. Every day soldiers confiscate the identity cards of West Bank Palestinians even though this is prohibited by the law - even by military orders, except under very specific conditions.

What would Israel do without UNRWA?
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 6 October 2004

Peter Hansen, the commissioner-general of the UN Relief and Works Agency in the territories, is being persecuted for having spoken the truth: Members of Hamas work in UNRWA. The Canadian Foreign Affairs Department is concerned and the Israeli Foreign Ministry is upset over the "revelation." Two days after the broadcast of aerial photos that allegedly show, according to Israel, Palestinians loading a Qassam rocket into a UNRWA ambulance, Hansen's words could strengthen Israeli accusations that "UNRWA is collaborating with terrorists."

What does the Turk have against us?
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 29 September 2004

"Kill a Turk and rest" - a popular Israeli saying meaning "don't rush" - is not only a statement of doubtful political correctness. It is also the middle of a Jewish joke. But only the middle. In Israel it has a separate existence, which distorts the spirit of the original Jewish anecdote.

And still the occupation
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 22 September 2004

The screaming and shouting by opponents of disengagement and the settlement lobby is creating an image of the prime minister being a man of the political center. Their threats and accusations are painting him with the colors of a persecuted peacemaker, so much so that kibbutzniks in the north are joining the Likud to help the man who sprang forth from their very tradition of farming the land, Ariel Sharon. That may be marginal, but it says something about the sympathy on that part of the electorate that regards itself as moderate, and supports a political compromise with the Palestinians and a two-state solution.

Security prisoners charge guards with humiliating them
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 19 September 2004

Palestinian security prisoners have alleged that guards and Prisons Service officers at Nafha Prison deliberately humiliated them during the hunger strike. The inmates, some of whom have been in prison for over a decade, said they had never before experienced such humiliating treatment from prison guards and officers.

Donating to apartheid
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 8 September 2004

It's only logical and self-evident that the road from Bir Zeit to Attara, north of Ramallah, be upgraded. It's a narrow, dangerous road, without lighting, or median lines, or sidewalks or even shoulders to the road. For the same reasons, the Ein Ariq road west of Ramallah cries out for improvement, as does the Nahalin-Husan road west of Bethlehem. Those are only three arteries of the road network in the West Bank that the Palestinian Authority planned to improve by the end of the 1990s, with help from the donor countries as part of the Oslo proces.

Checkpoint behavior
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 2 September 2004

Israel Defense Forces officers were among the first to understand the moral danger involved in checkpoints, way before the general public in Israel was prepared to hear about rude or even abusive behavior on the part of the soldiers. Those in the field reported that there were instances of so-called checks that took hours, threats, bullying of women, slaps in the face, confiscation of books and CDs, gas grenades thrown into waiting cars, slashing tires, breaking car windows and shooting for purposes of intimidation and deterence. This type of behavior is not necessary from the point of view of security; on the contrary, it simply fuels the feelings of vengeance that the Palestinians have.

Prisoners break hunger strike at Shikma Prison
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 29 August 2004

Hunger-striking security prisoners at Shikma prison in Ashkelon have broken their two-week fast and begun drinking milk and juice, in exchange for promises by the Prisons Service to meet some of their demands, according to reports by prisoners to the committee following the strike, and a prisoner's statement by telephone to Haaretz.