2 Newsletter published by SKEYES for the defence of media &
cultural freedoms for Samir Kassir Foundation
The Fifth Anniversary
And the Fifth Award
On the second of June, 2010,
the anniversary of Samir Kassir’s
assassination arrives again, for the
fifth year.
It is the anniversary of the assassination
of the word, of the pen of freedom, of
intellect and free opinion, or in other
words, the assassination of the free,
creative and original intellectuals who
dream of putting their countries and
societies on the road to modernity!
Five years have passed since the dream
of liberating, and liberalizing, Lebanon
and the restoration of its freedom,
sovereignty and independence was
realized, a dream launched by the
‘Independence Uprising’ on March 14,
2010, and of which Samir Kassir was a
fundamental part.
Where is this dream now? Less than
three months after the ‘uprising’,
Samir Kassir called for ‘an uprising
against the uprising’...
Was this because he was impatient, or
was it because he was radical in his
thinking and behaviour, and as a result,
he did not accept compromises?
Samir the ‘dreamer’ was constantly
challenging himself, and had rendered
change the benchmark of this challenge.
Was the ‘statement of the dream’
which he wrote months before the
‘uprising’ not an early indication
of this internal challenge, which
characterized his life and his stances?
His dream led him to the world of
politics, where words meet deeds.
On June 2, the annual Samir Kassir
Award for Press Freedom launched by
the European Union will be awarded
for best article about the state of law
and human rights.
And thus, Samir’s dream will endure in,
and with, the Beirut Spring.
SKeyes website: http://www.skeyesmedia.org
This Project is
funded by the
EUROPEAN UNION
Monday 31 May 2010 Center for Media and Cultural Freedom
“Beirut Spring Festival”: theatre, music from the World
On the second of June, the Beirut
International Spring Cultural Festival will
begin. This festival will be hosted by the
Samir Kassir Foundation, in commemoration
of the fifth anniversary of the assassination
of the Lebanese press’s martyr.
This year, the festival will feature several
bands, theatrical performances and music
concerts that will be performed until the
eighth of June in a number of theatres and
public squares in the Lebanese capital.
The festival is named after one of Samir
Kassir’s most famous and last articles
entitled ‘The Beirut Spring’. The festival
first took place in June 2009, and was
well received by the public and the media
alike. It was described as being the first
of its kind in the capital Beirut, and as
featuring performances that were being
shown for the first time in the city’s
theatres, attracting a diverse audience.
On Monday, June 2, the festival will take
place after the 2010 Samir Kassir Award
for the Freedom of the Press ceremony,
organized by the European Union. On the
sidelines of this ceremony, the Egyptian
businessman Naguib Sawiris will give
a lecture entitled ‘The role of business
giants in national and regional policies
in the Arab world’, at four o’clock in the
afternoon, at the American University of
Beirut’s Hostler Centre.
The festival will feature a variety of shows, of dreams and justifies fatalism in lyrically creative rap music. The band
combining theatrical arts, dance, music one’s private life - Music and direction consists of five members, including the
and singing, performed by a number of by André Pignat, and choreography by songwriter, composer and lead vocalist
international troupes and bands: Géraldine Lonfat and Stephanie Boll. Wael Kodeih.
- On the 3rd of June, the French theatre The play will be performed at the Le - On the 8th of June, the Arab Opera
troupe ‘Le Minotaure’ will perform ‘Anna Dome- La Bulle Theatre in downtown group will perform its distinguished
Politkovskaya, a play dedicated to the Beirut. show ‘Zajal’. The show is a harmonious
Russian journalist who was assassinated - On the 5th of June, the festival will mix of singing, acting, music and audio-
on the seventh of October 2006 in feature a performance by the Badila visual effects. It is written by musician
the line of her journalistic duty, and Ensemble, which consists of an Zad Moultaka, and will feature Gabriel
after receiving numerous death threats Indian dancer and musicians from Yammine and the Ars Nova orchestra. It
against the backdrop of her articles India, France and Iran. In brief, their will be performed at the Roman baths
that tackled corruption and violations performance will be a journey towards in downtown Beirut.
of the local laws in her country. The a new musical world fashioned by the The Beirut Spring Festival is an attempt
play will be performed at the Theatre masterly combination of instruments, to revive the cultural scene, and to allow
of Beirut – Ain Mreisseh. vocals and dance, and of oriental the Lebanese audience, particularly from
- On the 4th of June, the Swiss music and the dance of dervishes. The Beirut, to be acquainted with different
troupe ‘Interface’ will perform its performance will take place at the Le cultures and civilisations through musical
contemporary ballet show entitled Dome- La Bulle Theatre in downtown performances that combine elements from
‘Pazzi’. The performance was inspired Beirut. the orient and the west, of tradition
by the life of St. Mary Madeleine de - On the 6th of June, the Samir Kassir and modernity, as well as local and
Pazzi, which symbolizes the refusal of Garden will host Rayess Bek, the international elements.
absolute and negative submission to Franco-Lebanese band which tackles Entry to all the events of the Beirut Spring
the world and the dominant morality, wasted opportunities and problems Festival is free of charge. Performances will
which in turn thwarts the realization in Lebanon through its musically and start on nine o’clock in the evening.

AGENDA
Asmaa al-Ghoul wins
the Hellman-Hammett
Award for Writers
The correspondent for SKeyes, the writer
and journalist Asmaa al-Ghoul, won
the Hellman-Hammett Award for 2010,
for writers who work under political
pressure, granted by the American
Human Rights Watch organization.
Human Rights Watch announced
that al-Ghoul won the award after
being subjected to various political
pressures by the successive Palestinian
governments and media institutions
that she worked with, in addition
to the restrictions imposed by the
dominant culture in her community.
The Hellman-Hammett award is granted
in cooperation with Human Rights
Watch to the writers and journalists
active in the field of human rights, or
who are persecuted by the authorities
in their countries for reasons related
to their activities in this field, or
because of their opinions and beliefs.
The award was first granted in 1989
in honour of the American writers
Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett,
who were persecuted during the era of
McCarthyism in the fifties.
The award’s judges’ panel consists of
a number of writers and journalists
who focus on issues of the freedom of
expression and opinion, and who come
from all around the world.
Almost two weeks later, the colleague
Asmaa received the Arab Press Award
in Dubai which focuses on creativity
by the youths, along with other
colleagues.
Al-Ghoul works with the London-
based Al-Hayat newspaper and the
Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayam, and
as a correspondent for the SKeyes
Centre for the Defence of Media
and Cultural Freedoms. She is also a
treasurer of the Board of Directors
at the Palestinian Institution for
Communication and Development,
in addition to being a short-stories
novelist. She has two published
collections of short stories.
The military prosecutor in Damascus indicts al-Maleh
for ‘spreading false news’
Damascus – “Skeyes”
The military prosecutor in Damascus indicted the known Syrian lawyer
and human rights activist Haitham al-Maleh, for the felony of ‘spreading
false news that weakens the nation’s morale”, in accordance with article
/286/ and article /285/ of the Syrian General Penal Code. This took
place in the session convened at the Second Criminal Court in Damascus
on Thursday 13/5/2010. The cout was then adjourned to 3/6/2010.
The session was attended by lawyer Hoda Abdel-Wahab, representing the
Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Law”, and
lawyer Rebhi al-Atwi representing the ‘Voice of the Law”, in addition to
a number of lawyers and human rights activists.
According to SKeyes’s correspondent in Damascus, al-Maleh reiterated
his protest against the fact that the Bar Association did not allow his
solicitors to visit him at the Damascus Central Prison in Adra, in order
for him to discuss the case with them. The lawyers requested to meet
al-Maleh after the session, and the judge accepted and allowed five of
them to meet him.
The correspondent also said that signs of exhaustion and fatigue were
visible on al-Maleh who is 79 years old, and who suffers from several
The Jordanian judiciary hands a victory to the freedom of the media
On Sunday, May 16, 2010, the Jordanian Court of Appeal issued a verdict
that is the first of its kind in the history of the Jordanian judiciary,
which reaffirms the right of the journalist to convey news in accordance
with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
In its verdict, the court acquitted the Al-Mir’at [the mirror] newspaper,
its chief editor and its redactor of the charges of violating articles 5 and
7 of the press and publication act no. 8 for 1998, and article 15 from
the law of court contempt, without returning the case to the Court of
First Instance which had convicted them.
According to Judge Mohammed Al-Tarawneh in his decision numbered
550/2009, “it is the right of the journalist to convey news as sanctioned
by constitutions, national legislations, the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, under
a number of terms, most notably the accuracy of the news, its social
nature, the objectivity of the presentation and good faith”.
Regarding the importance of this verdict as a precedent in cases
related to press and publication matters brought before the courts,
The Israeli Police arrests 14 Jewish activists in Sheikh Jarrah
On Friday, May 14, 2010, the Israeli police arrested 14 human rights
activist from the Israeli left, most of whom organizers of the weekly
demonstration in Sheikh Jarrah, which is held in protest against the
appropriation of Palestinian homes in the neighbourhood by Jewish
settlers.
The protesters complained of the violence used by the Israeli police
against them, forcing four of them to leave the location to receive
medical treatment. They were all arrested around five o’clock in the
afternoon on Friday, and were not released until one o’clock after
midnight on Sunday. However, they refused to sign the terms of their
release.
The clashes had erupted between the demonstrators and the police, when
a group of the former left the location of the demonstration specified
for them by the court – where 3500 protesters were present -, and
attempted to reach the disputed homes inside the neighbourhood, in
protest of the police allowing the settlers to demonstrate near those
homes on ‘Jerusalem Day’. The activists were arrested at the checkpoint
erected by the police, after dozens of them lied in the street. The police
rushed towards them to arrest them, and also arrested the correspondent
of the ‘Voice of Israel’ Shai Zilber and detained him for 15 minutes. Zilber
also complained of the violence used against him during his arrest. He
2
conditions, as a result of mistreatment by the prison’s administration,
which denies him access to his medications.
In the course of his interrogation by the Second Military Criminal
Court in Damascus on 22/4/2010, al-Maleh said: “I want to express my
reservation about my interrogation as I was not able to privately meet
with any of my solicitors. For this reason, I ask the court to send a letter
to the administration of the Damascus Central Prison (Adra) to allow me
to meet with one of my lawyers to discuss the charges against me”.
It should me mentioned that the lawyer Haitham al-Maleh was born
in Damascus in 1931. He holds a degree in law and a diploma in
general international law. He began his career as a lawyer in 1957.
He was arrested and imprisoned for 6 years between 1980 and
1986 along with a number of trade unionists, political activists and
dissenters, against the backdrop of his demands for constitutional
reforms. He is also a co-founder of the “Syrian Association for
Human Rights”.
The Department of State Security in Damascus had arrested al-Maleh on
14/10/2009, and he was subsequently transferred by the military police
to the military judiciary.
the director of the Unit for Legal Assistance to Journalists ‘Milad’, the
lawyer Mohammed Qteishat said: “this decision is a new victory for the
freedom of the media, and represents a new judicial trend in issues
of the press and publications that promises more justice towards the
media sector”.
He emphasized that “the verdict is the first of its kind in the history
of the Jordanian judiciary, as it is based and rationalized on the basis
of international standards for the freedom of opinion and expression,
particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
On the other hand, the verdict adds a democratic characteristic to the
Jordanian judiciary by taking into consideration the provisions of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is considered a moral
declaration that is not mandatory”.
In conclusion, Qteishat said: “the verdict reinforced the ‘presumption of
innocence’ for the journalists, by placing the burden of proving that
an offense has taken place in the hands of the prosecution, and the
presumption that journalists are acting in good faith until it’s proven
otherwise”.
was released by the police after it was verified that he is a journalist.
Also present among the demonstrators who closed down the street was
the former President of the Hebrew University Hanoch Gutfreund.
The protestors were all in agreement that “the behaviour of the police
on Jerusalem Day has proven without any doubt that it is complicit
in the settlement activities in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East
Jerusalem, as it allowed hundreds of settlers who came in buses from
all around the occupied territories to dance and celebrate inside the
neighbourhood, while closing the streets and the pavements and terrorizing
the Palestinians. At the same time, the police prevented a group of leftist
activists from standing next to the neighbourhood’s residents, claiming
that their presence there is a form of illegal assembly”.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) issued a statement
condemning “the extreme violence pursued by the police against citizens
exercising their right to demonstrate peacefully, in a civilized and legal
manner on Friday in Sheikh Jarrah, causing many of them to be injured.”
The statement also said that “what happened is further evidence of the
increased harassment by the police and crackdown against civil protest.”
ACRI also stated that “there was no reason to keep the protesters under
arrest until the end of the week, and that there wasn’t any need to
interrogate them as they are not a threat to the public.”
 3

The Second Beirut Spring Festival’s Program

In the first year it was held, the Beirut
Spring Festival featured a number of
theatrical troupes and musical bands, which
performed at a number of theatres in Beirut,
in the downtown area, attracting a diverse
audience.
Through six international performances,
the festival managed to present itself as
a prestigious cultural and artistic event
that is unprecedented in Beirut, owing to
the fact that major festivals usually take
place in cities far from Beirut, for example
in the mountain, the south, the north and
the Beqaa. The first theatrical performance
was (“Nos poetes ont disparu de la vie sur
terre”), and featured the Greek actress Katia
Giro accompanied with a translation into
Arabic. The next day, the play “Staging and
Preparation” by Rajaa bin Ammar was shown
along with a performance by the Tunisian
band ‘Fou’.
The third performance featured the French
opera singer Rémi Van Sam and the pianist
Mahkama Nafabi, followed by a dance
performance by Omar Rajeh (Lebanon)
entitled “the assassination of Omar Rajeh”.
On its penultimate night, the festival featured
a hip hop concert entitled “The Narcicyst”
performed by singer Yassine al-Salman and
The Fridge group from Montreal and the
United Arab Emirates.
The festival concluded with a dialogue
table and the launching of Sandra Iché’s
book titled “L’Orient Express”, the same
name of the monthly magazine which
was edited by Samir Kassir. The session
was moderated by Medea Azoury Habib,
with the participation of the writers and
novelists Sharif Majlani, Jabbour Dowaihi,
Omar Bustani and Nada Shaoul.

Title Band/Troupe Name Type of Performance Time Venue

Anna Politkovskaya (France)
Pazzi (Switzerland)
Badila (India / Iran / France)
Rayess Bek (Lebanon / France)
Zajal (Lebanon / France)
Free admission
Le Minotaure Theater / monologue Thursday June 3, 2010 Theatre of Beirut / Ain Mreisseh
Interface Contemporary Ballet Friday June 4, 2010 Le Dome Theatre / Downtown
Badila Singing and folkloric dance Saturday June 5, 2010 Le Dome Theatre / Downtown
The Rayess Bek Orchestra Hip hop Sunday June 6, 2010 Samir Kassir Garden / Downtown Beirut
Zad Moultaka and his company Opera inspired by zajal [folkloric poetry] Tuesday June 8, 2010 Roman baths/ downtown Beirut
Concerts start at nine o›clock at night sharp

THE PRESS AND THE JUDICIARY

In continuation of the first part of the report on the press
and the judiciary in 2010 published in the first issue of the
newsletter on March 31, which covered the first few months
of the year, we continue shedding light on the relationship
between the judiciary and the press in this issue, through
the following points:
In Lebanon: In a quick recapitulation of the outgoing period’s
incidents, we note that the beginning of the month witnessed
an attack on the car belonging to the journalist Afif Diab.
Its windscreens and windows were damaged along with its
exterior body, something that the journalist considered to
be a threat message. To date, the security authorities are
yet to uncover the identity of the perpetrators, despite the
fact that he lodged a formal complaint against unknown
persons immediately after finding his vehicle in this state.
In other news related to the judiciary:
- The court of cassation quashed two appeals filed by
al-Akhbar newspaper against the leader of the Lebanese
Forces Samir Geagea, on counts of libel, slander,
publishing false news and criminal defamation.
- Several Iraqi intellectuals expressed their solidarity
with al-Adab magazine, against the ruling by the
Lebanese Court of Publications fining the magazine. The
intellectuals republished the editorial “Critique of Critical
Consciousness: Kurdistan-Iraq as an example”.
- The Chairman of the Board of the Lebanese Broadcasting
Corporation (LBC), Mr. Pierre Daher was interviewed in
the course of the lawsuit filed against him and other
individuals by the Lebanese Forces, in the dispute over
the ownership of LBC.
- The Court of Publications fined al-Mustaqbal newspaper
in the course of the case brought by MP Talal Arslan
against the Lebanese daily. Although Mr. Arslan had
dropped charges earlier, the court ruled that ‘the
forfeiture of personal charges by the plaintiff prior to
the sentencing does not apply in this case, as the offence
was committed against the plaintiff while he was still a
minister”.
- Hezbollah filed a complaint against al-Liwaa daily
newspaper against the backdrop of the Ethiopian plane
crash, but officials from the newspaper questioned the
timing of this move and wondered whether this has any
links to the municipal elections, in particular in Beirut.
- The summoning of former Major General Ali Hajj’s wife,
Samar Hajj, was postponed to the eighth of July, in the
course of the lawsuit brought against her by the editor
of al-Mustaqbal daily newspaper Hani Hammoud for libel
and slander, after she asked the court for additional
time to hire a lawyer to defend her.
- The Court of Publications sentenced al-Mustaqbal daily
newspaper to a fine, in the course of the lawsuit brought
by Major General Jamil Sayyed, against the backdrop of
an article the paper ran on January 28 last year.
- The Court also fined al-Muharrir magazine for criminal
libel and slander, against the backdrop of a complaint
filed by the novelist and poet Ghada Samman against
the magazine because of an article the latter ran in
2006.
In Syria: The writer and former political prisoner Raghda
al-Hassan was referred to the military court in Homs
following a two-month long detention without trial. Al-
Hassan was charged with ‘engaging in publishing false news
that weakens the nation’s morale’. The writer was arrested
on February 10 on the Syrian side of the Arida border
crossing with Lebanon, and she remained in isolation from
the outside world until she was sent for trial.
- The Syrian administrative court quashed the application
for a licence by the National Organization for Human
Rights in Syria.
- The trial of the journalists Bassam Ali and Suhaila Ismail
before the Second Court of Appeal in Homs began, against
the background of their report on corruption, forgery,
embezzlement and theft taking place in the General
Fertilizers Company in Homs. It should be mentioned
that the Syrian inspection authorities established the
truthfulness of the report. However, political pressures
led to the dismissal of those involved in the case
from their posts while their assets were frozen. Then
the two journalists who exposed the wrongdoing were
prosecuted.
- Four Syrian detainees were sentenced to five years in
prison for belonging to the Kurdish Yekiti Party.
- The Syrian writer Ali Abdullah was referred to court two
months before the end of his sentence, which indicates
that his detention will be further extended, against the
backdrop of statements he gave while he was in the
Adra prison more than a year ago.

The
TheSKeyes centreof report
Lenses on violations
Palestinian against inmedia
Journalists the and cultural freedom
Crosshairs in April
of Israeli 2010
Bullets
In April, SKeyes recorded a number of incidents and violations against
media and cultural freedoms in the four countries covered by SKeyes,
which are: Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Jordan.
Lebanon:
There were many incidents against media freedoms in Lebanon, most notably the vandalizing
of a journalist’s car which was deemed to be a ‘threat message’, the hacking of the National
News Agency by Israeli hackers, the lawsuit filed by a political party against a newspaper,
in addition to the issuance of a number of judicial sentences against media outlets. The
incidents are detailed as follows:
- (1/4) the car belonging to the journalist Afif Diab was vandalized, shattering its windows
and windscreens, damaging its external body, while its seats were torn, in an
attack that was deemed to be an ‘ act of intimidation and threatening’. When
Diab found his vehicle in this state, he reported it to the security authorities and
filed a complaint against unknown persons at the Chtoura police station. So far,
the investigation is yet to reveal the background of the incident and identify the
perpetrators.
- (9/4) members from the municipal police of Hazmieh prevented the two cameramen
working for OTV, Ali al-Ghrayeb and Jack Mesbanji, from filming the location of the
explosion of a gas bottle in the Qanater Zbeideh area that separates Mansurieh
from Hazmieh (east of Beirut). The quarrel between the two sides soon kicked off
into a physical clash.
- (13/4) the Court of Cassation quashed the two appeals filed by al-Akhbar daily newspaper
against the leader of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea, on counts of slander, libel
and defamation.
- (19/4) to protest the Court of Publications in Beirut’s decision to fine al-Adab magazine,
in the course of the lawsuit filed against it by the publisher Fakhri Karim, a
number of Iraqi intellectuals republished Samah idriss’s editorial that led to the
lawsuit, and which was entitled ‘Critique of Critical Consciousness: Kurdistan-Iraq
as an example’.
- (20/4) The investigating magistrate in Beirut interviewed the Chairman of the Board of
the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC), Mr. Pierre Daher, in the course of
the lawsuit filed against him and other individuals by the Lebanese Forces, in the
dispute over the ownership of LBC. He was then discharged on bail.
- (26/4) the website of the National News Agency was hacked by Israeli hackers, and the
front page was replaced with an announcement in Arabic inviting anyone with
reliable information on the pilot Ron Arad and other missing Israeli soldiers to
submit it in return for a reward of ten million dollars. In the process, the website
was disrupted for several hours.
- (26/4) the Court of Publications in Beirut fined the Director of al-Mustaqbal daily
newspaper and the journalist Fares Khashan with the amount of one million
Lebanese pounds, in the course of the slander and libel lawsuit filed against them
by MP Talal Arslan.
- (27/4) Hezbollah filed a lawsuit on behalf of its Deputy Secretary General against al-Liwaa
daily newspaper. The latter had published reports it attributed to officials on the
hypothesis that the Ethiopian plane was shut down by a missile, and linked this
incident to a delegation from the party cancelling their trip in the last minute.
- (27/4) the First Investigating Magistrate in Beirut postponed the summoning of former
Major General Ali Hajj’s wife, Samar Hajj, to the eighth of July, in the course of the
lawsuit brought against her by the editor of al-Mustaqbal daily newspaper Hani
Hammoud for libel and slander, after she asked the court for additional time to
hire a lawyer to defend her.
Syria:
The month of April ended with the news of the release of the Kurdish artist Anwar Nasso.
However, the fact that his colleagues from the Yekiti Party were kept in detention stopped
the Syrian observers and human rights activists short of feeling optimistic. Moreover, the
practice of hacking and disrupting websites returned, in addition to other violations listed
as follows:
- (3/4) the Political Security Branch in the city of Qamishli summoned the director of
Taj al-Malek hall in the city, where a concert by the singer Charbel Hanna was
scheduled to be held, with the participation of the Syriac singer Habib Moussa as
the guest of honour. The Political Security Branch then extracted a signed affidavit
4
by the director pledging to prevent Moussa from performing, on the grounds that
his name was not mentioned in the permit.
- (10/4) the writer and former political prisoner Raghda al-Hassan, who is currently in
detention, was referred to the military court in Homs. Al-Hassan was charged with
‘engaging in publishing false news that weakens the nation’s morale’. Al-Hassan
was transferred to Homs’s central prison on 9/4 pending her trial.
- (11/4) the Syrian administrative court quashed the lawsuit filed by the National
Organization for Human Rights in Syria against the Minister of Social Affairs and
Labour, related to their bid to obtain a licence for the organization in 2006
through order no. 5452/2010.
- (14/4) the journalists Bassam Ali and Suhaila Ismail appeared before the Second Court of
Appeal in Homs, on charges of ‘resisting the socialist system’. This is against the
backdrop of their report on corruption, forgery, embezzlement and theft at the
General Fertilizers Company in Homs.
- (14/4) the Syrian security forces carried out a wide campaign of arrests in the city
of al-Raqqa, in the aftermath of the incidents that erupted during the Kurdish
celebrations of Nowruz (the Kurdish New Year). These incidents claimed the lives of
a number of celebrators and injured dozen others, as a result of live rounds fired
by the security forces against protesters yielding Kurdish flags and banners.
- (16/4) the al-Hadatha [modernity] official site for the Party of Modernity and Democracy
in Syria was hacked and disrupted, according to a news story published on the
site, which mentioned that “the site’s server was deliberately hacked by the Syrian
security services”.
- (16/4) the Syrian customs authorities prevented a number of members from the Arab
National Conference from travelling to Lebanon, to participate in the conference
held in Beirut (16-18/4).
- (18/4) the Syrian Supreme State Security Court in Damascus sentenced Nazmi Abdul
Hannan Mohammed, Yasha Khaled Qadir, Dalkach Sh’mo M’mo, and Ahmad Khalil
Darwish to five years in prison on charges of belonging to the Kurdish Yekiti Party,
and on the grounds that they are calling for the secession of a part of the Syrian
territories and annex it to a foreign country.
- (19/4) the Syrian writer Ali Abdullah, who is being detained at the Adra central prison,
was referred to the state security court two months before the end of his
sentence, which indicates that his detention will be extended further.
- (21/4) the Syrian security authorities released the Kurdish artist Anwar Nasso, who was
arrested with a group of leaders from the Kurdish Yekiti Party. However, his
detained colleagues (Hassan Saleh, Maarouf Mulla Ahmad and Mohammad Mustafa)
were referred to the military prosecution in Damascus.
- (22/4) The Second Military Criminal Court in Damascus held a new session for the trial
of lawyer Haitham al-Maleh, and questioned him regarding the charges against him
of ‘spreading false news that weakens the nation’s morale, holding the court in
contempt, and spreading false news that undermine the standing of the state’.
- (23/4) the website ‘Souriyoun.Net’ was hacked by perpetrators that the site described
in one of its front page editorials as being ‘the Qarmatian Pirates’ [sic]. Also,
the Syrian Observatory’s email service was hacked, and was used in transmitting
fabricated news.

The SKeyes centre report on violations against media and cultural freedom in April 2010
The West Bank:  were executed by Hamas, a campaign of criticism against certain agencies and websites and
The month of April was no different than previous months, as it witnessed further arrests,
summonses and assaults, and a dangerous precedent in terms of the violations perpetrated
by Israeli soldiers, when they used a Palestinian journalist as a human shield during their
crackdown against the protestors in Bil’in. Also, the Palestinian National Authority in the West
Bank shut down several radio and television stations, which was considered a disaster in the
world of media freedoms. Listed below are the most notable violations:
- (9/4) Israeli forces arrested the photographer working for the B’Tselem Israeli human
rights organizations Haitham al-Khatib, while he was photographing the Israeli
crackdown against the peaceful march in Bil’in.
- (10/4) Israeli troops stormed the headquarters of the Michigan Peace Team, which
accommodates American peace activities, in Hawara south of Nablus. According
to the team’s director, soldiers blew up the main door, threw stun grenades and
vandalized the headquarters’ contents.
- (10/4) The Preventive Security Service affiliated to the Palestinian National Authority
detained the journalist Samed Dweikat, after summoning him.
- (10/4) armed with gas canisters and rubber bullets, Israeli forces attacked the peaceful
march in Beit Amr in the district of Hebron, and arrested ten protestors, including
five Israeli peace activists and Palestinians from the Popular Committee Against
the Wall and Settlements, in addition to arresting the photographer of the Agence
France Presse Hazem Bader, who was released four hours later.
- (19/4) the Palestinian National Authority closed down five television stations in Nablus on
the grounds that they did not obtain the proper licences, and are: the Gamma,
Asia, Adwaa, Peace and al-Jalaa television stations. Two other television stations
remain operational, which are the Nablus and Panorama television stations
- (21/4) the Palestinian police closed down seven radio stations in Hebron, on the grounds
that they did not obtain the proper licenses. The stations are: Al-Nawras, Siraj,
Dream, al-Khalil, al-Noujoum, al-Yamama, and al-Amal.
- (22/4) the management of the Facebook service closed down the page belonging to the
Palestinian director Mohamed Jabr, half an hour after he uploaded his latest film
‘Sajinios’.
- (23/4) the Israeli forces have stepped up their campaign against journalists and Arab
and foreign activists who participated in the Bil’in Fifth Conference on Popular
Resistance against the wall and against the settlements in Ramallah, arresting four
Arab and foreign activists, and detaining the photographer of al-Hayat al-Jadida
[the new life] Muhib Barghouti.
- (24/4) Israeli forces used the European Agency’s photographer in Hebron Najeh Hashlamoun
as a human shield in the confrontations that erupted with the residents of Beit
Amr. The soldiers also confiscated Hashlamoun’s camera and forced him to sit
on the hood of the car, while dozens of residents were hurling stones in their
direction. Hashlamoun subsequently suffered from asphyxiation, and was subjected
to the risk of being hit by stones.
- (26/4) the intelligence service summoned the writer Muhannad Salahat after issuing a
warrant that required his presence on the first of May, and a threat of issuing
an arrest warrant against him should he fail to comply. This followed a series of
threats and repeated arrests in less than a month.
- (27/4) the Preventive Security Service released the writer Walid Hodali several hours after
he was detained without clarifications. Members from this security service had
raided his home in al-Bireh, and confiscated his computer and a number of his
files.
- (30/4) Israeli forces arrested the crew working for Al-Jazeera, which consisted of the
cameraman Majdi bannoura, and the technical assistant Nader Abu Zard, during the
march in Bil’in. The Israeli forces had ambushed the protestors and arrested four
individuals, including the crew from Al-Jazeera, in addition to the Irish journalist
Tommy Donald and a foreign peace activist. They were released later at night.
Gaza: 
The wave of summonses against journalists and writers has returned to the limelight, and
almost overshadowed the semi-organized campaign against Western-dance troupes in the
Strip which culminated with the Hamas police force arresting the members of the ‘Break
Dance’ troupe while it was performing onstage. The series of violations also witnessed the
5
prevention of photographers from taking pictures of the bodies of the two Palestinians that
threats to prosecute individuals employed by them, and was then culminated with Israeli
involvement when Israeli forces directly targeted journalists during their incursion into the
Gaza Strip, and deliberately fired at participants in the protest march in the middle of Gaza.
The details of these incidents are listed as follows:
- (6/4) Israeli troops opened fire on journalists and demonstrators during the peace
march in the Atatra area east of Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip.
- (7/4) the Media Office affiliated with the Hamas dismissed government summoned
the three journalists from Gaza who travelled to Israel on March 25, to obtain
clarifications regarding their visit to Tel Aviv. The journalists said that they have
been misled.
- (15/4) the security forces affiliated to the dismissed government of Hamas prevented
the journalists from photographing the bodies of the two Palestinians that were
executed by Hamas for collaboration, and threatened them to take severe measures
against them should they attempt to go to the morgue at al-Shifaa government
hospital.
- (16/4) Israeli forces fired directly at the photojournalists and Palestinian residents during
its incursion into the Shijaia neighbourhood, east of Gaza.
- (18/4) writers affiliated with Hamas at the Palestine Dialogue network, a subordinate
group of the Palestinian Information Centre (Hamas’s electronic mouthpiece)
renewed their attacks against the Ma’an Palestinian news agency, and accused it
of being biased and partial.
- (19/4) the Interior Minister in the dismissed government of Hamas Fathi Hammad
threatened to prosecute the owners and editors of the websites affiliated to Fatah
and to punish them, and revealed a plan prepared by his ministry to prosecute
them without disclosing further details.
- (20/4) the website Palestine Now, which is affiliated with Hamas, published a sharp attack
against the Palestinian National Authority for granting a permit for the Ramallah
Contemporary Dance Festival, and described the latter as being ‘decadent’, and
as being ‘solely aimed at spreading immorality in the conservative Palestinian
society’.
- (22/4) the weekly al-Istiqlal newspaper, which is affiliated with the Islamic Jihad group,
attacked the rap bands that started performing in Gaza, and considered this issue
to be ‘a new form of cultural invasion aimed at destroying what is left of the
fundamentals of Arab and Islamic culture, intellect and heritage”.
- (24/4) the Maltese writer, human rights activist and journalist Bianca Zamet (28 years
old) was injured along with five Palestinians, when they came under fire from
Israeli soldiers, while participating in a protest march against the security zone
that prevents farmers from reaching their lands east of al-Maghazi camp in central
Gaza.
- (24/4) the police force affiliated with the Hamas dismissed government detained the
B-Boy group, which consists of thirteen young men, while performing their break
dance routines at the Rashad Shawa auditorium. The police assaulted them
physically, prevented them from continuing their performance and confiscated
their ID cards and mobile phones before shoving them violently into police cars
and took them to the al-Abbas police station where they were detained for five
hours.

The SKeyes centre report on violations against media and cultural freedom in April 2010
- (25/4) members from the internal security forces affiliated to the dismissed Hamas
government left a summoning notice for the writer and novelist Atef Abu Seif at
his home, following an altercation that took place between him and members
from the internal security forces at the sit-in camp for the prisoner Ahmad Sabah
in the Erez area. On the next day, Abu Seif went to the internal security office
in Jabalia, and was questioned regarding the incident, before being subsequently
released an hour later.
- (25/4) the Palestine Today News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Jihad group,
attacked the Reuters News Agency for publishing an advertisement to track the
kidnappers of Gilad Shalit. According to the spokesman for the Hamas government
Taher Nunu, “the advertisement violates Palestinian national security”, who also
stressed that it need to be retracted immediately. On April 27, Reuters clarified
that the advertisement was published automatically through Google AdSense, and
that it was removed immediately as the agency is committed to independence
and integrity.
- (25/4) The Ministry of Information in the Hamas dismissed government demanded the
correspondent of al-Hayat al-Jadida- which is published in the city of al-Bireh near
Ramallah- the journalist Noufouth Bakri, to apply for a permit to use her house as
a media office, “in case she is using it for her press-related work”.
- (27/4) the Media Office of the Hamas dismissed government summoned SKeyes’s
correspondent in the Strip, the journalist and writer Asmaa al-Ghoul, in a telephone
call in which she was told she must present herself at the office, in order to
inquire about “some editing policies adopted by SKeyes in its news, and whether
the latter has obtained a permit from the Ministry of Information to operate as
a media centre”.
- (29/4) during a ceremony honouring journalists and media institutions, the head of the
Hamas dismissed government Ismail Haniyeh proposed an initiative to end tension
in the media and mutual incitement between the rival Palestinian groups “in order
to facilitate the task for national reconciliation”.
The 1948 territories and East Jerusalem:
 Israeli troops continued their violations against Palestinian journalists and writers, and
foreign peace activists in April. They prevented the head of the Committee for the Defence
of Freedoms in the Territories of 1948 Amir Makhoul from travelling, under the grounds
that “he is a threat to state security”. The Israeli authorities also prevented the writer Alaa
Hleihel from travelling to participate in a festival in Beirut, summoned the journalist Omar
Dalasha and Alaa Badrana for questioning, and arrested French peace activists during the
opening ceremony of the Rachel Corrie Garden. Four Israeli human rights activists were also
arrested in Sheikh Jarrah and were banished from the area for a period of one week. This
coincided with a fierce campaign of incitement against the Adalah centre, and against a
number of other human rights organizations that are critical of Israel. The details of these
violations are listed as follows:
- (1/4) The number of proposed racial laws that are discriminatory against the Arabs in
general and Palestinians in particular, increased in the Knesset, which is dominated
by a right-wing and extreme right-wing majority, reaching 21 draft laws.
- (7/4) the Israeli Police arrested two French foreign peace activists on charges of
assaulting settlers, during the opening ceremony of the Rachel Corrie Children’s
Garden in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
- (9/4) The Israeli police arrested four Israeli activists during their participation in the
weekly protest march in Sheikh Jarrah, and claimed that they refused to obey
orders and join the rest of the protesters in the area allocated to them.
- (10/4) the Israeli authorities banned Amir Makhoul, the head of the Committee for the
Defence of Freedoms, a subordinate body of the High Follow Up Committee, and
the director of the Arab Associations Union in the territories of 1948 ‘Ittijah’
[Direction], from travelling until late June, in a decision issued by the Israeli
Interior Minister Eli Yishai, on the grounds that he “is a threat to state security”.
Makhoul was informed of the decision during his trip to Jordan at the Sheikh
Hussein [border] crossing.
- (13/4) the Israeli Supreme Court issued its decision in the petition filed by the Adalah
[Justice] centre in the case involving the writer and journalist Alaa Hleihel, in
which the court allowed him to travel to participate in the Beirut 39 Festival.
However, the stalling by the Israeli Interior Ministry of the legal proceedings made
it virtually impossible for him to travel on time.
- (14/4) The Israeli police questioned the Arab journalist Omar Dalasha and Alaa Badrana
6
from the Panorama newspaper and the website Panet, against the backdrop
of the picture they had taken of two demonstrators raising pictures of the
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and Emad Mughniyeh, during the
Earth Day demonstration. Subsequently, several human rights groups condemned
the summoning and the questioning of the journalists, and the attempts to recruit
them as informers.
- (16/4) in a report published by the extremist Israeli right-wing organization Im Tirtzu,
the latter waged a fierce campaign of incitement against Adalah - the Legal Centre
for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, and against the New Israel Fund and numerous
other Palestinian, Arab and Israeli human rights groups because of their “support
for or involvement in the indictment of Israeli ministers and army officers for war
crimes in courts overseas”.
- (24/4) several journalists and photographers suffered light injuries, after being hurdled
with stones by protestors who tried to prevent them from doing their jobs and
covering the unrest that erupted in Silwan, when the youths there tried to defy
the protest organized by extremist right wing settlers.
- (27/4) Adalah - the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, demanded the Israeli
Interior Minister Eli Yishai and the Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to repeal
the order “banning the head of the Committee for the Defence of Freedoms in
the Territories of 1948 Amir Makhoul from travelling, as it is unconstitutional and
illegal”.
- (29/4) Twenty Members of Knesset from both the government coalition and the opposition
introduced a new law for approval in the Knesset, which would outlaw Adalah and
other anti-Israeli groups.
Jordan: 
The tense and charged atmosphere that surrounded the media and cultural scene in Jordan
abated, and no violations or incidents were recorded in April except for three separate
incidents, most notably the memo issued by the Jordanian Press and Publications Department
banning the media from publishing any news item related to the issue of alleged corruption
in the petroleum refinery expansion project. The details of these incidents are listed as
follows:
- (6/4) the Jordanian Press and Publications Department circulated a second memo
confirming the decision of the General Prosecutor in the State Security Court to
ban the local media from publishing any news or commentary related to the issue
of alleged corruption in the Jordanian petroleum refinery expansion project, except
with prior approval, subject to prosecution and legal action.
- (10/4) the editors of the Jordanian websites ‘Ammoun’ and ‘Kul al-Ordonn’, and the news
sites ‘Jarassa’ and ‘Saraya’, boycotted the National Conference for Media organized
by the Jordanian Press Syndicate in the Dead Sea over three days.
- (19/4) the ‘Journalists with a stay of execution’ group filed a lawsuit against the Jordanian
Television and Radio Corporation and its chairman Saleh Qallab, to appeal the
decision to sack 16 trainees from the group’s members before their training at
the corporation ended.

Palestinian military courts... a flagrant violation of freedoms?!
On the eleventh of May, the Military Court
in the city of Nablus in the West Bank
sentenced the human rights activist Hassan
al-Zagha to two years in prison. In truth,
this is the second sentence of its kind issued
by the court against detainees in cases
involving the freedom of opinion, following
the ruling against the correspondent of Al-
Aqsa Satellite Channel Tarek Abu Zeid on
February 16, sentencing him to 18 months
in prison.
Each time the military justice sentences a
political detainee to prison, the Palestinian
human rights organizations suffer a major
disappointment, as this only reinforces its
belief that it is the political will that is the
prime mover of military justice.
Despite the various statements given by
Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who said that
“the law is above everyone”, and that “we
must respect and execute the rulings issued
by the Palestinian courts”, it remains that
the military court is insisting each time
on the complete disregard of the rulings
of civilian courts, specifically, those of the
Supreme Court of Justice.
Al-Zagha and Abu Zeid had obtained an
acquittal from the Supreme Court of Justice,
and a ruling demanding the military
judiciary to release them on the grounds
that their detention is illegal. However, the
military judiciary and the security services
affiliated with it have complied with the
Palestinian judiciary.
The Supreme Court of Justice mentioned in
its ruling that “the detention of civilians
by the military judiciary is in violation
of the Palestinian Basic Law and the
Palestinian Code of Criminal Procedures,
and hence, all detentions carried out by
the military judiciary are null and void.
The detained defendant must be released
immediately, unless another case against
him is pending”.
The Attorney General Ahmad al-Mughni
says: “the military judiciary has usurped its
capacity and seized the jurisdiction of the
civilian judiciary”.
According to various Palestinian human
rights organizations such as ‘Al-Haq’
Institution and the Independent Commission
for Human Rights, “the military court did
not implement any of the 100 or more
rulings issued by the Supreme Court of
Justice, except after stalling and delays, and
in many instances, [there was] complete
refusal”.
For this reason, the majority of the
detainees consider resorting to the Supreme
Court of Justice as being useless, because
their detention is politically, and not legally,
motivated. This is particularly valid when
experience has shown that the security
services do not respect any rulings issued
by this court, as corroborated by the
journalist Mustafa Sabri who was arrested
by the security services more than twenty
times since 2007.
A legal dispute ... and
freedoms are the victim  military judiciary is doing its patriotic duty.
The legal dispute raging between the civilian
judiciary, legal experts and human rights
groups on the one hand, and the military
court on the other hand, is not only limited
to the issue of the jurisdictions anointed to
the military judiciary, but also the extent of
its constitutionality in the first place.
The point of contention thus held by the
civilian judiciary and legal experts is that
“the military courts have no purview to
detain and imprison civilians”.
In truth, the military judiciary relies on
laws drafted by the PLO and endorsed by
the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat
in 1979.
The most significant of these laws, which the
military judiciary considers as its main legal
and legislative source, are the Revolutionary
Code of Criminal Procedure, and the
Revolutionary Penal Code of 1979.
Ever since that time, these laws became
in force in the Palestinian Diaspora, and
wherever the forces of the Palestinian
Revolution were present. In the beginning,
the provisions of this judiciary were applied
to the Palestinian military personnel, and
also to the civilians who committed offences
against the Palestinian Revolution. To date,
these laws are still in effect, for example, in
the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.
The Palestinian Basic Law, which is the
equivalent of the constitution, listed the
purviews of military courts in Article (101),
second paragraph, which mentioned that
“military courts are established by special
laws, and these courts have no jurisdiction
or purview beyond military affairs”.
But for the senior officials in the military
judiciary, the word ‘military affairs’ is not
confined only to military personnel, but
instead applies to any crime or offense
against public order regardless of the
identity of its perpetrators, be they military
personnel or civilians.
The former head of the military judiciary,
Major General Abdel Aziz Wadi says: “the
When the civilian citizen commits any crime
involving military affairs, he must appear
before a military court. As for the crimes of
a civilian nature, these remain within the
purview of the civilian judiciary”.
The legal expert working with Al-Haq
institution Nasser Al-Rayes stresses that “the
laws of due process and the revolutionary
penal code are no longer valid as per the
de facto status quo, because these laws
were put in place to run the affairs of
the Palestinian Revolution and the means
to defend it. It used to apply to the
special Palestinian community during the
Palestinian Revolution. However, we are
talking today about a Palestinian authority
that is at the head of several legislative,
judicial and executive institutions, and
hence, we are talking about an entity that
closely resembles a state”.
Al-Rayes then adds: “there are no forces
in the Palestinian territories called ‘the
Palestinian Revolution forces’ today. We
have a security agency called the National
Security Forces, which is governed by
agreements and a chain of command
that contradict the Revolutionary Penal
Code itself”. He gives an example of the
contradiction between these laws and
the current reality, saying: “according to
the revolutionary law of the Palestinian
Liberation Organization, those who ‘arrest
a freedom fighter or prevent him from
carrying out certain actions’ are punished
by the death sentence”. But he wonders:
“how can one interpret and execute this
provision, given the current reality created
by the Oslo agreement?”
Al-Rayes believes that “the Palestinian
community is in need for a set of new
legislations on military affairs that are
7
commensurate with the Palestinian
reality, which has much changed with the
establishment of the Palestinian National
Authority in 1994”.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Independent
Commission for Human Rights, ‘The
Ombudsman Office’, stresses that ‘the
adoption of the Revolutionary Law of
1979 in the territories controlled by the
Palestinian National Authority has no legal
or constitutional basis that justify it, in
accordance with the decrees published in
the Official Gazette and the laws in force
in the territory of the Palestinian National
Authority”.
In a special report it published under
the title ‘the detention of civilians by
Palestinian security services at the orders
of the military court’, the commission said
that “Decree No.1 for 1995 issued by
the late President Yasser Arafat was clear
in that its first article, which stipulated
the following: the enforcement of laws,
regulations and orders that were applicable
prior to 5/6/1965 must continue in the
Palestinian territories (the West Bank and
Gaza) until they are unified”.
The report, which was prepared by the
lawyer at the commission Ghandi Rab’i,
also mentions that “the decree has clearly
pointed to the laws, regulations and orders
in force in the territories controlled by the
Palestinian National Authority. Since the
Revolutionary Law was never in force in
these territories, applying it is a violation
of the Presidential Decree”.
Why isn’t the military
judiciary being prosecuted?
An obvious question rises here: why don’t
the Palestinian human rights organizations
sue the officials at the head of the military
judicial commission on charges of failing to
execute the orders of Palestinian courts,
and for their responsibility for the torture
of hundreds and the death of four citizens
in military prisons as a result of torture
or neglect?
Article (106) of the Basic Law states that
“all judicial decisions must be enforced,
and refraining from doing so or stalling
their execution in any manner is a crime
punishable by imprisonment, and dismissal
if the offender is a public officer or civil
servant. The sentenced has the right to file
a direct complaint before the competent
court, and the National Authority shall
guarantee full compensation for him”.
According to Al-Rayes, many Palestinian civil
society institutions working in the field of
human rights and freedoms are seriously
considering legal action against those who
issue orders of detention and arrest against
civilians, i.e. the head of the military judicial
commission, before European courts.

Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Sagheih Bldg. Ground Floor, Str. 63, Al-Zahrani, Seiofi, Beirut, Lebanon
Tel:/Fax: 00961 1 397334
The Israeli forces wage war against the solidarity foreign activists
The Israeli authorities’ move to deny
entry to the American thinker Noam
Chomsky into Palestine, on the sixth of
May, caused a storm of criticism and
reactions condemning Israel for its policy
of oppression. But what many people
do not know is that Israel dealt with
Chomsky in the same manner that it
deals with tens of international peace and
solidarity activists, whom Israel prevents
from entering Palestine as punishment for
their support for Palestinian struggle and
determination.
Chomsky travelled to Palestine at the
invitation of the Bir Zeit University,
one of the largest Palestinian academic
institutions, to give a series of lectures.
However, hundreds of peace activists
whose names and numbers are impossible
to learn exactly, and who came to
partake in the peaceful marches against
the settlements and the racial separation
barrier, have all met with the same
fate, and were ‘denied entry for security
reasons’ or ‘denied entry’ without any
clarifications.
The influx of foreign peace and solidarity
activists into Palestine dates back to Al-
Aqsa Intifada in the year 2000, when the
main motivation for their visit was to
learn the truth about what is going on
in this hot spot, which is a major source
of news published by international news
agencies.
Nearly a year after the Intifada, the
Israeli authorities became aware that
the activists are no longer individuals,
but belong to groups now, and that the
pictures they take of the Israeli violations
or assaults against the activists of the
Intifada, and the demolition of homes, are
now being published all around the world.
This tarnished Israel’s reputation in front
of the international public opinion, and as
a result, Israel received the worst approval
rates ever in opinion polls.
But since 2002, and in conjunction with
the military operation named Defensive
Shield, carried out by the Israeli
authorities in the cities and camps of
the West Bank, Israel began enforcing
strict measures against foreign peace
activists, leading to the martyrdom of
several of them whether in the West
Bank or the Gaza Strip: these include
the American activist Rachel Corrie in
2003, and the British peace activist
Thomas Peter Hurndall (22 years) who
was killed by Israeli forces less than a
month after Corrie was killed. He was
shot by an Israeli sniper on 11/4/2003
and remained in a state of clinical death
until he was pronounced dead by the
Royal British Hospital on 13/1/2004.
After killing a number of peace activists
“the Contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the Samir Kassir Foundation and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union”.
Email: info@skeyesmedia.org
in cold blood, and injuring and arresting
hundreds of others partaking in the
peaceful popular marches against the wall
and the settlements, Israel began carrying
out ‘soft and silent’ expulsions against
them, in order to avoid any controversy
or damage to its diplomatic relations with
the activists’ home countries.
These Israeli tactics aimed at expelling
all foreign activists reached a peak when
Israel issued a military order, known to
the Palestinians as the ‘expulsion order’ or
military order no. 1650.
Through this military order, Israel wanted
to achieve the complete expulsion of any
individuals present in the West Bank that
haven’t obtained a permit from the Israeli
Military Governor.
Moreover, the expulsion orders also affect
the Palestinians whose ID cards show that
they reside in the Gaza Strip, or that they
came from Jordan with a visit visa, and
also the Palestinians who hold Arab or
foreign passports, and who travelled to
the Palestinian territories by obtaining a
visa, in addition to foreign activists. The
Israeli military order which considers each
individual in the abovementioned group an
‘infiltrator’, was issued in October, 2009,
and was kept secret. However, the Israeli
press exposed this matter and published
it in March 2010, and as of April 13, this
order became effective.
Foreign activists:
personas non grata
According to the International Solidarity
Movement (ISM) established at the end
of 2000, the Israeli forces are closing
in on all foreign solidarity and peace
activists, and it is evident whether from
the statements given by the commanders
of the Israeli army, or from its practices
on the ground, that these activists are
now personas non grata.
In the words of the Canadian activist
from ISM Neta Golan, “Israel is targeting
foreign activists through assaults and
arrests. The Israeli military order is
targeting the foreign activists, and after
placing many restrictions on them to
enter the Palestinian territories, Israel is
currently preventing hundreds of them
from reaching the Palestinian territories
each month”.
She also says: “around 5 to 6 foreign
activists arrive each week to the
Palestinian borders. However, everyone
knows that obtaining an entry permit
is completely controlled by the Israeli
authorities. For this reason, Israel denies
them entry on arrival and does not grant
them visas”.
Corroborating sources confirmed to SKeyes
that “Israel indeed denied entry to more
than two thousand international solidarity
and peace activists since October 2009”.
Golan comments on this by saying: “Israel
does not want to create for itself any
problems with embassies and consulates
by prosecuting peace activities present in
the Palestinian territories. For this reason,
Israel denies them entry at the border
crossings”.
She also stresses that the major
development in this case “is the fact that
Israeli troops are now raiding the places
of residence of solidarity activists, and
arresting them there, although all these
places lie in Zone ‘A’ as designated by
the Oslo Agreement signed between the
Israelis and the Palestinians in 1994”.
The Oslo Agreement stipulates that the
Palestinian National Authority has full
sovereignty and control of the areas
in the ‘A’ zone, and hence, the Israeli
raids in these areas are a breach of this
agreement.
Golan says: “in the past few months, the
Israeli army arrested five activists at dawn
from places lying in the ‘A’ zone.” She
also adds: “as it is known all around the
8
world, states issue laws then enforce them,
while taking care that these laws do not
violate international law and conventions
on human rights; however, Israel does the
exact opposite of this”.
SKeyes attempted to determine the specific
number of foreign solidarity activists who
were denied entry by Israel, whether
from Palestinian or Israeli human rights
organizations, but to no avail.
According to Sam Bahour, a member in
the ‘Right to Entry’ movement: “Nobody
has accurate numbers except the Israeli
authorities, specifically the intelligence
service, as the latter is the party
responsible for giving the go-ahead for
granting activists entry visas”.
He also said: “Israel is adamant on
keeping these numbers a secret so as not
to be exposed, because it denies entry
to hundreds of citizens into Palestinian
territories to express their solidarity with
the Palestinians against the appropriation
of their lands, which are then used to
build settlements and the racial separation
barrier”.
According to human rights sources,
the activists who manage to enter the
Palestinian territories at present are those
who have come on tourist visas to Israel,
and have moved from there to partake
in the peaceful marches alongside the
Palestinians against Israel, in order to
avoid detection”.
Solidarity outside Palestine
The solidarity activists who were denied
entry into Palestine by Israel have found
another way to express their solidarity
with the Palestinian cause, but this time
abroad, by working on raising awareness in
the ranks of the worldwide public opinion
regarding the massacres of Israel and
the violations that completely disregard
international law and international
conventions on human rights.
A number of foreign solidarity activists
banned from entering Palestine, such as
such as Paul Larudee, Greta Berlin, and
Mary Hughes, founded with other colleagues
the Free Gaza Movement, which aims
at raising awareness in their European
communities regarding the suffering in
the Gaza Strip, and at organizing ships to
sail from Cyprus and other Mediterranean
countries and transport aid to the people
of Gaza.
Huwaida Arraf, in a telephone
conversation with SKeyes from Spain, says:
“I am currently working alongside many
foreign activists on sending an aid ship
to the Gaza Strip, in order to break the
siege and raise awareness in the world
regarding the suffering of the women and
children in Gaza”.