Ofer Military Courts – A hidden portrait of the physical and psychological occupation of Palestinian youths

From MEMO - On the ground of the big dusty square in front of the Ofer military base lie the relics of exploded rubber bullets and discharged live ammunition. These are the remnants of demonstrations for the release of political prisoners, which are often violently repressed by Israeli forces. Last year, Israeli forces unlawfully killed two youths who were participating in a demonstration close to the base. Ofer military base was established on the outskirts of Ramallah, has housed the military courts since 1968. Ofer military courts are one of the judicial arms of the Israeli prolonged occupation of Palestine.

Inside the courtrooms – which are small, metal, prefabricated buildings – the everyday business is focused on the prosecution of young Palestinian prisoners. The proceedings violate of international law.

On 22 July, 2015, a Palestinian child was tried for his involvement in an incident that began in the streets of Hebron. The child flicked a lighter. Israeli soldiers, located approximately 100 meters away, spotted the flame in the dark and shot three times at the boy's leg. The soldiers said they shot him because they thought that he was about to light a Molotov cocktail. Other soldiers, who immediately gathered, testified that they found the remnants of a Molotov cocktail, approximately 30 metres away from the boy. However, the Israeli soldiers destroyed the Molotov cocktail on site, thus it could not be presented in court. Despite the lack of material evidence, the judge convicted the boy who was shot by Israeli soldiers, notwithstanding.

In another military courtroom, four shackled young Palestinians were sitting on a bench to the left of the military prosecutor's desk. The mother of one of the boys came in from the door and showed a two finger sign of victory to her son. She then moved to the second row of seats in the back of the courtroom, where parents are only allowed to sit. She gave her son a reassuring smile and whispered gentle words to him. His eyes became watery. The judge extended the four youths' period of detention after having identified them by reading out loud their names, without further examination of each individual case. more

Comments

'Coronavirus-free' Gaza prepares for the worst

Until now, the besieged Gaza Strip has stayed free of the novel coronavirus spreading across the world. As the Gaza Strip has been under a stringent Israeli-led blockade for nearly 13 years, the spread of the coronavirus - officially known as COVID-19 - has become the topic of discussion for many Palestinians, with some joking that the blockade was preventing them from being exposed.But as authorities in the coastal Palestinian enclave gear up to contain any potential outbreak, serious questions have arisen about the risks and implications of such a scenario. But given its already difficult humanitarian situation and high population density, an outbreak in the Gaza Strip could prove to be catastrophic, health officials have warned. "If the virus enters Gaza and spreads, it will get out of hand," Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Majdi Thuhair told Middle East Eye, as he explained that a severe shortage of resources and personnel would make it near impossible

Boycott of New York diamond dealer launched to protest settlement construction

Members of Adalah NY call for boycott of Leviev for its crimes against Palestinians and South Africans New York, NY, May 9 – On the day before Mother’s Day, 40 New York human rights advocates gathered at the Leviev jewelry store on Madison Avenue and called on throngs of weekend Madison Avenue shoppers to boycott Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev over his companies’ construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in West Bank villages including Bil’in and Jayyous. Mother’s Day is one of the biggest jewelry shopping periods in the US annually. The New York protest came as controversy is growing in Norway over Norwegian government investments in Leviev’s company Africa-Israel . The New York protesters also commemorated Bassem Abu Rahma from Bil’in who was shot to death by Israeli soldiers last month during a peaceful protest against the construction on Bil’in’s land of Israel’s wall and of the Mattityahu East settlement by a Leviev company. Thanks to vivapalestina.us (not co

Support striking Palestinian quarry workers demanding their rights from Israeli employer

On 16 June, 35 Palestinian workers at Salit Quarries in Mishor Adumim (in area C, east of Jerusalem, in the Occupied West Bank) began a strike. The workers, organized with the independent union WAC-Ma'an, are demanding an end to exploitation and humiliation, and insist on signing a first collective agreement. Salit Quarries’ main customer is Readymix Industries (Israel). The total reliance of Salit Quarry on Readymix as their biggest and by far the most important customer puts responsibility on Readymix to make sure that their clients abides by labour laws and safeguards elementary rights for the workers of Salit. We call upon Readymix to urge the Salit management to terminate this unnecessary strike by signing the collective agreement with the workers and WAC-Ma’an. Click this protest link to send your message. The text of the message is as follows: I write to you to express my grave concern about the failure of Salit management to sign a collective agreement with the workers of

Search iGaza