Our dear friend Bassem Ibrahim Abu Rahma, known to many of us as Pheel, was murdered by IOF soldiers during a non-violent protest in the Palestinian village of Bil’in on April 17th, 2009.
This film was made in his memory, which we so fondly remember and greatly miss.
Bassem’s friends
His name was Bassem, which means smile, and that is how he greeted everyone. But we all called him ‘Pheel’, which means elephant because he had the body the size of an elephant. But Bassem had the heart of a child.
He loved everyone, and because of his sweetness and ability to make us laugh, everyone loved him. Bassem was everyone’s friend: the children talk about how he would play with them, scare them and then make them laugh. He would tend the garden in the playground and bring toys and books to the kindergarten. The old ladies in the village talk about how he used to visit, to ask after them and see if they needed anything. In the village, he seemed to be everywhere at once. He would pop in to say hello, take one puff of the nargila (Shisha), and be off to his next spot. The morning he was killed he went to the house of Hamis, whose skull had been broken at a previous demonstration three months ago by a tear gas canister projectile – the same weapon that would kill Bassem.
Bassem woke Hamis and gave him his medicine, then off he went to visit another friend in the village who is ill with cancer. Then a little girl from the village wanted a pineapple but couldn’t find any in the local stores. So Bassem went to Ramallah to get a pineapple and was back before noon for the Friday prayers and the weekly demonstration against the theft of our land by the apartheid wall. Pheel never missed a demonstration; he participated in all the activities and creative actions in Bilin. He would always talk to the soldiers as human beings. Before he was hit he was calling for the soldiers to stop shooting because there were goats near the fence and he was worried for them. Then a woman in front of him was hit. He yelled to the commander to stop shooting because someone was wounded. He expected the soldiers to understand and stop shooting. Instead, they shot him too.
People came to his funeral from all the surrounding villages to show Bassem that they loved him as much as he had loved them. But those of us from Bil’in kept looking around for him, expecting him to be walking with us.
Pheel, you were everyone’s friend. We always knew we loved you, but didn’t realize how much we would miss you until we lost you. As Bil’in has become the symbol of Palestine’s popular resistance, you are the symbol of Bil’in. Sweet Pheel, Rest in Peace, we will continue in your footsteps.
— Mohammad Khatib, member of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements
EDITOR: The more it changes, the more it stays the same….
Much is changing all the time in and around the Middle East; governments and leaders come and go (but not in Egypt…) as they do in Europe and the US. News peace plans, with ever-exciting names appear and wither away, new envoys come and go – some of bodies that do not even exist, such as the Quartet – and much money and energy are spent on all of this, and gives much work to journalists and experts in research institutes, and new tomes are launched.
One thing stays the same, though. Israel continues apace, clearing Palestine of its people, day-in, day-out, without ever stopping. Meanwhile, more are killed, maimed, robbed, humiliated, not to mention being starved. Thousands of homes are destroyed, families are spread across the globe, and slowly but surely, Palestine is evacuated, emptied, ethnically-cleansed. This fervent effort is supported by the western democracies – with political and diplomatic immunity awarded to Israel, with huge sums in aid, with special status in US and EU as well as other countries, and also by buying the fruits of the stolen land from the robbers and murderers.
How many peace plans have been drawn since 1967? How many UN resolutions, Security Council resolutions? Judgments by the International Criminal Court? Is there any doubt that the occupation and all the activities is spawned are not only illegal, but also immoral and inhumane? That the daily oppression, murder and brutalities are a shame on the international community, as Apartheid once was? That the apartheid wall is there to continue the land and water theft?
More than anything – is there any doubt that Israel has made any chance of a just peace settlement totally impossible through a calculated policy combining military brutality and control, legalised land theft, and total denial of human and political right to millions of Palestinians over many decades? Is it not yet clear that the so-called Two State solution was a mere fig-leaf, covering and enabling the continuation of the dispossession and ethnic cleansing of Palestine?
Israel seems set to see the latest of those efforts, started by Obama, to reach some settlement, and to continue the seemingly unstoppable cleansing of Palestine of its indigenous population. Though Obama would never even try to achieve a just solution, being as he is part of the US support system of Israel’s military occupation, and control of the Middle East, even his futile attempts would not be welcomed, and are likely to die like all before. Should anyone be waiting for Obama’s efforts to wither out? The international community did not wait for a US president before acting against apartheid in South Africa, so why does it wait now, with Israeli apartheid being so much worse?
The items before exemplify the movement towards emptying Palestine, taking part all over Palestine, every single day.
IDF using bereavement as fig leaf for settlers: Haaretz
By Gideon Levy
Who said Ehud Barak is insensitive? Who falsely accused Gabi Ashkenazi of being the silent type? And who suspects them of not being able to work together? The defense minister and chief of staff stood united at the end of last week to prevent the destruction of illegal homes in the illegal outpost of Givat Hayovel. Some of the houses were built on private Palestinian land; in other words, stolen land, and others were built on “state lands” and “survey lands” – more misleading terms to emerge from Israel’s endless supply of tricks.
The Israel Defense Forces even pulled out from storage a particularly ridiculous reason we haven’t heard for a while: These houses are “important for security” because they are “controlling points” where the IDF’s presence is “important.” As if the IDF can’t be in a place without such homes.
Barak and Ashkenazi got together for the task because bereaved families live in two of these homes: the family of Maj. Ro’i Klein, who was killed in the Second Lebanon War, and the family of Maj. Eliraz Peretz, who was killed three weeks ago on the Gaza border. It’s unclear whether this united front at the top was meant to prevent only the demolition of these two families’ homes or the demolition of all 18 homes ordered by the High Court of Justice. Both possibilities raise serious questions. Does the blood of those who die in combat wash away their culpability? How can we discriminate between one illegal settler and another? Why should the Palestinian whose land was taken over care if one of those settlers gets killed in action? Here’s the devilish thing: Of all days, on the day Barak and Ashkenazi published an emotional letter to High Court President Dorit Beinisch asking for “consideration and sensitivity,” the IDF destroyed other houses. Civil Administration bulldozers crushed a two-story house and two shops in Kafr Hares, while demolishing a home and a factory in Beit Sahur and another home in Al-Khader. Sixteen people are now homeless, among them children and a 1-year-old baby. The people from the Civil Administration took the trouble to stress that this was just the beginning of the demolition operation.
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It didn’t occur to anyone in the IDF to check whether maybe the Sultan family in Hares or the Musa family in Al-Khader could cite extenuating circumstances justifying “consideration and sensitivity.” Might they also have lost a son? And if so, would anyone have thought to stop the demolition because of it? Don’t make the IDF, the Civil Administration, Barak, Ashkenazi and all of us laugh. Those are Palestinians, not humans.
The demolition of the homes in Givat Hayovel was decided on in 2001, when everyone in the families was still alive. They built their homes recklessly, without permits, and knew they were stealing land. There are many other settlers like them.
That is the original sin that has been followed by the sin of authorities’ foot-dragging, which in this case has gone on for around nine years in terms of implementing the ruling on Peace Now’s petition. Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer now says he is giving in on the demolition of the Klein and Peretz homes. One can understand him. It’s hard to destroy a home whose inhabitants have just ended their week of mourning.
Indeed, it’s not humane. But as usual, we deal with the marginal instead of the important. While the evacuation of the outposts has never been an operative term, while the Sasson report has become a worthless archaeological artifact, why are we bothering with Givat Hayovel, of all places? Do we lack other outposts to evacuate, those without mourning families? Moreover, the whole matter of “illegal” outposts – as if even one settlement is legal – has never been the heart of the problem. It’s very convenient for everyone to turn the Givat Hayovel affair into another self-righteous and misleading fig leaf.
The settlers are waving these houses around for their own needs to squeeze out even more public sympathy and increase opposition to any evacuation at all. Barak and Ashkenazi are waving these houses around to show how much they want to enforce the law in the territories but can’t. Even the justice system occasionally seeks to prove that it is careful to uphold the law and not discriminate when it comes to the settlers. All this is nothing less than ridiculous.
Those two homes should be left alone – even the entire outpost. As long as the main settlement, Eli, remains, what difference does its offshoot make?
Clinton presses Israel do more to start peace talks: BBC
Clinton argued that peace talks would counter extremism
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has again called on Israel to do more to pursue peace with the Palestinians.
She urged Israel to support efforts by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank to strengthen institutions.
Mrs Clinton also called on the Palestinians to promote peace by ending incitement and fighting corruption.
Jewish settlement construction has caused deep strain in relations between the US and Israel and has hampered efforts to revive peace talks.
The secretary of state said supporting the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas was the best weapon to counter Hamas and other extremists.
The US has been trying to launch proximity talks between the two sides.
These were knocked off course by an announcement that Israel had approved plans for 1,600 new homes in the East Jerusalem settlement of Ramat Shlomo during a visit to Israel by US Vice-President Joe Biden.
‘Bold leadership’
The secretary of state called for “bold leadership” on all sides when she spoke at a dinner attended by the ambassadors of Israel and several Arab states.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has embraced the vision of the two-state solution,” Mrs Clinton said.
“But easing up on access and movement in the West Bank, in response to credible Palestinian security performance, is not sufficient to prove to the Palestinians that this embrace is sincere.”
“We encourage Israel to continue building momentum toward a comprehensive peace by demonstrating respect for the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, stopping settlement activity and addressing the humanitarian needs in Gaza, and to refrain from unilateral statements and actions that could undermine trust or risk prejudicing the outcome of talks,” she added.
Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967. It insists Jerusalem will remain its undivided capital, while Palestinians want to establish the capital of their state in the East Jerusalem.
Nearly half a million Jews live in more than 100 settlements in the West Bank, among a Palestinian population of about 2.5 million.
The settlements are illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
The Middle East quartet – the US, EU, UN and Russia – has called for a halt in settlement building and immediate final status negotiations to reach a comprehensive peace deal within two years.
EDITOR: H&M Protest Spreads Across Europe
After the successful action in Paris, a new action against H&M in Brusseles
Israel ‘using Facebook to recruit Gaza collaborators’: BBC
Social networking websites are becoming increasingly popular in Gaza
In a busy internet cafe in the centre of Gaza City, lots of people, mostly young, are typing and clicking away.
Some of them are engrossed in the world of Facebook. “I use it 10 hours a day,” says Mohammed who owns the shop. “I have over 200 Facebook friends.”
But Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls the Gaza Strip, believes the population’s love of social networking websites is making it easier for Israel to recruit spies.
Israel has long maintained networks of informers in the West Bank and Gaza in its effort to derail the activities of militant groups.
Historically, collaborators have often been killed if discovered, and this week Hamas announced it would execute anyone caught acting as an agent for Israel.
Personal problems
Facebook “is a big, big thing that the Israelis use”, says Ehab al-Hussein, a spokesman for the Hamas-run interior ministry.
“Many people don’t have security sense. They go on the internet and talk about all their personal problems such as with their wives or girlfriends,” he says.
Israel’s intelligence services can then contact people by telephone, e-mail or using existing Israeli agents in Gaza, and use the information to pressure people to become spies.
If in 50 years they open up the secret files of the Israeli secret services, the sophistication of electronics that is being used by Israel now in the Gaza Strip would put even the legendary Q from the James Bond movies to shame
Ronen Bergman
Expert on Israeli intelligence
The internet “allows them to make people feel Israel knows everything about them”, says Mr Hussein.
Ronen Bergman, an Israeli expert on intelligence and author of Israel’s Secret War with Iran, says monitoring social networking sites is the very minimum you would expect from his country’s intelligence services.
“Israel is using the personal information that is put in massive amounts on the internet to identify the people who can maybe help Israel,” he says.
“If in 50 years they open up the secret files of the Israeli secret service, the Shin Bet, and military intelligence, the sophistication of electronics that is being used by Israel now in the Gaza Strip would put even the legendary Q from the James Bond movies to shame.”
But Mr Bergman says that the intelligence community’s current thinking is that using personal information gleaned from the internet to pressure or even blackmail potential informants is not considered effective in recruiting long-term informants.
He says such threats are not often enough to get people to commit such a serious offence as collaborating.
But online detail, he says, can help intelligence services identify people who might be useful – such as those with good access to Hamas or to criminal networks.
When asked to comment, the Israeli government said it was not its practice to talk about its security services’ modes of operation.
Phone fears
Even Mr Hussein admits he has a Facebook page, “but I’m careful about the information I put on,” he says. “I only say I am a Hamas spokesman.”
He is probably not the only member of Hamas communicating on Facebook and the internet.
This is partly because other forms of communication, particularly mobile phones, are easily bugged and can be used to track movements, Mr Bergman says, so the internet has become a more preferable option.
Virtually all Palestinians leaving Gaza now do so for medical reasons
One reason Israeli intelligence is watching the social networking websites to try to identify potential informants is because a historical source of collaborators no longer exists, according to Mr Bergman.
Up until the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, started in 2000, thousands of Gazans had permits to enter Israel each day to work.
These people had direct contact with Israelis and were sometimes approached by Israeli intelligence officers and asked to collaborate.
But these days the border is virtually sealed.
Virtually the only Palestinians allowed through are often in wheelchairs or bandaged up, seeking medical treatment in Israel.
Some of those say they’ve been asked for information about Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
“They asked if I knew any people in my neighbourhood who were members,” says Khaled, a young man from Gaza City, who will give only his first name.
‘Not safe’
He had to go to Israel to seek medical treatment after being injured in last year’s conflict with Israel.
He says he did not pass on any information that the Israelis would not already have known.
But he gives an insight into how intelligence officers pressure people to become informants.
“They say that they know everything about you, but actually it’s information you have already published on Facebook,” he says.
“It’s not safe to publish such information – I believe it allows Israel to keep watching our movements.”
Last year, Israel dismissed as “simply ludicrous” allegations that its security forces had told Palestinians seeking permits to exit Gaza for medical treatment that they would only be allowed to leave if they supplied information on militant groups.