Forgiveness: A Prophetic Example

The Prophet dealt with every one of his opponents with utmost care, and he took strategic measures not to destroy them but to conquer their hearts.

The compelling conditions of our time offer human society two paths to choose from. We will either continue past enmities and stereotypes, or we will learn how to live in peaceful coexistence.

It is a world of global connectedness, and in order to make peace sustainable, we need to develop new paradigms of peaceful engagement.

The example of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) presents us with many such paradigms that we can adapt to our current circumstances.

Like all of his predecessors did before him, the Prophet showed utmost mercy and forgiveness to everyone, so much so that even his staunch enemies sought refuge under his wings of compassion. After he began to call his people to belief, Prophet Muhammad had to face all kinds of torment during his peaceful mission for thirteen years in Makkah. After numerous grievous incidents, he had to leave his town and reluctantly immigrated to Madinah. From most people’s point of view, the Makkans were absolutely to be declared as “the enemy” or “the other.”

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However, the Prophet did not behave inimical to anyone. He always treated people humanely, no matter what lethal traps they set for him. He never failed to extend his tender hand with a candid clemency and compassion. Even during many inexorable combats, he always prayed to his Lord, chiefly for those who smashed his helmet off, broke his tooth, and left his face covered with blood in battles like Badr and Uhud.

Not only did he hinder his followers from bearing any oppugning attitude against their merciless foes, he also blocked maledictions and imprecations to any adversary, even those who, for instance on the battle of Uhud, had ripped the bodies of nearly 70 beloved ones into pieces beyond recognition with an incredible brutality. Although his opponents were bloodthirsty and yearning for war, his sword was never besmeared by red hot blood; he never killed anyone. He did not represent anything other than loving compassion in the world.

He always held the door open in order to mildly flatter their vanities. He never hurt anyone’s pride deliberately

Prophet Muhammad never broke off his previous social connections. He did not approach anyone with a bias. He always held the door open in order to mildly flatter their vanities. He never hurt anyone’s pride deliberately. While his sworn enemies took the gloves off for any opportunity to assassinate him, he treated everyone amicably by taking into consideration the potential positions they would likely to hold in the near future. Because he knew that every individual had a respectable essence, he thought the most appropriate action was to awaken this divine kernel. He took action in this direction, though horrid provocations did not cease, and he did that with a worthy perseverance.

Glad Tidings

The Prophet dealt with every one of his opponents with utmost care, and he took strategic measures not to destroy them but to conquer their hearts. Giving the glad tidings of a coming peace, the following verse was revealed right after the Battle of the Trench:

{(When you obey God in His commands and prohibitions,) it may be that God will bring about love and friendship between you and those of them with whom you are in enmity. God is All-Powerful, and God is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate.} (Al-Mumtahanah 60: 7)

Peace was so close, just at their threshold. Having received this good news, the Prophet initiated immediate action by demanding to marry the daughter of Abu Sufyan, who was then the political leader of the Makkans.

Establishing bonds of kinship with him would be a plausible step in order to eradicate hostility. Umm Habiba, Abu Sufyan’s daughter, was among the group of Muslims who had fled the Makkan torture and sought refuge in Ethiopia. However, her husband died there, and she was left alone with her child without any protection.

By marrying her, the Prophet would not only save this devoted Muslim woman from despair and honor her, but would also form a connection with Abu Sufyan that would not be possible by any other way. This marriage was realized soon, and afterwards everything changed dramatically. Abu Sufyan, who was one of the staunch enemies of the Prophet until that day, could easily enter the Prophet’s home to visit Umm Habiba, his daughter.

Now, Abu Sufyan could learn more about Islam through his daughter Umm Habiba. He began to realize soon that Muslims were not as he had believed. In a short period of time, the difference in Abu Sufyan’s attitude became more and more obvious. He turned out to be more moderate, more cautious, and more candid in reciprocal dialogue attempts. Prominent figures of Makkah, Khalid ibn al-Walid, Safwan ibn-i Umayya, Suhayl ibn Amr and Ikrima ibn al-Jahl were exerting pressure on Abu Sufyan to take drastic actions against the believers.

Despite all of their intolerable pressure, Abu Sufyan resisted their aggressiveness, having realized that they were the ones who were unfair, not those on the Prophet’s side.

Making Peace

He sent them food and other needed aid; he literally inundated them with an immense benevolent contribution

Even in the most critical conditions, Prophet Muhammad did not give up. Despite all the provocations of evil-doers and his own fellow tribesmen’s objections, he made agreements with his crucial adversaries and fulfilled peaceful commitments with them. The radical change of Abu Sufyan was an explicit hope for others. The Prophet tried his best to take advantage of every single opportunity to get in touch with any of them. After his immigration to Madinah, the economic and social conditions of Makkah had gradually deteriorated. The Makkans were suffering from drought, famine, hunger, and misery.

For sure, Prophet Muhammad could not have remained indifferent to this heart-rending situation. He sent them food and other needed aid; he literally inundated them with an immense benevolent contribution on the back of hundreds of camels. But, unfortunately the Makkans rejected all of it. Then he sent all the aid directly to Abu Sufyan. Afterwards Abu Sufyan distributed everything to the poor and needy Makkans.

The Prophet those days gave weight to free commerce and trading with other communities, particularly with Makkans. He knew that business trading was an excellent opportunity to get in touch with others. Thus they could have found so many new ways to maintain peaceful relations. Regrettably, all the peaceful attempts made by God’s Messenger were either repelled or responded to with brutal violence by the Makkans. They once attacked a Muslim tribe in the pitch dark of midnight and slaughtered 23 civilians in a village near Madinah. By committing this crime, the Makkans also violated the Hudaybiyah peace treaty.

Following this brutal attack, the Messenger of God sent envoys to Makkah, offering them various options to solve the problem peacefully, rather than an immediate retaliation: he asked them to pay the blood money and cut their relations with other warring tribes that participated in this crime. Failing to obey these conditions would mean the Hudaybiyah treaty was violated as well as a declaration of war. But the Makkans refused every amicable offer. The only option left for the Prophet was to march to Makkah. Realizing that they would not be able to resist, some of the eminent Makkans fled in confusion to distant towns of the Arab Sahara. God’s Messenger sent someone in pursuit of every missing Makkan.

Umm Haqim, Ikrima’s wife, who had fled all the way to Yemen, went after him. She dared all dangers on the way to find her husband, another relentless enemy of the Prophet and the son of Abu Jahl, and to introduce him to the Prophet’s mercy.

Umayr ibn Wahb, once a hit man hired by Safwan ibn Umayya to kill the Prophet, went after Safwan twice, reaching him in Jeddah en route to Ethiopia, and convinced to him to return to Makkah. Suhayl ibn Amr was brought back by Abdullah, his own son whom he tortured for years. He wrote letter after letter to Wahshi, who had murdered Hamza, the Prophet’s uncle, and invited Hind, who had hired Wahshi for this murder, to come in peace and that she was forgiven. The Prophet called them back home promising to forgive all their past assaults and guaranteed their protection. Makkah became a land of peace and serenity, thanks to the Prophet’s efforts and merciful invitation.

The Prophet’s immense forgiveness is an example for us today as to how we should engage with past atrocities. It is a message of self-reformation that teaches us that we can subdue feelings of revenge and hatred and build a society in compassion and love.

(www.onislam.net / 16.07.2012)

Confessions of an Assad ‘Shabiha’ loyalist: how I raped and killed for £300 a month

Ruth Sherlock hears a chilling confession from a member of the pro-Assad ‘Shabiha’ militia, likely soon to meet his death

Families gathered around bodies of victims killed by violence that, according to anti-regime activists, was carried out by government forces in Tremseh,

Sitting in the dark, fetid cave that served as his makeshift prison, Mohammed confessed with the frankness of a man who knew he had no escape from death. For the equivalent of £300 a month, plus a £100 bonus for every victim, he had become a hired killer for President Bashar al Assad, he said. What was more, he had enjoyed every minute of it.

“We love Assad because the government gave us all the power – if I wanted to take something, kill a person or rape a girl I could,” he said, in a calm, quiet voice devoid of remorse.

“The government gave me 30,000 Syrian pounds per month and an extra 10,000 per person that I captured or killed. I raped one girl, and my commander raped many times. It was normal.”

Mohammed – not his real name – spoke to me last week at a secret rebel detention centre in Idlib Province in northern Syria, where he had been captured a few weeks earlier during a shoot-out with units from the Free Syrian Army.

Tucked away in the hills, the limestone caves where he is now confined were once used by rebel units to hide from President Assad’s forces and stash their weapons. Now, 16 months into the uprising, they have become a prison for captured pro-regime fighters.

But Mohammed cut a very different figure to the 25 others with whom he shared his underground chamber. While they were all gaunt, bewildered-looking Syrian Army conscripts, he was a member of the Shabiha, the feared pro-Assad civilian militia for whom fighting is a matter of both business and pleasure, and who are blamed for many of the conflict’s worst massacres.

Like many of their ilk, he had the appearance of an Arab Arnold Schwarzenegger, with huge biceps, honed during endless gym sessions, bulging under a tight white T-shirt.

That same intimidating physique made him easily identifiable as amember of the Shabiha when caught, and has now effectively sealed his fate. While ordinary Syrian army conscripts may be treated as prisoners of war, Shabiha are often executed – especially ones like Mohammed, whose personal notoriety as a thug had spread throughout the province.

So it was that, with no expectation of mercy, he spoke candidly of his crimes – his casual, matter-of-fact manner telling its own story about just why Syria has become so steeped in violence.

Born in Orem al Kubra, a farming village loyal to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, he was at first reluctant to get involved when the uprising began, he said. “My friends were joining the Shabiha, and they encouraged me to come with them. I hesitated, and men in the local Air Force base beat me up until I agreed.

“I informed on people who didn’t like Assad, I captured them and I put them in jail. The government gave me a gun.”

For the first time in his life, Mohammed, who is in his late twenties, found himself with both money and power. Not only that, he was effectively exempt from Syrian law.

He described one rape he had committed. “She was a student of Aleppo University. It was daytime and I was driving around the city with my boss. She was passing on the street. I said to my boss, ‘What do you think about this girl? Is she not beautiful?’

“We grabbed her and put her into the car. We drove to an abandoned home and we both raped her. After we finished we killed her. She knew our faces and our neighbours, so she could not live.”

For weeks he and his friends continued their rampage around Aleppo, the main commercial hub of northern Syria. During one anti-Assad demonstration, he said he killed a man by firing into a crowd.

What was his motivation, I asked? He shrugged. He was not particularly interested in defending President Assad’s regime, he said, nor the Syrian leader’s minority Alawite sect, from which most Shabiha are drawn. “It wasn’t for Bashar. I didn’t care about Bashar al Assad. All I cared about was that I got the power.”

Listening to him talk, it was tempting to wonder whether he might be making it all up, perhaps on the orders of his captors. But our interview took place in a secluded corner of the jail, well out of their earshot, and had he been under pressure to fabricate a story, he could easily have communicated that discreetly.

He showed none of the nervousness I have encountered previously among prisoners in rebel jails in Libya, where it was often obvious that some were following a confessional “script”.

Instead, the only glimmer of emotion came when I asked him just why he seemed so emotionless. “I grew up in a normal family, and I was taught to respect women,” he said. “But the devil took hold of my mind in those days.”

(www.telegraph.co.uk / 16.07.2012)

Turkey, Qatar to support Gaza Strip development

Palestinian children inspect the rubble of a factory in al-Zaiton, Gaza Strip on June 4. Turkey pledges to support the Gaza Strip in health, education and infrastructure.

Turkey and Qatar will contribute to reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Gaza Strip Labor Minister Yusuf al-Mensi has told Anatolia news agency.

Turkey has already made significant contributions to reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, by launching many projects, al-Mensi said. “Those works by Turkey can clearly be seen.”

A delegation from Gaza will attend a meeting in Turkey’s capital city, Ankara, between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Ismail Haniyeh, the Gaza Strip’s Hamas premier, after the Ramadan holiday, he said.

Turkey pledged to support the authority in the Gaza Strip in education, health and infrastructure, he said.

“Qatar will give $224 million of aid to Gaza after Eid-ul-Fitr [Şeker Bayram],” he said. Qatar’s monetary aid will be used in the reconstruction of the Saladin Highway which connects all the villages and cities in Gaza, to enlarge the coastal road and in developing the houses that Israel has destroyed, he added.

Also Kuwait has made a commitment to construct a residential area in the city of Khan Yunis. Thousands of houses and government buildings were destroyed as a result of Israel’s military attack on Gaza in 2008.

(www.hurriyetdailynews.com / 16.07.2012)

Israeli regime plans to turn Palestinians into minority: Analyst

The Israeli regime plans to turn the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank into a minority on their homeland, a political analyst tells Press TV.

“The Israelis are trying to… turn the Palestinians into a minority,” said Khalil Shaheen, a political analyst in the West Bank, in an interview with Press TV on Sunday.

Shaheen made the comments a day after Palestinian media reported on July 14 that the Tel Aviv regime had decided to build 100 new units in the illegal settlement of Modi’in Illit and another 130 units in the illegal settlement of Jabal Abu Ghuneim in the West Bank.

“All these steps and plans to expand settlement construction are connected to each other,” Shaheen added.

On June 6, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the construction of 300 units in the illegal settlement of Beit El in the West Bank.

The international community regards all the Israeli settlements across the West Bank as illegal under international law.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

(www.presstv.ir / 16.07.2012)

Meeting Mahmoud Sarsak: “It’s not my victory, it’s yours”

 

Mahmoud Sarsak, wearing medals, surrounded by well-wishers. The writer is third from right.

Ever since we heard that Mahmoud Sarsak would be freed, people in Gaza waited eagerly for that day, a day that will be commemorated in the history of Palestine.

Sarsak would finally be coming home after three years of detention without charge or trial by Israel, and three months of an epic hunger strike. His hunger for freedom had pushed his life to the edge of death. Finally, on 10 July he returned to Gaza, and on Friday, I met and spoke to him.

Waiting for Mahmoud’s freedom

When I heard the news on 18 June that Israel had agreed to free Mahmoud Sarsak, I ran straight toward the prisoner’s solidarity tent near the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Even the smell of the air seemed different when I stepped outside. Freedom filled the atmosphere.

The first person I recognized at the sit-in tent was the heroine Hana Shalabi, the ex-detainee who hunger-struck for 43 days to win her freedom, under the condition of expulsion to the Gaza Strip for three years. I ran to her and she hugged me happily, saying, “Congratulations on Mahmoud’s freedom!” Everyone was raising victory signs and singing for freedom. Then a man with a huge tray of sweets arrived and started distributing them.

When 10 July arrived all Palestinian television and radio channels reported this magnificent event. Thousands of people welcomed Mahmoud by the Erez crossing, the same place he was arrested three years ago. As the ambulance arrived at the Gaza Strip side of Erez,Mahmoud appeared in its window, holding a football with one hand and waving with the other to the crowd of people excitedly waiting to see him.

Looking for Mahmoud Sarsak

Despite hating long drives, last Friday, I was crazy enough to tolerate a one-hour trip to visit Mahmoud’s house in Rafah, knowing he might not even be home. A group of foreign activists joined me in my adventure. “And what if he isn’t there?” my friend Fidaa, a Palestinian-American human rights activist, asked. “We’ll wait for him to come back!” I answered immediately.

We arrived at Star Square, near where the star Mahmoud lives. Thanks to posters and graffiti spread all over the walls of the Rafah refugee camp’s alleys, it was easy to find his house. “The groom just left for Gaza City,” his neighbors told us, but we were still excited to be at the house where “the groom” grew up and to meet his parents, who raised him to be a revolutionary.

Mahmoud’s parents were very friendly and welcoming. His house was small and simple, yet full of warmth and joy. It was crowded with neighbors, relatives, and strangers who, like us, had travelled the Gaza Strip to meet Mahmoud. Many of us had no relation to him, but following his struggle since the early days of his hunger strike made us feel connected to him. Mahmoud Sarsak, a Palestinian hero, has become a symbol of our resistance.

 

Mahmoud Sarsak’s mother, right, with the writer.

“It felt like my son had escaped the grave”

“Words can’t describe the happiness I felt when Mahmoud regained his freedom after his unjust detention,” his mother told me. “It felt like my son had escaped the grave! But Mahmoud wasn’t afraid of this. He chose a battle that would lead him to either freedom or martyrdom.”

We asked her how she had gotten news about him during his detention. “Of course, three years passed without a single visit, the same suffering that all Gazan detainees’ families have shared since 2006,” she replied. “So we relied on the ICRC for updates on his situation.”

“We were denied any news for an entire year,” she continued. “After that, we were thankfully able to receive letters from Mahmoud through the ICRC for a short period of time, but I can’t read. Whenever we received a letter, his brother Emad would lock himself in a room and cry for hours. After pulling himself together, he would come out and tell me not to worry, as Mahmoud was doing fine and still playing soccer.”

“During Mahmoud’s strike, I was physically and psychologically exhausted. My sons had to take me to the hospital several times. But I felt like I had returned to life once I heard that Israel had agreed to free him in exchange for an end to his hunger strike. I pray for all detainees’ mothers to experience such relief and celebrate the freedom of their sons.”

The house grew increasingly crowded with visitors. So we left to give others the opportunity to talk with Mahmoud’s wonderful mother.

Inspiring meeting with Mahmoud

But I couldn’t give up on meeting Mahmoud himself so easily. We had already travelled from the northernmost point to the southern tip of the Gaza Strip looking for him! So I called his brother Emad, whom I had met frequently in the sit-in tent. When he picked up the phone, I told him I had just visited his family with a group of friends, and that we were very happy to meet his parents. He appreciated our visit, and suggested we meet them in a Gaza restaurant. Excited, we accepted his offer.

Remember the prisoners still on strike

We arrived at the restaurant by sunset. My heartbeats grew faster as the time for our meeting drew closer. I could see Emad waiting for us by the entrance. He welcomed our group inside and introduced us to Mahmoud, who nicely asked us to join his table.

I felt very nervous sitting directly across from him, but proud that I could look him in the eye while speaking to him. He wore two gold medals and a scarf combining the Palestinian flag and keffiyeh. “Thanks to God for your release,” I said. “How does it feel to be free again?”

“My happiness is incomplete, as the revolution of empty stomachs is still going,” he answered. “My thoughts are with my comrades Akram Rikhawi, Samer Al-Barq, andHassan al-Safadi, who are suffering critical conditions in the Ramla Hospital Prison. I was released from there, and know perfectly the medical neglect detainees suffer there. The Israeli Prison Service doesn’t transfer us there for treatment, but for torture.”

“I just missed being home”

His humbleness added a lot to his charm. He kept repeating that he wouldn’t have achieved his victory without the popular and international solidarity he received. “It’s not my victory, it’s yours. I gained my strength and poise from you.” It was obvious that he had lost a lot of weight, but he was still healthy. Joe Catron, an American activist who has met many freed prisoners, said later that he had never seen a recent hunger striker in such good shape.

Mahmoud’s smile didn’t leave his lips the whole time. He paid us all his attention. When I asked him if Gaza seemed different after three years, he laughed and said, “It looks so different to me. Gaza is a very beautiful city despite its small size. I love its beach, its pure air, and its kind people. I missed everything about Gaza. I just missed being home.”

A dream interrupted: resistance can be through sport

Fidaa asked Mahmoud if he expected to be arrested three years ago when he went to the Erez crossing. “Not at all!” he said. “I was thrilled to achieve a dream to play football in a national team contest in the West Bank, in the Balata refugee camp. When they ordered me to a security meeting, I wasn’t afraid. I expected they would ask me to collaborate with them. I was confident and prepared myself to reject them. I was shocked when they aggressively shackled me.”

I interrupted, asking, “Why do you think they arrested you if you have never participated in resistance?”

“Resistance isn’t only about armed struggle,” he said. “Resistance can be through pen, brush, voice, and sport. We are all freedom fighters, but each of us has his or her own weapon.” His eloquent, passionate answer impressed us even more than we already were.

“Sport is a form of non-violent resistance,” he continued. “Being a representative of Palestine’s national football team makes me a threat to Israel. I’ve always been passionate about building Palestine’s presence in the sports world. I represented Palestine in several football matches locally and internationally, and had the honor of waving its flag wherever I played.”

Faith in justice deepened by experience

The more he spoke, the more I admired him, especially when finally I asked him what had changed in his character after his imprisonment. “My faith in our just cause has become deeper and stronger,” he replied. “My determination to unveil the Zionists’ inhumane and fascist practices, and their violations of our basic human rights, has become my reason to live.”

The time grew late, and we had to end our amazing conversation. Mahmoud Sarsak is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met. I will remember every word he said as long as I live. According to him, we all contributed to his victory. Let’s unite to achieve more victories for Akram Rikhawi, Hassan Al-Safadi, and Sammer Al-Barq. Make them reasons for your life, and fight injustice any way you can.

(Shahd Abusalama  / electronicintifada.net / 16.07.2012)

Israel continues to mistreat Palestinian minors: Analyst

Interview with Maha Rezeq, child protection advocate

“Well the fact that the Gaza Strip is geographically isolated from the West Bank so the kind of treatment children receive there is different. Children are put under arrest on border lines and during incursions by the Israeli military but they are also banned from having family visits, they are banned from having legal rights, they are not allowed to have any representation, they are forced to sign confessions in a language they do not understand because it is mostly Hebrew.”

Israeli police officers continue their violence against Palestinian children, brutally attacking and mistreating them in Israeli jails.

The Israeli authorities arrest around 700 Palestinian minors annually. Some 200 Palestinian children are arrested on a monthly basis.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Maha Rezeq, child protection advocate, to hear her opinion on this issue. The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Some of what we saw there, it is slightly different in Gaza. Could you explain briefly why?

Rezeq: Well the fact that the Gaza Strip is geographically isolated from the West Bank so the kind of treatment children receive there is different. Children are put under arrest on border lines and during incursions by the Israeli military but they are also banned from having family visits, they are banned from having legal rights, they are not allowed to have any representation, they are forced to sign confessions in a language they do not understand because it is mostly Hebrew.

It is the same set of violations that are breached by Israelis against the Palestinians of the West Bank are the same in the Gaza Strip but the fact that they are isolated and the fact that Israel is taking those children breaking, breaching international law by detaining them outside the Palestinian territory is a violation in itself so it is more difficult for families to have access and of course ICRC is unable to arrange those visits and they are dealing with those constraints as well.

Whilst for the West Bankers it is more of the day to day discrimination as children in Israel who still fall under the civil [law], even the settlers fall under the civil law whilst the Palestinians juvenile they have to go through military Israeli court and the law there is completely different.

Press TV: In terms of the personal impact, people separated from family you are just thinking when that happens in a completely normalized situation it is traumatic enough when it happens sometimes at the butt of the gun, I can appreciate that it is a very difficult thing indeed?

Rezeq: It is a very difficult thing for different reasons. Children are not; when they are arrested families are not immediately informed of their arrest.

Press TV: Yes, where is my son? There was a demo, he has not come home, what has happened?

Rezeq: So the basic procedure is children should be informed of their legal rights, families they should be informed also of the location and the arrest of their child, children should be accompanied by their parents throughout their arrest investigation and so on, they should be represented and they should be told their rights and then they should be presented before a judge.

But children, they wait a long time that could go up to eighty days before they could see a judge unlike children from Israel who would just maximum would be held in detention for maximum 40 days before they can see a judge.

So you can see the complete differentiation, discrimination based on race between the children under the Israeli rule.

Press TV: But aren’t charities and NGO’s working in the area concerned with this? Aren’t they taking this to a more international platform?

Rezeq: Well Human Rights organizations are very aggressive and they are very active working to highlight those issues and there are lots of reports are being launched talking about the discrimination and the treatment between children even in definition of what a child is.

Under Israeli law for an Israeli child, the minors are considered 18 and under but while for the Palestinians after 16 they are not considered minors.

So all the rules of adults are applied to them and they are not even held in child detention centers, they are held throughout the detention and imprisonment with adults and that is also a breach of the CRC of Child Rights Convention.

But the thing that happens basically most of those reports are being ignored because Israel is not respecting all the Geneva Convention or international law. They are actually not recognizing that the West Bank is under occupation.

So they can always manipulate international law and they can argue about that it does not apply it because international humanitarian law only applies to occupied people.

Press TV: There is a really, the idea here that an Israeli person will see a Palestinian child as a potential threat and therefore must be treated in a completely different way.

Rezeq: Actually it is an Israeli prosecutor who basically said every Palestinian child is seen as a potential terrorist and therefore it is legitimate to, or in their eyes it is legitimate to arrest 700 children every year and until this moment I think around 200 Palestinian children are arrested on a monthly basis and they are going through all this humiliation, interrogations, shackling and all types of torture, solitary confinement, isolation, bad treatment, denial of legal rights and medical rights but this will only change when the international community will just hold Israel accountable to the treaties they are signatory of, to the international law and other laws.

Otherwise all these consolidated work of the international organizations, involved human rights organizations will mean nothing without enforcement of law, it will mean nothing.3

(presstv.com / 16.07.2012)

UNHCR wil zich niet over Rohingya’s ontfermen

(Novum/AP) – RANGOON – De Hoge Commissaris voor de Vluchtelingen van de Verenigde Naties is niet van plan de etnische Rohingya’s in Myanmar elders onder te brengen of zich over hen te ontfermen. President Thein Sein had dit gesuggereerd, maar Antonio Guterres zei dit niet tot de taak van zijn dienst te rekenen.

Vorige maand kwamen bij gevechten tussen boeddhistische Rakhines en islamitische Rohingya’s in het westen van Myanmar minstens 78 mensen om het leven en raakten tienduizenden mensen dakloos.

Myanmar beschouwt de Rohingya’s als illegale immigranten uit Bangladesh en weigert hun het staatsburgerschap te verlenen, ook al wonen sommigen al generaties lang in Myanmar.

(dossiers.nieuws.nl / 16.07.2012)

AIPMC condemns persecution, killing of Rohingya Muslims

Eva Kusuma Sundari

(Commentary) – As president of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC), I feel it is important to express my deep regret for the failure of the world to react appropriately to the killing and persecution of Muslim ethnic Rohingya in Rakhine State, Burma.

It is also regrettable that the recent visit of United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Southeast Asia occupied the attention of most international media while neglecting and thus tolerating the casualties of grave crimes against humanity in Burma.

AIPMC is deeply troubled by the sectarian strife in Rakhine State and is concerned by the solution to the violence proposed by President Thein Sein.

The president’s proposed solution to decades of sectarian violence and unrest does not express a willingness to promote national reconciliation, which the president campaigned under as on part of his democratization agenda. Despite the flow of some of new migrants from Bangladesh, many people of the Rohingya minority have lived in areas of western Burma for more than three generations.

AIPMC therefore urges the government of Burma to find a fair and just solution to the current unrest, which includes a permanent solution for the hundreds of thousands stateless Rohingya that live in western Burma and in makeshift refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh.

The Rohingya who have lived in Burma for generations must be recognized and granted citizenship.

The Burmese government has a duty to protect and provide for these people; seeking to unload responsibility onto the United Nations is not an acceptable solution and its suggestion from the country’s president betrays the systematic persecution of Burma’s Rohingya population for generations.

AIPMC also urges Asean and the United Nations to urgently respond to this latest outbreak of the crisis and take immediate actions to protect people, including women and children, from violence and persecution and work to provide emergency assistance to thousands of refugees displaced from their homes by recent violence. ASEAN must work with the Burmese government to find a lasting solution to the problems of Rakhine State and stand up against any persecution of individuals due to ethnic and/or religious grounds, especially if it comes from state authorities.

AIPMC finds it difficult to accept the US government’s decision to ease economic sanctions in Burma due to supposed reforms in the ASEAN member state, while a blind eye is turned to the clear violations of international law in the persecution of the Rohingya people by neighbouring Arakanese as well as the Burmese government’s refusal to grant them citizenship on ethnic and religious grounds.

A serious and concerted effort is urgently needed to work to avert further violence and find a lasting solution to the problems faced by the Rohingya. A failure to of the international community to act is reprehensible and could threaten the long-term success of Burma’s nascent reform process. Immediate action is necessary to end the suffering of the Rohingya people.

(www.mizzima.com / 16.07.2012)

Gazans to visit inmates held in Israeli jails for 1st time in 5 years

People in Gaza City hold a demonstration in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, April 17, 2012.

A group of Palestinians from the besieged Gaza Strip will visit relatives held in Israeli prisons for the first time in five years.

The group gathered at the Erez crossing in northern Gaza Strip on Monday to cross through to the Ramun prison of the Tel Aviv regime.

Israeli authorities have prohibited family visits since June 2007.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Palestine, which facilitated the move, issued a statement on Monday, saying, “This is a first step and we hope that visits by residents of Gaza will resume in full.”

“We have repeatedly called for the resumption of family visits, which are a lifeline for detainees and their families. Under international humanitarian law, Israeli authorities have an obligation to allow the detainees to receive family visits,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Israel Prisons Service (IPS) said 24 Palestinian prisoners from Gaza would receive relatives for a few hours.

More than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners began an open-ended hunger strike on April 17 in protest against the administrative detention and solitary confinement exercised by the Tel Aviv regime, demanding the reinstatement of family visits from the Gaza Strip.

The administrative detention, often implemented by the Israeli regime against the Palestinian population, allows regime forces to make detentions without formal charges for up to six months. However, the detention order can be renewed for indefinite periods of time.

On May 14, the prisoners ended their strike after Israel agreed to an Egyptian proposal, which called on Tel Aviv authorities to move the Palestinian inmates from solitary confinement to regular cells and restart family visits.

One of the Palestinians who was going to visit her son told reporters at Erez on Monday, “You cannot imagine my joy at being able to meet my son Mohammed soon, to be able to see his face again after all these years.”

(www.presstv.ir / 16.07.2012)

Bezoek voor Palestijnen in cel Israël

Palestijnen reizen met de bus naar Israël waar ze gevangen familieleden mogen bezoeken

Voor het eerst in vijf jaar zijn Palestijnen uit Gaza op bezoek geweest bij familieleden die in Israël vastzitten. Israëlische grenswachten lieten de Palestijnen de grens over, waarna ze naar de Ramon-gevangenis werden gebracht.

Israël verbood de familiebezoeken in 2007, nadat Palestijnse militanten de Israëlische militair Gilad Shalit hadden ontvoerd. Hij werd vorig jaar vrijgelaten.

Hongerstaking

Om de hervatting van de familiebezoeken uit Gaza af te dwingen, gingen Palestijnse gedetineerden in Israël eerder dit jaar in hongerstaking. In mei werd daarover een akkoord bereikt.

Volgens een woordvoerster van de Ramon-gevangenis mogen de gedetineerden vanaf nu elke week bezoek uit Gaza ontvangen. In totaal zitten er zo’n 4800 Palestijnen achter de tralies in Israël.

(nos.nl / 16.07.2012)