By Amira Hass
11 August 2010
Haaretz

Nighttime raids, pointed guns, arrests often accompanied by beatings, kicks, curses and painful and extended handcuffing. The ordinary behavior of Israeli children in uniform.
Children in the West Bank throw stones at army vehicles and Israeli cars, mainly those belonging to settlers. That is the undeniable truth. Throwing stones is the classic way of telling the occupier, who is armed from head to toe, that he has forced himself on the occupied. Sometimes it’s part of a sweeping resistance movement, sometimes it’s a ceremonial remnant of such a movement, not devoid of braggadocio and adolescent boredom, while also a reminder to adults not to adapt. Read the rest of this entry »

After two years, a case against Palestinian teenagers accused of throwing stones was overturned when the military prosecution backed out. The suspects pleaded innocent all along, saying they’d been in school

By Amira Hass
8 August 2010
Haaretz

Eight Palestinian teenagers were tried in the court of military judge Lt. Col. Menashe Vahnish on November 11, 2008. Referring to a soldier from the Kfir Brigade, Vahnish said, “at this stage, there is no reason to cast any doubt on the witness.” According to his police testimony, on October 30, 2008 the soldier, T.M., and some of his comrades apprehended stone-throwing Palestinian 16-year-olds on a road that runs between the al-Aroub refugee camp south of Bethlehem and an agricultural school across the way. Read the rest of this entry »

On 23 May 2010, Addameer Attorney Anas Al Barghouti placed third out of nine finalists in the Second International Human Rights Competition for Lawyers held at Al Quds University in Abu Dis. Advocate Barghouti’s speech, entitled “Political Arrests and Unlawful Detention: Misery of the Act and the Actors”, discussed international law and arbitrary, politically-motivated arrests in the West Bank.

Read the full text of his speech (PDF): AR | FR

By Janan Abdu
The Electronic Intifada
13 July 2010
Janan Abdu with her two daughters outside a closed-door hearing on her husband Ameer Makhoul’s arrest, 12 May 2010. (Oren Ziv/ActiveStills)
I used to tell my husband, Ameer Makhoul, “One day, they’ll come for you.” As chairman of the Public Committee for the Protection of Political Freedoms he’d begun to organize an awareness-raising campaign to push back against the security services’ harassment of our community, the Palestinian citizens of Israel. Read the rest of this entry »

By Anshel Pfeffer
12 July 2010
Haaretz

The Military Advocate General on Monday ordered the army’s criminal investigations unit to investigate the death of a Palestinian protester who was killed by a tear gas canister at a demonstration in Bil’in in April 2009.

The Military Advocate General had refused to open a criminal investigation into the death of Bassem Abu-Rahma, but on Monday changed its mind after expert testimony showed that the tear gas canister was aimed directly at Abu-Rahma and was fired in violation of military orders.
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Ramallah, 22 June 2010

On Thursday 27 May, Israeli State Prosecutors submitted an indictment against Ameer Makhoul, the General Director of Arab NGO network Ittijah, before the Haifa District Court charging him with assistance to the enemy in a time of war, conspiracy to assist an enemy, aggravated espionage, and contact with a foreign agent. Read the rest of this entry »

United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture 2010

Ramallah, 24 June 2010

As the United Nations and the world commemorates the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on 26 June 2010, Addameer stands in solidarity with Palestinians prisoners who have suffered the devastating effects of torture and ill treatment, and unequivocally condemns all forms of such treatment in Israeli and Palestinian prisons, interrogation facilities and detention centers.
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Addameer Condemns Ongoing Political Persecution, Fears Ill-Treatment

Ramallah, 21 May 2010

In a hearing at Petah Tikva Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 20 May 2010, a judge extended Ameer Makhoul’s detention for a third time until Tuesday, 25 May 2010. Mr. Makhoul, a human rights defender and the director of Arab NGO network Ittijah, has been in Israeli detention since he was arrested from his family home in Haifa in the early morning hours of 6 May. Read the rest of this entry »

Gag Order Lifted in Makhoul Case, but Ban on Contact with Lawyers is Renewed

Ittijah General Director Ameer Makhoul

Ramallah, 10 May 2010

On 6 May 2010, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association submitted an urgent appeal to the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders on behalf of Ittijah General Director Ameer Makhoul, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, who was arrested by Israeli authorities from his home in Haifa early that morning and detained at Petah Tikva interrogation center. The urgent appeal seeks immediate intervention by the UN body in Mr. Makhoul’s case on the grounds that his arrest, detention and a recent order banning him from exiting the country are arbitrary, politically motivated measures and constitute persecution of a human rights defender in violation of international law. Read the rest of this entry »

Ramallah, 6 May 2010

This morning at 3:10 a.m., Israeli Security Agency (ISA) agents accompanied by Israeli police raided Ameer Makhoul’s family home in Haifa and arrested him. Mr. Makhoul is a human rights defender and serves as the general director of Ittijah – The Union of Arab Community-Based Associations and as the Chairman of the Public Committee for the Defense of Political Freedom in the framework of the High Follow-up Committee for the Arab Citizens of Israel. Read the rest of this entry »