YWCA of Palestine electronic newsletter 2015, vol. 1
Between the Hammer of Occupation/Colonialism
and the Anvil of Patriarchy
We in Palestine are still in the season of Ephiphany when the light was manifest to the world and though
oranges are on the trees and strawberries in the market it is still on and off very cold. In addition to the
weather which has literally brought death to some and a wicked flu to others fighter planes are flying
overhead in Jerusalem on their way north to the Golan Heights and facts are being gathered for inquiry
into war crimes for the International Criminal Court (ICC).
As follow-up to our historic conference in October in Bethlehem on UNSCR 1325 on women’s freedom,
peace, and dignity, we are pleased to share with you the first volume of our new electronic online
newsletter highlighting news events, stories, and resources related to the lives of women and children in
Palestine.
This electronic newsletter is full of stories that chronicle how the occupation or settler colonialism is
affecting women’s lives from the deaths of babies freezing in Gaza to a 14 year old being detained for
rock throwing to two elderly sisters literally being shut out of their homes in Hebron. It also contains
stories of how women are standing up for their rights whether it is outside the gates of Al Aqsa or
leading the investigation into violence against women or the international Criminal Court.
In addition to new stories we are including links to new reports and studies and lastly resources for
taking action. We include links to lobbying you can do or petitions you can sign.
We hope to publish this newsletter every few months and welcome both your feedback and
suggestions for new stories or resources. Our next edition will highlight our work with refugees and the
Right of Return and lift up our Fabric of Our Lives Project.
You can send your comments or suggestions to our Communications and Advocacy Officer Rev. Loren
McGrail at loren@ywca-palestine.org.
Frozen to Death
Five infants in Gaza have died over the past few weeks. The bitter cold did not claim their lives but
rather a lack of housing and heat due to Israel’s recent offensive bombardments, destruction of its main
power plant, and ongoing siege. 120,000 homes were destroyed during the 51 day military offensive
which has left over 17,000 people still displaced while thousands of families are living in the rubble of
their ruined homes without doors or windows.
Gaza-based health Ministry said three month old Slam Al Masri froze to death in a shelter in Beit
Hanoun while one month Adel Laham died in Khan Younis in the south in a home without eletricity.
Baby Rahaf Abu Assi, also four months, died from bronchical inflammation which caused her to choke to
death. Little Fadi Oudeih died just last week in a carvan house due to no power for heat. On January 15,
five month old Wadi Abu Khesi died in his home in Shiyaiah neighborhood.
Palestinian infant dies at Israeli checkpoint
A baby girl from the village of Sinjil, between Ramallah and Nablus in the occupied West Bank, died in
the early hours of the morning on Thursday, 8 January. Nadeen Nasháat Jamal Asfour, who was only 4
months and 17 days old, passed away after the ambulance she was travelling in was delayed at an Israeli
checkpoint between Beitin and Al-Bireh, just outside of Ramallah. An ambulance from the Palestinian
Red Crescent responded to an emergency call in Sinjil after the child began to experience difficulty
breathing after her mother had breastfed her that night.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/details.php?id=qq3dzda9211ydcrqs2l70/
Palestinian girl imprisoned for two months
A 14-year-old Palestinian girl has been imprisoned by Israeli authorities for 22 consecutive days without
contact with her parents, and has just been sentenced to serve another month along with a stiff fine on
her parents, reports Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights. Another four children as young as 11 were
recently held for four hours under threat of detention and death,
Malak Al-Khatib, 14, from the village of Betin in the district of Ramallah, was detained by Israeli forces
on December 31 while walking home from school, then accused of throwing stones, entering an Israelionly road and possessing a knife. The eight-grader is being held in Hasharon Prison. On January 21, she
was sentenced to two months detention, including time served, and her parents were fined 6,000 NLS
(US$1,500).
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1501/S00143/palestinian-girl-imprisoned-for-two-months.htm
77 Palestinians, Mostly Children, Displaced in Three Days
http://www.imemc.org/article/70350
Israeli forces weld shut the doors of an elderly Palestinian woman’s house on Shuhada Street
This afternoon in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), Israeli forces gathered on Shuhada street, surrounding the
doorways to the two houses belonging to Amal Hashem Dundes, an elderly Palestinian woman, and her
family. A soldier, wielding a torch and various other equipment, welded shut the doors. Soldiers and
police kept international and Palestinian observers away as the houses were sealed up.
http://palsolidarity.org/2015/01/israeli-forces-weld-shut-the-doors-of-an-elderly-palestinian-womanshouse-on-shuhada-street/
Palestinian Human Rights group condemn Israel's ban on UN official's travel to West Bank
Palestinian human rights organisations condemned the Israeli authorities' decision to ban the UN Special
Rapporteur on violence against women Rashida Manjoo from entering the Palestinian territories. The
groups said they were following up with utmost concern the Israeli authorities' ban which comes in the
context of obstructing justice in this region of the world and disregard for the United Nations and its
mechanisms.
"Israel, the occupying power, through these ongoing practices attempts to escape its legal obligations
under international human rights law and prevents the United Nations mechanisms from acting within
their jurisdiction and substantive competence," a statement by the groups read.
The United Nations Human Rights Council announced last week that the UN Special Rapporteur on
violence against women, its causes and consequences, Manjoo had cancelled a scheduled visit to the
Palestinian territories.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/16472-rights-group-condemn-israels-ban-onun-officials-travel-to-west-bank
UN halts Gaza house repairs saying donors failed to pay up
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=756838
Muslim women protest to defend al-Aqsa
Israeli settlers come to Al-Aqsa every day, but Palestinians don’t like it. They think the Israelis want to
take the mosque away from the Muslims, as they did with the Ibrahim Mosque in Hebron. Crying ‘Allahu
Akbar’ is their only weapon.
Several women put up posters calling for their shrine’s protection in a small yard of Jerusalem’s Old City
near the gates of Al-Aqsa. They come here early in the morning. They eat sandwiches for lunch. They are
forbidden to enter Al-Aqsa. At 11.30 am they go to the closest army checkpoint, spread their prayer
mats, perform salat (ritualistic prayer in Islam) and leave to return the next morning.
http://muslimvillage.com/2015/01/25/62031/aqsa-muslim-women-pro/
Meet the ICC prosecutor who may shape the course of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda will examine whether to investigate Israelis for
crimes against the Palestinians – and if so, which ones.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium1.638684?utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social
For more information: International Criminal Court Opens ‘War Crimes’ Inquiry Into Israel
http://21stcenturywire.com/2015/01/20/international-criminal-court-opens-war-crimes-inquiry-intoisrael/
Reports and Studies
No Safe Place | Full Report In English
On 8 July 2014, Israel initiated a military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Although accounts vary, most
estimates put the number of residents of Gaza killed in the 50-day armed conflict at over 2,100, of
whom at least 70% were civilians, including over 500 children. Over 11,000 were wounded and over
100,000 made homeless. According to Israeli official accounts, 73 Israelis were killed: 67 soldiers and 6
civilians, including one child and one migrant worker. 469 soldiers and 255 civilians were wounded.
Questions arose regarding violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in the course
of the conflict. In July 2014, following discussions with Al-Mezan, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
(PHR-Israel) commissioned a fact-finding mission (hereafter ‘FFM’) to Gaza, whose aim was to gather
evidence and draw preliminary conclusions regarding types, causes and patterns of injuries and attacks;
attacks on medical teams and facilities; evacuation; impact of the conflict on the healthcare system; and
longer-term issues including rehabilitation of the wounded, mental health, public health and
displacement.
http://gazahealthattack.com/2015/01/20/no-safe-place-gaza-health-attack-full-report/
Israeli Rights Group Questions Legality of Targeting Gaza Homes in War
Serious questions have been raised by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem about the legality of
Israel’s policy of targeting dozens of Palestinian homes during last summer’s war in Gaza – a strategy
that led to hundreds of civilian deaths.
The report is the latest alleging serious breaches of international humanitarian law by Israel during the
50-day conflict. According to B’Tselem, the policy of striking residences led to the deaths of 606 people
in 70 attacks on homes that it examined. Among the dead were 93 children under the age of five.
The claims come at a sensitive time for Israel following the announcement this month of an initial
investigation by the international criminal court into whether war crimes were committed in Gaza.
Although a number of individual incidents are being investigated by the Israeli military attorney general,
the specific policy of targeting residences is not under investigation, despite the high death toll. The
issue could potentially be taken up by an ICC investigation.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/28/israel-policy-targeting-gaza-homes-human-rights/
The effects of Israel's occupation on Palestinian women
A new report issued by a number of Palestinian human rights organisations has revealed details of the
effects of the Israeli occupation on Palestinian women. The result of 3 years of work by Al-Mezan Centre
for Human Rights, Al-Haq, the Women's Affairs Technical Committee, the Women's Centre for Legal
Counselling and the Society for Culture and Free Thought, the report was one of the activities of a
project carried out by the organisations under the broader heading of "Protection of women in armed
conflicts in the Arab region".
Three Israeli violations are considered in particular: house demolitions, the apartheid wall and domestic
displacement. Each has been allocated a specific chapter in the report, with legal analysis focused on
international humanitarian law, international human rights law and UN Security Council Resolution
1325.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/blogs/politics/16475-the-effects-of-israels-occupation-onpalestinian-women
How was 2014 for Palestinian Children?
For many observers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 2014 will be remembered for the images it
broadcast to the world from the Gaza Strip. These images depicted children fleeing from heavy bombing
and shelling by Israeli forces, taking shelter with their families in crowded UN schools, or convalescing in
Gaza’s overstretched hospitals. Among the most tragic were those that showed the bodies of four young
boys, aged between 7 and 11, killed by a projectile fired by the Israeli navy, as they played on a Gaza
beach during the offensive.
But the suffering of Palestinian children was not limited to the 50-day offensive on the Gaza Strip, nor
was it limited to the geographical confines of the 25 square mile coastal enclave. In the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, it was Palestinian children who continued to pay the heaviest price for the
ongoing Israeli military occupation.
Wholesale violations of children’s rights across the Occupied Palestinian Territory led to numerous
fatalities and injuries, as well as psychological trauma resulting from collective punishment policies that
affected children, such as house raids and demolitions.
http://www.dci-palestine.org/documents/how-was-2014-palestinian-children
Palestinian Women between the Hammer of Colonialism and the Anvil of Patriarchy Stateless and
Invisible
http://archive.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=4195&ed=227&edid=227
Media: Books, Podcasts and Videos:
“Voice of Palestine” interviews Nahla Abdo on new book on imprisoned Palestinian women’s
resistance
http://samidoun.ca/2014/12/voice-of-palestine-interviews-nahla-abdo-on-new-book-on-imprisonedpalestinian-womens-resistance/
Gaza from Within | Episode 2 | Success Story; Young Palestinian Women | Women for Palestine
https://soundcloud.com/pal-women/young-palestinian-women-success-story
Palestinian TV plans to tackle violence against women
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middleeast/1.634897?utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social/
Call to Act:
No Association with Occupation: suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement
A group of 63 influential MEPs have called on EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to suspend the
EU-Israel Association Agreement, the main treaty between the EU and Israel.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/activism/bds/423-suspend-eu-israel-treaty-63meps-say
Gaza to run out of drinking water by 2016
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Gaza_to_run_out_of_drinking_water_by_2016/?sQzAXib
Tell the UN: Don’t reward Israel for Gaza massacre
http://www.bdsmovement.net/dont-reward-israel