[wvns] Hamas Flag Flies in Lebanon Camps
Hamas Flag Goes Up in Lebanon Camps
By Anand Gopal
Inter Press Service
September 5, 2007
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39148
BADDAWI CAMP, Lebanon, Sep 5 (IPS) - There is a new look to the
entrance of the Palestinian refugee camp Baddawi in northern Lebanon.
Hanging above the armed man who guards the entrance are posters of
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the slain spiritual leader of Hamas, and other
fighters from the Palestinian guerrilla group. Nearby, a huge Hamas
banner covers the side of a house, and down the road Hamas flags
flutter in the wind.
Just months ago, such banners and posters would have been torn down by
supporters of the rival Fatah party. But many residents here say that
they have grown disillusioned with Fatah (known in Lebanon as Fatah
Abu Ammar) after its defeat in Gaza in June and its handling of the
crisis at the nearby refugee camp Nahr al-Bared.
When Islamic militants opened fire on Lebanese security forces in late
May, the Lebanese Army entered Nahr al-Bared despite a longstanding
agreement that allows Palestinian groups to police the camps. The
ensuing battle between the Army and the militants completely destroyed
the camp and displaced thousands of Palestinians.
Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) officials in Lebanon, led by
members of the Fatah party, sided with the Army, despite what many
here perceive as indiscriminate shelling of Nahr al-Bared.
On Sunday, the Lebanese Army declared victory, after more than three
months of fighting, and everywhere Lebanese are waving flags and
honking horns in support. But instead of rejoicing, many Palestinians
here are angry with Fatah and the PLO for failing to protect civilians.
"These politicians allowed the Lebanese army to destroy the whole
camp," said former Nahr al-Bared resident Abdel Salaam Khader, who
lost a brother in the fighting. "We have been exposed many, many times
to Israeli bombs, but even the Israelis destroyed certain places and
not a whole camp."
He added, "They could have dealt with the fighters in a different way,
not in a military way. The Palestinian leaders made an agreement with
the government that caused us to lose our homes and possessions."
When fighting began and the first wave of displaced Palestinians
arrived at the Baddawi camp, Fatah leaders promised funds for
reconstruction, compensation for victims of violence, and talks with
the Army to ensure that the camp would not be destroyed. But according
to many of the displaced, the Palestinian leadership has not delivered
on any of these promises. Locals also accuse Fatah and other PLO
leaders of not preventing the Army from arbitrarily detaining and
torturing Palestinians fleeing the violence.
"Fatah Abu Ammar did not protect civilians, and on the contrary they
gave the Lebanese army and government all the help they needed," said
a former Nahr al-Bared resident who asked not to be named. "Until now
we don't have a clear timetable about the future, about the rebuilding
of our camp, the date of our return, or what will happen to Nahr
al-Bared. Fatah Abu Ammar didn't give us any help; they only went on
TV and made grand promises. They only give money to those who belong
to them. But Fatah Abu Ammar has given us nothing."
Samer Diad, another local resident, added, "While Abu Ammar (Yasser
Arafat) was alive, we called them Fatah Abu Ammar. Now we call them
Fatah of the Thieves."
Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps are home to over 400,000
Palestinians and a variety of political groupings. Many of the
factions are grouped under the PLO, which includes Fatah as a leading
party. The leadership of Fatah and other PLO factions came to Lebanon
in the early seventies. By the end of that decade, Fatah became a
powerful force in Lebanese politics and in the lives of Palestinians.
Palestinian refugees looked to Fatah for social services, jobs,
protection, and as the leading force in the fight against Israel.
After the Israeli Army invaded Lebanon and expelled the PLO leadership
in 1982, a steady decline of the PLO began, and with the onset of the
first Intifadah in 1987, the frontlines of Palestinian struggle moved
to the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Despite the PLO's decline, however, it always had a strong base in
Lebanon. But with the ascendancy of Hamas in the Occupied Territories,
Fatah's negotiations with Washington and Tel Aviv and the siege of
Nahr al-Bared, many analysts contend that Fatah's support in the camps
of Lebanon is at an all-time low.
Ashraf Ibrahim, analyst and community leader at the Njaz Community
Centre in Baddawi, insisted that many people looked to Fatah to
represent the Palestinian people in Gaza and in Nahr al-Bared, but in
both cases Fatah failed.
"Fatah Abu Ammar wants to be the unique force in all of the camps," he
said. "They want to crush the other groups and become the unique
representation for the refugees. Therefore they have good relations
with the government, but they don't talk about Palestinian rights."
The PLO recently reorganised its command structure in Lebanon.
According to some local reports, the PLO is moving to strengthen its
position in Lebanon in an effort to counteract the rising popularity
of Hamas and other groups.
Dr. Kassim Subiyeh, a Fatah representative in Lebanon, said that "I
feel that people's response to Nahr al-Bared is temporary. They
expected more and did not get what they expected. Other movements and
factions are using this against Fatah. But I am sure with a little
time people will start using their mind and not their affections."
Leading PLO representative in Lebanon and Fatah commander Munir Maqdah
told IPS that "(Nahr al-Bared) is not the fault of Fatah. People are
coming to trust Fatah more and more. Fatah is a movement for all
Palestinians. It comes from the womb of the Palestinian nation, so no
one can remove it."
However, many Palestinians here in former Fatah strongholds are
turning to Hamas. "Hamas is gaining influence here," Ashraf said,
"because from the beginning they took the right position. They said we
are against the military aggression of the Army. They said we will
pressure the politicians to help our displaced and work until everyone
is returned to their home."
Moreover, Hamas' takeover of Gaza in June and its insistence on
demanding the right of return of refugees to the Occupied Territories
has only increased its standing in the eyes of many in the camps. When
asked about the issue of right of return, Fatah representative Subiyeh
told IPS: "Leave it for hundreds of years."
For the Palestinians of Baddawi and Nahr al-Bared, many twice
displaced and living eight to a room, this may be a hard pill to swallow.
===
PA to close 103 charities in attempt to weaken Hamas
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/898314.html
The Palestinian Authority will close 103 charities in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip, a minister in Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's government said
on Tuesday, in an apparent attempt to weaken Hamas Islamists.
"The government decided to close down 103 charities in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip because they have violated the law," said Mahmoud
al-Habbash, Minister of Social Affairs in a government appointed by
Abbas after Hamas seized the Gaza Strip.
Habbash said the move did not target any single group. He told Reuters
that some of the charities were being used as "cover-ups for
activities that contravene the law".
Abbas dismissed a Hamas-led government in June and appointed a
Western-backed cabinet in the occupied West Bank headed by Salam Fayyad.
Fayyad has been trying to reduce the influence of Hamas and its
welfare agencies by building a government-run social services system
using Western and Arab funds.
The bank accounts of al-Salah Association, one of the largest Islamic
charities in the Gaza Strip, were frozen earlier this month by
Palestinian banks after the U.S. government designated it a "key
support node for Hamas".
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the decision to close the charities
is part of an attempt by the leadership of the Palestinian Authority
to "uproot the Hamas movement" and that it would only cause hardship
among Palestinians.
About 2,400 charities operate in the Palestinian territories, Habbash
said.
Habbash did not say how many Hamas charities would be affected by the
decision or how the ruling would be carried out in the Gaza Strip,
which is controlled by Hamas.
===
ILA leasing Arab-owned land in Jerusalem to Ateret Cohanim
By Meron Rapoport, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/895383.html
The Israel Lands Administration (ILA) is working together with the
Ateret Cohanim association to wrest from Palestinian landowners
control of 30 dunams (7.5 acres) of land in East Jerusalem and to
transfer it to the association without a tender. Such is the claim
outlined in a petition submitted two weeks ago to the High Court of
Justice, and appearing in documents which Haaretz has received.
Ateret Cohanim promotes settlement of Jews in and around the Old City,
and at times takes over Palestinian assets in East Jerusalem so as to
"Judaize" that area.
The land in question, an olive grove called Kerem Hamufti, is in the
Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. From the documents received, it emerges
that the ILA has signed a contract with Ateret Cohanim for "the
agricultural cultivation" of the land, even though the association has
no experience in such work.
The documents indicate that the contract was signed even though the
land that the ILA leased apparently does not belong to it and the
Interior Ministry recognizes that the Palestinian landowners "have an
interest" in it. A senior source at the ILA has said the contract was
signed in order "to keep the territory in Jewish hands."
In the petition it is claimed that an authorized official at the ILA
"acted to advance the interests of Ateret Cohanim," to prevent the
Palestinians who claim ownership of the land from developing it. The
petitioners define the ILA action as "corrupt" and are asking the
attorney general to investigate "the involvement of Ateret Cohanim in
governmental decision-making."
In March, 40 years after declaring its intentions to do so, the state
formally expropriated the land, at the request of the ILA. Former
finance minister Abraham Hirchson signed on the plan to expropriate
the property under the rubric of "acquisition for public needs."
In its petition to the High Court, the Palestinian landowners, the
Arab Hotels Company, asks for the expropriation to be prohibited
because it was done "for an extraneous, illegitimate, racist and
discriminatory purpose ... An illegitimate and corrupt hand has worked
hand in glove with the authorities or other elements to harm the
petitioner's rights, and to disinherit the petitioner for purposes of
leasing the land to Ateret Cohanim."
Kerem Hamufti is named for its former owner, Haj Amin al-Husseini, the
mufti of Jerusalem. According to Israeli and Jordanian documents, in
the 1960s it was purchased by the Arab Hotels Company of East Jerusalem.
After the area was annexed to Israel after the Six-Day War, the
Finance Ministry stated its intention to expropriate the land "for
public purposes," but this was never carried out and the Palestinian
owners continued to cultivate it. Several times over the years an
Israeli court confirmed that the company is indeed owner of the property.
About seven years ago the Palestinian owners submitted to the planning
authorities a request to build a hotel, a conference center and a
cultural center on the land. Architect Moshe Margalit, who drew up the
plan, relates that at the time the District Planning Commission
confirmed that the East Jerusalem company has ownership rights to the
land. The Interior Ministry confirmed to Haaretz that the company has
been allowed to continue the planning as it has been proved that it
"has an interest in the land."
Municipal blessing
From the summaries of meetings concerning the property at the Interior
Ministry, it emerges that representatives of the ILA were present, but
did not mention they had leased the land to Ateret Cohanim or that it
belongs to the ILA.
Margalit relates that the Palestinian landowners' plan was presented
"to the most senior people at the Jerusalem Municipality" and received
their blessing. The petition also states that the mayor of Jerusalem
at the time, Ehud Olmert, and his deputy, Yehuda Pollack, the chairman
of the Local Planning and Building Committee, supported it.
However, at a certain stage, relates Margalit, it seemed that Ateret
Cohanim also submitted a plan for this parcel of land: Two years
beforehand, the ILA had granted permission to Irving Moskowitz, the
American Jewish millionaire who supports Ateret Cohanim, to plan a
neighborhood on Kerem Hamufti. A person close to the association aims
to build 250 housing units there, and pressured ministers in former
prime minister Ariel Sharon's first government to approve it.
In June, 2000, immediately after the plan by Moskowitz and Ateret
Cohanim was revealed, the landowners' attorneys applied to Jerusalem's
Local Planning and Building Committee with a request to dismiss the
scheme because "those who submitted it are not the owners of the land."
The committee told the attorneys that the plan had been "shelved."
A few months ago the Arab Hotels Company received notice from the
Magistrates Court, allowing it to evict a Palestinian who was
squatting on the land. However, on the day of the eviction, the Amidar
company, on behalf of the ILA, filed a demand to stop it.
While the ILA and Amidar acknowledge this was indeed a matter of a
squatter, a senior source at the ILA has told Haaretz that the
Palestinian "was working with Ateret Cohanim." The source explains his
presence was necessary "to prevent theft of land by Palestinians."
The current petition says the state owns about 20 percent of Kerem
Hamufti under the Absentee Property Law, as it belonged to
Al-Husseini, who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II.
However, the Palestinian landowners' lawyers insist that the law does
not apply to the property because it was purchased from the
Al-Husseini family before Israeli rule began in East Jerusalem in 1967.
Attorney Danny Kramer, the representative of the official guardian of
absentee property, is also a signatory to the petition, which states
that the guardian has no connection to the land, and also that the ILA
has been leasing it to Ateret Cohanim "for some years now."
In its petition, the Arab Hotels Company argues that the low lease
being paid by Ateret Cohanim is proof that this is an "artificial
contract." The association is paying NIS 42.5 per dunam (which comes
to NIS 1,278 for the entire parcel of land), although it is in a
prestigious location.
The ILA's official response to Haaretz states that the contract with
the Jewish association was signed "more than five years ago"; a senior
ILA source says the contract was signed "at the beginning of the 1990s."
At the ILA they were not able to explain how the entire plot of land
was leased to Ateret Cohanim, despite the fact that even the ILA
itself says the state owns only 20 percent of it. The ILA explains the
fact that they dealt with the association without a tender by saying
"it was the only applicant." Concerning Ateret Cohanim's lack of
experience in agriculture, the ILA says: "It is not stipulated
anywhere that the minimal condition for submitting an application for
cultivation is prior experience."
Based on past High Court of Justice rulings saying that if the state
does not implement an expropriation order for many years, it's
possible to annul it, the Palestinian landowners are asking the court
to issue a show cause order, requiring the state to explain why it
should not prohibit the expropriation in this case.
===
52 Palestinians, including 12 children, killed by Israeli forces in
August, PLO report reveals
05 / 09 / 2007
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=25166
Mahmoud and Yayha Abu Ghazal
(MaanImages)
Nablus – Ma'an – Israeli forces killed fifty-two Palestinians in
August, including twelve children and fifteen who were assassinated in
targeted killing operations, the Palestine Liberation Organisation's
(PLO) department of national relationships revealed on Wednesday.
According to the PLO report, five Palestinians died at military
checkpoints, three due to the delay in arriving at hospitals and two
were shot dead at the checkpoints.
102 Palestinians were injured during Israeli incursion into
Palestinian cities, villages and refugee camps, the report stated.
220 were abducted either from their homes or at checkpoints.
Nine Palestinian homes were demolished and nineteen were damaged.
The majority of the Israeli assaults took place in the Gaza Strip,
which has suffered due to a crippling siege that has lasted almost two
years.
The report said that Hamas is also responsible for a deteriorating
situation in the Gaza Strip in the wake of its "military coup".
The report says "Hamas has finalised the Israeli dream of geographical
separation between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which Israel has
endeavoured to achieve for decades."
The PLO reported that the Israeli forces deliberately assassinated
children, such as ten-year-olds Sara and Yayha Abu Ghazal, and
twelve-year-old Mahmoud Abu Ghazal. The Israeli forces targeted the
children with missiles while they played in fields near Beit Hanoun,
in the northern Gaza Strip.
The Israeli forces also killed a mentally disabled man; 24-year-old
Muhammad Abu Sha'ar, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
The report related the increasing suffering of Palestinians in the
West Bank that are forced to travel through Israeli checkpoints. Young
men were ordered to undress in public at 'Atara checkpoint, north of
Ramallah, in the central West Bank.
Israeli settlers continue to vandalize and destroy Palestinian land
and property with the protection of the Israeli forces, particularly
in Hebron, in the southern West Bank, the report noted.
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