You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2011.
Volvo and Caterpillar machinery carried out the illegal demolition of a historic building in occupied East Jerusalem on Sunday 9th January 2011[1] (see photo here http://www.presstv.ir/detail/159400.html and video at http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/jerusalem/3165-video-shepherd-hotel-demolition-)[1]
The Shepherd Hotel before the demolitions - Picture by Corporate Watch April 2010
The demolition of the Shepherd Hotel - Photo from activestills.org
The Shepherd Hotel in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, constructed in the 1930s, was once the home of the grand mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini. It was confiscated by Israel in 1967.[2] The demolition was carried out on behalf of American millionaire, and supporter of the Judaization (the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in favour of Jewish colonisation) of Jerusalem, Irving Muskowitz, of the Muskowitz Charitable Foundation (http://www.moskowitzfoundation.org/).[3] Israeli and Palestinian activists have been protesting against the planned demolition since March 2010. Read the rest of this entry »
Tear gas canisters fired from a vehicle mounted launcher during a weekly demonstration in Bil In Photo courtesy of Bil In Popular Committee
“The Israeli government and its army have been for years now using the West Bank and Gaza as their testing ground. The Palestinians are their guinea pigs. The Israeli army uses tear gas that would probably be banned in any other countries in the world. They shoot tear gas, directly at protesters, once again, an illegal act. But a very rewarding one. Israel’s security industry is booming. It’s never been this good. Countries all over the world are buying Israel’s expertise in security, crowd control and weaponry every day. Israeli soldiers are training other countries commandos all over the planet”[1]
From the blog, Bil’in: A Village of Palestine, 02/01/11
Jawaher Abu Rahma - Killed by teargas inhalation on 31/12/10 - Photo by Oren Ziv, Active Stills
Bassem Abu Rahma - Killed by an impact wound from a Teargas canister fired at him while demonstrating in Bil In in April 2009 - Photo from Active Stills
On New Year’s Eve 2010, whilst much of the world was celebrating, over a thousand people demonstrated in the Palestinian village of Bil’in against Israel’s encroachment on the village’s land, Israeli tear gas and rubber bullets rained down on the protesters and Jawaher Abu Rahma, who had joined the march to the apartheid wall and retreated to the sidelines after the first Israeli volleys of gas, choked to death as gas enveloped the village.
A report from Bil’in residents said that “Israeli soldiers fired tear-gas from the moment protestors entered their sight. It is obvious that for the army, the mere presence of unarmed demonstrators is reason enough to use chemical weapons against them.”[2]. Read the rest of this entry »
Corporate Watch - Tracking Corporate Complicity in the Occupation of Palestine 