By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

HAWARA, West Bank – More than three hundred olive trees were uprooted during the night between April 13 and April 14 in the West Bank village of Hawara, reportedly by Jewish settlers. Two cars were also set on fire, and Stars of David and racist slogans in Hebrew were sprayed on buildings, including on the walls of a mosque in the village south of Nablus. An Israeli army spokesman told Army Radio that the Israeli military believed settlers were behind the destruction, possibly as part of a response to the Israeli government’s construction freeze on settlements in the West Bank.

Brigadier General Nitzan Alon, the Commander of the Israeli Defense Forces Judea and Samaria division, has reportedly launched an investigation into the incident, condemned the attacks, and has promised that “those responsible should be brought to justice,” according to an official statement. The statement also noted that the Israeli Civil Administration removed the graffiti from the mosque’s walls during the morning after the incident.

Hawara is also near the Jewish settlement of Yitzhar. In December 2009, settlers from Yitzhar were accused of setting fire to a mosque in the Palestinian village of Yusuf. A rabbi from Yitzhar was arrested in connection to the incident, but no charges were filed.

Some hard-line Jewish settlers have called the attacks on Palestinian villages the “price tag” for the construction freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank, put in place by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In response to news of the incidents in Hawara, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a spokesman for the right-wing Jewish National Front, said:

“We are talking about a hostile village that has been the source of a large number of violent attacks against the residents of Yitzhar…The time has come for the Arabs to understand that Jews are not suckers and that Jewish blood will not be shed without consequence.”

For their own part, Palestinian residents of Hawara have promised to re-plant their trees, some of which are hundreds of years old and have been tended for generations. Some grove owners have estimated that the damage to their trees will cost them thousands of dollars. Yet despite frequent disruption by Jewish settlers, the grove owners have said they will re-plant.

“If they uproot five acres of trees, we’ll plant six,” said Abu Hussein, a grove owner. “They won’t break us.”

For more information, please see:

Ma’an News Agency – Israel Army Condemns Mosque Vandalism – 15 April 2010

BBC News – Jewish Settlers Suspected in West Bank Mosque Attack – 14 April 2010

Ha’aretz – Mosque Vandalized as Settlers Attack Palestinian Village – 14 April 2010

Ha’aretz – No-one Saw, No-one Heard: 300 Palestinian Olive Trees Uprooted – 14 April 2010

By Bobby Rajabi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – On Friday April 9 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled new advanced centrifuge that will help accelerate the Islamic Republic’s uranium enrichment program. The unveiling of new machines has alarmed world powers including the United States who were were already fearful of the aims of Iran’s nuclear program. The centrifuges were unveiled by the Iranian President during a ceremony marking Iran’s National Day of Nuclear Technology as Ahmadinejad pulled back a white curtain to reveal the new machines.

The new, advanced centrifuge machines are capable of much faster uranium enrichment that the centrifuges currently being used in Iran’s nuclear facility. Iranian nuclear officials have praised the advancement as a step toward greater self-sufficiency. The officials are concerned that the nuclear program will suffer from the new nuclear sanctions targeted at ending all uranium enrichment activity in the Islamic republic. President Ahmadinejad has repeatedly insisted that the program only has peaceful aims such as power generation.

The details of the centrifuges were explained by Iranian official Ali Akbar Salehi in his National Day of Nuclear Technology speech. Salehi explained that the centrifuges have the separation power six times that of the first generation centrifuges Iran currently uses. He explained that experts from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran managed to design the new centrifuges and that they had passed several mechanical tests.

President Ahmadinejad’s announcement came as members of the United Nations Security Council was discussing a new round of sanctions against Iran. The rationale for the sanction is Iran’s continued refusal to halt uranium enrichment. Ambassadors from the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany all announced that the talks were productive. The ambassadors did also confirm that the meetings would continue in the coming weeks. China has been under increased pressure from the other Security Council to support the new sanctions despite their public objections.

The UN’s nuclear arm, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), announced in a February 2010 report that Iran had achieved enrichment levels of up to 19.8%. The report also spoke that the number raised concerns of the “possible military dimensions” of the Iranian nuclear program.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Iran Unveils More Advanced Centrifuge Machines – 9 April 2010

BBC – Iran Unveils ‘Faster’ Uranium Centrifuges – 9 April 2010

Washington Post – Iran Displays New Centrifuge For Nuclear Work – 9 April 2010

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria/ AMMAN, Jordan– On Tuesday, Syria chastised new Israeli military orders that they say paves the way for large-scale expulsions of Palestinians from the West Bank and warned that the new orders may lead to a policy of “ethnic cleansing” in the occupied territories.

The new rules, which took effect on Tuesday, allow for anyone caught in the West Bank without an Israeli permit to face immediate expulsion or be sentenced up to seven years in prison.  The order, if implemented in full force, could reach thousands of individuals who have moved to the West Bank, foreign born Palestinians married to West Bankers and foreigners who are in the West Bank on expired tourist visas.

A Syrian Foreign Ministry official said “this decision is the adoption of the ethnic cleansing policy and a step to the mass deportation aiming at emptying the land from its people.”  The official further commented “it also constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and human rights and will of the whole international community.”

Syria has not been the only country critical of the new order.  Jordan called in Israel’s ambassador for an official protest over the same decision considering the move to be “a flagrant violation of international law and conventions” and a violation of Israel’s obligations as the occupying power in the West Bank.

In response, a group of Israeli human rights organizations have asked Defense Minister Ehud Barak to rescind the order’s implementation, arguing that it would “turn all residents of the West Bank into criminals.”  The Israeli government rebutted such an assertion arguing that the order makes “no change with regard to who is illegal or legal.” Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator with Israel said “these orders have the effect of turning Palestinians into criminals in their own homes, while directly undermining the efforts of Palestinians to run their own internal affairs.”

An Israeli military official denied that the order would pave the way for large-scale expulsions, indicating that its sole purpose was aimed at foreign activists.

For more information, please see:

CNN- Jordan Protests to Israel Over Expulsions– 14 April 2010

Haaretz- Jordan Condemns Israel Over West Bank Deportation Order– 14 April 2010

The Jerusalem Post- Jordan Protests Expulsion Rule– 14 April 2010

By Bobby Rajabi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – On April 9, a triple bombing struck the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. The attack killed forty people. The bombings, located near foreign embassies in the Iraqi capital, also wounded over two hundred people. The bombings appeared to target the Egyptian, Syrian, Iranian and German embassies. The group Al Qaeda in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the attacks, making the announcement on the internet.

Two of the explosions that struck on April 9 were suicide attacks that went after the Egyptian consulate and the Iranian embassy. They went off within a minute of each other in Mansour, a well educated suburb on the western side of the city. A few minutes later, a third suicide bomber blew his vehicle up. The explosion took place close to the city center. A number of Iraqi guards working for foreign missions were among those killed int the blast. The Iranian, Egyptian, German and Syrians all claimed damage and injuries caused by the blasts.

Al Qaeda in Iraq, referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq (or ISI) posted on militant forums online that the blasts were the “fifth wave’ of their campaign of mass causality attacks on government targets in Iraq. The campaign began in mid 2009 according the SITE Intelligence Group. SITE is a US based group group. The statement also mentioned that all embassies and international political organizations the have dealings with the central Baghdad government were being considered as legitimate targets.

The statement also read that “the mujahedeen will not hesitate to strike, wherever (the Iraqi government) is located and no matter the level of its fortification.” In another statement posted on extremist online forums, the ISI denied all involvement six separate blasts that killed at least thirty five people on April 6. The blasts also destroyed residential buildings in the mostly Shi’ite neighborhoods.

The embassy bombings are part of a recent string of violence around the Iraqi capital that has killed roughly one hundred twenty people in a week. It is suggested that the bloodshed marks an attempt by insurgents to take advantage of the political uncertainty that has followed the March 7 Iraqi elections.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Al-Qaeda in Iraq claims Baghdad Embassy Bombings – 9 April 2010

Associated Press – Iraq al-Qaida Group Says It’s Behind Embassy Hits – 9 April 2010

BBC – Al-Qaeda in Iraq Group Claims Embassy Bombings – 9 April 2010

Press TV – Extremists Claim Responsibility For Baghdad Blasts – 9 April 2010

Washington Post – Group Linked to Al-Qaeda in Iraq Claims Embassy Bombings – 9 April 2010

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’NA, Yemen – Yemeni forces are not going after a radical U.S.-born cleric who has reportedly been added to the CIA’s list of targets to be killed or captured, the foreign minister said Saturday.

The United States has not handed over evidence to support allegations that Anwar al-Awlaki, 38, is recruiting for al-Qaeda’s offshoot in the impoverished country on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, the minister said.

“Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn’t be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism,” Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi told reporters on Saturday, adding that the government was not hunting the US-born cleric believed to be living in Yemen. “The detailed information … and evidence gathered by US agencies has not been given to Yemen.”

However, al-Qirbi also told Al Jazeera television that al-Awlaki “is wanted by Yemeni justice for questioning, so that he can clear his name … or face trial.”

Though Al-Awlaki is a U.S. citizen, born in New Mexico, he lived in Yemen with his family for most of his early life. He returned to attend college and graduate school and it was during this period he began serving as an imam for various mosques around the country.

The US has sought in recent months to heighten cooperation with Yemen, where it believes a relatively new offshoot of Al Qaeda is gaining strength. It has also pledged to double its modest military aid to Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest state. The state’s ability to govern has been compromised by a secessionist movement in the south and a rebellion in the north that was only recently resolved.

The Barack Obama administration took a somewhat extraordinary step last week in authorizing the targeted killing of the cleric.

A handful of intelligence and counterterrorism officials briefed members of the press on the decision last week, during which Reuters quoted government officials as saying that “Al-Awlaki is a proven threat,” and that “he’s being targeted”.

Though known only as an Islamic scholar, espousing controversial views, U.S. intelligence officials cited new information on his direct involvement with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) as justification for his targeting.

“He’s gotten involved in plots,” an unnamed official told the New York Times last week. “The danger al-Awlaki poses to this country is no longer confined to words,”

For more information, please see:

The Philadelphia Inquirer – Yemen Declines To Pursue Cleric Targeted By U.S. – 11 April 2010

The Christian Science Monitor – Yemen Balks At Possible U.S. Possible Strike On Cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki – 12 April 2010

IPS – Yemen Refuses To Hunt Al-Awlaki For U.S. – 13 April 2010