By Meredith Lee-Clark

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

EREZ, Gaza/Egypt Border – International activists against the blockade of the Gaza Strip protested across Egypt on December 30, calling for Egypt to open its border with Gaza at Rafah. Egyptian border officials refused to allow the activists to cross into Gaza, telling the activists that they were not allowed to cross because of the “sensitive situation,” and that the Egyptian border is opened occasionally, and then only to goods, not people.

 

Over one thousand protesters gathered in Cairo, some reporting they were injured in scuffles with Cairo police. At one point, the Egyptian authorities offered to allow one hundred members of the Gaza Freedom March (GFM) into the Gaza Strip, but GFM leaders refused the offer, saying in a statement that they “refuse to whitewash the siege of Gaza.”

 

The GFM organized protests in Cairo, at the border with Gaza, and at the French Embassy in Cairo. Over one thousand, three hundred protesters from forty-two countries joined in the demonstrations. Other protesters, such as U.S. citizen Hedy Epstein, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, have gone on hunger strikes to protest the one-year anniversary of the Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip.

 

Many Palestinians, Egyptians, and members of the international community have questioned Egypt’s role in the ongoing Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. In addition to refusing to allow border crossings, Egypt has drawn sharp criticism from neighboring Arab countries for its reported construction of a deep steel wall at its border crossing at Rafah. Smuggling tunnels dug between Gaza and Egypt have been the only routes for goods to come in and out of Gaza since the Israeli blockade began in early 2009.  The wall would cut off these tunnels.

 

Since the beginning of the blockade, rocket attacks from Gaza into southern Israel have decreased by ninety percent from 2008 levels, but the blockade has also severely restricted construction and humanitarian supplies to the Palestinian territory, as well as food and fresh water. Though Gaza lies on the Mediterranean coast, the Israeli blockade has restricted the Palestinian fishing range. The Gaza desalination plant that had been nearly completed and was expected to supply the territory with ample freshwater was completely destroyed by the Israeli military during the fighting at the end of 2008. The blockade has nearly halted all reconstruction efforts in the territory.

 

Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz has reported that Egyptian officials have signaled that if an Israeli prisoner swap with Hamas for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit goes through, Egypt will open its border at Rafah. Some critics have pointed to this report as further evidence that Egypt is collaborating with the Israelis in their blockade of Gaza.

 

For more information, please see:

 

BBC News – Hundreds of Activists Protest Against Gaza Blockade – 31 December 2009

 

Ma’an News Agency – Internationals Injured in Gaza Protests – 31 December 2009

 

Al Jazeera – Activists Reject Egypt’s Gaza Offer – 30 December 2009

 

Ha’aretz – Egypt to Open Gaza Border if Shalit Deal Succeeds – 30 December 2009

 

Palestinian News Network – Egypt Blocks the Gaza Freedom March – 30 December 2009

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RAMADI, Iraq – Twenty four people died on December 30 as the capital of Iraq’s Anbar province, Ramadi was rocked by a double suicide bombing. In addition to the dead, sixty people were wounded in the bombings. Among the wounded was the Anbar province’s Governor, Qassim Mohammed. Iraqi officials have described his condition as “very serious.”

According to Iraqi police, the first bomber was in a car while the second was on foot and wearing an army uniform. The first attack took place at 9:30am at a traffic junction near the provincial administration buildings located at the center of the city. A suicide bomber in a car triggered the first blast at a checkpoint on the main road.

The second bombing took place approximately thirty minutes later at a government building two hundred meters away. Mohammed was injured in this blast as he emerged from his office the inspect the damage from the first blast. The second attacker wore a suicide vest under what appeared to be an Iraqi army uniform and blew himself up as he ran into the crowd around the governor. According to a local police officer, Captain Ahmed Mohammed al-Dualimi, “some security people held him back, and he detonated himself.”

Initial reports on state television were that the governor had been killed in the second suicide blast, but they were quickly denied by his deputy, Hikmet Khalaf. The AFP quoted a doctor at the Ramadi General Hospital who said, “the governor is wounded. American forces came and took him for more treatment.” The US military did not immediately confirm the AFP’s report.

The recent attack appeared the mirror an October 11 triple bombing in Ramadi which killed nineteen people and injured more than eighty.

Anbar province was the center of Iraq’s Sunni uprising following the invasion of Iraq led by the United States in 2003. The province, however, had become relatively secure after tribal fighers accepted US support in 2006. There is a fear, however, that the recent attacks show that increase in violence is likely ahead of Iraq’s general elections in March 2010.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Twin Iraq Attacks Kill 23, Provincial Governor Wounded – 30 December 2009

Al Jazeera – Deadly Blasts Hit Western Iraq City – 30 December 2009

BBC – Deadly Double Blast Hits Street in Iraq City of Ramadi – 30 December 2009

New York Times – Bombs Kill 24 in Iraq and Wound a Governor – 30 December 2009

By Nykoel Dinardo
Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – On December 31, Prosecutor General Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei stated that opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi would be put on trial if they do not denounce the anti-government protests that took place earlier in the week.  Ejei’s statement was published in the state-owned newspaper.

The Prosecutor stated that the anti-government leaders would be charged with “supporting apostates,” meaning that they would be charged with aiding those that go against God. 

Iranian police continue to actively hunt for the protesters.  Police posted over 100 pictures to their website and called upon others in the community, asking them to identify and report those in the pictures.  The police urged others to distance themselves from the protesters.  The police stated that they will be detained on suspicion of “damaging public property and insulting sanctities.”  There has not yet been any statement by the prosecutor regarding trials for detained protesters. 

Meanwhile, Pro-government ralliers have gathered outside the offices of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a display the Iranian state news service called “splendid”.  The protesters wear white funeral shouds bearing red ink with statements like “May My Life Be Sacrificed for the Health of the Leader,” and “Khameneie is the Prophet’s Offspring, His Enemy is Impotent.”  Their shrouds symbolize their willingness to die if necessary to defend Iran’s clerical rulers. 

For more information, please see:

Business Week – Iran Prosecutor Threatens to Try Opposition Leaders – 31 December 2009

Chicago Tribune – Rally Backs Iran’s Leaders – 31 December 2009

Islamic Republic News Agency – Mass Rally of Pro-Leader Ralliers in Tehran Splendid – 31 December 2009

Tehran Times – Police Chief Urges Critics to Distance Themselves from Rioters – 31 December 2009

The Washington Post – Iran Opposition Leaders Face Threat of Prosecution – 31 December 2009

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Anti-government protesters clashed with Iranian security forces on December 27. The clash left at least eight protesters dead, including the nephew of opposition leader Mir Hussein Mousavi. Iranian officials deny opposition claims that police shot Seyed Ali Mousavi.

According to Mousavi’s website, Seyed Ali was shot in the back on the 27th as security forces fired on demonstrators in Tehran. The Mousavi family claims that Seyed Ali’s body had been taken without their permission from the hospital where it had been held. The official news agency of Iran reports that Seyed Ali and other bodies of people killed on December 27 were “retained in order to complete forensic and police examinations and find more leads on this suspicious incident.”

Opposition websites report that police fired tear gas on December 29 at a group of Mousavi supporters who were demonstrating outside of the hospital where Seyed Ali’s body had bee held.

Foreign media in Iran reports that the country is arresting opposition figures to stifle protests. Among those arrested on December 29 is Ebrahim Yazdi, leaders of the Freedom Movement of Iran, and his nephew. Yazdi’s son, Khalil, who lives in the US, told the BBC that Iranian authorities wanted to close down all opposition groups.

Also among the arrested was three aides to Mir Hussein Mousavi. A senior cleric from the holy city of Qom close to Mousavi, Mousavi Tebrizi, is also reported to have been arrested The Parlemannews website also reports that two aides to reformist former President Mohammad Khatami were among the individuals rounded up by authorities.

The violence on the streets of Iran’s major cities on December 27 were the worst since the protests immediately after the disputed presidential election. While state media confirmed eight deaths, other reports put the number as high as fifteen people. Mehdi Karroubi, another reformist candidate in the election, accused the Ahmedinejad regime of “dipping its hands in people’s blood.”

The Iranian government’s action towards the protesters has sparked controversy around the world. The US, UK, France, Germany and Canada all condemned the violence in Iran’s streets. President Barack Obama said that “the Iranian people have sought nothing more than to exercise their universal rights. Each time they have done so, they have been met with the iron fist of brutality.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Iran Rally Leaders ‘Enemies of God’ – 30 December 2009

Los Angeles Times – Iran Clamps Down on Protests – 29 December 2009

BBC – Iran Opposition Figures Arrested After Protests – 28 December 2009

Telegraph – Iran Arrests Key Opposition Figures in Effort to End Protests – 28 December 2009

By Meredith Lee-Clark

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

EAST JERUSALEM, West Bank/Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced a plan to build seven hundred new housing units in East Jerusalem and has invited construction contractors to bid on the project. The move has been widely condemned by the Palestinians and the broader international community, as East Jerusalem is predominantly Arab and is considered to be the capital of a future Palestinian state.

 

Several weeks ago, Mr. Netanyahu announced a ten-month freeze on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, as a gesture to show Israel’s good faith effort in negotiating with the Palestinians. The Israeli government did not include East Jerusalem in the settlement freeze, and has said it considers East Jerusalem to be part of a unified Jewish Jerusalem.

 

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat denounced the planned construction, and said that it was further evidence that the Israelis do not intend to negotiate with the Palestinians as equals.

 

“With each individual action it undertakes on the ground, Israel is saying no to meaningful negotiations, no to a just and lasting peace and no to the two-state solution,” said Mr. Erekat in a statement released after the Israeli announcement. “Every decision Israel takes to construct more illegal settlements makes a mockery of its so-called ‘settlement moratorium.’ If this is what Israel means by a settlement moratorium, then one can only wonder what Israel intends to do once that moratorium has ended.”

 

Mr. Netanyahu’s government has also drawn criticism from conservative Israelis for imposing the construction freeze in the West Bank. A week prior to the announcement of construction in East Jerusalem, a group of rabbis signed a letter saying that Israeli soldiers’ loyalty to religious institutions and communities that build settlements takes precedent over any duty to carrying out Israel’s diplomatic agenda, including enforcing the settlement freeze.

 

In addition to the planned construction in East Jerusalem, the Israeli State Prosecutor’s Office notified the High Court of Justice on December 27 that Israel was considering seizing private Palestinian land in the West Bank, despite the moratorium on such activity. Lawyers advocating for the Palestinian land owners, many of whom have lived on the land for generations, called the move “nothing short of an outrage.”

 

For more information, please see:

 

Al-Jazeera – Israel Plans Settlement Expansion – 28 December 2009

 

Ha’aretz – U.S.: Israel Plan to Build in East Jerusalem Harms Peace Process – 28 December 2009

 

Ma’an News Agency – White House Criticizes New Israeli Settlement Plan – 28 December 2009

 

Press TV – Israel Invites Tenders for Expanding Settlements – 28 December 2009

 

Christian Science Monitor – Israeli Settlements: Rabbis Say Soldiers’ Loyalty to God Trumps Army Orders – 18 December 2009