By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

EAST JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – Israel began demolition of several Palestinian houses on November 18 in East Jerusalem, making way for new Jewish houses in the neighborhood. Seven Palestinians were reportedly injured, according to Ma’an News Agency, and several more assaulted by Israeli police, who threw tear gas into the crowd of Palestinian protestors.

The protests followed a decision by the Jerusalem municipal planning committee to approve the construction of nine hundred new housing units in the East Jerusalem Arab Gilo neighborhood, which is part of the occupied West Bank. Under international law, any new Israeli settlements in occupied territory are illegal.

There was a rapid outpouring of dismay from international leaders, surrounding the decision to allow new construction. The Swedish EU presidency reiterated its position that it had never recognized Israeli control over East Jerusalem, and that the actions of the Israeli government “contravene repeated calls by the international community, … and run counter to the creation of an atmosphere conducive to achieving a viable and credible solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.”

United States President Barack Obama told Fox News that Israel’s actions do not “contribute to Israel’s security,” and that it “embitters the Palestinians in a way that could end up being very dangerous.”

Although the Jerusalem municipal planning board has approved the new construction, the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported that the Israeli prime minister has the ability to freeze all construction in East Jerusalem, following a precedent set by then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, who froze settlement construction in Sarfat, a neighborhood in northern East Jerusalem. Israel has rejected the characterization of the new construction in Gilo as a settlement, saying it is a neighborhood of Israeli East Jerusalem and therefore available for expansion under international law.

Jackie Rowland, a reporter for Al Jazeera in East Jerusalem, stated that the new construction was part of a larger effort by Israel to differentiate East Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied West Bank:

“We have seen the government repeatedly claim that Jerusalem is its so-called united capital and the government said just today that whereas it planned to exercise what it called maximum restraint in the West Bank, it claimed that Jerusalem was a different case.”

For more information, please see:
 
Ha’aretz – Rabin Precedent Allows Freeze on Construction in E. Jerusalem – 20 November 2009

Ma’an News Agency – Clashes Erupt as Israeli Forces Raze Two More Homes in Jerusalem – 19 November 2009

Palestinian News Network – EU “Dismayed” By Israel’s Decision to Build New Houses in Gilo – 19 November 2009

Al Jazeera – Israel Defends Settlement Expansion – 18 November 2009

Christian Science Monitor – Obama Raps Israel Over New Jerusalem Settlement Plan – 18 November 2009

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – Senior Blackwater executives approved the payment of over one million dollars to Iraqi officials. A report by the New York Times alleges that these payments came after the company’s guards killed seventeen Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007. The goal of the alleged bribery was to “silence (the) criticism” against the US security firm coming from Iraqi officials.

The shootings that forced the alleged bribery took place in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square. According to the report, Blackwater’s President at the time, Gary Jackson, approved of the payments. The money given to the Iraqi officials went through Jordan before getting to the company’s top manager in Baghdad. Executives made reference to in the Times’ report did not know if the payments were actually delivered.

One Blackwater employee pleaded guilty in United States court to a manslaughter charge over the 2007 attack. Five other company guards pleaded not guilty in January to charges against them. Blackwater has denied any wrongdoing for the shootings.

Cofer Black, a former Blackwater official and veteran of the CIA, issued a statement saying that he was “unaware of any plot or guidance for Blackwater to bribe Iraqi officials.” Additionally, Blackwater’s company spokesman, Stacy DeLuke, dismissed the allegations of bribery as “baseless” and said that the company refused to comment on their former employees. Despite this, Iraqi officials plan on determining the validity of the claims made against the US security firm.

Iraq’s Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, in an interview with CNN, said that he had ordered the investigation into whether the top officials at Blackwater had approved the bribes alleged in the New York Times report. Bolani said that he is still in the process of gathering information regarding the allegations and explained that he hopes that individuals with information will come forward and help with the investigation.

Blackwater has been a topic of much controversy in Iraq even before the 2007 shootings. This comes from the company’s size and aggressive nature in the country. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called the 2007 incident a massacre and was unhappy that their contract was renewed. The US Government has asked Blackwater to provide security services to US diplomats in Iraq until the newly hired firm is ready to take over.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Iraq Probes ‘Blackwater Bribes’ – 12 November 2009

AFP – U.S. Firm Blackwater in Iraq Bribery Scandal: Report – 11 November 2009

New York Times – Charges Prompt Iraqis to Look Into Blackwater – 11 November 2009

Reuters – Blackwater Approved Payments in Iraqi Shooting – NYT – 10 November 2009

By Meredith Lee-Clark

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – Palestinian officials announced on November 15 that they would seek a United Nations resolution to establish an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The proposed state would follow borders in place before the 1967 war between Israel and the Palestinians, and would include East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.

 

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, held a press conference to accompany the announcement, and said that the Palestinian Authority had decided to take its case to the U.N. after negotiations surrounding talks between Israel and the Palestinians had stalled, primarily due to disagreements about Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

 

“Now is our defining moment,” Erekat said. “We went into this peace process in order to achieve a two-state solution…The endgame is to tell the Israelis that now the international community has recognized the two–state solution on the ’67 borders.”

 

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the Israeli cabinet on the day after the Palestinian announcement that there was a strong possibility of a U.N. vote in favor of a Palestinian state, as many countries had previously expressed support for the Palestinians. Israel was created by a U.N. mandate after World War II.

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a press conference after the Palestinian announcement, rejecting the Palestinian action and saying that a unilateral action by the Palestinians would negate any terms of the 1998 Oslo Peace Accords and would destroy any goodwill between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

 

“There is no substitute for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and any unilateral path will only unravel the framework of agreements between us and will bring unilateral steps from Israel’s side,” said Netanyahu.

 

Middle East observers believe that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s options for moving forward are limited. Abbas announced a week before this most recent development that he would not seek reelection in a Palestinian national vote scheduled for 2010. Many experts have commented that Abbas was considerably weakened by Israel’s unwillingness to freeze all settlement construction in the West Bank.

 

For more information, please see:

 

Al Jazeera – Palestinians Warned Over U.N. Move – 16 November 2009

 

Ha’aretz – U.S.: Best Way to Achieve a Viable Palestine is Talks – 16 November 2009

 

Ma’an News Agency – Erekat: World Should Stand Against Occupation – 16 November 2009

 

Christian Science Monitor – Israel Rejects Palestinian Statehood Bid Via the U.N. – 15 November 2009

 

New York Times – Palestinians Aim to Secure U.N. Support for State – 15 November 2009

By Ahmad Shihadah

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’DA, Yemen – Some 240 villages in Saudi Arabia have been evacuated due to an escalation of fighting in Northern Yemen. The United Nations has reported Friday that “fighting has now spilled into Saudi Arabia, reportedly causing 240 villages to be evacuated and more than 50 schools to be closed.”

Saudi Arabia, the world’s oil exporter, launched an offensive last week after Yemeni rebels seized Saudi territory along the mountainous border from which they said the Saudis had been allowing Yemeni troops to use to attack their positions.  A Saudi government advisor said on Thursday that Saudi Arabia is using air power and artillery to enforce a six mile deep buffer zone inside Yemen to keep the Shi’ite rebels away from its southwestern border.

The fighting worsens an already bleak humanitarian situation in northern Yemen, where the United Nations now says 175,000 people have been displaced by the fighting. More than 15,000 are staying in al-Mazraq camp in Hajjah province, the population of which has doubled in the past month, according to the U.N. children’s agency. “Deaths have been recorded among children in the camp as malnutrition, already a chronic problem in Yemen, is reaching alarming levels.” Sigrid Kaag, UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement.

The U.N. refugee agency said that up to 900 people have been arriving every day at al-Mazraq which has exceeded its capacity. United Nations High Council on Refugees estimated its current population at 10,000. “The lastest sudden influx is adding more pressure on an already dire situation, and overcrowding in the camp is becoming a major concern.” UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic said.

For more information, please see:

Earth Times – UN: Saudi Villages Evacuated Over Yemen Fighting – 13 November 2009

VOA – More Civilians Flee War-Torn Yemen – 13 November 2009

Reuters – Saudi Villages Evacuated Due Yemen Violence – UNICEF

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East