ADDAMEER PRESS RELEASE: 06/01/2009
JERUSALEM BASED TV JOURNALISTS ARRESTED FOR ‘INFRINGING NEW LEGAL MEASURES’ TO RESTRICT REPORTING OF ISRAEL’S LATEST OPERATION
International TV journalist, Khader Shahin was arrested in Jerusalem Tuesday, allegedly for infringing new legal measures to restrict reporting of Israel’s latest onslaught on Gaza. Shahin is a 33 year old Palestinian living in Jerusalem, working as a correspondent for Al Alam TV. He is now being investigated for spreading “state secrets.”
On Monday, the 5th of January 2009, Khader states that he had been receiving anonymous phone calls from different numbers claiming that he was ‘wanted’. Later that evening a reporter from the Israeli TV Channel 2 also reported that there was a warrant out for Khader’s arrest. Until that time Khader had heard no confirmation from the Israeli police stating that he was ‘wanted’. Khader immediately contacted his lawyer, Mohammad Dahli who in turn contacted the Israeli police. He was informed that Khader must immediately present himself to the police.
On Tuesday, Khader was taken to the police unit of the international interrogation section of Petah Tikvah detention center where he is still being detained. In addition to Khader, the Israeli authorities have arrested the producer of Al Alam TV, Mohammad Sarhan. Mohammad is a 27 year old Jerusalemite who is currently studying law in Ramat Gan College. The TV crew’s cameraman, Ahmad Jalajal was released yesterday at midnight.
Khader and Mohammad are due to appear before the court today in order that their detention is extended. They have been accused of reporting on Israel’s ground assault before the Israeli military spokesman had released the news. As a result, Mohammad and Khader have both been charged with ‘breaching the media code of ethics’.
Addameer demands the immediate release of Khader and Mohammad. In relation to this we wish to express our concern that Israel’s attempt to close Gaza to the international media and human rights monitors indicates that its army is seeking to operate without oversight or accountability. According to Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has “the right to freedom of opinion and expression” and also the right to “seek, receive and impart” information and ideas “regardless of frontiers.” This has been re-affirmed by several charters and declarations around the world most notably Article 79 of the first Additional Protocol of 1977 which states that journalists are entitled to the same protection as civilians and may not be deliberately targeted. Addameer thus urges the local and international community to demand that Israel abide by international law and release Khaled and Mohammad immediately.
Israel is believed to be using controversial white phosphorus shells to screen its assault on the heavily populated Gaza Strip yesterday. The weapon, used by British and US forces in Iraq, can cause horrific burns but is not illegal if used as a smokescreen.
As the Israeli army stormed to the edges of Gaza City and the Palestinian death toll topped 500, the tell-tale shells could be seen spreading tentacles of thick white smoke to cover the troops’ advance. “These explosions are fantastic looking, and produce a great deal of smoke that blinds the enemy so that our forces can move in,” said one Israeli security expert. Burning blobs of phosphorus would cause severe injuries to anyone caught beneath them and force would-be snipers or operators of remote-controlled booby traps to take cover. Israel admitted using white phosphorus during its 2006 war with Lebanon.
The use of the weapon in the Gaza Strip, one of the world’s mostly densely population areas, is likely to ignite yet more controversy over Israel’s offensive, in which more than 2,300 Palestinians have been wounded.
The Geneva Treaty of 1980 stipulates that white phosphorus should not be used as a weapon of war in civilian areas, but there is no blanket ban under international law on its use as a smokescreen or for illumination. However, Charles Heyman, a military expert and former major in the British Army, said: “If white phosphorus was deliberately fired at a crowd of people someone would end up in The Hague. White phosphorus is also a terror weapon. The descending blobs of phosphorus will burn when in contact with skin.”
The Israeli military last night denied using phosphorus, but refused to say what had been deployed. “Israel uses munitions that are allowed for under international law,” said Captain Ishai David, spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces. “We are pressing ahead with the second stage of operations, entering troops in the Gaza Strip to seize areas from which rockets are being launched into Israel.”
The civilian toll in the first 24 hours of the ground offensive — launched after a week of bombardment from air, land and sea— was at least 64 dead. Among those killed were five members of a family who died when an Israeli tank shell hit their car and a paramedic who died when a tank blasted his ambulance. Doctors at Gaza City’s main hospital said many women and children were among the dead and wounded.
The Israeli army also suffered its first fatality of the offensive when one of its soldiers was killed by mortar fire. More than 30 soldiers were wounded by mortars, mines and sniper fire.
Israel has brushed aside calls for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into the besieged territory, where medical supplies are running short.
With increasingly angry anti-Israeli protests spreading around the world, Gordon Brown described the violence in Gaza as “a dangerous moment”.
White phosphorus: the smoke-screen chemical that can burn to the bone
— White phosphorus bursts into a deep-yellow flame when it is exposed to oxygen, producing a thick white smoke
— It is used as a smokescreen or for incendiary devices, but can also be deployed as an anti-personnel flame compound capable of causing potentially fatal burns
— Phosphorus burns are almost always second or third-degree because the particles do not stop burning on contact with skin until they have entirely disappeared — it is not unknown for them to reach the bone
— Geneva conventions ban the use of phosphorus as an offensive weapon against civilians, but its use as a smokescreen is not prohibited by international law
— Israel previously used white phosphorus during its war with Lebanon in 2006
— It has been used frequently by British and US forces in recent wars, notably during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Its use was criticised widely
— White phosphorus has the slang name “Willy Pete”, which dates from the First World War. It was commonly used in the Vietnam era
Source: Times archives
A top UN official has called for “concrete action” against Israel over the country’s treatment of Palestinians in the territories.
General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann suggested Monday that the international community should consider sanctions against Israel including “boycott, divestment and sanctions” similar to those enacted against South Africa two decades ago.
“Today, perhaps we in the United Nations should consider following the lead of a new generation of civil society who are calling for a similar nonviolent campaign,” said D’Escoto, a Nicaraguan diplomat who currently holds the one-year presidency.
Israeli soldier attacking a demonstration in Nilin
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
A Canadian student who took part in a protest against the security wall Israel’s building in the West Bank has been arrested and faces deportation from the Jewish state.
Victor McDiarmid, a volunteer for the International Solidarity Movement, had been living in the West Bank for nearly a month when he was arrested Wednesday at a demonstration by women from the village of Nilin, where Israel plans to build the next section of its security barrier.
McDiarmid, 23, was arrested after taking photographs of Israeli soldiers who were breaking up the protest by villagers, who say the barrier will separate them from their farmland.
“He was taken by Israeli soldiers whilst at the front of the demonstration and was taken off towards the jeep. And then he has reported to us that for 20 minutes they were punching, kicking and spitting in his face,” said Adam Taylor, ISM’s media co-ordinator.
The organization’s lawyers say they were told McDiarmid, who is from Kingston, Ont., was to be released Thursday from the Israeli military prison where he was being held. Instead, he has been transferred to a detention centre for people facing deportation.
An Israeli Defence Force spokesperson said officials won’t be able to comment until they check details after the Jewish Sabbath.
His parents told CBC News they support their son and the work he was doing in Israel to expose human rights violations.
Robert McDiarmid said he is outraged his son could still be sitting in a detention centre.
“I’m angry at the human rights abuses in the West Bank. I’m angry that the Canadian government’s aborting,” McDiarmid said, adding that his son has said he wants to stay in Israel and fight his deportation.
The International Solidarity Movement describes itself on its website as a “Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles.”