6 nov 2015
Hundreds of Palestinians took to Qabatiya streets, in southern Jenin, overnight Thursday, to call for the release of the body of 17-year-old Ahmad Abu al-Rob, withheld by the Israeli occupation authorities for the fourth day running.
The protesters roamed Qabatiya streets, lifting Palestinian flags and the pictures of Palestinian youths recently killed by the Israeli occupation.
The protesters chanted slogans condemning the Israeli aggressions on the Palestinian people and the cold-blooded execution of civilian youths.
The rally-goers gathered outside of Abu al-Rob’s family home, urging the human rights organizations to return the bodies of Palestinian casualties.
Abu al-Rob's uncle, Nasri, said the Israeli occupation has been refusing even to set a date for the release of their relative.
Abu al-Rob, his parents’ only son, was killed Monday by Israeli bullet fire near the Jalama checkpoint, in northeastern Jenin city, after he allegedly attempted to stab an Israeli occupation soldier.
The protesters roamed Qabatiya streets, lifting Palestinian flags and the pictures of Palestinian youths recently killed by the Israeli occupation.
The protesters chanted slogans condemning the Israeli aggressions on the Palestinian people and the cold-blooded execution of civilian youths.
The rally-goers gathered outside of Abu al-Rob’s family home, urging the human rights organizations to return the bodies of Palestinian casualties.
Abu al-Rob's uncle, Nasri, said the Israeli occupation has been refusing even to set a date for the release of their relative.
Abu al-Rob, his parents’ only son, was killed Monday by Israeli bullet fire near the Jalama checkpoint, in northeastern Jenin city, after he allegedly attempted to stab an Israeli occupation soldier.
5 nov 2015
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Riyad Mansour said that Israel is harvesting the organs of Palestinians killed during the ongoing Jerusalem Intifada.
Riyad Mansour said in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday that the bodies of the Palestinians killed by Israeli forces are “returned with missing corneas and other organs, further confirming past reports about organ harvesting by the occupying power.”
“A medical examination conducted on bodies of Palestinians returned after they were killed by the occupying power found that they were missing organs,” Mansour wrote in the letter.
The issue of organ theft by Israel was first brought to the fore in a report published by Sweden’s most highly-circulated daily Aftonbladet in 2009.
The New York Times has also reported in 2014 that “transplant brokers in Israel have pocketed enormous sums of money.” Based on the report “Israelis have played a ‘disproportionate role’ in organ trafficking since 2000.”
According to the latest figures by the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 74 Palestinians were shot and killed at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of October.
The bodies of the Palestinian victims are most often held in Israeli custody for long periods of time before they are returned to relatives.
Palestinian UN observer: Israel is harvesting terrorists' organs
Palestinian Permanent Observer to the UN Riyad Mansour submitted a formal complaint against Israel on Wednesday, alleging that it had returned terrorists' bodies with organs missing.
"A medical examination conducted on bodies of Palestinians returned after they were killed by the occupying power found that they were missing organs," Mansour claimed in the letter.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon wrote a letter in response to the UN Secretary General, stating that "the Palestinian representative's anti-Semitic face has been revealed" and that the allegation was "blood libel".
Danon urged the UN to sharply condemn "the Palestinian representative's inflammatory statements and remove anti-Semitism from the hallways of the United Nations."
Riyad Mansour said in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday that the bodies of the Palestinians killed by Israeli forces are “returned with missing corneas and other organs, further confirming past reports about organ harvesting by the occupying power.”
“A medical examination conducted on bodies of Palestinians returned after they were killed by the occupying power found that they were missing organs,” Mansour wrote in the letter.
The issue of organ theft by Israel was first brought to the fore in a report published by Sweden’s most highly-circulated daily Aftonbladet in 2009.
The New York Times has also reported in 2014 that “transplant brokers in Israel have pocketed enormous sums of money.” Based on the report “Israelis have played a ‘disproportionate role’ in organ trafficking since 2000.”
According to the latest figures by the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 74 Palestinians were shot and killed at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of October.
The bodies of the Palestinian victims are most often held in Israeli custody for long periods of time before they are returned to relatives.
Palestinian UN observer: Israel is harvesting terrorists' organs
Palestinian Permanent Observer to the UN Riyad Mansour submitted a formal complaint against Israel on Wednesday, alleging that it had returned terrorists' bodies with organs missing.
"A medical examination conducted on bodies of Palestinians returned after they were killed by the occupying power found that they were missing organs," Mansour claimed in the letter.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon wrote a letter in response to the UN Secretary General, stating that "the Palestinian representative's anti-Semitic face has been revealed" and that the allegation was "blood libel".
Danon urged the UN to sharply condemn "the Palestinian representative's inflammatory statements and remove anti-Semitism from the hallways of the United Nations."
4 nov 2015
By: Emily Mulder
Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian dead, and its impact on the living, is being questioned once again as the government continues to withhold the bodies of 22 Palestinians killed following attacks on Israelis during the month of October.
The refusal to turn over the dead to their families -- a policy that Israeli authorities supposedly halted near the end of the Second Intifada -- has provoked controversy among Israeli officials and led to mass protests in the occupied West Bank.
A total of 33 Palestinian bodies were held by Israel during October, and eleven have since been returned, according to the Palestinian National Committee for Retrieving Bodies of Martyrs.
The majority of those being held had killed or injured Israeli military and civilians in attacks, but the actual involvement of others in attacks at the time of their death has been disputed by the United Nations and Amnesty International.
Last week Hebron’s joint funeral of five Palestinians -- all under the age of 18 -- brought thousands of mourners to the streets in what the Israeli leadership termed “a nationalistic event.”
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon -- who initially approved the release last week after the bodies were deemed a “burden not an asset” -- said Sunday that the Palestinian Authority failed to uphold a deal with Israel prohibiting mass funerals for returned bodies, according to Israeli media.
Yaalon reportedly said during a security cabinet meeting that he temporarily decided to stop the turnover of Hebron’s Palestinians, and that if the PA reneged on promises to prevent mass funerals, Israel would not return the remaining bodies and bury them inside of Israel.
Neck deep in popular resentment, any potential capacity of the PA to quell the turnout at funerals would likely result in already billowing frustrations towards the body’s cooperation with Israel.
‘Making them suffer’
The bodies of Palestinians still held from October attacks include 10 from Hebron, 10 from Jerusalem -- including the bodies of four minors -- and one from al-Naqab (Negev), according to Salwa Baker Hammad, spokesperson for the Palestinian National Committee for Retrieving Bodies of Martyrs.
Salwa has watched dozens of Palestinian families over the years appeal to Israel’s high court in efforts to retrieve the remains of their relatives.
She says that despite possible political motives for the policy, the only outcome she has seen is suffering families.
“I met the father of Bayan al-Esseily, the 17-year-old girl from Hebron, before we got the body back. One week before, he was like a crazy man. He told us, ‘I want to see my daughter, I cannot sleep, I cannot eat.’ They made him suffer.”
Salwa said that withholding bodies prevents a Muslim family from adhering to religious tradition regarding burial and prayer, forcing religious transgressions of mourning relatives.
Salwa told Ma’an that she thought the main factor in Israel’s return of 11 bodies thus far was due to international pressure and pressure from local Palestinian communities that demonstrated for their return.
She also said that the young ages of the five Palestinians returned to Hebron last week likely contributed to their release, as well as the fact that two of those handed over were the bodies of Palestinian teenage girls.
“All of the families are saying that the PA could have had negotiations to get the bodies out, but that they don’t actually have any trust in the PA. They think that if they didn’t put any pressure on the PA themselves, they would not do anything at all.”
The 22 remaining families still awaiting the bodies of their loved ones, meanwhile, are at risk of joining hundreds of other Palestinian families that Israel has denied access to relatives’ remains.
Anonymous bodies
Israel has long had “cemeteries for the enemy dead,” also referred to as “cemeteries of numbers,” where Palestinians who died during attacks on Israelis are held in nameless graves marked by numbers.
Around 262 bodies are believed to be held by Israel, not including 19 bodies of Palestinians which were buried inside of Israel during and after the 2014 Gaza war and the 22 still held from October.
While bodies have been buried in the cemeteries since the 1960’s, the policy was fairly inconsistent for its first few decades in practice, according to a joint report by Hamoked and B’Tselem. [PDF]
After a suicide bombing on a Jewish settlement Netzarim in the Gaza Strip in 1994, Israel began regularly holding the bodies of Palestinian perpetrators.
The attack took place shortly after the First Intifada and would be the first of many, as Palestinian political factions launched an armed resistance against the Israeli occupation during the Second Intifada between 2000 and 2005.
At the time, Hamoked and B’Tselem reported that the main motive for the 1994 policy change was the potential it had to punish the orchestrators of attacks, when suicide bombings made it impossible to punish those who actually carried out attacks.
The government also wished to prevent funerals and the societal reverence of the “terrorist” that they instigated, a policy that critics argue has the opposite effect. The potential for using the bodies in future negotiations with Palestinian political groups was also on the table.
In 2004, the policy was reversed for reasons not stated. The state would return bodies to their families on condition of scientific identification, generally involving a DNA test paid for by the family, according to Hamoked.
Amid ongoing appeals by Hamoked and other groups for Israel to return the bodies, several cases have emerged over the years of Israel’s failure to locate bodies held.
Hamoked documented last year fundamental deficiencies of the Israeli security establishment in processing the remains of Palestinians, leading to the appointment of a special commission to the issue, which has yet to be resolved.
In an appeal, the group slammed Israel for its failure in doing the minimum to ensure proper identification of those killed, the marking of their graves, or burial in accordance with the deceased's’ religious rites, all in contravention to international law.
Policy or power play?
Israel’s withholding of bodies of Palestinians who carried out attacks in October marks the highest rate of the policy’s use since the years of the Second Intifada, head of Israeli watchdog Hamoked, Dalia Kerstein, told Ma’an.
The decision was initially pushed by Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and approved by Israeli PM Netanyahu amid other punitive measures against Palestinians frantically put in place as attacks on Israelis increased in October.
Erdan proposed that the bodies of “terrorists” not be returned to their families, and buried in cemeteries inside of Israel.
Salwa and Kerstein both questioned the potential use of the bodies in future Israeli negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
As recently as last summer, Israel attempted to negotiate the release of Palestinian bodies as well as several Hamas affiliates detained from the Gaza Strip in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers held by Hamas.
The soldiers, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, are still in Hamas custody and their families have protested that the Israeli government halt all returns of Palestinian bodies to their families until Hamas turns over their sons.
Also in Israel’s national interest, Salwa and Kerstein noted that the prevention of Palestinian access to bodies has in the past enabled the state to cover over potential cases of wrongdoing by Israeli forces that lead to the individual’s death.
As October marked an increased number of individual Palestinian attacks on Israeli military and civilians, the old trend of withholding bodies that Israel practiced during the Second Intifada is being replicated, Kerstein said.
“It’s the same policy….I wouldn’t say it’s a policy, it’s a game. In policy you would think that someone is really thinking, researching, coming up with a conclusion, but now they are playing a game,” Kerstein told Ma’an.
For the Palestinian families both of those killed and held by Israel in October and the hundreds of bodies held before them, such a game is postponing the acceptance of the death of their loved ones.
In a society accustomed to ongoing arbitrary detention through a legal system that rights groups say is ineffective in carrying out due process for Palestinians, families often reject that their relative has actually been killed -- instead of being held in Israeli jails -- until they see the body.
The withholding of bodies by Israel, meanwhile, amounts to collective punishment for family members who have not committed crimes, Hamoked said.
Asked about political leverage the Palestinian Authority might utilize to enable the return of the bodies, Kerstein said that bodies are generally released by Israel as a gesture largely to “quiet down the Palestinian Authority or the people.”
“Requests from the Palestinian side is of assistance, but if Israel doesn’t want to, then no way. They want to say ‘we are the strong ones and we want everyone to understand that we are the strong ones.’ It’s a game of power.”
Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian dead, and its impact on the living, is being questioned once again as the government continues to withhold the bodies of 22 Palestinians killed following attacks on Israelis during the month of October.
The refusal to turn over the dead to their families -- a policy that Israeli authorities supposedly halted near the end of the Second Intifada -- has provoked controversy among Israeli officials and led to mass protests in the occupied West Bank.
A total of 33 Palestinian bodies were held by Israel during October, and eleven have since been returned, according to the Palestinian National Committee for Retrieving Bodies of Martyrs.
The majority of those being held had killed or injured Israeli military and civilians in attacks, but the actual involvement of others in attacks at the time of their death has been disputed by the United Nations and Amnesty International.
Last week Hebron’s joint funeral of five Palestinians -- all under the age of 18 -- brought thousands of mourners to the streets in what the Israeli leadership termed “a nationalistic event.”
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon -- who initially approved the release last week after the bodies were deemed a “burden not an asset” -- said Sunday that the Palestinian Authority failed to uphold a deal with Israel prohibiting mass funerals for returned bodies, according to Israeli media.
Yaalon reportedly said during a security cabinet meeting that he temporarily decided to stop the turnover of Hebron’s Palestinians, and that if the PA reneged on promises to prevent mass funerals, Israel would not return the remaining bodies and bury them inside of Israel.
Neck deep in popular resentment, any potential capacity of the PA to quell the turnout at funerals would likely result in already billowing frustrations towards the body’s cooperation with Israel.
‘Making them suffer’
The bodies of Palestinians still held from October attacks include 10 from Hebron, 10 from Jerusalem -- including the bodies of four minors -- and one from al-Naqab (Negev), according to Salwa Baker Hammad, spokesperson for the Palestinian National Committee for Retrieving Bodies of Martyrs.
Salwa has watched dozens of Palestinian families over the years appeal to Israel’s high court in efforts to retrieve the remains of their relatives.
She says that despite possible political motives for the policy, the only outcome she has seen is suffering families.
“I met the father of Bayan al-Esseily, the 17-year-old girl from Hebron, before we got the body back. One week before, he was like a crazy man. He told us, ‘I want to see my daughter, I cannot sleep, I cannot eat.’ They made him suffer.”
Salwa said that withholding bodies prevents a Muslim family from adhering to religious tradition regarding burial and prayer, forcing religious transgressions of mourning relatives.
Salwa told Ma’an that she thought the main factor in Israel’s return of 11 bodies thus far was due to international pressure and pressure from local Palestinian communities that demonstrated for their return.
She also said that the young ages of the five Palestinians returned to Hebron last week likely contributed to their release, as well as the fact that two of those handed over were the bodies of Palestinian teenage girls.
“All of the families are saying that the PA could have had negotiations to get the bodies out, but that they don’t actually have any trust in the PA. They think that if they didn’t put any pressure on the PA themselves, they would not do anything at all.”
The 22 remaining families still awaiting the bodies of their loved ones, meanwhile, are at risk of joining hundreds of other Palestinian families that Israel has denied access to relatives’ remains.
Anonymous bodies
Israel has long had “cemeteries for the enemy dead,” also referred to as “cemeteries of numbers,” where Palestinians who died during attacks on Israelis are held in nameless graves marked by numbers.
Around 262 bodies are believed to be held by Israel, not including 19 bodies of Palestinians which were buried inside of Israel during and after the 2014 Gaza war and the 22 still held from October.
While bodies have been buried in the cemeteries since the 1960’s, the policy was fairly inconsistent for its first few decades in practice, according to a joint report by Hamoked and B’Tselem. [PDF]
After a suicide bombing on a Jewish settlement Netzarim in the Gaza Strip in 1994, Israel began regularly holding the bodies of Palestinian perpetrators.
The attack took place shortly after the First Intifada and would be the first of many, as Palestinian political factions launched an armed resistance against the Israeli occupation during the Second Intifada between 2000 and 2005.
At the time, Hamoked and B’Tselem reported that the main motive for the 1994 policy change was the potential it had to punish the orchestrators of attacks, when suicide bombings made it impossible to punish those who actually carried out attacks.
The government also wished to prevent funerals and the societal reverence of the “terrorist” that they instigated, a policy that critics argue has the opposite effect. The potential for using the bodies in future negotiations with Palestinian political groups was also on the table.
In 2004, the policy was reversed for reasons not stated. The state would return bodies to their families on condition of scientific identification, generally involving a DNA test paid for by the family, according to Hamoked.
Amid ongoing appeals by Hamoked and other groups for Israel to return the bodies, several cases have emerged over the years of Israel’s failure to locate bodies held.
Hamoked documented last year fundamental deficiencies of the Israeli security establishment in processing the remains of Palestinians, leading to the appointment of a special commission to the issue, which has yet to be resolved.
In an appeal, the group slammed Israel for its failure in doing the minimum to ensure proper identification of those killed, the marking of their graves, or burial in accordance with the deceased's’ religious rites, all in contravention to international law.
Policy or power play?
Israel’s withholding of bodies of Palestinians who carried out attacks in October marks the highest rate of the policy’s use since the years of the Second Intifada, head of Israeli watchdog Hamoked, Dalia Kerstein, told Ma’an.
The decision was initially pushed by Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and approved by Israeli PM Netanyahu amid other punitive measures against Palestinians frantically put in place as attacks on Israelis increased in October.
Erdan proposed that the bodies of “terrorists” not be returned to their families, and buried in cemeteries inside of Israel.
Salwa and Kerstein both questioned the potential use of the bodies in future Israeli negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
As recently as last summer, Israel attempted to negotiate the release of Palestinian bodies as well as several Hamas affiliates detained from the Gaza Strip in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers held by Hamas.
The soldiers, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, are still in Hamas custody and their families have protested that the Israeli government halt all returns of Palestinian bodies to their families until Hamas turns over their sons.
Also in Israel’s national interest, Salwa and Kerstein noted that the prevention of Palestinian access to bodies has in the past enabled the state to cover over potential cases of wrongdoing by Israeli forces that lead to the individual’s death.
As October marked an increased number of individual Palestinian attacks on Israeli military and civilians, the old trend of withholding bodies that Israel practiced during the Second Intifada is being replicated, Kerstein said.
“It’s the same policy….I wouldn’t say it’s a policy, it’s a game. In policy you would think that someone is really thinking, researching, coming up with a conclusion, but now they are playing a game,” Kerstein told Ma’an.
For the Palestinian families both of those killed and held by Israel in October and the hundreds of bodies held before them, such a game is postponing the acceptance of the death of their loved ones.
In a society accustomed to ongoing arbitrary detention through a legal system that rights groups say is ineffective in carrying out due process for Palestinians, families often reject that their relative has actually been killed -- instead of being held in Israeli jails -- until they see the body.
The withholding of bodies by Israel, meanwhile, amounts to collective punishment for family members who have not committed crimes, Hamoked said.
Asked about political leverage the Palestinian Authority might utilize to enable the return of the bodies, Kerstein said that bodies are generally released by Israel as a gesture largely to “quiet down the Palestinian Authority or the people.”
“Requests from the Palestinian side is of assistance, but if Israel doesn’t want to, then no way. They want to say ‘we are the strong ones and we want everyone to understand that we are the strong ones.’ It’s a game of power.”
3 nov 2015
The council of Palestinian human rights organizations charged Israeli Occupation Authority (IOA) of deliberate detention of the bodies of Palestinian martyrs who have been killed by Israeli soldiers since October the first to conceal its crimes.
In a statement on Tuesday, the council revealed that Israeli forces are still detaining 23 bodies of martyrs including four bodies of minors and two girls.
The council called on the international organizations to intervene in order to release martyrs’ bodies.
The council called for a Palestinian and international supervision on the dissection of all of the victims' bodies in order to examine the real causes of their death, the types of weapons used in killing, and the distances from which bullets were fired.
The council which includes a coalition of 12 Palestinian human rights organizations underlined that detaining the bodies of Palestinian martyrs aims at concealing the Israeli crimes and comes within the Israeli policy of collective punishment against Palestinians.
In a statement on Tuesday, the council revealed that Israeli forces are still detaining 23 bodies of martyrs including four bodies of minors and two girls.
The council called on the international organizations to intervene in order to release martyrs’ bodies.
The council called for a Palestinian and international supervision on the dissection of all of the victims' bodies in order to examine the real causes of their death, the types of weapons used in killing, and the distances from which bullets were fired.
The council which includes a coalition of 12 Palestinian human rights organizations underlined that detaining the bodies of Palestinian martyrs aims at concealing the Israeli crimes and comes within the Israeli policy of collective punishment against Palestinians.
2 nov 2015
Mourners carry the body of Amr al-Faqih during his funeral in Qatna village, west of Jerusalem, on 2 November, one day after his body was released by Israel. The youth was shot dead at an Israeli checkpoint on 17 October.
For the last 36 years, Raoufa Khattab has refused to believe that her son Abd al-Rahman is dead until she sees his remains with her own eyes.
“They haven’t returned his body to us, so perhaps he’s alive, perhaps he’s in jail,” she keeps telling Ahmad, another son.
Ahmad was only 13 when his brother Abd al-Rahman was killed in April 1979 during an armed confrontation with Israeli forces near Bisan, a town located in the north of present-day Israel.
Abd al-Rahman led a small group of resistance fighters who tried to carry out an attack against an Israeli military post in the area.
After his killing, his body was transferred to one of Israel’s “cemeteries of numbers,” where Palestinian combatants are buried in secret and are identified only by numbers etched on metal plates. Israel has designated these cemeteries as closed military zones.
With every prisoner exchange between Israel and Palestinian resistance groups, Abd al-Rahman’s mother would wait for him to be released as if she was waiting for a living man to get out of jail.
“Through all those years, she has never forgotten him,” Ahmad told The Electronic Intifada. “And now that she has gotten older and her health has significantly deteriorated, the very mention of him aggravates her suffering.”
When television stations came to interview Raoufa in the occupied West Bank village of Bilin in 2014, she suffered a mental breakdown and had to remain in bed for two weeks.
“Honor his memory”
If Israel’s aim of burying Palestinian fighters in cemeteries of numbers was to drive their legacy into oblivion, it has largely failed.
Wassim al-Abed only knew his uncle Abd al-Fattah Rimawi from photographs. He was not yet born when his uncle was believed to have been killed in 1969. Rimawi, better known by his nom du guerre Abu Marmar, was a commander of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Assifa Brigades.
A refugee living in Jordan, he was among the first Palestinian paratroopers and secretly returned to Palestine several times to carry out resistance operations. He is believed to be buried in the cemetery of numbers but his family has not been able to confirm that — or whether he is alive or dead.
Abu Marmar’s mother and most of his siblings have died; al-Abed, 37, has taken on the responsibility of finding and burying his uncle’s body.
“Returning his body and burying it in a known place in his hometown of Beit Rima is the least we could do to honor his memory,” al-Abed told The Electronic Intifada, referring to a village north of the West Bank city of Ramallah.
“He has sacrificed greatly for the Palestinian revolution and he deserves to be buried in dignity. Even if there is very little left of his remains, returning his body carries a massive symbolic weight,” al-Abed added.
While martyrs like Abu Marmar have never been forgotten by their families, it is only in recent years that the issue of missing bodies and bodies buried in the cemeteries of numbers been revived.
In August 2008, the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center launched a national campaign to return the bodies in cooperation with martyrs’ families. The campaign sought to reclaim the bodies of martyrs both through legal channels and public and international pressure.
Painful
No less important, however, was that the campaign shed light on some of the most notorious crimes of the Israeli occupation.
“Since its establishment, the campaign has published two books that include the names, stories and details of the martyrs whose bodies are still detained by Israel in addition to information about the cemeteries of numbers,” Salwa Hammad, a spokesperson for the center, told The Electronic Intifada.
She explained that the campaign holds a national day of action to demand the return of martyrs’ bodies. It also organizes workshops for families and encourages them to tell their stories.
According to the center’s data, the number of martyrs who are buried in the cemeteries of numbers had reached 268 by September this year, in addition to 19 who were killed in the 2014 attack on Gaza.
“The issue of the detained bodies from Gaza is particularly painful because not only did the Israeli army commit an atrocious massacre there, killing more than 2,000 people, but it also kidnapped bodies and [has] never returned them to be buried in Gaza,” Hammad said.
Israel has recently stated that the bodies of Palestinians accused of attacks against Israelis will not be returned to their families.
Israel is still refusing to hand over the bodies of at least 20 Palestinians killed between 8 October and 29 October. They include 10 from the Jerusalem area and 10 from Hebron.
Hebron has — so far — witnessed the largest protest to demand the return of martyrs’ bodies.
Thousands took to the streets there last week to demand that Israel hand over the bodies of slain Palestinians.
“Israel’s detention of the bodies is not just a form of collective punishment for the families, it’s also an attempt to conceal evidence of the summary execution that it carries out against those youth, preventing Palestinians from conducting autopsies,” Amin al-Bayed, the Hebron coordinator for the campaign to return martyrs’ bodies, told The Electronic Intifada.
Following the protest in Hebron, Israel agreed to release some of the bodies.
Two bodies of people from the Hebron area were returned to their families on Sunday morning.
Israel refused to hand over five other bodies after families rejected a condition that they be buried at midnight, according to sources in Hebron.
“Bring Bayan home”
Five other bodies were received in Hebron on Friday evening.
The remains belonged to five Palestinian teenagers, including that of Bayan al-Esseili, a teenaged schoolgirl executed by Israeli forces on 17 October.
Ayman al-Esseili spoke to The Electronic Intifada a day before receiving his daughter’s body.
“Words fail to express my pain. My beloved daughter, the closest person in the world to me, was taken from me without being able to see her corpse, touch her clothes or kiss her,” Ayman said.
“Ever since her killing, her mother has been demanding of me to bring Bayan back home, somehow thinking that Bayan might still be alive but the army is detaining her,” he said.
For the last 36 years, Raoufa Khattab has refused to believe that her son Abd al-Rahman is dead until she sees his remains with her own eyes.
“They haven’t returned his body to us, so perhaps he’s alive, perhaps he’s in jail,” she keeps telling Ahmad, another son.
Ahmad was only 13 when his brother Abd al-Rahman was killed in April 1979 during an armed confrontation with Israeli forces near Bisan, a town located in the north of present-day Israel.
Abd al-Rahman led a small group of resistance fighters who tried to carry out an attack against an Israeli military post in the area.
After his killing, his body was transferred to one of Israel’s “cemeteries of numbers,” where Palestinian combatants are buried in secret and are identified only by numbers etched on metal plates. Israel has designated these cemeteries as closed military zones.
With every prisoner exchange between Israel and Palestinian resistance groups, Abd al-Rahman’s mother would wait for him to be released as if she was waiting for a living man to get out of jail.
“Through all those years, she has never forgotten him,” Ahmad told The Electronic Intifada. “And now that she has gotten older and her health has significantly deteriorated, the very mention of him aggravates her suffering.”
When television stations came to interview Raoufa in the occupied West Bank village of Bilin in 2014, she suffered a mental breakdown and had to remain in bed for two weeks.
“Honor his memory”
If Israel’s aim of burying Palestinian fighters in cemeteries of numbers was to drive their legacy into oblivion, it has largely failed.
Wassim al-Abed only knew his uncle Abd al-Fattah Rimawi from photographs. He was not yet born when his uncle was believed to have been killed in 1969. Rimawi, better known by his nom du guerre Abu Marmar, was a commander of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Assifa Brigades.
A refugee living in Jordan, he was among the first Palestinian paratroopers and secretly returned to Palestine several times to carry out resistance operations. He is believed to be buried in the cemetery of numbers but his family has not been able to confirm that — or whether he is alive or dead.
Abu Marmar’s mother and most of his siblings have died; al-Abed, 37, has taken on the responsibility of finding and burying his uncle’s body.
“Returning his body and burying it in a known place in his hometown of Beit Rima is the least we could do to honor his memory,” al-Abed told The Electronic Intifada, referring to a village north of the West Bank city of Ramallah.
“He has sacrificed greatly for the Palestinian revolution and he deserves to be buried in dignity. Even if there is very little left of his remains, returning his body carries a massive symbolic weight,” al-Abed added.
While martyrs like Abu Marmar have never been forgotten by their families, it is only in recent years that the issue of missing bodies and bodies buried in the cemeteries of numbers been revived.
In August 2008, the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center launched a national campaign to return the bodies in cooperation with martyrs’ families. The campaign sought to reclaim the bodies of martyrs both through legal channels and public and international pressure.
Painful
No less important, however, was that the campaign shed light on some of the most notorious crimes of the Israeli occupation.
“Since its establishment, the campaign has published two books that include the names, stories and details of the martyrs whose bodies are still detained by Israel in addition to information about the cemeteries of numbers,” Salwa Hammad, a spokesperson for the center, told The Electronic Intifada.
She explained that the campaign holds a national day of action to demand the return of martyrs’ bodies. It also organizes workshops for families and encourages them to tell their stories.
According to the center’s data, the number of martyrs who are buried in the cemeteries of numbers had reached 268 by September this year, in addition to 19 who were killed in the 2014 attack on Gaza.
“The issue of the detained bodies from Gaza is particularly painful because not only did the Israeli army commit an atrocious massacre there, killing more than 2,000 people, but it also kidnapped bodies and [has] never returned them to be buried in Gaza,” Hammad said.
Israel has recently stated that the bodies of Palestinians accused of attacks against Israelis will not be returned to their families.
Israel is still refusing to hand over the bodies of at least 20 Palestinians killed between 8 October and 29 October. They include 10 from the Jerusalem area and 10 from Hebron.
Hebron has — so far — witnessed the largest protest to demand the return of martyrs’ bodies.
Thousands took to the streets there last week to demand that Israel hand over the bodies of slain Palestinians.
“Israel’s detention of the bodies is not just a form of collective punishment for the families, it’s also an attempt to conceal evidence of the summary execution that it carries out against those youth, preventing Palestinians from conducting autopsies,” Amin al-Bayed, the Hebron coordinator for the campaign to return martyrs’ bodies, told The Electronic Intifada.
Following the protest in Hebron, Israel agreed to release some of the bodies.
Two bodies of people from the Hebron area were returned to their families on Sunday morning.
Israel refused to hand over five other bodies after families rejected a condition that they be buried at midnight, according to sources in Hebron.
“Bring Bayan home”
Five other bodies were received in Hebron on Friday evening.
The remains belonged to five Palestinian teenagers, including that of Bayan al-Esseili, a teenaged schoolgirl executed by Israeli forces on 17 October.
Ayman al-Esseili spoke to The Electronic Intifada a day before receiving his daughter’s body.
“Words fail to express my pain. My beloved daughter, the closest person in the world to me, was taken from me without being able to see her corpse, touch her clothes or kiss her,” Ayman said.
“Ever since her killing, her mother has been demanding of me to bring Bayan back home, somehow thinking that Bayan might still be alive but the army is detaining her,” he said.
Palestinians carry the bodies of five teenagers killed by Israeli forces during their funeral procession in Hebron on 31 October after Israel released the children’s bodies.
“Her three-year-old brother, whom Bayan used to look after and play with, asks me all the time about her,” Ayman added. “When I tell him that Bayan has gone to heaven, he tells me that he, too, wants to go to heaven to see her again. He is convinced that Bayan is at her grandparents’ place and might be upset with him and so has not returned yet.”
Bayan was a bright pupil who had hoped to study political science and economics at university.
“She was the one who made me my morning coffee every day,” Ayman said. “She did have a great impact on Palestinian society — but it was not what we thought it would be. But I’m definitely proud of her.”
“There is nothing harder than seeing pictures of your daughter’s blood-soaked and bullet-ridden corpse on the mobile phones of soldiers,” he said.
Ayman was detained after his daughter’s slaying; he said he was beaten and interrogated. When he demanded to see Bayan’s corpse, soldiers instead showed him a picture of her body after she had been killed.
Forced to wait
Perhaps no one understands Bayan’s father better than Muhammad al-Akhras. He was forced to wait for nearly 12 years before the remains of his daughter were returned to him.
On the first day of every Eid, the annual Muslim festivals, the cemetery of martyrs in Dheisheh refugee camp near the West Bank city of Bethlehem is crowded with families visiting the graves of their loved ones.
Al-Akhras, however, could only dream of visiting his daughter’s grave so that he could lay a wreath and shed the tears that he had tried so resolutely to hold back.
His daughter Ayat, 17, blew herself up in a market in Jerusalem in March 2002, killing a girl her same age and a security guard.
During that time, at the height of the second intifada, Dheisheh had been subjected to daily raids and attacks by Israeli forces.
“When I finally received her remains in February 2014, it was like saying that suspended goodbye that we did not have the chance to utter,” Muhammad told The Electronic Intifada.
“Her three-year-old brother, whom Bayan used to look after and play with, asks me all the time about her,” Ayman added. “When I tell him that Bayan has gone to heaven, he tells me that he, too, wants to go to heaven to see her again. He is convinced that Bayan is at her grandparents’ place and might be upset with him and so has not returned yet.”
Bayan was a bright pupil who had hoped to study political science and economics at university.
“She was the one who made me my morning coffee every day,” Ayman said. “She did have a great impact on Palestinian society — but it was not what we thought it would be. But I’m definitely proud of her.”
“There is nothing harder than seeing pictures of your daughter’s blood-soaked and bullet-ridden corpse on the mobile phones of soldiers,” he said.
Ayman was detained after his daughter’s slaying; he said he was beaten and interrogated. When he demanded to see Bayan’s corpse, soldiers instead showed him a picture of her body after she had been killed.
Forced to wait
Perhaps no one understands Bayan’s father better than Muhammad al-Akhras. He was forced to wait for nearly 12 years before the remains of his daughter were returned to him.
On the first day of every Eid, the annual Muslim festivals, the cemetery of martyrs in Dheisheh refugee camp near the West Bank city of Bethlehem is crowded with families visiting the graves of their loved ones.
Al-Akhras, however, could only dream of visiting his daughter’s grave so that he could lay a wreath and shed the tears that he had tried so resolutely to hold back.
His daughter Ayat, 17, blew herself up in a market in Jerusalem in March 2002, killing a girl her same age and a security guard.
During that time, at the height of the second intifada, Dheisheh had been subjected to daily raids and attacks by Israeli forces.
“When I finally received her remains in February 2014, it was like saying that suspended goodbye that we did not have the chance to utter,” Muhammad told The Electronic Intifada.
A coffin carrying the remains of Ayat al-Akhras is carried during her funeral in Deheisheh refugee camp in February 2014 along with the remains of Daoud Abu Swai, who exploded himself in a separate attack in Jerusalem more than a decade earlier.
Thousands attended Ayat’s funeral procession in February 2014, Muhammad said. He added that since she was supposed to get married just after graduating high school, her funeral was like a wedding party.
Even though al-Akhras managed to reclaim his daughter’s remains, he is still strongly committed to the cause of returning all martyrs’ bodies. He has memorized the names of those in the cemeteries of numbers.
He reads all the available information and regularly visits the workshops that the campaign organizes. The 67-year-old can no longer walk and uses a wheelchair, but his physical disability hasn’t diminished his dedication to the cause.
“I wish I could go to Hebron and march with the families of martyrs to demand the bodies of their martyrs,” he said. “It was my indomitable faith that allowed me to handle Ayat’s loss and I hope that all of them keep this faith and get to bury their children.”
Collective punishment
Detaining the bodies of Palestinian martyrs and later burying them in secret cemeteries is designed to achieve multiple purposes.
The policy imposes an additional punishment on the dead and collective punishment on their families.
Martyrs’ bodies have also been used as potential bargaining chips in prisoner exchange deals.
The policy also has more existential implications.
But by withholding the bodies, Israel is targeting the collective Palestinian memory and dehumanizing those living under its colonial rule who dare to challenge its occupation.
In her book, Security Theology, Surveillance and the Politics of Fear, the Palestinian scholar Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian argues that “the occupying colonial power does not only control and expropriate the living, but also the dead and sites of Palestinian burial.”
“Israel is still reading and writing the power of the dead as a security threat,” she adds.
Every martyr’s funeral is likely to turn into a mass protest — and Israel is fully aware of that.
In Jerusalem, Israel decides when Palestinians can obtain the bodies of their dead, where they can bury them and the number of people allowed at the funerals. Israel has even ordered families to hand over money to collect the bodies of their loved ones.
Fadi Alloun, 19, was shot and killed by Israeli police near Jerusalem’s Old City on 4 October.
His family was forced to bury him on 12 October in his Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiyeh rather than in a family plot closer to the Old City. Alloun’s body was only handed over to the family before dawn on the day of the funeral — after more than a week of delay.
Defiance
Israel uses such tactics to try and break Palestinians’ spirits, but they have the opposite effect. Instead of crushing people, Israel’s policies of punishment and control increase social cohesion, communal solidarity and defiance.
Qassim Badran from Kufr Aqab, near Jerusalem, grieved the death of his 16-year-old son Ishaq, who was killed by Israeli forces in the Old City earlier this month after an alleged stabbing attempt. Following his son’s killing, Badran was threatened with home demolition and the revocation of his Jerusalem residency as his village is located behind the massive wall Israel is building in the West Bank. His son’s body has not yet been returned to him.
“I have also been subjected to an economic war — my bank account was frozen due to an old tax issue that dates back 12 years and Israeli authorities [have] issued a travel ban against me,” he told The Electronic Intifada.
“It was my son’s own decision to respond to Israel’s ongoing crimes and his decision alone, but I will never disown him or blame him for what he did,” Badran added.
Like all other parents from Jerusalem, Badran reiterated that he will never agree to receive the body of his child unless all Jerusalem families are able to reclaim the bodies of their children.
“We are completely unified,” he explained. “I will treat the son of Jabal al-Mukabir [a neighborhood in East Jerusalem] as if he were my own.”
So far, families awaiting the return of loved ones’ bodies have decided against submitting a petition to the Israeli high court. The families fear that the court will reject their case.
And they do not have much trust in Israel’s judicial system.
An Israeli public prosecutor last week rejected a request submitted by a number of families, according to Rami Saleh, head of the Jerusalem-based branch of the legal aid center.
During a press conference in Ramallah last week, martyrs’ families stated that they will not allow Israel to exploit their need to reclaim the bodies as a means of breaking their spirits.
Lawyer Muhammad Alayan, father of Bahaa Alayan, shot dead by Israeli police last month, vowed to keep on campaigning.
“Every inch of this soil is Palestinian,” Muhammad said. “And wherever my son will be buried, I know that he will be on Palestinian land.”
Budour Youssef Hassan is a Palestinian writer and law graduate based in occupied Jerusalem. Blog: budourhassan.wordpress.com. Twitter: @Budour48
Thousands attended Ayat’s funeral procession in February 2014, Muhammad said. He added that since she was supposed to get married just after graduating high school, her funeral was like a wedding party.
Even though al-Akhras managed to reclaim his daughter’s remains, he is still strongly committed to the cause of returning all martyrs’ bodies. He has memorized the names of those in the cemeteries of numbers.
He reads all the available information and regularly visits the workshops that the campaign organizes. The 67-year-old can no longer walk and uses a wheelchair, but his physical disability hasn’t diminished his dedication to the cause.
“I wish I could go to Hebron and march with the families of martyrs to demand the bodies of their martyrs,” he said. “It was my indomitable faith that allowed me to handle Ayat’s loss and I hope that all of them keep this faith and get to bury their children.”
Collective punishment
Detaining the bodies of Palestinian martyrs and later burying them in secret cemeteries is designed to achieve multiple purposes.
The policy imposes an additional punishment on the dead and collective punishment on their families.
Martyrs’ bodies have also been used as potential bargaining chips in prisoner exchange deals.
The policy also has more existential implications.
But by withholding the bodies, Israel is targeting the collective Palestinian memory and dehumanizing those living under its colonial rule who dare to challenge its occupation.
In her book, Security Theology, Surveillance and the Politics of Fear, the Palestinian scholar Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian argues that “the occupying colonial power does not only control and expropriate the living, but also the dead and sites of Palestinian burial.”
“Israel is still reading and writing the power of the dead as a security threat,” she adds.
Every martyr’s funeral is likely to turn into a mass protest — and Israel is fully aware of that.
In Jerusalem, Israel decides when Palestinians can obtain the bodies of their dead, where they can bury them and the number of people allowed at the funerals. Israel has even ordered families to hand over money to collect the bodies of their loved ones.
Fadi Alloun, 19, was shot and killed by Israeli police near Jerusalem’s Old City on 4 October.
His family was forced to bury him on 12 October in his Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiyeh rather than in a family plot closer to the Old City. Alloun’s body was only handed over to the family before dawn on the day of the funeral — after more than a week of delay.
Defiance
Israel uses such tactics to try and break Palestinians’ spirits, but they have the opposite effect. Instead of crushing people, Israel’s policies of punishment and control increase social cohesion, communal solidarity and defiance.
Qassim Badran from Kufr Aqab, near Jerusalem, grieved the death of his 16-year-old son Ishaq, who was killed by Israeli forces in the Old City earlier this month after an alleged stabbing attempt. Following his son’s killing, Badran was threatened with home demolition and the revocation of his Jerusalem residency as his village is located behind the massive wall Israel is building in the West Bank. His son’s body has not yet been returned to him.
“I have also been subjected to an economic war — my bank account was frozen due to an old tax issue that dates back 12 years and Israeli authorities [have] issued a travel ban against me,” he told The Electronic Intifada.
“It was my son’s own decision to respond to Israel’s ongoing crimes and his decision alone, but I will never disown him or blame him for what he did,” Badran added.
Like all other parents from Jerusalem, Badran reiterated that he will never agree to receive the body of his child unless all Jerusalem families are able to reclaim the bodies of their children.
“We are completely unified,” he explained. “I will treat the son of Jabal al-Mukabir [a neighborhood in East Jerusalem] as if he were my own.”
So far, families awaiting the return of loved ones’ bodies have decided against submitting a petition to the Israeli high court. The families fear that the court will reject their case.
And they do not have much trust in Israel’s judicial system.
An Israeli public prosecutor last week rejected a request submitted by a number of families, according to Rami Saleh, head of the Jerusalem-based branch of the legal aid center.
During a press conference in Ramallah last week, martyrs’ families stated that they will not allow Israel to exploit their need to reclaim the bodies as a means of breaking their spirits.
Lawyer Muhammad Alayan, father of Bahaa Alayan, shot dead by Israeli police last month, vowed to keep on campaigning.
“Every inch of this soil is Palestinian,” Muhammad said. “And wherever my son will be buried, I know that he will be on Palestinian land.”
Budour Youssef Hassan is a Palestinian writer and law graduate based in occupied Jerusalem. Blog: budourhassan.wordpress.com. Twitter: @Budour48
1 nov 2015
The Israeli occupation police on Sunday evening released the bodies of two Palestinian martyrs, from Qatanna village northwest of Occupied Jerusalem, at al-Jeep military checkpoint.
Local sources said that the martyrs are 23-year-old Mohamed Shamasneh, who was shot dead by Israeli policemen on October 12 in Jerusalem, and 25-year-old Omar al-Faqih, who was also killed at Qalandiya military checkpoint five days later.
They added that the families of Shamasneh and Faqih received their bodies at al-Jeep military checkpoint after stalling for over three hours.
The bodies of the young men were then transferred aboard ambulances to Palestine medical center in Ramallah city before they would be taken on Monday afternoon to their native town for burial ceremonies.
Local sources said that the martyrs are 23-year-old Mohamed Shamasneh, who was shot dead by Israeli policemen on October 12 in Jerusalem, and 25-year-old Omar al-Faqih, who was also killed at Qalandiya military checkpoint five days later.
They added that the families of Shamasneh and Faqih received their bodies at al-Jeep military checkpoint after stalling for over three hours.
The bodies of the young men were then transferred aboard ambulances to Palestine medical center in Ramallah city before they would be taken on Monday afternoon to their native town for burial ceremonies.
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) overnight Saturday returned the bodies of two Palestinians slain in the southern West Bank and reneged on the release of seven others.
A PIC news reporter said the Israeli Liaison handed the bodies of Mahmoud Khaled Ghneimat and Raed Saket Jaradat, both shot dead by the Israeli soldiers respectively on October 22 and 27.
The casualty’s families reiterated their firm rebuff of Israel’s directives on the way, time, and place their children should be buried, saying the funeral will be held in a typically Islamic and Palestinian manner.
Coordinator for the national campaign to retrieve the bodies of slain Palestinians, Amine al-Bayed, said in press a statement the occupation authorities went back on promises to release seven more Palestinian bodies.
Observers said the IOA has often withheld the bodies of Palestinians slaughtered by the occupation soldiers in a move that is not so much dissimilar to the slow-death policies perpetrated by the world’s hegemonic forces.
10 Palestinian youngsters were, meanwhile, kidnapped by the Israeli occupation troops from Sai’r town after they had been subjected to heavy beating.
A PIC news reporter said the Israeli Liaison handed the bodies of Mahmoud Khaled Ghneimat and Raed Saket Jaradat, both shot dead by the Israeli soldiers respectively on October 22 and 27.
The casualty’s families reiterated their firm rebuff of Israel’s directives on the way, time, and place their children should be buried, saying the funeral will be held in a typically Islamic and Palestinian manner.
Coordinator for the national campaign to retrieve the bodies of slain Palestinians, Amine al-Bayed, said in press a statement the occupation authorities went back on promises to release seven more Palestinian bodies.
Observers said the IOA has often withheld the bodies of Palestinians slaughtered by the occupation soldiers in a move that is not so much dissimilar to the slow-death policies perpetrated by the world’s hegemonic forces.
10 Palestinian youngsters were, meanwhile, kidnapped by the Israeli occupation troops from Sai’r town after they had been subjected to heavy beating.
30 oct 2015
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Bayan al-Esseily 17, shot dead after alleged attack in Hebron on Oct. 17, 2015.
Israeli authorities have decided to deliver the bodies of five Palestinians killed in Hebron, the governor of the district told Ma'an on Friday. Governor Kamel Hmeid said that the bodies of Bayan al-Esseily, 17, Dania Irsheid, 17, Hussam al-Jaabari, 17, Bashar al-Jaabari, 15, and Tareq al-Natsheh, 16, would be delivered by Israeli authorities. |
Dania Irsheid 17
The location of the transfer has still not been determined, Hmeid added, noting that Israeli authorities said they require "calm" in Hebron before they return the bodies.
All of the Palestinian teenagers were shot dead by military checkpoints in the center of Hebron after alleged knife attacks.
Hebron has seen a particularly high death toll in recent weeks with at least 13 Palestinians shot dead since late September -- in every case after an alleged stabbing attempt -- and one Palestinian activist dying from excessive tear gas inhalation.
At least 65 Palestinians have been killed this month.
The location of the transfer has still not been determined, Hmeid added, noting that Israeli authorities said they require "calm" in Hebron before they return the bodies.
All of the Palestinian teenagers were shot dead by military checkpoints in the center of Hebron after alleged knife attacks.
Hebron has seen a particularly high death toll in recent weeks with at least 13 Palestinians shot dead since late September -- in every case after an alleged stabbing attempt -- and one Palestinian activist dying from excessive tear gas inhalation.
At least 65 Palestinians have been killed this month.
29 oct 2015
Israeli officials cover the body of an alleged Palestinian attacker in Jerusalem on 17 October 2015
Israel is withholding the bodies of at least 28 Palestinians who have been killed since the beginning of October.
The 28 bodies are held at the Abu Kabir Forensic institute in Tel Aviv, infamously known as the place where an Israeli doctor harvested organs and body parts from Palestinian bodies without seeking permission from their families.
Earlier this month, the Knesset agreed to the proposal put forth by the Israeli internal security minister Gilad Erdan to not hand over the bodies of Palestinians who were allegedly involved in stabbing attacks to their families.
“The terrorist’s family turns the funeral into a demonstration of support for terrorism and incitement to the murder,” said Erdan.
The Knesset is also studying Erdan’s suggestion to bury those Palestinians in the notorious cemeteries of numbers.
Secret cemeteries
These cemeteries are secret locations where Israel buries Palestinians who were involved in armed combat against Israelis. Their graves are marked with small metal plates, each carrying a number, hence the name.
The bodies are also kept as bargaining chips in future prisoner exchanges.
The number of these cemeteries is not officially disclosed by Israel, or their whereabouts. Two of the cemeteries’ locations have been found out to be the Amiad Cemetery close to Safed in the north of the country, and Jisr Adam Cemetery in the Jordan Valley.
In 2013 and 2014, Israel released bodies as a sign of goodwill once the negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority resumed.
This led to the speculation, as reported last year, that there were as many as five number cemeteries.
In many cases, the conditions that the buried bodies are in- such as poorly installed metal plates that become dislodged in heavy storms- lead to the loss of the only remaining means of identification and other crucial information such as the date they died.
Over 200 bodies not returned to their families
It is estimated that Israel is withholding 268 bodies, including this month’s count, in total, stretching back to decades. The bodies include Iraqi, Jordanian and Moroccan fighters.
As recently as 2014, 19 bodies from Gaza during the 2014 Israeli offensive on the coastal strip are held, in addition to the bodies of Uday and Ghassan Abu Jamal, the two cousins who attacked a Jerusalem synagogue in November last year.
Salwa Hammad, from the Palestinian national campaign to retrieve martyrs, said that a letter was sent to the Israeli military governor in the Bet Il settlement north of Ramallah to release the bodies of the Palestinians killed in October, but received no response.
“Within the committee, we hold meetings with consuls of different countries and the UN office so that they could pressure Israel into releasing the bodies,” Hammad told Middle East Eye. “They have all condemned this Israeli policy.”
“Nine of the bodies are from Jerusalem, and 15 from Hebron,” Hammad expounded. “One is from the Naqab (Negev desert) and one from Jenin. Two are from Qatna, a village northwest of Jerusalem.”
‘Collective punishment’
In some cases, Israeli authorities summon the families to identify the bodies of their sons or daughters, and are told that this is the last time they will see them. The bodies are usually stripped of clothes on the scene of attack and placed in black body bags.
Emad al-Faqih, the brother of 23 year old Omar al-Faqih who was shot and killed on 17 October at the Qalandiya checkpoint, said that from the Israeli side, there was no information on releasing the bodies. In a statement, the Israeli army said that Faqih tried to stab a soldier.
“The Israeli [medics] called my father the next day to identify Omar’s body,” Emad told Middle East Eye. “They said nothing about terms or conditions for the release. When my father asked them about taking the body back with him they said this is a political decision that they are not part of.”
Omar al-Faqih, whose family found out after his death that he won first place in the union of Palestinian universities’ championship tennis tournament, had graduated two years earlier with honours in banking and finance from Birzeit University.
According to his mother, he was saving up in order to get married. Omar’s father refuses to believe the Israeli army’s version of events, saying that the army’s refusal to release videos of his son’s killing, especially in an area under heavy surveillance, is suspect to say the least.
Despite following up with the Palestinian Authority liaison departments and the Israeli civil and military coordination offices, Emad expressed his frustration at the lack of response.
“Withholding the bodies is well known as collective punishment that Israel practices, and it is a senseless policy. It goes against the interests of the occupation,” he said. “I don’t understand why they are doing this. This only riles up people more and does not serve to calm the situation, unlike what they claim.”
Israel’s tenacity on withholding Palestinian bodies
On Tuesday, thousands of Palestinians protested against Israel’s detention of the- up until that day- 11 bodies that were allegedly involved in stabbing attacks in Hebron.
The families asserted that they will not accept the release of their children’s bodies individually, but rather that the release and handing over of their bodies should take place at the same time in one go.
On Wednesday, Israel reiterated its refusal to hand over the bodies from Jerusalem to their families, but Salwa Hammad is optimistic that the anger on the streets will force the Israeli authorities to change their minds.
Ayman al-Aseeli, the father of Bayan al-Aseeli, 16, who was shot by Israeli forces in Hebron on 17 October told al-Araby al-Jadeed on the same day that requests to different groups such as the Red Cross and various legal organisations to pressure Israel to release his daughter’s body have all been in vain.
“They all stated that the decision to release the bodies of martyrs is in Israel’s hands only,” Aseeli said.
As of 28 October, Israel is withholding the bodies of 15 Palestinians from Hebron. The Aseeli family are living through rough days, waiting to see whether they could bury their daughter’s body or not. Ayman cannot wrap his head around the fact that his daughter is dead unless he buries her, to give himself and the rest of the family closure. His wife simply won’t believe that Bayan is gone.
“I am tired,” Ayman said, as tears ran down his face. “I want my daughter back. I want to touch her and see her and tell her goodbye. I want to know if she died from one bullet or ten.”
The Palestinian Authority has not, to Hammad’s knowledge, made any moves to pressure or call on Israel to release the bodies. Emad al-Faqih was more equivocal in his opinion of the PA, calling them a “failure”.
“It’s like they are not concerned with taking this issue up, and if they do it’s in a trivial way,” he stated. “We’re calling on any officials, local and international, to pressure the Israeli occupation to return the bodies.”
“This is a humanitarian issue. Why hasn’t there been intervention from countries to pressure Israel? International law and the Geneva Conventions have all criticised this practice. It is obvious that this is a violation of human rights.”
Israel is withholding the bodies of at least 28 Palestinians who have been killed since the beginning of October.
The 28 bodies are held at the Abu Kabir Forensic institute in Tel Aviv, infamously known as the place where an Israeli doctor harvested organs and body parts from Palestinian bodies without seeking permission from their families.
Earlier this month, the Knesset agreed to the proposal put forth by the Israeli internal security minister Gilad Erdan to not hand over the bodies of Palestinians who were allegedly involved in stabbing attacks to their families.
“The terrorist’s family turns the funeral into a demonstration of support for terrorism and incitement to the murder,” said Erdan.
The Knesset is also studying Erdan’s suggestion to bury those Palestinians in the notorious cemeteries of numbers.
Secret cemeteries
These cemeteries are secret locations where Israel buries Palestinians who were involved in armed combat against Israelis. Their graves are marked with small metal plates, each carrying a number, hence the name.
The bodies are also kept as bargaining chips in future prisoner exchanges.
The number of these cemeteries is not officially disclosed by Israel, or their whereabouts. Two of the cemeteries’ locations have been found out to be the Amiad Cemetery close to Safed in the north of the country, and Jisr Adam Cemetery in the Jordan Valley.
In 2013 and 2014, Israel released bodies as a sign of goodwill once the negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority resumed.
This led to the speculation, as reported last year, that there were as many as five number cemeteries.
In many cases, the conditions that the buried bodies are in- such as poorly installed metal plates that become dislodged in heavy storms- lead to the loss of the only remaining means of identification and other crucial information such as the date they died.
Over 200 bodies not returned to their families
It is estimated that Israel is withholding 268 bodies, including this month’s count, in total, stretching back to decades. The bodies include Iraqi, Jordanian and Moroccan fighters.
As recently as 2014, 19 bodies from Gaza during the 2014 Israeli offensive on the coastal strip are held, in addition to the bodies of Uday and Ghassan Abu Jamal, the two cousins who attacked a Jerusalem synagogue in November last year.
Salwa Hammad, from the Palestinian national campaign to retrieve martyrs, said that a letter was sent to the Israeli military governor in the Bet Il settlement north of Ramallah to release the bodies of the Palestinians killed in October, but received no response.
“Within the committee, we hold meetings with consuls of different countries and the UN office so that they could pressure Israel into releasing the bodies,” Hammad told Middle East Eye. “They have all condemned this Israeli policy.”
“Nine of the bodies are from Jerusalem, and 15 from Hebron,” Hammad expounded. “One is from the Naqab (Negev desert) and one from Jenin. Two are from Qatna, a village northwest of Jerusalem.”
‘Collective punishment’
In some cases, Israeli authorities summon the families to identify the bodies of their sons or daughters, and are told that this is the last time they will see them. The bodies are usually stripped of clothes on the scene of attack and placed in black body bags.
Emad al-Faqih, the brother of 23 year old Omar al-Faqih who was shot and killed on 17 October at the Qalandiya checkpoint, said that from the Israeli side, there was no information on releasing the bodies. In a statement, the Israeli army said that Faqih tried to stab a soldier.
“The Israeli [medics] called my father the next day to identify Omar’s body,” Emad told Middle East Eye. “They said nothing about terms or conditions for the release. When my father asked them about taking the body back with him they said this is a political decision that they are not part of.”
Omar al-Faqih, whose family found out after his death that he won first place in the union of Palestinian universities’ championship tennis tournament, had graduated two years earlier with honours in banking and finance from Birzeit University.
According to his mother, he was saving up in order to get married. Omar’s father refuses to believe the Israeli army’s version of events, saying that the army’s refusal to release videos of his son’s killing, especially in an area under heavy surveillance, is suspect to say the least.
Despite following up with the Palestinian Authority liaison departments and the Israeli civil and military coordination offices, Emad expressed his frustration at the lack of response.
“Withholding the bodies is well known as collective punishment that Israel practices, and it is a senseless policy. It goes against the interests of the occupation,” he said. “I don’t understand why they are doing this. This only riles up people more and does not serve to calm the situation, unlike what they claim.”
Israel’s tenacity on withholding Palestinian bodies
On Tuesday, thousands of Palestinians protested against Israel’s detention of the- up until that day- 11 bodies that were allegedly involved in stabbing attacks in Hebron.
The families asserted that they will not accept the release of their children’s bodies individually, but rather that the release and handing over of their bodies should take place at the same time in one go.
On Wednesday, Israel reiterated its refusal to hand over the bodies from Jerusalem to their families, but Salwa Hammad is optimistic that the anger on the streets will force the Israeli authorities to change their minds.
Ayman al-Aseeli, the father of Bayan al-Aseeli, 16, who was shot by Israeli forces in Hebron on 17 October told al-Araby al-Jadeed on the same day that requests to different groups such as the Red Cross and various legal organisations to pressure Israel to release his daughter’s body have all been in vain.
“They all stated that the decision to release the bodies of martyrs is in Israel’s hands only,” Aseeli said.
As of 28 October, Israel is withholding the bodies of 15 Palestinians from Hebron. The Aseeli family are living through rough days, waiting to see whether they could bury their daughter’s body or not. Ayman cannot wrap his head around the fact that his daughter is dead unless he buries her, to give himself and the rest of the family closure. His wife simply won’t believe that Bayan is gone.
“I am tired,” Ayman said, as tears ran down his face. “I want my daughter back. I want to touch her and see her and tell her goodbye. I want to know if she died from one bullet or ten.”
The Palestinian Authority has not, to Hammad’s knowledge, made any moves to pressure or call on Israel to release the bodies. Emad al-Faqih was more equivocal in his opinion of the PA, calling them a “failure”.
“It’s like they are not concerned with taking this issue up, and if they do it’s in a trivial way,” he stated. “We’re calling on any officials, local and international, to pressure the Israeli occupation to return the bodies.”
“This is a humanitarian issue. Why hasn’t there been intervention from countries to pressure Israel? International law and the Geneva Conventions have all criticised this practice. It is obvious that this is a violation of human rights.”
27 oct 2015
The legal advisor of the Israeli police, Shaoul Gordon, refused the appeal submitted to release the bodies of 12 Palestinian Martyrs that are detained by the Israeli authorities.
Al-Dameer organization lawyer, Mohammad Mahmoud, explained that the legal advisor replied to the appeal submitted by the lawyers staff and said that the political level refuses to release the Martyrs’ bodies to their families at this time and no final decision has been taken in regards of the bodies.
Gordon said that detaining the bodies at this time reduces the attacks against Israelis in the city of Jerusalem in particular as well as other area. Also, not releasing the bodies will deter others from carrying out similar attacks.
The legal advisor also said that Jerusalem is under “terrorist” individual attacks that led to the death and injury of several Jews.
He added: “It is not a secret that these attacks are taken as an example to be followed by others. These attacks only increase the tension in Jerusalem and encourage “killing”. In order to reduce these attacks, the security sector has taken several steps to maintain the safety of the population”.
He also said: “Releasing the bodies and carrying out special funeral for them and burying them in known cemeteries that could become a “shrine” in the future; that’s why you set an example to others by not releasing the body of the attacker.”
He continued: “The security parties believe that not releasing the bodies to their families after the attack even if the detention was temporary serves as a deterrent factor for others and leads to a decline in the desire of other to carry out similar attacks.”
The lawyers staff had submitted an appeal to the Israeli authorities to release the Martyrs’ bodies after they have been detaining them and delaying the release process; a copy of the appeal was submitted to the legal advisor of the Israeli government and another copy to the Israeli Intelligence.
The lawyers explained that the appeal was submitted on 18/10/2015 and included the names of 12 Martyrs. They are: Thaer Abu Ghazaleh, Ishaq Badran, Mohammad Mohammad Ali, Mustafa Khatib, Hasan Manasra, Ala’ Abu Jamal, Baha’ Alayan, Basel Sider, Ahmad Abu Sha’ban, Mu’taz Aweisat, Mohammad Shamasneh and the child Bayan Ayman Assaileh.
Palestinians march in al-Khalil to demand release of slain citizens
The Islamic and national political forces in al-Khalil city have called for active participation in all marches to be organized in the city to demand the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) to release the detained bodies of slain Palestinians.
In different statements, the political forces urged al-Khalil natives to take part in the march that would be organized on Tuesday in the city to demand the IOA to give the bereaved Palestinian families the bodies of their relatives, who were shot dead or liquidated by Israelis in recent West Bank attacks.
Today's march will be dedicated to protesting Israel's detention of the bodies of the two female martyrs, Bayan Aseeli and Daniya Arshid.
In addition to these two girls, the IOA still refuses to release the bodies of 12 young men from al-Khalil killed for allegedly carrying out stabbing attacks against Israelis.
Al-Dameer organization lawyer, Mohammad Mahmoud, explained that the legal advisor replied to the appeal submitted by the lawyers staff and said that the political level refuses to release the Martyrs’ bodies to their families at this time and no final decision has been taken in regards of the bodies.
Gordon said that detaining the bodies at this time reduces the attacks against Israelis in the city of Jerusalem in particular as well as other area. Also, not releasing the bodies will deter others from carrying out similar attacks.
The legal advisor also said that Jerusalem is under “terrorist” individual attacks that led to the death and injury of several Jews.
He added: “It is not a secret that these attacks are taken as an example to be followed by others. These attacks only increase the tension in Jerusalem and encourage “killing”. In order to reduce these attacks, the security sector has taken several steps to maintain the safety of the population”.
He also said: “Releasing the bodies and carrying out special funeral for them and burying them in known cemeteries that could become a “shrine” in the future; that’s why you set an example to others by not releasing the body of the attacker.”
He continued: “The security parties believe that not releasing the bodies to their families after the attack even if the detention was temporary serves as a deterrent factor for others and leads to a decline in the desire of other to carry out similar attacks.”
The lawyers staff had submitted an appeal to the Israeli authorities to release the Martyrs’ bodies after they have been detaining them and delaying the release process; a copy of the appeal was submitted to the legal advisor of the Israeli government and another copy to the Israeli Intelligence.
The lawyers explained that the appeal was submitted on 18/10/2015 and included the names of 12 Martyrs. They are: Thaer Abu Ghazaleh, Ishaq Badran, Mohammad Mohammad Ali, Mustafa Khatib, Hasan Manasra, Ala’ Abu Jamal, Baha’ Alayan, Basel Sider, Ahmad Abu Sha’ban, Mu’taz Aweisat, Mohammad Shamasneh and the child Bayan Ayman Assaileh.
Palestinians march in al-Khalil to demand release of slain citizens
The Islamic and national political forces in al-Khalil city have called for active participation in all marches to be organized in the city to demand the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) to release the detained bodies of slain Palestinians.
In different statements, the political forces urged al-Khalil natives to take part in the march that would be organized on Tuesday in the city to demand the IOA to give the bereaved Palestinian families the bodies of their relatives, who were shot dead or liquidated by Israelis in recent West Bank attacks.
Today's march will be dedicated to protesting Israel's detention of the bodies of the two female martyrs, Bayan Aseeli and Daniya Arshid.
In addition to these two girls, the IOA still refuses to release the bodies of 12 young men from al-Khalil killed for allegedly carrying out stabbing attacks against Israelis.
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) have been withholding the bodies of 15 Palestinians recently shot dead by Israeli army troops in the West Bank and Occupied Jerusalem.
The bodies of 15 slain Palestinians have been withheld by the IOA, including those of 11 Jerusalemites and four West Bankers.
The 15 Palestinians were fatally shot by Israeli gunfire after they allegedly carried out or planned for stabbing attacks against the Israeli occupation soldiers and settlers.
Earlier, on October 15, Israel’s security cabinet voted in favor of a suggestion by public security minister Gilad Erdan not to return to families the bodies of Palestinian activists killed during anti-occupation attacks.
Israeli news outlets reported that the Israeli occupation government intends to withhold the dead bodies of slain Palestinian anti-occupation activists in the so-called cemetery of numbers.
According to human rights organizations, Palestinians are buried by the occupation authorities in the Numbers Cemeteries without regard, whatsoever, to religious law and national traditions.
In such cemeteries dead Palestinians are also thrown in small graves with a depth that does not exceed 50 centimeters. Once the body is buried, it is covered with a kind of earth that lays the cadaver bare with the lightest wind blows, and thus, allows wild animals to mutilate the body and gulp it down.
The bodies of 15 slain Palestinians have been withheld by the IOA, including those of 11 Jerusalemites and four West Bankers.
The 15 Palestinians were fatally shot by Israeli gunfire after they allegedly carried out or planned for stabbing attacks against the Israeli occupation soldiers and settlers.
Earlier, on October 15, Israel’s security cabinet voted in favor of a suggestion by public security minister Gilad Erdan not to return to families the bodies of Palestinian activists killed during anti-occupation attacks.
Israeli news outlets reported that the Israeli occupation government intends to withhold the dead bodies of slain Palestinian anti-occupation activists in the so-called cemetery of numbers.
According to human rights organizations, Palestinians are buried by the occupation authorities in the Numbers Cemeteries without regard, whatsoever, to religious law and national traditions.
In such cemeteries dead Palestinians are also thrown in small graves with a depth that does not exceed 50 centimeters. Once the body is buried, it is covered with a kind of earth that lays the cadaver bare with the lightest wind blows, and thus, allows wild animals to mutilate the body and gulp it down.
14 oct 2015
In conjunction with the detention of the bodies of eight Jerusalemite Martyrs, the Cabinet approved on Tuesday night a suggestion made by the Internal Security Minister, Gilad Ardan, not to release the bodies of Palestinian Martyrs who passed away while carrying or attempting to carry out attacks.
The occupation government is studying the suggestion of Gilad Ardan to bury the Martyrs in special cemeteries called “Numbers Cemeteries” because the Martyrs’ families make the funerals as “demonstrations that support terrorism and incitement to murder.”
The occupation authorities continue to detain the bodies of 8 Martyrs that were murdered in various area around the city of Jerusalem including one in Tel Aviv, they are:
The occupation government is studying the suggestion of Gilad Ardan to bury the Martyrs in special cemeteries called “Numbers Cemeteries” because the Martyrs’ families make the funerals as “demonstrations that support terrorism and incitement to murder.”
The occupation authorities continue to detain the bodies of 8 Martyrs that were murdered in various area around the city of Jerusalem including one in Tel Aviv, they are:
- Thaer Abdelsalam, 19, passed away on 8/10/2015 in Tel Aviv
- Ishaq Qasem Badran, 16, passed away on 10/10/2015 in the area of Al-Musrara
- Mohammad Saeed Mohammad Ali, 19, passed away on 10/10/2015 in the area of Damascus Gate
- Mustafa Adel Khatib, 17, passed away on 12/10/2015 in the area of Lions’ Gate
- Hasan Khaled Manasra, 15, passed away on 12/10/2015 in Pisgat Zi’ev
- Mohammad Nathmi Shamasneh, 22, passed away on 12/10/2015 in West Jerusalem
- Baha’ Mohammad Alayan, 22, passed away on 13/10/2015 in the village of Jabal Al-Mukabber
- Ala’ Daoud Abu Jamal, 32, passed away on 13/10/2015 in West Jerusalem
16 july 2015
Israel has proposed a swap deal to get back the bodies of two captive soldiers in return for 20 Palestinian martyrs, the Israeli Yediot Aharonot newspaper reported Thursday.
The newspaper quoted an Israeli security official as stating that indirect talks have been underway with Egypt so as to urge Hamas to release the bodies of the two soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin in return for the bodies of 20 Palestinians killed in last summer’s Israeli offensive.
No decision has yet been finalized as regards the proposal, the same source said.
The newspaper added that Hamas is trying to use the captive soldiers as bargaining chips for the release of more Palestinian detainees.
Observers said the Israeli occupation has done it all to seize scraps of information about the fate of the Israeli captives. Hamas, however, has insisted that no such data shall be propagated if all the recaptured Palestinians detainees are not released.
The newspaper quoted an Israeli security official as stating that indirect talks have been underway with Egypt so as to urge Hamas to release the bodies of the two soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin in return for the bodies of 20 Palestinians killed in last summer’s Israeli offensive.
No decision has yet been finalized as regards the proposal, the same source said.
The newspaper added that Hamas is trying to use the captive soldiers as bargaining chips for the release of more Palestinian detainees.
Observers said the Israeli occupation has done it all to seize scraps of information about the fate of the Israeli captives. Hamas, however, has insisted that no such data shall be propagated if all the recaptured Palestinians detainees are not released.
16 apr 2015
Al-Asra center for prisoner studies Thursday morning said that Prisoners and Ex-prisoners commission established a symbolic cemetery of numbers in central Gaza, which carried the names of Palestinian martyrs whose bodies are still detained by Israeli occupation, even after their death.
Ex-prisoner, Ra'fat Hamdouneh, said that the project aims on featuring the suffering of the martyrs' families, who wish to visit the graves of their sons, and to expose the Israeli occupation violations against the Palestinian martyrs.
Hamdouneh added that the graveyard was open, waiting for the grave holders to return. The name of the martyrs, and their numbers were written on signs on the ground.
The symbolism of this cemetery, forms pressure on the international community and highlights the issue of cemetery numbers, where Palestinians bodies are kept in hold by Israel, and are given numbers without any names.
Researcher and activist Osama Murtaja said that the activity highlights the reality of Palestinian martyrs, saying that the occupation still detained hundreds of bodies of Arabs and Palestinians, who died in different settings.
Number cemeteries are secret and were built by Israeli forces in military areas in the occupied 1948 lands. The cemeteries are closed and are not allowed to be entered.
They were exposed a few years ago by Israeli media, and they are simple cemeteries with crowded tombs, which have metal sign above them bearing a number of the martyr, as a representation of the martyr's name.
In march, Israeli authorities declared that they will announce list of 119 names detained in the cemeteries, with the presence of 60 families of Palestinians who were killed.
The national campaign said that the numbers of detained bodies exceed 242 bodies, while the missing people with unknown plight hit about 65.
Ex-prisoner, Ra'fat Hamdouneh, said that the project aims on featuring the suffering of the martyrs' families, who wish to visit the graves of their sons, and to expose the Israeli occupation violations against the Palestinian martyrs.
Hamdouneh added that the graveyard was open, waiting for the grave holders to return. The name of the martyrs, and their numbers were written on signs on the ground.
The symbolism of this cemetery, forms pressure on the international community and highlights the issue of cemetery numbers, where Palestinians bodies are kept in hold by Israel, and are given numbers without any names.
Researcher and activist Osama Murtaja said that the activity highlights the reality of Palestinian martyrs, saying that the occupation still detained hundreds of bodies of Arabs and Palestinians, who died in different settings.
Number cemeteries are secret and were built by Israeli forces in military areas in the occupied 1948 lands. The cemeteries are closed and are not allowed to be entered.
They were exposed a few years ago by Israeli media, and they are simple cemeteries with crowded tombs, which have metal sign above them bearing a number of the martyr, as a representation of the martyr's name.
In march, Israeli authorities declared that they will announce list of 119 names detained in the cemeteries, with the presence of 60 families of Palestinians who were killed.
The national campaign said that the numbers of detained bodies exceed 242 bodies, while the missing people with unknown plight hit about 65.
13 feb 2015
The National Committee assembled for the retrieval of the bodies of slain Palestinians stated that the Legal Department of the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center, in charge of the files of slain Palestinians buried by Israel in numbered graves, said that it received an official Israeli statement regarding the release of the remains of 134 persons.
The communication came from the Israeli Military Counselor in Tel Aviv, informing the Committee that Israel started initial examinations of the list provided by the Legal Committee demanding the release of the remains, so that they can be properly buried.
The Committee said that Israel will be conducting DNA tests for first-degree relatives of the slain Palestinians, in order to identify the remains within the coming months.
The Al-Quds Center said it had previously filed an appeal to the Israeli side, listing the names of 134 Palestinians, men and women, buried in numbered graves, demanding the release of their remains for proper burial.
The Committee said that Israel was still refraining from providing details on how many numbered graveyards it has, and the exact number of persons buried there, and that Tel Aviv is holding remains of slain Palestinians despite an order by Israel’s Supreme Court ordering the release of 38 persons by the end of December 2013.
It further expressed its rejection to the Israeli claims that the number of persons currently buried in numbered graves is only 119, while the official list of names collected by the committee has indicated 220 persons, in addition to 42 yet to be identified names, and 65 persons presumed dead, but their remains were never located.
In its statement, the Committee said it is preparing for an extensive meeting with various groups and officials, to determine the next moves aiming at speeding the release of the remains of all slain persons by the end of 2015.
The communication came from the Israeli Military Counselor in Tel Aviv, informing the Committee that Israel started initial examinations of the list provided by the Legal Committee demanding the release of the remains, so that they can be properly buried.
The Committee said that Israel will be conducting DNA tests for first-degree relatives of the slain Palestinians, in order to identify the remains within the coming months.
The Al-Quds Center said it had previously filed an appeal to the Israeli side, listing the names of 134 Palestinians, men and women, buried in numbered graves, demanding the release of their remains for proper burial.
The Committee said that Israel was still refraining from providing details on how many numbered graveyards it has, and the exact number of persons buried there, and that Tel Aviv is holding remains of slain Palestinians despite an order by Israel’s Supreme Court ordering the release of 38 persons by the end of December 2013.
It further expressed its rejection to the Israeli claims that the number of persons currently buried in numbered graves is only 119, while the official list of names collected by the committee has indicated 220 persons, in addition to 42 yet to be identified names, and 65 persons presumed dead, but their remains were never located.
In its statement, the Committee said it is preparing for an extensive meeting with various groups and officials, to determine the next moves aiming at speeding the release of the remains of all slain persons by the end of 2015.
17 jan 2015
Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said Saturday that all Israeli crimes against Palestinians would be documented, and that Palestine would join more international organizations.
Speaking during a celebration of Palestinian Martyr Day in Ramallah, Hamdallah said: "We will not accept that our martyrs be turned into numbers, names, or be forgotten as Israel wants."
He said the Palestinian Authority's main goal was to "accomplish Palestinians' ambitions and aspirations and that for which the martyrs died and sacrificed."
"We will continue working with all the free people of the world and with international human rights organizations to make sure that the bodies of all Palestinian martyrs be returned from numbered graves (in Israeli-controlled areas) and be buried according to Palestinian national and religious rituals"
Since the late 1960s, Israel has withheld the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians. Their bodies are interred in numbered, rather than named, graves in four cemeteries created for that purpose, the biggest of which is located in the Jordan Valley.
Following an Israeli Supreme Court decision in 2014, a number of Palestinian families have received the remains of relatives who were killed by Israeli forces and whose bodies had been held by Israel.
Speaking during a celebration of Palestinian Martyr Day in Ramallah, Hamdallah said: "We will not accept that our martyrs be turned into numbers, names, or be forgotten as Israel wants."
He said the Palestinian Authority's main goal was to "accomplish Palestinians' ambitions and aspirations and that for which the martyrs died and sacrificed."
"We will continue working with all the free people of the world and with international human rights organizations to make sure that the bodies of all Palestinian martyrs be returned from numbered graves (in Israeli-controlled areas) and be buried according to Palestinian national and religious rituals"
Since the late 1960s, Israel has withheld the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians. Their bodies are interred in numbered, rather than named, graves in four cemeteries created for that purpose, the biggest of which is located in the Jordan Valley.
Following an Israeli Supreme Court decision in 2014, a number of Palestinian families have received the remains of relatives who were killed by Israeli forces and whose bodies had been held by Israel.
25 dec 2014
Hundreds of Jerusalemites at dawn Thursday marched in the funeral procession of the two Palestinian martyrs Udai and Ghassan Abu Jabal after the Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) had been withholding their bodies for 36 days.
Ghassan and Udai were shot dead by the Israeli occupation police after they were involved in an attack on a Jewish synagogue in Deir Yassin village.
Lawyer of ad-Dameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association said in a statement Wednesday the IOA suddenly notified the youngsters’ families of its decision to return the bodies of the two martyrs on the condition that they be buried in the shadows of darkness and that 40 persons, only, be allowed to join the interment, setting a timeframe that does not exceed one hour and a half for the entire procedure.
The Israeli occupation police stipulated that the family would pay a 20-thousand-shekel fine in case any violations in the terms of such provisos would occur.
Ad-Dameer association spoke out against such a humiliating decision saying Israel’s seizure of the bodies of the two martyrs along with the prerequisites determining the time, place, and manner the way the latter should be buried represent a serious offense to the sentiments of Muslims both nationwide and oversees.
The institution said the decision makes part of Israel’s collective punishment tactics and policies of psycho-physical torture perpetrated against Palestinians and adherents of Islam.
“The move comes as part of Israel’s adoption of a spatio-temporal politics of ethnic cleansing against Palestinians in Occupied Jerusalem,” Ad-Dameer added. “This is another episode in the series of Israeli racist and chauvinistic decrees.”
Ghassan and Udai were shot dead by the Israeli occupation police after they were involved in an attack on a Jewish synagogue in Deir Yassin village.
Lawyer of ad-Dameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association said in a statement Wednesday the IOA suddenly notified the youngsters’ families of its decision to return the bodies of the two martyrs on the condition that they be buried in the shadows of darkness and that 40 persons, only, be allowed to join the interment, setting a timeframe that does not exceed one hour and a half for the entire procedure.
The Israeli occupation police stipulated that the family would pay a 20-thousand-shekel fine in case any violations in the terms of such provisos would occur.
Ad-Dameer association spoke out against such a humiliating decision saying Israel’s seizure of the bodies of the two martyrs along with the prerequisites determining the time, place, and manner the way the latter should be buried represent a serious offense to the sentiments of Muslims both nationwide and oversees.
The institution said the decision makes part of Israel’s collective punishment tactics and policies of psycho-physical torture perpetrated against Palestinians and adherents of Islam.
“The move comes as part of Israel’s adoption of a spatio-temporal politics of ethnic cleansing against Palestinians in Occupied Jerusalem,” Ad-Dameer added. “This is another episode in the series of Israeli racist and chauvinistic decrees.”
26 nov 2014
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) notified the families of the murdered Palestinian youths, Ghassan and Udai, of intents to bury their bodies in the so-called Israeli cemeteries of numbers.
A letter sent to the families’ lawyer by Shaul Gordon, the general attorney of the Israeli occupation police, threatened to never return the bodies of the deceased youths and to withhold their bodies in an Israeli graveyard.
The letter further mentioned the IOA’s intents to knock down the homes of Udai and Ghassan’s families.
Such “exceptional” measures have allegedly been issued as a means to deter further anti-Israeli occupation attacks.
Earlier, the Israeli prosecutor general’s office on Monday transferred jurisdiction over appeals to return the bodies of Ghassan and Udai to the police's legal adviser.
Udai and Ghassan were killed by the Israeli police following a retaliation-attack on a Jewish synagogue in Occupied Jerusalem, an attack dubbed by historiographers as a natural retort and expected scenario to Israel’s terrorism on Palestinian civilians and Muslims’ holy shrines.
A letter sent to the families’ lawyer by Shaul Gordon, the general attorney of the Israeli occupation police, threatened to never return the bodies of the deceased youths and to withhold their bodies in an Israeli graveyard.
The letter further mentioned the IOA’s intents to knock down the homes of Udai and Ghassan’s families.
Such “exceptional” measures have allegedly been issued as a means to deter further anti-Israeli occupation attacks.
Earlier, the Israeli prosecutor general’s office on Monday transferred jurisdiction over appeals to return the bodies of Ghassan and Udai to the police's legal adviser.
Udai and Ghassan were killed by the Israeli police following a retaliation-attack on a Jewish synagogue in Occupied Jerusalem, an attack dubbed by historiographers as a natural retort and expected scenario to Israel’s terrorism on Palestinian civilians and Muslims’ holy shrines.
