Canadians protest Israel's Gaza siege

File photo

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/157516.html


Pro-Palestinian groups in Canada have staged a demonstration to mark the second anniversary of the Gaza war and protest Tel Aviv's crippling siege of the coastal strip.

Scores of people gathered outside the Israeli consulate in the Canadian city of Toronto on Monday to commemorate the second anniversary of the Israeli carnage in the Gaza Strip.

On December 27, 2008, Israel launched a massive offensive against the densely populated coastal enclave, leaving more than 1,400 Palestinians dead and thousands more injured.

The protesters condemned the Israeli war crimes during the 22-day war and the killing of hundreds of children during the relentless bombardment of civilian positions and residential areas during the onslaught.

The demonstrators also called for an immediate end to the paralyzing blockade of the impoverished Gaza Strip, which is home to nearly 1.5 million Palestinians.

The Monday gathering was also meant to raise awareness of a Canadian aid boat which will set sail for the besieged enclave next spring.

During the past two years, several international groups have attempted to break the siege of Gaza by sea and by land.

On May 31, a Turkish-organized Freedom Flotilla was severely attacked by Israeli navy commandos in international waters.

The bloody takeover of the six-ship convoy left nine Turkish activists dead and injured more than 50 others onboard the civilian fleet.

While the naval closure of the Gaza Strip -- tightened since 2007 -- stands, the Free Gaza Movement in Canada has organized an aid boat to Gaza.

Set to sail in early 2011, the convoy has already collected USD 125,000 in donations, in the face of enormous efforts from pro-Zionist groups to block further funds for the aid mission.

90% Palestinian detainees denied lawyer

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/157532.html


A report on the conditions of Palestinians held in Israeli jails indicates that most of the prisoners are exposed to torture while they are denied access to lawyers.

A study by Public Committee Against Torture and Palestinian Prisoners' Society says as many as 90 percent of Palestinian prisoners interrogated by Israel's notorious intelligence agency, Shin Bet, are prevented from consulting with a lawyer, the Israeli Ha'aretz daily paper reported on its website.

The NGO further noticed that the prohibition is not in accordance with Israeli civilian and military legislation, despite the Shin Bet's claims that it has legal clearance to keep certain detainees from lawyers.

Dr. Maya Rosenfeld, who authored the document, also pointed out that during prolonged periods when prisoners are deprived of meeting with lawyers, the Shin Bet uses interrogation methods that are in contrast to both international and Israeli laws.

Sleep deprivation, threats of harming family members and humiliation are among the methods commonly employed by Israeli interrogators. Other techniques include tying prisoners for long hours to a chair with their hands behind the back and keeping them for long periods in unsanitary cells.

The Shin Bet has refused to provide data on the numbers of Palestinian detainees prevented from meeting with a lawyer, while a petition filed by the human rights group Yesh Din and the Movement for Freedom of Information in March 2009 is still pending.

The blackout prompted the Public Campaign and the Prisoners Society to conduct a research and cross-reference its information with different sources to reach an almost reliable estimate of the numbers of prisoners denied access to lawyers.

The study revealed that out of 11,970 Palestinians interrogated by the Shin Bet between 2000 and 2007, between 8,379 to 10,773 were not allowed to consult with an attorney.

The report, titled "When the Exception Becomes the Rule," said preventing a meeting with a lawyer for long periods enables illegal interrogation aimed at physical and psychological exhaustion of prisoners, and forcing them into false confessions.

The report indicates that the scope of the phenomenon has not reduced in recent years and describes the legal efforts the Public Committee has undertaken in recent years against the phenomenon as "fruitless."

Earlier, an Israeli rights group said the Shin Bet holds prisoners under "harrowing conditions" in solitary cells.

German minister barred from Gaza visit

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=131175§ionid=351020604



Israel has refused to allow German Development Aid Minister Dirk Niebel to visit the besieged Gaza Strip in order to inspect a sewage plant financed by Germany.

A German ministry spokesman, objecting to the Israeli move, said later on Saturday that talks over Niebel's visit to the Palestinian areas were still underway.

"Sometimes the Israeli government does not make it easy for its friends to explain why it behaves the way it does," Niebel told the German ZDF TV network program "heute" (today).

He further added that Israel's latest announcement on easing the Gaza siege was "not sufficient" and that Tel Aviv must "now deliver" on its pledge.

Beyond that, Israel should be "clear" about how, within an international context, it wants to "cooperate with its friends in the future as well," the German minister of the liberal Free Democratic Party said.

Earlier Saturday, the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that the German parliament, with the support of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government, is to issue a cross-party demand that Israel allow the passage of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip by sea.