1. On14May2008,Palestinians
around the world marked the
day as the beginning of the
Nakbaorcatastrophewhichleft
them homeless, landless, and
victims of Zionist aggression.
In 1948, the state of Israel
was declared by Zionists who
ethnically cleansed many
Palestinian towns and villages
of all their inhabitants. 750,000
Palestinians became refugees,
and to this day, most of these
people and their descendants
continue to live in squalid
conditions in densely packed
refugee camps.
The Israeli occupation
of the West Bank and Gaza
Strip continues and with each
passing year, Palestinians
witness greater oppression,
greater brutality and economic
ruin engineered by Israeli
policies. The Gaza Strip is
now an open air prison caging
its 1.4 million inhabitants.
Israeli incursions ensure
that any viable businesses
are all destroyed, including
The West Bank is now
being divided up further, with
the increasing isolation of
population centres away from
one another. This is creating a
divided territory reminiscent
of Apartheid South Africa’s
Bantustans. Supporters of the
Palestinian cause have marked
the 60th anniversary of the
Nakba worldwide with calls
for an end to this brutal and
inhumane occupation.
Jimmy Carter: Israel has
150 Nuclear Weapons
Children killed in Gaza
attack
Palestinians killed as they
protest against seige
Aqsa
Israeli missile targets
journalists
60 Years of Catastrophe
Palestinians mark Al-Nakba, while Israel celebrates its birth

2. I N B R I E F
2
Israeli missile targets journalists
Children killed in Gaza attack
Palestinians killed as they protest against siege
Norman Finkelstein denied
entry to Israel
The Shin Bet security service
detained and deported the
American Jewish professor
Norman Finkelstein, a prominent
critic of the Israeli occupation,
when he recently attempted to visit
Israel. Professor Finkelstein was
interrogated for several hours and
held in an airport cell in Ben Gurion
before being put on a plane back to
Amsterdam, his point of departure.
He was told he could not return
to Israel for 10 years. This is seen
as yet another attempt by Israel to
silence its critics by denying them
access to Israel and the occupied
territories.
Methodists abandon Israel
Divestment
The US United Methodist Church
abandoned plans to divest from
companies that support Israel after
a protracted Zionist campaign
to stop them succeeded. Five
divestment resolutions which the
Church considered at its General
Conference in May 2008, called
on the denomination to identify
products or services that “harm the
Palestinians and Israelis” and begin
a phased divestment from them.
Firms targeted included Caterpillar,
which supplies bulldozers used to
demolish Palestinian homes and
raise olive groves; and Motorola,
which manufactures security
systems. This was seen as a blow
to the divestment movement, but
the issue of boycott remains on the
Church’s agenda.
Environmental disaster in
Gaza
The lack of fuel and raw materials
in Gaza has led to an environmental
disaster due to the inability of the
sewage systems to run effectively.
There have been incidences
neighbourhoods, such as the
Ascoolah area of Zeitoun, close
to Gaza city. This is having a dire
impact on the health and sanitary
conditions of the people in the
area.
Female prisoners denied
family visits
The Israeli Prisons Authority (IPA)
has come under criticism from
Palestinian law makers for denying
some female Palestinian prisoners
family visits to Gaza. Some of these
women have not been allowed visits
for over 2 years. Former captives
have described prison conditions as
harsh with inadequate medical care
for those being held.
Be a part of Friends of
Al-Aqsa. Join our mailing list, To
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about our events, log in your email
at our website www.aqsa.org.uk
On 16 April 2008, the
crew travelling in a car clearly
marked ‘TV’ killing Reuters
cameraman Fadel Shana’a and
his colleague Wafa’a Younis
Abu Mazeed.
The attack was caught on
camera by Fadel as he trained
his lenses on an Israeli army
positionclosetowherethepress
crew were. It is clear from the
footage that they were targeted
directly by the soldiers, and the
camera goes blank on impact
of the missile. Two children
who were passing by at the
time were also killed in the
attack, which was followed
by another missile in under 5
minutes.
The deaths brought
worldwide attention to the
while attempting to report what
is happening in the occupied
territories. Fadel Shana’a
himself, only aged 23 when
he died, had already sustained
occurred in 2006 while he was
travelling in another clearly
marked press vehicle. Despite
the overwhelming evidence
suggesting there could be no
mistake that they were a press
crew, the Israeli army drew
anger when it suggested that
lives at risk by entering ‘areas
of combat’. The deaths of
worldwide.
Since the isolation of the
Gaza Strip by the Israeli siege,
the living conditions have
deteriorated to unbearable
levels. The restricted fuel
supplies have led to crisis in
every industry and sector,
deeply damaging the public
services Palestinians would
April, the supply of fuel was
halted completely making it
impossible for ambulances to
run and forcing the UN refugee
agency for Palestinians to
suspend food distribution to
the 650,000 people depending
on it, for 4 whole days.
The economy in Gaza is in
ruin. Market prices for basic
foods have rocketed, including
a 156% increase in the price
of some produces such as
tomatoes. Basic medicines
are also no longer available
making it almost impossible to
treat basic illnesses. On top of
this, Israeli incursions continue
on a daily basis, killing many
more Palestinians, including
children.
Because of these conditions,
Gazans continue to protest
against the blockade at all of
the border crossings across
Gaza. Israeli forces respond
to these protests with live
a demonstration at the Karni
crossing, Israeli forces shot
and killed a Palestinian child
and wounded 17 others. Such
scenes of senseless violence
by Israeli soldiers and loss
of life of Palestinians remain
prevalent across Gaza.
On11and12April,theIsraeli
occupation forces launched a
ground attack within the Al-
Gaza, killing seven children.
The Israeli troops broke into a
number of civilian homes and
took sniper positions on their
roofs. The troops were backed
by tanks, military vehicles, and
drones.
Civilian witnesses reported
indiscriminately in the area and
olive trees. A group of children
year old Riyad Sherif al-Owais
A short time later, the Israeli
at a group of children and
18 year old Shihab Mohammad
Ahmad Abu Zubeida, 19 year
old Jihad Mohammad Salem
Abu Zubeida, 18 year old
Yousif Ali al-Maghari, 18 year
old Abdul-Raziq Atta Nofal,
and 15 year old Yousif Sarhan.
crowds of Palestinians also
15 were children. Due to
the lack of fuel in the Strip,
medical assistance for the
wounded was severely delayed
causing immense suffering.
Medical crews also faced great
the critically wounded to
hospitals.
Despite strong condemn-
ations against such attacks,
the Israel occupation forces
continue to invade Gaza on
an almost daily basis. These
incursions create even greater
misery on the ground.

3. I N B R I E F
3
Leicester Tigers in deal with Caterpillar
Israel’s promise to dismantle checkpoints was a lie
The Israeli army closed down two
charities in the West Bank town of
Hebron which provided shelter,
food and education for hundreds
of orphans in the area. The Islamic
Charitable Society (ICS) and the
Muslim Youth Society (MYS)
were accused of supporting
‘terrorism’, a charge with no
evidence. The ICS’s functions
included providing shelter and
care to more than 4,000 needy
families and 300 orphans. It also
educated over 7,000 students,
provided aide to an additional
4,000 students and employed
over700 teachers, counsellors,
and other support staff. The
consequences of the closure have
been dire for the orphans. Peace
activists reacted in anger, stating:
“How can we teach Palestinian
children non-violence when Israel
is doing to them all this, when
Israeli soldiers are throwing kids
from their orphanages onto the
streets. Israel is destroying all our
efforts.”
Jimmy Carter: Israel has 150 Nuclear Weapons
Charities
helping orphans
closed down
Judaising Jerusalem
Christian leaders call for
peace
In May 2008, while Israel
celebrated 60 years of statehood,
over 140 Christian leaders made
between Israelis and Palestinians.
Their declaration was published
in The Independent newspaper,
and acknowledged the fact that for
Palestinians, Israel’s celebration
marked their ‘Catastrophe’ (Nakba).
Signatories include Archbishop
Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Nobel
Peace Prize Laureate Mairead
Corrigan Maguire, New York Times’
bestselling author of ‘God’s Politics’
Jim Wallis, Evangelicals for Middle
East Understanding, biblical scholar
Walter Brueggemann and Oxford
professor Christopher Rowland.
Mother and four children
killed by Israeli shelling
On 28 April, a Palestinian mother
and four of her children all under
the age of 5 were killed when an
Israeli army shell hit their home in
Ezbet Beit Hanoun in the northern
Gaza Strip. 40 year old Myassar
Abu Me’teq was at home with her
children, only one of whom survived
the attack. Those killed included one
year old baby Mos’ad.
Israeli soldiers confess
to beating and torturing
Palestinians
the Independent Newspaper, ex-
Israeli soldiers have confessed to
beating, torturing and abducting
Palestinians as a matter of course.
Soldiers who were posted around
the Hebron area confessed how
they stole from traders, physically
assaulted those who complained,
threw stun grenades through mosque
windows and much more. Similar
confessions are being made by
increasing numbers of ex-soldiers
who are no longer able to contain
the details of the brutal way in which
Palestinians are treated.
Shin Bet accused of
Torturing Prisoners and
their relatives
The Public Committee Against
TortureinIsrael(PCATI)accusedthe
Shin Bet security service of torturing
relatives of individuals under
interrogation to extract confessions.
The PCATI investigation found
that it is a common method of
interrogation to psychologically
abuse a detainee using family
members.Theinvestigationinvolved
discussions with many Palestinians
who were arrested and faced torture
by the Shin Bet.
Thousands rally around the
world for Palestine.
Druring themonthofMay,thousands
of people took to the streets of
to show their solidarity with the
Palestinian people as they marked
60 years of ‘Nakba’. In London tens
of thousands of people gathered in
Trafalgar Square to show they had
not forgotten the struggle.
Israeli efforts to Judaise
Jerusalem and remove all
Muslim claims to the Holy
City have been felt most by
PalestinianslivingintheSilwan
District close to the Dung
Gate of the Al-Aqsa complex.
The extremist Israeli ‘Elad’
(a Hebrew acronym meaning
‘To the City of David’) settler
movementbegantoimplements
steps to take over Silwan in the
1990’s. Since then, extremist
Israeli’s have moved into the
area making life even more
miserable for the Palestinians
there.
Elad now fully controls
Silwan and the Palestinian
neighbourhood has dozens
of settler outposts with
guards which are clearly
visible. Despite Elad’s
in Israel is obvious from the
fact that it runs the National
park and visitors’ centre in
Silwan, providing tourists with
a one-sided version of history.
Palestinians in Silwan have
are forced from their homes by
Elad or face any other wrong.
Elad has the full backing of the
Jerusalem Municipality, the
National Park Authority, the
Israel Land Administration,
and the Jerusalem Police.
A few residents, who were
lawsuit in April 2008, had their
homes stormed by the police
arrested.
Elad is now leading an
excavation in the area around
the Dung Gate of the Al-
Aqsa Sanctuary, and beneath
some Palestinian homes in
the area. Thus, it is effectively
using archaeology as a tool
for dispossession, as the
Palestinians whose homes are
affected face miserable living
conditions and may even
choose to leave. In the Al-
Bushtan neighbourhood, Elad
is also attempting to destroy 88
Palestinian homes to expand
the “archeological park”, and
past experience suggests they
may be successful.
Elad led excavations have
meant that not even a single
Muslim building in the national
park was preserved, and some
were not even documented.
Some Israeli archaeologists
are unhappy with the actions
of Elad, however, and are
lobbying to remove Elad from
the site.
The Leicester Tigers Rugby
team has come under heavy
criticism after the announce-
ment of a multi-million
pound sponsorship deal
with Caterpillar; a company
condemned by human rights
organisations globally for its
supply of bulldozers to the
Israeli army, which are used
to demolish Palestinian homes
and kill people.
vehicles with armour plating
and gun mounts and uses
them to continue to entrench
the occupation of Palestinian
land. In 2003, British peace
activist Rachel Corrie was
killed when an Israeli soldier
deliberately ran over her with a
D9 Caterpillar bulldozer while
she peacefully demonstrated
against the demolition of a
Palestinian home.
Local people in Leicester
are outraged by this deal and
believe the reputation of the
Rugby Club will be put in
believe Caterpillar is entering
thedealtorevivetheirtarnished
image. There are numerous
examples of well-publicized
for Caterpillar, including
the Church of England who
disinvested £2.2 million in
Caterpillar due to their supply
of machinery to Israel.
Former US President Jimmy
Carter used his speech at the
annual literary Hay Festival in
Wales in May to highlight the
atrocities being committed by
Israel against the Palestinian
people. He stated that Israel had
about 150 nuclear weapons, a
fact that Israel has never been
monitored for.
Mr Carter described the
events in Gaza and said “one
of the greatest human rights
crimes on earth is the starvation
and imprisonment of 1.6m
by citing statistics which show
that the nutritional intake of
some Palestinian children was
below that of children in Sub-
Saharan Africa. This condition
viability of Palestine, and
is the result of a deliberate
policy to starve the people of
equivalent to that in Europe
and the rest of the developed
world.
The Israeli human rights
group B’Tselem have reported
that despite Israel’s promise to
the US to lift some restrictions
of movement on Palestinians
by dismantling some of the 700
roadblocks and checkpoints
which exist across the occupied
territories, it was all a show and
no such freedoms have been
granted.
The Israeli government
had announced that at the
end of March 2008, the army
began removing 61 physical
obstructions such as dirt piles,
boulders, and blocks, which
it had placed inside the West
Bank. Israel claimed it had
removed these obstructions
following the commitment it
made in March to US Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice,
to reduce restrictions on
Palestinian movement in the
West Bank. However, human
rights groups such as B’Tselem
found that this was far from the
truth.
B’Tselem investigations
revealed that the removal of
roadblockshadbeenashowand
the Israeli army deliberately
staged the removal of some
roadblocks, which did not
actually exist. For example, in
some areas such as Tulkarem,
local residents reported that
obstructions were deliberately
placed on the road by the army,
they were being removed in
a mock dismantling of the
roadblock. Roadblocks and
obstructions which cause real
restriction of movement for
large numbers of Palestinians
were left un-touched.

4. 4
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Nasser Jabber
Since the last edition of Aqsa News
was published, the term ‘misery’ has
taken on a new meaning for Gazans.
Death and destruction has always
been the Israeli way of dealing with
Palestinians, but the depth to which
these crimes against humanity are now
being perpetrated is only equalled by
the appalling nature of the international
silence on the issue.
Palestinians are being killed every
day by bombs, bullets, lack of medical
care,andnow,diseaseandmalnutrition.
But this is not on our TV screens, it is
not marked by mass vigils around the
world, and there is a strange apathy to
the appalling crime. This must come to
an end, and it is our role, as friends of
the Palestinian people in their struggle
for freedom, to bring these atrocities to
the attention of the world.
Below is the narrative of a
Palestinian who has lost everything.
Narratives under Siege
“They came at four in the morning,
with two bulldozers, and they left
before 8am. I own this chicken farm
with my three brothers, and we worked
day and night for eighteen years to
build up our business. The Israelis
destroyed everything in less than four
hours.”
Nasser Jaber’s chicken farm was
bulldozed by the Israeli Occupation
Forces (IOF) in the early morning
hours of May 16, while he was
sleeping at home in Rafah, in the
southern Gaza Strip. He still looks
stunned. Wearily he guides us round
the ruins of his eighteen-year business.
“This was a lifetime project for me and
my brothers” he says as we clamber
over rubble, wire, shattered sheets
of metal and thousands of putrefying
chickens. “I have never belonged to
any political faction, and I have never
been to jail. I don’t know why they
did this.” The farm workers who are
starting to clear some of the rubble are
all wearing facemasks. Forty thousand
dead chickens lie smashed amidst the
rubble and the stench is sickening.
When his workers raised the alarm
that the chicken farm was being
bulldozed, Nasser Jaber didn’t rush
out to the farm, but stayed at home,
left. “It would have been too dangerous
to come to the farm while they were
destroying everything” he says. “This
been here. The [Israeli] border is only
two and a half kilometres away, and
they invade this area every month.
They had already destroyed one of our
walls, and then the water tanks. But
nothing like this.” One section of the
chicken farm, a large barn containing
9,000 chickens, was spared the attack,
though Nasser Jaber says the poultry
are traumatized, and laying few eggs.
The farm used to produce 45,000
eggs a day – now production is down
to 2,000 eggs per day, and Nasser
Jaber is worried the Israelis may return
estimates that between them, he and
his brothers have already lost more
than a million dollars. “I am a peaceful
farmer” he says. “But they destroy our
homes, our land - everything.”
Abdul Halim Abu Samra, Head
of Public Relations at the nearby
Khan Yunis branch of the Palestinian
Centre for Human Rights, says the
IOF is systematically destroying farm
land in the Gaza Strip, especially
in border areas. “We have good
fertile agricultural land in Gaza, but
Palestinian farmers have been driven
off their land in these border areas by
intimidation and attacks like this. The
land is now almost empty a kilometre
before the eastern border, because it is
too dangerous for people to live and
work there.”
As we drive north east towards Sofa
between Gaza and Israel) we see very
few people, only an occasional elderly
man leading a donkey and cart. These
rural eastern border areas of the Gaza
Strip are emptying, because farmers,
many of whom have farmed here for
generations, are now too frightened
to live and work on their own land.
is just forty kilometres long and ten
kilometres wide, are being shrunk even
further by relentless Israeli invasions.
The deliberate destruction of
civilian property is illegal under
international human rights law and
humanitarian law, including the
Fourth Geneva Convention (articles
33 and 53). Since the beginning of the
second Intifada in September 2000,
the deliberate destruction of more than
40,000 donums (Adonum is equivalent
to 1,000 square metres) of agricultural
land in the Gaza Strip has been
documented. This year alone, almost
3,000 donums of agricultural land
around Rafah and Khan Yunis have
been destroyed by the Israeli military,
ruiningvegetableallotmentsandfamily
owned farms, and contributing to the
devastating economic destruction of
the Gaza Strip.
Fifteen kilometers away from the
remainsofNasserJaber’schickenfarm,
Mohammed Hamdan Abu Daggah
stands amidst the ruins of his cement
factory, which lies four kilometers
from Sofa Crossing, and was bulldozed
by the IOF on May 24. “I started this
business in January 2007” he says.
“My family invested everything in this
factory. We managed to import good
equipment under license, and we had
lots of work from local clients, and
the United Nations here in Gaza. But
the Israelis arrived in three bulldozers,
and they tore up everything.” Abu
Daggah’s factory was employing forty
local men who now have no jobs. Like
Nasser Jaber, Abu Daggah says he has
no idea why his business was targeted.
“I have never been in any trouble and
have never been arrested. They had
absolutely no reason to do this – but
now we have nothing left, except
heavy debts that we cannot afford to
pay.”

5. 5
i i iHow Palestinian children really learn
By Carol Scheller.
First published in The Electronic Intifada, April 2008
On 22 March, The Miami Herald published an article
entitled “Dreaming of a peaceful Mideast.” The initial
reaction to such a headline is naturally one of pleased interest.
Reporter Frida Ghitis praises the Israel/Palestine Centre for
Research and Information for “working to create” a “culture
of peace” in order to “put a stop to incitement and hatred.”
However, Ghitis goes on to state: “It is absolutely imperative
to recast the poisonous message drilled into Palestinian
children. In Gaza, in particular, even the youngest children
are taught that killing Jews is a duty of Muslims ...”
This is the stuff of much sensationalist, biased journalism
which does its best to neutralize all genuine attempts to foster
trust and cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis.
Having visited and lived in Gaza four times since a month
before the beginning of the second intifada and known
many families and children there, I was deeply dismayed.
It is a common mistake to hold religion as the core issue
incorrect and harmful. The issue is territorial: two peoples
lay claim to the same land, land which they are going to have
to somehow share, someday, no matter what form of religion
they happen to profess, if they indeed practice a religion.
Ghitis’s statement is empty of everything except the very
things she criticizes: “incitement and hatred.”
arbitrary injury or death from the air and the surrounding
army. Gaza children can identify all sorts of munitions they
scavenge after attacks. They know the names of all the
different kinds of Israeli aircraft and can identify them by
their sound. Thousands of children have lost their homes
to demolition by the Israeli army. Some children have had
the terrifying experience of seeing their homes occupied
and used by Israeli soldiers who crowd the family into
one room preventing them even from using the bathroom.
Some children can tell you about the sonic booms
caused by Israeli warplanes for the sole cruel purpose
of frightening and disorienting civilians: their force has
even knocked children out of their beds and broken their
bones. The children can tell you about the massacre of
an entire family in Beit Hanoun in November 2006 and
Just going to school is a major act of courage and in
school, children lack the basic necessities: books and paper,
to start with, because (and this the children can tell you),
the Israeli authorities will not permit their importation.
Worse, many children can no longer go to school at all,
as their families cannot afford to pay for their transport,
uniforms or even pencils. Despite this, the main message
in school in Gaza, as in many schools the world over, is
that if you want to succeed, you need to get good grades.
The children know that their big brothers and sisters can
no longer hope to travel abroad to complete their education
because Israel will not permit them to leave. A young man
I know who graduated brilliantly from secondary school in
June has shelved his dreams of studying medicine abroad,
like some of his aunts and uncles. He is now studying to
be a pharmacist, well aware that at the moment, thanks to
the Israeli blockade, most of the products he might someday
want to offer to clients are unavailable.
Ever so many children in Gaza know that their fathers
no longer have jobs because the border is closed, and they
cannot go to Israel to earn a living.
A lot of joy has gone out of family life. Children know
that there is no gas for cars or trucks or ambulances and
that they must often go without electricity (no television,
no clean clothes) because Israel has decided this. Many
of the things children like to eat have also disappeared.
All the children in Gaza can tell you how their elders
are worried, terribly worried, especially about them and
their future. The children hate this situation. They do not
understand it. They think it is unfair. They ask why. Children
in Gaza indeed dream of “a peaceful Mideast.”
It is their deepest wish, as it is the deepest desire of Israeli
children and their parents, especially those now suffering
from Qassam rockets.
The Muslim and Christian families and the families who go
to neither mosque nor church who I know in Gaza teach their
children to live correctly, respecting themselves and others.
TheydonotneedtosayanythingaboutIsrael:theactionsofits
armyandauthoritiesdominateeverysingleaspectoflifeinGaza.
Parents in Gaza tell their children that they hope things will
get better. They tell them to work hard in school and to be
patient.
But what does the Israeli army teach the children?
Children listen to adults, but then they observe and form
their own opinions on the world.
Ghitis’s article is a prime example of intentionally
slanted reporting which needs to be criticized and corrected.
Her references to “peace” cannot mask the fact that she is
appealing to basic fears and prejudices that only reinforce
negative, false stereotypes guaranteed to stalemate any
progress in dialogue between Israelis (many of whom, we
should remind Ghitis, are not Jewish) and Palestinians.
Carol Scheller, a retired public school teacher, lives in
Geneva, Switzerland.
The Palestinian Nakba,
A 60 Year Catastrophe
With guests: Dr Azzam Tamimi, Dr Ilan
Pappe, Nur Masalha and Dr Eugene
Rogan
A Conference to be held
at IslamExpo 2008
Saturday 12 July 2008
Time: 2.45pm – 4.00pm
Venue: Olympia, Hammersmith Road,
London, W14 8UX

6. C O M P E T I T I O N
Enter the competition for your
chance to win a £20 Argos voucher
and a Friends of Al-Aqsa goody
bag!!! There will be one winner per
competition.
13 years old or under???
the wordsearch below?
Musa, God, Destroy, Children, Nile,
Royal, Pharaoh, Queen, Palestine.
14-18 years old???
Can you re-arrange the letters below
1.sinay
2.uusfy
3.uunsy
4.damaih
5.aammyr
6.klum
7.afhk
8.isan
9.quranf
10.saadj
Deadline for both
competitions:
31st July 2008
Send your answers with your
name, age and address to:
Friends of Al-Aqsa, PO Box
5127, Leicester, LE2 0WU.
Or email us on
info@aqsa.org
Winners of the last
competition:
Anieka Hanif,
age 13 from Bradford.
Haleema Sadia,
age 18 from Manchester.
Order your free copies of these posters from Friends of Al-
Aqsa today.
These handy posters can be displayed anywhere
including at home or in the office. The Shrinking Map
tells the story of Palestine; the Wall poster shows how
Palestinians are being caged in; and the Boycott poster
is a great reminder of which companies to boycott.
To order your copies, email us at info@aqsa.org.uk with
your details and specify how many posters you require.
Fun & Games
6

7. 7
The UN issued a report at the
end of April 2008 summarising
the catastrophic conditions
details of the humanitarian
catastrophe, and included the
following:
Due to lack of fuel, the UN
Refugees Agency (‘UNRWA’)
was forced to suspend its
food distribution to 650,000
Palestinians between April 25
and 29.
110,000 children in UNRWA
schools suffer from lack of food
due to inadequate supplies of
fuel to transport food from the
crossings to the warehouses,
packing centres, distribution
centres, or schools.
Record price increases for
produce have been noticed.
Over 70 per cent of Gaza’s
agricultural wells rely on
diesel to power water pumps,
and lack of fuel means farmers
have stopped watering their
crops.
Out of Gaza’s 16 institutions
caring for the disables, 11 had
either no cooking gas or stocks
for up to one week.
Food assistance cost
UNRWA less than 8 USD per
person in 2004, but costs 20
USD now.
Fuel shortages have led to
four major hospitals in Gaza
suspending all elective surgical
operations in the last two weeks
of April.
162 patients are currently
under treatment at Intensive
Care Units, Cardiac Care Units
and Special Care Baby Units
in Gaza hospitals and a total
of 412 patients are receiving
dialysis treatment. If there is
no electrical supply and fuel
for emergency generators,
these patients cannot continue
receiving treatment.
1,077 patients applied
for permits to cross the
Erez crossing for medical
treatment in April. 54 had their
applications denied and 314
were still awaiting approval. 54
patients who were scheduled
to travel to Jordan and Egypt
for treatment were denied
permission to leave Gaza on
15, 16 and 17 April.
30% of Gazans have access
to running water for four to
eight hours once every week;
40% once every four days and
30% once every two days. The
Coastal Municipalities Water
Utility (CMWU) has no fuel
to power generators to pump
sewage or fresh water. They
received no fuel in April.
As a result of the lack of
fuel, 150,000 people do not
have regular access to drinking
water in Gaza City and the
central Gaza Strip.
Approximately 80 million
litres of raw and partially
treated sewage is dumped into
the Mediterranean Sea every
day as there is not enough fuel
Camp, Sheikh Redwan, and
Gaza City during times of
power cuts and is pumped
out when the electrical supply
resumes. This leaves a large
surface area of sewage and
sludge in densely populated
residential areas at all times.
Ascoolah pumping station in
the Zeitoun area of Gaza City
groves and streets.
Rubbish collection has been
paralysed by the fuel shortage
and rubbish all over Gaza has
been collected by animal carts
during April. The collected
rubbish has been dumped
at transfer stations but often
sites due to the lack of fuel.
The population in Gaza
is also suffering from the
psychological effects of the
siege. The Main symptoms of
those who received individual
counselling by the Palestinian
Centre for Democracy and
were: fears (40%), behavioural
disorders (26%), psychosocial
disorders (50%) and speech
Do something today…
The supermarket giant Tesco is stocking herbs produced on
illegal Israeli settlements and labelling them as ‘Produce of the
West Bank’.
Tesco is stocking herbs such as Mint, Sage, Tarragon and Basil
in boxes which are labelled with ‘Produce of the West Bank’.
Most customers would assume that these originate in Palestinian
farms, but queries with Tesco have revealed that they are actually
the produce of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Please make a complaint (or several) to Tesco and strongly
criticise their decision to stock produce from illegal settlements,
especially as Palestinian farmers are denied even basic freedoms
of exporting their produce to the international market. In
addition, this labelling is deliberately misleading and needs to be
stopped immediately.
Tesco Customer Services
Freepost SCO2298
Dundee DD1 9NF
Telephone: 0800 505555
Email: customer.service@tesco.co.uk
Make your case and force Tesco to take responsibility and act
ethically by ceasing to stock products from illegal entities.

8. Israel has continued to use
heavy weaponry in densely
populated urban areas of the
Gaza Strip causing a large
number of deaths and injuries
among Palestinian civilians.
Since January 2008, 420
Gazans have been killed
by the Occupation Forces,
including 62 children and 16
women. In May 2008 alone,
77 Palestinians were killed
including 20 children.
The attacks against civilians
are disproportionate to the
threat, and many family’s
have been torn apart by such
random violent attacks. On
7 May, during an incursion
into the New Abasan district,
Occupation Forces raided the
home of Majdi Abd al-Raziq
al-Daghma. They blew up the
front door and the force of the
blast killed Wafa in view of her
three children. For six and a
half hours after her death, her
children, who included a two
one room of the house.
Other killings included
17 year old Hamdi Salemeh
Khader, who was riding his
bicycle 500 meters away from
troops when he was shot twice
He died instantly. There are
numerous witness testimonies
suggesting the Occupation
In addition to the deaths
and injury, since January
2008, the Occupation Forces
also detained 127 Palestinians
during 30 incursions into
the Gaza Strip. 17 of these
individualsremainindetention.
The physical destruction of
land and property has also
continued, and 372 dunams of
agricultural land was razed and
15 homes destroyed. Israel’s
actions in Gaza seem intent
on destroying the will of the
people and reach new levels of
inhumanity with each passing
day. The population of Gaza
has shown amazing resilience
despite extreme conditions.
Indiscriminate killing in the Gaza Strip
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