When the IDF and Shin bet are not killing journalists outright here is how they are treated:
Israelis Assault Award Winning IPS Journalist
by Mel Frykberg
GAZA CITY – Mohammed Omer, the Gaza correspondent of IPS, and joint winner of the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, was strip-searched at gunpoint, assaulted and abused by Israeli security officials at the Allenby border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank on Thursday as he tried to return home to Gaza.
Omer, snip was returning from London where he had just collected his Gellhorn Prize, and from several European capitals where he had speaking engagements, including a meeting with Greek parliamentarians.
Omer’s trip was sponsored by The Washington Report, and the Dutch embassy in Tel Aviv was responsible for coordinating Omer’s travel plans and his security permit to leave Gaza with Israeli officials.
After being unable to produce the prize money, he was ordered to strip naked.
“At first I refused but then I had an M16 (gun) pointed in my face and my clothes were forcibly removed, even my underwear,” Omer said.
At this point Omer broke down and pleaded for an end to such treatment. He said he was told, “you haven’t seen anything yet.” Every cavity of his body was searched as one of the investigators pinned him down on the floor, placing his boot on Omer’s neck. Omer began vomiting, and fainted.
When he came round his eyelids were being forcibly opened and his eardrums probed by an Israeli military doctor, who was also armed. He was then dragged along the floor by his feet by the Shin Bet officials, with his head repeatedly banging on the floor, to a Palestinian ambulance which had been called.
“I eventually woke up in a Palestinian hospital with the doctors trying to reassure me,” Omer told IPS.
snip“I’m not aware of the events that followed his detention, and we are not responsible for the behaviour of the Shin Bet.”
In the meantime, Omer is still traumatised and in pain. “I’m struggling to breathe and have pain in my head and stomach and will be going back to hospital for further medical examinations,” he said.
If a well known person gets treated like this can you imagine how normal Palestinians get treated?
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The emotion in Andreas Van Agt‘s voice as he lambastes Israel’s behavior seems puzzling for a man of his status. It is especially intriguing when one is reminded that this blue-eyed professed idealist is an astute statesman who presided as the Dutch prime minister for five years, until 1982.
Last year, Van Agt spoke as keynote speaker at a controversial solidarity rally with the Palestinian people in Rotterdam, where he lamented the Dutch boycott of Hamas, calling it wrong “and even stupid.” He has also been outspoken in accusing the Israel Defense Forces of acting like a terrorist organization.
Van Agt hails from the ranks of the ruling party, the Christian Democratic Appeal. Such statements about Israel can therefore be seen as embarrassing for the current leadership, which is considered one of Israel’s staunchest supporters in the European Union.
While in power … I never spoke up for the Palestinians, except for when Sabra and Shatila happened. And even that was in soft terms.”
Van Agt says he is still “ashamed” that he made effort to sooth matters for Israel after the 1982 massacre of hundreds of Palestinian refugees by Lebanese Christian militiamen in an IDF-controlled area of Lebanon. “That was my inclination, that was how I was mentally structured vis-à-vis Israel at the time.”
In Van Agt’s eyes, Israel “is not behaving like a country that deserves to be called a member of the family of civilized nations.” This observation applies to the U.S. too, he says, “which is co-responsible for the injustice we have been facing for decades.”
According to Van Agt, Israel is making frequent and excessive use of deadly force against the Palestinians. This accusation has been seen as hypocritical of Van Agt by some pro-Zionist detractors in the Netherlands, most notably by the Hague-based Center for Information and Documentation (CIDI).
Website Van Agt on Palestinian Issue
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.".
Washington Report [pdf] correspondent Mohammed Omer, 24, was the youngest person to be awarded this prestigious prize. The Israeli government tried to prevent Mohammed Omer, who lives in the Rafah refugee camp, from leaving Gaza. Eventually, under international pressure, he was able to leave and give a powerful and eloquent acceptance speech, which can be viewed at: http://www.humanrightstv.com/episode/469
The Israel army demolished Mohammed Omer’s family home, along with many other Palestinian homes in Yibna, to make way for the separation wall it was building in the early 2000s.
I’m Mohammed, a student and I live in Rafah
Dutch politician angry at Israel, demands explanation
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."And where are all the democratic Israeli apologists to defend this action??
Post this on Daily Kos, I’m sure you can get a few to pop up and wail about how we’re all Nazis for wanting to prevent the poor, helpless Israelis from defending themselves against a naked man.
I was banned for posting too many diaries critical of Israel…of course they used a different excuse.
I can’t I was banned.
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My itinerary consisted of 15 presentations in 18 days, including speaking before the Dutch parliament, youth political organizations, Groningen University’s journalism students, an engagement in Amsterdam hosted by Jewish Voices for Peace, and several media appearances, including one on NOVA TV. Holland is somewhat smaller than the United States, where distant engagements could only be reached by plane. Here, trains and public transportation allowed me to experience more of the culture, lifestyle and landscape, which I appreciated and found far less stressful.
My presentation, entitled “Welcome to Hell,” had expanded from the one I gave on my U.S. tour to include events of the past six months. As Robert Fisk commented in a radio interview last year, “I used to consider it a privilege to witness history. I realize now it is a curse.” Telling the story of Gaza and the Palestinians exhausts me. It is full of depression, sadism, horror, injustice and shock; yet, when I think I cannot continue, my duty to the millions who cannot speak propels me. The West must know the truth; only then can decent men and women cut through the propaganda and begin seeking just solutions.
Hospital Cancer Treatment in Exchange for Collaboration
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."And they are now going to demolish his family’s home. And cut off aid.
Israel violated the Gaza truce first…again
Errant?
Shooting senior citizens is a popular pastime for the IDF. Heathlander has links to the treatment of detainees by the IDF.
Mattes the torture of Omer is pure Gestapo that poor man. Its out of control.
I suspect it’s been out of control for DECADES. But with the internet and Israeli newspapers we are finally hearing about it. This is the largest crime of the second half of this century.
We just increased their welfare check while American families are lining up at food banks and losing their homes.