Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Update - The Al-Rahma Bakery is raided and gutted


At 1 am in the morning of today, 15 of April, the Israeli Military raided the Al-Rahma Bakery at Nimra area. They broke the main door open, confiscating everything they could carry. The confiscated material included: fridges, a computer, trays, shelves, mixers, plastic sacks, chairs, desks, cash machines, electronic scales....
When they failed to get the big electric oven out, they wrecked it completely. The estimated loss of this raid is around $56,000. This is the second bakery that was raided within a month. These bakeries provided bread for orphans and their families on regular basis.

Hunkering down in Hebron

Shopkeeper vows to stay put after Israel moves to evict tenants of mall it says is linked to Hamas
Mar 24, 2008 04:30 AM
OAKLAND ROSS
MIDDLE EAST BUREAU


HEBRON, West Bank–Leana Karaki says she won't go.
Owner of the Pretty Woman dress shop – a stylish, two-storey clothing emporium on King Faisal St. in the West Bank city of Hebron – Karaki has been ordered by the Israeli armed forces to empty her store and vacate the premises by April 1 or risk five years' imprisonment.
Her crime? The Palestinian businesswoman happens to rent her retail space from the Islamic Charitable Society of Hebron, a children's aid agency Israel accuses of acting as a front for the militant Islamist organization Hamas, a charge the charity's officials vehemently deny.
But their denials have fallen on deaf Israeli ears, and so a lot of innocent people are about to be punished for circumstances beyond their control.
"I didn't do anything," Karaki says. "I have nothing to do with it. Where do I go?"
There is no easy answer to her question. But go, she must – along with the other law-abiding tenants of Hebron's Al-Huda shopping and office complex, including a dentist, a chiropractor, a cardiologist, a coffee shop, a textile store, and a 19,000-volume children's library – and that is only the beginning.
In late February and again early this month, Israeli soldiers descended upon this Palestinian city, welding shut the gates of a private school now under construction, closing two bakeries and handing eviction notices to an array of offices and retail outlets – all the property of a 46-year-old charitable organization that runs schools, clinics, and orphanages for more than 5,000 needy or imperilled youngsters in and around Hebron.
The Israelis gave Karaki and the other tenants at the Al-Huda Mall a little more than 30 days to clear out.
Then, on March 5 just before midnight, the IDF raided a warehouse in the Al-Harayek area of southern Hebron, a facility the charity uses to store food and other goods needed for the children in its care.
During the following nine hours, according to Abd Al-Kareem Farah, legal representative of the Islamic charity, the Israeli soldiers gutted the warehouse, removing banks of industrial refrigerators and freezers, along with clothing, books, shoes, and cleaning supplies.
He values the seized property at more than $200,000.
Last Friday, the warehouse remained empty.
"I wonder if those soldiers didn't feel ashamed of themselves, taking the food of those children," says Farah, an amiable young lawyer who has represented the charity's legal interests for the past 10 years. "This organization has earned the respect and support of the city."
Maybe so, but Karaki is facing financial hardship all the same – and she is far from alone.
Karaki has just eight days to move her livelihood, her inventory, and her 15 employees somewhere else.
The high-spirited businesswoman is beside herself.
A year ago, she invested a small fortune to renovate her store.
The improvements included the installation of green marble floors, limestone wall tiles, and two spiral staircases, plus the construction of an overhead bridge to connect the business physically with the next-door Mama Care children's clothing shop, which she also owns.
Now Karaki is being ordered to forfeit all this because the Israeli military doesn't like her landlord.
"You think this is a reason to close a place?" she asks. "I'm not going. I don't know where to go. Maybe the sea."
Upstairs, Dr. Waddah Ashhab, a cardiologist, finds himself in the same dilemma.
"I don't know what to do, to be honest," says the British-trained heart specialist, who has operated an outpatient clinic in this mall for the past eight years. He treats between 10 and 15 patients a day.
Founded in 1962, when Hebron and the rest of the West Bank were under Jordanian rule, the Islamic Charitable Society has grown steadily ever since.
The agency, whose existence predates Hamas by 26 years, offers full-time shelter to 300 orphans, while providing schooling, meals, medical care, and other assistance to several thousand other distressed children.
This is not the way the IDF views the organization's activities.
"All of the foundation's resources are devoted to funding Hamas and Hamas' grip on the region ... and to strengthening the terrorist network in order to target Israel," according to the Israel Defense Forces press office. "The Islamic Charity (Society) has, among other things, delivered money to Hamas terrorist operatives and their families, trained youths based on jihad principles, supported the families of suicide bombers and incarcerated terrorists, and spread Hamas principles amongst the Palestinian population."
But Farah denies any formal connection between the charity and Hamas, although he freely admits some of its 550 employees may well support, or even belong to the militant organization that holds power in the Gaza Strip and that won the votes of more than half the Palestinian adult population in elections two years ago.
About 25 per cent of the charity's funding is raised from local sources, he says. The rest comes from private philanthropic organizations in North America, Europe, or the Middle East, all of which he says are legally registered in their countries.
In 2005, the organization completed construction of a boys' dormitory in western Hebron that cost $1.5 million. Meanwhile, a $1 million school with space for 1,200 students is nearing completion in southern Hebron.
These two projects alone represent $2.5 million in recent discretionary investment that could in theory have been diverted to Hamas, but wasn't.
"The people who are running this institution are honest volunteers," says Farah.
Unfortunately, they not infrequently wind up in Israeli prisons, after being convicted in Israeli military courts of being tied to an organization Israel deems a supporter of terrorism.
"There are 25 people in jail, as we speak," says Farah.
They at least were formally associated with the charity, even if they may have been innocent of any other wrongdoing.
Leana Karaki, however, is guilty only of paying her rent on time.
"I am not Fatah and I am not Hamas," she says. "I am just a woman who wants success and a good reputation."

Hunkering down in Hebron

Shopkeeper vows to stay put after Israel moves to evict tenants of mall it says is linked to Hamas
Mar 24, 2008 04:30 AM
OAKLAND ROSS
MIDDLE EAST BUREAU


HEBRON, West Bank–Leana Karaki says she won't go.
Owner of the Pretty Woman dress shop – a stylish, two-storey clothing emporium on King Faisal St. in the West Bank city of Hebron – Karaki has been ordered by the Israeli armed forces to empty her store and vacate the premises by April 1 or risk five years' imprisonment.
Her crime? The Palestinian businesswoman happens to rent her retail space from the Islamic Charitable Society of Hebron, a children's aid agency Israel accuses of acting as a front for the militant Islamist organization Hamas, a charge the charity's officials vehemently deny.
But their denials have fallen on deaf Israeli ears, and so a lot of innocent people are about to be punished for circumstances beyond their control.
"I didn't do anything," Karaki says. "I have nothing to do with it. Where do I go?"
There is no easy answer to her question. But go, she must – along with the other law-abiding tenants of Hebron's Al-Huda shopping and office complex, including a dentist, a chiropractor, a cardiologist, a coffee shop, a textile store, and a 19,000-volume children's library – and that is only the beginning.
In late February and again early this month, Israeli soldiers descended upon this Palestinian city, welding shut the gates of a private school now under construction, closing two bakeries and handing eviction notices to an array of offices and retail outlets – all the property of a 46-year-old charitable organization that runs schools, clinics, and orphanages for more than 5,000 needy or imperilled youngsters in and around Hebron.
The Israelis gave Karaki and the other tenants at the Al-Huda Mall a little more than 30 days to clear out.
Then, on March 5 just before midnight, the IDF raided a warehouse in the Al-Harayek area of southern Hebron, a facility the charity uses to store food and other goods needed for the children in its care.
During the following nine hours, according to Abd Al-Kareem Farah, legal representative of the Islamic charity, the Israeli soldiers gutted the warehouse, removing banks of industrial refrigerators and freezers, along with clothing, books, shoes, and cleaning supplies.
He values the seized property at more than $200,000.
Last Friday, the warehouse remained empty.
"I wonder if those soldiers didn't feel ashamed of themselves, taking the food of those children," says Farah, an amiable young lawyer who has represented the charity's legal interests for the past 10 years. "This organization has earned the respect and support of the city."
Maybe so, but Karaki is facing financial hardship all the same – and she is far from alone.
Karaki has just eight days to move her livelihood, her inventory, and her 15 employees somewhere else.
The high-spirited businesswoman is beside herself.
A year ago, she invested a small fortune to renovate her store.
The improvements included the installation of green marble floors, limestone wall tiles, and two spiral staircases, plus the construction of an overhead bridge to connect the business physically with the next-door Mama Care children's clothing shop, which she also owns.
Now Karaki is being ordered to forfeit all this because the Israeli military doesn't like her landlord.
"You think this is a reason to close a place?" she asks. "I'm not going. I don't know where to go. Maybe the sea."
Upstairs, Dr. Waddah Ashhab, a cardiologist, finds himself in the same dilemma.
"I don't know what to do, to be honest," says the British-trained heart specialist, who has operated an outpatient clinic in this mall for the past eight years. He treats between 10 and 15 patients a day.
Founded in 1962, when Hebron and the rest of the West Bank were under Jordanian rule, the Islamic Charitable Society has grown steadily ever since.
The agency, whose existence predates Hamas by 26 years, offers full-time shelter to 300 orphans, while providing schooling, meals, medical care, and other assistance to several thousand other distressed children.
This is not the way the IDF views the organization's activities.
"All of the foundation's resources are devoted to funding Hamas and Hamas' grip on the region ... and to strengthening the terrorist network in order to target Israel," according to the Israel Defense Forces press office. "The Islamic Charity (Society) has, among other things, delivered money to Hamas terrorist operatives and their families, trained youths based on jihad principles, supported the families of suicide bombers and incarcerated terrorists, and spread Hamas principles amongst the Palestinian population."
But Farah denies any formal connection between the charity and Hamas, although he freely admits some of its 550 employees may well support, or even belong to the militant organization that holds power in the Gaza Strip and that won the votes of more than half the Palestinian adult population in elections two years ago.
About 25 per cent of the charity's funding is raised from local sources, he says. The rest comes from private philanthropic organizations in North America, Europe, or the Middle East, all of which he says are legally registered in their countries.
In 2005, the organization completed construction of a boys' dormitory in western Hebron that cost $1.5 million. Meanwhile, a $1 million school with space for 1,200 students is nearing completion in southern Hebron.
These two projects alone represent $2.5 million in recent discretionary investment that could in theory have been diverted to Hamas, but wasn't.
"The people who are running this institution are honest volunteers," says Farah.
Unfortunately, they not infrequently wind up in Israeli prisons, after being convicted in Israeli military courts of being tied to an organization Israel deems a supporter of terrorism.
"There are 25 people in jail, as we speak," says Farah.
They at least were formally associated with the charity, even if they may have been innocent of any other wrongdoing.
Leana Karaki, however, is guilty only of paying her rent on time.
"I am not Fatah and I am not Hamas," she says. "I am just a woman who wants success and a good reputation."

Hunkering down in Hebron

Thousands of Palestinian orphans protest Israeli army looting of their

March 13, 2008 at 8:36 am
Khalid Amayreh in Hebron



Thousands of Palestinian orphans on Tuesday took to the streets in this
southern West Bank town to protest recent raids by the Israeli
occupation army of their orphanages and boarding schools.
Hundreds of Israeli troops, backed up by armored carriers, raided the
Islamic Charitable Society in downtown Hebron earlier this week ,
vandalizing property and looting hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth
of food materials, clothes, shoes and furniture donated by local and
foreign donors for the benefit of the orphans.
The charitable society, the largest in Palestine, runs two orphanages
and several boarding schools, which cater for as many as 7000 children
who have lost either or both parents.
“Israel is treating us the way Nazi Germany treated the Jews,’ read one
of the placards carried by the protesters. “Israel represents the Nazis
of our time,” read another sign. A third placard read “We shall triumph.”
Demonstrators marched nearly one kilometer through the Ein Sara street,
one of the Hebron’s main thoroughfares, as Palestinian police escorted them.
One of the protesters, Ahmed Natshe, accused Israel of wanting to
“annihilate Muslims”
“Israel seeks to justifies these criminal onslaughts on Palestinian
orphans by citing alleged links with Hamas. However, Israel has utterly
failed to present any credible evidence to corroborate these baseless
allegations. Israel is acting as judge and plaintiff and policeman
combined.”
Natshe said he was sure “a thousand per cent” that the charitable
society has “totally and absolutely” no connections with Hamas or any
other Palestinian political party.
“They are not stupid. They knew from the very beginning that connections
with Hamas would get them in trouble. Hence, they meticulously made sure
that no such connections existed.”
Asked why the charity wouldn’t challenge the Israeli army in court,
Natshe said “ are you serious? It is pointless to appeal to a Zionist
court if one is not Jewish.”
“Non-Jews cannot receive justice at a Zionist court. Besides, the entire
Israeli justice system is subservient to the Israeli military
establishment, which means that Palestinians are guilty even if proven
innocent.”
On 6 March, Israeli army troops stormed buildings containing food and
clothes inventories, looting large amounts of frozen food, dairy
products, clothes and shoes as well as refrigerators and kitchen
appliances, local officials and eyewitnesses said.
The looted material were to be used to feed and cloth the orphans.
Ahmed Farrah, a charity official, denied vehemently Israeli insinuations
that the charity was run by Hamas.
“We are a charitable society. We have nothing to do with politics. We
have been functioning since 1964, before the Israeli occupation, and the
Israeli army and intelligence services investigated us numerous times
and they never found any evidence suggesting any illegal activities.
“So, the real reason for this hateful campaign is that they want to
torment us and weaken the Palestinian society. I think it is an
expression of hatred toward Islam and Muslims. Israel today spearheads
an ugly war against our religion.”
Last month, the Israeli army stormed and took over several buildings and
businesses and other premises owned by the Islamic Charitable Society in
the Hebron region.
The army confiscated property, including an orphanage, two schools, a
supermarket and several multi-story buildings as well as four buses.
The army brought in huge trucks for moving the looted materials,
including computers, cabinets, chairs, kitchen appliances and teaching
aids to a nearby army base.
One female student taking part in the demonstration on Tuesday , who
speaks English fluently, accused the state of Israel of “conducting
itself in a barbarian manner.”
“Who but barbarians would storm orphanages and steal donated food for
the orphans? This is a question I put to Jews who have conscience and
morality.”
Hejazi al Jabari, a civic leader in Hebron, told protesters he hoped
that “your ordeal will be resolved very soon.”
“We are making contacts with government and organizations inside and
outside Palestine. We hope to be able to exert sufficient pressure on
the Israeli government to cancel these barbaric measures.”
Al-Jabari described Israeli charges that the charitable society was
linked to the Hamas organizations as “sheer lies from A to Z.”
“We challenge the Israeli government to produce an iota of evidence
proving their charges.”
One local writer and poet accused the Palestinian Authority of Ramallah
of “conniving and coordinating with Israel to close the orphanages and
boarding schools.”
“I have no doubt that (PA interior minister) Abdul Razzak al Yahya is
behind all of this,” said the man who asked for anonymity.
“They are acting like quislings for Israel. Otherwise why are they
silent while 7000 orphans are being dumped onto the streets?”

http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/palestinian-orphans-protest-after-their-facilities-are-raided-

Thousands of Palestinian orphans protest Israeli army looting of their

March 13, 2008 at 8:36 am
Khalid Amayreh in Hebron



Thousands of Palestinian orphans on Tuesday took to the streets in this
southern West Bank town to protest recent raids by the Israeli
occupation army of their orphanages and boarding schools.
Hundreds of Israeli troops, backed up by armored carriers, raided the
Islamic Charitable Society in downtown Hebron earlier this week ,
vandalizing property and looting hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth
of food materials, clothes, shoes and furniture donated by local and
foreign donors for the benefit of the orphans.
The charitable society, the largest in Palestine, runs two orphanages
and several boarding schools, which cater for as many as 7000 children
who have lost either or both parents.
“Israel is treating us the way Nazi Germany treated the Jews,’ read one
of the placards carried by the protesters. “Israel represents the Nazis
of our time,” read another sign. A third placard read “We shall triumph.”
Demonstrators marched nearly one kilometer through the Ein Sara street,
one of the Hebron’s main thoroughfares, as Palestinian police escorted them.
One of the protesters, Ahmed Natshe, accused Israel of wanting to
“annihilate Muslims”
“Israel seeks to justifies these criminal onslaughts on Palestinian
orphans by citing alleged links with Hamas. However, Israel has utterly
failed to present any credible evidence to corroborate these baseless
allegations. Israel is acting as judge and plaintiff and policeman
combined.”
Natshe said he was sure “a thousand per cent” that the charitable
society has “totally and absolutely” no connections with Hamas or any
other Palestinian political party.
“They are not stupid. They knew from the very beginning that connections
with Hamas would get them in trouble. Hence, they meticulously made sure
that no such connections existed.”
Asked why the charity wouldn’t challenge the Israeli army in court,
Natshe said “ are you serious? It is pointless to appeal to a Zionist
court if one is not Jewish.”
“Non-Jews cannot receive justice at a Zionist court. Besides, the entire
Israeli justice system is subservient to the Israeli military
establishment, which means that Palestinians are guilty even if proven
innocent.”
On 6 March, Israeli army troops stormed buildings containing food and
clothes inventories, looting large amounts of frozen food, dairy
products, clothes and shoes as well as refrigerators and kitchen
appliances, local officials and eyewitnesses said.
The looted material were to be used to feed and cloth the orphans.
Ahmed Farrah, a charity official, denied vehemently Israeli insinuations
that the charity was run by Hamas.
“We are a charitable society. We have nothing to do with politics. We
have been functioning since 1964, before the Israeli occupation, and the
Israeli army and intelligence services investigated us numerous times
and they never found any evidence suggesting any illegal activities.
“So, the real reason for this hateful campaign is that they want to
torment us and weaken the Palestinian society. I think it is an
expression of hatred toward Islam and Muslims. Israel today spearheads
an ugly war against our religion.”
Last month, the Israeli army stormed and took over several buildings and
businesses and other premises owned by the Islamic Charitable Society in
the Hebron region.
The army confiscated property, including an orphanage, two schools, a
supermarket and several multi-story buildings as well as four buses.
The army brought in huge trucks for moving the looted materials,
including computers, cabinets, chairs, kitchen appliances and teaching
aids to a nearby army base.
One female student taking part in the demonstration on Tuesday , who
speaks English fluently, accused the state of Israel of “conducting
itself in a barbarian manner.”
“Who but barbarians would storm orphanages and steal donated food for
the orphans? This is a question I put to Jews who have conscience and
morality.”
Hejazi al Jabari, a civic leader in Hebron, told protesters he hoped
that “your ordeal will be resolved very soon.”
“We are making contacts with government and organizations inside and
outside Palestine. We hope to be able to exert sufficient pressure on
the Israeli government to cancel these barbaric measures.”
Al-Jabari described Israeli charges that the charitable society was
linked to the Hamas organizations as “sheer lies from A to Z.”
“We challenge the Israeli government to produce an iota of evidence
proving their charges.”
One local writer and poet accused the Palestinian Authority of Ramallah
of “conniving and coordinating with Israel to close the orphanages and
boarding schools.”
“I have no doubt that (PA interior minister) Abdul Razzak al Yahya is
behind all of this,” said the man who asked for anonymity.
“They are acting like quislings for Israel. Otherwise why are they
silent while 7000 orphans are being dumped onto the streets?”

http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/palestinian-orphans-protest-after-their-facilities-are-raided-

Twilight Zone / When charity ends at home

By Gideon Levy

HAARETZ



The ovens have been brought downstairs, into hiding. The two bagel and cake bakeries have already been closed by army order. The Israel Defense Forces confiscated the ovens in one of them, but the employees in the other bakery managed to rescue and hide theirs. The popular clothing shop Pretty Woman, in the heart of the bustling mall in Hebron, and its neighbor, Mama Care, the high-end shop for baby clothes, are about to close. The same is true of the new and spacious supermarket, the modern physical-therapy institute, the beauty salon, the barbershop and the library: Everything will be closed by order of the GOC Central Command. Local food and clothing warehouses were also emptied out by the IDF last week, with an inventory worth about NIS 750,000, designated for the impressive orphanages of the Islamic Charity Movement. The goods were loaded onto trucks and confiscated.

In the well-kept orphanage we visited this week, the hundreds of children were eating only majadera (a rice-and-lentil dish) and yogurt for lunch: There is no meat, no chicken, no fish; everything has been taken away. The gates of the movement's new school, a handsome stone building designed for 1,200 pupils, have also been welded shut by the IDF.

The army has declared war on the Islamic Charity Movement in Hebron, in the context of the war against Hamas, the war against terror. After emptying the offices of the city's money changers of cash reserves several weeks ago, the next strategic target is the private bakeries and shops in the city, whose owners happen to lease their places of business from the owner of the buildings: the Islamic Charity Movement.



How pathetic is an occupation army that empties out warehouses of food and clothing earmarked for orphans; how absurd is GOC Central Command Major General Gadi Shamni, who signs closure orders for beauty salons and clothing shops; how outrageous is the confiscation of industrial refrigerators in which food for children is kept; how cruel is a military regime that closes libraries used by young people; how ridiculous are the excuses that closing bakeries contributes to the war against terror; how foolish is the battle against dairies whose products are earmarked for these children; and how difficult is the situation of the Israeli occupation in the territories if it must resort to such contemptible activities in order to establish its status.

The Islamic Charity Movement in Hebron was established in 1962, long before the birth of Hamas, shortly before the beginning of the Israeli occupation. Since then the organization has established a ramified network of educational and welfare institutions, and has acquired a great deal of real estate all over the city, with the declared aim of providing assistance to the needy - mainly to local orphans and the children of the poor. The legal adviser of the movement, attorney Abd al-Karim Farah, young and energetic in an elegant suit and a well-kempt beard, who does not hesitate to shake women's hands and is now studying Hebrew at a local ulpan, says that in the early days of the occupation the Military Administration helped and encouraged the activity of the charitable movement. He himself is a product of its institutions.

Today the Islamic Charity Movement cares for 7,000 orphans and children in distress from Hebron and surrounding villages. There are 350 youngsters at its boarding schools and 1,200 pupils attending its three city schools; another six are in outlying towns. The children have lost one or both parents, or come from severely distressed homes. Only a small percentage are children of the fallen. The movement's institutions employ 550 people, assisted by hundreds of volunteers. Their monthly budget is 400,000 Jordanian dinars, over NIS 2 million. Attorney Farah says everything is supervised by accountants and the Palestinian Authority's welfare and education ministries. Also, the curricula in the movement's educational institutions are identical to those of the PA, according to Farah, who emphasizes that "everything is legal."

Most of its budget comes from donations from abroad - from Arab countries, and European and American agencies - but the charitable organization also has quite a number of independent sources of income: from buildings and modern commercial centers all over Hebron that it owns and leases to private tenants and businessmen, two bakeries, a sewing workshop and a dairy, whose products are used by the children in the institutions and are also for sale in the open market. The movement has a board of directors that is elected biannually and was headed by Dr. Adnan Maswadi, an ear, nose and throat specialist, who was recently released from detention in Israel and was forced to resign. About 30 additional employees are presently under arrest for belonging to the organization.

"I would like to emphasize," says Farah, "that our movement has no official connection with Hamas. Perhaps some of our workers belong to Hamas, just as in other institutions such as the municipalities, but there is no formal connection. Nor are there transfers of money to Hamas, as Israel claims. Our financial reports are open and transparent. We are in no way the infrastructure of Hamas."

Since 2002 the IDF has raided the movement's offices many times, confiscating a computer here and taking away files there, detaining employees for investigation, issuing closure orders. But what has happened in recent days is unprecedented. On February 26, the IDF carried out a raid and issued seven closure orders for institutions associated with the movement. Last Friday it also raided its 500-square-meter food and clothing warehouse. Closure orders were also issued against all the stores and commercial centers owned by the movement.

Attorney Farah says he would have been happy had the IDF explained the steps it took, and what is permitted or forbidden in terms of his organization. The movement has already hired the services of Israeli attorney Jawad Bulus, who will appeal to the attorney general on its behalf and try to overturn the evil decree. Researcher Musa Abu-Hashhash has written a report on behalf of the B'Tselem human-rights organization.

Meanwhile, we go on a tour of Hebron accompanied by Farah, to see the results of the war the GOC Central Command has launched against Hamas.

First stop is the Mercy Bakery, a shop and a gallery, which makes savory and sweet confections. A paper declaring "Confiscation order and closure" is pasted on the display window, in Hebrew, signed by GOC Shamni. "In the context of my authority," etc.; there are still bagels for sale. The bakery's staff was told that until April 1 they are allowed to sell them, although Shamni's order went into effect in February - for three years. Why for three years? Perhaps then the movement will change its ways. Three years with education, but without food. To be on the safe side, the bakers took the forbidden ovens away from here in time. Two sacks of white flour donated by the World Food Program and the European Union remain in the empty premises.

The neighboring store, a modern and luxurious supermarket, lacks for nothing. Its owner has rented the premises from the Islamic Charity Movement, and therefore it has been condemned to closure. "Confiscation order and closure. From April 1 all activity involving equipment found on the business' premises will be forbidden, and the military commander will act to realize his ownership and to seize said equipment." All in the usual inarticulate and absurd language of the IDF.

The owner of the supermarket, Mujahid al-Atrash, opened his large store only three months ago and invested NIS 500,000 in it. "Don't I have anything to say about this?" he asks. "Where will I go?" Ein Gedi mineral war, Tnuva sour cream, cans of Red Bull, Huggies diapers, Head & Shoulders shampoo, Osem petit-beurre cookies, Strauss ice creams. The adjacent shop, Ayman's barbershop, has a closure order on the window. The same is true along Nimara Street, the "street of the tiger."

On King Faisal Street, Hebron's answer to Dizengoff, Pretty Woman and Mama Care are both full of customers. Spacious stores, two floors, dozens of women, all wearing head scarves. Pretty Woman's owner, Lina Karaki, opened the store nine years ago and says she invested about another NIS 1 million in expanding and renovating it about a year ago. The store really is elegant, with a marble floor and chandeliers. "I don't belong to any organization or any party. I have nothing to do with all this. What is illegal about my store? They gave us a month to get out. Where will we go? This is not a street stall that can be closed in a month," Karaki says.

On the second floor is the evening-gown department, the best of Hebron fashion for NIS 3,000 per dress. There are 18 employees in the shop, who are liable to lose their livelihood. The end-of-season sale is in full swing, but Karaki emphasizes that it has nothing to do with the closure order. This is only the end of winter and the beginning of summer fashions. She still hopes that the edict will be canceled.

We enter the far reaches of the mall, over which the general's closure order hovers. And what do we have here, in this bastion of Hamas? A cosmetics store, two clothing shops, The Gap and Calvin Klein in the display windows. There's a closure order on the dental clinic of Dr. Rima Kawasmeh on the second floor, and also on the door of the private physical-therapy and fitness institute of Dr. Mohammed Amaru, this time signed by Colonel Yehuda Fuchs, the Hebron brigade commander. Shamni and Fuchs have apparently divided the responsibilities between them: Shamni signs the orders for bakeries and Fuchs for fitness clubs. Together with his Ukrainian doctor-wife, Amaru opened the place in 1998 and equipped it with the best rehabilitation and fitness devices. A month ago he completed another renovation in the luxurious institute: sophisticated treatment beds, a Jacuzzi, exercise machines, silent air conditioning, a therapeutic pool and even a "beauty machine" designed for people who suffer from paralysis of the face. Amaru says the patients are afraid to come since the IDF raided the club, about a month ago: "There is no law in the world that will do this to me. I don't belong to any group, I am not connected to anyone. I only pay rent here."

On the floor above is the public relations office of the Islamic Charity Movement: rooms that have been emptied of their contents, except for two heaters, which were apparently too heavy for the IDF's "porters." Farah says that in the IDF liaison office there are probably already whole containers full of equipment seized from his organization. Its public library for youth, on the third floor of the mall, is also supposed to be closed. It contains 18,800 books, cataloged and classified, about science and religion, plus computers and even tapes for learning Hebrew. Everything will soon be closed, by order.

The IDF spokesman's response: "During recent weeks forces of the IDF, the Shin Bet security services and the Civil Administration have been operating in order to strike at the institutions of the Islamic Charity Movement, which belongs to the Hamas terror organization and works to increase support for the organization, to disseminate its ideas, to find and enlist activists, and to transfer money for terrorist activity.

"Hamas activity is carried out under the civilian cover of support for the population and charity, but in fact the goal of the movement is to strengthen the power and control of the terror organization Hamas, as part of the expansion of terrorist activity against the State of Israel and its attempt to increase power in Judea and Samaria.

"In the context of the activities and protests of the Islamic Charity Movement in Hebron, the movement has transferred money to terror activists and their families, educated young people in the spirit of jihad, supported the families of shaheeds [martyrs] and prisoners, and worked to disseminate Hamas principles among the Palestinian population. By these acts the Hamas terror organization has exploited the Palestinian population and its weaker elements, in order to harness them to the terror network.

"In the context of the activity, the IDF operated against a number of economic assets of the Islamic Charity Movement in Hebron, and ordered their closure and the confiscation of some of their property. These assets constituted a source of income for the Hamas terror organization, which earned substantial sums of money from them for terrorist activity. The IDF will continue to adopt all the means at its disposal against the terror organizations and those who help them, and against Hamas in particular, in order to provide security to the inhabitants of the State of Israel."

The orphanage is located in a pleasant neighborhood on the western slopes of the city, at the edge of a vineyard. Everything is so clean and well-kept - the dining room, the bathrooms, the bedrooms and the classrooms used by 150 children. It is hard to believe that here, in these buildings, live dozens of youngsters in distress. Now they are out in the yard, preparing to enter the dining room for lunch. The discipline is strict and the order is exemplary. Grace for meals is posted on the wall. The children are well-dressed; their bedrooms have posters of native birds on the walls. Mohammed is fatherless, Mahmoud is motherless. All the children with whom I spoke are from severely deprived backgrounds. Outside there is a garden and a shady place to sit, large sports fields with a mosque next to them. Six in a room, they sleep in attractive wooden beds covered with flowered bedspreads. Every residential wing also has a large guest room with armchairs and a television, "so the children will feel at home."

It is doubtful whether they ever lived in such conditions. It is also doubtful whether they will be able to continue to live like this, if the IDF continues to confiscate, to close and to destroy

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=964067&contrassID=2&subContrassID=14

Schools and orphanages in Hebron still threatened with closure



Hebron – Ma'an –

Twelve-year-old Muhammad Abu Snaineh has a face that can only be described as cherubic. He was raised by Palestinian-American parents in Houston, Texas until the age of eight, when his family, wanting to give their son a sense of his cultural roots, moved to the West Bank city of Hebron. Muhammad's first language is English, but is excelling in Arabic, and wants to be an engineer when he grows up.

The Israeli military views Muhammad as a potential terrorist. Israel is attempting to shut down two Islamic charities in Hebron, including one that operates Muhammad's school, alleging that both organizations are linked to Hamas. Together the Muslim Youth Society and the Islamic Charitable Society serve thousands of children through eight schools, orphanages, social services, and sports clubs.

On 25 February Maj. Gen. Gadi Shamni, the Israeli military commander in charge of the West Bank, ordered the two charities to be closed and their properties seized. Hijazi Al-Jaberi, the chair of the Muslim Youth Society says the Israeli military accused his organization of being controlled by Hamas, and even that Hamas profited from the services provided through the Hebron facilities. The case is currently being fought in the Israeli High Court of Justice.

If the order is implemented, the charities say, hundreds of orphans will become homeless, thousands of students will be left without schools, and thousands of needy families will go without assistance.

On 26 February and again on 24 March the Israeli military raided several buildings affiliated to the two charities, damaging and stealing food, computers, notebooks and other items, Al-Jaberi said. The first floor of the Muslim Youth Society's elementary school is a chaos of overturned desks and broken glass, the floors strewn with paper. The front doors of the building which were knocked off their hinges, had to be replaced. According to Abdul-Kareem Farrah, a legal advisor for the Islamic Charitable Society, the Israeli troops caused 1 million NIS (276,000 US dollars) worth of damage.

Arik Ascherman, the executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights, says the case against the two charities is weak. "If those who claim that these organizations are supporting terrorists have evidence, let them present it," he said. "Also in the Jewish tradition, you can't have collective punishment … We demand that a solution be found where services continue to be provided," he added.

Regarding about the terrorism charges, twelve-year-old Muhammad says "That is such a lie! We are not like that!" Asked if his school trains students to use weapons, he says "we have never seen a bullet in here."

Muhammad gives the impression that the Muslim Youth Society school is slightly conservative, but certainly no hotbed of terrorism. "They really try to get the kids to be good and not to say bad words," Muhammad says. He adds that his history class mainly talks about the life of the Prophet, and does not even address 20th century events such as the creation of Israel.

Pressed on exactly why Israel would want to close the two charities, officials from the charities imply that a handful of people employed by the organizations may have been linked to Hamas. This, they are quick to note, is not the same as being controlled and operated by Hamas. "The Israelis resort to sweeping generalities and sweeping abstractions about Palestinian society. They have arrested people associated with Hamas, but that doesn't mean that the charity itself is connected with Hamas," said Khalid Aymareh, a Palestinian journalist who spoke at Monday's press conference.

According to the original military order, the two charities were supposed to be closed on 1 April, but the organizations appealed the case in the Israeli court system. On the morning of 2 April, they received word that the Israeli High Court of Justice asked the military to provide a legal justification for the decision. The court gave the military until 7 April to file their case. On Monday, the deadline, the military asked the court for an extension.

Aymareh says that the legal situation surrounding the two charities is in "a state of uncertainty." Indeed, there are so many contradictions in the case, beginning with the scarcity of evidence linking the charities to Hamas, that Aymareh sees a strategy of deliberate ambiguity: "There is a conspicuous element of haphazardness," he says.

Both charities are registered with the Palestinian Authority (PA), and are based in the section of Hebron that is supposedly under the full control of the Authority, not the Israeli military. Officials from the two societies contacted the Authority to inquire about the order, appears to be infringement on the PA's limited sovereignty. The PA's response, according to Al-Jaberi, was "We'll do our best." Farah, the Islamic Society's legal advisor, says only that "the posture of the PA has been disappointing."

The PA's security forces, spokespersons of the charities say, would be no match for the Israeli troops anyway. The only physical protection accorded to the threatened schools and orphanages is a group of international volunteers from Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), an organization that practices third-party nonviolent intervention in conflict situations around the world. CPT human rights workers have been sleeping in the Islamic Society's schools for days. If Israeli troops raid the schools again, CPT workers will videotape any abuses. Asked if CPT will physically confront Israeli soldiers, CPT activist Art Arbour says, "If they get violent, we'll get in the way."

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=28694

CPT Release

CPTnet
10 April 2008
HEBRON: Press conference for Hebron orphanages


The Popular Committee for Supporting the Orphanages hosted a press conference at the Hebron Girls Orphanage on 7 April 2008. Approximately seventy people attended, including independent media, internationals, and clergy. The Israeli military had given orders to shut down the orphanages and schools run by the Islamic Charitable Society by 7 April.

The lawyer representing the Islamic Charitable Society spoke of the its work, which serves 2,500 children, 240 of them orphans, and aids an additional 4,000 students and 5,000 needy families. The society also runs a dairy, two bakeries, a warehouse, and four small storefronts that serve the schools and orphanages in the Hebron area. The Israeli military raided the warehouse, bakeries, and the storefronts on 6 March 2008, confiscating food, clothing, school supplies, refrigerators, and two buses worth $300,000.

The lawyer also noted that certified public accountants audit and the Palestinian Authority monitors the monies donated to support the orphanages and schools. The books are open for the Israeli government to audit as well. Twenty percent of the monies donated come from the Hebron local community. The other eighty percent comes from Europe, the U.S., and Middle Eastern countries. The Islamic Charitable Society enjoys the respect of both locals and non-governmental organizations such as Catholic Charities.

During the conference, Rabbi Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights addressed the audience via speakerphone, saying that under Jewish law, evidence and witnesses must be brought before the court to support an accusation. Because the Islamic Charitable Society has threatened no human life, Ascherman contended, the Israeli authorities cannot cite security issues to justify a closure.

Members of CPT and other internationals have slept at the orphanages to accompany the staff and children and to document any possible incursion by the Israeli military. By midnight of 7 April, the attorney for the Israeli military had asked for an extension to prepare and submit to the court a full justification for the closures of the schools and orphanages.
check: http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2008/04/10/hebron-press-conference-hebron-orphanages

Israeli Military to Close Palestinian Orphanages & Schools

On Tuesday, 26 February, Israeli military forces raided buildings of the Islamic Charitable Society in Hebron, handing over six military orders of closure and confiscations for two bakeries, administrative buildings, Al-Huda Mall, Al-Qasimi Building, the warehouse, three schools and two orphanages.

On 6 March Israeli military forces raided the central warehouse at Al-Harayeq and confiscated clothing, food stuffs, stationery and other supplies intended to fill the needs of children and their families. The confiscated goods were worth an estimated $300,000.

The Islamic Charitable Society (main society in Hebron) provides shelter and care to 240 orphans in the orphanages, educates more than 1700 students and aids an additional 3000 orphans and 2500 needy families. It employs more than 550 teachers, counselors and other support staff.

Islamic Charitable Society –Background Information

Established: 1962
Licensed by: Jordan, Israel and Palestine

Working area: Hebron in the West Bank

Facilities:

Al-Shari’yah Boys’ School - 640 students
Al-Shari’yah Girls’ School - 645 students
Al-Rahma Elementary Boys’ School - 420 students
Hebron Boys’ Orphanage - 130 children
Hebron Girls’ Orphanage - 110 children

Al-Rahma Bakeries (2) (Raided and gutted by the Israeli military)
Al-Rayan Dairy

Al-Qasimi building
Al-Huda Mall
Al-Harayeq Warehouse (Raided and gutted by the Israeli military)


*There are three other branches of the ICS in Bani Naiem, Shyukh and Beit Ola that are licensed as branches