Discovery: US Media Lies and the Palestinian Conflict

A must see documentary:  In line with my Crossing Borders Project and my work with the Palestinian Women, not to mention living there and working as a photojournalist/humanitarian journalist.  This video reflects the real truth in regards to the US media and propaganda, Country Public Relation tactics and its effect on the rest of the world.  The media today does not represent real and true news, and I am speaking from in field experience as a past photojournalist in the West Bank and Israel.

What this video reveals, is the base for the development of "The Crossing Borders Project" I tried to find a way to let the people speak, themselves about the truths and lives living under this oppression.  My voice is not strong enough, but theirs could be.  When I was there, there were many independent news outlets that were shut down through the internet and bombings.  This occupation must stop and the world should wake up and demand that peace resides and the abuse stops...even against the journalists working in the Middle East.

Journalists detained in America-First Amendment?

Susan Brannon
19 April 2012

As of 7th of April 2012, 76 journalist in 12 cities have been arrested since the beginning of Occupy Wall Street in America. Reporters Without Borders rates the freedom of the press for countries in the world and the United States fell down to number 47 dropping by 27 points in their last freedom index report. 

In the video below on March 20th - 2012, the Chicago police were responding to an event which a young girl was killed in a shooting.  NBC reporters went to Mt. Sinai Hospital to cover the story and either the security police or police asked them to move.  They moved to the middle of the road onto the median.  When asked about the first amendment, the police or guard did not care.  The situation was recorded on video. He said, "Your first amendment right can be terminated if you create a scene."  "We have not created a scene." "Your presence creates a scene" He went on the walke talkie, and asked if he can arrest them, then turned around and said to the reporters,  "Pull out your arms, we're putting the cuffs on."



Amy Goodman a leading investigate journalist for Democracy Now, was also arrested.  I do not know the details of this particular arrest, but Amy Goodman is well known in revealing "untruths" in regards to our governments and corporate functions.


It seems to me that once the occupy protests started, the police in different cities were "testing" the reactions of the people and the government in arresting reporting journalists.  I say this because after the arrests, there was minimal coverage and little reaction from the citizens or the local state and federal governments.   If the reactions are few and the courts approve the arrests, then the police will feel that it is possible to continue ignoring the first amendment rights and law of the constitution of the United States of America. By arresting the journalist, they can destroy any evidence that is involved in civil rights and human rights or justice obstructions for the American citizens.

Disqualifying the First amendment is no little matter, once this can be approved and occur in America then the American citizens will loose just about any "right" that they may have.  Journalists, are to provide information to the public about events that occur in their communities.  Without reporting, then the media becomes more and  more censored and the population will have less knowledge regarding the realities of the events in their communities.  Another problem occurs and that is; induced fear.  Arresting reporters for doing their jobs, re-defines "what events the reporters can cover". Some reporters may chose not to cover important events that are focused on civil rights or activist protests, because they will fear being arrested. Not one journalist that I know wants to be arrested, harassed, beaten, put in jail or added to a terrorists list.  They have mouths to feed and bills to pay and in reality, only want to do their work.  I have spoken with many independent journalists and main stream journalists who are concerned for their safety while attending events in America.  The safety depends on the "mood" of the police and his/her mindset.  Normally, there have not been any warnings of possible arrest, they have been grabbed and then handcuffed.  The event could be peaceful, tense, it does not seem to matter.

I have some video examples (below) of reporters arrested while filming public meetings.  The meeting was not a demonstration,  march or protest but a simple meeting and the reporter was arrested.  In reality, he was not arrested for any reason, he was making a documentary film...plain and simple.

If this continues, it is possible that the Americans will slowly loose all rights and the country can easily lean towards  Fascism.  Fascism promotes political violence and war and rejects liberal democracy.  To achieve its goals, the fascist state purges forces, ideas, people, and systems deemed to be the cause of decadence and degeneration.  For example, those in the occupy protests and then those who report the news.

The First amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.

In many cases, the reporters are "reporting" in Occupy, they were not the "protesters" but recording the demonstrations through video, writing, or photography and were doing their jobs, this is clearly both the "freedom of speech" and "freedom of the press" while the protesters have the "right to peaceably assemble" All three rights in this case has been ignored.

 The video below was taken on 18 November 2011, at about the same time of the increased arrests of the reporters.  This was truly a peaceful demonstration of UC Davis Students on their campus.  They were sitting and chanting while the police dressed in their garb, stood in the middle of the "sit-in".



 As the protests continued throughout the winter in America, more and more reporters were either harassed or arrested while filming.
A reporter was pepper sprayed and had her camera taken away 12 January 2012:



Occupy Arrests: 
New York- three freelance reporters were arrested, they lacked the "proper" credentials for the City of New York.
New York -  November 15, 2011 - AP writer Karen Matthews and AP photographer Seth Wenig were arrested while covering protests at a property in lower Manhattan. During the same demonstration, Freelance radio journalist Julie Walker was arrested.
Oakland, November 3, 2011- Freelance journalist was held for 15 hours and made fun of her press pass.
Nashville - October 29, 2011 - Reporter Jonathan Meadlor was arrested with a group of protesters.
Richmond - October 31, 2011 ; Ian Graham a photographer was arrested on charges of trespassing on a public street while photographing the occupy event.
Milwaukee- November 2, 2011- Photoreporter Kristyna Wentz-Graff was arrested while photographing the occupy protest while the police were arresting the protesters and was grabbed and arrested.  The list goes on....

Interesting enough, the crackdown on the First Amendment has been going on for quite some time.  In 2009, The United states detained a Reuters cameraman without charges while he was one of many journalists jailed by the United States in Iraq.  Since 2001, the United States has jailed 13 foreign reporters in Afghanistan and iraq for several weeks on foreign soil.  The soldiers take the computer drives, camera and lead them away blindfolded and in handcuffs, according the the LA Times.  Ibrahim Jassam, the Reuters cameramans case ws reviewed by the Iraqi court and found no evidence to detain him and ordered his release.  However, America responded that he is a "security threat" and will remain in detention.

Arrested by simply reporting or filmmaking in public meetings

Josh Fox - was arrested 1 February 2012 appeared in court on 15th February 2012 was put on the terrorist list and censored by the U.S. government. see video

Pete Tucket and Jim Epstein- June 24, 2011 arrested for filming at a public meeting:



Related articles:
Stop the cyber intelligence sharing and protection act (CISPA)
Al-Jazeera told me not to report on Syria
CISPA and Journalism
Propaganda and Historical Events
Propaganda: Egypt opens the Gazan Borders
Where Lies Become the Truth
SOPA is not dead
SOPA and PIPA Supporters List
Censorship in the Worlds Largest Democracy
Censorship of Media: Libya and Lack of Information

CNN: We don't need photojournalists! - British Journal of Photography

Susan Brannon
9 March 2012

In November, CNN quietly announced it was laying off "a dozen" photojournalists across its US bureaus as, it says, the network can now rely on user-generated content thanks to new consumer technologies."  CNN is not the only news agency that is "laying off photojournalists"  We have been feeling this for a long time.  The system went from paid, send em' out into the field with all the benefits to find local freelancers that can do the same work for 1/2 the price, to let's just take images (without permission) from the local citizens and publish them.  CNN says that "We don't need photojournalist, citizen journalists can do just as good of a job thanks to the new technologies." 

A good example are the images that Daniel Morel took of the Haiti earthquake devastation. CNN grabbed the images without permission and the same images later won a World Press Photo prize.  There are now legal issues concerning the use of the images.  Daniel Morel says, "Our role is important as independent photojournalist to tell the story as it is. I was there to document accurately this tremendous tragedy for future generations."  Morel Tweeted 13 of the images he had taken in the earthquake, within hours Agency France Press (AFP) grabbed the images and published them and the images were published worldwide on the front page of major newspapers.  Morel wrote to the AFP agencies and asked them to remove the image.  They responded with the court system, "accusing Morel of engaging in "an antagonistic assertion of rights".  (See David Morel's Legal Tangle)

Unfortunately, CNN missed the point.  Look at "Eyewitness", The Guardian, or the Times with their strength in photojournalism with good results.  The people who start to publish run of the mill news, will loose the respect from the readers and in the end, advertising funding will start to diminish.  The old traditional media still has strengths in its' content, with high quality analysis, photography and in-depth stories.  Do you think that CNN will observe proper publishing rights used from social media?  I think not. 


 Reference Link:
CNN: We don't need photojournalists! - British Journal of Photography

Occupy Wall Street What the corporate media do not want you to see!

Occupy Wall Street: Police brutality, media blackout

Operation-Invade-Wall-Street-A-Message-To-The-Media

The Movement:  Occupy Wall St.
Resources:
Occupy Together
Twitter: @occupywallst

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American Struggling Middle Class (Video)
Global Confidence in Economy Collapses 
Crime Against Humanity
Examples of US Financial Corruption
Presidential Candidates Response to Occupy Wall Street
One Example of Wall Street Corruption
Occupy Wall Street - Proposed/Unproposed List of Demands
What is Wall Street?

Iran Revolution 2011 Summary

Susan Brannon
Italy- 1 May 2011 Iran's demonstrations started on 14th of February and  continued on a daily basis until April 18th.  (as of April 27th)  The demands are to oust President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, against violations of human rights, and against the alleged electoral fraud during the 2009 elections.
     The protesters used demonstrations, strikes, online activism, civil disobedience and civil resistance.
      The government used plain-clothed militia, live ammunition, tear gas, beatings, arrests, media and internet censorship.
      So far there have been 18 deaths, 91 injuries and 1,534 protesters arrested.
      The demonstrations started to spread throughout the Arab world after the success of the Tunisian successful revolution that ousted President Zine El Abjdine Ben Ali on 14th of January 2011.  Thereafter Egypt started their revolution with success by removing the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the 11th of February 2011.
     Iran was the next country to organize a revolution.  On the 9th of February different opposition groups requested permission to protest and the request was refused.  This was followed by crackdowns against the opposition activists and members of the parties.
     The leaders set a date for 14 February, but the day before, two opposition leaders Mousavi and Karroubi were placed under house arrest and denied access to telephones and the internet.  In spite of their arrest, the demonstration moved forward in Tehran's Azadi Square, the reported numbers of people vary from thousands and up.
    Reports of tens of thousands throughout Iran and Tehran gathered to be heard.  While the protests were taking place the local news channels were reporting that everything was quiet and peaceful.  The foreign media office was sent a letter in Tehran warning that the bureaus would be shut down and their reporters deported if they wrote negative articles surrounding the protests.
     The opposition parties decided to make every Tuesday demonstration day until their demands were met, which were followed by sit-ins, strikes, and boycotts.
     On 11th of March, 11 foreign correspondents were deported from the country.
Capitalism and Revolution in Iran (Middle East series)

Bahrain Revolution Summary 2011

Susan Brannon
1 May 2011
The Bahrain ConspiracyThe demonstrations started in Bahrain on 14-17th of February.  They are protesting against, corruption, unemployment, slow pace of democratization, and discrimination against the Shias.
     They are asking for the Resignation of King Hamad, to rewrite the Constitution, stop the economic and human rights violations, deportation of the foreign mercenaries, for liberalism and democracy, fair elections and freedom.
     They are using the tactics of civil resistance and demonstrations.  There are so far (April 26th) 36 deaths, 100 persons mission, 1000 or more wounded, 828 arrested and 835 job layoffs.
     The protests have been ongoing, on a weekly and daily basis throughout the country.
      The government has been blocking the internet and media as a tool to stop the protests in response.  They blocked a Facbook group that was set up to organize protests and several bloggers were arrested prior to th 6th of February.  When the Gulf Cooperation Council forces left the country, the government increased the arrests of Shia Muslims, cyber activists, with more than 300 detained or missing.
     Google Earth has been blocked for showing locations of the ruling family's estates which the government feels to have stirred up the situation.  The Bahraini authorities stopped the publication of the Alwasat, the main opposition newspaper, and blocked the website until April 4th.  However, on April 6th more than 1,000 workers were laid off, and most of them where Shia.
     The police response has been violent, against the protesters, including beatings, denial of medical attention, and intimidation.
The Bahrain Conspiracy

Camera in Hand

Camera in Hand
October 9, 2004 By Yahya Abdul Rahman	Back to Home
Hey I'm a Muslim and have video camera in my hand Gotta keep a watch over my shoulder to look out for the man You know a Muslim with a camera is a WMD
You know if I plan to use it I'm a threat to national security Don't need to go to Wal-Mart to have my photo finish-ing Just head to the CSIS office or the local R*C*M*P But hey, who knows, maybe I will get a free trip to see the Nile Maybe I can stay awhile I hope they let me bring my camera with me As in Egypt there is so much to see

Media Cover up in Iraq

WSWS : News & Analysis : Middle East : Iraq US media covers up American war crimes in Iraq By Barry Grey 15 September 2004 World Socialist Web Site www.wsws.org
Every day, US military forces in Iraq are attacking civilian populations in a calculated effort to drown a growing popular insurgency in blood. But one would hardly know the dimensions or brutality of the atrocities being carried out in the name of the American people from the sparse and sanitized coverage provided by the major press and broadcast outlets that purport to disseminate “the news.”
The US media—owned and controlled by a handful of huge corporate conglomerates—play an indispensable role in the mass murder of Iraqi men, women and children. Together with the Bush administration and the two major parties of US imperialism—the Democratic Party and its presidential candidate John Kerry, no less than their Republican rivals—the media are complicit in a crime against humanity of immense proportions, one that dwarfs any crimes committed by the various political leaders who have been targeted for destruction by the American ruling elite in recent years: from Panama's Noriega, to Serbia's Milosevic, to Saddam Hussein himself. One can stare at the 24-hour cable news networks from sunup to sundown and get no sense of the carnage in towns and cities from Baghdad , to Fallujah, to Ramadi, to Hilla in the south and Tal Afar in the north that is left in the wake of US rockets, bombs, tank shells and sniper rounds. The evening news reports of the major networks provide at most a fleeting image of the death and destruction, inevitably hedged with absurd avowals from the US military that “precision” attacks were carried out against “terrorist” and “anti-Iraqi” targets. As for the press, one day's front-page report of US helicopter attacks on unarmed civilians or air strikes against urban centers is eclipsed the next day by the latest hurricane threat or new poll numbers on the upcoming election—an election in which no discussion of the legitimacy of the US subjugation of Iraq or the real war aims behind the bogus ones used to promote the war is permitted. No country's media is more cowardly, or more artful in churning out the official line and excluding any serious criticism or analysis, than that of the USA . It would be absurd to hold up the British media as a model of conscientious and objective reporting, but even there, articles occasionally appear that provide some insight into the reality of the situation in Iraq . The Guardian newspaper, for example, on Tuesday carried an eyewitness account on its front page of the American helicopter attack on unarmed Iraqis that occurred Sunday in central Baghdad . Thirteen Iraqis were killed and dozens were wounded when US copters repeatedly fired rockets into a crowd that had gathered around a disabled American armored vehicle on Haifa Street, near the Green Zone that houses the US and British embassies and the offices of Washington's puppet government. For the benefit of our readers around the world, and especially in the US, we give here some excerpts from the chilling and tragic account provided by Guardian columnist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, who was himself wounded while covering the US assault. Abdul-Ahad describes at least four separate rocket strikes by American helicopters against the unarmed Iraqis—documenting that the helicopters returned several times to fire on those seeking to remove the dead and wounded from the first missile strike. “When I was 50 m away I heard a couple of explosions and another cloud of dust rose across the street from where the first column of smoke was still climbing,” he writes. “People started running towards me in waves. A man wearing an orange overall was sweeping the street while others were running. A couple of helicopters in the sky overhead turned away.” He runs for cover, and then: “A few seconds later, I heard people screaming and shouting—something must have happened—and I headed towards the sounds, still crouching behind a wall. Two newswire photographers were running in the opposite direction and we exchanged eye contact. “About 20 m ahead of me, I could see the American Bradley armoured vehicle, a huge monster with fire rising from within. It stood alone, its doors open, burning. I stopped, took a couple of photos and crossed the street towards a bunch of people. Some were lying in the street, others stood around them. The helicopters were still buzzing, but further off now.” The reporter continues: “I felt uneasy and exposed in the middle of the street, but lots of civilians were around me. A dozen men formed a circle around five injured people, all of whom were screaming and wailing.” Abdul-Ahad's belief that the presence of so many unarmed civilians afforded protection from a further US strike was shattered in short order. “I had been standing there taking pictures for two or three minutes when we heard the helicopters coming back. Everyone started running, and I didn't look back to see what was happening to the injured men. We were all rushing towards the same place: a fence, a block of buildings and a prefab concrete cube used as a cigarette stall. “I had just reached the corner of the cube when I heard two explosions. I felt hot air blast my face and something burning on my head. I crawled to the cube and hid behind it. Six of us were squeezed into a space less than two metres wide. Blood started dripping on my camera but all that I could think about was how to keep the lens clean. A man in his 40s next to me was crying. He wasn't injured, he was just crying. “I was so scared I just wanted to squeeze myself against the wall. The helicopters wheeled overhead, and I realised that they were firing directly at us.” The helicopters moved away, and the reporter went back onto the street to record the carnage and help the wounded and dying. Then: “More kids ventured into the street, looking with curiosity at the dead and injured. Then someone shouted ‘Helicopters!' and we ran. I turned and saw two small helicopters, black and evil. Frightened, I ran back to my shelter where I heard two more big explosions.... I reached a building entrance when someone grabbed my arm and took me inside. ‘There's an injured man. Take pictures—show the world the American democracy,' he said.” It is hardly necessary to point out that no major US media outlet has taken note of the Guardian's damning account of Sunday's bloodletting in the center of Baghdad . Most US newspapers on Tuesday relegated to their inside pages news reports of yet another round of US air and artillery attacks on Fallujah, carried out Monday. The Iraqi Health Ministry said 20 were killed and 39 wounded in the strikes. Aljazeera reported that those killed included the driver of an ambulance and six passengers, whose vehicle was struck by a jet-fired missile near the northern gate of the city. “Every time we send out an ambulance, it gets targeted,” the director of the Fallujah hospital told the Arab newspaper. Aljazeera also reported that US missiles destroyed three homes in the city's al-Shurta neighborhood, American shells hit a market place, and US tanks fired on homes in the al-Jughaivi neighborhood near the city's northern gate. The Washington Post, in a page-19 article, noted the attacks on Fallujah neighborhoods and the ambulance fatalities, but reported without comment the official US line that the attacks were directed against a “suspected hideout” of associates of Abu Musab Zarqawi. It printed the Goebbels-like handout from the US military: “Based on the analysis of these [intelligence] reports, Iraqi Security Forces and multi-national forces effectively and accurately targeted these terrorists while protecting the lives of innocent civilians.” The New York Times ran a front-page commentary focused not on the death and suffering being inflicted on the Iraqi people, but rather on the danger that the US military's bloodletting against insurgent towns could backfire. It warned of the “classic dilemma faced by governments battling guerrilla movements: ease up, and the insurgency may grow; crack down, and risk losing the support of the population.” This description is itself a cynical deception, as the Times well knows. The very fact that the US feels obliged to step up the slaughter and target civilian populations testifies to the fact that Washington and its stooge government are hated and despised by the Iraqi masses. Talk of a risk of “losing the support of the population” is an attempt to maintain the myth that the anti-US resistance is the work of a small minority of Baathist “hard-liners” and foreign terrorists, and the equally absurd claim that the US is in Iraq to establish “democracy.” In reality, the US media's disinformation operation is among the most striking and significant expressions of the collapse of American democracy. Copyright 1998-2004 World Socialist Web Site All rights reserved

Media Harrassment in the PA

Media Harrassment in the PA
A|ME exclusive - 9/13/2004 12:00 AM
A Palestinian newspaper editor recently fled Ramallah together with his wife and children after receiving death threats from the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah. Before leaving for one of the Gulf countries, the editor told friends that the last threat came in the form of an envelope with a bullet that was sent to him by mail.
"Your fate will be like that of Nabil Amr," the letter warned, referring to the Palestinian legislator who was shot and seriously wounded several weeks ago in Ramallah. The attack on Amr came almost immediately after he appeared on an Arab television station and criticized Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's performance and the lack of democracy and transparency in the PA.   The verbal and physical intimidation of Palestinian journalists, especially those who dare to report on issues that reflect negatively on Arafat and the PA, has almost become accepted practice in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.   The editor who packed his bags and headed for the Gulf was guilty of demanding financial and security reforms. Even worse, he had written a number of articles calling for the prosecution of top officials and ministers implicated in various corruption scandals.   He had good reason to flee Ramallah. The city has in recent years come under the control of thugs claiming to belong to different political groups. Their victims include legislators, senior officials, political activists, businessmen and ordinary men and women.   The Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Hassan Khraisheh, complained that he had received death threats from unidentified gunmen because of his role in exposing the "cement scandal." A Palestinian parliamentary committee found that top Arafat aides and ministers had been importing cheap cement from Egypt on behalf of Israeli construction firms. The cement, according to reports, was later used for construction of Israel 's security fence in the West Bank .   "There is a systematic campaign to silence any criticism of the Palestinian leadership," said a legislator in Ramallah. "The campaign is directed not only against our journalists, but also against the foreign media and political leaders and activists."   Another reform-minded legislator said he had decided to keep a low profile after the attempt on the life of Nabil Amr. "It's becoming very dangerous," he explained. "Today I'm afraid to say things in public for fear that I would be targeted."   The general belief among many Palestinians in Ramallah is that the campaign is being orchestrated by Arafat's inner circle. "All the guys who carry out the attacks are never caught," said a respected journalist living in the city. "We believe that they enjoy the backing of senior officials in the Mukata [Arafat's presidential compound]."   Arafat himself recently rebuked a group of Palestinian journalists for reporting extensively on the ongoing power struggle in the Palestinian Authority. "You must focus on the Israeli crimes against our people and the Aqsa Mosque," he told the reporters.   The Palestinian Journalists Association, a body controlled by Arafat loyalists, went a step further by issuing a directive banning Palestinian journalists from covering the internal strife. The majority of the Palestinian journalists are complying with the new regulations.   Even many reporters working for Al-Jazeera and the foreign media have begun toeing the line. After all, they live in Ramallah and Gaza City and are subjected to the same threats.   As a result of the intimidation, Palestinians now have to rely on rumors, street pamphlets and outside sources to learn about what's happening inside the Mukata. Last week, for instance, Palestinians learned from a number of London-based Arabic dailies that Arafat had bad-mouthed his estranged Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, who even threatened to resign.   Some legislators have complained that the Palestinian media was boycotting them on the instructions of Arafat's office because of their demands for reforms. Jamileh Saydam, one of the lawmakers, said the Palestinian media was not giving her and many of her colleagues a chance to express their views. Instead, she added, the media focuses all the time on the same [pro-Arafat] legislators.   Arafat is under heavy pressure from the international community to endorse a series of financial and security reforms. But almost no one talks about the freedom of expression or the need to have independent and free media in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. That's perhaps the international community doesn't even know that the Palestinian media is entirely controlled by Arafat and that many journalists are under threat. This is certainly a story that is not going to be told in Arafat's newspapers and television stations.     2004 Access|Middle East (A|ME). All rights reserved.

Palestinian Intifada - 4th Anniversary

SUMMARY OF PRESS CONFERENCE Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi Director HDIP Monday, September 27, 2004
Dr Mustafa Barghouthi began today's press conference with a summary of recent trends and statistics. The second Intifada, now entering its 5th year, has seen the World distracted by events in Iraq enabling Israel to continue violating Palestinians' Human Rights with complete immunity. The International media remains more accessible to the Israeli side and thus allows Israel to push forward their preferred narrative. Furthermore, these past years have witnessed a significant deterioration in international support and involvement with the peace process, many becoming disheartened and reluctant having supported the now dead Oslo Peace Process. However, the Intifada has also witnessed the emergence of a new democratic opposition movement, born within the Palestinian Territories , together with a consolidation in support for pioneering, modern Palestinian leaders.
In the years since 1948, the Palestinians have witnessed a consistent decrease in their promised State - now just 11% of historic Palestine (as according to Sharon 's plan). What we are looking at now is not a future Palestinian State , but a series of Bantustans . Death and Injury In the four years since Sharon 's famous visit to the Haram Al Sharif we have seen 4,342 Palestinians and Israelis killed. Of those 1,008 were Israeli and 3,334 Palestinian. 82% of Palestinians killed were civilians. Two to three Palestinians are killed by Israeli soldiers, police or settlers per day. Whilst this number may appear to be low, if this death rate were to be applied to the UK it would be equivalent to 35 being killed per day, and in the US this would be 157 per day. Since the start of the Intifada on the 28th of September 2000 , 621 Palestinian children below the age of 17 have been killed by the Israeli occupation forces. Of this figure 411 were shot with live ammunition and 200 were shot in the head, face or neck. 331 were from the Gaza Strip. 10,000 Palestinian children have been injured. Dr Barghouthi insisted that there is absolutely no excuse to justify the killing of such a huge number of children. What is equally disturbing is the telling figures of injuries received to the head – Israeli forces were obviously shooting to kill. In fact the majority of Palestinians killed have suffered injuries to the head and upper body. 424 Palestinians have died in extra judicial executions (assassinations). 186 of those were bystanders or "unintended" victims, killed as they were near the victim. 39 bystanders were children 26 were women. With regards to extra judicial assassinations, in Gaza whilst 72 Palestinians died in targeted killings, a shocking 118 bystanders were additionally killed in these attacks. Palestinian Prisoners Israel continues to make use of an old emergency law that dates back to the British Mandate. This Law allows Israel to arrest and detain anyone for an unlimited time without charging them. There are currently 78 Palestinian children in administrative detention. There are also currently 100 Palestinian women and 377 children in Israeli prisons. 80% of the children are routinely tortured or harassed and 31% suffer from disease. Health 30% of Palestinian children suffer from chronic malnutrition. The number of pregnant women unable to receive any medical attention during their pregnancy is now five times higher than figures before September 2000. Economy More than one billion dollars worth of Palestinian infrastructure has been destroyed by Israeli forces and more than 200 million dollars of this has been donor financed. Since the start of the Intifada the Palestinian GDP has decreased by 50% and agricultural losses have amounted to more than one million dollars. Education Israeli forces have shelled or broken into 298 Palestinian schools. 4 young children were shot in the head in UNRWA run schools in Gaza , in 2004 alone. Water & the Evolution of Apartheid Since September 2000, the price of water in the Palestinian Territories has increased from $2.5 per cubic meter to $7.5 per cubic meter. And only a shocking 70 litres per person per day is consumed in the West Bank for domestic, urban AND industrial use. 200 Palestinian communities have no access to a clean water supply. In the Gaza Strip we can no longer forecast a disaster because it has already begun. There is no water supply in Gaza that is fit for drinking. Every Israeli citizen consumes five times more water than the Palestinians. Illegal settlers living in the West Bank consume twenty times more water than the Palestinians living there. Movement Restrictions There are currently 703 movement restrictions in the West Bank alone. As an example of the effects on Palestinian everyday life that this has caused, whilst a journey from Ramallah to Hebron should take around one hour, it has taken up to twelve hours for many Palestinians. 86 Palestinians have already died because of movement restrictions, and this figure includes 30 children. Had these people been allowed to travel, they would have probably survived. In addition at least 55 women have been forced to give birth at checkpoints with 20 losing their children. The Wall The Wall is three times as long and twice as high as the Berlin Wall. In Qalqilia 40,000 residents are imprisoned within the Wall in what can only be described as a ghetto. As well as those imprisoned inside the wall the residents of surrounding villages now placed on the western (Israeli) side of the wall have been cut of entirely from schools, jobs, healthcare and family. Many in fact have lost all access to the outside world is controlled by 11 Israeli manned gates which are collectively only opened for a total of 55 minutes per day. Anyone who wishes to enter or leave Qalqilia must have special permission – even patients and medical services. Qalqilia residents claim that they can no longer see the sunset. Whilst there is talk about adjustments to the Wall's route, there are in fact no changes other than mere cosmetic alterations. What we are witnessing is not just the building of the Wall it is the destruction of a two state solution. Disengagement in Gaza and the Road Map to Peace Sharon only accepted the Road Map as it was approved by the Israeli Cabinet and this was with 15 reservations, the first being a refusal to freeze any settlement building. At the same time whilst Sharon talks about removing settlements in the West Bank, he is referring to 4 that exist in the north of the West Bank, that exist on land that can not be enclaved by the Wall. The other existing settlements will of course remain because they exist on land that Israel plans to appropriate through the Wall and enclaves. Unfortunately, with regards to Sharon 's Gaza Plan most of the World's media mistakenly continues to refer to it as a "withdrawal". In fact Sharon never referred to a "withdrawal", what he actually said was that they would redeploy from Gaza but the military would still enter at any time they deemed appropriate. In Rafah the Israeli forces are destroying on average 6 houses per day in order to clear a passage separating Gaza from Egypt, which will grant them full border control. So far 2200 homes have been demolished in this area alone. Periods of "Relative Calm? During this last year of the Intifada, there has been a serious rise in mass popular support for non-violent resistance. This is why suicide attacks against Israel have significantly depleted, not because of the Wall. However, this has certainly not encouraged Israeli forces to stop attacking Palestinians. Between March 15 and August 31, 2004 , the International media talked of a period of "relative calm" purely because there were no suicide attacks against Israel . However, the following days of March saw 45 Palestinians dead with no Israeli casualties; April saw 56 Palestinians dead compared to 3 Israelis; and May saw 116 Palestinians dead (the majority during Israel's "Operation Rainbow" in Rafah) compared to 19 Israelis. It must be noted that of the total Israelis killed, 18 were Soldiers, 10 were illegal settlers and only 3 were civilians. This means that during a period of practical cease fire on the part of the Palestinians Israel continued to kill civilians at a rate of 12:1. If Sharon was at all serious about wanting a peaceful solution, genuine advantage could have been taken during this period of quiet, instead he proceeded to kill more Palestinians than at any other time since the beginning of the Intifada other than the 2002 invasions. Palestinian Elections and future Democracy? Israeli forces have closed six election registration offices in Jerusalem as well as others across the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Dr Barghouthi stressed that this is totally unacceptable and if the Palestinians are to achieve reform through democratic process, then the International community must do more than condemn these recent actions, they must demand that Israel reopens the offices. Democracy he insisted is a precondition not only for reform but also for lasting peace, a peace based on justice. Dr Barghouthi concluded the press conference by declaring that unfortunately, he was almost 100% sure he would be greeting the same audience at a press conference to mark the fifth anniversary of the Intifada. As of yet, there has been no reason for the Palestinians to stop resisting – "either we live as slaves under an occupation or we continue to struggle for freedom", and the latter he insisted is the path that will be taken. A breakdown of the statistics for the four years of Intifada quoted in Dr Barghouthi's presentation is available here. NOTE: all statistics are based on information available at the time of calculation.