“The Suffering of Jerusalem and Holy Sites under the Israeli Occupation” is the seventh in Am I Not a Human? series. The previous books include book #1 on the Israeli racism, #2 on the suffering of the Palestinian Children, #3 on women, #4 on prisoners, #5 on massacres, #6 on refugees, #7 on Jerusalem, #8 on the separation wall, #10 on the worker and #11 on the patient, with remaining three issues in preparation. The book falls in 142 pages and is written by Dr. Mohsen Moh’d Saleh. It documents the suffering of the holy city, holy in Islam, Christianity and Judaism, and its population under the Israeli Occupation; in addition to the Occupation’s infringements on other Muslim and Christian holy sites in Palestine generally. The book presents a historic and legal background on the issue of Jerusalem, since its occupation, including documented narratives of the occupation of the city and the continuous forced displacement of its population, in addition to documents that prove the illegality and de-legitimacy of the Occupation. The book also considers the Israeli infringements on Al-Aqsa Mosque, including excavations beneath and near the Mosque that threaten its infrastructure, the breakings into the Mosque, the expropriation of its areas and of neighbouring homes and neighborhoods, and the continuous attempts of the occupation to transform it into an open site for Jews and tourists, thus depriving its religious sanctity to Muslims. Additionally, the book describes the Israeli Occupation’s practices in the issue of Judaizing Jerusalem and imposing a Jewish façade on the city instead of its currently Muslim-Christian dominant Arab identity; and works in constructing a parallel “holy” Jewish city in the project named “Jerusalem first”. The Occupation’s settlement expansion in Jerusalem is also among the major issues considered by the book, not to mention the various planning schemes that aim at isolating Jerusalem from its Palestinian neighboring villages and from the West Bank more generally, and the expropriation of vast lands around Jerusalem to annex them to its municipal borders.

Al-Zaytouna Centre has issued the English version of its book entitled “The Suffering of Palestinians From Israeli Roadblocks in the West Bank” prepared by Fatima Itani and Mohammad Dawood, edited by Dr. Mohsen Moh’d Saleh and Rana Sa‘adah. This book is the thirteenth in the series “Am I not a Human?” through which Al-Zaytouna Centre seeks to provide a comprehensive picture of the suffering of the Palestinian people caused by the Israeli occupation, in a style that addresses the mind and the heart, within an academic, systematic and documented frame. This 108-page book addresses the suffering of Palestinians at Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank (WB) and the most serious violations committed by the occupation against the Palestinians at these roadblocks, which are spread out in their various forms all over the WB. The book reviews the Israeli policy of disconnecting Palestinian lands and humiliating Palestinians. It is followed by a legal preamble that reviews international and humanitarian laws that prove the illegality of the barriers. Then it gives an account of how the numbers and types of these barriers have evolved in the WB during the period 2001–2014. The book points out how setting up Israeli checkpoints in the WB hinders people’s movement, prevents them from going about their daily business in a normal manner and wears them out economically, mentally and socially. It also points out that, in spite of their different types, they are all there to break the Palestinians’ will. The Israeli checkpoints are considered among the worst manifestations of human rights violations; as in many respects, they are actually linked to practices that infringe on people’s lives and violate their dignity, safeguarded in international charters and conventions. The book points out that the logic that must be adhered to in demanding immediate removal of the occupation’s barriers is the illegitimacy of the occupation. As these roadblocks detain behind them Palestinians’ hope of living in a free country, in which they enjoy freedom of movement, work, education … and others.

The Suffering of the Palestinian Patient under the Israeli Occupation is the new book published by Al-Zaytouna Center for Studies and Consultations in Beirut. The book addresses the suffering of the Palestinian patients and the Palestinian health sector due to Israeli violations. These include the vast difference in health care between the Jews and Arabs, the experimentations done on Arab patients, the repercussions of the siege on the Gazan patients in addition to the influence of the Israeli checkpoints and the separation wall on the patients in the West Bank, the suffering of the patients held in the Israeli jails and the deliberate targeting of medical personnel. The book, prepared by Fatima Itani and ‘Atef Daghlas and edited by Dr. Mohsen Saleh and Rana Sa‘adah, is 128 pages of medium size. It is the 11th in the Am I Not Human? series, which endeavors to present a full and complete picture of the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation . It tries its best to address the hearts and minds with the most accurate, concrete and documented framework. The book cites many cases of patients whose suffering is exacerbated by Israeli obstacles and the difficult conditions of Palestinian health care institutions. The book also addressees the delays at the Israeli checkpoints and the gates of the Separation Wall in addition to impeding the access of patients and pregnant women to health care centers. The number of patients who died at the checkpoints has amounted to 401 since the outburst of the Intifadah and till 31/1/2011. On another hand, the book highlights the deterioration of health care sector in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli siege which was imposed since mid 2007. It led to a serious shortage of medicine,medical instruments other necessary requirements for hospitals and even ambulances. These conditions caused the death of 380 Palestinians. The book also includes comparative statistics which illustrate the gap’s magnitude between health care offered to Jews and Palestinians. It mentioned that, in 2008, the average per capita allocations of health resources was $ 2,145 in Israel compared to $165,5 in the Palestinian Authority Territories, while the number of beds in 2009 reached 42,119 beds in Israeli hospitals compared to 5,058 beds in Palestinian hospitals. The book sheds light on the experimentations performed on Palestinian patients in the Israeli hospitals including children, old and mentally ill patients without their own or their legal custodians’ permission. It reveals the testing of serious drugs on the Palestinians prisoners and the illegal trade of Palestinian human organs from corpses to treat Israeli patients, including soldiers. This conduct fails to respect international covenants which regulate medical experimentations on patients. In addition, the book tackles the Israeli policy of deliberate medical neglect regarding the prisoners and preventing them from getting proper medical care. These conditions increased in the number of sick prisoners and exacerbated their diseases, even after their release. Consequently, and since 1967, over 51 Palestinian prisoners died in the Israeli prisons. The Israeli policy of preventing patients from traveling abroad to get treatment was also discussed in the book. For Israel has the tendency to impose conditions of collaboration with the Israeli authorities and revealing information about their wanted relatives or neighbors in order to get proper treatment in Israel. The frequent Israeli attacks on Palestinian medical personnel were also exposed. The personnel are fired at, physically and verbally abused, and obstructed from reaching patients or even the injured. During Israeli military operations ambulances and medical facilities are always targeted.

The Road to Jerusalem

The book is the 12th in the series “Am I Not A Human?” which endeavors to present a full and complete picture of the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation. It tries its best to address the hearts and minds with the most accurate, concrete and documented framework, where citing different testimonies, images and graphs has bolstered the authors’ argument. The 112 page-book, prepared by Fatima Itani and Nitham ‘Ataya and edited by Dr. Mohsen Saleh and Rana Sa‘adah, casts light on the suffering of the Palestinian farmer caused by the Israeli occupation. It also exposes the impact of the Israeli violations and practices on the Palestinian environment in general. The book addresses the most important Palestinian and international laws and regulations related to the protection of the environment only to show how Israel ignores these laws and violates the minimal Palestinian environmental rights thus confiscating lands, destroying forests, uprooting trees and depleting water sources. The book explores the impact of Israeli settlements on the Palestinian environment, and the ways they contribute to its distortion through the manipulation of Palestinian natural resources and the infringement on all environmental elements. The book displays the different forms of Israeli aggression on the Palestinian agriculture. These include confiscating lands, building settlements, opening roads, closing agricultural areas for military or security reasons, converting large areas of land into natural reserves that are later confiscated, controlling groundwater, and limiting the quantities that can be pumped for irrigation purposes, in addition to controlling the marketing of agricultural produce. The book reveals the losses and the size of agricultural destruction during al-Aqsa Intifadah (Uprising), Operation Cast Lead (Al-Furqan) and Pillar of Defense (Stones of Baked Clay). The book explores the impact of the Separation Wall on the Palestinian environment. It has shattered large agricultural areas, caused soil erosion, and the uprooting of lots of trees, in addition to the accumulation of dust on trees and agricultural lands resulting from the construction of the Wall, which affected their productivity negatively. The book also addresses the issue of Israeli factories and their impact on the Palestinian environment. In this context, it talks about the pollution caused by chemical industries, and the production of toxics, like aluminum and lead, which are dumped into the settlements’ wastewater that is pumped into Palestinian agricultural lands. It also talks about the pollution caused by the nuclear reactor in Dimona, and the environmental damage. The book comprises seven chapters, the last of which addresses the spread of quarries, the theft of Palestinian soil and the consequent distortion of nature and its pollution. This series is a rich interactive documentation of the Palestinian suffering under the Israeli occupation. It focuses on the Israeli violations of the Palestinians’ basic human rights. This series is also distinguished with academic, well documented, comprehensive, concise, and graphically-supported, It is published (& ongoing publication) in both Arabic and English Languages.

Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations in Beirut has issued the English version of its book entitled “The Suffering of the Palestinian Student under the Israeli Occupation,” prepared by Hayat al-Dada and edited by Dr. Mohsen M. Saleh and Rana Sa‘adah. This book is the ninth in the “Am I not a Human?” series through which Al-Zaytouna Centre seeks to provide a comprehensive picture of the suffering of the Palestinian people caused by the Israeli occupation. This is done in a style that addresses the mind and the heart, within a scientific, systematic and documented frame. This 95-page book addresses the suffering of the Palestinian student under Israeli occupation. It reviews the most prominent international legislation related to the right to education in peace and war, the impact of Israeli policies aimed at keeping the Palestinian people ignorant, and the impact of daily attacks, the siege, and the Separation Wall on the Palestinian student. The book highlights Israeli aggression against Palestinian students through the use of roadblocks and checkpoints. This is in addition to the Separation Wall in the West Bank that added to the students’ suffering, which varies between physical inspection, physical and verbal attacks, blocking the arrival of students and teachers to their schools and universities, and impeding the arrival of school supplies. Furthermore, imprisoned students are deprived of their right to education. The book brings to light Israeli practices with respect to Palestinian curriculums. Israel has implemented policies that would let the Palestinian people be ignorant of many facets of their history. Thus it has deleted or amended parts of Palestinian curriculums to bring them in line with its occupation objectives. It separated the students from their heroic past and distorted their history. In Jerusalem, Israel changed the Arab curriculums to suit the occupation’s requirement. It introduced the matriculation “Bagrut” certificate in place of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) “Tawjihiya”, unrecognized by Hebrew universities. It froze the construction of school buildings and put various obstacles in the way of obtaining school building permits, as it did not take into account the natural population increase, thus causing a high rate of overcrowding in classrooms. The book also speaks about the low quality of education due to Israeli suspension of schools and the taking of security measures regarding them, in an effort to terrorize students and teachers. The book refers to a number of wars waged by Israel against the Gaza Strip, which shook the Palestinian educational establishment to the core, in addition to great damages caused by its blockade of Gaza Strip since 2007.

This 224 page book presents a general overview of the Palestinian issue, by tracing its historical junctures and its current developments. For the reader, this will facilitate his comprehension of its overall picture, the intertwined factors connected to it, at any stage and in a logical sequence, up to the present stage. This book is of special importance to the group of readers who wish to get a general idea of the Palestinian issue, or those who do not find time for detailed specialized studies. The book is written in a smooth English language, and is full of information updated till 2013; all the while retaining a scientific, academic and documented wording, far from emotional structural discourse. In its first chapter, the book deals with the background of the Palestinian issue until 1918. It reviews Palestine’s history through the ages, its geography, its Islamic standing, and the Jews’ religious and historical claims in Palestine, up to the emergence of the Palestinian issue in modern history, in addition to its political developments up to the end of World War I in 1918. The second chapter highlights the period of the British occupation of Palestine during 1918–1948. It discusses the development of the Zionist project, the emergence of the Palestinian National Movement and the 1936 Palestinian Revolt, as well as the political events that followed, up to the 1948 war and its repercussions. The third chapter reviews the issue’s developments during the period 1948–1967, focusing on the development of the Palestinian national movement, the birth of Fatah movement, the establishment of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), and the war of June 1967 and its repercussions. As for the fourth chapter, it addresses the period 1967–1987 up to the outbreak of the first Intifadah in 1987, shedding light on the emergence of the Palestinian national identity, the development of the Palestinian armed struggle, the Arab countries’ role in the Palestinian issue, and the emergence of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). The fifth chapter deals with the period starting with the outbreak of the 1987 Intifadah until the failure of the Camp David negotiations in 2000, going through the inception of Hamas, the transition of the PLO from armed struggle to peaceful settlement, the formation of the Palestinian National Authority, and the developments that Israel had witnessed during the same period. The last chapter in the book reviews the developments that occurred following the outbreak of al-Aqsa Intifadah in September 2000 and until 2013. It is divided into subjects that include the Palestinian resistance, the Palestinian internal situation, the path of the peaceful negotiations, Jerusalem and the status quo, the Separation Wall, and the Israeli internal situation. This book is an important source for readers seeking to acquaint themselves with the Palestinian issue, and to become informed of the pertinent facts in a balanced manner. It can also serve as an introduction to further studies of the Palestinian issue.

This book is the tenth among the series of “Am I not a Human?” which is a rich interactive documentation of the Palestinian suffering under the Israeli occupation. The 110 pages book deals with the suffering of the Palestinian worker, the history of the Palestinian labor movement and its struggle to restore its rights. It also talks about the direct targeting of the Palestinian workers, the infrastructure and the agriculture sector. In addition to the Israeli restrictions on the Palestinian economy. For example, since al-Aqsa Intifadah on 28/9/2000 and till the end of October 2010, the press in the West Bank (WB) and Gaza strip (GS) was attacked 1251 times. The workers living in GS and WB are 24.4% of the Palestinian people i.e., one quarter of the population there. Israel has always worked to strangle the Palestinian economy in order to make the Palestinians economically dependent on Israel. This book also discusses the “open door policy” which was advocated by Moshe Dayan in 1968, that aims to increase the individual standards of living while dismantling the Palestinian economic capacity. Statistics reveal that more than 35% of the labor force is in GS, and 25-30% of the labor force in the WB had been working in very bad conditions from 1970 till 1993. The Palestinian workers salaries do not exceed 30-50% of the salaries of their Israeli counterparts. The book asserts that stopping the suffering of the workers is neither by increasing the international financial aid, nor through the employment support programs, rather it is by ending the Israeli occupation. The statistics and documents in this book are rich and updated. Moreover, it contains testimonies, and photos that are very persuasive and convincing.

Al-Zaytouna Centre has published the second edition of The Process of Israeli Decision Making by Karim El-Gendy. The 272-page book is an attempt to understand the Israeli decision-making process, and to bridge the literature gap by relating domestic factors with decision-making and foreign policy. El-Gendy aims to discuss the Israeli decision making process from three different viewpoints. The decision makers and the formal relationship between them, the structural forces and influences inherent in the decision making mechanism, and the external factors that influence the decision making process. The author explains how elements and forces within the labyrinth of the Israeli society exert influence on the decision-making mechanism and on how foreign policy and national security decisions are made. He expands on a number of external forces, or forces external to the decision-making process that are powerful enough to influence it. El-Gendy discusses the influence of five forces; the military, the advisors, two religious groups, the relationship with the United States, and the relationship with the Jewish Diaspora. This book attempts to take holistic approach to the decision-making process and avoid focusing its attention solely on decision-making in crisis situations.

In 2002, the Israeli Occupation started the construction of the Separation Wall in the West Bank. This Wall aggravated the suffering of the Palestinians living in the West Bank, denying them many of their basic rights in addition to the freedom of movement. This book sheds light on the various dimensions of this suffering: on social, economic, educational and health levels. It starts with demonstrating the development of “The Wall” idea in the Israeli Occupation mentality, contending the Israeli argument of “security” purposes behind the construction, and illustrating the various political and settlement-expansion motives. It also considers the International law position from the wall, including the 2004 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the illegality of the Wall. The book explores the stance of the Israeli Supreme Court towards the Wall and some of its rulings to modify its route. The book then moves to discussing the various humanitarian impacts of the wall on the lives of the Palestinian people. Among theses impacts: land expropriation,housedemolitions,restricting movement, denying accessibility to basic services like education, work and health; added to social issues of isolation and further fragmentation of the Palestinian Society. The book also studies the Wall in Jerusalem in a separate chapter. This Wall is a manifestation of Israel’s most important goals; Judaizing the city, confiscating its lands, surrounding it with settlements and walls, and pressuring the indigenous Jerusalemites into leaving the city. It dedicates another chapter to the case of Bil‘in village as a form of possible popular resistance against the Wall, explaining the innovative ideas to resist the Wall and how the Israelis were testing “non-lethal” weapons to disperse protesters there. One of Bil‘in’s most notable achievement is represented in the decision of the Israeli Supreme Court to amend the route of the Wall passing on its land. The book falls in 118 pages of medium size, and addresses the hearts and minds with the most accurate and documented information. This series is a rich interactive documentation of the Palestinian suffering under the Israeli occupation. It focuses on the Israeli violations of the Palestinians’ basic human rights.