1. Nablus Under Siege… Again
2. Tel Rumeida: Another Home Invasion
3. Haaretz: ILA destroys Bedouin homes to make way for Jewish town
4. Video: Arrest of Head of Bilin popular committee
5. Tel Rumeida: Breaking and Entering Palestinian Homes
6. Tel Rumeida: Fear of Settlers Prompts Palestinians to ask for Escorts
7. Tel Rumeida: Naked Soldiers
8. Tel Rumeida: Children Detained for Possession of a Butter Knife
9. Tel Rumeida: Prolonged Detention by Soldiers
10. Tel Rumeida: Prolonged Detention by Soldiers
11. Tel Rumeida: harrasment by Settlers Directed at Children
12. Tel Rumeida: Palestinian and HRWs Home Attacked With Rocks
13. Tel Rumeida: Attempt to Destroy the Olive Trees
14. HRWs Attacked with Rocks by Settlers
15. Bil’in: Excessive Aggression by IOF against demonstrators continues
16. Um Salamona: Tree Planting met with violence by IOF
17. El-Farra: Palestinians must have hope to move forward
18. Soldier to human rights worker: “In case you haven’t noticed, Israel is not a democracy”
19. 70 Palestinians detained at Tel Rumeida checkpoint
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1. Nablus Under Siege… Again
On Wednesday the 27th of June 2007, at around 10pm, Palestinian fighters exploded three bombs in defense of their city, Nablus, injuring six Israeli soldiers. The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), as a response to this act of self-defense, have sieged the city. Around 100 IOF jeeps are currently in and around the Nablus area, at least eighty of them within the old city. The old city has been completely sealed off by the IOF, power has been partially cut and house to house searches have began for fighters, weapons and ammunition. Barriers to vehicle movement are being bulldozed and two helicopters have been seen over the area.
One home, owned by the Tabuk family, has already been demolished and another home, the Safadi house, was attacked by the IOF resulting in extensive property damage and the arrest of Annan Tabuk (23), Raheb Shaab and Mamoun Safadi. Five boys in all have been injured in the old city, Machmoud Rajab and Achmed Damooni sustained unknown injuries, while the three others, Walid Omar (14), Hamed Mustafar (18) and Rami Abu-Shab (14) were shot in the leg with rubber bullets.
The IOF is restricting access to the Rafidia hospital, the Watani hospital and is currently occupying the Al-Kindi school, which like many homes in the old city is being used as a military base. Areas in Nablus which are currently heavily occupied are the, Neytsmeen neighborhood, Hosalartroud neighborhood, Al-Qurrion neighborhood, Habeleh neighborhood , Balata Refugee camp and the city center. Earlier in the day the IOF prevented oxygen tanks from reaching patients at the Rafidia hospital for several hours and harassed every patient in the hospital for their identification including those suffering from kidney failure and those recovering from heart attacks.
When called and asked why the IOF was sieging the city, a representative from the District Command Office for Nablus elaborated on the situation saying, “I can’t explain you”.
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2. Tel Rumeida: Another Home Invasion
Wednesday , June 27th, 2007: Shortly after 3pm this afternoon, two internationals working with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood were walking through the olive groves between Palestinian homes, when they observed two armed men in civilian clothes enter an unoccupied Palestinian home which had been broken into and vandalized last week. Keeping a distance, and calling several other internationals (two from ISM and one member of the Israeli group, Children of Abraham) for assistance, they approached the home, and became aware of the sound of breaking glass. When two other internationals and an Israeli peace activist arrived, they entered the courtyard of the home and observed six to eight Israeli soldiers inside the Palestinian home. When the soldiers became aware of the internationals’ presence, one from their group quickly blocked the doorway of the home and demanded that the human rights workers (HRWs) leave the premises.
The HRWs refused to leave and demanded an explanation for the soldiers presence. The soldiers insisted that the home was necessary for their training exercises, and claimed to have no responsibility for the earlier break-in. When asked to leave, the soldiers became hostile, saying the internationals “had no right to be in Israel”, and that they were “trespassing in the Palestinian home”. One soldier in particular made multiple racist statements about Arabs, and also disparaging remarks about American Jewry. After speaking to an Israeli human rights group about the legality of the situation, and being under the impression that their presence was perhaps extending the duration of the soldiers presence in the home, the HRWs decided to leave.
An hour after the International Solidarity Movement workers left, a Tel Rumeida Project (TRP) member noticed the soldiers still within the home, and called for two ISM workers monitoring the checkpoints on Shuhada St. They arrived and entered the broken home. The soldiers had by then called the police, and the two ISM workers from earlier were notified and soon arrived at the occupied home. The Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) members came to observe the home invasion. The police arrived, as did the home owner, who had moved to another area of Palestine due to constant settler violence. After the police demanded the passports of the internationals and recorded their information, the TIPH members advised the ISM and TRP workers to leave the area and that the soldiers would leave within an hour. Later, the soldiers were observed vacating the home.
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3. Haaretz: ILA destroys Bedouin homes to make way for Jewish town
By Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondent
The Israel Land Administration (ILA), with the assistance of an unusually large police force and IDF soldiers, demolished dozens of tin shack homes Monday in unrecognized Bedouin villages Um Al-Hiran and A-Tir in the northern Negev.
The ILA is destroying the village and evacuating the inhabitants so that a Jewish Community named “Hiran” can be established in the area. Fourteen shacks, which housed some 100 people, have been destroyed by bulldozers so far.
Bedouin women tried to get their children out of the house but police wanted to speed up the process so they grabbed the play pens with the children inside and did not let the mothers come near.
“Tonight we will sleep on the ground”, Fajua Ab Abu Al-Cian said.
Young men, roughly 18-years of age, wearing orange shirts are taking part in the evacuation, removed the Bedouin’s property from their homes and put it in piles on the ground outside.
Haaretz has discovered that these teenagers are outsourced workers who are employed by a contractor hired by the ILA. According to the evacuators, they are being paid in cash without any labor rights.
According to Adallah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, the residents of the village have been living there for 51 years. They were transferred to the site in 1956 while under martial law. The land they originally owned was transferred to Kibbutz Shoval, while the Bedouin were leased 3000 dunam of land for agriculture and grazing.
In August 2001 the ILA submitted a report on the establishment of new communities, which included Hiran. The Bedouin residents living in the area appeared under the title of “special problems” that may affect the establishment of the community.
The government approved the establishment of Hiran in 2002, and in 2004 the state submitted a court order claiming that residents of Al Hiran should be evacuated as they are using state lands without permission.
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4. Video: Arrest of Head of Bilin popular committee
June 25th, 2007
A Video of the arrest of Iyad Burnat,head of the popular committee in Bil’in, During the demonstration against the annexation barrier on the 22 of June. Iyad was injured by teargas, when a couple of soldiers ran to him and arrested him for no apparent reason. He was taken for questioning in Shaar Binyamin police station, and from there to Ofer prison. An officer remanded his arrest by 4 days, which are very likely to become 8, after which they will have to bring him in front of a judge if they want to keep him. Attorney Gaby Laski will filed an urgent request for his release.
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5. Tel Rumeida: Breaking and Entering Palestinian Homes
On June 22nd, 2007 at about 6:30 pm two international human rights workers were walking up the stone staircase past the graffittied house on which is written “Watch out Fatima will rape all Arab Woman,” signed by JDL (Jewish Defense League).
The HRWs noticed that the gate door had been crowbarred open and they entered the area to see if any settlers or soldiers were inside. They found that the house had been slept in, and that there were mats on the floor. In the same room there was some feces on the floor. No one was present in the home.
When the HRWs left they tried to close the door but it was too bent, by a crowbar, to close so they left it open. The HRWs later informed a Palestinian human rights worker about this incident, and he said he would inform the owner of the home.
The next day at about 3:00pm, June 23rd (Saturday), three HRWs were walking by the same house and again entered the area. The house was the same as the day before though on this day there were a group of Palestinian children playing next door.
The HRWs innitially assumed that the house had been entered by soldiers as had happened on many previous occasions about a year earlier. They asked the children about the entry into the home and if it was solders that had entered.
The children responded, however, that it was Israeli settlers that had entered the home two days before. It was difficult to determine exactly when the settlers entered the home, or for how long, since the HRWs could not speak good Arabic.
The house will be monitored closely until the owner of the home can make sure to secure his home.
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6. Tel Rumeida: Fear of Settlers Prompts Palestinians to ask for Escorts
Saturday 23rd June: At about 12:30 pm three Human Rights Workers (HRWs) were patrolling through the Olive Groves when they discovered a group of soldiers bathing at Abrahams Well located next to a Palestinian home. They watched the soldiers briefly until a Palestinian woman and her young son appeared in the doorway of their home. The Palestinian woman requested that the HRWs escort them to the checkpoint on Shuhada Street. She told the HRWs that because it was Shabbat she usually would not leave her home, because she is afraid of the settlers, but on this day she had some business or an errand that she had to do.
The HRWs escorted her to the checkpoint without incident and the Palestinian woman and young boy left to continue with their business.
The HRWs then walked down Shuhada Street towards the Beit Hadassah settlement where a Palestinian woman then called from her window and invited the HRWs for a drink of water. This woman, who was about 50-60 years old, told the HRWs that that morning at 4:00am Israeli Settlers had attacked her home and tried to break in. She said that for about ten minutes they had stoned her house and then tried to break the door down but did not succeed. She told the HRWs that she was alone in the home, at this time, with only her young five-year old granddaughter. The woman then invited the HRWs to see the view of Beit Hadassah and said that often the Settlers throw rocks at her home, and her neighbours home, during the night from the roof of the settlement.
When they arrived back in the Olive groves they encountered another young woman who requested that she be escorted to the checkpoint. The HRWs complied and asked her if she had seen any Settlers in the olive groves that day, and she said yes, and that because it was Shabbat she was afraid she might be attacked. She thanked the HRWs when they reached the street, and said she could walk the remainder of the distance to the checkpoint.
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7. Tel Rumeida: Naked Soldiers
As Human Rights Workers undertake patrols through the Olive Groves of Tel Rumeida, it is common to see Settlers bathing at the Ibrahimi Well, which the Settlers consider a religious location. The well is located within the Olive Groves next door to a Palestinian home and is also beside a frequently used path that Palestinians, both men and women, pass through. On June the 23rd however, a hot Shabbat day, a group of three HRWs passed by the Ibrahimi Well to find a number of on and off duty soldiers bathing at the well. This wouldn’t be an issue, however some of the soldiers were completely naked in full view of Palestinian homes whilst changing into their swimming shorts. There was absolute disregard by the Soldiers for Muslim culture or to have any sense of modesty in a culturally sensitive location and environment.
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8. Tel Rumeida: Children Detained for Possession of a Butter Knife
Monday June 18th, 2007
At 2:45pm two international human rights workers were walking down the hill from the olive groves, toward the top of Tel Rumeida hill, when some local Palestinian children told the HRWs that some Palestinian boys were in trouble with police down the street.
The HRWs went down the street where a group of about 10 Palestinians men, and young men, were standing around a police jeep. TIPH was also present. An Israeli policeman was speaking with two Palestinian boys, 16 years of age, one of whose father was present. The Palestinian boys father was very angry with his son, and was yelling at him while, at the same time, trying to convince the policeman to release his son. However the policeman then told the two boys to get into the jeep, and closed the doors.
When an HRW spoke with the policeman and asked him what happened the policeman responded “I am not required to speak with you,” and “I do not have to tell you anything.” At this point the other HRW called one of the Palestinian boy’s brother, who is a human rights worker himself.
The boys brother came directly and told the police he would go with his younger brother, and the other resident boy, to the police station. The police then took the boys, and the Palestinian human rights worker, to Kiryat Arba Police station.
During this time, TIPH was able to take the statements of one of the Palestinian boys.
Apparently what happened, as the HRWs and TIPH learned from a local Palestinian boy who was present during the incident, is that the boys had been walking and spotted a large electrical cable in a pile of trash. They cut the cable, with a small knife, and began dragging it to the Palestinian controlled section of Hebron, where they could sell the cable. A Settler had been watching the boys, as they did this, from the Jewish cemetery and called the police, on his phone, and a nearby soldier to intervene. Apparently the Settler had said that the boys had made threatening gestures with the small knife they used to cut the cable, though it was nothing more than a butter knife.
The soldier detained the boys, and the police, who arrived quickly, immediately began to question the two oldest boys and said they would be taken to Kiryat Arba. The Palestinian boys brother told the HRWs that, at Kiryat Arba, the boys had told the police that the cable belonged to no one, and that they had never threatened the settler with the knife. The Settler had yelled at them, and they had ignored him because they wanted the cable. The police released the boys because it was obvious that the cable was trash, and belonged to no one and the knife could obviously not hurt anyone.
The Palestinian boys had been questioned at the Kiryat Arba police station for about half an hour before they were driven back to Tel Rumeida. They were gone from Tel Rumeida for about 45 minutes.
One of the other boys who was present during the incident was told, by the Palestinians who had gone to Kiryat Arba, that the police were looking for him so he left the area and went home.
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9. Tel Rumeida: Prolonged Detention by Soldiers
Wednesday, June 13, 2007 6:30—9 pm
A 21-year old Palestinian male was detained at the Tel Rumeida Hill at 6:30 p.m. for not having his Palestinian id (hawiya). He told the soldiers that he forgot it at home.
The detainee’s brother was told to go home by the soldiers to retrieve the id so they could check it. When the group of soldiers told him to go home and bring them back his brother’s id, he told the soldier he wanted to stay with his brother. There was innitialy a discussion over whether the boy should go home to get the ID or not however this discussion escalated and the soldier became aggressive and grabbed the boy. At this point the soldier dragged the Palestinian boy to one side to continue speaking with him. When the soldier became aware that the HRWs present were filming and watching the situation, the soldier attempted to move the boy round the side of a nearby house, out of the line of vision of the HRWs. There was serious concern for the safety of the boy especially due to the aggressive nature of the soldier and the attempts by the soldier to remove him from view of the cameras. When the HRWs attempted to move to a position where they were able to view what was going on, other soldiers began to block them. It could be seen however that the boy had been pushed up against the wall whilst the soldier was still speaking to him in a threatening manner. Eventually the soldier let go of the boy and allowed him to leave to get his brothers ID.
When an international HRW, who spoke fluent Arabic, asked the detainee about his ID, he said was currently waiting to receive a new ID. His previous one was ruined in the washing machine and he had taken it to the Palestinian police for a new one. The Palestinian police told him to return for a new ID in two to three days.
An Israeli soldier told the HRWs that because the detainee had his id taken by the Palestinian Police that it usually means there is some sort of problem. He did not believe that it was a problem of the young man needing to get a new id.
The brother of the detainee returned with an old photo ID, of his brother, stating his full name and ID number in Arabic. The soldier could not speak Arabic and needed the HRW to translate his questions for the detained Palestinian.
First the soldier asked if this was the current number of the detainee’s ID and then had the young man read him the numbers. The soldier then phoned in the Palestinian’s ID number and was told that this number was in error. The soldier asked the detainee to re-read the numbers and realized that the first time he had read them backwards.
The soldier then asked the Palestinian for the name of his father and grandfather. The soldier told the international that they were not finding a match between the number and the name and that was a problem. While waiting, the soldier told the HRW that the id card was not enough and could be a fake. The soldiers told the detainee that if he was cold, he could sit in the soldiers post but the young Palestinian man refused.
At this point the young man had been detained for 2 hours. The soldiers said that they had to wait for conformation, or “orders” to release the young man. Every time they called the station, however, they did not receive conformation. Internationals had been calling the Red Cross and ACRI throughout the incident, as well as the police (although they hung up multiple times). After two hours the Red Cross called the police, and they finally arrived.
When the police came they took the id of the detainee’s brother and the identification card of the detainee. The police asked of both young men the name of their father, grandfather, and mother. After the young men had answered the police then separated the brothers to ask them the same questions separately to see if they were really brothers.
They told the detainees brother to walk a short way away and then asked the young man the names of their siblings, where they lived and with who, and the occupation of their father. The police then called the detainees brother back and asked him the same questions.
After this, the officer told the detainee that not having an ID is a big problem and to save himself and others trouble, and take his ID with him wherever he goes. The officer told him that if he is going to go anywhere, where he knows there are soldiers, bring his ID, because they will never know when their IDs will be checked.
The officer also told the young Palestinian man that it took a long time for the soldiers to do background checks because they do not have a computer and it only takes the police a few minutes.
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10. Tel Rumeida: Prolonged Detention by Soldiers
Wednesday, June 13, 2007 6:30—9 pm
A 21-year old Palestinian male was detained at the Tel Rumeida Hill at 6:30 p.m. for not having his Palestinian id (hawiya). He told the soldiers that he forgot it at home.
The detainee’s brother was told to go home by the soldiers to retrieve the id so they could check it. When the group of soldiers told him to go home and bring them back his brother’s id, he told the soldier he wanted to stay with his brother. There was innitialy a discussion over whether the boy should go home to get the ID or not however this discussion escalated and the soldier became aggressive and grabbed the boy. At this point the soldier dragged the Palestinian boy to one side to continue speaking with him. When the soldier became aware that the HRWs present were filming and watching the situation, the soldier attempted to move the boy round the side of a nearby house, out of the line of vision of the HRWs. There was serious concern for the safety of the boy especially due to the aggressive nature of the soldier and the attempts by the soldier to remove him from view of the cameras. When the HRWs attempted to move to a position where they were able to view what was going on, other soldiers began to block them. It could be seen however that the boy had been pushed up against the wall whilst the soldier was still speaking to him in a threatening manner. Eventually the soldier let go of the boy and allowed him to leave to get his brothers ID.
When an international HRW, who spoke fluent Arabic, asked the detainee about his ID, he said was currently waiting to receive a new ID. His previous one was ruined in the washing machine and he had taken it to the Palestinian police for a new one. The Palestinian police told him to return for a new ID in two to three days.
An Israeli soldier told the HRWs that because the detainee had his id taken by the Palestinian Police that it usually means there is some sort of problem. He did not believe that it was a problem of the young man needing to get a new id.
The brother of the detainee returned with an old photo ID, of his brother, stating his full name and ID number in Arabic. The soldier could not speak Arabic and needed the HRW to translate his questions for the detained Palestinian.
First the soldier asked if this was the current number of the detainee’s ID and then had the young man read him the numbers. The soldier then phoned in the Palestinian’s ID number and was told that this number was in error. The soldier asked the detainee to re-read the numbers and realized that the first time he had read them backwards.
The soldier then asked the Palestinian for the name of his father and grandfather. The soldier told the international that they were not finding a match between the number and the name and that was a problem. While waiting, the soldier told the HRW that the id card was not enough and could be a fake. The soldiers told the detainee that if he was cold, he could sit in the soldiers post but the young Palestinian man refused.
At this point the young man had been detained for 2 hours. The soldiers said that they had to wait for conformation, or “orders” to release the young man. Every time they called the station, however, they did not receive conformation. Internationals had been calling the Red Cross and ACRI throughout the incident, as well as the police (although they hung up multiple times). After two hours the Red Cross called the police, and they finally arrived.
When the police came they took the id of the detainee’s brother and the identification card of the detainee. The police asked of both young men the name of their father, grandfather, and mother. After the young men had answered the police then separated the brothers to ask them the same questions separately to see if they were really brothers.
They told the detainees brother to walk a short way away and then asked the young man the names of their siblings, where they lived and with who, and the occupation of their father. The police then called the detainees brother back and asked him the same questions.
After this, the officer told the detainee that not having an ID is a big problem and to save himself and others trouble, and take his ID with him wherever he goes. The officer told him that if he is going to go anywhere, where he knows there are soldiers, bring his ID, because they will never know when their IDs will be checked.
The officer also told the young Palestinian man that it took a long time for the soldiers to do background checks because they do not have a computer and it only takes the police a few minutes.
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11. Tel Rumeida: harrasment by Settlers Directed at Children
June 18th, 2007- Sunday
Two Palestinian brothers had been playing football in a small field located next door to their house in Tel Rumeida, when two adult male Settlers approached them aggresively. In fear, the two brothers ran and hid for their safety fearing that they would be attacked by the Settlers. In running away the boys had left behind their football, which the Settlers took. From where the boys were hiding, they could see the Settlers take a knife out and stab it into the football destroying the football and wrecking the children’s game. This display of aggression and harrassment against children demonstrates the constant battle the Palestinians have to face in wishing to live in peace. Harrassment and intimidation is directed at all members of community and there is little regard for the fact that they are directing their intimidation at defenseless children who should be protected from the conflict and are not party to it.
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12. Tel Rumeida: Palestinian and HRWs Home Attacked With Rocks
At 10:50pm on Wednesday June 21st, A group of Human Rights Workers were sitting in their apartment when suddenly they found themselves under attack with rocks being hurled at force at their home. The attack was brief, lasting between 6 -10 seconds however they found four rocks left on their roof from the incident.
About one week before stones had been hitting the house at about a similar time, apparently flung by Israeli settlers from Tel Rumeida settlement.
Two HRWs went down into the street to see if there were any settlers were about, but no one was able to be seen. They proceeded to go to a Palestinian home, located next to Tel Rumeida settlement, that had been attacked in the past with stones at around the same time. When the internationals arrived they found the family awake. The head of the house, Hasshem Al-Azzah, told the HRWs that his home was attacked by settlers at almost the exactly same time the internationals home had been hit with stones.
Hasshem told the HRWs that his home had been hit with stones for about five minutes before he came out and saw a settler man run away right below the balcony of Baruch Marzel. He further informed the HRWs that he had seen settlers on the roof of Tel Rumeida settlement recently with a large slingshot.
After about half an hour, after the internationals left the Al-Azzah home, at about 11:40pm three more rocks hit the roof of the HRWs home.
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13. Tel Rumeida: Attempt to Destroy the Olive Trees
On Friday the 22nd June, Two human rights workers (HRWs) were alerted to a fire in part of the olive groves near Tel Rumeida. The size of the affected area is approximately one hectare and belongs to a local Palestinian man. According to one TIPH worker, the owner is one Ferial Abu Haikal and her husband (not sure of his name).
A local Palestinian fire crew dealt with the blaze, and perhaps half-a-dozen Israeli soldiers plus some locals were at the scene assisting.
When the HRWs arrived at approximately 12:15, the blaze was almost entirely extinguished, but flames continued to flicker in places and there was still a substantial amount of smoke. In general, the trees in the grove did not appear to be too badly affected, but the entirety of the surrounding area was turned to a black carpet of scorched grass. At least three trees were seriously damaged.
At 12:30, the Israeli soldiers asked the human rights workers to leave the immediate area; the HRWs agreed to the request, but stayed in the area to monitor the situation.
Having left the scene, the HRWs spoke with a relative of the owner the land. The relative explained that four years ago the Tel Rumeida settlers had set the same piece of land alight. Tel Rumeida settlers have also previously set alight ancient olive trees, which are of particular value to local Palestinians.
At the present time, the nature of the blaze is unknown, though there is footage, filmed by the Abu-Heckel family, of Israeli settlers standing in front of the fire when it first started. Israeli soldiers said that the fire started with the sun.
Later, at 3:00, a group of internationals were doing a tour through the olive groves when the discovered an olive tree still on fire. They called Israeli soldiers to put out the fire, but when the soldiers arrived they told the internationals to go away because it was too dangerous. Two internatioanls then ran to their home to get bottles of water, but when they returned the Palestinian firefighters were present with a fire hose. The internationals assisted the firefighters and helped put out the fire on the tree. This tree, and one other was seriously damaged by the fire and not have a chance to survive. One other tree was moderatly damaged.
In speaking with Jamil Abu Hekel, he confirmed that he was able to film his family’s land on fire. He advised that the land is shared between 6 family members, and that the piece of land which was burned has been burned down now every year for the last 5-6 years. in previous years, there used to be grapes on the field but they were burned down some 10 years ago.
One of the trees that were burned was over a hundred years old, it has been burned a lot of times, but somehow it has always managed to survive.
In real terms the cost of Palestinian land is set by how many Olive trees there are on it, however this doesn’t take into consideration the sentimental and emotional attachment many Palestinians feel towards the Olive trees as part of their cultural heritage and history. The burning of these trees attacks not just the financial capacity of Palestinians in the area but also attacks their culture and history.
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14. HRWs Attacked with Rocks by Settlers
At approximately 5:00 pm on June 23rd 2007, two international HRWs (Human Rights Workers) walked through the olive groves of Tel Rumeida and noticed that a young settler boy (probably between the age of 10-12) was following closely behind them. After a couple minutes passed, the HRWs stopped walking to allow the settler to pass, as they were uncomfortable with him following at such a close proximity. When the boy reached the HRWs, he shouted at them to “Go!” among other various things in Hebrew. The boy was then joined by about five other young male settlers, and they began to hurl dirt and large, heavy stones directly at the HRWs. The stones hit one of the HRWs’ camcorder, as well as various places on their bodies. The HRWs called over a nearby Israeli soldier, who proceeded to come over but do nothing to prevent the settlers’ violence despite the continuing aggression by the children and the rock throwing. The first boy then physically attacked one of the HRWs. The soldier then told the HRWs to leave the area. They followed the soldier’s instructions and began walking away. About two minutes later, the settler children reappeared (there were now about ten of them) and began throwing huge stones from all angles at the HRWs. The children invaded an abandoned Palestinian home and continued their stone throwing. They managed to strike the HRWs multiple times again. After about five minutes, the children evacuated the house and returned to their settlement.
A third HRW on her way to support those being attacked asked a policeman to come, but he refused. The HRWs and others who had then joined them attempted to call the police, but they did not answer. The two attacked HRWs returned to Tel Rumeida Street and asked the two soldiers at the top of the hill to call the police. The soldiers initially refused, but finally conceded after numerous requests. After approximately thirty minutes, the police arrived and took the attacked HRWs to the police station in the Kiryat Arba settlement to make a complaint. An additional HRW complained to the policemen that they did not immediately attempt to catch the violent settler children. Eventually two of them proceeded to walk towards the Tel Rumeida settlement, but after a few minutes one of them left to remain inside his vehicle.
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15. Bil’in: Excessive Aggression by IOF against demonstrators continues
At 1:30 on the 22nd June 2007, Palestinian, Israeli and international activists gathered together for the 124th demonstration against the Apartheid Wall being built and the expansion and occupation of the nearby illegal Settlement of Mode’in Illit. The demonstration began with chanting in both Arabic and English by the demonstrators as they marched to where the wall has been built. Both peaceful and civil, the demonstrators were initially met with quiet from the approximately 20 soldiers who were stood around twenty meters from a section of barbed wire lying in the road to restrict access. The demonstrators initially held their position at the barbed wire, chanting and shouting, however after a period of relative calm from the Israeli soldiers, they suddenly started firing sound grenades and tear gas at demonstrators who had been peacefully protesting against the wall and settlement. Some demonstrators were only ten meters away from the army with hands raised to show peace and non-violence, when they began to fire the sound grenades and the tear gas. It was clear from these gestures that the demonstrators had come without violence; however the Israeli army chose to deliberately ignore this. The demonstrators made efforts to retreat back to a safe distance however the Israeli military continued to fire sound grenades and tear gas canisters at the protestors. Many demonstrators were still holding their hands in the air and walking away from the soldiers however the soldiers continued to fire at them. A Canadian lady, known as Beth was walking away from soldiers at this time when she was shot in the back of her leg with a tear gas canister. The Israeli army showed complete disregard for demonstrators who were retreating or people not directly involved in the demonstration.
The IDF continued to move forward along the road despite the retreat by the demonstrators and they continued to fire rubber coated steel bullets, tear gas and sound grenades. When a group of six female Palestinian and international activists attempted to confront the IDF over the use of violence against children, they were met with aggression and physical violence at one point attempting to arrest a Palestinian lady whose only crime was to voice her opinion. Children as young as ten were being targeted by the IDF with rubber coated steel bullets for throwing stones at heavily armored military jeeps. Attempts were made by activists to defend the children, yet soldiers continued to fire and forcibly hit, pushed and dragged female activists for their attempts to prevent the violence. The Soldiers had complete disregard for the activists who were acting without violence and continued to fire despite a HRW being directly infront of the soldier. It was with only good fortune that the HRW was not hit.
During the protest two further Palestinians were arrested, one of whom, Iyad Burnat of the popular committee is still being held. He was detained initially by two soldiers without apparent reason. He has since been shown photo’s of a man throwing stones, which the soldiers have claimed was him, despite this not being the case. He is currently in Offer prison awaiting a trial.
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16. Um Salamona: Tree Planting met with violence by IOF
At approximately 10.30 am a group of about 60 Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals gathered near the Palestinian village of Um Salamona to support Palestinian farmers in their protest against Israeli Apartheid Policy and to help them plant olive trees inside the nearby olive groves. Although these olive groves are part of Palestinian farm land, the farmers are not allowed to enter them since this area is supposed to be separated by the illegal Israeli Apartheid Wall.
As the group of peace activists and Palestinians approached the area of the upcoming Apartheid Wall, about 40 soldiers and border policemen came down the hill to prevent them from going further. The Palestinian land owners asked the soldiers to let them go on to their land. The soldiers either ignored or refused their requests and kept blocking the way. Some Palestinians then started to plant about 20 olive trees on the side of the road, while the rest of the group unsuccessfully negotiated with the border police and soldiers and chanted against the construction of the Apartheid Wall.
On several occasions, the soldiers and border policemen used unprovoked violence against the peaceful demonstrators. Numerous people were pushed to the ground, kicked and beaten. A group of three settlers, standing behind the soldiers, were watching the proceedings and seemed to enjoy the humiliating actions directed at the demonstrators. One border policeman stole the pick of a Palestinian farmer and refused to hand out his property until the end of the demonstration.
Close to the end of the peaceful protest against the robbing of Palestinian farmland and the building of the Apartheid Wall, the Israeli soldiers arrested two Israeli activists and used physical violence to take them to the police car.
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17. El-Farra: Palestinians must have hope to move forward
by: Mona El-Farra, SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR
As a physician from Gaza, I have treated far too many Palestinians wounded by Israeli troops. Now a day has come that I thought I would never see.
Throughout our 59-year struggle to obtain our freedom, we Palestinians debated strategy and tactics. Political factions competed for popular support. But never would I have believed that we would turn guns against each other. What brought us to this point?
In 2006, Hamas won free and fair elections on a platform that promised clean and efficient government. But Israel and the West meddled with our democratically elected choice by imposing devastating economic sanctions. How would Americans feel if a foreign power expressed its dissatisfaction with your elected government in this way? Our economy and our livelihoods have been destroyed, reducing many of us to poverty.
At last, we exploded with a desperation born of decades of oppression, lack of opportunity and loss of hope. We brutalized each other over the crumbs of power. The shame is ours — but the responsibility is shared between reckless Palestinians and external powers that turned the screws on our people.
Israel might have removed its soldiers and settlers from Gaza in September 2005, but it still controls Gaza from the sea, air and land. The borders are mostly closed according to the whim of Israel, transforming Gaza into an enormous open-air prison for its 1.4 million people, half of whom are children. Too many of these youngsters suffer from the stifling effects of violence and hunger. Their future is dangerously circumscribed by the chaos and uncertainty that envelops us.
To thrive, Palestinians need access to the sea and to commerce. Most importantly, our people must be imbued with a sense of hope.
Sanctions imposed after the election of Hamas made hard lives harder, but we must not forget that even under the “moderate” leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas we did not control trade in and out of Gaza.
“There is a seeming reflex,” United Nations peace envoy Alvaro de Soto said in a report, “in any given situation where the UN is to take a position, to ask first how Israel or Washington will react rather than what is the right position to take.”
Washington’s bias toward Israel is significantly responsible for the appalling situation in which we find ourselves.
Yes, we Palestinians must accept blame for our perilous situation. However, Palestinian Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amr has correctly declared, “If you have two brothers, put them in a cage and deprive them of basic and essential needs for life, they will fight.” The fact that we would sink to this level is perhaps the surest sign of the terrible damage meted out to us over the years by dispossession and occupation.
When one is in a hole, it is imperative to stop digging. If we are to win our freedom, surely it will not be done with one brother digging the grave of another. The violence, therefore, must stop. That is our first responsibility as Palestinians and we must meet it immediately. And the United States and the international community must end the sanctions that deprive us of our basic needs and our hope for a better future.
The Israeli leadership brandishes our plight as evidence that we cannot govern ourselves nor be trusted as “peace partners.” White South Africans similarly claimed that black South Africans were incapable of self-governance. In the last years of apartheid, more than 250 blacks were killed in black-on-black violence each month. Yet decency and equality eventually prevailed in South Africa. Apartheid was vanquished and the world learned that black-on-black violence was an outgrowth of apartheid — not an indication that black South Africans were incapable of self-rule and undeserving of rights.
We, too, have the right to be free. But we must first free ourselves from fighting over the scraps of power.
Like oppressed people everywhere, we yearn for our rights. Out of this ugly period, we must promote a new vision of equality for all peoples living on this land, regardless of race or religion.
El-Farra is a physician in the Gaza Strip. She is slate to speak tonight at 7 p.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 3208 Exposition Blvd.
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18. Soldier to human rights worker: “In case you haven’t noticed, Israel is not a democracy”
On Saturday June 16, at 8.15 am, two human rights workers (HRWs) were taking a tour through the olive groves near the illegal Israeli settlement of Tel Rumeida when they heard dialogue in Hebrew coming from the second floor of a Palestinian home. The owner of this house is a Palestinian man who recently purchased it. Because of the daily harassment by Israeli soldiers and settlers, the house was abandoned by its original Palestinian owners, trashed by the settlers, then turned into a military outpost. The owner of the house plans to renovate it so the Palestinian family move in.
The internationals called for two other human rights workers to come to the Palestinian home. When the HRWs arrived, they yelled into the house, “Whose there?” They waited for a short time before Israeli soldiers appeared in the windows. Internationals discovered that the 6 Israeli soldiers had been trespassing in the home for quite some time.
When the internationals asked if the soldiers had permission to be in the house, the soldiers said the house was a closed military zone and therefore they had permission to be there, and that the internationals must leave. When the HRWs asked for papers proving that the area around the house was a closed military zone, however, the soldiers failed to produce any. The HRWs told the soldiers that the house was private property, and owned by a Palestinian man. When the HRWs suggested that the soldiers vacate the house in which they were illegally trespassing, one solider took two cups of coffee and poured it out the window so that it ran down the front of the house.
HRWs then went up to the second floor of the house and confronted the soldiers. They told them repeatedly that they were not allowed to be in the house owned by the Palestinian, and when they looked in the windows they noticed mats on the floor and that the soldiers had been sleeping there.
The soldiers then exited to the back of the house where they proceeded to take photographs of the human rights workers. When one HRW told them that it is against international and Israeli law to occupy people’s houses, one of the soldiers answered: “But in case you have not noticed, Israel is not a democracy.”
After about 45 minutes members of TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron) came to the house.When the TIPH workers asked the soldiers if they had proper documentation that insured that they had the right to be in the house, they suddenly would not answer and pretended to not understand English.
At 9.15 the soldiers apparently grew tired of the situation and went from the back of the house around to outside the front where they sat down.
Two soldiers were hanging onto the windows downstairs taking photos of the internationals that stayed at the bottom of the house to make sure the soldiers wouldn’t try to get in to the house again.
At 9.40 the soldiers left from outside the front of the house and exited the area.
When the human rights workers took a tour of the house after the soldiers had left, they found Russian text written on the inside of the house. Russian graffiti was also noted on the walls of the house in the past. Two of the soldiers were Russian.
The following day, Sunday June 17, at 3:30pm, three settler boys- 10 to 13 years of age- came from the illegal Israeli settlement of Tel Rumeida and used a mirror to reflect the sun in the eyes of Palestinian residents and international humans rights workers. The mirror was about 10 inches in diameter. A Palestinian man tried to shoo the boys away but they continued to shine light in people’s faces. The settler boys called the Israeli soldier who was stationed nearby, to intervene. The settlers claimed that the Palestinian man was threatening them. The Israeli soldier came over and told the Palestinian man to go inside his home. The Palestinian man then went inside.
The Israeli settler children continued to disturb the internationals until the mirror was broken. However the children then each picked up shards of the glass and continued to harass the HRWs. One of the internationals then approached the soldier and asked him to intervene and stop the kids because it was especially dangerous with sharp shards of glass. The soldier at first tried to say he did not understand but finally he asked the kids to come over to him, and after talking to them for some time they began to walk toward the settlement. Along the way, however, the settlers stopped between two Palestinian homes and began to taunt the Palestinian residents verbally. The internationals again intervened and asked that the soldier make the children go home. When the settlers noticed the soldier approaching, the proceeded to leave the area.
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19. 70 Palestinians detained at Tel Rumeida checkpoint
On the morning of June 18, four Israeli border police and two Israeli soldiers were present at the checkpoint leading into the Tel Rumeida district of Hebron.
The policemen turned up at 7:20am and began conducting their own ‘security checks.’ Palestinians and human rights groups see these checks as a continual daily harassment against the Palestinians by the occupying forces. The harassment involved checking the ID of virtually all Palestinian males aged ten-years and older (including elderly men) who wished to pass through the checkpoint in either direction. Most of the Palestinian males were detained for more than fifteen minutes, six for more than half-an-hour, and two for more than an hour. At least three Palestinian males had their details recorded on paper.
The majority of detained Palestinians were not carrying anything, and none were behaving suspiciously or provoking the policemen or soldiers.
Initially, the human rights workers (HRWs) began trying to talk with the policemen. When the HRWs talked to the policemen, they could not get a serious response. After three interventions, the policemen began to ignore the HRWs, and even became aggressive.
The human rights workers were repeatedly instructed not to speak to the detained Palestinians. The HRWs asked that the Palestinians be allowed to contact their employers or families to let them know what was happening. The policeman refused to allow the Palestinians to make phone calls. One example is a boy of approximately fourteen-years. One HRW approached the boy after he had been detained for at least fifteen minutes, and offered him her phone so he could call his family to let them know what was happening. The policemen was not happy with this, saying “Next time you ask me before you talk to them!”
The policemen directed provocations at the human rights workers throughout their time at the checkpoint. The provocations were essentially limited to mocking laughter, pointing and jeering. At one point, two of the policemen ran off toward a Palestinian property, pretending to be serious. They briefly disappeared from view, and when one of the HRWs followed them, the two policemen reappeared. All of the policemen then proceeded to mock and jeer at the human rights worker who had followed.
One policeman tried to show an HRW a video on his mobile phone of a beheading in Iraq. When the HRW realized what he was being shown and waved the phone away, the policeman began to laugh loudly in a mocking way. Another policeman showed the video to another HRW and explained that “They are all the same,” and that they “are killing Americans” in Iraq.
Overall, upwards of 70 Palestinian males were detained for up to one hour, and for an average time of ten to twenty-five minutes.
At approximately 11:45am, the policemen decided to halt their ‘security checks’ and left along Shuhada Street. They then proceeded to their base next to the illegal Israeli settlement of Beit Hadassah.
In the evening, two different Israeli soldiers were manning the Shuhada Street checkpoint. They repeatedly closed the gates which significantly increased the amount of time required for Palestinians to pass through the checkpoint. Periodically, the two soldiers additionally refused to open the side gate to let Palestinians pass with bulky goods, making their passage through the checkpoint much more difficult. One elderly male had to have a human rights worker help him unload his trolley and carry his goods through the checkpoint so that he could manage to get the empty trolley through the checkpoint.
The soldiers also refused to let a group of four female Palestinians pass because they did not have their ID.