12th November 2008
Eight people have been arrested during Israeli invasions of Ni’lin on the nights of November 10th and 11th. Another resident of Ni’lin also decided to turn himself in to Israeli authorities after his home had been invaded by the army for several consecutive nights while his wife and children were harassed by the soldiers looking for him.
All of the nine are arrested for activel participation in the popular resistance against the apartheid wall in Ni’lin since April 2008.
At approximately 3 am November 10th around 200 Israeli soldiers invaded the village of N’ilin and arrested 7 people in their homes. Those arrested were:
Mohammad Sabti Khawaja, 28
Ahmed Sabti Khawaja, 24
Mohammad Yaser Amera, 28
Mussa Khaleel Nafea, 19
Abedallah Abed Al Kareem Srour, 18
Ayham Mohammed Nafea, 23
Tariq Khaled Srour, 17
They also came looking for Hilal Abed Al Qader Nafea, 35 but he was not in his home. On 11th November he went to the check point in the entrance to Ni’lin and turned himself in to avoid further harassment from the Israeli army towards his family.
At 3am the 9th of November Wahid Taysir Nafea, 21, was arrested. After his arrest, he was so badly beaten by the Israeli soldiers, that he had to be hospitalized in the military prison in Ramla.
Israeli forces invade N’ilin at night at a regular basis in order to arrest the people who have been active in the resistance against the wall being built on their lands. The wall annex 23 hectares of agricultural land from the village in addition to the wall two tunnels that are planned as the only entrances in and out of Ni’lin will annex 2 hectares.
432 hectares of farming land have already been annexed by the Israeli state since 1948 leaving Ni’lin with only 23 hectares of land including the land the houses are build on.
When the apartheid wall is completed it will completely encircle the village together with two roads that can only be used by Israelis. The constructions turns Ni’lin into a small enclave closed of from the rest of the West Bank.
Since the start of the construction of the annexation wall on N’ilin land in April 2008 more than 50 villagers have been arrested out of which 23 are still in jail. Besides from Tariq Khaled Srour, 4 other children are imprisoned and have been so for more than a month. They are:
Ibrahim Khalqel, 16
Majed Hisham Nafea, 17
Sufyan Khawaja, 17
Mohammad Ata Mussa, 14
In the past two months the Israeli Military have tended to keep those arrested much longer and demand much higher bail for their release. The villagers suspect that the occupation forces are attempting to make it impossible for them to keep up their resistance against the illegal land theft through these arrests and bail conditions.
The Popular Committee in Ni’lin continues arranging non violent demonstrations against the apartheid wall at least once a week.