Month: November 2011 - Page 5 - International Solidarity Movement

Bittersweet Eid

by Lydia de Leeuw

19 November 2011 | A Second Glance

Donkey carts lined up opposite the market in Jabaliya refugee camp (Photo: Lydia de Leeuw, A Second Glance) – Click here for more images

Last week Eid al Adha was celebrated in Gaza and other Muslim communities worldwide. Eid al Adha is one of the most important holidays in Islam, marking the end of the Haj (annual pilgrimage to Mecca) season and symbolizing sacrifices for Allah as well as asking for forgiveness. The official day of Eid al Adha, which fell on Sunday 6 November this year, is celebrated by ritually slaughtering animals, such as cows and sheep, and parents giving their children a new outfit and some pocket money to buy toys. The meat of the slaughtered animals is divided among families and neighbours, and especially shared with those who cannot afford to buy meet.

While spending a wonderful time with friends and their families during Eid, I reflected on the essence of holidays. Regardless of the location, religion or traditions, celebrations of holidays seem to have three core elements in common: spending time with family, giving to others and a feeling of happiness. But what does a holiday look like without those?

Many families in the Gaza Strip had to celebrate another Eid without their brother, son, father, daughter, or sister. Following last month’s prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, there are still about 5,500 Palestinians[1] languishing in 22 Israeli prisons and detention facilities.[2] Over 700 of these prisoners are from Gaza and have not seen their relatives for many years as the Israeli occupation authorities have not allowed any family visits. On the second day of Eid several relatives (mostly mothers) of Palestinian prisoners gathered in front of the Red Cross Office in Gaza city. They held a weekly sit-in demonstration in support of their imprisoned family members. They have been coming together in solidarity, holding pictures of the sons, every Monday morning for the past 17 years. The constant sadness over the absence of their relatives seemed even more tangible during this important holiday. A woman sitting next to me showed me a picture of her son, saying she had not seem him for four years and that she always kept hoping that he would come home again the following day. She had been cherishing this hope for the past eleven years. There seems to be no other consolation than to hope that one day she would see him again, so we just repeated together “insh’allah” (God willing).

For Eid al Adha it is tradition to buy a new outfit for your children and to give them some money for buying toys. However, the suffocating closure of the Gaza Strip has made increasingly difficult for parents to provide for their families, let alone giving their children something extra. The closure has brought the Gaza economy to a standstill and has driven the unemployment rate up to a staggering 42,5%. Approximately 75% of the people in Gaza receive humanitarian aid of some sort. So for many parents in Gaza Eid means more struggling and juggling; more borrowing, and trying to figure out a way to give their kids the traditional Eid gifts. Even more than usual, the high food prices were a ‘hot topic’ for conversation and everyone was eager to find out where to go for the best deal.

Two days before Eid, when I was on my way to visit a friend in the north, I learned about another absurdity of the circumstances in Gaza. Throughout the streets and fields I noticed there was an unusual number sheep, cows and goats. Since there is not a lot to eat here for those animals and many of them were grazing around rubbish dump sites, I started wondering: where had these herds of fluffy Eid meals come from? Turned out that a lot of the animals for Eid are smuggled (yes, smuggled) in through the tunnels with Egypt. Even though I could have expected this, I was still shocked. Even the holiday meals have become a smuggled commodity. Looking at these goats, sheep and cows and visualising their trip through the tunnels, the absurdity of the policies once again hit me.

Besides the absence of loved ones and the financial struggles, there is the ever present risk of army attacks from the border, the sea, and especially air. A week before Eid, 15 year old Rawand Tayseer Abu Mughassib was on her way to her grandmother’s house nearby, for an evening visit. They all live close to the border area in the central Gaza Strip. As Rawand headed for the front gate, separating the house from the road in front of it. Suddenly, an Israeli plane fired a missile which landed four to five meters away from her, on the road. She was lucky to be one step away from the gate, with the wall protecting her from most of the deadly shrapnel. The gate was blown out of the wall and only just missed Rawand. She was injured in her left hand, and three houses (including that of her family) were damaged. The missile apparently targeted Palestinian fighters in the area. Since the attack, Rawand and her siblings are very anxious, especially after sunset, and are afraid of being alone. Rimas, Rawand’s little sister wakes up crying from nightmares every night and has started bedwetting. The father, Tayseer, says he does not know how he can comfort his children when they are so full of fear: “there is nothing I could do or say, instead of just being there with them”. He says he is also struggling with his own fears, but that he insists to no show this to his children. Rawand and her family started their Eid with fear, feeling abandoned and unprotected.[3]

In a place like Gaza holidays seem as much a test of the people’s resilience and strength as a time of joy and celebration.

[1] Among those thousands are 251 children, 37 women, and at least 124 prisoners who are detained for long periods without charges.

[2] Most of these prisons and detention facilities are located within Israel. The imprisonment of Palestinians from the occupied territories (Gaza Strip, West Bank) in Israel is illegal under international law and violates the Fourth Geneva Convention, particularly Article 76, which stipulates that “Protected persons accused of offences shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted they shall serve their sentences therein.”

[3] The Israeli occupation army often uses heavy airstrikes to target fighters in the densely populated Gaza Strip, often risking to cause civilian casualties, who will then be called ‘collateral damage’. Since January this year 18 civilians were killed and 16 injured in airstrikes which targeted fighters in the Gaza Strip. Of those who were killed, 3 were children.

Hebron: Zionist paraders harass Palestinians, 7 internationals detained

by Alistair George and Ben Lorber

20 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Over 1000 American and International Zionists joined 700 extremist settlers in Hebron this weekend to celebrate the reading of the Torah portion detailing Abraham’s biblical purchase of Hebron land, and to assert sovereignty over the Palestinian residents of Hebron.

On Friday, many Zionist visitors camped in tents on Israeli-controlled Shuhada Street. Inebriated from the Shabbat festivities, the visitors harassed local Palestinians throughout the night.

On Saturday, soldiers stationed themselves through the streets of Hebron’s Old City, forcing the shutdown of Palestinian shops, while swarms of visitors were treated to an extensive settler-guided tour championing the Jewish roots of Old Hebron. In what was advertised by the Hebron Committee as “the most unforgettable Jewish experience of a lifetime”, throngs of young, mostly American males clapped and chanted ‘Am Yisrael Chai’ (‘life to the people of Israel’) and other nationalistic chants, while Palestinian residents were forced to the sidelines of their own streets and kept there by soldiers. Throughout the day, 7 international activists and 2 Palestinians were arrested.

While a few visitors were respectful to Palestinian shop owners and residents, many were outright hostile. Mohammed Awawdeah owns a small shop in the old city, selling glass bottles filled with intricate colored sand patterns. Some of his bottles were smashed by a passing settler.

“He came and broke my stuff,” Awawdeah says. “I told the police but they are not here for us, they are here for the settlers…I am not even angry for my stuff, I’m angry at the soldiers who let them do this”.

Hamday Dwaik decided to close his bakery in the old city, since his shop was targeted by settlers during the event last year. “The settlers don’t want me to open. If I open they will throw my products on the ground, no one will buy it”.The Israeli police have taken the details of the incident and said that they intend to carry out an investigation.

Laila Slemiah, who works in Women In Hebron, a woman’s collective in the old city selling kiffiyehs and embroidery, was determined not to close her shop.

“I know I won’t have any business today,” she said, “but I have to stay open. I’m not scared of them.”

Clashes were also reported between visiting Americans and international activists. One activist relates that “as we were walking, a group of young American Jewish boys got into an argument with us. They became threatening towards us, and one of them had an M16 around his waist. They told us they would break our camera, they told the nearby Palestinian shop owner they would burn down his shop, they told me I would be dead on the floor.”

As this event is touted by the Zionist community as a Biblically-ordained ‘return to the homeland’, an organization called Project Hayei Sarah has been founded in the U.S. and Israel, offering alternative interpretations of Abraham’s Biblical relationship to Hebron that challenge the attempted Zionist appropriation of this legend to legitimize territorial conquest.

Seven international observers were detained by the Israeli police over the course of the day. At around 8 am, five international activists were detained after they were observing the checkpoint in Israeli controlled H2 area. They were held at Kiryat Arba police station for 8 hours and were threatened with charges of ‘interfering with police work’ unless they signed a statement agreeing not to be in the H2 area for a week. Two other international activists were detained at around 2:35pm today after attempting to film settlers passing through the old city; they were taken to Kiryat Arba and held there for around 2 hours. They were released without any further action being taken.

As darkness fell and the rain became harder, the tour ended. Large groups of settlers gathered in Palestinian areas of Tel Rumeida. A rowdy group of around 15 settlers chanted and attempted to intimidate Palestinians outside a shop in Tel Rumeida at around 5pm. The Israeli police were called and the group dispersed shortly afterwards.

Alistair George and Ben Lorber are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement. Ben Lorber also writes for the Alternative Information Center.

Imneizil demolitions: “Hanging between the ground and the sky”

by Jenna Bereld

18 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

The solar panels in the village of Imneizil, near Hebron, became effective almost two years ago, improved the living conditions for about four hundred inhabitants in the village, but recently residents learned that the Israeli army issued a demolition order for the solar power installations.

“When the electricity came, we could have light at night. So right now, we could sit with our friends in the night, and we can see each other,” said 25-year-old Nihad who has seen her life change since electricity become available in Imneizil. She talks about how the school now has access to computers and printers, and how radio and TV have connected the village to the rest of the world. Now they have washing machines, and refrigerators that make it possible to store food.

Nihad gives her 3-year-old son a hug and states that she also has a four-months’ baby at home.

Threatening the light of the village - Click here for more images

” Earlier, women used to go to Yatta to have an ultrasound. It is far away and it costs a lot of money to go there. Now, those who are pregnant can have ultrasound here at the clinic.”

Before the installation of solar panels, the village had no electricity, and the evenings were sparsely lit by dangerous kerosene lamps and candles. A few households had access to diesel generators that were used at parties and weddings.

The solar cells that have been installed cannot satisfy the village’s full electricity needs, but it is sufficient for moderate household consumption, and the needs of the school, health clinic, and common water pump. During the day people are trying to limit their consumption for the school to have enough electricity.

The project was planned to be extended so that later there would be electricity for regular usage. But in October, residents learned that the Israeli army issued a demolition order for the solar power installation. The consequence is that the power will be lost for forty households, they health clinic, and the school. The reason is that the solar panels were constructed without a permit from the Israeli Civil Administration which controls the occupied territory of Palestine.

– When I think about that they will cut our electricity, I am very, very angry, Nihad says.

Imneizil is not the only village in Palestine affected by the demolition policy. During the years between 2000 to 2007 nearly five thousand demolition orders were issued for Palestinian buildings, of which one third were implemented.

“They never requested a building permit here,” says Ali Mohammad, head of the village. “And you see that the other structures in the village were built thirty years ago. So we never applied for a building permit for solar panels, either. If we would try to apply, we know that we will never get a permit.”

The reason for the Israeli Civil Administration’s influence over Imneizil is that the village is located in what is known as Area C, which is under Israeli civil and military control.

“It is apparent to us that it means to displace us from here, to push us out of this area, silently, without declaring it, Ali Mohammad continues.

The solar panels were installed in cooperation with the Spanish organization SEBA. A spokesperson for the organization says that they appealed the demolition order through a lawyer, whereupon the Israeli Civil Administration issued a new demolition order. The demolition order is now frozen pending a court decision. But hope is fading that the half-million dollar project can be saved.

Demolitions are illegal under the Geneva Convention. The Fourth Geneva Convention 53rd article provides that: “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons […] is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.”

“I don’t think these solar panels cause any harm to anyone,” Ali Mohammad says. “They’re not affecting anybody. They’re not cutting the road to the settlement. I cannot understand what’s the point of coming here to demolish these solar panels! Now we’re astonished with the Israeli Authority’s demolishing orders. We’re feeling that we are hanging between the ground and the sky. ”

Imneizil is located in Area C, which makes up 62 percent of the West Bank area. Building permits for houses and other devices, such as structures for collection of rain water, must be applied for from the Israeli Civil Administration.

Jenna Bereld is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Internationals harassed and denied entry into Nabi Saleh

by Wahed Rejol

18 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Following last week’s violence in the village of Nabi Saleh near Ramallah, international observers and activists were today denied entry into the village by Israeli soldiers. The soldiers said that the entire village was a closed military zone and provided paperwork that seemed to support their claim. The internationals were followed and harassed by the Israel military as they attempted to leave the village.

Every Friday the village of Nabi Saleh organizes a march to protest the 2009 confiscation of an important water source by the Israelis. Last week Abu Hussam Tamimi suffered injuries after being shot in the face at close range by Israeli soldiers, in violation of international law. Also last week an 11 year old boy from the village suffered rib injuries from a “rubber bullet”*

Five international activists from the International Solidarity Movement were denied entry to the village while attempting to document this weeks protest. After leaving the main entrance to the village the activists were followed by military jeeps and harassed by soldiers.

When it became clear that any entry to the village was impossible, the activists tried to obtain transportation back to Ramallah. The Israeli military prevented taxis and services to stop to pick them up.

The video below shows activists asking soldiers to allow them to travel back to Ramallah. After approximately two hours the activists were able to find transportation out of the area. The van was followed by an Israeli military vehicle for several kilometers.

Last week an ISM activists was detained for several hours after being arrested in Kufr Qaddoum while photographing the weekly protest there. He was falsely accused of throwing stones and was physically abused by the Israelis. He was released later that night.

* Israel commonly uses the term “rubber bullets” when describing round steel bullets with a thin rubber coating

Wahed Rejol is an activist with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Al Baqa’a: The struggle of a family in the shadow of illegal annexation

by Alistair George

17 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

“The Israelis hope that that the young people leave, the old people die, and then they can confiscate the land and the houses” says Sami, an activist working in Al Baqa’a, a windswept valley situated a few kilometers east of Hebron.

Atta and Rodni Jaber at their house in Al-Baqa'a, near Hebron

The Jaber family’s experiences of living in Al Baqa’a are similar to many other Palestinians in the area, in that their ordinary family faces extraordinary pressure on a daily basis from the Israeli military and nearby settlers.

Rodni Jaber is the mother of three daughters and a son. Dressed in a bright pink jumper and a floral headscarf, she is cheerfully voluble and keen to tell her family’s story.

“We have had our house demolished twice, this our third house on the land. We lived in a tent for six months and after that we got a court decision to live in this area within 150sqm, so we started to build this home.”

Rodni and Atta Jaber work as farmers growing grapes, raspberries and tomatoes in the milder months and radishes and turnips in the winter. Neat lines of cauliflower grow next to their stone house situated halfway up the hillside facing west towards Al Bwayre and the illegal Israeli settlements and outposts of Al Bwayre mountain.

The family owns 31 dunums of land (1 dunum = 1000 msq). Despite having papers dating from the era of the Ottoman Empire proving that the family owns the land, their house still has a demolition order in place.

“We went to the court, and we have a postponement by the Israeli military to destroy this house” says Rodni. “We are not here legally – by Israeli law – but they let us live here for the moment.”

Around 900 Palestinians live in Al Baqa’a valley. Many of the houses in the area are subject to demolition orders as the Israeli authorities and the settlers attempt to make life impossible for the Palestinians in the area to expand Israeli settlements. Local residents and activists claim to have in their possession a map on which red lines outline areas in Al Bwayre and Al Baqa’a valley that have been designated by Israeli engineers as places for the construction of 500 new housing units for Israeli settlers. Much of the land is currently inhabited by Palestinians and will need to be cleared to make way for the proposed development.

In addition to experiencing house demolitions and harassment from the military, the Jaber family has been subjected to repeated attacks by Israeli settlers from nearby Al Bwayre and Qiryat Arba settlements and various outposts.

The Jaber family's house in Al-Baqa'a Valley

The family’s house and land was attacked by settlers around a month ago. The Israeli military arrived in jeeps but declined to intervene as the settlers attempted to set fire to the house. Rodni Jaber explains:

The soldiers were there just to protect the settlers. The settlers told us to leave the house and said ‘this is our land’ . They even began to complain to the soldiers asking them to kick us out of the house saying that ‘the land is for Abraham and not for them’, putting pressure on the soldiers…They [the settlers] tried to burn the house and I began to push them to stop, I even called the Israeli police to come and see what the settlers were doing. All the family fled as we were afraid of being burned in the house.

They failed to set fire to the house. This was just one incident in a long line of attacks on the family over the years; “I lost a baby [because I was attacked by settlers]. I was 4 months pregnant at that time and they attacked me and I lost it. I have been attacked many times by the settlers and I have been in hospital many times.

Nine or ten years ago an ‘operation’ happened on the highway here by the Palestinian resistance against the settlers. After that, the settlers gathered in Qiryat Arba and came here. They broke the door, entered the house and burned it…I left without shoes and wearing my pajamas. The settlers kicked my family out for three days….The soldiers then occupied the house for 40 days. We got a high court decision to return – when we came back to the house everything was broken. At that time settlers also went to my brother’s family [who lives near the house] and they shot him in the stomach – he survived but he has a plastic stomach now.

Al Baqa’a residents live under full Israeli civil and military control in Area C, so how do they protect themselves when the soldiers stand-by and facilitate settler attacks on the family?

Rodni stated that “The chief of police has been to the area and said ‘If something happens just call me’. We got a paper from the DCO (District Coordination Offices) saying that the Israeli soldiers have to protect this house. We got this when we were attacked in 2001. But they don’t do anything – it’s just paper…Most of the Palestinian people in this area are from my family so we try to protect each other. If they attack a house they try to go to the house to protect it.”

A cousin of the family was attacked last week as he rode a donkey in the valley; settlers hit him on the head with metal piping. He was hospitalized and his wounds were stitched up, luckily he was not badly injured.

How does the family cope with the psychological pressures of the constant threat of attack? Rodni smiled and stated, ” I am very strong…and if something happens I think ‘Al Hamdillilah’ (By the blessings of God).

If the family’s experiences are often terrifying and brutal, they are also occasionally absurd. In 1998 Rodni’s son Raja’ was born. A few days after his birth, settlers attacked the house; one settler made a complaint to the police that someone called ‘Raja’ had put a knife to his chest, threatening to kill him.

“After that [several days later] the soldiers came to arrest my son – who was 40 days old” said Rodni. “They heard about my son ‘Raja’ and they came and asked ‘where is Raja’. I showed him my son who was 40 days old, I showed them his birth certificate because they didn’t believe he was Raja’.” But the incident did not stop there as Rodni said, ”

They said that Raja’ should come to the court – at the age of 50 days I had to take him to court. They said ‘where is the defendant Raja’ I showed them my son… the judge ruled that when he reaches 16 years old he will have to come to back to court!”

Surely when the case comes to court and it becomes apparent that Raja could not even sit up or support the weight of his own head at that time of the incident, let alone threaten to harm anyone, the situation will go beyond parody. Rodni laughs and agrees it will be extremely embarrassing for the Israelis but the ruling still stands; Raja is 12 years old now and in four years time he will have to go to court and explain his role in the incident.

As Rodni talks, her husband Atta returns from work, wearing a woolen hat against the Autumn chill. He talks eloquently about Palestinian history and recounts his memories of Al Baqa’a Valley during the Six Day War in 1967.

“I was five years old when they occupied the West Bank, I still remember that day. The Israelis bombed the people and the Jordanian army here and they killed maybe 150 people in that time. Everybody had put white keffiyehs out as white flags to show that this is a peaceful area.”

A ruined house destroyed by the Israeli military in Al-Baqa'a Valley

As well as talking about the area’s history and the threat from settlers and the Israeli military, Atta described the mundane challenges of daily life in Al Baqa’a valley.

” We have a lot of problems in this area; there are no schools to send our children, we don’t have any clinics or hospitals. We don’t have water – the settlers have water 24 hours a day. We connected pipes to the settlement after we had submitted a lot of applications with the Israeli administration and water companies. In 1998 we applied to the company to have water but Israel prevented this. Under the Geneva Conventions it says that you are responsible for those that you occupy, but they want to transfer us from this area even though we have been the owners of the land for hundreds of years.”

Atta and Rodni refuse to be daunted by the problems they face. When asked about what the future holds for their family, Atta evades directly answering the question and replied in broader terms.

“It is not just my future, it is about all Palestinians’ future. Their tragedy and suffering becomes greater everyday.”

Alistair George is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).