Year: 2011

Protester arrested as soldiers occupy Nabi Saleh

9 January 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

Border Police officers arresting Ouday Tamimi. Picture credit: Bilal Tamimi

Dozens of soldiers brought the village of Nabi Saleh to a standstill today in yet another attempt to curb demonstrations in the village. One protester was arrested, and two required medical treatment for their injuries.

Dozens of villagers, joined by Israeli and international supporters took part in the weekly demonstration in the village despite the siege laid on the village by the army, and the unusually large number of soldiers who occupied the village’s streets. Many hiked through the mountains the entire area was declared a closed military zone as early as 9 am and a gate that was installed at the entrance to the village earlier this week was shut closed.

Unlike most weeks, this Friday’s midday prayer, which precedes the demonstration, did not take place in the village’s mosque, but rather on the hill opposing the settlement. As people gathered to pray, soldiers and Border Police officers rushed towards them, ordering them to enter their homes for the duration of the closed military zone order. In response, the protesters staged a sit-in and refused to leave the place.

At the same time, clashes broke inside the village between the armed soldiers who took over the village, and local youth. Throughout the day, soldiers shot rubber-coated bullets at the protesting villagers and their supporters, as well as massive quantities of tear-gas. Tear-gas projectiles were often shot directly at the protesters, causing one injury. At some point, a pregnant women was evacuated to the hospital, after soldiers fired a tear-gas projectile directly into her house. Naji Tamimi, a member of the village’s popular committee, was beaten by a group of Border Police officers as he tried to approach the house in order to evacuate her.

During the day, soldiers randomly took over houses and arrested a seventeen year-old from the street. They have also tried to detained a thirteen year-old boy, but after other demonstrators gathered around him to prevent his arrest, the soldiers decided to not peruse his detention.

At nightfall, on the army’s retreat out of the village, a final barrage of tear-gas was volleyed, as 64 projectiles were simultaneously fired into the village.

Israeli navy confiscates two boats of abducted fisherman

9 January 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

In one week’s time, the Israeli Navy has twice abducted fishermen from Gazan waters; they were released the same day, but their boats remain confiscated.

Abduction of Baker fishermen on January 4th
On Tuesday morning, January 4th, Mohammed ‘Abdul Qader Baker (54), Ziad Mohammed Baker (25), Mohammed Mahmoud Baker (28) and Ra’ef Nabeel Baker (25) were out fishing at approximately 2.5 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza City when they were intercepted by an Israeli gunboat. At gunpoint they were forced to hold their hands up for over an hour, while the gunboat awaited reinforcement of two zodiacs coming from Ashdod. The men were told to undress and swim towards the zodiacs, where they were cuffed, blindfolded and transferred to the gunboat.

“I told them that I am sick and too old to throw myself into the sea with these kinds of temperatures. One of the soldiers on the zodiac replied that if I didn’t jump into the water he would blow my head and the boat”, says the 54 year old Mohamed Abed Qader Baker. Their hassaka, a basic fishing boat of approximately 6 meters, was taken to Ashkelon, while the fishermen were taken to Ashdod. One by one they were taken into a small interrogation room in the harbor, where an officer of the Shin Bet, the Israeli Internal Security Service, inquired about their connections with the Gazan government.

“They told me I was three sea miles and twenty meters from the coast, which is 20 meters beyond the limit the Israeli Navy imposed on us, but it is not true! I am always very careful, I have a GPS: I am sure that I was no further out than 2.5 miles”, states Mohamed firmly.
At the time of the interception, four other Palestinian fishing boats were in the near vicinity, but were not stopped. To Mohamed it is clear why:

“I had just installed a new engine, which coasted 5,500$. The Israeli soldiers are watching us every day: they know when we have new equipment on board. Probably my engine has already been sold to Ashkelon by now.”

Fishermen at Gaza’s port shared the suspicion that well equipped boats were more likely to be confiscated. It is a certainty that not one hassaka seized by the Israeli Navy has ever returned.

“One day we eat the fish, the other day we sell the catch. I’ve put myself in debt to buy that engine and now I don’t have any means to pay them off, nor to provide my family with. We are 25 people in one house; that is six people per room”, says Mohamed.
On September 24th 2010, the Baker family lost 20 year old Mohammed Mansour Baker; he was killed by bullets coming from an Israeli gunboat while he was fishing 2 sea miles off Sudaniya Beach.

Six Fishermen Abducted on December 28th
Early Thursday morning, December 28th 2010, six fishermen, Subeh ‘Abdul Salam al-Hissi, ‘Aadel ‘Abdul Karim Baker, Ramadan Isma’il al-Hissi, Fayez Ahmed al-Hissi and Ahmed Sha’ban al-Hissi returned back to Gaza the same day, but the family’s 19 meters fishing boat remains confiscated by Israel. Thirty families’ incomes, each counting six to seven members, are dependent on this boat.

At 6:30 am they left the port of Gaza with their wooden fishing boat heading towards the north of the Strip. Close to Beit Lahya, 1 to 1.5 miles off Gaza’s coastline, the boat was intercepted by two Israeli zodiacs, each containing approximately 20 soldiers. They boarded the boat, searched, cuffed and blindfolded the men, before obliging them to lay down on the wet surface of the ship. Fayez Ahmed al-Hissi (31) adds that he was hit on the head during the takeover of the ship. The eldest of the company, 59 year old Ahmed Sha’ban al-Hissi, was ordered to sail the boat into Ashdod’s harbor.

In Ashdod, soldiers instructed them to take the fishing net in, after which they were transferred to a docked Israeli gunboat. Plastic bags were put over the men’s heads making it hard for them to breathe, while they were shivering in their soaked clothes. One by one they were interrogated in a small room in the harbor, where the investigator showed a particular interest in Gaza’s harbor and the governmental support for fishermen who suffered damages during the last storm. The head officer, who introduced himself as Ghalid, claiming to be responsible for Al-Shati refugee camp, asked them to point out their houses on a detailed picture taken from the air and to give phone numbers of relatives and friends.

“I replied evasively to their questions, saying the pictures weren’t very clear and that I didn’t know any phone numbers by heart”, said Subeh ‘Abdul Salam al-Hissi (33).

The men could not grasp what they had done to end up there until Subeh’ asked: “Why are we here? Why did you take us from Gazan waters?” Ambiguously, the investigator returned the question by asking them whether they had not felt anything strange while sailing. Different media outlets quote an Israeli military spokesperson saying that the boat “dragged a suspicious object”. Earlier that morning, the men had responded to a call from fellow fishermen that had technical problems at sea. The boat was towed into Gaza’s marina after which the men headed towards northern Gaza, with a fishing net being the only thing the boat dragged.

“I hope we will get our boats back soon, maybe after a month”, says Ahmed Sha’ban al-Hissi hopefully. The wooden boat requires daily maintenance to protect it from water damage. “I asked them if someone could at least turn on the bilge pump each day to pump the water from the boat, but the officer simply stated that it was not his responsibility.”

“Since the siege, our income has come down from 700 dollars to less than 200 dollars a month per fisher. Israel refuses to allow fishing nets in, so we are dependent on the low quality nets from Egypt that come in through the tunnels. Spare parts for the boat are very scarce too. All that and the fishing area being depleted, results in a poor catch, while fish from Al Arish come in abundantly through the tunnels, obliging us to sell our fish at a low price”, says Ahmed Sha’ban al-Hissi.

“Now, I don’t know what to do. We are all waiting at home until our boat comes back.”

Legal background
Al Mazen Center for Human Rights states that between 1 May 2009 and 30 November 2010 the IOF carried out 53 attacks against fishermen: two men were killed, seven injured and 42 arrested, while 17 fishing boats were confiscated and one destroyed. These acts constitute flagrant violations of Israel’s obligations under international law as an occupying power. They violate the Fishermen’s rights to life, work, safety and bodily integrity. They also infringe upon the right not to be tortured and prevent them from maintaining an adequate standard of living.

The Oslo Accords allowed Gazan fishermen to fish in the Mediterranean sea up to 20 nautical miles away from Gaza’s shoreline, but since 1993 Israel has imposed successive restrictions on fishing, the limit for fishermen now stands at just 3 nautical miles since Israel imposed the siege on Gaza in 2007. This has severely reduced the quantity, quality and diversity of the catch. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, nearly 90% of Gaza’s 4000 fishermen are now considered either poor (with a monthly income of between 100 and 190 US dollars) or very poor (earning less than 100 dollars a month), up from 50% in 2008.

“Gas won’t tear us apart”: a return to Bil’in

8 January 2010 | +972 Magazine, Joseph Dana

Woman marching in Bil'in this afternoon. Picture Credit: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org

Hundreds march in Bil’in to commemorate Jawaher Abu Rahmah, the 36-year-old woman who was killed last week in an unarmed demonstration against the separation wall. The former vice president of the European Parliament, Lusia Morgantini and a current Israeli Parliament member Mohammed Barakeh (Hadash) joined the demonstration which was lead by over thirty women’s organizations from the West Bank and Israel. During the protest, demonstrators managed to tear down portions of the barrier.

Hundreds of Palestinians, Israelis and internationals marched today in Bil’in to commemorate the killing of Jawaher Abu Rahmah and protest Israel’s separation wall and land annexation in the village. Jawaher –the 36-year-old sister of Bassam Abu Rahmah, who was killed in 2009 when Israeli soldiers fired a high velocity tear gas canister directly at his chest– was laid to rest in Bil’in last Saturday after dying from complications stemming from tear gas inhalation. Over thirty women’s rights organizations from across the West Bank and Israel mobilized in the demonstration and called for an end to the use of tear gas to crush demonstrations. Before the protest even started, the Israeli military set up ‘flying checkpoints’ at all the entrances to the village. Hundreds of Israeli and international supporters were forced to hike through the hills surrounding the village in order to reach the demonstration.

Outrage over the death hung in the air as the demonstration left the center of the village’s square towards the area of the wall. Unlike last week, when the army set up a barricade, hundreds of demonstrators were able to reach the area of the wall and subsequently began chanting and pulling on the fence. Parts of the fence were successfully dismantled by protesters in accordance with the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision that the route of the wall must be moved from Bil’in’s lands.

After thirty minutes, the army opened fire on the demonstrators, among them Israeli parliament members and European diplomats, with a petro-chemical dubbed the ‘skunk’. The foul smelling water was shot directly at demonstrators, press and diplomats. If hit by skunk water, the smell can be on your skin and clothing for up to two weeks.

Not content with skunk water, the army resorted to firing tear gas at all corners of the demonstration. Hundreds ran back to the village as wave after wave of the poisonous gas covered Bil’in’s agricultural fields. Clashes erupted between soldiers and village youth as the tear gas continued to fall on the demonstration. Youth managed to throw tear gas canisters back on soldiers as the afternoon deepened and rain clouds appeared on the horizon. The protest was attended by large numbers of international press including film crews from the BBC and Fox News. The protest ended with multiple people being treated fo tear gas inhalation.

Nearly six years have passed since residents of Bil’in, together with their Israeli and international supporters, started regularly demonstrating against the Wall and the confiscation of more than half their land by it. It has been more than three years since the Israeli High Court ruled that the path of the Wall must be changed as soon as possible, and the people of Bil’in have waited long enough.

Tell Combined Systems Inc. to Stop Providing Tear Gas that Israel Uses to Kill and Maim Protesters

CLICK HERE TO SEND AN E-MAIL TO COMBINED SYSTEMS INC.

On January 1, 2011, 36-year-old Palestinian Jawaher Abu Rahmah from the West Bank village of Bil’in died at a hospital from the effects of tear gas inhalation suffered at a protest the previous day against Israel’s construction of a wall and settlements on Bil’in’s land. Jawaher is only the most recent protester killed or seriously injured by tear gas fired by the Israeli military. For example, Jawaher’s brother Bassem, was killed almost two years ago, and two US citizens, Tristan Anderson and Emily Henochowicz were injured in 2009-2010.

Much of Israel’s tear gas is provided by the US company Combined Systems Inc. (CSI) located in Jamestown, Pennsylvania. The letters CSI, or CTS, a CSI brand name, are marked on many of tear gas canisters that litter Palestinian villages after they protest. The Israeli military is using CSI’s tear gas as a weapon as it tries to crush the growing movement of unarmed protest against Israel’s illegal confiscation of Palestinian land for Israeli settlements. Even more disturbing, you as a US taxpayer are paying for at least some of the tear gas that Israel is shooting at Palestinian, Israeli and international protesters. For example, in 2007 and 2008, the US State Department provided $1.85 million worth of “tear gasses and riot control agents” to Israel as part of the US’s $3 billion in annual military aid to Israel.

Act now by emailing executives at CSI, and at the companies that invest in CSI, the Carlyle Group and Point Lookout Capital, and telling them to stop providing their tear gas to the Israeli military, before more protesters are killed and maimed.

The Israeli military has a documented history of deliberately firing tear canisters directly at unarmed protesters, and of blanketing entire villages in clouds of tear gas whenever they hold protests against Israeli land seizure. Jawaher’s brother Bassem Abu Rahmah was killed in April 2009 when he was hit in the chest with an extended range CSI tear gas canister fired directly at him by an Israeli soldier, according to B’Tselem. In the villages of Bil’in and Ni’ilin alone, 18 people have been directly hit by extended range CSI tear gas http://adalahny.org/images/teargas-cont.jpgcanisters. Bil’in resident Khamis Abu Rahmah suffered a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage after being shot in the back of his head. An Israeli soldier shot California resident Tristan Anderson directly in the head with a high velocity tear gas canister in a March 2009 protest in Ni’ilin, leaving Tristan partially handicapped and suffering slight cognitive damage. New York City college student Emily Henochowicz lost her left eye when an Israeli soldier shot her directly in the face with an aluminum tear gas canister at a May 2010 protest at the Qalandiyah checkpoint.

And no one knows the long-term health impact for residents of villages like Bil’in and Ni’ilin, and their Israeli supporters, who have been blanketed in tear gas at least once a week over a period of years, each time they hold their weekly protests against Israel’s confiscation of their villages’ land for Israel’s wall and settlements.

For photos and more documentation about the use of CSI’s tear gas by the Israeli military to kill and maim protesters CLICK HERE.

CLICK HERE TO SEND AN E-MAIL TO COMBINED SYSTEMS INC.

Hebron man executed during Israeli raid

07 January 2011 | Ma’an News

During an arrest raid in Hebron which appeared to target Hamas men released from PA custody the day before, Israeli forces shot and killed a 66-year-old man in his bed, in what appeared to be a case of mistaken identity.

Arrested in Hebron overnight were Wael Al-Bitar, Majdi E’beid, Ahmad E’wewy, Muhand Neirukh, and Wisam Al-Qawasmi , all released from PA custody the day before, following intense lobby efforts from the detainees, who had been on hunger strike for weeks.

A sixth man released, Mohammad Suqieyah, returned home to Jenin and was not detained during the raid.

The execution came during the arrest of Wael Al-Bitar, who was released to his home in Hebron, one floor under Omer Salim Al-Qawasmi, the elderly victim. The two lived in the Ash- Sheikh neighborhood of Hebron.

Omer’s son Raja’e was home when Israeli soldiers broke into the building and came up the stairs. It was during the dawn prayer and he said his mother was in the livingroom praying. “Soldiers forced her into my disabled brother’s room, then entered my father’s bedroom.”

He said he heard no shots fired, saw the troops leave the building and then “they arrested Wael, who lives on the first floor of our home.”

When the troops left the area with Al-Bitar, Raja’e said they went to check on his father. “We were shocked, he was drenched in blood, we did not hear shooting, I suppose they used a silencer to kill my father.”

Raja’e said the only reason he could think of for shooting his father, was that they thought Al-Bitar was living on the second floor of the building.

“They thought it was Wael so they fired bullets immediately after entering my father’s room while he was sleeping in his bed, I guess they did not make sure of his identity.”

Medical sources in Hebron’s Governmental Hospital said Al-Qawasmi’s body was received with several gunshot wounds to his upper body, and bullet wounds that had smashed his face.

An Israeli military statement about the incident confirmed that “a Palestinian man who was present in one of the terrorist’s homes was killed,” adding that the military ” regrets the outcome of the incident and the GOC Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrachi has ordered the commander of Judea and Samaria Division, Brig. Gen. Nitzan Alon to immediately investigate the incident and to present its conclusions as early as next week.”

The statement said only five men were detained during the raid.

The men detained during the raid had been released the day before by order from President Mahmoud Abbas, following a negotiation with the prisoners and their political party. Six were released.

Most of the men had not been sentenced but were being held for various crimes by the PA, all connected to their involvement with the resistance movement and their affiliation with Hamas. Police had said that they could not guarantee the safety of the men, who were reportedly wanted by Israel.

Hebron Governor Kamel Ihmeid cast the move as an effort toward inter-Palestinian unity during a news conference in Hebron, where the prisoners had been moved to be closer to their families. Until late December, the prisoners were being held in Bethlehem.