Year: 2012

Call for simultaneous solidarity action: 28 November to 1 December 2012

24th November 2012 | World Social Forum Free Palestine

See: www.wsfpalestine.net

From 28 November through 1 December, thousands of activists, organizers, youth, faith-based groups, trade unions, musicians, academics, and more will converge on Porto Alegre, Brazil for the first ever World Social Forum dedicated exclusively to Palestine.

For those who are unable to join us in Brazil, the World Social Forum Free Palestine WSF-FP calls for simultaneous protests, creative actions and media efforts worldwide to call attention to the goals and strategies that will be discussed and promoted during this Forum.

The World Social Forum Free Palestine is an expression of the human instinct to unite for justice and freedom and an echo of the World Social Forum’s opposition to neo-liberal hegemony, colonialism, and racism through struggles for social, political and economic alternatives to promote justice, equality, and the sovereignty of peoples.

The WSF-FP will be a global encounter of broad-based popular and civil society mobilizations from around the world. It aims to:

1. Show the strength of solidarity with the calls of the Palestinian people and the diversity of initiatives and actions aimed at promoting justice and peace in the region.

2. Create effective actions to ensure Palestinian self-determination, the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and the fulfillment of human rights and international law, by:

a. Ending Israeli occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall;

b. Ensuring the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and

c. Implementing, protecting, and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.

3. Be a space for discussion, exchange of ideas, strategizing, and planning in order to improve the structure of solidarity.

How to be part of the WSF Free Palestine Extended?

The World Social Forum Free Palestine is calling for extended global activities in solidarity with the historic occurrence in Brazil. In order to be part of the WSF Free Palestine effort, we ask you to:

– Use the WSF-FP logo during the event and in the promotional material

– Ensure your activity is consistent with the WSF-FP Reference Document

– Inform us of your activity at extended@wsfpalestine.net and prensa@wsfpalestine.net ahead of time to help promote it globally

– Send us photos, videos of your activity to display them in Porto Alegre.

During the WSF Free Palestine, let’s all use the Twitter hashtag #wsfpalestine to promote our actions and don’t forget to follow @WSFPalestine to follow the action as it unfolds!

Some ideas for actions are:

1. Organize a visible and creative protest, flash mob or action that calls attention to the goals of the WSF Free Palestine and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. Such actions can coincide with ongoing, pre-existing campaigns in your area;

2. Prepare outreach meetings, events or media initiatives that bring attention to the WSF-FP;

3. Use the momentum of the WSF-FP as a launching pad for new campaigns and to bring the message of Palestinian self-determination, freedom and justice to new audiences;

4. Call on governments to pay attention to the WSF-FP and respect the demands of Palestinian civil society.

5. Publish statements by well-known personalities in support of the WSF Free Palestine and the demands of Palestinian civil society summarized in the Reference Document.

Be a part of the WSF Free Palestine wherever you are: 28 November to 1 December 2012!

Photo Essay: The funeral and burial of Rushdi Tamimi

20th November 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Policemen take Rushdi Tamimi´s body out of the morgue

Palestinian policemen waiting for the arrival of Rushdi Tamimi´s remains.

Rushdi Tamimi´s body is taken for a funeral procession through the streets of Ramallah.

Hundreds of people join the funeral procession in Nabi Saleh.

Rushdi Tamimi being lowered into his grave in Nabi Saleh.

Israeli and U.S. forces displace villagers from homes for military training in the Jordan Valley

By Brandi Jackson

13th November 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On November 11th Palestinians from the Jordan Valley villages of AelRaesAhemer, AelMaleh, and Ael Meta, were awoken by Israeli occupation forces at 6:00 AM and forced to leave their homes and villages because the military was to use the area for military training.

The villages are part of Area C in the West Bank, and therefore are under full Israeli civil and security control. Palestinians in Area C, which covers over 60% of the West Bank, are practically forbidden to build on their own property; while neighboring illegal settlements continue to expand. The villages undergo constant attacks and threats from either the army or settlers, including home demolitions, physical beatings, destruction of property, etc.

U.S. Forces have recently arrived in Israel and the West Bank to conduct a joint military exercise simulating a war in the Middle East that would require the U.S. to intervene. The drill is considered to be the largest joint military exercise carried out by the two countries, and is severely affecting the lives of Palestinian villagers throughout the West Bank. It also violates Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which states that “Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.”

After Israeli occupation forces displaced the villagers out of their homes, they then began to practice shooting tanks, missiles, and artillery into the areas of the villages throughout the day.

According to the information we received from several people, the villagers will be able to return to their homes at 6:00 PM. Some may have to go through this process every day for up to two months, until the Israeli and U.S. Forces are finished with their joint military exercise. “The Military told us that we are not allowed to return to our homes at all. We don´t know what to expect,” explained a Palestinian.

Brandi Jackson is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed)

Palestinian youth attacked in Hebron – 1 man in critical condition

18th Novemeber 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

 

Soldiers in Hebron

Update:  Hamdi Alfalah, 22, shot and killed today in Hebron.

Ibrahim Abu Eisheh, a Palestinian youth was hit in the head by a tear gas canister at around six in the afternoon. He is in critical condition at a hospital and is currently undergoing surgery.
For the third consecutive day in Hebron there has been a large amount of Palestinian resistance in the old city against the Israeli occupying forces. Two streets in particular were hardest hit by the conflict.
One being one of the main streets in the souq where most of the fresh produce is sold in the city. The other road intersects the market street and runs north of the military gate that is used for entry during Saturday settler tours. This area is known as Bab Baladia and was the main fighting ground for the shabab; which is the name for young Palestinian males.
Today not only were multiple tires burned but a couch was set aflame. Firecrackers are also a favorite for these demonstrations, which briefly give the tiring struggle a whimsical edge.
Though rocks are obviously dangerous when used as projectiles it’s extremely rare that one gets close enough to the soldiers to be considered dangerous, plus they have armor and padding.
The Israeli army responds to the relatively symbolic acts with rubber coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters that are shot at high speeds from their machine guns. Yet apparently this isn’t enough to combat untrained civilians that are predominantly in their teens. A skunk water truck came out of the Israeli installation and went into H1, which according to the Oslo accords is supposed to be in full Palestinian control.
The disgusting material was sprayed into the food market and the Palestinian homes that reside above it. Israeli army personnel have also been trying to break into private residences so as to gain access to the roof for tactical advantage. At one point six border police raided a building, as they shut the front entrance door other border on the outside broke off the handle so nobody else could enter. There have also been several detainments of Palestinian youth that are given no reason as to why they are held while they are blindfolded and cuffed.
All of this activity inevitably ends up in injuries, today was certainly no exception.

By Team Khalil

First West Bank Martyr in Demonstrations Against The Assault on Gaza

Monday, November 19, 2012 | PSCC

Rushdi Tamimi (31) was injured by a live ammunition bullet shot at his back, two days ago in Nabi Saleh.  He passed away today in Ramallah Hospital  

On Saturday, November 17th, clashes erupted in the village of Nabi Saleh north west of Ramallah, after Israeli soldiers entered the village following a protest residents held a demonstration in against the assault on Gaza.  During the clashes soldiers used extensive live ammunition bullets, rubber coated steel bullets, and tear gas.

According to eyewitnesses, Rushdi Tamimi (31) was shot first with a rubber coated steel bullet that hit him in the back, he fell on the ground.  Afterward soldiers shot him again, this time with a live ammunition bullet which entered through his hip and into his gut.  When soldiers came closer to Rushdi, they gave him a blow to the head with the butt of one of their rifles, even though he told them he was injured, and then shot him with another rubber coated steel bullet in the stomach.  Soldiers then attempted to drag him through the rocky terrain instead of providing him with medical treatment.  They continued to shoot live ammunition towards residents and prevented them, including Rushdi’s sister, from approaching him and bringing him to an ambulance meanwhile while saying, “I don’t care” and “it’s not my problem.”  Watch the video here:

Rushdi was finally transferred to Ramallah Hospital where he underwent surgery.  He suffered from ruptured intestines and two arteries.  Today, Monday, he passed away in the hospital.

Rushdi Tamimi is the first martyr of the West Bank demonstrations which have erupted as a protest again the war on Gaza.  He is also the second martyr from the village of Nabi Saleh in the past three years since the village began holding weekly Friday popular struggle demonstrations.

His funeral will begin tomorrow, Tuesday, at the Ramallah Hospital and will be brought to burial in Nabi Saleh at 2pm.

Over the past few days the Israeli army has used live ammunition in multiple locations against Palestinian unarmed demonstrations against the war on Gaza.  In addition to Rushdi Tamimi, at least five more people have been injured from live ammunition today, two during clashes in Attara, one in Takua near Bethlehem, and two in Hebron.

Background:
Late in 2009, settlers began gradually taking over Ein al-Qaws (the Bow Spring), which rests on lands belonging to Bashir Tamimi, the head of the Nabi Saleh village council. The settlers, abetted by the army, erected a shed over the spring, renamed it Maayan Meir, after a late settler, and began driving away Palestinians who came to use the spring by force – at times throwing stones or even pointing guns at them, threatening to shoot.

While residents of Nabi Saleh have already endured decades of continuous land grab and expulsion to allow for the ever continuing expansion of the Halamish settlement, the takeover of the spring served as the last straw that lead to the beginning of the village’s grassroots protest campaign of weekly demonstrations in demand for the return of their lands.

Protest in the tiny village enjoys the regular support of Palestinians from surrounding areas, as well as that of Israeli and international activists. Demonstrations in Nabi Saleh are also unique in the level of women participation in them, and the role they hold in all their aspects, including organizing. Such participation, which often also includes the participation of children reflects the village’s commitment to a truly popular grassroots mobilization, encompassing all segments of the community.

The response of the Israeli military to the protests has been especially brutal and includes regularly laying complete siege on village every Friday, accompanied by the declaration of the entire village, including the built up area, as a closed military zone. Prior and during the demonstrations themselves, the army often completely occupies the village, in effect enforcing an undeclared curfew. Military nighttime raids and arrest operations are also a common tactic in the army’s strategy of intimidation, often targeting minors.

In order to prevent the villagers and their supporters from exercising their fundamental right to demonstrate and march to their lands, soldiers regularly use disproportional force against the unarmed protesters. The means utilized by the army to hinder demonstrations include, but are not limited to, the use of tear-gas projectiles, banned high-velocity tear-gas projectiles, rubber-coated bullets and, at times, even live ammunition. The use of banned 0.22″ munitions by snipers has also been recorded in Nabi Saleh.

The use of such practices have already brought about the death of Mustafa Tamimi and caused countless injuries, several of them serious, including those of children – the most serious of which is that of 14 year-old Ehab Barghouthi, who was shot in the head with a rubber-coated bullet from short range on March 5th, 2010 and laid comatose in the hospital for three weeks. Due to the wide-spread nature of the disproportionate use of force, the phenomenon cannot be attributed to the behavior of individual soldiers, and should be viewed as the execution of policy.

Tear-gas, as well as a foul liquid called “The Skunk”, which is shot from a water cannon, is often used inside the built up area of the village, or even directly pointed into houses, in a way that allows no refuge for the uninvolved residents of the village, including children and the elderly. The interior of at least one house caught fire and was severely damaged after soldiers shot a tear-gas projectile through its windows.
Since December 2009, when protest in the village was sparked, hundreds of demonstration-related injuries caused by disproportionate military violence have been recorded in Nabi Saleh.

Between January 2010 and June 2012, the Israeli Army has carried 98 arrests of people detained for 24 hours or more on suspicions related to protest in the village of Nabi Saleh, including those of women and of children as young as 11 years old. Of the 98, 31 were minors. Dozens more were detained for shorter periods. Two of the village’s protest leaders – Bassem and Naji Tamimi – arrested on protest-organizing related charges, were recognized by the European Union as human rights defenders. Bassem Tamimi was also declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, recently denounced his conviction by an Israeli military court and Human Rights Watch warned that he did not receive a fair trial.