Year: 2013 - Page 58 - International Solidarity Movement

Constructive Resistance in al-Aqaba

28th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Al-Aqaba, Occupied Palestine

Al-Aqaba, a village with the smallest local council in the West Bank, continually rises above its size and situation by demonstrating community strength through non-violent resistance and proactive development. Since 1967 the village has suffered greatly under the Israeli occupation and faces constant military encroachment and the threat of building demolition. As a result, the original population of 1000 has decreased to the current size of 300 as people left fearing for their safety and livelihoods. The remaining villagers though, led by mayor Haj Sami Sadeq, remain steadfast in their desire to stay and make the village a viable place for people to return to and live. Together they have created a development strategy resulting in new homes and businesses with the help of international involvement and funding.

Local women work in the newly opened cheese factory in al-Aqaba.

Located in the northeast of the West Bank, on the edge of the Jordan Valley, the village and surrounding land is classified as Area C and, therefore, under complete Israeli military control and civil jurisdiction. The Israeli army have been a constant presence in the area since 1967, when the village was declared a closed military zone and has been subsequently used as a firing zone. A mock village of empty buildings within a kilometre of the village was constructed and is utilised for this express purpose. The military exercises conducted in and around the village at times include the use of live ammunition and, as a consequence, 8 villagers have been killed and 38 wounded.

The villagers not only live with the continual disregard of their right to safety and security by the Israeli occupation but have the right to build on their own land repeatedly denied. Labelled a security threat, 97% of the village’s buildings have demolition orders against them, including the kindergarten, the only one in the area, that provides education for 150 children. In the past two years, the Israeli army has demolished several homes, farming shelters and two major roads. The village is unable to obtain building permits for its own land and has had three master plans rejected by the Israeli Civil Administration, most recently in 2011. The village nonetheless refuses to bow to the ongoing pressure of the Israeli occupation and continues to build infrastructure and houses for its future.

Local man at work in the new tea factory in al-Aqaba.

Mayor Haj Sami Sadeq responds to this ongoing struggle by asking, “Is the security of Israel compromised if we want to build a building? Does this kindergarten threaten the Israeli security?” The kindergarten in question was built in conjunction with the Rebuilding Alliance, one of 17 different international organisations and embassies that the village has worked with to help rebuild the community over the past ten years. The Rebuilding Alliance, together with the local Housing Association, have also helped to build three, of a proposed twenty, houses to provide residence for some of the 700 displaced villagers who want to return. Unfortunately the three houses remain unfinished as the $13,000USD required to finish them promised by the Palestinian Authority (PA) has not been forthcoming because of the PA’s current financial situation.

The Housing Association is one of five local groups in al-Aqaba helping to create a stable future for the small community; the other groups at work are the Agricultural Co-op, the Rural Women’s Society, Club for Hope and the Village Council. The Rural Women’s Society helps to operate and run a sewing collective, a tea factory and a newly opened cheese factory. The new businesses create employment for local men and women and are part of a plan that includes the future creation of a herb nursery, restaurant/cafe and conference space that will make the village an even more attractive place to visit.

The distinctive double minaret of al-Aqaba mosque.

In 2010 a building in the village was renovated to create a guesthouse to provide accommodation for international visitors, including volunteers who have worked at the kindergarten teaching English. This has helped to counter the negative portrayal of al-Aqaba by the Israeli government and army, who have warned internationals that the village is dangerous and their medical insurance will be void upon entering. One current residence of the guesthouse Maurice Jacobsen, is currently filming the everyday life and situation for a future documentary on the village titled ‘Constructive Resistance’.

In spite of the daily violations of their basic human rights to dignity, security, housing and property the village persists by building hope and life. In this way the small village has become a model for others in community development and how to attract attention from the international community. The ultimate goal has always been to prevent the village from being demolished and for the villagers to live and build on their land in peace. With current demolition orders for it, one only has to look at the village mosque which has a double minaret in the shape of a peace sign. The only one of its kind, it is a permanent symbol of the village’s non-violent resistance when living under occupation.

Constructive Resistance Preview 1.1 from The Palestine Chronicles on Vimeo.

Military presence at Hebron schools – regular updates

7th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Team Khalil | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

Regular updates on harassment of Palestinian schoolchildren by Israeli military in Hebron monitored by the International Solidarity Movement.

30th May, Soldiers hiding down a side-alley outside the school

30th May: Today was the last day before the summer holidays for some schools in Hebron. Children received their typical morning welcome from 7am, in the form of four military jeeps waiting at the checkpoint and several heavily armed soldiers hiding up a side street. Soldiers intimidated children as they walked past, wearing riot helmets with weapons at the ready.

A settler from one of the illegal settlements in Hebron’s old city then spat in the face of an international observer who had been monitoring the soldiers.

28th May: As the morning began and children were arriving at school for the last of their exams, there was a large military presence awaiting them at the checkpoint. At 7:20am there were three jeeps and twelve soldiers. As children yelled at them from a distance for their constant provocation every morning, the soldiers readied themselves with helmets and weaponry. At 7:25am three soldiers went through the checkpoint, one armed and ready to shoot tear gas and another holding a sound bomb. They stood directly outside the first primary school on the road.

Soldiers situated on roofs and in the road outside schools

Within minutes they were joined by three other soldiers, positioning themselves on the garage roof just opposite the primary school. As the three soldiers on the ground advanced to the front of the second school, the jeeps came through the checkpoint. Two of the jeeps blocked a road just before the schools, turning traffic around, while the soldiers around these jeeps kept threatening, pushing and shouting at children who passed them. Six soldiers kept aggressively advancing, ready to shoot gas and sound grenades at the children, who responded to their flagrant intimidation with rocks. After a long stand off and lots of chanting, the soldiers finally got into their jeeps and drove away at 8:20am.

27th May: Today, Israeli soldiers continued their harassment of Palestinian youth on their way to and from school. Due to exams, several classes of young people aged only 10 to 14 years old left the school early. Some gathered at the opposite end of the road, about 500 metres away from the checkpoint, posing no threat to the Israeli border police. Several young people threw stones which never reached anywhere close to the checkpoint. Nevertheless, two jeeps sped through the checkpoint, and armed Israeli soldiers threw a sound grenade and fired a tear gas canister onto a Palestinian roof. Within a minute, they fired another tear gas canister. They waited and watched for several minutes, and eventually a group of Palestinian adults talked to the soldiers and convinced them to leave.

Israeli soldier shooting tear gas canisters (Photo by ISM)

26th May: Two Israeli military jeeps and ten soldiers this morning harassed schoolchildren and teachers preparing for another important school exam day. Soldiers also invaded a Palestinian home near the schools, using the roof as a watchpoint. One stun grenade was thrown by the military. International activists escorted children who had been too terrified to continue their journey to school alone.

21st May: 3 Military vehicles and around 12 Israeli border police / soldiers blocked the road near the entrance to 3 schools as children made their way to class this morning . Soldiers prevented children and teachers from walking to their schools and diverted traffic as others took photo’s of children with their iPhones. At one stage soldiers threw a sound bomb in the direction of a large group of small children. Many of the schools are holding end of year exams today .

Child being detained by military on the way to school, 16th May

19th May: At 7am three international activists arrived at the checkpoint immediately outside three Palestinian schools. They found that three soldiers had already moved past the checkpoint, an act of provocation in itself . The activists followed the soldiers and watched as the soldiers observed the passing . At Around 7:30 the soldiers noticed smoke and marched towards the school where they discovered a fire burning in a dumpster. It was unclear who started the blaze. The soldiers waited by the dumpster for approximately 30 more minutes. During this time the children began to throw stones from at them from a distance, failing to hit the soldiers. At one point, one soldier returned past the checkpoint to the border police station and came back with three tear gas bombs. A school teacher or administrator approached the soldiers to speak with them and admonished the children to enter their classes. Once the children were safely in the school the soldiers returned to the other side of the checkpoint without incident. Back at the police station, border police harassed youths (between 13 and 15 years old) as they passed. Activists witnessed one police officer kick a child as he finished his inspection

16th May: At around 7.30am two army jeeps and six soldiers on foot walked past the checkpoint towards the schools. One child was surrounded by seven soldiers, one of whom grabbed his arm – when asked by international activists why they had detained him, the soldiers released the child. Two soldiers ran towards the school with their helmets on but stopped before they reached it. Three soldiers standing on a roof pointed their guns down at the children. Soldiers in jeeps took pictures of children on their iphones.

15th May: Strong military presence outside of the checkpoint intimidated children, who then threw stones at the checkpoint. Two jeeps and six soldiers on foot continued waiting outside of the checkpoint.

13th May: Five soldiers stationed themselves on roofs overlooking the school whilst four walked down towards the school, waiting on the road. All wore riot gear, including helmets.

Soldiers pictured shortly after having charged at schoolchildren, yelling and throwing a soundbomb

UPDATE 12th May 2013: On the 12th May, once again, 2 Israeli military jeeps were stationed at the checkpoint at 7am as children passed through to get to their respective schools. At first, 3 heavily armed soldiers proceeded to walk through the checkpoint, they stopped in an alley opposite the elementary school, intimidating school children as they walked past. When questioned on their purpose for this action, they had no response. As the school children (some as young as 5) began to gather outside their school gates, the 3 soldiers with their helmets on, weapons in hand and completely unprovoked, charged at the children, dropping a sound bomb and yelling aggressively in Hebrew. After this intimidation tactic occured, 3 more soldiers came through the checkpoint and watched all the children from a distance with binoculars. Many children stayed at the bottom of the street, resisting the soldier’s scare tactics with chants.
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Children walking past soldiers on their way to school - 7th May. — Children walking past soldiers on their way to school – 7th May.

On the 20^th March, 27 children aged 7 to 16 were arrested on their way to school in Hebron’s old city. For the past three days the Israeli military have had a large, heavily armed and threatening presence outside the four schools on this street, where the children were grabbed at random by Israeli soldiers just five weeks ago.

Children have to walk through a checkpoint manned by several Israeli border police each morning in order to reach their schools, often receiving hassle from the soldiers as they do so.
On the morning of the 5^th of May, some children threw stones at the checkpoint – in response the border police radioed for army back up and two jeeps arrived on the scene. One jeep then proceeded through the checkpoint driving down towards the school parking outside whilst children were still arriving. After it left the other jeep drove down outside the schools and four army officers exited the vehicle and patrolled outside the schools for another half an hour.

On the 6^th May at around 7.00am as children were walking towards their classes, three military jeeps arrived without provocation and ten soldiers patrolled in front of the school, maintaining a presence for over an hour.

On the 7^th May two jeeps arrived at the checkpoint and seven soldiers walked through it, towards the schools. When asked what their purpose in the school area was, the commander answered “we’re protecting our people”. They had no further response when it was suggested that their actions seemed absurd, considering the disparity of power between the heavily armed Israeli military occupiers and a few young children throwing stones in resistance.

This daily military presence must be a continual reminder for the children who were arrested and their classmates of the military brutality of the 20^th March. One bystander stated “this could inhibit the right to education – children might be too scared to come to school.”

In a city which has seen at least 66 child detentions and arrests since mid-February (these are just those witnessed by international observers), this continued initimidation and persecution of children is evidence of Israel’s disregard for international law for the protection of children – a finding backed up by Unicef’s recent report criticising Israeli military treatment of Palestinian children.

Two Palestinian fishermen arrested in Gaza waters and their boat confiscated

28th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza Team | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

Mahmoud Mohammed Zayed, 25, and his brother Khaled, 24, are two young fishermen of Gaza. At about 9pm on Sunday, May 19th 2013, they were fishing on their small rowing boat in the waters north of the Gaza Strip, in front of the beach of Beit Lahiya. They were arrested after Israeli naval forces attacked fishermen with gunfire, and were taken to the port of Ashdod in Israel. Israeli soldiers confiscated their boat and nets, and released the two fishermen in the morning of the following day, on Monday, May 20th.

We met Khaled Mahmoud and his brother in the office of UAWC (The Union of Agricultural Work Committees), which deals with projects and initiatives to support farmers and fishermen in Gaza and the Occupied Territories. Mahmoud’s face was familiar to me.

As I tried to remember where we had met, he told me he had seen me in an UNRWA school during the military offensive in November 2012, when the Israeli air force launched thousands of leaflets ordering people to leave their homes. Hundreds of families living in the north of the Gaza Strip had been forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in UNRWA schools in Gaza City. Gathered on the floor on mattresses and blankets, they were united in fear. The house of Mahmoud went on to be damaged by bombing.

Yet I remembered seeing Mahmoud on another occasion. Here, in February, 2012, I met another member of his family, Ahmed Zayed, who was also arrested by the Israeli navy while fishing in Northern Gaza waters.

Mahmoud and Khaled (Photo by Rosa Schiano)

And when I think of the fishermen of Beit Lahiya, I cannot forget the face of Abu FahmyRyash, 23 year old fisherman killed on 28^th September by an Israeli soldier while he was fishing on the beaches. Killed by expanding dumdum bullets his internal organs had been destroyed. I asked Mahmoud if he had known him. Mahmoud told me that they had often fished together.

And so here are the mixed memories, common experiences that unite us in a deep feeling – a brotherly bond.
So I think of the lives of these people, marked by mourning, from wounds, from everyday resistance, the quest for freedom, the struggle for the right to life.

Mahmoud started to tell us what happened on Sunday: “We went fishing around 5:30pm, with our small rowing boat. We were about half a mile away from the beach of Beit Lahiya, along with other boats. At 9pm two speedboats started attacking us and the other fishermen with shots fired. The attack lasted almost an hour. Then the soldiers came close to our boat, started to turn around us to create waves and they shouted to stop the boat. We replied that we would be back at home. There were 5 men on each boat.We fell into the water, then we got back on board. Khaled was feeling ill. Then two soldiers arrested us.”

Mahmoud explained that usually fishermen are asked to undress, to jump into the water and swim to the Israeli ship. This time the two fishermen were arrested directly from their boat. Once taken to the Israeli ship, the two fishermen were blindfolded, handcuffed, stripped and were given a yellow shirt and blue pants.

“The strange thing – he told Mahmoud – is that the soldiers have asked me why my brother Khaled was with me on the boat. Khaled usually fishes on another boat. But when he finished his work he came with me to help me.” The actions of soldiers help us to understand how they maintain control of the people of Gaza and what excuses they use to arrest fishermen. Soldiers then asked them their name, identity card, the number of boat.

The two fishermen were then taken to the port of Ashdod in Israel. Here the two fishermen were brought inside a room where they were asked for their identification and phone number. A doctor checked the state of their health and visited Khaled who was ill, for whom they gave an injection. “I asked them to remove the handcuffs because I was hurt”, he told Mahmoud, “but they refused.” The two then spent the night in jail, handcuffed.

The next morning, the two fishermen, in handcuffs, had their names put on their shirts and were photographed. Subsequently Mahmoud was questioned. Soldiers showed him a map of Gaza, and asked for information indicating some points on the map, especially in the area of Soudania. Then they asked from what point of Gaza the boats sets sail from, then the soldiers pointed out a police station and a hydraulic pump. Mahmoud asked about his boat, but the soldiers said that to get his boat they should contact a lawyer. Soldiers know very well that the fishermen do not have the money to afford a lawyer and even the costs for standing trial. After interrogation, that lasted 30-40 minutes, Mahmoud was blindfolded again. After another 15 minutes, the soldiers shackled the legs of the fishermen, took them to a police car and had them transported to Erez, where the two fishermen were released with only what they stood up in. The fishermen had just 100 shekels between them, money they had earned in the sale of fish the previous day.

We asked two fishermen what they thought of the new limit of 6 nautical miles imposed by Israel. They explained that it is a good step, but in economic terms there is no change, except for the period of sardine fishery. About eight miles out there is a rocky barrier preventing the entrance of the bigger fish, so anglers need go beyond 8 nautical miles to significantly increase their catch.

Israeli soldiers confiscated the boat of two fishermen and even the nets, which were new. “This boat was the main source of income for us,” said Mahmoud. Both have moved out of their homes and both have a son. They live together with their parents and the rest of the family, which has around 13 members. Their whole family depends on the fishing. Now only his father and his brother can fish with another boat.

We asked Mahmoud if he wants to leave a message to our countries. “We would like to again with our boat. We would like the Israeli navy attacks to cease. We ask the people of countries around the world to force the Israeli government to open up the sea, to let us fish.”

It should be noted that the attack occurred within the 3 nautical miles from the coast. Israel has progressively imposed restrictions on Palestinian fishermen’s access to the sea. The 20 nautical miles established under the agreements of Jericho in 1994 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), have been reduced to 12 miles below the Bertini Agreement in 2002. In 2006, the area consented to the fishing has been reduced to 6 nautical miles from the coast. Following the Israeli military offensive “Cast Lead” (2008-2009) Israel has imposed a limit of 3 nautical miles from the coast, preventing the Palestinians from access to 85% of the water to which they are entitled according to the Jericho agreements of 1994.

Under the agreements reached between Israel and the Palestinian resistance after the Israeli military offensive in November 2012, “Pillar of Defense,” they consented that Gazan fishermen can again fish to 6 nautical miles from the coast. Despite these agreements, the Israeli navy has not stopped attacks on Gaza fishermen, even within this limit. In March 2013, Israel imposed once again a limit of 3 nautical miles from the coast, saying that the decision had been taken following the sending of some Palestinian rockets towards Israel. On Wednesday 22nd May, the Israeli military authorities announced through some media outlets the decision to extend the limit again to 6 nautical miles from the coast.

We join the call of the fishermen and ask our governments to press Israel to stop attacking and arresting Palestinian fishermen and to allow them to fish freely.

Settlers setting up tent and planning road in Palestinian owned land in Al Khalil

27th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Team Al Khalil | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

UPDATE 28th May: Settlers claim that they will return on 28th May to build a road on Palestinian owned land in Wadi al-Hussein, Al Khalil. No building has yet taken place and settlers have yet to provide any documentation or court order for the road.

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This morning, 27th May, settlers from Kiryat Arba, an illegal Israeli settlement in the city of Al Khalil (Hebron), started to place road markers for the construction of a road through the Palestinian olive groves of Wadi al-Hussein. They were accompanied by Israeli military and police.

Road marker placed by settlers (Photo by ISM)

Palestinians, including the owners of the land, gathered in the area to stop any attempt of illegal construction in their land and were confronted by armed Israeli settlers, police and army. A number of international observers were there to monitor the situation. The settlers claimed that they had a court order for road construction. However, they were unable to bring any official papers to back this claim.

A while later, some settlers who remained in the area started putting up a tent in the olive groves, unhindered by the police who have the legal duty to prevent them from land theft. They equipped the tent with chairs and surrounded it with Israeli flags.

Wadi al-Hussein is a Palestinian neighbourhood in Al Khalil, which, due to its proximity with the illegal israeli settlements of Kiryat Arba and Givat Ha’avot, has suffered a lot from settler violence and oppression by the Israeli forces.

Settlers tent in the Palestinian olive groves (Photo by ISM)

Israeli forces and Palestinian land owners arguing about the settlers tent (Photo by ISM)

Free Sireen Sawafteh- Arrested by Israel on the 14th May 2013

27th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Tubas, Occupied Palestine

UPDATE 28th May 2013: Israeli court prolonged the arrest of Sireen until Thursday in which she will see a judge. To this day she is banned from seeing a lawyer

Last Tuesday Sireen, a 24 year old woman from Tubas, was detained by Israeli forces. She is currently being held in Al Jalameh, an Israeli prison. Her family and friends fear for her safety. She has been denied access to a lawyer and she has not been allowed to make any contact with her loved ones since her arrest.

At around 3pm last Tuesday Sireen’s car was stopped at a temporary checkpoint on the road between Nablus and Tubas in the West Bank. After brief questioning by Israeli forces she was detained. The second person in the car was also detained.

In the early hours on Wednesday, Israeli forces raided Sireen’s family home whilst her father Khalid Sawafteh, her mother, three brothers, sisters in law and their two young children were sleeping. Twenty-five army jeeps entered the town of Tubas. Twenty officers entered the home and over one hundred remained in the street cornering off the house. The family and young children were all taken into one room whilst their home was ransacked. Israeli soldiers took all the computers in the house leaving Sireen’s relatives in shock.

Tubas is located in Area A as designated under the Oslo Accords, an agreement drawn up between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government. ‘Legally’ it is under total Palestinian civil and military control. Israeli civilians and military are prohibited to enter Area A and any incursion into this area is considered a breach of this agreement. Despite this, Israeli forces have continue to carry out ‘operations’ in Area A.

The illegal incursion on Wednesday morning sparked protests in Tubas. Israeli forces fired tear gas and sound grenades at local residents as they gathered. Omar Abed al-Razaq, a 20 year old local university student from Nablus, was injured. He is in a serious but stable condition in Nablus Hospital. He has lost some of his fingers and is currently unable to communicate with his visitors. The full extent of his injuries are not yet known. The head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society in Tubas, Mahmud Sawafteh, denounced Israel’s continuous raids, which he says causes ‘fear and panic among residents (1).’

Since her detention, Sireen has been forcibly transferred out of the Occupied Palestinian Territories to an Israeli prison in Haifa located in the north of Israel, a practice illegal under international law.

Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the cccupying power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive”. While Article 76 states clearly that ‘protected persons accused of offenses shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted they shall serve their sentences therein”.

Last Thursday, lawyers acting for Sireen tried to visit the prison inside Israel where she is being held. They were refused entry. She appeared in court on Monday with her hands and legs shackled. The spurious charge was internet activism, creating a Facebook page which is considered a ‘threat’ to the ‘security’ of the region.

Sireen is active in the non violent campaign for human rights in Palestine. She studied computer science at the Open University in Tubas. During her studies she was actively involved in a twinning project between Tubas and the University of Sussex, England. She took part in a delegation of students which visited the UK from Palestine to strengthen links and foster friendships.

Rashed Kahled, Sireen’s older brother said; ‘We in the family are very concerned for Sireen and we would love her to be returned to us soon. My mother is very sad and fears for Sireen, she cannot sleep. How can we be at peace? We do not know what is happening and we are not allowed to see her.’

Many Palestinian women prisoners suffer abuse during their detention. Palestinian women prisoners are often kept in the same cells as Israeli female convicts. This practice often leads to female Palestinian prisoners being humiliated, suffering from threats and assault perpetrated with impunity by the Israel prisoners.

Adameer, a Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Organisation reports that Palestinian women prisoners ‘are subjected to some form of psychological torture and ill-treatment throughout the process of their arrest and detention, including various forms of sexual violence that occur such as beatings, insults, threats, body searches, and sexually explicit harassment. Upon arrest, women detainees are not informed where they are being taken and are rarely explained their rights during interrogation. These techniques of torture and ill-treatment are used not only as means to intimidate Palestinian women detainees, but also as tools to humiliate Palestinian women and coerce them into giving confessions (2).’

Sireen was in court for the second time this Wednesday. The judge extended her detention for a further 6 days. She will appear again on Monday, when it is possible her detention will be further extended.

Support all Palestinian Political prisoners!

Take action for Sireen

Send messages of solidarity and support here https://www.facebook.com/Welcome.toOo.Palestine
Write to your MP and ask them to make representations to the Israeli government calling for Sireen’s release

(1) http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=596155.

(2) http://www.addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=295