Year: 2013 - Page 79 - International Solidarity Movement

Man shot in the face with teargas canister at Hagai roadblock demonstration

8th of April 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron, Occupied Palestine

By Team Khalil

UPDATE 8th April 2013: ISM activists visited Ameen today at his home in Al Fawwar. He still suffers from intense migraines, struggles to speak, regularly experiences dizziness and a has bloodshot eye. His X-ray shows considerable damage to his jaw, cheekbones, chin and teeth. He relies on heavy medication and is still unable to work. On top of the physical suffering, Ameen is having to pay hefty medical bills to cover the cocktail of painkillers and antibiotics he needs to take on a daily basis.

___________________________________

Demonstrator Ameen Bayed after having been hit in the face with a tear gas canister.

The weekly Friday demonstration at the Hagai roadblock was attacked by the Israeli military less than one minute after participants started walking down the road. A soldier shot a metal teargas canister directly into the demonstration and hit Ameen Bayed in his face, breaking his right cheekbone and damaging his teeth. He required surgery in a hospital in Hebron city. The video below shows the moment at which he was hit (At 0.42).

During the demonstration, soldiers fired large amounts of tear gas directly at demonstrators – against the Israeli army’s own regulations, which state that gas canisters must be fired into the air, not straight forwards. Tear gas canisters can be deadly – Mustafa Tamimi of Nabi Saleh was killed when a soldier shot him in the face with a tear gas canister in 2011.

49 year old Bayed, from Al Fawar camp, was participating in the weekly action calling for freedom of movement and for the opening of the main road connecting Hebron with its southern villages and towns. The closure of this road 12 years ago makes the Palestinian residents of these villages travel an additional 12km to reach their destinations in the city.

As Obama lands : Palestinians erect new Bab al Shams neighbourhood

20th March 2013 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee , Jerusalem, Occupied Palestine

Palestinians assert their right to protect their lands from colonialism and their opposition to American policy which keeps granting Israeli occupation and repression of Palestinians full support.

Hundreds of the Palestinians arrived this morning, Wednesday March 20th, to Eizariya and erected about 15 tents on lands of the village as new neighborhood of Bab al Shams village, on a hillside opposite to the one on which the original village of Bab al Shams was established two months ago.

Organisers stress that the action today aims “first, to claim our right as Palestinians to return to our lands and villages, second, to claim our sovereignty over our lands without permission from anyone. Third, our actions are aimed at protecting our land from continued confiscation and threat of settlement and colonization. And Fourth to expand popular resistance as one form of resistance, out of many, that our people are engaged in everywhere.

As the action today coincide with President Barack Obama’s visit to the region, activists assert their opposition to the American Administration policy, which has been complicit in Israeli occupation and colonialism. Organizers stress: “An administration that used the veto 43 times out of 79 (between 1979 to 2011) in support of Israel and against Palestinian rights, an administration that grants military aid to Israel of over three billion dollars annually, can’t have any positive contribution to achieve justice and rights of the Palestinian people.”

The village is established on the lands of Eizariya east of occupied Jerusalem in an area the Israeli government calls E1 and where it has committed to building 4000 settlement units. The hillside falls between Ma’ale Adumim settlement and Jerusalem, and is 13 square KM in size. This land belongs to the villages of Al-Issawiyeh, Eizariya, Al-Tor, Anata, and Abu Deis.

Activists consider this area to be the lands of Bab Al-Shams where we have established today a new neighborhood called “Ahfad Younis” (Younis’ Grandchildren-after the name of the main figure in Bab al Shams novel).

Residents of the new neighborhood of Bab Al-Shams invite Palestinians to join the village and participate in maintaining its steadfastness.

Bab Al-Shams is accessible through Eizariya

Media Contact: 05991070069 or 0598914541

Facbook page: https://www.facebook.com/Babalshams2013

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bab_Alshams

Demonstrators arrive with materials to build new village

Tent facing the Maale Adumim settlement which is the largest in the West Bank

Huge Palestinian flag is erected directly across from Maale Adumim settlement

Demonstrators hold up sign made for Obamas visit

Thirty children arrested in Hebron on their way to school

20th March 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron, Occupied Palestine

By Team Khalil

Schoolchild being dragged by Israeli military

Around 30 young boys aged betweeen 7 and 15 years were arrested between 7 and 8 am this morning, the 20th of March, on their way to the Al-Khalil and the Al-Ibrahimi school in Hebron. Various witnesses reported the soldiers entered the school and arrested all boys that were present at the time. More children were arrested on the street. Soldiers claimed that they were looking for children who had thrown stones.

Inhabitants of the area surrounding the school reported that Israeli soldiers forced their way into a private appartment, moved the family to one room and took pictures of the children passing by on the street. Other soldiers hid in buildings near the school, making traps for the children. The arrested boys were violently dragged behind by the soldiers and beaten and kicked, as shown in video footage from human rights organisation B’Tselem below.

Most of the children were released to the Palestinian Authority around four hours later, but there are reports that some may still be detained by Israeli military, along with protesters who were arrested for walking down Shuhada Street wearing Obama masks, as Obama arrived into Israel today.

This continues a worrying trend of disregard for the rights of children by the Israeli authorities in Hebron.

Video by B’Tselem

UPDATED – “Obama” arrested on Shuhada Street

20th March 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron, Occupied Palestine

By Team Khalil

Update 20th March 20.45: Three Palestinians have been released on bail and all three internationals are being deported.

———————————————————————————————————————————————-

Four Palestinians and three international activists have been arrested by the Israeli military today, 20th March 2013, during a demonstration calling for Obama to take action against the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Obama is currently visiting Israel and plans to make a short visit to the West Bank.

Palestinian and Israeli activists walked together down Hebron’s Shuhada Street today – an area which Palestinians have been denied since the year 2000. Activists wore masks of President Obama and Martin Luther King Jr and wore “I Have a Dream” t-shirts, representing the struggle for equal rights for Palestinians and an end to Israeli occupation. International activists were observing and documenting the protest.

Israeli military arrived on the scene, breaking up the demonstration and beating Palestinian protesters, including prominent Youth Against Settlements organisers Issa Amro, Badia Dwaik and Mohammed Zugayer. Soldiers were witnessed beating Palestinians and dragging them into side streets away from observers, media and journalists. There are also reports that at least one journalist is currently being detained, and one Palestinian activist has a broken nose. The four Palestinians and three international activists – from Germany, Denmark and the Czech Republic – are still currently being detained in the police station in illegal Israeli settlement Givat Ha’avot.

Shuhada Street was previously the main market street of the Palestinian city of Hebron. In 1994, access was banned for Palestinian cars, and in the year 2000 Palestinians were denied access to the street altogether, because of the 500 illegal Israeli settlers who now live in the area. There is a strong Israeli military presence in Hebron and there is severe restriction of movement for Palestinians.

Obama has not taken action against the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the US administration continues to fund the Israeli military. Obama said in a speech on arrival to Israel today, “I see this visit as an opportunity to reaffirm the unbreakable bond between our nations, to restate America’s unwavering commitment to Israel’s security and to speak directly to the people of Israel and to your neighbours.”

Photo by Youth Against Settlements — Demonstrators with Obama and MLK masks – photo by Youth Against Settlements

Remembering Rachel Corrie

19th March 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus , Occupied Palestine

Team Nablus

On March 16th 2013, the International Solidarity Movement was joined by the International Women’s Peace Service and the Tanweer Center in commemorating the death of Rachel Corrie – an American peace activist and former member of the ISM.

Tree planting with Rachel Corrie posters in Asira al Qibliya

Rachel was killed in 2003 in Rafah in the south Gaza strip, crushed by an Israeli military bulldozer while trying to protect a home from demolition. The group gathered in Duar Squar,e in the heart of Nablus, where powerful speeches were given by Wael, director of Tanweer Center, and Dr. Sa’ed Abu Hijlehm, a professor at An-Najah University, conveying a deep respect for Rachel as well as other internationals who have been killed while working in solidarity with Palestinians to end Israel’s occupation of the West Bank; Tom Hurndall and Vittorio Arrigoini. The group released a mass of balloons with the photos of Vittorio, Tom and Rachel attached into the downtown center of Nablus.

Three days prior, ISM activists joined villagers from Asira to plant olive trees with accompanying pictures of Rachel.

Pertinent to President Obama’s impending visit to the West Bank, Rachel’s death is significant as it relates to the ongoing U.S funding of Israel’s occupation. The bulldozer that crushed Corrie was manufactured by Caterpillar Inc. and purchased through a subsidized US aid to Israel program.

Balloons carrying pictures of Rachel Corrie, Tom Hunrdnall, Vittorio Arrigoni and Arafat Jaradat are released into the sky in Nablus city centre