11 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, West Hebron Hills, Occupied Palestine
Four buildings were demolished in Beit awwa, one journalist hit in the leg with tear gas canister and treated in hospital.
On the morning of Monday 11th February Israeli occupation forces bulldozers protected by soldiers entered the village of Beit Awwa. They demolished four buildings. A chicken house, an agricultural storage house, a well and a house seasonally inhabited in the summer. The buildings had demolition orders put on them eight months ago.
Remains of a house in Beit Awwa
Residents of Beit Awwa said that the army came into the village and destroyed the buildings very quickly. The Israeli army then wanted to demolish two more homes but the people of Beit Awwa rushed to the homes and locked themselves inside, preventing the houses from being demolished. Residents said that concerning the two houses the soldiers said “We will be back next week.” Around fifteen homes in Beit Awwa have demolition orders on them.
Clashes then ensued with the residents attempting to protect their village from the Israeli army incursion. The army responded by firing large amounts of tear gas, injuring six people. One journalist from Palmedia was hit in the leg with a tear gas canister and taken to hospital. The other people injured were treated at a medical centre in the village.
Soldiers around the demolition site. Photo from Beit Awwa facebook page
Beit Awwa has the aparthied wall and settler only roads on three sides of it and a new settler only road is being built along the other side of it. In recent days there have been regular flights over the village and officials have been seen suurveying the land. On the 10th of February two black hawk Apache helicopter gunships circled the village. When this new road is built the village will be completely isolated from the rest of the West Bank. There is a large military base next to the village housing an anti missile battery. In January 2009 a sixteen year old boy was shot dead as he placed a Palestinian flag on the fence next to a settler only road by a sniper from the base. There is also very close to the village the illegal Israeli settlement of Nogo Hot.
Team Khalil
Anti-missile launchpad near villageA child sits on top of her demolished home. Photo from Beit Awwa facebook page
Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)
11 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, West Hebron Hills, Occupied Palestine
Israeli occupation forces demolished a home near Idna, without warning or having issued a demolition order. The Family had their house destroyed one year ago.
At 10am Monday 11-2-2013 Israeli bulldozers arrived at Dir Baluda, near Idna and demolished the portacabin home that Mohammad Badoei Tomazi and his family had lived in for a year. Mohammad and his family of 8 including 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys lived in a portacabin donated to them by the UN because the Israeli army demolished their house last year.
Mohammed Tomazi stands next to his destroyed home
At that time the army destroyed 2 wells belonging to the family said to be 2000 years old. There was no demolition order on the house and no warning was given to the family.
Mohammed is a farmer who has lived here for 19 years, his family grows crops of wheat, fool, courgette, cucumbers and lemons in the valley. The hillsides are covered in olive trees. There is excellent land in the valley for agriculture. A relative, lawyer, Dr Raid Tomazi said “There is not much land left here in Idna. They dont want anyone to build in the area at all, so nobody can take care of his land.”
Abdel Fatah Ahmad Tomazi sits infront of her destroyed home
About the soldiers Raid Tomazi said “Soldiers have no respect for international organisations.” He went on to say the soldiers said “We know this is supported by nice people, but we dont care for for anybody. Them or you, we dont care.” Mohammed said of his home and livelihood “It doesnt affect their security at all.”
Amongst the rubble of two homes, next to their fridge standing in the open air, with the food still inside, Abdel Fatah Ahmad Tomazi, Mohammad’s wife, sat stunned. When asked what the family will do now Mohammad gave an exasperated laugh, Raid explained “The family will stay here, sleep here, they have nowhere to go. It is too cold. They will hope to receive a tent or something from the red cross. Two of the girls went to university this morning, they do not even know yet.” Two of Mohammads daughters go to Hebron University, one studying to be a teacher, the other geography.
At 5pm volunteers from the PRCS (Palestinian Red Crescent Society) Brought an emergency tent, again donated by the UN. Mohammad enthusiastically helped pitch the tent in the gathering gloom of the February evening. He will stay on his land and tend the crops, but the open ended valley was getting very cold by then, and instead of their home the family have an emergency tent with no heating, for shelter.
What remains of the Tomazi house
Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)
11 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Madama, Occupied Palestine.
Thanks to your help Mamun Nasser has been released from Israeli imprisonment. Mamun had spent nearly two months in jails after he was violently attacked whilst working his land in Madama. The land he was working on is privately owned Palestinian land, which, unfortunately for Mamun, is next to the most violent settlement in the West Bank, Yizhar.
Mamun was last seen before his arrest by his mother. “I am really worried about Mamun. He was in really bad shape, covered in blood, his face was swollen and he was frothing from the mouth. I hope they give him the medical attention he needs”, she said.
Settlers and soldiers collaborating in the initial incident
Prior to the recent attack, the Nasser family were able to tend their sheep on the land near the Yizhar settlement. Around the beginning of December, settlers went before an Israeli judge claiming Mamun Nasser was grazing his sheep inside the settlement. Considering the high fence and military infrastructure surrounding the settlement, the judge deemed that to be impossible. Yizhar settlers have since then enacted a ‘price tag’ on the Nasser family, involving the destruction of a well and a wheat field. The Eid festival last year saw 20 of their olive trees cut down, to be discovered with the written message “Have a Happy Eid”.
This climaxed in the middle of December when Mamun was beaten and arrested on the charge of assaulting settlers. Once in custody he was tied and beaten with a truncheon by three Israeli soldiers. Members of his family suspect that the reason for detaining Mamun for so long was to hide the brutality of the assault, where he sustained blunt trauma injuries to his head, torso as well as having two teeth broken and losing another two of them. Two months later he is still unable to eat solid food.
In custody he was interrogated and provided only with paracetamol for his injuries. He went on a three day hunger strike in order to be taken to a hospital, which eventually succeeded.
Mamun – free but banned from his land and so denied a livelihood
Mamun’s brother Hamid provided two video statements from witnesses at the Huwwara military checkpoint on January 18, but as usual he was ignored. Another brother, Amir, made a formal complaint about the assault to Israeli authorities and was subsequently arrested while grazing his sheep on January 20. He is still in Israeli custody. Since his arrest he has been subject to interrogations, causing him to lose weight. At the time of his arrest he was not charged with any crime. On January 24, the Nasser family home was raided and searched by the Israeli military, without a search warrant. During the raid soldiers viciously verbally insulted the family.
Initially Mamun was released to house arrest, barring him from entering the village and forcing him to sell his goats. On appeal, his lawyer was able to reduce this to prohibiting Mamun from going near Yizhar and Israeli military personnel. However, this is difficult as Israeli military vehicles routinely pass in front of the Nasser family home on patrols.
As a result of the attack, Mamun now suffers from chronic pain on the left side of his face and his right hand as well as headaches and problems sleeping. He is currently under medical supervision for a blood clot in his brain and has lost of sensation in his right hand. The arrests of the two brothers has cost the Nasser family 6000NIS in various associated fees, but thanks to your help we managed to raise 4000NIS for their release.
The Nasser family have lost exactly what the Israeli authorities wanted them to lose: access to their land near the settlement. Mamun was defiant but subdued, he said “For me to stay at home and not be allowed to graze my sheep, is not a solution”.
Mamun will return to court to hear an appeal against him on March 4. Amir Nasser will have his next be in court date on February 26.
All Palestinian activists arrested at protest village ‘Canaan ‘ released
ISM activist on huger strike!
Dave and Marco are being held in Givon prison and are expecting deportation.
One of them, Marco Di Renzo (54), has decided to start a hunger strike from tonight in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners and to protest against his illegitimate deportation. He will also stop taking his blood pressure medication, which is life threatening for the condition he lives with, Thyroidectomy.
The charges against him are being in a closed military area and assaulting a soldier with his camera, which is completely untrue.
10 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, South Hebron Hills, Occupied Palestine
Dave being arrested by Israeli soldiers (Photo: ISM)
Two activists from ISM (International Solidarity Movement) were arrested at the Canaan protest village and are now facing deportation proceedings. They are expecting to be in court in Jerusalem later today.
Israeli occupation forces yesterday thwarted two attempts by Palestinian activists to establish a new camp village near Yata in the Southern Hebron Hills, protesting Israel’s illegal settlement policy. The outpost, named “Canaan Village”, is the fifth in a series of protest encampments that was launched with the establishment of Bab Al-Shams last month. The aim of these tent villages is to confirm Palestinian ownership of the land through concrete actions and to protest against Israel’s illegal settlements by mirroring its strategy of “creating facts on the ground”.
Very early on Saturday morning, around 30 activists were interrupted in their attempt to set up tents near Karmel settlement by Israeli soldiers who arrived on the scene to remove the steel framing and confiscate part of the material. “We came here to build a Palestinian village upon Palestinian land, and to freely use our land in the way we want. As Palestinians we have rights and own this land,” activist and coordinator of the popular committees in the southern West Bank, Younis Araar, stated.
Marco being handcuffed (Photo: ISM))
Undeterred by the army’s quick intervention and demolition of the tents, activists reorganised themselves and moved to rebuild the camp outside At Tuwani village at around 9am. Around 40 activists used the remaining material to set up one tent, as well as building stone circles and placing the Palestinian flag on the land. Thus Canaan Village was re-established on Palestinian-owned land that is under threat of confiscation due to planned extensions of the nearby settlement of Ma’on.
The number of protesters gradually grew as nearby residents and other activists came to join in the action, eventually reaching about 120. Within half an hour of the protesters arriving to set up the camp, the army had arrived at the scene too, and soon declared the area a close military zone amidst loud chanting of the Palestinian activists. The army then used large amounts of skunk water against the protesters. After successfully dispersing the crowds, it directed the water-jet directly at the tent and the handful of activists that had refused to leave it despite the appalling odour, causing the tent to fall together under the force of the water. The activists fled the tent and the army took over the part of the land with the destroyed tent on it.
Nevertheless, the protesters refused to leave and continued chanting and facing up the line of soldiers. Various journalists, photographers and videographers were standing to the side documenting the events. For no apparent reason, the soldiers suddenly lept forward, seizing a Palestinian videographer in an attempt to arrest him, which sparked an outcry among the crowd and caused activists as well as other media personnel to come to his help in an attempt to de-arrest him. Clashes ensued between dozens of protesters and soldiers, which lead to several arrests, including at least three journalists and an ISM volunteer from Italy. Soon after, a woman was injured after soldiers tried to arrest her, causing further clashes between the army and fellow protesters trying to protect her, and leading to the arrest of another Palestinian and an ISM volunteer from Britain. All together, five Palestinians were arrested during the action, according to an army spokesperson.
With the only tent taken over by the army earlier, and several photographers and videographers now arrested causing both intimidation and a lack of media attention, the protest seemed to loose its focus and structure after around 11am. Although villagers and other activists continued to join, no-one took charge to co-ordinate further actions such as chanting or sit-ins, and neither did the army move to disperse the protestors. Over the next 3 to 4 hours, people were mostly sitting around, spread out across the field and down the street leading up to it, chatting to one another, with the army standing around watching. Only a couple of dozen people remained up front, facing the line of soldiers. They did manage, however, to re-gather people to pray the Dhuhr prayer in two long rows right in front of the soldiers, in a beautiful and powerful act of non-violent resistance.
Despite the short existence of Canaan Village, its establishment is part of an encouraging series of protest villages over the last month or so. Whilst the West Bank has witnessed a surge in direct-action grassroots activism in recent weeks, the international community has become increasingly critical of Israel’s illegal settlement policy and other actions in violation of international law, all of which are signs of hope for the Palestinian people as they continue their struggle for justice and dignity.
Palestinian activists setting up a tent structure (Photo: ISM)
Palestinian tent at Canaan protest villageResidents of Canaan raising Palestinian flags
10 February 2013 | Beit Ommar Popular Movement, South Hebron Hills, Occupied Palestine
Today, the South West Popular Committee along with international activists embarked on a new effort to establish a village, Canaan, on Palestinian land in South Hebron Hills. The village’s name was not accidental. We wanted to declare that we are the indigenous people of Palestine. We are the descendants of the Canaanites and our ties to the land can never be broken or taken away. Early last night, various Palestinian activists from a wide array of villages in the South West Bank area along with international activists met in a home to discuss plans for the coming day.
Residents of Canaan just after they erected the tent (Photo: Beit Ommar Popular Movement)
Signs were prepared which stated ‘Our Land is Our Right’, ‘Canaan Village’ and a declaration of intent which stated that “we are the sons and daughters of the Cananites, we establish Canaan Village on endangered Palestinian land.” “We declare that it is our natural right to develop, reclaim, improve, use and live on all our lands free and without threat from occupiers/colonizers.”
In the early morning hours, following a night of planning, we established Canaan as our first attempt, in the south of Yatta (the entrance to Twani). Within less than a minute, while we barely managed to establish the tent, an occupation jeep arrived. The occupation soldiers encircled us and told us we must leave. We refused to obey such a racist demand. An officer of the occupation army then went on to demolish our tent, steal our additional tents and equipment and violently prevent us from reclaiming our land and our belongings.
Several hours later, we went on with a much larger group of activists, international supporters and an especially large number of journalists, to the east Yatta, near Ein Mai’in, Hazawai, we established a large tent and began building a room from stones of the land. Within half an hour, we were heavily encircled by at least 6 jeeps of the occupation forces. A large military vehicle which fires skunk water was brought in. We were told that we have 10 minuets to leave the area and that the land was a ‘closed military zone’. We did not yield of course and were immediately showered upon by heavy skunk water.
Canaan tent being skunk watered (Photo: ISM)
Occupation soldiers then went on to attack journalists and arrest them. They beat an elderly woman and other activists. In several instances, activists jumped in and prevented with their bodies the arrest of two people. After several hours of struggling with the occupation soldiers which numbered more than 50, 4 journalists, 8 Palestinians and 2 international activists were arrested, our tent was destroyed and we were prevented from returning to our land. For many hours during the hot afternoon, hundreds of activists remained in the area and demanded the right to return to the Canaan Village.
Residents of Canaan praying at the camp site (Photo: Beit Ommar Popular Movement)Palestinian activists erecting the tent (Photo: Beit Ommar Popular Movement)
Israeli army and border police trying to arrest Palestinian activists (Photo: Beit Ommar Popular Movement)Israeli border police arresting a Palestinian activist (Photo: Beit Ommar Popular Movement)
