Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestine, 18th September 2008 – On Thursday 18th September, at least 7 Palestinian fishing boats left Gaza City port to trawl in Gazan Territorial waters. The Israeli Navy continued it’s daily attacks and harassments on Palestinian fishermen and their boats.
Today the Navy boat with the water cannon was not seen, so no damage to any fishing boats and nobody was injured from high powered water spray. However, the Israeli soldiers on two Israeli Navy gunboats that were patrolling today were exceptionally aggressive and arrogant. One of the gunboats drove by all of the fishing boats and fired at them,going from boat to boat.
On a second gunboat, the Israeli soldiers were harrassing the fishermen, yelling out to them in Hebrew and in Arabic that it was prohibited for them to fish past six miles. The soldiers on the gunboat were informed that according to internationally recognised agreements, the Palestinian fishermen have the right to fish at least 12 miles out. Their response was laughter.
Later on in the afternoon, this same gunboat was sitting in a very threatening way in the water close to one of the Palestinian fishing boats. One of the soldiers was yelling at the captain of the boat in a derogatory tone of voice and using condescending language telling him to stop fishing and to go back to Gaza.
Almost the entire day the Israeli Navy gunboats harrassed the fishermen, either shooting at them or threatening to.
Every day and night Palestinian fishermen try to fish and every day the Israeli Navy does what it can to prevent them. The eyes of the world needs to watch what is happening. The people of the world need to put an end to this constant harassment and attack on Palestinians trying to earn a living and to feed their families. Palestinian fishermen have the right to fish, at least out to 12 miles, in their own waters.
Israeli settlers torched olive groves in two arson attacks in villages to the south of Nablus on Thursday 18th September, 2008. Approximately 300 trees belonging to the village of Sarra, and another 30 trees belonging to farmers from villages of Burin, Madema and Assira al Qibliya were burnt in what villagers are describing as a co-ordinated attack.
At approximately 10:30am settlers from the Israeli settlement Harvat Gilad reportedly set fire to the land of Sarra, according to communications between Israeli military and Palestinian fire-fighting brigades. Based in Burin, the only fire engine to service 25 villages in south Nablus was called to put out the fire by the Palestinian District Coordination Office (DCO). The firefighters were prevented from reaching the blaze by Israeli police, who detained them for over an hour while the land burnt. Finally, the firefighters were allowed through to access the blaze after contacting the Israeli DCO, the body that coordinates the Israeli military and police activities in the West Bank. While more than 300 olive trees were destroyed by the arson attack, firefighters were able to save more than 400 trees from the blaze. Israeli soldiers stood by and watched the trees burn as firefighters fought to quench the flames, although confirmed the identities of the perpetrators as Israeli settlers from nearby Harvat Gilad settlement.
Firefighters returned to Burn in time to attend the fire that was lit in the lands shared by Burin, Madema and Assira al Qibliya, but according to members of the Burin fire brigade, were advised by members of B’tselem human rights organisation who were present at the scene, that Israeli settlers had promised to shoot any Palestinians who approached the area. They also received a phone call from the Isreali DCO who prohibited them from attending. Mayor of Burin municipality, Ali Eid, reported that they called the Israeli DCO also, who advised that they would attend to the fire, but as Ali Eid claims “This was propaganda. They did nothing.” Instead it was members of the Israeli human rights group Rabbis for Human Rights who were fighting the blaze “bare-handedly for three hours” according to the Burin Mayor. Aided by the wind, which kept the fire from spreading throughout the olive groves, the human rights volunteers were finally able to extinguish the blaze, losing just 30 olive trees.
These villages have come under attacks by Israeli settlers increasingly over the past months, with regular attacks on houses, animals, crops and olive groves. As Ali Eid commented
“This {fire} is not the first time; this is the hundredth time.” He and other villagers report that Israeli settlers from the illegal Yitzhar settlement set fire to the trees in the olive groves that border the hilltop settlement with startling regularity. “Every year trees are burnt on this hill’ one villager advised. “These trees are from Roman times; they are ancient. More than 2000 years old.” Indeed, it seems that the fires occur even more regularly than this, with more than 3000 olive trees in Burin burnt just two months ago. Of these, 1000 were ancient. Poring over a satellite-view map of the villages and the illegal settlements, Ali Eid estimates that this year the upcoming olive harvest will take only half the time it should, with more than fifty percent of the trees destroyed already.
Despite the decreased harvest period, people from Burin are still extremely worried about what violence they might face when attempting to pick their olives. Just last week, when settlers from Yitzhar were rioting in Assira al Qibliya, settlers from Bracha settlement to the north-east of Burin, attacked an elderly shepherd, firing live ammunition at him. Whilst the shepherd escaped unharmed, nine of his goats and one donkey were killed in the attack.
Villagers list the most common forms of attack they experience at the hands of the settlers that surround their village: burining trees; poisoning sheep; poisoning entire areas; regular attacks on houses closest to the settlements and burning of electricity and telephone lines (which happened most recently just one month ago). Recently, however, added to this list is a series of rocket attacks from both Yitzhar and Bracha settlements. To date nine rockets have been fired on the village, though all have landed harmlessly in fields. Ali Eid presents the exploded shell of a rocket, launched from Yitzhar towards the village of Odela. Ripped apart by force of the impact, the 3mm thick steel shell bears markings English text – letters “WP” distinguishable amid the rust, suggesting the projectile was not home-made.
“Why they do this we don’t know.” says Ali Eid gravely. “This year women, girls, guys – they all make fire. Why? We don’t know.” He notes, however, that “all the time they {leaders} are talking about peace, the attacks become worse”, referring to the increase in attacks experienced by Palestinian villagers during Israeli/Palestinian peace negotiations.
To see more about ISM’s 2008 Olive Harvest click here
At 12.30pm on Wednesday September 17th, approximately 250 Palestinians, Israelis and internationals gathered in Ni’lin to protest against the construction of the illegal apartheid wall and in memory of the victims of the massacre in Shabra and Shatila in 1982.
The Israeli army attempted to stop the non violent protesters before they got out of the village by shooting tear gas and sound bombs directly without provocation.
Five Palestinians were injured by rubber coated steel bullets, 2 hit by tear gas canisters and one Israeli was badly beaten up and hit in his bag with a sound bomb.
5 Israelis were detained, but all of them are now released.
Before today’s demonstration the Neturei Karta held a speech to the villagers of Ni’lin condemning the annexation of their land and praising their resistance. They ended their speech by giving flowers to the village in memory of those killed during the massacre in Shabra and Shatila in 1982.
The Israeli army blocked the protesters in a field directly outside the village. They shot tear gas, rubber coated steel bullets and sound bombs at the non violent protesters who were pressured back into the village.
Two groups of protesters managed to get around the soldiers and ran to the construction site of the illegal apartheid wall where they stopped the bulldozers for 10 minutes.
The aggression from the army increased after this and they immediately started shooting rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas cannisters directly at the protesters from a close distance. Five Palestinians were hit by rubber coated steel bullets and two by tear gas cannisters.
The soldiers beat up one Israeli man who protested in solidarity with the villagers. When he finally escaped their brutality they threw a sound bomb at his back.
The attacks continued all the way back into the village where the soldiers shot tear gas directly at any one who moved in the streets.
The completion of the illegal apartheid wall will leave the villagers of Ni’lin with only 4% of the land they owned before 1948. In addition to the apartheid wall Israel plans to build a tunnel under the apartheid road leading to the nearby settlements. The tunnel will be the only way in and out of Ni’lin. It will close every night at 7pm and is possible to close of with only one military jeep. This will have huge economic as well as social consequences for the villagers of Ni’lin.
In 1982 September 16, Israeli army in co-operation with Lebanese terrorists were instrumental in a massacre on the Palestinian refugee camps Shabra and Shatila in Lebanon that killed thousands of Palestinians.
Fukharee, Gaza Strip, Palestine – On Monday, 15th September 2008, volunteers with ISM Rafah participated in an action with Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) in symbolically planting trees in the buffer zone in Fukharee area, north of Rafah.
The buffer zone is the agricultural area, established by Israeli Occupation Forces, about 300 meters wide along the entire eastern side of the Gaza Strip, where farmers are prohibited from farming their land. In some areas it is wider than 300 meters. These areas have become very dangerous for the Palestinians to live and farm. The buffer zone is another form of siege and denies the Palestinians right to livelihood, feeding their families, freedom of movement and to live in Peace. This is all happening during the so-called cease fire.
ISM volunteers met at UAWC office in Khan Younis before joining with a few hundred UAWC activists from Khan Younis. Two buses and four cars transported all the volunteers, the trees and the shovels to Fukharee, close to the Green Line. Upon arriving some people noticed the telltale dust of an Israeli tank and then it appeared from behind some trees off in the distance.
All the volunteers got off the buses and started walking toward the dedicated field holding 3 banners and chanting “Free, Free Palestine” among others in Arabic. Various news agencies and independent video cameras were recording the event.
In the designated field the trees were put on the ground and a few volunteers from ISM and UAWC started digging holes to plant olive, guava and citrus trees. About 100 hundred trees were planted by the end of the action. Although the ISM volunteers were there to reclaim the land and demand that Israel stop destroying the crops in the area, the action was a symbolic one. UAWC plans to continue doing various similar actions throughout the Gaza Strip in and near the buffer zones.
Gazan Territorial Fishing Waters, Gaza Strip. 17th September 2008. On Wednesday 17th September I, along with two other volunteers from ISM Rafah, went out with three different fishing boats from the Gaza City port to trawl for fish. We left the port at about 8:30am.
I was on a boat with fishermen I already knew. We went out about seven and a half miles, put out the net and began to trawl. It wasn’t long before an Israeli Naval gunboat approached, and circled around. The fishermen requested from me to speak with the Israeli Navy. I did make contact with them, telling them that “we were Palestinian fishermen fishing in Gazan waters. Palestinians have the right to fish in Gazan waters, they have the right to a livelihood and to feed their families.”
Someone on the Israeli Naval gunboat said in Hebrew that it was forbidden for the Palestinian fishermen to be out past six miles. I replied that according to International Law, the Palestinian fishermen had the right to fish beyond twelve miles in their territorial waters. His response was to call me “bitch”. Soon after the gunboat opened fire on the fishing boat, aiming, what appeared to me to be toward the center of the boat. The fishermen quickly pulled in their net, not wanting their boat or any of the equipment to be damaged by the gunfire.
We drove back towards the Gaza coast until we reached about six miles out and began trawling again. The gunboat came by again and circled around menacingly. Off in the distance we saw the large Israelli Naval gunboat that has the water cannon stationed at the fore of the boat. We were expecting to get drenched, but were pleasantly surprised when it continued past us without stopping or even aiming the water cannon at us.
The Israeli Navy contacted the boat via VHF again reiterating that it was forbidden for them to fish out beyond six miles. This is an abomination! The large quantities of fish are out beyond the six mile limit, as are the larger fish. The fishermen need to be able to fish in their territorial waters, when and where they want.
It is an outrage that Israeli Naval gunboats patrol the Territorial Gazan Waters at will. They harass, threaten, shoot, damage and terrorize the Palestinian fishermen, their boats and fishing equipment. The Israeli Navy often limits the Palestinian fishermen from fishing beyond three or four miles, and sometimes they aren’t permitted to fish at all – this would not be tolerated any place else in the world. Fishing is one of the few sources of Palestinian food left in Gaza Strip. The Israeli Occupation Forces have destroyed much of the farm land and have established an illegal buffer zone on much of the agricultural farm land within the Strip, denying Palestinian farmers their livelihood and the right to feed their families. Making 80% of the Palestinians living in Gaza Strip totally dependent on food aid from UNWRA.
It is time that these collective punishments upon the entire population of Gaza Strip end. The Palestinian people have the human right to live in freedom. Parents have the human right to provide for their children. Children have the human right to go to school and students have the human right to attend University. Farmers have the right to farm their land and fishermen have the right to fish in Gazan territorial waters. This siege must end. Be creative, put pressure on the Apartheid State of Israel to end the siege now – tell your families, your friends, your co-workers that this situation can no longer be tolerated. Ban the Israeli Navy from Gazan Territorial Waters.
