On February 4th, settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of Kfar Tappuah began clearing land for building outposts, despite the fact that this land legally belongs to the Palestinian village of Yasuf.
The settlers brought a bulldozer with them to clear village fields, and it is expected that extensions of Kfar Tappuah in the form of trailer outposts will be erected in the next few days.
Yasuf village, which is located in the Salfit region, has already lost over 1500 dunums of land in the creation of the nearby settlements of Ariel, Rechel and Kfar Tappuah, along with two smaller outposts.
Yasuf land is now almost completely surrounded by these settlements, as well as an Israeli-only road that connects Ariel and Rechel settlements that villagers are prohibited from accessing. Large parts of village land have been declared closed military zones by the army, which forbids Palestinians from being in these areas. This allows settlers to more easily confiscate land for expansion, even though it is still legally owned by Palestinians.
Yasuf residents, who often face harassment from the illegal settlers, can only view the work of the bulldozer from roughly 1 km away. If they approach any closer, they risk attack from the armed settlers or arrest from Israeli forces stationed nearby, but do nothing to stop this illegal confiscation of land.
At 9am on Saturday 7th February 2009, 10 international Human Rights Activists will be accompanying Palestinian farmers in Al Faraheen village, east of Khan Younis. Farmers and international accompaniers were fired upon by Israeli Forces in the same area on Thursday, February 5th.
International Human Rights Activists will accompany Yusef Abu Shaheen, a Palestinian farmer, in Abassan Jedida of Al Faraheen village. Shaheen’s land is approximately 500 metres from the ‘Green Line’ and 5 kilometres south of Kissufim (Al Qarara) Crossing.
“We are accompanying these farmers to harvest their crops because they have a right to their land. Palestinians who live or have land within 1 kilometre of the Green Line are being driven out by Israeli military violence. We consider this to be a form of ethnic cleansing. With international accompaniment, these farmers are able to harvest their crops with a much greater degree of safety than if they were to come to these areas alone”
Andrew Muncie (Scotland) – International Human Rights Worker
This action comes after farm worker Arwan was shot and killed by Israeli forces as he worked his land close to the ‘Green Line’.
On Tuesday 27th January 2009, in Al Faraheen, Israeli forces shot at several farmers, killing one.
27 year old Arwan was working picking parsley and spinach in the village agricultural lands, approximately 700 m from the Green Line, when Israeli jeeps opened fire with machine guns from behind the Green Line – shooting more than 30 bullets in quick succession, eyewitnesses reported. Many of the seven farmers working in the area scattered, taking shelter from the shower of bullets. Arwan, however, was shot in the neck, dying instantly.
The residents of Bil’in gathered again today after the Friday prayer in a protest joined by international and Israeli activists. The protesters carried Palestinian flags and banners calling for a stop to the crimes against civilians, to break the siege on Gaza and for the prevention of settlement building.
The protest left from the centre of the village, calling for national unity and resistance to the occupation, heading towards the apartheid wall which is built on Bil’in’s land. An Israeli army unit was situated behind the wall and prevented the crowd from going through the gate, the army fired tear gas canisters to disturb the crowd, causing dozens to suffer from gas inhalation andinjuring two people. The two injured were Adib Abu Rahma and Abdullah Abu Rahma.
The Israeli army has been raiding the village at night almost on a daily basis. There have been clashes between the army and residents of the village. Some residents have been kidnapped. These Israeli actions are collective punishment which aims to create fear among people in the hope that they will stop resisting the occupation. The Popular Committee against the wall is still encouraging people to continue resisting the wall and the occupation despite these threats.
Over 150 University of Manchester students have occupied the main university administration building in a demand for a stronger and more proactive position from the university on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The students have proposed a set of demands on the university’s Vice Chancellor Alan Gilbert, including a boycott of Israeli goods on campus, support for a day of fundraising with proceeds to the DEC fund, and that the university end research into manufacturing arms.
Students at other universities have taken similar actions over the last three weeks and have been successful in their demands.
The conflict has killed over 1,300 Palestinians and injured thousands. Tens of thousands of civilians have been left homeless. Head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza, John Ging, is now joining international calls for an investigation into the war crimes of the recent action, wherein Israel stands accused of using banned weapons such as white phosphorus and cluster bombs, attacking medical facilities, including the killing of 12 ambulance men in marked vehicles, and killing large numbers of policemen who had no military role.
Over 500 students attended an emergency general meeting of the students union to discuss a motion on the issue of the crisis in Gaza, whereby the students marched on University administration headquarters, the John Owens Building, to draw up a list of demands.<
The peaceful occupation is planned to continue for as long as it takes to achieve its demands, and promises to welcome high profile speakers during the week.
DEMANDS 1. University of Manchester should issue a formal statement condemning Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip, acknowledging particularly the effects on educational institutions such as the bombing of the Gaza Islamic University and expressing concern about war crimes allegations. 2. Support a day of fundraising across campus with the proceeds going to the DEC Gaza appeal. 3. University to publicise DEC advert in any way possible (including banner on the website) and put pressure on the BBC and sky to show the DEC advert. 4. All furniture & surplus supplies from buildings that are being renovated to be sent to Gaza on the Viva Palestina convoy. 5. Join the BDS movement through stopping sales of Israeli goods on university premises, the University should also stop buying any campus supplies from Israeli companies. 6. That the university divests from all companies directly involved in the manufacture of weaponry. We also demand that the university takes the issue of transparency in their investment seriously. 7. That the university publicly supports its students’ right to protest, such as occupations. That in line with this, the university will provide its facilities for a “Students for Palestine” conference, second week of April 09. 8. To send a public message of solidarity to the Islamic University in Gaza, whose campus has been virtually destroyed, and publish it on the university website and distribute it to the university wide e-mail addresses. 9. To give at lease five scholarships for Palestinian students as well as providing at least five scholarships for Israelis who refuse to serve in the IDF. 10. That the university make a module on the history of Palestine available as an optional module for any University of Manchester student. 11. That home fees apply to Palestinians students wanting to study at the University of Manchester. 12. No victimisation for those taking part in the Occupation, and free movement in and out of the occupied spaced.
Israeli soldiers open fire on Palestinian farmers and international Human Rights Workers twice in threedays
Israeli soldiers again opened fire on Palestinian farmers and international Human Rights Workers (HRWs) on Thursday 5th February, as they attempted to harvest parsley in agricultural land near the Green Line.
Returning to farm-land of Al Faraheen village, in the Abassan Jedida area, east of Khan Younis, where soldiers had opened fire on Tuesday 3rd February, farmers and HRWs were able to harvest the parsley crop for only half an hour, before soldiers again began to shoot. A number of shots were fired into the air, before the soldiers started to aim in the direction of the farmers and international accompaniment. Bullets were heard to whiz past, close to people’s heads.
The soldiers continued to shoot on the group, despite the fact that many members of the group had their arms in the air and were wearing
fluorescent vests to make them highly visible, and identify them as Human Rights Workers; had erected a banner indicating that the farmers
and accompaniment were civilians; contact had been made with the Israeli army to advise them that Palestinian civilians and internationals would be working in the area; the various international embassies had been advised of the planned accompaniment; and the internationals were announcing their presence via a megaphone – demanding that the soldiers stop shooting on unarmed civilians.
“We are unarmed civilians! We are farmers and international Human Rights Workers! Stop Shooting!”
With internationals acting as human shields, the farmers – after initially lying down to avoid being shot – attempted to continue harvesting. After a few moments, however, the shooting intensified and farmers decided to leave the area, rather than be killed. Internationals announced on the megaphone that the group was leaving the area – asking that the soldiers halt their fire. Instead, as the group started to leave, the shooting further intensified in rapidity and proximity. Even after the group had taken refuge in a house, approximately 1km from the Green Line, the soldiers continued to shoot at nearby houses that were demolished during the recent Israeli Operation Cast Lead.
This behaviour on the part of the Israeli soldiers was an almost exact repeat of their response to the presence of the farmers and internationals, in the same area of farm-land, two days before. On the Tuesday, however, the group was able to harvest for two hours before soldiers began to shoot. Whilst farmers had hoped to be able to wait-out the shooting, in order to continue harvesting, it quickly
became clear that the situation was too dangerous for that to be possible.
The farmers of Al Faraheen are particularly aware of the level of danger they face when entering farm lands that are within 1 km of the Green Line – after watching their friend and colleague, 27 year old Anwar Il Ibrim, from neighbouring Benesela, killed by a bullet to the neck while he was picking parsely in the same area, just one week before.
The owner of the land, Yusuf Abu Shaheen, commented after Tuesday’s gun-fire “If you [internationals] hadn’t been with us today, the soldiers would have killed us all”.
Whilst it has become increasingly dangerous for farmers to enter their lands near the Green Line, especially since the recent Israeli attacks, for farmers like Yusuf, there is an economic imperative to harvest his crops. Yusuf explains that just to plant the crops and keep them watered and fertilised, costs him $2000 each month – money that has already been spent. There is the additional factor of a lack of water that increases the sense of urgency to harvest crops planted in the vicinity of the Green Line. Israeli forces broke the pipes for the area one week before their war on Gaza began. The parsley in the most dangerous areas, with water, could very well have been left for another week or two without harvesting – in the hope that the soldiers might become less aggressive over time. Without water, the plants are becoming increasingly tough, sweet and salty. If they are not harvested soon, they will become worthless.
The workers, who are employed by Yusuf to harvest the crops, also put themselves in mortal danger every time they enter the lands close to the Green Line. Like most in the Gaza Strip, they too are compelled by economic concerns to risk their lives for the meager sum of 20
shekels ($5)/day. With an unemployment rate of 40%, and almost two-thirds (900 000) of Gaza’s residents reliant on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the levels of poverty existing in Gaza mean that, for many families, money earned by sons and farmers risking their lives near the Green Line, might be the only money they have.
Anwar’s mother explains that her son hadn’t worked in the Al Faraheen area for 6 months – not since a large-scale Israeli incursion into the
area in May 2008, and the following Israeli military aggression, made agricultural work in the area extremely dangerous. Anwar, the only
son in the family, felt compelled to try to earn whatever he could to support the family – in particular to buy medicine for his ailing and paralysed father.
The ability of farmers to earn money from these lands is not only being threatened by the daily shooting from the Israeli army, however, but also by the inability to irrigate the crops. On Tuesday, Yusuf took the opportunity to remove expensive connecting valves from the irrigation pipes. On Thursday, an elderly farmer was pulling up all of the irrigation pipes themselves – now useless as it is impossible to get water to the area. This crop the farmers have spent two days trying to harvest, seems likely to be the last that will be planted there for some time.
Such actions – shooting at farmers trying to work their lands; and destroying irrigation systems – are part of the wider, systematic economic oppression of Palestinians. Along with sanctions and a siege that prevents Palestinians from importing and exporting goods; and denies freedom of movement to work in other countries, Israeli military forces also attempt to prevent Palestinians from deriving income from other methods, such as fishing and farming – through extreme levels of military force. Indeed, throughout the 23-day war on Gaza, the Israeli military, along with demolishing approximately 10,000 homes, and damaging many thousands more to the extent to which they are uninhabitable, intentionally killed hundreds of thousands of livestock, and bulldozed thousands of dunums of agricultural land.
In order to stand in solidarity with farmers in their struggle against this economic oppression, international HRWs will continue to accompany farmers to dangerous lands – challenging Israeli military imposition of “closed military zones” in areas that they claim to no longer occupy.
days
“We are unarmed civilians! We are farmers and international Human Rights Workers! Stop Shooting!”
Such actions – shooting at farmers trying to work their lands; and destroying irrigation systems – are part of the wider, systematic economic oppression of Palestinians. Along with sanctions and a siege that prevents Palestinians from importing and exporting goods; and denies freedom of movement to work in other countries, Israeli military forces also attempt to prevent Palestinians from deriving income from other methods, such as fishing and farming – through extreme levels of military force. Indeed, throughout the 23-day war on Gaza, the Israeli military, along with demolishing approximately 10,000 homes, and damaging many thousands more to the extent to which they are uninhabitable, intentionally killed hundreds of thousands of livestock, and bulldozed thousands of dunums of agricultural land.