Author: ISM Media Group

Azzoun Under Curfew

Tonight the village of Azzoun is once again under curfew. For the sixth time in eleven days, residents have been forced to stay indoors, under threat of extreme punishment. At 4pm Israeli soldiers entered the town, arresting four youths, and firing sound bombs, tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition, calling for residents to withdraw from the streets and for shops to close.

The arrested youths were pulled from an internet cafe, where they were playing computer games, and are currently in prison. Two youths were arrested in a similar curfew yesterday, one of whom is still in prison in Nablus. Over the past eleven days over fifteen people have been arrested, most of them accused of having thrown stones, or of having the intention to throw stones. One 18 year old man was shot in the head with a rubber bullet, hospitalising him. Another 56 year old man was injured when a sound bomb was fired into his home, setting fire to his leg.

This has been an ongoing pattern of behavior since this round of curfews began on 31st October. Residents have been subject to tear gas and sound bombs being shot into their homes, their cars and their shops. Tonight, a father collecting medicine for his daughter was forced to leave the pharmacy empty handed as soldiers fired a sound bomb into the shop, compelling it to close. Eleven days ago, the same family had the doors of their home destroyed and tear gas fired into their house, while soldiers outside shot holes in their water tanks, leaving them without water for two days. During the curfew imposed on Wednesday 7th November, more than 200 sound bombs were discharged.

Access to the main road from Azzoun to Nablus and Qalquilia has been prevented for the past eleven days by Israeli army roadblocks, while the road from Azzoun to Tulkarem has been closed since 6pm today. Other roads from the village currently remain open, although they have been totally closed four times during this period, sealing the village. Checkpoints have also been randomly established between Azzoun and the village of Isa, as well as between Isa and the village of Ezbet Altabib, making travel between these towns impossible when under curfew. These curfews not only affect the people of Azzoun and surrounding villages, but effectively obstruct freedom of movement for people in at least fifteen villages to the south of Azzoun, as all access to the north is through Azzoun.

Soldiers are justifying these curfews by claiming that youths are throwing stones when Israeli army vehicles enter the town. Residents, however, suspect the curfews are implemented to facilitate construction of the second stage of the apartheid wall that separates Palestinians from illegal Israeli settlements, and confiscates many thousands of dunums of Palestinian land.

The 11,000 people of Azzoun wait in their homes to find out when they will be again allowed out, but have little hope of leading normal lives over the coming days, as they expect more road closures to be effected and curfews to continue.

Apartheid Masked: Third in a Series of Non Violent Protests Against Apartheid Road 443

By Apartheid Masked

Yesterday saw the third in a series of non-violent protest against the Israeli system of Apartheid in the West Bank. 100 Palestinian, Israeli and internationals marched down to the side of Route 443 to convey the message of how Israel is denying Palestinians their rights to free movement within their own territory. They carried green Palestinian license plates with crosses made of Israeli and American flags over them to highlight how the Israeli system of apartheid has full American economic and political support.

The Israeli army attempted to stop the procession with force but the demonstrators managed to reach the side of the road and protest for about an hour, conveying their message to passing drivers. The army detained one Palestinian and one international, before releasing them towards the end of the demonstartion.

The system of roads inside the West Bank that are inaccesible to Palestinains cretaes isolated enclaves, severly hamperin the Palestinian economy, and affecting almost every aspect of Palestinian life.

Most apartheid Roads are for settlers and arny use, Israelis insdie Israel proper are sheltered from seeing the affects their governments actions have on Palestinian peoples lives. However, despite 9.5 km of road 443 passing through the West Bank, it is the main route between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. For seven years Palestinians have been banned from using the road, even though it is the only main road in the southern district of Ramallah, and its expansion was built on seized Palestinian land. The Road, together with the apartheid wall, create the enclaves of Bir Naballa and Biddu. The villages arecompletely surrounded by Israeli infrastruture and their inhabitants can only leave through underground tunnels to Ramalla.

Activists Gather Against the Apartheid Wall in Um Salamona

On Friday 9 November a group of Palestinians and human rights volunteers gathered in Um Salamona, in the West Bank, to march against the planned route of the apartheid wall. Once built, the wall, which has been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice, will separate almost 3 million square meters of land containing thousands of grape and olive trees from the Palestinian farmers who depend upon it.

The protesters, numbering around 50, marched towards the site where the wall is to be built. Whilst attempting to block traffic the group was continually pushed by Israeli Occupational Forces (IOF). The group gathered to hear Palestinian villagers speak against the wall and to sing “We Shall Overcome” which was led by a group of Presbyterians from New Jersey. The march went without incident, however one Israeli activist was detained.

International HRW Arrested and Beaten in Tel Rumeida

On Wednesday the 7th of November an international human right worker (HRW) in Hebron was arrested, handcuffed, blindfolded and beaten because he refused to give his passport away to soldiers at an Israeli checkpoint.

According to Israeli law, a soldier does in fact have the right to look at the passport and check the validity of the visa, but cannot demand to take the passport away. The HRW held the passport in his hand to show his visa, but refused to hand it over and was therefore arrested and handcuffed.

As more HRWs arrived to the scene, the soldiers decided to change his handcuff, so he was cuffed with his arms behind his back, and to put a blindfold over his eyes so he would not be able to see. After this, the arrested HRW was led to a nearby military base where he was forced to sit down. He was then reeceived punches to his face and head, truncheon strokes to his neck and hips and kicks to his breast and abdomen.

Ten minutes later, the Israeli police arrived, taking him to the police station where he was later released. The man went straight to the hospital to receive medical care and to document his injuries in order to file a complaint against the soldiers responsible for the abuse.

Since last week, the Israeli soldiers in this area have been particularly harsh against international observers. Earlier Wednesday morning an international activist, on her way to the hospital to treat an aggressive eye infection, was held at a checkpoint for an hour and half to ‘check her identity’.

Znet: Israel’s Settlement Blocs Carve Up the West Bank

By Mohammed Khatib

For the people of our small village of Bil’in, which lies west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, the planned negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli leaders in Annapolis, Maryland evoke mixed feelings. Like all Palestinians, we pray that our children will not spend their lives as we did, under Israeli military occupation.

But our experience has been that Israel, the stronger party, exploits peace talks as a smokescreen to obscure facts that it is establishing on the ground. During the Oslo “peace” process Israel built settlements in the occupied territories at an unprecedented rate. Israel’s system of settler-only roads, which is now strangling our cities and villages, was created during the Oslo process. This makes us wary of the Annapolis negotiations.

Israel built settlements throughout the West Bank even though international law prohibits an occupying power from settling its population in occupied territory. Now Israel intends to annex most West Bank settlement blocs either through negotiated agreement with the Palestinians, or unilaterally.

Bil’in, like tens of West Bank villages, is losing vital land and resources to Israel’s settlement blocs. In 1991, Israel confiscated 200 acres of our village’s land and declared them state land. In 2001 private Israeli developers began building a new Jewish settlement there, as part of the Modi’in Illit settlement bloc.

In 2005 Israel’s apartheid wall separated Bil’in from 50% of our agricultural land. In response, we held over 100 nonviolent protests together with Israeli and international supporters. Hundreds of us were injured and arrested. After our protests and a legal appeal, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled last month that the wall’s route in Bil’in must be changed to return around half of our land that was taken.

Though we celebrated this success, Israel, with US backing, still plans to annex the Modi’in Illit settlement bloc which includes more of our land. Unlike the settlements initiated by the settler movements, the settlement blocs were built in strategic areas by the Israeli government under the Likud, Labor, and Kadima parties. The settlement blocs are designed to ensure Israeli control of our movement, borders, access to water and of Jerusalem, even following the creation of a “sovereign” Palestinian state.

Some Israeli politicians claim that the settlement blocs that Israel intends to annex comprise 5% of the West Bank. However, these politicians do not include the settlements in occupied East Jerusalem in their calculations because occupied East Jerusalem was unilaterally and illegally annexed by Israel in 1967.

But in reality, Israel has already de facto annexed the strategic 10.2% of the West Bank that lies between the Green Line and the apartheid wall, including the settlement blocs. About 80% of all Israeli settlers now reside west of the apartheid wall and inside the West Bank.

As Palestinians, we have expressed our willingness to live together on this land with the Jewish people, and to live in one democratic state with Jewish Israelis as equal citizens. However, most Jewish Israelis and their politicians have clearly stated that they must live in a Jewish state, not in a state for all of its citizens. For this reason, we agreed to live in two states- Palestine side by side with Israel.

For Palestinians, agreeing to live in a state on 22% of our historic homeland was a great compromise. But Yasser Arafat was besieged in his office by Israel because he didn’t accept Israel’s so-called “generous offer” at Camp David. He was punished because he would not surrender yet more land, and accept a state composed of isolated cantons carved up by Israel’s settlement blocs.

We take strength from our faith that no situation of injustice can continue forever. In the end we will all have to live on this land as equals. When that time finally comes we will discover that we are more similar than different. Until then, we will not accept shiny trinkets made of words like “state” and “sovereignty” when we know that within our “state” we will not be able to access our water, exit and enter freely, or move from one place to another without Israeli permission. I will not be free as long as Israel’s settlement blocs and wall steal and carve up my land and surround my capital, Jerusalem.

We have suffered too much for too long. We will not accept apartheid masked as peace. We will settle for no less than our freedom.

Mohammed Khatib is a leading member of Bil’in’s Popular Committee Against the Wall and the secretary of Bil’in’s Village Council.