Following correspondance from one of our activists, we have been made aware that the army wish to remove the road block permanently on Saturday. Although we hold reservations that being Shabbat, this is unlikely to occur, we have to respect the wishes of the village who wish to cancel the demonstration for the time being in good faith that the army will actually remove the blocks.
We apologise for any inconvenience and sincerely hope that the Israeli military hold to their word and remove the road block permanently as they have claimed.
ISM Media Team
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Molly
ISM Media Office 0599943157
PALESTINIAN COMMUNITY SAYS NO TO ROADBLOCKS, YES TO FREEDOM OF
MOVEMENT
On Friday the 24th, August 2007 at 1pm, the village of Sarra, on the
outskirts of Nablus, will demonstrate against the Israeli army’s
imposition of restrictions on freedom of movement. The villagers, for
the last five years, have had to contend with roadblocks built on the
routes they use to travel to work and school. The army erected these
roadblocks in order to accommodate the wishes of Israeli settlers, who
have moved to the area in recent years. Consequently what should be a
ten-minute journey to Nablus city requires an hour resulting in
increased hardship and financial cost to the Palestinian residents.
On Monday the 20th of August international and Palestinian activists
removed a roadblock successfully. However, as the army may replace the
roadblock, the international and Palestinian activists will
demonstrate to prevent this. The demonstrators intend to walk past the
point of the roadblock to a nearby checkpoint, Deir al Sharraf, to
demonstrate against the greater restrictions by the army impeding
Palestinian movement not just against Sarra, but against the Nablus
community as a whole.
To get to Sarra, take the service from Ramallah to Huwwara Checkpoint
and then take a taxi to Nablus. From Nablus city center, take a taxi
to Sarra. Please gather at the school in Sarra by 1:00pm. The action
will take place following prayers.
A demonstrator holds a pulled up seedling planted on confiscated Palestinian land
Approximately 60 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists joined together to protest and take non-violent direct action against the illegal confiscation of Palestinian land from the village of Al Mazra al Qiblya. Israel has declared the land state land, despite villagers’ claims to the contrary. Although Israel claims that the land was declared state land in the nineties, local Palestinians were never informed of this. Israeli law requires that a formal declaration be made, which would have given Palestinians the opportunity to contest the confiscation. Although Palestinians are contesting this in court and plan to challenge this decision legally, settlers have nonetheless begun planting grape seedlings there for cultivation. Cultivating land is often the first step in absorbing Palestinian land into a settlement. After the land has been worked on, settlers can claim more easily that it was previously Israeli owned and even if it was not, that Palestinians chose not to work it and that the land would have been left fallow had they not cultivated it.
Grape seedlings planted on Palestinian land
At approximately 11am, the demonstrators walked across a rocky hillside to gather on the confiscated land. Upon seeing the way the settlers illegally cultivated the land, planting young grape vines, they began to pull up the plants. Palestinian, Israeli and international activists pulled up hundreds of plants in order to demonstrate that this land is not for settlers to use and that arbitrary confiscation will not go unchallenged.
A grape seedling pulled up
After approximately twenty minutes, a small group of soldiers arrived. One of the soldiers approached some of the Palestinians to talk. Media gathered to witness the discussion. Witnesses say that the discussion related to the legitimacy of the land’s ownership and the destruction of the crops on the land. Although the discussion lasted maybe twenty minutes, there was no aggression and no one was arrested.
As the demonstrators began to leave, an armed settler suddenly appeared brandishing a camera and carrying what appeared to be an automatic rifle. The armed settler began shouting at the Palestinians in Hebrew and filming the people present. He threatened the community and shouted curse words in Arabic. A few Palestinians tried to engage him in discussion, however he was mostly ignored as demonstrators refused to allow him to disturb them.
An armed settler approaches demonstrators.
As activists left the land they chanted in protest against the occupation and the land theft and made their way back to their cars.
Members of Combatants for Peace with the Vice President of the European Parliament Louisa Morgantini
A meeting of Combatants for Peace, with an audience of more than one hundred people, took place in this small village adjacent to the illegal settlement of Avne Hafez and with a checkpoint blocking the only road that leads out of the village.
The presence of the illegal settlement of Avne Hefez resulted in the closure of the main route that used to connect Shufa with Tulkarem city. Previously it would take ten minutes to travel between the two towns. The inhabitants now need over one hour to travel from one to the other, greatly decreasing their ability to access university or work both through the added time and also the significantly increased expense. The village is also not connected with the electricity network and consequently depends on a generator to have an energy supply. The increasing isolation of Shufa by the illegal occupation is killing the future of the youth from the village, who grow frustrated and desire nothing else than to leave their community.
Combatants for Peace is a movement started in 2005 jointly by Palestinians and Israelis who have taken an active part in the cycle of violence within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The former combatants believe in joining forces and in using non-violent means to terminate the Israeli occupation, to halt the construction of illegal settlements and to establish a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, alongside the State of Israel. Their goals are to raise consciousness in both the Palestinian and Israeli spheres, to create partners in dialogue, to educate others towards reconciliation and non-violent struggle, and to put political pressure on both governments to stop the violence and the occupation.
Attending the meeting in Shufa were former Palestinian and Israeli combatants, nowadays struggling through non-violent methods for ending the occupation and achieving two independent states. Also present was an Italian member of the European Parliament, Louisa Morgentini, who recognizes Europe’s responsibility in resolving the issues of political prisoners, the apartheid wall, the illegal settlements, the checkpoints and other occupation measures, in order to achieve real and lasting peace between the countries.
Former Palestinian fighters explained that they had to justify to their people why they had joined former Israeli soldiers. For them the answer is that they want to have real peace, and to follow the example of non-violent liberation from the occupation of other countries, such as India or South Africa. For those former combatants, speaking together with the Israelis is the beginning for both nations to be in peace, moreover with an international presence, as in fact happened in the meeting.
One of the testimonials in Shufa came from a former Israeli soldier, who now works as a teacher and is the father of a small girl. Until three years ago he was a soldier in Israeli forces. For fifteen years he was a commando. His reasons for becoming a professional soldier reach back to the way Israeli youth are brought up and educated about their culture, history and current context. From an early age he was taught that this was the country of Israeli people and others living there were just preventing them from living in peace. They told him that Israelis were always peaceful while Palestinians were always violent.
In this way, joining the army was for him a means for defending Israel from the Palestinians, instead of thinking that he was committing crimes in the occupied territories, as in fact he was doing. In 2001, during the Second Intifada, he was near a settlement looking for armed groups shooting in nearby roads. Waiting for them, he found an old man picking up nylon bags and going to the fence. He couldn’t reach is home without making a very big tour. After seeing that, he said to his soldiers that he was not going to participate in these actions anymore. But four months later, in Jerusalem a suicide bomb explode near him and he went to give assistance to the injured people. Then his unit called him to go to Jenin and he, worried about the pressure of his society, went there. He participated in the Battle of Jenin knowing that it was a crime, but without the courage to say no to his commanders. He would need another terrible event to be able to say no.
He went with his platoon to a small village to arrest someone wanted for investigation. Walking in the night, leading his platoon, he knew that he was doing something unacceptable. They blocked houses around, preparing the scene for arrest, the soldiers shot to the walls many times just to show they were there, without knowing how big the walls were. The commander told them to be aware of children because the inhuman Palestinians used them by strapping bombs to them. It was three in the morning, a mother and her three daughters were the first ones running out of the house. One of the small girls was so afraid that she ran towards them. They also were afraid, so he shot in the air and the girl stopped running. He knew that his shot killed her soul. For some seconds she looked at his eyes and that was for him like a heavy hammer on his head. He knew that if he wouldn’t stop then nothing would touch his heart anymore. So he and his thirty soldiers wrote a letter to the Prime Minister stating that they planned to end their participation in activities in the West Bank. They said they were ready to serve in the defense of Israelis, but not to serve in Israeli attacks.
That was three years ago. Then he joined Combatants for Peace. There are Israelis who think that by participating in violence they bring peace and freedom to Israel and peace to the Palestinian people. He realized however that violence just brings more violence. He was also surprised to realize that most of the Palestinian people want peace and that many of them struggle through non-violent means against the occupation. Unfortunately, Israeli media often doesn’t show the peaceful acts between Israelis and Palestinians such as this one being held in Shufa.
Another testimonial came from a former major in the army. He said that he considers himself a war criminal, having attended seminars on International Law. He personally carried out and gave order for illegal arrests, collective punishment and other war crimes.
He grow up in a Zionist house. His father was also a soldier. They told him that, as a soldier, he would save his country and his family. His grandfather was born in Poland, and the Nazis had killed his family. So he grew up with stories about Zionism and about how they would only be safe in Israel. He felt that the only way to avoid another holocaust was joining the Army. This way of thinking is a part of the “Israeli paranoia”. He was four years in regular Army and ten in reserves. So he has been everywhere in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
He had given commands to arrest a nine-year old boy and to separate children from their parents in the middle of the night. Sometimes, in the morning, he could be discussing with his wife the best way to decorate the house and in the evening he could be demolishing Palestinian houses after dragging out their residents. Other times, he would worry in the morning because his little girl had a fever and would carry her to the doctor, and in the afternoon he was at a checkpoint preventing people with serious illnesses to go to the hospital. He did all that without thinking about what he was doing, just following orders, but little by little he realized that he couldn’t do it anymore. Then he refused serve in the occupied territories because that behavior is inhuman and not a way for achieving peace.
The above are just two of many testimonies and views of ex-combatants from both the Israeli and Palestinian side. It was considered a privilege to witness some of these testimonies, which offer hope to finding a peaceful resolution to what has been a long and violent conflict.
The Jordan Valley lies in the east of the West Bank and runs from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the Dead Sea in the south. Since the Six Day War in 1967, Israel strengthened its grip of the occupied area because of its great political, economic and geographical importance. The occupation meant the beginning of the colonization of the Jordan Valley, which has drastically increased since the second Intifada in 2000, when Israel focused on destroying more of the Jordan Valley’s infrastructure and increased restrictions on movement. It was in line with the 2004 development plan to colonize and separate the Jordan Valley from the rest of the West Bank.
Fesayal in the Jordan Valley
The Jordan Valley is the second most popular tourist attraction in the region, second only to Jerusalem, and has over 80 historical and cultural sites. The salt and minerals found in the Dead Sea are unequalled by any other natural mineral sources and are used for cosmetics and spa therapies
For the Palestinians, the Jordan Valley is essential for having a viable state in terms of access, location and economic success. The border to Jordan is the only possible entrance and exit for a future Palestinian state. It is the only real option for movement and trade with the Arab countries and also the rest of the world. Jordan Valley’s abundance of water, fertile soil and minerals offer competitive economic advantages in agriculture, industry and tourism. Theses features are of course also the reason why Israel has maintained the occupation so forcefully in the area.
Occupation
The first three Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley were built in 1968, the year after the occupation began. Israel has encouraged settlements in the Jordan Valley ever since, offering settlers free land, free houses, free education and healthcare and large discounts on electricity and transportation. Today there are 36 settlements in the Jordan Valley, accommodating more than 6200 settlers. Currently, settlements take up half of the area of the Jordan Valley and are using the area for agriculture primarily.
In 2003, then prime minister Ariel Sharon revealed plans for an eastern apartheid wall, isolating the Jordan Valley from the rest of the West Bank. Without the Jordan Valley, only 54% of the West Bank will remain for Palestinians to live on.
In contrast to the Israelis, the Palestinians are only allowed to build in Jericho and five other small village areas. Any construction or even renovation outside of these areas is forbidden and will be demolished. Palestinian land is often confiscated on various grounds. It can be that the Palestinian land is too close to a settlement or a military base, or that the Palestinian land owner is deceased even though his heirs are alive, or that the land hasn’t been cultivated for three years because it was deemed a closed military zone. The confiscated land is then often handed over to settlers to cultivate.
Foundations of New School Building in Fesayal
Economy
In spite of its agriculture and tourist potential, as well as its water richness, the majority of the Palestinians in the Jordan Valley live under the poverty line, around 20% of them are unemployed and even in 2006, 53% of Jordan Valley Palestinians residents in Jericho and Tubas districts were food insecure.
Jordan Valley area provides 35% of the produce distributed to the Palestinians. This agricultural success is due to its location below lea level, likened to a greenhouse effect in the winter. Also the area is situated over Eastern Water Basin, which produces a great amount of wells and springs in the area.
However Israeli policies destroy agricultural activity, confiscating fertile land, controlling water resources and isolating Palestinian farmers from Arab markets. As a result of that, an increasing number of Palestinians work in the settlements, low-paid and without social security, medical care or labor rights.
The continued confiscation of agricultural land, the demolition and destruction of agricultural infrastructure, the prevention of building new wells or reconditioning the existing, or the prohibition for land owners without Jordan Valley residential address to cultivate their lands reduces the Palestinian production.
In the same way, the dependence on Israel production components such as fertilizers, seeds or irrigation networks, the dumping of the Palestinian market with Israeli goods produced in settlements, the high fines imposed to the shepherds who let their sheep cross an Israeli zone, or the isolation of the farmers from the Arab markets, as well as the limitation of their internal trade through numerous checkpoints and closures that delay the transport and damage the produce, all these procedures increased the farmer’s expenses dramatically while prices remain the same, which has decreased even the commerce across the Green Line in the Israeli markets.
On the other hand, Israeli water restrictions don’t only prohibit Palestinians from using 162 wells in the Jordan Valley, but also control where wells can be placed, how deep they can run and how much water can be pumped from them, which also means that quite a bit of settlement water seeps into Palestinian artesian wells and springs. Overall, settlers consume about 6 times more water than Palestinians.
Moreover, Palestinians are prevented from using the Jordan River or to access the water, minerals or shores from the Dead Sea, even though they should have control of 30% of it as their border. This prohibition, together with other occupation procedures such as the isolation of Jericho, the closure and destruction of some tourist sites, the prevention of Israeli drivers and tour guides from entering Palestinian areas or the cancellation of visits to Jericho from international tourist programs, inhibit tourism in the area.
Homes in Fasayel
Living Conditions
Since 1967 Israel has prevented Palestinians from building new buildings or expanding existing buildings. Israel demolished many houses and also prohibited reconditioning or restructuring Palestinian houses built from mud and roofed with corrugated iron. The rate of demolitions increased dramatically in 2005.
Jordan Valley residents have also been subjected to several Israeli expulsions and killing policies. Between 1948 and 1967, the Palestinian population of the area reached 320.000. Currently, only 52,000 Palestinians permanently live in the Jordan Valley. Residential areas are concentrated in Jericho and 24 of its surrounding villages as well as dozens of Bedouin communities. These communities fall into three districts: Tubas, Nablus and Jericho.
The Palestinians communities in the Jordan Valley suffer from a severe shortage of basic services. Most communities, especially those located in area C (94.37% of the territories in this part of the country) are not connected to electricity, water, telephone or sewage networks in addition to lacking public transportation.
There are a few health clinics in the Jordan Valley, operated by the Palestinian Ministry of Health and civil organizations, but the clinic buildings are very old and poorly constructed. Israeli prohibitions also affect the construction or recondition of health clinics. Consequently health services never meet the needs of the population, particularly in emergency or critical situations when they need to reach hospitals in major cities and met new obstacles at checkpoints.
The lack of infrastructure and supplies also affects most of the 11,325 students of the Palestinian communities of the Jordan Valley. Most of the schools lack sufficient classrooms and Israel refuses to give permission to build new schools in most of the communities.
Finally, no sewage network is available for Palestinians living in Jordan Valley. Instead each household uses a private septic hole and the solid waste is either collected by municipal tractors, buried or burned.
Nevertheless, part of the land confiscated by Israelis for “security purposes” is being used to build a garbage dump for solid, industrial and chemical waste produced in Israel, located strategically according to the wind’s direction for avoiding the smell to the settlements. But the waste dumped there is extremely dangerous for the local environment, water resources and public health of nearby communities.
An example: Fasayel al Fouqa
Fasayel in the Foreground, Settlement in the Background
Fasayel al Faouqa, or Upper Fasayel, is a village in Area C with 839 inhabitants. It was denied electricity from Israel and didn’t receive it until 2006, with Belgian funding. Fasayel al Faouqa also lacks a water network and the inhabitants have to buy the drinking water in tanks. They also lack waste disposal, public transportation, sewage networks, internal roads, schools and health clinics. A total of 135 students have to walk 2 kilometers to reach the school in Fasayel al Tahta (Lower Fasayel) and the way there is blocked by a river in winter. The villagers are forbidden by Israel to build roads, their own school or any other house.
The typical worker of Fasayel al Faouqa works in one of the many settlements that completely surround the village. The father in one particular family was forced to stop working in a settlement because he lacked a special magnetic card, issued by the Israelis authorities. He applied for the card, but didn’t receive it until three month later, by which time someone else had got his job. He is now unemployed with wife and six children.
Despite the ban on house building, he and other villagers of Fasayel have started building a school. The building blocks are made from soil, water and hay and can be recycled in case of Israeli demolition. The building of the school is coordinated by stopthewall.org and was joined by internationals from ISM between August 12 and August 16. At present time, a third of the 2000 blocks needed are complete.
———-
Main source of information: MA’AN Development Center & The Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (stopthewall.org)
Many organisations spent weeks and months planning to host the Palestinian Under 19 football team in a 3 week visit to the UK in September. This visit is no longer going to take place as the British Consulate in Jerusalem has refused to grant visas to the entire team and coaches.
The British Government, in a decision apparently taken at a senior level, have refused entry visas to the entire team. Although they will not provide reasons in writing, they say the decision was taken because the economic situation in Gaza, where the majority of the team are based, is so bad that they do not believe that the Palestinians will return home again. They deny taking the decision for any politically motivated reason, although they did say at one point that it was because the Israelis would not allow them to return – and so would create a refugee issue, but they have since denied this.
The team posed no threat and the tour was intended to provide support to a team of boys and young men who would have no other opportunity to play in real football stadiums. Britain is now directly aiding Israel in punishing the Palestinians by denying them freedom of movement on no legitimate grounds.
The imprisonment of the Palestinian team in this way is a stark contrast to the welcome Israel’s national team is expected to receive in its qualifier against England on September 8th at Wembley. This unequal treatment of Israeli and Palestinian football teams must be challenged.
Action Alert:
Complain to the British consulate and representatives in your country.
1. Write to the FCO:
a. Demand to know the reason for the U19 teams visa refusals.
b. Request that the decision made be reversed.
FCO, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AH
Tel: 020 7008 1500
2. Write to FIFA, UEFA, and the FA asking them to suspend Israel from international football until it abides by International law.
Write letters to FIFA (contact@fifa.org), the FA (info@thefa.com) and UEFA (media@uefa.ch and info@euro2008.com)
Complain to the British consulate and representatives in your country.
FURTHER ACTIONS
In the meantime we would like to ask you to take the following actions:
• Sign and circulate the petition calling on UEFA, the FA and FIFA to suspend Israel from international football until it abides by international law. The petition can be signed here: http://www.palestinecampaign.org/signatures.asp?PetitionID=4
You can also download a hard copy from the PSC website
• Write letters to FIFA (contact@fifa.org), the FA (info@thefa.com) and UEFA (media@uefa.ch and info@euro2008.com) and to ‘Kick Racism out of Football’ (hermanouseley@aol.com) calling for the Israeli team, who represent a racist state to be suspended from international fixtures until it complies with international law. Please use the points below for you letters.
• Write to the national and local media, about this and explain why we are asking for the Israeli team to be suspended. Please consider intervening on radio and online forums to promote this campaign, as well as all sports media.
• Write to you local football clubs, fan clubs and club fanzines etc. to ask for
Here are some suggestions for letters:
“On September 8th, England is due to play Israel in a return UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier at the new Wembley Stadium. But there are good reasons why this match should not be happening.
Israel’s military occupation of Palestine prevents Palestinian footballers training and playing for international fixtures.
In September 2005, Palestine was in a good position in its Asian zone group in the qualifying rounds for the 2006 World Cup, but the Israeli authorities stopped five key players travelling and Palestine failed to qualify.
In April last year, Israeli missiles destroyed the only stadium in Gaza, where 1.2 million Palestinians live.
Israeli forces regularly KILL young kids kicking a ball around with friends.
Israeli and Palestinian human rights organisations recorded these killings in one refugee camp near the Egyptian border:
Khalil al-Mughrabi (11) hit in the head by a burst of gunfire in July 2001. Two friends aged 10 and 12 were wounded.
Jihad Hassan Barhoum (16) shot in the abdomen in October 2004. A seven-year old was hit in the back.
Ashraf Samir Ahmad Mussa and Khaled Fuad Shaker Ghanam (both 15) and 16-year-old Hassan Ahmad Khalil Abu Zeid, shot dead in April 2005.
Israel has been illegally occupying Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights since 1967.
Palestinians and Israeli Jews who care about human rights have called for an international boycott of Israel until it pulls out all its troops and settlers and gives the land back to its true owners. Until this happens there will be endless conflict and no chance for Palestinians to enjoy the beautiful game in peace. Israel should not be in UEFA and the FA should not be hosting the September fixture.
========================
For a listing of all events on Palestine in the UK please visit www.palestinecampaign.org
========================
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Box BM PSA
London
WC1N 3XX
Email: info@palestinecampaign.org
Tel: 020 7700 6192
Fax: 020 7609 7779
Web: www.palestinecampaign.org
