The Yahalom and Bar Kochba families must be returned without delay to their homes in the wholesale marketplace from which they were expelled. The Israel Defense Forces must immediately reconnect their electricity and water and ensure their safety, day and night, as it does for all the settlers in the city. In return the Yahaloms and Bar Kochbas will serve the soldiers coffee and cookies, and kugel for Shabbat, as they always do.
We must also apologize to the families for expelling them: They should not have been discriminated against in comparison with the city’s other settlers. There is no difference between their act of robbery and the other acts of robbery in the city. Bar Kochba and Yahalom stole property that was stolen long ago; the store owners on whose property they squatted have not seen their shops for years and will not get them back now, so there is no reason to complain about the squatters’ behavior. That’s what everyone does in Hebron.
It would also have been better had the self-righteous evacuation performance, which incorporated a very large force, 3,000 soldiers and policemen, never taken place – including the staged acts of refusal and violence that are a hallmark of the well-timed show. These absurd acts of evacuation don’t help anyone, they only cause damage. In Hebron there should be one rule: all or nothing. Either the government has the courage to uproot the entire abscess, or it should allow it to grow unabated.
There is no other place in the territories where the essence of the truth and the evil of the settlement enterprise is revealed, without camouflage, as in the City of the Patriarchs. Here the violence, dispossession and terror against a helpless population are a daily routine diabolically taught from birth. So the failure to uproot the Hebron settlers is the real crime, and we will pay for it.
The Hebron “evacuation” show serves the settlement policy of the government, which raves about the importance of peace. Two families were evacuated with feigned force, in the face of feigned resistance, and the pictures were displayed all over the world; proof that there is a government in Israel. It’s a false display. As this group was being evacuated, construction on hundreds of other homes in the territories continued, on stolen land.
But the settlers, of course, are the main beneficiaries of the “evacuation.” After their violence caused the residents of 1,014 apartments and the owners of 1,829 businesses to leave, turning Hebron’s center into a ghost town, the evacuation came and distinguished between one robbery and another. Is it forbidden to steal the two apartments in the marketplace? That means that all the other acts of robbery and oppression in the city are kosher in the government’s eyes.
With typical cynicism and stratagems the settlers have built a network of intimidation and resistance, including their Judgment Day weapon – the refusal to obey orders – to signal once again to the Israeli public: Look how difficult it is to evacuate two families; forget about evacuating tens of thousands. They tried to do that during the Gaza disengagement, they continue to do so by bemoaning the Gaza evacuees’ bitter fate, and now they are transferring the battle to the West Bank.
This spin works well: Israel is now discussing the marginal refusal by a dozen soldiers to obey orders to evacuate, instead of evacuating tens of thousands, and the president is proposing a territory exchange as a solution to the “impossible” evacuation of the settlements. That is how to terrorize, in close cooperation with the IDF and government. An evacuation that could have been carried out in minutes, in the middle of the night and by surprise, as is done to the Palestinians whose homes are demolished, was carried out in the spotlight, with several weeks’ advance warning, to allow the settlers to produce their big show and benefit with pictures of it.
Nothing has changed in Hebron after the evacuation. Thousands of Palestinians who lost their property and their chance for a decent life, the victims of genuine ethnic cleansing, are doomed to a life of poverty and humiliation, and no one can help them. The settlers’ celebration continues in full force, and most Israelis continue to stare at what is happening with horrifying indifference. They are shocked only at the highly publicized refusal of a handful of soldiers and are clicking their tongues: We will never be able to evacuate the settlers.
Left-wing activists and Palestinians cut a 30-meter hole in the security fence south of Mount Hebron on Saturday in a demonstration against its construction and route, which they said deviates from the Green Line.
The activists said it took Israel Defense Forces at least an hour to reach the site of the incident. There were no clashes between the activists and IDF troops.
Jonathan Pollack, one of the protesters, told Haaretz the group had arrived at the site at around 1:30 PM, and had joined forces with a group of Palestinians from a village near Dahariya.
The demonstrators even succeeded in disarming the electronic wiring and posts that reinforce the fence.
Pollack stressed that the part of the fence that was destroyed deviates from the Green Line set out in the ceasefire agreement following the 1948 War of Independence. However, he said the activists’ Saturday protest was against the fence in its entirety. “The fence is a symbol of the occupation, whose aim is to control the Palestinian population,” he said.
Israeli historian Ilan Pappe describes the period around the declaration of Israel’s independence as one during which the indigenous…Palestinian population was ethnically cleansed from the land when they were forced from their homes or fled in terror after hearing news of rapes and massacres at other villages. Today, the situation is not much better for the Palestinians under Israeli rule. The purpose is essentially, “To make things so difficult for the Palestinians so that anyone who wants a normal life will leave.”
About 100 international, Palestinian, and Israeli activists, and demonstrators, gathered in Bil’in village on the morning of August 10th 2007 for what was to be the 131st demonstration against the illegal Apartheid wall and the Israeli settlement of Modiin Ilit.
It would be the first demonstration since the illegal squatting by Israeli settlers on unfinished homes in the settlements, a consequence of the bankruptcy of Heftsiba – an Israeli real estate company. The bankruptcy came about as a consequence of a court order delaying the construction of homes in the settlements of Modiin Ilit, Matityahu Mizrah, Betar Ilit and Maleh Adumim.
On a normal Friday, the demonstration would take place at approximately 1pm following midday prayers, however today organizers had decided on a new strategy. The original idea was to initiate the demonstration at 10am, approaching the Apartheid Wall at a time when there would be fewer soldiers which would enable the demonstrators to do essentially what they came to Bil’in to do: demonstrate. This seemed to be an increasingly difficult task as week after week soldiers fire tear gas, sounds grenades and gas canisters before demonstrators get anywhere close to the Wall. Unfortunately, the military were well informed of the demonstrators time change and were prepared at 10:00am to disperse the demonstration. The demonstration began shortly after 11am, later than the soldiers had expected, but also much earlier than usual.
Demonstrators marched enthusiastically towards the Apartheid wall, chanting and shouting, expressing to the world and media about their hopes for an end to the occupation, their desire to see the Apartheid wall brought down, and wish for the soldiers to go home. As with most demonstrations in Bil’in, things didn’t stay enthusiastic for very long as Israeli soldiers and border police quickly released a hail of tear gas canisters and sound grenades upon the demonstrators.
As demonstrators moved back to avoid the gas, the army began to encroach upon them, moving through the olive groves from the road and from the flanks. When they came upon groups of demonstrators, with their hands held to the sky in order to show they had no weapons, there was still no hesitation by the soldiers in throwing further tear gas canisters and firing sounds grenades.
When the soldiers and border police saw that some demonstrators refused to leave the area they attempted to arrest a local Palestinian man known as Abdullah. Several international activists came to his assistance, helping to prevent the army from taking him in an arbitrary arrest. The soldiers were not willing to give up so easily and grabbed and kicked at activists trying to get them to let go of Abdullah. However the demonstrators managed to hold onto Abdullah and he was not arrested.
The army continued to attempt to arrest a number of other international and Palestinian demonstrators in a form of harassment designed to beat them down and break their confidence, but due to many quick actions on the part of the demonstrators many were able thwart the army in their attempts to disperse the demonstration.
It seemed that the demonstration was going well, for the demonstrators, until the Israeli soldiers managed to take a British activist. The activist was asthmatic and was struggling to breath when the soldiers grabbed him and, between four soldiers, carried him away while he was still desperately trying to gasp for air.
Several activists followed, as the soldiers carried the asthmatic demonstrator away, calling out to the soldiers to address his medical condition and the need for treatment as it was a life threatening condition. As the demonstrators pushed forward, desperately trying to ensure the health of one of their fellow activists, they were instead met with aggression as the soldiers responded by firing more tear gas and sound grenades on the demonstrators.
A local Palestinian man offered to speak Hebrew with the soldiers, trying to alert them to the arrested demonstrators condition, but was arrested. A further Palestinian man was grabbed and detained, for no apparent reason, along with another French activist present. Beyond this, many of the activists suffered various injuries varying from tear gas inhalation, through to cuts bruises and grazes from the military as they pushed, shoved, beat and kicked demonstrators; attempting to arrest many more. The most serious injury was a severe cut to the head of a female demonstrator who was hit by an Israeli soldier as a group of them tried to arrest her. In total were five people were arrested (though later found to just have been detained): two internationals and three Palestinians.
For some time after the soldiers continued to fire tear gas at the demonstrators and eventually after some time demonstrators appeared to be given sufficient space and time amidst the tear gas to enable them to retreat. Demonstrators walked back to the village, hands held in the air in a gesture of non-violence, yet as what appears to be a last glance round, the military began throwing tear gas once more towards the demonstrators with no apparent regard for the fact that they were retreating anyway.
Demonstrators re-grouped at the International House in Bil’in and after a period of rest, and refreshment, activists were called to begin the demonstration once again. There was a decision to go back once more in order to get as close to the apartheid wall as possible, and hopefully convince the soldiers to release their detained friends.
When the demonstrators once again approached the apartheid wall, which the soldiers again stood in front of, the soldiers again quickly fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators. About fifteen demonstrators managed to evade the tear gas and stay in front of the soldiers who also shot rubber bullets to ensure that the retreating crowd would stay away. The remaining activists quickly sat on the road, hands in the air, in front of the soldiers in order to show that they were still unarmed and just wanted to peacefully demonstrate.
After about fifteen minutes, with the demonstrators inching closer and closer to the soldiers, an officer came to speak with the crowd. An Israeli activist, present with the remaining demonstrators, negotiated with the army officer that they would be able, three at a time, to approach the apartheid wall; which had been the goal of the demonstration at the beginning. The Israeli activist also managed to convince the soldiers to release their detained friends. However Palestinian youth, unaware of the negotiations, and angry at the military aggression in their village, threw some stones on the soldiers, who were, at the time, distracted by the demonstrators. This managed to effectively cease all negotiations, and the detained demonstrators were held for a longer time as the soldiers chased after these Palestinians youth: firing rubber bullets as well as tear gas on them.
At around 12 PM, an international observer was detained by border police while trying to obstruct the passage of around 20 soldiers and police involved in arbitary violence towards a Palestinian man. This man had become separated from the rest of the demonstration because of sound bombs and tear gas being thrown by the police, and was subsequently being pushed, kicked, and punched by police and soldiers.
The observer chose not to walk and was carried away by 6 border police. The arresting party was followed by a camera with a live feed to Israeli TV. When the camera left the soldiers began to kick and punch the detainee. They tried dragging him along the ground by his hair and then one officer stood on his face, while another twisted his arm, and another kicked him in the side. The observer also had asthma which was being triggered by the attack. Needless to say he agreed to walk.
However, when he stood up one solder grabbed him by the throat and began to strangle him. When this officer released his grip the observer attempted to use his inhaler but was prevented from doing so. One officer actually pulled his hand away from his face while he was trying to use it and broke the inhaler. A second observer, seeing what was happening ran after the soldiers shouting to them that they needed to allow him to use his medication. The officers detained him also.
They tied both the detainees wrists with plastic cable ties and took them to a razor wire pen where there were already two detained Palestinian men. The pen, on the ‘Israeli’ side of the annexation wall, was around two meters in diameter, in the sun with no shade. After a few minutes the asthmatic detainee was finally seen by a medical person and was given medication, before being returned to the pen. All four detainees remained there for for over 3 hours,leaving the detainees with sunstroke and sunburn. One of the detainees shirts was ripped off his back in his arrest making detention in the sun even more dangerous.
After around 3 hours all 4 detainees were escorted back through the annexation wall and released without being given a reason for their detention.
The detained demonstrators were all released between 3:30 and 4:30pm into the village of Bil’in, and fortunately none were arrested.
A Ordinary Afternoon in Jenin Refugee Camp, 9th August 2007.
It is 5.00 pm at the Jenin Governement hospital when the first rumours are spread that the IOF is once again on its way to Mukhaiyem Jenin, the Jenin Refugee Camp. Ambulance drivers jump in their cars, make their self ready for what usually happens when the Israeli Army enters the town.
Half an hour later they arrive. 7 Israeli military jeeps and one caterpillar power shovel, coming from the north through Haifa street, enter the area around the hospital. They drive along the streets, sometimes stop for awhile, disappear and come back after a few minutes. The more laps they take, the more Palestinians enter the area. In the end more then 500 Palestinian men and kids border the street, turning the area into a this typical Palestinian battlefield, that is a stone rain against Israeli soldiers, sitting well protected behind some centimetre of bulletproof steel.
Out of tiny portholes muzzles of Israeli M16 rifles can be seen, when the first shoot are fired. The IOF shoots directly inside the camp, responded by single shoots of the Islamic Jihad fighters. 14.000 people live here, crowed on not more then one squarekilometer. The risk of killing somebody by randomly shooting inside this massive populated area is enormous.
But for the Israeli army it seems to be more a chance then a risk. Nobody of the Palestinians knows why they came this time and perhaps not even the Israeli soldiers would have good explanations. In the end it was just another example of the daily humiliations and provokations, the inhabitans of Jenin Camp have to bear. None of the soldiers made a single attempt to arrest or targeted kill somebody. It was just another episode of showing the Israeli supremacy, showing that the IOF can go everywhere, ausing massive violence without any reason, even in one of the last strongholds of Palestinian resistance. And finally it was another degradation of Fatahs al-Aqsa Brigade, who recently agreed with laying down their weapons and a mutual ceasefire and who didn’t fire a single shoot since this time.
More then three hours later the tragic game is over. The Palestinian kids go back to their houses, leaving back a street, covered with stones and garbage. Another time the IOF caused unprovoked and unnecessary violence, just because they are able to. The ambulance drivers return to their station, forntunatley empty-handed, knowing that it won’t take long until they have to come back.
