At noon on Friday 19th December, around 150 protesters from the village of Ni’lin, joined by international and Israeli solidarity activists, gathered in the village to protest against the construction of the Apartheid Wall being built on Ni’lin’s land.
This demonstration took the form of a prayer protest on land close to the construction of the Wall. The demonstrators then tried to reach the construction site in order to physically stop the construction where they held up shoes on sticks towards the Israeli forces, following the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President George Bush.
Protesters then assembled road-blocks leading to the construction site in order to delay the building of the Apartheid Wall.
During the demonstration the Israeli soldiers damaged several buildings in the village. Two of the buildings had windows broken, one of them had four tear-gas cannisters shot though a window. A third house had a water pipe and its solar cells destroyed by the soldiers firing at the property.
A lot of teargas was fired in the demonstration and the violence from the soldiers resulted in ten injuries. Seven people were injured due to rubber-coated steel bullets and three from gas inhalation.
Two members of the press were injured, one of them was shot two times in his knee by rubber-coated steel bullets, despite clearly wearing a vest with “PRESS” written on it.
The other man was a TV reporter who fainted from tear-gas inhalation. When medicals tried to help him they also where targeted with tear-gas which resulted in one of ambulance personnel losing consciousness. Israeli forces were also witnessed targeting the ambulance that was hit with several rounds of tear-gas causing damage to the vehicle.
A massive demonstration against the Wall was held in Jayyous on December 19, with about 700 people, mostly youth, protesting against the new path of the Wall that will permanently confiscate nearly 6,000 dunums of village land. The demonstration, which lasted for nearly five hours, resulted in several injuries to villagers, international solidarity activists, and four soldiers.
At 1:00 in the afternoon, the protesters began to march from the centre of the village, to the south gate of the Wall, which is the area that is slated to be re-routed. As they marched, Occupation forces did not stop them from reaching the gate, but rather they entered the village from two different directions, and stationed themselves in a manner that surrounded the demonstrators. Undeterred by their vulnerable position in the middle of the forces, however, the demonstrators continued to march, and when they reached the gate, several different community activists gave speeches to the crowd, reaffirming Jayyous’ resistance to the Wall, and denouncing the Occupation in general.
For approximately 45 minutes, the speeches continued without confrontation, and it was announced that the village would organize another demonstration next week. As this announcement was made, however, the Occupation forces began to close in on the protesters, and began taking pictures of the youth, in order to facilitate their targeting of the most active people in the future. In response to this, several youth began throwing stones at the forces.
The Occupation forces then began firing tear gas, sound bombs, and rubber bullets into the crowd. According to a Red Crescent doctor, one international was hit in the face by a rubber bullet and had to be taken away from the scene. One person was also arrested by the Occupation forces, but after being held for three hours, the international activists and local youth were able to secure his release. At one point, live bullets were used as well, as the forces attempted to use lethal methods against the protesting villagers. In the face of this violence, the demonstrators were forced to move back into the village, but the confrontations did not end there.
The Occupation forces were only able to enter the village on foot, as roadblocks set up by the villagers prevented the jeeps from entering. Taking advantage of this situation, village youth who were positioned on the roofs of buildings continued to rain stones down on the forces. Four members of the Occupation forces were injured by the barrage of stones, and the forces had no choice but to retreat from the village.
Once they retreated out of throwing distance, the forces fired more than 20 tear gas bombs into the village, causing several serious breathing problems. Two villagers had to be taken away in an ambulance as a result of inhaling too much tear gas.
Throughout the afternoon and into the evening, however, the people of Jayyous refused to back down from the Occupation’s violence and aggression. Led by the youth, villagers continued to chant slogans against the Occupation’s apartheid and against the Wall: “No matter what they do to our land, our land is inside of us, and our struggle will continue until the Wall is torn down.” Furthermore, The people asserted that the struggle and the resistance in Jayyous would not stop until the Wall is torn down, and until they are able to use their land again. This is the new generation of mobilization and resistance, with the youth leading the charge, and the spirit of collective action spreading across the West Bank.
From Thursday 18th to Friday 19th December, Israeli military forces invaded multiple villages and cities in the Northern West Bank; including Nablus, Burin, Beita, Jenin and Araba – occupying homes, destroying property, and terrorising families.
In the case of Beita, the incursion coincided with Israeli authorities cutting all water supplies to the village of 12000 people, leaving all homes and businesses entirely without water.
Israeli forces invaded the village of Beita at approximately 12am on the morning of Thursday 18th, storming more than 100 houses. “No one in Beita slept. No one slept that night” reported one elderly villager, whose son was arbitrarily detained, made to strip naked and tortured for six hours.
Mahadi, aged 24, was detained from his home when approximately twelve Israeli soldiers invaded his home at 12am on Thursday morning. He was blindfolded and handcuffed and driven around in an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) for two hours whilst being beaten repeatedly. Mahadi, along with nine other detainees from Beita, were forced to lie on the floor of the vehicle while soldiers sat with their feet on the detainees chest and heads, in an act of ritualistic dehumanisation. The detainees were then taken to Huwarra military base where they were further beaten and subject to humiliating practices. Two of the men were stripped and forced to remain naked for the period of their incarceration. Mahadi was released at 6am, when Israeli soldiers lacerated his back as they cut his handcuffs, before throwing him from the back of a moving army vehicle. “His t-shirt was covered in blood” recalled his mother.
Of the more than 100 houses that were invaded that morning, many reported significant damage, from broken windows to battered-down doors, as well as ransacking and theft. In several cases, soldiers used axes to destroy doors, often before families even had the chance to open the doors themselves. A number of families in the occupied houses were threatened at gunpoint and forced into either single rooms or outside for up to several hours while soldiers searched their homes and ransacked their belongings.
In the case of Fayez Mohammad Atari Dweikat and his family, approximately 25 soldiers forced his family into the cold night at gunpoint whilst they ransacked his home. He reports that during this time, soldiers stole his mobile phone and digital camera from the house.
The family in a neighbouring house, stated that soldiers also forced them at gunpoint into a single room, denying the children access to the toilet; as well as forcing the family members to provide their mobile phone numbers to the soldiers. The family also reported the theft of a flashdrive from the home while they were being detained.
In another nearby house, that of newly-married Rami Dweikat, Israeli soldiers hacked at the door with an axe, in order to enter and ransack the premises – pulling all belongings from cupboards and drawers, leaving the house in a state of ruin. Windows and internal doors were also broken in the house that has even yet not been completed. “They didn’t respect anything” cried his mother.
Many in the village believed the invasion to be part of a training exercise for the Israeli forces. “They were laughing as they entered our houses”, said one villager. “They made all of our village as a practice mission”.
On Thursday night, Israeli armed forces further invaded the village of Burin near Nablus; Al Ain refugee camp inside Nablus city; Jenin city and the nearby village of Araba.
In Al Ain refugee camp in Nablus, Israeli soldiers overran the camp, invading houses and arresting two. In the Western part of the camp three houses were occupied by Israeli soldiers who left a wake of destruction. “Cul ishi, cul ishi” lamented an elderly resident. “They damaged everything”.
Soldiers detonated multiple bombs on the houses, blowing apart doors; collapsing walls and shattering windows throughout the neighbourhood. In the house of Um and Abu Raed, soldiers exploded their front door, shattering all glass in the house and destroying their washing machine. Soldiers then proceded to further wreak havoc in the house, emptying all cupboards and drawers on to the floor, including the contents of the refrigerator. Cupboards and wardrobes were broken, and holes were smashed in the walls to provide sniper positions for the soldiers.
Large numbers of soldiers and dogs filled the house, surprising residents in their beds, threatening them at gunpoint. The elderly Abu Raed, who is unable to walk due to illness, was pushed out of his bed, beaten and forced to crawl through his house, while soldiers refused to allow his children to help him to his feet. “I am sick, I am sick” he told the soldiers, who were unrelenting in their truculence.
Younger family members were forced into a bathroom individually to face interrogation before the whole family were herded, along with other nearby families, into the small room of a neighbouring house.
From three houses, nine families were forced into a single room – with more than 70 people, including elderly residents; pregnant women and many young children, crammed into a small 3×5 metre room. Residents struggled for air as their requests to be allowed to move to a larger room were denied. Children were forced to soil themselves, as soldiers refused to allow them access to a toilet.
Families were forced into the room at gunpoint at approximately 12:30am, where they were kept for four hours without warm clothes or blankets for the children. When parents requested to be allowed to bring in bedding for the children to sleep on, they were denied, with soldiers telling the parents that they could hold their children while they slept. With not enough room for all of the families to sit down, some were forced to stand for the entire period of their incarceration.
Soldiers eventually allowed some access to the toilet for children and the infirm Abu Raed. “When I am a prisoner, I am allowed to do everything. Why in my home and I not allowed to do anything”, implored an angered Abu Raed.
The house of Um and Abu Raed has been invaded by Israeli soldiers once each week, on average, for the past three years. The extent of the damage of the incursions is such that they are in a constant state of repairs, while bullet holes from previous invasions still riddle the walls of the family home. “In the future we hope to take freedom, like all the people in the world” voiced Um Raed. “Now, it is just a dream”.
The invasions of these villages, along with the invasion of the village of Zawata earlier in the week, are especially poignant as the Gaza-Israel cease-fire was declared dead on Friday morning. This series of terrorising incursions exemplifies the refusal of Israeli authorities to extend the truce to the West Bank – a hope of many Palestinians during the early days of the cease-fire. Many residents of the Nablus area fear that these incursions are also vehicles for training ground troops for an immenent Gaza invasion.
Vittorio was deported by Israel, after engaging in a hunger-strike for the return of the Palestinian fishing trawlers stolen by the Israeli navy, despite never having been inside Israeli territory. He now returns to Gaza to rejoin the ISM volunteers working in the Gaza Strip.
(Gaza Port, Gaza, 20 December 2008) The DIGNITY pulled into Gaza Port at 8:00 am today after the Israeli Navy threatened to board them and take the two Israelis off the boat. “We know you have Israelis on board, so either turn back, or we will board and take them off,” said the voice on the radio.
“We are going to Gaza,” Huwaida Arraf, the delegation leader, replied.
Neta Golan, one of the Israelis on board and a co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement stated, “Countries that commit crimes against humanity often hide those crimes from their own people. Israel is doing exactly that, by not allowing Israelis to come in to witness what they are doing in our name.”
The Dignity also carries two envoys from the Eid Charity in Qatar who are going to Gaza to assess the tragedy there. They will go back with concrete proposals on what they can do to help alleviate Israel’s collective punishment of the 1.5 Palestinians.
“This is just the beginning. We are delighted that we are finally able to see the shores of Gaza and be the first Arab envoys to arrive. We will see how we can work together to help relieve this terrible situation in Gaza,” said Alaze Al-Qahtani.
This is the fifth voyage for the Free Gaza movement. “Everyone said it couldn’t be done, that we would never be able to get to Gaza. But we have now arrived for the fifth time. Now, other ships, especially cargo ships, need to follow in our wake,” said Darlene Wallach, one of the internationals kidnapped from a Palestinian fishing boat by the Israeli navy on l8 November.
When I arrived in Israel as a UN representative I knew there might be problems at the airport. And there were
By Richard Falk (Special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories)
To view original article, published by The Guardian on the 19th December, click here
On December 14, I arrived at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel to carry out my UN role as special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories.
I was leading a mission that had intended to visit the West Bank and Gaza to prepare a report on Israel’s compliance with human rights standards and international humanitarian law. Meetings had been scheduled on an hourly basis during the six days, starting with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, the following day.
I knew that there might be problems at the airport. Israel had strongly opposed my appointment a few months earlier and its foreign ministry had issued a statement that it would bar my entry if I came to Israel in my capacity as a UN representative.
At the same time, I would not have made the long journey from California, where I live, had I not been reasonably optimistic about my chances of getting in. Israel was informed that I would lead the mission and given a copy of my itinerary, and issued visas to the two people assisting me: a staff security person and an assistant, both of whom work at the office of the high commissioner of human rights in Geneva.
To avoid an incident at the airport, Israel could have either refused to grant visas or communicated to the UN that I would not be allowed to enter, but neither step was taken. It seemed that Israel wanted to teach me, and more significantly, the UN a lesson: there will be no cooperation with those who make strong criticisms of Israel’s occupation policy.
After being denied entry, I was put in a holding room with about 20 others experiencing entry problems. At this point, I was treated not as a UN representative, but as some sort of security threat, subjected to an inch-by-inch body search and the most meticulous luggage inspection I have ever witnessed.
I was separated from my two UN companions who were allowed to enter Israel and taken to the airport detention facility a mile or so away. I was required to put all my bags and cell phone in a room and taken to a locked tiny room that smelled of urine and filth. It contained five other detainees and was an unwelcome invitation to claustrophobia. I spent the next 15 hours so confined, which amounted to a cram course on the miseries of prison life, including dirty sheets, inedible food and lights that were too bright or darkness controlled from the guard office.
Of course, my disappointment and harsh confinement were trivial matters, not by themselves worthy of notice, given the sorts of serious hardships that millions around the world daily endure. Their importance is largely symbolic. I am an individual who had done nothing wrong beyond express strong disapproval of policies of a sovereign state. More importantly, the obvious intention was to humble me as a UN representative and thereby send a message of defiance to the United Nations.
Israel had all along accused me of bias and of making inflammatory charges relating to the occupation of Palestinian territories. I deny that I am biased, but rather insist that I have tried to be truthful in assessing the facts and relevant law. It is the character of the occupation that gives rise to sharp criticism of Israel’s approach, especially its harsh blockade of Gaza, resulting in the collective punishment of the 1.5 million inhabitants. By attacking the observer rather than what is observed, Israel plays a clever mind game. It directs attention away from the realities of the occupation, practising effectively a politics of distraction.
The blockade of Gaza serves no legitimate Israeli function. It is supposedly imposed in retaliation for some Hamas and Islamic Jihad rockets that have been fired across the border at the Israeli town of Sderot. The wrongfulness of firing such rockets is unquestionable, yet this in no way justifies indiscriminate Israeli retaliation against the entire civilian population of Gaza.
The purpose of my reports is to document on behalf of the UN the urgency of the situation in Gaza and elsewhere in occupied Palestine. Such work is particularly important now as there are signs of a renewed escalation of violence and even of a threatened Israeli reoccupation.
Before such a catastrophe happens, it is important to make the situation as transparent as possible, and that is what I had hoped to do in carrying out my mission. Although denied entry, my effort will continue to use all available means to document the realities of the Israeli occupation as truthfully as possible.
• Richard Falk is professor of international law at Princeton University and the UN’s special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories
