Author: ISM Media Group

Round-up of Recent Events in Qawawis

ISM volunteers have been maintaining a presence as Human Rights Observers (HROs) in the tiny Palestinian village of Qawawis (population approx. fifteen), as requested by locals. The vunerable village is often subject to attack and harrassment from nearby Israeli settlers. The following is a brief summary of recent events.

On the 11 of October at 16:35, a car on the settler-only road stoped and a settler took a photo of a villager. At 16:49 an army truck stoped and three soldiers got out. They talked to shepherd and told a HRO that the man had been too close to the settler road.

On the 14th of October at 08:52 an army truck drove into the village via a settler road and approached two shepherds. When a HRO approached the truck with the shepherds a soldier told him to back off because he wanted to talk to the shepherd alone. It seemed that he told the shepherd he is too close to the road and to go nearer the olive trees. The soldier drove away calling the HRO a “fucking faggot”. At 16:00 two army trucks were observed parked on the settler road. After a while they drove off without interfering

On the 15th of October at 07:50 an army truck stoped near a Palestinian shepherd grazing his flock nearby the settler road. A soldier gots out and seems to explain to the shepherd he is too close to the road. A HRO was told “you know they shouldn’t be here?”. The HRO replied that he did not know that. At 10:15 two Israelis drove into village (car licence number was noted). They said they were from a kibbutz and talked to the villagers and the two HROs. They claimed to be organising a tour of the area for their kibbutz. HROs advised that it was not a good idea, as the villagers would think they are settlers. One said “don’t worry, we don’t like the settlers either” and gave the villagers a sack of carrots from “our factory”. One spoke good Arabic and told a villager they had been moved out of Gaza – which would make them settlers too. Their story did not seem to add up. At 13:45 three settlers all of approx. 18 – 20 years of age came into the village. Villagers and two HROs approached them and asked what they were doing. They did not reply and walked around the village in silence. One jumped onto a wall and looked into a garden. At 13:47 one HRO reported the harrassment to the Kyiyat Arba settlement Police. They promised to send first the army and then the police. A few minutes later the settlers left. They were video taped. No military or police ever arrived.

On the 17th of October between 06:00 amd 08:30, several military and police vehicles were observed nearby while shepherds were grazing their flock. Between 10:50 and 11:15 at least 150 cars and 5 busses were obseved heading to Susya settlement. Between 11:00 and 13:00 a watch was kept on the road but no settlers approached.

Three More Night-time Arrests in Bil’in; Soldiers Use Human Shield

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Israeli soldiers invaded Bil’in last night and made three more arrests of young men and boys. Three jeeps of Border Police arrived about 1:30 am and went into several houses to make arrests for alleged stone throwing during demonstrations. Once again, the people of the village came out on the street to resist further arrests, and drive the military out. A group of about 50 Palestinians came out chanting and clapping in another act of non-violent resistance.

ISM activists witnessed and caught on film the usage of human shields by the Israeli military last night, which has been ruled illegal under Israeli law (footage available on request).

The names of the new arrestees are:

Abdullah Ahmed Yassin, 14
Nour Mahmoud Yassin, 19 (cousins)
Nayes Gazzi alKatib, 18

These three arrests are in addition to the previous arrests of fifteen Palestinian non-violent activists, including a 16 year old child and three brothers from one family. Only one of them, who had been arrested by the soldiers in order to pressure his brother to turn himself in, has been released so far.

On the 21st of October, in an act of non violent resistance villagers from Bil’in began to implement the decision of the International Court of Justice that Israel’s illegal wall should be dismantled and removed metal posts meant to serve as foundation for the wall on Bil’in land. The Israeli military reacted to this act with arrests and distribution of a text in Arabic warning people not to take part in direct action against the wall. In the Arabic text the army claimed that “every Friday for the last six months, the IDF has allowed the people of the village to conduct non-violent protests against the construction of the wall on their lands”, despite regularly firing on non-violent demonstrators with tear gas and rubber bullets. The text concluded with the threat that “the acts of the people violating the law will disturb your daily lives”.

For the last ten months, Bil’in has launched an ongoing non-violent campaign against the annexation barrier supported by hundreds of Israeli and International activists, and met by violence from the Israeli army. Israel designed the current route of the barrier to annex 60% of Bil’in’s agricultural land, and expand the settlement of Modi’in Elite. Plans for Modi’in Elite’s expansion have yet to be approved by the Israeli government.

For more Information:
Abdullah AbuRahme, Coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements: 0547258210
ISM media office 02-2971824

Eyewitness to Night-time Raids in Bil’in

by Jesse

Last night at about 1:40am we were called to the streets by local Palestinians of the village of Bil’in where we were staying the night. A force of three jeeps full of Israeli soldiers armed with M-16s were conducting night raids to arrest villagers in Bili’n. we were witness to two of the arrests, one of which was a young boy of 14. The other was a young man of about 18. There was one further arresst that we did not directly witness. Most of the 19 people arrested in the past 2 weeks have been young men below the age of 19.

After we were notified of the soldier’s presence, our group of 5 internationals arrived at the scene and started filming the raid by walking up to the door of the aparment that was being raided. We witnessed one man being taken to the jeeps, and followed the other soldiers to another apartment building. They went in and brought out a Palestinian man, took him upstairs, and used him as a human shield by making him knock on the door for another apartment. From there, we followed them to another apartment where they arrested the Palestinian boy. When they took the boy out to the jeeps, we followed them so that they were constantly being monitored.

Then, the villagers showed up chanting in unison. There were about 50-70 villagers in the group. The soldiers were obviously intimidated. From there, the arrests stopped and a confrontation between the villagers and the soldiers ensued. One of the Palestinian men was negotiating with the commander of the soldier’s unit, and from there things got tense. At one point, the soldiers formed a skirmish line and forced our group back a few feet. Negotiations continued for a while, and then the soldiers started preparing to leave. The villagers started creating roadblocks with large stones from the side of the road, and then the soldiers made their getaway. The entire group of Palestinians and internationals chased them down the street and out of the village.

The village of Bili’n is suffering from the creation of the wall, which will cut off the village from it’s Olive groves. The wall and the building of settlements will claim about 2400 of the 4000 dunums of land that this village cultivates. There have been protests every friday in Bili’n lately to expose the injustice of the Wall and Occupation.

What kind of security can be provided by arresting children in the middle of the night and terrorising the entire community in this manner? This is the insanity of the occupation in Palestine. I wish I had not had to go out and witness this tonight, but I am grateful that at least someone was here so that it did not happen without witnesses. If we had not been here, things could have been much more violent and brutal. As it was, the soldiers knew they were being observed by several internationals and several cameras. It is critical that we pass along this information to people so that we can change our government’s policies of supporting this kind of cruel treatment of the Palestinians.

More Settler Attacks in Hebron, While Soldiers and Police Watch

by Andrew

At around 1.20pm on Thursday the 27th of October I received a phone call from one of the three internationals who had come to the aid of a Palestinian schoolgirl near Qurtuba School, and who were now under attack from a mob of settlers.

I made my way quickly to the end of Shuhada Street, stopping at the soldiers’ post there. All the buildings immediately beyond this post on the left are the Beit Hadassah settlement buildings. On the right, a narrow stone staircase leads up to a hillside path which leads to Qurtuba School. By this time the three internationals and the Palestinian child had been removed from the area by the police and army.

I stayed on Shuhada Street and began walking with the Palestinians to the end of the street, waiting at the bottom of the stone staircase until they had reached the apparent safety of the hillside path. On one occasion during the next hour four settler children followed me back along Shuhada Street, throwing stones at me. I was also spat at and shoved in the chest by two 18 year old settler males. I was told by the soldiers who were standing on the street that the Israeli Army were unable to ensure my safety.

At 2.30pm I walked with three Palestinian women to the bottom of the staircase, waiting until they had reached the top before I left. Seconds after I turned to leave, I heard several loud crashes and screams from the top of the staircase. I turned to see at least two teenage settler girls who had jumped up from behind a wall next to the path the Palestinian women were now on, throwing bottles and stones at them. The women retreated several metres to the top of the staircase, but were now effectively stranded there as four or five settler men (one of whom was brandishing a power drill) had now approached the bottom of the staircase.

I shouted to the soldiers to do something and went to join the women who were still trapped at the top of the stairs, but out of range of the missiles which continued to fly in their direction. The soldiers remained standing on the street with the settler men.

Five Palestinian kids had now arrived at the bottom of the stairs, and were being prevented from passing by the soldiers and settlers there. As I made my way back down the stairs to join the kids, the settler with the power drill began waving it in the air, shouting. He then charged at the kids, chasing them away. The soldiers continued to stand on the street.

Two police officers then arrived who despite requests to assist the stranded women continued to do nothing for 10 minutes until the settler girls who were throwing the rocks and bottles had left. They then went up to the women to escort them along the path. The soldiers continued to stand on the street.

Bil’in Prisoner Solidarity Demonstration Report

based on a report by IMEMC

Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber coated bullets at a non-violent protest against the Separation Wall in Bil’in village, near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday.

The protest started midday Friday after dozens of residents, peace activists and representatives of Physicians without Borders, marched towards a construction site of the Separation Wall while wearing mock handcuffs in a creative protest that symbolized the captivity of the Bil’in residents who have been arrested in recent military invasions of the village.

Abdullah Abu Rahme, coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, told the IMEMC that this protest was carried out to express the rejection of residents and international peace activists to the recent attacks and invasions carried out by the army against the village, and to protest against the construction of the Separation Wall.

The Popular Committee in Bil’in reported that the main aim of the demonstration this week was to protest the Israeli invasions of the village. It also aimed to draw attention to the arrests which aim to scare the residents and the activists from taking action against the Wall.

Abu Rahme also said that soldiers carried lists which included names of dozens of residents from the village. Soldiers claim that those residents are wanted by Israeli security for their activities in the protests against the Wall.

The protestors carried banners which read “we are all wanted, from 1 – 2600”, the number of 2600 symbolizes the number of residents living in Bil’in.

The protestors also carried banners in Arabic, Hebrew and English, reading: “Date 20-2-2005, penalty; uprooting thee trees, arrest and injuring the residents, night invasions, curfew and siege”. The date refers to the date when Israel started bulldozing the residents’ orchards in order to construct the Separation Wall.

One Israeli peace activist was detained by the soldiers on Friday; two Israeli protestors and one Palestinian were injured after the army fired rubber-coated bullets. Dozens of residents and activists suffered the effects of inhaling tear-gas fired by the army.

Abu Rahme reported that soldiers and under-cover units of the Israeli army have recently been invading the village on an almost daily basis, and breaking into dozens of homes in an attempt to intimidate the residents.

Dozens of residents were arrested in the village since it started conducting its peaceful protests against the Wall. Last Wednesday, Israeli soldiers invaded the village after midnight and forced dozens of families out of their homes after breaking into them.

“Today’s protest was also in support of the detainees who were arrested in the village during the military raids”, Abu Rahme said.

Earlier on Friday, Israeli soldiers barred reporters and students of Bier Zeit University from entering the village to participate in the protest.

The residents aided several journalists in crossing into the village after the army closed all of its entrances; the journalists were escorted through the orchards and hills.

Also, protestors carried the names of the eleven residents who were arrested last week in the village, and demanded that the army release them.

Soldiers closed the three entrances of the village and installed military roadblocks early in the morning,. The three entrances link the village with Kharbatah Bani Hareth village, Saffa village, and the village if Kafer Ni’ma.