Author: ISM Media Group - Page 613 - International Solidarity Movement

Young Palestinian women lead demonstration against the wall in Bil’in

A group of twenty young Palestinian women aged from 13-16 led more than 400 people in a demonstration Monday against the illegal annexation barrier being constructed across land belonging to the village of Bil’in. Local villagers were joined by a large number of activists from a range of peace organizations, including around 200 international representatives from the Women in Black and members of direct action groups The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and the International Women’s Peace Service (WIPS).

This was the largest demonstration which has yet been seen in Bil’in, and the large numbers attending the action ensured that it could not be met with the violence which has often been the reaction of the IDF to village actions. However after the demonstration dispersed the few remaining demonstrators were attacked with tear gas and sound grenades.

The Peaceful demonstration confronted a line of heavily armed Israeli soldiers and demanded access to the Bil’in land being stolen and an end to the illegal occupation of the West Bank. The young women confidently approached the line of soldiers blocking the road, leading the entire group of women with chants and songs, and one of the girls read a statement the village had prepared for their guests.

“We hope you take a look around and get to know the place and people here, and see what it is we’re trying to defend. We want as many people as possible to see what’s being done to our land with their own eyes, so they can make their own conclusions about what’s going on,” the teenaged girl said through a bullhorn in her speech to the gathering of hundreds of women. “… Settlers today are beginning to withdraw from Gaza. We are happy for the Palestinians there. But as that goes on, Israel is expanding settlements on our land here in Bil’in, and those settlers leaving Gaza are being brought here. This solves nothing, but rather moves the problem from one place to another. We need real answers that provides security for us all.”

BACKGROUND ON BIL’IN
Bil’in is a West Bank village which will lose approximately 52 percent of its agricultural land in the Israeli land grab begin carried out under the guise of “security.” Without access to their land, villagers will have lost their main source of income. This is an action which is being repeated throughout the West Bank and threatens the future self sufficiency of a Palestinian State.

Women in Black plan massive vigil in Bil’in

Hundreds of women in the region to participate in the International Women in Black Conference in Jerusalem will travel today to the village of Bil’in to participate with village women in a vigil against construction of Israel’s illegal annexation wall that will cut 60 percent of Bil’in’s farmland from its people so that nearby settlers can take over the land.

An expected 450 women from the Women in Black conference are expected to go to village for the vigil, where they will be joined by about 100 Bil’in women and another 100 Palestinian women from around the area. Chances are that this demonstration will have a vastly different result from the typical actions there, where nonviolent demonstrators are often met with brutality at the hands of Israeli soldiers as they attempt to access their own land.

The group will first be given a tour of the area, and take a look at the props used in Bil’in’s Friday actions, and then walk in silence toward the wall.

Rachel Corrie: Answers needed

The family of English peace activist Tom Hurndall is experiencing the cold comfort of justice at last. Hurndall, 22, was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper in Rafah about two years ago while moving Palestinian children out of the line of fire. He remained in a coma for nine months before he died.

Read the rest in Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Threats and worry in al-Asa’asa on the eve of Israeli disengagement

by Lee

Al-Asa’asa is a village of 500 situated right next to the settlement of SaNur. Radical anti disengagement settlers from all over the West Bank, many from Hebron, have camped out at SaNur, surrounding the small military settlement with tents.

Worry and anxiety about what these 280 settlers are planning to do is growing in al Asa’asa as disengagement approaches. The settlers are committed to not leaving the land, even though the settlement of SaNur is scheduled to be removed as part of Israel’s disengagement plan. Settlers are threatening to occupy houses in al-Asa’asa. If the housing takeover fails, the campers will still get monetary compensation for the disengagement.

Yesterday, a kidnap attempt by settlers was foiled. A boy was working in the fields when the ever-watching eye of the villagers saw settler vehicles approaching. The boy managed to escape and the settlers gave up. Also yesterday, a settler had to be removed from a neighboring village by border police. Today, campers have put out a call on media outlets for other settlers to join them and help resist the disengagement.

A few days ago, a funeral was interrupted by the villagers; the man who died had to buried in another village, since the DCO said it was too dangerous to have a funeral.

All roads to the village will be closed at midnight tonight.

In Gaza, we don’t yet see the peace that’s supposed to be in the plan

by Khaled Nasrallah

If you asked me about the withdraw from Gaza, I would tell you that sure, it’s a step ahead. That is, if it really is something that is a start toward real peace. Is it? Real peace is something we’ve not yet seen. We are tired of the images on television depicting this current unreal peace, which is not connected to the daily life of people here.

We also are tired of peace plans which are created only with the benefit of one party in mind, instead of both parties.

We still need a real peace plan. We need a real withdrawal that will give us the authority to control our lives independently. This “disengagement” isn’t it. Israel will continue to control our borders though third parties, control our airspace and access to the sea. we’ll still need to get Israeli permission even to dig water wells.

So you if you look at Israel’s evacuation in this way, you can see that it’s an incomplete solution that will keep the seeds of instability in place for another five to eight years.

So, the question is, who benefits most from this sort of plan, and why are international powers supporting a plan that has such a short life.

We must also remember the crisis happening on the other side of Palestine, in the West Bank. While we do not know what the future holds, we worry that under this plan Palestinians will lose the West Bank and Jerusalem, and whether this incomplete withdrawal from Gaza will mean many more years of continued occupation.

Khaled Nasrallah lived in the house in Rafah, located in southern Gaza near the Egyptian border, where ISM activist Rachel Corrie was killed by a soldier driving a bulldozer to destroy the Nasrallah family’s home on March 16, 2003.