Author: ISM Media - Page 370 - International Solidarity Movement

‘They have two roads on our land already, why do they need a third…?’

27th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

In the Wadi al-Hussein area of Hebron, Israeli occupation forces have started to build a new road ‘for military purposes’. The route of the road is from the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba towards the city centre, directly across Palestinian-owned land.

Palestinian landowners explain the destruction of their land (Photo by: ISM) — Palestinian landowners explain the destruction of their land (Photo by ISM)

A military order has decreed the construction of this road, four metres wide and more than two hundred metres long, cutting through fields of olive and fruit trees owned by the Palestinian families living there. The stipulation on the width of the road has already been broken, with the route that has been cut by bulldozers being six metres wide in places.

In contrast to the military order to build a road, Palestinian landowners have been denied the right to build on their own land. Despite gaining approval from the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli authorities (who have the final say on civil matters in area H2 of Hebron) have refused permission to build a new house. Landowners also point out that there are two existing roads from Kiryat Arba built on Palestinian land for Israeli-use only, and ask why a third is required.

When occupation forces attempted to build this road initially, landowners and others tried to stop construction by sitting down in front of bulldozers, but this non-violent protest was met with arrests, fines and imprisonment, and by the bulldozer dumping a load of earth on top of them.

Landowners complain that Israel insists on applying those aspects of the Hebron accords that benefit settlers, while ignoring those aspects covering the rights of the majority Palestinian population. Using military orders to steal land is a tactic long-used by Israel. Land seized this way then later typically becomes part of the ever-expanding settlement project. All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, which bans the transfer of the occupier’s population into the land under occupation.

Israeli military guard bulldozer working on Palestinian land (Photo by ISM)

“We will not give up; to give up is to die” – Susiya resists mass demolition orders

27th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Susiya, Occupied Palestine

Today, June 27, 2013, the Israeli Civil Administration served thirty-four demolition orders in the Susiya village, which is in Area C and surrounded by the Israeli colony of Suseya. Due to previous demolition orders, every existing structure in the village is now threatened with destruction if they do not obtain permits by July 17.

Original copies of all the demolition orders served today (Photo by ISM)

The residents of Susiya include more than thirty families, who were all evacuated from their homes in the old Susiya village and forced to relocate 200 meters to the southeast, in 1986. Susiya residents collaborate with the nearby villages in Masafer Yatta, a closed military “firing zone,” also in Area C and threatened with demolition. On July 15, a hearing will decide whether all the villages in Masafer Yatta can be evacuated by the military. Hafez Huraini, leader of the South Hebron Hills Popular Committee and himself a refugee from 1948, emphasizes that the villagers in Susiya are targeted simply for existing, so everything they do from grazing sheep to visiting family members in the nearby city of Yatta draws violence from the Israeli military and the local settlers.

Susiya has faced six mass demolitions since the establishment of the Israeli Suseya colony in 1983. The last wave of demolitions in 2011 repeatedly displaced 37 people including 20 children [1]. Residents of Susiya, most of whom rely on subsistence agriculture, are subject to some of the worst living conditions in the West Bank. Their houses were destroyed by Israeli forces and they now live in tents and shelters, paying more than five times the price nearby villages pay for water and consuming less than 1/3 of the WHO standard per capita [2]. Settlers have violently denied Susiya residents access to over 300 hectares of their land, including 23 water cisterns. Documented cases of settler violence include beatings, verbal harassment and destruction of property. Settlers then annex parts of the land by exploiting the Palestinian owners’ inability to access their land.

Of over 120 complaints that have been filed based on monitoring from Rabbis for Human Rights, regarding settler attacks and damage to property, around 95 percent have been closed with no action taken. In 2010, when 55 Susiya residents petitioned the High Court to be granted access to their land, the State responded that it intended to map land ownership of the area. Since then they have only closed to settlers 13% of the land Palestinians have been denied access to, reversing only one incursion [3].

Susiya has been the site of creative non-violent resistance for years, resistance that is continually met with brutality. Events have included marches, picnics on land likely to be confiscated, and Palestinian “outposts.” This coming Saturday Susiya will be part of a festival in the South Hebron Hills aimed at raising awareness about the situation of Masafer Yatta residents and stress their right to remain on their land [4]. In the words of Hafez Huraini, coordinator of the South Hebron Hills Popular Committee, “We will not give up.”

Sources:

[1] Strickland, Patrick O. “Palestine’s Front Line: The Struggle for Susiya.” Palestine Note RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 June 2013.

[2] “Susiya: At Imminent Risk of Forced Displacement.” Susiya: At Imminent Risk of Forced Displacement – OCHA Factsheet (30 March 2012). N.p., Mar. 2012. Web. 27 June 2013.

[3] “South Hebron Hills.” Khirbet Susiya. N.p., 01 Jan. 2013. Web. 27 June 2013.

[4] Al Mufaqarah. “Al Mufaqarah R-Exist.” Weblog post. Al Mufaqarah RExist. N.p., 24 June 2013. Web. 27 June 2013.

Video: Gaza Ark Project 2013

27th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Gal·la | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

Charlie Andreasson, a member of Ship to Gaza Sweden, explains the new Gaza Ark project of this year 2013. The several unsuccessful attempts to break the siege on Gaza, imposed by Israel, from the outside to the inside made the activists think about this project which is based on breaking the siege from within. We wish all the best in this time. Free Palestine!

Martyr’s son arrested in Nablus early Monday morning

23rd June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Nablus, Occupied Palestine

This Saturday, June 29 marks the 9th anniversary of the Israeli assassination of Naif Abu-Sharah, former resident of Nablus and leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade until his death. But even though his death has long passed, Israeli authorities haven’t ceased collectively punishing the family he left behind.

During the early morning of Monday, June 23, the Israeli military surrounded the Hosh al-Hitan neighborhood of the Old City of Nablus and arrested Fadi Abu-Sharah, the 25-year-old son of Naif, in the same building in which they assassinated his father nine years ago. He is currently believed to be held at Huwwara Interrogation Center, south of Nablus.

This is not the first instance of punishment by the Israeli military against the Abu-Sharah family. Fadi has been arrested and imprisoned for extended periods in a number of previous instances, and his older brother, Fathi, was kept in an Israeli prison for nine years before being released a year ago. According to his family, Fathi was also given an order from Israeli authorities to appear at Huwwara Interrogation Center for questioning this week. About five years ago, Naif’s brother Ghassan was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in his home. Neither Fathi, Fadi, nor Ghassan have ever been involved in military activities. The Abu-Sharah family hopes to hear news of their son within a week.

Collective punishment is a tactic long used by the Israeli authorities against the families and communities of those who have been active in resisting the Israeli occupation. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, collective punishment is deemed a war crime. Further to this, under the Oslo accords Nablus city is Area A and is thus under full Palestinian civil and security control, meaning that the Israeli authorities have once again demonstrated their complete disregard for treaties that they have signed.

"Collective punishment is a war crime" — “Collective punishment is a war crime” posters

Saturdays under the settlements

25th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

Saturday is supposed to be a holy day for the Jewish settlers of the illegal colonies in the West Bank; many don’t work, they don’t turn on electrical appliances, they don’t drive cars. But some of the violent and Zionist among them still allow themselves one activity – attacking and harassing Palestinians.

Farmer showing damaged grapevines (Photo by: ISM)

This Saturday, four international volunteers accompanied a farmer and his family from the town of Beit Ummar to their land, which is in the valley directly underneath the settlement of Bet Ayin, notorious for violent attacks against Palestinians, especially on Saturdays. The family had asked for an international presence to act as a deterrent for the settlers and also to speed the farming, as the quicker we could bring in the harvest, the less time the family would be at risk on their land. This day, thankfully, there were no settlers running down the hills throwing rocks at the farmers, and there were no helicopters bringing Israeli military to “protect” the attackers, as has happened in the past (needless to say, they don’t come to protect the Palestinians who are being attacked). We picked enough plums to fill all of the boxes that the farmer had brought and these were loaded onto a donkey to be taken to market.

It was after we were finished – and after we had been given one (or two, or three) of the delicious plums by the farmer – that we were taken on a tour of the valley and the family’s land. Although it is still lush, well tended and green, there was also destruction visible everywhere. Fruit and olive trees had been hacked down leaving just stumps, branches of figs had been half torn off, grapevines were ripped from their supports. In addition several newly planted young olive trees had been uprooted.

The farmer walked us through, pointing out each and every plant which had been killed over the last couple of years. Each had been sown with love, hope and resistance – and each had been torn down by the settlers. At every plant and tree the farmer paused and told us to “see, see what they did! It is so bad”. It was clear that every new piece of destruction was a blow to him.

Bet Ayin settlement visible on the hill (Photo by: ISM)

He also showed us the river running through the valley and how it was polluted, poisoning some of the trees and causing weeds to grow wild, blocking access across the river to the land on the other side. The pollution comes from the looming settlement of Bet Ayin. When his English was limited, the farmer acted out the attacks to which he had been subjected – showing us marks on his head where the settlers had beaten him.

But despite all of this, the farmers will continue working their land, each tree a symbol for their resistance and each harvest a step towards the day when they will be able to farm their land on Saturdays – and every other day – without international accompaniment and without having to watch the hills for settlers.