3rd April 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Occupied Palestine
Demonstrations have been held today in several cities across the West Bank to protest the death of prisoner Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh. A strike has also been held in Nablus, Hebron and East Jerusalem, amongst other cities.
Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh
In Nablus, over three hundred Palestinians, together with international activists, participated today in the demonstration to protest the death of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh. The demonstration was first held at Shuhada Square, where protesters were holding banners and chanting emotional songs in support of Palestinian prisoners. After an hour, the crowd marched towards Huwwara Checkpoint, passing through Balata refugee camp. As demonstrators arrived at the junction next to the checkpoint, they built several barricades along the road, where Israeli soldiers were already located.
Palestinian youths threw some stones at the jeeps and Israeli soldiers threw tear gas canisters at the crowd. Shortly after that, two jeeps drove by the road parallel to the main one where protesters were and started shooting more tear gas canisters. As demonstrators ran back to get closer to the jeeps clashes continued for several hours more.
In Hebron, clashes were particularly intense, with several demonstrators wounded as Palestinians persisted in their fight against Israeli guns with nothing but stones. The sound of tear gas canisters, stun grenades and rubber-coated steel bullets have become a prominent fixture of the last few days in central Hebron.
As the nation mourns, we can only hope that international action is taken to prevent the continuous maltreatment of Palestinians in Israeli cutody. The death of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh has brought up many questions about the treatment of Palestinians in Israeli jails, with the PA minister for prisoners claiming Palestine must join the International Criminal Court to stop the disrespect of prisoners rights. Abu Hamdiyeh is the 207th Palestinian to die in Israeli custody.
Protesters running away from Israeli army jeeps near Huwwara checkpoint (Photo by ISM)
The snow that fell on the West Bank village of Urif on January 10 was the heaviest in years, enticing delighted children out of their homes. But snow was not the only thing to descend on the village that morning.
As the children threw snowballs, dozens of Israeli settlers came down from the hilltop settlement of Yizhar, brandishing guns, stones and even a sword.
What happened next was witnessed by Maltese activist Andre Callus, 26, who was in the Nablus region with the International Solidarity Movement, a non-violent group “committed to resisting the Israeli apartheid in Palestine”.
He showed The Times a video of the clashes in the village that day, filmed by the ISM.
A Palestinian can be seen lying on the ground, shot and injured by a live bullet fired by settlers or the Israel Defence Forces that protect them.
Members of the army can later be seen throwing a sound bomb to disperse international activists who appeared to be asking them to keep the settlers away from the village.
“This was an almost daily occurrence in Urif; sometimes settlers’ attacks would happen three times a day,” Mr Callus said.
The situation in this area hit the headlines in the past days when US President Barack Obama made his first visit to Israel and the West Bank since assuming office in 2009.
Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, occupied by Israel since they were captured in the 1967 Six Day War, are widely considered to contravene the Fourth Geneva Convention, although Israel rejects this. Their existence on land recognised as Palestinian territory by the UN is seen as one of the obstacles to a viable two-state solution to the conflict.
In the West Bank from October to January, Mr Callus soon got used to the weary rhythm of violence around settlements which is provoked, he says, by armed settlers entering villages and wilfully damaging property.
“There used to always be a settlers’ guard with them who was famous for having killed people.”
Why? “Because they think the land is theirs, given to them by God.”
Palestinian youths would throw insults and stones in response and the army would come down from the settlements shooting tear gas.
If they did not disperse, the army would fire rubber bullets and, sometimes, live bullets, Mr Callus said.
“I saw 15 Palestinians injured by live bullets in the time I was there.”
As an ISM volunteer, Mr Callus said his main duties were to witness and report events on the ground and to deter or, at least, lessen the extent of violence.
“Maybe if there is a 50 per cent chance of the army using live bullets, the presence of internationals will make it a 30 per cent chance.”
ISM volunteers would only go somewhere if their presence was requested by Palestinians.
The dreadlocked Mr Callus has a well-publicised history of direct action in Malta, particularly against racism.
Although his actions have not always endeared him to conservatives, he is a well-read, highly motivated and articulate individual who dedicates much of his time to fighting perceived injustices.
Mr Callus was unequivocal in describing the situation in the West Bank as “apartheid”. He cited settler-only roads, humiliating checkpoints for Palestinians, harassment from settlers and the army, widespread arrests and the use of military courts as ample evidence of this.
“Settlers are not renegades that Israel has no control over. They are protected by the Israeli Defence Forces. They are actively encouraged to live there by the Israeli Government,” Mr Callus said.
On the other hand, Israel places strict conditions on buildings by Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and demolishes structures that violate these conditions.
According to the UN, 599 such structures were demolished last year, displacing 886 Palestinians, more than half of them children.
“It is a deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing,” according to Mr Callus.
For Mr Callus, it is not a conflict between equal sides with equal grievances.
“It’s about occupation, apartheid and the stealing of land. The cause of the conflict is not the conflict itself. The reasons almost exclusively lie in Israeli oppression of Palestinians,” he said.
The most reasonable solution to the current situation would be one secular, democratic state for both Israelis and Palestinians, in Mr Callus’s opinion.
With more than 600,000 settlers now living in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, Mr Callus does not think a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders is viable, although he accepts this could change.
“Right now, the idea of one secular, democratic state is really difficult to imagine, but it is even harder for me to imagine a two-state solution. Look what happened with South Africa and apartheid – whites once oppressed blacks but now they live side by side.”
Mr Callus wanted to make it clear that he has nothing against the Israeli people.
“What happened has happened and the Israeli Jews have a right to stay there and live in peace. But it is racist to say this land is only for Jews.”
Scenes from the West Bank provided by the Palestine Solidarity Movement
1st April 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Burqa, Occupied Palestine
By Team Nablus
A brief visit to any family home in the occupied West Bank is sure to be a combination of warmth and tragedy as no person here has been immune to the brutality of the occupation that has dominated the lives of Palestinians for over 60 years. Ra’ed Haj who is unable to walk, talk or hear after he was nerve gassed
In the small village of Burqa near Nablus , we visited the Haj household , where 32 year old Ra’ed has been rendered unable to speak , walk or talk after nerve gas was fired into the bathroom he was washing up in in 2002. The Israeli soldiers reached this bathroom by knocking through wall after wall of neighboring houses, which is common practice for the Israeli Occupation Forces.
Despite also suffering from a brain tumor, Ra’ed has been repeatedly denied permission to seek adequate medical facilities by the Israeli army.
His mother and father now care for him, but worry who will continue to do so in the future. Which relatives will be there to care for him in the future is unpredictable to say the least. His brother Muhammed is currently in the notorious Jalame prison after the Haj household was raided by the army at 2am. He is still awaiting charge or trial. Jalame prison is infamous for its harsh interrogations and solitary confinement in the dark. Muhammed also suffers from regualar migraines after he was shot in the head with a steel coated rubber bullet in 2005. The same illegal ammunition was fired at his friend which took out both of his eyes. In 1994 his home was also demolished to make way for the illegal Homesh settlement.
Wether a resident of Burqa has the absurd luxury of being able to reside in his family home or not, the Israeli army constantly make their presence known by raiding the village nearly every night, making wanton arrests and damaging property. Ra’ed holds up photographs of himself before the attack
27th March 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Qusin, Occupied Palestine
By IWPS
On Wednesday March 27 at 15:00 the village of Qusin organized a tour of a nearby quarry that is regularly used as a garbage dump. The residents of Qusin invited the Minister of the Environment, IWPS and the International Solidarity Movement to inspect the amount of Israeli trash that has accumulated in the recent weeks.
The quarry had been partially refilled with dirt and gravel covering the majority of the trash, leaving three large piles of plastic, wood and metal exposed. The effect was that of a large land fill in the middle of a mined industrial zone. The organizers of the visit explained that the toxins from the trash are seeping through the soil into the water sources of the nearby villages, endangering the local residents. Local community organizers from Qusin reported abnormally high cancer rates in the village.
Residents of Qusin have started to regularly visit and protest as a community at the dump site. Around 75 people attended the protest. The group arrived together via bus and saw a large white truck with two passengers unknown to the community parked at the site. The organizers of the event reported that these individuals were members of the Israeli security service. The individuals stayed within their vehicle throughout the event and were observed by both ISM and IWPS who both took pictures.
After a brief tour and discussion, one of the large piles of trash was set aflame. The majority of Qusin residents were exiting the dump site when Israeli military jeeps entered the area. No arrests were made.
Qusin is a small village outside of Nablus with approximately 1,941 residents. It is bordered by illegal Qedumim settlement. The village is known for its participation in prior demonstrations due to the unjust roadblocks that prevented residents from driving to Nablus from 2002 to 2009.
30th March 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Burin, Occupied Palestine
By Team Nablus
On the 30th March 1976, Palestinian citizens of Israel instigated demonstrations in protest at Israeli government plans to confiscate large amounts of Palestinian land in the Galilee region for new Israeli settlements. The thousands of people who took part in non-violent general strikes, demonstrations and marches were violently attacked by the Israeli military, who injured many hundreds and killed six young Palestinian men. Farmers watched by Israeli Occupation Forces
Thirty-seven years later, Israeli land-grabs continue and settlements continue to expand. But Palestinians in the West Bank, in Gaza, in Israel and in the diaspora unite in solidarity on Land Day each year, demonstrating to the Israeli authorities their continuing sense of a Palestinian community – a people who will continue to struggle against occupation and fight for self-determination.
Today in the village of Burin , a group of Palestinians and internationals planted olive trees in a field close by to Yitzar and Bratcha settlements. Pictures of Rachel Corrie, Vittorio Arrigoni and Tom Hundrnall were hung from the newly planted trees. Black balloons adorned with the Palestinian flag and Land Day posters were released into the air. A young boy holds a Palestinian flag in front of Israeli soldiers
The activists were joined almost immediately by several Israeli military and police jeeps. A soldier announced that we were in a closed military zone and that we had 25 minutes to vacate the land. The village mayor wanted to avoid any problems so all of the activists then left the land.
The activists were then invited to a house next to the field for tea but the soldiers said that this also was a closed military zone and that we should leave immediately.
Olive trees are planted to commemorate Land DayPoster of deceased ISM activist Tom Hurdnall is planted alongside an olive tree.Balloons are released into the sky
