Author: ISM Media - Page 441 - International Solidarity Movement

Three injured from tear gas after settlers raid Qusra

By Leila

10 September 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Settlers together with Israeli soldiers in Qusra. Picture from Tantawi Aljiniral

Three people were treated for injuries related to tear gas after an attack by illegal settlers in the village of Qusra near Nablus on Saturday night. The attack comes roughly a year after Qusra resident Issam Kamel Odeh, 33, died from Israeli gunfire after settlers invaded the village in September of 2011.

Shortly before six in the evening on Saturday, 5 settlers came onto the land of Akram Taysir Daoud at the edge of Qusra village. Soon after, they began beating the man’s wife and yelling obscenities at his mother. Additional raiders arrived until there were a total of fourteen settlers on the land.

In an attempt to get help, Akram Taysir called the mayor of the town. The mayor alerted the people of the village to come to the farm, and then called both the local District Coordination Offices to report the attack.

The invading settlers sealed a well on the property with a large stone.

Israeli soldiers arrived at the village thirty minutes later. According to Abdel Ahrim, a resident who observed the event, soldiers began firing tear gas shortly after their arrival. Abdel Ahrim stated that soldiers fired 30 total tear gas bombs. Thirteen of these were fired directly into the house of Abdul Majid Towfeek, a resident of Qusra.

Abbdel Ahrim repored that the commanding officer told the mayor that if any of the villagers followed the soldiers over the hill, he would burn the village down.

Soldiers fired three times before leaving the immediate area of the conflagration.

According to Red Crescent workers, three people were treated for injuries related to tear gas, two for inhalation, and one for an injury he received when a canister hit him in the ankle.

This is the second invasion by settlers on the village of Qusra in as many days. Yesterday, settlers from the nearby illegal development of Aish Coddish came onto land belonging to the

Photos of that incident show that they were armed with an M16 rifle and a

At that time, officials from the occupation forces told the mayor of the town that the only recourse for the farmer involved was to go to the local Israeli-administered court and file a complaint against the settlers. This type of legal appeal requires the petitioner to either hold an Israeli identification card, or to hire a lawyer who holds an Israeli ID to file the complaint on his or her

Leila is a volunteer at The International Solidaity Movement (name has been changed)

Resistance to Occupation continues in Ni’lin

By Anna

10 September 2012| International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Friday 7th September five international activists attended the weekly demonstration against the apartheid wall in the village of Ni’lin. Since 2004, the villagers of Ni’lin have been non violently protesting against the annexation of their lands. So far the village has lost over 50,000 dunum of land, in part to surrounding illegal settlements and in part annexed from the village in the construction of the apartheid wall.

Saeed Amireh, member of the Ni’lin popular committee explains that the confiscation of the land and colonization of the West Bank with illegal Israeli settlements are calculated methods designed to expel the Palestinians from the land. Many of the inhabitants in Ni’lin rely on the farm land and in particular the ancient olive trees for their livelihood.

This Friday was the first demonstration with an international presence for three weeks.Saeed says that the presence of internationals is vital to the resistance in

Ni’lin and is glad to give us a talk after the demonstration, explaining the history of Ni’lin. The demonstration began after the midday prayers which waft from the mosque and through the fields lined with olive and carob trees, under which we wait. They walked through the fields alongside the villagers and children who carried Palestinian flags and a megaphone.

The wall which cuts through the rocky valley is made of concrete blocks, barbed wire and electric fence. There, the soldiers are waiting expectantly in the midday sun, their helmets and guns glinting like the backs of well armored insects. Even before they reach the wall the soldiers of the Israeli Army begin to fire rounds of tear gas and spray the land with skunk water. The shabab are not deterred, they set the tires alight at the base of the wall and the flames further blacken the already charred concrete blocks. Fire weakens the wall and makes it easier to remove, Saeed explains. This was how, in November 2009 – on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall – Ni’lin became the first village to succeed in removing a piece of the apartheid wall. The demonstration lasts for an hour, and as we leave the Israeli Army continue firing tear gas canisters into the field.

This week’s demonstration has been smaller than most weeks as strikes against the PA have been a distraction for many of the usual attendees. However the people of Ni’lin remain positive that their non violent resistance to the occupation will succeed, that the wall will fall, piece by piece and that they will be able to access their land again.

Saeed Amireh, of the Ni’lin popular committee, has been working to raise international awareness of Ni’lin’s struggle against the occupation. www.nilin-village.org

Anna is a volunteer with The International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Israeli soldier kicks 12 year old Palestinian boy, after peaceful demonstration in Beit Ummar

By Ellie

9 September 2012 | International Solidaity Movement, West Bank

Israeli soldiers and young Palestinian boy

Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists gathered in Beit Ummar for the village’s regular Saturday demonstration against the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Karmei Tsur, which has annexed village land. The demonstration focused on the August 27 destruction of a new Beit Ummar greenhouse by settlers, which occurred as the Israeli military stood by. The demonstration culminated in a young boy being kicked to the ground by an Israeli soldier.

Activists from the USA, UK, Japan, and Norway joined the villagers in taking a different route to the usual Saturday demonstration, surprising the Israeli soldiers, who had assembled elsewhere. Their route as they reached the Apartheid Wall was immediately blocked by 3 soldiers with riot shields. As more soldiers arrived, this number swiftly increased to around 45 – easily outnumbering the unarmed protesters.

The Israeli military formed a line, shoulder-to-shoulder, holding large riot shields. They harassed and targeted individuals, pushing and shoving Palestinians who were attempting to walk on their own land, including young children. The demonstrators retaliated peacefully by chanting and questioning the soldiers about their decision not to take action during the settler attack on the greenhouse. Soldiers also took pictures of individuals present – pictures taken at peaceful demonstrations have in the past been used to justify arrest of Palestinians and deportation or denial of entry to internationals.

Young Palestinian boy after being kicked by Israeli soldiers

After a prolonged face-off, the end of the demonstration was announced, and the protesters turned to leave. It was at this point that a 12-year-old Palestinian boy from Beit Ummar was kicked in the leg by an Israeli soldier, knocking him to the ground. The remaining soldiers immediately tightened their line around the activists and villagers, effectively preventing them from leaving, as well as shoving many with riot shields in the process. Concerned about the child, the protesters gathered around him and he was carried away from the soldiers, where he recovered with no major physical damage. The Commander of the Israeli forces in the village refused to comment on the kicking of the boy when questioned.

Ellie is a volunteer with The International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

House demolitions and forced displacments in Area C

By Abu Sarah

2 September 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Demolishing tents donated by the UN

Caterpillar Bulldozer demolishing tents donated to the residents of Susiya as emergency aid by the U.N.

On August 28 Israeli occupation forces demolished tents donated by the United Nations (UN) in the Palestinian village of Susiya in the South Hebron hills. This is the second similar demolition within three months.

Displacement in Zenuta

Israeli bulldozers entered the Palestinian village of Zenuta in the South Hebron Hills Tuesday morning and demolished water cisterns, residential dwellings, and sheep stables, devastating the small community of only 7 families.

In total, 4 water cisterns, 2 caves, 2 houses, and 6 stables were destroyed. Zenuta is a small village of 7 families with a herd of 400 sheep. The army destroyed the houses of 2 families, each with 7children, as well as 6 stables holding sheep.

Perhaps most devastating of all in a region starved for water, the army bulldozed the village’s cisterns, holding water collected from winter rains. The cisterns cost NIS 15,000 each, an incredible toll amounting to about a year and half’s wages for the average Palestinian worker in the area. For more information click here.

Palestinian children n front of their destroyed home in Zenuta, August 28 2012 (Operation Dove)

Displacement in the Judean Desert

On the 29 of August, 4 Bedouin families were targeted. They live far inside the Judean Desert, east of Deis Salah and near Bethlehem. They also faced demolitions 2 months ago. All their structures were demolished including tents provided by international agencies. Israeli authorities said they had to leave because they lived in the Israeli firing zone 914.

Abu Sarah is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Jericho: Palestinian farmers ordered to leave land

By Liza Ennab

2 August 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Reuters reports thats Israeli authorities have given Palestinian farmers living in Jericho in the West Bank an order to uproot palm trees they have grown and leave the agricultural lands within 45 days. The orders came in the form of letters sent to the farmers in what is known as “Area C” and gave the farmers a 7 October 2012 deadline to vacate their land.

Shawkat Housheyeh, a farmer who received an official warning letter to uproot his palm trees told Reuters news agency that the measure threatened the livelihood of thousands of farm workers in the Jericho area. He called on the Palestinian Authority to fight the Israeli threat to Palestinians working on farms in the 3,000 dunams (about 741 acres) of Dier Hijlah and al-Zour.

Liza Ennab is the media coordinator for the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).