Author: ISM Media - Page 472 - International Solidarity Movement

It’s time to harvest the crop: Accompanying farmers in Gaza under Israeli fire

by Rosa Schiano

Translation by Claudia Saba

23 April 2012 | il Blog di Oliva

Israeli soldiers have already started shooting onto the land along the border of the Gaza Strip. Two injured just in the first two days of the harvest.

Renad Salem Qdeeh, 33, was collecting he crop from her land when Israeli soldiers started shooting, at around 7.30am or 8am. The other farmers managed to escape, but Renad started screaming as she was hit in the head while standing about 800 meters from the border. She was rushed to a hospital in Khuza’a and received ten stitches for her wound. We now come to find her lying on the bed.

“First they took away 300 meters of land, and now we can’t even work within 800 meters of the border, they’re trying to throw us off our land”, her mother – who can’t hold back her anger and pain – tells us.

“We need to earn a living for the sake of our families”, continues Renad’s mother, “we wait all year long for the harvest period so that we can earn our living. My daughter has eight children, she has to feed them, we have no other income. They won’t let us live on our land. We are asking for help and protection, so that the Israeli army will stop shooting at us.”

“We are surrounded by soldiers, they shoot in all directions. Yesterday a boy was wounded in Khuza’a. Where are our human rights?”

Renad closes her eyes. She is surrounded by her relatives. We are offered some fruit juice. Everyone tries to talk to us and tell us about their specific circumstances, every one of their voices is a cry for help.

“Tomorrow I’ll go back there to continue the harvest”, Renad’s mother says. “We will keep going back to our fields even if it means that we could get killed. What’s a mother supposed to feel when she sees her daughter bleeding? The soldiers had every intention of wounding her. After they shot her, they just left – they had just wanted to shoot her.”

“We’ve already lost most of our land. Now we risk death even at a distance of 800 meters from the border. They want us to go away. No, we’re going to die here!”

Renad’s relatives believe that the Israeli soldiers have been dumping chemical contaminants onto their land. Sometimes they smell something funny, but they’re not sure what it is.

“Other countries can help us if they choose to,” intervenes Renad’s sister. “Without protection we cannot work our land.”

“They confiscated 300 meters of land all along the border of Gaza, do you realize how much land that is? It used to all be fertile land, now it’s all destroyed.”

The No-Go-Zone imposed by Israel on 300 meters all along the perimeter of Gaza, and which has left some farmers without any land at all, was imposed by Israel unilaterally.

The following day we accompanied some farmers right into that No-Go-Zone. On the first day, the Israeli soldiers watched us without shooting. Jeeps drove past us at high speed, and the soldiers positioned themselves on the small watch towers along the border, while others stood behind a small hill. It’s from behind the hill that the bullets come for the most part.

A couple of days later, however, matters changed. Soldiers positioned on the hill opened fire despite our presence there with the farmers. We shouted into our megaphones and asked them to stop shooting, and reminded them that we were on Palestinian land. At that point I switched on my video camera and filmed what happened next.

On the third day, the soldiers watched us without shooting. There was a constant flurry of armored vehicles and jeeps driving past at very high speed. The farmers are more afraid of the jeeps than of the armored vehicles, and they fear the military hummers most of all, because on top of the hummers you’ve got guns set up and ready to shoot.

Basically it is a case of an army against farmers. Soldiers who don’t hesitate to shoot unarmed men as they go about harvesting their crop and as they carry it away on donkey-pulled carts. All the while as this terror is going on, F-16s hover at low altitude.

The farmers were able to work on the third day and they thanked us for our presence.

The day that Renad was injured, Hassan Waled Shnano, 27, was also injured. Except he wasn’t working in the fields. He was simply walking to work, in Khuza’a, in an area that’s about 2km from the border, not far from his house. We met him in the European Hospital in Khan Younis. “It’s a residential area, a safe area. They started shooting very early in the morning”, Hassan told us. Hassan works on various education-related projects in the NGO Mercy Corps in Khuza’a. A missile hit him right in the joint of his right leg.

His father, who had inhaled white phosphorous during Operation Cast Lead, died of cancer. Hassan has five brothers and one sister. He is married with two daughters. One of his brothers was also injured in 2006 at the age of 15, as he was walking home from school.
This morning soldiers opened fire again at the farmers were trying to work in the fields of Khuza’a. We accompanied the farmers into a new field close to the one where we had been going up to now. Despite the sound of bullets in the air, the farmers just went on working, comforted by our presence with them.

Bullets were also flying in the adjacent field – the one where Renad’s family farm. I shuddered as I watched the soldiers shoot. My hear trembled with every damned shot, I wanted to cry as I thought that maybe someone had been hit by those bullets. In the other field the soldiers did not stop shooting at all until after all the farmers had gone home – after having been prevented from collecting the crop under a shower of bullets. I took the following film this morning as soon as the soldiers first opened fire.

Every morning we will come back to Khuza’a to accompany the farmers, until the harvest has been completed. The farmers keep thanking us continuously. I respond by thanking them – I feel like I should be thanking them. They have no idea how lucky I feel to shake their hands, to look into their eyes which go on smiling despite everything. They have no idea how fortunate I feel to be able to defend their right to basic life.

Rosa is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement.

The right to water: Water cistern demolitions in Hebron area

by Joseph

23 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Monday April 23, 2012, the Israeli occupation forces destroyed four water cisterns outside of the city of al-Khalil (Hebron). Two of the destroyed cisterns were located in the Abweire area, a small agricultural neighborhood of 400-500 residents northeast of al-Khalil. The other two cisterns destroyed were located in Hal-Houl, south of al-Khalil. The demolitions came just one week after another four cisterns were destroyed in the Meshroona area south of al-Khalil.

Palestinians in these areas, who are located in Area C, are forced to depend on rain water cisterns for their crops and livestock because of unequal distribution of water resources to surrounding illegal, Zionist settlements. The destruction of such cisterns is part of a calculated strategy of forced displacement and ethnic cleansing in occupied Palestine. According to the Israeli organization Diakonia, water cistern demolitions over the past two years have directly affected almost 14,000 Palestinians, among whom several hundred have been forced to leave their homes because of lack of water. International law forbids the targeting of structures essential for the survival of the civilian population.

The day after their water cistern was demolished, activists with ISM visited members of the Ashfour family in Abweire in order to talk and survey the damage. The occupation forces did not stop with removing the top of the cistern, but actually smashed the sidewalls, rendering the structure totally useless. The occupation forces came without warning in four jeeps, an armored personnel carrier, an armored bulldozer, and another armored earth-wrecking machine, along with personnel from the Israeli permits and construction offices. They claimed that the cistern was constructed illegally, without the necessary permits, and began to destroy the cistern.

Within an hour the Ashfour family’s hopes for irrigating their crops lay in ruins. According to Hisham Ashfour, the cistern had been built almost ten years ago and served not only his family but about fifty people in his neighborhood. The other cistern destroyed in Abweire was also rendered completely unusable, having been filled in with dirt by an Israeli bulldozer.

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

The Battle of Empty Stomachs: Khader Adnan highlights the consolation of solidarity

by Sylvia

24 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On the 17th of April, Palestinian political prisoners launched a mass hunger strike against the Israeli Prison Service’s (IPS) dismissal of the Fourth Geneva Convention and basic international law. The call for action comes on Palestinian Prisoners Day after a wave of high-profile hunger strikes evoked a global reaction.

Palestinian Support and Human Rights Association Addameer originally estimated that some 1,200 Palestinian prisoners would participate, along with approximately 2,300 others refusing meals in preparation for a wider campaign. Today, Israeli lawyers say the campaign has reached 3,000 participants.

The hunger striking prisoners’ demands include: an end to the IPS’s abusive use of isolation for “security” reasons, currently affecting 19 prisoners, some of whom have spent 10 years in isolation; an end to the detainment of Palestinians without charge or trial in administrative detention, under which 322 Palestinians are currently detained; a repeal of a series of punitive measures taken against Palestinian prisoners following the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, including the denial of family visits for all Gaza prisoners since 2007 and denial of access to university education since June 2011.

These demands were echoed yesterday when Khader Adnan visited the village of Tubas, where the relatives of political prisoners gathered in a tent outside the Municipal offices. Standing before a wall covered in the cherished photographs of absent men, Adnan spoke of his 66 day hunger strike, giving solace to worried parents and siblings:

“We have a message for those mothers; we honour you. If the doors to the prisons are closed, the door of God will always be open.”

The International Solidarity Movement accompanied members of Tubas Prisoners Club and Khader Adnan to visit families of prisoners in their homes. Mohamamad Taj, who is 42 years old, has been on hunger strike since March 15. His family has not been given permission to visit the prison and await news of his condition. Adnan’s visit brought strength and resolution, stressing the need for solidarity amongst prisoners with sight of a clear goal. He mentioned that prisoners are united despite political differences outside the prison walls.

Acts like these are being mirrored all over Palestine. The prisoners’ solidarity tent has been standing since Palestinian Prisoners Day and is welcome to visitors to express their support and write a message in the visitor book. The face of Hassan Safadi is present amongst the many photographs plastered to the tent’s walls. As he enters his 53rd day of hunger strike, his family are still being denied contact with him and his health condition is still unknown. As his struggle is replicated by some 3,000 prisoners, the international community stands in solidarity against Israel for the same goal.

FREE HASSAN SAFADI

FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS OF PALESTINE

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

Impunity Under the Law: Settler attack in Jabari neighborhood

by Paige

22 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Marwan Borqan several days after he was attacked by an Israeli settler – Click here for more photos

Marwan Borqan always locks the main door to his house at night. Late at night, soldiers will often knock at his door, ‘checking,’ they say, although Marwan has never known what they are checking for.

That is why he did not find it unusual when he heard a loud banging at his front door at 10:30pm on Wednesday night. However, this time it was not the Israeli army but an Israeli settler from the nearby illegal settlement of Givat Ha’avot. As soon as Marwan opened the door he was violently punched and kicked by the settler, who then dragged him out the door.

Outside the beating continued, causing Marwan to fall down a flight of stairs as other settlers, the settlement security guard, and Marwan’s shocked children looked on.

Finally, two police cars arrived and with the help of Marwan’s brothers, detained the attacker.

At this point, Marwan’s father arrived to find that Marwan had lost consciousness. He called an ambulance and was forced to wait forty-five minutes as the ambulance was detained at the metal gate restricting Palestinian vehicular access to their own street.

Marwan’s father demanded that the Israeli army commander arrest the settler who had attacked his son, only to have soldiers threateningly point their guns at his head and tell him to ‘shut up’. At a point throughout the night, the army released the settler who was responsible for the attack. They later claimed they did not arrest him because they could not find him.

While awaiting the ambulance’s arrival, the Israeli army evacuated the entire building where Marwan lived. Forty-five people, including many children,were forced to wait on the street while the army searched the victim’s house.

An Israeli police jeep then arrived carrying a settler who claimed rocks were thrown at her by a Palestinian earlier that day. The girl scanned the families lined up on the street and admitted that none of them had thrown rocks at her.

After Marwan was taken to the hospital, settlers attempted to occupy his apartment but were later escorted from the building by the Israeli army.

Commonly, following an accusation by a settler, all Palestinians are perceived as guilty by both the illegal settler communities and the Israeli army. Revenge may have been the reason behind the Israeli army raiding a house or the savage beating of a Palestinian by an Israeli settler.

Nonetheless, raids and attacks also take place in lieu of any accusations. Above all, the violence is arbitrary and systematic. The reason is always the same: to make life for Palestinians so difficult that they will be forced to leave. Those who refuse will continue to pay the price.

For Marwan Borqan the price for him and his family has been very high. He suffers from a concussion, and many bodily injuries, and was forced to wait while Israeli soldiers detained the ambulance attempting to reach him.

Marwan explained that he was “shocked” by the beating. His family regularly suffers from settler and soldier harassment, but it was “the first time the settlers actually tried to enter the house.”

His children were up late watching a football match with him when the attacker arrived, and to their horror witnessed his brutal beating. Marwan’s eight year old daughter, Afnan, is still traumatized by what she saw. Marwan explains that she shakes and has difficulty eating. He intends to find psychological help for her.

The Borqan house lies near to the illegal Israeli settlements of Qiryat Arba and Givat Ha’avot in Western Hebron, an area which experiences repeated torment from extremist settlers. Qiryat Arba was one of the first settlements established in the West Bank by members of the far right Kach party and Givat Ha’vot began as a police station which was occupied by settlers in 1990. Both settlements are in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva convention, prohibiting the transfer of the occupying power’s civilians into the occupied territory. The illegality has been repeatedly confirmed by the International Court of Justice, the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention and the United Nations Security Council.

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

Israel opens fire on protesters in Ni’lin: One youth injured by rubber-coated bullet

by Sunny

22 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

The weekly demonstration in Ni’lin on Friday April 20^th was relatively quiet compared to previous weeks. Nevertheless, it showed again the disproportionate measures taken by Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian resistance.

The Israeli army propelled skunk spray, tear gas, sound bombs, and rubber-coated steel bullets at protesters. Some of the Palestinian youth, or shabab, responded by throwing stones. One local youth masked with the flag of Palestine was pelted by a rubber-coated bullet, although did not suffer critical injuries. A local photographer was nearly struck in the face by a tear gas canister while attempting to take a closer photo of the Israeli soldiers.

As with each week, the demonstration in Ni’lin began after the midday prayer. It was a leaderless group of approximately thirty people including the shabab, internationals, members of the press, and medics. The protest began with the military deploying streams of skunk water over the Apartheid Wall at protesters including the half-dozen stone slinging youth. Approximately fifteen minutes into the demonstration, the first tear gas canister was launched, aimed at demonstrators near the valley. Moments later, volleys of tear gas canisters were launched over the Wall where the majority of the protesters were gathered.

The first victim of the initial tear gas shots was a local photographer. The canister struck the ground five feet away from him. Before he could run away, he began coughing severely and his eyes turned red. As the pain eased, however, he carried on as if nothing had happened, evidently accustomed to the sensation.

After another half-hour, much of the group slowly made their way towards the valley. As the concession merged in the valley, more tear gas canisters were shot. One medic was struck on his side by a canister but emerged with light injuries. Minutes later the silence was broken by the scream of a young Palestinian. He had been struck by a rubber-coated steel bullet. The medics immediately rushed to him and fortunately he was not seriously injured. The Israeli army continued firing rubber-coated bullets and tear gas canisters and the shabab replied with their stones.

When a local photographer approached the Wall to take photos of the Israeli soldiers, a tear gas canister was launched in his direction. It missed hitting his face by millimetres but there was no escaping the suffocation that ensued from the gas.

The demonstration came to an end shortly thereafter. As the shabab walked away, the rest of the group followed. The Israeli soldiers maintained their position securely behind the Apartheid Wall, while some of the demonstrators continued to suffer the after-effects of the tear gas.

Since 1967, the town of Ni’lin has been subject to land expropriation to an extreme extent. Following the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, a large part of Ni’lin was annexed to the nascent Israeli state. Over half of the town’s land has come under the control of Israel through the building of illegal settlements and the Apartheid Wall.

In 2004, Israel disclosed their intention to build the Apartheid Wall in Ni’lin, annexing much of their agricultural land. In 2008, the Israeli Supreme Court gave authorization for the wall to be built. The construction was initially blocked through legal procedures as well as popular non-violent demonstrations. These demonstrations were continuously suppressed through brutal measures taken by the Israeli government, including the killing of five innocent residents, curfews, random deployment of tear gas, and frequent night invasions by the army into homes, which inspired fear and humiliation for the families of Ni’lin. Two years later, the Wall was built. Although Israel claimed it was built in Ni’lin for ‘security purposes’, the Wall de facto annexed land from the villagers of Ni’lin for the profit of the nearby illegal Israeli settlement.

Every Friday the residents of Ni’lin continue to demonstrate and fight for what is rightfully theirs. The tear gas canisters, the sound bombs, the rubber-coated steel bullets, and the occasional live ammunition will never be enough to stop Ni’lin’s resilience. Even the Wall does not lie in portraying the statement that Ni’lin is “still going strong.”

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