Author: ISM Media - Page 475 - International Solidarity Movement

Palestinians and internationals attacked during biking trip in Jordan Valley

by Joseph and Emiliano

15 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Palestinian and international cyclists were brutally attacked by the Israeli occupation forces on Saturday as they attempted to bike up Route 90, the main North-South highway running through the Jordan Valley. The cyclists were demonstrating against Israeli apartheid policies in the Jordan Valley, which limit Palestinian access to roadways as part of an ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing against the indigenous Bedouin communities of the Valley.

One Palestinian woman and two international activists from Denmark and Holland were evacuated to the hospital with injuries after being struck in the head with an M-16 rifle, and one international activist was handcuffed and detained for over an hour before being released without charges.

Over one hundred activists from Palestine and around the world participated in the bike protest, organized by Sharek Youth Forum. Participants rode approximately 5 kilometers before being blocked by Israeli occupation soldiers and jeeps at the entrance to Route 90. Soldiers informed the bikers that they would not be allowed to continue “for their own safety.” When activists peacefully attempted to continue on their way, the local commander of the occupation forces swung his rifle at the head of multiple activists, resulting in the hospitalizations of the three activists and the detention of a man from Sweden.

Palestinian drivers on Route 90, the Jordan Valley’s main north-south route, face regular harassment and attacks from Israeli settlers and soldiers. Palestinian drivers and cyclists are frequently pulled over and searched for no reason, and in some places Palestinians are even prevented from turning across the road at places Israelis have free access to.

The Jordan Valley faces a concerted Israeli campaign of ethnic cleansing towards the Palestinians living there. Demolitions of homes occur with frequency, and the Israelis are currently stealing the vast majority of the valley’s land and water. The majority of the fruit and vegetables produced on this stolen land are exported to Europe and North America. The bike demonstration was part of a day of demonstrations and festivities that included visits to villages, a youth dubke performance, and speeches. The events aim to send the message to the world and the occupying forces that the people of the Jordan Valley and Palestine refuse to cede their land to the illegal occupation and will continue to resist and remain on their land.

Joseph and Emiliano are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed).

The price of intellectual resistance

by Sylvia

14 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

“Our souls are not devastated, we are hanging on”

On the 7^th November 2011, founder of the Palestinian Cultural Enlightenment (Tanwer) and lecturer at the An- Najah University, Dr. Yousef Abdul Haq, was arrested from his home at two o’clock in the morning. Dr. Yousef is in his 70’s and his health has suffered from mental strain and poor prison conditions. Well known for his calm and peaceful nature, Dr. Yousef’s daughter insists that her father “will always support his people by telling the truth: a lot of people are living in poverty because they are under occupation. If my father tells the truth, eventually everyone will understand.”

Administrative detention is legally incompatible with basic international standards of human rights, when Israel holds the accused without charge or trial for long periods of time. The evidence of his or her offense is held in a “secret file,” which cannot be seen by the detainee or defense lawyer. The file is prepared by the Israeli intelligence service, which has gathered “evidence” by illegal means.

This has left Dr. Yousef’s family with no clue as to why he was taken in the middle of the night.

“No one has told us anything” says Yousef’s 21 year old daughter Shayma, a third year student at the An- Najah University. Dr. Yousef is a lecturer in economics and human rights and his co-creation of the Palestinian Enlightenment Project has painted him as a symbol of peaceful and intellectual freedom.

TAKE ACTION: Show your solidarity for Dr. Yousef and all Palestinians

abducted by Israel and taken to Zionist prisons.

Click here for more information on how.

Shayma describes the last night she saw her father, the rapping of fists and unfamiliar sound of Hebrew at her door house. She remembers distinctly as he faded into the shadow of the jeeps outside her windows.

Shayma, the daughter of Dr. Yousef, poses next to her father's portrait

“It’s strange” she said, “My father was laughing. He is as strong as iron or steel. When we talk to him, it is him who encourages us when it should be the other way around.”

On that night, the family assumed he would be interrogated then released and waited from two until six in the morning before reading in the newspaper that he would be kept under administrative detention for four months.

It is this absence of information which makes this experience so agonizing for Palestinian prisoner’s families. Now in the sixth month of his administrative detention, Dr. Yousef’s release is pushed further back from the horizon each time it comes into sight with no explanation or court hearing.

When asked what she thinks will happen, Shayma explains “We hope for something. My mother is depressed, she is worried and she can’t sleep since she has heard of how they torture inmates.”

Though the family has rare permission to visit Ofer prison inside ‘48 territory, Dr. Yousef has advised against it. The journey has been made degrading and lengthy, sometimes waiting for hours in uncomfortable conditions as a further means of adding to the suffering of the Palestinian people. “It will only make it harder for us emotionally,” Shayma explained.

Articles 42 and 78 of the Fourth Geneva Convention permits administrative detention only “if the security of the Detaining Power makes it absolutely necessary “or for “imperative reasons of security”. These terms are widely accepted as applicable to the occupied territories of Palestine. The convention articulates that all civilians, weather in occupies territories or not, are fundamentally “entitled, in all circumstances, to respect from their persons, their honor, their family rights, their religious convictions and practices and their manners and customs”. These terms can only cease after the effective end of occupation. Israel ratified the Fourth Geneva Convention in 1951 and is bound by its terms.

That Dr. Yousef’s detention denies a class of young, educated Palestinian’s of human rights lecturer is of no coincidence. Israel’s use of administrative detention to silence political figureheads is a concern raised by human rights movement Amnesty International, who explained that prisoners of conscious were being held “solely for non-violent exercise of their right to freedom of expression and association.”

“Our souls are not broken, we are hanging on”, says Shayma. As the struggle for her father’s freedom continues, she recalls her father’s advice, calling for unity and intellectual freedom.

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

Israel is paranoid about pro-Palestinian activists

by Gideon Levy

12 April 2012 | Haaretz

Israel will not stand idly by as thousands of activists prepare to arrive on Sunday; it will not miss an opportunity to look ridiculous in the eyes of the world.

And with what shall we frighten the Israeli public in advance of the seventh day of Passover? How will we provide the dose of fear to which it has long since become addicted? After a week of a quiet and safe vacation, we have to find something, after all. The Iranian threat has entered a negotiations freeze, terror is quiet, even the Grad missiles have diminished in number, there is no mass plague on the horizon and even the circumstances of the attack against the Jew in Kiev have not become sufficiently clear.

But Israel has not been abandoned, and the Israeli mind finally hit on something: the pro-Palestinian fly-in “provocation,” as it has already been called. The minister of public security is convening feverish consultations, the airlines have received the “blacklist” prepared in advance by the omniscient security networks, the crime reporter – of course this is about crime, what else? – has already been sent to Ben-Gurion International Airport to greet the looming danger.

Israel is prepared for D-Day this coming Sunday. They say 2,500 activists will land in Israel and sow great fear. Although the crime reporter explained to the nation that the activists do not plan to bear arms or resort to violence, still, when it comes to danger, to terror, to scare-mongering, the forces are already prepared for the big day. The last time, about a year ago, it ended with 127 detainees who were immediately expelled, as they deserved, and the danger was nipped in the bud.

The intentions of the organizers – a visit to demonstrate solidarity with the Palestinian people, a trip directly from Ben-Gurion to Bethlehem without any violent intent – were immediately blurred and replaced with the usual Israeli accusation: terror and delegitimization. As we accuse any peace lover or human rights activist.

Had Israel not inflated the story to such terrifying dimensions, few people would have paid attention to this innocent protest. Had Israel also welcomed them warmly and sent them on their way to Bethlehem, that would have embarrassed them and even undermined their objective. But the State of Israel will not stand by idly. It certainly won’t miss an opportunity to look ridiculous and even more contemptible in the eyes of the world. It will immediately turn them into personae non grata, as it did to Gunter Grass, as well as an airborne threat.

Entry into Israel is permitted only to its declared friends. Not a Spanish clown and not a German writer, certainly not human rights activists. An ignorant, extremist, Christian American right-winger is welcome; an intellectual, conscientious European left-winger is sent to the expulsion cell. Israel 2012.

In the case of flotillas as well as fly-ins, these are activists, most of whom mean well. The Swedish writer Henning Mankell turned to us before the most recent flotilla to Gaza: “For once report the truth. Don’t you see that there is no declaration of war here, but a declaration of peace?” And of course his words fell on deaf ears. Mankell participated in two flotillas to Gaza, was expelled twice from Israel in disgrace, and published his harsh impressions in the world’s leading newspapers.

Had Israel not confiscated his computer and his property and treated him like a terrorist, his impressions would have been different. Had Israel invited him to present its viewpoint, perhaps his criticism would have been less harsh. Mankell and his friends will not give up. Now another flotilla is being organized in Sweden, this time on a sailboat carrying flowers, which we will probably also treat as though it were an aircraft carrier about to attack Israel.

The roots of this paranoia are deep and thought-provoking. Were Israel convinced of the justice of its path, it wouldn’t behave this way. If Israel really thought the occupation is just and legal, it wouldn’t be frightened by every conscientious activist who opposes it. If it had nothing to hide, it would respectfully invite them to visit.

But when the ground is burning beneath our feet, and the fire of doubt and insecurity is consuming everything, the only response is a violent and unrestrained attack. On Sunday, when the farce of arrests and the grotesque expulsion take place once again, the activists will register another significant victory: Once again they will prove that Israel does have something to hide, that in spite of all its propaganda, Israel is well aware that there are skeletons in its closet and anyone who dares come near them will suffer the same fate – expulsion.

For more on the Welcome to Palestine 2012 campaign click here.

42 days of hunger strike: Take action to save Hassan Safady from dying in administrative detention

by Silvia and Andreas

13 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Please SUBMIT pictures in solidarity with Hassan Safady
FREE HASSAN SAFADY
FREE ALL PRISONERS IN ADMINSTRATIVE DETENTION

Today Hasan Safady entered into his 42nd day of hunger strike. Ten months ago, he was brutally arrested from his home in the old city of Nablus and has since then been kept in administrative detention. Hassan’s older brother Fouad Safady explains that their family have been denied any communication or visits to Hassan, so any information gained has been acquired through his lawyer. Since Hassan began his hunger strike he has been exposed to severe violence and beatings from prison guards. In a further attempt to silence his resistance, Hassan has been threatened with an 800 shekel fine for each day of his hunger strike. This will have devastating economic consequences for him and his family.

Hassan’s condition became more critical ten days ago, when he was transferred to Ramla prison hospital. His health is said to have further deteriorated since he stopped taking water five days ago. This extreme measure was a response to his placement in solitary confinement. After being transferred to Ramla Hospital, Hassan’s lawyer was presented with a report about his medical condition stating that he has severe pains in stomach and head, and that his kidneys are in danger of taking irreparable damage.

Until now his family has had no information of his release. Hassan has been in administrative detention for a total of 105 months during the last ten years. His family is unsurprisingly resigned about the situation; “They will probably release him at some point and then arrest him again after two or three months. They play with us,” says Fouad Safad.

The Safady family has suffered irrevocably at the hands of the occupation. In 1996 Hassans brother Farik was killed by the Israeli army. Hassan’s parents have had to watch as each of their children were imprisoned or detained in Israeli military jails. In a deal like that of Hana Shalabi’s, Hassan’s sister and husband have been deported to Gaza in exchange for their freedom, adding to the agonizing division of the Safady family.

Outside the family home, pictures and posters of Hassan plaster the walls of a solidarity tent, a final act of resistance allowing friends and family to gather and share support. However, the Israeli army is determined to relinquish any remaining hope the Safady family may still hinder. On Sunday night the occupation forces entered the old city of Nablus, destroying the tent and tearing up photographs of Hassan.

Hassan Safady is one of many Palestinian prisoners who have found the refusal of food to be the only remaining tool in their political resistance to administrative detention. Hassan’s hunger strike has now entered a critical phase, as everyday it becomes less and less likely that his body will ever gain a full recovery.

Immediate international attention and solidarity is needed for Hassan and his family as they continue their struggle for freedom and justice.

Andreas and Silvia are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed).

Call for international action: Show your support on Palestinian Prisoners day

12 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement

This week International Solidarity Movement is calling for international solidarity in the run up to Palestinian Prisoners Day on the 17th April. The Palestinian prisoners struggle needs immediate international attention as Israel’s treatment of prisoners under a military judicial system starkly violates international law and fundamental human rights. According to Addammer there are currently 4,637 Palestinian political prisoners are kept in Israeli military jails and detention centers, including 320 administrative detainees.

Some of the primary objectives of the prisoners struggle are:

To stop the system known as administrative detention, which allows the imprisonment of individuals without charge or trail
To halt the practice of solitary confinement.
To stop the use of torture and ill treatment. Palestinians are exposed to systematic ill and degrading treatment from the moment of arrest – both physiological and physical terrors are used as means of breaking the prisoners and getting details and information.
To stop the illegal transference of prisoners from the occupied territories into Israeli borders. Every time Israel brings a prisoner from the West bank jails inside their borders – they are in clear violation with the 4th Geneva Convention.
To stop the use of military courts for civilians.
To stop arrest and imprisonment of vulnerable groups such as children, elder and disabled.

Besides the suffering of individual prisoners, Israel systematically uses collective punishment towards the relatives of prisoners. The journeys to visit your husband, wife, son, or daughter may take up to 15 hours as the prisoners are systematically placed as far from their home as possible. Furthermore, visitors will face degrading processes of strip search at the borders to Israel and at the entrance to the prisons. Sometimes they even get turned away.

“All people and governments of conscience in the world have an immediate responsibility to put pressure on Israel forcing them to respect International law and human rights!” says Faris Sabbah, from Addammer, the Prisoners support and Human Rights Association.

TAKE ACTION

You can:

Organize a protest in front of the Israeli Embassy or consulate in our town
Write letters to protest the violations of rights of Palestinian political prisoners and to call for an intervention to the International Committee of the Red Cross, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and your governoment or parliamentarians.
Write letters to Palestinian prisoners expressing your support. Read more about thise here:

Submit your photos:

What ever action you choose to take – please submit photos from your action to ISM at palreports@gmail.com.

You can get inspired from similar ISM campaign carried out in accordance to “Open Shuhada Street Campaign.”

Please follow these guidelines:

In the subject line please write “ Campaign for international solidarity with Palestinian prisoners”
Photos should not be a maximum of 1 MB
A poster, sign, clothing or any other visual statement that expresses your solidarity with Palestinian prisoners should be visibel.
Include a location of the photo (example: Hollywood sign, Hollywood, California) in the email
Include the date when the photograph was taken in the email
If the visual is written in a language other than English, please write the statement in the body of the email in order to be translated.
Photos should be original and not edited or borrowed from another entity
Photos must be submitted by April 19th.