Others are in flight and hundreds more prevented from boarding
The first international activists participating in the Welcome to Palestine campaign arrived yesterday to Ben Gurion airport from Europe. This morning hundreds more tried to board planes to Tel Aviv to join the week of activities in the West Bank, but they were prevented by airlines, like Lufthansa, Easyjet, Air France and Malev. On Thursday the Israeli authorities sent hundreds of names to these companies telling them to deny travel to individuals identified as activists.
One of these activists was Cynthia Beatt, a British researcher living in Berlin. She was supposed to fly today, but she received a call yesterday from the Lufthansa office to inform her that the Israeli authorities would not let her fly to Tel Aviv. Despite this, she decided to go to the airport and demand a written justification from the airline. The company didn’t comply. “There’s no reason for this. I have never done anything and I want an explanation as to why I was put on a blacklist”, she explained to the AIC. Beatt and other participants will hold a press conference in the theater Filmbühne am Steinplatz, (Hardenbergstr 12, Berlin Charlottenburg), in the center of Berlin, at 13, local time.
French activists were also prevented from boarding planes to Tel Aviv and are staging protests at the airports in Paris, Lyon and Nice. In some cases, the airlines even prohibited them to make local connections. Activists were also prohibited from checking in for their flights in Brussels and Geneva. The AIC received information that some participants are currently en route to Ben Gurion airport.
8 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
An ISM volunteer was detained and threatened with deportation for participating in a peaceful, nonviolent demonstration in the village of Iraq Burin last week, and was finally released by Israel since there was no justification for her arrest or deportation.
These weekly demonstrations come following the January shooting of a 19 year old Palestinian man, Oday Maher Hamza Qadous, by a member of the same illegal settlement. Saturday’s demonstration also follows an illegal nighttime raid into Iraq Burin on Thursday night–consistent with an ongoing Israeli policy of repeated incursions into the village.
About 30 local villagers, including children, were accompanied by 3 French, 2 Swedish, 2 British, an American, and 1 Brazilian international observer during their weekly demonstration against the illegal Israeli settlement of Bracha. Local villagers and international activists were forced to flee down a steep escarpment into the valley and adjacent village, while under fire from what observers noted to be high velocity tear gas canisters according to their range, as well as rubber coated steel bullets that were shot at head height. During the attempt to escape pursuing Israeli forces, two international activists, who wish to remain anonymous, suffered minor injuries.
At one point Israeli forces were also seen throwing stones at a Palestinian medic after protesting their illegal and unjustified arrest of a nonviolent, international activist.
“She was ahead of us all,” commented a British activist who witnessed the arrest of the woman. “Three soldiers were around her, and a male soldier made the arrest. She went limp while soldiers dragged her away.”
The activist, from Brazil, was arrested and accused of assaulting Israeli police by throwing stones and told she was going to be taken to a court hearing on Sunday, facing possible deportation. The hearing was scheduled to take place at 8:00 Sunday morning, yet she was transported to a deportation center without hearing.
A representative of the State affirmed in an informal meeting with the woman’s lawyers that she had been released around approximately 9:30 AM, while Prison Administration insisted that the activist was still in custody as of 12pm. Lawyers commented that this inconsistency opened a window for deportation police to illegally transport the woman to a deportation center without a hearing or legal consul. Lawyers commented that the woman’s illegal detention facilitated a planned deportation process.
The volunteer remained in custody while lawyers petitioned the state to release her. On July 6th the court answered with a decision that the volunteer may not be deported and that the State has to respond until July 7th at 12:00 PM to the lawyers’ request to release her immediately. After waiting for the state’s response the volunteer was released yesterday without any conditions and her visa was extended for an additional week.
7 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza
At Vittorio’s funeral in Gaza the crowds chanted “Viktor is with the fisherman, Viktor is withthe farmers”, Vittorio is still with the people of Gaza. He lives on in their hearts. He has been honored with a football tournament in Rafah, with a street in Gaza, with a school in the JordanValley, but I think that perhaps the honor that would be closest to his heart is the VittorioArrigoni – Stay Human summer camp in Beit Hanoun. Vittorio had worked in Beit Hanoun his entire time in Gaza. Riding in ambulances during Cast Lead and supporting the weekly demonstrations against the buffer zone since then. The Fursan Al Ghad Youth Center honored him by naming their summer camp in his honor, the Vittorio Arrigoni – Stay Human summer camp.
Fursan Al Ghad is a small center, just a small three room building, a courtyard, and a van. It is a center with big goals though. It seeks not only to provide the children with a safe spacefor summer fun, but to remind them that they are part of something bigger than themselves. The children not only participate in art and music programs, but they also perform community service and protest the occupation.
The Vittorio Arrigoni – Stay Human camp opened in mid-June. It serves sixty children from age eight to fifteen. Sixty children in one small building. Every morning the children stream in at nine A.M. Soon the entire building is alive with singing, dancing children. Like Vittorio, the teachers at Fursan Al Ghad love to sing, Bella Ciao, Inadakoom, traditional Palestinian songs. The children love to both sing and dance debka. Many of them are surprisingly good, eight year old Fred Astairs.
The children also do art projects, both in the classrooms and outside. The wall across fromFursan Al Ghad is now covered in a beautiful new mural. The most beautiful project though,was building kites. A dozen amazing kites with beautiful geometric designs. The kites had longtails made from old homework cut into strips, perhaps to celebrate the end of the school year.On the kites the children wrote messages, messages like “the children of Gaza deserve freedom”and “end the siege”. We went out to the hills east of Beit Hanoun, on a beautiful Tuesday morning to fly the kites. The wind was brisk, the air was beautiful, the kites soared into the air. After admiring them for a while, the strings were cut, the kites sailed across the wall towards Sderot, hopefully the messages carried by the kites will be read and understood.
Kids being kids, the camp also provides games and sports. Days were organized to play football,basketball, volleyball and jump rope. The children participated in a 1k race; the five winners received t-shirts. There was even a trip to the beach so the children could go swimming. That was, obviously, a very popular day for the children. Going to the beach is one of the few trips that children can take in Gaza; the siege prevents them from leaving, even from going to the West Bank or Jerusalem.
The children also learned about being part of a community. One day was devoted to cleaning the streets of Beit Hanoun. Sixty hands makes light work. They left a mural across from Fursan Al Ghad for everyone to appreciate.
Perhaps the best day though, was the last day. The children went to club where they could ride horses and camels. After being entertained for a few hours of singing dancing clowns, the horses were brought out. The children were entranced. Even the ones that were afraid couldn’tpass up the opportunity to ride the horses. They also enjoyed seeing their teachers ride horses,some for the first time. After they were finished riding horses the children came to the port of Gaza. At the port, they boarded boats, and went to sea, some for the first time. They did this in memory of Vik, who loved the sea, and loved the fishermen that worked there.
Fursan al Ghad strove to not only provide the children with fun things to do over the summer,but to show the children that they can have a positive effect on their community, to help themfind their voice in the struggle for freedom and justice. Fursan Al Ghad remembered not onlythe music of Vik, not only Bella Ciao, but also that struggle was part of Vik. The children notonly sang, like Vik, they raised their voices against the occupation. For this, thank you Fursan AlGhad, for remembering all of Vik.
Former Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade Commander, Colonel Pinhas (Pinky) Zuaretz – the final witness in the case – is scheduled to testify Sunday, July 10, in the Corrie civil trial against the State of Israel.
Colonel Zuaretz was the commanding officer of the Israeli military’s Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade in 2003, when American peace activist Rachel Corrie was killed. Troops under his command were responsible for the actions resulting in her killing. Zuaretz is the highest ranking officer called as a government witness in the civil trial who had command responsibility in Gaza. He is possibly the highest such officer ever to face cross examination in a civil suit regarding the actions of the Israeli military against civilians in Gaza during the second intifada. His testimony is expected to shed light on the Israeli military’s failures as an occupying power to protect civilian life and property in the region.
The lawsuit, filed in 2005 by Attorney Hussein abu Hussein, charges the State of Israel with responsibility for killing Rachel in Rafah, Gaza in 2003. Since the trial opened in March 2010, 14 hearings have been held, with over 2000 pages of court transcripts recorded from 22 testimonies – including that of 14 Israeli Military personnel, and four peace activist eye-witnesses with the International Solidarity Movement. Most government witnesses for the State of Israel were identified only by their initials, and many testified while hidden behind a screen. Each hearing was attended by officials from the American Embassy, numerous observers from legal and human rights organizations, and members of the Corrie family.
Craig and Cindy Corrie, Rachel’s parents, will hold a press conference on Monday, July 11, at 11:00 AM at the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem to discuss the conclusion of this phase of the case, as well as next steps in their efforts to seek accountability for their daughter’s killing. They will be joined by their other daughter, Sarah Corrie Simpson and Attorney Hussein Abu Hussein. The press conference will be held in English, with attorneys available at the conclusion for brief interviews in both Arabic and Hebrew.
Court proceedings on Sunday, July 10, will begin at 12:00 noon in the courtroom of Judge Oded Gershon, 6th floor, Haifa District Court, 12 Palyam St., Haifa, Israel.
For press related inquiries, contact:
Email: stacy@rachelcorriefoundation.org and press@rachelcorriefoundation.org
Phone: Stacy Sullivan (in Israel) at +972-54-280-7572 or +972-52-952-2143
6 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
More than 300 Israeli soldiers raided the village Iraq Burin at approximately 10:30pm to 5am commencing on the 5th July. Soldiers accompanied by dogs forcefully entered all 150 houses within the village. The searches commenced with the families and children having to wait outside for further instructions. Two males (15 and 23) were arrested and multiple boys were taken to a local school to be questioned and photographed for future Israeli intelligence at demonstrations. During the raids the houses were turned upside down and many possessions and windows were broken. Several gates were kicked in. The memorial stone of a man killed by settlers within the village during the illegal occupation was deliberately rammed by an Israeli jeep and broken in to several pieces. Weapons were not only used to threaten Palestinians but also as hammers withing the properties.
The catalyst of this raid seems to be the demonstrations that are held locally every Saturday on occupied land. The Palestinians have been warned that future demonstrations will result in more raids in Iraq Burin. Palestinians and international activists will however continue to demonstrate. This will be increasingly dangerous for Palestinians in the village due to the information and pictures obtained during these raids.
Iraq Burin is a small village 8 km southwest of Nablus. The illegal settlement of Bracha is located approximately one mile southeast of the village, and is situated on around 100 dunams (25 acres) of village land, as well as more land from surrounding villages. In addition to the settlement itself, the land surrounding it is off-limits to the farmers who are prevented from accessing it due to its close proximity to the settlement, leaving them with less land to graze their sheep and harvest from.
