Author: Yara - Page 83 - International Solidarity Movement

A letter from Nariman Tamimi to the world

7 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On 27 September 2011 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons announced the start of a campaign of disobedience to protest an escalating series of punitive measures taken against them by the Israeli Prison Service. Today marks the 8th day of their hunger strike.

A call for Solidarity actions around the world has been issued for this friday 7/10 where you can find your local initiatives here.

Today outside a sit-in at the Red Cross in Ramallah I met with Nariman Al Tamimi from Al Nabi Saleh village.

Nariman is an ex-prisoner herself and the wife of the political prisoner Bassem Al Tamimi. As a resident of the village her family has been suffering from the Israeli occupation on a daily basis. In the space of 5 years she has been shot a total of 7 times, while her eldest son Wa’d who is 14 years old has been shot with rubber bullets over 10 times. Furthermore, their house faces the threat of immediate demolition by Israeli forces.
Due to her history Nariman has become a symbol of “somoud”- steadfastness- to many Palestinians. Despite the endless tragedies she is continually facing, she never wavered from demanding for her and her people’s full legitimate rights. Today from the sit-in in Ramallah, Nariman wished to send a message to the world urging them to take solidarity actions with the hunger strikers in Israeli jails.

I want to tell the world about international law and all the human rights resolutions that are meant to protect including the rights of prisoners of war. I would like to ask why these laws are not protecting our prisoners? Why are the human rights activists not doing anything regarding the Israeli violations? Why is the world still silent?

All we want is to be able to see our sons, daughters, husbands, fathers and mothers. We want them to be treated according to International Law. We want to have our rights like anyone else around the world. I am sure most of you heard about the Israeli captured militant ‘Gilad Shalit,’ but I wonder if you heard about the 8000 Gilad Shalits in Israeli jails? Most of the them are civilians, including children and women. I call all human rights organizations and activists to take the side of justice and save our prisoners.

Statistics of Palestinian Political Prisoners:
-340 Palestinian children are being held in Israeli Prisons
-There are well over 120 women in Israeli prisons, 17 of these women are mothers. 2 have given birth in prison. The youngest female currently held is 12 years of age.
-The majority of these detainees are being held in violation of the IV Geneva Convention in prisons outside of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

(Source: Addameer, Human Rights Centre and prisoners support)

Say NO to injustice and take part of the solidarity actions with Palestinian Prisoners. Visit here for more details.

Nablus sisters fall victim to yet another hit and run crime

7 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Sajah, 19, and Ahlam Bilal, 18, from Kufr Qaddoum were injured on Tuesday October 4th by Israeli settler, Eliyaho Miller, on the main road in Huwara. The two women were walking to Ibn Sina College of Nursing where they are studying when the settler crashed his vehicle into the women. After he hit them both and Sajah was thrown 10 meters from the accident, he attempted to flee the scene by foot. Miller was stopped by a Palestinian taxi driver until the Israeli police came to make a report.

The hit and run attack occurred at 7:50am as the two sisters were walking to campus. As Sajah and Ahlam were about to cross the road, they both saw the settler’s car speed up when they stepped into the street. He made contact with Sajah first in her left shoulder which flung her body into the air until she fell 10 meters from the car. She now has suffered three broken bones in her upper left arm as well as both hips broken. Her sister Ahlam has a bruised, swollen eye and an injured right leg. Sajah was rushed to Rafidya hospital to be treated for the injuries.

The father and brother of the hit and run victims, Saja and Ahlam Bilal

Under Israeli law, the Israeli police are under obligation to call an Israeli ambulance when there are injuries of any sort of accident involving settlers. In the hesitancy from Israeli police to call an ambulance, Palestinians living in Huwara took it upon themselves to have an ambulance arrive in order to bring Sajah and Ahlam to the Nablus hospital. Both of the women said Israeli police and military personnel eventually arrived at the scene, but the Israeli army said it had no information on the accident and police reported that they were checking into details of the event.

This particular settler incident comes on the tails of increased harassment and violence towards Palestinians by Israelis. An official report quoted by Quds Press earlier this week stated that there were 33 cases of deliberate vehicular attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank since the start of 2011. Farid Jaber, 8, was murdered after being hit by an Israeli settler’s car in Hebron on September 26th. Nasser Abu al-Kabbash, 20, was involved in a similar hit and run accident with an Israeli settler in Beit Dajan on October 10th.

All this is in addition to “pricetag” violence from Israeli settlers, the uprooting and burning of olive trees in Palestinian cities around occupied West Bank as olive harvest begins, and increased legal persecution of Palestinians for trivial reasons. Sajah received surgery on October 7th for her 3 broken bones in the left shoulder which went successfully according to her doctor in Nablus. The doctors at Rafidya are waiting to see how well her pelvis bones begin to heal before undergoing any correctional surgery.

Beit Ummar steadfast in supporting prisoners despite LRAD and teargas

7 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Beit Ummar solidarity with prisoners - Click here for more images — Beit Ummar solidarity with prisoners – Click here for more images

On the tenth day of the hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, a crowd of around a hundred people took to the streets for a planned demonstration in the village of Beit Ummar, Hebron.

This was one of a number of recent demonstrations across the West Bank supporting the 9 demands of Palestinian prisoners, which include the right to family visits, end to the use of isolation as a punishment, and an end to the profiteering of Israeli prisons from financial penalties charged against prisoners.

The Beit Ummar protest began after the congregational noon prayer of Muslims with a peaceful march through the village, but later there tear gas canisters, sound bombs, and for the first time in recent months the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), created by the American Technology Corporation, were used against protesters in clashes continued until 2:30 PM.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhUnWK–A4g&feature=related

A Palestinian man, Abdellah Slibi was detained. Slibi, 22, is reported to suffer from learning disabilities and was observed by an international peace activist being blindfolded during the arrest. He was later released. A British peace activist was struck on the leg by a tear gas canister, but was not seriously hurt.

The Israeli apartheid legal system allows for Palestinian people to be held under administrative detention for up to six months without trial, based on confidential materials that are kept from the detainee and their lawyer, a violation of international law.

Beit Kahlil: Tear gas flies as Israel demolishes home

6 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Demolitions in Beit Kahlil - Click here for more images

At 5:00 AM on the morning of the 6th October, approximately 30 armed soldiers came to demolish a house in Beit Kahil. The IOF woke up the family living in the neighbouring house and informed them about the demolition and declared the entire area a closed military zone. When he arrived, Omar Ahmad Hussan Abdel Din, the owner of the house, informed the soldiers about his lawyers appeal to the Israeli Court for getting the demolition order postponed until he had an official response to his application for building permission, but with no effect.

A member of the Abdel Din family said, “Why do we need a permission from Israel to build this is Palestine and Palestinian land? Though this is considered area C by the Israeli authorities, I do not recognise their authority, and anyways it is their bureaucratic way of stealing land.”

While a bulldozer was demolishing the Abdel Din house residence, the neighbourhood tried to prevent the demolition by throwing stones. The soldiers prevented them getting any way near by using sound bombs and shooting tear gas grenades. During the protest one of the tear gas canisters broke the window and entered a house resulting in three women and four children being taken to the hospital and treated for tear gas inhalation. An additional 2 people were injured by the tear gas cannisters, requiring 1 person who needed 3 stitches.

The village of Beit Kahil is divided by a valley with the road running to Hebron. In 2009 the houses on the one same side of the valley as an Israeli military base got demolition orders at once. Including the house of Omar Abdel Din, demolition orders were given to around 15 houses which are inhabited by around 100 citizens.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r–KuGzPVww

One of the neighbours said, “Obviously when we saw the Occupation Forces and bulldozers we were shocked and feared that they would demolish all our houses.”

In 2011 14 houses were demolished in the Hebron area, leaving 104 Palestinian homeless including 50 minors. Area C and B are the areas where Palestinians need to seek permission from Israeli authorities to build, accounting for 83 % of the West Bank.

According to the Israel Civil Administration, more than 93 % of the applications for a building permission are refused, and many Palestinians do not even bother to ask permission to build knowing they will be refused.

Students march to Ofer Prison in solidarity with hunger strike

by Alistair George

5 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Over 100 students from Bir Zeit University marched to the gates of Ofer Prison, near Ramallah today, to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails.

Prisoners in several Israeli jails began hunger strikes on 27 September 2011 to to protest against solitary confinement, restricted visiting hours and harsh conditions. The protests have since gathered momentum, with Reuters reporting that there are around 500 prisoners currently on hunger strike in Israeli prisons. It is thought that there are around 9 or 10 prisoners in Ofer prison on hunger strike.

The protesters assembled in front of the prison gates at around 1:15pm today, facing Israeli soldiers standing a few metres away just inside the prison compound. The protesters peacefully chanted slogans in support of the prisoners; however, after the majority of protesters had left, a minority of youths threw stones at the Israeli soldiers inside the prison compound. The military responded by deploying tear gas to drive the remaining protesters several hundred meters away from the prison.

The students’ protest followed an earlier demonstration at the prison at 12:00 today, which eyewitnesses claimed was attended by around 200 people and ended in a similar manner; with a minority of Palestinian youths throwing stones and the Israeli military responding with tear gas.

A young female protester from Birzeit University had been protesting peacefully and was hit in the back by a tear gas canister but was unharmed. She expressed concern about the Israeli military’s practice of filming peaceful protests; “I live in Jerusalem and I worry that they will identify me and cause problems for me when I travel through the checkpoint.”

One of the protesters was the mother of a 23 year old Palestinian man who is a student at Birzeit University and is currently being held in an Israeli prison. She said that her son was arrested eight months ago and has spent the last nine days in solitary confinement as punishment for participating in the hunger strike. She also claimed that prison authorities have ruled that prisoners will be denied visitors for one month for every day that they spend on hunger strike.

When asked about the prisoners on hunger strike she said, “They won’t stop until their goals are reached.”

She expressed defiance against the Israeli occupation.

“I’ve lived under occupation for more than 40 years–I am not scared.”

Alistair George is an activist with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).