11th May 2015 | Operation Dove | At Tuwani, South Hebron Hills, Occupied Palestine
POPULAR STRUGGLE COORDINATION COMMITTEE AND POPULAR STRUGGLE COMMITTEE OF SOUTH HEBRON HILLS CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE IN SUSIYA VILLAGE
Susiya village, South Hebron Hills
Where: Susiya Village, South Hebron Hills
When: From now, permanently
What: Popular Struggle Coordination Committee and Popular Struggle committee of South Hebron Hills has just opened the “Solidarity tent” and invites you all to bring your solidarity and your support in order to save Susiya village from the eviction plan. Internationals are also invited to document and to spread the information about the situation in Susiya.
Why: In 1986 the village of Susiya was declared archeological site, its land expropriated and inhabitants were evicted and forced to move in their nearby agricultural land where on 2012, Israel’s Civil Administration distributed demolition orders to over 50 temporary structures. In 2014 the residents of Susiya, represented by Rabbis for Human Rights, sued for a request to freeze the demolition order’s implementation. In 2015, on May 5, the Israeli High Court rejected that request, allowing the demolition of the village.
Now the threat to be evicted and deported again, becomes more imminent for the inhabitants of Susiya. Please come to participate at the initiative.
7th May 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwarra Team | Salem, Occupied Palestine
Update 14th May:
The wheat is not ready for harvest yet. The call for people to help the shepherds and farmers on their land is postponed until next Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd. Please come in numbers as the Israeli forces are making it harder and harder for them to live of their land.
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The farmers and shepherds of Salem, near Nablus, are asking for you help. They are being beaten, humiliated and pushed off their land. They are asking you to join them on Friday 15th and Saturday 16th to help them save their harvest.
Mahfouda – shepherd from Salem who’s worked her land for 40 years
In the village of Salem, near Nablus, the wheat is ready for harvesting. Once the crop has been collected, the sheep and goats will graze on the leftovers in the field and the shepherds will then milk them in order to make cheese and butter. The animal’s droppings are dispersed on the land; a perfect cycle is created.
However, Israeli occupation forces have forbidden the farmers from harvesting the wheat and forbidden the shepherds from crossing the road that cuts through their land, dividing it in two. See report written by the International Women’s Peace Service here.
Shepherd from Salem
Harassment happens on a daily basis and many of the shepherds can recount life-threatening stories. This is the case with Rabih, for instance. Only five days ago, as he was taking his sheep out to graze and was accompanied by his young nephew who was going out into the fields to work for the first time in his life; Israeli soldiers arrived. They pointed their guns to his brother’s head, threw his nephew to the ground and attacked Rabih with the butt of an M16 rifle. They ordered Rabah to take his clothes off. When Rabih refused they beat him and took him away blindfolded and handcuffed and threw him out hours later in the middle of the countryside. “I am getting used to being humiliated”.
Rabih and his mother from Salem
Shepherds and farmers are asking for a large number of people to accompany them on Friday 15th and Saturday 16th May. From early in the morning, they will attempt to work a part of their land to the east of Salem that the occupation forces are preventing them from using. A call out will be made on the mosque’s megaphone to gather as many people from the village as possible.
These dates are coordinated with the 67th anniversary of Naqba day, when the ethnic cleansing of Palestine started. in 2014, 67% of Palestinians were registered as refugees or Internally Displaced Persons, according to UNWRA. Until today, they have not been allowed to return to their homes. Those who have been ‘lucky enough’ to not be pushed out are living either as third class citizen within the now called state of Israel, or under military occupation inside the West Bank and Gaza. Many Palestinians live from their land and it is part of the whole zionist expansion plan to grab more and more of it by whatever means possible.
Come and work with the farmers and shepherds of Salem, along with many others from the village, to help repossess their stolen land. Extra presence throughout the whole harvest season is also being called for as the attacks and threats are ongoing.
For more information, you can get in touch with ISM: palreports@gmail.com
29th April 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwwara Team | Tulkarem, Occupied Palestine
Around fifty Palestinians and international activists gathered today in Tulkarem, east of Nablus, to protest the presence of 11 Israeli chemical plants located in the city. The protest took place outside the Gishuri chemical plant on what is locally referred to as the “death road” due to the health problems caused by the Israeli plants.
The protesters were carrying signs demanding a clean environment and an end to the Israeli occupation, while Israeli soldiers deployed to guard the plant quickly responded with stun grenades and tear gas.
On one occasion Israeli soldiers fired tear gas canisters aimed directly at peaceful demonstrators and the press. As the protest continued, a 22-year old Palestinian man was shot by a rubber-coated steel bullet, hitting him in the abdomen. He was later taken to the local hospital and appeared to have suffered superficial damages only, although he was in great pain. The protest quickly subsided after this event.
Israels corporate occupation of Tulkarem
The protest against Israel’s chemical plants have been continuous since Gushiri Industries, a manufacturer of pesticides and fertilizers, first arrived in Tulkarem in the mid-1980s. The plant used to be located in the Israeli city of Netanya, only 12 kilometers away. However, a 1982 Israeli court order said the company was violating pollution regulations, making the company relocate to the West Bank’s Area C, which is under full Israeli control. The court order came after a complaint filed by Israeli citizens.
Since the arrival of Gushiri Industries, ten other chemical plants have located nearby, the last one in 2007. The location of these plants have caused many local farmers to lose most of their land and contributed to unemployment and poverty in the area. Hence, many local Palestinians have been forced to work at these chemical plants, as the Israeli corporations are taking advantage of the low labor costs and the non-applicability of Israeli labor laws in Area C.
Chronic diseases and land pollution
The most serious consequence of the presence of these chemical plants is the health effect on Palestinians. The air in Tulkarem has been found to contain alarmingly high rates of monoxide and toxic substances in studies by both the University of Birzeit and the Palestinian Ministry of Health. In an interview with the Middle East Monitor last year, Dr. Abed Darak of the Tulkarem Ministry of Health said the city has the highest cancer and leukemia rate in the West Bank, claiming that 20 per cent of all cases stems from the area – despite being home to only five per cent of the total West Bank population. A 2012 report from the Palestinian Ministry of Health found that 77 per cent of the cases of cancer in the city were directly linked to chemical substances from the factories.
A representative from the Palestine Technical University (PTU), which neighbors the Gushiri chemical plant to the south and the Apartheid Wall to the west, said today that the smell is “unbearable” after 3 pm, which explains why most residents of Tulkarem always keep their windows shut. Residents living near the factories have also developed health issues including asthma, reduced lung capacity, skin ailments and eye infections. This is especially true for elementary students.
Additionally, it has been estimated that approximately 300 dunams, i.e. 300,000 square meters, of agricultural land is contaminated by emissions from the factories.
A child’s cry: Stop poisoning Palestine’s schools
The global civic organization Avaaz is currently running a campaign named “A child’s cry: Stop poisioning Palestine’s schools” to help stopping the chemical plants in Tulkarem. By signing a petition on their website, you can help putting pressure on the EU, their biggest market, to apply their strict(er) environmental regulations and impose an import ban on these factories.
18th April 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Team Al Khalil | East Jerusalem, Occupied Palestine
The Amro and Tohta families in the occupied East Jerusalem Wadi al-Joz neighbourhood are calling for international presence on Sunday, April 19. The Tohta family received a demolition-order for their house and were warned that the demolition will take place on Sunday morning at 4 am. As the majority of the Amro family home has already been illegally demolished, they are afraid that the remainder of their house will be leveled on Sunday morning. Both families ask for supporters to be present during the night from Saturday to Sunday.
Early in the morning of March 31, 2015, Israeli forces demolished part of the house lived in by Nuredin Amro and his brother, both of whom are blind and live with their families. There was no prior notice or demolition order and Israeli forces barely waited for the family to leave the rooms that were going to be demolished and physically attacked the family, including women and children. Since that day, the Amro family lives in the rubble of their house, crammed into the only remaining rooms, in constant fear of further demolitions.
The same morning, Israeli forces used the opportunity to also demolish animal shelters on the neighbouring Tohta family’s land. Only two weeks later, in the night of April 15, 2015 the Tohta family received a demolition-order for their house and was told that soldiers will come for the demolition Sunday morning at 4 am. With only a few days till the demolition and the holiday on Friday and Saturday, there is no possibility of taking any legal action against that demolition-order.
Both families are asking for supporters – Palestinian, internationals and Israelis to be present on the premises during the night from Saturday to Sunday. The Amro family, even though there is no demolition-order for their house, is worried that – just like before – what is left of the family home will be destroyed when Israeli forces are in the neighbourhood on Sunday morning. Supporters can either arrive at the family’s premises late Saturday night or very early Sunday morning. With part of the Amro family home demolished, they can not offer a place to sleep inside the house, on Sunday morning the roads to reach the neighbourhood are very likely to be closed by Israeli forces to prevent documentation of the demolition. Any person coming to show their support for these two families should try to bring recording equipment and cameras to document this aggression by the Israeli military.
Wadi al-Joz is located directly outside the Old City of Jerusalem, is in a vulnerable neighbourhood with three demolitions in the last three and a half weeks. Land across from this neighbourhood was already annexed by the Israeli authorities to create a national park encompassing an illegal Israeli settlement.
Contact for any further questions and coordinating supporters:
4th March 2015 | International Solidarity Movement | Bil’in, Occupied Palestine
Update March 2015:
The Israeli prosecution appealed Hanan’s bail. She is still currently imprisoned. Her bail now needs to paid this Sunday, March 6.
We have now raised 519 shekels, but she needs much more in order to be able to go home on Sunday.
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On February 27, 2015, Israeli forces arrested 22-year-old Hanan while she was taking part in the demonstration marking ten years of the Palestinian village of Bil’in’s popular nonviolent resistance against the Apartheid wall and illegal settlements.
Hanan, from Tulkarem refugee camp, volunteers with PMRS (Palestinian Medical Relief Services). Israeli forces forcibly arrested her after she had been standing in front of soldiers holding a Palestinian flag.
If the Israeli prosecution does not appeal, Hanan will be released on bail. Israeli military court has set Hanan’s bail at 6000 NIS (1505 USD). If it is paid tomorrow, she will be able to go home.
