06th March | Miguel Hernández | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
On the 3rd of May, the trial of nine Palestinian fishermen kidnapped by the Egyptian army while fishing in waters of the border city of Rafah, took place in the Egyptian city of Al Arish. Three of the fishermen are brothers, Ali Abu Hamada, 36 years old, with eight children, Mahmoud Abu Hamada, 22 years old, and Mohamed Abu Hamada, 32 years old with three children. Among the hostages there’s also a 13 years old boy.
Mohamed’s wife with their three children.
Since the end of the last massacre in Gaza the situation of the fishermen has been worse than ever. They don’t even dare to reach the four mile limit.
Despite the fact that, officially, the sea blockade imposed by the Israeli state starts at six miles, the attacks on the fishermen are continuous even as close as two miles out.
Gaza sea port
Palestinians locked in Gaza tell us how much the position of the Eyptian government and its total coordination with the Israeli state regarding the policies towards the Palestinian people surprises and saddens them.
To the destruction of the tunnels that supplied the fishermen with fiberglass, necessary to fix the bullet holes in their boats, and the spare parts for engines, has, in recent months, been added the abduction of Palestinian fishermen and vessels that fish near Egyptian waters.
The mother of the three brothers, Nasmiya, native of Yibna, a Palestinian village wiped out by Israeli colonialism during the Nakba, described the umpteenth misfortune that the creation of the State of Israel in Paletine has brought to her life.
On the 16th March 2015, her sons, along with six other fishermen from Al Shati refugee camp, located in the Northern part of the Gaza Strip, headed south to the city of Rafah, trying to escape from the continuous attacks of the Israeli occupation forces and looking for less polluted and exploited waters.
The day after, the family received a phone call from the Egyptian army telling her that the nine fishermen were dead and that their bodies were in Egypt, ready to be returned the next time Rafah border opened.
It wasn’t until two weeks later when one of her sons managed to take a picture of the nine men and sent it to his mother, that she knew they were still alive.
Despite the bad quality of the picture, the signs of torture on their bodies was clear; cigarette burns, black eyes, wounds and bruises. For security reasons Nasmiya asks us not to publish the picture.
The family still doesn’t know the outcome of the trial, and no one dares to make predictions.
3rd May 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, OccupiedPalestine
The Jabari family owns land sandwiched in between the illegal settlements of Kiryat Arba and Givat Ha’vot. In 2001, settlers illegally took over part of the land to erect a synagogue-tent on the Jaabari-family land. All settlements are illegal under international law, unlike most settlements however, this synagogue has also been deemed illegal under Israeli law. In February 2015 an Israeli court finally ordered the demolition of the tent-synagogue. Even though the demolition was carried out in April, the debris until now still remains on the land and settlers keep on partly rebuilding under the protection of the Israeli forces.
Settlers rebuilding the Synagogue-Tent
When settlers from the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba first constructed the tent-synagogue on the Jabari family land , they also erected a path connecting Kiryat Arba with the illegal settlement of Givat Hav’ot. It took the family until 2003 to get a demolition order issued by the Israeli Civil Administration. Nothing happened afterwards until the synagogue-tent was destroyed by heavy snow in 2013, only to be rebuild again by settlers.
The demolished Synagogue-Tent on the Jabari land
Finally, on the 18th February 2015 an Israeli court issued a demolition order for the structure and the synagogue-tent was demolished early in the morning on 14th April 2014. Even though the tent was demolished, the Israeli military did not clean up the rubble, that until now is still on the family land. Since the demolition settlers have been partly rebuilding the synagogue-tent with the materials still on the land. “Price Tag” violence from the settlers, both adults and children, has rapidly increased since the demolition, with Palestinians walking past on the main road attacked by settlers, and the Jabari family has been attacked verbally and physically, with stones thrown by settlers. Israeli police and soldiers present at the sight- they watch but do not stop the settlers.
The Jaabari family asked for support with harvesting their fodder crops. As all of their land is either bordering the demolished synagogue-tent or the illegal settlement of Givat Ha’vot, Youth against Settlements (YAS) arranged to help with the harvest on 1st May 2015. Together with YAS, volunteers from a range of human rights organisations, both local and international, joined the family to harvest the area directly next to the demolished synagogue tent, the area most threatened by settlers. Israeli occupation forces are prohibiting the Jabaris and all volunteers from using any kind of harvesting tools under threat of arrest. Shortly after harvesting began, settlers, police and the army arrived. At first they only watched the harvest, but after two hours the Israeli forces declared the field a closed military zone and everyone was ordered to leave.
The Jabari family harvesting their land
On Saturday, another small field at the top of the Jabari’s land, close to the police station and the illegal settlement of Givat Ha’vot was harvested without interruption by settlers or Israeli forces. The majority of the Jabari family’s crops still remain to be brought in.
1st May 2015 | International Solidarity Movement | Occupied Palestine
We, Palestinians struggling against Israeli Apartheid, stand in solidarity with the residents of Baltimore.
We send our condolences to the family of Freddie Gray and all those murdered in police custody. We add our voices to the demand that the killers be held accountable. We send our solidarity to the families of the prisoners. Those arrested for demanding justice, for being black, brown or poor. We add our voices to the demand for their immediate and unconditional release. We stand in solidarity with those whose homes have been foreclosed, with those who live under the constant watch of surveillance cameras and under the constant threat of being stopped, harassed, arrested and assaulted by a militarized police force in their own streets.
Your struggle for justice, equality and freedom is our struggle.
In solidarity,
University Teachers’ Association – Gaza
Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel (PSCABI)
Bader Campaign for the Boycott of Israeli Goods
Herak Youth Center
One Democratic State Group (ODSG)
Youth Against Settlements (YAS)
The Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC)
The popular committee of Bil’in against the wall and settlements
28th of April 2015 | International Solidarity Movement & Jordan Valley Solidarity | Fasayil, Jordan Valley, Occupied Palestine
Yesterday morning (27th of April 2015) at 5 am in the area of al Makhrouk, al Jiftlik, the Israeli military arrived with bulldozers and demolished four houses belonging to Fathe Abdullah Ahmad, Tareeq, Yakub, Mohammed and Mahmoud Lahafe Dadoub. The houses were located right next to the agricultural settlements of Masu’a and Argaman.
The first house to be demolished was owned by the Tareeq family, where Mohammed Abu Amer lived with his family of five. This was the second time in less than a year that their home was destroyed, despite not receiving a demolition order. As farmers of dates and vegetables they lived next to the land they were working on. Three of the family members are children aged 1, 5 and 3 years old.
Fathe Abdullah Ahmad Tareeq in front of Mohammed Abu Amers family’s demolished home.
Their first house was demolished on the 10th of March this year. This house was built in August 2014, and received a demolition order straight away. After losing that house of 114 square meters containing bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, balcony and a barn built at the cost of 35 000 shekels (9000 US dollars) the family rebuilt the house. The second house was 50 square meters, consisting of a kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom and cost 8000 shekels (2000 US dollars) to build.
When activists from Jordan Valley Solidarity and the International Solidarity Movement arrived at the site the family was already building a tent for shelter. They explained that just ten minutes before the army was there taking photos of them working. Ever since they rebuilt the house last month the family has been under heavy surveillance by the Israeli military, which has been looking for evidence of building work at least five times. The military came again last night, just hours before the demolition.
The father of the Tareeq family, Fathe Abdullah Ahmad Tareeq, has a house in the village of Jiflik. This was also demolished. Instead of the previous breeze block structure, this time it was rebuilt in tin.
At 5.40 this morning the army bulldozed the neighbouring houses of Yakub and Mohammed Lahafe Dadoub. Each of their houses had two rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. The older parts of the house, (consisting of bathrooms and kitchens), was built of breeze blocks two years ago. When the families started building the other rooms out of tin 9 months ago the army came, took photographs of the houses and left a demolition order under some rocks outside their home. This was the only communication the family had received concerning the demolition. The family does not have a lawyer to represent them in the Israeli court. Their previous experience is that the Israeli court system systemically and deliberately discriminates against Palestinians.
Wreckage of the family homes of Yakub and Mohammed Lahafe Dadoub.
Yakub and his wife lived in their house together with their 1 month old and 2 year old daughters. Mohammed and his wife have five daughters between the age of 1.5 and 8. The houses were built for 50 000 shekels each (13000 US dollars) and it will cost more than that to rebuild. The family are determined to clear away the rubble from their demolished home and rebuild on the same spot again.
In a neighbouring house their brother Mahmoud Lahafe Dadoub lived with his family of 10, including 4 children. They built their house there to live closer to the family’s farm land in the Jordan Valley. The construction of the house cost of 30000 shekel (7500 US dollars). Today, after receiving a total of three demolition orders, their house was demolished for the second time. The family will rebuild the house on another part of their land, which will cost them the same amount again.
Mahmod Lahafe Dadoub on the spot where his family’s home was.
93.4% of the Jordan Valley is in ‘area C’ (full Israeli control), with 37 illegal Israeli settlements, most of which are agricultural. The expansion of these settlements and the theft of Palestinian land and demolition of Palestinian homes are part of Israel’s policy of ethnic cleansing and colonisation of the most fertile and profitable areas of the West Bank. Whilst Palestinians are violently forced out of their homes and forbidden by law to build the smallest farmhouse, Israelis are encouraged to build both homes and businesses in area C.
Most Palestinian houses in the area have pending demolition orders. Meteyb Lahafe Dadoub, the father of the three brothers has 15 children, and in 2012 his son Ayman’s home was demolished three times (see article). The neighbouring houses of Mahmoud, and Mohammed and Yakub, (another son of Meteyb), also have demolition orders, in place since 2006.
(Left) The settlement of Masu’a’s fences right next to the brothers demolished houses. (Right) Meteyb Lahafe Dadoub’s family have faced repeated harassment from the Israeli army.
The family had previously owned a successful agricultural export business, which specialised in exporting olive trees to the United States, Jordan and Gaza. Their business was ruined by Israeli restrictions that prohibited the export of their products.
When interviewed, Meteyb explained that the Israeli court usually does not care about the demolitions; even on the rare occasions when Israeli courts demand that a demolition order should not be carried out the army will sometimes still choose to continue with the demolition.
