Category: Features - Page 142 - International Solidarity Movement

UPDATED: Murad Eshtewi, head of the Popular Committee of Kafr Qaddum, has been arrested

21st December 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

Second Update 24th December:

A military judge has ruled that Murad Eshtewi will be released from prison with a 7000 NIS bail. Nery Ramati, Murad’s lawyer, argued that it was unreasonable to continue to hold Murad for interrogation as he had not been interrogated since his arrest at 10am Friday morning.

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Update 24th December:

Murad Eshtewi was arrested on the 20th December and has still not been interrogated. Murad has not been charged with any crimes, though he is suspected of “incitement”. This charge appears to be based on a photograph of Murad with a megaphone. He is also suspected of entering a closed military zone.

Yesterday Murad attended Salem Court near Jenin where Israeli forces requested that his detention be extended for 8 days, it was granted for four days and his second hearing will be held on the 26th

Today Murad and his lawyers are trying to appeal this decision at Ofer prison in Ramallah.

In recent years Israel has imprisoned leaders of popular committees for “incitement” and similar charges. An example is Abdullah Abu Rahma, the head of Bil’in popular committee, who in 2010 was convicted of “incitement” and imprisoned for 18 months. He also received a 6 months suspended sentence that is active for 5 years and a 5000 NIS fine.

The imprisonment of Murad Eshtewi is part of Israel’s campaign to criminalise popular protests by using its military court.

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Yesterday morning, Murad Eshtewi, the head of the Popular Committee of Kufr Qaddum and leader of the Friday demonstrations was arrested and is still being held by Israeli forces.

At around 3:00 on Friday morning, Israeli soldiers entered the village of Kafr Qaddum, in Qalqilya district, arresting two citizens on the accusation of having taken part in the regular Friday demonstrations held in the village. The men were released the following morning without charges.

The house of Murad Eshtewi, the head of the Popular Committee of Kafr Qaddum, was also raided during the night incursion and he was subjected to aggressive questioning.

Later, at approximately 10:00 on Friday morning, two hours before the demonstration was due to begin, Mr Eshtewi was walking on the outskirts of the village and was ambushed and arrested by soldiers. He did not resist this arrest and yet Israeli forces were extremely aggressive in their use of both pepper spray and stun grenades. He has not yet been released.

His attorney, Lymor Goldstein, stated that, “Contrary to the fundamental principles of due process we have not been presented with the accusations against Murad nor has he been interrogated since his arrest. “

In recent weeks there has been a steady escalation of night raids, increasingly violent repression of Friday demonstrations, flying checkpoints and seemingly arbitrary arrests. In the past month alone there have been more than twenty night raids on houses in the village.

Last month a new army commander responsible for the area gave a verbal warning to villagers stating that, unless they suspend their Friday demonstrations, the military harassment outlined above would be increased.

A typical night raid will involve up to around fifty soldiers surrounding and entering a particular house. Tear gas is often released and live ammunition may be fired into the air to intimidate residents. Israeli soldiers may break windows and doors in order to enter the houses.

Arrestees are blindfolded and handcuffed before being taken for questioning to another location. Interrogation may take place in the back of an army jeep, on the ground at the side of the road, or within the police station. Frequently they are subjected to verbal and physical abuse. When released, the detainees are often left in the road, kilometers from their homes.

The villagers of Kafr Qaddum are currently unable to access much of their land due to the closure by the Israeli army of the village’s main and only road leading to Nablus in 2003. The road was closed in three stages, ultimately restricting access for farmers to the 11,000 dunams of land that lie along either side to one or two times a year. Since the road closure, the people of Kafr Qaddum have been forced to rely on an animal trail to access this area; the road is narrow and, according to the locals, intended only for animals. In 2004 and 2006, three villagers died when they were unable to reach the hospital in time. The ambulances carrying them were prohibited from using the main road and were forced to take a 13 km detour. These deaths provoked even greater resentment in Kafr Qaddum and, on 1 July 2011, the villagers decided to unite in protest in order to re-open the road and protect the land in danger of settlement expansion along it.

Viscous crackdown on unarmed protesters against the Prawer Plan just outside Ramallah

2nd December 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Occupied Palestine

Over 100 Palestinians and international activists took part in a non-violent demonstration on the 30^th of November to protest against the Prawer Plan. The demonstration began at the al-Bireh municipality building in Ramallah and proceeded onto the Bet El settlement nearby. Demonstrators were met with stones then live ammunition from settlers before the Israeli army and border police arrived, employing violent tactics to disperse the demonstrators and arresting three Palestinians in the process.

Protesters gathered at the municipality building at around 2pm to protest the Prawer Plan (Israel’s planned removal of up to 70,000 members of the Bedouin population living in the Negev) before travelling by bus to the Bet El settlement. On arrival protesters made their way up a side entrance of the illegal settlement whilst under attack from stones thrown by settler youth. This did not deter the demonstrators who chanted slogans and attached banners to the settlement fence. This brought the attention of settlers armed with automatic firearms. After a brief period of pushing on the chain linked fence the armed settlers fired a volley of live ammunition in the air in an attempt to intimidate the non-violent protesters. Shortly after this Israeli forces began arriving on the scene.

This prompted those present to continue demonstrating on the main road adjacent to the settlement. The Israeli army and border police were initially passive due to the large presence of journalists and photographers, which led those present to believe that this non-violent protest would be allowed to continue without violent intervention. However it quickly degenerated into a brutal crackdown on all peaceful protesters present. The security forces initially fired a flurry of tear gas canisters whilst advancing 30 meters before breaking into formations with riot shields to obstruct the road. Numerous stun grenades were then thrown at the feet of protesters in an effort to disperse them. However it was only once arrests began to take place that this occurred. One of those arrested was slammed to the ground and held there by up to 12 soldiers and border police before being led away to an undisclosed location.

By this point a good deal of the demonstrators had dispersed but a small number headed towards Jalzaun refugee camp and created road blocks to attempt to disrupt the advance of the Israeli soldiers. Some also began to throw stones up the road where the lines of army and border police remained, at which point tear gas was fired in vast quantities towards the Palestinian protesters. Some protesters were forced to leave the area due to the thickness of the tear gas in the air and the unbearable conditions that this created. However those that did remain, as well as the residents of the refugee camp, were shot at with both rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition even after the demonstration was clearly finished. Despite this, no serious injuries were reported although many people were treated on the scene for tear gas inhalation.

Protests against the Prawer Plan have taken place across Palestine, but also worldwide over the last few days including in the Negev itself where up to 1000 people attended. However despite this Benjamin Netanyahu described the Prawer Plan demonstrations as “riots” and stated, “We shall continue to advance the Prawer Bill.”

Israeli army demolish a house in the Salfit village of Deir Ballut

29th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Deir Ballut, Occupied Palestine

On Thursday morning at five am, the Israeli army demolished a house under construction, and left the area before the owner Ghaneem Mahmoud Abdullah Al-Karim or other villagers were able to arrive at the scene. It is believed that the Israeli forces conduct these activities so early in the morning in order to avoid nonviolent resistance from the villagers. This was the first house to be demolished in Deir Ballut but there are over sixty houses that have been served demolition orders from the Israeli army.

The village is over five hundred years old, and within the Oslo Agreements the village was literally split between Area B and Area C. There are over a hundred and eighty houses that now fall within Area C and therefore are under threat of demolition. The inhabitants of Area C need permission from the Israeli government to even refurbish their houses, which is often impossible to get.

Deir Ballut (to the left of the map) is in risk of being surrounded by the annexation wall. The red line is the wall today while the black marks the planned route (source: OCHA).

The majority of Deir Ballut, as with other villages in the area, is classified as Area C and is controlled by the occupation forces. Many villages in the Salfit area have lost land to settlement and to the construction of the separation wall. Deir Ballut has lost 2,000 dunums which was confiscated when Israel built the Apartheid Wall, and the intended reassignment of the Wall which is to be carried out in coming years will mean that the village will lose even more land and is surrounded by the wall.

As Deir Ballut’s population increases, families are forced to build in Area C, as is the case for the Al Karim family. The villagers are committed to continue constructing homes on their land, and to help Ghaneem and his family to rebuild their house.

Video: Gaza mother remembers Israeli airstrike that decimated her family a year ago

20th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Gal·la López | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

On 19th November 2012, shortly before the end of Israel’s “Operation Pillar of Defense” military offensive against the Gaza Strip, an Israeli missile struck the Hijazi family’s house as they watched TV.

The father and two his children were killed. Other family members were injured. Their house was destroyed, and their lives will never be the same.

Amna Hijazi, the mother and wife of the victims who was amid the carnage of the attack, recalls the details of the day one year later.

Updated with video: Apartheid wall smashed on anniversary of independence declaration

15th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Bir Nabala and Rafat, Occupied Palestine

This morning, November 15, 2013, 25 years after Yasser Arafat declared independence of the Palestinian state, a group of Palestinian activists undertook a direct action against the annexation wall and fence, supported by both Israeli and international activists.

Palestinian activist smashes annexation wall with a sledgehammer (photo by Ingrid Bousquet).

At approximately 6:30 am groups of Palestinian, Israeli and international activists traveled to a section of the annexation wall in Bir Nabala. Sledgehammers and other tools were donated by local popular committees and these were used to begin to smash through the wall.

Palestinian activists gradually begin to break through (photo by Ingrid Bousquet).

The action continued for approximately 20 minutes.

The hole in the apartheid wall grows larger (photo by Ingrid Bousquet).

Israeli soldiers did not arrive and activists were able to leave the area without confrontation from Israeli forces, moving on to the second action in Rafat.

Palestinian activists began to cut down the annexation fence (photo by Ingrid Bousquet)

Activists used donated wire cutters and bolt cutters to damage the annexation fence north west of Jerusalem.

The fence is torn down by Palestinian activists (photo by ISM).

Again, activists were able to successfully complete the action without intervention from Israeli forces.

Activists leave the Rafat area (photo by Ingrid Bousquet).

The apartheid wall and fence was declared illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004, yet it continues to be used as a mechanism to contain and oppress Palestinians who live within its boundaries. The action today can be seen as a symbol of the resistance within Palestine especially as today marks the anniversary of the Palestinian declaration of independence. Although this statement was written and signed 25-years-ago, Palestine remains under control by Israeli forces, the annexation wall a constant reminder of this occupation.