17 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
“The Israelis hope that that the young people leave, the old people die, and then they can confiscate the land and the houses” says Sami, an activist working in Al Baqa’a, a windswept valley situated a few kilometers east of Hebron.
Atta and Rodni Jaber at their house in Al-Baqa'a, near Hebron
The Jaber family’s experiences of living in Al Baqa’a are similar to many other Palestinians in the area, in that their ordinary family faces extraordinary pressure on a daily basis from the Israeli military and nearby settlers.
Rodni Jaber is the mother of three daughters and a son. Dressed in a bright pink jumper and a floral headscarf, she is cheerfully voluble and keen to tell her family’s story.
“We have had our house demolished twice, this our third house on the land. We lived in a tent for six months and after that we got a court decision to live in this area within 150sqm, so we started to build this home.”
Rodni and Atta Jaber work as farmers growing grapes, raspberries and tomatoes in the milder months and radishes and turnips in the winter. Neat lines of cauliflower grow next to their stone house situated halfway up the hillside facing west towards Al Bwayre and the illegal Israeli settlements and outposts of Al Bwayre mountain.
The family owns 31 dunums of land (1 dunum = 1000 msq). Despite having papers dating from the era of the Ottoman Empire proving that the family owns the land, their house still has a demolition order in place.
“We went to the court, and we have a postponement by the Israeli military to destroy this house” says Rodni. “We are not here legally – by Israeli law – but they let us live here for the moment.”
Around 900 Palestinians live in Al Baqa’a valley. Many of the houses in the area are subject to demolition orders as the Israeli authorities and the settlers attempt to make life impossible for the Palestinians in the area to expand Israeli settlements. Local residents and activists claim to have in their possession a map on which red lines outline areas in Al Bwayre and Al Baqa’a valley that have been designated by Israeli engineers as places for the construction of 500 new housing units for Israeli settlers. Much of the land is currently inhabited by Palestinians and will need to be cleared to make way for the proposed development.
In addition to experiencing house demolitions and harassment from the military, the Jaber family has been subjected to repeated attacks by Israeli settlers from nearby Al Bwayre and Qiryat Arba settlements and various outposts.
The Jaber family's house in Al-Baqa'a Valley
The family’s house and land was attacked by settlers around a month ago. The Israeli military arrived in jeeps but declined to intervene as the settlers attempted to set fire to the house. Rodni Jaber explains:
The soldiers were there just to protect the settlers. The settlers told us to leave the house and said ‘this is our land’ . They even began to complain to the soldiers asking them to kick us out of the house saying that ‘the land is for Abraham and not for them’, putting pressure on the soldiers…They [the settlers] tried to burn the house and I began to push them to stop, I even called the Israeli police to come and see what the settlers were doing. All the family fled as we were afraid of being burned in the house.
They failed to set fire to the house. This was just one incident in a long line of attacks on the family over the years; “I lost a baby [because I was attacked by settlers]. I was 4 months pregnant at that time and they attacked me and I lost it. I have been attacked many times by the settlers and I have been in hospital many times.
Nine or ten years ago an ‘operation’ happened on the highway here by the Palestinian resistance against the settlers. After that, the settlers gathered in Qiryat Arba and came here. They broke the door, entered the house and burned it…I left without shoes and wearing my pajamas. The settlers kicked my family out for three days….The soldiers then occupied the house for 40 days. We got a high court decision to return – when we came back to the house everything was broken. At that time settlers also went to my brother’s family [who lives near the house] and they shot him in the stomach – he survived but he has a plastic stomach now.
Al Baqa’a residents live under full Israeli civil and military control in Area C, so how do they protect themselves when the soldiers stand-by and facilitate settler attacks on the family?
Rodni stated that “The chief of police has been to the area and said ‘If something happens just call me’. We got a paper from the DCO (District Coordination Offices) saying that the Israeli soldiers have to protect this house. We got this when we were attacked in 2001. But they don’t do anything – it’s just paper…Most of the Palestinian people in this area are from my family so we try to protect each other. If they attack a house they try to go to the house to protect it.”
A cousin of the family was attacked last week as he rode a donkey in the valley; settlers hit him on the head with metal piping. He was hospitalized and his wounds were stitched up, luckily he was not badly injured.
How does the family cope with the psychological pressures of the constant threat of attack? Rodni smiled and stated, ” I am very strong…and if something happens I think ‘Al Hamdillilah’ (By the blessings of God).
If the family’s experiences are often terrifying and brutal, they are also occasionally absurd. In 1998 Rodni’s son Raja’ was born. A few days after his birth, settlers attacked the house; one settler made a complaint to the police that someone called ‘Raja’ had put a knife to his chest, threatening to kill him.
“After that [several days later] the soldiers came to arrest my son – who was 40 days old” said Rodni. “They heard about my son ‘Raja’ and they came and asked ‘where is Raja’. I showed him my son who was 40 days old, I showed them his birth certificate because they didn’t believe he was Raja’.” But the incident did not stop there as Rodni said, ”
They said that Raja’ should come to the court – at the age of 50 days I had to take him to court. They said ‘where is the defendant Raja’ I showed them my son… the judge ruled that when he reaches 16 years old he will have to come to back to court!”
Surely when the case comes to court and it becomes apparent that Raja could not even sit up or support the weight of his own head at that time of the incident, let alone threaten to harm anyone, the situation will go beyond parody. Rodni laughs and agrees it will be extremely embarrassing for the Israelis but the ruling still stands; Raja is 12 years old now and in four years time he will have to go to court and explain his role in the incident.
As Rodni talks, her husband Atta returns from work, wearing a woolen hat against the Autumn chill. He talks eloquently about Palestinian history and recounts his memories of Al Baqa’a Valley during the Six Day War in 1967.
“I was five years old when they occupied the West Bank, I still remember that day. The Israelis bombed the people and the Jordanian army here and they killed maybe 150 people in that time. Everybody had put white keffiyehs out as white flags to show that this is a peaceful area.”
A ruined house destroyed by the Israeli military in Al-Baqa'a Valley
As well as talking about the area’s history and the threat from settlers and the Israeli military, Atta described the mundane challenges of daily life in Al Baqa’a valley.
” We have a lot of problems in this area; there are no schools to send our children, we don’t have any clinics or hospitals. We don’t have water – the settlers have water 24 hours a day. We connected pipes to the settlement after we had submitted a lot of applications with the Israeli administration and water companies. In 1998 we applied to the company to have water but Israel prevented this. Under the Geneva Conventions it says that you are responsible for those that you occupy, but they want to transfer us from this area even though we have been the owners of the land for hundreds of years.”
Atta and Rodni refuse to be daunted by the problems they face. When asked about what the future holds for their family, Atta evades directly answering the question and replied in broader terms.
“It is not just my future, it is about all Palestinians’ future. Their tragedy and suffering becomes greater everyday.”
Alistair George is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
13 November 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee
UPDATE: The opening court date has been postponed from 17 November to 24 November 2011.
Tristan Anderson, a US National, suffered a life-threatening injury after being shot in the head with a high velocity tear-gas projectile during an anti-Wall demonstration on March 13th, 2009.
On 13 March 2009, Israeli Border Police officers shot US activist from California, Tristan Anderson, in the head with a high velocity tear-gas projectile during a demonstration in the West Bank Village of Ni’ilin. He was shot from a distance of about 40 meters away, at a time when no clashes or protesters were in his immediate vicinity. As a result of the shooting, Anderson suffered serious brain damage and the loss of his eye, as well as being paralyzed on half of his body. His injuries prevent him from functioning as an independent adult. A criminal investigation into the incident by the Israeli police is still pending.
Proceedings in the Anderson family’s civil suit against the State of Israel will begin on Thursday at the Jerusalem District Court in Jerusalem. The suit was filed by attorney Ghada Hleihil of the Lea Tsemel Law Office to demand reparations for the unjustified shooting and for damages incurred by Anderson and his loved ones.
The opening hearing will include the testimony of Gabrielle Silverman, Anderson’s partner. Silverman was standing near Anderson when he was shot. She was also inside the ambulance that evacuated Anderson from the scene, which was stopped by the army for long minutes at the Ni’ilin checkpoint despite the clear indications that Anderson was in critical condition with a life threatening head injury.
Proceedings are scheduled to continue on Nov 24th, Nov 27th and Dec 18th.
Background
On 13 March 2009, Israeli Border Police officers shot the US activist from California, Tristan Anderson, in the head with a high velocity tear-gas projectile during a demonstration in the West Bank Village of Ni’ilin. Anderson, 38 at the time, was rushed to the Tel Hashomer hospital in Israel, where he underwent several life-saving surgeries on his brain and eye. Despite many operations, Tristan suffered serious brain damage and the loss of his eye.
Anderson was shot from a distance of about 40 meters, despite the fact that no clashes or protesters were in his immediate vicinity at the time as many protesters had already returned to their homes.
At a press conference following Anderson’s hospitalization in March, his parents, Mike and Nancy Anderson expressed shock at the shooting of their son, and their hope that Israel would take responsibility for its forces’ actions.
In August 2009 before Israel’s investigation was made public, the Israeli Ministry of Defense notified the Anderson’s lawyers that Israel perceives the incident on 13 March 2009 as an “act of war”. This classification was made despite the fact that Anderson’s shooting occurred during a civilian demonstration and that there were no armed hostilities during the event or surrounding it. The consequence of such classification is that according to Israeli law, the state of Israel is not liable for any damage its’ forces have caused, even if unjustified.
Michael Sfard, the attorney representing the family in the criminal proceedings, stated: “If an unarmed civilian demonstration is classified by Israel as an ‘act of war’, then clearly Israel admits that it is at war with civilians. International law identifies the incident as a clear case of human rights abuse.”
Following the conclusion of the Israeli investigation and the decision to close the case without filing any indictments on the grounds of “lack of wrongdoing” in March 2010, the Anderson family filed an appeal. A thorough examination of the police’s case file by Attorney Sfard revealed that the police failed to visit the scene of the shooting, questioned officers who had nothing to do with the case and failed to question the Border Police unit in the area from where Tristan was shot according to all civilian eyewitnesses. Following an appeal pointing to grave negligence in conducting the investigation, the District Attorney ordered that the investigation into the shooting be reopened. Tristan Anderson and his family returned to the United States in June, following over a year in the hospital. Currently residing in California, the shooting has left Anderson suffering cognitive damage, paralyzed on the left side and requiring 24 hours care.
Israeli forces began using high velocity tear-gas projectiles and 0.22 caliber live ammunition at West Bank demonstrations in December 2008, in parallel with Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. High-velocity tear-gas projectiles, like the one that was shot at Tristan Anderson are a product of the US company, Combined Systems Inc (CSI). A similar projectile caused the mortal injury of Bassem Abu Rahmah in the village of Bil’in on April 17th, 2009 – only a month after Anderson’s shooting. The projectile and its misuse by Israeli forces have been highlighted by the Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem, which caused the Judge Advocate General (JAG) to order that the Army investigate their misuse on several occasions. Eventually the use of the projectile by the Army was banned in the West Bank. According to a CSI subsidiary company’s website, the projectiles, with a velocity of 400 ft/sec (130m/sec), are not meant for use in open-air crowd control situations, but rather as indoor barricade penetrators.
5 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
For over a week now, ISM activists have been continually harassed, and on one occasion assaulted, by Israeli soldiers who have frequently demanded that internationals to hand over possessions of their passports. This ongoing situation has occurred within the ‘H2’ zone in the city of Hebron, which is notorious for its intense and illegal Israeli military presence due to a small number of Israeli citizens who have illegally invaded and occupied a historically significant part of the city.
Harassment of international observers at checkpoint - Click here for more information
According to Israeli law, soldiers have limited jurisdiction over internationals as internationals are governed by civil law (unlike the Palestinians who suffer under unjust military rule) and therefore only the Israeli police have the legal authority to demand an international or Israeli citizen to provide their passport for inspection. Despite this, the soldiers have continued to attempt to abuse their power, generally using tactics of intimidation and threats, in a vain hope that they will force the internationals to submit to their inflated sense of power.
This recent change of approach from the Israeli military towards internationals appears to have coincided with a strong international presence at a olive harvest within the ‘H2’ zone during which Israeli soldiers refused Palestinians’ their inherent right to harvest their own land. It also appears that the arrival of a new commander, who infamously boasted, “I am the law, I am god” has also contributed to what incredibly may be a deterioration in the treatment Palestinians and internationals. In his short period in charge the commander has revoked a long established agreement that teachers; pregnant women and others with health issues do not have to pass through the radiation emitting checkpoint and must instead submit to being searched every time. It appears this commander has ambitions of promotion beyond the rank of, “god” and recognises that the path to this within the Israeli army is inhumane treatment of Palestinians and any who dare support them.
ISM activists have remained firm in their support of Palestinians and compliance with Israeli law, recognising that as internationals they are able to resist elements of the occupation that Palestinians are simply unable to; also and perhaps most importantly, if internationals allow the soldiers to abuse their power with internationals, it will weaken their ability to support Palestinians in their struggle and potentially open the floodgates for further abuses of power against the Palestinians. Consequently over the last week to ten days it has been a daily occurrence that internationals are refused entry into the ‘H2’ and even at times out (via checkpoint 56).
On occasions ISM activists have chosen to take the longer route into the ‘H2′ zone when they have been refused entry through checkpoint 56 and at times even avoided the checkpoint completely similar to many of the teachers and Palestinians’ with health issues. This longer route is significantly less convenient for many, and ISM activists have been informed that it can add as much as forty five minutes onto a teacher’s travel time to and from work, which has some of them considering whether they can continue to provide their invaluable service to the children of Qordoba school.
When ISM activists have refused to take an alternative route into ‘H2’ they are frequently delayed for long periods of time until the police arrive to resolve what is an unlawful situation. Reports from ISM activists indicate that the police officers who arrive at the scene are also aware of the illegality of the soldiers request, and while they are eager not to explicitly state this in front of international activists, it is clear from their gestures that they do not believe the soldiers requests are necessary.
Each time the police have arrived to such an incident, ISM activists have handed over their passports without resistance and often their details (i.e. name, nationality, passport number etc.) have been recorded. However, although it has generally been the case that the police officers have shown a lack of support for the soldiers position, clearly both the soldiers and the police form part of a larger illegal and unjust structure within the West Bank, and consequently on some occasions the police have attempted to intimidate ISM activists by claiming that soldiers have the authority to arrest internationals who refuse to show their passports. This is also illegal according to Israeli law. On a couple of occasions the police officers have handed over possession of international’s passports to the soldiers, who have then retained the passports for significant periods of time, illegally and without any genuine explanation.
On Tuesday 1st November the situation reached a new level of illegality and harassment. At approximately 11 AM a lone ISM activist attempted to pass through checkpoint 56 on their way to their apartment where they were staying. This activist appears to have been the attention for much of the soldiers’ harassment particularly when travelling alone, which has led activists to questions whether this is due to the activists ethnicity (Black British). Although the soldiers are aware of the identity of all the ISM activists and have seen their passports and recorded their details on several occasions, once again the soldiers demanded that they be given possession of the ISM activist’s passport, refusing to accept that close inspection (although they do not have the authority to demand this either) was sufficient. The activist denied this illegal request and consequently the two soldiers controlling the checkpoint refused to allow the activist to travel freely to their destination. In addition the soldiers refused to call the police and suggested that the activist simply would have to exit the checkpoint. Aware that often the only effective weapon against the abuses of Israeli authorities, both committed against internationals activists, but most important Palestinian civilians, is the scrutiny of international eyes via the camera lens, the activist called two of his colleagues to come and record the incident.
Once two other ISM activists arrived to the checkpoint (from their apartment within the ‘H2’ zone) with their videos camera aimed, the ISM activist being refused entry again attempted to show the soldiers his passport and valid visa, but the soldiers continued to deny them entry. The soldiers were then asked to call the police so the situation could be resolved according to Israeli law, but the soldiers also refused this, appearing eager to simply punish the activist for daring to resist their attempt to abuse their power as they feel entitled to do with innocent Palestinians.
Under the gaze of the cameras the ISM activists then attempted to make their way to the apartment, with the soldiers unwilling to resolve the situation legally. At this point the two soldiers began to physically prevent the activists from making progress, with both becoming aggressive and violent as they pushed the activist towards a nearby wall. Under threat from the soldiers the activist instinctively raised his hands to defend himself and attempt to remove himself from the grip and the force of the two soldiers. Perhaps indicative of the deception used by the Israeli government, the two soldiers who were clearly the aggressors in this situation, attempted to claim that they were under attack and had been assaulted by the lone activist. This type of blatant manipulation of the facts appears to be a common theme through much of the Israeli government propaganda about this illegal occupation.
The soldiers then claimed that they would call the police to report this factious assault and ordered the activist to remain beside the checkpoint until the police arrived. Naively believing that the soldiers were for once being honest the activist followed this instruction without resistance, recognising that soldiers have the right to detain internationals for three hours while the police arrive to an incident. It later emerged that the soldiers had not actually called the police, who on several occasions drove past the incident along with T.I.P.H (temporary international presence in Hebron) who were equally slow and ineffective in their response, which it seems they frequently are.
The police arrived approximately two and a half hours after the incident began, following a call from an ISM activist requesting their presence at the incident. During this period of detainment there was change in the soldiers presence at the checkpoint, with a notoriously hostile and aggressive soldier arriving (one who had previously kicked this activist while he had been travelling alone) and consequently the situation, the harassment and the assault escalated.
One of the first ISM activists who had arrived at the scene to support their colleague eventually had to leave in order go on a school patrol (helping young school children to travel home safely in the face of often vicious settler attacks) and attempted to pass checkpoint 56 and exit ‘H2’. The soldiers are generally less likely to check the ID of Palestinians as they exit ‘H2’ and almost never ask to see the passports of internationals travelling in this direction as they are travelling into the ‘H1’ zone where Israeli citizens have yet to attempt to illegally invade and occupy.
However on this occasion the soldier who is notorious for his hostility towards Palestinians and internationals, decided that he wanted the ISM activists to hand over possession of his passport before he could exit the checkpoint. When he was refused permission, to abuse his power further the soldier became violent and forcibly prevented the ISM activist from progressing into the city; chasing him beyond the checkpoint; screaming with M16 in tow and then pushing the activist against a wall. So as not to further provoke, what can only be described as an unstable and volatile soldier, the activist made his way back through the checkpoint and he too was then detained along with his fellow ISM activist as both waited for the police arrive to the incident. A third ISM activists was also later detained simply for attempting to take a mobile phone from one of their colleagues who had been detained. Both this third ISM activist and another were aggressively pushed as they attempted to make any type of contact with their colleagues.
During this period activists from CPT arrived and attempted to investigate what was occurring. They too were treated with hostility and distain, but remained firm in their determination to document what was occurring, which meant they were frequently assaulted as the soldiers arbitrarily pushed them away and insisted they stand on a particular piece of the road along with other ISM activists who were also now present and recording the incident. As the minutes and hours passed by, another group of internationals who appeared to be having a guided tour of the city also stopped at the incident and were suitably horrified by what was occurring. Despite the fact that they were at least fifteen internationals documenting the incident, the soldiers appeared oblivious and even escalated their violence against the ISM activists detained.
Whilst being observed by a large crowd of internationals, one of the soldiers decided that they wanted to illegally search the ISM activist that they had originally detained. At this point the activist had been detained for over an hour and had peacefully and calmly remained in the same position, clearly presenting no risk. The activist refused the attempt by the soldier to humiliate him in front of the crowd by searching him, explaining that they had previously passed through the metal detector. The activist attempted to compromise with soldiers by saying that they we were willing for their bag to be searched but would not submit to a full body search until the police arrived, and they had legal authority to perform such a search if the circumstances warranted it. With their authority challenged the soldiers again resorted to violence, attempting to push and pull the activist away from his colleagues to a nearby wall. The activists was able to resist non-violently by holding onto a metal railing, while all present were horrified at what they were witnessing and demanded in vain that it end.
Eventually the soldiers relented, undoubtedly realising that in order for them to exert their will in this situation they would have to use a level of force which they were not comfortable using in front of such a large international audience.
Soon after about six more soldiers arrived on the scene which seemed to frighten many of the internationals who had gathered and they were hurriedly ushered away by their guide, leaving their best wishes with the three activists who were being detained. Perhaps the reduced level of scrutiny encouraged the soldiers to once again behave in manner which can only be described as inhumane. The third ISM activist who had been detained simply for attempting to take a mobile phone from her colleague, after standing directly in the hot midday sun for about thirty minutes, attempted to move less than half a metre to find some shade. As soon as the ISM activist attempted to move she was approached by a soldier he began to aggressively push her back, refusing to listen to her plea to stand in an area with less direct sunlight while she was being detained for a reason hard to comprehend. Anxious about the safety of his colleague who had been suffering from the flu for the last few days, and appeared unsteady under the force of the much larger and stronger soldier, another of the detained activists stood beside his colleague to ensure she was okay. The solider then turned his attention to the male ISM activist and violently grabbed him by the throat and again attempted to aggressively push him backwards.
By the time the police eventually arrived there were four people being detained, three ISM activists and one Palestinian man, who appeared to have been detained simply for daring to speak to the ISM activists as he walked past. On their arrival the police spoke to the soldiers present before asking for the passport of the first international detained. Initially it seemed as though the police officers were suggesting that soldiers would be arresting this international, but eventually after the commander of the soldier’s was called to the incident the international was arrested for allegedly assaulting a soldier and was escorted via a police car to a local police station, with two police officers and two soldiers accompanying him. The three other detainees were released without any further issue, clearly indicating that they were being held without just cause.
After several hours waiting in the police station, with limited information being given to the arrested British activist or his concerned colleagues who spent time outside the station ( unaware of whether the ISM activist was actually being detained there) and also made several phone calls to the police station, the ISM activist was eventually informed he would be spending the night in police custody and would be taken to the immigration authorities to be deported the following morning. The activist was interviewed, had their finger prints and photographs taken and after having many of their belongings removed, locked away in a cell for the night.
The following morning at approximately 8.30am two officers entered the ISM activists cell and after strip searching him and then hand cuffing his wrists and ankles, escorted him to a court in Jerusalem via a high security police van. During the journey the activist shared a small metal compartment with a Palestinian man, who it perhaps wouldn’t be too presumptuous to suggest was be held unjustly and would undoubted receive significantly more severe treatment than the international activist with whom he shared a seat. Once at the court the activist spoke with a lawyer provided by the ISM. The lawyer explained that the prosecutor had initially suggested they would attempt to have the activist deported, but the lawyer was able to effectively argue that there were no legal grounds for this. The lawyer suggested to the activist that he should agree to the new terms demanded by the prosecution, which were that the activist could not return south of Jerusalem for fifteen days. After being informed that although there was video evidence of not only the innocence of the activist, but also the various assaults committed by the soldiers, this was insufficient to stand against the word of a police officer. The ISM activist decided to sign the agreement for fear that the demands would be made even more severe (e.g. a six month ban form the entire West Bank).
Canadian and Irish ships sailing with Freedom Waves to Gaza were illegally boarded by the Israeli military in international waters yesterday afternoon.
The Israeli military stated that “Upon arrival of the vessels at the Ashdod port, the activists will be transferred to the custody of the Israel Police and immigration authorities in the Ministry of Interior”.
At present, it has been confirmed that two of the passengers have been released by the Israeli authorities without charge. The fate of the remaining passengers is unknown.
Palestinians gather support for Freedom Waves- Click here for more images
Huwaida Arraf, spokesperson from Freedom Waves to Gaza, said “It’s clear that 27 civilians on two small boats, carrying only medicine, constituted no security threat to the Israeli state, and that the determination to keep them out is only a furtherance of Israel’s policy of collective punishment, a crime against humanity. Despite this Israeli aggression, we will keep coming, wave after wave, by air, sea, and land, to challenge Israel’s illegal policies towards Gaza and all of Palestine. Our movement will not stop or be stopped until Palestine is free.”
The two ships, carrying a total of 27 passengers and $30,000 worth of medicine and supplies, set off from Turkey on November 2. The Freedom Waves to Gaza initiative is a non-violent, civil society movement to challenge the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza.
Freedom Waves to Gaza organizers had been unable to communicate with the ships soon after the vessels were approached by Israeli warships earlier yesterday afternoon.
The Canadian boat ‘Tahrir’ (Liberation) confirmed that the Israeli navy had contacted them asking for their destination at around 13:00 (Gaza time) to which Ehab Lotayef, an activist on board the ship, replied “The conscience of humanity”. When the Israelis again demanded to know the destination of the ship Lotayef replied; “The betterment of mankind”.
When the Israeli navy made contact, both ships were around 51 nautical miles from the coast of Gaza, well into international waters. ‘
However, the Israeli military reported that the navy has been ordered by IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz to board the ships after “attempts to contact them failed.”
Anatolia News Agency, Turkey, has reported that the boats were offered the choice to go to Egypt or return.
A spontaneous gathering took place yesterday in Gaza’s seaport in anticipation of the arrival of the boats turning quickly into a protest, as the news of the assault became known. Protesters are calling for UN sanctions against Israel for its persistent violations of international law. Protests took place yesterday evening in Ramallah in solidarity with the flotilla, and in Haifa and Gaza the previous days. Rally goers demanded UN accountability for Gaza’s current siege, as Israel continues its tight grip on the suffocating Gaza Strip.
Israeli commandos boarded a previous Gaza Freedom Flotilla on 31 May 2010, killing nine Turkish activists and wounding many more.
Ben Lorber is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement and writes for Alternative Information Center. Alistair George is a volunteer for ISM (name changed).
2 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On Wednesday, November 2, two international ships left the Turkish harbor to carry humanitarian aid through the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
The event, called ‘Freedom Waves for Gaza’, unites 27 activists from 9 countries, including America, Canada, Denmark, Belgium, Germany and Australia, alongside a Palestinian Haifa, in a broad-based international movement to break Israel’s illegal and immoral suffocation of the 1.6 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. The Irish yacht Saoirse (Freedom), which carries 15 activists, and the Canadian boat Tahrir (Liberation), which holds 12, will attempt to carry $30,000 in medical supplies beyond the Israeli blockade later this week. ‘Freedom Waves for Gaza’ is the 11th attempt by international activists to deliver humanitarian aid through the Israeli blockade of Gaza since 2008.
As the boats navigate international waters, Palestinian youth activists will parade a large wooden effigy of the aid boats through the streets of Ramallah, while distributing white armbands and ribbons emblazoned ‘Freedom Waves for Gaza’. In addition, they will hold a demonstration outside of the UN office in Ramallah on Thursday, demanding that the UN end its compliance with the Israeli blockade and protect the humanitarian mission.
Indeed, in a letter given to the UN on Wednesday, Palestinian youth insisted that “it is incumbent upon the UN to take urgent steps to protect the boats en route to Gaza and all of the humanitarian volunteers aboard, as well as to declare its support for nonviolent, humanitarian action, designed to do what the UN and its members states have thus far failed to do.”
Organizers of the flotilla mission withheld the news from the world until the boats reached international waters, to prevent Israeli or international sabotage that plagued previous aid attempts. Though the humanitarian vessels departed from Fethiye, Turkey, organizers insist that the Turkish government is not involved with Freedom Waves for Gaza. Says Huwaida Arraf, “because Freedom Flotilla 1 was mostly an international effort, and because with the Mavi Marmara Turkish people were killed, it became mainly a Turkish thing…which detracted from the fact that it really was an international effort. So this time we want to show that it’s not just Turkey, its an international effort.” In fact, no Turkish citizens are aboard either of the two ships.
Freedom Waves for Gaza comes at a time when minor improvements to the situation- such as the opening of the Rafah land crossing from Egypt to Gaza in May- or minor concessions by Israel- such as its allowance of minor consumer goods into Gaza in the wake of the Mavi Marmara massacre in 2010, touted internationally as an ‘easing of the blockade’ (though it led led 10-year-old Gaza schoolchild Abed Rahmen Jadee to lament ‘I don’t want any more snacks or coke. I want a new school’)- have done little to meaningfully alleviate the humanitarian crisis that plagues the 1.6 million inhabitants of Gaza, half of whom are under the age of 16.
Organizer Huwaida Arraf, chair of the Free Gaza movement, stresses that “by reaching Palestinians through their own port, the flotilla defies the dehumanization of a whole population and supports the continuing efforts of the people of Gaza to assert their dignity. The Palestinians will accept nothing less than a total end to the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza and all forms of violence and discrimination against them.”
The most recent figures published by the UN and international humanitarian and human rights organizations confirm that roughly 75 – 80% of the population rely on international aid in order to survive; 65% live below the poverty line; 52% are food insecure; approximately 40% are unemployed; there are no building materials for much-needed schools and hospitals; 90 – 95% of the drinking water is contaminated and unfit for consumption; seriously ill patients cannot get access to the specialist treatment that would potentially save their lives; and children are suffering untreated post-traumatic stress as a result of the white phosphorous shells used illegally in Israel’s invasion in January 2009.
In its declaration to the UN, the Palestinian youth stated that “in our schools, universities and through our organizations, we are taught about human rights and international law, and yet it seems like Palestinians fall into a class of people upon whom these rights don’t apply. Like the blacks in America a half a century ago, or in South Africa two decades ago, we are victims of an exclusivist ideology and those who tolerate and enable it.”
The declaration continues- “Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has been returned to his family, removing one of Israel’s main pretexts, albeit not a justification, for its Draconian closure policy. And while 1027 Palestinian prisoners have been exchanged for Shalit (although 550 have yet to be released), over 1.5 million Palestinians remain caged in the prison that is Gaza.”
During the campaign, Witness Gaza (witnessgaza.com) will be a central information hub, in contact with representative organizations from activists’ home countries. Palestinian youth representatives will be updating the world via Twitter at #PALWaves, as will international activists aboard the ships- unless Israel jams the communications signal, as has occurred in previous flotilla aid attempts.
In Wednesday’s press release, Majd Kayyal, a Palestinian activist from Haifa aboard the Tahrir, insisted that “Israel has caged Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, prohibiting physical contact between us. We want to break the siege Israel has imposed on our people. The fact that we’re in international waters is already a victory for the movement.”
As new Israeli airstrikes are claiming lives in Gaza, and as Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to intensify the bombardments, it is due time to once again bring to the world’s attention what the UN in 2009 called the ‘protracted human dignity crisis’ caused by Israel’s closure of Gaza. Says Huwaida Arraf, “the people of Gaza have called on the peoples and governments of the world to challenge an illegal, immoral, and irrational Israeli naval blockade that has caused, and continues to cause, incalculable human suffering. We are responding to that call. Our primary aim is to overcome the continuing blockade of Gaza through civil resistance and non-violent direct action, and to establish a permanent sea lane between Gaza and the rest of the world.”
