Israeli plan for the renewed confiscation of lands around Alei Zahav illegal settlement.
The Israeli Occupation Forces have recently announced a new sequence of land seizures in eleven villages in Salfeet (Salfit) District and three in the Qalqilya area of Occupied Palestine. The total amount of land being confiscated, for “military/security” reasons, is the equivalent of nearly one million square metres. 850,000 of this is for the compulsory renewal of notices of land confiscation that had already been issued, the rest is made up of new illegal acquisitions.
Plan for the renewed confiscation of lands around Ari’el illegal settlement.
Residents in the fourteen villages – which include Bruqeen, Iskaka, Deir Istiya and Zawiya – were given notice of the seizures within the last two weeks. They were allowed just seven days to register appeals with the Israeli court. Many were unable to do so within the tight deadline, which required producing notarised copies of land title deeds, and the additional expense of hiring a lawyer to represent them. Based on bitter past experience the majority of residents, however, chose not to register appeals, as the Israeli courts have proven themselves to be completely unwilling previously to overturn any order raised by the military that cite ‘security concerns’.
A view of Marda village, overwhelmed by the Ari’el illegal settlement.
Despite some appeals having been lodged with the court, the Israeli Army has nonetheless continued to occupy the confiscated land in question, and erected fences and other barriers on the disputed new land. Residents can now only gain access to tend crops or pick olives if they apply to the Israeli Army for a permit to enter their own land. This still means they have to pass through checkpoints and face humiliating delays, ID checks, bag searches and body searches.
ISM UK is offering a day of pre-training for prospective volunteers who are interested in joining the International Solidarity Movement on the ground in Palestine.
Attending the training session in north London will give you a chance to get a first impression of ISM and the kind of work we do, receive training, connect with former volunteers and have your questions answered. You will also be filled in on how Palestinians are resisting the occupation and how we as internationals can work in solidarity with them using non-violent, direct action methods.
There is no obligation to join ISM after the training.
Lunch will be provided however we ask participants to pay a fee of £5 to cover training costs.
Date: November 30, 2019
Time: 10:30-16:00
Location: North London
To sign up for the training, please contact training.ismlondon@riseup.net
3rd November | Wafa Aludaini | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
Gazans march in protest on the 102nd anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.
On the 102nd anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, churches rang bells and mosques called for prayer at the same time, while tens of thousands of Palestinians entered the buffer zone this Friday between the besieged Gaza Strip and Israel in the massive weekly Great March of Return protest.
This 81st week of protests was called “Down with the Balfour Declaration!”. It marks the 102nd anniversary of the British declaration announcing support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. Palestinian masses now are calling on Britain to not only apologize but also rectify this major historical disregard for Palestinian self determination and statehood.
Palestinian children at the 81st week of the Great March of Return in Gaza.
Ali Salim, 55, stated that the Balfour Declaration, in fact, is the cause and source of all the Palestinian tragedies and sufferings since then: “The 102nd anniversary means 102 years of displacement, expulsion, massacres, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.”
Khawla Khalil added, “We came here today to confirm our rights, and our rejection of Balfour! These days, we are experiencing the declaration through Trump’s Deal of the Century, when he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”
Palestinian women holds a key, symbolizing the right of return for Palestinian refugees, at a protest in Gaza on Friday, November 1st.
Duaa Abdellateef — spokesperson for the Women’s Committee adjunct to the Committee for the Great Return March — said the weekly marches will continue until Palestinian rights and demands are met.
“We will defeat all the local and international conspiracies that aim at liquidating our Palestinian national cause, including the ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem, disregard of the internationally recognized right of return, and the proposed Israeli annexation of the West Bank.”
On Thursday afternoon, October 31st, mosques in Gaza called for prayers at precisely the same time local churches rang their bells, marking the 102nd anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. The public statement was intended to show all faiths in Gaza renewing their rejection of the British empire’s edict. The coordinated actions by mosques and churches across Gaza were organized by the Great Return March’s higher committee.
One of the churches in Gaza which took part in the coordinated actions for the 102nd anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.
Wafa Aludaini is a journalist and activist in Gaza who writes a weekly column for ISM on the Great March of Return.
November 3 | International Solidarity Movement | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Ash-Shuhada street in al-Khalil full of Israeli flags welcoming Netanyahu. Less welcome are the Palestinians living there: they are not even allowed to access their houses through their main entrances.
This is what normality in al-Khalil looks like
I was somewhere between excited and afraid the night before the visit of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to al-Khalil (Hebron) on September 4 this year as part of his re-election campaign and timed with a ceremony commemorating the 1929 Hebron massacre, a central element of the justification narrative employed by the Israeli settlers in al-Khalil. I was afraid that the Israeli military and police would use excessive violence against the Palestinian residents during the occasion. The last few days had already been marked by extra army patrols through the streets, more frequent ID checks, night raids and arrests of political activists. However, there was also a feeling of excitement that the controversial visit could draw attention to the various human rights violations inflicted on Palestinians and the specific border(zone) management that made them possible. Serious restrictions of movement and different forms of violence have been part of Palestinian Khalilis’ everyday lives for decades. The latter include settlers attacking their houses and assaulting them in the streets; families getting woken up in the middle of the night by soldiers smashing down their front doors to search their homes and arrest fathers and sons (no matter their age); children getting teargassed on their way from school and sometimes even while sitting in their classrooms. I could go on. As shocking as this may all sound, for Palestinians living in the Israeli controlled part of al-Khalil, called H2, this is normality. And for everyone coming from outside it quickly becomes it too. This summer, I spent a month in the West Bank, occupied Palestinian territories, to volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). And I had to realise that even the events surrounding Netanyahu’s visit just became another dat – part of al-Khalili normality.
Al-Khalil – the occupation in a nutshell
Al-Khalil is the Israeli occupation in a nutshell. The West Bank has been occupied by Israel since 1967 and gradually transformed into a disintegrated territory dotted by Israeli settlements which are deemed illegal under international law. The order chosen by the Israeli regime to handle the presence of two different populations – Israeli settlers and Palestinians – in the same territory is based on borders. Borders essentially regulate who is able to move freely where, when and under which circumstances. As the two groups inhabit the same space, bordering results in a system of segregation that traces through society instead of geographical fixed points. This manifests itself in a segregated road system throughout the West Bank and – less visible by eye but even more far-reaching – in two different legal systems leading to drastically unequal treatment for Israelis and Palestinians. While Israeli civil law is applied to the settlers, Palestinians are subjected to military law. In the old city centre of al-Khalil this order reaches its peak.
Al-Khalil is divided into two areas: H1 which comprises 80% of the city and is formally under control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and H2 in which Israel retains responsibility for security matters. Al-Khalil’s old city is part of the latter and through the restrictions imposed on it over the last 20 years it has transformed from a bustling market area into a ghost town. These restrictions are part of the security measures taken by the Israeli military in order to ensure the protection of about 700 settlers living amidst approximately 7,000 Palestinians. For the latter, lives have transformed into one big restricted zone (see grey area on the map).
In the grey-coloured area of H2 Palestinian movement is restricted by checkpoints and various road blocks. To some roads (indicated in red) Palestinians are completely denied access.
OCHA counts 121 obstacles (walls, slabs, fences and barriers) limiting free movement in this area including 20 checkpoints, 6 of which are fortified, equipped with face-recognition technology and metal detectors. For the Palestinian residents this means that going about any simple daily activity can become a lengthy and uncertain process. The Israeli security policies in al-Khalil do not only restrict their access to health, education, housing and work but also deeply affect their family lives and social fabric. As a result of the difficult living conditions in H2 the number of Palestinian residents has considerably dropped over the years. The existence of a restricted area is based on the Hebron protocol from 1997 that lead to the division of the city and called for a buffer zone between H1 and H2. However, the function of this buffer zone doesn’t correspond to its initial idea. Rather than preventing violence between Palestinians and Israeli settlers it has become a tool for the Israeli military to exercise violence against the local Palestinian population and effect their forcible transfer. Israel thus uses the buffer zone to solidify its colonial practices under the guise of security concerns.
Another example of who draws the borders around Khalil
Back to Netanyahu’s visit: After mid-day, H2 was under near complete lockdown. There was a massive police and army presence in the streets, several of them stationed on the roofs of Palestinian houses. 3 of the major checkpoints accessing the restricted area of H2 were closed for the whole afternoon. Whoever happened to be out at the wrong time, would spend their afternoon waiting in front of a closed gate.
And life stands still – Palestinians waiting in front of a checkpoint that stayed closed for more than 6 hours the day Netanyahu visited al-Khalil.
In the neighbourhood where the memorial ceremony took place, the Palestinian residents were put under curfew. A small demonstration took place close to the restricted area but within H1, which is formally under Palestinian control. The Israeli military didn’t hesitate to enter the area though as well as use cars and their Palestinian occupants as shields for their operations. Two demonstrators were arrested. In the evening, I thought to myself: “It could have been a lot worse.” It took me some time to realise how normalised the situation in al-Khalil had become for me in order to come to such a conclusion. Night raids, closed check-points, curfews and arrests. All of this has been happening for decades and so the 4th of September 2019 was nothing new. It was just another example showing who draws and manages the borders around the lives of Khalilis. Whom those borders protect, and whom they hurt.
Over a hundred Palestinian and international activists entered an illegal Israeli settlement and raised the Palestinian flag on Saturday, October 26. Settlers and Israeli Occupation Forces responded violently to the peaceful protest, firing tear gas and flash grenades and arresting at least 20 people, including nine internationals and seven journalists. One activist from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) had his passport and Israeli visa seized by soldiers.
The illegal settlement outpost at the focus of the activists’ protest is located near Khirbet Tell El-Himma, at the north of the Jordan Valley and is considered illegal by Israeli law since it was built after the Oslo Agreements in 1993. However, the illegal outpost, built on privately owned Palestinian land, is supported by the Israeli state, which provides it with utilities and military protection. The illegal outpost covers around five hectares, equivalent to five football pitches, for just 10 settlers. Nearby Palestinians have faced intimidation tactics including violence, weapons and even guard dogs at the hands of the settlers who have also tried to disrupt their agricultural harvests. Recently, the settlers began construction work to expand the outpost.
Activists raise the Palestinian flag at the illegal settlement outpost. Photo: Activestills.org
Saturday’s protest was aimed at denouncing the illegal Israeli settler’s seizure of land and resources and claiming Palestinians’ right to their land. Shortly after the activists entered the outpost, singing songs and raising the Palestinian flag, they were bombarded with tear gas and flash grenades by Israeli forces. When that failed to disperse them, the soldiers began assaulting and arresting protesters. 20 people, including nine internationals, were arrested while others had their passports and Israeli visas seized and confiscated. One ISM activist had his passport and Israeli visa confiscated and it has not yet been returned, over 48 hours later. According to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, seven reporters were arrested, including journalists from the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (PBC), which denounced the Israeli army for attacking its colleagues while covering a peaceful march.
Illegal Israeli settlers assault non violent protesters at the action on Saturday, October 26th. Photo: Activestills.org
Activists from ISM and other organizations succeeded in preventing the arrest of two injured Palestinians by Israeli forces, who then confiscated the ambulance’s ignition key, refusing to let it leave. Activists were forced to leave the area to ensure the return of the ambulance ignition key and medical treatment for the injured Palestinians.
All activists have now been released and their legal documents returned. A number of international activists were banned from the Occupied West Bank and will be forcibly deported.
