6th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Gal·la | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
Zakaria Baker, head of the committee for fishermen in Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) explains the reality for fishermen in Gaza, following Israel re-extending the permitted sailing area for Palestinians from three to six nautical miles. Despite this ‘allowance’, Palestinian fishermen have recently been attacked and their boats confiscated by the Israeli military when they were well inside the previously allowed three nautical miles.
5th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Gal·la| Gaza, Occupied Palestine
Farmers are working in Gaza buffer zone under threat of Israeli soldiers, tanks, bullets, etc. This video shows the difficulty of daily life for farmers in Khuza’a, south of Gaza Strip.
1st June 2013 | Mondoweiss, Petra Stastna| Gaza, Occupied Palestine
A young Palestinian fisherman was arrested together with his brother within Palestinian waters on 19 May 2013 by the Israeli navy and released the following day. Their boat and all equipment were confiscated by the Israelis, leaving them with no means to make a living. This is another serious blow to the livelihoods of individual Palestinians whose lives depend on fishing, not to mention the whole population, which has been for years subject to siege as collective punishment, illegal under international law.
The interview was facilitated by and took place in the office of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) in Gaza City. Sa’d Zaida, Senior Manager at UAWC, translated from Arabic to English. Editing and titles by the author.
Israeli military harassing Palestinian fishermen (Photo by Rosa Schiano/Civil Peace Service Gaza)
My name is Mahmoud Zayed. I am 25 years old. I am a fishermen and live with my family in Beit Lahiya, in the north of the Gaza Strip. Last Sunday, 19 May 2013, my brother Khaled (24) and I went fishing at about 5:30 pm. We have a row boat, ahasaka, which accommodates two people. We stayed in the Beit Lahiya area near the beach. At around 9:00 pm we were sailing about 1.4 km (0.8 nautical miles) from the beach. A number of other boats were near us. Suddenly, two Israeli ninja boats (zodiac) approached us and started to shoot at us.
“Confrontation”
There were perhaps five soldiers on each boat. We tried to escape the attack but it increased. We shouted at the soldiers: “We want to go home. We want to go to the Gaza beach.” Yet the army circled our boat, creating huge waves. Water was in our faces and everywhere. One of the waves sent us into the sea. But we got aboard again. Khaled fell on the floor. He was exhausted and feeling sick. But still we tried to defend our boat by sticking out our oars to prevent the navy boat from getting close. One of the Israeli boats tried to catch our boat by throwing a rope over a pole. Twice they succeeded, but we immediately removed the rope. [Mahmoud and all other fishermen sitting in the same room smile.]
New colors of detainee clothes
In the end the army caught our boat. According to Israeli regulations, we were allowed to go fishing up to six km (three nm). The Israeli navy attacked us at 1.4 km (0.8 nm), but by the time they caught us we were at one km (0.5 nm). The attack lasted for more than an hour. When they caught our boat, they did not ask us to take off our clothes and swim towards them, as is the usual procedure. This time we were arrested directly on the boat, so we did not have to swim without clothes. Two soldiers took me and carried me to the small navy boat. My brother Khaled was exhausted and sick. Two other soldiers carried him. On the small boat they told us to take off our clothes. They gave us yellow t-shirt and blue trousers …This must be a new fashion, because the navy used to give the arrested fishermen green uniforms, then black ones, so now it’s yellow and blue. They are following fashion, that’s why they change the uniforms for us. [The fishermen laugh.]
Handcuffed all night in Ashdod
The soldiers covered my eyes, handcuffed me and carried me and my brother to the big navy boat. There they asked our names, ID number and boat number. We said we did not know the numbers by heart. After one hour we arrived at Ashdod sea port. The Israelis brought a doctor who inspected Khaled and gave him an injection. They asked our names and ID. They took photos of us and noted our phone numbers. Then they put us into a room, still blindfolded and handcuffed. I asked that they take away the handcuffs, but we spent the night handcuffed tightly. In the morning, the Israeli internal security interrogated me, showed me a map and asked about places I know on the shore. They asked about Sudania (the point where the fishermen entered the sea directly) and about a water pump in Sudania. They showed me the police station.
Everything confiscated, even 100 NIS from my pocket
After the investigation I asked about my boat and confiscated nets, but they said I must talk to a Palestinian lawyer. (But they know very well that fishermen do not have money to pay a lawyer or court costs.) They took me blindfolded and handcuffed back to the room. The investigation took place at around 8.30 am and lasted for 30 or 45 minutes. It was conducted in Hebrew with translation into Arabic. The translator did not speak with a Palestinian accent. They investigated only me, not Khaled. Fifteen minutes later they tied our legs with iron cuffs. Then they put us into a police car and took us to Erez. This was around 11:00 am on Monday morning, May 20. We were without our boat, nets and all equipment. What’s more, I had 100 NIS in my pocket. I got it for the fish I had caught the other day. They took it, too. We weren’t allowed to talk to our family until we got back home, not during the arrest.
They know every detail about us, but still they arrest us and intimidate us
What is strange about this is that, during the interrogation, they asked me: “Your brother was on another boat, why was he in the hasaka?” It’s true that Khaled usually goes fishing with another boat. But after he finished his work he came to help me. This shows that they have been observing us very closely, they know everything about us. How they follow this, how they trace this, we don’t know. But this is what happened… Why did they arrest us and confiscate everything? I think because my brother joined me on the boat.
Jobless
Our family depends on fishing. We are six brothers and a sister, altogether 13 members in the family. I have a son. Khaled also has a son. In the family we had one hasaka, which is now confiscated. Our father and another brother also have a boat, but it’s for their use. My hasaka was the only means of making a living for me. I will be unemployed until I can get a new boat. I cannot borrow someone else’s boat. What would happen if soldiers confiscated it again? The hasaka I had cost 3,300 NIS ($900). The nets and equipment cost even more. On Saturday, I bought nets for 2,000 NIS. They were brand new and I lost them just one day after buying them.
Six miles as a drop in the ocean
How do we feel about the extension of the fishing range from three to six nm? It helps a little bit. However, if we look at the economic side of it, there is no change at all. It is okay for sardines, which are seasonal, but it is almost the end of the sardine season now. For other fish it does not change anything. “Natural fishing” starts only after eight nm, where there is what we call a “line of rocks”. Anything less offers only a seasonal benefit. What’s more, it is forbidden to fish at six nm, as this is where the fish eggs are. …At three to six nm there is only “ramel”, ground, soil. There are sardines at six nm. If you are lucky, you will also get some other fish. It gets better after six miles, but the good area starts at eight miles. …The dangerous thing after the November 2012 ceasefire is that by allowing us to fish up to six nm, this might be designed as the maximum we will ever be allowed to go to. It’s a kind of collective punishment. Israel needs neither arguments nor rockets. They punish us without these things.
A message to the world
We want our boat and nets back. We want Israelis to leave us alone, to live peacefully and give us the right to fish anywhere.
Background info
The attack by the Israeli navy on Palestinian fishermen happened within the three nm limit (precisely at 0.8 nm), which the Israeli side would justify as a “military necessity”. Under the “military necessity” would also fall the confiscation of a boat and nets. The Oslo Agreement of 1994 designated Palestinian waters as 20 nm. This number has been shrinking ever since: In 2002 it was officially lowered to 12 nm in the Bertini Agreement. Following the disengagement, Israel reduced the fishing area even more, and since the capture of the soldier Gilad Shalit, on June 25, 2006, fishermen have not been allowed further than three nautical miles from shore. Thus Palestinians have been denied access to 85% of their sea, to which they are legally entitled, according to the Oslo Agreement. Following the ceasefire in November 2012 after the Pillar of Defense attack, the limit moved up to six nm again. Despite these agreements, the Israeli navy continued attacking fishermen within this limit. In March 2013 the three nm limit was again imposed, after some rockets were fired from Gaza towards the south of Israel. On Tuesday, May 21, Israel extended the fishing range back to six nm, as a gesture of “goodwill” during US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Tel Aviv, many say. Fishing provides a livelihood to many families and is an important source of food for residents of the Gaza Strip. Waters along the Gaza coast have long been overfished and many human rights organizations, such as the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) and B’Tselem, call for restoring the 20 nautical mile limit as stipulated in the interim Oslo Agreements almost 20 years ago.
About Petra Stastna
Petra Stastna comes from the Czech Republic where she has been active in various solidarity movements, including the struggle for justice and freedom for Palestine. She is currently in Gaza.
28th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza Team | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
Mahmoud Mohammed Zayed, 25, and his brother Khaled, 24, are two young fishermen of Gaza. At about 9pm on Sunday, May 19th 2013, they were fishing on their small rowing boat in the waters north of the Gaza Strip, in front of the beach of Beit Lahiya. They were arrested after Israeli naval forces attacked fishermen with gunfire, and were taken to the port of Ashdod in Israel. Israeli soldiers confiscated their boat and nets, and released the two fishermen in the morning of the following day, on Monday, May 20th.
We met Khaled Mahmoud and his brother in the office of UAWC (The Union of Agricultural Work Committees), which deals with projects and initiatives to support farmers and fishermen in Gaza and the Occupied Territories. Mahmoud’s face was familiar to me.
As I tried to remember where we had met, he told me he had seen me in an UNRWA school during the military offensive in November 2012, when the Israeli air force launched thousands of leaflets ordering people to leave their homes. Hundreds of families living in the north of the Gaza Strip had been forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in UNRWA schools in Gaza City. Gathered on the floor on mattresses and blankets, they were united in fear. The house of Mahmoud went on to be damaged by bombing.
Yet I remembered seeing Mahmoud on another occasion. Here, in February, 2012, I met another member of his family, Ahmed Zayed, who was also arrested by the Israeli navy while fishing in Northern Gaza waters.
Mahmoud and Khaled (Photo by Rosa Schiano)
And when I think of the fishermen of Beit Lahiya, I cannot forget the face of Abu FahmyRyash, 23 year old fisherman killed on 28th September by an Israeli soldier while he was fishing on the beaches. Killed by expanding dumdum bullets his internal organs had been destroyed. I asked Mahmoud if he had known him. Mahmoud told me that they had often fished together.
And so here are the mixed memories, common experiences that unite us in a deep feeling – a brotherly bond.
So I think of the lives of these people, marked by mourning, from wounds, from everyday resistance, the quest for freedom, the struggle for the right to life.
Mahmoud started to tell us what happened on Sunday: “We went fishing around 5:30pm, with our small rowing boat. We were about half a mile away from the beach of Beit Lahiya, along with other boats. At 9pm two speedboats started attacking us and the other fishermen with shots fired. The attack lasted almost an hour. Then the soldiers came close to our boat, started to turn around us to create waves and they shouted to stop the boat. We replied that we would be back at home. There were 5 men on each boat.We fell into the water, then we got back on board. Khaled was feeling ill. Then two soldiers arrested us.”
Mahmoud explained that usually fishermen are asked to undress, to jump into the water and swim to the Israeli ship. This time the two fishermen were arrested directly from their boat. Once taken to the Israeli ship, the two fishermen were blindfolded, handcuffed, stripped and were given a yellow shirt and blue pants.
“The strange thing – he told Mahmoud – is that the soldiers have asked me why my brother Khaled was with me on the boat. Khaled usually fishes on another boat. But when he finished his work he came with me to help me.” The actions of soldiers help us to understand how they maintain control of the people of Gaza and what excuses they use to arrest fishermen. Soldiers then asked them their name, identity card, the number of boat.
The two fishermen were then taken to the port of Ashdod in Israel. Here the two fishermen were brought inside a room where they were asked for their identification and phone number. A doctor checked the state of their health and visited Khaled who was ill, for whom they gave an injection. “I asked them to remove the handcuffs because I was hurt”, he told Mahmoud, “but they refused.” The two then spent the night in jail, handcuffed.
The next morning, the two fishermen, in handcuffs, had their names put on their shirts and were photographed. Subsequently Mahmoud was questioned. Soldiers showed him a map of Gaza, and asked for information indicating some points on the map, especially in the area of Soudania. Then they asked from what point of Gaza the boats sets sail from, then the soldiers pointed out a police station and a hydraulic pump. Mahmoud asked about his boat, but the soldiers said that to get his boat they should contact a lawyer. Soldiers know very well that the fishermen do not have the money to afford a lawyer and even the costs for standing trial. After interrogation, that lasted 30-40 minutes, Mahmoud was blindfolded again. After another 15 minutes, the soldiers shackled the legs of the fishermen, took them to a police car and had them transported to Erez, where the two fishermen were released with only what they stood up in. The fishermen had just 100 shekels between them, money they had earned in the sale of fish the previous day.
We asked two fishermen what they thought of the new limit of 6 nautical miles imposed by Israel. They explained that it is a good step, but in economic terms there is no change, except for the period of sardine fishery. About eight miles out there is a rocky barrier preventing the entrance of the bigger fish, so anglers need go beyond 8 nautical miles to significantly increase their catch.
Israeli soldiers confiscated the boat of two fishermen and even the nets, which were new. “This boat was the main source of income for us,” said Mahmoud. Both have moved out of their homes and both have a son. They live together with their parents and the rest of the family, which has around 13 members. Their whole family depends on the fishing. Now only his father and his brother can fish with another boat.
We asked Mahmoud if he wants to leave a message to our countries. “We would like to again with our boat. We would like the Israeli navy attacks to cease. We ask the people of countries around the world to force the Israeli government to open up the sea, to let us fish.”
It should be noted that the attack occurred within the 3 nautical miles from the coast. Israel has progressively imposed restrictions on Palestinian fishermen’s access to the sea. The 20 nautical miles established under the agreements of Jericho in 1994 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), have been reduced to 12 miles below the Bertini Agreement in 2002. In 2006, the area consented to the fishing has been reduced to 6 nautical miles from the coast. Following the Israeli military offensive “Cast Lead” (2008-2009) Israel has imposed a limit of 3 nautical miles from the coast, preventing the Palestinians from access to 85% of the water to which they are entitled according to the Jericho agreements of 1994.
Under the agreements reached between Israel and the Palestinian resistance after the Israeli military offensive in November 2012, “Pillar of Defense,” they consented that Gazan fishermen can again fish to 6 nautical miles from the coast. Despite these agreements, the Israeli navy has not stopped attacks on Gaza fishermen, even within this limit. In March 2013, Israel imposed once again a limit of 3 nautical miles from the coast, saying that the decision had been taken following the sending of some Palestinian rockets towards Israel. On Wednesday 22nd May, the Israeli military authorities announced through some media outlets the decision to extend the limit again to 6 nautical miles from the coast.
We join the call of the fishermen and ask our governments to press Israel to stop attacking and arresting Palestinian fishermen and to allow them to fish freely.
On May 1st many countries celebrate the achievement of workers on Labor Day weekend. In Gaza too, workers celebrated labour day in a demonstration in the centre of Gaza City. Yet, for the Palestinian fishermen there was nothing to celebrate.
Hospital report (Photo by Rosa Schiano)
In the early hours of Wednesday morning on May 1st 2013, a Palestinian fisherman was seriously injured when Israeli naval vessels off the coast of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats that were within 3 nautical miles of the Gaza coast.During the attack, a piece of the engine that is used to pull in the nets, smashed into the head of 51 year old Karim Adel Al Baker from Gaza City, leaving him seriously injured.
Adel Najjar Baker was transported to the hospital and then to the European Hospital in Khan Younis. We headed to the hospital to check on his condition.Adel is in the Intensive care unit. A document in the hospital room reads,“Time of admission: 5am”We spoke with Dr. Yasser AlKhaldi, head of the Intensive Care Unit of the European hospital. Dr. AlKhadi told us that Adel has suffered a serious head injury and that he had arrived at the hospital unconscious.The doctor added that Adel has undergone surgery to relieve the pressure from the bone fragments from the skull and that he was now under artificial ventilation.
Adel has suffered a depressed skull fracture (a depressed skull fracture is a break to the bone of the skull with depression caused by the bone going into the brain).Dr. AlKhaldi added that there was an improvement to the condition of Adel and they have started to reduce the sedatives.
During the visit we met Aatef Baker’s brother Adel. “Adel was on a fishing boat together with eleven fishermen. While he was fishing, the Israeli navy opened fire, a bullet hit an object on the boat, it fell on his head, causing the trauma. We were near the border with Egypt, 2 miles from the coast. “, said Aatef.We left the hospital and took the contacts of Dr. Adel AlKhaldi and family in order to be updated on his condition.
I felt a sense of helplessness and anguish, but at the same time I was hoping with all my might that Adel was strong enough to survive, that he would be strong enough this time.
Karim Adel Al Baker, 51, in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (Photo by Rosa Schiano)
The next day we went to visit the family of Adel in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City.
Adel has 7 daughters and 2 sons, one of whom is a fisherman. A cousin of Adel, Mostafa Baker, told us that perhaps they would later evaluate the possibility of a transfer to another hospital.
The house was full of women and children and they occasionally fixed their eyes on us.
“The entire family gathered here because we’re waiting for news. Adel’s brother is coming back from the hospital”, said Mostafa.
“The attacks and arrests affect our lives. With no fish we have no money,” exclaimed a woman of the family Um Eid Baker, adding, “remember when our fathers were able to reach 12 miles from the coast.”
Adel Baker worked for 30 years as a fisherman, and was the only person in the family to have a job, his family has no other sources of income.
“This is the normally the best season for fishermen” said Mostafa, “the major season for sardines.” The family then specified that the fishermen, because of the limit of the 3 nautical miles from the coast, are forced to go to Rafah in order to fish, and even enter Egyptian waters, a move that involves great expense especially for fuel.
During our conversation, Aatef, the brother of Adel, returned from the hospital carrying the hospital report.
The hospital report specified that Baker and Adel was transferred from Al Najjar to the European hospital, having suffered a head injury and damage to the brain. It indicates the need for surgery and treatment. In addition, the report specifies: “Al Aqsa conditions”, an expression which is used to define someone injured or a victim of Israeli aggression.
Then we met Sobeh El-Hessi, a fisherman who was on board the vessel along with Adel Baker, as well as the manager of the vessel.
“We were fishing the waters on the border between Egypt and Palestinian waters. At 2 am the Israeli navy started shooting, we were about 2 nautical miles from the coast,” he began to tell Sobeh. “We tried to hide from the bullets. Then when soldiers stopped shooting, we saw the body of Adel Baker lying on the floor and we thought he’d been hit by a bullet wound to the head. Then we realized that it was not a bullet, but a heavy object that is part of the engine, and Adel had a large wound to the head. I called the Union of the fishermen to communicate that someone was wounded and asked for an ambulance. Adel A Hasaka was carried to the beach and the ambulance was ready to take him to hospital, it was about 3 in the morning, “, Sobeh told us.
The fishermen had entered Egyptian waters and were returning to Palestinian waters when the attack happened.
The next day the fishermen did not go fishing.
Sobeh told us also with concern about the recent Israeli attacks with water cannons. The attacks are happening in fact even at a distance of 10 metres between the fishing vessels and the Israeli military.
Just over a year ago a fisherman was killed by a short circuit as a result of an Israeli attack with a water cannon.
The Israeli army directs their high pressure water cannons directly at the power supply, they shoot at networks, the engine, thus causing accidents. There is also the danger of electric shock or heavy machinery collisions such that with Adel.
“Fishermen can see the fish beyond three miles, but can not pass through them,” said Sobeh as he described the living conditions of the fishermen of Gaza.
“When the Israeli soldiers shoot we escape, but we can not support our families. These last few days have been tough. Prior to the war the Israeli attacks occurred at a greater distance, but after the war the Navy began to get very close and soldiers are shooting more than usual, “says Sobeh.
The eyes of Sobeh el Hessi are sad, frightened, but also angry about what happened to Adel.
In Gaza, going fishing now means going to face an army.
As reported consistently by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the Israeli attacks against Palestinian fishermen constitute a violation of international humanitarian law. Notably this is covered in article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Not to mention the right to work and the right to a life with dignity.
Indiscriminate attacks against civilians constitute war crimes.
Israel has progressively imposed restrictions on Palestinian fishermen’s access to the sea. The 20 nautical miles established under the agreements of Jericho in 1994 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), were reduced to 12 miles under the Bertini Agreement in 2002. In 2006, the area permitted for Palestinian fishing was reduced to 6 nautical miles from the coast. Following the Israeli military offensive “Cast Lead” (2008-2009) Israel imposed a limit of 3 nautical miles from the coast, preventing the Palestinians access to 85% of the water to which they are entitled according to the agreements of Jericho 1994.
The agreements reached between Israel and the Palestinian resistance after the Israeli military offensive in November 2012, “Pillar of Defense,” allowed Gazan fishermen back out to 6 nautical miles from the coast. Despite these agreements, the Israeli navy has not stopped attacks on Gaza fishermen, even within this limit. In March 2013, Israel imposed once again the 3 nautical mile limit, saying that the decision had been taken following the sending of some Palestinian rockets towards Israel.
In Gaza, there are currently about 4,000 registered fishermen, while in 2000 there were about 10,000. In the last ten years, the numbers have declined since Israel began to impose restrictions on access to the sea and used violence to enforce them, arrests and more attacks, forcing fishermen to abandon their work and deny them the only source of livelihood for their families. Many fishermen, with courage and determination, continue to risk their life in order to support their families.
At the time of writing, the conditions of Adel Baker have slightly improved, but he is still unconscious in the ICU. While Adel Baker fights on in the hospital, many fishermen are at sea facing the daily risk of new attacks. It is inevitable, given this barbarity that another one of them will soon be facing a similar fight just like Adel is right now.
While the international community remains in horrible silence, our thoughts and our hearts are on the side of these brave men.
