Category: Journals - Page 36 - International Solidarity Movement

Video: Protest on World Press Freedom Day: “They don’t consider Palestinian journalists to be journalists.”

3rd May 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team| Occupied Palestine

Yesterday, Saturday 3^rd of May was the United Nations World Press Freedom Day. Yesterday, journalists celebrated, remembered, and protested, on a date commemorated worldwide since 1992.

In Palestine, the 3^rd of May calls for a protest by members of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), and yesterday this was at the Beit El military checkpoint.

We witnessed approximately 70 journalists gather in the city of Ramallah, driving towards the Bet El checkpoint, before leaving their cars and attempting to walk through the military gate.

The journalists carried nothing but signs and cameras, chanting for freedom from the Israeli occupation. It was a completely non-violent demonstration.

On arrival to the checkpoint, Israeli Border Police first closed the gate, and then called many more soldiers to the area, who proceeded to watch and film the demonstrators with their private smart phones.

The journalists then tried to open the gate, which is when Israeli Border Police started to throw stun grenades at the demonstrators. More than eight stun grenades were thrown, seemingly directly at the legs of the protesters. One stun grenade hit my ISM colleague in the foot, she was lucky to be wearing thick running shoes and jeans, so did not receive an injury.

The level of aggression was surprising to me, I commented upon this to a demonstrator, a Palestine journalist, causing him to turn to me and smile.

“Maybe they don’t know we’re journalists.”

“Sorry?” I asked.

“If they did, they wouldn’t throw them [the stun grenades] at us.”

He laughed, and walked back toward the gate.

Several times during the protest, the journalists tried to open the gate, each time it was swiftly closed by Israeli forces. After approximately 40 minutes, it seemed the demonstration was ending, and a large group of the journalists began to walk away from the gate.

It was at this point that the Israeli forces present began to throw more stun grenades, roughly six, and one tear gas grenade. Ironically this caused the demonstration to last longer, as after this attack the journalists decided to continue the protest for a further 30 minutes.

After the demonstration ended, in which there were fortunately no injuries or arrests, we had the opportunity to speak to Omar Nazzal, a board member on the steering committee of the PJS.

Omar has been active in journalism for 30 years, and a member of the PJS for the last 18. The PJS was created in Jerusalem in 1978; it was originally named the ‘Arab Journalists League’ as they were not allowed to use ‘Palestinian’ in the title. This changed in 1994, after the Oslo Accords the organization could be renamed.

The PJS has approximately 1300 members, 800 in the West Bank and 500 in the Gaza Strip. It is a member of the Arab Journalists Union and of the International Federation of Journalists.

An issue that is impacting the journalism profession in Palestine, as it does with many workers worldwide, is the impact of globalization. As multinational companies buy out smaller media outlets, individual journalists are loosing their jobs. Or, forcing journalists to move towards shorter-term contracts, loosing their rights, leading to lower wages and little or no insurance.

Omar explained that there are many problems of being a journalist in Palestine, and one huge issue is their treatment by the Israeli authorities.

“They don’t consider Palestinian journalists to be journalists.”

Horrifying statistics echo this statement.

Since the year 2000, approximately 300 journalists have been imprisoned, over 500 have been injured, and 21 Palestinian journalists have been killed by the Israeli military.

Omar continued: “Sometimes they beat journalists, arrest them, shoot them, they’re forbidden to move freely.”

Currently there are nine Palestinian journalists in Israeli military prisons.

Muhammed Muna, one of the imprisoned nine, is a West Bank correspondent of the UK-based Quds Press International News Agency. He was arrested in August 2013. He was sentenced to six months in administrative detention, which essentially means that the Israeli government can hold a person indefinitely without charge. Muhammed’s detention was renewed for a further six months earlier this year, with no release date in sight.

Khan-al-Luban: Israeli army attack

20th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team| Khan al-Luban, Occupied Palestine

On Monday 21 April 2014 two International Women’s Peace Service [IWPS] volunteers were playing uno [a card game] outside with two children of the Abu Jamal family in Khan al-Luban, close to the Nablus-Ramallah road. Their elder brother Jimmy was plastering the bathroom and their mother was inside doing house chores.

IWPS and ISM volunteers have kept a permanent presence in Khan al-Luban this past week, as the family has been the target of attacks by the Israeli military and Israeli settlers from the surrounding illegal settlements. The family has been especially worried since the father,was arrested last Wednesday. Their fears proved to be well founded.

Below is the eyewitness account by IWPS volunteers of yesterday’s events:

At 6:45pm an Israeli army jeep pulled in front of a building across the street from the family house, then backed out of the driveway and drove along the road towards the back of the house. We all went into the center area and shut the doors, but went outside to photograph what they were doing as the three Israeli soldiers got out of the jeep and started coming over the fence and onto the roof. We climbed to the roof area where they had come onto the property. They asked one of the human rights volunteers to show her passport but she refused.

Jimmy stayed inside because he thought they might be looking for him. One of the young sons talked to the soldiers on the roof and the army called for back up.

After the soldiers began shouting at the mother and her child, Jimmy came out to the roof area, no longer able to stay hidden. He told the soldiers that they were on his family’s property and that they should stop yelling at his mother and younger brothers.

The soldiers became belligerent and hit him with their hands. They then attempted to handcuff Jimmy, and dragged him partway across the roof; by that time the cuffs were fully on. At that point they knocked him down and hit him on the head with the back of a rifle. Jimmy was unconscious from that time on and appeared to convulse slightly. They continued to beat him after he collapsed.

We all yelled at them that he needed an ambulance and the mother attempted to get one; she also called the neighbours on the phone. Some passing cars pulled over and three Palestinian men came to try to help the family. The soldiers responded by throwing a stun grenade.

Two more jeeps arrived, bringing an additional 8-9 soldiers; one of the jeeps had a siren on, leading us to believe that it was an ambulance until it arrived. The soldiers were fully armed with rifles, tear gas, and stun grenades. One threw a stun grenade that landed on the roof, a few feet away from unconscious Jimmy and his hysterical mother. The ambulance that she had phoned also arrived. At this point several soldiers grabbed Jimmy, still unconscious, by his arms and legs, attempting to put him in one of their jeeps, however the emergency services and the other Palestinians were able to take over, and got him into the ambulance instead. The mother went with her son to Rafidiya hospital in Nablus. An army jeep followed the ambulance.

The soldiers arrested one of the Palestinians and took him away in the first jeep. Another stun grenade was thrown directly at those of us on the roof as the army drove away.

As of 9:30pm, Jimmy was awake and in stable condition, although x-rays showed that he suffered from several broken ribs and multiple fractures.

What will Gaza’s Ark face from the Israeli navy as it challenges the blockade?

17th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Charlie Andreasson | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

An Israeli gunship cruises near the Gaza seaport. (Photo by Rosa Schiano)

The heavy bang is heard clearly, and I have to resist the impulse to climb over the breakwater to try to get a view of the attack in the haze. And a new round of bangs is heard. It can’t be far off the port of Gaza. Instead, I look up at the sky, squinting, and there it is, the drone that been circling around all morning. And I return to my work to completing Gaza ‘s Ark.

Shall I write about this, I wonder to myself? That thought pops up every time I hear machine-gun fire, or even heavier bombardments, from the sea. We expect some influential people to sail with us to break Israel’s naval blockade, and I do not want to scare them off. It is important that they are on board. It’s one thing to know about the abuse from a report, but another when you it happening a few nautical miles away, in the same water we will sail in a few months. I am afraid of painting too vivid a picture of what awaits us.

What is it that awaits us? Will we be boarded, have the ship ransacked by heavily armed and masked marines searching for Palestinians? Will they seize the Ark? Or will they let us pass, allow us to break the blockade only to close it behind us, and then continue shelling fishermen as if nothing happened?

And what responsibility do I have to inform our prospective passengers about the various potential scenarios and what the risks are? Stun guns. Blows with rifle butts. Gunshot wounds. I do not want to scare anyone away from participating, but I cannot lie, pretending everything will necessarily go well.

It should be fine. There is no legitimate reason to stop us. But that does not mean they will let us pass. They can claim that one of the Palestinians on board is wanted, that no Palestinian can leave without permission from them, the occupying power, accuse us of trafficking. Perhaps we will hear machine gun fire at a very close range. Perhaps the Ark will be hit. It has been shot at before. I carved through the wood for bullets earlier, and have given two of them away, as Israeli souvenirs from Gaza. Will there be more?

I do not want to scare anyone, but how will they react when they hear the heavy shelling as they get on board? They can’t say they did not know anything – then they would not come here! – but it is quite different when you hear and see what happens, rather than reading a report. And above, the annoying drone is heard.

The fight for the freedom of the 5 Hares Boys continues

6th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Occupied Palestine

In a conversation with Neimeh and Yaseen Shamlawi in their home in Hares we hear about the traumatic journey they have gone through but also the painstaking efforts they have made to build a campaign for their son’s freedom ever since he was arrested in the middle of the night on the 17th of March 2013.

On the 14th of March a settler from the illegal settlement of Yakir crashed her car with her three daughters inside on the main road near the village, leaving all of them with various injuries. Despite the horrible event seeming like an unfortunate accident, over the following days 13 boys from the village of Hares were arrested. Eventually five of them were charged with attempted murder stemming from allegations that stones were thrown onto the road by boys from the village.

Ali’s mother recalls to us the night he was taken by Israeli soldiers, 25 of them entering the family house after the door had been forcibly opened. They went from room to room waking everyone up before grabbing Ali and instructing his parents to find his shoes. Before they left both Niemeh and Yaseen recount how one of the soldiers told Ali to go and “kiss his parents goodbye”, to which his mother remembers saying that she didn’t need to as she would see him in a few days.

Over a year later and Ali and the other four boys, Tamer Souf, Ammer Souf, Mohammed Suleiman, and Mohammed Kleib are still imprisoned. We asked Neimeh and Yaseen why they thought that the Israeli military had been so harsh in their pursuit of prison sentences for the boys, both parents shrugged with what is obviously still raw bewilderment as to how their son, 16 at the time of his kidnapping, is now facing up to 25 years in prison.

“No-one saw anyone throwing stones,” Niemeh says again and again during our visit, and indeed the lack of evidence is startling. Originally no one made any claim that stones were thrown. The first search of the car, by police from the illegal settlement, produced no evidence of any stones but a subsequent search two days later uncovered a single stone in the vehicle. The court, like the vast majority of cases against Palestinians, through the Israeli military system has not called a single Palestinian witness. Instead they have focused on an Israeli woman who was driving nearby, and a passing truck driver, neither of who can say that they saw anyone throwing stones.

The conversation turns to Ali and how he’s coping with being in Megiddo prison. “He is crying all the time when we see him as he misses his friends, family, and school,” Niemeh tells us. While the five Hares Boys do get to see each other fairly regularly whilst they have been incarcerated this is of little solace due to the fact that they find themselves in an adult prison and are unable to make or receive any phone calls. Their parents are only granted a visit twice a month. It is also solely them who can make the long journey to the prison due to Israel’s procedure of granting permits. This has meant that Ali has not had the chance to have any sort of meaningful conversations with his brothers, sisters or any other family and friends since his sudden arrest.

Inside the prison itself, very little is provided by the Israeli state so every time they visit, the parents try and bring what their sons require, whether it’s bed linen, books to read or clothes. In terms of education Ali and the other boys only receive two hours of classes a week, which is currently classes in Arabic and Mathematics. There is no chance of formal qualifications resulting from this small amount of study, at a time when the boys should have been working hard in school in order to begin to decide where they want their lives to go. Like so many other things this is something else that the Israeli authorities have taken away from them.

When Ali’s parents do visit their son it is far from a simple matter, even with the permits. They tend to leave Hares at approximately 6:30 in the morning traveling to Nablus before catching a bus to Qalqilya, where they cross through a checkpoint into the state of Israel. The wait at this checkpoint usually lasts for around two hours due to the volume of people that cross and the lack of border staff usually working at any one time. Eventually Yaseen and Niemeh tend to arrive at the prison at around 11am, then wait for up to two more hours before finally getting to see their son. However, while it is plain to see that the parents treasure these visits with their son, they are only allowed up

to 45 minutes with him, and the entire encounter takes place through glass and over a phone. “I can’t touch him,” Niemeh says shaking her head sadly.

The trips to Salem military court are perhaps more difficult than the prison visits for the parents, as well as other family and friends who do have permission to attend the court. This involves arriving at the court at 9am before waiting with dozens of other relatives of accused Palestinians, before finally two people are allowed to attend the hearing itself. Ali’s mother talks of desperately trying to talk to her son face to face but Israeli security officers preventing her from getting even three meters from him, only allowing her one minute and sometimes even blocking her view. The trend, as in so many hearings for Palestinians accused of crimes by the Israeli military, is continuous postponement, hence why Ali and the other Hares boys have been awaiting trial for over a year.

The latest postponement means the next hearing will be on the 10th of April.

However, despite this, the way in which Ali and all the other Hares Boys’ families have organised themselves and fought for justice is remarkable. With the support of organisations including the International Women’s Peace Service (IWPS) and the Defence for Children International (DCI) a campaign has been built and continues to put pressure on the Israeli judiciary system. The families meet regularly, supporting one another and the Palestinian Authority has helped them with lawyers. Although the fact that the boys remain in prison and continue to face such draconian charges demonstrates that so much more needs to be done.

When we asked the family what people could do in their home countries the answer was very clear. Niemeh was adamant that putting pressure on the ambassadors of countries to attend the hearing was a crucial step with an emphasis on sharing the story and making people understand the realities of Ali and the other boys’ situation. Therefore following the case, discussing it with people who are unaware and generally increasing the knowledge of people is crucial. Unsurprisingly all the Hares Boys need financial aid as well. Currently Ali’s parents alone require another $2000 for legal costs (you can donate here).

As activists who support the Palestinian struggle against the occupation we believe it is our duty to back the campaign to free the five Hares Boys. In fact anyone believing in universal human rights and justice should be fully behind the boys and their return to their families.

“The reason is to wipe out Palestinian culture and history”: A Gaza carpet factory under siege

28th March 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Charlie Andreasson | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

Before we settle down for a glass of Turkish coffee among shelves filled with neatly stacked, woven carpets Mahmoud El Sawaf, 68 years old, shows me around the small factory. The tour goes pretty quickly. There ‘s only a mechanized loom and a manual one. The market in Gaza is too small for more.

Before the siege escalated in 2007, he had a bigger factory, which employed 17 people with nine mechanical and 15 manual looms, and there were hundreds of producers around the Gaza Strip. Now they are only five left, and he is the only one with a power loom in production, but it has its limitations due to the daily power cuts. But the difficulties had already begun in 2005, says Mahmoud, a man viewing things in big pictures, when the Israelis left Gaza.

We are still occupied, he continues. They control our airspace, borders on land and at sea, our economy and our lives. The difference is that it happens without their physical presence. But when they were here, there were completely different conditions for economic exchange, even though Palestinians were often regarded and treated as second-class people. Mahmoud was permitted to travel and trade with the West Bank, Jordan and the Gulf countries. That is impossible today.

He points to a small pile of carpets lying on the floor that a Palestinian in Ukraine want to get delivered. But Mahmoud do not know how he will be able to send them there.

He says he is not bitter against Israelis, carefully pointing out that its population does not necessarily support the policies of their government. He does not lay not all the blame on the Israeli government, but also on the governments of the world that allows Israel to continue. But he hopes that the situation will change for the better. We have to, he says, otherwise we have nothing to live for. And he hopes Gaza’s Ark will show the world that Gaza needs commerce, to be a part of the global economy and not aid-dependent as it is now.

But one ark will not create a lasting change. It has to be many. The need is for continuity of supplies and an open export economy. This has not been allowed since the blockade began. One of the reasons is obviously to strangle the economy, but there is an even more important reason not many people think about, Mahmoud says, putting his glass down on the tray.

When you go inton the market you can find a plethora of different products, mostly junk, imported without problems. But when I try to get raw material to produce carpets, it is far more difficult. It can take months to get in materials, and usually only in small quantities. I was lucky to have had a stock before the siege began. When there are fewer producers, there is also less fighting over what little there is to get. The reason is to wipe out Palestinian culture and history. It is often called a security threat, and to some extent it is true.

Not for the Israelis, but for their government’s policy of denial. And this one of the reasons it is allowed to import mass-produced rugs, from China, while I will probably never be able to send those carpets to Ukraine. So it’s for more than just my own economy and survival of my company for which I hope from Gaza’s Ark, he concludes. It is for the whole Palestinian existence.