Category: Journals - Page 46 - International Solidarity Movement

Apartheid Safari

By Markus Fitzgerald

21 July 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Saturday evening, around 6pm, a group of illegal Israeli settlers move through the Old City of Palestinian Al Khalil (Hebron). They are both surrounded and fortified by Israeli soldiers. On paper, this tour through is a supposed “ultimate family experience in Israel“. In reality however, families should be steering clear. This tour is living proof that apartheid is not something of the past.

HEBRON

‘Settler tours’ are guided tours throughout the Old City of Hebron, where settlers can take a walk – enforced by soldiers and police armed to the teeth. At given places, the guide tells stories about historical circumstances in and around Hebron, more or less based on biased historical views.

In 1994, the Palestinian city of Hebron was divided into 2 zones. H1 area is under Palestinian Authority control, while H2 area harbours illegal Israeli settlers within central Hebron. During the second intifada that began in 2000, more than 337 days of curfew for the Palestinians were proclaimed in H2. Today, any Palestinian entering the zone must go through check-points.

The ancient Old City centre contains, like in many other Arabic states, tightly packed and roofed alleys with small shops on either side. Hebron is different. During the morning prayers in 1994, an Israeli settler massacred almost 30 Palestinians as they prayed in the sacred Ibrahimi Mosque. As a result, Israeli forces punished the Palestinian population by closing a great deal of Palestinian shops and homes and seriously strangling a vital and once-lively Palestinian trade.

The settler tour passes through both the closed (for Palestinians) and still open part of the city centre. It is in the latter part that problems often arise, when settlers attack Palestinians and their property with impunity under protection of the Israeli military soldiers.

SETTLERS

The ‘security’ seems flawless. The young Israeli soldiers slowly move through the tight allies while securing (pointing their guns at) the small shops, side alleys, and small box windows. They step into this everyday market as though it is a minefield. Always surrounded by army, the settlers and tourists listen to the guide who gesticulates and energetically runs around and explains the city’s history from a Zionist perspective. Around the city, Israel has hung specific Hebrew signs, again reinforcing the biased view of the city’s rich religious history.

The first Israeli settlement in Hebron was established in a hotel in 1968, one year after Israel had occupied the West Bank in the Six-Day War. An Israeli family simply proclaimed that they did not intend to leave the hotel room that they had rented. Ever.

A short time after, they were visited by distinguished members of the Israeli Knesset. The army supplied them with weaponry and training.

Later the hotel building was cleared of the settlers, but the problem had just begun. In 1971, the first families moved in to the settlement Qiryat Arba, not far from Hebron. In 1984, the Israeli Knesset approved the establishment of settlements in the heart of Hebron, in which up to that point had only been occupied by people from Qiryat Arba.

FEAR

With a mixture of touristic astonishment and glaring confrontational faces, the group of neatly dressed settlers are now standing in the middle of the relatively empty street. 30 minutes earlier the area was full of life and noises. Everyone with knowledge of an Arabic souq, or market, knows what that means. It can seem hypnotic, fantastic, and stressful. But as the tour makes its way through, the atmosphere turns surreal and strangely silent. Now only the growling guttural ‘R’s and instructive arrogant voice of the guide bounces between the old stone walls.

The second-class status of the Palestinians is painfully clear in situations like this. They are not allowed to walk by on their own roads and must patiently wait until the propaganda-machine has finished it’s work. A young boy joins the waiting group of Palestinians and looks up questioningly. He retires to the curb. His sudden change of plans has come about knowing the risks if he were to pass on to the road.

Harassing the shop-owners and bystanders is a common occurrence with settler-tours. Muhammad, who is often inviting internationals for a chat and tea in his little sand glass shop, explains how settlers passing by smashed his inventory on previous occasions. Protected by the Israeli army, the settlers, who face impunity under Israeli law, seem to see no other objection to such actions. The certainty of fatal consequences or unnecessary attention from the occupation forces restrains victims from seeking justice.

Fortunately the settlers do not smash anything this time and keep relatively calm. Soldiers on the other hand seem extremely nervous, which contributes to the tense atmosphere. This new battalion has only just arrived to the city as a part of their 3 months duty. Many have hardly celebrated their 20th birthday. It is possibly their first time outside the military base. Eyes glance shiftily from their commanding officer to surroundings and back again. The sweat drips from the chin, runs down the gun, past the handle and the moist index finger, resting disturbingly close to the trigger.

The guide continues undeterred, while the whole situation seems to open doors and bring memories from a world that no one thought world reappear. None mentioned – None forgotten.

THE END

The guided group moves at an agitating snail-speed through the narrow streets. The language is mainly Hebrew but sometimes a muffled American voice reveals tourists or visiting Jews, strolling along, possibly feeling inspired to settle down and test their luck in this religious center.

Israel encourages Jews in the ‘diaspora’ to move here. Rising housing expenses and lack of space in Israel makes the illegal settlements throughout the West Bank an obvious and welcoming choice for newcomers. The Israeli state provides financial support as well as guaranteed housing. As a result more than 50% of the occupied West Bank is now annexed and designed for Israelis and Israelis to come, in direct contradiction with international law.

Back in the Old City, the tour is coming to an end. The group is channelled through a military roadblock and a massive iron gate closes behind them. They are now in the H2-area. Palestinians living there are subject to thorough searches before they are allowed in their own neighbourhood. Everyday life is imbued with security and control.

A few soldiers stay outside the gates. In a little while they are ordered back in to the ‘secure area’ and life will continue in the old city of Hebron, only interrupted by regular patrols. In a weeks time however, apartheid-tourists will once again come back to remind us that 1948 was indeed a catastrophic year.

Tel Rumeida: Child settler violence through the lenses of an international activist

by Sunny

5 May 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

A group of approximately 10 to 15 soldiers displayed their ineptitude in dealing with a group of rowdy settler children, roughly between the ages of 8 to 14, who were attemptng to enter Tel Rumeida.

It was an embarrassing episode for the Israeli occupation soldiers who paid more attention to ISM volunteers who were simply filming the situation. When a settler later confronted me, violently grabbing for my camera, the soldier’s attempts to restrain him were meek and pathetic. It was an emabrassing situation which showed signs of settlers being allowed to behave as they wish with impunity, behaviour which would not be tolerated if it came from the Palestinian side.

As I walked down Tel Rumeida with another ISM volunteer, we were approached by a Palestinian child who claimed to have been confronted by a group of settler children. As we walked to find out what was going on, we found a group of 20 settler children between the ages of 8 to 14, the majority being boys, acting in a rowdy fashion near the junction where H2 meets H1. Surrounding them were roughly a group of 10 to 12 Israeli soldiers.

As we approached the scene, I witnessed several of the children who could not have been more than 10 years old walking in the direction of the barrier separating H1 from H2. If the soldiers were attempting to stop these children, then their efforts were meek, as the children merely brushed aside the soldiers.

As we questioned the soldiers regarding the situation, they shunned us away by replying, “You dont need to know, go away.” As we continued to question them they continued to ignore us.

As the problem continued, the children became more boisterous, challenging the soldiers’ authority when ordered not to walk in the direction of the barrier. As the soldiers formed a line blocking their path, the children easily walked through the gaps.

As the soldiers were ineffective in blocking them off they reformed the line right in front of the barrier. Their tactics proved to be worthless as some of the children were seen getting really close to the yellow gate. The occupation forces had absolutely no control of a situation created by a group of misguided children.

While this was going on, Palestinians who were looking on from outside their homes, stared in disbelief as the soldiers showed no signs of being in control of the situation.

As we filmed the behaviour, the children came in our direction attempting to snatch our cameras and our keffiyahs, or traditional Palestinian scarves. As we looked to the soldiers expecting them to intervene, they turned a blind eye and instead they demanded that we switch off our cameras. When asked why they are incapable of dispersing the children, as usual they hesitated and chose the “I dont have to answer any question” stance.

Seconds later an elderly female settler arrived at the scene and marched towards the soldiers. As she approached them she began speaking to them in an extremely aggressive tone even at times pointing her finger in their faces. She directed her verbal onslaught at the soldiers for a full five minutes after she herself was prevented from entering H1. She continued her verbal barrage without being reprimanded for her behaviour.

As my colleague and I were filming the scenes, we were continuously told to switch off our cameras and move away. As we asked them why they were so keen to remove us and not the settlers, the soldiers began filming us and one soldier had pushed away my colleague.

We refused to move from our position.

As the female settler retreated she walked past me referring to me as “garbage” and telling me “to go back to your own country and help your own people.”

As the settlers dispersed from the location they headed towards Gilbert Checkpoint, we followed them to ensure no further troubles took place. As we caught up with them many of the kids were seen confronting a lone Palestinian woman. There were approximately 5 to six soldiers at the scene who chose to ignore the problem.

As the settlers made there way back into the illegal settlements, we stayed at the location. Three minutes later more settlers were seen walking down Tel Rumeida from a distance heading towards us. One of the settler men, as they came near, was seen confronting a Palestinian man. He had to be discouraged by an Israeli soldier. As I began filming, the settler ran towards me at full speed, violently shoving the camera out of the way. He then confronted me in order to intimidate me. As I began filming again, he continued to grab for my camera, becoming more and more aggressive at the same time. A soldier at this point had attempted to intervene, but he used less than minimal force in attempting to restrain the man as he continued to threaten me, and reach for my camera.

The soldier finally managed to convince the settler to calm down and walk away, while I, doing nothing wrong, was told to shut off my camera. As he walked away towards the illegal Zionist settlements, so did the others. The soldiers remained to ensure there was no further breach of peace.

Although it was all over. The occupation forces may have believed that they had successfully managed to control the problem. However this was not the case. Imagine the scenario if a group of Palestinian children had attempted to walk into the illegal settlement?

Despite the aggression of the settlers, what appears to be more worrying in this case is the younger settlers: the children. One of the local Palestinian families who have had their rooftop occupied by the Israeli occupation forces have been the victims of a number of attacks coming from young settler girls between the ages of 10 to 12. The children are taught from a very young age to be hateful towards the Palestinians. The hard right, fundamentalist, and Zionist principles passed on from generations clearly shine through these children when considering the events on Tel Rumeida.

Sunny is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Wheat farmers under fire in Gaza: We must continue to work our land

by Nathan Stuckey

23 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

Today we went farming with the family of Ahmed Saadat. We arrived in Khuzaa at about 7 AM and met Ahmed. He told us that the Israeli’s had already shot at his family when they went to their land to begin work. We went to the land, which lies 300 meters from the border and directly on the buffer zone. You immediately know the buffer zone, nothing is planted in it, no trees are left, and everything has been destroyed, only weeds grow there.

Ahmed and his family began to work, ten people on their knees harvesting wheat by hand. To harvest the wheat they pull it up by the roots and tie it into sheaves to be taken to a threshing machine. The land is quite large, in the past perhaps they would have hired a combine to harvest the wheat so that they would not have to do it by hand, but now it is dangerous to bring equipment near the buffer zone. Now, they work by hand.

At about 7:45 AM an Israeli Occupation Forces Humvee pulled up onto a hill north of us. Soon shots began to ring out, these were not directed at us, they were directed at farmers harvesting wheat to our northwest. At about 8 AM soldiers in a tower next to the Humvee launched either tear gas or a smoke grenade, it landed extremely close to the tower, which was about 400 meters from us. This was soon followed by shooting at us.

Bullets whistled past our ears, they slammed into the ground around us, most of them about 20 meters away from us. The farmers were scared, but most of them kept working. They have little choice, the IOF shoots a lot in this area, it is inevitable that they will be shot at while they try to harvest their wheat. After a minute or two of shooting the bullets stop. Soon the Humvee drives down off of the hill and moves further down the border. All morning long the Humvee drives up and down the border, accompanied by two jeeps.

The farmers continue to work harvesting wheat. At about 8:30 Ahmed receives a phone call. It is from Ma’aan organization. They say that the Red Cross has called them asking Ahmed and advising him to leave the area. He is advised to go two kilometers from the border because of the danger. The Red Cross had been called by the IOF asking them who we were, and if we were internationals with the farmers.

Ahmed laughs, two kilometers is the other side of Khuzaa. The farmers continue harvesting their wheat until about 11 AM. While they work chmed tells us a little bit about his family. Like most Gazans, they are refugees. His family is from Salame, near Jaffa. They were expelled in 1948. His family still has the documents proving that they own the land they were expelled from. Now, his family works what land they have managed to buy in Gaza over the years.

He said, “What am I to do, Israel expelled us from our land, now they steal more of it, they shoot at us, but we need this wheat to live, we must continue to work our land.”

Gaza: The march for prisoners within a prison

by Nathan Stuckey

18 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

April 17^th is Palestinain Prisoners Day. All over Palestine demonstrations were held in solidarity with the approximately 5,000 prisoners still held in the occupations jails. Bait Hanoun was no exception, this week the weekly demonstration against the occupation and the no go zones were in support of the prisoners. The residents of the prison that is Gaza demonstrated in solidarity with the residents of the other Israeli prisons.

We gathered on the road in front of the half destroyed Bait Hanoun Agricultural College. There were about 50 of us, members of the Bait Hanoun Local Initiative, the International Solidarity Movement, other international activists, and a small group of local high school students who had just got out of school. We could hear the drone of jets overhead. We raised our banners and flags, began to play music over the megaphone and started to walk down the road into the no go zone. At the edge of the no go zone we paused, a bucket of paint was produced and we all marked a banner comparing the Gaza Ghetto to the Warsaw Ghetto with our finger prints. As we did this a giant white observation balloon began to rise over the wall in front of us.

The balloon completed the picture of Gaza as a prison, surrounded by no go zones where Israel routinely kills anyone who enters them, its air filled with drones which routinely murder people, its sea patrolled by Israeli warships which fire daily at fisherman trying to feed their families, even a giant underground metal wall under the border with Egypt. Israel is proud that it does not have the death penalty, but it would be unnecessary in any case: trials are not considered necessary precursors to the murder of Palestinians.

From the extrajudicial executions carried out by drones in Gaza to the murder of Palestinians in Israeli custody, such as the Bus 300 affair, to the “confirming the kill” murder of an already injured 10 year old Imam Darweesh Al Hams, to dumping sick prisoners by sides of the roads in the to die like Omar Abu Aruban, Israel kills Palestinians without the need of courts, not even the need of courts like the apartheid courts of Israel with 99.7% conviction rates for Palestinians.

We raised our banner again and continued to walk into the no go zone into land where Israel has already declared we need no trial, where the death penalty has already been approved for us. We walked through the shoulder high thistles that have grown up in place of the orchards that used to grow here, that obscure whatever stones might mark the houses that used to be here before Israel ethnically cleansed the area. We walked on paths that we had worn on our previous demonstrations. We walked until we reached the ditch that bisects the no go zone.

Saber Zaneen from the Local Initiative of Bait Hanoun said “We would like to welcome Hanna Shalabi to Gaza. We will contine to struggle until all of our prisoners are released. We will never forget our prisoners, Khaddar Adman, Mustafa Bargouthi, Aziz Dweik, Ahmed Saadat, and many others. They will never be forgotten.”

A Polish activist spoke when Saber was finished. “We are here today in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners, their sacrifices for freedom inspire us all.”

As we made our way back to Bait Hanoun we paused by the edge of the no go zone. We sat down by some giant concrete blocks which we had painted with Palestinian flags in an earlier demonstration. Abu Isa began to sing. He was singing songs for the prisoners. A cameraman kneeled in front of him, filming while Abu Isa sang. While everyone in the circle clapped in time, Abu Isa leaned forward and began to play the drums on the metal helmet of the cameraman. Everyone began to laugh, even the cameraman had a big smile on his face when he got up. We were all alive, still trapped in the prison that is Gaza, still living under the occupation, but still human, still able to laugh. Israeli prisons have failed just as surely as the “Break Their Bones” strategy did at crushing the Palestinian struggle for freedom. Israeli prisons are brutal places of torture, bad food, and denial of family visits. But prisons also serve universities for the struggle, a place for people to learn more about how and what they are fighting for. Hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have gone through Israeli prisons. They were marching with us today.

Nathan Stuckey is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement.

Beit Hanoun remembers Vittorio: “When he spoke you had to listen”

by Nathan Stuckey

11 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

One year ago Vittorio Arrigoni was murdered. Since coming to Gaza, Vik, as everyone knew him, had been a regular at Beit Hanoun’s weekly demonstrations against the no go zone and the occupation. Vik had devoted his life to ending the occupation. Sadly, he did not live to see his goal accomplished. The people of Beit Hanoun have not given up though, they continue to demonstrate, they continue to risk their lives every Tuesday in demonstrations against the occupation. This week, the demonstration was in memory of Vik.

We gathered at the same place we have gathered for the last three years, on the road outside the half destroyed Beit Hanoun Agricultural College. The early arrivals seated on a low stone bench beside a wall on the east side of the road. Finally, the t shirts arrived, in memory of Vik we had prepared t shirts with his photo for everyone to wear. People quickly pulled the shirts over their own and we gathered in the road. Bella Ciao started to play over the megaphone. Young men with flags and a large photo of Vik led the procession toward the no go zone. How many times had Vik taken this walk with these people? We marched into the no go zone, we made our way down the paths that our previous demonstrations had worn through shoulder high thistles. No one is allowed in the no go zone on pain of death, people are shot for even being close to the no go zone. Want was once some of the most productive farmland in Gaza, home to large orchards, has been reduced to a giant field of thistles. The houses that used to do the no go zone have all been ground to dust under the treads of bulldozers. The ethnic cleansing that gained steam after the massacre of Deir Yassin on April 9, 1948 has never stopped in Palestine; the land we walked on was a land that had been ethnically cleansed.

We stopped at the ditch that bisects the no zone. The flags that we had left on previous demonstrations almost hidden by thistles, the photos Rachel Corrie and Hana Shalabi were gone. Sabur Zaaneen from the Local Initiative of Beit Hanoun spoke, “From Rome, to Chicago, to Ireland, people remember Vittorio, he is not forgotten and the struggle to which he devoted his life will continue until the occupation disappears.” When he finished the crowd broke out in chanting, “Vittorio is not dead,” “Vittorio is with the fisherman, Vittorio is with the farmers.” Rosa, an Italian activist spoke, “Vittorio is still with us, I know this, I feel it even more strongly today, I feel it every time I go out with the fisherman.” Derrick, an Irish activist spoke, “Vittorio was a giant, and not just in size, when he spoke you had to listen.” I pray that the world listens, for what Vittorio said again and again is a vital message, the occupation must end, we must have justice, Israeli crimes must not be allowed to continue. There really isn’t much more to say, every week we gather for this protest, and everything that we say is basically a repeat of that, the occupation must end, we must have justice. This we say, only this.

Nathan Stuckey is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement.