Category: Journals - Page 50 - International Solidarity Movement

Jordan Valley: Three families invaded by one hundred Israeli soldiers in Al Jiftlik

by Kim

17 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On March 15th at 16:00 we got a call about three house demolitions in the village of Al Jiftlik, near the Jordan Valley. We threw ourselves into the first public transportation vehicle to take us to the village. It was dusk when we came to the outskirts of the village where we met our contact person.

He quickly fixed up a car, and we got straight to the first house which was adjacent to the highway. Here we found two families standing before the ruins of their homes. They are seven people in all, including three children, one of whom is sick. It is the second demolition for one of the families, the first for the other.

We talked to Bashir Mbarak Basharat Yousef Ibrahim, a local, who described to us what happened. He explained that just two hours before, about one hundred Israeli soldiers with bulldozers had restricted access to the area around the house. He had tried to take pictures with his camera phone, but a soldier took the phone away from him and deleted the images. Five months ago locals were told not to build anymore on the house. No family members had been allowed to go in and fetch any belongings before the demolition.

That night they were accommodated by helpful neighbors, but in the future they do not know what to do.

We jumped back into the car and moved onto the next family consisting of ten family members. Sulaiman Omar Daragmeh told us what happened to them. He says that they had had a demolition order issued on the house. Around 15:00 the same Israeli soldiers came from Bashir Mbaraks house. Three family members were given 15 minutes to enter the house and retrieve personal belongings. No furniture or larger objects were possible to get out of the house.

The soldiers also destroyed the olive trees around the house. He constantly repeated the soldiers’ violence, and in his shrill voice is heard despair. He says that they are farmers and have no other income.

Because they live far out in a field, there are no neighbors to help, so this family had to sleep without a roof over their heads. But they will not give up, they stated, and they intend to stay and will try to get help from the local district administration.

We moved on to the third and final family consisting of seven people.

Ayman Mahmoud says that the Israeli soldiers came at 16:00 to demolish their house. They had received a demolition order a month and a half ago. Two family members were given 15 minutes to retrieve personal valuables before the bulldozer destroyed their homes. This family owns many sheep, who were frightened by the soldiers, violence, and bulldozers. Fifteen had run away of which two were killed by the bulldozer. They managed to capture five of the escaped sheep again.

After their home was destroyed they also received a bill for the demolition. They did not know how much they must pay. This family also lives just outside of the village so no neighbors could help them for the night. The family will sleep under the open sky, or possibly under a broken plastic sheet formerly used as an animal shelter.

The soldiers left them with the words “If you build here again, we will demolish the house over your head.”

When we left the family, we heard children crying and were overwhelmed by powerlessness. The situation is totally unreal.

Al Jiftlik is a village with about 5000 inhabitants, situated in the Jordan Valley. This area is one of the most fertile agricultural areas in Palestine. Many households subsist on farming. The village is located in Area C, which means that Israel has the right to administer and manage the area to suit their purposes. The consequences are that families who live in Area C are not licensed for their homes or workplaces, and that Israeli soldiers may come at any time with a bulldozer and demolish houses. They also receive daily disruptions in electricity and water supply, like a recent three day cut to water supplies.

It rained, hailed, and stormed a lot tonight. Two of these three families were sleeping under the stars. What we can do for these families is to show that they are not forgotten. The only thing they asked for was to tell their stories and disseminate information about inhumane Israeli policies.

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

The education of common grounds: From al Nakba to Black History Month

by Lina

18 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Last month we celebrated the 36th annual African American History Month. The origins of this month come from the need to study the major contributions that Black people brought to America.

“The fact is that the so-called history teaching in our schools and colleges is downright propaganda, an effort to praise one race and to decry the other to justify social repression and exploitation”. Sadly, this quote from 1927 is still relevant today.

Carter G. Woodson strived for an accurate representation of Black people in history studies, and Palestinians are fighting for the same rights as well.

The history of Israel is taught in schools, but the events leading up to its creation are missing in most. Palestinian Schools in East Jerusalem have been pressured to change their curriculum to be more Israeli friendly.

“The changes are not random…Israel plans to reeducate our students in Palestinian Jerusalem in a way that Palestinian nationalism is no longer on the agenda”, as explained by Joharah Baker for MITFAH.

Any public institution under Israeli governance that teaches Palestinian Heritage is vulnerable to be attacked by the government. A year ago this month a law (Budget Foundations Law – Amendment 40), was passed to ban commemorating the Nakba Day. Any mention of this day by a public sector would risk losing state funding, which means Palestinian schools that fall under Israeli control must abide by this law. In other words, Palestinian schools will be penalized for instructing students on their history.

Although Israeli Independence day is inseparable to Nakba Day, laws are being created to alter history. The truth is one cannot be taught without the other. The day of catastrophe for the Palestinians marks the day that their land was stolen and the day Israel declared its independence.

Just as May 15th (Nakba Day), the disconnection of American history and African American history implies that both accounts are independent. There cannot be two different accounts of the same day and place.

In memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. | Click here for more photos

Here is one of Michael Coard’s many examples of the inseparable American history. “Twelve of this country’s presidents enslaved black men, women and children—eight of them while in office. That’s American history, not black history! Enslaved black human beings dug the foundation for the White House”.

Just like Woodson explained about the American colonizers, the Israeli government uses the same tactics to enforce its beliefs on the public. Besides other tactics of ethnic cleansing, the Israeli government has targeted schools to eliminate Palestinian history.

Palestinians will definitely continue to educate their children on their backgrounds, especially through the traditional method of storytelling. But, it will take more than that to combat the obstruction of Palestinian history studies.

Sa’id Barghouthi explains the importance of classroom learning. “History classes and history textbooks therefore remain the central and strongest element in the fashioning of identity, and play a crucial role in building collective memory, or, as in our case, erasing it”.

Acknowledgment of Palestinian history will obviously not end the occupation. This is evident in the fact that the acknowledgement of slavery did not end oppression of Black Americans. But, knowledge of the past is essential in understanding today, and hopefully creating a different tomorrow.

Lina is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement.

Beit Dajan gears up for continued resistance

by Robin

15 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On the 14th of March 2012 two internationals from ISM went to Beit Dajan to talk about the recent upstart of demonstrations in the village.

We met with Naser Abu Jaish who is the administrative manager in the municipality. Beit Dajan is a village with about 4000 inhabitants and is situated about 10 km east of Nablus. Since the beginning of the second Intifada, there has been a roadblock put up on the main road by the Israeli military.

This has made transportation difficult for the villagers as they were forced to take a 60km “detour” to reach Nablus. With the amount of time wasted by taking a longer road, both water supply and emergency health care cannot function normally anymore. The road block has not only been a disaster in logistics and services for the village, but more importantly four people have been killed by the army when trying to use the road.

In 2005 a new road was built to Beit Furik, a village nearby which shortens the travel distance to Nablus. However, it’s still a detour which complicates the daily life for Palestinians. It was rumored that the roadblock would be removed by Israel, but four months ago it became clear that this was not the case. The citizens of Beit Dajan organized and mobilized for their first demonstration on the 7th of March. The actions were carried out in order to open the road for Palestinians again, a cause which of course is very popular in the village. Naser was very happy with the action.

“More than 500 people participated, both young and old! And we are expecting even more people this week.”

The demonstration was outspokenly non-violent and this succeeded as not one single stone was thrown. Despite of this the Israeli soldiers used tear gas against the villagers.

Naser tells us that the demonstration has been warmly welcomed by the people and that a lot of excitement and unity has come from it.

“Of course we fear that the military will use even more violence, but it will not stop us from delivering our message: That we have the right to use the road,” Naser says.

“We would like ISM to show their presence at our demonstrations every Friday along with other international observers”, Naser said with hope in his eyes and emphasis on the importance of peaceful resistance in order to regain their road.

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

The mourning tent of a martyr

by Nathan Stuckey

14 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza Strip

Nayif Qarmout was murdered yesterday; he was also buried yesterday, in a small cemetery in the heart of Jabalia, the refugee camp where he lived. He was only 14 years old. He was murdered by an Israeli missile while playing football with his friends. He was a handsome young man, the photo on his martyr posters make that obvious. It was something that I never would have guessed at his funeral, looking at his bloody bruised face.

Today, Nayif’s family mourned. The reception line of men lining the entrance to the mourning tent was the most shattered group of men I have ever seen. Their faces were blank, dead, as though Nayif was not the only murdered yesterday. Nayif’s photo was on the wall, he looks so young, a child just turning into a man. We sat down and ate dates as a young man brought coffee around. Nayif’s uncle, Abdullah came over to talk to us.

Abdullah tells us that not only was Nayif a handsome child, but he was also a joyful child. He was always laughing, always making jokes, always helping his parents with his younger brothers and sisters. Nayif was the oldest child; he had three younger brothers and two younger sisters. He was not only the oldest child, but also the oldest grandchild; he was named after his grandfather. After school he worked with his father in family’s pharmacy, helping customers and keeping track of the accounts. Nayif hoped to run this pharmacy someday, after university, when he was a man. That is a chance that Nayif will never have.

Monday morning Nayif woke early. He got dressed and went to school, after school he was supposed to come to the shop to help his father. When he arrived at school, he found it closed because of the Israeli attacks. He met some of his friends; they went to play football before they went home for the day. While they were playing football an Israeli drone fired a missile at them, at six children playing football on a day off from school. Nayif’s family received a call that Nayif had been injured and was on the way to the hospital. They all rushed to the hospital, but there was nothing to be done, they did not even have the chance to say goodbye to their son, he was dead when they arrived at the hospital.

Nayif’s family is left with their sadness; nothing will bring back their son. Perhaps, though, as Um Nayif asked us, something can be done to save other children, “stop the killing of children, don’t abandon Palestine. Nayif went to the school, he was a student and Israel killed him. I know that now he’s gone to God. His brothers and sisters cry because they lost their elder brother.”

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

Beit Furik, Nablus: Family unable to attend funeral for son killed in recent Gaza air strikes

by Jonas Weber

13 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

“We called him Nassr, but I think his real name was Mahmoud,” says Ahmed while we were on the bus from the Beit Furik municipality building. Outside the bus window, the walls of the little town just outside of Nablus are plastered with freshly printed martyr posters. The picture shows a middle aged man photoshopped between the Dome of the Rock and the Palestinian flag.

Ali Hannini, the cousin of Mahmoud Hanin who was kiled by Israeli rocket fire.

It has just been a few days since Mahmoud Hanini was killed by an Israeli rocket while in a car in the Gaza Strip.

“He was suspected of being affiliated with a militant group in the West Bank in 2005 and was forced to flee to Jordan and then on to Egypt and Gaza where he worked with the resistance against the occupation,” Ahmed continues.

In the stairwell leading up to the Hanini residence, one of the landings is cluttered up with shoes and a somber song is playing from the apartment. The family is still in mourning. We are shown to the roof where Mahmoud’s cousin, Ali, serves us coffee and dates.

“Things are going to be hard for this family now,” he said.

Mahmoud only had one brother and eleven sisters. It will be economically difficult for them. Mahmoud also had three children in Beit Furik and two daughters in Gaza.

When Mahmoud was killed on Friday, he was in a car with Zuhair al-Qaissi, the leader of the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committee, the group responsible for the kidnapping of the Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit.

The body of Mahmoud Hanini will remain in Gaza, and his family will have to face the pain of not being able to visit his grave.

“It would be extremely expensive and difficult for us,” says Ali.

In the midst of military escalation in Gaza and the grief at home, the Hanini family still carry some hope for the future.

“We want to say a message to the people of the outside world: that the only thing we long for is peace. We only resist to win our freedom. This is not an issue of a conflict between religions. The issue is that Israel is occupying our lands in violation of international laws.”

The murder of Mahmoud Hanini, Zuhair al-Qaissi, and their driver set ablaze the region as groups throughout the Gaza strip responded by firing nearly a hundred rockets into Israeli territory. Most of these were intercepted by Israeli air defence, but one Israeli was killed by the rockets. Israel in turn responded with attacks against Gaza that since Friday have taken the lives of dozens of Palestinians.

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