Volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement are encouraged to write personal reflections about the work they engage in with Palestinian communities, the events they experience, and the people they meet. These journals offer the human context often missing in traditional reports or journalism. These articles represent the author’s thoughts and feelings and not necessarily those of the International Solidarity Movement.
26 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
At 10 a.m. we arrived at Nabi Saleh to interview the neighbors about what had happened the night before. We found out on the internet that something was going on, thanks to Tamimi Press, a Facebook page created by a young designer who lives in the village. Walking down the main road our eyes and nose got irritated. We could still breathe the tear gas shot by Israel’s occupation forces throughout the night.
According to the people we interview this is constant; what happened last night is nothing exceptional. The neighbors told us as follows:
Around 6 p.m. a group of settlers tried to enter the village of Nabi Saleh. Seemingly, the reason was a fire started on the lands at the border of the the illegal settlement of Halamish. To be precise the fire was sparked on the side of the new extension where settlers are just now occupying with prefabricated units.
For a couple of hours the youngsters from the village tried to avoid entering through the main street, until the army came. This resulted in various neighborhood vehicles being damaged by the stones thrown by the settlers. At that point, soldiers were blocking the roads.
At 8.30 p.m. more than 50 soldiers entered the village and started shooting tear gas and sound bombs. Then an officer started to shoot real bullets shouting at his subordinates to do the same.
At that moment the village was completely full of gas and 3 people had been hurt by the impact and the burns from the bullets. Among them were two women from the same family, whose house had been shot at directly.
Around midnight the settlers came back to try and burn down the olive trees planted at the entrance of the village, yet the young Palestinians were able to stop them. The settlers marched away, protected by the army.
Nobody was arrested that night. The neighbors gave us a summary of the situation in Nabi Saleh since the protests began. Until now about 75 people out of its 500 residents have been arrested, constituting one sixth of the village. 130 people have been hurt on different levels and right now 21 youngsters are in jail, among them children between 10 and 14 years old.
The culminating moment in this village’s resistance against the theft of its land and water was precisely on December 9 2009 when the villagers decided to get organized against the expansion of the Halamish settlement, also known as Neve Tzuf. This settlement dates officially back to 1977, when various settlers occupied a fortress left by the British Mandate, abandoned since 1940.
Since then, the owners of the lands have suffered a systematic plunder because of the various expansions of the settlement, and they have tried to get the lands back through legal action. They got the recognition of the Supreme Court in 2008, meaning that the settlers cannot trespass the land and the army has to stop them from trespassing. Subsequently the army declared the land military zone, turning the ruling into useless paper.
Another claim is about water. It is controlled by the Israeli firm Mekorot and the principal line passes close to the Halamish settlement. The settlers totally control the supply through a valve situated in the illegal colony.
Since protests have begun, there has been a change in the occupation forces protecting the settlers, now there are special riot police squads settled in the colony and in a base located on its side.
The repression constantly suffered by the villagers is very violent, that’s why the presence of international is considered especially necessary to show in our countries what is happening in Nabi Saleh and in Palesine in general.
20 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Today, Friday 15 of July, the Israeli army violently repressed the weekly non-violent demonstration of the Palestinian city of Nabi Saleh. During the repeated attacks on the peaceful demonstrators four activists were arrested: two Palestinians, one Italian and one Israeli. The following is the testimony of the Italian activist.
The main demonstration lasted under 3 minutes. Three Palestinians blindfolded themselves behind a wooden structure covered in barbed wire, to symbolise the imprisonment of all the Palestinians in Israeli prisons which is illegal under international law. As soon as the demonstrators appeared in the soldiers view, a barrage of tear gas hit them and they were dispersed. The first Palestinian was arrested in the course of the morning (not sure about the second Palestinian and the Israeli). Around five in the afternoon they attacked a group of people that took part in the demonstration in the morning but that at that moment was just standing by. I was sitting a little further away from the group. The soldiers were out to get anyone who participated in the demonstration, regardless of whether they did anything illegal, so I did not have any other choice but to run. A soldier came after me. I stepped on a wrong spot and fell down, injuring my right leg.
Marks of aggression are left upon the wrists of an Italian volunteer, illegally arrested and beaten.
The soldier caught me and put his knee over me to prevent me from running. After a few moments I was surrounded by soldiers. One of them took my left hand and twisted it for no apparent reason other than to intimidate me since I was already incapable of fleeing. They handcuffed me using a plastic zip lock, pulled me on my feet and asked me why I was running. I answered that I know that they routinely arrest people for doing nothing illegal and I did not want to be taken. They started leading me to their jeep and at that point I started asking where I would be taken. They were not answering me so I decided to resist what was an arbitrary and unjustified arrest. I shouted that I am an Italian citizen and I have the right to know where I am going to be taken.
They continued refusing to give me an answer so I resisted being put into the Jeep. There were many of them trying to force me into the vehicle and they started using violence on me. They were hitting me on the legs and the soldier next to me first showered me with water using the little water pipe coming out of his helmet, then he elbowed my groin. Another soldier put his fingers on my throat, trying to prevent me from talking. He then threatened to pepper spray my face, if I wouldn’t tuck my legs in the vehicle. But it was an empty threat he did not carry out. They couldn’t manage to place me in the jeep fully, so they began to move the vehicle with the back door open and my legs dangling out. They brought me to the junction or entrance of the village, where the rest of the troops were gathered and loaded me on another military jeep. A man with a camera filmed everything and from the second jeep I managed to describe to him what they did to me during the arrest, stressing that I was a peaceful demonstrator and I did nothing illegal. The soldiers did not like that and as soon as the jeep moved and they closed the backdoor the physical abuse began.
The soldier next to me, the one who previously elbowed my groin, started punching me in my face, and gestured me to shut up; another two soldiers joined the gratuitous display of power, hitting me on the arm and the head using a helmet. One of the punches in the face left me without glasses, when I asked for it back, I received another punch landing on my nose. They brought me to the army base in the settlement next to Nabi Saleh, although I discovered this only later.
They took me out of the Jeep and put me on my feet. I asked for my glasses and hat. One of the soldiers slapped the hat on my head and the other put my glasses in my bag. Still handcuffed I was taken upstairs, in what looked like the prisoners’ room. On the way they asked my religion and I answered that I am an atheist, the soldier did not understand so I said I was educated as a Christian Catholic. Two Palestinians were sitting blindfolded and handcuffed at the left corners of the room.
One soldier told me “You are a terrorist” and I replied “what makes me a terrorist?” He remained silent. They then cut the plastic zip lock and took my backpack. They replaced a new zip lock around my wrists and one around my thumbs, blind folding me again. They offered me water and I drank. They then started playing with me saying contradictory things like “turn around” and when I did they went “don’t move.” They invited me to sit down on the floor in one corner of the room. They started asking how long had I been in Israel, which day I came in, and when I was planning to leave. This question was repeated several times.
The second time he asked this question, this was the exchange:
“I’m flying back on Tuesday”
“Maybe you will stay with us in jail”
“I didn’t do anything illegal”
“Maybe we’ll find something”
“Yeah, I’m sure”.
They went through my things and found pills, I explained they are for my light narcolepsya and the soldier asked me whether I needed one now.
Some 10-15 minutes of silence followed. They probably wanted to wait until I was a little scared before starting the interrogation. At a point I heard a very loud sound, but could not figure out what it was. I asked about it and was given no answer. Later they sparked the loud sound again, and I think they obtain it hitting a wooden chair in that closed empty environment. I then heard them playing with their rifles, probably to scare me into thinking they were about to shoot me. Then the questioning began.
The soldiers asked where I was from, I answered Italy. The same soldier then asked me if my car was a Maserati or a Ferrari.
“Do I look that rich?”
“You look very poor. What car do you have ?”
“I have a fiat marea”
“That’s a piece of shit!”
He asked me what I am doing in Israel and I answered I am here for tourism and I stay in Jerusalem.
“Which hostel?’
“I don’t remember the name”
“How do you get back there then?”
“I know how to walk there”. I spent my first week in the country travelling around so I had in my bag a list of tourist locations and a map of Jerusalem, which gave strength to my story. Another soldier asked me “Do you love Arabs?”
“I have no particular feelings towards any ethnicity”
“Have you got any relation to the conflict?”
“No, I’m here just for tourism. You probably asked this because I look Arab. That is because my father is from Sicily, which was under
Arab domination, so I have some Arab features, but no actual relation to the conflict.”
“Have you been to Syria?”
“No, this is my first time outside Europe”
“Did you do tourism in any other conflict area?”
“As I said this is my first outside Europe, and there are no armed conflict in Europe”.
They wanted to know who pays for my trip, I answered that I pay for myself and my last job was in a coffee shop, they also asked if they pay was good in which I answer it was the minimum wage.A soldier said “I saw your pictures” (soldiers using tear gas on demonstrators)
“You are a bad guy.”
“They show you, aren’t you proud of what you do?”
“I’m very proud of what I do.”
“Then you should like my pictures.”
After a little while the blindfold was taken away and there were five soldiers in front of me. They wanted to know why did I run if I was doing nothing wrong.
I answered again “I ran because I know you arrest people for no reason to make sense of your job, and I did not want to be taken.”
“We only arrest people that throw stones.”
“Look, you have your incentive structure and I understand it, you have to get someone,” and then repeated I was not doing anything illegal.
I told the group the amount of violence that was used against me and indicated the soldier that did most of the beating. He apologised and I said, “If you wanna make me happy don’t do it again to anybody”. They blindfolded me again and played the trick “Turn Around Don’t Move”.
One soldier said “So he hit your balls, did you like it?”
“I might like it when my girlfriend touches me, I certainly don’t like a man hitting me there with his elbow.”
“Well, you know, some people like it rough” and he said to another soldier, “We have a gay here’” and they had a laugh, and turned to me to say “Just joking.”
I replied “Don’t worry”
“What, do I look worried?”
“I don’t know how you look like, I’m blindfolded, remember?”
“Then why did you say don’t worry?”
“You said just joking, and in English when someone says something like that you reply don’t worry.”
A third soldier intervened with a sentence in Hebrew that finished with the word ‘intellectual.’
After some silence he smugly said “So you won’t have children, that’s good”
“I don’t want children”
“Why?”
“It’s a waste of time.”At that point my story was: I’m Italian, I’m an atheist educated as a Christian Catholic, I’m here for tourism. And they began playing their tricks to verify it. He asked me if I wanted to eat something, not knowing when the next meal would have been, I accepted. He said we have chicken, turkey and another variety of meat that I can’t remember, probably pork. I said I’m vegetarian and he said they have broccoli. Broccoli and bread will do I said in which he shouted “One broccoli please!” As it was a restaurant. At that point I realised he was not actually offering me food, but probably, trying to check if I was Muslim offering me a variety of meats. Israel’s wine industry was mentioned and from there he asked me which wine I like, I replied that although I’m Italian I don’t drink wine and generally speaking I don’t drink alcohol, puzzled he asked, “Why, are you Muslim?”
“No, I’m just a healthy person.”
“Are you traveling alone?”
“Yes, I travel by myself”
“Are you part of any peace organisation?”
“No, I’m by myself”
“Come on, you can tell me, I’m not the Shin Bet!”
“What’s the Shin Bet?”
“Like the Mossad… What is it called… like the Israeli FBI.”
“You asked me a question and I gave you an answer, I have no reason to lie to you.”
They then brought a female soldier into the room that supposedly was planning to move to Italy, and knew some Italian. That was probably to verify that I was actually Italian. She spoke some Italian words and I checked if they were correct. The male soldier who had done most of the talking asked me whether I had been arrested before, “This is the first time.”
“You look like you’ve been in this situation before”
“People are afraid of what they don’t know”.
The female soldier had a brief conversation with me and asked me what I was doing in Israel, I replied I studied history at University, and I was a tourist interested in the historical sights. She asked me what kind of history I studied and I said modern and contemporary. She asked which cities I visited and I listed a few, she then asked if I like the country and I said I did like it. To further check they called someone that probably knew Italian and passed me the phone. The other person did not speak back so I only kept asking in Italian who was it.
They then said they were willing to release me, but needed my full name and some ID. I told them my name and said I don’t have my passport with me, but I can call someone who can bring it here. They asked me to tell them my passport number and I said I don’t remember it. He got upset about it and said, “They say they want to release you, but you want to spend the night with us. Come on, everybody remembers their passport number” and kicked my foot lightly.
“Well, I don’t. Do you remember yours?”
“Yes, of course I do!’
“I’m happy for you then, but I don’t. Let me call someone and they will bring my passport.”
“Can you call and ask them to tell your passport number?”
“Yes, let’s do this.”
After they checked the passport number they released me within 10 minutes. The Israeli activist was released with me, the Palestinians remained in the room.
I am writing this exactly twelve hours after I was attacked by an Israeli warship, off the Gaza coast.
As a member of the Civil Peace Service, I board the Oliva boat around twice a week to monitor Gazan fishermen’s human rights. But today, it wasn’t just the fishermen who were targeted.
We approached a cluster of hasaka fishing boats that were being attacked with water cannons at midday on July 13. As we got closer all I could focus on was the officer manning the machine gun, covered from head to toe with black, which struck me as very medieval, if you know what I mean.
Our boat, along with the fishing vessels, was around two miles out to sea, well within the three-mile fishing limit imposed by Israel. We saw marines congregate on deck to watch as the water cannon was angled slowly but deliberately towards us. To my delight they struggled against the wind initially, but eventually managed to angle round us as we fumbled with the water-logged engine. I took one look at the jet being generated vertically and knew what was coming. Sure enough, pellets of water began to rain down on us with stinging force. Then I, camera in one hand, felt the jet stream slap my face directly, staying there for several seconds, before the boat was yanked away by the fishermen around us. I was flung backwards and words I never utter escaped my lips. Struggling to stay up, I forced myself to take it on the chin. Literally. As the assault continued, they repeatedly aimed at my face and each time my nose, eyes and mouth filled with seawater. At one point I even saw a naval officer indicate to the marine controlling the cannon to aim for me. He gleefully obliged.
Israeli naval water cannons are able reach high into the air; even when fired vertically they can reach about four times the height of the gunboat. This warship was about 10 metres away. Imagine someone boxing your face. Imagine that their fist is larger than a bowling ball. Now imagine that punch lasting for ten minutes. This is what it felt like.
For ten minutes we were pursued as we tried to escape the gunboat. There were several fishing boats around us and, if there is a silver lining, it is that our presence distracted the Navy from attacking them.
Our boat began to fill with water and we struggled, along with the fishing boats around us to return to shore. Even as we picked up speed, the gunboat honed in on us, with relentless attack after attack. Eventually at just over one mile off the Gaza shore, the gunboat lagged behind and we were on the home straight.
We were completely drenched through. Our captain had to order us to corners of the boat, worried it was about to capsize or sink from all the water with which it had been filled. My body started to buzz and I’m surprised I didn’t electrocute everyone with the static that was building in my bloodstream. The fishermen were safe, we escaped and I felt like we had won. Even though rinsing my mouth with the salinated Gazan water to make wudu that evening brought my brain right back to gargling waterjets on the Oliva boat, the footage is gold dust and we refused to cower from their water-taunting and domination.
Although the attack was challenging for those of us who experienced it, it is essential to remember that this an everyday occurrence for Gazan fishermen. Earlier that very day, the boat of one fisherman was shot at repeatedly. There were too many bullet holes in the bow of his boat for me to count. His netting cables were shot through and he lost his catch. I’m sure he must have been fishing for grenades or something, right? Whereas I returned to shore simply with a stinging face and drenched clothes, when fishermen are attacked, they are unable to make their living. For the one attack on CPS Gaza, there have been tens if not hundreds of attacks on fishing boats.
International observers of Gaza are being targeted evermore frequently, as witnessed with the sabotage and interception of the 2nd flotilla fleet. Such attacks prevent those who have easier access to the world beyond the siege from witnessing attacks on Gazan civilians. These are the actions of a nation that has something to hide.
Human rights volunteers will continue to monitor violations, regardless of what the Israeli Navy fires at us, not only because we aren’t doing anything wrong, but because we know, and I mean this graciously, we are doing what is right and is what no authority is willing to do: ensuring that when fishermen are shot and attacked, somebody is there to witness and document it. Not everyone is able to get to Gaza, so hopefully the video footage and this account will help to bring Gaza to you.
Hama Waqum is a volunteer for CPS Gaza, she writes in a personal capacity and tweets at @WelshinGaza.
13 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On the 12th of July 2011, 4 ISM members with a group of international activists, including Israeli, French, Belgian, Portuguese and a 5 Palestinians attempted to enter the illegally, occupied farmland of a Palestinian landowner in Beit Ommar. The initial plan was to try to farm and clean the land of litter near the military placed fence, which separates the remaining Palestinian land because of an illegal settlement. We attempted to enter the area through the road path leading to the farmland but we were blocked by 20 military men from the Israeli army. The following actions involved heavy discussions between an Israeli activist and what seemed to be the official of the military Israeli unit. We tried to attempt another route but we were blocked again by the same military Israeli unit. The group was then shown a document in Hebrew from the commander of the unit that this was a closed military zone and that we had 10 minutes to leave the area before they arrested any of us. The collective decision was then to back-off and set up a plan to start cleaning the nearest farmland.
The ISM team decided to accompany the civil disobedience action remaining between other activists. When the 10 minutes were over, the Israeli army pushed us backwards physically, and as we moved backwards, I saw one Belgian activist getting grabbed from the back and getting arrested. There were other activists who were arrested at this time but which I couldn’t see since the Israeli army began to throw sound bombs at us. After the first wave of arrests, the Israeli army began throwing more sound bombs at the activists that still remained on the farmland. At this time I managed to observe one Israeli activist getting arrested in the front area. We moved backwards slowly while a number of soldiers commanded us to leave the area. I didn’t witness any further arrests.
Later at a debriefing at the Palestine Solidarity Project center/ Friends for Freedom and Justice Center we were told that 2 international activists and an Israeli activist had been arrested.
Background information:
In 2006 two fences were built in Beit Ommar confiscating Palestinian land. The Palestinian landowners had to either pass through entrances controlled by the Israeli army or were either prevented at all from entering their farmland. Demonstrations started in 2006 against the fence. Farmers succeeded to work on the land legally but were not allowed to enter or farm by the illegally occupied military zone. 2006-2008 2 Palestinian farmers made it through and in 2008 heavy military occupation began around the zone. A curfew was imposed, mass arrests and hence demonstrations began again. ThevillageofBeit Ommaris surrounded by three settlements, one of them being Karmei Tsur. The way settlements expand is done through the creation of buffer military zones, stating that the Israeli government has the right to “protect” the illegal settlements around the area. With the expansion of areas around settlements many Palestinian farmers and residents have been shot and arrested.
12 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza
Three years of protests have come and gone in Beit Hanoun. Every week, for three years, the people of Beit Hanoun have come out to protest against the occupation, against the wall that prevents them from returning to their homes in ’48, against the buffer zone which prevents them from farming their land. Three years isn’t so long though, three years is only a blip in their sixty three year old struggle to return to their land. The people of Beit Hanoun have survived the Nakba, the Naqsa, the Occupation, Cast Lead, and still they have not given up. So every week, every Tuesday, for over three years now, they have marched into the buffer zone to visit their land which they are not allowed to farm, to remind the world that justice has still not been achieved.
We set off at 11 o’clock this morning. About 30 people, residents of Beit Hanoun, Gaza, internationals, set off toward the buffer zone. The sun was beating down, the flags were raised up high, Bella Ciao boomed from the loudspeaker. As always, the march starts out in high spirits, as we get closer to the buffer zone, everyone gets progressively tenser; eyes scan the wall and the hills more carefully. We enter the buffer zone, the dead zone, where every tree has been destroyed by the Israeli’s, where nothing is allowed to live without being attacked regularly by Israeli bulldozers. We stop a short distance inside the buffer zone. Sabur Zaineen from the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative gives a short speech, specifically against the collaboration of European governments in perpetuating the siege on Gaza, for stopping the Freedom Flotilla II. The loudspeaker is handed off to someone else and chants against the occupation echo out over the dead zone and toward the Israeli soldiers ensconced in their concrete towers. Hopefully, someone is listening; someone will pause for just a moment in their daily life and think about what a life without justice, what a life under siege feels like. Hopefully, that person will decide to fight for justice.
