To learn more about the Christian Peacemaker Teams’ work in Palestine click here
27 July 2008
AT-TUWANI – At 1:50 pm, on Sunday, 27 July at least three Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian children and two internationals as they walked to
their village of Tuba.
The children had been attending summer camp in the village of At-Tuwani. As the fourteen children and two internationals,
from Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), were walking in a valley south of the illegal settlement outpost of Havot Ma’on, one masked settler came down the hill, throwing stones with a slingshot. The children and CPTer Jan Benvie ran ahead, but other settlers were approaching them from the opposite side of the valley. None of the stones thrown by the settlers struck the children, aged between 6 and 15 years old, and they were able to run to safety.
CPTer Joel Gulledge was filming the attack. When the masked settler saw Gulledge with the video camera, he began directing his stones at Gulledge. The settler hit Gulledge in the leg with a rock and he was unable to run. The settler then ran to him, wrested the camera from him, and began beating him with a rock and the camera. After that, the settler ran off with the camera.
On 22 July, the military did not escort the children. Only seven children were willing to risk walking alone to At-Tuwani. The children informed CPT that at least eight other children did not attend the summer camp because they were too afraid to walk without a military escort. On the morning of 23 July, the army again refused to escort the children. The children were chased by three settlers, one of whom was masked and
carrying a stick, while they walked unescorted to the summer camp. On 26 July, a military personnel informed internationals that the army would no longer provide an escort for the children, who were waiting for the army to arrive while four settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement outpost of Havot Ma’on shouted at the children. The personnel would not give the name and brigade of the commander refusing to provide the escort. When the international explained the dangerous situation for the children, the military personnel said, “I don’t think the settlers will attack the children.”
In October 2004, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian school children and internationals in the same area as the attack on the 27th. Two internationals were hospitalized and, after international media coverage of the attack, the Israeli Knesset recommended that the Israeli military provide a daily escort for the children to go to and from school.
To view original report, published by Palestine Monitor, click here
Picture from Palestine Monitor
Bil’in village has been struggling for its land, resources and liberty, and against the apartheid Wall for 4 years. When the struggle is that long, almost every resident of the village is involved in non-violent resistance. And amongst those, there is Ashraf, “Bil’in’s Che Guevara”, who has dedicated his life to the village’s resistance. Since Sunday, when Bt’selem, the Israeli human rights group, released a video showing him being shot at close range by an Israeli soldier, the young man is no longer anonymous.
Earlier this week, the Palestinian and Israeli press, as well as international newspapers, released the story of Ashraf, a young Palestinian man from Bil’in who appeared in a video shot by a young girl from Ni’lin village. On the screen, he was blindfolded and handcuffed, with a soldier aiming his weapon at Ashraf’s leg, from less than 2 meters away. The soldier targeted, and fired, a rubber coated steel bullet at his toes.
We met Ashraf in his friend’s house in Bil’in, the town where he was born and raised, and to which he has dedicated his life. The huge house overlooks the hills and would offer a great view over a beautiful land planted with olives trees… if there was not an Israeli settlement in the middle.
Ashraf Abu Rahma is a 27-years old man from Bil’in, whose life has turned busy since the release of the video, as journalists are queuing to hear him tell his story. But Ashraf is not the one who will speak, his friend Abdullah is there to help him translate. Together, they are meeting the press and organizing the interviews, with Abdullah speaking and translating on his behalf.
Since the beginning the town’s resistance in February 2005, Ashraf has been one of the main activists, sharing every action with the community, carrying on the non-violent struggle to reverse Bil’in fate. By annexing close to 60% of Bil’in land for Israeli settlements and the construction of the apartheid wall, the state of Israel has been strangling the village for four years.
Behind the Wall, on the Israeli side, the Bil’in popular committee has built an outpost, that is located right between the gates of the Wall and the closest settlement, about 100 meters away from the illegal construction. This Palestinian outpost – copied on the Israeli outposts which were built prior to the definitive establishment of the settlement- is used by the Palestinian villagers to monitor the activities of the neighboring settlement. By establishing this room, they are preventing the building of new houses in the settlement as well as settlers’ attacks on the village.
Living in an outpost
This outpost is Ashraf’s main residence, the place where he sleeps every night, taking care of the village. “But sleeping in the outpost is really dangerous. I tried it myself”, said Abdullah. “Once, 20 settlers came together and started throwing stones at me”. Although it is dangerous, the outpost has its use and brought a great victory to Ashraf and the villagers when they prevented, earlier this year, the establishment of a new settlers’ outpost by having monitored their arrival on time.
As a committed communist, blessing Che Guevara as a mentor, Ashraf has been carrying diverse actions to keep the Bil’in struggle alive. Two months ago, he climbed the electric pylon that overlooks every settlement, and stayed 20 meters high for 5 hours. “By attracting attention on Bil’in and monitoring the dangers that might come, Ashraf is a key member of our struggle.” But for this, he was sent to jail for 2 weeks and had to pay 10.000 to be released on bail. “Once, the settlers from the surrounding area released aggressive pigs to attack us”, said Abdullah. “He was not even afraid of them. He’s neither scared by the soldiers, the settlers, nor the animals”. That gave him another nickname: The hyena.
The Bt’selem video released on Sunday put once again the spotlight on Ashraf. The footage was shot in Ni’lin, a village close to Bil’in that has, for the last two months, shared the same fate: carrying ongoing non-violent protest in order to stop the building of a new section of the apartheid Wall. The videotape was shot by a 17-year old girl called Salaam Kanaan and shows Ashraf Abu Rahma being shot from a two-meter distance by an Israeli soldier while blindfolded and controlled by another soldier. The incident occurred on Monday the 7th of July, while the entire village was held under curfew.
As a sign of solidarity, many residents from the surrounding villages took part in the peaceful demonstrations in Ni’lin that day, along with Israeli activists and internationals. Ashraf was one of them. “He always wanted to come with me to Ni’lin, to show his support to the villagers” told Abdullah. That Monday, it was the first time that Ashraf went and demonstrated outside his own town.
They arrived in Ni’lin around 11 A.M that day and were trying to reach the crowd when 4 Israeli jeeps stopped them and started launching sound bombs and tear gas on the group. In order to avoid inhaling teargas, they ran into olive tree fields and found themselves, along with ten internationals, trapped and surrounded by the occupation forces.
Ashraf was taken to an Israeli jeep where he was beaten, his head on the ground, the soldiers cursing at him in Hebrew. When they reached the entrance of Ni’lin town, they started blindfolding him and attaching his hands behind his back. When out of the car, he was left under the sun for three hours, blindfolded and without water.
“They started speaking in Hebrew, which I do not understand” said Ashraf, “the only word that sounded familiar was ‘gummi’ – meaning rubber. I did not think they intended to shoot me because they were too close, about 1 meter and a half away from me. Way too close.” But they did. The commander gave the order and the soldier shot. The bullet targeted his feet and Ashraf fell down on the ground, without remembering anything from the previous scene. To Ashraf, what happened will never stop him from to continuing his fight for their land. It made him perhaps even more determined. “Many times they have tried to stop me, but each time, it makes me stronger”.
Recording the daily Israeli violence
As Ashraf can not remember what happened that day, the story could have ended there. With no international media coverage, there is a lack of attention from the international community on the daily Israeli crimes.
And this would have been the case had it not been for Salaam Kanaan, the 17-year old beautiful and quiet girl, who was recording the event that day. She is still in High school, in the 11th grade and taking pictures and shooting videos is her passion. A productive and useful passion as her footage was broadcasted throughout the world. She wants to study communication technology, but since the video was released and shown on every channel, she is considering becoming a journalist, as everyone has told her she might have a great career as a reporter. And nothing could be more true.
Salaam was in Ni’lin -where she lives with her family- filming images from the demonstration from her house when the event happened. She has been doing this for a while, recording family events and school friends during her free time. But this is her first ultimate scoop.
We asked her if she was scared of Israeli retaliation while recording the incident. “No”, she answered straightforwardly. “I felt I had to do it.” But this morning, the Israeli occupation forces have arrested her father while he was watching –again- the peaceful protest against the Wall.
Since Sunday, both Ashraf and Salaam have become heroes for a while. But they have been fighting for much longer than what was recorded that day and this is the least that they deserve. For them, as well as for all the Palestinians who are daily peacefully fighting against the confiscation of their land and their freedom, and facing the Israeli unreported violence. For four years, entire Bil’in has been fighting. And two months ago, the town of Nil’in started too.
But again, the impunity of the Israeli crimes seems to be taking over. A short investigation was opened and the soldier who was seen firing the gun on the video was questioned. As he claimed he received a directive to shoot from his commander –who is still currently denying the facts- he was released on active duty on Tuesday, and residents of Ni’lin told B’Tselem that they saw the soldier the following day, still serving in his unit. Bt’selem as well as the Bil’in popular committee are still following the case, and asking for an immediate investigation.
Army quick to condemn rare cases while hiding daily abuse of Palestinians
By B. Michael
To view original article, published by Ynet on the 26th July, click here
The whole world saw the obedient Israeli soldier (according to his own version at least) following the order he got without hesitation and shooting the foot of a handcuffed man.
The whole world also saw our defense minister immediately express his shock and regret over the incident, while military commanders vowed to act quickly to eliminate this phenomenon. The world also saw the army spokesman rushing to condemn the incident, and the quick investigation that is already underway.
And so, the whole world again saw how wonderful the only democracy in the Middle East is, and how quickly and decisively it addresses such unusual act, “which does not befit a fighter,” (according to Ehud Barak’s reprimand.)
Oh, how wonderful and useful are those photogenic unusual incidents, which serve to hide the terrible routine. How convenient and effective it is to condemn the unusual, thus giving the norm a clean bill of health. How nice it is to praise oneself for condemning a rare act, thus clearing oneself of any wrongdoing when it comes to frequent acts; to festively renounce the resounding sins, thus cleansing the serial crimes.
Millions purposefully abused
Because every minute of every hour of every day, the State and its army are engaged in acts that are much more terrible than the act of that obedient solider. They are engaged in shattering the fabric of life of an entire people; the deliberate, wicked, and purposeful abuse of millions of people; the cold and calculated bureaucratic management of besieged ghettos; a Stasi-like chokehold over the entire population; and the official, dictated, “legal” trampling of every democratic and human right and value.
Yet the whole world doesn’t see all that. They only see the unusual cases (on occasion.) Yet those rare cases, oh how wonderful, can be fully condemned, with stunned eyes and angry reprimands.
Had I been the IDF’s spokesman, I would make sure to send one of my soldiers every month or two to appear before some kind of camera and carry out a spectacularly despicable act; after all, this will make it easy for me to condemn such open acts, in order to better hide that which is hidden.
And for that, warm feelings of gratitude are conveyed to the firing soldier.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation says volunteer detained while taking photos of IDF soldiers during rally against security barrier in Naalin, to detention center for people facing deportation. Father: I’m angry at human rights abuses in the West Bank
To view original article, published by Ynet on the 26th July, click here
A Canadian student who took part in a protest against the West Bank security barrier in the Palestinian village of Naalin has been arrested and faces deportation from Israel, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported on its website over the weekend.
According to the report, Victor McDiarmid, a volunteer for the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), was detained on Wednesday at a demonstration by women from Naalin, where Israel plans to build the next section of its security barrier.
CBC News said McDiarmid, 23, was arrested after taking photographs of Israeli soldiers who were breaking up the protest by villagers, who say the barrier will separate them from their farmland.
“He was taken by Israeli soldiers whilst at the front of the demonstration and was taken off towards the jeep. And then he has reported to us that for 20 minutes they were punching, kicking and spitting in his face,” Adam Taylor, ISM’s media co-ordinator was quoted by CBC News as saying.
‘Resisting Israeli occupation’
The organization’s lawyers told CBC News that McDiarmid, who is from Kingston, Ont., has been transferred to a detention center for people facing deportation.
His parents told CBC News they support their son and the work he was doing in Israel to expose human rights violations.
Robert McDiarmid said he is outraged his son could still be sitting in a detention center.
“I’m angry at the human rights abuses in the West Bank. I’m angry that the Canadian government’s aborting,” McDiarmid told CBC News, adding that his son has said he wants to stay in Israel and fight his deportation.
The International Solidarity Movement describes itself on its website as a “Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles.”
To view original article, published by Haaretz on the 25th July, click here
The United States this week filed an official protest with Israel for harming Palestinians, including the eviction of the al-Kurd family from their home in the Shimon Hatzadik complex in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
The U.S. also demanded explanations for the harassment of Palestinian residents in the West Bank by Israeli settlers.
A diplomatic source told Haaretz that the Foreign Ministry responded that the decision to evict the al-Kurd family was made under civilian jurisdiction, so the state has no standing to intervene in a matter still being heard by the Supreme Court.
Regarding harassment of Palestinians, Israel replied that the state regards this seriously and that law-enforcement officials take all necessary steps to prevent it and bring the perpetrators to trial.
The source said Washington expressed surprise at criticism from Jerusalem that the U.S. administration is dealing with “localized incidents” such as the case of the al-Kurd family and students would could not leave the Gaza Strip for studies abroad.
The diplomat said that handling such incidents is routine both for the embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate in Jerusalem. He noted that the U.S. administration acts according to policy accepted by Israel that the Palestinian Authority should be assisted and its head Mahmoud Abbas and prime minister Salaam Fayyad strengthened. All the events in which the U.S. has intervened have clashed with that policy.
The administration recently received detailed reports of increased activity by a settler organization in East Jerusalem working to increase the Jewish presence in Arab neighborhoods such as Sheikh Jarrah, Jabal Mukkaber, Silwan and the Mount of Olives. The U.S. consulate in Jerusalem has been tracking new construction plans in those neighborhoods for the Jewish population and reporting on them to Washington.
The protest by the U.S. raises doubts on the authenticity of an Ottoman-era bill of sale on which the Jerusalem District Court relied in ruling that the Shimon Hatzadik property belongs to the Committee for the Sephardic Group. The committee transferred the property to a settler organization called “Shimon’s Estate” that sought to evict the family that has lived there since the early 1950s. The al-Kurd family are refugees from West Jerusalem.
MK Yossi Beilin (Meretz) this week submitted a parliamentary question to the prime minister on the al-Kurd eviction notice, which had been slated to be carried out on July 15. The eviction was delayed after the family’s lawyer requested an urgent hearing by the Supreme Court.
The question was passed around among cabinet ministers until it was returned to the prime minister, who asked Tourism Minister Ruhama Avraham Balila to respond in her role as cabinet liaison to the Knesset. “In the eyes of the prime minister,” Avraham Balila addressed Beilin, “and in my eyes, not to mention in your eyes as a former justice minister, a High Court of Justice ruling always decides such matters.”
