Category: In the Media - Page 333 - International Solidarity Movement

Youth, 17, says shot in the eye by Border Police officers

By Jonathan Lis
Originally published in Haaretz

Matan Cohen, an Israeli demonstrator against the separation fence, told Haaretz on Saturday that doctors are not sure if he will be able to see out of his eye again after he was reportedly shot the day before by a Border Police officer during a protest.

Cohen said he was shot Friday in his eye with a rubber bullet during clashes between anti-fence demonstrators and Israeli security forces in the West Bank village of Beit Sira, southwest of Ramallah. He was taken to Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer.

“We went to a nonviolent demonstration against the separation fence on portions of the village land. We reached an agreement with the military representative that the demonstration would remain nonviolent. We told them we wanted no confrontations. The request was honored until a Border Police force arrived,” Cohen said.

“At that point, the clashes began and the Border Police officers fired live fire into the air and rubber bullets from point blank range. Ten officers then began running toward the demonstrators that had already begun dispersing. Me and three other international activists were standing far from the demonstrators. A Border Police officer stood 20 meters from me, and I heard him cock his weapon. I yelled to him, ‘Don’t shoot, nobody is endangering you,’ but he shot. I felt a sharp pain in my eye, lost my vision and fainted.”

“He simply shot me in the head. The bullet hit half a centimeter above my eye. It’s utter contempt for human life, when in the name of the defense of something or other the army has a right to hurt demonstrators,” Cohen continued.

Border Police sources refused to respond to the statements, saying that only Israel Defense Forces spokespeople had the authority to respond to the affair. IDF sources said a preliminary examination revealed Cohen was injured by a stone thrown by an unruly demonstrator. They said that since he was standing closer to the forces than to the demonstrators, it is likely that he was hit by demonstrators aiming for forces.

IDF sources also said that the demonstration in Beit Sira, along with one nearby in Abud, constituted a violation of order because the area had been declared a closed military zone. The demonstrators said the sources threw stones at the security forces, which prompted the dispersal by security forces.

During the clashes, three soldiers were lightly injured in Abud and one in Beit Sira.

Injured anti-fence ‘anarchist’ speaks out

by Meital Yasur Beit-Or
Originally published at Ynet.com

Matah Cohen has sustained eye injuries while protesting the security fence near Ramallah; Says: ‘I feel like the blood of Left-wing activists is cheap’

Matan Cohen, 17, from Tel Aviv, and a member of the “Anarchists Against the Fence” organization, was injured while demonstrating against the security fence near Ramallah.

“My feeling is that the blood of Left-wing activists and the Palestinians is cheap,” he said.

Cohen was shot by Border Police and injured in his eye, and has been hospitalized in the Tel Hashomer Medical Center since Friday.

If bleeding does not stop within 24 hours, Cohen will undergo surgery. In either case, doctors believe his eye has sustained damage. In the best case, his visual range will be affected, and in the worst case, he would lose complete vision in the eye. “Up until now I can’t see out of the eye, and they’ll be able to see if there’s damage only in a few days. I’m worried about damage in my eye and I really hope the bleeding stops,” said Cohen.

Members of the organization have begun documenting their demonstrations due to past experiences with violence. “We have recordings of an army commander who said that he doesn’t want the situation to turn violent, and who tried to calm things down, saying not to shoot. But a Border Police is also heard saying ‘shoot everyone one of them with a rubber bullet.’ When I was shot I was standing with three people, within around a 20 meter range from a Border Police force. We said: ‘Don’t shoot, we are not threatening you and we are not endangering you,’ but they opened fire, and also directed it to the head, violating all of their rules of engagement. I felt the impact in the eye, and with the remainder of my strength, I managed to run from them. My entire hand and head were filled with blood,” said Cohen.

‘No connection to Amona’

Cohen says there is no connection between violence of soldiers against Right-wing demonstrators in Amona and Left-wing demonstrators: “In our demonstrations, they shoot live bullets in order to kill. In Right-wing demonstrations, no gas or shock grenades have ever been thrown. This is violence which is many times larger. The feeling is our blood is cheap. But violence which takes place when the life of a police officer is not under threat should be condemned, it doesn’t matter from which side it occurs.”

Three soldiers and Border Police officers were injured by rocks thrown at them. One police officer was taken to hospital.

According to police, two disturbances of the peace took place on Friday in the Ramallah area, as part of protests against the construction of the security fence. Hundreds of Palestinians, Left-wing activists, and foreigners took part in the disturbances, whom entered a closed military zone. Demonstrators threw rocks at security forces, who responded with crowd dispersal means.

Soldier lost eye

A few months ago, a soldier lost his left eye in similar protests after a rock was thrown at him by demonstrators.

Cohen, who completed his high school studies, has been taking part in protests against the route of the fence for three years, and says he witnessed harsh violence on the part of soldiers and Police officers. “The approach is that it’s legitimate to fire at demonstrators, even when they are nonviolent. The IDF and Border Police use live ammunition, tear gas, and rubber bullets, and hundreds of people have been injured in this period. In yesterday’s demonstration another 11 Palestinians were injured, one of them was even operated on at a hospital in Ramallah,” he said.

Efrat Weiss contributed to this report
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Read the ISM report on Matan’s shooting here.

Ten anti-separation fence protesters hurt in clash with IDF

By Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondent

At least ten people – Israelis and Palestinians – sustained light injuries Thursday afternoon in a clash with Israel Defense Forces troops at a separation fence construction site, between the Palestinian village of Beit Sira and the town of Maccabim, within the Green Line.

Dozens of “Anarhists Against the Fence” activists and some 200 village residents clashed with the troops, who were securing the bulldozers paving the route of the fence.

The forces fired rubber coated bullets and sprayed tear gas at the protesters. The protest delayed construction work at the site by several hours.

According to a report published this week by the human rights groups B’Tselem and Bimkom, the main consideration behind the route for “numerous segments” of the separation fence was settlement expansion.

The report, entitled “Under the Guise of Security: Routing the Separation Barrier to Enable Israeli Settlement Expansion in the West Bank,” looks at four areas: the settlements Tzofin and Alfei Menashe near Qalqilyah, Modi’in Illit and the separation fence surrounding the Neveh Yaakov neighborhood in northern Jerusalem. The conclusion: a direct link between the route already built by the Defense Ministry and the future master plans for those settlements.

Post Publishes Three Letters in Defense of Georgetown Conference

The following letters were printed on Friday, February 17, 2006, in the Washington Post:

Regarding the Feb. 12 Close to Home commentary by Eric Adler and Jack Langer [“Why Is Georgetown Providing a Platform for This Dangerous Group?”] about the student conference being held on the Georgetown University campus this weekend:

First, Georgetown prizes its commitment to free speech and expression. Georgetown student groups and faculty have the right to invite speakers and conferences to campus in accordance with the university’s speech and expression policy. This does not mean that the university endorses any speakers or their views.

Second, federal law enforcement authorities assured the university that allegations that the conference host, the Palestine Solidarity Movement, is connected to terrorism are false.

Third, Georgetown faculty and administrators will monitor the conference to ensure that both conferees and protesters comply with the university’s policy on speech and expression.

Mr. Alder and Mr. Langer also said that Georgetown refused to host a conference for America’s Truth Forum. In fact, Georgetown had no role in that decision. Decisions about that conference were made by Marriott Corp., which operates an independent hotel and conference center on campus.

Erik Smulson
Assistant Vice President for Communications
Georgetown University
Washington

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Eric Adler and Jack Langer disparaged the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a movement that I co-founded in the spring of 2001 in the occupied territories of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem to help draw attention to the human rights abuses suffered by Palestinians as a result of Israel’s occupation. The ISM also is a resource for Palestinian nonviolent resistance to the occupation. The ISM believes that average civilians can bring about change, and it tries to unite Palestinians, Israelis and other people in nonviolent resistance to Israel’s occupation policies.

When I “acknowledged” that the ISM “cooperates with Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,” I was offering concrete examples of the ways in which these groups were engaging in nonviolent resistance.

Both the ISM and the Palestine Solidarity Movement advocate nonviolent resistance to Israel’s human rights abuses — the ISM through organized action in the occupied territories and the PSM by promoting international divestment from companies that profit from occupation.

Huwaida Arraf
Washington

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The piece about the Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM) conference that starts today at Georgetown University was misleading. PSM’s organizers are people of all faiths and backgrounds. Many are Jews.

The PSM’s Web site condemns racism and discrimination. Its FAQ page says, “The PSM does not support or endorse terrorism.” The FBI does not consider the PSM to be a terrorist organization; nor does any other government agency.

The Close to Home commentary was nothing more than an attempt to stop Americans from hearing our message.

Fadi Kiblawi
The writer is an organizer of the PSM conference at Georgetown University
Arlington

The anger at racist cartoons continues

18 February 2006 issue 1988
From Socialist Worker

From London’s Trafalgar Square to Ramallah in Palestine, from Lebanon to Austria, the caricatures of the prophet Mohammed, first printed in a Danish paper, have sparked rage

Some 20,000 protesters filled Trafalgar Square in London on Saturday of last week for a rally against Islamophobia and incitement. The event was called at short notice by the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) and others in the wake of the cartoons row.

The protest was also supported by the Stop the War Coalition and CND. Lindsey German, convenor of Stop the War, was warmly received by the crowd when she spoke at the rally.

She noted that it wasn’t only Muslims who find the cartoons offensive: “They offend me because they offend my politics – they are racist provocations from a racist newspaper.”

MAB spokesperson Dr Azzam Tamimi also drew cheers and applause for a fiery and uncompromising speech. “They say Muslims don’t understand that governments can’t control the media. Who are they bullshitting?” he said.

Kate Hudson, chair of CND, said she was proud to be “standing here in solidarity with the Muslim community”. She was one of many speakers to note how anti-Muslim racism is being used to cover up for the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Respect MP George Galloway backed up this message of solidarity, noting that the anti-war movement today stood in a proud tradition of working people mobilising against racism and fascism.

Yvonne Ridley, political editor of the Islam Channel, attacked the mainstream media’s stereotypes about Muslims and double standards over “freedom of speech”.

She and others drew a direct parallel between contemporary anti-Muslim caricatures and the anti-Semitic caricatures of the 1930s that helped lay the groundwork for the Nazi Holocaust.

Throughout the rally, the speakers who made political connections between the cartoons row, racism and the “war on terror” were cheered and applauded.

In contrast, those who spoke more defensively about the need for “moderation” were received less well.

The same anger felt on the demonstration in London echoes through the streets of Ramallah, on the Palestinian West Bank, 1,500 miles away.

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in Palestine has joined the international chorus of criticism of the cartoons.

The movement, which brings together activists from around the world to stage non-violent direct action in support of Palestinians, released a statement denouncing the cartoons.

Israeli-Canadian peace activist and ISM founder Neta Golan spoke to Socialist Worker from Ramallah.

She said, “The Danish cartoons have sparked deep anger among the Palestinian people. Many feel that it is part of the discrimination, racism and disrespect that they have been suffering under occupation.

“By labelling the prophet Mohammed as a terrorist, they are labelling all Arabs and Muslims as terrorists.

“This disrespect reinforces the feeling that the life of a Palestinian is worth less than that of a Westerner, that Palestinians and Muslims are to be looked down on.”

The ISM has called on the newspapers that published the cartoons to apologise and is demanding Western governments condemn Islamophobia. Neta says these cartoons are a part of the demonisation of Arabs and Muslims:

“Racism against people in the Middle East, and towards their own Muslim citizens, has a long history in the West and underlies much of the current policies in the Middle East – whether in Afghanistan, Iraq or Palestine.

“Most Western media are ignoring these facts while discussing the issue of free speech. They are reinforcing stereotypes that the Muslim world rejects Western liberties.”