Category: Press Releases - Page 102 - International Solidarity Movement

Settlers Destroy Al-Kurd Property: Two Palestinians Arrested

International Solidarity Movement

7th April 2010

Update: The Palestinians who were arrested last have been released without charge. No settlers have been questioned or detained in connection with the property destruction they undertook, despite photographic evidence proving their culpability.

Sheikh Jarrah, Occupied East Jerusalem, Israel, 12AM – Right-wing settlers began to dismantle a fence the Al-Kurd family erected around their garden shortly after midnight Wednesday morning. Palestinians and internationals in the Al-Kurds protest tent, where the family has have lived in for four months, placed themselves between the fence and the settlers. Police arrived soon after and arrested two young Palestinian men of Sheikh Jarrah. No settlers were taken into custody. Despite pleas by the Palestinians and internationals who witnessed the event, officers refused to look at the destroyed section of the fence.

The Al-Kurd family, assisted by residents across east Jerusalem, recently reclaimed their garden during a commemoration of Land Day. The reclamation included the seeding and transplanting of plants and erecting the fence that the settlers attempted to destroy this evening.

“The settlers actions in Sheikh Jarrah are a perfect example of the total power disparity between the Jewish and Palestinian populations of Israel and Palestine,” said Nina Mackay. “With the police behind them, the young settlers can make up any story in an attempt to incarcerate Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah,” the Scottish ISM volunteer concluded.

Approximately 475 Palestinian residents living in the Karm Al-Ja’ouni neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, located directly north of the Old City, face imminent eviction from their homes. All 28 families are refugees from 1948,, whose houses in Sheikh Jarrah were built and given to them through a joint project between the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the Jordanian government in 1956.

So far, settlers occupy four Palestinian families, displacing around 60 residents, including over 40 children. they have all been left without suitable housing but only some protest on the street continue to protest against the unlawful eviction from the sidewalk across the street from their homes, facing regular harassment from the settlers and racist police forces.

Ryan Olander – Media Coordinator

International Solidarity Movement

054-883-8369

www.palsolidarity.org

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Sheikh Jarrah resident hospitalized after intervening in attempted stabbing by settler

International Solidarity Movement

05 April 2010

Earlier today in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian residents and international solidarity activists, five of whom sustained injuries. The settlers were armed with stones and sticks. According to eyewitnesses, one settler was wielding a knife.

A group of approximately twenty Israeli settlers entered the neighborhood and began throwing stones at three women from the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), hitting and lightly injuring each of them. Five Palestinian residents moved up the street towards the settlers in an attempt to stop the stone throwing, at which point the settlers began attacking them with sticks. According to eye witnesses, one settler then drew a knife and appeared to be about to stab Nasser Al-Ghawi, a local resident, when another Palestinian grabbed the blade of the knife to prevent the attack. The resident who intervened was then pushed to the ground and repeatedly beaten. He has been hospitalized, as his hand was lacerated by the knife blade, and he has suspected fractured ribs.

Settlers then left the area as soon as the police arrived. Nasser Al-Ghawi was arrested. None of the settlers were detained or arrested.

Palestinian police arrest Beit Ommar resistance leaders in night time raids

National Committee of Beit Ommar

5th April 2010

UPDATE: Mousa Abu Maria was released at 2am Tuesday morning without charge. He was not ill-treated or harshly interrogated. The PA’s involvement in the raid stemmed from a unfounded suspicion that Mousa was a part of ring of car thieves. Mousa was released after it was discovered they had apprehended the wrong person.

In night time raids on the houses of the organisers of popular protests against the Israeli occupation and the theft of Palestinian land, Palestinian police officers came in the early hours of this morning to arrest a number of Beit Ommar residents in collaboration with the Israeli occupation forces. Mousa Abu Maria was arrested at 01.40 this morning from his house by 8 heavily armed Palestinian police. Police attempted to arrest another member of the National Committee tonight, Younes Arar, but he was not at home. His wife and young children were left distressed and crying at the raid. Reports have been received that there are up to 20 police vehicles involved in the operation tonight.

These arrests are aimed at the community leaders who organise against the occupation, land theft, violations of religious freedoms and are supported by their communities. Yesterday the PSP and the National Committee of Beit Ommar carried out a sit down demonstration against the settlement expansion in Beit Ommar on Route 60 for the third time in a month.

Coalition to Break the Blockade on Gaza Announced

For Immediate Release

Following months of preparation, a coalition bringing together a number of organizations and movements working to break Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza was announced yesterday in Istanbul. The coalition, comprised of the Turkey-based IHH (Insani Yardim Vakfi) organization, the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG), the Greek Ship to Gaza campaign, the Swedish Ship to Gaza campaign and the Free Gaza Movement, will launch a flotilla of ships laden with cargo, media, parliamentarians, celebrities and activists to Gaza next month.

The flotilla includes at least eight vessels, including three cargo ships, and will set sail from European ports beginning May 3, reaching the port of Gaza later in the month. Over 500 passengers from more than 20 countries will take part, and 5,000 tons of cargo, including cement, prefabricated housing, other building materials, medical equipment, and educational supplies will be delivered to Palestinians in Gaza.

The Free Gaza Movement has been launching ships to Gaza since August 2008, partnering with organizations and activists around the world on these missions. In December 2009, IHH led a land convoy to Gaza that brought tons of humanitarian aid and other supplies. In January 2010 the European Campaign brought 50 parliamentarians to Gaza in solidarity with the Palestinian people and to witness the devastation wrought by Israel’s illegal policies. Ship to Gaza/Greece and Ship to Gaza/Sweden meanwhile have had ongoing campaigns in their countries to raise awareness and funds for this effort and for materials to be brought to Gaza.

“Through this coalition, these organizations will be able to maximize resources, experience and commitment to ending the illegal siege on Gaza. Even as Israel continues its daily persecution of Palestinians, we will use this action to wake the world’s consciousness about the crimes committed against Palestinians,” said IHH President Bulent Yildirim.

The coalition invites organizations and individuals from around the world to join the effort by providing supplies for Gaza and contributing financial support for the mission.

Contact:
Free Gaza Movement – Greta Berlin
ECESG – Arafat Madhi
IHH – Ahmet Emin Dag
Ship to Gaza / Greece – Vangelis Pissias
Ship to Gaza / Sweden – Dror Feiler

Military investigator testifies that head of IDF Southern Command instructed bulldozer operator not to cooperate with investigation

Rachel Corrie Foundation

29 March 2010

Monday, March 22 and Wednesday March 24, 2010 the Haifa District Court saw the fifth and sixth days of testimony in the civil lawsuit filed by Rachel Corrie’s family against the State of Israel for her unlawful killing in Rafah, Gaza. Rachel Corrie, an American human rights defender from Olympia, Washington, was crushed to death on March 16, 2003 by a Caterpillar D9R bulldozer. She had been nonviolently demonstrating against Palestinian home demolitions with fellow members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent, direct action methods and principles.

An Israeli military police investigator, who was part of the team that investigated Rachel’s killing, completed his testimony on March 22. In his testimony he stated that:

* One commander of the unit involved in the incident interrupted the testimony of the operator of the bulldozer that killed Rachel, telling him that the head of the Southern Command of the Israeli military ordered him to stop talking, not to sign anything and not to cooperate with the investigation. When asked if he considered this an intervention into the interrogation, the investigator testified that he did.
* The investigator stated not only that he did not visit the site of the killing, but also that the bulldozer involved in the killing was removed from the scene directly after the incident. He testified that the only tool he used in conducting the investigation was taking testimonies of eye-witnesses and soldiers.
* In his investigation, he did not refer to or read the Israeli military manuals that provided instructions and safety standards for operation of D9 bulldozers. He also failed to question the bulldozer driver about these regulations.
* Though the camera posted on the border was taping 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the investigator testified that he did not see footage from the camera, nor did he ask to, stating that it was someone else’s responsibility.

Asher Asban, who conducts professional investigations involving safety regulations related to both commercial and military incidents, provided expert testimony for the Corries. He testified that:

* According to the military’s rules, it was forbidden to operate the D9 bulldozer if there were civilians within a 20 meter radius around it.
* The driver would have been able to see bright colors such as that of the jacket Rachel was wearing when she was killed.
* The Israeli military had the ability to purchase cameras from Caterpillar to mount on the bulldozers. Such cameras would provide 360 degrees visibility.

On Wednesday, March 24, Craig Corrie, Rachel’s father, was the final witness to testify. Rather than concentrating on the failure to uphold a court order regarding two conditions under which to perform an autopsy, the State instead focused its line of questioning on passages from emails that Rachel wrote and on the family’s correspondence with the US Embassy and State Department regarding the issue of the autopsy and investigation. Mr. Corrie was also questioned as to whether Rachel was given the status of “shaheedah” (martyr) by the Palestinian Authority, and whether there were any streets named after her in Gaza or Ramallah. He answered that on the March 16th anniversary of Rachel’s death, a street was named for her in Ramallah and that according to his understanding of the word “shaheed,” it is used to describe anyone killed as a result of the occupation.

This portion of the trial with witnesses for the plaintiffs, the Corrie family, ended on March 24. The State has been granted 30 days to submit a list of witnesses and their affidavits. Judge Oded Gershon stated that proceedings will continue in September at the earliest with the next trial date currently set for September 5, 2010.