Freedom for Ryan Olander, justice for Sheikh Jarrah: US citizen held in Israeli prisons for over two weeks

Ryan Olander arrested by Israeli police in Sheikh Jarrah
Ryan Olander arrested by Israeli police in Sheikh Jarrah

2 January 2010

For immediate release:

Israeli authorities continue to detain Ryan Olander, US citizen and solidarity activist, who was illegally arrested on 18 December 2009 for his support of Palestinian families evicted from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah.

Minnesota resident Ryan Olander is facing deportation after being held in Israeli prisons for over two weeks. He spent his Christmas and New Year at a deportation facility in Ramle, where his request for release has been rejected by the prison judge. His lawyer submitted an appeal to the District Court in Tel Aviv on 27 December 2009 challenging the request of the Israeli Ministry of Interior for Mr. Olander’s deportation. The lawyer is anticipating the decision of the judge within the next 48 hours.

Ryan Olander was arrested from a tent the Palestinian al-Kurd family built in their own backyard following a recent setter take-over of a section of their house. He was drinking tea and talking to the family members when six Israeli police walked into the tent and took him for questioning at the Russian Compound police station in west Jerusalem. Despite being released without charges the following day, Ryan was illegally re-arrested by immigration police only a few moments later, right outside of the same police station that told him he was free to go.

Following his arrest, Mr. Olander made the following statement:
“I have become a target of the police for standing in solidarity with the Palestinians of Sheikh Jarrah who struggle against the unjust and illegal evictions from the places they have called their homes for nearly 60 years. Now I face deportation from Israel.”

During the time Ryan Olander spent in Israeli prisons, the residents of Sheikh Jarrah in Occupied East Jerusalem have been subjected to further harassment and violence from the Israeli settlers and their supporters who recently took over the houses of several Palestinian families:

  • 21 December 2009: An attack of about 40 settlers throwing stones at the Ftyaney family house left the Palestinians with two broken windows and fear of future attacks.
  • 23 December 2009: Several hours of settler harassment following a Christmas celebration in Sheikh Jarrah included spray-painting ‘Death to Arabs’ in Hebrew, throwing fruit at Palestinians sitting in front of occupied al-Kurd house, violently pushing Palestinian residents and international activists, spray-painting one in her face.
  • 25 December 2009: Around 30 settlers attacked the Palestinian Sabbagh family, breaking into their house and injuring seven family members. Two of the injured were cut with a knife and a pregnant woman, who was kicked in her stomach, had to be taken to hospital. Another family member was hit in the face and had a gun pointed at her.
  • 26 December 2009: A group of settlers attacked Palestinians from the neighbourhood with stones. Three children and one adult were injured as result, and a French man who took pictures of the episode was violently attacked by a settler.
  • 2 January 2010: A Palestinian woman, Nadia al-Kurd (65), had to be hospitalised with respiratory problems after being attacked by a settler in her own garden.

Background on Sheikh Jarrah

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 in the manner of the Hannoun and Gawi families, and the al-Kurd family before them. All 28 families are refugees from 1948, mostly from West Jerusalem and Haifa, 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 took over houses of four Palestinian families, displacing around 60 residents, including 20 children. At present, settlers occupy all these houses and the whole area is patrolled by armed private security 24 hours a day. The evicted Palestinian families, some of whom have been left without suitable alternative accommodation since August, continue to protest against the unlawful eviction from the sidewalk across the street from their homes, facing regular violent attacks from the settlers and harassment from the police.

The Gawi family, for example, had their only shelter, a small tent built near their house, destroyed by the police and all their belongings stolen five times. In addition, the al-Kurd family has been forced to live in an extremely difficult situation, sharing the entrance gate and the backyard of their house with extremist settlers, who occupied a part of the al-Kurd home in December 2009. The settlers subject the Palestinian family to regular violent attacks and harassment, making their life a living hell.

The ultimate goal of the settler organizations is to evict all Palestinians from the area and turn it into a new Jewish settlement and to create a Jewish continuum that will effectively cut off the Old City form the northern Palestinian neighborhoods. On 28 August 2008, Nahalat Shimon International filed a plan to build a series of five and six-story apartment blocks – Town Plan Scheme (TPS) 12705 – in the Jerusalem Local Planning Commission. If TPS 12705 comes to pass, the existing Palestinian houses in this key area would be demolished, about 500 Palestinians would be evicted, and 200 new settler units would be built for a new settlement: Shimon HaTzadik.

Implanting new Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank is illegal under many international laws, including Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The plight of the Gawi, al-Kurd and the Hannoun families is just a small part of Israel’s ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from East Jerusalem.

Legal background

The eviction orders, issued by Israeli courts, are a result of claims made in 1967 by the Sephardic Community Committee and the Knesseth Yisrael Association (who since sold their claim to the area to Nahalat Shimon) – settler organizations whose aim is to take over the whole area using falsified deeds for the land dating back to 1875. In 1972, these two settler organizations applied to have the land registered in their names with the Israel Lands Administration (ILA). Their claim to ownership was noted in the Land Registry; however, it was never made into an official registry of title. The first Palestinian property in the area was taken over at this time.

The case continued in the courts for another 37 years. Amongst other developments, the first lawyer of the Palestinian residents reached an agreement with the settler organizations in 1982 (without the knowledge or consent of the Palestinian families) in which he recognized the settlers’ ownership in return for granting the families the legal status of protected tenants. This affected 23 families and served as a basis for future court and eviction orders (including the al-Kurd family house take-over in December 2009), despite the immediate appeal filed by the families’ new lawyer. Furthermore, a Palestinian landowner, Suleiman Darwish Hijazi, has legally challenged the settlers’ claims. In 1994 he presented documents certifying his ownership of the land to the courts, including tax receipts from 1927. In addition, the new lawyer of the Palestinian residents located a document, proving the land in Sheikh Jarrah had never been under Jewish ownership. The Israeli courts rejected these documents.

The first eviction orders were issued in 1999 based on the (still disputed) agreement from 1982 and, as a result, two Palestinian families (Hannoun and Gawi) were evicted in February 2002. After the 2006 Israeli Supreme Court finding that the settler committees’ ownership of the lands was uncertain, and the Lands Settlement officer of the court requesting that the ILA remove their names from the Lands Registrar, the Palestinian families returned back to their homes. The courts, however, failed to recognize new evidence presented to them and continued to issue eviction orders based on decisions from 1982 and 1999 respectively. Further evictions followed in November 2008 (Kamel al-Kurd family) and August 2009 (Hannoun and Gawi families for the second time). An uninhabited section of a house belonging to the al-Kurd family was taken over by settlers on 1 December 2009.

Gaza Freedom Marchers issue the ‘Cairo Declaration’ to end Israeli Apartheid

1 January 2010

Gaza Freedom Marchers approved today a declaration aimed at accelerating the global campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israeli Apartheid.

Roughly 1400 activists from 43 countries converged in Cairo on their way to Gaza to join with Palestinians marching to break Israel’s illegal siege. They were prevented from entering Gaza by the Egyptian authorities.

As a result, the Freedom Marchers remained in Cairo. They staged a series of nonviolent actions aimed at pressuring the international community to end the siege as one step in the larger struggle to secure justice for Palestinians throughout historic Palestine.

This declaration arose from those actions:

End Israeli Apartheid

Cairo Declaration
January 1, 2010

We, international delegates meeting in Cairo during the Gaza Freedom March 2009 in collective response to an initiative from the South African delegation, state:

In view of:

  • Israel’s ongoing collective punishment of Palestinians through the illegal occupation and siege of Gaza;
  • the illegal occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the continued construction of the illegal Apartheid Wall and settlements;
  • the new Wall under construction by Egypt and the US which will tighten even further the siege of Gaza;
  • the contempt for Palestinian democracy shown by Israel, the US, Canada, the EU and others after the Palestinian elections of 2006;
  • the war crimes committed by Israel during the invasion of Gaza one year ago;
  • the continuing discrimination and repression faced by Palestinians within Israel;
  • and the continuing exile of millions of Palestinian refugees;
  • all of which oppressive acts are based ultimately on the Zionist ideology which underpins Israel;
  • in the knowledge that our own governments have given Israel direct economic, financial, military and diplomatic support and allowed it to behave with impunity;
  • and mindful of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (2007)

We reaffirm our commitment to:

    Palestinian Self-Determination
    Ending the Occupation
    Equal Rights for All within historic Palestine
    The full Right of Return for Palestinian refugees

We therefore reaffirm our commitment to the United Palestinian call of July 2005 for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) to compel Israel to comply with international law.

To that end, we call for and wish to help initiate a global mass, democratic anti-apartheid movement to work in full consultation with Palestinian civil society to implement the Palestinian call for BDS.

Mindful of the many strong similarities between apartheid Israel and the former apartheid regime in South Africa, we propose:

  1. An international speaking tour in the first 6 months of 2010 by Palestinian and South African trade unionists and civil society activists, to be joined by trade unionists and activists committed to this programme within the countries toured, to take mass education on BDS directly to the trade union membership and wider public internationally;
  2. Participation in the Israeli Apartheid Week in March 2010;
  3. A systematic unified approach to the boycott of Israeli products, involving consumers, workers and their unions in the retail, warehousing, and transportation sectors;
  4. Developing the Academic, Cultural and Sports boycott;
  5. Campaigns to encourage divestment of trade union and other pension funds from companies directly implicated in the Occupation and/or the Israeli military industries;
  6. Legal actions targeting the external recruitment of soldiers to serve in the Israeli military, and the prosecution of Israeli government war criminals; coordination of Citizen’s Arrest Bureaux to identify, campaign and seek to prosecute Israeli war criminals; support for the Goldstone Report and the implementation of its recommendations;
  7. Campaigns against charitable status of the Jewish National Fund (JNF).

We appeal to organisations and individuals committed to this declaration to sign the declaration and work with us to make it a reality.

To endorse the declaration please email cairodec@gmail.com.

Candle-light vigil held in Manger Square, Bethlehem to commemorate Gaza

Nathan Stokes | IMEMC

31 December 2009

Residents of the Bethlehem area, West Bank, gather to commemorate those lost in last years Gaza War and stand in solidarity with those still living under seige.

Children from Bethlehem read the names of the children killed last year in Gaza during the massacre and hung their names from a tree.
Children from Bethlehem read the names of the children killed last year in Gaza during the massacre and hung their names from a tree.
Children sang and danced with the Palestinian key of return.
Children sang and danced with the Palestinian key of return.
Approximately 100 people attended the demonstration in solidarity with Gaza today.
Approximately 100 people attended the demonstration in solidarity with Gaza today.

At 4:30 this afternoon residents of Bethlehem and the surrounding towns gathered to commemorate the 1,500 Palestinians that lost their lives this time last year, and stand in solidarity with the residents of Gaza, who continue to live under siege from the Israeli military; a situation that has continued since June 2006. The vigil was held in Manger Square, bordered with The Church of the Nativity.

After a brief introduction given by a young girl from the town, those in attendance received a call from Dr. Haidar Eid, from inside the Gaza Strip. Dr. Eid is an associate professor in the Department of English Literature, AL-Aqsa University, Gaza Strip and also works as a grass roots activist. Dr. Eid spoke of the necessity of the ending of the siege on Gaza, and thanked those in attendance, both local residents of the Bethlehem municipality and internationals alike.

Following Dr. Eid was Dr. Victor Batarseh, mayor of Bethlehem. Dr. Batarseh spoke in a similar vein, endorsing the support of the Gazans and reminding all to keep the plight of their plight in their thoughts.

Today was a day to commiserate the loss of vast numbers of children in Gaza, but also to celebrate the beauty of youth and be hopeful for their future. Children from Al-Ruwad Centre located in Aida refugee camp treated the crowd to a performance, and then followed by a speech by spokesman for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, Awad Abu Swai.

It was again the turn of the children to take centre stage. As a local boy, no more than 11 years old read the names of those children killed by the Israeli military during the Gaza War last December and January, more children were assisted in climbing the small trees in the square, decorated still will lights from the Christmas festivities, to hang BDS movement stickers bearing the names that were simultaneously read out.

Four of the children from the earlier performance piece sang songs, as others walked amongst the crowd handing out stickers and candles for the vigil.

Dr. Abdul Fattah Abu Saror, director of Al-Ruwad Centre, gave the final speech, once again thanking all in attendance and wishing everyone a happy new year. As the music started to play five young men spontaneously broke out in dabka dancing to mark the end of the vigil.

Gaza Freedom March activists refuse to be silent!

Action for Peace

31 December 2009

The Italian delegation of Action for Peace at the Gaza Freedom March walked today in the streets of Cairo with all other delegations in solidarity with the Palestinian people, to call for an end of the siege on Gaza, the end of the Israeli occupation, the respect of international law and human rights. Even though the march was immediately stopped and some activists were injured by the Egyptian police, we succeeded in organizing a sit-in for about 8 hours in the square of the Egyptian Museum, that became today the Gaza Freedom Square. At midnight we gathered again in Tahrir Square to write our solidarity to Gaza with candels on the ground.

We came to Egypt with the goal of entering Gaza and breaking the siege through a nonviolent demonstration but we were prevented even from reaching the border. The government allowed a delegation of 100 people to enter Gaza in order to bring humanitarian aid, certainly a positive act, but we are here for much more. The people of Gaza do not ask for simple humanitarian assistance but for political action against the siege, which is the cause of the humanitarian crisis in the strip. Border control can be exercised by Israel and Egypt without harming the basic needs and the freedom of movement of the people of Gaza.

We urge the international community to take action after the Goldstone report released by the UN HRs Committee on the war crimes of Israel in the Cast Lead military attack on Gaza one year ago. Impunity cannot be tolerated. We denounce the attempt of the Egyptian government to differentiate between the “good activists” who accepted to bring humanitarian aid and the “bad ones” who insist on the political message of the march against the bockade. We are not devided, we all stand together for the end of the siege, the freedom and unity of the Palestinian people, a just peace in Middle East.

The Gaza Freedom March continued in the streets of Cairo today, while about 1000 people marched in Israel and 500 in Gaza on the two sides of the Eretz border check-point. Other hundreds participated in demonstrations in Ramallah, Bethlehem and other towns in the West Bank, besides the protests organized in many Eropean and American cities. We succeeded in concentrating attention of the international media on Gaza in the anniversary of the tragic militay attack on the strip. The people of Gaza know that they are not alone. May 2010 bring the end of the blockade and justice and pece for the people of Palestine!

Release Abdallah Abu Rahmah and other leaders and members of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements

Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace

29 December 2009

Abdallah with FFIPP students at the site of the Apartheid Wall in Bil'in

Abdallah Abu Rahmah, a leader of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, was arrested at his home during a military operation in Ramallah by the Israeli Army on December 10.

FFIPP interns and members of faculty delegations know Abdallah Abu Rahmah well. For the past two years, he has received our students and faculty at his home in Bil’in and has taken them to see the Separation Wall on the village’s land.

Abdallah is currently in military prison and is being charged with illegal weapons possession, in response to his creative exhibition of discharged tear gas canisters, bullets and sound grenades used by the Israeli military in Bil’in against non-violenet protestors. As many of our students and faculty have witnessed, the exhibition was created for educational purposes and does not have live ammunitions but only the remains of weapon used by the Israeli Army.

In th e last 20 years Israel confiscated more than 50% of Bil’in land for Israeli settlements and the construction of the separation wall. Supported by Israeli and international activists, Bil’in residents have peacefully demonstrated every Friday in front of the Separation Wall on their land for the past five years.

Under international law the confiscation of land in Bilin for the construction of the settlements on the village’s land is illegal. The ongoing construction of the Wall is also condemned by the UN and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In 2007 the Israeli High Court of Justice ordered the government to reroute a section of its separation barrier that is on the village’s land.

Abdallah’s arrest appears to be part of an ongoing campaign conducted by the Israeli military to undermine the efforts of residents of Bil’in and leaders of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, in an attempt to discourage them from continuing their non-violent struggle and spreading their non-violent, creative and inclusive struggle to other villages. Since June 2009, 31 residents of Bil’in have been detained by the Israeli military. Recently, other leaders of the grassroots and non-violent Palestinian movement for the removal of the Wall and for freedom have been arrested, such as Jamal Juma’ and Mohammad Othman.

By imprisoning leaders of the non-violent struggle against the confiscation of Palestinian land, what is the message that the Israeli military intends to convey? If the leaders of this struggle, who work openly and jointly with Israeli and international peace activists, are taken away by the Israeli military, what options are left open to a new generation of Palestinians who desire to fight for their freedom and their dignity?

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who met with Abdallah Abu Rahma last summer during a visit to Israel, under the auspices of The Elders, a group of global leaders formed by former South African president Nelson Mandela, condemned Abu Rahma’s arrest and indictment.

Archbishop Tutu said that he and his fellow delegation members – who included former American president Jimmy Carter, former Irish president Mary Robinson and former Norwegian prime minister Gro Brundtland – were “impressed by [Abdallah Abu Rahma] commitment to peaceful political action, and their success in challenging the wall that unjustly separates the people of Bil’in from their land and their olive trees.” He called Abu Rahma’s arrest and indictment “part of an escalation by the Israeli military to try to break the spirit of the people of Bil’in.”

All of us who met with Abdallah Abu Rahmah in Bilin share Desmond Tutu’s evaluation and condemnation.

We urge students and faculty to

1) Send a message of support and solidarity to the Bilin Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements,

2) Contact Israeli embassies to request the release of Palestinian popular leaders from Israeli prisons,

3) Ask President Obama to put pressure on Israel to release the leaders of the non-vilolent struggle against the Wall and settlements