Category: Press Releases

Israeli forces continue to target the leadership of Palestinian non-violent resistance

UPDATE: Mohammad Abu Rahma has been released from Israeli prison on a 5,000 NIS bail.

Abdallah Abu Rahme, coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee, stated, “The ongoing arrests are meant to create pressure for us to stop our non-violent resistance. The Israeli authorities are putting conditions on our leaders and forcing us to pay thousands of sheckels. But we cannot and will not stop protesting against the theft of our land.”

For Immediate Release

Abu Nizar at a demonstration in Canada
Abu Nizar at a demonstration in Canada

20 August 2009: Once again the night in Bil’in was disrupted by a raid ending with the arrest of one the members of the Village’s Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements. This occurred the night after the childrens demonstration where the children had chanted slogans like “We want to sleep,” “Stop the night raids”.

The house of Bil’in Popular Committee member and vice president of the Bil’in village council, Mohammad Abu Rahma, (age 50), known by his friends as Abu Nizar, was raided shortly before 2am on Thursday morning. About 25 soldiers with their faces painted in black had come to the village on foot.

The soldiers broke into Abu Nizar’s home and forcefully took him from his bed where he and his wife were sleeping. They then beat and dragged him to the Annexation Wall where jeeps were waiting to pick them up. During the arrest, the soldiers where confronted by international solidarity activists who live in the village and Haitham Khatib the village’s camera man. As Haithem was filming the arrest, one soldier hit him, broke his camera and hit two of the activists.

Abu Nizar’s son Nashmi Mohammed Ibrahim Abu Rahma (age 14) had been arrested 5 days ago. To date, Israeli forces have arrested 28 people (most of which are under 18). Nineteen residents of Bil’in remain in Israeli detention. Through Israel’s interrogation and intimidation tactics, some of arrested youth have ‘confessed’ that the Bil’in Popular Committee urges the demonstrators to throw stones. With such ‘confessions’, Israeli forces then proceed to arrest leaders of the non violent struggle in the community.

Magda abu Rahme , 17 , sister to Nashmi and daughter to Mohammad who are both currently in Israeli military prison stated; “These crimes, these armed invasions, breaking into homes where women sleep, these will only make us stronger and more steadfast. We remain samideen – steadfast – and will not back down. The strategy is to fragment our families and community and create distrust, and this will fail, we remain strong and we are immovable.”

What you can do?

Attempts to criminalize the leadership of non-violent protests where curbed in the past with the help of an outpouring of support from people committed to justice from all over the world.

1. The Popular committee of Bil’in is in desperate need for legal funds in order to pay legal fees and Bail. Please donate to the Bil’in legal fund by paypal click http://tinyurl.com/lcr6rg . If you would like to make a tax deductible donation in the US or Canada contact: bilinlegal@gmail.com.

2. Please Protest by contacting your political representatives, as well as you consuls and ambassadors to Israel to demand that Israel stops targeting non violent popular resistance and release Mohammad Abu Rahme (Abu Nizar,) Adib Abu Rahme and all Bil’in prisoners.

The Bil’in Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements

Background

The Palestinian village of Bil’in has become an international symbol of the Palestinian popular struggle. For almost 5 years, its residents have been continuously struggling against the de facto annexation of more than 50% of their farmlands via the construction of the Apartheid Wall.

In a celebrated decision, the Israeli Supreme court ruled on the 4 September 2007 that the current route of the wall in Bil’in was illegal and needs to be dismantled; the ruling however has not been implemented. The struggle of the village to liberate its lands and stop the illegal settlements has been internationally recognized and has earned the popular committee in Bil’in the Carl von Ossietzky Meda. http://tinyurl.com/nfmsvm

Another leading Bil’in non-violent activist, Adeeb Abu Rahme, remains in detention since his arrest during a non-violent demonstration on July 10th (see report & video: https://palsolidarity.org/2009/07/7652).

Adib Abu Rahme as well as Bil’in’s popular committee Member Mohammad Khatib have been charged with “incitement to damage the security of the area.” , was recently released on bail after his lawyer proved that a picture the military prosecution claimed was of him throwing stones that was accompanied by a confession form one of the arrested youth recognizing Mohammad, was taken while Mohammad was out of the country.

A mass demonstration will be held outside Ofer prison in the West Bank

For Immediate Release:

Monday, 24 August 2009 at 9am: A mass demonstration will be held outside Ofer prison in the West Bank.

Palestinians, alongside Israeli and international solidarity activists will gather in front of Ofer (on the Palestinian side) to protest against Israeli arrest and intimidation campaigns of Palestinians.

Israeli forces have conducted arrest and intimidation campaigns on villages that resist Israeli apartheid infrastructure. According to a joint report from Addameer and Stop the Wall, Israeli forces have arrested 176 Palestinians from 5 villages alone in their resistance against construction of the Wall.

The family of Na’el Barghouthi will be in attendance to demand for his release. Barghouthi was taken by Israeli forces on 4 April 1978 and has been behind bars for 31 years.

An estimated 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners are currently being held in Israeli jails.

Israeli forces begin construction of new cement wall on Ni’lin’s land

For Immediate Release:

Friday, 21 August 2009 at 12:30pm: A demonstration will be held against the new cement construction of the Wall in the West Bank village of Ni’lin.

Israeli forces have begun placing 8 meter high cement blocks, in place of a fence that was built before.

Since May 2008, residents of Ni’lin have been organizing and participating in unarmed demonstrations against construction of the Apartheid Wall. Despite being deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004, the Occupation continues to build the Wall, further annexing Palestinian land.

Ni’lin will lose approximately 2,500 dunums of agricultural land when construction of the Wall is completed. Israel annexed 40,000 of Ni’lin’s 58,000 dunums in 1948. After the occupation of the West Bank in 1967, the illegal settlements and infrastructure of Kiryat Sefer, Mattityahu and Maccabim were built on village lands and Ni’lin lost another 8,000 dunums. Of the remaining 10,000 dunums, the Occupation will confiscate 2,500 for the Wall and 200 for a tunnel to be built under the segregated settler-only road 446. Ni’lin will be left with 7,300 dunums.

The current entrance to the village will be closed and replaced by a tunnel to be built under Road 446. This tunnel will allow for the closure of the road to Palestinian vehicles, turning road 446 into a segregated settler-only road . Ni’lin will be effectively split into 2 parts (upper Ni’lin and lower Ni’lin), as road 446 runs between the village. The tunnel is designed to give Israeli occupation forces control of movement over Ni’lin residents, as it can be blocked with a single military vehicle.

Israeli forces commonly use tear-gas canisters, rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition against demonstrators.

To date, Israeli occupation forces have murdered 5 Palestinian residents and critically injured 1 international solidarity activist during unarmed demonstrations in Ni’lin. In total, 19 people have been killed during demonstrations against the Wall.

  • 5 June 2009: Yousef Akil Srour (36) was shot in the chest with 0.22 caliber live ammunition and pronounced dead upon arrival at a Ramallah hospital.
  • 13 March 2009: Tristan Anderson (37), an American citizen, was shot in the head with a high velocity tear gas projectile. He is currently at Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv with uncertain prospects for his recovery.
  • 28 December 2008: Mohammed Khawaje (20) was shot in the head with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition. He died in a Ramallah hospital 3 days later on 31 December 2008.
  • 28 December 2008: Arafat Rateb Khawaje (22) was shot in the back with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition and pronounced dead upon arrival at a Ramallah hospital.
  • 30 July 2008: Yousef Amira (17) was shot in the head with two rubber coated steel bullets. He died in a Ramallah hospital 5 days later on 4 August 2008.
  • 29 July 2008: Ahmed Mousa (10) was shot in the forehead with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition and pronounced dead upon arrival at a Ramallah hospital.

In total, 38 people have been shot by Israeli forces with live ammunition in Ni’lin: 9 were shot with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition and 29 were shot with 0.22 caliber live ammunition.

Additionally, Israeli arrest and intimidation campaigns on West Bank villages that demonstrate against the Wall, have led to the arrests of over 76 Palestinians in Ni’lin alone as of June 2009.

Nablus-area residents to protest home demolition orders

This coming Thursday (20/08/09) the families and friends of those affected by the demolition orders detailed below, will hold a protest outside the courts in Beit El. They will be joined by residents of nearby villages and international solidarity activists. The rally will start between 9 and 10am outside the court.

House demolition orders in Yetma:

In the village Yetma south of Nablus in the West Bank, around 17 houses was given demolition orders from the Israeli Government, issued the 27th of July 2009. All houses were built after the Oslo process, and are located in the only part of the village that is considered to be area C according to the Accords. By the Israeli government, therefor, these houses are considered as having been built without a permit. This is their official reason for issuing the orders. However, the area is located no further than aproximetely 2 km from the border of the Israeli settlement Rahel. Neither the Palestinian Authority nor the Israeli Government will give the house owners licenses saying that they own the land on which the houses are built.

The 6th of August, however, after having issued an official complaint about the demolition orders, 3 of the houses had their court case. The decision became that the legal process would be postponed until the 13th of August when a new court case will be held.

According to the demolition orders issued to 9 of the other houses, the final date on which the Israeli Government can come to evict the houses is dated the 20th of August. The house owners of these houses too, made an official complaint about the decision, but their court case will be held as late 9 o clock the 20th of August, which makes it possible for Israel to fulfill the evictions before the legal procedure takes place.

The Red Crescent will provide the families with food and tents after the demolitions.

Demolition orders for 13 houses in Dahia village east of Nablus

The village of Dahia is a very quiet area, in the mountains east of Nablus. Since the time of the Ottoman Empire, the area has belonged to the city of Kafr Qalil.

During the Oslo agreement, the land was classified under Area C, land that falls under full Israeli administrative control. Dahia has over 200 houses and new homes are under current construction. These are located near the top of the mountain where there is a fence preventing people to enter a military road which leads to a military observation point. From this point the military can overlook the whole area with its various villages and also Balata Camp. During the second Intifada the military also used to shoot people from there in Balata Camp. On the other side of the fence there is a village with Arabic Jews who live there for many years who have good relations to the people from Dahia. But to reach them you have to travel a long way round.

Most of the families moving to Dahia are people from Balata Camp who try to fulfill their dream of a secure home outside the camp. The money to build those palaces (in comparison to the conditions under which they have to live in Balata Camp) they moostly borrowed from friends, their family and the bank. Mostly it’s about the money you earn when you work 40 years. Now thirteen of the families got house demolishing orders which they received on the 21st of July. The court case will take place on the 13th of August. The houses are randomly chosen by the Israeli army. They consider them to be a security risk. Some of the houses are located close to the fence some are far away, not even built – others are directly next to the fence and can stay for the moment.

Again the conflict is as in several areas: People legally bought the land and even received deeds of ownerships for it from the responsible government (here: Kafr Qalil) which refer to the deeds from the Ottoman Empire. Afterwards they got the building license and water and energy supply.

Now as already mentioned they are considered to be a security risk. In the area of Dahia only three houses got a building license also from the Israeli government.

The inhabitants are afraid that if the 13 cases will be lost in front of the judge other house demolishing orders will follow.

Azzun:
Since some time there exists the order to build a road which shall connect the settlements of Alfei Menashe and Kamei Shomron. It’s going to be 10 km long with a buffer zone of 300 meters on each side and will cost around 180 000 000 NIS. This will change the usual root for people from Azzun on their way to Nablus. Because it will be a settlers’ only road Palestinian will have to make a detour via Jayyus.

Activists expect the plans for this road to be the reason why that many owners get demolishing orders for their houses. In 1993 2500 Dunums of Izbat at Tabib got the order to be confiscated in order to be replaced by an industrial area. This decision was postponed in 2001. Nowadays half of the 45 houses of the village have demolishing orders and settlers accompanied by IOF show up in the village and stay there for some hours. Strangely people from another village where they got house demolishing orders additional to this got the order to move to Izbat al Tabib against what the inhabitants of Izbat al Tabib got to say: They shall move to Azzun where new possibilities of housing are promised to them.

Amnesty International withdraws from Leonard Cohen’s Israel concert fund

Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)

18 August 2009

New York, NY, August 18 – Amnesty International has announced today that it will abstain from any involvement in the Leonard Cohen concert in Tel Aviv and will not be party to any fund that benefits from the concert’s proceeds. A number of media accounts had reported that Amnesty International was to manage or otherwise partner in a fund created from the proceeds of Cohen’s concert in Israel that would be used to benefit Israeli and Palestinian groups. Amnesty International’s announcement today followed an international outcry over the human rights organization’s reported involvement in the Leonard Cohen concert fund, and an earlier international call for Cohen to boycott apartheid Israel.

Omar Barghouti from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) commented, “We welcome Amnesty International’s withdrawal from this ill-conceived project which is clearly intended to whitewash Israel’s violations of international law and human rights. By abandoning the Leonard Cohen project in Tel Aviv, Amnesty International has dealt Cohen and his public relations team a severe blow, denying them the cover of the organization’s prestige and respectability.”

A statement confirming Amnesty’s withdrawal has now been posted on the Amnesty International website.

After reports in late July that Amnesty International would manage a fund from the proceeds of Leonard Cohen’s concert in Israel, groups in occupied Palestine and around the world mobilized to pressure Amnesty International not to participate in such a fund. The Palestinian Non-governmental Organizations’ Network (PNGO) called in an August 11th letter on Amnesty International to reject management of a fund that is to be created from the proceeds of Leonard Cohen’s planned September concert in Israel. The West Bank village of Bil’in had made a similar appeal to Amnesty International. An international campaign of about one thousand letters to Amnesty International called for Amnesty’s withdrawal from the Cohen concert initiative. The only Palestinian organization that was claimed to be a recipient of the fund had previously announced that it was not involved in the project. Additionally, a representative of the joint Palestinian Israeli group Combatants for Peace, another previously announced beneficiary of the Cohen concert fund, had informed the New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel in writing that the group had decided not to participate in the Leonard Cohen concert in Tel Aviv and not to accept any funds from its proceeds.

PNGO explained in their letter to Amnesty International that Israel Discount Bank, a major sponsor of Cohen’s concert in Israel, “is involved in the construction and the continuation of the Israeli settlement project in the oPT [occupied Palestinian Territories]… These settlements built on Palestinian lands are illegal under international law and are considered as war crimes in the Fourth Geneva Convention.” PNGO added that Cohen’s “concert in Israel contributes in normalizing Israeli occupation and colonization policies.” In an August 9th letter to Amnesty International, the West Bank village of Bil’in, a leader in the Palestinian nonviolent resistance movement, said that, “Israel Discount Bank’s trading room and other computer services are run by an Israeli company called Matrix IT. Matrix IT’s trading room is located on our villages land stolen by the illegal settlement of Modiin Illit.”

Additionally, nineteen groups and organizations worldwide explained in an open letter to Amnesty International that, “Being one of the world’s strongest proponents of human rights and international law, you shall thus be subverting a non-violent, effective effort by Palestinian and international civil society to end Israel’s violations of international law and human rights principles.” The groups asserted that, “Accepting funds from the proceeds of Cohen’s concert in Israel is the equivalent of Amnesty accepting funds from a concert in Sun City in apartheid South Africa.” They also commented that the Peres Center for Peace, Amnesty International’s announced partner in managing the concert fund, “has been denounced by leading Palestinian civil society organizations for promoting joint Palestinian-Israeli projects that enhance ‘Israeli institutional reputation and legitimacy, without restoring justice to Palestinians.’”

On August 5th, eleven groups launched a letter writing campaign to Amnesty International which has resulted in hundreds of emails sent. Among those urging Amnesty International to reject involvement with the Cohen concert are former Amnesty International USA board member Prof. Naseer Aruri, Amnesty International USA’s former Midwest Regional Director Doris Strieter, peace activist Kathy Kelly, and a number of Amnesty International members.

The announcement of Cohen’s planned concert in Israel was swiftly met by letters from British, Israeli and Palestinian organizations and protests at his concerts in New York, Boston, Ottawa and Belfast, among other cities, calling on Cohen to respect the international call for an academic and cultural boycott of Israel. In response to the protests, Cohen had tried to schedule a small concert in Ramallah to “balance” his concert in Israel. However, Palestinians rejected the Ramallah concert, insisting that Cohen should first cancel his Tel Aviv gig to be welcomed in Ramallah.

With the international community failing to take action to stop Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people, and inspired by the international boycott movement that helped bring an end to apartheid in South Africa, Palestinian civil society has launched calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, including an institutional academic and cultural boycott. Ninety-three artists, writers and other cultural workers have signed onto the Palestinian cultural boycott call. Palestinian boycott calls have inspired a growing international boycott movement which gained added momentum following Israel’s assault on Gaza last winter.