Following correspondance from one of our activists, we have been made aware that the army wish to remove the road block permanently on Saturday. Although we hold reservations that being Shabbat, this is unlikely to occur, we have to respect the wishes of the village who wish to cancel the demonstration for the time being in good faith that the army will actually remove the blocks.
We apologise for any inconvenience and sincerely hope that the Israeli military hold to their word and remove the road block permanently as they have claimed.
ISM Media Team
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Molly
ISM Media Office 0599943157
PALESTINIAN COMMUNITY SAYS NO TO ROADBLOCKS, YES TO FREEDOM OF
MOVEMENT
On Friday the 24th, August 2007 at 1pm, the village of Sarra, on the
outskirts of Nablus, will demonstrate against the Israeli army’s
imposition of restrictions on freedom of movement. The villagers, for
the last five years, have had to contend with roadblocks built on the
routes they use to travel to work and school. The army erected these
roadblocks in order to accommodate the wishes of Israeli settlers, who
have moved to the area in recent years. Consequently what should be a
ten-minute journey to Nablus city requires an hour resulting in
increased hardship and financial cost to the Palestinian residents.
On Monday the 20th of August international and Palestinian activists
removed a roadblock successfully. However, as the army may replace the
roadblock, the international and Palestinian activists will
demonstrate to prevent this. The demonstrators intend to walk past the
point of the roadblock to a nearby checkpoint, Deir al Sharraf, to
demonstrate against the greater restrictions by the army impeding
Palestinian movement not just against Sarra, but against the Nablus
community as a whole.
To get to Sarra, take the service from Ramallah to Huwwara Checkpoint
and then take a taxi to Nablus. From Nablus city center, take a taxi
to Sarra. Please gather at the school in Sarra by 1:00pm. The action
will take place following prayers.
ISRAELI MILITARY RENDERS TWENTY PALESTINIANS HOMELESS, CONFISCATES JORDAN VALLEY LAND
For Immediate Release
Contact: Molly Simons 0599943157
This morning at 8:30 am, The Israeli military demolished the small village of Al-Hadidya in the Jordan Valley. The four small homes that comprised the village were demolished and twenty Palestinians were left homeless. The homes were the property of four nuclear families, who have lived in the village since 1982, after the Israeli military evicted them from their previous dwellings in Al-Ruwak. Three weeks ago, the Israeli occupation forces informed the families that they had three weeks to move from the village. The Israeli occupation forces confiscated a tractor that was used to transport tanks of water in order to expedite the Palestinians’ departure. The army confirmed for Amnesty International and other HRWs in the area that the families would have to pay a fee of 4500 NIS in order to get the tractor back.
The Israeli occupation forces plan to use the area for shooting exercises and have been open about confiscating limited water resources for exclusive use by nearby illegal Israeli settlements. This incident is part of a larger Israeli plan to drive Palestinians out of the area through confiscating water resources, restricting movement and demolishing homes. In forcing out local Palestinians, Israel hopes to annex the Jordan Valley, preventing this area from becoming part of a future Palestinian state. According to B’tselem, every Israeli government has considered the Jordan Valley to be the eastern border of Israel and has sought to annex it. Israel has established 26 illegal Jewish-only settlements in the area and has instituted a system of harsh restrictions for local residents.
At 8:00am, Palestinian, Israeli and international activists participated in a demonstration against the closure of the only road leading out of the village of Atira. Approximately 60 people gathered together chanting slogans and waving banners to protest the limited access they have to and from their own village.
The demonstration itself was totally non-violent as the village wanted to retain their reputation for not causing trouble. There were a number of attempts to walk beyond the barrier however the army declared it a closed military zone. Consequently, the village’s mayor attempted to negotiate with the Israeli soldiers and border police to discuss the issue and seek to redress the travel restrictions placed upon residents. However, Mansoor Khatib, who residents identified as an Israeli border police captain, explained that he had no authority to negotiate or compromise. He did however agree to a meeting the following day at 3pm to find a way of redressing the situation. It was not clear however if he would be personally present or if another member of the Israeli Authorities would be present. Following this, demonstrators slowly dispersed and returned back to the village.
The mayor, Issa Hamed, stated his commitment to addressing the issue without aggression or violence and insisted that he wishes to keep all youths and demonstrators from acting in a violent manner: “If just one person throws a stone, the army will retaliate with live ammunition.” He re-iterated the need to maintain peaceful protests against the closure and would continue to demonstrate until a suitable resolution is found.
Background:
The Village of Atira is located approximately 6 kilometers south of Ramallah, however despite this distance it takes approximately 45 minutes to drive there due to the closure of numerous roads to Palestinians, leaving them to take a long winding route through pot-holed and disintegrating roads. It is surrounded by two large illegal settlements: Beit Horon and Giv’at Ze’ev.
The village itself has only one entrance at which there are a number of road-blocks and a large metal gate. This gate is opened only three times a day to the residents allowing them in and out of the village. The times are as follows:
7:30 – 8:00 in the morning
2:30 – 3:00 in the afternoon
7:00 – 8:00 in the evening.
Outside of these hours the gate is closed and residents are unable to pass. This includes ambulances and other essential vehicles.
The road was first closed in 2000, however in 2002 the route was re-opened. Since then the military have placed restrictions upon the access of the road arbitrarily, closing it for many months at a time. Approximately 6 months ago the road was opened up completely, allowing free access for the village residents, however three weeks ago they closed the road once more, cutting the village off economically and socially from the rest of the West Bank.
As a direct consequence, five people have been reported to die as a direct result of not being able to access medical treatment in a timely manner as ambulances cannot reach the village. Only a week ago, a local boy endured an acute episode of appendicitis, a potentially life threatening condition if not treated correctly. It took over two hours for him to reach hospital, a period in which he could easily have died.
Of the 3,000 residents of Atira the majority work in Ramallah, as a consequence of the road closures they are unable to work normal hours, commit to a job or become full time workers as required by the roles they undertake. For example, a young barber who wanted to open a shop, could not because in order to work full time, he would have had to be in Ramallah from 11am through to 11pm. This proved to be an impossible task due to the closures. The closures effectively restrict the economic capacity of the population further impoverishing a community that already faces hardships as a consequence of the occupation. A further 20 families that own farm land in the area have had their lands confiscated or their access restricted in turn preventing them from any means of economic survival.
The local school, The Atira- Beit Ur High School is located on the outskirts of the town and is separated from the village by Route 443, now a settler road. Due to restrictions in movement, even for children, kids as young as 6 must cross a rocky valley, climb a steep set of stairs leading to Route 443 and following this, crawl through a tunnel leading under the road, to reach the school on the other side. The mayor petitioned the Israeli authorities to allow locals to construct a path that would enable the children to cross without harm, but the proposal was rejected because the path would lead to the settler road and would therefore pose a security threat.
The restriction of access to land and to travel is another example of collective punishment by the Israeli State against the Palestinians. Collective punishment is a war crime as outlined in Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which was ratified by Israel in 1951. The conditions that the village suffers as a consequence of restricted access, demonstrate clearly the strategy of making life for Palestinians so difficult to live in areas close to settlements that they are forced to leave. This creates the perception that Palestinians leave of their own accord, however in reality, this is the consequence of the implementation of restrictions and obstacles constructed by the Israeli state.
Right to Education Campaign, Birzeit University, 1 August 2007
In the last 3 days, 5 Birzeit University students were arrested by the Israeli army, most of whom belong to the university’s Student Council. The detainees are; Eyad Omar Abu Arqub, Fadi Yunis Jaber, Jalal Hosni Abu Khaled, Omar Abdelrazaq Abdellatif (all members of the Student Council) and Ahmad Mahmoud Hassan.
The men were taken at night from their respective residences, 3 from their student accommodation in Birzeit village and 2 from their family homes around the West Bank.
Under the military laws of the Israeli Occupation, membership to any student branch of a political party is illegal, automatically making thousands of students subject to arbitrary arrest. In practice, this sweeping power is used by the army as a tool for inciting political tensions amongst students as it chooses to arrest members of one group more than another.
“The arrested students who worked for the Student Council focused solely on providing local academic support for students and nothing else. In reality, these arrests serve to discredit and obstruct the work of the Student Council as an institution and are not about providing security for Israel” – said Fadi Ahmad, president of the Student Council.
In fact, this is not the first time that Birzeit Student Council is targeted by the occupation forces. Since 2004, the Israeli army has arrested 6 elected representatives of the Council, 3 of whom were presidents of the Council at the time of arrest.
Birzeit University released a statement yesterday condemning these arrests and calling for an end to Israeli aggression and obstruction against Palestinian education. The Right to Education Campaign reiterates such a call and states that there are currently 99 Birzeit students in detention, 9 of which are held indefinitely without charge under the 1945 British Mandate law of ‘Administrative Detention’.
Moreover, the Campaign highlights that 60% of all arrests were made since 2004 when Israel also stopped all Gazans from studying in the West Bank and deported 4 Birzeit students back to Gaza. Since then, the army has also escalated its practice of arbitrary ‘interviewing’ where students with no political affiliation are taken for questioning about their friends and family for no particular reason. The Student Council states that at least 30% of the 2,200 students living in Birzeit village are subjected to such ‘interviews’. The psychological pressure and anxiety generated from such interviews can amount to inhumane and degrading treatment under International Law. Students who object to such questioning are then harassed at checkpoints, denied work permits and subjected to house invasions.
These forms of harassment are a breach of International Humanitarian Law which states that an occupying power should not disrupt the daily life of the occupied population (4th Geneva Convention); and student arrests, especially those under ‘Administrative Detention’, amount to a breach of the internationally recognized ‘right to education’, first enshrined in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and protected by numerous UN bodies and conventions such as UNESCO, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
On Friday 3rd August, Human Rights activists will accompany the members of a local Palestinian family to access their land close to the Illegal Kiryat Arba Settlement in Hebron. On all previous occassions where the family has attempted to access their land, Settlers have acted with undue aggression attacking both Palestinians and Human Rights Workers who have been present. The most recent of which culminated in two Human Rights Workers being repeatedly hit in the face with a stick causing both distress and injury.
The aggression and violance on these occassions are typical and reflect the ongoing struggle Palestinians must face in their day to day lives and the determination of Settlers in their attempt to forcibly remove Palestinians from their land and homes through campaigns of violance and harrasment. We hope that our presence as international, Palestinians and Israeli activists will reduce the violance and enable the Palestinian family to tend to their land without being attacked.
We invite you to join us in accompanying this family to their land in both solidarity and protection. We will be gathering in Hebron, close to Kyriat Arba along Worshippers Way at 17:30. The action is expected to last 2 hours.
For more information, please contact Fawaz on 054 6533157
We look forward to seeing you there.
For additional information and previous reports, please see July 27th report or click onto Hebron Reports.
