Category: Press Releases

Summer Campaign: “We need you now more than ever!”

A letter from Hisham

Salaam for everyone.

It is no secret what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank now. As Palestinians, we have been through worse situations. In 1982 something like this conflict also happened in Lebanon between the Palestinians. Also in 1999, there was a conflict between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, most of the Hamas people were put in prison.

Because we have been through this before, we know that we must get through it again, together as one people, Palestinians.

Recently, this conflict appeared with Palestinians fighting for control in the Gaza Strip.

Some think it is a conflict of who wants the control and power in the Gaza Strip, others think that it happened because some people want to fight the corruption in the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, others still think it is a result of pressure from other countries.

The result of this conflict is that Gaza is under the control of Hamas and the West Bank is under the control of Fatah.

As Palestinians, we believe that Hamas and Fatah are not representing the will of all the Palestinian people and because of this, we come to the big question. Why is Gaza under control of Hamas and the West Bank under Fatah if we do not feel they represent all the Palestinians?

The answer to this question is that nobody can deny that we are still currently under occupation. Because Hamas and Fatah are the only strong military groups in Palestine, it is easier for them to enforce their will upon the entire population. All of this happened while we are under occupation. The history of the Palestinian people shows, and we teach this in ISM training, that the majority of the population wants to live honorably and in a non-violent way. Even if part of the population supports military resistance to the conflict, it is only because we see the violence and injustice of a military occupation on a daily basis.

We must know that the Fatah and Hamas groups are part of the Palestinian people and as I wrote above, sooner or later they will sit together and they will solve the differences between them. This is the only way, they have no other choice because we will never become a divided people.

In ISM, we have the respect and protection of ALL the Palestinian factions. In the last few days, I had a lot of phone calls from Europe and the United States, asking if we are still having the summer campaign or not. My answer was, “yes we need you now more than ever!” We do not want the internal Palestinian problems to overshadow the daily injustices of the occupation.

That’s why we need you here for the summer campaign, to show solidarity at demonstrations against the wall which is confiscating land and destroying livelihoods, to video tape and intervene in settler attacks against Palestinians, to monitor detentions and abuse at checkpoints, to document what you witness through reports, photography and video and to create fun projects for children. The Popular Committees in the regions have requested your presence here in Palestine because you are still very much needed.

We hope that the conflict between Palestinians will end soon but we need the non-violent resistance to continue until the occupation ends.

All of you are welcome in Palestine.

I LOVE YOU ALL
Hisham

The Free Gaza Movement

from Free Gaza

Project Description

This movement is an international nonviolent resistance project to challenge Israel’s siege of Gaza. Israel claims that Gaza is no longer occupied, yet Israeli forces control Gaza by land, sea and air. We’ll enter Gaza from international waters at the invitation of Palestinian NGOs but without Israeli authorization, thereby recognizing Palestinian control over their own borders.

The Mission

    1. To open Gaza to unrestricted international access, i.e. Palestinian sovereignty
    2. To demonstrate that Israel still occupies Gaza, despite its claims to the contrary
    3. To show international solidarity with the people of Gaza and the rest of Palestine
    4. To demonstrate the potential of nonviolent resistance methods

The Plan

Up to 100 international volunteers will sail from Cyprus to Gaza in 2 to 6 seagoing vessels of 12 to 60 passengers each. The prospective date is August 15, but will depend upon funding, logistics, weather and other factors. The journey will take approximately 24 hours.

Contingencies

If Israel respects Palestinian sovereignty, we’ll arrive without incident. Some of us will fish at sea with Palestinian fishermen, while others will travel back and forth to test the passage for as long as permitted. If stopped, we’ll nonviolently resist. We are prepared to stay at sea if necessary, and/or resist arrest and confiscation of our vessels. We doubt that Israel will attack, but we will be equipped with medical personnel and equipment, life rafts and flotation vests. More likely, Israel will prefer sabotage. We’re prepared with alternate vessels and plans.

The Passengers

Aboard will be Palestinians, Israelis, Americans, Europeans, Africans and Asians. There will be rabbis, imams, Christian and Buddhist clerics, British MPs, entertainment celebrities, and internationally known journalists. Nakba and Holocaust survivors are also joining the project. All will undergo a training program and be selected according to the interests of the mission, such as the mix of persons and expertise; no one is assured of a place on board. Others will form the Cyprus support team and may board later vessels.

The Organizers

We are experienced human rights volunteers and organizers, including Huwaida Arraf, Greta Berlin, Sylvia Cattori, Uri Davis, Hedy Epstein, Kathy Kelly, Paul Larudee, Alison Weir, and more than 30 others from 13 countries. We have consulted with other organizations such as Greenpeace, who have experience with such projects, especially with encounters at sea.

The Vessels

Commercial fishing boats and cruise vessels powered by diesel and sail will be used. Volunteer vessels are also welcome. All will have standard GPS, plus radio and communications equipment for international navigation. They’ll also have refrigeration and cooking facilities for their size and passenger load. The larger vessels will carry fuel for both the voyage and an extended period at sea.

Security

If Israel wishes to harm our mission, we expect them to try to plant arms on board. Therefore, before boarding, all participants, vessels and supplies will undergo a security check by qualified personnel from an internationally recognized NGO to verify that no dangerous items are brought aboard. Since we will not be entering Israeli territory, we will not allow Israeli authorities to perform such inspections.

Supplies and equipment

Passengers will take basic necessities and electronic devices. Journalists, technicians and crew may also bring tools and equipment. Larger vessels will have at least one satellite phone with high-speed data transfer. Provisions, including food, water and medical supplies, will be laid aboard for an extended period at sea. We will also carry relief supplies to the people of Gaza, but this isn’t a primary part of our mission.

Captains and crew

Although we prefer competent volunteers who take principled risks, we are unlikely to recruit the personnel we need by such means. We will therefore hire captains and crew, to whom we will fully disclose the risks involved, so they understand and consent to the mission. Engineers will also be required to inspect and prepare the vessels.

Costs

We have considered vessel donation, lease and purchase. However, we prefer purchase, to have complete control and avoid cancellation by others. Terms are a down payment plus installments to be made either by reselling the vessels after the mission or by using them for nonprofit revenue. Other costs will be crew, equipment, supplies, fuel, docking and agent fees. The estimated cost is $300K, half from donations and half from loans. We can succeed on a smaller scale for as little as $150K, but it entails fewer backups and greater risk.

Further information

Organizational endorsements and financial support are needed and highly appreciated. We’re also available to speak to interested groups. Tax-exempt donations may be sent to our fiscal sponsor, the Palestinian Children’s Welfare Fund at PCWF – Gaza Human Rights, 201 W. Stassney #201, Austin, TX 78745, USA. Non-exempt donations may be made to our PayPal account through our website at www.freegaza.org.

Resistance begins, and so does the repression

from ICAHD

On June 11, 2007, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) announced the launching of a campaign to rebuild the home of every Palestinian family whose house is demolished over the coming year. The launch was held in conjunction with the 40th year of the Occupation, for which they returned to the place where the Occupation began – the few houses of what had been the historic Mughrabi Quarter where, on the night of June 11, 1967, 135 Palestinian families were roused from their beds in the Middle of the night and their neighborhood demolished so as to create a plaza in front of the Wailing Wall. It was an act that had nothing to do with either the war or with security. It represented only the creation of the first “fact on the ground” of thousands that would come asserting exclusive Israeli claims over the entire country.

The ICAHD activists, accompanied by Israeli, Palestinian and international press, were met in the Quarter’s sole remaining mosque by Mahmoud Masloukhi, the Mughrabi Quarter mukhtar, who offered words of greeting and spoke of the night 40 years ago when his home was demolished. Aisha Masloukhi, Mahmoud’s sister, also spoke of her experiences that night and what happened to the Quarter’s residents in the years following that traumatic night.

Jeff Halper, ICAHD’s Coordinator, told the assembled Mughrabi Quarter residents that we had come as Israelis not only to remember the night the Occupation began but to take responsibility for the actions of our government, responsibility Israel has tried to avoid all these decades. ICAHD’s latest campaign, he said, went beyond mere acknowledgment and solidarity, however. It represents a further intensifying of ICAHD’s resistance to the Occupation. Meir Margalit, ICAHD’s Field Coordinator, then presented a general overview of Israel’s house demolition policy and its impact on the Palestinian population.

The building of the Kabaja home, photo from ICAHD

After fielding questions from the press and doing interviews, the ICAHD activists, accompanied by Palestinian residents (and a contingent of Border Police and undercover detectives), proceeded to the home of Naim Kabaja, whose one-room home in the Muslim Quarter was demolished last week. There we began construction of the first official house of the campaign (though we have built 10 over the month of May in preparation). (See the accompanying pictures.) First thing this morning (the 12th), inspectors of the Jerusalem Municipality arrived and took their pictures. Within a day or two a demolition order will be placed on the rebuilt home, and within a week the house will likely be demolished again.

ICAHD will stay at the family’s side and will resist any attempt to demolish the home. Crucial for the success of our resistance is the international support you can offer us. Follow our website – and those of ICAHD USA and ICAHD UK – for updates and information. Mobilize community organizations where you live, professional associations and your political representatives.

Through this campaign we can focus intense international pressures on Israel to stop demolitions and, by raising public consciousness, to generate international opposition to the Occupation as a whole. Let us begin by saving the Kabaja home!

For more info, contact:
ICAHD, Tel: 02-624-5560, 0525216551

Home Rebuilding Camp in Bethlehem

Holy Land Trust in Partnership with The Israeli Committee Against House Demolition (ICAHD)

    1 July 2007 – 15 July 2007

Purpose of the Camp:

The main activity of the camp is to rebuild a home demolished by the Israeli military in a Palestinian area; this is one of the most important issues facing Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. In addition to working on rebuilding the house, Holy Land Trust will,

– Provide nonviolence training courses for the participants.
– Political tours in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Israel.
– Discussions and presentations by Israeli and Palestinians NGOs.
– Field trips to historical and religious sites.
– Weekend excursions and cultural evenings.

During this experience, participants will learn more of the culture, food and lifestyle of those who live here as they will work hand in hand with the local community.

Participants will be staying at a local Palestinian guest house in Bethlehem and should plan to arrive no later than July 1st 2007 and can plan to return to their homes after July 15th 2007.

It is our hope that you will return to your homes carrying the messages of peace, justice and hope.

History of the family and the house where you will be working:

The Salim Family from Walija, a village near Bethlehem owned a plot of land that was 800 square meters in size, inherited from the mother’s side of the family. In 2004 Mr. Munther Salim, who continues to work as a laborer, began building a house approximately 100 square meters for his five family members. On July 2005, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Israeli police came to the location and gave the family the first home demolition warning. Mr. Munther refused to take the warning and tore the papers claiming that this is his land an that Israeli had nothing to do there and not even the right to give him any warnings, the IDF forces left and he summoned to go to the Israeli court.

Mr. Munther went to court several times; the first time Israeli government asked him to pay a penalty of 6,000 shekel (almost $1,500 USD) because he refused to accept the demolition warning. He was told in court that the land belongs to the Jerusalem municipal district and he should get permission to build from the Jerusalem Municipality. It is important to note that other houses in the same area received their permits from the Walajeh Village council. The lawyer succeeded in postponing the demolition orders.

On January 31st 2006 an Israeli demolition crew, accompanied by bulldozers and dozens of soldiers and police, suddenly arrived to the location. Within an hour the house was reduced to rubble after they the family was forced out. The family did not give up; a month later they began building the house for the second time. The Israeli demolition crew came back eight months later and on the 12th of December 2006 demolished the house for the second time.

While they were living in a relative’s house after their first and second house demolition in January 2006, the Israeli demolition crew came and demolished that house as well.

The Salim family continues to live through hope. Mr. Salim would like to rebuild his destroyed house once again, although it is very certain to be destroyed once again, Should he attempt to do so. What would you do if you were in his place?

The Salim family is looking to get international and local support to prevent the Israeli demolition of their house and confiscation of their land.

For more info, click HERE

Open Gaza’s Borders to Prevent a Humanitarian Crisis

    Urgent Appeal from Israeli Human Rights Groups to Israeli Defense Minister:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

17 June 2007

As we write these lines, hundreds of refugees are trapped between Erez crossing, which is sealed, and the Hamas military force preventing their return to Gaza. The sick and those injured from recent events are trapped in Gaza. Essential food products are diminishing, and there is a growing shortage of essential medical supplies. The state of Israel cannot stand idly by at a time when the fundamental human rights of Gaza residents are being violated and the right to life is being threatened.

Eight Israeli human rights organizations today warn of a crisis which has the potential of worsening if Israel continues to close borders and isolate Gaza from the outside world by preventing the supply of essential goods, trapping residents inside the Gaza Strip and preventing Gaza residents who traveled outside the Strip from returning home.

Over the weekend, Israel closed the border crossings between the Gaza Strip and the outside world. Karni Crossing, Gaza’s main artery through which essential supplies are transferred, is closed for the sixth day. Fresh foods, such as meat, fruit and dairy products, have begun to diminish from the shelves. The World Food Program warns of food shortages by the end of the week if the crossings are not opened. Today, Nahal Oz, the passage way through which fuel is provided to the Gaza Strip, is closed.

Rafah Crossing on the Egyptian border has been closed for eight days and the Erez crossing into Israel has been closed since yesterday. Gaza residents who left the Strip are unable to return home and reunite with their families. Gaza residents seeking to leave to receive medical treatment in Egypt or Israel, including the chronically sick or those injured due to recent events, are trapped within Gaza. Even though a small number of blood rations arrived in the last few days to Gaza through Erez crossing, the shortage of essential medical supplies is worsening. Hundreds of refugees are attempting to escape the violence and are trapped in Erez Crossing, caught between IDF soldiers and the military wing of Hamas which is preventing these refugees from returning to Gaza.

The state of Israel cannot stand idly by at a time when fundamental human rights of Gaza residents are being violated, including the most essential of all rights – the right to life and physical integrity.

Israel controls the land crossings between Gaza and Israel, and Gaza’s air space and territorial waters, and does not allow the crossing of people or goods via the sea or air. To a great extent, Israel is exercising control of the border between Gaza and Egypt and completely controls the borders of the West Bank, to which refugees are trying to escape from Gaza. The closing of borders and the threat of disconnecting Gaza’s electricity and water grid can be interpreted as collective punishment for all Gaza residents.

We call upon the state of Israel to fulfill its obligation under international law and to open the borders of Gaza to the outside world. We call upon the State of Israel to allow those whose lives are in danger to leave the Gaza Strip immediately and to enter the West Bank. We call upon the State of Israel to allow the sick and injured to access needed medical treatment in Israel and Egypt. We call upon Israel to open the land borders with the Gaza Strip to allow the entrance of humanitarian supplies, especially fuel, medicines and essential supplies.

B’Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Right in the Occupied Territories
Gisha: Legal Center for Freedom of Movement
Association for Civil Rights in Israel
Physicians for Human Rights
Public Committee against Torture in Israel
HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual
Yesh Din – Volunteers for Human Rights
Rabbis for Human Rights