Category: Press Releases

Breaking the Checkpoint

Tree Planting and Checkpoint Occupation at Huwara

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
3 June 2007

On Tuesday, June 5, in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Golan Heights, Palestinians will stage a demonstration and plant over 50 olive trees at Huwara checkpoint. A large number of groups in Nablus have been involved with organizing this action and demonstration, including the Women’s Society, the Rehabilitation Union, the International Solidarity Movement, the Agricultural Ministry, the Breaking Closure and Checkpoints Committee, and others.

Palestinians have invited international solidarity activists from many peace groups inside Palestine, and they are expecting a huge turnout because of the many organizations involved with the planning.

Palestinians and solidarity activists are expected to plant the olive trees just meters from the checkpoint. Sameh, a resident of Nablus, said that “after we plant the trees, we will then take over the Huwara checkpoint. We are expecting a violent response from the Israeli soldiers at Huwara, who are usually aggressive towards us on a daily basis. We are calling on all internationals to join us in this action, to witness our non-violent struggle, and to protest Israel’s ongoing, brutal Occupation.”

Demonstrators will meet on Faisal St. near the Municipality Building at 10:00am. From there, the trees and activists will be transported to the checkpoint. Once the trees are planted, the checkpoint will be blocked, according to Sameh. The action is expected to last approx. 3 hours.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 528 checkpoints and roadblocks were recorded in the West Bank, choking its roads every few miles. Israel’s daily Haaretz newspaper puts the figure even higher: in January there were 75 permanently manned checkpoints, some 150 mobile checkpoints, and more than 400 places where roads have been blocked by obstacles.

Demonstrations against Israel’s 40 year Occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights, are scheduled to take place over the next week, reaching from Hebron to Ramallah, to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and more.

For more info, contact:
ISM Media Office, 0599-943-157, 0542-103-657, 02-297-1824

Farmers, int’ls, to access farmland in settlement danger zone

Internationals needed to accompany farmers to their land near Karmei Tzur settlement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2 June 2007

This June marks the 40th year since the Occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Golan Heights. On Sunday, June 3, Palestinians from Beit Ummar will attempt to reach their farmland near the illegal Israeli settlement of Karmei Tzur. These Palestinian farmers are calling on international solidarity activists to accompany them to work on their land.

Loi, a resident of Beit Ummar, said that “Palestinian farmers don’t go to this land without the accompaniment of internationals. It’s important for internationals to come so the farmers can reach their land. Recently, Israeli settlers and soldiers uprooted 400 olive trees that we planted on the land.”

The olive tree uprooting occurred on May 7. This land is located next to the fence that surrounds the Karmei Tzur settlement. Settlers often harass Palestinians as they tend to their land. Settlement security has fired at Palestinian farmers in the past. Soldiers have also prevented farming in the past, according to Loi. During the action tomorrow, Loi expects that soldiers and possibly settlers will intervene and try to prevent the farming.

Palestinians will be joined by international activists at 9:00am at the mosque in the center of Beit Ummar. The activity is expected to last until 12:00 noon.

Background (from Palestine Monitor)
Located north of Hebron, Beit Ommar is a small farming village, of about 16,000 Palestinians. In the springtime, its orchards teem with plums, grapes, olives, and apples. But the villagers are facing bleak times, unable to tend to the majority of their crops, let alone export them. They face three difficulties: Israel’s wall, Israel’s settlers, and Israel’s closures.

To the north, the concrete separation wall cuts through Beit Ommar’s land in an east-west line, separating the settlement Gush Etzion from the West Bank. The route of the wall itself confiscates hundreds of dunums, but separates the farmers from thousands of dunams of agriculture lands.

To the south, the settlement of Karme Tzur has been eating away at Beit Ommar’s property for over twenty years. The settlement’s ‘security zone’ continually expands, recently swelling to include a new settlement road. The line of the security zone confiscates forty-five dunums on its own, and again separates farmers from even more of their land. Farmers cannot approach their fields adjacent to the settlement, for fear of attacks from settlers, or threats from the Israeli military that protects them.

For more information, please contact:
Mohammad Awad, 0599-068-427
ISM Media Office, 0599-943-157, 0542-103-657

June 5th Initiative’s 3-Day Conference

Forty Years after 1967: Reappraising the Role and Limits of the Legal Discourse on Occupation in the Israeli-Palestinian Context
from June 5th Initiative

June 5-7
3 day conference
Location: Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv University

Details: The Minerva Center for Human Rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv University – The International Committee of the Red Cross in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation are pleased to invite you to a 3-day International Conference.

Click HERE for full program

Contact: Minerva Center for Human Rights at the Hebrew University: 02-5881156 or mchr@savion.huji.ac.il or at Tel-Aviv University: 03-6407430 or minerva@post.tau.ac.il

Updates and paper abstracts will be posted on the Minerva Website:

June 5

*Anata for Jerusalem and West Bank
Location: Anata football field near Jerusalem
Time: 17:00
Meeting place in Jerusalem: 16.00 at the UN Headquarters on Road Number 1 (Mandelbaum Gate) buses will take people to Anata and return to Jerusalem at the end of the event.
Contact: IPCRI – gbjune5@gmail.com Souliman Khatib – soulimana@yahoo.com

*Jerusalem
Location: Jerusalem Artists’ House
Time: 6pm

Details: Opening of an exhibition of pictures by Israeli and Palestinian artists who oppose the occupation and call for its immediate and peaceful end.

*Tel Aviv
Location: Cinemateque Tel Aviv
Time: 5pm-10pm

Details: Presentation on the Israeli checkpoints including testimonies, multimedia, pictures and films

In conjunction with the following organizations: Machsom Watch, Combatants for Peace, Parents’ Circle – Family Forum, Yesh Din and Rabbis for Human Rights

Kibush40: Six Days of Demonstrations and Events

Surrounding the 40th anniversary of the Occupation
from Kibush 40

June 5, 2007 , will be the fortieth anniversary of the malignant Israeli occupation of the West Bank , Gaza Strip and Golan Heights . The present suffering and bloodshed at Gaza and Sderot are a direct outcome of the policy of occupation, settlement and killing. Only the end of that policy and the signing of a just peace could put an end to violence and to the continuing injustice against the Palestinian People.

“40 Occupation” is a convergence of peace activists and groups (including Gush Shalom, Anarchists Against the Wall, Women’s Peace Coalition, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Yesh Gvul, Indymedia,Ta’ ayush, Zochrot, Hadash and others) which jointly organize protest actions marking forty years of occupation. In order to bring about a concrete change in the situation and the end of the occupation, there is needed a tactic of wide opposition. Therefore, the model of convergence was chosen which was used with great success in other struggles, for example the 1999 Seattle protests against the World Trade Organization meeting. Convergence implies public organising around a common goal, relying on coordinated but autonomous and decentralized activity.

For six days, June 5 to 10 – corresponding to the days of the 1967 War – a wide spectrum of events will take place, including exhibitions, demonstrations, theatre plays, academic conferences etc., in order to place a the occupation and the millions suffering under its yoke on the public agenda. June 9 and 10 had been declared as International Days of Protest Against the Israeli Occupation, and we will hold The main march and rally on Saturday, June 9.

Demonstrations and events in early June


June 2 to 8 – Every evening at 21:00 a panel discussion on Forty Years of Occupation will be broadcast on the “Mikan” Channel on the cable and satellite TV, as well as on www.actv.co. il.


On the morning of June 5, the Peace Now Movement will hold a demonstration in Hebron , with the call “Stop the Settlements! ” Conatact: Yariv Oppenheimer 0544-200060

June 5 “The Desert Generation” – An exhibition by Israeli and Palestinian painters at Beit HaAmanim (Artists’ House), Jerusalem . David Tartakover, Sliman Mansur, Larry Avramson, David Reeb 0546-531469 03-6819653.


June 5 – Day of Protest by the Student Coalition at Tel-Aviv University, including an exhibition, placing of placards, artistic performances. Michal 054-487061

June 5 – “Critical Mass – bicycle and roller skates convoy through the streets of out Tel Aviv”, painting the city with messages of Freedom and Equality. Meeting point at 16:00 on the Tel-Aviv Cinemateque Plaza .

June 5 – testimonies from the Occupied Territories, a photo exhibition and presentation of documentary films at the the Tel-Aviv Cinemateque, organized by Machsom Watch, Bereaved Families’ Forum, Fighters for Peace, PCATI, Yesh Din, IPCRI. A checkpoint, similar to those erected by the army in the Territories, will be erected on the plaza and all visitors will have to pass through it.

June 5 – A mass Israeli-Palestinian event on the football field of Anata, north-east of Jerusalem . Buses from Jerusalem at 16:30 . Suliman Al Hatib 054-4315043.

June 5 to 7 – International academic conference on “Forty after Sixty Seven” at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Tel-Aviv University . Minerva Center for Human Rights 02-5881156.


June 7 – “Act of State 1967-2007” – a historical photo exhibition on the Occupation. Opening at 21:00 at the gallery of Minshar Art School, 18 David Hachami St , Tel Aviv. 03-6887090

June 7 – Israeli-Palestinian demonstration near the Wall separating Bak’ah Al Sharkiya in the West Bank from Bak’ah Al Gharbiya in Israel. Suliman Al Hatib 054-4315043.


June 8 – Protest vigils by Women in Black in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa at 13:00-14:00 . In Jerusalem , throughout the preceding week a daily protest vigil will be held at the Paris Square . Contact 054-7515797.

June 8 to 9 – Festival of Peace and Music, Israeli and Palestinian artists and groups, films and more. At Tantur, on the border of Jerusalem and Bethlehem . Gershon Baskin 052-2381715, Aviv Alhasid 052-3689612.

June 9 – Mass demonstration in Tel Aviv, marking 40 Years to the Occupation – march and rally initiated by the Israeli peace movements and parties.

For details Adi Dagan 052-3575526, Adam Keller 050-6709603

June 9 has been declared the International Day of Protest Against the Israeli Occupation. Demonstrations will take place at dozens of cities around the world. For details about worldwide activism on June 9: http://stopthewall. org/worldwideact ivism/1460. shtml

June 9 – Israeli-Palestinian demonstration in the morning hours, outside the Old City Walls. Michael Warshawsky 052-4733453.


June 11 – The Old City of Jerusalem: Opening event for a campaign to rebuild destroyed houses, by the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. The event takes place on the fortieth anniversary of the destruction of the Old City ‘s Mugrabi Quarter, with its 350 houses, and is dedicated to the memory of Haja Rasmiya Tabaki, crushed under the ruins of her destroyed home. Shai 050-6986964.

For details Adi Dagan 052-3575526, Adam Keller 050-6709603

5-10 ביוני 2007, שישה ימי מחאה נגד 40

שנות כיבוש www.kibush40. org

בתחילת יוני – גל אירועים ופעולות מחאה לציון 40 שנה לכיבוש

ההפגנה המרכזית ב-9 ביוני בת”א בשעה 18:00 במקביל להפגנות ואירועי מחאה בעשרות ערים בעולם

ב-5.6.07 ימלאו 40 שנה לכיבוש הישראלי הממאיר של שטחי הגדה המערבית, רצועת עזה והגולן. הסבל ושפיכות הדמים כיום בעזה ובשדרות הם המשך ישיר למדיניות הכיבוש, ההרג וההתנחלות אשר רק סיומם והסכם של שלום צודק, ישים קץ לאלימות ולעוול המתמשך כלפי העם הפלסטיני.

40″ כיבוש ” היא התכנסות של פעילים וארגוני שלום (ביניהם קואליצית נשים לשלום, גוש שלום, הועד הישראלי נגד הריסות בתים, יש גבול, אינדימדיה, אנרכיסטים נגד החומה, תעאיוש, זוכרות, חד”ש ועוד) אשר מארגנים ארועי מחאה לציון 40 שנה לכיבוש. כדי להביא לשינוי במציאות ולסיום הכיבוש נדרשת טקטיקת התנגדות רחבה ולכן נבחר סגנון ההתכנסות ששימש בהצלחה גדולה במאבקים אחרים, למשל הפגנות ב-1999 נגד ארגון הסחר העולמי בסיאטל. ההתכנסות היא ארגון פומבי סביב מטרה משותפת תוך הסתמכות על השתתפות מתואמת אך אוטונומית ומבוזרת.

במשך שישה ימים בתאריכים 5 ביוני עד 10 ביוני יתקיימו מגוון אירועים כולל תערוכות, הפגנות, מיצגים וכו’ במטרה לעלות לסדר היום את הכיבוש ואת מיליוני האנשים שנרמסים תחתיו. ה-9/10 ביוני הוכרזו כימי מחאה בינלאומים נגד הכיבוש הישראלי בשטחים ואנו נקיים את ההפגנה המרכזית בשבת ה-9.6.07.

לפרטים נוספים: אדם קלר 054-2340749 , 03-5565804, עדי דגן 050-8575730

הפגנות ואירועים רבי משתתפים בתחילת יוני:

1.6 משעה 10:00 בבוקר באולם “ארקה” נמל ת”א – “עד שתפקח את עיניה”: אירוע מטעם ארגוני זכויות אדם – הופעות אמנים, הצגות תיאטרון, מיצגים, פאנל סופרים, תצוגת צילומים. רונית פיסו 054-4750614, משכית מנדל 054-7700477

2.6 שיירת מכוניות ישראלית-פלסטינית מאורגנת ע”י יוזמת ז’נבה – יוצאים מחניון רידינג בת”א ב- 10:30 בבוקר. בירושלים, יחברו השיירה הישראלית והפלסטינית ויסעו יחד סביב העיר העתיקה עד להר הזיתים, שם תתקיים עצרת בהשתתפות חברי כנסת, חברי הפרלמנט הפלסטיני ואמנים ב-13:30. פרטים 03-6938728

2.6 עד 8.6 שידורים של פאנלים בנושא 40 שנים לכיבוש כל ערב ב-21:00 בערוץ “מכאן” בכבלים ובלווין וכן באתר www.actv.co. il

5.6 “דור המדבר” – תערוכת אמנים ישראלים ופלסטינים בבית האמנים בירושלים: דוד טרטקובר, סלימאן מנצור, דוד ריב, לארי אברמסון.

5.6 יום מחאה באוניברסיטת תל אביב של קואליצית הסטודנטים – תערוכה, תליית שלטים, הופעות אמנים ועוד. מיכל 054-4870761

5.6 בבוקר הפגנת שלום עכשיו בחברון “די להתנחלויות!”. יריב אופנהיימר 0544-200060
5.6 “מאסה קריטית – מסע רכיבת אופניים ורולר-בליידס ברחבי תל אביב” וצביעת העיר במסרים של חופש ושוויון. מפגש 16.00 ברחבת סינמטק ת”א.

5.6 עדויות מהמתרחש בשטחים הכבושים, תערוכת צילומים וקטעי סרטים דוקומנטרים בסינמטק תל אביב מ-16.00 עד חצות. מארגנים: מחסום WATCH, פורום המשפחות השכולות, לוחמים לשלום, הועד הציבורי נגד עינויים בישראל, יש דין, IPCRI. ברחבה יוקם מחסום כדוגמת מחסומי הצבא בשטחים הכבושים והמגיעים לסינמטק יעברט דרכו.

5.6 אירוע ישראלי-פלסטיני רב משתתפים במגרש הכדורגל של ענתה, בצפון מזרח ירושלים. אוטובוסים מירושלים 16.30. סולימאן אל חטיב 054-4315043

5.6 עד 7.6 ועידה בינלאומית על “ארבעים לשישים ושבע” באוניבריסטה העברית בירושלים ובאוניבריסטת ת”א. מרכז מינרווה לזכויות אדם טלפון: 02-5881156

7.6 “מעשה מדינה 1967-2007” תערוכת צילומים היסטורית של הכיבוש . הפתיחה בשעה 21.00 בגלרית ביה”ס לאמנות “מנשר”, דוד חכמי 18, ת”א. 03-6887090

7.6 מפגן של ישראלים ופלסטינים ליד החומה המפרידה בין בקעה אל שרקיה שבגדה המערבית לבין בקעה אל ג’רביה שבישראל. סולימאן אל חטיב 054-4315043

8.6 משמרות מחאה של “נשים בשחור” בירושלים, חיפה ותל אביב בשעה 13:00-14:00 797 515 7-(054). בירושלים תתקיים משמרת מחאה יומית בכיכר פאריס ב-18:00.

8.6-9.6 פסטיבל שלום ומוזיקה – אמנים ולהקות ישראלים ופלסטינים, סרטים ועוד. טנטור- על גבול ירושלים-בית לחם. גרשון בסקי ן052-2381715, אביב אלחסיד 052-3689612
9.6 הפגנת המונים בתל אביב לציון 40 שנה לכיבוש – צעדה ועצרת ביוזמת ארגוני השלום ומפלגות בישראל.

לפרטים נוספים: אדם קלר 054-2340749 , 03-5565804, עדי דגן 050-8575730

ה-9/10 ביוני הוכרז כיום המחאה הבינלאומי נגד הכיבוש הישראלי. בעשרות ערים בעולם יתקיימו הפגנות, לפרטים: http://stopthewall. org/worldwideact ivism/1460. shtml

9.6 הפגנה פלסטינית-ישראלית בשעות הבוקר ליד חומות העיר העתיקה. מיכאל ורשבסקי 0524733453

11.6 שכונת סילוואן במזרח בירושלים – אירוע הנחת אבן הפינה של הוועד נגד הריסת בתים לקמפיין בניה מחדש של בתים שנהרסו ואזכור 350 בתי הרובע המוגרבי שהוחרבו בערב ה- 11 ביוני 1967. הארוע מוקדש לזכרה של חאג’ה רסמיה טאבאקי שנמחצה למוות תחת חורבות ביתה. שי 050-6986964

Israeli police confiscates Palestinian video evidence

Video shows Israeli settler throwing tomatoes and eggs at harvesters
by ISM Hebron, 31 May 2007

At approximately 10:00, four international Human Rights Workers (HRW), four Palestinian HRWs, five journalists and cameramen, and the Al-Jabari family gathered at the Al-Jabari home in Hebron just outside the Israeli colony of Kiriat Arba in order to accompany the Al-Jabari family to pick grass on the family’s land. Members of the nearby settlement recently have harassed the family members as they attempted to pick the grass on their land to feed their goats (who are no longer permitted to graze on the land themselves).

The solidarity group began picking grass in the field, and four Israeli soldiers appeared shortly thereafter. They were soon joined by three more soldiers, a police officer, and about five border police. The policeman approached all of the international HRWs, requested their passports, and proceeded to record the passport numbers and information on a notepad. About an hour into the grass picking, a female Israeli settler showed up and began to watch the scene. The settler then proceeded to quickly pull bunches of tomatoes and spoiled eggs out of her canvas bag and hurl them at the grass pickers, striking one Palestinian HRW in the back of the head with an egg. The settler then attempted to run away, but a soldier immediately ran after her and arrested her. She continued to shout menacingly in Hebrew as he escorted her back to a vehicle.

At one point, the settler attempted once more to throw tomatoes at the grass collectors. The police inquired whether the HRW who had been assaulted would like to make a formal complaint. The HRW agreed and went down to the station. One Palestinian journalist had evidence on film of the female settlers’ actions and was requested to go to the police station to provide the footage. When he reached the police station, his film was confiscated and he was detained for unknown reasons. Shortly after the female settler was taken away, a second settler trespassed onto the land and began aggressively taking photos of everyone on it. The army made a verbal attempt to remove him, although requests for him to leave were ignored by the settler and he continued to take photos at close proximity to both Palestinians and internationals. By midday, the task of collecting grass had been completed; however, two international HRWs maintained their presence at the Al-Jabari home until approximately 19:00 out of concern about further harassment by settlers.