Category: Press Releases

YNet: Leftists say violently attacked by settlers

Leftists say violently attacked by settlers
by Ali Waked, 27 April 2007


Photo: Dalit Shaham

Two Israeli left-wing activists claim to have been beaten by settlers from the Pnei Hever settlement Friday morning.

“One of the settlers saw me filming him and tried to grab my camera” Vivi Zuri, one of the two attacked, told Ynet. “He beat me with a club, and I lay on the ground to prevent him from taking my camera. Still, he kept kicking me.”

Rabbi Arik Asherman and two more left-wing activists arrived this morning, along with a group of international activists, to fields surrounding the village of Bnei Na’im, to help residents with their plowing and protect them from potential assault by settlers.

They were attacked by a group of settlers upon arriving at the village fields.

Zuri told Ynet she was attacked after one of the settlers noticed she was filming them. According to her, the beating did not stop even after she lay down on the ground. She was severely beaten and suffered contusions to the face and shoulders.

Rabbi Asherman, said Zuri, was also badly beaten by the settlers.

“They hit him horribly and threatened to harm his family”, she said. Police arrived after 40 minutes or so, she added, and asked them to arrive at the Hebron police station to give their statements.

Both Palestinians and international activists present at the scene confirmed the incident.

IMEMC: Against the Wall near Bethlehem

Peaceful demonstration against the illegal wall and settlements near Bethlehem
Polly Bangoriad, 27 April 2007

On Friday midday Palestinian, Israeli and international peace activists held a non-violent demonstration near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, protesting against illegal Israeli settlement expansion and the Illegal Wall.


Israeli army watch over non-violent demonstration – Photo by Polly Bangoriad

Over one hundred non-violent activists gathered at the junction on route 60, near the illegal Israeli settlement of Effrat, and stood near the busy road holding large banners bearing anti-occupation slogans such as ‘Stop Bethlehem Bleeding’. A number of villages in the Bethlehem district are under dire threat from the construction of the illegal Israeli separation Wall and the expansion of settlements.

Around a dozen Israeli army and police force jeeps surrounded the area. Armed troops attempted to herd the demonstrators away from the roadside and attempted to obscure the banners by forming a human wall. However, some demonstrators climbed atop a concrete block around two meters high and waved Palestinian flags and bunches of red, white, green and black balloons.

Local Palestinians gave speeches in English and Arabic praising the demonstration and calling for non-violent resistance. After Friday prayers had been held at the roadside under the gaze of the armed troops, the demonstrators marched about 100 yards along the road towards the Palestinian village of Um Salamoneh and the illegal settlement of Efrat, chanting anti-occupation slogans. The non-violent demonstration came to an end peacefully, amongst dozens of armed Israeli troops.

As with all Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Effrat was built illegally on private or publicly owned Palestinian land. The establishment and expansion of illegal Israeli settlements and the Wall on what is largely Palestinian agricultural land causes massive damage not only to the Palestinian economy, but restricts movement and annexes thousands of people into ghettos. Palestinian civilians in these situations are deprived of basic human rights and those who try to continue farming their land to feed their families are subjected to vicious attacks by armed illegal settlers and Israeli troops.

IMEMC: Kidnapping civilians and detaining shepherds in Nablus

Israeli army detains Palestinian shepherds near Nablus
by Ghassan Bannoura, 26 April 2007

The Israeli army detained a group of Palestinian shepherds for several hours south of Nablus city in the northern part of the West Bank on Thursday.

Local sources reported that a group of Palestinian shepherds were herding their sheep on farm land that belongs to Qariot village south of Nablus. Soldiers came from the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Aeli and detained the shepherds for some time. Troops then took the shepherds to the settlement and held them there for four hours. The shepherds were released after a group of international solidarity and human rights workers intervened and managed to convince the soldiers to release the shepherds.

Israeli army kidnaps five civilians from Nablus
by Ghassan Bannoura 26 April 2007

The Israeli army kidnapped five civilians during a pre-dawn invasion of the northern West Bank city of Nablus and the nearby Balata refugee camp on Thursday.

A massive Israeli force stormed the city and the refugee camp, searched scores of houses and ransacked them. Before leaving the city troops abducted five men, among them were; Ala Kiali, Samih Al Hohe, and Mohamed Marahiel, 18, all were taken to unknown detention camps.

Local sources stated that resistance fighters from the city targeted the invading army force with home made bombs. The Israeli army reported no injures among its troops that invaded the city.

In the meantime Israeli army radio reported that Israeli troops invaded several West Bank cities and kidnapped at least 15 Palestinian civilians. The radio added that the kidnapping was concentrated in the cities of Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem.

The army claim was the usual, that the kidnapped are ‘Wanted Palestinians’, in the meantime Palestinian sources said that all who taken by the army are civilians. The deffinition of ‘Wanted Palestinian’ is not clear due to the Israeli authorities’ policies of collective punishment and obtainment of ‘intelligence’ through torture.

250 Citizens of Israel are Threatened by their Government to Become Homeless

Again Demolitions Orders… And Again 250 Citizens of Israel are Threatened by their Government to Become Homeless

By Yeela Raanan, Regional Council for the Unrecognized Bedouin Villages in the Negev (RCUV), April 26, 2007

There are 1,200 members in the El-Uqbi tribe. Today they live in the unrecognized village of Al-Qrein in the Israeli Negev.

Today they received demolition orders on their homes. Here is their story:

1951: Exiled by the Israeli army from their lands by the now city of Rahat. The papers they still hold claim that the move is only for six months, and they are requested to remain on a certain parcel of land until they will be allowed to return to their ancestral land. They are still living on this piece of land, in worsening conditions, as the place becomes crowded, trash is not removed, and rats bite the young and the old.

The 1970s, 80s 90s and during the years of this century – the village people turn to the courts, to politicians, to the planning authorities. Despite agreeing with the people of El-Uqbi nothing was done. They filed a petition in the supreme court, represented by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel against the re-designation of the village of Givot Bar for Jewish population, after Barak, Israel’s prime minister had said that he supports their request of accepting this location for their new village. Again, despite claiming that “this issue is one of the most difficult that we have encountered”, the Supreme Court did not aid them.

April 25th 2006: it was Holocaust Memorial Day… received demolition warnings.

July 10th 2006: The Authority for the “Advancement” of the Bedouins (our “Bureau of Indian Affairs”) at long last received the village committee for a meeting. The aim was discussing different options for the relocation of the tribe to a governmentally recognized place of their own. The village committee requested the minutes from the meeting, in order to bring the different options up to the village people. Despite requesting dozens of times, they still have not received the meeting minutes.

October 18th 2006: The government files in court for demolition orders. The demolition request by the government claims that the people living there are “unknown”, despite living there since birth, at least 40 years. Because these people are “unknown”, they village residents don’t have an opportunity to protect their homes.

December 5th, 2006: The court accepts the demolition order requests.

April 2nd, 2007: The village people write to Minister Shitrit, after he claims “A historical injustice has been done with these people”, requesting a meeting in which to discuss possible solution to their impossible situation.

This morning – April 26, 2007, the Government of Israel hangs demolition orders on 35 extended family homes.

Of course they have no option of living elsewhere – they would have moved long ago if they did. For the government the solution is demolitions – but what about a solution to this problem that the government created almost 60 years ago???

Please tell your representative about this.

For more information: Yeela Livnat Raanan, RCUV. 054 7487005. yallylivnat@gmail.com

British human rights worker arrested in Tel Rumeida under false charges

British human rights worker arrested in Tel Rumeida under false charges, released unconditionally.
by the ISM Media Crew, 26 April 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Today at 10:45am, Joanne Crouch, a British human rights worker (HRW), was arrested in the Tel Rumeida district of Hebron. Israeli police at the Kiryat Arba police station tried to charge her with spray painting “Free Palestine” on a wall in the Palestinian neighborhood.

The graffiti happened late last night. Israeli soldiers attempted to invade the home of the human rights workers, but, without a warrant, HRWs did not let them enter. Last night, HRWs video recorded the soldiers, who were demanding to know who made the graffiti. According to an HRW on scene, soldiers threatened to call the police. HRWs welcomed this, but police never showed up.

This morning, however, around 10:45, Israeli police detained three HRWs who were observing the streets of Tel Rumeida. Two HRWs, one Danish and one American, were released. Joanne, however, remained in questioning at Kiryat Arba police station.

Joanne said that “I was not even involved with this graffiti! I had nothing to do with it! Israeli settlers have told the police it was me, so it is my word against theirs.” Joanne asked for the police to review the tapes from the military video cameras, which are scattered throughout the Tel Rumeida neighborhood and are on continuous recording, day and night. “This will prove my innocence,” Joanne said, “but they are refusing to do so.”

Joanne then said that the police officers handed her a paper to sign. “I refused to sign it,” she said, “because it is in Hebrew and I do not read or write Hebrew.” She then noted that the police officer said that her refusal to sign the paper proves that she is lying and guilty. “They are being really aggressive with me,” she added, “and I’ve been nice and kind to them this whole time.”

Joanne contacted an Israeli lawyer who then spoke with the police. She also contacted her embassy.

“I kept saying, ‘You are falsely accusing me’,” Joanne stated to the police officers, “you are just going to have to put me in front of a judge because I didn’t make the graffiti.”

Police told Joanne that if she didn’t sign the papers, she could be placed in front of a judge and deported. The orders that police were trying to force Joanne to sign supposedly state that she will not enter the Tel Rumeida neighborhood for 15 days or will not enter all of the Occupied Palestinian Territories for 15 days—it is still unclear.

“You have no grounds to deport me,” Joanne told the police, “just check the military cameras and you will see.”

At around 13:15pm, Israeli police rescinded the orders and Joanne signed an English translation, stating that she is being unconditionally released.

The whole district of Tel Rumeida is under complete military control. Palestinians in Tel Rumeida suffer from an ongoing campaign of violence and harassment, geared at forcing the Palestinian residents to flee the area. Violent Israeli settlers often attack Palestinians and damage property, especially on Jewish holidays and Saturdays (Shabbat). Israeli soldiers and police, who are mandated by Israeli and international law to protect the Palestinians from settler violence, often refuse to intervene.

ISM Media Office, 02-297-1824, 0599-943-157