Category: Press Releases - Page 24 - International Solidarity Movement

Abdullah Abu Rahmah to be Charged at Ofer Military Court

UPDATE 21ST May | ISM media team | Ramallah, Occupied Palestine

The prosecution have until Sunday the 22nd of May at 4pm to appeal the military Judges order to release Abdallah Abu Rahmah. They are expected to do this and there will likely be retried tomorrow at Ofer Military Court .

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The military trial of Human rights defender, Abdallah Abu Rahmah, today, Thursday the 19th of May, 2016 will take place in the afternoon at Ofer military Prison.

Charges are likely to be brought against Human rights defender Abdallah Abu Rahmah from the West Bank village Bil’in. Abdallah was arrested from the Al-wada Cycling Marathon when the marathon reached Bil’in and the cyclists were met by approximately 150 heavily armed soldiers. The soldiers immediately started showering the cyclists with tear gas and blocked the road, where their route was going. During this attack of the cyclists, Abdallah was arrested along with an Israeli demonstrator Israel. The Israeli was released shortly after her arrest.

The military prosecution is expected to request that Abdallah, who has been held in detention since Friday the 13th of May, remain in detention until the end of proceedings against him.

Abdallah has long promoted the use of peaceful means to raise international awareness about human rights violations suffered by Palestinians due to Israel’s illegal wall and settlements. His case illustrates a pattern of the Israeli authorities targeting and harassing those who stand up for their rights using peaceful action in support of Palestinian victims of human rights violations.

Bil’in is a symbol of creative popular resistance to the Israeli annexation wall and settlements. the village waged a successful campaign which resulted in their winning back half of their agricultural land that was confiscate from them by the Israeli authorities. Two siblings from the Abu Rahmah Family, Basem and Jawaher were both killed while protesting nonviolently the illegal wall constructed on their land. .

After seeing footage of Abdallah’s violent arrest , a military judge ordered his release on Monday, and instructed the police to forward the case file to the internal affairs unit, as he believed the arresting officers were lying in their description of the events and acted with intentional violence. However the military prosecution successfully appealed this decision. During the appeal hearing the military prosecution referred to the non-violent Al-awda cycling marathon, from which Abdallah was arrested, as a “riot” and referred to Abdallah as a main “instigator”. In addition, the prosecution mentioned several times that they intend to question Abdallah over posts in his Facebook page, though they did not give any details over which posts or of what nature.

In 2010 Abdallah served 16 months in prison after being convicted of charges including “incitement” and “organizing and participating in an illegal demonstration”. In Oct 2014 he was convicted for “obstructing a soldier in the line of duty”,after he stood in front of military bulldozers during a demonstration at the Bitunya checkpoint in the West Bank in May 2012. Abdallah received a four-month suspended prison sentence for the next three years and a fine of about US$1,300. on 23 February 2015. A sentence the military prosecution would now want to see activated.

During Abdallah’s previous imprisonment Catherine Ashton recognized Abu Rahmah as a Human Rights Defender and The Elders called for his immediate release, calling him a prisoner of conscience, as well as Human Rights organizations such as Amnesty International or Frontline Defenders. Diplomats from Spain, Malta, UK and EU representatives have attended his trials and the Spanish parliament issued a statement expressing their concern over Abu Rahmah´s incarceration. Ronnie Kasrils, former Govt Minister of post-apartheid South Africa has declared his support for Abu Rahmah, saying “It is so important to show in various ways support for the just Palestinian cause of which Bil’in village and Abdallah Abu Rahmah, are so symbolic.”

Human Rights Defender Abdullah Abu Rahma arrested and detained

15^th May 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | Bil’in, occupied Palestine

UPDATE 23d of May 2016: Abdullah was released from military prison on the evening of the 22nd. He must return to military court on the first of June for a hearing of the appeal of the military prosecution against the decision to release him.

UPDATE 19th of May 2016: Abdullah Abu Rahma remains in Detention. A military judge ruled that Abdullah can be released on 15,000 Shekel bail but postponed this until Sunday the 21st of May at four PM to give the military prosecution a chance to appeal the decision.

UPDATE 17th May 2016:

Abdullah Abu Rahma remains in Detention. The military prosecution has appealed yesterday’s decision by the court judge at Ofer to release Abdullah, a decision which was made after a video was presented which shows that Abdullah was arrested and beaten while protesting non-violently. The military prosecution were granted an extension to Abdullah’s detainment until tomorrow when there will be another hearing. This will be confirmed by the court tomorrow by 5pm.

On Friday the 13^th of May 2016, the internationally recognized human rights defender and coordinator of the Bil’in popular committee against the wall and settlements, Abdullah Abu Rahma, was arrested during the Alwada Cycling Marathon, which took place in the West Bank Friday. Abdullah Abu Rahma is currently still being held under detention by the Israeli military and his case will be brought to the military court in Ofer Military Base tomorrow.

Abu Rahma, who is from the West Bank village Bil’in, was arrested, after the Alwada Cycling Marathon had reached Bil’in. After reaching Bil’in the attending cyclists where met by approximately 150 heavily armed soldiers, who immediately started showering the cyclists with tear gas and blocked the road, where their route was going. Doing this attack of the peaceful demonstrating cyclists, Abu Rahma was arrest along with an international activist from Israel. The Israeli activist was released shortly after her arrest.

The Alwada Cycling Marathon’s intention was to demonstrate against the illegal Israeli occupation and the apartheid system, that Israel is enforcing on the Palestinians through a healthy and peaceful cycling route from Ramallah to Bil’in. By Israeli Forces attacking the peaceful demonstration and arresting Abu Rahma, they once again show the world, that they do not accept the right to protest peacefully and that they do not apply to the international law, that does not allow Israeli Forces to be on Palestinian controlled areas, which the area of Bil’in is.

Abu Rahma is an important activist for the village of Bil’in and a symbol of peaceful resistance all over the West Bank. For now, he is left waiting for his next sentence, after he has already been imprisoned for his non violent resistance multiple times, and has in the past been charged with both “incitement” and “organizing and participating in an illegal demonstration”. Till now, there has not been declared a charge against him in the current case, but the military court will determine his faith , after having hold him in detention for 4 days, even though he did not commit any crime what so ever.

Please spread this message as wide as possible and put pressure on the Israeli Justice system for his release through media attention or presence in the military court.

To hear more about the case, and get further information and updates, please contact us by email.

For more information about fridays Alwada Cycling Marathon:

https://www.facebook.com/haytham.alkhateeb/posts/10208232017891106?pnref=story

https://www.facebook.com/haytham.alkhateeb/videos/vb.1022320161/10208230395770554/?type=2&theater

For more information on Abdullah Abu Rahma:

Amnesty USA:

https://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/uaa32014_1.pdf

Human Rights Watch:

https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/09/08/israel-activist-convicted-after-unfair-trial

International Solidarity Movement:

https://palsolidarity.org/2015/03/a-decade-of-civil-disobedience-in-my-west-bank-village/

https://palsolidarity.org/2010/02/letter-from-prison-abdallah-abu-rahmah/

Open The Zone campaign against Closed Military Zone launched in Hebron

3rd May 2016 | Open The Zone Campaign| Hebron, occupied Palestine

On May 3rd 2016, the Open the Zone campaign was launched in cooperation with Zleikha Mohtaseb with a children’s play about oppression, which took place directly outside the arbitrary borders of the closed military zone in Tel Rumeida, Hebron. The campaign targets the deliberate and unjust use of closed military zones to forcibly displace Palestinian residents.

The play, called “Matchsticks,” tells the story about a boy mistreated by his parents and his right to equality and security, which served as an allegory for growing up under occupation. The interactive play encouraged the children to analyse the impact of the Israeli occupation on their lives. Zleikha Mohtaseb stated: “The children showed great maturity in the way they expressed themselves. Their minds seemed beyond their age. A girl said that the play focused on breaking the silence; a boy pointed out the symbolism of the black wall. This is the first time we have heard such eloquent words from them since we started showing the play.” For the children living inside the closed military zone, this play offered a respite from the Israeli forces attempts to stifle any kind of social life and keep Palestinians restrained to the inside of their homes.

Children's play in Tel Rumeida — Children’s play in Tel Rumeida

The play was the initial event opening the Open the Zone campaign, organised by Youth Against Settlements and the International Solidarity Movement. The campaign calls for an end to the closed military zone in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood and Shuhada street, that was first declared on November 1st, 2015. The military order has been extended several times, and on December 12th it was expanded just enough to include the Youth Against Settlements media center, and has been used to to evict the International Solidarity Movement from the area. The closure enforced through the closed military zone attempts to strangle any and all Palestinian life inside the area, with only residents registered as numbers allowed to enter; thus keeping all visitors, friends, human rights defenders, press and repairmen barred from entering.

Highly militarised childhood for Palestinian children in the closed military zone in Hebron

The campaign focuses on the collective punishment of the Palestinian ṕopulation and the closure as a military strategy to ensure the forced displacement of Palestinian residents in the neighborhood to expand the Israeli settlements project. A press conference will take place on the 7th of May in front of checkpoint 56 to Shuhada street and Tel Rumeida in Hebron.

Zleikha Mohtaseb: “We can’t separate our reality from the occupation.”

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Go back to the main campaign page

Press release: Last day of demolition order leaves Palestinian family in Wadi al-Joz in fear of losing their home

10^th April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | Jerusalem, occupied Palestine

The 10^th of April is the last day of the demolition order on the home of the Totanji family. The family lives in the Sawaneh district in Wadi al-Joz, a village in East Jerusalem near the Old City, which Israel has declared as a ‘National Park’ area. This despite it having always been a residential area. The family received the demolition order over a year and a half years ago, but lost the appeal against the order last month. Today is the last day of the demolition order, which leaves the family fearing that their house maybe demolished tonight.

The house is single-story with 4 bedrooms. However, it is currently the home of 16 people including a 7 month old baby, the granddaughter of the owner of the house. The family does not, as is the case with other Palestinian families in fear of house demolition, not have any where else to go, and will leave their whole life behind if their house is demolished. Just seven months ago, one of Totanji sons had his house demolished in the same area. This fear of losing ones home does not just apply to the Totanjis, but also to the rest of the residents in Palestine, due to the huge number of demolitions and demolition orders. In just the last week (31^st March-6^th April) 14 houses have been demolished in East Jerusalem and the West Bank by Israeli Forces.

Wadi al-Joz is located directly outside the Old City of Jerusalem in a vulnerable area. It is a neighbourhood that suffers from many demolition orders and subsequent demolitions. This is due to Israel declaring parts of the area around the Old City in Jerusalem as a ‘National Park’, to “protect the historical land.” The area covers a huge residential areas containing villages which are already overcrowded including Wadi al-Joz. In addition to the Totanjis, 13 other families in the Sawaneh district in Wadi al-Joz are also in danger of demolition. The information regarding the so called ‘National Park’ was only relayed to these families in the past two years. And whilst Israeli authorities claim that it was declared a park more than 4 decades ago, regardless, this declaration concerning annexed territory is in direct violation of international law.

The family is seeking an international presence to defer the demolition and deter the Israeli authorities. Internationals will be in the house from this evening and for the foreseeable future to prevent the demolition. There is a press conference planned tomorrow morning, 11am on 11th Apri 2016, to announce the opening of a protest tent outside the Totanji family house. The families and the community of Wadi al-Joz invites everyone to attend the protest and to lend coverage to this important event.

Address:

Wadi Al-Joz, neighbourhood of East Jerusalem

Across the Fire Station, behind the Central Market or “Hisbi”

Directions:

From Damascus Gate, follow the Old City Wall towards the Mount of Olives and continue down into Wadi Al-Joz. The home is on a dirt road on the right before you begin to go up the hill to the Mount of Olives. It is about 10-15 minute walk from Damascus Gate. Alternatively, you can drive down from the Mount of Olives past the Ibrahimiya School. The dirt road is on the left at the bottom of the hill just opposite the paved road that goes right into Wadi al-Joz.

Contacts:

Totanji family contact

Aref Tatanji: +972-(0)-508-133-590 (Arabic)

Press conference contact

Nureddin Amro: +972-(0)-525-271-587 (Arabic and English)

ISM media contact

Josephine: +972-(0)-59-740-6401(English)

Settlers expropriate Palestinian garden as police stand by

4th April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Tel Rumeida, al Khalil, occupied Palestine

On Saturday 3^rd of April 2016 settlers entered land belonging to Muhammad Abu Haikal in the Tel Rumeida area of Hebron on the occupied West Bank in Palestine. The settler children built a tent and then brought other settlers who prayed and ate there. It took more than four hours from when the police arrived until the settlers actually left, still claiming that it was their land and running around so that the police would not be able to evict them.

The first young settler kids arrived at the land at around 9 o’clock in the morning and started building a tent out of wood and sheets that they had found and playing on the land. They were actually playing in Muhammad Abu Haikal’s garden, but the end of the garden has been declared a closed military area by the Israeli Occupation Forces, who have made a military outpost in the garden and cut off the end of it of with barbed wire. The settler children entered the garden using the staircase that has been built for the soldiers to reach the outpost: they stamped down the barbed wire and covered it with a piece of wood to prevent themselves from getting injured.

Settlers and their children trespassing illegally on Palestinian land.

Later on, while the family was trying to pick almonds from trees in the part of the garden that is not a closed military Area, the settler children returned with a number of adult settlers and more children. Muhammed Abu Haikal and the internationals present asked the settlers to leave the land, but they refused. He then contacted the police.

After the police arrived, the settlers once again claimed to be the owners of the land, with the right to remain there. The Palestinian family was asked to step back and had to stop harvesting their garden. Not until after the settlers had prayed on the land multiple times, brought food and played ball there, did the police finally try to get them to leave. The police asked all Palestinians and internationals to leave as well, as they said, “it is impossible to make Israelis leave, if there are Palestinians on the land”. It then took the police over two hours to evict the settlers. They then removed the materials that the children had left on the part of the land that is not a closed military area, but refused to pull down the tent, because, they said, it was not allowed on Shabbat.

Finally the soldiers closed off the closed military area with more barbed wire and allowed the family back into their garden. If Palestinians had been trespassing on settlers land, which is illegally occupied, they would probably have been arrested immediately, but when it is the other way around, which it usually is, the police do not use any kind of force.