8th October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | West Bank, occupied Palestine
Wednesday 7 October ’15 Surda Ramallah
Palestinian civilians joined by International solidarity activists will gather tonight, Wednesday 7, October ’15, at the home of the bereaved family of Muhannad Halabi, which is threatened by demolition in retaliation for the fatal stabbing of two Israeli settlers in the Old City Jerusalem on Saturday 3 October ’15.
Muhannad Halabi, who was a 19 year old student, was killed by the Israeli military at the scene of the stabbing. A home of his family in the village of Surda, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, was ransacked on Sunday morning and the family was violently attacked by the Israeli military and Muhannad’s uncle sustained a head wound requiring five stitches in the raid. Occupation forces are expected to carry out a revenge demolition of the family home.
Revenge demolitions of the houses of Palestinians accused of attacking Israelis, as a means of collective punishment, has been Israel’s long established practice. To further the retaliation, Muhannad’s body is being held by the Israeli government and refused return to his mother, who has been hospitalized three times due to grief and anxiety.
Following a series of new measures announced by Benjamin Netanyahu the retaliatory house demolitions have been moved forward. On October 6th two houses were blown up which were former homes of two Palestinians who carried out attacks against the Israelis last year.
Marie, an international activist from the US staying in the house stated: ‘Punishing a family for something that one of their members have done, is just not acceptable. This is illegal and should not happen in any country which respects human rights and considers itself democratic’.
‘We have to be present at this horrible and violent miscarriage of justice, whose only aim is to humiliate and make destitute even more innocent Palestinians living under a brutal Israeli occupation’, added Dezeray also from the United States.
We have received the wonderful news that Mahmoud Nasser has been released from Ofer, the Israeli military occupation prison near Ramallah, yesterday night!
Together with his family they celebrated his release on bail and we are all very grateful to all supporters and donators for their contribute!!
Carry on the struggle for the liberation of palestinian political prisoners!
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Dear friends,
Due to technical problems the special Facebook event for the campaign in support of Mahmoud Nasser and all Palestinian political prisoners has been deleted.
We will continue to communicate updates on Mahmoud’s situation using the relevant hashtags.
So far we seem to have raised enough money and hope that Mahmoud Nasser will be released from prison soon!
Free all political prisoners and end the military occupation of Palestine! Mahmoud Nasser, a 24-year-old Palestinian from the village of Beitunia, was arrested after 150 soldiers raided his house in the night of 16 July 2015. He was charged with ‘posing a security threat to Israel.’ However, during the appeal hearing, the military judge ruled that there is not enough evidence that supports Mahmoud’s continuing detention or conviction.
Outrageously so, innocence does not equal immediate release under Israeli military law. Instead, an exorbitant bail of 15.000 New Israeli Shekels is impositioned (around €3430 / $3830). An amount that the family of Mahmoud is unable to pay.
Palestinians from the occupied territories are prosecuted under military law. This practice leads to grave violations of basic human rights inside prisons and allows Israel to control the daily life and movement of Palestinians en masse. Military law permits the imposition of exorbitant bails even when it has been ruled that there is not enough evidence to support the detainment or conviction.
Mahmoud Nasser is a clear victim of this illegal and unjust system.
Take action! Take a stand against the occupation, the illegal application of military law in Palestine and in support of all Palestinian political prisoners.
Donate now to help pay the bail and free Mahmoud Nasser. Any amount will help and is greatly appreciated by his family!
How to donate The easiest way to donate is via PayPal.
Please visit https://palsolidarity.org/donate/ and tick the box ‘Free Mahmoud Nasser’.
Should you not be able to use PayPal, it is possible to directly transfer your donation to the bank account of ISM. You will need the following details:
Account holder: ISMSVERIGE
Account number: 9746647313
IBAN: SE65 8000 0842 0297 4664 7313
BIC: SWEDSESS
Name of the bank: Swedbank
Please note that it is important to reference ‘Free Mahmoud Nasser’ with your transfer.
If you are based in Palestine or Israel, you may wish to transfer the donation directly to the account of the family to avoid losing money on transfer and conversion costs. Therefore it is possible to send your donation to Ahmad Nasser, the brother of Mahmoud. You will need the following details:
Account holder: Ahmad Sameer Ahmad Nasser Name of the bank: Bank Of Palestine Address: Rukab Street, Ramallah- Palestine Account number: 2228092
Please note that we strongly recommend those based outside Palestine/Israel to donate to ISM via Paypal or a direct bank transfer to ISM. This allows us to collect the total amount of donations and subsequently make one single transfer to the family’s bank account. This minimises the costs caused by international transfers and currency conversion rates.
Updates: 8 September: The International Solidarity Movement has generously donated 2000 New Israeli Shekel in support of Mahmoud Nasser. 10 September: The second part of the extremely strict bail conditions has been met: to find two Israeli civilians who can guarantee 15.000 New Israeli Shekel each and demonstrate a monthly income of 5000 Shekel. This is amazing news!
This means we have 13.000 Shekel more to go before we can pay the bail. Not a small amount, but together we can go a long way!
19 September: Next to the generous donations of all of you, friends of Ahmad and Mahmoud in Palestine and beyond, ISM Sweden has now also donated an amazing amount of 3000 Shekel.YES, we reached the 10.000 Shekel!
We are not there yet, another 5000 to go. This should be doable, right?! This amount equals to £830 / €1140 / $1290. We need 100 persons to donate £8,30/ €11,40 / $12,90.
Please continue to spread the campaign and to consider making a small or large contribution. Together we can make this happen – lets make sure to go achieve our goal of 15.000 Shekel – it is within reach!
Mahmoud Nasser, 24 years old
The illegal arrest and exorbitant bail of Mahmoud Nasser On Thursday, 16th of July 2015 at around 4:00 am Israeli Occupation Forces raided the house of Mahmoud Nasser and his family in Beitunia, occupied Palestine. More than 150 soldiers, border police and intelligence service officers surrounded the neighbourhood and stormed into the house while the family was fast asleep. Mahmoud Nasser was subsequently arrested without being shown an official arrest order.
After being taken to the military prison in Ofer, Mahmoud was ordered to appear in court and charges were levelled against him stating he poses a security threat to Israel. However, the evidence presented by the military prosecution does not at all support the charges. Consequently the judge ruled that there is not enough evidence to continue Mahmoud’s detention nor will it support a future conviction.
Outrageously so, under military law, innocence does not equal immediate release. On the contrary, the military judge ruled that a bail amount of 15.000 New Israeli Shekel (around €3430 / $3830) should be paid before Mahmoud Nasser is to be released. This is an exorbitant bail amount which puts the family under increased financial and psychological pressure. If the bail is not paid, Mahmoud will stay imprisoned for a maximum of eighteen months – a period that would continue to be subject of discussion as the military judge may extend this period even after a specific time limit is set in the case of conviction.
The illegality of military law in occupied Palestine Under international law it is illegal to acquire land by force, which is what happened during the 1948 and 1967 wars. These wars led to the creation of Israel and subsequently enabled it to annex more land. While the military occupation is internationally considered to be illegal, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are nevertheless prosecuted under Israeli military law.
Military prosecution occurs whenever a Palestinian is considered to pose a security threat to the Israeli state. However, what constitutes ‘a security threat’ is interpreted extremely broadly. A variety of actions is criminalized, including non-violent political and cultural expressions, such as putting up posters, writing political slogans, carrying a Palestinian flag or attending a demonstration. It then comes at no surprise that Amnesty International reported in 2002 that “in light of the large number of those arrested and detained for a short time with very little interrogation, and the consistent use of degrading treatment, Amnesty International is concerned that the aim of the large-scale arrests may have been to collectively punish and to degrade and humiliate Palestinians”.
The implementation of collective punishment through mass incarceration and detention continues until today. Addameer, the Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, reports that as of July 2015 5700 Palestinians are inside Israeli prisons. This illustrates that the accusation of posing a security threat to Israel is applied to control everyday movement and enables mass detention of Palestinians.
To protest against this inhumane treatment and unjust and illegal system, Palestinian prisoners have taken the radical step to go on hunger strike. To resist the illegal military rule is a timely action as the Israeli Knesset passed a controversial bill to legalize force-feeding of Palestinian hunger strikers on 30 July 2015. Force-feeding is considered by international and medical organisations as a clear violation of prisoners’ human rights. Recently the cases of hunger strikers Khader Adnan and Mohammed Allan gained international attention. However, there are many more prisoners currently on hunger strike. They organise around concrete demands to improve the poor living standards inside the occupation prisons and are calling for an end to administrative detention. Take action! Donate now to free Mahmoud Nasser and support all political prisoners in their struggle for liberation!
31st August | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Update 31-08-2015 20:00: Vittorio Feras court this morning again did not take any final decisions. It was ruled to release him on a 3000 shekel bill under the condition that he stay in Jerusalem and not leave the country until yet another court date on September 8. Even though the bail has already been paid at noon, Israeli forces kept delaying Vittorios release under different pretences. Only at 8 pm was he finally released from prison.
Italian activist Vittorio Fera was violently arrested and beaten by soldiers at weekly demonstration in Nabi Saleh in occupied Palestine. The Italian activist, 31-year old Vittorio Fera, is falsely accused of throwing stones and attacking soldiers. His case will be taken to court the second time Monday 31st August between 9 and 11 am.
During a weekly demonstration in Nabi Saleh Israeli soldiers randomly arrested two protesters: one 18-year old Palestinian youth and the Italian activist Vittorio Fera. Fera went to the protest to document human rights violations by the Israeli army against Palestinians and became a victim of military violence himself.
While documenting an Israeli soldier strangling a 12-year old boy, Vittorio and the other activists were ambushed by Israeli forces. Vittorio was separated from the group and violently shoved to the ground. “We were shocked to see the boy being choked by a soldier, when suddenly soldiers came running at us and attacked Vittorio”, Josephine from Denmark explains.
Vittorio Fera with clear marks of military assult.
Journalists witnessed soldiers kicking and beating him during the arrest, even though he did not resist or fight back. Vittorio, and the Palestinian youth, were forced into a military jeep where they were detained for almost nine hours by the Israeli army, before they were finally taken to a police station. Despite various demands of Feras lawyer to have him brought to a police station immediately, both him and the Palestinian were illegally kept in the military jeep until shortly before midnight.
Vittorio Fera with clear marks of military assult.
The military accuses Vittorio Fera of throwing stones and attacking the soldiers – an unfounded accusation. A first sentencing in court late Saturday night only resulted in the postponing of the sentencing until Monday morning. The hearing will take place in in Jerusalem Monday the 31st August 2015 between 9 and 11 am.
28th August | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil | Hebron, occupied Palestine
UPDATE: A court just ruled to keep Vittorio Fera in prison until an actuall decision is taken on Monday. He was violently thrown to the ground and arrested by Israeli soldiers in Nabi Saleh yesterday. He is being accused of throwing stones and attacking the soldiers at the demo – a baseless claim without any evidence. At the demonstration he was filming the vicious assault of Israeli forces on a Palestinian boy, that was attacked and choked by a soldier. Still, the Israeli court ruled to keep him in prison till Monday.
Watch a video taken of the soldiers attacking Vittorio and arresting him: https://youtu.be/KoYEMHi2xbM
On Friday the 28th of August 2015, two peaceful demonstrators were violently arrested and a child viciously attacked by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian village Nabi Saleh in occupied Palestine. Every Friday the people of Nabi Saleh protest against the illegal settlement build on the villages’ land.
Israili soldier threatning Palestinian women and children at non violent demonstration in Nabi Saleh. Photo credit: IssamRimawi
Today at around 3 pm one Palestinian male, Mahmoud Tamimi, and one international activist was arrested in the Palestinian village Nabi Saleh close to Ramallah. They were arrested during a Friday demonstration against the illegal settlements on the land belonging to the people of Nabi Saleh.
Only a few minutes after the protesters peacefully started their march towards the gate, which is regularly blocked by the military preventing any movement in- or outside of the village, the Israeli army began attacking the non-violent protesters with dozens of rounds of tear gas.
The soldiers then ambushed the demonstrators escaping the clouds of tear gas by surrounding them. They attacked and then arrested Mahmoud Tamimi, shoving him down the hill towards the illegal settlement, where he was forced to lie on the ground.
Israili soldier strangulating a Palestinian boy at non violent demonstration in Nabi Saleh. Photo credit: Karam
Around the same time, a Palestinian boy was violently attacked by a soldier throwing him to the ground, choking and almost suffocating him in the process. “While the boy was screaming in pain his family came to rescue him from the soldiers’ vicious assault”, Josephine, a Danish activist explains.
Israili soldier attacking Palestininan boy at non violent demonstration in Nabi Saleh. Photo credit: Karam
A group of peaceful international demonstrators trying to document the attack on the boy, was ambushed by another group of soldiers, who violently pushed a 31-year old Italian man to the ground and proceeded to arrested him.
Both the Palestinian and the international were being held captive in a military jeep by the Israeli army for almost nine hours, before being brought to a police station.
Sunday morning around 300 Palestinians and Internationals demonstrated side by side to block the uprooting of olive yards related to the construction of the apartheid-wall. The protesters where all non-violent and all stood up for the Palestinians rights and for a free Palestine.
Demonstrators carrying away the gate
Protesters successfully removed the illegal metal fence, which was put up by the Israeli occupation forces to prevent local Palestinians from reaching their land and harvesting their olives. The fence was carried away by internationals and Palestinians. This was a huge success for the the local Palestinians, whose land have had their land taken away.
Border Police showering demonstrators with teargas
After the fence was taken down, Israeli forces brutally attacked the non-violent protesters, shooting rubber-coated steel bullets, sound-grenades and dozens of teargas canisters. Three persons had to go to the hospital for suffering of excessive tear gas inhalation.
The demonstrators trying to escape the clouds of teargas
The Israeli state confiscating land of Beit Jala people using the expansion of apartheid wall as an excuse to clear the way of land-grab and expanding illegal settlements near the village. This is a huge problem for the local Palestinians who can’t harvest their fields and live their live freely.
