Category: Press Releases - Page 329 - International Solidarity Movement

They still find ways to have fun

by Devon

Sixty percent of the West Bank village of Kifl Haris are children under the age of 17. on August first some of the village’s children demonstrated with us and stayed non-violent in the face of a foreign military shooting teargas and sound bombs. I would not have been that brave when I was their age. They grow up fast here; they have to.

I think that whereever one goes in whatever circumstances, children will find ways to have fun. After the action they invited me to play football and basketball with them. An ocean of children running back and forth having a really good time is quite acontrast to the Palestinian man who got hit in the mouth with a tear gas canister earlier that day; it shattered his jaw and there was blood all down his shirt. I think Gandhi would have been proud of the villagers that day.

I wanted to tell you about the children’s sweet voices, but I can’t do them justice in writing. I wanted to show you their smiles and I wanted you to hear them laugh. I wish you could come play with them and demonstrate with them, because if you did you would touched in your heart of hearts-after that you would never forget the children of Palestine and you would forever wonder if they are still doing okay.

CHILD, FOUR ADULTS INJURED, AUSTRIAN ACTIVIST ARRESTED

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A nonviolent demonstration meant to take place at the entrance to the West Bank village of Kafr Haris against the destruction of Palestinian olive groves for the construction of an Israeli-only bypass road was attacked in route by Israeli soldiers. Four adults and one child were injured by tear gas canisters that were fired directly at individuals. An Austrian peace activist was arrested.

Protesters, a mix of Palestinians from Kafr Haris and foreign and Israeli activists, started at 10 a.m. marching peacefully to the roadblock that cuts off traffic into the entrance to the village, located near the road leading to the Ariel Settlement. Soldiers approached activists early in their walk to the nonviolent demonstration and fired tear gas before they could reach the settler-only road project.

22-year-old Ahmad Al Shakur Palestinian man was struck directly in the mouth by a tear gas canister fired by soldiers as he stood still inside his village with demonstrators. The canister ricochet off of the man’s face and struck his 7-year-old daughter in the head. Ahmad was transported to a hospital in Nablus for serious injuries, including the likelihood of a broken jaw and several lost teeth.

Another tear gas canister fired directly into the crowd struck 35-year-old Imad Hammad in the chest, breaking rib bones. He was also taken transported to the Nablus hospital.

An Austrian peace activist was arrested by soldiers and shortly after the tear gas was fired. He has been transfered to a jail in the Ariel settlement.

60-year-old Abed Zuhdi other suffered from direct exposure to the tear gas and Feras Khofash, 27, was hit in the face with by a tear gas canister that struck that bounced off the ground and hit him in the face.

Firing tear gas canisters directly at individuals or a crowd is forbidden under Israeli law. Despite this, Israeli soldiers regularly aim and shoot the canisters directly at nonviolent demonstrators causing serious injuries. These incidents are seldom investigated by the military, fostering an atmosphere where soldiers feel free to use allegedly nonlethal weapons in more dangerous and potentially deadly ways.

For more information, or to find witnesses to this incident, contact Nasfat at 0599-841-006 or 052-233-7257.

Update on Shora Esamilan

Shora Esamilan, ISM activist from Sweden, has arrived back in her country after being deported from Israel. She was forced onto a plane by five policemen, including two brought in specially from Austria. On her way onto the plane, the police beat her with batons.

Shora was brutally interrogated by the Israeli general security services (GSS, or Shabak in Hebrew) for over 10 hours on her arrival in Ben Gurion airport. Israel’s expulsion of hundreds of non-violent activists reflects the fear the Israeli authorities have of non-violent resistance in Palestine. Activists like Shora are deemed a ‘security threat’. It seems that being present in Palestinian villages and cities and attending non-violent demonstrations threatens this so-called ‘democracy’.

Vigil at Ofer Military Base for Peace Activist Abdullah Abu Rahme

On Sunday, July 31st, Israeli, Palestinian and international peace activists will hold a vigil at the Ofer Military Base at 3 PM to protest the imprisonment of Abdullah Abu Rahme. Abdullah, a leader of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall has been in detention at Ofer Military Base since his arrest during a non-violent demonstration on Friday, July 15, 2005.

Last Tuesday, the military judge at Ofer prison camp decided to keep Abdullah Abu Rahme in jail until the end of the proceedings against him.

Abdullah was arrested on July 17th at a demonstration in his home village of Bil’in. Together with Akram Khatib he was charged with assaulting a police officer. Abdullah is well known to Israeli activists who have joined Bil’in’s inspiring and highly creative struggle against the wall. Many such activists were with Abdullah when he was arrested and can testify to his innocence. Even those who have never met Abdulla might remember his last arrest on trumped up charges which were so obviously false that the police’s own internal investigation unit is investigating the policeman who testified against him for giving false testimony.

The current charges are just as ridiculous and the same amount of evidence proving his innocence (including video, still photographs, dozens of witnesses etc.) was presented to the court. The prosecution has hardly made an effort to build a case; they don’t need to. When it comes to Palestinians, the slightest evidence or the least credible testimony can land them in jail for months.

Peace means the freedom of movement

July 29, 2005
by Sarita Ahooja

Eight ISM Internationals from Canada, Sweden, and Spain, along with 5 Israeli activists joined in a spirited march with the villagers of Asira to protest military closures and demand free movement for Palestinians.

The demonstrators walked along Sabataash road (5km distance to Nablus) towards the 3 giant mounds of earth serving as the roadblock since the beginning of this Intifada. Five families live outside of this roadblock and are unable to reach their homes by vehicle. Israeli army jeeps regularly patrol the area and prevent people from accessing their land.

As the march walked over the roadblock, Israeli soldiers came down from the hilltops to stop the demonstrators. The villagers were told to return to their village immediately. International and Israeli activists began arguing with the soldiers about the so-called closed military zone, but were eventually pushed back. The soldiers took the ID from the Israeli activists for sometime.

The Commander engaged in a heated debate with the activists claiming that he had the duty to protect his family from the terrorists, and that he never killed innocent civilians. He also said that he had Palestinian friends who agreed with him and wanted to destroy Fateh. When questioned, he admitted that his so-called “friends” were employed by his family and cleaned his house.

As the demonstrators were pushed back, and the majority of residents returned to Asira, the Commander on site ran to get an elder Israeli activist from the crowd. The Commander is from the Ariel Settlement were Sharon visited last week. He warned the activist, “Don’t go with them, they are terrorists. You must come with us.” Although, the Israeli activist refused to go with the Commander, the soldiers forced him to join the other Israeli activists that had been stripped of their IDs again and detained. They were forced into the army jeeps waiting behind and taken away.

Asira residents are determined to break closure, and will be organizing actions in the upcoming weeks to continue the fight for their freedom.