Category: Press Releases

B’tselem: Means of Expulsion

Violence, Harassment and Lawlessness Toward Palestinians in the Southern Hebron Hills
Written by B’tselem.
July 2005, Summary
www.btselem.org/English/Publications/Summaries/
200507_South_Hebron.asp

In the southernmost West Bank , some one thousand Palestinians have maintained the way of life of their ancestors: living in caves and earning a living from farming and livestock. In the 1970s, the Israeli military commander declared the area a “closed military area,” and for the past five years, Israel has been trying to expel them from the area.

In November 1999, soldiers and Civil Administration officials expelled the cave residents and confiscated their meager belongings. The army sealed caves, destroyed wells and outhouses, and prohibited the residents from returning to the area. The cave residents petitioned the High Court of Justice, and in March 2000, the Court issued a temporary injunction, returning the residents to the area and preventing the state from expelling them until the court reaches a final decision in the matter. Since then, the residents live with the threat of expulsion hovering over their heads.

Israel contends that expulsion of the cave residents is justified because they are not permanent residents of the area, and that the expulsion is an “imperative military need.” B’Tselem’s report demonstrates that these contentions are baseless, and shows that Israel has continually sought to annex the area and expand the nearby settlements.

In addition to the threat of expulsion, the cave residents are victims of violence and property damage from the residents of nearby settlements. Due the intensity of this violence, the residents of two villages to abandon their villages in 2000. In a survey conducted by B’Tselem, some 88% of the Palestinians in the closed military area were victims of settler violence or witnessed such violence against a member of their immediate family. The abuse reported in the survey can be divided into four patterns: blocking of roads and preventing access to fields (51 percent of the cases), property damage, including destruction of crops and theft of sheep and goats in particular (21 percent), intimidation (17 percent), and physical violence (11 percent).

The police do little to enforce the law against the settlers, and the army does even less. In some cases, soldiers have even assisted settlers in carrying out their violent acts. On a few occasions, the army at its own initiative destroyed the residents’ farmland by driving tanks and other armored vehicles onto the fields. In addition, the Civil Administration prohibits the residents from building in their villages, contending that the area is designated for agricultural use. The prohibition also covers construction to ensure proper water supply and to meet other basic needs.

The report documents Israel ‘s attempts over the past five years to expel the cave residents through legal proceedings, and describes the lives of the residents under the intimidation of settlers, the military, and the Civil Administration.

The bleak picture of Israel ‘s treatment of the cave residents, as described in the report, raises the concern that Israel is attempting to gradually wear down the residents to get them to leave the area , an achievement they have not yet been able to attain in court. B’Tselem protests the attempted expulsion and Israel ‘s current policy toward the residents, which severely infringe their human rights and flagrantly breach international law. For these reasons, B’Tselem urges the government of Israel to:

  • revoke the order declaring the caves area in South Mt. Hebron a closed military area and cancel the eviction orders currently pending against the cave residents;
  • instruct the army and police to protect the cave residents and to seriously enforce the law against violent settlers;
  • recognize the right of the cave residents to live in their villages and to build and develop them to meet their needs;
  • compensate Palestinians whose land and personal property were damaged by settlers, the army, or the Civil Administration.

Another child shot in Balata

ISM Nablus
2am, 7th July 2005

Israeli armed vehicles arrived at the camp late in the evening. Despite the presence of two large groups of civilians, including two internationals, the soldiers began firing live rounds directly into the camp. We had not heard any Palestinian gunfire. When medics arrived on the scene minutes later we learned that a child in the other group, 50 meters away, had been shot in the head. We don’t know if he is dead or in critical condition. The jeeps continued to fire and entered the camp smashing market stalls and preventing us from reaching the scene of killing to take the number of the jeep responsible.

Residents called for assistance after their home was occupied by the Israeli army. The soldiers have prevented medical teams from returning to the area, declaring it a closed military zone. At two am there are several jeeps in the camp. We have been forced to take cover inside a house. We hear army dogs and announcements from nearby jeeps. The shooting continues and there have been several explosions. Nablus has suffered nightly incursions for the last week.

Harassment of Palestinian Ghandi continues

Bil’in, 3.20 am

Israeli Occupation Forces bang on the door of Abdallah Abu-Rahma, prominent member of the Popular Committee Against the Wall, demanding that he attends an interrogation session at Ofer Military Base at 12 o’clock midday with “Rizik”, or else “there will be trouble”. The notice was served on a handwritten piece of paper from a note book and did not identify which branch of the Occupation Forces “Rizik” works with. Abdallah, however, is only too aware that “Rizik” is the head of Shabbak in the region.

Bil’in village will loose 2,300 dunams, over half of its land, behind the Annexation Wall, which will facilitate a huge expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the area. Bil’in has been at the front line of Palestinian resistance to the Wall, with regular demonstrations and creative direct action that utilise the non-violent methods of Muhatma Ghandi. Abdallah Abu-Rahma has been a driving force behind Bil’in’s struggle.

On 17th June Abdallah, along with his brother Rateb, was arrested at a demonstration in Bil’in and charged with throwing stones. Video evidence of the demonstration shows that no stone throwing took place and that the army opened fire on the non-violent protestors with potentially lethal crowd dispersal weapons without provocation. This was acknowledged by the judge at Rateb’s bail hearing, who said that the reality of what had happened was “strangely different, to put it mildly, from the testimony of the prosecution witnesses”, a border policeman. Nevertheless, Abdallah awaits trial on the 28th of September and Rateb has a trial pending.

Meanwhile, the harassment of non-violent protesters continues. When Abdallah arrived for interrogation today what he received was more of a warning. He was told that what he is doing in organizing demonstrations is worse than throwing stones. He was reminded of Biddu, where five people were killed by the Israeli military during demonstrations against the wall. He was told that he is being watched closely, that they know everything he does and that. He was warned against making trouble.

A transcript of the interrogation follows (see Transcript of Abdallah’s Interrogation)

On Friday, 8th July there will be another demonstration against the Wall in Bil’in at 11am.

4,050 Palestinians killed during intifada

Report Source: Xinhua

An official report said on Sunday that 4,050 Palestinians were killed and 44,848 others injured by the Israeli army since the beginning of the intifada, or uprising, against Israel’s occupation in September 2000. The report, issued by the State Information Service, said that Israeli military actions persisted even after Palestinian militant groups accepted in March a one-year halt of attacks against Israel. According to the report, the number of Palestinians killed during the intifada, is 4,050, including 751 children, 236 women, 344 security men, 836 students and teachers and 325 militants. The report said that 50 people were killed during Jewish settlers’ assaults on Palestinian residents in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It said that among the dead, 1,922 people were from the West Bank and 2,128 from the Gaza Strip, adding they were killed from Sept. 29, 2000 to June 30, 2005.

It also said that 8,200 Palestinians are detained in Israeli jails, 614 of whom were arrested by the Israeli army before the intifada. Meanwhile, the report said that some 272,000 Palestinians are jobless in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, while the rate of the Palestinians living under poverty line reached 76.6 percent in 2003.

OPEN THE MAS’HA GATE – A Call to Action

PLEASE, MAKE PHONE CALLS AND/OR SEND FAXES:

(This is an example which gets to our attention. Getting one gate for one village opened is worth a few minutes of your time — and it DOES work sometimes – no less than participation in protests on the ground. Sometimes even more!)

– Adam Keller & Beate Zilversmidt, Gush Shalom

Dorothy Naor (dor_naor@netvision.net.il) writes:

Dear All,

A week or so ago, I related to you that the IOF decided to close the sole gate through which Mas’ha farmers have access to their lands, gate 46. Farmers never had unlimited access since the fence has been up. The gates opened twice a day for farmers who had permits: at 7:00 AM (or whenever the soldiers decided to come) and at 1:00 PM (or whenever the soldiers decided to come).

About 8 days ago, the IOF arbitrarily declared the gate to be a ‘seasonal’ gate, and informed villagers that the gate will be closed for 6 months. This is the first time that such a thing has happened. And, if the 6 month closure is indeed implemented, farmers will be prevented from going to harvest their olives, since the harvest period is mainly during October and November (but in some areas begins as early as September and lasts as late as December).

The present closure additionally prevents farmers from tending their vegetable crops, plowing the grounds around their almond trees and olive groves, and shepherds from grazing their flocks. Farmers are told to use the ‘other’ gate, but this is fictive advise. The ‘other’ gate is some 11 kilometers away (nearly 7 miles) and in an area that one needs a permit to get there. Most farmers do not have the necessary permit, nor would be allowed to have one. And the distance makes it almost impossible, particularly for the older men. They not only have to cover the distance to the gate, but then many have to walk back on the other side of the fence to get to their fields.

Mas’ha, prior to being closed off by the fence in September 2003, had 6200 dunams of land; of these only 500 dunams remain within the fence. In other words, within the fence are the built-up areas (residential and business), while all the agricultural lands are on the other side of the fence.

Please protest this closure and demand that farmers be allowed to go to their lands. Some 4-6 farmers go daily at this time of year, although there are days when 20 (of the 70 or so who own lands) go.

But even if only 1 farmer wanted to go, and if only to sit under his tree, is the IOF to prohibit him from doing this! I surely want no one to prohibit me from going to my garden to sit under my pecan tree or merely to stroll in my yard! Would you? Why should the IOF lord it over farmers who have never done harm to anyone, and who want merely to live and let live?????

Please protest by phone and/or fax (I have no email addresses):

1. DCO Qalqilya: Phone: 050 623 4034; Fax 09 792 2331 (from abroad +972 50 623 4034; fax +972 9 792 2331)

2. Civil Administration Spokesperson: Phone: 050 623 4081; Fax: 02 997 7341 (from abroad +972 50 623 4081; Fax +972 2 997 7341)

3. IDF (i.e., IOF) Spokesperson: Phone 03 6080 220; Fax 03 6080 343 (from abroad +972 3 6080 220; fax +972 3 6080 343)

Thanks to all.

LET’S OPEN THE GATE!