Category: Press Releases - Page 52 - International Solidarity Movement

Bedouin communities near Qalqiliya isolated by Israel and facing school demolition

22 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus, Occupied Palestine

By ISM Nablus

The small Bedouin communities of ‘Arab Ramadin al-Janubi and ‘Arab Ab
Farda lie south of Qalqilya between the apartheid wall and the green line,close to the illegal settlement Alfe Menashe. They are separated from the rest of West Bank from all sides by the Israeli apartheid wall. The communities, founded by people deported from areas in Negev and Netanya during and after the Nakba are today home to around 500 people. They suffer from multiple restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities,including no permissions for new buildings or expansion of existing buildings, and limits to the amount of food and gas allowed for sale in the communities.

Access to the communities is limited by Israel with a permission system. The system of access permissions has effectively resulted in the social isolation of the communities, as people from the city of Qalqilya and neighboring villages face difficulties in obtaining permits for visiting the area.

The community of Abu Farda has no access to running water or electricity,and thus water has to be bought in tanks from the village of ‘Azzun. There is a well on the grounds of the village, but the illegal settlement Alfe Menashe has confiscated the well and closed access to it for the inhabitants of Abu Farda. People from the family Fayez living in Abu Farda told us:

“The lack of electricity is a big problem, as we are not able to
refrigerate food bought from merchants or the yogurt and milk we produce ourselves for sale, and our children are not able to do their homework after dark due to lack of lighting.”

Furthermore, the Israeli authorities do not allow veterinaries access to the villages, which is a health risk for the village as it is largely dependent on the raising of livestock.
In October 2012 the community of Ramadin al-Janubi founded a school for 6 to 8 year old children. The new school gives it’s 25 students the opportunity to go to school without having to pass daily through the Israeli checkpoints between the community and a school in the nearby village of Habla. Children older than 8 years still have to go to school outside the community, and in order to reach their schools and go back home they need to cross the Israeli checkpoints twice every single day.

The school in Ramadin, consisting of 4 tents, received a demolition order from the Israeli authorities after two weeks of operation. The faculty of the school live in Qalqilya and have to spend from 30 minutes to over an hour every day passing through the checkpoint and having their papers and belongings examined by the IOF forces at the checkpoint in order to access the school. For now, the village has taken the demolition order to court, and is waiting to for the court hearings to take place.

Bedouin school tents with demolition order

Bassem Tamimi released from Israeli jails

16 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nabi Saleh, Occupied Palestine

Political prisoner and member of the Popular Committee in Nabi Saleh, Bassem Tamimi, was released on Sunday 10th February after spending almost four months inside Israeli military prisons.

Bassem was arrested in the first BDS action in an illegal Israeli colony – a non-violent protest against a branch of the Rami Levy supermarket. At the time, Israeli occupation forces violently detained Bassem, breaking three of his ribs in the process. He was subsequently interrogated for participating in an unauthorized demonstration and the suspected assault of a police officer.

Bassem has previously spent a year in prison for his non-violent leadership of the popular resistance in Nabi Saleh, he was released in March 2012. During his previous imprisonment he was recognised as a human rights defender by the European Union and a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International.

Bassems home coming was not the usual celebration one might expect for someone freed from detention. The first thing Bassem did when he was released was visit the grave yard to pay respect to his brother in law, Rushdi Tamimi, who was killed while Bassem was in prison. Rushdi was shot and then beaten during protests against the most recent Gaza massacre, in Nabi Saleh, he died two days later in hospital.

Bassem now has to live with horrendous bail conditions which deny him his basic human rights. He has had the rights of association and the right to assemble stripped away from him. If he is caught in group of more than 50 people in the next 3 years he will have to face an 8 month prison term in Israeli Jails.

2 shot with live ammunition at Ofer prison demonstration

15 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ofer Prison, Occupied Palestine

A demonstration was held outside Ofer prison in Ramallah as part of a week of action in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners, and in particular to protest the continued detention of Samer Assawi who is on his 207th day of hunger strike whilst being held without charge.
Several hundred attended traditional Friday prayers which were held outside the prison gates in an act of nonviolent resistance.

Clashes ensued between protesters, including stone-throwing youth, and the Israeli army which responded by firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and, later on, live ammunition. During the clashes, which continued for around three hours, two Palestinians from Ramallah were hit by live ammunition in the shoulder and the leg. Dozens of Palestinians, including journalists, were taken away in ambulances to be treated for injuries caused by rubber-coated steel bullets as well as teargas inhalation. There are also reports of ambulances being deliberately targeted with rubber-coated steel bullets as injured protesters were being carried inside. This demonstration coincided with dozens of others across the West Bank.

Person being taken away in a stretcher after being shot with live ammunition

Person being carried away in stretcher after tear gas inhalation

BDS campaigners cost Veolia 4.7bn in London

8 January 2013 | No 2 Veolia Action Group, London

Vociferous local campaign by the No2 Veolia Action Group leads Occupation profiteer Veolia to withdraw from colossal waste management contracts. No 2 Veolia Action Group (No2VAG) are celebrating a huge victory with the withdrawal of Veolia, a multinational company complicit in Israeli violations of international law, from the final stage of the North London procurement process.

In a statement on 21st December the North London Waste Authority, which represents the seven London boroughs covered by the £4.7bn contracts, made the dramatic announcement that it had “received notification from Veolia Environmental Services that they will not be submitting final tenders for either NLWA’s waste services or fuel use contracts.” For two years the No2VAG has vigorously campaigned for Veolia to be removed from the list of bidders due to its grave misconduct in providing infrastructure to illegal Israeli settlements. Despite this involvement, Veolia was shortlisted for the final bids in February 2012.

This extraordinary withdrawal of Veolia comes after an intensification of the campaign against the company. The No2VAG staged twelve protests over the last two months at each council contributing £600m to the £4.7bn contracts.

The procurement process was shrouded in secrecy and campaigners faced a wall of denial when it came to Veolia’s unethical practices, environmental and technical shortcomings and financial instability. Engineer Rob Langlands and secretary of No2VAG said, “North London residents want an environmentally responsible and cost effective solution to waste disposal. The Veolia technical proposals were not on track to provide this. I am especially delighted because of the ongoing Veolia involvement in the illegal Israeli settlements that the Veolia bids have now been consigned to the rubbish bin.”

Yael Kahn, chair of No2VAG said, “Our strategy to force councillors to seriously consider and publicly debate the issues at stake and the further actions planned No2VAG played a critical role in achieving our aim of eliminating Veolia from the NLWA procurement process.”

On 21st November, No2VAG spokeswoman Caroline Day was surprised to discover that her deputation regarding Veolia to Hackney Council, which had been approved by the council lawyers, was prevented by a procedural motion supported by the Mayor of Hackney.

It was reported in the Jewish Chronicle that the motion had been drafted by UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI). David Lewis from UKLFI then told the Hackney Gazette newspaper that an “instrumental” role had been played by Hackney Councillor Luke Akehurst, the director of campaigns at ‘We Believe in Israel’, an advocacy network created by the Britain Israel Communications Research Centre (BICOM). On hearing the news that Veolia had withdrawn Caroline said, “This is a huge victory for local democracy. Powerful lobbies representing unethical interests in the illegal settlements may have won a short-term victory in silencing me, but in standing up for their right to see their money invested ethically, local people have achieved a victory for justice.”

On 13th December the arbitrary nature of Hackney Council’s political censorship was exposed and a symbolic victory was achieved when Irfan Akhtar of Waltham Forest Council of Mosques and the No2VAG gave a powerful speech at a Waltham Forest Council meeting detailing why Veolia was an unsuitable choice for an important public service. Irfan was delighted with the news and said, “This massive victory is the result of serious campaigning by people who possess the common and moral sense to stand up against injustice. No2VAG working tirelessly across all seven boroughs over nearly two years has paid dividends. The WF Council of Mosques is proud to be part of this campaign and we know all victory is from God and we dedicate this victory to the people of Palestine.”

Following the NLWA announcement, Israeli-born Yael Kahn responded by saying, “I was determined to block Veolia and the only question was how to achieve that. The NLWA appeared equally determined to select Veolia in spite of the evidence against the company. It was the toughest campaign of my life but I was haunted by the thought of Veolia which has been instrumental in Palestinians being driven out of their homes in occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank, getting a £4.7bn handout from us in north London.”

Multinational companies like Veolia are finding that around the world complicity with Israeli war crimes is increasingly bad business. Just yesterday, on 20th December, the St Louis City Board shelved a Veolia contract pending an investigation into the company’s association with human rights abuses, corruption and violations of law. This is the latest setback for the beleaguered multinational occupation profiteer, which has been denied contracts in several European cities in the wake of campaigns by human rights activists.

The No2VAG would like to thank all the people who actively contributed to the intensive lobbying of our elected representatives, collected many thousands of signatures against Veolia and made their voices heard at protests and in the local media and special thanks to the WF Council of Mosques for their pivotal role in this campaign.

http://no2vag.wordpress.com/

BREAKING NEWS: Internationals arrested and hospitalised for trying to plant trees in Urif

12 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Urif, Nablus, Occupied Palestine

UPDATE: All of those detained today have been released and the Brit who was pepper sprayed has been let out of hospital

At around 11am this morning, a group of internationals including three volunteers from the Michigan Peace Team travelled to Urif in Nablus. They were attempting to assist in planting olive trees at the top of the village near the school, an area which has been the scene of much of the recent troubles in Urif.

Despite being nowhere near the illegal Israeli settlement, Yizhar, Israel forces have a constant presence on the hilltop. One local resident said, “we always know when we are about to be attacked by settlers, because the army leave their position at the top of the hill“.

On arrival activists were immediately approached by the Israeli Occupation Force who were asking for internationals’ passports, the army then tried to arrest a Palestinian farmer.

The internationals tried to intervene but 6 including three from the Michigan Peace Team and 3 volunteers from the ISM were arrested. The three ISM activist currently in detention at the Ariel settlement are from America, Denmark and Finland; no Palestinians were arrested.

Two ISM volunteers were pepper sprayed which hospitalised one British volunteer.

Please stay posted for further updates.