Category: Press Releases - Page 59 - International Solidarity Movement

URGENT – FUNDS NEEDED – International activists threatened with illegal deportation – UPDATED

25 October 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

DONATE HERE: https://palsolidarity.org/donate/

—————

UPDATE 26th October: international activist Elyana Belle, currently fighting an illegal deportation order, reports on her arrest and detention:

During her arrest, Elyana received blows to her head and injuries to her neck by four Israeli police officers who dragged her from the scene of the non-violent demonstration. Her hands were bound from the point of her arrest until many hours later in the evening – she is still suffering from limited circulation to her hands. She has been shackled hand and foot during transportation.

A police officer threatened to pepper spray her, before forcefully grabbing her and shoving her into a car to be transported to immigration detention – after a judge had ordered that she and the other international activist be released. Elyana was laughed at and ignored by Israeli authorities when she repeatedly demanded her right to be able to contact her lawyer by phone. Thankfully, she has now had access to legal advice.

For the first hours of her detention, Elyana was held with Bassem Tamimi, organizer of the regular demonstration in Nabi Saleh. She reported that he was suffering major damage to his ribs, and could not breathe or speak without severe pain. Elyana demanded to be taken to a hospital so that Bassem would receive the medical attention that he required – he was eventually treated and bandaged.

Elyana has chosen to fight the unjust and illegal deportation that Israel has begun against her, so will remain in immigration detention until she can be seen by the court. Saeed Yakeen, one of the Palestinian men arrested at the peaceful demonstration has now been released. Bassem Tamimi remains in prison, as does a Polish activist, who is also facing deportation.

—————

Israeli authorities are threatening to deport two international activists, arrested yesterday at a non-violent action at a settlement supermarket, despite a judge ruling that they should be released. They are currently being held in immigration detention.

Earlier today, defense lawyers were informed that a judge had ruled that they should be freed without charge, but this ruling was ignored by Israeli police, who handed the two activists to the Ministry of Interior, to begin the deportation process. They could be flown back to their home countries within hours, despite never having been charged, let alone convicted of any crime. They have also been repeatedly denied contact with their lawyer.

Substantial legal costs have already been incurred. If they choose to fight this unjust deportation, then these will be even higher. We urgently need funds to challenge the Israeli tactic of deporting solidarity activists to prevent our work in the West Bank.

Freedom for international activists can also be key in legal processes for Palestinians who are arrested at the same time. Previously this month, four ISM activists and two Palestinian men were arrested. One of the Palestinian men was released just yesterday, following a judge’s decision that to keep him in prison after the international activists had been freed would be unjust and discriminatory.

Please donate now so that we can continue our work supporting the Palestinian cause.

DONATE HERE: https://palsolidarity.org/donate/

In Solidarity, International Solidarity Movement

Palestinians and Internationals at the peaceful direct action in an Israeli supermarket near the illegal settlement of Shaar Binyami where the 2 Internationals were arrested along with 2 Palestinian men.

Dozens of Palestinians and internationals protest at Rami Levy Supermarket near the illegal settlement of Sha´ar Benyamin on October 24th. This direct action aims to highlight the Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions (BDS) Campaign that seeks to promote a boycott of Israeli goods.

Bassem Tamimi injured and arrested with 3 others at Boycott Israel protest

24 October 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

VIDEO from the action:

Four people, including Bassem Tamimi, the head of the Popular Committee of Nabi Saleh, were arrested by Israeli police today as Palestinians staged a peaceful direct action in an Israeli supermarket near the illegal settlement of Shaar Binyamin, north of Ramallah, calling for a boycott of Israeli goods. Two Palestinians were injured and removed in ambulances. Before he was arrested, Tamimi’s ribs were reportedly broken.

Two of those arrested were international human rights activists. One is an American and the other is from Poland. The American activist was dragged away by four Israeli officers.

Starting at around ten this morning, Palestinians and international activists gathered in the parking lot of Rami Levi supermarket, which is frequented by Israelis from the surrounding illegal settlements. The activists entered the market and walked up and down the aisles, holding Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) placards and waving Palestinian flags.

Demonstrators left the market voluntarily when the Israeli army arrived on the scene. As activists exited the building, about forty police, border police and soldiers were waiting in the parking lot. There, the Israeli authorities attacked the demonstrators and fired sound bombs at them.

Even though the demonstrators remained non-violent, soldiers punched, dragged and choked them. As one Palestinian man was pulled away from the soldiers by other demonstrators, to prevent his arrest, his walking stick was taken away as he lay on the ground – following this, he could not walk without assistance. A sound bomb was thrown just metres from the head of another Palestinian man who was already unconscious following attacks from the authorities.

Bassem Tamimi is the head of the popular committee of Nabi Saleh, a village that has suffered drastically from the creation and expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Halamish settlement was created less than 1km away from Nabi Saleh, stealing a great deal of the villages’ land, as well as a spring that provided a vital water source for the village. Tamimi was released from prison in April of this year after spending 13 months in an Israeli prison for being accused of “taking part in illegal gatherings.” He was released on bail in April in order to take care of his elderly mother who had suffered a stroke.

The action today aimed to highlight the BDS campaign (www.bdsmovement.net ), which calls for a boycott of Israeli goods.

The status of the detained demonstrators is currently unknown, they remain held in the police station of the illegal settlement of Shaar Binyamin.

A Paletinian demonstrator gets arrested by Border Policemen during the protest at the Rami Levi Supermarket

A demonstrator gets first aid help after being injured by a sound grenade at the protest

3 Arrested as Palestinians attacked by settlers and soldiers in Tel Rumeida

By Vicky Blackwell and Elyana Belle
Photographs by Vicky Blackwell

22 October 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

VIDEO from Youth Against Settlements:

UPDATE: 10.30pm – All 3 men have now been released without charge.

Today, a group of settlers from the illegal settlement in Tel Rumeida arrived at Hashem Azzeh’s olive grove next to his house at around 12.30pm, whilst he and his family were harvesting their olives, yelling for everyone to get off of “their” land.

Hashem and his family were on their land harvesting olives for the first time in 5 years after being granted permission from the District Civil Liaison. He was accompanied by several members of his family as well as activists from the International Solidarity Movement. The situation quickly escalated as settlers pushed the Palestinians in order to try and enter Hashem’s house.

Within ten minutes the soldiers arrived and began to separate the Palestinian family and internationals and siding with the Israeli settlers. Arguments continued with both sides yelling “this is my land,” regardless of the fact that Hashem has the deeds to the land. The settlers were also heard shouting “This is not your land, this is the land of the Jewish people.”

At this point around ten more settlers had come down and joined in, shouting abuse at Hashem and his family. The soldiers pushed the Palestinians and internationals back towards Hashem’s house threatening to arrest anyone who did not obey. The soldiers grabbed a young Palestinian man by the name of Imad Al Atrash who was video taping standing behind international activists: pushed him against the wall and zip-tied his arms behind his back.

Then they went after an International activist trying to arrest him for taking video footage. While trying to escape they grabbed another of the International activists standing by, put him in a headlock on the ground and arrested him. Jawad Abu Eisheh who had arrived in solidarity with his neighbors was also captured and arrested (this comes only 9 days after Jawad and his family were also attacked by settlers whilst harvesting their olives nearby, see: https://palsolidarity.org/2012/10/settlers-attack-and-injure-palestinians-harvesting-olives-in-tel-rumeida/ )

The two Palestinians and Italian activist have been arrested and taken to a police station in the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba.

The district of Tel Rumeida is heavily militarized and contains the homes of both Israeli settlers and Palestinians. Hasham’s family moved to Tel Rumeida in 1950 after being forcibly removed from their homes in what is now Israel. The Tel Rumeida settlement was installed in 1984.
In an attack in 2006 the settlers smashed Hasham’s nephews’ teeth in with a stone. That same year his wife (3 months pregnant at the time) was attacked and subsequently miscarried. Again in 2006 she was attacked, this time 4 months pregnant, and again, suffered from a miscarriage due to the attack.
The settlers living directly over Hasham’s house have also in the past raided his house, (bullet-holes near his front door show when the settlers shot live ammunition at his house), they cut his water-pipes and poisoned his water tank, cut his trees down in his garden and have physically attacked and assaulted him and his family as well as breaking-into and vandalizing his house on several occasions.

Previous reports on settler violence against the Azzeh family:

https://palsolidarity.org/2006/05/report-on-razor-wire-closing-entrance-to-the-track-leading-to-the-al-azzeh-homes/

https://palsolidarity.org/2006/09/hebron-27th-sept/

https://palsolidarity.org/2006/10/olive-picking-tr-settlement/

https://palsolidarity.org/2006/10/tr-harassment/

https://palsolidarity.org/2012/09/hebron-man-walks-down-street-for-first-time-in-years/

Settlers arrive to the Azzeh family land

Soldiers twist Imad Al Atrash’s arms behind his back to tie with zip-ties

Soldiers place an Italian activist in a head-lock

Soldiers bound the Italian activists hands with zip-ties

Jawad Abu Eisheh is thrown against the wall by soldiers and detained

Illegal settlers look on as the 3 men are detained

The illegal settlement blocks in Tel Rumeida with Hasham’s olive trees in the foreground

Vicky Blackwell and Elyana Belle are volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement (Names have been changed)

Arson Attack on Olive Trees in Qaryut

14 October 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Latif Ali with one of her trees that were destroyed.

Last night in the West Bank village of Qaryut, 12 Palestinian owned olive trees were irreparably destroyed in a late night arson attack by Israelis from the illegal West Bank settlement of Eli.

The attack follows an incident last week, on the night of October 8^th, in which settlers cut the branches from 130 trees with chainsaws. The branches will take some ten years to regrow, during which time the eight farmers who owned the trees will be without this crucial source of income.

Tree damaged last week by settlers’ chainsaws.

The attacks seem to have been carried out so as to maximize economic impact. Many Palestinian olive farmers are financially dependent on the olive harvest, which begun earlier this week. In last night’s attack, the settlers seem to have targeted the oldest and most fruitful trees. They set fire to hollows in their trunks, which kills the tree. Growing a new one to their size takes hundreds of years.

The timing, too, maximized the impact of the attack. For the last two years, the Israeli government has run a permissions system for Palestinians harvesting olives in areas near to West Bank settlements: although the farmers own both the land and the trees, they have to apply for Israeli permission to access the land. Permission is usually granted for impossibly short periods of time: in this case, the Qaryut farmers were able to harvest for either two or three days (traditionally harvest lasts between four and six weeks). The first attack came the night before the first permissions began in the area, thereby devastating the harvest the night before it started.

Such incidents are not uncommon. During the last two harvests, a reported 300 trees were destroyed in Quryat alone. In 2009, the village suffered violent attacks by settlers from Eli and another nearby illegal settlement Shilo (more here and here). Such attacks are commonplace across the West Bank during olive harvest, when the symbolic and economic importance of the crop make their farmers frequent targets for settler violence.

By Matt Reed (Matt Reed is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (Name has been changed).

CALL TO ACTION — END THE JAMA’IN ROADBLOCKS – 16TH OCTOBER 2012

16^TH OCTOBER 2012 – JAMA’IN VILLAGE – MORNING DEMONSTRATION

CONTACT 054 881 0651

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) calls on pro-Palestinian and peace activists from across the Occupied Territories to join Palestinians on 16^th October to protest the roadblock preventing access to Jama’in Village. On this day, residents of Jama’in will remove an earthen mound that blocks access to their agricultural lands.

Jama’in is close to the illegal Tappuah settlement in the West Bank. There, settlers armed with automatic rifles, large dogs and blunt instruments regularly attack Palestinian agricultural workers and landowners. January saw over 100 olive trees chopped down and burnt by settlers, and at least two cars belonging to Palestinians were destroyed on the highway close to the Huwwara military checkpoint.

Access to agricultural land and particularly olive trees is essential for Palestinian villagers. Approximately eighty percent of cultivated land in Palestine is planted with olive trees, and the harvest provides between twenty and fifty percent of a farming family’s annual income. Holding a deep significance in Palestinian culture and the economy of the region, the olive harvest has become a matter of survival for rural Palestinians. It is because of this that the Israeli government and armed residents of its illegal colonies in the West Bank are attempting to disrupt access to agricultural lands.

Extremist settlers have launched a campaign of ‘price-tag’ attacks against Palestinians and their property as collective punishment for perceived anti-settlement legislation and activity by the Israeli government. The United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that violent attacks by settlers against Palestinians increased by more than fifty percent in 2011.

With a year-old roadblock preventing residents’ access to their fields, the people of Jama’in village request international activists join them in protesting the real-life consequences of Israeli occupation.