Category: Reports

As settlers disrupt olive harvest, Israeli officer declares: “I am the law, I am God.”

by Alistair George 

22 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Intimidation of Palestinians in the Israeli-controlled H2 section of Hebron continued today as the Israeli military and settlers harassed Palestinians and international observers as they attempted to pick olives on their land in Tel Rumeida.

Around 40 students from different Palestinian universities marched onto the land at 11AM Saturday morning and began to pick olives along with local families, activists from Youth Against Settlements (YAS) and international observers.

At 12:30 PM the Israeli police confiscated identity passes for 20 Palestinians and, whilst checking their details, forced the group to stand together and individually filmed their faces.

The police declined to justify their actions, only insisting that they had a right to check the details of those present.  The Israeli military became increasingly belligerent as protesters challenged the legality of the actions and began to push and shove Palestinians and international observers.  After around 20 minutes the police returned the passes and allowed the detained Palestinians to leave.  They then ordered international observers to leave the olive groves or be arrested, claiming that the Palestinian-owned olive grove is “Israeli land” and that it was illegal to be on the land and “illegal to be in a group.”

Rafi Dagan, an Israeli commanding officer, stated “I am the law.  I am God” when asked to explain why he was flouting Israeli law by forcing people to leave Palestinian land under threat of arrest, without any paperwork to show that it was a closed military zone.

Earlier in the day, Israeli soldiers had pushed photographers attempting to document the olive harvest and confiscated an international observer’s passport for several minutes.  Under Israeli law, passports may be shown to the Israeli military but it is illegal for them to be taken away.  The Israeli military also briefly detained a young Palestinian man, apparently for running through the olive groves with a Palestinian flag, although he was released after around 10 minutes.

When the Palestinian flag is criminalized by Zionists – Click here for more images

In addition to intimidation by the military, Israeli settlers arrived on the Palestinian land within minutes of the olive harvest beginning and began to harass people picking olives.  A group of around 10 settlers gathered in the lower olive groves in Tel Rumeida at 11:55am where Palestinians were busy picking olives.  Baruch Marzel, a prominent extremist settler, stood on a Palestinian flag in an obvious attempt to provoke olive harvesters.  The military intervened as anger flared between the two groups and sent settlers back to their settlement.

Badia Dwaik, 38, is the Deputy Coordinator of Youth Against Settlements, a nonviolent Palestinian group campaigning against Israeli settlements.  He stressed that olive harvesting in Tel Rumeida is not just about economic necessity; it is a form of political defiance and a way to “confirm our existence and to encourage the people to resist”.

The Palestinian land in Tel Rumeida is surrounded by four illegal Israeli settlements.  A Palestinian educational centre overlooks steep, dusty terraces to the south which contain around 200 olive trees.  The centre, established in 2006 after the building was reclaimed from Israeli military control, and the olive groves below have been subject to repeated attacks and incursions by settlers in recent years.  Anti-Palestinian graffiti and the Star of David is clearly visible under fresh coats of paint on the walls at the back of the building, only metres away from a settlement.

The olive groves contain around 200 olives trees and olives were picked on around 70 trees today.  Badia Dwaik lamented the poor quality of the olives and the sparse fruit on many of the trees, saying that Palestinians are often unable to tend the land for fear of settler attacks.  There is also a chronic shortage of water in Hebron and the owners of the trees are denied permits to dig the land. For example, the YAS reported having problems with water circulation for three days and discovered today that the water lines had been deliberately cut.

According to Badia Dwaik, the YAS intend to continue picking the olives in the coming weeks as “people are scared to come and pick olives alone.  And it gives a message: we will continue and never give up.”

Alistair George is an activist with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Palestinian youth welcome former detainees to Gaza in “Prisoners Uprising”

22 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

Fifty Palestinian youth marched from Gaza’s International Committee of the Red Cross compound to the Commodore Gaza and Al-Quds International Hotels, celebrating the release of 477 political prisoners Tuesday and welcoming those exiled to Gaza, who are currently housed in the hotels.

The demonstration ended in the Al-Nour Cultural Center, where four exiled prisoners, as well as the son of a current prisoner from Gaza, addressed the crowd.

“We are trying to awaken youth about the situation of the prisoners through ongoing activities,” said Majed Abusalama, one of the organizers of the event.

“This is peaceful cultural resistance,” he said. “We want to pressure the international community to take action for the rights of Palestinian prisoners.”

Abusalama added that the group hoped to hold weekly events calling attention to Palestinian political prisoners detained by Israel.

On Monday, the human rights organizations ADDAMEER and Al-Haq warned that Israel’s exile of Palestinian prisoners “violate[s] Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits forcible transfers and deportations of protected persons, a proscription that is part of customary international humanitarian law.

“Unlawful deportation or transfer also constitutes a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention (GC IV) and qualifies as one of the most serious war crimes,” the groups said in a joint statement.

In recovery: Hit and run victim’s will is stronger than ever

22 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Sajah Bilal Abd el Raouf Jum’a, 19, who was seriously injured in a hit and run attack by an Israeli settler is still in need of treatment for her injuries. After ten days in the hospital she is now back in her home in Kufr Qaddoum. She will need to stay two more weeks in bed before she is able to walk. This Sunday her 20 days off from university will expire, and she will continue her studies from her home.

Her father will take her to school once a week in a wheelchair. Sajah’s sister, Ahlam, 18, who was also injured in the accident, stayed one night in the hospital following the incident and is now doing well.

The incident took place the morning of October 4th when the sisters were on their way to university. Eliyaho Miller, a settler from one of the nearby illegal settlements, was driving his car at  a very high speed on the main road in Huwarra when he hit the girls. He tried to escape from the scene but was stopped by locals from the village of Huwarra until israeli police and military reached the location.

Visit Al Haq's interactive map of settler violence - Click here

Locals called an ambulance that helped the girls to the Rafidya Hospital in Nablus where they received treatment. Sajah got her shoulder treated with laser technology, which showed up to be problematic.

“The doctors are really bad. I am worried for her future. I will try take her to Jerusalem to find her a better doctor.” says the girls’ father, Bilal Jum’a. Access to medical treatment is most times obstructed by Israeli military between villages, especially since Kufr Qaddoum’s main road is blocked by the Israeli military, forcing villagers to take a longer route that weaves around illegal settlements. Because of the implications of the illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank, and its monopoly of borders, checkpoints, and entry points, medical equipment and skills are limited.

Attaining access to Jerusalem for medical care is also a tedious process, with Palestinians often waiting for permission by military run District Coordination Offices that determine access to such services.

The family still has to pay more than 1,000 dollars for treatment in the hospital, which they have not paid because they want to hold the driver responsible for medical costs as legal costs mount.

Israeli authorities have labeled the event an “accident” without trying the case and that they will  not charge the driver. This comes following similar hit and run attack the previous day, which injured 20 year old Nasser Abu Al-Kabbash.  And just over a week before these two incidents in the Nablus region, an 8 year old boy was hit by an illegal settler in Al Buqaa. As the Israeli-plated car fled the scene near, Taleb Jaber was left to bleed.

The Jum’a family will keep defending the case of Sajah until they find justice in the mangled laws of Israeli occupation. Sajah confidently stated that she will win the case.

“He admitted that he hit me. It is clear. There were a lot of witnesses.”

 

Israeli military and Zionists ambush olive harvest in Beit Furik

21 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

The Palestinian family El Jobor was unsuccessful in their attempt to harvest olives today as they met resistance from Jewish settlers and Israeli soldiers originating out of the Itamar settlement.  Accompanied by ISM volunteers the family climbed the hillside above Beit Furik and marched through the olive groves to within roughly 400 meters of the Jewish settlement, which sits atop the hill’s mount, before being confronted and forced back down towards their home.

International observers and volunteers met with the father of the El Jobor family, in Nablus at 7:30 this morning, and rode with him to his home in Beit Furik where they met his wife, children, and neighbors.  Carrying the usual tools of olive harvest, the buckets and small hand saw, the group began climbing the hillside towards the olive trees on the ridge, passing another Palestinian family about halfway up.  Once the lookout towers and settlement buildings became visible, the group advanced in short segments, pausing for a few seconds each time, checking for movements out of the settlement, and measuring the risk of continuing on.  The settlers were visible, but seemed to be going about their daily lives without paying much notice to the volunteers, until they came to about 400 meters of the nearest building. Everyone halted and began to watch as soldiers amassed in a group of about five or six.

Zionists attack Beit Furik – For more images click here

“We all stood our ground as they approached but began to take a few steps back when we saw how aggressive they were, and realized they were not about to negotiate or explain themselves,” said an ISM volunteer from France.

“Among the soldiers were two settlers who seemed to have some understanding with the army and managed to reach William and I even before the soldiers did.  They were both furious, began shouting as they approached, and then when they came up to us began physically pushing us across the chest and shoulders,” said the French national.

The Palestinian family was already turning around and climbing back down the hillside as the two internationals asked the soldiers for some explanation, but realizing it was no use, they too began their descent.

“At this point we heard a shift in the soldier’s yelling and turned to see an additional group of Itamar settlers racing through the army rank towards us, brandishing stones and beginning to hurl them at us.  At this point I turned tail and ran,” described another ISM volunteer.

The volunteers shouted to the settlers and soldiers “shame on you” and that they we were being peaceful.  The soldiers were trying to head off the settlers and prevent them from throwing the stones but without much luck.

About two thirds of the way back down the hill they were clear of the settlers and slowed up.  A new detachment of three soldiers appeared and stopped one of the older Palestinian men, asking for his papers.  Two of the soldiers broke off and headed down the hillside asking the other men to come back, but without luck.

An officer arrived shortly, along with two attending soldiers and spoke to the Palestinian man, as well as to the volunteers.  He explained that the farmers had been given a two week window in which to harvest but that this window had expired.  He mentioned that hundreds of IDF soldiers had been present during that time to protect the harvest but no picking seemed to have taken place.  He added that he will book and arrest any Palestinians who, after today, cross the road at the base of the hill and enter into what is considered IDF security-controlled territory.

“After this we reconvened with the rest of our party which was waiting for us a little further down the ridge and returned to the El Jobor home in Beit Furik, before returning to Nablus at about 10 AM.  It’s likely that the family will continue trying to harvest the trees,” said the volunteer.

Itamar was founded in 1984 and has grown in that time from just over 300 settlers to now more than 1,000.  It is situated on the hill mount above Beit Furik, southeast of Nablus, and occupies roughly 7,000 dunams of land, much of it believed to be land privately owned by Palestinians.  Tensions are high right now after the Fogel family murders in Itamar last March for which two Palestinian teenagers from Awarta were arrested in April.  The Itamar settlers have become very critical of the IDF, demanding that they stop providing protection to Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest, and that they prevent any further Palestinian incursion into the area surrounding the settlement.  Threats have been leveled and the risk of violence seems to be very high.

Permission to enter their own lands: Kufr Qaddoum rampaged again by military

21 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

In the village of Kufr Qaddoum the people held a demonstration for the 17th Friday in a row. The demonstration started around 11:30 AM in the center of the village and consisted of approximately 80 people. The procession only made it to a barbed wire that blocked the road although it stood within the infamous “red line” that outlines Kufr Qaddoum and separates it from the nearby illegal settlement of Qadumim.

With border police and Israeli military present, the protesters were immediately fired at with tear gas. The soldiers directly targeted the protesters from a distance of approximately 50 meters. One young man was hit by a tear gas canister on his thigh by one of the very first shots before the protesters pulled back into the village. They soon returned and were again violently attacked with tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets by the Israeli army.

Kufr Qaddoum attacked by Israeli military – Click here for more images

At around 12 PM the army passed their own barbed wire blockade and entered the village in military vehicles. Sound bombs and tear gas was fired in large amounts. Civilians who were not taking part in the demonstration were also affected, including one elderly woman who was seen falling over when running for her life outside the mosque in the middle of the village.

One ISM activist was nearly arrested during the military rampage on Kufr Qaddoum, but managed to escape from the soldier chasing him. Two Palestinian activists were injured and taken inside the mosque for treatment from the Red Crescent, and several people were seriously affected by tear gas inhalation.

 

The demonstration ended just before 1 PM when the army withdrew from the village. The soldiers  later announced in loud speakers that all villagers had to leave their lands and none were allowed to continue the olive harvest during the rest of Friday and Saturday, though the villagers have permission already from Israeli authorities to enter their lands on Friday and Saturday.Four days before the protest Israeli soldiers entered the village during the night and arrested nine people. They are all still being held.The weekly demonstrations in Kufr Qaddoum are arranged by the Popular Committee of Kufr Qaddoum and held in protest against the closure of the main road entering the village. The road was closed in 2003, and the case was taken to the Israeli High Court. After years of waiting the people were allowed access to the road. The court ruled that the villagers could not use the road until 2012 after Israeli claims of the road not being “suitable” or “safe.” The main road leads from Kufr Qaddoum out to the main road to Nablus and passes the nearby illegal settlement of Qadumim, which was established in 1976.