26 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Anata falls victim to demolition - Click here for more images
When Mohammad woke up on Tuesday, he still did not know about the Israeli forces or the bulldozers that were on their way to uproot his trees and demolish his entire farm. But before the day was over, all of his property was erased and one could hardly guess that there had ever been a building there.
“I’m very sad because of the farm”, Mohammad said.
The soldiers claimed that the buildings were illegal, referring to the Israeli Civil Administration. “This is the land from my grandfather, and I have no other land,” Mohammad says.
Mohammad lives in Anata in the West Bank with his wife and twelve children. The village is trapped by the Separation Wall around Jerusalem to the west, and Area C and the planned expansion of the settlement Ma’ale Adumim to the east. The village has no possibility to expand without building permits from the Israeli Civil Administration. The process is expensive, and for Palestinians, the application is rejected in 95% of the cases. From 2000 to 20007 91 almost 5,000 demolition orders against Palestinian buildings were issued.
In a separate incident, a four year old Palestinian child from Anata was shot in the neck around noon. Asil Arara’s wounds have left her in serious condition and may cause paralysis. The illegal Israeli settlement of Anatot, also home to settlers who recently violently attacked Israeli peace activists, is home to a military training camp, where it is said the shot that struck Arara was fired.
Jenna Bereld is an activist with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
25 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza
On Monday 24 October, Gaza’s Ministry of Detainees welcomed 163 prisoners from the West Bank who were freed in the exchange between the government of Israel and Hamas.
The Ministry promised to have permanent housing for each ex-detainee within one month, as well as offering them free education in any university in the Gaza Strip and the guarantee of obtaining a job. They also assured that they would work hard to help those with families to relocate them to Gaza if requested.
While some of the freed prisoners were joined by family members, one father-of-five was less fortunate. He explained, “I miss my daughter, she was two when I was arrested and now she is thirteen and even when she visited me in prison they forbade me from hugging her.” His daughter and wife have so far been unable to get permission from Israel to leave their home in Bethlehem to welcome their father to Gaza.
The 163 in attendance came from all areas of the West Bank, but have been sent to the Gaza Strip, in contradiction of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
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).
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.
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.”
