Category: Reports

Bedouin community endures demolitions

24 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On July 24th at around 1PM, a bulldozer accompanied by 10 military jeeps arrived in the Bedouin community of Mughayyar ad-Deir, about 12 km north east of Jerusalem, near the Ma’ale Michmas settlement and demolished residential structures, structures for livestock, and confiscated vehicles, displacing three families.

16 people were affected by this demolition, including children and a baby less than a year old, who were all forced to sleep on the ground that night with no shelter from the sun in the morning. The community had been issued two eviction orders: one was issued two years ago, the other 5 days before the demolition. Israel justified the demolitions by claiming the community was established on land that was a closed military area. Israeli further suggested that if the community had moved 10 meters or so to the other side of the dirt road, then the demolitions would not have occurred.

Israel justified confiscation of village tractors because they were not licensed. Confiscation of their tractors, according to community members, takes away their means of transporting water. It will also prevent them from transporting goods such as food or taking the goods they produce to be sold at markets. The community did not obtain licenses because of the price (1200 NIS per tractor). Of course now that they have been confiscated, they will have to pay fines if they want to get the tractors and the a trolley back.

After the families slept without shelter the night of the demolition, the neighbors constructed a small temporary wood and tin shelter so that the families would have somewhere to sleep. The Red Cross and the ICRC will be returning to the village with basic aid such as tents and perhaps hygiene kits.

Ni’lin demonstrator hit with shrapnel during weekly protest

23 July 2011 | Ni’lin Village

Today in Ni’lin, one demonstrator was hit with shrapnel and dozens suffered from tear gas inhalation during the suppression by the Israeli occupation forces of the anti-wall weekly protest.

The march organized by The Ni’lin Popular Committee was supported by many Palestinians, International’s and Israeli peace activists. Upon arrival at the gate of the racism wall, the people of Ni’lin sent a message to the Israeli Occupation Forces, (IOF) confirming that the weekly protests will never stop until our land is free, and we have dismantled the illegal racism wall.

The protest was stressful, following the threats of the Israeli Occupation Forces who had claimed to be planning a trap to surround the demonstrators in order to arrest them. However, their threats were all in vain.

After about fifteen minutes from the start of the protest, Israeli Occupation forces began to shoot tear gas grenades at the protesters which lead to many suffering from the effects of tear gas inhalation. One protester who was hit with shrapnel in his eyes had the necessary treatment.

 

IDF shoots live ammunition at ISM activists at sea

24 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

On Saturday the ISM crew for CPS Gaza rode out on the trawler that rescued us during the second attack on the Oliva on Thursday, July 14th.  As I mentioned before, the Oliva project is currently on an indefinite hiatus.  Nils, Joe and I went to the port at 7:10 am and we rode out to sea around 7:30.  There were 3 adult Palestinian men on the boat and two young boys.  Joe, Nils and I sat on the deck of the ship’s bow and the captain and other passengers stayed in the middle and back of the vessel. Around the 2 to 2.5 mile point we spotted the Israelis coming towards us from the north.  When they were still about a mile’s distance from us I called them over the radio and said that we were “Unarmed international observers on board, 2 United States citizens and one Swedish citizen.”  I repeated this a number of times but they continued to approach us at a high speed.  Joe and I were on the bow of the boat when we noticed that the Israeli Navy was now about 100 meters from us and had fired 2 shots into the water.  We retreated to the center of the boat where the steering cabin is and I repeated again over the radio that we were “unarmed international observers.”  This did nothing to sway their actions and they fired live rounds both in the water and directly at the boat for around 15 or 20 minutes.  Joe returned to the front of the boat and tried speaking to them over the megaphone, repeating the fact that we were internationals and that the boat had no hostile or military intentions and the captain and his crew were just going to fish.  By this point the trawler had reached the 3-mile limit.  The captain desperately wanted to go further out to 4 or 5 miles because the 3-mile area is completely overfished and he said “it’s better to return home than to even bother fishing here.” While the shooting was still taking place, we decided to have Nils speak to them over the radio so they could hear someone with a Swedish accent.  We were holding out desperate hope that our status as internationals would save the boat and allow the men to fish.  At one point the gunboat retreated slightly—only to double-back and continue harassing us.  Nils repeatedly said over the radio, “Israel, why do you do this?  We are peaceful people, we mean you no harm.”  After at least 30 minutes of creating turbulence and shooting live rounds at us the boat retreated again, this time for good.  I jumped back on the radio and told them to “let us go, we are not hostile and the captain only wants to fish.”  The Israelis responded and claimed that we were past 3 miles and were somewhere between 4 and 5 miles out to sea and insisted that I tell the captain to go back to the 3 mile mark.  The captain said that we were basically 3 miles, then he corrected that we were 3 miles and about 700 meters.  He asked me to tell them that he wouldn’t go past this point and only wanted one hour to fish here because there wouldn’t be any fish within the 3-mile limit.  He said they need to fish for food for Ramadan and there would be no food if we were to move further in to shore.   I said this to them in English several times awaiting a response since it had only been a few minutes since they had communicated with us directly.  After this the captain and his friend took the radio and begged them in a broken mixture of Arabic and Hebrew to let the boat stay where it was for one hour—just to fish—just to get food for Ramadan.  It was heartbreaking to watch.  It’s perverse that the Palestinians should have to beg for this right from an illegitimate occupying force.  Although it seemed that the Israelis weren’t concerned with the status of the international passengers as they were shooting at us, I have to assume that it would have only been worse had we not been on board.  The captain seemed used to this procedure and was firm in his decision to stay at sea to fish—in the face of Israeli violence.  After about 10 minutes had passed and the captain was still on the radio begging to be allowed a few extra hundred meters for just one hour, the gunboat left and another warship equipped with the water canon took its place.  The intensity of the water pressure seemed stronger than ever and the hit the boat for 20 or 30 minutes before we were able to get away.  Unfortunately at this point the captain saw no use in staying out there and brought the ship back to the port.  While we were riding back I leaned over the edge of the bow and saw the new bullet holes from the day’s attacks.

When I went out today, one of my intentions was to observe the situation in the absence of the Oliva, and after this experience I can say two things with confidence.  My first conclusion is that this harassment is a frequent, if not daily occurrence for Palestinian fishermen.  The second is that Israel’s claim that the Oliva is a “constant provocateur” has not a shred of validity (not that it did before, but this confirms it) as the Israeli Navy is equally if not more violent without the Oliva and its observation crew at sea.

A longer version of this report originally appeared on Against Empire, the blog of International Solidarity Movement – Gaza Strip member Alexandra Robinson.

Escalation of attacks by the Israeli navy on the CPS Gaza boat

23 July 2011 | Civil Peace Service Gaza

Footage of the second water-cannon attack by the Israeli navy against the Civil Peace Service Gaza boat “Oliva” on Thursday, July 14, 2011. The camera used was lost in the sea when the crew evacuated the “Oliva,” recovered in a fishing net, and returned on Wednesday, July 20.

Beit Hanoun, 63 years and 300 meters later

19 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

The Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, happened sixty three years ago.  The theft of Palestinian land continues even today.  Every Tuesday, for the last three years, the people of Beit Hanoun have protested both the occupation and Israel’s three hundred meter “buffer zone” which Israel has declared on Palestinian land near the border of Gaza.  We gathered today, like we do every Tuesday near the agricultural college in Beit Hanoun.  Local farmers warned us that for the last couple of days Israeli forces had been camped out in the abandoned houses near the border.  Just as their grandfathers were driven from their homes by Zionist violence, so these farmers were driven out of their homes by Zionist violence.  Sometimes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.  Over the weekend six were injured in Beit Hanoun when Israel bombed a well in the middle of a residential district.

At eleven A.M. we set off toward the wall, toward the land that their grandfathers were expelled from.  A drone buzzes overhead.  We can see the clouds of dust raised by the movement of Israeli tanks on the other side of the wall.  The farmland in the “buffer zone” has been newly desecrated, bulldozed again, an area that used to be fields and orchards that had been reduced to a few hardy weeds, now devoid of even weeds.  The Palestinian flags that we had planted there during previous demonstrations buried under the earth.  Given the warnings of Israeli soldiers in the abandoned houses and the bombing over the weekend, we were all more nervous than usual.  Bella Ciao boomed out over the megaphone, but few sang along, most of us thinking our own thoughts, worrying alone.

We walked past the last tree still standing, a beautiful tree covered in fragrant pink flowers.  We entered the newly destroyed “buffer zone”, stopped, planted new flags, dreamed of planting new trees, of seeing a dead zone brought back to life.  People looked into the distance, dreaming of their grandfathers trees, trees that many of them have never been allowed to see, their fruit stolen by the grandchildren of the same people who drove their grandfathers from their land.  We chanted for a free Palestine.  Dust rose from the movement of an Israeli tank.  We returned to Beit Hanoun, but at least we had left a flag behind to commemorate that we were there, that the grandchildren of the cleansed still live.