Category: Reports

Palestinians remember Freedom Flotilla martyrs in Gaza port

31 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement – Gaza

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in Mina, the port of Gaza City, to remember the nine Turkish activists killed by Israeli naval commandos during their attack on the Freedom Flotilla on 31 May 2010.

The gatherings occurred over Monday, 30 May and Tuesday, 31 May. The Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) organized Monday’s commemoration. The Palestinian government in Gaza hosted Tuesday’s dedication of the Freedom Flotilla Martyrs Memorial and Square, a project of the Palestinian Ministry of Public Works and Housing and the Ministry of Transportation.

Both events drew hundreds of Palestinians, as well as the International Solidarity Movement – Gaza Strip and other foreign activists.

“The monument is composed of nine 12-meter-hight sails, symbolizing the nine martyrs, in addition to a metal ball which crowns the top of the edifice,” Yasser Al-Shanti, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, told Alresalah.ps about the Memorial before Tuesday’s unveiling. “The ball symbolizes planet Earth, in a clear indication of this heroic action which drew the world’s attention to the siege of Gaza.”
The Memorial and Square were dedicated following addresses by representatives of the Palestinian government in Gaza and international organizations involved in efforts to end the ongoing blockade, including the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation.
After Monday’s ceremony, dozens of participants took to the sea in boats, tossing flowers into the waves to commemorate the shooting deaths of Cengiz Akyüz (42), Ali Haydar Bengi (39), İbrahim Bilgen (61), Furkan Doğan (19), Cevdet Kılıçlar (38), Cengiz Songür (47), Çetin Topçuoğlu (53), Fahri Yaldız (43), and Necdet Yıldırım (32).

The events followed a year after their killings, which sparked global outrage and were condemned by the United Nations Human Rights Council as the products of “[a] series of violations of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law.” The international reaction forced the Israeli government to modify its occupation policies, which it falsely claimed as an “easing” of its siege on Gaza.

They also came only three weeks before the launch of Freedom Flotilla – Stay Human, which will send 15 ships to challenge the blockade beginning 20 June.

Olive trees destroyed outside Bethlehem

31 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Broken olive tree
This morning Maher Abu Sab’a’ discovered that 248 out of the 250 olive tree saplings that had recently been planted on his land had been destroyed over-night. The saplings which had been planted three months previously had been systematically uprooted from the earth and broken with their remains left scattered over the earth. The land is situated outside Bethlehem next to a number of illegal Israeli settlements including Kiryat Arba, one of the largest illegal settlement in the West Bank with approximately 10,000 inhabitants. The attack took place right next to the Israeli checkpoint and watch tower on road 60, however it would appear that there was no intervention in the attack. Last year Maher lost all of the almond and grape trees from his land when settlers set light to the same field. He now plans to re-plant all of the trees he has lost.

Israeli bulldozers destroy farmer’s land in Al Ma’asara

30 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Yesterday private Israeli bulldozers arrived in the village of Al Ma’sara in the West Bank and destroyed a section of farm land belonging to the Brijia family, uprooting five grape trees and an abundance of wheat. The bulldozers who were accompanied by Israeli military jeeps belonged to an electrical company who were installing an underground cable to provide electricity to the nearby illegal settlement of Efrat. The family of farmers, who have legally owned the land since 1964 had been given no prior warning of the destruction and neither the workers nor the army could provide any paperwork when asked. This latest destruction of property is a sad blow to a family who have already lost four dunums of their land to illegal Israeli construction.

Al Ma’sara, 13 km south of Bethlehem, is home to about 900 people. The village is situated in a mountainous and fertile rural area which enjoys an abundance of natural water resources. Construction and expansion of Gush Etzion – one of the nearby illegal settlements – has already confiscated a large portion of village lands. Villagers believe that this latest destruction of land is part of the Israeli government’s bigger plan to expand the illegal settlements around Bethlehem and link them together, isolating Palestinian villages, who are already a minority in the area and strengthening Israel’s hold on the West Bank

Random arrests and assaults during and after Nakba day in Hebron

29 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Head injury after assault by Israeli soldiers
Several teenage boys were arrested after the 15 May Nakba Day demonstration in Hebron. On May 24 the International Solidarity Movement met one 16 year old boy and his father to hear his story.

The boy had been on his way home from work at around 6 pm on May 15 when he was stopped by Israeli soldiers near the old city of Hebron. Suddenly and without reason, two soldiers jumped on him and without saying anything started to beat him in his head and chest with the stocks of their guns. The boy was then dragged into a military jeep where there were other arrested Palestinian boys and was handcuffed and blindfolded. The soldiers kept on beating the boys as they drove them to the police station. The boy ISM met was bleeding heavily from a cut in his head, for which he did not receive medical care until the day after the arrest. The boy required three stitches for his wound.

In the police station, the boy saw 15 other young boys who had been arrested the same day. After nine hours of arrest, the boy was told that he was accused of throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. Throughout his arrest and detention, the soldiers and police humiliated the boy, calling him a donkey and making him stand for hours facing a wall. They also asked him continuously which Palestinian party he was part of.

That night the boy was taken to a different jail which is used for longer detentions, where he was kept for four days. He was eventually released from prison after being made to sign a paper in Hebrew which he didn’t understand. He later discovered that the paper said that if he gets arrested again he has to pay 2000 shekels.

At the time of writing, several boys who were arrested on Nakba day were still being held without charge. ISM does not have any information about the number of arrested boys.