Seven people were arrested yesterday in An Nabi Saleh during the weekly demonstration against the occupation and settlements. After the Israeli army invaded the village two Palestinians, four Israelis and one international were arrested. They are still held by Israeli forces, and we are told that the two Palestinians were separated from the rest during their ride to Binyamin police station. This does not bode well for them and could mean that they are being sent to Ofer on the account of the soldiers’ false testimonies.
The weekly march through the village of Nabi Saleh was slowed down by army threats to open fire. Soon enough they shot tear gas canisters at the protesters, invaded the village, made some arrests and attempted many more.
Close to the end of the day the youth of An Nabi Saleh came to reclaim their village. The army responded with an immediate tear gas attack. Later on, the army used massive amounts of tear gas on the entire village and brought the “skunk” water tank to spray the center of the village with foul-smelling water. This “skunk” water leaves any place it is fired at unfit for living for about a week and still smelly for many weeks after. The soldiers and their vehicles were warded off by a “rain” of stones, and the clashes finally ended at sundown.
During the weekly demonstration five people were injured and dozens suffered from server cases of asphyxia from tear gas. Hundreds of Palestinians joined by Israeli and international solidarity actives marched under the banner of unity and an end to the occupation. Today’s demonstration marked six years of struggle in the village against the wall and the occupation. In that time, Bil’in has become an international symbol of unarmed resistance to Israeli Occupation. Entering the seventh year of resistance, the village called for Palestinian unity and end to the Israeli Occupation, the longest military occupation in modern history.
The demonstration began after midday prayer with a march under Palestine flags and pictures of Jawaher and Bassem Abu Rahmah, who have been killed in demonstrations in Bil’in. Protesters also carried photos of the imprisoned popular committee leader Abdallah Abu Rahmah, who has been in jail for the past 14 months. The demonstrators marched from the village chanting for national union., Demonstrators also confirmed the need for a resounding Palestinian resistance to occupation and the release of all prisoners, and freedom for Palestine.
The march headed towards the barrier, where the military forces of the Israeli occupation army had created a barrier of human soldiers near the gate of the wall of the western side of the fence to prevent demonstrators from entering the land behind the wall, where a large number of soldiers were deployed. Within minutes, soldiers began spraying demonstrators with sewage water mixed with pertochemcials. When protesters tried to cross the barrier towards the soldiers, the army fired sound bombs and bullets coated metal bullets as well as tear gas. Soldiers then began to fire live bullets (.22 caliber) in all directions. Hamza Suleiman Bernat (18 years old) was shot in the back and the leg. He was taken away from the protest and to a Ramallah hospital for treatment. Ahmed Abo Rahma (16 years old) was burned by tear gas canister. Fadi Mustafa Omar (30) and Abdullah Ahmed Yassin (19 years) where sprayed directly in the face with pepper spray by soldiers during the demonstration. Dozens of other demonstrations suffered from tear gas inhalation.
15 February 2011 | International Solidarity Movement
Settlers shot and wounded a boy of 18 whilst he was farming on his father’s land at 1400hrs today, in the village of Jaloud, south-west of Nablus. Wael Mahmoud Tobase Ayad was planting trees together with his brother. As they were finishing, three settlers from a nearby illegal settlement, armed with handguns and a rifle, appeared from amongst some trees between 50 – 100m away. One of the settlers shot and wounded him in his right side with a hand gun.
Gunshot wound of Palestinian teen
He is now in Rafidia hospital in Nablus, where he is due to have an operation to remove the bullet tomorrow. His condition is reported to be stable.
Wael’s father was shot in the leg by settlers in the same area in 2002.
The people of Jaloud are regularly harassed by settlers. There are two illegal settlements in the area, Shilo and Eli, and several outposts have also been built close to the village.
12 February 2011 | International Solidarity Movement
In the village of Jaloud, south of Nablus, around thirty villagers, two internationals, and six Israeli peace activists accompanied farmers to their land to help plant one hundred olive trees. Towards the end of the planting, a settler from the illegal settlement of Shilo came down in a pickup carrying an assault rifle. He contacted the army and, 15 minutes later, two jeeps came down, followed by another three. There were around 25 – 30 soldiers in total, armed with rifles with tear gas canisters, some swinging batons. Soldiers requested that the people move back to the road and agreed to let five people finish planting the trees. Had the Israeli activists and internationals not been there, the weapons may well have been used on the Palestinians.
Villagers try to plant trees near Jaloud
There are illegal settlement outposts all around the village. The farmers of Jaloud have had 16,000 dunams of land seized by settlers and are prevented from farming their land. The small village, which has 600 inhabitants, faces regular harassment from the settlers. There have been reports of settlers walking into the village shooting into the air to frighten the children, stealing animals, going into families’ houses and burning land.
It is expected that the settlers will destroy the trees that were planted.
10 February 2011 | International Solidarity Movement
The village of Khirbet Tana, near Beit Furik, Nablus region, once again faced Israeli bulldozers yesterday. Several structures, including homes and animal shelters were demolished when the army arrived with six jeeps and two bulldozers. No notice was given of the destruction.
The villagers have been through this many times, the last time only a month ago. They will not be deterred though, and each time they set about rebuilding; Fozan Mousa Esai, an old farmer, says that he will rebuild his shelter for around two hundred sheep once again. He will, however, have to
sell some of them to be able to do it.
Villager stands by the site of the demolition
Many of Khirbet Tana’s population, originally consisting of some 60 families, have fled to Beit Furik, on whose lands Khirbet Tana resides. Israeli efforts to ethnically cleanse the area of its Palestinian
population dates back to the occupation of the West Bank in 1967, the situation worsening considerably since the Oslo Accords zoning scheme of 1994 deemed the entire region Area C, under full Israeli control. The village was demolished for the first time in 2005, when Israeli bulldozers razed 14 homes, 18 animal sheds and 6 animal stores to the ground, leaving only the ancient mosque standing. Using bureaucracy as a weapon, Israeli authorities then banned residents from building permanent structures on the site of their former homes by refusing to issue the necessary permits. Ramshackle tents and prefabricated structures now dot the hillsides of Khirbet Tana, as residents are forced to adopt an almost Bedouin lifestyle, fearing instant demolition at the first attempt to lay concrete or stone.
Israeli bulldozers visited Khirbet Tana a second time in May 2008, once again leaving only rubble in their wake. An objection then filed by residents to the Israeli High Court of Justice resulted in the final, non-objectionable decision to demolish all structures in Khirbet Tana and evict its entire population from their lands. This was carried out on 10 January 2010, when all 25 structures remaining in the village were once again flattened by the bulldozers of the occupation forces, including the school. Neighbouring agricultural communities such as Twiyel, east of Aqraba village, have suffered similar attacks in recent months.
Khirbet Tana’s remaining population ekes out a precarious existence in the isolated hills between Beit Furik and the Jordan Valley. Like Fursa Hanina, those who stay are determined to hold rightful claim to their land in the face of Israel’s bureaucratic and military machine, and its efforts to ethnically cleanse Palestine’s rural population.
