Category: Reports

Six injured as settlers attack farmers in Qusra

23 January 2011 | International Women’s Peace Service

On January 23, the residents of Qusra organised an action to reclaim village land, which settlers had attempted to confiscate. Four volunteers from IWPS attended, at the request of the village, who asked for an international presence due to settler attacks the previous week, which left six villagers injured.
 
Qusra, a village of 4,000 people, is situated near the settlement of Migalim. There have been incidents of settlement harassment in the past but the present problem comes from an evacuated outpost (1), locally named Yesh Dam. The army dismantled some of the outpost structures on January 12th and according to Ma’an Agency report  ‘armed settlers entered the village burning cars, throwing stones and shooting at houses’ (2) on January 13th.

One of the village leaders informed IWPS volunteers that village farmers were prevented from cultivating their land by settlers on January 13.  Initially 8–10 armed settlers had been present, but their numbers swelled to more than 100. The Israeli military was present but did nothing to prevent the settlers from attack the Palestinian villagers. When the Israeli Border Police arrived, they attacked farmers resulting in the injury of six people, one quite badly.  ‘’They attacked anyone’ he said, “old people, women and children”.   

IWPS volunteers also met with shepherds from the village, who showed the team photos of two of their sheep which had been slaughtered by Israeli settlers two weeks earlier.  

The action on January 23 was to plough the village land in front of Yesh Dam and plant 650 olive trees. It was attended by about 200 people including the media, the Mayor of Nablus and Fatah representatives. The army watched from the hill and the edge of the fields and but did not interfere with the activities.

Village leaders told IWPS volunteers that the action was successful because of the presence of internationals, the media and official representatives.  Village leaders were concerned that they may not be able to access the planted trees in the coming days due to army and settlers presence and that the trees may be uprooted by settlers.  However, IWPS contacted village leaders one week after the planting of the trees and were informed that access had been available and that the trees remained intact.
 

(1) George W. Bush and Ariel Sharon agreed to evacuate illegal outposts in 2001
But this has been and ongoing issue with subsequent Israeli governments
For more details
http://peacenow.org/entries/archive4390
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_settler_violence_fact_sheet_2009_11_15_english.pdf
(2) http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=350748

Protests continue in An Nabi Saleh

14 January 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

On Friday, the weekly demonstration was again held in the village of An Nabi Saleh. The situation in the village is getting worse: from 6 o´clock in the morning soldiers closed the newly installed gate at the checkpoint so that nobody could enter the village. This makes it extremely difficult for international and Israeli activists to join the protest, and for two weeks now the village is considered on Fridays to be a closed military zone, with the Israeli army imposing a curfew on all people in the village.

Israeli soldiers in the village of An Nabi Saleh

So, this Friday, by 11am soldiers were in the village and announced through a megaphone, in Hebrew and English, that the village is closed for all people until the next day. During the midday prayer – when most people were praying in mosque – some soldiers took over a house and even refused to let the people who lived there enter it

At around 12:30 the demonstration started, but within five minutes the Israeli army began to fire large amounts of tear gas towards the protestors, and soon after a riot broke out with the soldiers in the olive fields close to the village. During this one soldier fell, breaking his arm and his leg – compare to this that the previous week two young men suffered from broken legs due to tear gas canisters -and after this the soldiers went crazy. One Israeli activist was injured by a tear gas canister whilst sitting outside drinking tea.

Soldiers were in the middle of the village for the whole day and were shooting everybody who was outside. An empty house was occupied in the centre of the village from which a soldier was firing tear gas and sound bombs towards the people in the big square in An Nabi Salah. A pregnant woman was hospitalized from tear gas inhalation and had to spend the night in the hospital in Ramallah.

The harassment and punishment from the soldiers continued for the whole day, and the shabab of the village continued to clash with the soldiers until sunset. At the end of the day the soldiers fired around 40 teargas canisters into the village for no apparent reason.

The villagers face a big problem with the repeated closure of the village on Fridays and with the curfew: it is becoming increasingly difficult to hold protests and send out a message against the occupation by Israel. Still, the village keeps on fighting.

Collective punishment continues as army raids Nabi Saleh

13 January 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

From the hours of 12:00 until 03:00 last night, soldiers raided eighteen houses in the village of Nabi Saleh. Soldiers, in full combat equipment, raided the houses in order to photograph people, mostly young men, and check ID cards. No arrests were made. However, the intentions of the army are clear.

The pattern has been used many times in the past. The army raids a house in the middle of the night. Soldiers take a photograph of a 15 or 16 child and match the photograph with ID information. Then, some days later, during the weekly nonviolent demonstration, soldiers go from house to house with a picture book of people and arrest them. It does not matter if the suspected person is in the middle of the demonstration or inside the house watching television.

Once soldiers apprehend the suspect, they create a story that the person was throwing stones or ‘rioting”. This story is usually based on zero evidence and it does not have to be in order to be used in an Israeli military court. The only thing necessary is for a soldier to say that he saw the person throwing stones. No photographic or video evidence is needed. Not even another witness.

Last night’s raid was the second time this week for Nabi Saleh. Bassam Tamimi, one of the Popular Committee leaders of Nabi Saleh, said that the army has raided almost every house in the village this week. Every male between the ages of 12 and 22 have been photographed by the army and their ID numbers have been taken..

Nabi Saleh, a small village west of Ramallah, has engaged in an unarmed demonstration against the confiscation of their land by the neighboring Jewish settlement of Halamish for the past year There have been countless injuries, arrests and collective punishment against the village over the past year as the army has tried to crush the protest. This Friday afternoon, Nabi Saleh will once again march to its land and demand an end to the Israeli occupation.

Thirteen homes and three school buildings destroyed by Israeli forces

12 January 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Dkaika children outside their destroyed classroom

More than 13 homes and three school buildings were bulldozed this morning by occupation forces in the small Bedouin village of Dkaika near Yatta south of Hebron. One eye witness – an English teacher at the school – said “the Israeli army arrived at the village at around 7:30am with over fifty military vehicles and at least six bulldozers before forcibly removing the children from the school and destroying three classrooms.” He went on, “the children, some of whom are as young as seven years old, were crying and shouting at the soldiers to stop.”

In addition to the destruction wrought upon the school, ISM representatives were led by the crushed earthen tracks and violent gouge marks left by bulldozers to the tell tale piles of rubble and twisted steel which littered the surrounding area. If there had been any doubt that each had once been a home, then the hurriedly assembled mounds of personal possessions, furniture, and children’s toys which accompanied each pile of rubble surely testified to the fact that these were dwellings.

As it was, there were plenty of family members eager to testify themselves, and in the moments following the re-opening of the village’s only road, EAPPI and ISM members– who had been prevented by road blocks from accessing the scene – moved in to speak to those left homeless by the action.

When asked what reason was given for the demolition, the above witness, visibly upset, replied “they do not want us to live here, that is the reason. I would like to tell you that this community has been here since before the establishment of the Israeli [state]. They took most of our land during the Nakba and they would like to dismiss us from here completely”.

Israeli navy confiscates two boats of abducted fisherman

9 January 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

In one week’s time, the Israeli Navy has twice abducted fishermen from Gazan waters; they were released the same day, but their boats remain confiscated.

Abduction of Baker fishermen on January 4th
On Tuesday morning, January 4th, Mohammed ‘Abdul Qader Baker (54), Ziad Mohammed Baker (25), Mohammed Mahmoud Baker (28) and Ra’ef Nabeel Baker (25) were out fishing at approximately 2.5 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza City when they were intercepted by an Israeli gunboat. At gunpoint they were forced to hold their hands up for over an hour, while the gunboat awaited reinforcement of two zodiacs coming from Ashdod. The men were told to undress and swim towards the zodiacs, where they were cuffed, blindfolded and transferred to the gunboat.

“I told them that I am sick and too old to throw myself into the sea with these kinds of temperatures. One of the soldiers on the zodiac replied that if I didn’t jump into the water he would blow my head and the boat”, says the 54 year old Mohamed Abed Qader Baker. Their hassaka, a basic fishing boat of approximately 6 meters, was taken to Ashkelon, while the fishermen were taken to Ashdod. One by one they were taken into a small interrogation room in the harbor, where an officer of the Shin Bet, the Israeli Internal Security Service, inquired about their connections with the Gazan government.

“They told me I was three sea miles and twenty meters from the coast, which is 20 meters beyond the limit the Israeli Navy imposed on us, but it is not true! I am always very careful, I have a GPS: I am sure that I was no further out than 2.5 miles”, states Mohamed firmly.
At the time of the interception, four other Palestinian fishing boats were in the near vicinity, but were not stopped. To Mohamed it is clear why:

“I had just installed a new engine, which coasted 5,500$. The Israeli soldiers are watching us every day: they know when we have new equipment on board. Probably my engine has already been sold to Ashkelon by now.”

Fishermen at Gaza’s port shared the suspicion that well equipped boats were more likely to be confiscated. It is a certainty that not one hassaka seized by the Israeli Navy has ever returned.

“One day we eat the fish, the other day we sell the catch. I’ve put myself in debt to buy that engine and now I don’t have any means to pay them off, nor to provide my family with. We are 25 people in one house; that is six people per room”, says Mohamed.
On September 24th 2010, the Baker family lost 20 year old Mohammed Mansour Baker; he was killed by bullets coming from an Israeli gunboat while he was fishing 2 sea miles off Sudaniya Beach.

Six Fishermen Abducted on December 28th
Early Thursday morning, December 28th 2010, six fishermen, Subeh ‘Abdul Salam al-Hissi, ‘Aadel ‘Abdul Karim Baker, Ramadan Isma’il al-Hissi, Fayez Ahmed al-Hissi and Ahmed Sha’ban al-Hissi returned back to Gaza the same day, but the family’s 19 meters fishing boat remains confiscated by Israel. Thirty families’ incomes, each counting six to seven members, are dependent on this boat.

At 6:30 am they left the port of Gaza with their wooden fishing boat heading towards the north of the Strip. Close to Beit Lahya, 1 to 1.5 miles off Gaza’s coastline, the boat was intercepted by two Israeli zodiacs, each containing approximately 20 soldiers. They boarded the boat, searched, cuffed and blindfolded the men, before obliging them to lay down on the wet surface of the ship. Fayez Ahmed al-Hissi (31) adds that he was hit on the head during the takeover of the ship. The eldest of the company, 59 year old Ahmed Sha’ban al-Hissi, was ordered to sail the boat into Ashdod’s harbor.

In Ashdod, soldiers instructed them to take the fishing net in, after which they were transferred to a docked Israeli gunboat. Plastic bags were put over the men’s heads making it hard for them to breathe, while they were shivering in their soaked clothes. One by one they were interrogated in a small room in the harbor, where the investigator showed a particular interest in Gaza’s harbor and the governmental support for fishermen who suffered damages during the last storm. The head officer, who introduced himself as Ghalid, claiming to be responsible for Al-Shati refugee camp, asked them to point out their houses on a detailed picture taken from the air and to give phone numbers of relatives and friends.

“I replied evasively to their questions, saying the pictures weren’t very clear and that I didn’t know any phone numbers by heart”, said Subeh ‘Abdul Salam al-Hissi (33).

The men could not grasp what they had done to end up there until Subeh’ asked: “Why are we here? Why did you take us from Gazan waters?” Ambiguously, the investigator returned the question by asking them whether they had not felt anything strange while sailing. Different media outlets quote an Israeli military spokesperson saying that the boat “dragged a suspicious object”. Earlier that morning, the men had responded to a call from fellow fishermen that had technical problems at sea. The boat was towed into Gaza’s marina after which the men headed towards northern Gaza, with a fishing net being the only thing the boat dragged.

“I hope we will get our boats back soon, maybe after a month”, says Ahmed Sha’ban al-Hissi hopefully. The wooden boat requires daily maintenance to protect it from water damage. “I asked them if someone could at least turn on the bilge pump each day to pump the water from the boat, but the officer simply stated that it was not his responsibility.”

“Since the siege, our income has come down from 700 dollars to less than 200 dollars a month per fisher. Israel refuses to allow fishing nets in, so we are dependent on the low quality nets from Egypt that come in through the tunnels. Spare parts for the boat are very scarce too. All that and the fishing area being depleted, results in a poor catch, while fish from Al Arish come in abundantly through the tunnels, obliging us to sell our fish at a low price”, says Ahmed Sha’ban al-Hissi.

“Now, I don’t know what to do. We are all waiting at home until our boat comes back.”

Legal background
Al Mazen Center for Human Rights states that between 1 May 2009 and 30 November 2010 the IOF carried out 53 attacks against fishermen: two men were killed, seven injured and 42 arrested, while 17 fishing boats were confiscated and one destroyed. These acts constitute flagrant violations of Israel’s obligations under international law as an occupying power. They violate the Fishermen’s rights to life, work, safety and bodily integrity. They also infringe upon the right not to be tortured and prevent them from maintaining an adequate standard of living.

The Oslo Accords allowed Gazan fishermen to fish in the Mediterranean sea up to 20 nautical miles away from Gaza’s shoreline, but since 1993 Israel has imposed successive restrictions on fishing, the limit for fishermen now stands at just 3 nautical miles since Israel imposed the siege on Gaza in 2007. This has severely reduced the quantity, quality and diversity of the catch. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, nearly 90% of Gaza’s 4000 fishermen are now considered either poor (with a monthly income of between 100 and 190 US dollars) or very poor (earning less than 100 dollars a month), up from 50% in 2008.