Category: Reports

Gaza’s record-breaking children

18 August 2010 | Vittorio Arrigoni, Electronic Intifada

Palestinian children in Gaza set the record for most kites flown simultaneously. (Photo: Vittorio Arrigoni)

Gaza’s kids truly are record-breakers. They survived Israel’s 2008-09 winter invasion and every day they put up with a state of war during a so-called ceasefire. Smeared in blood, they’ve crawled through the rubble of shelled buildings, taking care of younger siblings, and tending to languishing parents, often emerging from under the remains of their own beds.

More than half of Gaza’s population are children. Though none of them has ever voted for Hamas, they’re the designated targets of Israel’s military operations and more generally, of the siege imposed upon Gaza. They’re resilient children, standing up against a multitude of ailments and obstacles. According to a recent report of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, 52 percent of Gaza’s children are anemic and suffer from serious nutritional problems due to the insufficiency of phosphorous, calcium and zinc in their food. The rate of respiratory illnesses they suffer is also cause for concern.

Gaza’s children suffer from psychological disorders, the consequence of enduring Israel’s attacks and siege. Their memories of dismembered bodies and burning buildings are indelible traumas that make them anxious and depressed, insomniac or incontinent. They live in overcrowded spaces without recreational areas. In the same streets where they now play, they remember having seen live flesh burning or rotting bodies. Missiles, destruction and death are evoked in their drawings whenever you hand them a blank piece of paper.

If the right to play is a luxury here, the right to an education is denied. Besides toys and medicine, Israel has also blocked the entry of elementary school textbooks. Unlike the majority of Israeli children, Gaza’s children suffer from hunger and poverty. I see them every day pushing ploughs in the fields, or rummaging through the garbage bins, looking for recyclable material. In the unbearable heat of this damp summer, they sit atop mule-drawn carts, overloaded with bricks and stone blocks recycled from shelled buildings. Alternatively, you can find them at street crossings selling trinkets, their gazes like those of tired old men, unable to dream of green courtyards, soccer fields and ice cream vans.

It’s not hide-and-seek they’re playing when they disappear underground in the Rafah tunnels; risking being buried alive, they’re the workforce that’s most economically and physically viable to smuggle goods that would otherwise never make it onto the shelves of Gaza shops.

Jasmine Whitbread, Director General of Save the Children explained that “Gaza’s children are hungry on account of the considerable difficulties met by the entry of food into the area. They’re dying because they cannot leave Gaza and receive the medical attention they so urgently need. Hundreds of thousands of children are growing up without an adequate education because scholastic buildings were seriously damaged. Due to the restrictions on the access of building material, those buildings can’t even be fixed. Children pay the highest price for the siege.”

Besides advertising such neglected data, it’s worth drawing attention to the fact that the Gaza Strip’s children have just broken two Guinness book records in seven days. On Thursday, 22 July in the space occupied by the remnants of Gaza’s airport — destroyed by the Israeli Air Force in 2001 — the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) organized a summer camp for more than 7,200 children who each bounced a basketball simultaneously for five minutes. A few days later, on 29 July, Gaza’s children also registered the record of the greatest number of kites flown at the same time.

On the beach of Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza near the boundary with Israel, the sky was adorned by thousands of multicolored hexagons, a vivid metaphor of the freedom craved by Gaza’s youngest citizens. More than seven thousand children flew their kites, doubling last year’s official record.

At the end of the day, John Ging, UNRWA’s chief of operations in Gaza, said that “Breaking two world records in just one week is in itself an astonishing achievement. This is a demonstration of what Gaza’s children can do, if only they’re given the chance. These kids are exactly like all others the world over; they wish to live a normal life, far removed from the adversities they’re forced to face, day in, day out.” Ging concluded: “This day of celebration is an expression of a request for freedom on the children’s part.”

Unlike the basketballs used in Rafah, the kites flown over Beit Lahiya were not industrially produced, but handmade by those same children who then released them into the sky. Some were brightly decorated, while many proudly wore the colors of the Palestinian flag. It was like a scream of resistance in visual form, flying in front of the Israeli surveillance towers only a few hundred meters away.

After the kite flying event was officially registered as a new Guinness world record, an Israeli warship appeared on the horizon, slowly advancing towards the coast of Beit Lahiya. It was a cruel reminder that recreation time was over.

——–

Vittorio Arrigoni has worked as a human rights activist for more than a decade. He lived in Gaza until September 2009. As an activist with the International Solidarity Movement and freelance journalist with the Italian newspaper Il Manifesto he has provided eyewitness accounts for the world to read and is author of the book Gaza: Stay Human.

This essay was translated from Italian by Daniela Filippin.

West Bank demonstration reports

An Nabi Saleh – 13/8/2010

On Friday around 35 Palestinians demonstrated against Hallamish settlement with around 15 Israeli and international peace activists in the village of An Nabi Salih. When the peaceful demonstration started, as usual after the noon prayer, the demonstrators went down to the entrance of the village where soldiers and border police were already aiting, blocking the road.

After pushing some Palestinians who were trying to walk down the street that leads to the settlement, the Israeli army started shooting low-flying teargas at the other side of the road, where some shebab where throwing stones at the jeeps. A lot of teargas was fired at the houses nearby and a lot of people including children suffered from teargas inhalation. More then two hours later, when the Palestinians just wanted to declare the demonstration over, the soldiers came across the fields shooting teargas at kids and people who were resting outside the house of one of the members of the popular committee. The demonstration ended around five – even though it was the first Friday of Ramadan – with no one arrested or injured.


Al Mas’ara – 13/8/2010

Six ISM activists joined Palestinians and some other internationals on the Al Ma’sara demonstration at 1pm on Friday 13th August. The whole demo took about half an hour from starting marching to the crowd dispersing; there were around 60 internationals and around a smaller number of Palestinians present. The demonstration was against the illegal apartheid wall – specifically how it is blocking the local farmers’ access to their land.

A large crowd of Catalonian activists were present, and waited until prayers had finished to set off with the rest. The group paraded through the village, with chanting, being led by a Palestinian man, but mainly in English (and Italian, with a few renditions of Bella Ciao). The Israeli army had cordoned off a section of road, and the group marched up to them. It was emphasized through the megaphone, and by lots of individual shouts, that this was an entirely non-violent demonstration. Calls of “Please don’t shoot” were also made. Soldiers pushed the Palestinian men on the front line of the group.

A demand was made for the soldiers to leave within three minutes, to allow access down the road and onto the fields. The soldiers remained impassive and maintained their blockade of the road, but then after a visit from their commanders, they threw five sound grenades at the crowd. The people scattered but noone was hurt. After this, the soldiers got back into their jeeps and drove away, much to the delight of the crowd.


Ni’lin – 13/8/2010

After many Palestinians participated in the noon prayer in the olive fields of Nil’in on Friday, the first demonstration during Ramadan of this year started. There were around 60 people including internationals and Israelis activists who were as always supporting Palestinians nonviolent resistance to call for the destruction of the Apartheid Wall which steals Palestinian land to expand settlement like Modi’in Ilit. and prevents farmer working their land.

As soon as the demonstration started, soldiers began shooting a lot of teargas that left dozens suffering from inhalation. Then, as they normally do, the Israeli army started coming t through gate and chasing demonstrators to try to arrest someone and kept shooting towards the village, with two kids aged 6 and 8 also hurt due to teargas inhalation. In about an hour the demonstration was over, with no arrests or serious injuries.


Bil’in – 13/8/2010

Around 20 Israeli activists and perhaps 40 or 50 internationals joined Palestinians in the Bil’in protest this Friday which commenced after Palestinians had prayed Jummah on the first Friday of Ramadan. The group marched holding Palestinian flags and also posters of shebab and members of the popular committee who are incarcerated in Israeli jails. Many of these political prisoners were arrested in the village during night raids. Some have been charged and sentenced for the “crime” of organizing peaceful resistance in the form of the popular struggle.

While marching towards the Apartheid Wall chanting slogans against land theft and the occupation the group held firm against the inevitable Israeli army attack. Once the first volley of tear gas was fired, several subsequent rounds followed immediately, forcing the demonstrators to retreat. The soldiers continued to shoot tear gas up the hill as the protesters backed off. One Israeli photographer was injured slightly by a hand grenade, and an Israeli woman was hit by a tear gas canister in her leg. Meanwhile, many suffered from gas inhalation, but despite the soldiers’ attempts, they managed to make no arrests.

The army also began shooting rubber coated steel bullets – a relatively rare occurrence at Bil’in. The demonstration lasted over an hour and a half however, and was declared a success considering that multiple protestors were fasting for Ramadan.


Beit Ommar – 14/8/2010

About 30 Palestinians supported by 10 international and Israeli activists met in the village of Beit Ummar around 10:00 a.m on Friday. There were also about another 20 internationals observing but not demonstrating.

The group marched through the village’s olive groves towards the illegal Israeli settlement of Gush Etzion. The march was halted by Israeli soldiers and police in front of the gate, and the commander informed the demonstrators that the whole area, including the village’s olive groves, was a closed military zone. The demonstrators were given five minutes to leave or be arrested.

After a short speech about the history of the village and the illegal settlement, the group began to walk back to the village. The group stopped about fifty metres from the soldiers and continued the demonstration. After a few minutes some of the soldiers turned to leave and then the Palestinians decided the group should walk down again.

This was met with a hail of metal tear gas canisters, some narrowly missing the demonstrators they were aimed at. Some Palestinian youths began symbolically throwing stones while the rest of the demonstrators retreated towards the village to avoid the tear gas. Soldiers periodically ran towards the demonstrators, hoping to make an arrest, but they were unsuccessful.

Around 20 Israeli activists and perhaps 40 or 50 internationals joined Palestinians in the Bil’in protest this Friday which commenced after Palestinians had prayed Jummah on the first Friday of Ramadan. The group marched holding Palestinian flags and also posters of shebab and members of the popular committee who are incarcerated in Israeli jails. Many of these political prisoners were arrested in the village during night raids. Some have been charged and sentenced for the “crime” of organizing peaceful resistance in the form of the popular struggle.

While marching towards the Apartheid Wall chanting slogans against land theft and the occupation the group held firm against the inevitable Israeli army attack. Once the first volley of tear gas was fired, several subsequent rounds followed immediately, forcing the demonstrators to retreat. The soldiers continued to shoot tear gas up the hill as the protesters backed off. One Israeli photographer was injured slightly by a hand grenade, and an Israeli woman was hit by a tear gas canister in her leg. Meanwhile, many suffered from gas inhalation, but despite the soldiers’ attempts, they managed to make no arrests.

The army also began shooting rubber coated steel bullets – a relatively rare occurrence at Bil’in. The demonstration lasted over an hour and a half however, and was declared a success considering that multiple protestors were fasting for Ramadan.

PACBI: A million dollar festival will not rescue Israel’s image as an apartheid state

17 August 2010 | PACBI

Occupied Ramallah, 15 August  2010

Once again, the Brand-Israel machine is in high gear, this time organizing a million-dollar international youth extravaganza in Eilat in September 2010 called “Funjoya.”  This unabashed propaganda exercise is sponsored by the Israel Ministry of Tourism and the Israeli Student Union, among other official and semi-official bodies.  The Ministry of Tourism explains one of the aims of the festival: “branding Israel as an attractive tourism destination for students, an improvement in Israel’s image among this target group and facilitating multi-cultural encounters for students from Israel and European countries.” [1]

There is no question that Israel is working hard to whitewash its crimes and to justify its occupation, colonization and system of apartheid.  Since 2005, the official “Brand-Israel” campaign [2] has tried to present Israel in a new light, as a vibrant state promoting culture and the arts.  However, Israel’s own actions make a mockery of this branding exercise, proving that no amount of re-branding will cover up the escalating agenda of apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and violence against the Palestinian people, the last of which were the deadly assault on the Gaza Strip in the winter of 2008-2009, and the lethal attack on humanitarian aid workers aboard the Freedom Flotilla in Gaza in May 2010, which resulted in the murder of nine Turkish citizens. This viciousness is customary to Israel. The report of the UN Fact-Finding Mission led by Judge Richard Goldstone, released in September 2009, found strong evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the assault on the Palestinian people in Gaza, and called for holding Israel accountable before international law.

We call upon students from around the world not to take part in this festival.  We invite you to join the international movement for boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel (BDS) until Israel respects international law [3]. As students, you should be aware that Palestinian students do not enjoy the rights taken for granted by many of you: Palestinian students’ freedom of movement is severely restricted by the Apartheid Wall, checkpoints and road blocks and hundreds are detained in Israeli jails for resisting the occupation. [4]

We urge you to heed the words of the Gaza-based Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel in their open letter to students a few days ago:  “From under a most brutal siege humanity has witnessed during this modern age, we urge all students around the globe to boycott this festival We ask: will it speak about the cultural confiscation, the occupation of Palestinian history, the system of racial discrimination, home demolition, settlement expansion, settler colonialism and land expropriation? Will it tell of how apartheid Israel slices the West Bank into Bantustans separated by more than 600 checkpoints and a monstrous Apartheid Separation Wall preventing Palestinians from access to local hospitals, schools and universities, not to mention their families and relatives?” [5]

Don’t come to Eilat and honour the apartheid state! Support the Palestinian people in our struggle for self determination by boycotting “Funjoya” and exposing this vulgar Israeli hasbara effort!

PACBI

www.PACBI.org

pacbi@pacbi.org

Notes

[1] http://www.thinkeilat.com/Tourism_Euk/Tourist+Information/Press+Releases/FunJoya+Student+Festival.htm; http://eu.mfa.gov.il/mfm/web/main/Print.asp?DocumentID=172430

[2] http://www.forward.com/articles/2070/.  Jonathan Cook provides a comprehensive discussion of the brand-Israel effort in http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11093.shtml

[3] See the Unified Palestinian Call for BDS at  http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/52

[4] For further information on the violation of students’ rights check: http://right2edu.birzeit.edu/

[5]  http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1336

Army violently attack Hebron demo again – yet only an innocent British peace activist is charged with assault

15 August 2010 | International Solidarity Movement

On Saturday Palestinians were joined by internationals and Israelis in their weekly demonstration, asking for the opening of Shuhada Street and responding to the closure of three shops in the old city earlier in the week. The Israeli army, represented by soldiers and border police, entered from the gate leading to Shuhada Street, and pushed the protesters back up the street they came from. Several people were pushed violently to the ground without any warning or for any reason. Five innocent protesters were arrested with extreme force; one Australian, two British and two Israeli citizens, and taken away by border police and soldiers. All faced trumped up charges, including, ironically, of supposedly assaulting soldier.

In response to the closure of the three shops located in the old city, protesters were carrying banners asking: “Is the Old City becoming the new ghost town?”, referring to Shuhada Street that has been closed off for more than a decade. Some posters were also showing pictures of Shuhada Street in 1997 and 2007, showing how the street has become like a ghost town since all the shops were closed down. Although it’s Ramadan, about 60 people gathered for the demonstration.

The protesters went down to Bab al Balladyeh, and were faced by about 50 soldiers and border police. Police were also present. People were playing drums, singing slogans calling for a free Palestine and the opening of Shuhada Street, when the commander announced that it was an illegal demonstration. The border police who had lined up preventing people from moving on, started to push people back, and even though none of the protesters resisted, more and more force was used, causing many people to fall. The border police targeted one international activist, and while pushing everybody else away, they took him by the neck and pulled him violently down the street. Minutes later the same procedure was carried out on another activist, without any provocation from him. He fell to the ground and was dragged away by soldiers. Later in the demonstration two Israeli activists were targeted in the same way, though no physical contact with the soldiers whatsoever had occurred beforehand. Then another international activist, an elderly man, was grabbed and forcibly taken away.

The remaining group of protesters were then forced back along the street. People were asking the soldiers to stop pushing, which they didn’t respond to. This went on several times, and in the end the protesters walked back up the hill. The protest lasted for about an hour. Again the Israeli army proved that they don’t hesitate to use violence against peaceful protesters in Hebron.

None of the arrestees had so much as touched any of the soldiers – indeed they were in fact subjected to violence themselves – yet one British man was yesterday charged with assaulting a soldier.  Rhys Samuel stood trial in the ‘Peace Court’ in Jerusalem, with the soldiers’ false testimony the only evidence presented against him. He was not given a translator.  He was told he was banned from attending “illegal demonstrations”. Meanwhile, another British man was only released on the condition that he does not return to Hebron in the next 15 days. These court rulings, and the case of Swedish activist Marcus Regnander shows that the Israeli courts do not view the absence of evidence as an obstacle to imposing punitive conditions – but also that challenges within the legal system to unjust rulings can succeed as well. For fighting such increasingly frequent court cases designed to deter international peace activists, ISM has this week put out an appeal for funds to cover the hefty legal costs involved.

Meanwhile the violence used to arrest one of the Palestinians  was so great that he lost consciousness during the and yet soldiers dragged him unconscious for 20 meters before handcuffing him. The care he was provided with following the arrest was extremely inadequate – police refused to take him to the hospital despite multiple requests made to the paramedic for the pains in his head to be treated.

As well as the injuries incurred during the action, violence towards the Palestinians continued in Kiryat Arba Police Station when an officer named Avi lifted a Palestinian up by his neck, took him outside and began to beat him with no pretext given. This ill treatment of detainees continued with police refusing to grant access to the toilet, providing only frozen bread for food, personally insulting the prisoners, taunting them, and making racist comments. While the British and Israeli detainees were released, the Palestinians prisoners were moved to a Military base in Gush Etzion settlement. They are currently awaiting a court date.

Support our work in Palestine

International Solidarity Movement

14 August 2010

The ongoing suppression of the Palestinian grassroots resistance has included targeting international solidarity activists. Numerous volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement have been arrested or deported in past months.

A tactic of challenging the occupation and the Israeli authorities is via legal measures.
As Israel’s crackdown on popular resistance escalates, International Solidarity Movement activists are working on the ground to fight the authorities’ attempts to arrest, imprison and deport us – all strategies employed by Israel in their attempts at disconnecting us from our role in the struggle against apartheid. Legal challenges are an important battle field in non-violent resistance because often the occupation is forced to change their policies when these are held up to scrutiny.

The past six months have seen a surge in Israel’s crackdown on Palestinian and international activists involved in the popular resistance, marked by a wave of arrests targeting grassroots organizers from the popular committees of Bil’in, Ni’lin, Al Masara and Nablus and international activists involved in these regions’ struggles. Several ISM activists have been illegally abducted by Israeli forces and continue to fight lengthy legal battles against the Israeli state for these cases, in addition to the frequent arrests of activists at the growing number of West Bank demonstrations that the military has struggled in vain to crush.

American ISM activist Ryan Olander was arrested on December 18 in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem. He was then illegally re-arrested by “Oz” immigration unit the following day, just moments after his release. He spent 29 days in Ramle Givon detention center resisting deportation before he was released. On June 3 the Israeli District Court ruled in Olander’s favor, the precedent-setting ruling articulating that the police and “Oz” immigration unit practices were illegal. This victory paves the way for a legal grounding for future activists (see: https://palsolidarity.org/2010/02/11278/).

Czech activist and ISM media co-ordinator Eva Novakova was kidnapped by Oz forces in a night raid operation on her Ramallah apartment on January 11. Australian activist and ISM international co-ordinator Bridget Chappell and Spanish activist Araidna Jove Marti were abducted by Israeli military forces in a similar night raid on the ISM media office in Ramallah on February 7 (see: https://palsolidarity.org/2010/02/11224/). All three activists pursued the issue in the Israeli Supreme Court, bringing Israel’s repreated violation of the Oslo accords in to focus. In the case of Chappell and Marti, the State Prosecutor was forced to admit the their arrests had been outside the legal framework, with the judge declaring their detention illegal.

These legal battles, taking the Israeli power structures on at their own game, constitutes a form of “resistance” that has the potential to set decisive precedents and alter Israeli policy, while at the same time exposing the level of corroboration between various Israeli departments in the occupation’s implementation.

This kind of legal work comes at a high price tag, we currently owe around 18,000 NIS to our lawyers. The ISM is asking its supporters to donate now to support the work of the ISM’s solidarity with the Palestinian movement against apartheid. Activist groups may consider throwing fund-raising events to raise money, and continue raising awareness for the cause. You can donate online via Paypal (not through AJ Muste), please see https://palsolidarity.org/donate for details.