American peace activist Art Gish died on Wednesday in a tractor accident on his organic farm in Athens, Ohio, at the age of 70.
Gish and his wife Peggy – currently in Iraq – dedicated much of their lives to promoting peace in the Middle East through nonviolent action.
As a member of the Christian Peacemakers Team (CPT) based in Al Khalil (Hebron) in the West Bank, Gish lived up to the CPT’s slogan “Getting in the way” when he faced up to an Israeli tank in 2003 to try to prevent it from destroying a market in Hebron’s Old City.
Art Gish in Hebron in 2003 standing in front of an Israeli tank to try to stop it destroying a market in the Old City
The photo became famous when it was distributed by the Associated Press around the world.
“The soldiers tried their best to ignore me, but I am sure they heard me. I ignored their commands for me to leave. One soldier spit at me, so I walked right up to him and invited him to spit on me. He declined the offer.
Three soldiers aimed their guns at and moved toward a group of Palestinian bystanders. It looked to me like they were going to shoot. I quickly jumped in front of the soldiers, raised my hands in the air and shouted, “Shoot me, shoot me, go ahead and shoot me.” The soldiers immediately left.
A tank came roaring toward me, its big gun barrel aimed at me. I raised my hands in the air in prayer, and shouted, “Shoot, shoot, Baruch hashem adonai.” The tank stopped within inches of me.”
He added: “The Israeli military had put all of Hebron under total curfew today, saying they were looking for terrorists. Now I wonder if there really were terrorists hidden among the apples and oranges. Or, are the Israeli soldiers committing acts of terrorism against the civilian population of Hebron?”
31 July 2010 | ISM and IWPS (International Women’s Peace Service)
Wadi Qana is a valley south west of Nablus where numerous springs supply water to the surrounding Palestinian villages. Approximately 60 people live in the valley itself, and many more own land in the area in which they farm animals and cultivate both citrus and olive trees.
The valley and its springs have been suffering from the effects of raw sewage, which has been leaking into the valley from the illegally built Yaqir settlement since 1994. In 2005, the Israeli Authorities finally built underground sewage pipes after numerous attempts by Palestinians to make them deal with the sewage problems created by Yaqir and other surrounding settlements.
However, the pipes have now broken and so sewage flows out of them and into the nearby springs.
Sewage from Yaqir settlement contaminates arable land and may soon affect water sources
The Mayor of Deir Istiya has notified the Israeli Authorities about the leakage – through the Palestinian District Coordination Liaison Office – several times since the beginning of July. Despite this, Israeli Authorities deny any knowledge of the problem and continue to ignore requests to address the issue.
On July 24th, the Mayor accompanied villagers and volunteers from ISM and IWPS to the site in order to see if the problem had been dealt with.
One volunteer from ISM stated: “As we neared the leakage site, we could smell the sewage. The Israeli Authorities have done nothing to stop the problem so the sewage was still overflowing.” The Mayor added that “There is a high risk of sewage contaminating the potable water source if the leakage is not stopped soon.”
In response to the Israeli Authorities’ inaction to this recurring problem, farmers have been forced to build aqueducts on their (privately owned) land in order to obtain clean water for irrigation. Some of these were built with assistance from the Palestinian Authority. Farmers have also built fences around their land in order to protect their products from wild pigs and other animals, which have been released from the settlements and threaten to destroy the farmers’ crops.
Surveying the damage caused by leakages from sewage pipes which the authorities have failed to address
Israel’s confiscation of the land was followed by its assertion of Wadi Qana’s status as a nature reserve, with reference to a law created under the British Mandate. No evidence has been presented to Palestinians regarding the existence of this law and the subsequent status of the land. Despite this, on July 21st, the Mayor of Deir Istiya received an official visit from Israeli nature reserve officers. They informed the Mayor once again that the area is classified as a nature reserve, and that it is therefore illegal to build any structures within the area. As a consequence, the aforementioned farmers have been threatened with the demolition of the aqueducts and fences which they now depend upon for their livelihood.
Regardless of the demolition orders’ roots apparently being in Wadi Qana’s status as a nature reserve, Israeli Authorities continue to refuse to take action in order to render such structures unnecessary, or indeed to avoid a potential environmental disaster in the valley.
British student injured by Israeli soldiers illegally firing tear gas canisters directly at protesters
An Nabi Saleh, West Bank
31 July 2010
Kidd is one of many who have been injured at An Nabi Saleh where Israeli soldiers frequently flout international law by firing directly at protesters
A British student was injured yesterday (30 July 2010) when she was hit in the leg by a tear gas projectile fired directly at her, when Israeli soldiers violently repressed a peaceful protest in the West Bank.
Ellie Kidd, 23, from North London, is currently unable to walk due to the damage inflicted by the tear gas canister fired from approximately 50 metres away.
It is illegal to fire tear gas directly at human beings but Israeli soldiers frequently ignore the requirement to fire it up into the sky, instead firing directly at groups of peaceful protesters.
Kidd had joined a protest in the Palestinian village of An Nabi Saleh, 30 km northeast of Ramallah, where residents have since January 2010 been protesting against the theft of their land by the neighbouring illegal Israeli settlement of Halamish*.
Kidd was with around 15 other international and Israeli peace activists, whose presence at other demonstrations such as Bil’in has in the past discouraged the military from using such extreme force to repress demonstrations. However protests at An Nabi Saleh have from the start been dealt with using grossly disproportionate force** and numerous people have been injured in the last six months***.
A tear gas projectile of the kind illegally fired directly at protestors at many demonstrations
Kidd said: “The demonstration had barely even begun when Israeli soldiers started firing tear gas canisters directly at us. I heard the first shot and turned around but there was no time to move out of the way. The Israeli army has no respect for international law, or even for Israel’s self-professed laws****, let alone respect for Palestinians who should have a right to demonstrate against the theft of their land without risking injury or death.
“I’ve seen the army fire directly at Palestinian children as young as five. It’s time the British government and the rest of the world stopped ignoring the war crimes that are committed here by Israel every day.”
For more information contact:
Israeli soldiers have viciously repressed protests at An Nabi Saleh since they began in January 2010, including firing straight at groups of children
ISM Media Office
palreports@gmail.com
0546 180 056
Notes for Editors:
* The illegal Halamish (Neve Zuf) settlement, located opposite An Nabi Saleh, has illegally seized nearly half of the village’s valuable agricultural land. In January 2010, hundreds of the village residents’ olive trees were uprooted by settlers.
** The An Nabi Saleh demonstration is routinely met with dozens of soldiers armed with M16 assault rifles, tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and percussion grenades. This is despite the fact that the District Coordination Office has confirmed that the spring which the villagers try to reach each week is on Palestinian land.
**** In December 2009 an Israeli court decision awarded the property rights of the land to An Nabi Saleh residents, but this ruling has been ignored by soldiers and settlers.
“I call to the whole world to treat us like everybody else, to break the blockade of the sea and of the whole Gaza Strip, so that people will be able to make a living from the sea again”, states the happy winner of the first Gaza boat race, Jamal Baker.
On the 26th July 2010, the race took place near the port of Gaza city, with ten boats participating. The boats sped through three laps, always staying near the coastline from where a cheering crowd followed the action.
It was a symbolic sign of resistance against the siege, which has been imposed on Gaza since 2007. The livelihood of the fishermen especially has been deeply affected by the siege, since they are only allowed to fish within three mile range of the shore. According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights this means that they are unable to catch enough fish to earn the income they need to nourish their families. It has also left the narrow area along the coastline heavily over-fished.
But the life of Gazan fishermen has not only become unbearably hard, but also very dangerous. Israeli gunboats shoot at fishermen on a regular basis while they are trying to do their daily work on the sea.
Beyond that, the naval blockade is affecting the quality of the life of all people in Gaza, who are already suffer immensely under the situation. Yet still, “people here love the life”, Mustafa Alkabarity, the organizer of the event, told us. “They want to go sailing, fishing, or surfing. But the problem here in Gaza is that we can’t import any equipment – even surfboards are a security problem for the Israeli side.” And it’s not only surfboards that apparently jeopardize Israel’s state security. Sewage pumps are also prevented from entering Gaza; this has led to serious pollution of the sea.
Nonetheless, the people of Gaza haven’t given up on their dreams, as they demonstrated by conducting this boat race against all the odds. Baker had spent five days training on the sea, and since his victory, his ambition to take the race on to bigger things is clear: “I hope that we are able to compete with other countries, and that also European countries would join the race. We have the ability for that”, he affirms.
The winner of the boat race, Jamal Baker, is lifted aloft by friends and supporters
The jubilation of the crowd as Baker and his first mate were hoisted on the shoulders of some ecstatic supporters exemplified the enthusiasm for maritime culture that exists here in Gaza. The know-how and talent of the sailors was self-evident, but in their case having the ability is not enough.
What the people of Gaza essentially need is the basic right of free access to their national waters, so that the next race can be even more than a symbolic act of defiance.
Nahal Oz demonstration Wed. 28th July (Photo: TILDE DE WANDEL)
29 July 2010 | ISM Gaza
Five International Solidarity Movement volunteers participated in a demonstration against the bufferzone near Nahal Oz border crossing, east of Gaza City on Wednesday (July 28th).
The march had a big turn out of over 200 people and was organised by the Popular Campaign for the Security in the Buffer Zone, an umbrella group which includes organisations representing farmers and local people living near the border. Members of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF), a grass-roots organisation heavily involved in the protests against the buffer-zone, waved prominent large white flags.
An Israeli army jeep and a large armoured Israeli vehicle were already in position as the demonstrators approached a ridge 150 metres from the fence, where they stood, waving flags and chanting well inside the ‘no go area’ or ‘buffer-zone’ unilaterally imposed by Israel, covering land 300m from the border fence along the entire frontier with Israel. Violent attacks by the Israeli military on anyone in the area have been a consistent occurrence – frequently live ammunition has been used against peaceful demonstrators and even farmers harvesting crops. According to the Palestine Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) the ‘buffer zone‘ contains over 30% of Gaza’s most useful arable land.
As the demonstration progressed three more jeeps and two tanks arrived. Five soldiers in firing positions were visible outside the vehicles.
Nahal Oz demonstration Wed. 28th July (Photo: TILDE DE WANDEL)
In the beginning of the demonstration the majority of participants marched to about 300 metres to the border where the speeches were made, with demonstrators that included a large group of women, carrying banners condemning the occupation and the siege.
Although in the previous demonstration in Nahal Oz the protesters there were heavily fired upon, this time the watching Israeli snipers did not fire. Some youths advanced to within 100m of the border fence, near to where 21 year old Ahmed Deeb was shot and killed by an explode-on-impact bullet or ‘dum dum’, at a Nahal Oz demonstration on the 28th April this year. That demonstration was non-violent as was Wednesday’s but the continuous use of live ammunition by the Israeli Occupation Forces has caused frequent deaths and numerous injuries for farmers and their families, scrap collectors and demonstrators.
Abu Walid Mahmoud Al-Zaq of the Popular Struggle Front and coordinator of the Popular Campaign for the Security in the Buffer Zone was pleased with the turn-out and helped re-group the crowd when the demonstration had finished, fortunately without injuries.
He explained the importance of continuing to demonstrate despite the risk of live fire: “We will support the farmers who have to work their own land in the buffer-zone in spite of the regular violent attacks on them and their families – we will refuse to let the access to our land be controlled by the brutal policies of the Israeli Occupation Forces.” He also said he invites anyone who can to join a buffer-zone demonstration.
Nahal Oz demonstration Wed. 28th July (Photo: TILDE DE WANDEL)
The Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC) report that the fertile farmland located around the buffer zone was in recent times the source of half of the food needs of Gaza’s population. Purely due to Israel’s siege of Gaza’s borders and their continuous attacks, farming has now become a very unproductive industry. Of the 175,000 dunams of cultivable land, PARC reported that 60 to 75,000 dunams have been destroyed during Israeli invasions and operations.
The level of destruction from the last Israeli war on Gaza alone accounted for the destruction of 35 to 60 percent of the agricultural industry, according to the UN and World Health Organization. Gaza’s sole agricultural college, in Beit Hanoun, was also destroyed. Oxfam notes that the combination of the Israeli war on Gaza and the buffer zone renders around 46 percent of agricultural land useless or unreachable.
Between January and April this year there have been 50 people injured and 14 killed in attacks on the buffer zone. In the past twelve months there have been at least 220 Israeli attacks with 116 coming since the beginning of 2010 (PCHR, as of April 30th).
