Category: Reports - Page 433 - International Solidarity Movement

Justice for Adeeb Abu Rahma: Peaceful protest is not a crime

International Solidarity Movement

23 June 2010

The conflict between the Israeli military and security and the popular non-violent Palestinian resistance is reaching a crisis – in large part a tribute to the worldwide credibility and admiration the resistance is steadily winning.

Today in Palestine, such resistance is breaking out in larger towns, small villages, Bedouin encampments, in both Christian and Muslim areas. People are marching, chanting and singing, carrying signs, and often using very funny or touching street theatre. Palestinians are calling for their rights, joined and assisted by international and Israeli volunteers in a new model of friendship and brotherhood that offers hope for the future.

This movement has terrified the Israeli establishment, especially as the usual techniques have failed to stop its momentum. Arrests, serious and crippling injuries, deaths, and destruction of property (the ability to earn a living), have all made huge and painful inroads into people’s lives and hopes. Despite this, resistance continues.

Widespread sentiment is that this is the last chance, that no-one can stop now if they ever wish to gain their freedom and the justice that has been denied them.

A perfect symbol of this conflict is Adeeb Abu Rahma from Bil’in: one of the most charismatic, courageous, creative and at times hilariously funny activists.

Adeeb has been convicted for crimes of “incitement” – that is, urging the villagers to come out on Fridays to join the weekly protest – and for belonging to the Bil’in Popular Committee. These manufactured “crimes” apply to all the leaders and most of the participants of all the nonviolent movements in all the towns and villages of Palestine. If they are determined by the Israeli military to be illegal in Palestine, and a heavy sentence applied, then the entire resistance movement is threatened. Which is, of course, the point.

Adeeb is due to be sentenced in a few days. International law specifically recognizes the right of occupied people to resist occupation – that these people have chosen to do this in a nonviolent way shows great wisdom and restraint. This choice should be welcomed rather than criminalized by Israel if they have any intention of living here in peace with their neighbors.

Join us to support Adeeb:

Please contact your Embassies and Consulates in Jerusalem (http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-in/Israel) to ask for their help in preventing an act that will hurt both sides as they search for a way to live together in peace.

Dear Ambassador/Consul,

I/we are writing to ask for your help in preventing a miscarriage of justice in the case of Adeeb abu Rahma, who has been convicted in military court of “incitement” (that is, encouraging people from his village to take part in the weekly demonstrations against the illegal wall that confiscates most of the village land), and of belonging to a Popular Commitee in his village of Bil’in.

Lengthy efforts to convict Adeeb of stone throwing or other violent acts have failed, and so the government is attempting to criminalize acts of non-violent resistance. Such resistance is clearly defined in international law as being a legal right for anyone under occupation (1977 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, Article 1, Paragraph 4).

When Israel was suffering from suicide bombing attacks, prominent Israeli figures asked loudly and often, “Where is the Palestinian Gandhi; where is a resistance that does not involve terror?” Now that Israel faces such resistance, with leaders who are willing to talk to them as equals, they are using every weapon at their disposal to intimidate, discourage, wound and even kill both those who lead it and the ordinary Palestinians who take part. Does Israel want to force Palestinians back to a more violent path? This the time for Israel to come to terms with the reality of Palestinian rights and needs, and to begin to reason their way forward to a future where both peoples can live in this land without fear of the other.

The case of Adeeb abu Rahma is a symbol of this struggle. Israel now has a choice in his sentencing to send a signal that it wants to crush nonviolent initiatives, or to find more creative and hopeful ways to move toward the future. Adeeb has served over a year, with constantly shifting charges, and should be released for time served, with an apology and hopes for a better future.

Sincerely,

Adeeb’s daughter Raja:

We also ask your support for Adeeb’s daughter, Raja. Though from a simple family, Raja has won extremely high marks in the nationwide high-school exam scores, and she is now studying medicine at Bir Zeit University. Adeeb drives a taxi, and fees and other expenses would never have been easy for him, but his beloved daughter’s education has always been his priority. Since his imprisonment, friends of Adeeb have donated to allow Raja to continue her studies. She now needs $1500 for next semester’s fees, and we hope that supporters of Bil’in and of Adeeb can help her to realize her dreams and those of her father.

Please donate money to Raja by PayPal:

Demonstrators refuse to be intimidated by military violence

International Solidarity Movement

22 June 2010

Al Ma’asara

After three years of being blocked from accessing their land on Fridays, Al Ma’asara villagers were granted permission on Friday to walk to the fields which will be confiscated by planned wall construction. Soldiers initially tried to block the route with razor wire but, as it was tangled and out of commission, relented to the requests of organizers to let the group pass. The group then walked peacefully to the land and rested under olive trees. One organizer, reluctant to be overly celebratory, said, “I think this is a compensation. Last week they took away one of our boys, so this week they let us march to the land. Next week we will see.”

An Nabi Saleh

Around two hundred demonstrators marched on Friday to protest against the illegal expansion of the Halamish settlement and the theft of the natural spring in the village of An Nabi Saleh.

The nonviolent demonstration started from the main square and continued down to the road where Palestinians and international and Israeli activists intended to reach the stolen land and the natural spring. However, Israeli forces blocked the road and stopped the nonviolent demonstration. Soon after that, one of the villagers was taken from his house and detained for several minutes for being falsely accused of letting shabab (young Palestinian boys) throw stones from his house.

After that incident, men, women and children persisted in their attempt to demonstrate when soldiers started to launch tear gas canisters at the people. Then, the crowd was dispersed but the tear gas canisters were still flying through An Nabi Saleh’s sky.

Around four o’clock in the afternoon, when the demonstration was still going on, the army raid the village and chased demonstrators, who had to run and hide in order to avoid arrest. The raid lasted for thirty minutes. When demonstrators tried to continue the demonstration, soldiers once again invaded the village and chased demonstrators in a clear attempt to arrest them. As a form of collective punishment, the army remained in the village for one hour. Soon after they left the demonstration was called off.

Bil’in

Around fifty villagers, Israelis and international activists gathered for the weekly demonstration and walked from the village towards the illegal annexation barrier built to separate them from around 60% of their land, and from an illegal settlement built on a neighbouring hill. Israeli military fired several tear gas from the other side of the fence to the right of the road, to deter the demonstrators from proceeding. Most of the group reached the fence and razor wire where it cut off the road, and Israeli forces in masks and riot gear stood beside a small camouflaged hut about 10m beyond the fence on the opposite side. Some of the local boys threw stones in their direction and twice attempted to pull away the razor wire. The soldiers responded by firing multiple tear gas and then charged towards the protesters with shields and full riot gear, causing the group to run back towards the village. The military continued firing tear gas and chased the demonstrators who fled and took cover in houses and olive groves. One British ISM activist, overcome by the effects of the highly concentrated tear gas, was caught and arrested, along with two Israeli demonstrators. They were detained at the nearest police station and released after several hours

Hebron

About one hundred Palestinians, Israelis and internationals took part in the weekly demonstration Saturday which aims to open the closed Shuhada Street. It was a joyful demonstration with the world cup theme, although two Israeli activists were arrested.

One hundred persons or so gathered in Hebron old town to protest against the occupation and the Israeli settlements in Hebron. The demonstration started in the old municipality square near Shuhada Street which the Israeli military has closed for all Palestinians. People from all ages chanted and called for the occupation to end. Inspired by the ongoing world cup, the demonstrators simultaneously gave the settlers and the army the red card. After a while the protesters started to march through the old city. The army, however, wanted differently and formed a line to stop the peaceful march. After a bit of pushing the march changed route and went in the opposite direction. During the confrontation, Hebrew speaking activists overheard the police getting orders from the radio to randomly select two people and arrest them. Surprisingly, just a few minutes later two Israeli activists were arrested and held for a few hours. As the march continued through the ancient streets of the old city, songs echoed and the spirit rose. Even the water-throwing settlers couldn’t bring down the good mood and the people reassembled in the old municipality square.

Ni’lin

Roughly fifty Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators gathered Friday for a demonstration against Israel’s illegal apartheid wall, which claims roughly 30% of the village’s remaining land. The demonstrators marched through olive groves singing and chanting, before approaching the wall where a large number of soldiers stood watching from behind the gate. Demonstrators fanned out along the wall as barrages of tear gas were fired at the nonviolent crowd.

After walking to a point at which the wall becomes fence, soldiers continued to fire gas at demonstrators despite having caused a large fire on their side of the wall. Half-hearted attempts were made by the soldiers to extinguish the blaze, but it ultimately was permitted to burn through the olive grove now separated from the village. Villagers were forced to watch as flames licked the trunks of the village’s ancient trees. Frustration was expressed with their lack of access to the land, which prevents farmers from clearing the brush to prevent fires.

Soldiers then entered the village through a gate in the wall and began running towards the demonstrators to make arrests. Five medics and one reporter from Nil’in were roughly grabbed and arrested. A medic’s radio was smashed on a rock and the arrestees were marched back through the gate into army jeeps. Four were released and two are being charged with assault, an entirely unfounded claim.

Sheikh Jarrah

Friday, several hundred Israeli activists, joined by internationals and Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah, gathered in the park on the opposite side of Nablus Road from the neighborhood where four families have been evicted from their homes. After trying to access the neighborhood, permission which is never granted despite giving settlers unlimited access to the street for demonstrations, the crowd then turned in the other direction to access homes which have recently been given eviction orders west of Nablus Road. Police initially blocked the crowd, but demonstrators were successful in finding a second route and reaching the homes.

Tear gas canisters sparked a fire, ultimately claiming village farmland

Iraq Burin

For the second week in a row, Israeli soldiers formed road blocks outside the village of Iraq Burin on Saturday, in an attempt to stop people gathering for the village’s weekly demonstration. Non-residents of the village were denied entry, though several walked across the hills, successfully avoiding the roadblock. Residents of the village returning from Nablus were threatened and hurt by soldiers. Several reported being slapped in the face and beaten in the legs when they were stopped outside the village.

Despite this intimidation, villagers and supporters nonetheless assembled at the edge of Iraq Burin, and crossed the valley to reach their land, which they have been repeatedly prevented from accessing due to Israeli settler violence. When the Israeli military has intervened, it has always been to prevent Palestinian access to the land, rather than being to prevent the violence from the settlers.

Upon reaching the top of the hill opposite the village, demonstrators were met with a line of soldiers, who fired tear gas at them, forcing them back down into the valley. The heat of the gas canisters caused a large fire on the dry farm land. Soldiers continued to aim at the Palestinian youth as they attempted to put out the flames.

Beit Jala

On Sunday, a small group of Palestinian. Israeli and international demonstrators gathered in Beit Jala with the intention of protesting on land where the illegal apartheid wall is being built, but were prevented by soldiers who had obstructed both access roads with razor wire. The demonstrators chose to cut through an olive grove in an attempt to reach the land, but were quickly met by soldiers. A standoff between soldiers and demonstrators ensued, during which several speeches were delivered. After several minutes, soldiers began to forcibly push the crowd back with batons. As the soldiers fired several tear gas canisters and began to push the nonviolent demonstrators more quickly, an atmosphere oif “muted panic” ensued as demonstrators tried to avoid being injured. At this point, a young Palestinian was seized by soldiers and badly beaten.
Tear gas canisters started a small fire in the olive grove, which was quickly extinguished.

Israeli violence continues in Gaza ‘buffer zone’: wheat harvest prevented; three injured by shelling

International Solidarity Movement

20 June 2010

Five female farm-workers returned to the Gaza ‘buffer zone’ early Saturday morning, with the intention of continuing the wheat harvest near Khoza’a village, Khan Yunis. The harvesters were forced to abandon their work after just thirty minutes as snipers attacked the unarmed workers with a barrage of live ammunition. Earlier in the month, the same women harvested for three partial days, but increasingly extreme attacks by Israeli snipers ultimately ended the harvest for fear someone would be intentionally targeted.

On Saturday, the unarmed workers began harvesting at 7am, accompanied by four international activists and several media agencies. The women worked roughly 150-200 meters from the Israeli border. After only thirty minutes, Israeli snipers began shooting around the plainly non-threatening group. Over fifty rounds were fired as international activists communicated the nonviolent nature of the harvest over a megaphone. The attack was more threatening than the opening barrages of previous mornings, putting the workers on edge

After the shooting ended, the group waited in the field until 8:15am, then moved further back to wait for the snipers and jeeps to retreat, like they usually do. At 9:00am, the jeeps were still stationed at the border. The severity of the attack, combined with earlier perilous situations, left the impression that someone would soon be intentionally shot, as is often the case. Consequently, the women were forced to leave the wheat unharvested. A sizeable amount remains in the ‘buffer zone’, highlighting the effect that this particular Israeli policy has on poverty and malnutrition in Gaza.

Women hand-harvesting wheat in the Gaza 'buffer zone'

A primary factor in the decision to abandon the harvest was an attack which occurred Wednesday, June tenth. On that occasion, snipers fired over 50 rounds extremely close to the group, with many bullets landing within a meter of the women’s heads. At such a short distance, any minor deviation would have hit someone.

Concern is expressed among farmers that if land in the ‘buffer zone’ (more than 30% of arable land) is allowed to lie fallow, Israel will seize the wide swath, claiming it is unused. This technique is commonly used in the West Bank, where settlements and the illegal annexation wall prevent farmers from accessing their land or expose them to violence. The land is then claimed because it has not been farmed.

Rubble collectors attacked, injured by artillery shelling near Beit Hanoun

Three rubble collectors were injured Saturday by artillery shelling near the northern city of Beit Hanoun as they collected concrete in the Gaza ‘buffer zone’. This is the second artillery attack in recent weeks. The previous, 27 May, left six farmers seriously injured.

Those venturing to the border regions to gather rubble and steel risk being shot with live ammunition and other weaponry as well as abduction. The Israeli military routinely raids the homes of rubble collectors to make arrests. Persons choosing to assume these risks do so as a result of the siege on Gaza which, along with Israel’s 23 day winter war, has decimated Gaza’s economy. Prior to the brutal assault, 98% of industrial operations were stagnant due to the blockade. The offensive then destroyed or severely damaged some 700 private businesses in just three weeks.¹

The recycled construction materials are vital in Gaza where the Israeli-led, internationally-complicit siege bans all but roughly 35 categories of items from entering. The list of banned construction materials includes cement, steel, glass, and plastic and metal pipes. Over 6,400 houses were destroyed or severely damaged in the Israeli war on Gaza, and nearly 53,000 sustained lesser damages. Hospitals and medical centres, schools, kindergartens and mosques are among the other buildings destroyed and damaged. Since the war, a monthly average of four trucks now reach Gaza with construction materials, less than .05% of the pre-siege levels. ¹

Gaza ‘buffer zone’ background

While unemployment levels hover near 42% in Gaza and 60% of its 1.5 million residents lack food security, ² Israel’s illegal buffer zone greatly exacerbates the humanitarian crisis. 30% of Gaza’s arable farmland, and some of its most fertile, lies within the buffer zone. ³ Farmers who attempt to work in the zone face live fire and crop destruction. The number of crops grown in the zone has consequently been reduced from a diverse range to wheat and other less labor-intensive harvests, which further negatively impacts the nutrition and economic condition of Gazans. An additional 17% of farmland was destroyed in Israel’s war of aggression,¹ making 47% (nearly half) of Gaza’s farmland now marginally usable.

The buffer zone has also reduced Gaza’s fishing zones to 1-3 miles offshore. In the first four months of 2010, 19 naval attacks led to two shootings and three arrests, as well as numerous confiscations of fishing equipment. The narrow fishing zone, in which over 3,600 fishermen work daily, is gravely over-fished. ³

Israel’s decision to instate a 300-meter buffer zone is in violation of Oslo Accords, and people are routinely shot as far as two kilometers from the border. Israeli attacks in the buffer zone injured 50 persons and killed 14 between January and April 2010. In the past twelve months, at least 220 Israeli attacks have been carried out, with 116 coming since the beginning of 2010 (as of April 30th). ³

¹ Oxfam: Failing Gaza: No rebuilding, no recovery, no more excuses
² PCHR Fact Sheet: The Illegal Closure of the Gaza Strip
³ PCHR Fact Sheet: The Buffer Zone in the Gaza Strip

Stop the bullets! A call to end the use of live ammunition against unarmed civilians in the Gaza ‘buffer zone’

International Solidarity Movement

19 June 2010

Snipers fired barrages of live ammunition within meters of these women as the hand-harvested wheat two weeks ago

The catastrophic Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which left 9 dead, has rightly horrified the international community. However, lethal force by the Israeli military is nothing new to Palestinians. In the Gaza ‘buffer zone’, live ammunition is routinely used against unarmed demonstrators and farmers.

* The ‘buffer zone’ is illegal

The Israeli military violently enforces a zone of 300 meters to 2 kilometers along Gaza’s lengthy border with Israel, in direct violation of the Oslo Accords of the 1990’s. This zone claims 30% of Gaza’s farmland, and some of its most fertile.

* The Israeli military shoots unarmed farmers

Farmers attempting to cultivate land in the ‘buffer zone’ are routinely met with barrages of live ammunition and occasional artillery shells. Exacerbating widespread poverty and malnutrition, farmers cannot access one third of their land without facing extreme danger.

* Farmers have launched a campaign of popular non-violent resistance

Unarmed demonstrations are held in the ‘buffer zone’, internationally recognized as Gazan land, to protest the illegal confiscation of farmland which has such grave consequences for Gaza’s struggling population.

* Live ammunition is used as a form of ‘crowd dispersal’ against unarmed demonstrators, with deadly consequences

Unarmed demonstrators in the ‘buffer zone’ are intentionally shot with live fire. In April 2010 alone, at least six demonstrators were injured by bullets. This includes Maltese activist Bianca Zammit who was shot in the thigh while filming the demonstration in clear view of soldiers. The following week, 19-year-old Ahmad Dib was shot at a demonstration and bled to death two hours later.

* The international community cannot remain silent

Human rights activists are prevented from entering Gaza; prevented from documenting and reporting on the humanitarian crisis. Israel uses live ammunition against unarmed demonstrators and farmers because it is shielded from international scrutiny. Tell Israel to stop shooting unarmed civilians on Gazan land.

TAKE ACTION:

1. Contact your representatives to demand that Israel be held accountable for violence against unarmed activists and end the siege on Gaza

Call or email your representative to Israel, http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-in/Israel

Write your own or use the provided letter at the end of the article

2. Support the call from Palestinian Civil Society for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel

After the recent attack on International activists aboard boats of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, the Boycott National Committees have called for an intensification of BDS campaigns and actions around the world (http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/710). While the raid is no longer in the news, Israeli armed forces are still targeting Gazan non-violent activists. Every week near the ‘buffer zone’, demonstrators and farmers are shot at with live ammunition. The violence against these activists, just as the violence against the Freedom Flotilla, cannot be ignored.

3. Target local shops that sell Israeli products, http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/4

Supermarkets, clothing stores and consumer goods from Israel can be the focus of a BDS campaign. Find a campaign in your area or launch one today!

Ongoing campaigns: http://bdsmovement.net/?q=node/54

Activist resources: http://bdsmovement.net/?q=node/49

Sample Letter to your representative:

Dear Ambassador,

If unarmed farmers and protesters were being shot with live ammunition in the United States, Europe or any country which claimed democratic credentials, the international community would be justifiably outraged. Yet Gazans attempting to farm or demonstrate in the illegal ‘buffer zone’ are routinely shot with live ammunition. In the past twelve months, at least 220 Israeli attacks have been carried out in the ‘buffer zone’, with 116 coming since the beginning of 2010 (as of April 30th).* In the first four months of 2010, over 50 Gazans were injured, and 16 were killed in these attacks.

30% of Gaza’s arable farmland, and some of it’s most fertile, lies within the ‘buffer zone’.* Farmers who attempt to work in the zone face routine live fire and crop destruction, in addition to occasional artillery shells. Israel shoots farmers trying to grow crops on Gazan land for an impoverished and malnourished society.

Unarmed demonstrations in the zone, internationally-recognized Gazan territory, are organized by Gazan farmers. In April alone, at least six demonstrators were shot and injured by live ammunition fired by Israeli snipers. Among the injured was Maltese activist Bianca Zammit, who was shot in the thigh while standing in clear view, filming the demonstration. The following week, 19-year-old Ahmad Dib was shot in the leg and died two hours later from blood loss.

For the Palestinians who escape only with gunshot injuries, the impact extends far beyond initial pain. Daily cleaning of the wound is required, metal plates replace shattered bones, and permanent disabilities are frequent. Such injuries are devastating, as the wounded are frequently the only wage-earner in a large extended family.

The attack on the Freedom Flotilla brought international criticism of Israel’s ongoing human rights violations, but criticism alone is not enough. It is clear that the international community cannot remain silent as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is perpetuated through policies such as this. The use of live ammunition in the ‘buffer zone’ must end.

Sincerely,

(Your Name)

For more information, see:

BDS Movement, http://www.bdsmovement.net/

International Solidarity Movement, https://palsolidarity.org/

Fishing Under Fire, http://www.fishingunderfire.blogspot.com/

Farming Under Fire, http://farmingunderfire.blogspot.com/

Harassment and crop destruction in Hebron

International Solidarity Movement

16 June 2010

Hebron's Palestinian residents face more harassment and abuse from soldiers and settlers than in any other major West Bank city

Tel Rumeida raid, 14 June

The Israeli army conducted a night raid the on the mosque Othman Ibn Afan in Tel Rumeida, Hebron, 14 June 2010. At 9.30 pm local residents and mosque visitors witnessed approximately 14 heavily armed soldiers waiting outside the mosque, ultimately for the purpose of detaining several men.

The men were taken individually to the other side of the street and were stripped of their belongings, photographed and identified. A group of international activists arrived around 11 pm, and shortly thereafter the soldiers packed up and left the mosque. According to local residents none of the detained men were arrested or hurt. The Israeli soldiers outside the mosque called the night venture “an intelligence operation”.

Crop destruction near Kiryat Arba Settlement in Hebron, 16 June

During the night, settlers raided and destroyed crops and water supply on the land of a family living in Jabal Jahwar near the Kiryat Arba Settlement in Hebron. The following morning, the family, upset by the damage to their land, detailed regular property destruction by the settlers. Offenses included ongoing harassment, destruction of plants and water supply for the crops, poisoning plants and trying to cut down olive trees.