On Thursday 21 January ’10, tree ISM volunteers accompanied five farmers form the village of Abu Tayima in the Khouzaa area near Khan Younis, to their land near the Israeli border.
A long awaited rainfall in Gaza several days ago created good conditions for wheat sowing on this dangerous plot of land where in the past farmers were shot at by the Israeli soldiers patrolling the border.
One hour after arriving when sowing and ploughing were in full swing, two Israeli army jeeps drove alongside the border fence and stopped. From the distance we could see a number of soldiers moving between the two jeeps and soon after that they started firing at us. The farmers withdrew to the safer area while ISM volunteers remained in the field and used loudspeakers to inform the Israeli soldiers that they were dealing with the unarmed civilians working on their land who posed no threat to them.
After about 10 minutes the two jeeps drove away and another jeep arrived with warning sirens on, while the soldiers were shouting in Arabic that we should leave. The ISM volunteers repeated the explanation that Palestinian unarmed farmers were working on their land and that they would leave for their homes when their work was finished.
Shortly after the jeep left and farmers were able to return and complete their work.
One of the farmers told us that they choose to grow wheat there to minimise the risk for themselves and their families of being shot. He said that wheat did not require much looking after and that they hoped to make the same perilous journey to the same field in May to harvest their crops.
This week’s Friday demonstration in al-Ma’asara celebrated the Palestinian Day of the Tree. Some 70 demonstrators, Palestinian, Israeli and international, marched from the centre of the village towards the route of the Apartheid fence, carrying young olive trees to be planted in the lands near the fence. Amongst the demonstrators were Palestinian Minister of Agriculture Ismail Du’eik and other officials from the Bethlehem area.
Shortly before reaching the soldiers who awaited the protest, demonstrators stopped to watch the minister plant two olive trees at the end of the built area in the village. The march then proceeded to meet with the larger than usual number of border policemen and soldiers, some of whom had taken over the rooftops of nearby houses, aiming guns at the demonstration. The minister and other demonstrators gave speeches in Arabic and Hebrew, and left two plants near the fence. The demonstration ended peacefully.
About an hour later, soldiers arrested one of the Palestinian demonstrators inside the village. The grounds for the arrest are still unclear, and the activist was released later that evening. Army jeeps patrolled the village for several hours following the arrest.
Summary: December 2009 was marked by invasions of Palestinian villages in the area by Israeli occupation forces, continued denial of the right of Palestinian children to access education, and consistent rejection of Palestinian owners’ rights to cultivate or graze sheep on their land. Despite the invasions, challenges faced in accessing education, and obstacles to cultivating the land, Palestinians in the At-Tuwani area continued to organize local marches, plowing actions, and joined in nonviolent actions with other Palestinian communities committed to nonviolent resistance to the Israeli occupation.
Israeli Military Incursions
Tuesday 1 December 2009
In the early morning hours, the Israeli military invaded the village of Maghayir Al-Abeed. Approximately 50 soldiers, 10 jeeps, and a number of helicopters conducted training operations, including shooting exercises, in the village.
Wednesday 2 December
Two military vehicles entered At-Tuwani at 4:15 am and went to a number of houses, pounding on doors, harassing the inhabitants, and checking identification. The soldiers pointed their guns at Palestinians and internationals who opened windows and doors to investigate the noise.
Tuesday 15 December
The Israeli secret police (Shin Bet) entered At-Tuwani and photographed the village. Plainclothes police officers asked villagers about all newly constructed buildings, caves, and cisterns in At-Tuwani. A police officer demanded to see Hough and Nichols’ IDs as soon as they approached the scene. The officer questioned the CPTers as to why they were living in the village, where they were living, which organizations worked in the area, and additionally about the newly constructed houses in the village.
The same morning, there was also an unmarked white airplane that flew unusually low and quietly over the village. Villagers in Tuba also reported seeing the plane, saying that it flew around Tuba in patterns that led them to believe it was taking photographs.
Denial of Right to Education
Thursday 10 December
The villagers of At-Tuwani organized a solidarity demonstration in response to the difficulties faced by the school in Al-Fakheit, located 5km southwest of At-Tuwani. Marchers participated to draw attention to Israel restrictions on the freedom of movement on Palestinian children and teachers.
Following the march, several community leaders gave at the Al-Fakheit School. This was followed by several hours of activities for and by the children of Al-Fakheit School. These included drama, music, dabka dancing (a traditional Palestinian dance), face painting, and a quiz show. Nearly 150 people attended the event, including various activists and journalists, as well as a Palestinian theater troupe from the northern West Bank.
The Israeli military maintained a presence sporadically throughout the march. While the march proceeded from At-Tuwani to Al-Fakheit, the Israeli military and police declared At-Tuwani a closed military zone in an attempt to prevent activists or journalists from entering the area. See a gallery of photos from the march here.
Monday 14 December
Nichols and Southworth monitored the Beit Yatir checkpoint, on the southern border of the West Bank, where Palestinian children from the village of Lesaafer pass through on their way to school. Lesaafer is on Palestinian land annexed into Israel by the separation barrier, forcing the residents of the village to pass through the checkpoint to access work, education, or other services. The children, who walk from Lesaafer through the Beit Yatir checkpoint to their school in Imneizel, are sometimes detained for more than one hour.
Sunday 20 December
In the afternoon the Israeli military detained teachers, children, and internationals returning from Al-Fakheit School. Soldiers confiscated the ID of the driver, who was transporting the teachers and students, and forced him and MacDonald to drive to a remote field south of the Palestinian village of Jinba. The schoolchildren and the teachers were forced to walk home. The soldiers proceeded to examine the truck’s registration and serial numbers, took photos of the truck, and confiscated the ignition key.
After hours of detainment, the Palestinian driver and MacDonald were told to leave the area. The owner of the truck was not able to retrieve his vehicle because the soldiers remained by the vehicle for some time. On 2 January, the owner found his vehicle completely destroyed in an Israeli military firing zone. Many of the vehicle parts had been confiscated or smashed, including the headlights, battery, and much of the engine. (See the CPTnet release: SOUTH HEBRON HILLS: Israeli army confiscates truck,
forcing children and teachers to walk an hour to homes.) Christian Peacemaker Teams and OD have been providing accompaniment for the teachers and students of Al-Fakheit School who face continuing delays and movement restrictions at the hands of the Israeli military.
Wednesday 30 December Video to the right.
An Israeli settler from the Israeli outpost of Havat Ma’on chased and attacked Palestinian schoolchildren from the villages of Tuba and Maghayir al-Abeed while the children were waiting to walk to school. Tareq Ibrahim Abu Jundiyye reported, “the younger kids started crying as we were running away because they were afraid the settler would catch them. I mean, we had to run away, if I would have stayed I would have been struck on the head by a rock.” The Israeli army exposed the children to this attack by arriving more than 90 minutes late to escort them to school. (See the CPTnet release: AT-TUWANI: Israeli army negligence permits Israeli settler attack on children.)
Thursday 31 December
During the afternoon escort of Palestinian school children from Tuba and Maghayir al-Abeed, an Israeli settler woman approached the children. After a verbal altercation between the settler and the children, the woman made a phone call, and the Ma’on settlement security guard chased the children into At-Tuwani village, some distance from where the children meet their Israeli military escort.
Palestinians Plowing Land Despite Obstacles
Thursday 3 December
Nichols and Southworth accompanied Palestinians plowing land between Qawawis and Susiya. After a few hours of plowing, Israeli settlers from Mizpe Yair (Magen David) forcibly stopped the plowing. One settler stood in front of the tractor while the other stole its key. Shortly after the settlers made several phone calls, the military, police, and District Coordinating Office (DCO, the branch of the Israeli military which deals with Palestinian civilian affairs in Area C) arrived. The DCO prohibited the Palestinians from plowing the plot. Instead, the military allowed Palestinians to plow only a small additional portion of the field.
Saturday 5 December
Palestinians living in Yatta attempted to plow the field between the Palestinian village of Um Fagarah the Israeli outpost of Avigail. Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli soldiers, forcibly stopped the work of the Palestinians. The settlers brought aggressive dogs and ignored the Palestinians’ and internationals’ requests to control them. After several minutes of arguing, a soldier jumped up on the tractor and screamed orders and threats at the Palestinian driving the truck. After this incident the Palestinians decided to return home instead of risking the confiscation of their equipment.
The same day, Palestinians also attempted to plow a valley between the Palestinian village of Shi’b Al-Butum and the Israeli outpost of Mizpe Yair (Magen David). Settlers and the outpost security guard immediately approached the farmers and remained present until a group of Israeli soldiers arrived. The soldiers immediately stopped the work, simply claiming that plowing in the area was forbidden. The soldiers refused to look at the landowner’s paperwork, which showed him to be the owner of the entire valley. Officers from the DCO arrived and spoke with the settlers and the Palestinian land owner. The DCO officers told the land owner that he could plow no closer to the outpost than he had already plowed. The land owner told CPTers that until two years ago he was able to plow the all valley, up to the outpost. The last two years, the Israeli military has prohibited him plowing all of the land that he owns.
The same DCO officers stopped another Palestinian man from plowing his land on an adjacent hillside. The DCO officer detained the owner’s son, who was driving the tractor, and threatened to arrest him and confiscate the tractor if he continued to plow. The officer chided the driver, telling the young man he did not want to be a bad boy by disobeying an officer. The officer said he was prohibiting the work was because the man was plowing on the hillside, claiming that Palestinians could only cultivate privately-owned land in a valley.
Sunday 6 December
Israeli settlers plowed privately-owned Palestinian land in Umm Zeituna valley. In 1999, Palestinian families living in Umm Zeituna were forced off the land by settler violence. The Palestinian land owners have been reluctant to return to their land because of continuing settler violence and harassment. The owners have filed multiple complaints to the police regarding the violence against them and the confiscation of their land. However, no legal action has been taken against the settlers.
Saturday 12 December
Villagers from At-Tuwani plowed Khelli valley, privately-held Palestinian land between At-Tuwani and the settlement of Ma’on. The Israeli military declared the area a closed military zone. The Palestinians finished later in the afternoon, when the military had left the area.
Palestinian Nonviolent Resistance Unites
Tuesday 29 December
Women and men from the entire South Hebron Hills region went on a solidarity visit to the Palesitinian villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin. The visit began with a demonstration at Ofer prison and military base, near Ramallah. Several nonviolent resistance organizers have recently been imprisoned at Ofer. Palestinians from Bil’in, Ni’lin, and the South Hebron Hills gathered at Ofer to call for the release of these leaders. (See ISM article on this demonstration.). After the demonstration, the villagers from the South Hebron Hills proceeded to Ni’lin and Bil’in to hear those communities talk about their resistance to the confiscation of their land and the restriction of their freedom of movement.
Muntaser Hamdi’s house was invaded and trashed by 13 Israeli soldiers.
Early in the morning of January 17 the Israeli army arrested 3 young Palestinian in a dawn raid on Al-Ein Refugee camp, located to the North of Nablus. The soldiers came at around 5am, departing at around 8 the same morning. The three friends – Samer As-Salhi (17 years old), Muntaser Hamdi (19) and Raed Al-Khatib (21) – none of whom had any previous convictions, were taken from their homes in simultaneous raids by several large groups of soldiers. The mother of the eldest, Raed Al-Khatib, described how the soldiers identified him by his ID documents from a page-long list of names, other Palestinians presumambly wanted by the military.
According to family members present during the raid the As-Salhi’s house was entered by 7 soldiers at 5am. The soldiers pushed and shoved family members, manhandling women and children. Several items in the house were damaged including the kitchen ceiling and bedroom furniture, most likely due to sound grenades. The soldiers left the house between 6 and 6.30am. The As-Salhi family has already suffered similar raids – Samer’s older brother Eiman (aged 22) has been in prison for 4 years now. Samer, only 17 years old, has until now been working as a carpenter.
The second family we spoke to described how Muntaser Hamdi was taken by more than 13 soldiers, who broke down the door of their house at 6 in the morning. During the 20 minute operation the soldiers tore open several sofas in the living room. As is routine with most operations of this kind, the targets were the men and boys of the camp; Muntaser’s brother was also searched during the raid. But it is not only the young males who are bearing the brunt of the raids – apart from damaged property in an area already scarred with the visible effects of occupation, the raid on the Hamdi household left two terrified young children, Muntaser’s younger siblings. Muntaser himself was blindfolded before being taken away.
The raid that hit the Al-Khatib household was particularly brutal. About 20 soldiers entered the small apartment at 6am, setting of a sound grenade which punched a hole in the kitchen ceiling. Repeating a pattern apparent in the other raids, according to Raed Al-Khatib’s mother the damage done to the kitchen happened while the soldiers searched for weapons; as in the other two cases, nothing was found. Other damage sustained during the raid included a broken dishwasher and a bathroom door ripped off its hinges. After going through cupboards and drawers, and body-searching all the men in the house, Raed was identified from a long list of other names, blindfolded and taken away. Raed’s mother has since been in contact with the Israeli human rights organisation HaMoked, who have helped her discover the prison where her son is being held, precious information usually denied to Palestinians.
The families indicated that the three friends were probably taken to the Huwara prison, as in a previous raid that ISM reported on at the end of October last year, where thirteen boys were arrested and taken from the camp. No information has been given as to how long the most recent three will be held but in previous instances, as with Samer As-Salhi’s brother, this has been anything from a month to several years.
Settler occupied Gawi house in Sheik Jarrah, January 19, 2010
On Monday January 18th, a Jerusalem court case over the legal ownership of a Palestinian owned house in the Sheik Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem was postponed until April. The hearing against the Husseini family was delayed because the prosecution, who claims the Palestinian family does not have legal ownership over their house, needed more time to build a case.
This case comes in the wake of two other neighborhood houses being occupied by Jewish settlers since late 2009 and constant settler harassment.
On Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 4:45PM a settler girl attacked a Palestinian girl in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheik Jarrah. The incident took place on the street between two houses occupied by Jewish settlers, which belong to the Palestinian Gawi and Al-Kurds families.
A large group of settlers, largely young men, boys and one girl began to gather and walked back forth and back between the two occupied houses.
Between 4:15 and 4:30PM the group gathered on the roof the Gawi family’s occupied house and began yelling and laughing at the Palestinians. The yelling continued and until the settlers left the house to confront the Palestinians on the street where one settler girl hit a Palestinian girl before the police separated the two groups. Shortly after, the settlers left the area.
This is just one of many instances of settlers harassing Palestinians in the Sheik Jarrah neighborhood. The harassment and violence has increased significantly since the occupation of the Gawi and Al-Kurds residences.
The Gawi house was taken over 5 months ago and the family, led by Nasser Gawi has lived in a tent on the street since. The Al-Kurds family, where the front half of the house was taken in December, still lives in the back of the house.
