Category: Reports

An Nabi Salih: Resistance to settlement expansion met with military violence

15 January 2009

A protester is hit by Israeli Occupation Forces soldier during a demonstration in An Nabi Salih.
A protester is hit by Israeli Occupation Forces soldier during a demonstration in An Nabi Salih.

Israeli forces must have anticipated the large response to the An Nabi Salih Popular Struggle’s call out for international solidarity in their 4th consecutive Friday demonstration on January 15th. Three International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activists were turned away from the seldom-staffed partial checkpoint of ‘Atara, between Ramallah and An Nabi Salih. Fortunately, a back route was established and the group made it to the village, joining 10 other internationals, a dozen journalists and over 300 Palestinians.

The hilltop village of An Nabi Salih has a population of approximately 500 residents and is located 30 kilometers northeast of Ramallah along highway 465. The demonstration protested the illegal seizure of valuable agricultural land and the January 9th 2010 uprooting of hundreds of the village resident’s olive trees by the Hallamish (Neve Zuf) settlement located on highway 465, opposite An Nabi Salih. Conflict between the settlement and villagers reawakened in the past month due to the settler’s attempt to re-annex An Nabi Salih land despite the December 2009 Israeli court case that ruled the property rights of the land to the An Nabi Salih residents. The confiscated land of An Nabi Salih is located on the Hallamish side of highway 465 and is just unfortunately one of many expansions of the settlement since it’s establishment in 1977.

The plan for the demonstration was to march from the hilltop village and down to the seized fields in an attempt to reach the land. Less than one kilometer into the march, demonstrators met military jeeps, Israeli soldiers and unsparing amounts of tear gas blocking the road. Occupation resisters successfully forced the military to retreat a few hundred meters and an avenue to continue the march towards the fields through a valley between the road an the An Nabi Salih village was created. Military forces defended the settler-confiscated lands from multiple points including the road leading up to the village, highway 465 and a hilltop in An Nabi Salih using tear gas, sound bombs, rubber coated bullets and live ammunition.

Major struggles to reach the land occurred in the valley and on the lower portion of the access road to An Nabi Salih with sporadic outbreaks of force throughout the area. By 4pm, soldiers were forced into retreat to the base of the road (tear gas canisters rained intermittently until dusk) and a deal was made between the Popular Committee and the military for the release of the seven Palestinians arrested during the demonstration, three of which were woman arrested at the demonstration’s inception. Accounts of military violence during their detention at the Hallamish settlement were reported by multiple arrestees. One Palestinian resister was severely wounded by a tear gas canister resulting in a large gash in his head  requiring emergency evacuation and medical attention by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

Seven International Solidarity Movement volunteers participated in the demonstration by shooting video, taking photos, offering medical aid and witnessing front-line violence and arrests.

Israeli forces invade Bil’in following Friday demonstration, shoot live ammunition

16 January 2010

Eight demonstrators were injured today in Bil’in along with dozens who suffered tear-gas inhalation during a regular Friday protest against the Wall and subsequent army invasion into the village. The army used live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets and tear-gas grenades and canisters against the unarmed crowd.

The demonstration, called by the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, was joined by dozens of international and Israeli activists. Speeches were made commemorating the Palestinian martyrs, especially the late president Yasser Arafat and Bil’in resident Bassem Abu Rahmah. Bassem died after he was hit by a tear-gas canister the army shot at him from a short distance.

Demonstrators marched towards the site of the Apartheid Wall, carrying a twenty-meter long Palestinian flag. As every Friday, the protesters tried to reach their land confiscated by the Wall and nearby settlements. Immediately after the march arrived, the army, stationed behind the Wall, started shooting tear-gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Four residents of Bil’in, three Palestinian journalists and an Israeli activist were injured. At least one of them had to be taken to the hospital in Ramallah for treatment.

After the demonstration ended, the army entered the village and attempted to arrest two Palestinian activists. When the Israeli and international activists physically intervened in order to stop the arrests, the Israeli soldiers shot live ammunition into the air and attempted to surround the demonstrators.

The Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Bil’in were also demanding the release of Abdallah Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Committee, and Adeeb Abu Rahmah. They also protested against the arrest and continued detention of Ibrahim Ameera, Hassan Moussa and Zaydon Ameera, leaders and members of the Popular Committee in Ni’lin as well as all other Palestinian political prisoners. The Bil’in Popular Committee condemned the latest detention of Tahsin Yaqin, coordinator of the National Popular Committee in north west Jerusalem and the invasion of the houses of Mahmood Zawahreh, Hasan Berjeyyeh and Mohammad Berjeyyeh the leaders of the Popular Committee in al-Ma’asara.

Night Raids and Arrests of West Bank Popular Leaders Continue

Popular Struggle Co-ordination Committee

15 January 2010

In the early hours of the morning, dozens of soldiers invaded the village of alMaasara – a site of weekly peaceful demonstrations for over three years – and surrounded the houses of Popular Committee members Mohammed Barjiya and Mahmoud Zwahre.

Both Barjiya and Zwahre were warned about that repercussions will follow if they do not stop organizing protests in the village. Zwahre was even threatened that a child may end up dead.

The night before, a large contingent of soldiers invaded the village of Beit Duqqu North West of Jerusalem and arrested Sa’id Yaqim, a member of the Palestinian National Committee Against the Wall.

Yaqim’s arrest is a direct continuation of a recent Israeli wave of arrests aimed to suppress the Palestinian unarmed struggle. Thursday’s arrest follows the detention of three members of the Popular Committee in the village of Ni’iln and a long-standing arrest campaign in the village of Bil’in.

In the past month, since 16 December, the army has staged twelve night incursions into Ni’ilin. Since May 2008, when demonstrations began in the village, 97 residents have been arrested in connection to the protests. Similar raids have been conducted in the village of Bil’in – where 34 residents have been arrested in the past six month and the cities of Nablus, Ramallah and East Jerusalem.

Among those arrested in the recent campaign are also five members of the Bil’in Popular Committee, all suspected of incitement, and include Adeeb Abu Rahmah – who has already been held in detention for almost six months and Abdallah Abu Rahmah – the Bil’in Popular Committee coordinator.

The charge of incitement, defined in military law as “an attempt, whether verbally or otherwise, to influence public opinion in the Area in a way that may disturb the public peace or public order”, is a cynic attempt to indict grassroots organizers with a hefty charge, and is part of the army’s strategy to use legal measures as a means of quashing the popular movement.uar

Network of road gates tightens its stranglehold on Shufa village

15 January 2010

An earth mound at the entrance to Shufa village

The village of Shufa continues to struggle with restricted road access and no electricity grid connection, as a new road gate is established at the entrance to the village.

Israeli Occupation Forces established a new road gate at the entrance to Shufa village one week ago, enabling the military to restrict or forbid access to the village at any given time, by closing the gates. The gates are effectively – or at times a precursor to – a form of road block. A similar gate was constructed 2 days ago in the neighboring village of Seffarin at the intersection of the village’s road with an Israeli road. The increasing number of road gates in the region contribute to  slowly creeping network of apartheid roads and restriction of movement for Palestinians living in the West Bank.

Shufa village has been split in half and isolated by road blocks and apartheid roads. The lower half of the village is about 8km from the city of Tulkarm but villagers cannot drive up the hill to their neighbours, less than 1km away. Earth mounds and concrete blocks stop vehicle access to the short stretch of ‘settlers only’ road, which used to link the two halves of the village.

The section of the village located on the hill was denied all road access for 6 years. Now there is only one road open, on the opposite side to Tulkarm, so that the villagers must now travel 22km through a checkpoint to get to the city 8km away. The blocked roads have been opened for only 3 and a half days in the last 8 years. Severe travel restrictions and delays have caused at least 3 deaths in the village due to refusal of access to Red Crescent ambulances trying to enter/exit Shufa.

The village is not allowed to connect to nearby power lines, forcing residents to run generators for a few hours a day. The system of road blocks have made the transport of supplies to the village incredibly problematic and expensive. Residents fear that even this may be stopped if the army decides to shut the gate on the open road.

A few hundred metres from the village lies the illegal settlement of Avne Hefez. It was originally built in 1985 on land belonging to Shufa. It has since expanded and spawned an outpost. The villagers now have to apply for permission to farm some of their own land. Even with permits they are often refused or scared off. According to residents of Shufa, many of the houses in the settlement appear to be empty or only used for holidays, or ‘part-time settlers’. A small military base is also located inside the settlement.

US Aid has funded a new school in Shufa, which could have been built with local engineers and labour for half the price, and given the local economy a much-needed boost. The new school comes complete with computers, but no electricity to run them.

Hebron: Israeli military targets Palestinian children for searches and detention

Christian Peacemaker Team Hebron

In the last month, the Israeli military has been detaining children for extended lengths of time in the Old City, and at times appearing to be “practicing” soldiery by randomly selecting boys off the street and searching them.

In one incident, a fifteen-year-old neighbor of the Hebron team was cutting a rope on a package of materials in his father’s shop when soldiers saw him. They grabbed him, blindfolded him, and led him off to their military gate at another checkpoint close to a settlement. The father followed the soldiers, pleading for his son, trying to explain why the son needed to use a knife.

The next week, another neighbor boy, age fourteen, was running an errand for his father who asked him to hurry because there was another meeting that he, the father, needed to attend. Unfortunately, this boy was wearing a coat similar to a child whom the soldiers said had thrown a stone at them. Six soldiers apprehended him. Even before the soldiers had released him, four more soldiers led a ten-year-old boy and his eight-year-old brother behind the gate also. The soldiers insisted they too were throwing stones. At this point, one of the CPTers stepped up to the gate on the Palestinian side to take a picture of the action through the cracks in the gate. One of the soldiers from the other side forcefully threw or kicked a stone at the gate close to the CPTer’s ear.

After one hour, the father of the two younger boys arrived from his work, punished his boys in front of the soldiers, and then led them home, his hands squeezing the neck of the smallest boy. The CPTer looked at the soldiers responsible and said: “Are you happy now?” As one soldier put his arm around a fellow soldier, he responded, “Yes, I am happy now.”

A Palestinian bystander commented: “See, if they can’t punish the father, they will get the children, harass them until the family finally moves away.”