Category: Reports

Bil’in Rejects US version of “the New Middle East”

Today, Friday July 28th, the people of Bil’in in conjunction with Israelis and international supporters marched to the Apartheid wall carrying a coffin draped in the Palestinian and Lebanese flags. On the side of the coffin it read “the New Middle East”, referring to the announcement that Condolezza Rice made that “It is time for a new Middle East”, which followed a transfer of precision-guided missles from the US to Israel. A Palestinian activist with ISM explained that, “This US manufactured plan for peace in the New Middle East will die, just as all the plans before it that the US and Israeli tried to impose on the Middle East: the Road Map, Oslo, etc.”

One-hundred people demonstrated through the village on a different route to the regular demonstration, chanting and wearing red paint on their clothes as a symbol of the Palestinians and Lebanese that have been killed as Israel implements its new plan for the Middle East. The Popular Committee quickly decided to change the route of the march due to the fact that Israeli soldiers were already stationed along the road and within the trees that the marchers usually follow. Instead they chose a path used by farmers and shepherds and reached the wall at a less fortified spot at the bottom of the hill from the gate.

The people carrying the coffin laid it on the barbed wire that is the first of two fences that make up the Apartheid Wall going through Bil’in. Eyad Bournat, of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, climbed up on it in attempt to lay down on the coffin and immediately soldiers threw sound bombs at the crowd. Demonstrators backed away from the barbed wire but the soldiers continued to throw bombs one after another. Abdullah Abu Rahme, also of the Popular Committee, was hit with a sound bomb on his foot and sustained moderate injuries.

The march continued up the steep hill towards the gate in the wall as soldiers fired sound bombs and rubber bullets. The marchers reached the road near the top of the hill and found many soldiers stationed inside the gate and in the trees above them. The Popular Committee decided to march back to the village so that the army could not take advantage of the demonstrators. “We must be very careful,” Mohammed Khatib, from the popular committee, said. “Four internationals were killed in Lebanon and the Israeli military is allowed to claim that they didn’t do it on purpose because everyone believes them.”

Since Israel’s aggression towards Lebanon and Gaza began, the military has stepped up their violence towards protesters in Bil’in as was evident today because they were poised to strike demonstrators from all directions. In addition, the war in Lebanon has drawn media attention away from non-violent protests and today there were only a few, making it also more dangerous for protesters without the media attention.

Although the demonstration was shorter than normal, the continuation of these protests has had a positive affect on the Supreme Court Cases that Bil’in has filed. On July 25th the Supreme Court ruled on HCJ 143/06, reinforcing their previous order to halt construction of the settlement Matityahu East and stop residents from moving in to empty apartments. They also ruled that pockets of the land on which settlement buildings stand belongs to residents of Bil’in and that the real estate company can demolish buildings to return the land to its previous state. The court also ruled that there must be a public road for walking and cars to connect the village with the pockets of land inside the settlement because residents of the Bil’in have the right to be there according to the Israeli courts. In June, families of Bil’in moved into these buildings that are built on their land to call attention to their land being stolen, but were evicted by the Israeli police soon after. Khatib announced to demonstrators after the demonstration, “We will keep struggling and these direct actions have put pressure on the court, which we have won a small victory in recently and hopefully we will have more victories in the court decisions to come.”

The Scene of Destruction at the Nablus Muqata

A follow-up report from our original press release about the attack. By Michael.

Today, two ISM activists visited the site of the demolished Muqata in Nablus. Last week, from July 19th until July 21st Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) laid siege to the building, home to the Palestinian government. The two ISMers visited the site to document and observe the damage to the building following the three day offensive. The site of the building is almost completely demolished. The main building is completely leveled, and the peripheral buildings are missing most of their walls. The smaller buildings are also almost entirely destroyed, and deep tank tread marks scar the streets around. The scene at the site is solemn as some Palestinians scavenge for valuable metal, and others pick through the remains gathering what is left of the building’s records and paperwork.

Some have already begun to rebuild and clean up. The observers witnessed a man beginning to rebuild a wall, and a small tractor was moving rubble.

The siege in Nablus marks an escalation in the IOF’s attacks in the region. During the incursion, not only was the government building destroyed, but the IOF arrested many Palestinian police. During this offensive, the nearby Balata refugee camp was also invaded, and here the IOF killed 3. At the end of the attack, 9 Palestinians were killed, including 3 children, and over 80 were injured.

Also damaged in the attack was the office of the Palestinian Red Crescent, the national affiliate of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The IOF occupied the premises, actively blocking ambulances from driving into or out of the building to care for the wounded. During this time, the IOF stole three bodies from Red Crescent ambulances, saying the dead men were wanted. The army also shot tear gas into the neighborhood next to the Red Crescent, and used the facility’s lot as a staging and firing area for tanks and other military equipment.

The Red Crescent building is atop a hill that overlooks the Muqata so after documenting the Muqata, ISM activists visited with the Red Crescent and spoke with a worker. He showed the damage to the observers who photographed and recorded. During the blasting of the Muqata, doors, windows and window frames were destroyed scattering glass and metal across areas where patients were being cared for. The room that was most directly facing the blasts, normally used as a rehabilitation center for disabled children, was heavily damaged, but luckily no children were present at the time. In most of the rooms facing the blast, all of the windows were destroyed.

The ISM condemns these attacks on the democratically elected Palestinian government and on the civilian institutions providing much needed medical relief.

For more information on the attacks, please read these reports:

Ma’an News: “Israel delivers remains of three killed in Nablus Wednesday, continues siege of Al Muqata’ah“, 20th July 2006

IMEMC: “Israeli military pulls out of Nablus after 4-day siege, leaving P.A. government complex destroyed“, 23rd July 2006

The Corner Report blog: “9/11 in Nablus“, 22nd July 2006

PCHR: “IOF Attack El-Maghazi Refugee Camp in Gaza and Raid Nablus“, 19th July 2006

ICRC: “ICRC calls on Israeli army to immediately leave Palestine Red Crescent premises in Nablus“, 20th July 2006

PRCS: “PRCS condemns attacks on health organizations and PRCS staff“, 19th July 2006

Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals Rebuild Homes Demolished by the Occupation Forces

by Ernesto

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) has been instrumental in challenging one of the most nefarious features of the Israeli occupation of Palestine – the demolition of Palestinian homes. ISM’ers have begun to pitch in and lend a helping hand with ICAHD’s summer rebuilding camps when not supporting non-violent direct action against the occupation in other regions of the West Bank. ICAHD is currently constructing a home in the Anata community, which nebulously falls under East Jerusalem and West Bank designations. This is the fourth summer in a row that ICAHD has organized a house construction summer work camp for internationals volunteers.

As bombs and rockets are launched on Gaza and Lebanon, internationals and Palestinians are working under the radar to reconstruct a Palestinian home that was demolished by the Israeli Army. What Israel destroys, Palestinians rebuild with the help of allies. Many Palestinian homes are subjected to military demolition every year. Four main reasons guide this destructive activity: Palestinian homes are demolished to assassinate alleged terrorists, as collective punishment for family members of alleged terrorists, to clear a path for the Apartheid Wall, or because the houses are deemed illegal under Israel’s Apartheid laws.


Salim – Palestinian ICAHD member who has been made homeless 4 times over by the Occupation Forces

The reality is that many homes have been demolished for these or apparently no reasons by the Israeli military and dozens others have been destroyed by settlers in an effort to terrorize Palestinians into leaving their homes, community, and land.

In order to struggle against this injustice ICAHD organizes direct action to block the demolition of homes and it also take on the task of rebuilding, not just homes but also relationships between Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals through shared work. This is a form of active non-violent direct action against the occupation; the very act of building homes for Palestinians is illegal in this racist power structure.

In the Anata community, entire sections have been demolished as part of the ethnic cleansing of “Greater Jerusalem”. The ICAHD project currently underway is a challenge to this institutional violence. In just a few days a Palestinian family will receive keys to their newly rebuilt home. The community council has selected this family among dozens to receive this gift of solidarity and as the work camps continue, more families will be able to reclaim their homes.


Israeli volunteers work on the house

Salim is a member of ICAHD and an example of Palestinian summoud, steadfastness; his family’s home has been demolished four times by the Israeli military and each time ICAHD has rebuilt. Now, in its fifth reconstruction, Salim has named the home Beit Arabeia and dedicated it as a center in memoriam to Rachel Corrie and Noha Sweeden. This is the base camp for internationals who work arduous hours building. This is also where folks convene to sharpen their analysis of the occupation and meet other activists involved in local struggles such as Ta’ayush, Anarchists Against the Wall, Bustan, Active Stills, and the Bio-Falha Budrus Project.

Palestinians Demonstrate at Checkpoint Near Tulkarem

Yesterday, 26th of July, the Israeli military set up a so-called “flying checkpoint” – made up of three jeeps and a couple of cement blocks – on the busy road from Ramallah to Tulkarm between the villages of Beit Iba and Beit Lid.

They refused to let any Palestinians pass going in both directions starting from two o’clock in the afternoon. After many hours standing in the sun, some of the people got so frustrated they initiated a spontaneous demonstration. The Israeli army responded to their peaceful act of defiance by shooting massive amounts of tear gas into the crowd, followed by live ammunition fired above people’s heads.

Amidst the chaos, Shadi Takhsin Abu Aidi, from Beit Lid, was grabbed by the army, blindfolded and thrown into a jeep.

The army escorted settlers- headed for one of the many settlements and outposts around Nablus- past the mile-long line of Palestinian vehicles, ambulances and buses loaded with wedding guests, students and children.

A group of women students from Jenin, one of whom was severely ill, had been told that they were not to be allowed to pass, even though the alternative way to Jenin was also blocked. When
asked whether they were supposed to sleep beside the road, one of the Israeli soldiers replied that the women could pass but not their male driver. “They can walk to Jenin”, he said and turned his back on them.

At about ten o’clock in the evening, the Israeli military started letting Palestinian vechicles pass.

This is in no way an isolated incident. The Israeli army regularly prevents the passage of Palestinians to school, work and during medical emergencies. Currently there is a closure of Northern cities and villages of the West Bank, where checkpoints are completely closed for many hours of the day for no reason other than to restrict movement.

Palestinians Open Checkpoint by Laying down on Settler Road

by Ali Omar and Raad

Today, July 26th, at 5pm, the IOF closed Yesthar checkpoint (west of Nablus) in all directions for all Palestinian and settlers passing on the road. They re-opened it at 7pm for just the settlers, while there were dozens of Palestinians waiting to go back to their homes.

Previously the road was only for settler use, but was opened for Palestinians in 2004 after it was closed since the beginning of the Intifada.

Opening the checkpoint just for the settlers made the Palestinians very angry and they responded by having a completely non-violent direct action by lying down on the road and closing it with their bodies. The army responded with excessive violence by beating the people and throwing sound grenades at the crowd. This violence wasn’t helpful to evacuate the crowd who continued chanting songs of the Intifada and refusing to move.

After the failure of the IOF troops to open the way for the settlers who were stuck waiting, the settlers began threatening the Palestinians with their machine guns, waving them at their faces. The soldiers did nothing to stop the settler’s threats.

The army failed to evacuate the Palestinians who occupied the checkpoint from 7pm until 9pm and so the army was forced to open the checkpoint for all.